The Road Goes Ever On And On
Disclaimer: I only own Tithenwen and the plot!
Chapter Nineteen: Almost Normal
Tithenwen made her way back to her room and collapsed, only to be woken up the next day by an excited Aragorn who was jumping up and down as he shook her awake. Groaning she turned over and gave him a death glare.
"What?" she growled, pissed off at having been woken up when she clearly didn't want to get up.
"I've got a surprise for you!" cried Aragorn joyfully, sounding like a little kid on Christmas morning.
"I don't care! I wanna sleep!" yelled Tithenwen, yawning and turning back over, jamming a pillow over her face.
Aragorn started to cry, so rolling her eyes, Tithenwen turned over to face him and chucked the pillow that had been covering her face at him. Aragorn stopped crying and looked up.
"What is this surprise?"
"Well get dressed in something nice and meet me in the Citadel and I'll show you!" cried Aragorn happily, as he skipped out of the room.
Tithenwen shook her head and slowly got up. Then she groaned at the thought having to wear 'something nice'. Yuck! She hated wearing nice clothes and only nice outfit she liked to wear had been worn last night and needed some help. So she quickly threw the wardrobe open and seemed afraid of all the dresses inside. Wincing, she quickly pulled a dark blue dress with silver trim out and slammed the door closed. Running a brush quickly through her short hair, Tithenwen tossed the dress on quickly and left her room.
Tithenwen threw up the doors to the Citadel and gasping, cursed out loud. Inside the Citadel, Aragorn and a young man dressed in nice clothes turned around to face her. Aragorn smiled happily and she shot him a nasty look that made him cringe.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" she demanded, hands on her hips once she entered.
"Well," said Aragorn, slightly unsure of what to say. "Surprise?"
"I guessed that much!" Tithenwen said, rolling her eyes.
"Don't you remember him?" Aragorn asked, surprised. "That's Nicholas!"
"Nicholas is dead ada! I saw him die! No lookalike can change that!" she cried, as she spun around furious and reached to open the doors. But a voice stopped her.
"Is that what you thought happened?" came the voice of Nicholas.
Tithenwen whirred around and faced him, mouth open in shock. "You're not dead?"
"No, if you think you saw me die it must have been due to Saruman."
"What happened?" she questioned, stepping closer, curious as to what was going on and what she didn't know.
"After the battle, Saruman caught me."
"And your point is?"
"He bragged about what he'd done and he almost killed me. But after you escaped once more, he locked me up. And then he locked your father up next to me. We talked and finally I was able to escape and I helped your father out."
"So?" asked Tithenwen, confused.
"Your father, realized that I was who you'd been talking about and he arranged for me to see you again."
"Ada!" hissed Tithenwen glaring at him and Aragorn gave a faint smile and slipped away, running for the doors of the Citadel. "So, why are you here? Tell me the real reason."
"You never change do you?"
"Nope, should I?"
"Always on guard."
"One learns to look out for themselves when their life is in danger," was Tithenwen's curt reply along with a glare.
"Tithenwen, I don't mean you harm," said Nicholas, taking the hint.
"How can I trust you?"
"How could I have trust you, a runaway?" Nicholas shot back with a smile.
Tithenwen bit her lip at the memory and looked down at her feet. When she looked back at Nicholas, she said nastily, "Sometimes you make mistakes in trust…" and she turned to leave.
Nicholas caught her by the arm and Tithenwen opened her mouth to curse and Nicholas put a finger on her lips. Shooting him the death glare, Tithenwen listened to what he had to say.
"Do you ever stop running? Why can't you ever face things? I love you Tithenwen and that love is not going to go away!" Nicholas cried and he let go of Tithenwen.
Tithenwen stood frozen shock apparent on her face. Nicholas had admitted that he loved her once more. But could she trust him? Could she trust anyone? But Nicholas had hit the nail on head. She always ran when things got crazy. He understood her like no one else.
