Chapter 8: All's Fair in Love and War

Aragorn very nearly missed dinner that evening. If Legolas hadn't come up to get him, he would have stayed up there all evening. They ran down to the hall, and took their usual places at Elrond's side. However, Aragorn noted that Haldir was missing.

"Where's..." he began to ask Legolas, but Aragorn found that he was speaking to himself. Legolas had disappeared.

Elrond certainly wasn't talking about anything. He looked mysterious as usual, and for once, Aragorn couldn't hear his thoughts. He found this most peculiar. Elrond had never wanted to conceal things from him before. At Haldir's place was a tired old man wearing a gray robe and smoking a woodpipe. A traveler, no doubt, who had stopped for dinner.

Aragorn ate his meal in silence, listening briefly to the conversations around him. The old man was speaking with Elrond, talking about looking for someone.

"I think he may be headed towards Mordor...he may think that the Dark Lord still has it. Or he could be headed back into the Misty Mountains. Wherever he is, he is certainly doing a good job of concealing himself. The point is, I need help."

The old man finished speaking, and Elrond slowly nodded his head.

"When would you want to embark on this journey?"

The latter smiled slightly.

"At least three months from now. I have someone following him for now...But I will need someone other than he."

Elrond replied

"Three months. Perfect."

Aragorn was extremely confused by this conversation. Who were they talking about? And where was Haldir?

Suddenly, he heard Elrond think something about border patrol volunteers...

He stood and began to leave the room, but he was stopped by a vision in light blue silk. In his haste, he had not seen Arwen coming towards him.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked.

Aragorn felt stupid. Where was he going? He realized that he had no reason to leave, especially not when she was here.

Arwen smiled. "I was coming to find you. Do you want to go riding with me? I'm not allowed to leave alone, and I prefer your company to any of the Rivendell guards..." she paused looking at him. Aragorn said yes before he even knew where they were going.

"Good. Let's get going. I have a feeling that if my father knew, he wouldnt agree to it, especially after the attack of those orcs."

Aragorn turned and looked at Elrond, who was still absorbed in conversation with the man in gray. Why not?

He slipped out the door with Arwen to the stables. They walked in on a scene that was embarrassing and funny at the same time: Legolas was sitting on a barrel with an elf girl and, shockingly, they were kissing.

The two lovers did not seem to see their intruders, so Aragorn motioned for Arwen to stay quiet. They tiptoed around Legolas and the girl into the stalls of their horses. Aragorn discovered that Tilinae was already saddled. Puzzled, he looked at Arwen, who smiled at him innocently. She had his horse ready. She must have been planning this. The stall door creaked ever so slightly, but the lovers didn't seem to mind. They were too absorbed in each other.

Aragorn and Arwen led their horses out the back door of the stables in silence. Luckily, the horses didnt make too much noise. They mounted immediatly and galloped off, not caring if they were heard. They were laughing so hard, and the breeze was so soft...

Rivendell was so peaceful at this time of day. The fireflies were out, and the blue twilight reflected in the waterfalls in a magnificant display. They slowed their horses to a walk so they could enjoy the scenery. Aragorn turned to Arwen and said

"I guess you can't live in Rivendell too much. I have lived here 7 years and I still cannot say that I have seen enough of its beauty."

Arwen merely watched him intently. He knew she had something on her mind, yet he could not see it. They rode a little in silence, the dusk settling comfortably around them. The stars were just beginning to shyly peep out around them, and the waterfalls made a hushed noise as though they too wanted to set the atmosphere. Aragorn and Arwen set off along the path that twisted its way towards the borders of Rivendell. They were about to come to a little bridge over a stream...

That was when the idea popped into Aragorn's head: He should kiss her. Right here. Right now. She was so beautiful, so wonderful...and, really, what did he have to lose? However, he realized that it would be very uncomfortable to kiss her on a horse, so he dismounted quickly, hoping she would do the same. He breathed a sigh of relief as she did, and, leaving the horses to graze, they started off down the path.

