Stolen Moments

I'll Protect You

(A Bunch Of Scene Rewrites & Missing Scenes)

(Midgewater Marshes Scene - aka Aragorn's longing for Legolas)

(http://tolkien.cro.net/talesong/s-berenl.html - the song that Aragorn is singing)

Aragorn's soft singing drifted through the night, and Frodo sat up in surprise. The hobbit didn't realize that Aragorn knew elvish, much less one of the few elvish songs that Frodo had actually heard before.

"Who is she? This woman you sing of?" Aragorn whirled around in surprise to find Frodo staring at him, he thought all of the hobbits were already asleep

"Tis the Lay Of Luthien, the elf maiden who gave her love to Beren, a mortal," the ranger answered after a pause, focusing back on his pipe.

"What happened to her?" Frodo was curious now, and wanted answers to his questions. He had first heard the song from Bilbo, and Bilbo had heard it in The Prancing Pony, but neither ever quite understood its meaning. All they knew was that it was about some girl.

"She died," Aragorn replied softly, turning to face the hobbit for a moment. "Get some sleep Frodo." But Frodo wasn't done yet.

"You're in love with an elf aren't you?" Aragorn was silent. "What's her name?" Frodo gazed quizzically at Aragorn's back as the ranger sighed.

"His name," Aragorn finally replied, and would say no more.
                                             ~

(Movie Palantir scene)

Pippin still found himself being drawn irresistibly to the seeing stone, despite everyone's warnings. "What are you doing?" Merry hissed, watching Pippin approach Gandalf. "I just want to take a look," Pippin replied quietly, waving a hand in front of Gandalf's face to see if he was sleeping or not.

When he had determined that Gandalf was in fact asleep, he carefully lifted the palantir from the wizard's grip and replaced it with a vase that was practically the same shape. "Pippin!" Merry sounded anxious now. Pippin ignored him, smiling as he pulled the cloth off of the stone. Almost immediately the stone hummed to life in his grip, and to the hobbit's horror, he quickly found that he couldn't let go. He cried out in pain as his face drew closer and closer to the fire in the seeing stone.

Merry's yells and Pippin's cries awoke Legolas and Aragorn, who were bunking together in a room down the hall. Both were in the room in an instant, throwing open the door. Legolas froze in shock, watching Pippin writhing around on the floor in agony. Aragorn leapt over to him, yanking the stone out of his hands.

"Aragorn!" Legolas cried out, finally moving forward and catching the man in his arms as he collapsed, the stone falling out of Aragorn's hands onto the floor. Now wide awake, Gandalf threw his cloak over the palantir and turned, walking towards the unconscious Pippin, muttering words under his breath. Legolas sank to the ground with Aragorn still cradled protectively in his arms, watching as Gandalf kneeled over Pippin, trying to see what was wrong.

When he was done speaking with Pippin, Gandalf knelt in front of Legolas and Aragorn, placing his hand on the ranger's forehead and speaking quietly. Finally he stood, taking one last glance at them before moving back towards his own bed and belongings. "Make sure Aragorn rests and recovers his strength, that seeing stone is not for the weary. Pippin and I must leave you now. " Legolas nodded in response to Gandalf's statement, as the wizard and Pippin finished grabbed their things and disappeared out of the door.

His attention immediately focused on the man in his arms as he began to stir. "I'm alright," Aragorn muttered weakly against Legolas's chest, attempting to sit up. "No you're not," Legolas replied softly, as the ranger slumped back against him. Aragorn groaned in frustration, and Legolas gently reached over to push the hair away from his face. "You need sleep to gain your strength back," the elf murmured softly, smiling down at the ranger. Aragorn sighed, looking up into Legolas's eyes. "Will you stay with me then?" Aragorn's voice sounded so small, he had never felt this vulnerable before and he hated it. "Of course, I'm not leaving you," Legolas replied, gently pulling the man closer to him.

Suddenly Aragorn shivered, and Legolas pulled his cloak so it was wrapped tightly around the ranger and himself. "Sleep now my love, I'll wake you if anything else important happens," the elf whispered, rubbing soothing circles on Aragorn's back. The ranger nodded, his exhaustion finally winning out as he allowed his head to fall against Legolas's chest and closed his eyes. Legolas didn't dare move from their spot on the floor: there was no way he was going to risk accidentally waking Aragorn up. He smiled at the sleeping man in his arms, pressing a gentle kiss on his forehead as Aragorn snuggled closer against him.

Sauron may be an eye ringed in flame, but no fire could ever burn brighter than Aragorn and Legolas's love for each other.
~

(Right after the battle at the black gates)

The ground shook beneath them, and Sauron's armies ran around in terror. Frodo and Sam had done it at long last, they had completed the quest. Aragorn was unable to take his eyes off of the collapsing towers as his army chased after the fleeing orcs, following their orders to leave none alive. The eagles had just come and swept away Gandalf to go save the hobbits when Gimli came up to Aragorn.

The ranger frowned. "Where's Legolas?" Gimli looked away, refusing to meet Aragorn's eyes. "Gimli. Where is Legolas?" Aragorn's voice was even, but his eyes betrayed his increasing panic as the dwarf looked at him. "I last saw him fighting a pack of orcs surrounding him. I'm so sorry laddie, I don't think he-" The rest of Gimli's sentence was lost to Aragorn's ears as he took off running towards the direction of Legolas's last known location.

"Legolas! Legolas! Where are you?!" Aragorn's eyes scanned over the countless bodies strewn across the field as he prayed that Legolas was alive. The ranger needed him to be alive. If Legolas was gone...... Aragorn quickly shook that thought out of his head, refusing to believe that it could be true.

"Aragorn!" Legolas's voice reached his ears and Aragorn had to resist a cry of relief when he finally spotted the elf across the field. But as he ran closer, his heart dropped. Legolas was surrounded by some orcs who had escaped Aragorn's men, and they had various knives and other weapons pointed at the elf.

"Let him go." Aragorn's eyes narrowed. "Your time here is over," he growled, drawing his sword. The orcs laughed and lifted their own swords against Legolas's throat. "Take one step closer and your precious little elf dies," one of them sneered. Before Aragorn could reply, arrows rained from above, killing all of the orcs instantly.

Aragorn nodded towards the soldier to silently thank him before rushing forward, gently catching the elf as he stumbled into his arms. "Hannon le," Legolas murmured into Aragorn's shoulder as the ranger's arms tightened around him. "I love you," Aragorn mumbled in response, burying his face in Legolas's hair and taking deep breaths to calm himself. The elf slowly pulled away and smiled up at the ranger. "I love you too......my king." That caused Aragorn to laugh and pull him in for a kiss right there in front of everyone, not caring who saw.

After all, it is said that the power of true love can overcome any and all evil.
~

A/N: I love the palantir scene so much, so I thought I'd write something for it. The aftermath of the battle at the black gates and the other scene are also something I thought I needed to share so there they are. Enjoy these adorable fluffy fics all rolled into one chapter :)

Hannon le - Thank you (said by Aragorn in the ROTK movie)