Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or its characters. They are Tolkein's.
This is for Tori, my fellow LOTR girl! You rock!
Reflections
"Aragorn! Hurry!" Eowyn called to her husband. "Your meeting is soon!"
Aragorn hurried in his and Eowyn's chamber, getting himself ready to meet with his advisors over the Orc rebellions. He put his tunic on, and remembered that Eowyn wanted him to wear the necklace she'd given him. He hurried to the drawer and opened the box where he kept all the royal jewelry. Aragorn smiled, remembering when Eowyn gave him the necklace on their wedding day. Aragorn picked through all the different pieces that he wore only on special occasions. Aragorn went through the jewelry, faster, faster, knowing it was getting later and later. His fingers felt a familiar chain, and he pulled it out.
It wasn't Eowyn's token of love.
It was another woman's token.
It was Arwen's token.
It was the Evenstar pendant.
Memories flooded him, a thousand memories. Memories he'd tucked into the back of his mind for many years.
He fingered the beautiful jewel and watched it dance in the sunlight.
Suddenly he forgot all about the meeting, and Eowyn, and the world. Every other person in the world flew out of his mind. All he remembered was her.
Arwen.
His beloved Undomiel. Aragorn remembered everything about her. He remember why he'd fallen in love with her.
He remembered her laugh, and how it sounded more beautiful than any music.
He remembered her clear eyes, and how they outshone every star. He remembered every detail of her exquisite face and her touch. He remembered her love, and how it kept him alive and gave him the courage to go on, even when everything else inside him failed. He remembered the vow they had made on Cerin Amroth. He remembered how she wanted to give up everything, just to be with him.
He remembered the last time he saw her. It was the day he'd left with the Fellowship. The day she'd given him the Evenstar pendant. He remembered, foolishly, how he'd tried to refuse it. She insisted. Why? Because she believed so fiercely in their love. She believed that one day they would be together. She believed someday her beloved Estel would come home to her. She had no idea that day would never come.
Aragorn reflected on his decisions, and hers. She had gone on the ship to Valinor with her people.
She'd chosen her people.
He learned sometime later that she married and bore many children. Then he pledged himself to Eowyn and married her.
Eowyn. His queen. His partner. His wife. She did not know about Arwen, nor would she ever. She trusted in Aragorn blindly. It was a blessing and a curse at the same time, he knew.
He had married Eowyn resigning himself to the fact that Arwen would never return. He knew he had to move on, and marrying Eowyn seemed like the best way to do this, and the best way to reunify the lands. He settled comfortably in his life with Eowyn, and became king. He was happy. He learned to love this courageous woman. It was just that Arwen was always there.
And yet she wasn't.
There was always a deep corner of his heart that still fiercely loved Arwen. He couldn't seem to ever move past it.
Oh, don't misunderstand. Eowyn was his life now. His wife. And Aragorn owed it to her to stay faithful in every possible way. But. . .
Aragorn suddenly hated himself for not trying harder with Arwen. Sure, they were miles apart in their lives. Worlds apart. Aragorn had not wanted her to give up her immortality and her people for him. He had not wanted to be selfish.
Still, he told himself, he could have found a way. If he had loved her enough. And he did.
Or so he thought.
He remembered now that it had been he who wanted Arwen to go to Valinor. He had gotten what he had wished for.
Aragorn stopped. Why was he questioning the past?
He suddenly saw the situation more clearly now. If he and Arwen were meant to be together, they would have been. No one could have stopped them. They would have moved worlds to be together.
But why didn't they?
Many times Aragorn had asked himself this question, and never could he find the answer.
Aragorn shook his head. All these what-ifs made him crazy. He had to concentrate on Eowyn, and his people now. They were his reason for living. Not Arwen.
Aragorn picked through the box and found Eowyn's necklace. He lifted it and watched the sunlight make the jewel shine. Aragorn took the clasp and tied it firmly around himself. This was his vow: to let go of Arwen forever. It was the right thing to do. He had to let her go, and had to move on.
Soon Arwen would fade into a memory, a fleeting glimpse. It would be Eowyn's turn. Eowyn would take the long-coveted spot in Aragorn's heart that Arwen held. The center of his heart.
Aragorn made a silent wish that one day, many years later, when he was long since dead, that Arwen would remember him. And smile. That was his silent wish to the Valar: that he live forever in her memory.
Slowly, Aragorn tucked the Evenstar pendant back into its place, firmly behind the other jewels. That was where he'd found it, and there it would remain. Forever.
"Aragorn?" Eowyn called, walking into their chambers. "You're late." She noted the look on her husband's face. "Is something wrong?" Worry creased her fine features.
Aragorn jumped, and remembered the meeting. He was thrown abruptly back to his place in the present. He smiled, and knew a weight had been lifted off him.
He was going to be all right. He'd finally accomplished his dearest wish: to let go of Arwen. Forever.
"Aragorn? What is it?" Eowyn asked again.
Aragorn looked at his beautiful wife, his love. The woman who he had never fully appreciated until this moment. He knew he didn't deserve her. Aragorn hoped Eowyn would take him as he was, with his faults. And then he realized she already had.
"Nothing. Let's go." Aragorn took his Eowyn's arm and left the chamber.
(A/N: I have an Eowyn POV for this too, if anyone's interested.)