Chapter Seventeen
The next day everyone began to pour through books, trying to find a safe way to send Aragorn back to where he was meant to be.
In the end the solution was simpler than they had thought.
Willow sat with her back pressed against Aragorn. "This has to be done. You need to go back. Who knows what will happen to Gondor without its King."
"I know what must be done. But my heart cannot stand the thought of breaking my promise and leaving you alone… Come with me."
"I . . . I want to. I want to so badly. But I cant. I don't belong there anymore than you belong here. I wouldn't be able to fit in, I wouldn't be able to live in that world. You are a king. You have responsibility to your people. What would they think if you just appeared out of nowhere, with a woman from another world? It couldn't be done."
"I had hoped you would say otherwise, but I knew you wouldn't." Aragorn pulled Willow tighter to him and buried his face in her red hair.
Willow struggled in his arms so she could turn around. Running her fingers through his hair Willow pressed her lips against his in a desperate kiss. "I will miss you, and I love you my ranger. . . Always," she whispered.
"Always my Willow-tree," he whispered back. And pulled her into another deep kiss.
Everyone had gathered in a circle. Willow sat in the center.
"Hearken well ye elements, I summon thee now, Control the outside, control within. Land and sea fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth, my will be done. So mote it be."
The End.