Mistaken Identity by Cat2000

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Aragorn looked around, and then sneaked out of the gates. When he was well out of sight of the castle, he broke into a run.

-I'm NOT going to go back!- Aragorn thought firmly to himself. -I'm fed up with people treating me like I'm some kind of... invalid!-

As he ran, Aragorn rested his hand on his sword. He was sure that, if it came down to it, he would be able to defend himself.

After a while, Aragorn stopped for a well-needed rest. He had covered a lot of ground, much more than he had thought he would. Still, he had to keep on moving. By now, his guardians were sure to have noticed the fact that he was gone, and sent search parties out.

With a small sigh, Aragorn pushed himself up off the ground again. He continued walking for a few more hours, and then stopped.

Without realising it, Aragorn had taken a wrong turning somewhere. He didn't recognise the wood he was now in. So he was now basically lost.

-That was stupid of you,- Aragorn told hhimself angrily. -You should have paid more attention to where you were going!-

That having been said, or rather thought, Aragorn started to look around to find out how to get out of the wood. He knew enough about the outside world to know that not everyone was nice, and he had no wish to suddenly find himself outnumbered by people who wanted to kill him.

Deciding to follow his instincts more than anything else, Aragorn turned, and started walking in a direction that he thought was as good a one as any. It didn't take very long for the prince to find himself even more lost than he was before, if that was at all possible.

"Now where?" Aragorn asked out loud. Then, he froze.

A noise that the prince recognised sounded from behind him. Aragorn's grip tightened on his sword. "Orcs!" he hissed, turning to face his enemies.




Legolas was making some more arrows when he heard the unmistakable sound of Orcs in his wood. The elf prince got up from where he had been crouching on the ground, and picked up his bow.

"Today, Orcs, will be your last," Legolas swore in elvish. And, with those words, the elf prince made his way, quiet as a cat, in the direction of the sound.

The moment Legolas got to the Orcs, he could tell that the man they had cornered was in a bad way. He was fighting, but he was hideously outnumbered. An arrow was sticking out of his shoulder. Legolas knew that the arrows the Orcs carried were poisoned. And, by the way the man was staggering around, the poison was beginning to take effect.

Legolas notched an arrow to his bow, but then hesitated. He was torn between wanting to help the human and wanting to stick to the laws of his people. But then, Legolas' decision was made for him.

One of the Orcs swung an axe at the man's head. If it connected, it would surely decapitate him. But Legolas fired his arrow.

The elf prince's aim was true. His arrow hit the Orc in its chest, making it fall backwards.

The rest of the Orcs immediately turned to face this new threat. However, Legolas did not give them the chance to recover from their surprise. He drew one of his elven daggers, and leapt at the Orcs.

It didn't take Legolas very long to dispose of most of the Orcs. The rest of them, seeing their fallen, turned and ran. Legolas made to chase after them and destroy the rest, but a groan from behind stopped him.

Turning round, Legolas saw that the man he had saved had collapsed to the ground. The elf prince dropped his elven dagger, and raced to his side. Aragorn's eyes flickered open, but it was obvious that he was feverish. His eyes fastened on the elf who had saved him, and, in that moment, Aragorn fell deeply and madly in love.

Legolas saw that the man was looking at him. "You can't die," he whispered, cradling the prince's head in his arms.

Aragorn's eyes closed again, and he fell unconscious.

Legolas gently lowered the man's head to the ground. He then got slowly to his feet, and looked around for herbs to help with poison and wounds.

Legolas found some numbweed, and he placed that on the wound to deaden the pain. He then mixed some herbs together into a liquid, and, tilting Aragorn's head up, forced it through the man's lips. He went to the stream, and collected some water to clean the wound with. The man stirred while the elf prince gently cleaned the wound, but did not waken. Legolas used some other herbs to help with healing, and then knew that there was nothing more that needed to be done to help the wound. It was now up to the man's body's natural healing powers to throw off the effects of the poison.

Legolas looked down at the man, and felt an odd feeling stir in his breast. If he didn't know better, then he would say that it was... love. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Males weren't supposed to fall in love with other males.

