Title: LotR Advent
Challenge: Together Pt. 12/24
Author: Deathangelgw
Disclaimer: They aren't
mine, but damned if I didn't wish that they were.
Warnings: AU, sap, fluff
Pairings: Arwen+Aragorn,
Haldir
Rating: PG
Summary: Day Twelve of the
Advent Challenge-> A secret admiration gets a helping hand.
Beta: none since I want to
get this posted right away, so any mistakes are all MINE!
A/N: This is for an Advent
Challenge that I had posted/taken up. Each day will be a different
person/pairing from LotR. I'd like to thank Iniquity for keeping this up and
wish everyone a blessed Christmas! Enjoy! Please review!
A/N2: Sorry this is late
everyone! Shopping madness hit as well as other things! ~_^
‘thoughts’
"Your thoughts are deep,
hirilen. What troubles your mind this clear winter's day?" Haldir's voice was
gentle with warmth as he carefully stepped over to Arwen's side, smiling as he
saw her confused gaze rise to meet his own inviting gray gaze. (my lady)
"Haldir…you startled me,"
Arwen murmured before she looked away and down. She flushed as he laughed softly
before joining her on the hillock she sat upon, looking out over the
snow-covered Golden Wood.
"So, will you tell me what
is troubling you, hirilen?" Haldir asked again as silence fell over them once
more. "I have not seen you this troubled since your mother left for the West,"
he encouraged her gently, looking at her from the corner of his eye and seeing
her flush, which piqued his curiosity.
"I…was just musing on how
lonely I was and how lucky my brothers are," Arwen mumbled as she drew her knees
up to wrap her arms around forlornly.
"How so, Lady Arwen?" Haldir
questioned her in some surprise. Arwen was always a light of joy for all of
them. For her to have such discontent was a lack of attention on all their
parts.
Looking down at her arms
sadly, Arwen nibbled on her full bottom lip before replying. "Elrohir and
Legolas are…now together and…" she trailed off as he stared at her in surprise,
not having known of the younger twin's success in wooing the forest prince. She
looked at him directly, a small knowing smile on her soft lips. "And Elladan has
you, dearest March Warden."
Choking as he flushed,
Haldir put up his hands defensively. "Nay, nay, hirilen! You speak falsely!" he
cried hastily, swallowing hard as her eyes narrowed shrewdly at him.
"Not from what I have seen.
How his eyes light up when they alight upon you. How he searches for only your
presence while here in our grandparents' realm. How dreamy he has become when he
thinks no one is looking. Do not say I speak false, for I see it with you as
well. You are not as sneaky as you might think you are," she pointed out
haughtily as he flushed in embarrassment.
"Please, hirilen. Keep this
between us…I beg of you. Tis just a flight of fancy on his part and foolishness
on mine. It need never come out…" Haldir whispered softly as his cheeks paled
with the implications that could come if he was discovered lusting after the
eldest of Elrond's children.
"I will keep quiet as
always, Haldir…but tis no flight of fancy and if it *is* foolishness, it is the
foolishness of love. So do not offer me such a poor excuse. Your time…will
come…" Arwen sighed softly and looked away as she laid her cheek on her arms,
eyes tearing up with lonely tears.
Moved with sympathy, Haldir
placed a soothing hand on her back and rubbed gently. "Do not despair, Lady
Arwen. Your fate is not to be alone…of that I am certain," he murmured gently as
he smiled at her when she turned her teary gaze to his.
"Oh Haldir," she whispered
softly before shifting and moving into his comforting hold, crying softly in her
loneliness. Humming gently, Haldir rubbed her back and soothed her as he thought
on how to help her with this dilemma.
