In the end, the armies returned and Aragorn took the throne of Gondor. Ari kept her distance from everyone, especially Eomer, in the days leading up to the coronation. She didn't want to dampen anyone's spirits during the time of celebration.

If anyone had asked Ari what was bothering her she could not have told them for she didn't even know herself. She was mopey for many reasons, but mostly it was restlessness from being penned up in the city of Gondor. Even the little hobbits had been able to go into the great battle, and Ari had been left behind in the city. One day Eowyn found Ari sitting in a high window sill. Her arm was no longer bandaged heavily and Ari was beating around like she had before she'd been hurt, mindless to the injuries dealt her. Eowyn shook her head.

"How did you manage to get yourself up there, Miss Ari?"

"Well, I stuck my thumb in my mouth and blew real hard and just sort of floated up here." Ari imitated the action and Eowyn laughed.

"Really now Ari…what is the matter with you? You've been so distant lately."

"I don't know 'Wyn. I'm just moody is all."

"Eomer asked about you this morning." Eowyn looked at Ari out the corner of her eye to see her reaction. "He's worried about you, you know."

"Well he shouldn't be."

"Ari you are more stubborn than he is." Eowyn threw down the blankets and bandages she'd been carrying and put her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?" Eowyn sat heavily on a bed and stared up to where Ari was sitting.

"You are stubborn. He is stubborn. Your stubbornness put together is vexing. You need to talk to him."

"Why? 'Wyn, I don't belong here. How can I go to him, let myself love him when I can't be sure I'll be able to stay here." Eowyn suddenly understood where Ari was coming from with astounding clarity.

"So you mean to say that if you were sure to stay in Middle Earth…?"

"You bet…" Ari stared blankly out the window into the pale golden light of the afternoon. "You bet…." Eowyn left the room slowly to leave Ari to her thoughts.

Aragorn's coronation was the next day. People had come from the far reaches of Middle Earth to see the coronation. Ari tried to back out of the crowd but quickly found herself pulled into the thick of it by Eowyn.

"You must stand with us." Eowyn pushed Ari to where she was standing beside Eomer. "Faramir and I are going to find a better spot to stand." Eowyn was suddenly gone, swallowed by the throng around them.

Damn you Eowyn…I hate you for this. Ari thought as the tension built around her and Eomer.

"So how are you?" Eomer asked quietly.

"I'm OK. You?"

"I'm…OK." Eomer grinned shyly. He still felt odd using some of the slang she did, but he enjoyed it. "You look beautiful." Ari had worn a black dress with gold embroidery. She wore her choker and had braided the Eagle's feather into her hair as well. She looked very regal.

"Thank you." Ari looked up to where the coronation was starting. At some point during the ceremony Eomer slipped his hand into Ari's. Ari looked up into Eomer's gold flecked eyes and wanted him then and there, but she knew it couldn't be. She smiled sadly as Aragorn made his way through the crowd. Arwen, the beautiful elf princess and love of Aragorn's life was in attendance, as well as the remaining members of the fellowship. Sam and Frodo had returned to the city with Gandalf and the army. The Fellowship had lost only one member, Faramir's brother Boromir; a man who had been consumed by the Great Ring's power. Now Pippin, Merry, Sam and Frodo stood together watching the coronation from a place of honor. Aragorn and Arwen approached the four Halflings and smiled as they bowed. Aragorn said something that Ari couldn't hear and then he and Arwen bowed to the hobbits, and everyone present followed suit. It was a moment that Ari knew she'd never forget.

The atmosphere in the city of Gondor was jovial and celebratory , but Ari wasn't in the mood to party. She wanted to get good and drunk so that the hollow feeling in her gut would disappear. She went up high into the Gondor Palace and stared blankly at the Palenor fields.

Those fields had been soaked in blood not two weeks before, now they were home to thousands that had come to view the coronation.

Ari was still staring out onto the fields when Eomer came into the room. He stared at her for sometime before he eventually approached her. Her dark hair had been pulled into an intricate bun for the evening party. The gown she wore was different, but still dark in color. Eomer had never seen anyone more beautiful than this woman standing before him. He stood just behind her and followed her gaze out the window.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked close to her ear. Ari jumped and turned to face him.

"Do you HAVE to sneak up on people?"

