Title: As the Sun Sets
Author: B-witched83uk (bwitched83ukaol.com)
Rating: PG
Summary: Aragorn and Arwen's thoughts during FOTR. Arwen comes to Aragorn in a dream to help ease his mind.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings. The whole of Middle-earth belongs to Tolkien.
Beta: The Last Evenstar, a great friend and a great editor.
Archive: fanfiction.net. Any others please ask.
Feedback: I would absolutely love some because yes I am a praise junky.
A/N: My first ever fic.
As the Sun Sets
Arwen:
The sun is dying into the night, my favourite time: the twilight between night and day. The sky is a deep, dusky blue, mirroring my soul. Once again, I am left alone with my thoughts. Once again, you plague my mind. It has been twenty-seven days since last I felt your gentle mouth on mine, and I am afraid that the cravings will be my end. I have not been able to breathe of late, living in the knowledge that you are so far away.
The memory of your touch tortures me nightly. My skin burns and aches for it. Food has no taste, music has no sound, and all I know is the stinging that engulfs me. Every heartbeat is agony, as though my heart swells against a crown of thorns, piercing and stabbing. My blood still flows, my body still works, yet I am not there. My spirit left when you did, my love, and I was left an empty shell.
Tears run dry down a cold cheek, leaving me a prisoner in my own mind. During the day, I long for sleep to rest my mind from you, yet sleep comes and I long for wake, for you haunt even my dreams. I frighten myself by loving you so entirely. I am no one if you do not love me. I am but a woman in need of your body. The heat plays in my head, entwined in the darkness, with only each other's souls for light. Your soul shines brightly, and it guides me through even the most shrouded of days.
I know not where you are, but I am there with you. I gave myself to you wholly, and now I place myself in your protection. The place in which I dwell teases me with memories: the feel of your breath on my cheek as we danced under the twilight, my star that you called your beacon when first we met, the bed we shared for many a beautiful night simply holding onto each other. I will wait for you, no matter how long.
I will lesson the pain by living in the fantasy and I shall only come out when need be. One day, we shall be reunited, and on that day the light will come back, my mind shall be quiet, and your body will once again be mine. In this life and beyond I am yours.
Aragorn:
The sun is dying into the night, your favourite time. My body is cold, but not from the icy winds that surround this place. It is a chill that has made its way through my body from my frozen heart. There is a smell of elanor in the evening air, a smell that brings back memories of the night you bound yourself to me. My mind has been troubled and my body wearied. Still, the thought of you brings comfort to this solitary man.
I am unsure of the future, my love; I know not what it holds. It is by duty and duty alone that I stand here now, so far from your devotion, for I would rather hold you as the day bleeds into night then anything else in this world. My course is unknown to me. Now more than ever, I long to hear your words of comfort. The confidence you give me is fading now. I try desperately to hold onto it everyday. The image of your face, burned into my eyes, helps lessen my woes, yet the longing to have you in my arms causes such agony, for I know not when again it shall be.
I love you; such small words with such a big meaning. It seems not enough to describe the feelings you provoke in me. I should be resting now, ready for another harsh day, yet I cannot leave the darkening sky, not until I have seen your star, a beacon, calling me home to you each night before I sleep. You would think that I would long to enter a state of dream, to escape the reality, but I fear it for I cannot control the outcome. You are always there but are lost, out of view. Your star is twinkling at me, telling me that you are safe and that your thoughts are with me, so now I shall sleep and hope for peace and pleasant dreams.
"Go to sleep."
"I am asleep."
He looked at her and knew instantly that he was dreaming, but he cared not, for here she was before him, the image of love he had longed for so fervently. He was once again back in Rivendell, in the garden where they had once danced beneath the moon and her star. He rose from the bench beside the lake and in one fluid motion took his lover in his arms.
He knew it was hard for her to come to him in this way; it took all of her strength. He held her close and rocked her gently to the sounds of the wind. Like this they stayed, silent, for what seemed like an eternity of bliss. She had felt him calling to her. She had to see him, if only to sooth his aching and guide him on his way.
"You once asked me why I feared the past. Now I fear only the future, for I know not what it holds." His hands were in her loose dark hair, his lips brushing her forehead.
"I have not the power to tell you. I know only the present, and that is filled with us. Fear not what we cannot change, be here with me now. This is your place." Her skin was cool to the touch; it always was.
"I am bound to you in this life and the next. This is my promise to you, meleth nín,"
she whispered.
"Your love shall guide me through the hard times ahead. You are my strength," he held her close, breathing in her scented hair.
Tears fell from her softly as she weakened from the use of her energy. He knew he must let her go, let her rest and recover her energy. It was but a short time that he was allowed to bask in his lover's glow, but it left him more determined to succeed and get back to her. His lips danced with hers, her mouth so honeyed and warm. They held onto each other in a desperate attempt to remain where they were. Slowly and softly, they began to fade from each other's view.
'im meleth lle.'
I love you
He woke reluctantly, the night sky now complete. He no longer felt cold. It had been brief, but sweet enough to keep him going, enough love to light his way. He would see her again, of this he was sure now. The smile played on his lips as his heart skipped a beat. He knew not what the future held but he was ready for it now; she had seen to that. She was his strength. His one true love.
The End