Promise Of The Ages

Promise Of The Ages

Posted: January 2005
Title: Promise of the Ages
Author: Iamme
Type: FCS
Characters: Gimli/Legolas
Rating: R
Disclaimer: It's not mine it belongs to Tolkien
Beta: Belle Bayard and Mirasaui (Thanks for the help could not have done it without you.
Summary: Legolas and Gimli share Winter Solstice. (Secret friend Christmas fic for Sivan.)

*****

Legolas sat before the fire in the large stone hearth, sipping brandy from a glass and staring into the fire. Beside him, Gimli remained silent, knowing his friend well. He could tell something bothered his Elven friend on this normally joyful night.

The Dwarf could not just sit by and watch his friend's melancholy take over his spirit on the eve before winter solstice, their final one in Middle-earth. Come spring, they would leave the stone halls of Eryn Lasgalen to journey West. Legolas had promised he would keep Gimli at his side until the Dwarf passed on to the Halls of his kin.

Gimli had tried to protest; believing none in Valinor would accept him. However, Legolas assured Gimli his presence in the Fellowship would assure him a place with the Firstborn. Though he felt he spoke the truth, the Elf knew no matter whether Gimli sailed with him or not, the time would come when his mortal body could no longer house his spirit. He wished to treasure these memories throughout those times after he could no longer speak to his friend.

"What is the matter, Master Elf?" Gimli asked.

Legolas' gaze did not leave the roaring fire as he spoke. "This will be my last Winter Celebration in these halls, Gimli. This is my home, the only one I have ever known and now I leave it behind and move on. It will be lost to me, like so many of the friends I have made in the last few years. ' Tis not fair that Elves should live forever and others should die and never again return."

Gimli clasped Legolas' shoulder in a friendly grasp. "You should not let such things bother you, Master Elf. It is the way Eru meant it to be. In the Dwarven halls of afterlife we have great feasting, song, and of course ale! I will be with all of my family, even those whom I have never had the chance to meet! It will be grand. Of course, they will tell tales of me and my Elven friend as well, so I will never forget you!"

Legolas grinned, his mood lifting for a moment. "No doubt they will wonder why you befriended a member of such a foul race."

Gimli let out a loud booming laugh. "Then they will have to challenge me! For I will let no one speak poorly of you!"

"Nor I you, Gimli." Legolas lifted his glass. "To our friendship. A bond unbreakable even by the separation of death."

"Aye!" Gimli clanged his mug against Legolas' glass, sloshing a bit of his ale over the side, and then they both drank up.

The rest of the night they told tales and drank heartily. After Anor rose high into the morning sky, they left the caverns, delighting in the newly fallen snow. As they hoisted their packs and headed into the forest, a bloated figure scuttled across the ground. A foul hissing rent the air as what must have been the last giant spider in the land jumped at them, attacking. Once again, as they had in the past, Elf and Dwarf moved as one. Packs dropped to the ground, bow and axe out to address the threat. Gimli flung his throwing axes, aiming for the eyes, while Legolas sank several arrows in the swollen belly. The thing screeched, green ichor spewing from it. Yet it did not stop. Hissed words seemed to come from it.

"You killed my kin! You ruined my home! I am the last. I will kill *you*!" it vowed before springing once more.

Legolas dropped his bow and drew his knives, slicing off first one front leg, and then another as the spider tried to reach him. Gimli hacked at the mandibles that clicked before his face.

"Die you spawn of Ungoliant!" Legolas yelled, then sank his knives behind the multiple eyes.

Gimli shoved his axe into the yawning mouth to keep it from his head, then had the weapon ripped from his grasp. When at last the creature stopped twitching, the comrades retrieved their weapons from the still body. Legolas pulled a clean cloth from his pack, wiping the ichor from his knives. He handed it to Gimli who did the same to his axes.

The Dwarf chuckled, a gleam in his brown eyes. "Just like old times, eh? I venture to say the Undying Lands will have nothing like it."

Legolas grinned, returning his knives to the scabbard before donning his pack again. "Nay, I venture to say you have that right. ' Tis not something I will truly miss, only a few things." He looked around as if to memorize this glade, dead spider and all, for the rest of his life. Aragorn and Arwen had already passed on to whatever fate Men had at the end of their existence, now only he and Gimli remained of that long ago group on a quest.

He turned to his Dwarven friend. "Shall we? The Grey Havens lay a great distance from here and I can only hope we find something we can sail in when we get there."

Gimli nodded and returned the smile. "Aye, but no matter. One way or the other, we will be together."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legolas sat next to the bed, watching the fire in the hearth just as he had long ago on Middle-earth and now, in Valinor. Gimli lay quietly in the bed, his breathing erratic and shallow, slowing increasingly with each passing second. Finally, his friend drew his last breath, and his body stilled in death. Legolas covered Gimli with tender care, laying his axes and his much loved drinking mug upon his inert body.

He took Gimli's favorite brandy and poured it over the shroud, then stood by his side and sang a soft lament for his long-time friend. When he had finished, he took a torch from the wall and lit the alcohol soaked sheet, watching as the * fea* of the one he cared for so dearly made its way to the Dwarven Hall. Then he left the small house, heading for the cities to the north to join his family.

Soon, his friend would be in the great Dwarven halls, telling tales and playing one of his drinking games. Legolas could not help the smile that formed across his lips, even as the tears rolled down his face. With the death of his friend, he now represented one of the last remaining members of what had been the Fellowship of the Ring. Once he reached the city, he would find Gandalf and see if Frodo still lived. Together, they would sit and remember what had made their friendship so special. It would not ease his pain, for he would always remember Gimli with fondness in his heart, but at least he would no longer feel so alone.

He had said his good-byes. Now he looked to his future, the home wherein he would dwell until the end of Ea with his family and friends. Moreover, Gimli would forever dwell there with him, perhaps not in body, but always in his memory.

*****

THE END

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