Ok, its here, I've finally finished a story, and even though I'm excited, it's also kinda sad because I began this nearly a year ago and its the first fic I've ever completed! So I hope I've done the story justice in your minds, cause I think I've done it justice to myself.

Dedications: Firstly, a million thanks to all my reveiwers, without you I would never be here. Secondly to the six special people mentionned on my profile page, you know who you are, but especially to Sunshine and Liv, cause you've been here for me in the past few weeks and I love you forever for it.

Disclaimer: Tolkien, I know you're dead and all, but thanks for giving me such brilliant characters/places to mess about with!

A/N: when you start reading you'll be like "wtf??" but keep going, its all linked together. the extract you might have read before is from chapter 15, just to recap what's going on. So here it goes... I don't think you'll cry, but you might.... :)

Last Chapter: Happily Ever After

King Aragorn Elessar Telcontar collapsed onto the bed without removing his clothes. It had been a very long day, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But he couldn't. Tonight was his and Arwen's first wedding anniversary, and they had planned a romantic, candle-lit meal together.

Sighing, he forced himself to his feet and began to take off his kingly attire in favour of a shower and more comfortable clothes. The weather was hot, as it was Midsummer, and he had been sweating in his heavy court garments all day. Once undressed, he walked to the bathroom to be greeted by a sight he would never tire of seeing.

Arwen was standing, naked, drying her raven hair with a towel. She hadn't heard her husband approach, and he used this advantage to sneak up behind her and wrap his arms round her waist, kissing her shoulder. He could sense her smiling, and when she turned around in his arms he pressed a lingering kiss to her lips.

"My lady looks lovely this evening," he whispered, and Arwen blushed.

"I'm not even dressed yet," She replied, eyebrows raised.

"Exactly," Aragorn said, winking and kissing her nose.

She laughed and hit his arm playfully. "And what's all this 'My lady' business?"

"Does 'My lady' not approve?"

Arwen grinned and kissed him, before stepping back and hanging her towel on the rail. She walked back to her husband and put both hands on his hard chest.

"'My lady' approves of that," she told him, "but she does not approve of being late for dinner."

Aragorn took the hint with a grin and kissed her forehead, then climbed straight into the shower with an amused look from his wife. She shook her head and went into their bedroom to get ready for the evening.

She couldn't believe she had been married to this man for a whole year. There wasn't a day she could remember when he hadn't made her laugh, and today was no exception. She had only been joking about disapproving of being late for dinner, and she knew her husband knew this too, but she loved the way he would do anything to please her.

She realised that was all he had ever wanted to do, even throughout the long years of war and darkness when he had left her, leaving to fight for Middle Earth. She realised he would always put her first, and that was one of the reasons she loved him like she did. She realised that all of this had begun one day, seventy years ago in Rivendell.

"You are beautiful," Aragorn whispered for the hundreth time that night.

Arwen grinned and took his hand across the table. "If you tell me that one more time I may be forced to kill you," she told him in mock seriousness.

"You are beautiful," he repeated, eyes glinting in the candle light.

Arwen just laughed, and took a sip of her wine. "I have not the heart to kill such a charming man as you," she said, squeezing his hand. "For if I did, what would I do without you?"

Aragorn smiled at her, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it softly. "Did you ever think we would end up here?"

She just looked at him, not answering his question until she spoke. "I always knew we would be together, somewhere in the world. Here, I did not predict, but I never lost hope in our love." Her thoughts from earlier on in the evening surfaced and she voiced them to her husband with a smile. "Ever since that day in Imladris, I knew I would love you forever."

Aragorn mirrored her smile as he recalled the memory. It was so long ago, but as clear as if it happened yesterday...

:::Flashback:::

"Arwen, I need to talk to you." She looked at him in surprise.

"I- Of course, Es- Of course...." She had been about to call him Estel, something she knew he had picked up on, but realised her mistake just in time. Well, technically it wasn't a mistake, but she didn't think it would serve to ease the tension.

She noticed him looking at her, and though he didn't say anything, he didn't need to. It was time, she realised, for everything to come out. What had happened to him that left him unconscious for days, how he felt about the news he had received, how he felt about her.

Fixing the smile back on her face, she put her arm around his waist with forced confidence and helped him walk slowly from his room and out into the gardens. It was a beautifully hot day, yet he would not sit in the sunlight, and shaded his eyes from its rays.

When they were seated comfortably on the cool grass, Arwen waited patiently for him to begin, her plan all the while going through her mind incase he said some things she didn't want to hear.

But as he began to speak, all such thoughts left her, and she listened, transfixed, as he recounted his tale.

"When my father died, a young boy lost his idol. My mother would cry every night when she thought I wasn't watching, as if it were a weakness I should not witness. And for that reason no tears crossed my cheeks. I wanted so much to be like my father, big and brave and strong, so I comforted my mother in her grief and ignored my own.

