Updated!!!!! Ta Da!!!!
This chapter is designed to help everyone understand why Arwen left Aragorn.
Thanks for everyone who has reviewed, and if you get bored waiting for my next post, check out my other LoTR story, 'Lord of the Rings, Revised' and let me know what you think of that one.
Thanks
Samantha
Chapter 10.
Late into the night Arwen slipped out into the cool night air, an Elven cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders, the hood pulled up to shield her face.
"I have never been to the Shire before." Aragorn said quietly.
"Please, Estel, leave me." She said to him. "Go back inside and talk with Ada if you must, but leave me to my thoughts."
"Please, dear Lady, just speak with me." He begged. "Tell me why, or how you have fallen so out of love with me."
"I..." Arwen began, unsure of how to describe these things to him in words.
"Walk with me. You are safe Arwen." He reassured her.
She nodded, falling into step beside him. "All I can ever see is your face, Estel. Your face, Luthien's face. They are so similar. I do not want you to endure the pain that I do. I know that you still love me, even after all the things I have said to you, asked you to do."
"How do you..." Aragorn began.
"Legolas and Gimli don't only visit you." She told him pointedly. "Somewhere deep inside I may still love you. But I will not let you die for me. I will not let the Valar take you before your time."
"The Valar will take me when I am ready to die, Arwen. Not before." Aragorn told her.
"No, Elessar, no. If you and I were to remain as in love as we once were, it would kill you, many years before your time. If I said yes to you now, and allowed you to act on the feelings you have for me. On my passing you would beg for death. I will not let you do that."
"I still don't understand, Arwen. How could loving you kill me?"
"Loving me would kill you because you love me too much, and I am fading. You know this." She bowed her head, the folds of her cloak hiding her face from him. "I will not let you die for me."
"Whom I die for is my choice Undomiel, and my choice still may yet be you." Aragorn answered her.
"Then may the Valar help you." She stopped walking and looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones.
"Arwen please. I would rather have a short time with the one I truly love, than spend all of my time left in Middle Earth alone. Won't you say you would too?"
"You forget that for most of my time in Middle Earth, I have been alone Aragorn. I have already had my time with the one I love. Now I look onwards to the rest, and peace that I know is mine. I look onwards to the fading of the Evenstar, and my parting from this world."
"Please Arwen."
"Before I left Rivendell, I told you that we are not bound to the circles of this world. Beyond those circle is more than memory. There lies Beren and Luthien, Arathorn, Gilraen, and countless others. That is where I shall wait for you. Beyond life, beyond death, I will see you there."
Then, once more she walked away from him, shrouded in darkness.
"Master," Aragorn began as he sat outside Arwen's house with his foster father. "I don't know what to do."
"Listen." Elrond told him. "Listen." The breeze swept through the trees, making a whistling sound. Aragorn closed his eyes, trying to hear what Elrond was asking him to listen to, but all he could hear was the sound of the wind in the trees. "A wise woman once told you to stop, and breathe when you were unsure. She was right. Allowing other things, other emotions to cloud your judgement renders it useless Aragorn. I have taught you this before."
"Do you think I should leave Arwen here with Luthien?" Aragorn asked.
"It is not my decision to make." Elrond said quietly.
"I do not know. I want to see my daughter, my only child upon the Throne of Gondor, and I know that if Arwen would begin living again she would be happy. She may even stop fading."
"That does not change anything for her." Elrond told him. "She will not let you die for her, and she does not want you to grieve either. You look for how much this hurts you Aragorn, and I know that it does, but it hurts my daughter just as much, if not more. In asking you to release her of all bonds she made to you, she had you release yourself. She wants you to marry and be happy. Arwen wants to see you happy before she dies. Otherwise she will fade, consumed with grief."
"I do not want anyone else, Ada." Aragorn slipped into using the name from his childhood for the Elven Lord. "I only want her. Does she not see that?"
"She sees that, and more my son." Elrond laid his hand on Aragorn's shoulder reassuringly. "Do not ask too much more of Undomiel. I do not think she will give in again."
"What am I to do then?"
"Whatever is in your heart Aragorn. Do whatever is in your heart." With those words Elrond left the King of Men to think over everything he had been said.
