Chapter 28

One way leads to diamonds
One way leads to gold

                  Aragorn watched the town with a careful eye.  Halbarad sat beside him.

                  " Nothing, not even a single scream."

Aragorn threw aside the blade of grass he chewed upon.

                  " It is not the Nazgûl."

Mardil joined them silently. 

                  " Why do you think this?" Halbarad asked.

Aragorn shrugged.

                  " Elrond would know."

~*~

                  Halbarad watched Aragorn go off alone.

                  " He is not what I expected," Mardil said.

Halbarad shook his head.

                  " He left his love in Imladris."

                  " Ah, Rivendell.  They tell me it is beautiful."

Halbarad nodded.

                  " Beyond your imagination."

                  " Why did he leave it?" Mardil asked.

Halbarad shrugged.

                  " No one seems to know."

~*~

                  Arwen watched Aragorn with a sigh via the palantír. 

                  " Where did you find that?"

Arwen turned around, hiding the stone with her body.

                  " Ada, do you never knock?  What if I had been dressing?"

Elrond merely raised his eyebrows.

                  " Where did you get that?"

Arwen looked down.

                  " Nana's study.  She told me where it was."

Elrond put a hand to his head.

                  " It is not to be used so inconsequently."

                  Arwen lifted her chin higher.  Elladan poked a head by, seeing what it was his father disliked.

                  " He may be lost to me, but I will not lose him."

Elrond clucked his tongue.

                  " He will always be lost to you."

Arwen tightened her mouth.

                  " I am the female in the family.  All of Nana's things pass to me, including this.  You cannot take it from me."

Elrond just shook his head.

                  " If you wish to torment me with the knowledge of your mother's existence still here in Imladris, then so be it."

                  Elrond brushed by his son.  Elladan sat beside his sister, pulling her close.

                  " From what I have heard, Nana used the palantír to do the same."

Arwen clung to her brother, breathing in the familiar woodsy scent.

                  " Why does it torment him so?"

Neither noticed Elrond still by the door.  Elladan brushed his sister's hair softly.

                  " Ada loved Nana.  It is not easy to watch an Elf fade.  You should remember that.  Think of what Elrohir went through with my fading and multiply it by thousands.  A union unites your souls.  A part of Ada died the day Nana left."

Arwen sighed.

                  " I want Ada back."

Elrond turned from the door, using all his self-control to not go back into the room and cradle his youngest.

~*~

                  Aragorn was busily following the path of chills down his spine.  He peered into the dark forest seeing a tower rising from the trees.

*Dol Guldur.

A piercing scream resembling nails scraping down a chalkboard made him cover his ears.  He began to inch back, his arms trembling.

*That was no bird I just heard.

He could feel them coming.

*Blessed Valar hide me from their eyes.

The black hooded phantoms passed right by him.

~*~

                  Halbarad and Mardil saw the sprinting man from a long ways off.

                  " We must get back up.  I did not know Dol Guldur was so close," Aragorn panted.

                  " What is it?" Halbarad asked.

                  " Nazgûl."

                  " There is no need for you to run."

                  Aragorn turned with a half-smile.

                  " Mithrandir, you finally decide to come out of hiding."

The kindly gray bearded wizard shrugged.

                  " I have been watching the tower for a while.  They care not for this town.  Estel, you shall come with me east.  I am leaving you two to watch this town with all vigilance.  If the Nazgûl move, then your captain wishes to know if it."

~*~

                  And so it was.  Aragorn traveled with Gandalf into the far reaches of the East, though never escaping the watchful eyes of his beloved.  Aragorn continued his work in the east, while Gandalf returned to the Halfling's leaf (the Shire) regularly, expressing his thoughts that Bilbo's ring may indeed be the long lost One ring.  The time came when Aragorn came into the North, into Eriador, where he had been told his mother resided alone.

                  When he arrived, he found her not alone, but accompanied by Êlenrana.  Êlenrana smiled when she saw the man approaching.  She nudged Gilraen.

                  " Your son approaches."

Aragorn's heart broke when he saw death lying upon his mother's face.  She was old and unwell.  Êlenrana wisely left and went inside.

                  Aragorn bent before his mother.

                  " Elrond did not tell me you were unwell."

                  " And when did Elrond lose the title, Ada?"

Aragorn looked down with a slight shoulder shrug.

                  " I do not remember exactly when.  After all the years, it only seemed fitting to refer to him as that."

Gilraen shook her head.

                  " How long shall you stay?"

Aragorn sighed.

                  " Not long, only a couple of days.  Mithrandir and I seek the creature Gollum.  I came only because I heard you were here."

Gilraen stood slowly.

                  " Then come inside.  A home cooked meal should do you good."

~*~

                  Aragorn sighed.  How he wished time could stand still for him.  He kissed her cheeks.

                  " I shall see you again soon, Nana."

Gilraen shook her head with tears brimming in her eyes.

                  " This is our last parting, Estel.  I am aged by care, even as one of the lesser Men, and now that it draws near I cannot face the darkness of our time that gathers upon Middle-Earth.  I shall leave it soon."

Aragorn's face twisted with grief.  He shook his head.

                  " There must be a light beyond the darkness, for I would wish you to see it and be glad."

Gilraen touched his face with a sad smile.  She shook her head.

                  " Onen I-Estel Edain, ú-chebin estel anim (I gave hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself)."

Aragorn kissed her cheek again.  He mounted his horse, trying to will away the tears on his cheeks.  He beheld her one last time for she died the following spring. 

~*~

                  Aragorn let his horse amble down the path towards the Shire where he was to meet Gandalf.  He sighed.

*If I had chosen a different path, what would have become of me?  Would I still be upon this road that all believe shall lead me to the throne of Gondor? 

Aragorn sighed.

*What road would have given me both a mother and father to cherish forever without this darkness for to me, that is treasure far above diamonds and gold?

And in his heart he knew the unwanted answer.

*For you, there never was such a place.

AN: Well?  Writer's block was overcome.  What do you think?  Next we shall meet Sméagol-Gollum and our all time favorite king, Thranduil.  I will try to have that ready soon.  Oh, and I am looking for a beta reader for all of my stories.  If you know some things about Tolkien and can edit, then by all means, please email me or post it in a review and you will have a first look at the chapters coming your way.