Title: Emblem of Hope
Rating: G
Plot Bunny: One evening, Aragorn is drawn to visit the restored White Tree, and finds that one of the hobbits has had the same idea. What do they talk about? Or do they talk at all?
Thank you to Budgielover for such an excellent beta job! She always does such a wonderful job and has some of the best ideas!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to JRR Tolkien and New Line Cinema! Also the plot bunny was from Shirebound! Who always has wonderful ideas and gives eveyone else the chance to play with them!
Aragorn jerked into wakefulness, he looking wildly around for a moment … relaxing back into the soft pillows, realizing there was nothing to threaten him or those he knew. So strange to wake up in a room and not on the open plain, or under the branches of trees, or even in a cave, but in a real room. But unfortunately, once awake, sleep steadfastly eluded him.
Moving as silently as years in the Wild had taught him Aragorn rolled off the bed and strode to the balcony adjacent to his room. The royal apartments commanded a grand view of Minas Tirith's courtyards. They were lit with moonlight, making the pale stone glow. From the balcony, one could see every circle of the City below the other until the Pelennor stretched out below. Aragorn found his eyes drawn to the white sapling in the middle of the courtyard.
The little tree was Minas Tirith's emblem, a hope for a new age. Before he knew it he had dressed and exited his chambers. He walked quickly down the silent halls and using one of the many side exits to enter the gardens. Passing like a shadow, he reached the courtyard. He started to make his way to the small tree but stopped. Someone already stood before it.
Having traveled far with such beings, Aragorn was immediately aware that the figure before the tree was that of a hobbit. But in the darkness he could not be sure of which one now stood there. He moved cautiously forward, wondering how to alert the little one to his presence without startling him. It proved a useless worry as the one before the tree looked up and spotted him.
"What brings you out here at such an hour, Pippin?" asked Aragorn, now able to identify the hobbit as Gondor's smallest knight, although dressed in his everyday attire it had been difficult to determine who stood before him.
"Nothing in particular," said Pippin, looking up to meet Aragorn's eye as he approached.
Aragorn nodded, although he did not think "nothing" would bring the hobbit out to the courtyard in the middle of the night. "You enjoy late night strolls?"
"No, not usually," replied Pippin, looking back to the tree, he frowned and shifted his weight. "Strider, since you found the sapling and it is growing well, will Gondor be safe and happy once more?"
Aragorn wasn't sure how to reply to this, for it had been a question foremost in his mind as well. "The White Tree of Gondor has always been her hope and life. It regularly reflects Gondor's well being; it flourishes when the country is prospering and becomes sick and withers when at war."
They stood in silence, both looking at the hope of Gondor. "I wish Boromir could have seen it flourish," said Pippin wistfully. "He told me once about the White Tree, told me how it was dead and about the despair of his people."
So those were Pippin's thoughts: thoughts of their lost companion, in whose home they now resided. "Faramir lives to see their home saved," said Aragorn laying a hand on Pippin's shoulder.
"I am glad Faramir is here, Strider," said Pippin. "But I wanted him to be here. I wanted Boromir to see his home as it should have been, and to know that everything is going to be all right. He did so much for us, taking a watch, helping us learn skills which he thought important, and then ultimately giving his life. He should be able to see it wasn't hopeless."
"I think he knows, Pippin," said Aragorn looking up at the City before him. "I think he knows his City is safe at last."
"Do you think so?" Pippin reached up touch Aragorn's arm. "I hope he knows!"
Aragorn laughed softly and knelt before his young knight. "I'm sure he does and I know he would be very proud of you." He ruffled Pippin curls fondly, something he refrained from doing when Pippin was in uniform.
Pippin caught up the king in a hug. "Gondor will be all right. With you as king, things will turn out just fine." He straightened and pulled away. "I should return to our house before someone notices I'm missing. Merry gets upset if he doesn't know where I am. Good night."
"Good night, Pippin," Aragorn watched as the hobbit bounced out of the courtyard and out of sight. "Things are already all right, thanks to the bravery of you and yours." He knew there was a debt that Men owed those hobbits, one which they could never repay. He then turned, making his way back to his rooms thinking of small knights and brave hobbits who risked their lives for the good of all.