Walking up to him, Tithenwen whispered, "I love you too," and the two kissed.
"YUCK! I'M TOO YOUNG TO SEE THIS!" cried Merry, Pippin, Emily, and Jon from high up on Aragorn's throne.
Tithenwen looked up at them, made a face and stuck her tongue out at them. They made faces right back and launched flaming marshmallows. Maniac laughter followed and Tithenwen yelled at them, "You guys are dead meat when I catch you! DEAD MEAT!" as Nicholas dragged her out of the Citadel and the line of fire.
"What the bloody hell do you do that for?" demanded Tithenwen, once outside the Citadel.
"Do what?"
"Drag me out of there!"
"For your own good!"
"I was fine! When I need your help, I'll ask for it!" she said, walking away, pissed off and heading for the stables.
"Tithenwen! Wait!" call Nicholas chasing after Tithenwen.
Tithenwen spun around, and pissed off, asked, "What do you want now?"
"Would you like to go for a horseback ride?" Nicholas asked, hope evident in his eyes.
Tithenwen sighed and smiled, "Sure, I'm up for anything that gets me out of the city! Just let me change clothes…"
"You look fine Tithenwen, let's just go."
Tithenwen was curious as to what was going on but she followed Nicholas to the stables anyway. Inside the stables, two horses were tied up and already tacked up. One of the horses was Tithenwen's own ES Brego who greeted his owner with a cheerful whinny. Tithenwen smiled and rushed to her horse, speaking rapidly and calmly in Elvish to the horse. Nicholas watched with a smile on his face, knowing that he'd made Tithenwen happy. Finally Tithenwen stopped speaking and patted ES Brego on the neck.
"How did you know that I'd agree to go for a ride?" Tithenwen asked Nicholas with a slight smile on her face.
"Just a lucky guess," said Nicholas with a shrug.
Tithenwen shook her head and rolled her eyes as she grabbed her silver riding cloak and put it on and swung up onto ES Brego's back. Nicholas quickly mounted his horse and gathered the reins and waited for Tithenwen to lead the way. Tithenwen softly spoke to ES Brego in Elvish and the horse nodded and walked out of the stable. The two horses and riders rode around and around the many levels to main entrance of Minas Tirith.
"Want to race?" Tithenwen asked with a troublemaking smile on her face, once they were outside the city.
"Where to?" asked Nicholas.
"To that clump of trees, way over there," said Tithenwen pointing into the distance.
Nicholas nodded and Tithenwen took off on ES Brego, getting a head start. Nicholas quickly pushed his horse into a hand gallop, trying to stay close to Tithenwen. But Tithenwen was already far ahead, low on ES Brego's neck, speaking Elvish to the horse, his black mane whacking her in the face. A log appeared in front of Tithenwen and ES Brego and they cleared it with practiced easy. Back home, Tithenwen and ES Brego had been jumpers, jumping anything in their path. Nicholas urged his horse faster and finally pulled up alongside the half Elf.
"So how are you doing?" asked Nicholas breathless.
"Great, you?"
"Fine. I have a question for you though."
"What is it this time?" asked Tithenwen, rolling her eyes.
"Will you marry me, Tithenwen, daughter of Aragorn?"
Shock appeared on Tithenwen's face and she almost fell off of ES Brego. Slowing ES Brego down, she stared at Nicholas.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do!"
"It's just that no one's ever liked me."
"I find that very hard to believe."
"It should seem hard to believe. My first and only boyfriend turned out to be a jerk who only went out with me because he felt sorry for me and he was dared to ask me out. Needless to say, I gave up on love a long time ago."
"How old were you?"
"15 back home. I was sixteen when I left home and came here. I'm really nineteen here, so it was a while ago."
"I didn't know and no I'm not trying to fool you. I've loved you since not long after I met you. You are unlike any women I've ever met."
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Compliment of course!"
"Sure it was," said Tithenwen, trying to act unsure.
"Anyways, will you marry me?"
