Disclaimer: No one belongs to me. They all belong to Tolkien.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He walked slowly through the almost total darkness. The only light came from the half moon in the skies far above. Nothing was familiar, and he was scared. For the first time in his young life he was alone. He didn't know how he came to be alone. He remembered going on a horsey ride with his mother through the night. She had held him tightly, and he had laid his head on her chest. Her clothes had been wet and had smelled funny. He had fallen asleep in his mother's arms as they rode. He had woken up about five minutes ago, from a nightmare in which his mother screamed for his father. The candle at his bedside had burned out. His fear of the dark, of being alone had led him out into the hall. He wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep in his own bed. He wanted to see his puppy. Most of all, he wanted his mother and father to come and hold him.
The wind started to blow outside. The moaning sound it made frightened him further. Two tears rolled down his cheeks and he wiped them away with his chubby fists. He knew big boys weren't supposed to cry. His daddy never cried and he wanted to be exactly like his daddy when he grew up. He started back down the hall, thoughts of his father making him braver. He had gone perhaps another ten feet when the moonlight disappeared as a cloud passed over. The wind picked up. A shutter came undone and slammed against a window. The loud noise, along with the darkness, broke the boys fragile bravery. Panicking, he ran down the hall, all thoughts of his father driven from his mind. The moon emerged from behind the cloud allowing light back into the hall. Too late the boy saw the pillar in front of him. Unable to stop he crashed into it. Dazed, he curled up on the floor. This was too much for him, and the tears started running in rivers down his face.
A door opened and a figure ran to where the boy lay. The boy looked up at the man, and held out his arms to be picked up.
"Daddy," he whimpered. The man picked him up and gently checked him for injuries.
"What happened my son,"
"Dark. Alone," the boy whispered.
"Let's go take care of the dark shall we?" He started back down the hall. The boy laid his head upon his shoulder. He was almost asleep before they had walked the short distance he had come. The man lit a candle and laid the boy on the bed. With a soft cloth, he gently wiped away the tear streaks on the boy's face. He covered him up with a down filled quilt.
"Don't go away Daddy ok," the boy asked sleepily. The man shook his head.
"I'm not going anywhere Estel. You will never be alone again."
Aragorn woke up from the dream he had been having. He vowed to head for Rivendell in the morning. He had been away from his home and his father for way too long.