Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own any of these characters or settings.

Secret love

By B'Elanna

Chapter one: The reunion

The Prince of Mirkwood had been totally surprised when he had received the letter only three days ago. It was an invitation asking him to come to Rivendell as soon as possible for an important meeting. The rest of the Fellowship would be there as well. How he longed to see them all again. It had already been a year since they had last met. Although that was not very long for an Elf, Legolas had been starting to miss his friends terribly. Especially Aragorn and Gimli with whom he had become really close during the quest.

He had often thought about visiting them, but to his regret he had never found enough spare time to do so.

And now after a lonely and uneventful year, he was finally able to see them once again. It had taken him a while to convince his father to let him go, but in the end the king had reluctantly agreed, seeing that his son would not give him a moment of peace until he had given his permission.

He said his goodbyes to his family and was about to go, when a She-Elf walked up to him. It was Minual, who had longed for his affection for as long as he could remember. He knew she only liked him because of his looks and title, so he tried to avoid her most of the time. Just like all the other she-elves, who tried to win his love and attention.

But now it seemed he had no place to hide, so he sighed out loud and looked her straight in the eye.

"My Lady?" he asked with a fake smile.

"I merely wish to give you this." She said in her sweetest voice, handing him a small beautiful red flower, known as a symbol for love among the Elves. "It is something to remember me by."

Legolas looked at her trying to smile a little, but it ended up looking like a grimace. "Thank you." Was all he could manage, before he mounted his horse and quickly headed for Rivendell, leaving his family, friends and admires behind once more, tossing the delicate flower away as soon as he was out of eyesight.

After a two-week journey he finally reached Rivendell, where he was welcomed with open arms. Most of the Fellowship had already arrived, only Aragorn and Gandalf had yet to come.

The first one to greet him was no other than Lord Elrond himself. He escorted him to a room, where his friends were waiting for him.

"Legolas!!" The Hobbits exclaimed, running up to him. He hugged them all tightly and took a close look at all of them, smiling broadly.

"My, my, you have changed my young friends. You look so much more mature, so grown up."

They all smiled at him.

"Well, crazy Elf are you not forgetting someone?" came an amused voice from behind. "I think your age has finally caught up with you at last."

"Gimli!" Legolas exclaimed. "Of course, I did not forget you, you stupid Dwarf. Who could?"

He walked up to the Dwarf and leaned down so he could embrace him.

"Long time, no see, my friend. I was beginning to miss your company." Legolas said truthfully.

"So was I, Master Elf."

They smiled at each other and walked back towards their companions.

"When will the others be arriving?" Legolas asked Lord Elrond.

"Aragorn will reach us by sunrise and Gandalf on the following day." He answered. "I think it would be best if you were to take a rest. You have come a long way."

Legolas nodded his head in agreement and walked to the guestroom he always used.

He had thought quite a lot about Aragorn lately and could hardly wait to see him again. He didn't exactly know why, but he had missed him more than the others. Even Gimli, he hadn't missed as much.

He decided to let the matter rest for now, and lay down onto his bed.

He returned from the dream realm at dawn, jumped out of his bed and quickly got dressed. Soon he was walking towards the balcony to look if he could see Aragorn approaching. After a few minutes he saw him. A tiny figure in the distance came closer in a rapid speed, before long he could see the features of his friend very clearly. The wind blew through his shaggy hair and he had a smile on his handsome face as he rode his favourite horse. He seemed glad to be back.

Legolas jumped out of his window and onto the tree, which grew next to his room. He quickly hopped from one branch to the other and had soon reached the ground.

When Aragorn came into hearing range he called for him.

Aragorn looked around swiftly and when he spotted Legolas, his smile grew even wider. "Legolas! It is so good to see you again, my dear, dear friend!" He said, while dismounting his horse. "Why are you up so early?" he said hugging his old-companion tightly.

"You know we Elves need little rest. Therefore, I reasoned, why not await your arrival." He said looking at the ground. What's wrong with me? He questioned himself. Why am I blushing like a mere two century year old maiden and why did I experience such a peculiar feeling inside my stomach when Aragorn hugged me. We Elves do not get ill, do we?