"If you can catch me, I'll tell you," she cried with a smile as she took off again and Nicholas followed.
Tithenwen was going to say yes of course, but she enjoyed playing hard to get. She wasn't just going to say yes. It wouldn't be like her to do that. Besides, she was having fun and she knew Nicholas was enjoying the race too. And she would let him catch her, eventually.
Becca and Arwen had just returned to the city and Arwen was talking to Aragorn when Nicholas and Tithenwen entered the Citadel, laughing and talking. Arwen look quickly towards the two and then she quickly turned to look at Aragorn with a questioning look in her eyes. Aragorn shrugged and gave a 'don't look at me!' look. Arwen rolled her eyes and sighed and looked back at her daughter. She was shocked to see that Tithenwen was actually wearing a dress for once, even if it was dirty and not quite fancy.
"Nana!" cried Tithenwen happily when she noticed Arwen.
"Tithenwen, what that hell is going on here?" Arwen asked, hands on her hips.
"Nana, this is Nicholas. We are going to get married."
"Since when?"
"A few hours ago."
"Aragorn!"
"What?" cried Aragorn, afraid of the wrath of Arwen as he started shaking.
"Did you tell them they could get married?"
"Maybe?"
"ARAGORN ELESSAR! ANSWER ME!"
"Well, he saved my life and he later asked me if he could marry her and I said yes. Is that a crime?"
"HELL YEAH!"
"Please don't hurt me!" cried Aragorn, sobbing like a little child.
Arwen rolled her eyes and turned back to face Tithenwen and Nicholas who were attempting to slip out of the Citadel.
"FREEZE RIGHT THERE!"
Tithenwen and Nicholas cringed and turned around to face Arwen. They both gulped, terrified of the Elven Queen.
"If you want to get married, you have to go visit my father, Lord Elrond of Rivendell and my grandmother, the Lady of the Golden Wood. If they agree to it, you can get married. If they don't, you can forget it."
"Nana!" groaned Tithenwen. "Not the greedy dress wearer! He hates ada and me! There is no way…"
"That doesn't matter. Go now and take your friends with you before they destroy the city again."
Tithenwen looked up at Aragorn, "Ada?" she begged.
"I'm sorry, but I want no part of this," Aragorn said, still shaking.
Tithenwen glared at Arwen who glared right back at Tithenwen and Tithenwen sighed and she left the Citadel, Nicholas beside her.
End of Part I! Part II coming soon!
Author's Notes:
Hope you liked that chapter! It was a pain in the ass to write! From now on, the story has no real plot or meaning. It's just going to be pretty random. And the SUV is going on a road trip, full of crazy people to wreak havoc at Rivendell and Lothlorien along with anywhere they stop.
Reviewers!
(Chapter 17)
Mr. Random – Happy Birthday!
Boromir's Curse – Yep, you killed Grima! It was about time someone did!
Laer4572 – You seriously tried throwing flaming marshmallows? Ouch! Throwing flaming marshmallows is something that my friends would do and Dolly did chase me around with a flaming marshmallow on a stick once… But they sure didn't need anymore help!
(Chapter 18)
Mr. Random – Stupid computers! I still don't have anything on mine because I can't transfer files! Argh! Luckily, most of my writing for this story is hand written in a composition book (actually two books now and a stack of papers). I'll try to update more often.
Boromir's Curse – Boromir and Denethor could come back from the dead and sure we might just have to go beat the shit out of some Easterlings and other enemies, just for fun!
Laer4572 – Yes it sure does! You must be psychic! That or I've been hinting at that all along. I was telling the story to my ten year old cousin (Becca) and when she heard that Nicholas died, she was upset. When I asked her why, she said that she'd hoped that Tithenwen and Nicholas would get married! So I reassure her that Tithenwen was the only who saw Nicholas die and she was still being controlled by Saruman at that point so that Nicholas might not be dead. And that made her happy. I'd planned on bring him back at some point, so I stuck him in here to end out Part I.