Note; Alright, as if the last chapter wasn't short enough. And I know, I
know, it didn't explain jack. So, here's my apology to any and everyone
who's been reading this story. This chapter had already been planned to
come out this way, it just happens to work out nicely that it also answers
questions. So, maybe everyone will be happy after this, I dunno. But then
again, happiness isn't my job.
Chapter five
"Ugh! Won't this rain ever stop?" Arwen whined as she stared dismally at the gray world trapped behind the rain-streaked windows.
"Yes, it will, soon enough I imagine." Strider said quietly, his face staring intently at the book in front of him.
The company was convened in Rivendell's most treasured and massive piece of architecture, the library. Mr. Elrond himself had seen to the funding of the immense building, for he believed in the written word's importance above all else.
"You and your cripticsisms… I swear, why don't you ever just give a straight answer?" Arwen wagged her finger at Strider, a playfully stern look on her face
"Because," he answered with a sigh, as he swung his boots off the smooth, high-polished table-top and got to his feet, "Straight answers are no fun." And with that, he strolled down on of the many long bookshelves that inhabited the library in search of another volume.
"Ari, you might as well sit down and relax, get a book or something. The rain will let up soon enough." Merry chimed up from the hobbit's table. The five sat around a large leather-bound tome, each one chattering quietly but excitedly to the other and every now and then scratching down something in their notebooks.
"If I'd known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have let you convince me into going to the library this morning. We've been stuck in here for hours…"
"Two hours, actually, and you could always go back to bed, oh lovely one." Sam commented, his eyes never leaving the print in front of him
Arwen sighed, but resigned herself to flipping through a Russian romance novel when the front doors burst open. A surge of wind and rain swept through the portal and two rain-drenched figures rushed through the doors and hurriedly slammed them closed. Strider stuck his head out from the side of shelf, and eyed the strange pair warily, his fists curling tightly. The hobbits jumped at the sound of the slamming doors, and all turned in the seats towards the door, a small shriek of suprize was heard from Pippin, though he slapped his hand over his mouth immediately after.
The pair, giggling, pulled the drenched hats off their heads, revealing Lee and Lis, looking like wet dogs. The entire room sighed. The hobbits returned their attentions to their book and Arwen got up, excited by anything that wasn't a book, with Strider following a safe distance behind her.
"And just where have you two been all morning?" Arwen asked maternally
"We were just getting breakfast." Lis squeaked out as she eyed Lee. "We brought some if you guys want…" at the sound of food, all of the hobbits shot out of their chairs and towards Lis, their eyes shinning like a six-year-olds on Christmas morning.
"Food? Did you bring us food, Miss Corma?" Bilbo asked, rubbing his hands together
"Yes we did Bilbo. Bagels and apples for everyone!" Lee cried as he produced a rather large brown paper nag from inside his jacket. The outside was a bit damp, but the hobbits hungrily thanked them as they crammed warm bagels into their mouths in between gurgles of delight.
Lis smiled happily at the munching five, while Lee beamed quietly behind her. Arwen and Strider each grabbed a bagel before strolling back to their table and shelf respectively, leaving Lee and Lis to warm themselves by the drafty doors. Lee looked around and, upon spotting one of Rivendell's prolific fireplaces, grabbed Lis' hand and ran to the fireplace, both of them giggling.
Lis collapsed onto the rug, sighing contentedly as the warmth spread over her chilled body. Lee followed behind her, sitting a few feet away with his back resting on the front legs of a chair. She rolled onto her side, her back being warmed by the fire, and watched Lee quietly. His eyes were closed, and she smiled as she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
He was lithe, thin as a sapling, but strong. He'd carried her all the way from the fields to Avalon last night, after all. Besides, his movements were too graceful, too studied to be made by stringy sinews. His face was lean as well, and fair. Even with his white-blonde hair plastered to his cheeks and neck with water, and a few tiny droplets trickling off his closed eyelashes, he was beautiful, just as much as he was in the night, in the morning, everywhere.
"Yes…?" he drawled, a sly grin spreading across his face. He slowly opened his eyes, the fire behind her reflecting in those mirror-like pools of blue. Lis couldn't move, she was trapped in those eyes.
"You know its rude to stare at people, Lis." He joked. He reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. So gentle, she thought, he's so gentle.
"How you feelin?"
Lis shrugged. "Alright, I guess."
"Tell me when you don't, okay?
Lis gave him a strange look and nodded.
"No, I'm serious. You're my business now, Lis. I intend to take care of you."
