Fluff warning. If you like keeping your bodily fluids in your body and for your heart to stay at its regular pace then please skip this chapter and wait for the next update.
Good luck lol.
Aragorn could not believe this. He was sure that the Valar simply liked to see him suffer. What with the many burdens they had placed on his shoulders, the deaths of his parents and then they took Eleniel from him. But here she was. Alive and in his embrace. His eyes were always on her, trying to take her image in as much as possible. He didn't realise it but he had started crying, startling her.
"Estel?" She asked, her words pulling him out of his thoughts.
He looked at her with a smile and said, "I no longer know if I am awake...or if I have strayed into a dream once again," Aragorn said, his eyes roving over her face and body as if desperately trying to commit her to his memory. He lifted his right hand and caressed her cheek affectionately. "Surely I have wandered into a dreamland where you still live. Where you breathe and I am able to hold you."
Eleniel gazed at him warmly before allowing herself to relax more into his embrace. He stared at her for a few moments more, his love and longing for her so clearly displayed. She knew in that moment that she would love no one else but him. She could only hope that he felt the same about her.
She said nothing, choosing to instead brush her lips against the calloused palms of his hands. After a few moments of staring at each other, she turned her gaze to Elrond who still sat in the King's tent although he was looking away to try and give them a semblance of privacy. She also swore that she saw a little awkwardness and embarrassment in his posture but said nothing about it.
"We must prepare for war-" Elrond began to say when Aragorn cut him off. "And for our victory." He said confidently, almost as if they had already won the battle.
Eleniel looked at her love sadly before shaking her head. "You ride to battle, meleth nin but, not to victory." She said. Aragorn smiled after hearing her call him 'meleth nin' but that smile disappeared once he registered her words.
"Sauron's armies march on Minas Tirith, as you know, but in secret he sends another force, which will attack from the river. A fleet of Corsair ships sails from the South. They'll be in the city in two days." His Ada told him. An image flashed before Aragorn's eyes. He saw huge fleets of ships gliding through the water as they passed burning buildings, leaving waste and death in their wake. "You're outnumbered Aragorn. You need more men."
"There are none." said Aragorn.
Elrond looked at him imploringly. "There are those who dwell in the mountain."
Aragorn looked at him shocked. Those men in the mountain were unreliable and would abandon them the first chance they got. "Murderers! Traitors! You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing! They answer to no one."
"They will answer to the King of Gondor." Elrond stated fiercely. Aragorn glanced down at the sword in his grasp before glancing at his Ada and Eleniel. Eleniel smiled at him encouragingly which he returned. "The man who can wield the power of this sword can summon to him an army more deadly than any that walks this earth. Put aside the ranger. Become who you were born to be. Take the Dimholt road."
Aragorn bowed his head at his Ada before nodding that he would follow his advice. "Your mother knew this day would come," Elrond said, smiling at his son. "Gondor need their King. Your people, the Dúnedain, need their King, their Chief."
"Ónen i-Estel Edain." (I gave Hope to the Dúnedain) said Elrond, reciting the final words of his mother to him.
"Ú-chebin Estel anim." (I have kept no hope for myself) Aragorn replied. He knew what he had to do.
Eleniel watched as father and son spoke quietly to each other. Elrond was very wise so she could see why Aragorn would turn to his Ada for advice on the coming battles. He always seemed to just know what to say. She remembered what he had told her before they had left Imladris.
"Please rethink this decision. I'm sure if you plead with the Valar they will give you back your immortality and you may sail West," said Elrond desperately. "If you go to him then there is no guarantee that you will come back."
She smiled at her friend sadly. She knew that he said all this out of love for he did not want to see me die. Many of the others had pleaded with her aswell but she would only shake her head at them. Eleniel could feel the light of the Eldar leaving her everyday but she knew that her place was at Estel's side. The fight for Middle Earth was coming to an end and so was her quest. She was fighting for a happier future with her love and she'd fight anyone to the death for that dream. Melkor, Sauron, whoever they sent, she would fight them all. "I know you worry for me but I am willing to die, to give up everything for him and the end of Melkor. Do not fear for me."
Her friend sighed sadly but nodded that he would support whatever she wanted. "At least promise me that you will tell him." Elrond said to her as they prepared for the journey to Dunharrow. She pretended not to know of what he spoke but her mind still wandered.
Elrond sighed before silently grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it in comfort. "You cannot keep something like your lack of immortality a secret. He must know," the Elf Lord said, trying to catch her line of sight but remaining unsuccessful. "If you do not tell him before he departs from Dunharrow for the Dimholt road, then I will be forced to."
