And Then She Knew
By The Last Evenstar
Disclaimer: As always, I own nil. Zilch. Zero. A few lines on Cerin Amroth were written by Tolkien. The song was written by Tolkien, Fran Walsh, and Philippa, um . . . somebody. I write only because I like to.
A/N: First off, I am sorry that Aragorn has blue eyes. I will try not to mention them again. But if you check the book, it definitely says they were indeed blue at that time. And secondly, Aragorn was not planning to ride all the way to Rivendell before nightfall, he just wanted to cover some more ground. And last of all, it wasn't my intention for things to happen so fast. But yet again, I do as the book commands, and, according to dear old Tolkien, 'her choice was made' as soon as she saw him walking toward her. *Shrugs* Thanks for reviewing!
Chapter Two: East to the Shadow and West to the Twilight
Over the next few weeks Arwen felt herself falling headfirst into the dizzying oblivion she could only identify as love. Every day she met Aragorn in the shade of Caras Galadon and they would walk together, heedless of the world around them. Sometimes they would simply sit in a secluded glade, she resting blissfully in his arms, and listen to the songs of the Elves. Some days they would pack a picnic walk down to the river Celebrant, returning only when night fell over the land of Lorien.
Some days they were not so lucky. Word had reached the Lorien Elves of the growing evil in the east, and the shadow over the enchanted lands darkened. Gandalf the Gray rode once to Lothlorien, and Arwen saw not a trace of Aragorn for three days.
Winter became spring, and spring became summer, and the trees of Lorien shed their golden leaves only to burst full of brilliant yellow flower. And it was then, in the earliest days of the sixth month, that the sons of Elrond rode into Lorien. Learning of their sister's choice they were much aggrieved, but they as well held Aragorn in high esteem, having watched him grow from boy to man and trained him in the arts of the elves.
"I do fear," said Elladen, "that, whether or not Arwen chooses to stay with Estel, nothing good can come of their relationship."
"Do not doubt," Elrohir abashed his brother, "that which you have yet to understand. A great evil comes swiftly on the East Wind, and for Estel to conquer it would be to prove himself in the eyes of our father and our sister."
A smile pulled at Elladen's lips as he gazed out the window into a shady glade. "I don't know if he needs help in that regard."
Elrohir chuckled. "Any more of that and they'll be walking the road of Luthien and Beren step for step."
Arwen's voice rang with laughter. Since she had come to Lorien, her days had been dark and her joy seldom. But when she was with Aragorn all the happiness of life seemed to come rushing back.
"I've got you now, fair maiden!" Aragorn came up behind her and threw his arms about her neck. Planting a kiss on her cheek, he said, "Now you can never escape!"
She turned around to face him, their heads only inches apart. "Do you promise?" she whispered, her heart beating loudly against his chest.
He lowered his head so their foreheads touched. "Promise," he whispered back. "Anno ui-gwaedh nin.*"
Arwen bit her lip. She didn't feel like talking about forever, or any time in the far future for that matter. He doesn't know about forever, she thought. He won't be around to see it. She desperately tried to push the thoughts from her mind.
Aragorn sensed her pull back. "What's wrong?"
Arwen sighed. Don't think about the future. You're living now, and you're missing it. She smiled up at him. "Nothing."
His arms tightened around her waist and his lips met hers in a promise more powerful than anything either one could say. And Arwen found herself welcoming it.
Galadriel gazed at the young lovers and sighed. She turned to Celeborn, a sorry look in her eye. "Time is running out," she said in Sindarin. "Soon he will be gone and dark once more will be her days."
The tall elf shook his head. "Arwen will wait. Anyone over two thousand years old has grown patient by now."
The look in his wife's eyes saddened. "Oh, but Celeborn, I don't know if she will. Arwen knows the consequences of pledging her love to this man, and so she is wary still. She hesitates even as her heart tells her otherwise."
Celeborn frowned. "Maybe she is right. After all, one does not forsake one's family, one's very life, so easily. Perhaps it is not meant to be. Perhaps it would be for the best if he goes without a pledge."
