I do not own Middle Earth, Valinor or any of the characters included in this story. Also, this is a sort of follow up on Siobhan's "And So the End" and will make more since if you have read that first. I do have her permission for this. I am also writing this on the concept in her stories that Aragorn's parents both died in the orc attack. Please give feedback. This is AU. I know it is not canon so please don't fry me!
Aragorn ran along, filled with more joy than he had ever before experienced. In front of him were the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, and on either side of him were Elrond and Legolas. He was home at last, a home where he would never again be sick or injured or tired, where he could run for the joy of running. At last he knew how the elves among whom he had grown up felt. He could see forever in the distance and experience a million sounds he had never before heard.
As they approached the tables set up for the feast, Elrond abruptly halted, grabbing Aragorn as he did so. Legolas also stopped and remained alongside his friend as they now walked along very slowly even though Elrond's facial expression told him to continue.
Though he wasn't worried, for he knew there would never be danger there, Aragorn was perplexed. "Ada?" he asked curiously but without losing his smile.
"Estel…well, you know I'm not truly your father…" Elrond stopped for a moment, grateful for the opening the human had given him but unsure of how to continue. Aragorn nodded for him to go on so he took a deep breath. "Well, I'm sure Legolas has explained to you that this is the Undying Land so all who die or cross the sea come here, though there is a separate place for orcs and those of that ilk." He paused again and hoped that his foster son knew what he was getting at.
Estel kept nodding and smiling as he processed the words. Then he stopped abruptly. "Ohhh! You mean…Do they know…Can I…?" Elrond burst out laughing at the dumbstruck look on his face. "Where are they?" he asked more coherently. "Why didn't they come to meet me at the beach?"
His father took another deep breath. "Because I asked them not to." Aragorn opened his mouth, but Legolas, who had been listening quietly, clapped a hand over it. Elrond flashed him a look of gratitude and continued, "I knew you would be overwhelmed arriving here so I thought it best to have a chance to warn you ahead of time. They did watch you arrive on the beach and are looking forward to this reunion, since I told them all about you when I arrived. They have a surprise for you too. Go on, they're right over there." He pointed and the man took off running.
Legolas, however, remained behind with Elrond. "I'll join him in a moment but I thought I would give them some privacy first." He said when Elrond looked at him with surprise.
"You've grown up, Legolas!" the other elf said. Legolas' mouth dropped open from shock but snapped shut at the last word. "Finally." He shoved Elrond playfully and took off at a moderate pace after his friend.
Aragorn reached his parents, whom he recognized mainly because he could see the similarity between his features and theirs. Arathorn and Gilraen smiled at their son. "Mother! Father!" He exclaimed. He hugged them both enthusiastically and they returned in kind. They appeared to be his age as well, or rather, they all had the same ageless quality about them.
Before he could start to babble, Arathorn began to speak. "Son, it is wonderful to see you again. Elrond has told us so much. But first I'd like you to meet someone…your sister."
Aragorn's mouth dropped open again. This time he was completely speechless. Legolas arrived at that moment. "It's a good thing there are no flies here or you would have caught a lot by now." He reached out and closed his friend's mouth.
Aragorn stared at his parents and friend for a moment and then gave a gleeful shout. "I have a sister, Legolas! Can you believe it?" He gave the elf a big bear hug while jumping up and down. Everyone burst out laughing and he joined in.
Then his parents stepped apart and a young woman came up to him. "Welcome to Valinor, Brother." His eyes bright with joy (no tears past the beach, remember) he hugged her tightly.
"Wow!" he said softly in her ear. "I always wanted a sister, to pester of course," he added with a grin of mischief. "Really though, I had brothers in the twins but no sisters since Arwen was with her grandmother when I was young. But that's just as well considering I ended up marrying her. Hey, love! Come meet my sister." This last remark he said in a normal tone, having previously spoken in a whisper. But of course Arwen heard him. "Mother, Father, meet my wife, Arwen Undomiel, daughter of Elrond." She was embraced and greeted and then they all sat down to the feast. Aragorn sat between his sister and father and began questioning them rapidly. Arwen and Gilraen sat across from them, engaged in their own conversation, and a pretty girl with a family resemblance sat on Aragorn's sister's other side, listening quietly.
"Aragorn!" his sister broke in suddenly; he had not stopped talking for his questions to be answered. "Do you even know my name?"
Aragorn gave her a wide-eyed look of shock. "I'm sorry," He apologized, trying not to laugh but failing when she began to chuckle.
"You should see your face! I am Amanis." She added as an afterthought.
"Hmm, Beautiful Dawn; it suits you." Aragorn complimented her.
"I am your twin." Aragorn's mouth dropped open yet again. Before he could begin to stutter, she continued, "I became ill when we were a month old and died of the fever. You may as well leave your mouth open, too, because I have someone I'd like you to meet. Fislath," she turned to the girl beside her, "meet your father." She looked mischievously at her twin who was staring in utter shock. Arwen too was full of disbelief from hearing the name of the daughter she had miscarried.
