Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was rather busy with some family matters. However, I've updated with a little ditty for you all. Thank you for the reviews they mean so much you ahve no idea. I hope you like this chapter, please let me know.

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 19

Avelina sat up with a start from the small hay pile she fell asleep in. Pieces of hay were stuck in her hair and she raised her hand to her lips still feeling the searing kiss Éomer had placed there in her dream. "It was only a dream," she thought dryly to herself. She retraced her steps in her mind and sighed. After brushing Sigeric she had laid back on the hay just trying to rest her troubled mind and fell asleep. She cursed herself for doing so because now the hour was late and most would probably be asleep in the citadel.

Éomer sighed as he paced in his chamber. He had wanted to spend the evening with Avelina but when he was about to step into the stable and surprise her, a guard came to him and informed him that Gandalf and Aragorn requested his presence once more. So, he had to leave her behind in the stable. However, when he had returned he could not find her. He searched nearly everywhere. He did not find her in the stable, her chamber, the healing hall, the kitchen, the throne room, nor the garden outside the healing hall. It was as if she had just disappeared. He stopped his pacing then and he looked out the balcony of his chamber. The night sky was dark, much like the night his men found her riding unconscious on top her horse.

Panic filled him. What if she was taken from him? What if she was returned to her Sandria by whatever force brought her to him?

He quickly left his chamber and made his way down the corridor only to collide with another figure sending them crashing to the ground. He heard a soft moan and the firelight from one of the distant hall torches brought light to reflect off the figure's copper hair and his eyes widened as he kneeled down next to the person.

"Avelina?" he asked gently and the figure jumped slightly. A familiar smell of lavender filled his senses and he knew immediately it was her.

"Éomer?" came her voice and he smiled before he found her waist and lifted her from the cold stone floor.

"Forgive me for crashing into you. I have been looking for you for hours, little one. I thought . . . I thought that you were taken from me," he finished in a whisper. Avelina furrowed her brow and put her hands on his strong upper arms.

"Taken?" she said in a whisper but then realized what he meant. She shook her head quickly. "No, I had fallen asleep in Sigeric's stall after I had sat on a pile of hay to rest. However, I guess I became comfortable and fell asleep." Éomer laughed quietly and raised his hand to rest on her neck and in her slight curls.

"That was the only place I did not think to look. I should have thought to look in his stall." Avelina smiled. She could barely see his face but she could see the sparkle in his eyes. How she wished her dream had been reality but now would not be the time. Not with the upcoming battle ahead. Suddenly, Avelina's face fell and she looked at him sadly.

"When do you ride?" she asked. For some reason, the way he looked at her she knew he would be leaving her.

"The day after tomorrow. We ride at dawn for the black gates of Mordor." Avelina nodded and he ran his calloused thumb along her neck sending shivers through her body.

"You should get as much rest as you can then. You would be no use to your men and the others if you do not get as much as rest as you should," she said her eyes closed and her mouth suddenly dry. She made to pull away from his hand on her waist and on her neck when he pulled her close to him and embraced her tightly to him.

"My rest will come to me. Right now I am just glad that you are still in my arms," he whispered into her hair. Avelina closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

"Trust me, Éomer, I am not going anywhere," she said as she tightened her embrace. He pulled back slightly and looked at her. "There is something I must tell you, but it should wait until the morning. Though I have slept for some time," she paused to yawn and Éomer smiled before he tucked her hair behind her ear. She smiled before she finished. "I still am very tired. It has been a tiring day"

"That it has." He looked at her face closely and smiled. He leaned into her and kissed her gently. When he pulled back from her he could see her eyes were still closed and the same wistful smile that he had seen on her face earlier in the stable. "What do you think of when you smile like that little one?" he whispered. Avelina's eyes fluttered open and she blinked several times. Even in the limited light he could see the blush cross her pale cheeks.

"Just things," she said with a smile. Éomer tilted his head.

"What things?" he asked as he trailed his fingers across her cheek and down her neck. She swallowed hard and willed her heart to stop racing has his fingers began to gently massage her neck like they had done not so long ago.

"Of how happy I have been. Even though these are dark times here, I have found a happiness here I have not had in many years." Éomer smiled and nodded his head.

"You can share you news with me in the morning. I do believe it is time for you to retire." Avelina smiled and felt her eyes close slightly as his fingers continued to rub her aching neck muscles. However, before she could step away Éomer swept her up into his arms and held her close. Avelina gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Éomer, what-," he silenced her by kissing her lips tenderly and briefly before he looked down at her.

"Rest, little one, I'm taking you to your chamber." Avelina laughed and shook her head before she buried her head in his chest and closed her eyes while he carried her down the hall. However, she could not let her mind drift away to the dream she wished would come true, but only when the war was over and she was certain he would return to her.