"Ari you must pack. Gandalf has found a way to send you home." Ari and Eomer were holding hands when Aragorn broke the news to them. "I'm so sorry."
"Right now?"
"Right now." Ari nodded slowly and turned to go collect her few belongings. Eowyn stood back and watched as Ari slowly folded her clothes and put them into a satchel.
"Oh, I'll miss you so much, my sister." Eowyn said with tears streaming down her face.
"Please don't cry 'Wyn. I can't take it." Ari said brushing tears out of her own eyes. "Now, let me finish packing…I'll see you all in the throne room in a minute." Ari took one last look around the room she'd been in the past few weeks and sighed. She was going to miss Middle Earth's simple beauty. She turned to leave and found Eomer was standing in the door way.
"I don't know how I'll live without you." He said quietly.
"You have to." Ari tried to smile but found it hard to; her face would not function. "You know you have to lead your people."
"No…I was never meant to deal in politics…Eowyn and Theodred were always better suited to that sort of thing."
"Then you have to protect Rohan."
"It will mean nothing as long as you aren't here." Eomer pulled Ari into a tight embrace and did not release her for some time. They slowly walked back to the great hall, never once losing contact with one another.
"Are you ready Arianna?" Gandalf extended his hand and waited for Ari to step forward.
"Go on Eomer…live your life…find some Rohirrim woman and live a good full life." Ari said turning to Eomer and clasping his hand tightly in her own.
"I won't Ari. I love you." He kissed her quickly and watched as she slowly pulled away from him.
"I love you too." Ari whispered as she backed towards Gandalf. She said her good byes to everyone, especially little Pippin and Merry. "Be careful on your journey home. You've got great things to do with the rest of your lives." The two hobbits teared up and hugged her tightly before she could return to the center of the great hall where Gandalf stood.
"This has every possibility to be painful Ari. Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Ari held tight to the satchel as Gandalf began chanting a spell. Ari felt herself drop suddenly and the room began spinning around her. She closed her eyes to keep from seeing the psychotic spinning. Then she felt an intense pain wind its way through her body. She felt as if she'd been cleaved in two and no matter how hard she tried she could not keep from screaming. She heard someone shout her name and then felt a great rush of wind whip around her.
Rain dripped quietly down the thick glass of Ari's Fourth floor window. She lay in bed, her face crushed against the bunk top, and watched sadly as each drop slithered out of view. She sat up slowly and rubbed her face.
"It can't have been a dream….it can't have."
"Ari? What the fuck are you doing in there? Is everything OK? Ari open this door now!" Ari could hear her next door neighbor pounding on her door. "Arianna?"
Ari got out of bed and went to open the door.
"Sorry Beth---what's wrong?"
"You were screaming—sounded like a freighter just landed in your room."
"Sorry, I was having a bad dream…" Ari closed the door before Beth could ask anymore questions and slid down her door. She rubbed her face for a few minutes more before she finally stood and went to the mirror to pull her hair back and froze. He was still wearing one of Eomer's tunics and her arm was scarred.
"It wasn't a dream then….it was all real." Ari's phone rang twice and she dove on it to answer. "Hello?"
"Hey, where the hell are you?" It was Kylen, a teammate. "We just drove by your dorm and saw your bike sitting there. Did you forget we had a game today?"
"No, I'm just heading out, I'll be right there." Ari quickly grabbed her soccer clothes and motorcycle helmet and bolted for the streets. She leapt onto her motorcycle and started up. Gandalf had apparently sent her back hours before she had appeared in Middle Earth. She felt relaxed for some reason, but Ari attributed it to the depression she was slipping into over losing Eomer. She changed quietly at the gym and went out to the field.
"Hey mopey, did you not get enough beauty sleep last night?" Cameron shouted out.
"Well she won't get any tonight either if she comes home with me."
"Fuck you Damien." Ari spat as she dropped her bag and jogged onto the field to start warming up. She heard laughter behind her as everyone made fun of Damien. She became angry on the field and played her best game ever.
"It's as if she knows where the ball is going to be before we kick it there." Kylen commented. And it was true…Ari did know. Ari made a back breaking matrix like move when the ball came zooming for her head. Her long black hair flipping silkily through the air. People cheered and Ari scored for the third time. He was jogging back to center when a figure on the hill caught her attention. He was standing on the hill just behind the goal; he looked like Eomer.