Aragorn frowned at Legolas, when he saw that he was clearly lost in thoughts.

"Are you alright?" he questioned, touching his arm lightly. He quickly removed his hand when he felt Legolas shudder beneath his touch.

"Legolas, what is wrong?" Finally the elf looked him in the eye. He seemed to be confused.

"It is nothing, Estel. Maybe I am still a little tired after all."

Aragorn looked at him thoughtfully, but decided to let it go, for now. He looked up when he saw Lord Elrond approaching. He smiled and bowed to the Lord.

When Legolas saw that Aragorn's attention was no longer fixed of him, he silently started to walk away, only to be held back by Lord Elrond. "Why do YOU not show Aragorn to his guestroom?" He said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Legolas looked at him strangely for a moment, before leading Aragorn to his room.

Does Elrond know of the feelings I am experiencing? He wondered. And if he does, what exactly are they and what do they have to do with Estel?

The two walked to the room in silence, both occupied with their own thoughts.

When they had reached their destination. Aragorn spoke: "Thank you, for accompanying me. It is good to see you again, Legolas. I have really missed your company, as has Arwen."

When Legolas looked at him, Isildur's heir couldn't read his friends eyes. It seemed that too many emotions were flowing through them at that very instant. The only thing he could tell that they weren't happy emotions.

"How is she?" Legolas finally asked.

"I believe she is faring well. It has been a while since I last saw her." Aragorn admitted.

Legolas looked at him surprised. "Why is that?"

"Well, we have both been fairly busy, each with our own lives. She is with child now and as my duties as a King have kept me quite occupied I have not seen her for a long time."

Legolas inhaled sharply.

"I think I should better go back to my own room now, I am in need of some more rest." He said, quickly spinning around and walking away, before Aragorn had time to react. Aragorn stared at the spot where the Elf had stood only a few seconds ago. What in Elbereth's name is the matter with him? He wondered.

Legolas quickly ran to his room and closed the door behind him. What is happening to me? Why did I feel my heart shatter when Aragorn told me that Arwen is pregnant?

Quit fooling around, Legolas. He told himself. You know very well, what is going on. You are just afraid to admit.

He slumped to the floor. He was in love with Aragorn. That would explain why he had never felt attracted to any Elf at Mirkwood, he suddenly realized. Even though they tried so hard to get his attention. He had actually grown tired of their pursuits. It was one of the main reasons why he wandered around the woods alone so often. Not wanting anyone or anything for that matter to bother him, but his own thoughts, which (he had to admit) were mostly occupied with Aragorn.

'You should better stop thinking about him, Legolas, because it will never work out, not in a million years. You know that! He loves Arwen, not you, and now they are having a child. There is no way that he will give all of that up for you. Besides he likes females, not males.'

He sighed again and walked towards his bed, lied down and sadly stared up at the ceiling.

Two days had gone by now and Legolas had been avoiding Aragorn ever since. The latter was really confused about this, because he didn't understand what he could have possibly done wrong to upset the Elf so much. As he stared at him across the room, he decided to talk to him when this council was over.

Gandalf had finally arrived and Lord Elrond was about to tell them the reason why they were all been summoned here.

"Friends of old, thank you for all coming to Rivendell on such a short notice. It is my grave duty to inform you that we failed in our mission to defeat Sauron."

Everyone looked at each other in shock, not believing their ears. Was he saying that the entire quest had been done in vain?

"Apparently when Sauron realized he was going to be defeated he opened a portal to other dimensions and sent his dark soul through them, in search for another body, which he could control and another world he could rule. Unfortunately he has succeeded. He has gone into the body of a boy named Tom Riddle and has slowly turned him into to the Dark Lord Voldemort, who is now terrorising the wizards, humans and magical creatures in that dimension. A great wizard from their world, Albus Dumbledore, has contacted me and asked for my help in his quest to defeat Sauron for once and for all."

He fell silent for a moment, letting them all take in the information they had just heard.

"I know you form a great team, so I thought you would be the best people to assist them in this matter."

They all looked at him each still full of questions, finally Legolas spoke:

"How are we going to get to that other dimension?"

Lord Elrond smiled a little relieved about the fact that they at least showed some interest in the matter: "Gandalf and Lady Galadriel have found a way."

