- - - Aragorn - - -

We had started walking at daybreak. It was estimated that it would take six days to arrive if we travelled quickly. The women and children of Rohan were walking leisurely and I knew it was slowing us down. Gradually, we all fell into step. Éowyn leading the horse that Gimli was on, Grace, Legolas and me. Gimli was trying to tell us a how there was a common belief that there was no women dwarves.

Grace still winced lightly now and again because of her side. Every time she would, Legolas would reach out and touch her arm or steady and comfort her in some way. I knew she appreciated the gesture. Even though she had told me a short story of her life, I knew she couldn't tell me how much it hurt her or how she was still recovering. She couldn't explain it how she really felt.

Éowyn, though beautiful, I felt had no sense of reserve. If she wanted to know something she wouldn't hesitate to ask. This was displayed when she started to question us.

"Grace, how did you get those scars on your arms?"

I heard Grace take in a deep breath and she stopped walking. All of us stopped and Legolas went back and took her arm. She threw him a glance and he bent down and whispered in her ear. Shaking her head at him, she hesitantly started walking again, Legolas' hand on her back.

"Lord Aragorn, which lady did give that necklace to you?" Éowyn, obviously frustrated that Grace had given her no answer, asked me.

I thought back to Arwen. The Evenstar. My Evenstar. She had given in to me before we parted. She wouldn't go to the undying lands; she would wait for me.

- - - Éowyn - - -

I watched Aragorn get lost in his thoughts and wondered if there was something wrong with this company. Grace, who had looked light-hearted and happy before I asked her that question, now looked dismal. Legolas walked beside her, studying her face and touching her shoulder now and again. I thought it best not to ask questions again.

Gimli lightened the mood by continuing on with his hilarious story. "They think we pop right out of the ground! Dwarves do not just come out of the soil." The reins were suddenly pulled out of my hand as Arod started to run. He took several steps and Gimli fell off his back. I let out a cry and both Grace and I ran to him.

"Gimli," she said, "are you okay?" She lifted his helmet off his face to see he was indeed fine. The look on his face made us both burst out laughing and soon he joined in as well.

Even though Aragon and Legolas laughed too, I heard Legolas say, "Soon there will be nothing to laugh about. Let us enjoy it until then." That just makes your day, does it not? I hoped he was wrong and there would be no cause for sorrow.

Soon the light had begun to fade and the caravan settled to a stop. Blankets were taken out and fires were lit. Food was cooked and stories were shared. I sat near Grace and she started to talk to Aragorn. Of course, I was just there because Grace was.

"I thought you said you would teach me!" she protested.

"I did," Aragorn countered, "but I had no idea you would actually want me to!"

"Well, I do! Please Aragorn." Grace put a dejected look on her face. I could tell that it was working on Aragorn because he took a deep breath and looked at her, almost beseechingly.

"Alright," he said after a minute.

Grace let out a screech and jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. She thanked him and he smiled at her half-heartedly and wrapped an arm around her. "Come, let's find Gimli and Legolas," he said as they walked away, his arm still surrounding her waist.

She turned her head and saw me there. "Éowyn! Come with us, you can watch me fail miserably at my fighting lessons." Then she started laughing as I got up to follow. She was being so childish and happy it made everyone want to laugh and smile just when you saw her. I smiled and caught up to them. Grace started to sing. Her voice was thin but it was on tune.

I didn't recognize the song but after her singing it several times, I picked up some of the words and started to sing along. By the time we reached Gimli and Legolas, Grace and I were singing loudly and attracting stares from people. Legolas shook his head when he saw us but permitted a small smile.

"Poor Aragorn," Gimli commented.

"Poor Aragorn?" Grace asked. "Wouldn't you like to have the pleasure of being accompanied by the two most beautiful women in all of Middle-earth? Especially while they're singing so beautifully in their beautiful voices!" Gimli let out a snort of laughter and Aragorn laughed out loud. "What!?" she demanded.

"Nothing, nothing…" Aragorn said. Smart choice if you ask me. Unbeknownst to these men, I knew how to wield a sword. I thought I might learn something new and I wanted to watch Grace learn. What she learned was that she wasn't very good with a sword. She preferred Legolas' short elven daggers.

She was using them to keep Aragorn at bay while he aimed some shots at her. In one glance, anyone could see he was not trying to hit her. One of the knives in her hand went flying to the ground. Grace watched it hit the ground and then turned back to Aragorn. He smirked at her. I must always remember not to smirk at Grace when she has a knife in her hand. Aragorn clearly didn't know this. That smirk seemed to annoy Grace and she went running at him, knife bared.

