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Aear; Nan Aearon!
by Aranel Laerien
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Chapter VIII
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Aragorn was finally persuaded to leave when Arwen came to check on Legolas and on her way out, reminded the king of a particular stack of parchment. He had given her a sheepish grin, ensured that Legolas would be taken care of and left hurriedly.

And he was back again once the sky was dark.

Legolas gave a mock sigh as the Man came near. Aragorn pretended not to have noticed.

"Come," he beckoned, "you must be most eager to be away from here."

Legolas raised an eyebrow, but Aragorn was almost dragging him along.

"I'm still bed-ridden," Legolas protested.

"I'm the healer and I say you're well enough."

Legolas groaned. Stubborn Humans, he rolled his eyes.

"Where are we going?" Legolas could not help asking.

"We are going… on a ride."

The crescent moon gave them little light but Legolas was almost bursting with excitement. Evidently, the twins had told Aragorn something. The Man, paddling behind him in their boat, could sense the Elf's pulse quicken as they travelled.

"… the clear waters of Anduin and it leads to the Sea!" Legolas was whispering and humming a tune.

Aragorn was silently smiling most of the journey, enjoying the joy that radiated from the Elf as he glowed lightly in the dark, singing softly to himself. Sure, he was pleased that his brother was looking thus cheerful, that the light in him was shining once again. But… he also knew in his heart that Legolas' sea-longing would grow ever stronger and then, his inevitable departure would mean their parting – a parting beyond the circles of Arda.

He shook off the thoughts and smiled as Legolas looked over questioningly.

"Must Elves constantly impress everyone with their singing?" Aragorn teased.

Legolas laughed lightly, "It comes with the job, as you Men say."

"It is indeed most unfortunate that you've awakened," Aragorn retorted.

The night breeze echoed with their laughter.

They toiled late into the night before mooring their boat along the riverbank and resting. The next day, they continued down Anduin.

That night, they gazed at the stars, Aragorn trying to impress Legolas with the number of constellations he could spot.

Some things never change, the Elf thought.

"We are travelling too slowly," Aragorn muttered as they prepared to rest.

Legolas seemed not to have minded.

They reached the shores of the Sea a few hours before daybreak. Aragorn spread a sheet for them across the soft sand and lay back to rest.

The stars gradually began to fade as the sun arose. Legolas sat straight up, all weariness now gone. Aragorn had fallen asleep, and Legolas shook him awake excitedly – after ensuring there were no weapons near him.

Aragorn groped in vain for his blade then finally opened his eyes, grunting as he saw Legolas holding Andúril behind him.

"Look, Aragorn," the Elf said, pointing to the Sea. "See how the light glitters on the water. The stars are shining in the Sea!"

Aragorn leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his knees, watching the Elf gasp lightly in pure exhilaration.

And so they sat, gazing at the hypnotic rhythm of the waves' ebb and flow.

One day, Aragorn knew, this would be destroyed as his descendants would almost surely venture this far and build their city here. It would be as in days of old, when the Númenoreans rebelled against the Ban of the Valar. They were a proud people that could never be satisfied.

Then it was, that Aragorn tasted in part of the weariness that had overcome so many Elves – the realisation of how weak they truly were, the reluctance to be concerned with the affairs of the world, the lethargy towards all in it such that all pleasures seemed to have dissipated into nothingness, and there was nothing now, nothing ever again.

He sighed.

"I am old now," he said. "Two hundred and ten years have I wandered on this Earth. I am weary as I never have been. I fear I have little time left."

Legolas opened his mouth to dispel this but Aragorn raised a hand to stop him.

"Long have you endured your Sea-longing, and for that I am eternally grateful. But the time comes soon, when I shall have to lay myself down and depart from this world. Ready a ship, my brother, for you have little longer to wait."

"No, Aragorn," Legolas protested, "this cannot be. This is far too soon."

Aragorn shook his head. "The time has come," he said. "Who are we to dispute with the Valar?"

They sat in morose silence unheeding even as the sun shone gaily around them and the forest awoke.

"It would be fitting, would it not, if I should leave on the same date I was born?" Aragorn mused.

"Have you spoken to Arwen?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn shook his head. "Soon I will."

Legolas nodded and smiled tightly as they watched the gulls fly by and call to one another from above them.

"Gimli and I met some of the Dúnedain," Legolas changed the topic. "It would seem that the periannath are now accustomed to them and some have even travelled with them for short seasons."

"The Dúnedain?" Some hope seemed to have been awoken in the Man. "Yes, I have heard as much."

Legolas was looking at him. It was unusual for the Man to be suddenly grinning from ear to ear.

"A tale has often been told among the Dúnedain," Aragorn smiled peacefully. "It tells how Eru will have compassion on the Faithful for not opposing the Ban in the Second Age, and will allow us into His grand halls after the Second Music, after the rekindling of the Two Trees."

Legolas listened and wished it were true.