"Not the End"
A Lord of the Rings Fanfiction
The sun was long since gone behind the mountains ere Théoden pulled his mount to a halt. Aragorn and the rest of the Riders with him stopped in the deepening twilight. Twisting in his saddle to face them, Théoden called out, 'We rest here until first light!'
The Rohirrim began dismounting. Several turned their horses and galloped off down the winding line of people to spread the word.
Aragorn slid off Hasufel's back and led him to be picketed with the other horses. Giving the stallion a pat on the neck, he whispered a few words in Elvish to him. Hasufel snorted and stamped a hoof in response. A rare smile flickered over the Ranger's face as he turned to find his companions.
Weary as he was, Aragorn did not converse with Legolas and Gimli long before he took his leave and settled in a quiet spot upon the tussocky grass. Yet still sleep evaded him.
So he sat silently, smoking his pipe and gazing across the darkened land. His thoughts roamed far from where he was, finally treading down a familiar path.
Arwen's face seemed before his eyes as he recalled the words she had spoken that night in Rivendell.
'The light of the Evenstar does not wax and wane…' They echoed in his ears, gentle and welcome as a spring breeze. 'It is mine to give to whom I will…Like my heart…'
Aragorn closed his eyes, not wanted to lose the memory of the moment. Arwen's voice continued, lulling him.
'Go to sleep…'
'I am asleep,' he murmured.
Opening his eyes, he found himself not on the fields of Rohan, but reclining in a sunlit pavilion. Arwen stood before him, her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders and a smile on her lips.
'This is a dream,' Aragorn said softly, knowing that Arwen was on her way to the Grey Havens, to leaving Middle Earth; and this was but a memory.
Her smile widened as she drew nearer. Bending so they were face to face, she replied:
'Then it is a good dream.'
She kissed him gently, and he closed his eyes. After a moment, she drew back. He brushed his fingers over her smooth cheek, gazing into her eyes searchingly.
How he wished it was real.
Their lips met again, and Aragorn allowed his grip on reality to slip but a little. It was no good to linger in fantasies…but he would never see her again. One moment. That was all.
'Sleep,' Arwen told him when they separated.
She straightened and turned towards the distant mountains and Rivendell. Aragorn watched her for a moment before sitting up.
He spoke in Elvish. 'Min lû pennich nin i aur hen telitha.' ("You told me once that this day would come.")
Arwen turned back to him, a slender beauty clothed in lavender.
'Ú i vethed...nâ i onnad,' she replied. ("This is not the end…it is the beginning.")
She fell silent for a few heartbeats, and Aragorn drank in the stillness. When the Elf spoke again, her voice was quieter; more subdued.
'Boe bedich go Frodo. Han bâd lîn.' ("Go with Frodo. That is your path.")
Then she withdrew to the edge of the gazebo, facing the horizon in silence once more. Aragorn rose and went to stand beside her. Putting his arm around her slim waist, he sighed.
'Dolen i vâd o nin,' he admitted. ("My path is hidden from me.")
She turned her head to face him, and Aragorn rested his forehead against hers. It felt so good to be near her, even if it was naught but a memory.
She met his eyes, and he felt as if she could see his very soul. And he hers.
'Si peliannen i vâd na dail lîn,' she breathed. 'Si boe ú-dhannathach.' ("It is already laid before your feet. You cannot falter now.")
'Arwen…' he began, but she shushed him, pressing a gentle finger to his lips.
'Ae ú-esteliach nad,' Arwen told him her voice now a whisper, '...estelio han.' ("If you trust nothing else…trust this.")
Her fingers strayed to the Evenstar pendant at his throat and rested there. He clasped her hand in his, gazing into her eyes.
'Estelio ammen.' ("Trust us.")
And she kissed him once more, her words reverberating in his mind as he lost himself in her touch.
Now was not the end.
Finis