Disclaimer: Do we really need to go over this again? I do not own Lord of the Rings.
Summary: See previous chapters.
A/N – Winter Queens badgered me into writing what would happen to Natasha and Eomer in the Afterlife.
Alternate Ending – Afterlife
Two figures walk over rolling hills and grass plains, hand in hand.
A young woman with dark hair and green eyes moves with gentle grace, her bearing suggesting a quiet strength. The man beside her is her opposite. With dark-blonde hair and blue eyes, his gait is one of power and confidence, his manner proud.
The man looks slightly confused. "Natasha, where are we?"
The woman smiles at the man she will share eternity with. "Where do people usually go after they die, Eomer? I hope you did not think your deathbed just an elaborate dream."
The lord of Rohan smiles at the woman who should have been his wife. Who always had been, in his heart. "When I was forced to marry to produce an heir I found myself hoping that it was just a vivid nightmare."
The woman's cheeks were touched with colour. "Come, there are things to see."
A young lady of twenty years lies on a bed, exhausted but satisfied.
Two bundles rest on her lap, one blue, and one pink. The lady smiles down at them, her eyes filled with love and a touch of deepest sorrow.
The scene changes...
A woman of twenty-five stands in a kitchen, setting food onto a table.
She calls out, summoning someone, although no sound comes from her mouth. Two children, a boy and a girl, appear. They are twins, both with tall with brown hair and blue eyes. The woman looks up, beckoning them to the table. She is obviously their mother, although her eyes are green, and hold a glint of well-hidden sorrow, while the twins have a touch of blonde that their mother lacks.
Eomer looks at his companion, his expression a myriad of emotions, shock and sorrow starting to prevail.
Natasha shakes her head slightly. " 'Behind every great man there is a woman rolling her eyes'. What is the usual result of a man and a woman lying together? Though I'll admit that such activities are not supposed to take place in a secret glade a week before getting married"
Eomer's eyes are wide as he stares at her.
She nods. "Yes. Ours. That is what usually happens when a man and a woman lie together. I never married, or even dated, when I returned. The girl is Emer, the boy is Nathan."
Eomer looks at her again, then takes her hand and leads her away. "Now it is my turn to show you something, although I do not look upon it as pleasant."
A dark-haired seventeen-year-old walks toward a thirty-year-old man. She is dressed in a wedding gown and has a satisfied look on her face, while his face is blank, emotionless,
though a skilled observer could tell that he would rather be elsewhere.
The two people exchange vows and a brief kiss, as the ceremony dictates. The yearning regret in the man's eyes says that the man obviously wishes that the girl were someone else, someone he cannot have.
The scene changes...
The man and the woman stand in a room, facing each other. The man is rigid with anger, eyes blazing. The woman is yelling at him, her belly rounded with child. She stops speaking, glaring at her husband. His expression is deadly with false calm as he replies to her raging.
The woman tries to turn away; he pulls her back to face him, says something more and then walks out of the room, leaving her to stare at his back.
Eomer looks at Natasha, his eyes sad. "I am sorry. After you were taken, I stalled for as long as I could, but Rohan had to have an heir. I eventually married Lothiriel of Dol Amroth. I loved my son, but not his mother."
Natasha inclines her head, eyes soft and understanding. "You married out of duty, and hated every second of it. There is nothing to apologize for."
He takes her hand and leads her away again. "There are ways to see what might have been. Do you wish to see?"
She shakes her head in the negative. "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Hardly relevant, given the circumstances, but I would prefer not to know. There are other parts of our lives to see and share, if you want to go on."
They walk off together, each seeing the other's life, rejoicing in the presence so long denied to them.
Eternity awaited.
"There's a calm surrender, to the rush of fate.
When the heat of a rolling wind, can be turned away.
An enchanted moment, and it sees me through.
It's enough for this restless warrior, just to be with you.
Can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are.
It's enough for this restless wanderer,
That we've got this far.
Can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest.
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds,
Believe the very best.
There's a time for everyone if they only learn,
That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn.
There's a rhyme and reason to the wild out doors,
When the heart of this star-crossed warrior beats in time with yours.
Can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are.
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer,
That we've got this far.
Can you feel the love tonight?
How it's laid to rest.
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best.
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best."
A/N#2 – The song is 'can you feel the love tonight?' Written and sung by Elton John for 'The Lion King'.
My sister Winter Queens wanted to see what happened after Natasha and Eomer entered the afterlife.
Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing.
Nathalia.