Unbreakable

Rated: T

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Warning: Spiders ahead! Maybe slightly AU.

Summary: Some bonds are unbreakable, no matter what. Will Aragorn and Legolas realize this before it is too late? (meaning: while they are still alive :))

Translations: Ada – father, mellon nin – my friend

Part 1

"I won't go back!" angry gray eyes flashed at the elf. "I can't!"

"You can't hide forever," Legolas tried to reason with the young ranger, but the man would have none of that.

"I though you would understand," there was an edge to his words that made the elf wince. "I can't ever go back to this place I once called 'home'. They don't want to see me again!"

"Estel, you are wrong," Legolas said softly and patiently. "Your family still loves you."

Estel. The human flinched. How could he tell his friend that he was Estel no more? And that he had no family.

How many times had he begged Elrond to call him Estel one more time? To call him his son. He wouldn't. And how could he be his son when he had dared love his daughter? When he wanted to take her away from her family, to separate her forever from her kin, where she belonged?

The look of disappointment and betrayal on Elladan's face still haunted him. And he was right to be disappointed. The twins had accepted him as a brother.

And he had betrayed them.

"No, I won't go back." Aragorn repeated softly. "I hoped to stay here until it is time to rejoin the rangers."

"No, you can't stay here!" Legolas almost shouted. He hated being so harsh to his suffering friend, but Estel had to realize that he still had a home. "You are going back to Rivendell, mellon-nin. You need to talk to them. This is getting ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" the hurt in the man's eyes pierced the elf's heart. "I trusted you, Legolas. I thought you would help me. But since I am not welcome here, I'm leaving!"

"You know you are always welcome here, Estel. But right now you need to go back to Imladris and talk to your family."

"I don't think Ada… I mean Lord Elrond would want to talk to me."

"Of course he will," the elf replied. "And don't correct yourself. Call him Ada. He is still your father, my friend."

"He is not!" Aragorn said in frustration. "He has never been! I though they were my family. And I thought you were my friend. But I have been wrong," the young man took his pack and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" Legolas tried to stop him. "Where are you going?"

"I don't care. Far away from them. And far away from you."

"Go then!" the elf shouted in anger. "Foolish human!"

Without turning back, Aragorn walked out of the palace.

---

"Why did she have to come?" Elladan sighed.

"Maybe this was supposed to happen," his brother tried to comfort him. "Maybe they were supposed to meet… and fall in love."

"This was not supposed to happen! Estel is human."

"If humans couldn't marry elven maidens we wouldn't be here, Elladan," Elrohir reminded his brother of their own heritage.

"Do you think he will come back?" the older twin asked softly. "I'm afraid we were too harsh on him."

"True," Elrohir nodded. "We were. I just wonder where he is now."

"I don't know," Elladan whispered. "But I so much want to talk to him. I need to talk to him."

---

This part of Mirkwood was always dark, but now it was darker than usual. Black clouds covered the entire sky. Tree branches were bending under the heavy rain.

The lone ranger put on his hood. A shiver passed through his body, but it had little to do with the cold. The weather fitted his mood so perfectly.

And I thought you were my friend. But I have been wrong. How could he say that? Legolas was just trying to help, but he had been too upset to listen.

How could everything go so wrong so quickly? Since he was brought to Rivendell as a very young child, he had always considered Elladan and Elrohir his brothers, and Lord Elrond – his father. Always. Until a few days ago.

Until he met Arwen.

He didn't expect his family to forgive him his love. How could they? How could they willingly agree to lose her to mortality? Seeing her brought him so much happiness and so much pain. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn't seen her at all.

Aragorn was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the spiders closely following him.

---

Cool wind blew through the window, slightly tousling his hair. He didn't feel the cold. But a human would feel it, the elf thought. Somehow the though of Estel being alone somewhere in Mirkwood under the heavy rain disturbed him. The ranger had wandered a lot, but not heartbroken as he was now.

He was not supposed to be alone right now. His friend needed him, and he had turned him away.

Legolas looked through the window. The large raindrops were falling to the ground like giant tears. Tears that didn't stop. Nature itself was crying. Mourning his friend's grief. His own grief.

Legolas took his weapons and walked towards the door. He had to find him. But suddenly the elf sighed and reluctantly stopped. Estel had made his choice, and he had to respect it. He had to leave him alone.

Once again the elf sat in front of the window and gazed at the ominous dark sky.

---

Aragorn suddenly stopped and listened intently. He had heard something he didn't like. He was still in Mirkwood, where almost every noise was a very bad sign.

He turned back and froze. A large black body was quickly crawling towards him, its eight legs moving with alarming speed. The ranger raised his sword. He could deal with one spider. But then a second dark shape appeared next to the first one. Well, maybe he could deal with two…

And then he saw the third one. Estel gasped and took a few steps backwards. But then he stopped. He had heard the noise again. And this time it was coming from behind.

Aragorn slowly turned his head, almost afraid to look. They very there. Many spiders coming from all directions. He was surrounded.

The first one charged at him, but the man deftly met the attack with his blade. The body of a dead spider rolled limp to the ground.

Aragorn turned around just in time to kill the second creature that had jumped at him. But then two spiders attacked him at the same time.

He trusted his sword through one of them, but then dropped his weapon as something bit his shoulder.

For a moment he thought his heart would stop beating. He knew that a spider bite wasn't deadly by itself, it was only supposed to knock the victim unconscious, so that the spider could eat its prey any time it wanted. But if he fell unconscious among those beasts, he would certainly be dead soon.

Estel quickly bent down and picked up his sword. He knew that his only chance was to kill all spiders while he was still conscious. But he knew this was an impossible task. The creatures were too many. And, as he felt the world spin around, he knew time was running short.

A second bite. One spider bite wasn't deadly. But what about two? He didn't know. And he realized it didn't really matter as he felt the third bite. And then the forth.

Aragorn fell to his knees, unable to fight anymore. He knew he was going to die.

But maybe it was better this way. Now that he had broken his bonds with his family and his best friend there was hardly anything left to live for. This would only end his anguish.

Maybe Arwen loved him. But she would eventually forget him. She would sail for Valinor with the rest of her kin. As it should be.

He regretted his last words to Legolas. His friend didn't deserve this. Estel could only hope that the elf would never find out what fate had befallen him.

He fell to the ground and shuddered as he felt the disgusting thin legs crawl over his back. But it didn't matter. She wouldn't need to forsake her immortality and he wouldn't destroy his family.

Yes, it was certainly better this way.

To be continued…

Note: This story was written for the Estel Angst Central competition: Spiders, but it won't enter because I'm running the competition and I'm not allowed to enter my own story :D Makes sense, doesn't it :)? But all of you are very strongly encouraged to participate – a link to the EAC could be found on my profile page. Under competitions you'll find a detailed description … well, this note started turning into an advertisement, so I guess I should stop here. Once again, this story is not competing and won't be posted in the competition. I just though I shouldn't ask writers to do something if I can't do it, so I challenged myself to write a story that meets the requirements. Well, it is not finished yet, and if you want to participate, your story needs to be finished. Take a look if you are interested ;)

By the way, for everyone reading "Friendship is a Family Trait", I haven't abandoned the story, I just wanted to write this one now. I'm not really sure which one of the two I'll update first. If you have preferences which one you want first, tell me and I'll keep them in mind when I update.

Reviews are always appreciated, and if you review, you get my eternal friendship for free :)

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