"Help me," Legolas said out loud in elvish. "I don't know what to do." He didn't know who he was talking to, but it seemed to work. He felt a little better.

"Now, where have you come from?" Legolas wondered out loud. He stood up, looping an arm around the man's shoulders, supporting him. "I suppose I had better return you to wherever you have come from..."




Aragorn woke to find himself in bed at home. He looked around.

A healer, who had been standing by the prince's bed, came forward. He smiled gently at Aragorn. "You had us worried there for a moment, your Highness," he commented.

The prince frowned. "Where is the elf who saved my life?" he asked.

The healer paused. "Gone, I'm afraid," he answered.

"Gone?!" Aragorn repeated, horrified. "You should have kept the elf here! I wanted to thank the one who saved me!"

"You must rest, my prince," the healer said, surprised.

Aragorn sank into the pillow, scowling. "I HAVE to find that elf!" he muttered before falling asleep again.




Three months later

Aragorn had found the elf who had saved him. Or so he believed. Her name was Arwen. Aragorn had met her when he had travelled to Rivendell, which was a place which had a lot of elves. Arwen had been so courteous to the prince that he believed that she had been the one who had saved his life. The fact that she didn't seem to understand what he was talking about whenever he brought the subject up did not bother him.

Some things seemed to bother Aragorn. For example, he was sure that the elf who had saved him had had blond hair. But the heir of Gondor just thought that he had gotten the hair colour mixed up because he had been feverish from the poison in the arrow. Anyway, he and Arwen were now engaged, so he had nothing to complain about.

One day, a visitor from a place called Mirkwood arrived in Rivendell. Aragorn and Arwen went with Lord Elrond to meet them.

"This is Legolas Greenleaf," Elrond told Aragorn. "Legolas, this is Aragorn, heir of Gondor."

The elf prince was just in the process of bowing to Aragorn when he looked up and the colour drained from his face, leaving him paler than usual. Here was a face he had never thought he would see again.

To give him credit, Legolas recovered himself quickly. He bowed to Aragorn, and murmured a greeting, not letting any emotion show on his face. He had quickly seen how infatuated Arwen and Aragorn were with each other.

"Legolas is going to be staying with us for a while," Elrond was explaining, completely oblivious to the turmoil of feelings inside Legolas.

Aragorn, meanwhile, was experiencing some confusion. He was sure that he had seen Legolas Greenleaf somewhere before, but he had no idea when. He fastened his eyes on the elf's, making Legolas feel very uncomfortable.

"I would be honoured to accept your hospitality, Lord Elrond," Legolas said quickly, tearing his eyes away from Aragorn's face. The elf prince kept his feelings well hidden even from someone as well-tuned to emotions as Elrond.

"Welcome, cousin," Arwen said breezily, moving to embrace Legolas. She, like her father, was completely oblivious to Legolas' feelings, but she thought that he stiffened a bit before returning her embrace.

"You must be tired, Legolas," Elrond commented. "Would you wish to rest before you eat?"

"That would be nice, Lord Elrond," Legolas replied.




Legolas sat in his chambers, but did not sleep.

-How could it be him?- Legolas thought, horrified. The elf prince had thought that he had buried his feelings for the man he had saved. Seeing Aragorn again had forced them to the surface.

-I should never have come here.- The elff prince's misery was almost too much for him to bear. No matter how much he told himself that males weren't supposed to love other males, and that he was breaking his father's laws, Legolas could not help himself. He could not stop himself thinking of the heir of Gondor.

"Help me," Legolas whispered out loud to those silent listeners who had heard him before when he had first saved Aragorn. "Help me know what to do," the elf prince continued. "I don't want to break my cousin's happiness, but I do not know what I can do about my feelings for this man."

-You could leave.-

Legolas jumped as the soft thought was inserted into his mind. It was not his thought. He knew it was not.

"Where could I go?" Legolas asked out loud. But, as he had expected, there was no answer.

-Perhaps leaving would be the best thingg all round,- Legolas thought. Still with his mind in turmoil, Legolas slipped into an uneasy sleep.




