My PEN-NAME HAS CHANGED FROM 'Strider's Girl' to 'Leela74'.
IMPORTANT NOTE AT END OF CHAPTER! PLEASE READ!
Chapter 8
Reunion
They arrived back at Minas Tirith almost a week after the Knight's death. It was dark and most of the occupants of the city slept soundly not knowing that their King had returned. When Arwen saw Aragorn and the smile on his face, she realised that something good had happened to him, and that somehow the darkness that had resided within him had faded to something so small and trivial.
She rushed to him, pulling him into a bear hug. Aragorn stiffened slightly but then relaxed. He was safe here in the city. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm home now."
"The main thing is that you are safe."
She pulled away from him and welcomed the others before leading them into the hall and assigning them quarters for the remainder of the night.
Aragorn told the Queen he was not tired and wished to be alone for now. Arwen consented for she was glad that he was more himself now then he had been in a long while. She slept peacefully that night.
Morning dawned and it was to find Aragorn standing at the window that looked out from the nursery. He had spent the rest of the night sitting with Eowulia. She had not even known he was there.
It was here that Arwen found him sitting with Eowulia in his lap around mid-morning. The little girl was smiling and in her tiny hands held a small wooden box that had the first four elvish letters engraved into it. This was meant to encourage the child to recognise the language of the elves as well as the language of men. Still young she had no clue as to what the symbols meant.
The Princess looked up as Arwen strode forward and giggled as her mother drew nearer. Aragorn settled Eowulia in her mother's arms and sat watching them. No one said anything.
Finally it was Arwen that broke the silence. "Legolas told me what happened. Are you…?" she stammered.
"Fine?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I feel pretty good. Something's happened. I feel different. Not as much pain, but its still there. I feel that I can cope with it. The Knight's influences are gone. I have no reason to panic or feel frightened."
Arwen smiled happily, leaning over to kiss him.
"I tell you what," Aragorn began, "I want to treat you to something. Meet me at sunset today outside our quarters."
"Why?"
"It will be a surprise."
At sunset Arwen met Aragorn outside on the balcony and to her surprise found a ready-made meal waiting for her. She was surprised at this but enjoyed the meal all the time. The sunset and the stars appeared, lighting the sky. They hardly spoke for neither knew what to say, and once the meal was finished, Arwen was taken by the hand by Aragorn and led into their room.
It was a night Arwen would not forget, for nine months later she gave birth to their seventh child, but sixth daughter, naming her Celedë. It was a happy time for them.
Aragorn was ready to face the future at last. He no longer worried over his injuries, though both knew that the pain would return, as Aragorn grew older into age. It was something that Arwen dreaded.
TBC
A/N) I'm terribly sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I didn't mean for it to be so short. Sorry once again!
IMPORTANT NOTE
Right, now some very bad news.
I am having difficulty in finishing this story off in the next chapter. I am completely stuck on how to end it. Unfortunately inspiration seems to have disappeared; I have no idea of how this story will end. I have a general idea of what the last few sentences will be but its getting there is the problem. I need help, so if anyone has any ideas of what could happen, no action or violence though, just a lot of talking about the past and the future, mainly.
However….
As of Sunday 4th July I will be on holiday with no access to computer so I'll not be able to type anything. I'll be away for two and a half weeks. When I come back it is the beginning of the summer holidays in England so I'll have lots of free time to write the final chapter to 'Into the West'. As my GCSE results are due at the end of August I may not be able to type much as I'll be worried about how well I did for my exams. (I know it's a stupid thing to get worried about!)
What I've decided is to update on August 28th 2004. This will give me adequate time to write a really good ending for this story. I receive my GCSE results on August 26th (I think) and I hope to the run up of that I'll have the final chapter completed, but to be safe I have laid down this deadline.
I'll try and update before August 28th but it is very unlikely. I'm very sorry to all who read this story.
Yet…..
If you like Harry Potter then you'll find that I am in the process of writing a fic for that which is called: Harry Potter and the Door of Death. This is taking up most of my time as I said that 'Into the West' is giving me a lot of bother at the moment. I find writing the Harry Potter fic easier at the moment so when I do get inspiration for 'Into the West' I will finish it. For the moment the deadline for this fic is 28th August.
Have a good summer, and if I do finish the chapter in the next week (you never know!) then I'll post it, I promise! I WILL FINISH THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
Once again, I'm so sorry that you'll have to wait a long time for the final chapter!
Hope you come back to read the final chapter when it is finally finished!