Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the Lord of the Rings.
Note: This is probably a one shot story although last time I said that, I have a story which is 12 chapters long and still going. Here Estel is told of his heritage by Elrond. So let's begin.
"Bring Estel to me." Elrond looked up when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Enter." He called and watched as his foster son Estel walked in. At the age of 20, Estel was a handsome man with rugged features handed down by him through his ancestors the Dunedan. His dark wavy hair was just cut above the shoulders, a courtesy of his foster brothers, Elladan and Elrohir.
The man smiled at his father before Elrond rose to embrace his son. It had been three years since they had last seen each other because Estel had only recently returned from the wild with Elladan and Elrohir. "Please, sit Estel." Elrond commanded, watching as the man sat himself with a grace unknown to Elrond any time before.
"Estel, long have I dreaded and dreamed of this day, when I can finally tell you all you want to know of you true identify." Elrond sat opposed him as he drew his robe around him more closely. He could see Estel's excitement but his son composed himself. "So grown up but yet to young, are you not, my Estel? But will you still be my Estel after this is all over, I wonder."
"You shall still be ever known to the elves as Estel, but your name in the world of men shall be once again, Aragorn, son of Arathorn. He was the 15th chieftain of the Dunedan. As you are now the 16th. You are in grave danger by me telling you this, Aragorn, for long has the dark lord sought the heir of Isildur and only because you have resided in Rivendell have you been protected. You can lay claim to the throne of Gondor and a choice is before you, to reclaim that throne or to live in exile as your forefathers have done." Elrond began, watching as Estel, no Aragorn, started fidgeting with his hands.
"A choice you need not make now." He added, placing his hands over those of Aragorn and trying to appear calm. "You have met your mother and were send into hiding the moment your father was slain. Your mother choice to return to your people, leaving you with me. But that matters not now." Elrond watches as Aragorn rose and began to pace the room, emotions flickering across his face.
"I know you wish to leave, Aragorn, but first there are things I must give you." Elrond rose as well and beckoned the man to him. Aragorn stood beside him while Elrond went to his desk and took out some wrapped items. He unwrapped all three of them and handed a beautifully carved ring to Aragorn, saying. "This is the Ring of Barahir and it is yours to wear. But be aware that people can see who you are if you choice to wear this ring on your finger."
Next Elrond handed a broken sword to Aragorn and the man beat him to it, saying. "This I know, I studied it's lore but never did I dare dream I would one day hold it in my hands. The shards of Narsil." The man seemed upset but his eyes were hooded and Elrond knew any word now and Aragorn would lash out in anger. "Can I be excused?" Aragorn asked after a moment and Elrond nodded, not giving voice to the pain in his heart when he did not hear the word Atar.
Aragorn got up and smiled at his father one last time before walking out the door. He waited until he heard the door close behind him before he broke out into a run. It was not long before he reached the front doors, taking small jumps down the steps he sprinted off towards the forest, hoping for time to think.
He could feel tears making their way across his cheeks before he wiped them away with an angry gesture. He collapsed next to the pond in a heap, his thoughts racing. "Never more will I be Estel for now I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn and Isildur's heir. And yet I wonder will I be tested like my forefather before me and what if I fail? Will the elves fall as well? How can I be proud off this heritage?"
Aragorn could hear people coming closer but he wished he could disappear but he knew it would be to no avail. Instead he drew up his knees to his chest and waited until the footfall stopped next to him before he looked up. A blond elf was standing beside him, looking down at him with sparkling blue eyes. Eyes that held the fascination of countless maidens during the ages the elf had returned to Middle Earth from the halls of Mandos.
Aragorn looked down again, waiting until the person spoke. A gentle hand was placed atop of his head and a normal merry voice asked. "Do you mind if I sit?" Aragorn merely nodded and the elf sank to the ground gracefully beside him, the hand sliding down to rest upon his neck.
"The twins are not with you?" Aragorn eventually asked, knowing his brothers were normally not very far away. "No, I told them you were better left alone." The elf answered, staring off into the distance. "How long have you known? And I would like to know the truth, Glorfindel, for the friendship that we shared." Aragorn turned his eyes upon Glorfindel and he could see the determent expression on the elf's fair face.
"Since the moment you came here. You would have been put to death had people found out. The only one besides us who knows is Halbarad and Celeborn and Galadriel." Glorfindel's soft voice answered him. "I understand the danger, how can I not?" Aragorn softly added.