When they came to the middle of the stone bridge, they stopped and watched the creek trickling. Neither of them said a word. Aragorn opened his mouth once to speak, but he stopped, feeling that the words that came out would feel far too simple for a moment such as this.

Together, Arwen and Aragorn watched a small family of ducks making its way across the stream. The mother immediatly splashed across boisterously, and quacked at her ducklings to follow. The babies were intimidated by the fast current, but then one stepped forward and tested its luck. Slowly and unsurely, it slipped on the stones and finally reached the other side. The others followed suit, all except for a small one that pitifully squeaked and paced along the other side. Aragorn looked at Arwen and smiled. She gave him a worried look as he slipped down the bank and to the rescue of the baby duck. It scampered away at first, and the mother quacked ferociously, but Aragorn caught the baby duck and waded across, placing it carefully on the shore by the mother. The mother duck pecked his hand the minute he set it down, and he barely escaped a brutal lesson.

He ran back up to the bank to his place beside Arwen.

"Exactly what did you get out of that?" she asked sternly, knowing that he had been showing off. The mother duck was sending them suspicious looks, and quickly herding her brood into a thicket.

Aragorn sighed.

"A bleeding wrist and wet feet." he answered truthfully. She smirked "You deserved it you know." she said.

He laughed at his flambouyant attempt to look valient. "I guess I did." he said. There was an awkward silence between them as Aragorn nursed his wound. 'Do it now!' screamed his head, 'Kiss her!' But he found that he could not.

It was Arwen who broke the silence.

"Do I seem too...I don't know, forward and rude to you?" she asked. Aragorn's very heart was trying to leap out and yell 'How could you say that? You're the most wonderful person I've ever known!' Instead, he said. "No, not really. I mean yes, you are a really good fighter, and you're really smart, but any girl could be..." He realized he was babbling, but he did not stop. "You're not rude. I think you're nice...I mean, you're a bit forward, yes but how else would you meet people-"

She put her finger to his lips, and he silenced at her touch. Even after she had taken her finger off his lips, she continued to watch them intently. "Do me a favor?"

she asked. He nodded. Arwen smiled and said "Shut up and kiss me." Aragron was only to happy to oblige.

He pressed his lips against hers in a swift motion. She responded, and he could hear the stream trickling faintly, as though they were not really in Rivendell. This was love, he thought...This was love. She slipped her arms around him, and he put his arms around her waist. They stood in one another's embrace, looking at each other. She smiled, and raised her lips to his again, unlocking feelings he had not known he posessed. Perhaps they would be together forever...and perhaps not. But he knew that it did not matter. All he knew was that they were here, now, in love.

"Aragorn?" A cool voice entered his thoughts, and he turned to see Haldir standing a few feet away. Haldir gazed at the two of them looking back at him. His icy blue eyes took in the scene, and he looked away. Arwen looked at Aragorn, and he nodded. Arwen ran up to her horse, and jumped on. With one last look at him, she galloped off towards the lights of Rivendell.

Haldir looked back at Aragorn, shaking his head. Aragorn smiled. "She loves me." he said, smiling like a child. Haldir glared at him. "How would you know?" he asked.

"Er, she kissed me..." Aragorn responded.

Haldir looked angry. He looked as though he wanted to hurt Aragorn.

"Did you ever think that there were other people here besides you and her?" Haldir turned and stomped away.

Aragorn's mind swirled around him in confusion at Haldir's angry words. Still dazed by Arwen's kiss, he turned and trudged toward Tilinae, who greeted him with a soft nicker. He started off down the winding path heading for the lights through the trees that he knew must be Rivendell.

As he was unsaddling his horse, Legolas bounded up to him out of breath. "What happened?" he asked before Aragorn could say a word. Aragorn reluctantly told him. After he had recounted the story in detail, Legolas shook his head. "Don't tell me you didn't know!" Aragorn looked puzzled "Know what?" he asked? The elf paused.

"Haldir is in love with Arwen."

How many people saw that one coming? Too many...Review please