"I see… and how are we going to blend into that other dimension, since I reckon that there aren't any Elves, Dwarves or Hobbits?"

Elrond laughed. "Your questions are well thought, young one. They also came to my mind, but Dumbledore reassured me that they have some kind of potion that will take care of that. Well, do you have any more questions?" he asked looking around at his small audience.

When no one answered him he asked: "So, does everyone agree to participate in this mission? Each one of you will probably have another task to fulfil, some more vital than others, of course, but still I am sure that they could definitely use your assistance. We have no time to lose in our response, as time travels much quicker there. In there eyes it has almost been a year since they've contacted us."

Legolas stood up and kneeled in front of Lord Elrond. "I will gladly accept this new quest and I shall do whatever it takes to help them."

The hobbits looked at each other and quickly stood behind Legolas, showing that they were willing to help too.

"Wherever my friends go, I will go too." Gimli said, walking towards Legolas and putting a hand on his shoulder. Legolas smiled at him, glad that the Dwarf would be coming too.

Gandalf smiled at all of them. "Well, I think I should better go too then, before you run into any trouble." He said, looking, specifically at the young hobbits.

All eyes were now on Aragorn, who still hadn't said anything, but was staring in front of him, at seemingly nothing. When he realized that everyone was looking at him with an anxious glint in their eyes, he finally smiled and the hobbits let out a relieved sigh. "Of course I will join you, what were you thinking? I will always join you, even when I am old and grey and have to crawl to get somewhere." He laughed and looked at each one of them. His eyes lingered on Legolas' face, when he caught his beautiful green eyes. To his relief the Elf smiled at him. He smiled back broadly as they went to prepare for their journey to Lorien and beyond.

They reached the Lady of the Woods within a fortnight. They didn't need to fight their way there, this time, plus they could just use the main road in stead of some kind of dark and difficult one and of course they had horses. Gimli sat behind Legolas, as usual. He still didn't like to ride a horse even though he had done it so many times before.

Gandalf led the way, closely followed by Legolas and Aragorn, and behind them the small hobbits on their fast ponies. Aragorn and Legolas still didn't speak much too each other, but no one seemed to notice. Gimli amused Legolas with all kinds of funny stories about the things he had experienced the past year. The Mirkwood Prince listened closely, laughing most of the time.

Aragorn looked at the Elf happily. He was glad that Legolas was having so much fun and that the worry and pain had gone from his eyes. He still didn't understand why his Elven friend had suddenly started to avoid him though. He reminded himself once more to question the elf about it as soon as he got the chance. He had missed their conversations and comfortable silences the past year and now they had finally met again, he was still missing them.

When Legolas laughed out loud again, their eyes met briefly. Legolas' laugh sounded like music in the Ranger's ears and he could not help but laugh too. The others soon joined him, just laughing from happiness. They really liked to be part of the fellowship again and couldn't wait to be thrown into another adventure, however dangerous it might be.

When they had reached Lothlórien, Galadriel came straight to point, telling them that they would be leaving the next day. After a good meal they all decided to take a long rest, figuring that they would probably need it.

When Legolas had just removed his belt, weapons and the top of his tunic someone knocked on the door softly. Legolas wondered who it was and called: "Come in." while walking towards the door.

It was Aragorn. "Good evening." He said a little flustered when he noticed Legolas' bare chest.

"Hello Aragorn. What is the matter?" he asked trying to sound neutrally.

"I came to give you my apologies. Apparently I have done something to upset you, otherwise you would not be avoiding me.

Legolas' face became an unreadable mask. "I do not know what you are talking about, Elessar."

"Do not treat me like a fool, Prince of Mirkwood. I know very well that something is bothering you!"

"No really, there is nothing wrong!" Legolas said firmly, showing that he wanted to end this discussion. "And even if there was, why in Elbereth's name would I confide in you?"

"Fine!" Aragorn gave him a hurt look, walked briskly out of the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Legolas winced at the sound. Well that went great, Legolas, well done!! He thought sarcastically to himself. You have just made matters worse!

He threw himself on his bed, tossing and turning in it before, after what seemed like ages, he finally entered the Dream Realm.