This chapter is designed to help everyone understand why Arwen left Aragorn.
Thanks for everyone who has reviewed, and if you get bored waiting for my next post, check out my other LoTR story, 'Lord of the Rings, Revised' and let me know what you think of that one.
Thanks
Samantha
Chapter 10.
Late into the night Arwen slipped out into the cool night air, an Elven cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders, the hood pulled up to shield her face.
"I have never been to the Shire before." Aragorn said quietly.
"Please, Estel, leave me." She said to him. "Go back inside and talk with Ada if you must, but leave me to my thoughts."
"Please, dear Lady, just speak with me." He begged. "Tell me why, or how you have fallen so out of love with me."
"I..." Arwen began, unsure of how to describe these things to him in words.
"Walk with me. You are safe Arwen." He reassured her.
She nodded, falling into step beside him. "All I can ever see is your face, Estel. Your face, Luthien's face. They are so similar. I do not want you to endure the pain that I do. I know that you still love me, even after all the things I have said to you, asked you to do."
"How do you..." Aragorn began.
"Legolas and Gimli don't only visit you." She told him pointedly. "Somewhere deep inside I may still love you. But I will not let you die for me. I will not let the Valar take you before your time."
"The Valar will take me when I am ready to die, Arwen. Not before." Aragorn told her.
"No, Elessar, no. If you and I were to remain as in love as we once were, it would kill you, many years before your time. If I said yes to you now, and allowed you to act on the feelings you have for me. On my passing you would beg for death. I will not let you do that."
"I still don't understand, Arwen. How could loving you kill me?"
"Loving me would kill you because you love me too much, and I am fading. You know this." She bowed her head, the folds of her cloak hiding her face from him. "I will not let you die for me."
"Whom I die for is my choice Undomiel, and my choice still may yet be you." Aragorn answered her.
"Then may the Valar help you." She stopped walking and looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones.
"Arwen please. I would rather have a short time with the one I truly love, than spend all of my time left in Middle Earth alone. Won't you say you would too?"
"You forget that for most of my time in Middle Earth, I have been alone Aragorn. I have already had my time with the one I love. Now I look onwards to the rest, and peace that I know is mine. I look onwards to the fading of the Evenstar, and my parting from this world."
"Please Arwen."
"Before I left Rivendell, I told you that we are not bound to the circles of this world. Beyond those circle is more than memory. There lies Beren and Luthien, Arathorn, Gilraen, and countless others. That is where I shall wait for you. Beyond life, beyond death, I will see you there."
Then, once more she walked away from him, shrouded in darkness.
"Master," Aragorn began as he sat outside Arwen's house with his foster father. "I don't know what to do."
"Listen." Elrond told him. "Listen." The breeze swept through the trees, making a whistling sound. Aragorn closed his eyes, trying to hear what Elrond was asking him to listen to, but all he could hear was the sound of the wind in the trees. "A wise woman once told you to stop, and breathe when you were unsure. She was right. Allowing other things, other emotions to cloud your judgement renders it useless Aragorn. I have taught you this before."
"Do you think I should leave Arwen here with Luthien?" Aragorn asked.
"It is not my decision to make." Elrond said quietly.
"I do not know. I want to see my daughter, my only child upon the Throne of Gondor, and I know that if Arwen would begin living again she would be happy. She may even stop fading."
"That does not change anything for her." Elrond told him. "She will not let you die for her, and she does not want you to grieve either. You look for how much this hurts you Aragorn, and I know that it does, but it hurts my daughter just as much, if not more. In asking you to release her of all bonds she made to you, she had you release yourself. She wants you to marry and be happy. Arwen wants to see you happy before she dies. Otherwise she will fade, consumed with grief."
"I do not want anyone else, Ada." Aragorn slipped into using the name from his childhood for the Elven Lord. "I only want her. Does she not see that?"
"She sees that, and more my son." Elrond laid his hand on Aragorn's shoulder reassuringly. "Do not ask too much more of Undomiel. I do not think she will give in again."
"What am I to do then?"
"Whatever is in your heart Aragorn. Do whatever is in your heart." With those words Elrond left the King of Men to think over everything he had been said.