A/N Y'all ready for shit to start getting real? Cause I am. I have so much planned for the upcoming Rivendell shenanigans that are coming after this. Goooood Aragorn shit is on the horizon my friends. Good. Shit.

Josephine knew what Elrond was about to ask her to do. It had been in the back of her mind for days now. All the talk of letting time tell them why she was there, her being there for some unknown reason that would present itself. Without saying it they all thought she was tied to what was going on with the Ring and she didn't have any idea how to talk them or herself out of believing it.

She felt sick to her stomach as she walked past him and stood at the railing. Her knowing everything that was going on didn't feel so mystical to her like it did to them. But there was something about how she got there, where she showed up, how she managed to run into Aragorn of all people right at the beginning of it all. The Valar were real and they did real meddling. What if there was something wrong with the continuity somehow? What if something was going to happen that would ruin Middle-Earth's chances of surviving the war?

But for the love of god, why would they pick her to fix it?

Elrond didn't say anything as she stood there, gripping the railing with white knuckles and trying not to shake. He waited, giving her a moment, before coming up beside her.

"You think I should go." She said uneasily, glancing up to see him watching her with a sympathetic expression.

"Yes." He answered simply, letting the word hang in the air between them before going on. "I will not command it, nor would I if it were in my power to do so. However, I believe it would be dangerous to ignore the signs. Your knowledge is centered on this quest, is it not?"

"It is." She admitted bitterly. "But so far my being here hasn't affected anything."

"In the Trollshaws had Aragorn not led you all to the road, Glorfindel may not have found Frodo in time and the Ring might now be in the hands of the enemy. I would say that your presence has affected Frodo's path already."

"Aragorn may have turned for the road on his own even if I hadn't said anything."

In a very fatherly sort of fashion he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Your path lies ahead of you, Josephine, not here in Rivendell. I think you have known this for much longer than you wish to admit. Consider the choice before you carefully, think on it for a time if you must."

Josephine pulled away and paced to the other end of the room. Arwen was gone, things were oscillating between the book and the movie and not all of it could exist cohesively. Elrond was right about Aragorn, he'd had no notion of making for the road for several more days. Glorfindel would have passed them and they would have limped slowly towards the ford and been overtaken by the Nazgul. If she stayed…If she stayed and something went wrong…How would she ever forgive herself for that?

She walked through events in her mind, every moment she could think of between walking out of the gates of Rivendell right up to the battle of the black gates. Helms Deep, Moria, Parth Galen…each an opportunity for a dark and horrible death, or worse if they found out what she was. But…but if she stayed…

Squaring her jaw she walked over to the door and grasped the handle while Elrond watched her carefully. Her gut churned and her heart pounded, but both were telling her what choice she had to make. There was no choice, not really.

"I'll go."

There was no waiting for a reaction or another question. She'd given him the answer he wanted and she fled the second she had the chance.

She needed to go away, off somewhere, she wasn't sure where. Someplace nobody would see he. Her hands were tightly wound at her sides, damp with sweat and she kept opening them to wipe them on her dress as she walked.

Some ways from the main house she turned a corner and found herself in the path of Aragorn who was dressed for travel and looking at her with a worried expression. Going to scout the Trollshaws with Elladan and Elrohir she remembered. He'd be back well before the Fellowship was ready to leave.

"Josephine, is something wrong?" He stepped towards her slowly.

She needed to keep her shit together, he had things to do and places to be. "Off scouting?" There was an attempt at a pleasant tone but it just came out high pitched and nervous. The awkward smile that shook at the corners of her mouth didn't help her case much either.

He drew even closer, leaving only a foot or so between them. "Yes, likely for a fortnight, if not longer. I wish to see for myself what has become of the riders. Has something happened since the council?"

Her need for solitude was being overridden by the way he watched her so carefully and how his brow drew together in worry. She consciously held herself still, trying not to think about how much safer she'd feel in that moment if his arms were around her. It made it harder to know he'd let her if she curled into his chest. Regardless of whatever friendship they'd fostered since Dunland he'd offer her comfort and all she had to do was ask for it, but she couldn't. There was a thin, weak string pulled taught in her chest and she couldn't bear the thought of it breaking there on that path where anyone might see her.

"I don't wanna talk about it. Be safe out there." She managed to say before her throat tightened so much it nearly hurt.

He seemed hesitant to leave it at that, but he nodded and didn't press another question. She was grateful for that, because she was nearly beyond being able to contest anything else. She thought he'd continue walking and she chewed on the inside of her lip to diffuse some of the stress she was trying to keep a handle on, but he didn't move on.

His hand brushed against her cheek and her stiff breath shuddered in her chest. The string holding her together shook as it stretched, leaning into the warm touch where he was still lingering. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead and her eyes squeezed shut, her last effort to hold back tears.

"Namárië, Josephine." He said, pulling back and letting his hand slip away slowly. But he didn't move any further than that and didn't keep walking.

She swallowed hard when she opened her eyes again and gave him a tight smile. "I'll see you when you get back." Her feet pushed her up the path, retreating while she ran her thumb across her cheeks to dry them when pinching her eyes shut had failed, and all the while still feeling his lips on her skin. She didn't know anything anymore, not what was happening or what she was feeling or even who the hell she was these days. It had been barely over a month since she showed up in Dunland and she couldn't…

Shoving through bushes she left the path and wove into the trees until she couldn't see it and hoped nobody could see her. A large oak gave her a hiding place and everything she'd held together until then collapsed under visions of Balrogs and Uruk-Hai and a world that was far, far too big for her. Josephine wanted to go home and wanted to forget. She wanted to disappear from her place on the ground in the leaves, held on either side by the roots of an ancient oak tree, but she knew she wouldn't.

And then the thought came to her that she wished she'd had the courage to let this happen on the path, where Aragorn would've wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her head and soothed at least the smallest portion of the sobs breaking up from her throat. A moment where he was at the least a friend and perhaps, wishfully even…No. That road wasn't there to be taken, or even wished for.