Eleniel glared at Elrond, her frustration with the Elf Lord showing. The Elf simply lifted an eyebrow at her as if to say 'try me'. She sighed in defeat before agreeing that she would tell him as soon as they arrived at Dunharrow and had time for themselves to discuss it.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the tent door opening. Eleniel rushed to her friend and gave him a tight hug. "Keep your promise." Elrond whispered quietly in her ear although she knew that Estel heard what he had said.
Smiling at the pair of them before farewelling them one last time, Elrond moved out of the tent and their line of sight. Eleniel's thoughts immediately went to her immortality. She loved, loves Estel with everything she had. Her only wish was to be with him always even in death but, what if that is not what he wanted? What if he had found another while she was indisposed? What if he didn't love her like she thought he did?.
What if she had given up everything for a man who did not want to be with her?
She felt a hand grasp hers, startling her for a moment. Looking to her right, she smiled nervously at the questioning look on Aragorn's face. "What did he mean for you to keep your promise?" he asked her.
Aragorn felt her body tense and immediately knew that something was wrong. Knowing that she couldn't back out now, she took a deep breath before pulling him towards one of the seats in the tent. Once they had sat, she leant her head against his shoulder, feeling her body relax.
"I love you." She said sincerely, watching as a blinding smile appeared on his face.
"I love you too," he murmured back as his thumb slowly caressed her knuckles. "But you're making me nervous..." The unease and nervousness he felt was rapidly turning into fear.
Eleniel took a deep breath in before continuing, "I wish you could see Valinor one day," Aragorn's body froze after hearing her words. He knew that he would never look upon the Undying Lands but, she would. She would be young and beautiful forever while he would wither and die. "It's beautiful," she began to say. "The trees, the flowers, the air. It showed me that I was home, finally. After three Ages, I would be able to see my family again, my people. I was happy when after I had died that I was home but I was also distraught as I realised that I had left you behind. Left all of you behind."
Aragorn looked like he understood what she was trying to say and asked, "How are you here then?" She looked at him as if to say that she was going to explain that. Aragorn smiled at her sheepishly before nodding at her to continue.
Eleniel nervously continued, "They gave me a-a reward is what you could call it I guess. I could come back and live in Arda but something had to happen first..." she trailed off, the nervousness she felt seemingly overwhelming now.
Eleniel took a deep shuddering breath. "I gave up my immortality," she said, studying the man's face. He looked completely and utterly stunned. "My whole life has been about my quest. My quest, my destiny, they have always been the reasons why I survived, why I continued on even though all I wanted was to be with my family again," said Eleniel. "But you are the reason why I want to live." Aragorn looked at her in love and awe.
Eleniel grabbed onto his hands, entwining their fingers. "I am happy to share one lifetime with you than to face the eternities alone. I have waited three Ages for someone to love me and to make me feel the way that you do," she told him, small tears trailing down her cheeks. "I will not let anything, even death part us."
Aragorn stared down at their enjoined hands for a moment. "Your family..." she cut him off. "They understand. They only wanted me to be happy and you make me happy." She answered him, looking up into Aragorn's eyes, a look of absolute devotion on her face.
"I-I never wanted you to die..." Estel whispered, the guilt and self loathing evident in his voice.
"It was my choice," said Eleniel softly. "I only have to face physical death now. If I had stayed in Valinor then I would have suffered through the death of my heart and soul."
"You're stuck with me now." Eleniel said jokingly but serious, a giggle escaping her lips.
Aragorn drew her into a fierce embrace, his hands cupped her cheeks as he wiped her tears away. "I will give you everything," he vowed tearfully. "I am a Ranger, a Dúnedain, the Heir to the throne of a forgotten kingdom and people. I am nobody in comparison to you." Eleniel went to protest but he only silenced her by putting his hand over her mouth. She harrumphed before mildly thinking of licking his hand so that he'd remove it but decided against it. She knew that he had not bathed in a couple of days maybe.
"The only thing I can offer you is my mind, body and soul but, I vow to you this; I vow to always make you smile. I vow to listen when you talk, whether about your day or how much you hated something, I will listen. I vow to make you laugh and to laugh at all of your jokes," Eleniel laughed loudly as a bright expression overtook her and his face. "And lastly, I vow to love you for as long as I live...and even after that." A stream of tears rolled down Eleniel's cheeks, her happiness and love for him overwhelming her senses.
Aragorn peered down at Eleniel, smiling softly as he felt a certain feeling settle into the very viscera of his body. "You are everything to me," he continued. "I think I finally understand what your father meant when he called you his Star...for you are mine. You are the stars, Eleniel. You are the stars, the sun, the moon. Should I ever find myself lost on any of my wanderings while I am away from you, I need only look to the night sky and know."
He cupped her face between his hands.
"All roads lead back to you."
He pressed his lips against hers passionately. It was beautiful. There was no butterflies. No explosion of fireworks. No angels singing. Only contentment and love. And home. An undeniable feeling of returning home after a long time away.
I cried.
The end.