Stolen Moments

Nightmares

Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide, death and blood

-Aragorn has a nightmare-

(the nightmare will be in italics)

Nightmares are a usual part of life for many, but for Aragorn they were much, much worse. For all the things he'd seen and been through, somehow his brain still managed to cook up new horrifying images every single night without fail. But tonight's nightmare was in a whole different category of terror, one that would absolutely destroy Aragorn if it ever came true.

He was back at Helms Deep, standing his ground against the final onslaught of orcs when he heard a scream. He realized that he knew that voice, sometimes even better than his own. Aragorn raced towards the sound; lashing at and killing any orc that stood in his path. Rounding the corner, he let out a gasp and screeched to a dead halt. There stood Legolas surrounded by orcs, with his broken weapons strewn about his feet. The orcs held Legolas by the arms, and it was clear that they had quickly overpowered him. Legolas's tear-filled eyes met Aragorn's as Aragorn began to walk forward slowly. When he was about 6 feet away, an orc lifted a knife to Legolas's throat. "Come any closer and we slit his throat."

Aragorn froze. He watched with mounting panic as tears ran down Legolas's face. "I'm sorry, Aragorn, I love you," Legolas said before he leaned forward and slit his throat on the blade. Aragorn tried to move, tried to scream, but it was like he was frozen and was there just to watch as the love of his life's lifeless body slid to the ground.

"No!" Aragorn screamed as he shot up into a sitting position. Strong arms were wrapped around him in an instant as Aragorn writhed in terror. "Aragorn! Aragorn, it's me! It's Legolas!" With those words, Legolas felt Aragorn's shaking stop as the ranger froze against him. "Shh, you're okay, you're okay," whispered Legolas, pulling Aragorn against him to the point where he was basically cradled in his lap. Legolas could feel Aragorn's tears as he buried his head against Legolas's shoulder, and his arms tightened around him. Legolas held him tight and rubbed Aragorn's back as he cried.

After a short while, Aragorn's tears stopped and he began to pull himself out of Legolas's arms, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he murmured looking at the ground. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my love," whispered Legolas as he pulled Aragorn back into his embrace. "Do you want to talk about it?" Legolas asked as Aragorn began to relax against him. He quickly shook his head and murmured, "Just want you." Legolas smiled as Aragorn lay his head against Legolas's chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart. "Well, I'm not going anywhere," Legolas replied, pressing a kiss against the top of Aragorn's head.

Aragorn may have his demons, but he will always have his guardian angel to protect him in the end.
                                             ~

-Legolas has a nightmare-

Elves don't need as much sleep as other living creatures, and that's a well known fact around Middle-Earth. But unknown to most, Legolas has his own personal reasons for not wanting to sleep, and tonight was no different.

Fire. Fire and pain. It felt like it was all he had ever known. The war was over, the battles won, and yet Legolas could feel that something was not right. The river ran red with spilled blood, and Legolas fought back the urge to throw up as he looked at it. Gondor burned, and cries for the king rang all around. The king was nowhere to be found, Legolas realized as he glanced around in alarm. Where was Aragorn?

"Legolas," a voice behind him spoke, but the voice was off. Legolas turned, feeling his heart sink as time seemed to freeze before him. With mounting panic and horror, Legolas tried to move, tried to reach Aragorn before the deadly stroke fell. But it was too late. By the time he could move, Aragorn had collapsed on the ground in front of him. Legolas screamed for help and sank to his knees, but Aragorn was already burning in his arms. Burning, just like his city. Burning from the inside out, just like Legolas's father. And burning the fact into Legolas's mind that he couldn't save either of them.

Legolas awoke with a loud cry, which in turn awoke Aragorn. "Legolas?" Aragorn murmured sleepily and reached to pull Legolas closer to him. He blinked and sat up, fully awake, when his arm wrapped around the trembling elf. "Legolas?" Aragorn's voice was now full of concern as he pulled Legolas closer to him. He could still feel him trembling, and his breath came in short gasps.

"Hey, hey look at me," Aragorn gently tilted Legolas's chin up towards him. Legolas shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Aragorn sighed and pulled the elf into his arms, so that Legolas's head rested against his chest. "Listen to my breathing and try to match it, it'll help you calm down," Aragorn spoke quietly to avoid making the situation worse. "C-Can't," Legolas got out between gasps as his fingers curled desperately into Aragorn's shirt. "It's okay, I'm here, just try to breathe for me, okay?" Aragorn began to hum an elvish lullaby and rub soothing circles on Legolas's back.

After awhile, the trembling stopped, and Legolas's breathing began to slow. He looked up into Aragorn's eyes sea gray eyes that were full of love for the elf in front of him. "Better?" Aragon asked smiling softly as he met Legolas's gaze. Legolas nodded, not daring to trust his voice yet. He was content to spend the rest of the night in the safety of Aragorn's arms, and it seemed that Aragorn had no problem with it either.

To his horror, Legolas could soon feel himself beginning to drift off again in Aragorn's arms. He blinked his eyes rapidly in an attempt to wake himself up. "Get some sleep Legolas, your body needs it," Aragorn whispered. Legolas opened his mouth to argue, but before he could respond Aragorn continued, "I'm not going anywhere my love, I promise I won't let anything hurt you, not anymore."

~
A/N: I had a dream about this (ironic, I know), so I figured that I would write something for it since I can't go back to sleep. Sorry for it being kind of gory, but I hope the fluff made up for it. These two both deserve to be happy more than anything.