Chapter 9

"You've returned- precisely when I had left to find you!" Éowyn exclaimed in surprise and delight. Dashing out of the room, she swept into his arms. After the temporary shock – and delight, and burst into tears.

"Remember my parting words- there would always be room in my heart for you," he said to her gently, wiping her tears away. A single smile seemed to melt her frost and her face seemed to light up with an ethereal glow that it lacked for so long.

"It's been what seemed forever," Éowyn smiled at him. "And perhaps it's time to show you around Edoras," she said. The Golden Hall had always fascinated Haldir, even though he proudly maintained that he never loved anything from the mortal race when speaking to the elves. Éowyn took him throughout Rohan, attracting several stares of consternation and surprise from the nearby villagers, who looked on in interest as they passed. It had, after all, been long since they had last seen an elf – since Legolas' arrival in Rohan, and now that he had left, Rohan seemed to have returned to its old sleepy ways. Éowyn nodded to the people of Rohan as they walked to the peak of a small mound which overlooked the city of Rohan.

"How did my horse die?" Éowyn asked all of a sudden. A walk through Rohan seemed to have jogged her memory.

"From where I was looking, all I could make out was that it simply collapsed on the ground," Haldir said.

"It wasn't under attack or anything?" Éowyn asked steadily.

"No, I assure you, it was a peaceful...demise." He replied. He could sense her sadness, but under it, there was also a refreshing clarity to her voice and her heart seemed to have lightened.

"I really had to know. I really loved that horse, and I planned on – on- on riding into battle on it one day," she replied, a dull flush colouring her cheeks. She smiled at him and he clasped her hand gently in his.

"There are dreams and hopes, but would you want to? Why would you want to give up your life and everything else that could possibly be?" Haldir asked her.

Éowyn fell silent. "Perhaps in death I would find what I was truly meant to do, rather than searching aimlessly on earth," she replied. Haldir knew that it was time to stop probing, and they gazed into the vast expanse of mountains and plains, seemingly all alone in the world.

As the air got colder and draftier, they walked in silence back to Edoras. Upon seeing their arrival, Éomer glared at Haldir steely.

"So, March Warden, you have returned."

"Yes, I have, as I said I would," Haldir replied, matching his tone perfectly.

"I do remember making a vow to my sister, that if you ever returned after a certain abrupt departure, which left her in hysterics and misery for so long, you would be dealt with...severely," Éomer spoke evenly, barely letting Haldir intimidate him.

"I realize the distress I must have caused everyone," he said with an ironic half-bow, and continued, "but I returned, and saved your sister," he reminded Éomer.

"There will be enough of these protestations – guards!" Éomer summoned.

Haldir shot him a look of pure loathing and venom. "We came to your aid at Helm's Deep. Yes, I was an unwelcome guest, I realize now," he said icily. "And to have me exiled would be too much a courtesy – I was from Lothlorien," he concluded.

"What insolence! Exile would be much too convenient. No, you shall be sent to the dungeons," Éomer replied. The guards swarmed around the unarmed elf and dragged him off to the dark dungeons far beneath Edoras.

Haldir looked out from the grimy windows of the small cell he was in. Little light could penetrate the layers of dust and dirt that coated the windows, and he sat in the darkness, thinking and musing on everything that had happened. His life had turned upside down once he had met Éowyn. Turning away from where he had come from to return to Rohan, only to be kept captive by his love's brother disturbed him greatly. It had been a day of surprises and tumultuous events. Perhaps the best thing for me to do now would be to try and rest as much as I can, and wait for tomorrow, he said to himself.

A faint knocking at the side of the walls alerted him. Crouched near the grate of the cell was Éowyn, bending low.

"I found the keys, but I have to get you out of here as soon as possible. Now," she said firmly.

"But where would we go? We couldn't stay here, and your brother would have us both hanged," Haldir replied.

"There are a million places we could go – roam Middle Earth, traverse to Lothlorien..." she answered, a trace of doubt appearing in her voice, yet, her fingers worked nimbly to unlock the steel chains binding the cell shut.

They left for the stables, where they mounted two of the swiftest horses, and rode off far into the distance, never once looking back until they reached the borders of Rohan.

"And we shall proceed to Lothlorien," Haldir replied, gazing off into the horizon.

"Maybe one day we could return to Rohan – one day..." Éowyn said sadly. "I hope that one day, he will be able to forgive us and welcome us back."

Haldir smiled at her and took her in his arms. "Perhaps when it's all died down, we will. But now, we have each other – and that's all that matters now," he replied. The dusk cast the surroundings into darkness, and they knew that it was time for them to stop, to rest for the night.

Éowyn! And Haldir! Where have they gone? Vanished, and the chain holding the prisoner is gone! Why does this have to be so complicated? Why does she have to help him escape? The extreme peculiarities of life, the irony! Éomer thought frantically. He would never be forgiven for this. King Theoden knew that his free-spirited niece was devoted to the kingdom regardless, and this sudden leaving would indeed trouble him greatly. He knew that the only thing he could do was to forgive. He never truly understood the situation, and was trying so hard to comprehend, and to forgive.

Perhaps he had to look where he had never gone. Lifting up a thinly veiled stack of parchment on the side of Éowyn's room, concealed cleverly near the bed, he began reading.

Words swam before his eyes, tales and recounts of woe and fear for Haldir. The mysterious elf who had tried so long to kill him. Everything was there, in full-blown truth right in front of him. Spasms of fear paralysed him, and he knew that all was in vain. He had just put their lives in danger, and he silvered slightly. As he picked up a half-written piece of parchment, the ink still slightly wet, he sighed.

Éomer, my dear brother,

If you find this, I have left Rohan for Lothlorien, and perhaps one day, I will return if you could possibly accept the fact that I love Haldir, despite him being an elf, and that he is in grave danger. This is not a plea for forgiveness – it is merely informing you of where I intend to go from here. Perhaps one day...

Éowyn

A wave of sadness rushed over him. There was nothing else that they could possibly do anymore. Everything else was history, and why would he have to deny it? There was no point anymore. There was only the future.

Meanwhile, at the gates of Lothlorien, Haldir and Éowyn stood in uncertainty, wondering if they ought to simply step in. Perhaps it was time to start anew, and this would be a good place to begin. The welcoming gates of Lothlorien seemed to beckon, and the beauty of the land was compelling. As Haldir held on to Éowyn's hand gently, they entered the Golden Wood, welcomed by Lady Galadriel, and once again, Éowyn felt at ease.

Perhaps Rohan was to be kept in the past.

Perhaps it was time to love and to live a little more.

THE END.

A/n: I had LOTS of fun writing this story! However, I felt it was getting way too draggy and long and all that, so I decided I would end it here. May be writing a sequel to it, maybe not, maybe will be starting a new Haldir/Éowyn fic...I dunno, it all depends. And a very BIG HUMONGUOUS LARGE GIGANTIC TREMEMDOUS THANK YOU to all my reviewers who have reviewed for all the chapters!!!