26I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own The Lord of the Rings.
There wasn't much to be done after six days. Elenion knew, by the two buzzes in his beads, that Théodred and Boromir were wounded, but the buzz was light, meaning they could still fight. Faramir had been at least calmed at his brother being okay, and his future brother-in-law being healthy as well.
He was on his way to visit the children that still had not been placed with a family, six of them, and they were the older kids. The youngest was twelve, and the oldest was about to turn sixteen. Elenion could not recall what happened next, because his world darkened, a growing pain in his chest. He did not remember letting piercing screams tearing his throat, or falling to the ground in growing agony, and guards yelling for help.
He was not in the black abyss, but he was dreaming. Or having a nightmare. Aragorn was dead, as were his brothers, and his friends. He tried reaching for them, to touch them, to hug them, to mourn, but his hands could not reach them.
By the Valar, please, do not become reality.
This is all your fault. You did not save them. That will always weight on your heart. If you give in, I could spare them…
There was a shriek.
And his eyes shot open. His breath was erratic, and he felt confused.
"A… Aragorn…" he rasped out. He felt tears coming out of his eyes, and he closed them, and let himself sob. Please let that be a nightmare. Let Aragorn live.
A door opened, but he did not dare to open his eyes.
"Elenion. Elenion, you are safe, please" that voice, however, he opened his eyes. Aragorn was there. He smiled weakly, and lifted his hand slowly, as if afraid he would scare the other man. But the cheek was real. And if the cheek was real, the rest of him had to be real, right? "I'm here, Elenion, you are safe"
"You… are alive" Elenion finally said, "He showed me… you… everyone was dead…" he choked up a bit, and let himself be pulled into a hug. He felt lighter, "How… how is everyone else?"
"We all came back. We are in Rivendell. Elrond healed you and Frodo. What happened?"
"Frodo must have used the ring, but it was stronger… much stronger, and I… I don't remember… I was on my way to visit the kids…" Elenion sighed, and finally sat up, Aragorn watching him like a hawk.
"Yes. Faramir told me what an amazing king-consort you are" Aragorn smiled, "Éowyn found families in Rohan that wanted to take the children in. They were some distant relatives, but they have also expressed their wish to be part of an éored at some point, which Éomer says is a great strength of character. To be willing to fight at some point"
Elenion gave a soft snort, "Figures he would say that. How is Frodo?"
"Healthy, but I do not think he will ever fully heal the wound from the Witch-King, or the events he had to live" Aragorn said softly, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I could use a walk. Let's go see Frodo" Elenion smiled, and Aragorn sighed. Really, he probably would never be able to deny his lover, and he did not find any fault in that, to be honest. He helped him stand, and he could see the elf wanted to walk on his own, but also refrained himself from refusing his touch. Aragorn opted to have one of his arms around Elenion's waist. If his legs gave in, he would catch him. Elenion pecked his cheek as a result of that action.
They arrived to Frodo's room, where Merry and Pippin were happily telling him everything they had lived, and Sam was only standing by the side, smiling at his friend. Gandalf was watching them with fond eyes, and Elenion and Aragorn were the first of the rest of the Fellowship to visit him. Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli followed soon after, and Elenion had to point out to Aragorn that the other man and the other elf were holding hands.
Frodo looked at them and smiled, "Thank you"
Elenion approached him, and gave a gentle touch to his forehead, "You saved all of us. Thank you, Frodo"
"Elenion… you said you were in a war before" Frodo started saying hesitantly, and Elenion prompted him to continue, "How did you… move on?"
"I… I was brought here, to Middle Earth. I came to terms with those memories, and it helped me be wiser, in a way. I found happiness, a family… love. I did not forget, but I decided to look at it in a way that made me appreciate what I had instead of what I lost" Elenion replied, and exchanged a glance with Gandalf, who gave a nod, "If you wish, I can try to sort through your memories, so you can deal with one thing at a time. Forgetting is never good"
Frodo did not hesitate, and nodded. Gandalf removed everyone else from the room, though they stayed by the door, just in case.
"I will help Elenion, Frodo. Do not worry" Frodo, again, nodded, and both wizards called their magic. Gandalf focused it on his staff, and Elenion let it expand. He met Frodo's eyes, and dove into his mind.
It was a mess, to put it mildly. Too many things had happened in too little time, and everything had been overwhelming. Elenion started sorting through them in chronological order, and the most recent ones were the most disturbing. Spiders, apparently, were equally disgusting in his previous life as they were here.
He locked a lot of those away, and they would only unlock when Frodo was ready to deal with them. He was better at being the one in someone's mind than being one trying to keep others out of his. After several minutes, Frodo seemed less burdened. He remembered having the memories, but, right now, they were only a slight blur, and he would not be able to relive it, not even when asleep.
"That is all I can do for now. If you need someone to talk to, I have this parchment…"
Gandalf snorted, "You and your parchments"
"They work" Elenion huffed, and Frodo laughed.
