Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Lord of the Rings, or Ocean's 11. I'm just writing this for fun. So, enjoy!

Note to Readers: The characters are going to be a lot different, in case you haven't already guessed that. Oh and Aragorn was being held in a prison just outside of Rivendell. Run by rangers of the north.

Strider's Dozen - Chapter two - Seeing Arwen

He had been walking for three days, at a reasonably quick pace before Aragorn finally reached the borders of Rivendell. He looked in awe at it's beauty, the trees were laced with the rays of sunlight, that shone brightly upon them, indeed, it had not changed. However the man knew, that he would not be greeted with the fondness that he once had, and with good reason. His last visit to this elven realm, did not end how he would have wished.

"Ah, I was wondering when the orcs would throw you back upon my doorstep." The statement coming behind Aragorn, did not startle him, as it was meant to. He immediately recognized the voice to belong to the elven ruler of Imladris, and he turned so that he came face to face with Lord Elrond, who stood, staring at him, and if looks could kill, Argorn would have fallen dead in that moment.

"Milord Elrond, it is good to see you" the man replied with a large smile, obviously faked, which was returned with a matching one from the elf. "What are you doing here Dunedin, I have no time for your babble."

"Fine, In that case, I am here to see your daughter, if you must know," Aragorn began as he scratched the back of his neck. "Where is my dear wife anyhow?" he continued, but his jest did not amuse the elf lord, who only glared back at the man who had stolen his only daughter's hand from him.

"She is not your wife anymore, it was annulled, or did you not get the message?" Elrond shot back, causing Aragorn to smile back at him. "Actually I did. And I was surprised about how well you can mask her signature Milord."

Elrond lowered his head, knowing that he had been caught, slowly he rose it up once again and began to speak, only to be interrupted by the human, who grasped the elf's shoulder as he spoke.

"I love her, no matter what you may think. And she feels the same way about me," he stated, causing Elrond to sigh.

Aragorn's words were true, and beside their obvious differences, Aragorn's thirst for trouble, and the Evenstar's undying willingness to follow after him, their love for each other was true, and he could not overlook that. "She's in the garden," was his response, before he made his leave back towards his home, and down the passage to his study.

As Aragorn slowly walked down the grassy hill, he went over what he was going to say to her when they finally reunited after all the time that had passed. It was all in vain, for when he did lay his eyes upon her, all thoughts fled from his mind.

She sat there, in the earth of her garden, blooming with buds of reds and purples. Her long raven hair laid playfully around her shoulders , as she sang softly to herself. Even after all the years he had known her, and all the times he had thought about her while he had been away, she never disappointed him, her beauty was unsurpassable by any other, but that was least of the reasons that he loved her.

He cautiously approached her, being careful not to spoil the surprise of his visit. However, this also proved to be useless, for she spoke as he neared her back. "You're out." She said flatly, as she rose to her feet gracefully, but still not turning to face him. Aragorn didn't know how to take her comment, for he could rarely tell from the voice of an elf, any elf, their mood.

"Happy to see me?" he teased, with a hopeful grin, as she finally turned around and met his eyes, but no smile crested her fine face. Instead, a raised eyebrow. "Am I happy to see you?" she repeated his question, causing Aragorn to become anxious, which was unusual for the man.

"How could you ask me that?" she said in a demanding tone, before letting the smile come, as she leapt into his arms.

The Dunedin hated when she did that to him, but that was the price of being married he supposed, and his relationship with Arwen was one he placed above all others.

"What are you up to?" she asked, interrupting their long awaited embrace, and causing Aragorn to sigh.

"How do you do that?" he joked, as they pulled away from each other's arms, and stood, face to face, studying the other intently. "Call it a wife's instinct" she replied with a soft smile, causing Aragorn to laugh, "call it being an elf."

The human's obvious wish to delay his real reason for coming here so urgently, did not go unnoticed by the maiden and she cocked her head to the side, and glared, letting him know that she wanted the truth from him, and immediately. "I'm getting a group together," he finally began, as Arwen took in a deep breath, "What's the target?" she asked, knowing full well, that this was going to take a while.

The two spent hours, walking the grounds of Elrond's realm, discussing what Aragorn had thrown out to her. The scheme was grand scale, and Arwen knew that it would take a lot of work, planning, and persons. She already knew in her heart that she would help him, as did he, so there was no need for Aragorn to have to ask.

"Where are you going?" She asked him as they entered the stables. She already knew the answer to her question, but instinct forced her to ask him anyway. Aragorn studied the steeds, trying to pick out the one that would be able to get him to his destination the quickest.

"Mirkwood" he answered, confirming Arwen's guess.

"He's not there," she replied, causing Aragorn's head to shoot up and meet her eyes. "Do you know where I could find him then?" he returned, trying not to sound worried, but she once again caught it, though this time, she let it go.

"Last I heard, he was teaching halflings the skill of archery," she continued, as Aragorn hid a small chuckle. The thought of it only brought a smile to Arwen's face as well, and they both broke into laughter.

After a few moments, the two composed themselves, and forced serious faces to emerge. "So he's in The Shire then, well at least that saves me a trip." said Aragorn, as he mounted the dark horse, that once had belonged to him, all those year ago, when he was still a boy.

"I'll send word for the others, and we'll meet you as planned," Arwen assured, as she stood next the animal. Aragorn leaned down, and gave her a gentle kiss, and with that he was off, once again. To his delight, this time not with two legs, but with four. And so towards the Shire he journeyed, setting forth the next step in his plan.

Still enjoying it? R&R and let me know. Thanks a lot. The next Chapter will be up soon.******