Galadriel shook her head. "No! I have foreseen it. There union will unite the kingdoms of Middle-Earth." She looked up. "I have seen young Estel as a King."
He gasped. "Why did you not tell me this?"
"It has only come to me recently. But I fear that a broken heart will only hinder his path and the great deeds I have seen may not come to pass."
"Maybe you underestimate the boy's strength."
She sighed. "Maybe so. But Arwen loves him, and I feel in my heart that it is right."
"He cannot stay, though." Celeborn paced the room. "Midsummer's Day he leaves with Elladen and Elrohir. It is a long journey before anything you have foreseen comes to pass."
"I know. I do not intend to meddle. Just worry."
Arwen struggled to sit up straight. It was Midsummer's Eve, and Aragorn's last night in Lothlorien. I should be with him, not sitting here listening to someone I don't know sing a song about someone long dead!
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aragorn standing at the edge of the wood. Risking a look at him, she caught her breath. He was dressed in the same tunic of white and gold he had worn his first night in Lothlorien, and to Arwen he was more handsome then ever. She looked beseechingly over at her grandmother and, to her amazement, Galadriel gave an almost imperceptible nod in Aragorn's direction.
She left her seat quietly and slipped into his arms at the edge of the wood. "Shhhh," he whispered, and beckoned her quietly away from the party of Elves.
S he tried not to laugh as he led her deeper into the wood. "Where are you taking me? What's going on?"
In a clearing a little way from Cerin Amroth, he stopped and faced her, a hopeful smile on his face. "It's a surprise."
She smiled up at him. "What kind of surprise?"
"You'll see." He sat down in the grass. "The land is beautiful."
She sat next to him. "I love this time of year. The trees are just beginning to blossom and the whole world seems bathed in sunshine."
Far off, she could hear the songs of the Elves. The fragrant perfume of the elanor and niphredil scattered about the hillside intertwined with the fresh scent of the undying grass that was only found in Lothlorien. She lay her head back and breathed deeply, feeling the beauty that Lorien still retained. She kicked off her shoes and sighed. "I could lie forever in the grass and listen to the forest sing."
Aragorn laughed softly. "I know what you mean." He kicked his shoes off as well. "Walk to the top of the hill with me."
Obligingly, she got up and followed him, wondering why he seemed so nervous. As they trekked up the hill, she looked at him and was startled at how she felt.
On the top of Cerin Amroth, the hill where to the east lay a shadow and to the west the Twilight, Aragorn sat down. His face was set and grim.
"What's wrong?" Arwen sat by his side and snuggled close, resting her head on his shoulder. "You seem troubled tonight."
He looked down at her and smiled. "I'm not. You look beautiful tonight."
She laughed. "It's the magic of Midsummer. Tomorrow it will fade and the birds will not sing as sweetly, the air will not smell as fresh. But tonight, and just tonight, the magic of the wood comes together to create a perfect evening."
"You know I'm leaving tomorrow."
She frowned at the unwelcome intrusion. "And that is why we must make the most of tonight." She reached up and kissed him softly, becoming fully aware of just how much she would miss him.
He reached out and drew her close. "Arwen, meltha, I love you."
She looked up at him, her eyes searching. "I – I love you too. You know that." Once she said it, she realized how true it was. "I will wait for you, Aragorn. You can go off as you need. But I still want to be with you."
He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you? Truly? My Evenstar, I love you more than you could ever imagine. But there always seems to be a whisper of doubt in your mind."
Arwen looked at the man beside her, so hopeful and so vulnerable. It wasn't that he was right. It was all she could do to keep from crying out to him, pouring out her heart for him to see.
But, unbidden, the image of her father popped into her mind. She knew he would not approve. The reproach of her brothers was only the tip of the iceberg; to be with Aragorn meant to go against the honor and lineage that Elrond held so dear.
She struggled to make sense of everything running through her mind. She bit her lip, hardly daring to look into Aragorn's eyes. "I love you, Estel. Of that I am sure."
