By the time the battle was over eyes were forced open. She would have been left for dead if she was not so high above the actual fighting.

A green figure leaned over her.' His clothes, his eyes, even his skin, were unmistakably green. It glowed and- wait- she was able to se right through him!' At this, she sat up but the ghost was already floating back down to Aragorn. 'Confound the creatures mortals create. They never want to let go of their dead,' she muttered.

Theoden and Eowyn's bodies were carried to the gate of the reclaimed city. Their procession was led to the Healing Houses, and then to the Citadel to place Theoden King's body in honor.

On the way, Gandalf and Pippin caught up with them and then Ilmare came as well. Leaning heavily on a walking stick she coaxed a soldier to give to her, she stopped in front of the wizard. The two looked at each other for some time as the rest of the procession slowly passed. A twinkle creased the happy eyes of Gandalf while a light seemed to penetrate all they saw in Ilmare's eyes.

Ilmare turned her gaze to the procession and what they carried. 'He is dead then,' she said, low and quietly and looked back to Gandalf. 'Theoden king is gone.' Gandalf nodded his head as Pippin though of what this might mean to Merry.

'Where's Merry?' Pippin asked. He was not in the procession though Gandalf was sure he was inside the city; Merry must have gotten lost while muddled in his own thoughts. While Pippin went in search, the grayness poured down on the city, purging it of the battle, but also reflecting the mood that would not show. To Merry, who sat on some stoop, it seemed like all the world for Theoden.

In the grey mist of tears, Gandalf remarked to Ilmare, 'Darkness is passing.'

'But it still lies heavy on the City,' she added, remarking on all the dead kings and soldiers in that single day.

Again, the wizard nodded. 'How did it come that you needed a support,' he said, motioning to the stick in her hand. Almost half the height of a wizard's staff, Gandalf knew it held no power except strength for weak knees.

The Maiar noticed a slight smirk from the wizard as he pointed out the similarity between the two. 'Just a nasty run-in with shadow, old man,' she replied with a smile imprinted on her face. Gandalf knew of her bitter struggle with Sauron given all the sign he saw before him. The weariness that was slow to pass and an aging beyond her time, though in the case of this elf, it probably had helped her grow into her current age. However, the gray pallor to her face was less comforting; she had seen a fear to which most would bow.

When Merry and Eowyn had been brought to the Healing Houses, the shower had stopped. Long hours did the she-elf stay by each bed but she had not the skill to lift the darkness on their minds and bodies. At a point, Gandalf came into Merry's room as the elf sat beside him.

'They have muttered much in their nightmares, Eowyn and Merry. Armies of the Enemy seem to be embracing the entire land. But there is some truth in the dreams,' she told Gandalf. 'Eowyn cries out for Rohan on a front the Riders had left and yet she does not know of Merry's worries for the Ents fighting the orcs just coming into the Rohan kingdom.' Then, she got up, retrieving a fresh towel for the next bit was hard to say for one just realizing her immortality.

'I also heard Eowyn's bitter tongue remark, 'So the elves are not so immune to death.' The only use I can get from that is that there are battles against the elves as well.'

Gandalf shook his head. 'He is very close to dividing us all. Attacking us on all front, elves, men, making the kings hard put to send away their defenses to ally another.' Gandalf stooped over Merry and caressed his brow. Long had he been at work trying his hand at healing though he knew the one person able to do it. 'It is no use. We must have him come here.' Both knew he spoke of Aragorn, the one who did not want to risk taking over the kingdom just yet. 'Are you coming? Legolas is there.'

'What do I care?' she replied.

Gandalf took a second look at her. The bitterness toward Eowyn had made the wizard think Anna had control but then again... 'Ilmare, you must let her have her life back. Your battle is done-'

'But not finished,' she interjected strongly as she stood from beside Merry. 'If it was finished, I would have brought both myself and her away West to the other land.'

'You would have killed her?' Gandalf shouted. 'Of all the selfish things- You may think she lived solely for your purpose but she has created her own purposes as well.'

'What does she have that I do not, that I cannot give her?'

'Friends, love, and a future.'

'I give her a present that others dream of but never appreciate when they come upon it,' she bellowed.

'She is not yours alone. She was given to all the Maiars.'

'The Maiars who would have let her die!'

'It is better for her to die as a child then to go through the ups and downs of life only to have it end in someone else's hands!'

Ilmare huffed. She could not counteract a reminder of what could have happened with Saruman and Anna.

'She has more control over you than you would like to admit,' Gandalf commented as the elf looked straight at him. 'Why are you lingering around the sick? You know you do not have the hand for healing.'

'I thought I could help them, learn something from them.'

'But why Merry and Eowyn? You have not spent much time with any of the others.' Ilmare did not answer. 'Anna had created a relationship with the two, however good or bad they might have been. She is attached here.'

Ilmare exhaled as Gandalf left her to seek Aragorn. She uncrossed her arms, no longer having anyone with whom to be cross.