"What makes you so sure I need to be taken care of?"
He ran his finger along her collarbone over her wet shirt. Lis's face went quiet. "As long as he's out there, you need me."
She nodded, and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes, listening to the logs in the hearth crack and collapse onto each other. Peaceful. So nice. She could feel eyes on her, though, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"You know it's rude to stare at people, Lee." She chuckled as she opened her eyes and rolled her head over to look at him.
"Yes, I know. But I have a legitimate excuse to stare."
"Why, because you're my new big brother?"
"Not really no."
Lis stared at him quizzically, half-wondering whether or not she wanted to hear is real reason or not.
"You're really quite amazing, Lis."
That was all he said. Then he got up and shuffled back to where Arwen was sitting, now with Strider, and integrated himself into the conversation.
Lis sat herself up, puzzling after Lee, then made her way over to the hobbit's table, after their book had caught her attention.
"Oh my gosh, the Anigua!"
Five heads snapped in her direction, all their jaws dropped.
"You know about the Anigua?" Frodo stuttered quietly, shocked.
"Of course I do. It's the premier work of pre-Beowulf mythology available. I used to read this all the time at Mordor."
"They have the Anigua at Mordor?"
"Of course they do. You know, not everything about Mordor is bad. The library, although nothing to Rivendell's, is quite extensive. We, I mean the semi-normal kids at Mordor, used to spend all of our time their. It's so quiet there and safe…"
Lee shot Lis a look at that, and turned his full attention to Lis's conversation now.
Lis and the hobbits went on discussing the finer points of the Anigua, and the myths of the times called Middle Earth. Lee sat enraptured as Lis argued with the resident bookworms on the finer points of the Elven migration. Arwen and Strider, under the guise of translating her Cyrillic novel, whispered earnestly.
"You look tired, Aragorn."
"It's nothing to worry your pretty little head over, Ari."
"My head is good for other things than looking pretty, Aragorn. I would appreciate it if you remember that every once in a while."
"I do, my dearest. I simply do not want you wasting your time on things you cannot help. Sometimes I think you would save the world if someone, like me, weren't there all the time reminding you to stop and sleep."
"Probably. But I sleep so much better when your by my side."
Aragorn reached out and, behind the safety of the book, slid his fingers across her cheek tenderly, in response to which, Arwen shivered, and blushed ever so lightly.
"I'm glad for that." He whispered throatily.
His fingers trailed down her throat, and traced along her collarbones, his eyes calm and his face quiet. Arwen blushed deeper, and quivering pants began to slowly escape from her lips.
"Arwen,"
"Yes?"
"Promise me something?"
"What more could you want? I've already given you everything you've asked for."
"All I've ever asked for was your heart."
"And it's yours. It always has been."
"And I cherish it, and thank the heavens everyday for you. But promise me something else. Promise you'll let me stay by your side forever."
With that said, Aragorn pulled his other finger from his pocket. Slid onto his index finger, was a ring. Plain, a simple gold band, but it shone with brilliancy in the dim, rainy light cast on the pair from the window behind them.
"I know your father doesn't approve, but I swear to you I can make him believe in me as much as you do, Ari, I promise. You believed in me when even I didn't. I'm the man I am today because of you. Promise you'll agree to let me sing you to sleep every night. Marry me, as soon as you're able. Marry me Arwen, my Evenstar."
Arwen stared at the ring, her jaw dropped ever so slightly. She slowly, but surely, reached to his finger and pulled the ring off, fitting it perfectly about her own.
"Of course I will, you foolish, pig-headed, beautiful man."
Aragorn raised her freshly adorned hand to his lips, tenderly kissing her smooth skin, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Thank you Ari, you have made me the happiest man on earth."
"Oh, I doubt that." Lee's voice rang quietly through their meting. Arwen lipped the book down and found his clear blue eyes staring at them.
"Lee, I swear…"
"Now, Strider, no need to get upset. You two have been my biggest secret for ages, you know that. Oh, my congratulations, by the way. I hope I'm godfather to your firstborn,"
"You know you will be, Lee." Arwen giggled, as Strider calmed down, allowing himself a smile.
"I simply do not think you are the happiest man on the planet, is all. And heavens forbid if I do not call you on even such minor points of dissention."
"Oh, really Lee. And you are the happiest, I suppose?"
"Yes, yes I think so."
"What makes you say that, Lee? What's happened?" Arwen asked.