"Ari! Look out!" Someone collided with Ari just after the ball slammed into the back of her head.
"Mother Fucker that Hurt!" Ari yelled as she pushed herself up. When she looked again for the figure on the hill he was gone.
"Where the hell was your head at Ari? Come on!" Ari shook her head and went back to playing the game.
She showered slowly, letting the hot water relax her muscles and ease some of her thoughts.
"Ari what happened to your arm?" One of her teammates asked. "It looks like you burned it."
"It's an old scar. I've had it forever."
"Oh, sorry….I guess I just noticed it is all." Ari put on her leather pants and her big boots. He slung her jacket over her shoulder on her way out the door.
"Meeow, that's a sexy site!" Damien called out. "How do I get me some of that?" The cavalier pulled up beside Ari's bike.
"You never will Damien…you're a pompous, conceited dick ball and you'll never get anything from me, even if you were the last dick on earth." Ari strapped her bag to the bike while she was talking to and then turned when she'd finished. "And don't tell me not to be a bitch Sharon…I'll act however I want."
"Fuck you Ari!" The car sped away and Ari stood beside the bike feeling suddenly very alone. Mark pulled up in his truck and told Ari to drive carefully…just as he had done so many weeks before.
But it hasn't been weeks…it hasn't even been days or anything.
"I'll be fine Mark, thanks."
"Are you sure you don't want to throw your bike in the bed of the truck? I mean, it wouldn't take much…"
"Mark, let me get to the bar my way. Just back off, would you?"
"Are you positive?"
"Mark!"
"fine, see you at the bar." Mark sped away, his big truck rumbling out of the parking lot.
Ari was finally able to start her bike, the gently purr growling across the parking lot.
"And to think I thought you were a lady." Ari's head snapped up and stared at the man straddling a black and blue motorcycle not thirty feet away. She killed her engine and stared, mouth agape at the man beaming back at her.
"Excuse me?" Ari flipped her hair back. There was no way it could be him…
"I said 'and to think that I thought you were a lady.'" The man got off his bike and approached the spot where Ari still straddled her bike. "Say something Ari, you look as if you've seen a ghost."
"I'm not seeing a ghost?" The man shook his head. "Eomer?" Her voice was strained, as if caught in her throat.
"Aye, it's me." Ari couldn't move from her spot but sat transfixed as Eomer continued his slow stroll towards her bike. He was less than five feet away from her and she could see every wonderful detail of his face. His sun bleached hair still hung past his broad shoulders, the leather cycling jacket cutting a nice profile on his lean frame. Ari couldn't believe it.
"But how…you can't….How did…" Ari's questions were stopped by Eomer's forceful kiss.
"I only ever had one request of the high king and that was to be near you." He said, their foreheads touching.
"But won't Middle Earth be out of balance?"
"No, you see, I serve no purpose there." Ari shook her head.
"You are the third Marshall of the Mark! Of course you serve a purpose!"
"Eowyn and Faramir are to marry and they are to rule Rohan." Eomer said cutting her off. "Aragorn and the Lady Arwen are in Gondor and the Halflings are returning from whence they came. I am not needed to be a marshal. Anyone can do that; they can easily replace me. But no one could replace you." Ari leapt from her bike as quickly as she could and rushed into Eomer's strong arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto him as he spun around. She kissed him passionately, her fingers entwined in his gorgeous hair.
"I'm so happy you're here, you have NO idea!" Ari buried her head in his neck and breathed in his scent.
"I think I just might…." Eomer said laughing. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Erik." Ari looked deep into his green eyes and smiled.
"I don't care what your name is…..as long as you're here with me." They kissed again, relishing the moment. "Let's go."
"Where? The…what did he call it…the bar?"
"Hell no…we're going to my room." Ari said matter of factly.
"What for?" Ari leaned forward and whispered for sometime in Eomer's ear. When she was finished Eomer set her down on the ground quickly and got onto his own bike. "Lead the way; I'll not hold you back."
Ari laughed and together they sped off towards campus. Ari could never imagine anything better as they headed towards the waning sun and into a night full of ecstasy.
A/N---Thanks so much for all of your wonderful reviews! And as Porky Pig says "Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-That's All Folks!"