Fislath was enjoying her parents' reaction. She knew them vicariously but from what the twins had told her, Aragorn had been a practical joker. This joke was on him. Aragorn rose slowly and went around his sister to hug his daughter. He had agonized over her death every day of his life, because as a healer he was expected to save lives, and when it was that of his first daughter, who had been stillborn, it was all the more devastating. They indulged in a fierce hug as everyone around them sighed. Arwen came around the table to join in. With a thick voice, Fislath managed to say, "Ada, Amme, some old friends of yours told me all about you. Like that time when you…" He clapped a hand over her mouth quickly and everyone laughed.
"Strider, you ruined it!" A voice exclaimed.
The ex-ranger looked down to discover four upturned faces laughing at him. Another emotion seized him and he sent up a quick, perhaps slightly irreverent prayer. "Eru, may I please cry!" He received an even quicker answer as tears of joy rolled down his face and he embraced his hobbit friends. They patted him on the back, crying too. It took awhile but finally his faucet slowed to a trickle as he hugged everyone again. Finally he looked over at his sister and daughter again. The two could almost be mistaken for twins except for Fislath's slightly pointed ears. However, they did both have the same dark brown hair, the same shade as his own. Amanis's eyes were silver while Fislath's were a dark brown. He grinned at them and they both smiled back.
Finally everyone reluctantly resumed eating. Food wasn't necessary after all, but eating was enjoyable on occasion.
As soon as they were done, everyone split apart into groups. They were rather large groups, though, and not precisely cliques. Rather, they were temporary arrangements just for the joy of conversing on a particular common subject.
Aragorn's included a great many people he did not recognize, but also his family, adoptive family, and a certain group of hobbits, perhaps twenty or thirty. On the heels of this observation came the realization that there were many hobbits and men around. There were also dwarves present, one of whom was Gimli, but they had gone off in a different group, with Gimli speaking animatedly to a dwarf he couldn't recognize. There were also elves in that group which rather amused the man but this was Valinor after all so why shouldn't enemies be friends here?
Aragorn remained quiet as he walked. As Gondor's king, he always had enjoyed listening unobtrusively to the conversations of others. They were very informative. In this case they knew he was listening and respected his desire to remain silent—for a few minutes anyway. Then Frodo came up to him on one side and Bilbo on the other. They looked as though no sorrow had ever touched their lives and Frodo's hand was unblemished.
"Hey, Strider!" Frodo said cheerfully. "Are you going to tell us about all the marvelous happenings in your life since I left Middle Earth?"
"Well, let's see. Arwen and I had seven children, three boys and four girls. Actually, make that five girls, including Fislath. Eldarion is king now. I also had Frodo, Arathorn, Celebrian, Delia, Gretchen, and Emilia."
"You actually named your son after me?" Frodo cried, astonished.
Aragorn hugged him again. "Of course, nin mellon, and I hope he turns out as wonderfully as you." Frodo blushed brightly and lowered his head, muttering something self-depreciating.
Eventually, seemingly by general consensus, though Aragorn hadn't noticed anything, they came to a halt. He had been deep in thought and completely oblivious to his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that it was very bright. Swiftly following that thought was the realization that the light didn't hurt his eyes and did not seem to have a source; it was just there. There were no shadows, however; everything was apparently lit up from within. All around the group were trees of every kind, and on the ground were an equal variety of flowers. It was the most beautiful place he had ever been, but surprisingly it was not overwhelming but rather welcoming and homey.
He took a deep breath of the clean fresh air and collapsed backward. As he had halfway expected, he landed lightly and the ground felt like and enormous featherbed. He rolled around in delight, feeling like a child but not at all embarrassed. The hobbits were doing the same and laughing uproariously. Aragorn grabbed the closest one and threw him high into the air. Pippin screamed in delight as he flew and was caught by Legolas, who threw him to someone the man did not recognize. Soon all the hobbits were "flying" and evidencing a great enjoyment. Eventually however, they stopped this game, though not from boredom. They all just dropped to the ground or got into the trees to revel in the joy of Life.
An eternal moment later, two Men came over to Aragorn. Their faces seemed vaguely familiar but he was not able to immediately put names to their faces though they were obviously brothers. They dropped casually into a sitting position and greeted him.
"Aragorn," said one, while the other said, "Elessar."
Aragorn blinked rapidly as he tried to process the information flooding his brain. Then he exclaimed, "Boromir, Faramir! How wonderful to see you!" And he was pleased. He had become very close to Faramir, and the fact that Boromir was before him meant that the man had redeemed himself in dying to save Merry and Pippin. He still didn't know all the details of what had happened between Boromir and Frodo but that no longer troubled him and he embraced his old friends. Boromir seemed tense though. "What's wrong, my friend?" he asked. He hadn't thought anyone could be unhappy in the Undying lands.
"I need to talk to you—all the members of the Fellowship, that is." His voice was very serious so Aragorn nodded.
"All right, but Gimli off somewhere else so you will have to wait unless you think it is important enough to interrupt him." The other man shook his head and indicated that it could wait a little longer. Aragorn shrugged in response and decided to find Arwen, who was no longer in the clearing.