"No reason, yet. Just enjoying the view." He smiled, as Arwen and Strider followed his gaze towards the hobbit's table. The pair exchanged a knowing glance as Lis looked over her shoulder and smiled shyly at Lee.
Chapter five
"Ugh! Won't this rain ever stop?" Arwen whined as she stared dismally at the gray world trapped behind the rain-streaked windows.
"Yes, it will, soon enough I imagine." Strider said quietly, his face staring intently at the book in front of him.
The company was convened in Rivendell's most treasured and massive piece of architecture, the library. Mr. Elrond himself had seen to the funding of the immense building, for he believed in the written word's importance above all else.
"You and your cripticsisms… I swear, why don't you ever just give a straight answer?" Arwen wagged her finger at Strider, a playfully stern look on her face
"Because," he answered with a sigh, as he swung his boots off the smooth, high-polished table-top and got to his feet, "Straight answers are no fun." And with that, he strolled down on of the many long bookshelves that inhabited the library in search of another volume.
"Ari, you might as well sit down and relax, get a book or something. The rain will let up soon enough." Merry chimed up from the hobbit's table. The five sat around a large leather-bound tome, each one chattering quietly but excitedly to the other and every now and then scratching down something in their notebooks.
"If I'd known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have let you convince me into going to the library this morning. We've been stuck in here for hours…"
"Two hours, actually, and you could always go back to bed, oh lovely one." Sam commented, his eyes never leaving the print in front of him
Arwen sighed, but resigned herself to flipping through a Russian romance novel when the front doors burst open. A surge of wind and rain swept through the portal and two rain-drenched figures rushed through the doors and hurriedly slammed them closed. Strider stuck his head out from the side of shelf, and eyed the strange pair warily, his fists curling tightly. The hobbits jumped at the sound of the slamming doors, and all turned in the seats towards the door, a small shriek of suprize was heard from Pippin, though he slapped his hand over his mouth immediately after.
The pair, giggling, pulled the drenched hats off their heads, revealing Lee and Lis, looking like wet dogs. The entire room sighed. The hobbits returned their attentions to their book and Arwen got up, excited by anything that wasn't a book, with Strider following a safe distance behind her.
"And just where have you two been all morning?" Arwen asked maternally
"We were just getting breakfast." Lis squeaked out as she eyed Lee. "We brought some if you guys want…" at the sound of food, all of the hobbits shot out of their chairs and towards Lis, their eyes shinning like a six-year-olds on Christmas morning.
"Food? Did you bring us food, Miss Corma?" Bilbo asked, rubbing his hands together
"Yes we did Bilbo. Bagels and apples for everyone!" Lee cried as he produced a rather large brown paper nag from inside his jacket. The outside was a bit damp, but the hobbits hungrily thanked them as they crammed warm bagels into their mouths in between gurgles of delight.
Lis smiled happily at the munching five, while Lee beamed quietly behind her. Arwen and Strider each grabbed a bagel before strolling back to their table and shelf respectively, leaving Lee and Lis to warm themselves by the drafty doors. Lee looked around and, upon spotting one of Rivendell's prolific fireplaces, grabbed Lis' hand and ran to the fireplace, both of them giggling.
Lis collapsed onto the rug, sighing contentedly as the warmth spread over her chilled body. Lee followed behind her, sitting a few feet away with his back resting on the front legs of a chair. She rolled onto her side, her back being warmed by the fire, and watched Lee quietly. His eyes were closed, and she smiled as she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
He was lithe, thin as a sapling, but strong. He'd carried her all the way from the fields to Avalon last night, after all. Besides, his movements were too graceful, too studied to be made by stringy sinews. His face was lean as well, and fair. Even with his white-blonde hair plastered to his cheeks and neck with water, and a few tiny droplets trickling off his closed eyelashes, he was beautiful, just as much as he was in the night, in the morning, everywhere.
"Yes…?" he drawled, a sly grin spreading across his face. He slowly opened his eyes, the fire behind her reflecting in those mirror-like pools of blue. Lis couldn't move, she was trapped in those eyes.
"You know its rude to stare at people, Lis." He joked. He reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. So gentle, she thought, he's so gentle.
"How you feelin?"
Lis shrugged. "Alright, I guess."
"Tell me when you don't, okay?
Lis gave him a strange look and nodded.
"No, I'm serious. You're my business now, Lis. I intend to take care of you."
"What makes you so sure I need to be taken care of?"
He ran his finger along her collarbone over her wet shirt. Lis's face went quiet. "As long as he's out there, you need me."
