Here's another chapter… hope you like it… please review. No happy reunion yet! I'm still trying to figure out Aragorn's character… kind of difficult… I want to get past the romanticism and see what else there is.

Disclaimer: Some of this stuff is Tolkein's, and other lines are Viggo Mortensen's. They did not actually spring from my mind.

Coronation Surprise: Chapter 4

I wandered around the room in amazement, as though under a spell… I felt lucky that I had found it.

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Finally, I came to stand at the window. The view was almost the same as the view from the bedchamber, breathtaking and magnificent. I felt strangely at peace. Perhaps the chamber signified everything that I could never have: my love, children. Perhaps it meant that Gondor would fall to ruin eventually, the line of Kings forever ended.

But I have found who I am.

I am not the One Hero. I can see the cracks, and the imperfections. Not one of us here is perfect: not Gandalf, not Legolas, not Frodo, not even Arwen. All we can do is take the time we are given and chose.

Perhaps I will fail my people, perhaps I will fail Gondor. I might never see Arwen again. But I cannot let all these fears and doubts overcome me. I am Elendil's Heir, bearer of Andúril, the Flame of the West, forged from the Sword that was Broken. And I will become who I was born to be.

I look out the window again, and I see differently. I do not see men trusting me blindly because they know no better. I see men, who are grown and noble and who have overcome many trials, looking to me and trusting their faith to me. They will not let me lead them like blind sheep that are lead by a Shepherd, they will guide me and consult me when I flounder. I know that they trust me to do my duty and not fail, so I must trust in them.

The question is not whether I want this role. I have been given it and will make of it what I can; my destiny has fallen into place with every step that I have taken since Elrond told me of it long ago in Rivendell. I fear the Throne, because the striving for this power was what led to Isulder's fall. But I do not seek it for the sake of power. I seek it that I might do some good. I accepted the role of King when I walked the Paths of the Dead, and the Dead would not have followed me if I were not true in my heart.

I have known all this for a long time. It is just now that I have come to accept it.

With this revelation, a feeling of gladness rushed through me, a thrill that comes not from inside me but from outside me. A ringing of bells rushes through me, and I feel dizzy. It is not the destiny that I have come to claim, but the destiny that claims me.

I have seen, for a moment, with such clarity into the very depths of my being that it startles me. The clarity begins to fade, but the surety does not. I gaze once again around the chamber, and it seems that I should thank it for what it has given me. It is truly the nursery of Kings.

 I do not close the windows or draw the curtains as I leave. I draw the door quietly shut behind myself, and draw the tapestry back over; I do not wish for it to be seen by others, though I do not know why.

I look back around my own chamber, and I see it differently. I am not a guest in the room any longer. It has become mine, and it now longer appears so unfriendly. It is not a cage. Claiming my place on the throne will not set me apart from the world, it will make me a part of it. Endings and beginnings….

Today is the day that I will end my self doubt.

Today is the day that I will begin to live my destiny.

I see now that I do not do this for Arwen. I love her, and I know she loves me; I have faith that she will carry her love with her wherever she goes and will make that place brighter for it. Our union is greater than my existence or her existence ever could be, and it will live on. I carry her in me and there is none who shall ever part us. I do not regret. Perhaps this is what Gandalf was trying to tell me, I do not know. But Arwen has shown me love, and it would be errant to be consumed with sadness. I will live and not succumb.

I stride over to the chair where my robes have been laid out. I dress quickly. The cloak is red; not the faded red that I sometimes wore as a ranger, but strong, confidant and living red.

Gandalf himself comes to my door. His robes shine, and the power of one who knows much is about him. He looks at me with clear shining eyes. I do not know what he sees.

"Come," he pronounces, "It is time."

It is.

New chapter coming very very soon I hope. If people review. I know this is a bit different from the other chapters (it's supposed to be), but I felt that just having him pining and sorrowing for his love would misrepresent his character. I hope the chapter is okay! Happy reunion coming up….