After they parted, Haldir
wandered for a long while, thinking on what had been revealed to him as he
walked through the snowy paths of Lothlorien. He stopped though as he heard soft
singing near the river. It was not the clear tones of an Elf, but of a Man. One
Man, in fact: Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Intrigued at the melancholy tones,
Haldir went closer and sat near the Ranger, curious as Aragorn's song trailed
off. "Why so sad a song, mellonen?" he asked quietly as Aragorn poked at the
frozen ground with a stick. (my friend)
Hesitating for a minute,
Aragorn watched as the brittle twig snapped with each poke. "I sang of my
heart's despair, mellon. It can not have what it desires most," he murmured
finally into the pensive silence that had fallen over them. (friend)
"And what does it desire
most, Estel?" Haldir queried as he stretched out a stiff leg and leaned back on
his hands. He cocked an eyebrow as he saw a faint blush tinge the Man's
beard-touched cheeks.
Ducking his head, Aragorn
was once more quiet before answering in a bare whisper, "Arwen."
Feeling his heart soar in
hope of being to 'kill two birds with one stone', Haldir calmed himself as he
replied, "Really? And you do not think she returns the feelings?"
Shaking his head forlornly,
Aragorn sighed heavily. "I am a Man, Haldir. How could she, the Evenstar of your
people, want anything to do with someone who is but a babe to her?"
"I do not see a diapering
cloth on you, so that can not be it," Haldir retorted with a sardonic smile,
grinning as Aragorn snorted with a laugh. He looked up at the sky, smiling as he
saw that the sun was peeking through the grey snow clouds. "What if she did not
know?" he offered instead, turning his sharp gray eyes to the young Man.
Blinking, and then shrugging
as he smiled, Aragorn resumed his masterful breaking of the twig. "It would not
surprise me, but then I should not whine. I see her every day, my foster sister,
so I am common place to her. But still…whenever I look upon her, I feel as
though I am a young adolescent again. But I dare not touch her and risk being
rejected," he replied gloomily, smiling sadly.
"Do not despair so,
mellonen. I think I may know of a way through your plot. Trust me?" Haldir
declared softly, smiling as a plan began to take shape in his mind while he
leaned closer to the hopeful, yet doubting Man. Nodding his acquiescence,
Aragorn listened to the scheme that would hopefully shed light upon the shadow
of hidden love.
Haldir stood after giving
his instructions to Aragorn, and then went in search of Arwen. He stopped in
thought as he realized what he was doing. Arwen was, after all, a Peredhel. If
she were to choose to be with Aragorn, then her choice over whether or not she
stays of the Firstborn would be made. Would he risk hurting the noble family of
Elrond for their chances of a brief love that would die far swifter than any
love she may find with an Ellon?
Shaking his head, Haldir
smiled ruefully. 'The choices have already been made. Why else would the Valar
show me the way to end two lonely lives?' he thought before resuming his search
for Arwen. Finding her not far from where he had left her, Haldir smiled as he
made his way towards her, bowing slightly as she sighted him. "My Lady Arwen.
May I have but a moment of your time? I wish to show you something," he
requested smoothly, smiling as he saw bemusement on her pale features.
"Of course, March Warden.
Where do I need to go?" she asked as she glided seemingly over the glittering
snow, her deep maroon robes a startling contrast to the pale background.
"Follow me. I will show
you," Haldir replied warmly as he turned and led the way, chuckling inwardly at
the curiosity that sparkled within her eyes. He led her towards one of the more
private waterfalls and stopped her just at the edge of clearing's brush line. He
looked at her, smiling reassuringly at her confusion before taking her hands. "I
have found a way for your loneliness to be abated, my Lady. But you must open
your eyes and see what your heart has been trying to tell you for so long. Go
down that path and you shall find the one who will give you what you desire
most," he murmured quietly as he pointed down the barely seen path towards the
waterfall, watching as her eyes trailed down it before returning to his gaze. He
smiled encouragingly and stepped back, gesturing for her to go.
Watching him in a mixture of
curiosity and hope, Arwen then turned and started walking down the path. Haldir
watched her go with a small smile as he practically sensed the shock and then
realization that came from the Evenstar. He looked up at the sky and bowed his
head in thanks before heading for his home. Perhaps one day his own game of
chase would come to an end as well.
~Fin