Joy found place on his face, replaced in an instant be concern. "What is it that you are unsure of?"
She forced herself to look at him. The full impact he had on her made the next words all the much harder. "Whether this relationship can work."
"O môr henion i dhu, Ely siriar, el síla. Aníron, Undómiel,**" he said softly, looking into her eyes. She tried to lower her gaze but found she could not. "That is what I know. And it's all I need." She tried to speak, but he laid a finger on her lips. "Arwen, having you in my life is everything I've been dreaming of for nigh on thirty years. That may not be anything to you, but it's been more than half of my lifetime. And if you have any faith in me, you will believe that after half a life of dreaming I know how to make it work." He waited for her to interrupt, but by now she was beyond words. "Arwen venldmelda, namarie. Ui-namarie. And I know you feel the same way." He seemed to be gaining courage as he spoke. "We have the chance to be together, and unless you'd rather spend your days alone -"
She cut him off with a deep, passionate kiss, unable to contain herself. He wrapped his arms around her slender frame and held her tightly. Pulling away, she laughed out of sheer jubilance. "You're right, Estel. You're so right."
He smiled more happily than she knew possible. "El eria e mor. I 'lir en el luitha 'uren,***" he murmured into her ear. For a while they sat, listening to the songs reverberating through the wood.
As the sky grew dark, Arwen could see, on the eastern horizon, the ominous light from the land of Mordor. "That land casts a shadow over the dwellings of my people," she whispered, awed and afraid. "It marks the last days of the Elves."
Aragorn tightened his hold about her shoulders. "It is a dark foreboding."
But Arwen said, "Dark is the shadow, and yet my heart rejoices; for you, Estel, shall be among the great whose valor will destroy it."
Aragorn shook his head. "Alas! I cannot foresee it, and how it may come to pass is hidden from me. Yet with your hope, I will hope. And the shadow I utterly reject." At this he turned gently and looked into her eyes, finally addressing the issue they had avoided for weeks. "But neither, lady, is the Twilight for me; for I am a mortal, and if you will cleave to me, Evenstar, then the Twilight you must also renounce."
Arwen felt something twist in the pit of her stomach. Here it was; there would be no more putting it off. She must make a choice. Here is my one chance for true love, she thought, knowing in her heart that she was right. But in doing so I must give up my family and my heritage. She looked to the west, where, across the water, the land of Valinor lay. She gulped. Her mother waited there for her daughter to come. Her father expected her to go with him. If she chose to cleave to this man, then she would never see the Twilight. She would never return to the land of the Elves.
There is a war coming, she thought. The Shadow and the Twilight close in on me from either side. A single tear ran down her cheek. And either way, I have so much to lose.
She looked over at Aragorn. He was gazing at her squarely, waiting for the answer she knew would make or break his heart. I don't know if I can let my family go, she realized, but I do know that I can't leave him. "I will cleave to you, Dunadain, and turn from the Twilight." Each word felt like its own betrayal. "Yet there lies the land of my people and the long home of all my kin."
He held her tightly and kissed her cheek. "I know, meleth nin. And I am sorry."
She looked up at him and smiled in her heart. "I believe you are worth it."
As Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and Arwen Elrond's daughter sat on the hill of Cerin Amroth locked in a bittersweet embrace, the song of the Lorien elves drifted through the glades,
"May it be, an evening star
"Shines down upon you.
"May it be, when darkness falls
"Your heart will be true.
"You walk a lonely road.
"Oh, how far you are from home.
"Mornië utúlië,
"Believe and you will find your way.
"Mornië alantië,
"A promise lives within you now.
"May it be the shadow's call
"Will fly away.
"May it be you journey on
"To light the day.
"When the night is overcome
"You may rise to find the sun.
"Mornië utúlië,
"Believe and you will find your way."
*"I give you my promise forever."
**"From darkness I understand the night, dreams flow, a star shines. I desire you, Evenstar."
***"A star rises out of the darkness. The song of the star enchants my heart."
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