"Aragorn, you must not forget that this does not change who you are." Glorfindel spoke as he hooked his fingers underneath the man's chin to make him look upon him. "How can you say that? It changes everything. I am a whole other person then I thought. I am not Estel any longer but I am also Aragorn now." Aragorn nearly snarled in rage.
"Really? Then tell me, when you see the light reflected in the water, what do you think? If it is beautiful, would it not be so if you were Estel or Aragorn. And do you not think, that if you had known you were Aragorn before, Elrond would have allowed you out of the house and hunting with the twins simply because you were Aragorn, no. You always were Aragorn, as you will always be Estel but it gives you more choices and yes, perhaps a harder life if you had not known." Glorfindel continued in a soft tone.
Aragorn sank back down to the ground, surprised at Glorfindel's words. "I had never thought about it in such a way. But there is so much doubt and a much harder future to think about. I am not simply a man, or a ranger for that matter. No, I am Isildur's heir and chieftain of the Dunedan."
"Yes, but it does not mean that this knowledge should change you today. Your future will take years, as it should and we shall be with you every steps of the way. You will acquire more names then simply Estel or Aragorn, this I know. The years will be long and hard, Aragorn but you will get into your own and you will see, the knowledge that you acquired as Estel will serve you even as you are Aragorn, or any other name." Glorfindel drew the man into his embrace and Aragorn went willingly, smelling in the lavender scent that always seemed too clung to the golden elf.
The tears came to his eyes once again but this time he did not wipe them away, allowing himself to weep as a small child for a future he thought he had but in fact had lost. Glorfindel's grip tightened upon him and he could feel the eternal elf tremble himself. "I cannot handle this. I cannot let go of my dreams just like that, simply because Ada told me something." Aragorn did not care if he sounded childish but he had to say it, Glorfindel had to understand.
And the elf did, as he drew away a few inches so he could look Aragorn in the eye, he spoke. "And you should not. It would be very unwise but perhaps alter them so they fit you as you will change over the long years still before you. You are a man of Numenor, Aragorn and you shall live longer then any most men and you are still young, this people have seen. And thought hardship, you will find your happiness. Now it is best we get back, less a pair of half elves will get very agitated with news about you, Estel. Or lack of news."
Aragorn grinned bashfully at the thought of his brothers agitated. He accepted Glorfindel's hand to rise before they made their way out of the forest. They had scarcely left the woodland area when two cries erupted from the house and two dark blurs shot down from the stairs only to crash upon Aragorn within seconds. The man caught the lithe elves against his chest, already being broader build then his two brothers combined.
He was embraced roughly but the lack of speech made him draw away, only to see both of his strong brothers standing there with tears in his eyes. They both had a hand clasped on his shoulder and Aragorn felt like a small child again, searching for their approval in everything and he asked in a small voice. "You are still my brothers, are you not?"
"Yes, Estel. We are." The dark haired elf to his right answered before looking at his twin who reached out to touch Aragorn upon the heart. "Yes, Aragorn. We are combined within love for one another and never shall we fail you as we know you shall never fail us." The next moment Elladan drew him within his embrace once more. "I love you, Aragorn, Estel but most importantly, my brother." The elven voice was a hoarse whisper and Aragorn swallowed back tears once again.
He felt surrounded in love and when Elladan released him to Elrohir he continued to feel that way. Even when the twins stepped back to see their father coming down the steps. Elrond was fighting back tears as well when he steps forward as the lord spoke. "I forgot to say one thing, Estel, you will always be my son."
Aragorn smiled and after catching his father in a bone crashing hug, he whispered. "As you will always be my father."
Years later when Aragorn was surrounded by his own sons and daughter and of course his beautiful wife, Arwen Undomiel and lay upon his deathbed, he smiled and told his children this story. When all children had said their goodbye, he drew Arwen close and said. "It is time for me to go once more to the family which awaits us both, Undomiel. Will you follow me?"
As tears streamed down her sunken cheeks Arwen nodded and kissed him one last time before Aragorn closed his eyes and followed the call of his family home into the West. And that was how the tale of the king of men and his elven queen ended for the mortal world. The king had been surrounded in love for all his life and would be so even as he passed from this mortal world.
In the far West a father looked up when he finally saw his son appear on the beach with his wife beside him. He was not the only one to race to the beach, followed closely by friends and family alike to once more surround Arwen and Aragorn in love.
The End
Hope you liked it. I hope the ending made sense, if it did not, let me know. And please review. This is a one shot, I swear.