"Thank you…"
"No, Frodo. Thank you. This is the least I can do" Elenion gave a warm smile, and let everyone inside again. Aragorn pulled him close, "I think he will heal. With time" the elf muttered, resting his head over his lover's chest.
"Ada! Elladan, Elrohir!" the three elves turned, slightly surprised, and saw Elenion nearly running to hug them, with Aragorn trying to keep up and also trying to make sure the youngest elf did not fall. It was amusing to see, really. The twins stood at once, and met their little brother in a hug, and Estel gave a huff.
"You're still a menace, Elenion" he grumbled.
"You love me like that" Elenion replied from his hug.
"I do. More than you imagine" Aragorn's eyes were softened, and Elenion blushed.
"I'm impressed. Over a hundred years and you still have that sickly sweet phase"
"Like you have something to protest about. Haldir blushes whenever I ask how you two proposed to him"
"Can you please stop telling everyone that? I'm the Marchwarden of Lórien" Haldir entered the room, and there was a light blush on his cheeks.
Elrond pulled Elenion into a hug, and Elenion sighed.
"You threatened Estel"
"He brought you here nearly agonizing, what was I supposed to do?"
"I do not know, but threatening your son-in-law wasn't it" Elenion pouted. Aragorn smiled and shook his head. Elenion scolded like a mother, and, to be honest, he wondered how long would it be until he was pregnant and he could fuss and care for their children.
"Get your head out of the gutter, Estel"
"Ada still has to wrap his head around the fact that you will deflower our little star"
Estel glared at the twins, and then smiled, "But I see you already deflowered Haldir"
"Aragorn!" Haldir glared.
"Oh, we knew, Haldir. I mean, how can you hide that your previously very-flat stomach is now slightly rounded? My bets are at right after the Council, and you had a secret wedding with Ada as a witness" Elenion replied, and Haldir blushed, "So I am right! Everyone will have to pay up"
"What? Everyone? Who is everyone?" Elladan asked.
"Faramir, Boromir, and Legolas. And Aragorn, of course"
The hobbits had not noticed anything amiss, and Gimli did not care for the bets, though he had noticed the same slight bulge as the rest. So, Legolas had said it had been the day they were set to leave for their mission as the Fellowship, and Boromir had said a week after the Council, and Faramir had made the same bet as Legolas. Aragorn, on his part, had said the day after the Council. Trust Elenion to be right.
"You… bet on when had we deflowered Haldir?" Elrohir frowned, "Can we at least get part of your winnings?"
"What? No. I wasn't there for the wedding" Elenion glared at that, "And here I thought you were nice brothers. You will be at my wedding, right?" he added. The twins chuckled.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world"
The wedding, the first one, was with elven traditions. Since both Aragorn and Elenion had grown up with elves, and one of them was an elf, it was only natural. Their wedding night would have to wait until their human wedding, however. Elenion stayed in Rivendell for a bit longer with his brothers, brother-in-law, and Elrond.
The slightly awkward part was when Elrond explained to him, again, how his pregnancy would go. Or at least how it would go if he had married another elf. He did say the length could be shorter than a year, considering men had shorter pregnancies. There was not a definite number of months, however, because there weren't many records on elf-human couples and pregnancies, so there wasn't 'standard' data.
The elves started their journey so they would arrive right in the middle of Aragorn's coronation. Elrond had prepared a banner that had the same design of a tree and stars above it as the necklace Aragorn had given Elenion so many years ago. The white silk thread that formed the shape of the tree and the stars was on a pale silvery-blue color, and it matched the robes Elenion would be wearing.
The tree in the courtyard was completely white, and it was blossoming with amazing white flowers. Elenion watched as Gandalf placed the crown on Aragorn's head, and his husband rose as Gandalf said, "Now come the days of the King. Let them be blessed"
Elenion listened as Aragorn gave a speech. Legolas had recounted to him the one he gave before the battle at the Black Gate, and how it was… inspiring. This, even said in peace, was no different.
"This day does not belong to one man, but to all. Let us rebuild this world together that we may share in the days of peace"
What no one expected had been Aragorn slowly singing the words Elendil had said when he arrived to Middle Earth, and the petals falling down on them. Elenion loved how magic was deeply ingrained everywhere in Middle Earth. The newly crowned king made his way down the stairs, and smiled at his people, and the elves took that as their cue to approach him. Legolas was at the front, which seemed to confuse Aragorn momentarily, but the elven prince stepped aside, as did Elladan and Elrohir, and Elrond was behind Elenion, who was holding his banner.
Aragorn smiled as he approached Elenion, who let the banner be taken, and, when they kissed, the cheers were deafening. After sharing a hug, they made their way, with Elenion having his arm in Aragorn's, to where the hobbits were. The four hobbits bowed, but the couple stopped them.
"My friends, you bow to no one" and Aragorn and his husband knelt before them, closely followed by everyone around the fours hobbits.
This is the last chapter. This fic was... interesting. I feel like sometimes it was too angsty sometimes more leaning to humor, but, in all, I'm rather happy with it. I hope you enjoyed it!
