This Is The Moment

by Aniroaldawen

Hello! This songfiction shows Aragorn's feelings and thoughts when he was crowned King of Gondor. The song "This Is The Moment" is the property of its owners and I didn't write it. Hope you enjoy!

This is the moment!

This is the day,

When I send all my doubts and demons

On their way!

Every endeavor,

I have made - ever –

Is coming into play,

Is here and now - today!

I stand in front of the gates of Gondor with ten thousand people—My people-- staring at me. Above me, the seven-leveled city of Minas Tirith glimmers in the sunlight. In front of me is Faramir, and in his hands he bears a wooden casket, inside which rests the ancient helm of the kings of Gondor. It's really coming! Wait...what if the crown isn't in the box? What if it's been destroyed?!? Oh, Aragorn, stop thinking such thoughts! And quit biting your lip! You're about to become the King of Gondor and Arnor! Look regal!

I clench my jaw and stand up a little straighter, forcing my gaze to become "regal".

Regal? Do I look like a King? Can I really do this? What if I'm not good enough? What if the people don't like me? What if...Oh Eru! He's here!

Faramir's eyes shine as he opens the casket and holds up the crown, white, lofty, winged, and pearl-topped. Look how the pearl catches the sun—the light of it goes up like a flame. The people are all straining to look at the crown...nay, they strain to look at me. And now...now, he's holding out the crown.

This is the moment,

This is the time,

When the momentum and the moment

Are in rhyme!

Give me this moment –

This precious chance –

I'll gather up my past

And make some sense at last!

This is the moment,

When all I've done –

All of the dreaming,

Scheming and screaming,

Become one!

This is the day –

See it sparkle and shine,

When all I've lived for

Becomes mine!

My thoughts waver. My whole life is parading before his eyes...my mother, singing to me, cradling me in her arms...her sobbing over the body of my father...Elrond comforting me after my mother died...Arwen's beautiful face, as she dances in the gardens of Rivendell...Elrond, informing me of my destiny...myself, turning from that destiny.

I was so young! It's natural that I wasn't sure of myself! It was so much to take in, all at one time...I just wanted to get away from it for awhile. Then...then, I became Strider. Ah, those were the days...just myself and my sword, and the other Rangers. The adventures I had!

But my destiny was always there, wasn't it? I dreamed of this day when I was a Ranger, at night, when the camp was quiet, and all slept...this is just as I imagined it. Nay, it is better than I imagined. For look—all around me are my friends, friends I never looked for or hoped to make.

Of course, there were those who thought I wouldn't make it. Denethor, for one...he never believed in me. Though if I were the Steward, I wouldn't want to give up my place for a Ranger of the North, either. And there were times when I didn't believe in myself. I was just a Man. What could I do against Sauron?

More than I ever dreamed. Those hours on the Paths of the Dead are still a nightmare to me...their haggard faces and their cold breath as they come before me, the sweatdrop trickling down my nose as I wonder for the thousandth time if I am enough of a heir to command this Shadow Host. But when I called those oathbreakers, then...then I first felt I was the King. Knowing that all that host was under my command, knowing that I alone could command them, I alone could free them from their curse...it was both a joy and a horror.

But that horror is nothing compared to the horror of seeing my City surrounded by the evil ones from Sauron. Truly, in that hour, despair was all I knew. I saw my city, the beautiful city that I loved more than any other place on earth, burn. I saw my people fight, I saw them die...and as they died my hopes died with me. Could these shades really fight thousands of Orcs, Oliphaunts, and evil Men? Oh, they fought, and I cried out in joy as the hosts of Mordor fled before my face and the faces of the Dead. More than that, I finally believed my destiny. I finally believed in myself.

For all these years,

I've faced the world alone,

And now the time has come

To prove to them

I've made it on my own!

This is the moment –

My final test –

Destiny beckoned,

I never reckoned,

Second Best!

I won't look down,

I must not fall!

This is the moment,

The sweetest moment of them all!

Now there are thousands of people believing in me. And now—now Faramir hands me the crown. I hold it aloft, and it glows in my hands like a star. My voice carries over all the people as I speak: "Et Earello Endorenna utulien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta!" I hand the crown back to Faramir and bid Frodo come forth, dearest Frodo, without whom none of us would have ever seen this day. He beams at me as he takes the crown from Faramir and bears it to Gandalf. This is the moment! I close my eyes as Gandalf speaks: "Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!" And now...now the weight is upon my head. I open my eyes and behold the people and the country, this fairest realm in Middle-Earth...my realm. I watch as many fall to their knees.

And Faramir cries: "Behold the King!"

I cannot hold back the smile, nor the tears that now spill over my cheeks. All my doubts fly away as the cheers rise from the thousands of throats and the trumpets sound. This is the moment; the moment when I shoulder my destiny, when all my plans and dreams become one, when I, Aragorn, become the King of all Gondor! This is the greatest moment of them all!

This is the moment!

Strike all the odds!

This day, or never,

I'll sit forever

With the gods!

When I look back,

I will always recall,

Moment for moment,

This was the moment,

The greatest moment

Of them all!

Thanks for reading my story, and please review!