"When I came to live here, she said it was because Lord Elrond could protect me. From what, I was never told. Then, years later she died, and again I locked away my grief. And because of this, I have never been able let go of either of them. They haunt me every night, and I want to forget the past and be content with their memory, but I can't.

"When your father told me about my destiny, I was shocked, to say the least. I didn't know what to think about anything, my whole world was crashing down around me and I was powerless to stop it. My emotions were already mixed up after the day we had spent together, and what your father said was the pebble that started the avalanche. I went to the one place that I thought could offer me some comfort, like it had so many times before. I was confused, scared and alone. I didn't understand why you had laughed at me, and when I needed you most you weren't there.

"And grief like I had never known overcame me, and all my feelings over my parents' deaths were unleashed. And as I cried, I heard voices in my head telling me to go home, but I didn't know where home was anymore. Then I saw them, standing in the glade, and she spoke to me. She called me Aragorn, her son, and I knew then that my life would never be the same again."

He paused and looked across the garden in the direction of The Place, where his life had changed forever. He felt Arwen move next to him, but didn't look at her. He also knew she was crying, and he wanted so much to dry her tears, but he needed to say some things first. If she truly loved him, she would wait.

"My mother and father were standing there infront of me, and suddenly I was not ashamed to let them see me grieve. And their presence next to me began to make me stronger, and when I had stopped crying they spoke to me in soft voices, telling me things about myself that even I didn't know. My father told me I would be the King Of Gondor and Arnor, and he could never have been prouder. My mother said I must always follow my heart, and choose what was important to me. And I was finally able to let them go.

"Then they were gone, and I realised that they had been in my head all along, and that was when I fell into darkness."

There was silence for a few minutes before Arwen spoke. "That's where we found you," she whispered, letting her tears fall unashamedly. "We brought you back here straight away. Adar tried everything but you wouldn't wake up. He said there was no hope, that you would be alone in the darkness until you died. They all gave up. I tried to tell them you would wake, I did, but they just smiled sadly and shook their heads." She moved closer to him and took his face in her hands. He wouldn't meet her eyes, but she told him anyway. "I never gave up. I never lost hope in you, you have to know that."

He took her hands gently in his and held them to his chest. Still he didn't meet her gaze. "I know. I know you did. I heard you, though I didn't know it was you at the time. When I rose from the darkness you were always there, talking to me. I longed to hear your voice, because it meant I was coming out of my deep sub-conscious into a lighter sleep. I would change between the two often, and in the former there was another voice, telling me you were coming and I must hold on. So I did. I think the voice was my mother, and I would listen to it as I watched the millions of souls above me glittering and fading, growing and diminishing.

"And then one night, you saved my life."

Their eyes locked then and Arwen knew in that moment that she would spend the rest of her life with this man. She had forsaken her immortality to save him, and from then on, she loved him with all her heart.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, they leaned in to a kiss that confirmed their feelings, completed their hearts and scorched their souls.

"I love you," Arwen whispered when they broke apart. "Estel, Aragorn; whatever you may be called, my heart is yours forever." He looked down and in his hand saw the Evenstar pendant. "I kept this for you whilst you were sleeping," she told him, closing his fingers over the silver necklace. "It is now rightfully yours, as you have my soul and I am mortal."

"I- Thank you." There were no other words that he could say, nothing that would even begin to describe how he was feeling. After a few moments he looked out across his home and said quietly, "Arwen Undómiel, I love you. Whatever lies before me, I can conquer with you by my side. One day I will take you as my queen, and we will live happily ever after like they do in the stories. Whatever you need and desire I will give to you, and I will never stop loving you."

And when their lips met once more, Aragorn knew he was home. He had found the missing part of his life, and he would never let her go.

You were right all along, he found himself saying to the sun, She is my heart, my home, and she always will be...

:::End flashback:::

"I love you, Arwen Undómiel," Aragorn whispered as they stood on their balcony after dinner, watching the sunset.

Arwen leaned into his chest and touched the Evenstar pendant that rested there. "I love you too," she replied, reaching up and meeting his lips in a soft kiss.

"I said," Aragorn told her, "that one day I would take you as my queen, give you whatever you needed and desired and never stop loving you. All of that has now become real, and I can't believe how happy you make me."

She smiled and kissed him again. "I also remember you saying something about us living happily ever after 'like they do in the stories'. Do you think our story will have a happy ending?"

Aragorn pressed his forehead to hers, whispering before sealing his words with a kiss. "If the end comes tomorrow, no happier story has ever been written."

And together Aragorn Elessar and Arwen Undómiel watched the sunlight fade into the night, and high in the sky the two stars that seemed to be joined by a thin cord burned brighter than any others.

Through long years of pain and strife, courage and waiting, they had always shone with hope and the beautiful glow of a love deeper than the mountains. A love that was unlike any other, that would always know a happy ending, that would go on forever.

The End.

Again, huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Writing wise I've come so far since the beginning of this story, and a lot of that is down to you. I love you all!

Hana X