"Is everything all right, Aragorn?"

The prince jumped as Arwen's soft voice sounded from behind him. He turned round, quickly arranging his troubled expression into a smile of greeting. "Good evening, Arwen," he said.

Arwen was not fooled. "Something is troubling you, Aragorn," she commented.

"What is it?"

Aragorn sighed. "Its the elf prince, Legolas," he admitted. "I feel as though I have seen him before, though I cannot quite place where. I am sure that he recognises me as well. I saw the recognition in his eyes just before he bowed to me."

"Then he is keeping it from you," Arwen said thoughtfully. "There must be a reason for it. Legolas would never keep something from someone unless he had a good reason to do so."

"Can you talk to him about it, Arwen?" Aragorn wanted to know.

"I will," Arwen answered. "But once I have spoken to him, then you will probably need to speak to him as well."




Arwen found Legolas in the garden. She glided up to him silently. "Greetings, cousin," she said softly.

Legolas showed no surprise at Arwen's sudden appearance. "Hello, Arwen," he commented calmly.

Arwen decided to cut straight to the point. "Where have you known Aragorn before?" she demanded.

Legolas DID look surprised this time. But, again, he quickly recovered himself.

"What makes you think that I have known Aragorn before?" he asked.

"Aragorn recognised you," Arwen answered immediately. "And you recognised him. You must have a good reason for keeping it secret, but I have no idea what the reason is."

Legolas sighed. "You are correct in thinking that I have met Aragorn before," he replied. "But where and how is for me only to know. And you do not need to worry, Arwen. I will soon be away from here."

Arwen frowned. "Why?" she demanded. "There is no reason for you to leave!"

"You will never be happy while I am around. I will be gone tonight."




Aragorn hid behind a tree as, sure enough, Legolas left Rivendell. Arwen had told Aragorn what Legolas had told her, and a suspicion was beginning to form in the prince's mind. He and Arwen had spoken, and had come to an agreement. Now, Aragorn wanted to talk to Legolas.

Aragorn followed the elf prince as Legolas began to make his way slowly back to his home, Mirkwood. Aragorn was sure that Mirkwood was where he had been shot with a poisoned Orc arrow, based on his suspicions, so he had no fears of getting lost again, especially as Arwen had now given him a map.

Legolas stopped just outside the edge of Mirkwood, and sighed. "All right, you can come out now," he said.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Aragorn stepped out of the shadows. "How long have you known that I've been following you?" he wanted to know.

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Men cannot move as quietly as elves," he pointed out, not unkindly. "When following me, you made enough noise that ANYONE would have heard you following them. I knew that someone was following me, but it wasn't until I got here that I realised who it was."

"Looks like I'm going to have to have lessons in how to move quietly," Aragorn replied with a wicked grin.

"Arwen could teach you how to do that."

"Arwen didn't save me from a poisoned Orc arrow," Aragorn pointed out. Legolas flinched. "How did you...?" he began.

"Know that it was you?" Aragorn finished. "It should have been easy. After all, I knew that I had seen you somewhere before, though I could not quite place your face. Though that would have been because of the poison in the arrow. After talking to Arwen about it, she told me that it had to have been you who saved me."

"What about Arwen?" Legolas asked.

"We talked," Aragorn answered slowly. "I can't marry her. I love her like a sister, but that's as far as it goes. It was YOU I fell in love with. When you saved me."

"What if I do not feel the same way?"

"Oh, I think that you do," Aragorn grinned. "After all, why else would you have left after seeing that Arwen and I were engaged? No, my fair elf. I truly believe that we are meant to be together. And I think that you know this as well."

Aragorn walked over to Legolas, and took the elf into his arms, gazing down into grey eyes. After a moment, Legolas met his gaze. Aragorn saw confusion there, but also love.

Smiling, the heir of Gondor gently pressed his lips to those of his elf prince's.
Chapter end notes: Ok, this story was supposed to longer, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. Apart from that, it went well, though Aragorn nearly had a sex change in the middle of the story! (I put 'she' instead of 'he'...)

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