Disclaimer: If I owned any of this "Lord of the Rings" stuff, I wouldn't be sitting here, writing fanfiction. I own Arwith. Steal her for your own use, and I'll send small, furry animals to eat your socks.

And a second thank you, this time to CaryElwesisHOT for reviewing my new fic. CEiH, I love the support. I will most definitely keep it up. I'd like to thank Eccentric Banshee for not only reviewing, but for helping me get started with my writing. I should have posted that earlier and I didn't! Fiddlesticks! (That was for you, Cally.) smacks one's self around for a bit before continuing Anyway, thank you again to everyone for reviewing. I love you so much! sobs of uncontrollable joy and delight

The hobbit quartet wandered somewhat nervously into the courtyard of Minas Tirith. Each dismounted and looked around, reminiscing. An almost sorrowful smile played everyone's lips. The memories that surrounded them were bittersweet. The bitterness was for every hardship that had been endured. For every bloodless corpse they had seen. For every blank, lifeless stare. For every drop of precious, life-giving blood that had been spilt, drained from every wound that had been afflicted on every unwilling victim. The sweetness was for every friend and ally gained. For every victory gained on their side. For every wound that had been healed. For the peace that they now had to enjoy.

They would most certainly have remained and stewed in their own thoughts for a longer period of time had they not been interrupted by what they supposed was a very tense young, new valet. At least, he was tense and he was young. Whether he was new or not was up to one's own interpretation. As for his being a valet, there was little to provide evidence against it. He had come running down the steps in a flurry. He might have seemed slightly more professional had he not tripped on the bottom step. He came up huffing and sputtering.

He became even more flustered when he saw their tight, pursed lips that were fighting desperately to hold back their snickers. "I say, sirs! Just who might you be?" He was becoming steadily more riled as the chuckles began fighting their way past the hobbits' lips. "Well, really! Stop that at once!"

The sound of someone clearing his throat rather loudly had quickly captured everyone's attention. They all turned to see a tall man with auburn hair and a gentle smile. He seemed to radiate a kindness that surpassed all enmity, despite the sword that rested in a hilt at his side. "Thank you, Alec," he said calmly. "I think I can handle these four."

Alec gave a quick bow and hurried away. The hobbits and man watched him leave and had to stifle their chortles when he toppled over the steps again. The man's smile had widened when he turned to face the four halflings. "Welcome, my friends. It appears that you've accepted Lord Aragorn's invitation. I'm pleased to see you all again.

"Now... I remember your faces well enough. I can properly remember your names. Let me see if I can remember which name goes with which face. First, we have..." he faced Sam. "Samwise Gamgee." Sam nodded. "Good to see you." "Next is Frodo Baggins." He seemed pleased to receive a second nod. "Then there's Meriadoc Brandybuck." Merry gave a simple wave of acknowledgement. "And finally there's... Peregrin Took. Am I right?" Pippin snapped to attention and gave a comical salute. "Pippin. Or Pip, if you don't mind, sah!"

"So... Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin. It's good to see you all again." "Good to see you too, Faramir," Pippin put in. They stood beaming at one another before running into an immense embrace.

They had just released each other when a woman with long blonde hair came running down the stairs. "Faramir! Are they here?" Faramir had little or no time to respond. She promptly gathered everyone into another group hug, one that was probably tighter than the first. "Hello Eowyn," Faramir wheezed. Only Merry and Sam could muffle on response. Pippin emitted a noise that couldn't be deciphered. Frodo, being in the middle, couldn't muffle anything at all.

The six of them walked through the doors to one of the larger courtyards. There were already several people there, some of whom were not strangers. There were several soldiers from Gondor's and Rohan's armies that anyone of the hobbits could remember. Oddly enough, there were also a few elfin soldiers that were present when Aragorn was crowned.

Of everyone they recognized, the four hobbits were happiest to see two of the more familiar faces. "Well, it's about time, lads! We were beginning to think you'd gone and changed your addresses so we couldn't find you." A short, stout dwarf with curly, red hair ran forward with a tall, blonde elf following close behind. "Legolas! Gimli!"

The six of them greeted each other with a mutual enthusiasm. They each chattered about everything that had happened in the year since they had parted ways. They were interrupted by a stern voice. "You're late." They turned to see Gandalf the White facing them, looking most austere indeed. Frodo crossed his arms and became very serious and used a very deep voice. "A hobbit is never late. Nor is he ever early. He arrives precisely when he means to." Laughter erupted amongst everyone in the group when they heard the resemblance.

"Say!" Sam piped up. "Where's Aragorn? We've been here nearly twenty minutes and I just realized we haven't seen him yet." Gimli turned to face him. "He's right! He asked us all here. He should be here. And what's this big secret he was going on about?" "I guess we'll know soon." Everyone looked Merry strangely. "And why would you say that?" Frodo asked. Merry pointed to the stairs. "Because there he is."

Sure enough, there was Aragorn walking carefully down the steps with Arwen. Everyone noticed she seemed to fall behind a little but no one thought much of it. They all rushed forward and greeted Aragorn with embraces and shouts of welcoming.

Gimli pushed his way through everyone and stood in front of Aragorn with his arms crossed. "Well, lad, what is it? What's this big secret you couldn't tell us about until now?" Legolas stared down at his friend. He rolled his eyes and could be heard muttering under his breath. "How succinct."

Egged on by Gimli, the others promptly followed suit in trying to unearth Aragorn's big surprise. He smiled almost sheepishly. "Well... "He began to explain, but he couldn't finish. Instead, he stepped aside, revealing Arwen.

She looked as radiant as ever and was looking very pleased indeed. Everyone was surprised to find that they had completely forgotten she was even there. But there was something different about her that everyone failed to realize at once. This was not the same Arwen they had seen a year ago. This was a very different Arwen. This Arwen was very, very, very pregnant.

Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin could no longer stand next to her and see her face. Instead they just stared in an almost utter disbelief at her round stomach. Gimli did not let it bother him that he couldn't see much further than the hobbits and slapped proudly Aragorn on the back. "Well, I'll be! When did this happen?" (A/N: Like they're going to tell him.) Gandalf beamed at him. "Congratulations, Aragorn." Legolas just stood there, grinning at Aragorn and Arwen. His smile was so wide it looked painful. Aragorn and Arwen didn't say much, but no one had ever seen them look so proud.