The old ways

Haldir rested his forehead against the lower abdomen of his lover and fought for breath. He circled his arms around Legolas holding him firmly. Deep inside Haldir felt so whole and relaxed it surprised him. Kneeling in front of his husband feeling the soft skin of his body oh his face, an energy pulsing between them, it felt like something he had always waited for. A feeling of closeness and togetherness, for the first time it felt like it should. They were one, a little bit like family, something to hold on to in times of need and despair. Something....., something had definitely changed, he just couldn’t figure out what it was, something was there between them and on the other hand holding them together, something.....
Noises from the armoury interrupted Haldir’s musings and he let out a sigh, slowly getting up from the ground, helping Legolas back into his clothes and armour. Legolas laughed quietly as he reached for Haldir’s face and wiped his chin and mouth with his hand. “You had there something....”
Haldir shook his head and claimed the smiling mouth in a loving and tender kiss. “Come, I think we have to got now. It is time to face whatever is out there.” He turned to open the door, but before he did so he suddenly looked at Legolas again “Tell me that you love me. Please. I need to hear it before we go out there.”
Legolas felt tears stinging his eyes “I love you, Hervenn nín. More than my life. And what ever will happen to us, I will never stop loving you. And I will always wait for you, where ever that may be. You have my heart and my soul.” He kissed Haldir deeply, while his inner self was in an uproar. He so much wanted to tell Haldir about the child he was carrying, but he knew it would only make things worse. But he promised himself, right after the battle was over he would tell Haldir and together they would protect it and find a way to leave Middle earth.
Haldir opened the door and found a smiling Gimli on the other side. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering were you two had disappeared to. Haldir I hope you have been checking Legolas’ armour and if everything is in working order.”
Haldir nudged Gimli’s slightly and nodded his voice sounding neutral “Of course. I wanted him to wear a little more than just this bit of arm defences but he insisted that he wouldn’t need anything else, for he had a walking armour to guard him. Did I understand him correctly?”
“I promised you once before, I will protect your better half. Aragorn called for you, Sauron’s army is approaching and you might want to give your archers your commands.”

Haldir had stationed himself with his troops, while Legolas and Gimli were positioned a little more two the right of the large entrance gates. What everybody saw was nothing to heighten their spirits. A dark mass as far as the eyes could see, had marched up to Helm’s deep and as darkness fell it started to rain as if the Valar were truly signalling the end of elves and men alike.
A stray arrow started the massacre and the following fight was brutal and bloody. Theoden had been so overly sure about his keep, that when the Uruk-Hai managed to break to walls with the help of Saruman’s explosive, chaos erupted. It was hard to make out who was friend or foe, the darkness and rain had covered the keep and amidst the fallen bodies and mud everybody looked a little bit alike.
Haldir tried to keep a look out for Legolas from time to time, sometimes even spotting a flash of golden hair among the black mass that was continuously fighting its way into the keep. Suddenly he hard Aragorn call out for him, telling him to draw back. He ordered his remaining fighters to pull back into the keep, when all of a sudden he was attacked from his left side. He managed to block the first blow, but the second pierced his side and he fought to stay upright. Haldir pushed his opponent away, when he felt an agonising pain right from his skull to his lower back. All feeling in his legs left him and he sagged down helplessly to his knees. ‘Legolas. Legolas were are you?’ All he saw were dead elven bodies, so many, all slaughtered. Was his beloved among them? He would soon know. He tried to call out, but no sound escaped his lips, he wanted to tell Legolas he would wait for him, wait for him in Mando’s halls.
Suddenly somebody was holding him, talking to him, but he couldn’t answer, couldn’t see anything anymore. All he knew, that is was Aragorn, he could still hear his voice, shouting in anger at the surrounding orcs. Then, even though his eyes were wide open, everything went black. ‘Legolas’ was his last thought, before he was no more.
Aragorn roared and fought like a madman to kill everything that was around him.

All that were left had drawn back into the halls of Helm’s deep and the glittering caves. Some soldiers and the three members of the fellowship were trying to barricade the doors against the still advancing Uruk-Hais. No one could tell for sure who and how many had survived the onslaught, some had already retreated into the caves, some had fled to the open fields or up the mountain walls. But here in the depth of the keep they were definitely trapped. But when the morning broke and Aragorn saw the sun rise in the east, their decision stood. They would ride out and meet their foes in a hand to hand battle. Even Gimli had no time telling Legolas not to go, for he had been sent to sound the horn of Helm Hammerhand once more. And so they rode out, slashing Uruk-Hais as they went, Legolas swung his sword cleaving heads on his way.
Then they saw Gandalf approaching and with him Eomer and his men. Together they chased the remaining army of Saruman way into the next night, by then having crossed half the distance to Isengard.
All were tired but also happy to still be alive, even though their battered bodies told a different story. Eomer’s men took it upon them to built up a few campfires, being not as exhausted as the fighters that had left Helm’s deep.
The remains of the fellowship and Eomer had gathered around one of the fires resting their tired bodies. Gandalf and Aragorn were quietly talking to each other while Gimli fuzzed over Legolas, looking after some scratches and minor wounds the elf had received during the fights. A sudden choked sob from Aragorn stopped their moves or their talk. Legolas looked at his friend in confusion. Gimli, still holding a bandage he was just putting around Legolas’ upper arm forgot what he was doing and Eomer was the one to ask Aragorn if he was in any pain. Only Gandalf stayed calm and threw a sad glance at Legolas.
“No, Eomer. He is not in pain. At least not his body, but his soul is.” Gandalf tried to calm them, but to no avail, for suddenly Aragorn let go of his torment “He just died. He died in my arms. One moment he was standing tall as a young and strong tree and in the next he was broken, like a twig snapped in the middle. I could see the light break in his eyes, at first it was like he was looking out for something and then they just went still. He tried to speak but no sound ever left his lips. His blood was soaking my legs and arm, he must have been cleaved in two, so bad it was. Oh, by the Valar, I had known him for so long, I counted him among my friends and now he is gone. I can not believe it. He meant so much to me and Arwen.”
Legolas had paled drastically during Aragorn’s speech and he didn’t dare to utter a single sound.
“Who died, my friend?” Eomer asked in a soft voice.
“Haldir. Haldir of Lorien.”