This is just a short (very short in fact) story about a woman who's husband dies trying to reclaim Osgiliath.

Sheesh, I thought this was a bit longer, but typed up, it's very short. Oh well. Sorry about that.

"Good-bye."

That was his last whispered word to me. He spoke it in my ear before he left me for the last time. Even then I understood the significance of the word. Good-bye means forever.

So many marched to their doom that day, and I watched, hopeless as they rode away. I stood in the street and watched them pass. I watched until they were out of sight and even once they were, hoping for just one last glimpse of him before he was gone to me. Then, after a long time, I went inside and closed the door.

I lay down on the bed that we had shared for so long, and wept. I wept for my son, who would lose the most important person in his life. I wept for my daughter, who would never know her father. I wept for my husband, who went to fight for a cause that was not his own, never to return. I did not weep for myself. My grief was beyond tears.

My baby began to cry, and I hurried to comfort her, wiping my own eyes as I lifted her from the cradle. She smiled when she saw me, and I began to cry again, knowing that he would never again see her smile. She laughed at me and pulled my hair. I laid her on the bed and sat beside her, crying silently.

I was not alone in my grief, I knew that. Many other women would be widowed that day, and still more before the war could be won. But I felt alone, and there was no one there to dry my tears.

I knew that my husband would fight bravely, and never give up, but I also knew that there was no hope. Not for him. Not for those who fought with him. It was over.

Then I realized that there was hope. Not for them, but for me and for my children. In the morning I would have to start anew. For my children's sakes I would have dry my eyes and go on with our life. Everything would change. It would have to.

It was the end of everything I had known. All that remained of my life before was a single, whispered word. "Good-bye."