She nodded, and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes, listening to the logs in the hearth crack and collapse onto each other. Peaceful. So nice. She could feel eyes on her, though, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"You know it's rude to stare at people, Lee." She chuckled as she opened her eyes and rolled her head over to look at him.
"Yes, I know. But I have a legitimate excuse to stare."
"Why, because you're my new big brother?"
"Not really no."
Lis stared at him quizzically, half-wondering whether or not she wanted to hear is real reason or not.
"You're really quite amazing, Lis."
That was all he said. Then he got up and shuffled back to where Arwen was sitting, now with Strider, and integrated himself into the conversation.
Lis sat herself up, puzzling after Lee, then made her way over to the hobbit's table, after their book had caught her attention.
"Oh my gosh, the Anigua!"
Five heads snapped in her direction, all their jaws dropped.
"You know about the Anigua?" Frodo stuttered quietly, shocked.
"Of course I do. It's the premier work of pre-Beowulf mythology available. I used to read this all the time at Mordor."
"They have the Anigua at Mordor?"
"Of course they do. You know, not everything about Mordor is bad. The library, although nothing to Rivendell's, is quite extensive. We, I mean the semi-normal kids at Mordor, used to spend all of our time their. It's so quiet there and safe…"
Lee shot Lis a look at that, and turned his full attention to Lis's conversation now.
Lis and the hobbits went on discussing the finer points of the Anigua, and the myths of the times called Middle Earth. Lee sat enraptured as Lis argued with the resident bookworms on the finer points of the Elven migration. Arwen and Strider, under the guise of translating her Cyrillic novel, whispered earnestly.
"You look tired, Aragorn."
"It's nothing to worry your pretty little head over, Ari."
"My head is good for other things than looking pretty, Aragorn. I would appreciate it if you remember that every once in a while."
"I do, my dearest. I simply do not want you wasting your time on things you cannot help. Sometimes I think you would save the world if someone, like me, weren't there all the time reminding you to stop and sleep."
"Probably. But I sleep so much better when your by my side."
Aragorn reached out and, behind the safety of the book, slid his fingers across her cheek tenderly, in response to which, Arwen shivered, and blushed ever so lightly.
"I'm glad for that." He whispered throatily.
His fingers trailed down her throat, and traced along her collarbones, his eyes calm and his face quiet. Arwen blushed deeper, and quivering pants began to slowly escape from her lips.
"Arwen,"
"Yes?"
"Promise me something?"
"What more could you want? I've already given you everything you've asked for."
"All I've ever asked for was your heart."
"And it's yours. It always has been."
"And I cherish it, and thank the heavens everyday for you. But promise me something else. Promise you'll let me stay by your side forever."
With that said, Aragorn pulled his other finger from his pocket. Slid onto his index finger, was a ring. Plain, a simple gold band, but it shone with brilliancy in the dim, rainy light cast on the pair from the window behind them.
"I know your father doesn't approve, but I swear to you I can make him believe in me as much as you do, Ari, I promise. You believed in me when even I didn't. I'm the man I am today because of you. Promise you'll agree to let me sing you to sleep every night. Marry me, as soon as you're able. Marry me Arwen, my Evenstar."
Arwen stared at the ring, her jaw dropped ever so slightly. She slowly, but surely, reached to his finger and pulled the ring off, fitting it perfectly about her own.
"Of course I will, you foolish, pig-headed, beautiful man."
Aragorn raised her freshly adorned hand to his lips, tenderly kissing her smooth skin, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Thank you Ari, you have made me the happiest man on earth."
"Oh, I doubt that." Lee's voice rang quietly through their meting. Arwen lipped the book down and found his clear blue eyes staring at them.
"Lee, I swear…"
"Now, Strider, no need to get upset. You two have been my biggest secret for ages, you know that. Oh, my congratulations, by the way. I hope I'm godfather to your firstborn,"
"You know you will be, Lee." Arwen giggled, as Strider calmed down, allowing himself a smile.
"I simply do not think you are the happiest man on the planet, is all. And heavens forbid if I do not call you on even such minor points of dissention."
"Oh, really Lee. And you are the happiest, I suppose?"
"Yes, yes I think so."
"What makes you say that, Lee? What's happened?" Arwen asked.
"No reason, yet. Just enjoying the view." He smiled, as Arwen and Strider followed his gaze towards the hobbit's table. The pair exchanged a knowing glance as Lis looked over her shoulder and smiled shyly at Lee.