"Aye." Eomer smiled down at her, her breath coming in raped gasps from the fright Eomer had given her. "It gives me great pleasure to scare someone." Ari turned quickly back to the window.

"Well, you shouldn't. It isn't nice." Oh, and that's just so mature… Ari mentally abused herself for the stupid comment.

Eomer smiled broadly and followed Ari's gaze back out to the Palenor fields where lights winked happily back at them.

"It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were fighting for our very lives out there." Ari finally said.

"That it is." Eomer reached for Ari's arm and lightly touched where they had been forced to cauterize it. "Does it hurt?"

"Only when I touch it." Eomer removed his hand quickly. Silence descended upon the tower as the sun descended below the horizon. Several times Eomer wanted to say something to Ari; to reach out and touch her, but he was afraid to.

"I, who have been in so many battles and faced death so many times…am afraid to reach out and touch a woman." Eomer thought.

Ari could feel the tension in the air between them, the pressure almost unbearable. She wished that he would touch her or something…yet also wished that he would just turn around and leave without another word. Eomer cleared his throat as if he were going to say something, but hesitated.

Do something! Ari's mind screamed but her body wouldn't move, no matter how much she willed it. The sun finally dipped below the horizon, bathing the world in a pale blue light and adding a slight chill to the night air. Ari shivered against it and hugged her arms to her chest. She flinched as Eomer's strong arms wrapped around her.

"Ari…."

"Yes?" When Eomer didn't respond right away Ari turned to look at him. His eyes seemed to glow gold in the dying light, his jaw was set and though Ari tried to read him, she found it impossible. "What? What is it?" The words came out just above a whisper; they caught in Ari's throat and wouldn't come out with the force she intended.

"I've never met anyone like you, Arianna. I…When I'm with you…the whole world melts away." Eomer diverted his eyes from her face and tried to continue. "What I wouldn't give for a poets tongue right now." His whispered words only barely reached Ari's ears. She turned in his arms so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Ha! And what use would a warrior have for a poet's tongue?" Ari chided. The stars were just beginning to wink in the black sky. Eomer grasped her shoulders.

"Well, occasionally, we warriors have the need for something besides blood and fighting. Sometimes we have the desire to tell a fine woman how lovely she is." Ari closed her eyes trying to block out his words, but his hands on her shoulders kept her from doing so. "We sometimes have the need to tell someone that they mean more than the world to us."

"Eomer…don't." Ari whispered, the tears already starting to stream down her face. His words, words that she'd longed to hear from someone for so long, cut into her like a thousand knives, knowing she could never truly have him.

"No, Ari." Eomer's voice was sharp as he cut her off. "Let me finish…"

It's every lie you've ever heard from every male…don't believe him. She tried to convince herself.

"Ari, I don't care if you leave tomorrow….I love you and I'd do anything…ANYTHING to keep you close to me, but I know that there are higher powers and that it may be impossible for me to do so."

"Stop…please." Ari sobbed. She wiped the tears away from her face, trying to keep him from knowing what she was feeling. She was usually so stoic; why now did she have to become some blubbering freak?

"Why? Tell me Ari." Eomer turned her to face him. "Tell me why you've been ignoring me and dodging me. Why you won't let me tell you how I feel about you? Why must I stop?" His words were full of frustration and anger, his eyes full of confusion as he searched her tear stained face for an answer.

"Because, I love you too!" Ari was angry at him and at herself. Why did I tell him that? She was shocked and clasped her hand over her mouth as if afraid something more would spill forth through her sobs. Eomer stared at her as the large crocodile sized tears spilled from her closed eyes and over her cheeks. Slowly she took her hand from her mouth and looked up at Eomer. "Don't you understand? I love you, but it will hurt less if we just don't say anything…if I just…disappear."

"I won't let you 'disappear' Arianna." Eomer brushed the tears from her face and she tried to pull away from him. "Look at me Ari. Look…" He touched her chin, and brought her gaze to his. "I would never want to hurt you. Ever. I think you know that." Ari didn't move, but her eyes told Eomer she understood. "Whatever comes, we'll get through it…together…" Eomer kissed Ari and felt her hesitate for the briefest of moments before she responded. Ari wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue slowly over Eomer's lip and into his mouth.

You know, for someone from Middle Earth, he's a damn good kisser.