Aragorn easily blocked all her shots at him and with a push threw her to the ground and the other knife slid across the ground. Grace's face was flushed and her eyes were wild. Anger smouldered in them.

"Lesson one, don't lose control when angry," Aragorn commented and held a hand down to pull Grace up. She took his hand and stood up. I could tell she didn't like to lose.

Then Aragorn said something completely unexpected. "Éowyn, why don't you and Grace have a go at it?" She looked slightly happier at this. I guess she didn't know what a Shield Maiden of Rohan could do. I took the sword Aragorn handed me and Grace went to retrieve her knives.

We both assumed a fighting position and, as I had expected, Grace attacked me first. I easily parried all her shots. She seemed to be losing concentration and getting angry. Then she must have remembered what Aragorn said because she backed off, taking deep breaths.

I swung my sword at her and she caught it in between both her knives. With a strength that surprised me, she pulled upwards and the hilt of the sword was pulled out of my grasp. All of us watched it hit the ground. Then Grace let out a scream of pure delight.

"I won, I won, I WON!"

She laughed and clapped her hands like a little girl. I walked over to her smiling. I knew I had lost and it didn't bother me. I had been training against Éomer all my life and had gotten used to losing. Not that I thought Grace was more skilled than I could be if we had been trying to hurt each other, but it was only a small match, there would be others. She threw her arms around my neck and I hugged her back. Catching Lord Aragorn's eye behind her back, he smiled at me. I hope I did not flush too badly.

"Good match, lass!" Gimli called to me. I waved a hand in response. Legolas had taken his knives back from Grace and he smiled at her, his hair shining in the moonlight. A grin spread across her face as she started running and whooping towards the camp. I ran after her, trying to tell her to be quiet or she would wake everyone.

"Grace," I pleaded, "Please, Grace! Be silent, you will wake everyone!" She sunk into silent laughter, but for the life of me, I couldn't see what was so funny.

Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas joined us near a fire and as soon as Gimli saw Grace he said, "Aha!" Everyone looked at him and I watched as he tried to think of something to say. "Aha!" he said again. I shared a glance with Grace and we both had to laugh then. Gimli was the dearest dwarf I had ever met. I suddenly felt envious of Grace, having spent weeks alone with these men.

- - - Grace - - -

I had been studying Legolas for some time. All my adrenaline had long faded after my fight with Éowyn and we were now all sitting around the fire; Gimli dozing, Aragorn and Éowyn quietly talking and Legolas staring into the fire. And me admiring Legolas' incredibly good looking everything.

"Legolas," I said, and felt as if I had shouted the way everyone (minus the dwarf) looked up all of a sudden. "Could you braid my hair?" The question startled him, I could tell. A glance he and Aragorn shared told me that maybe I shouldn't have asked it. Maybe it was very indecent for elves to go around braiding people's hair.

After hesitating long enough to make me feel like a completely idiot, a smile crossed his face and he said, "Of course." Unsure of what to do, I fiddled with my hair. Smiling again, Legolas came up behind me and removed my hands. Then he started the combing and braiding process that would take a good portion of an hour.

"It is uncommon for elves to braid and human's hair, is it not Master Legolas?" enquired Éowyn after watching curiously for a while. I lowered my head a bit more onto my arms, trying to hide it. Legolas felt this, as he was braiding my hair, and gently pulled my head back up. I couldn't even cover my face in shame!

A soft chuckle escaped Aragorn as he watched this and I glared at him. Die, Aragorn, die! I thought. With a loud grunt, Gimli sat up and yawned, thankfully direction the conversation away from me. "You awake at last, Master Gimli! Grace and I have been wanting to hear more stories of your travels!" Éowyn saved Aragorn from my wrath as she directed the subject onto something else.Watching Gimli inflate like a hairy, dwarfish sponge, I stifled a giggle. Aragorn laughed and winked at me, chewing on his pipe. If I didn't get angry and kill him, the smoking surely would.

I watched Éowyn as Gimli told his story. She would laugh and throw back her golden head and lightly smack Gimli on the arm or would reach out and touch Aragorn softly. As the story started to wind down, a look of sadness crept onto her face. She watched as Aragorn got lost in his thoughts and play with a feminine looking necklace. Then I realized it. Éowyn admired Aragorn as I had. This ranger had to stop breaking hearts soon.

(A/N: Wooooo, that took a long time to get out! I had been suffering from being busy, lazy, and having writers block. I'm also trying to finish the last chapter of Alone for any of you who have read it. But again, writer's block, being busy, and laziness have put me off of it. Things are gonna slow down a bit. I rushed through things and was skipping days at a time before but now it will mostly go day-by-day. Review my pretties, REVIEW!)