The pain he felt in that moment was unparalleled. Sinking to his knees Aragorn is unable to even cry out as he had done when he had though Merry and Pippin were dead. It was like his entire world had stopped spinning and everything that he had ever been was lost.
"Leave the dead," it is the King speaking these words that pulls him back to reality and he stand abruptly spinning to face him and seeing Legolas and Gimli standing there too.
"I will go and search for her," he says, his voice strained and weak as he tries to compose himself.
"It is too late, there will be more we must get to the people," the king tries to reason but Aragorn lets out a roar of grief at that and very nearly launches himself at the king if not for Gimli and Legolas holding him back.
"She had been my entire life for these past thirteen years, I cannot leave her down there alone, I will not…" his voice trails off as grief threatens to overwhelm him completely and he feels his body slump against Legolas as he sinks back to his knees, turning to gaze down at the raging water below.
"You must have hope," Legolas murmurs and he merely shakes his head in sorrow,
"She is gone," he replies brokenly standing and moving robotically towards a horse that is offered to him and then galloping after the others, Legolas and Gimli not far behind him.
When they arrive at Helms Deep Aragorn is quick to dismount and rush off to find some solitude to grieve. Never before had he felt this empty, even when his mother had died he had been able to bury himself in his work, in riding the lands as a ranger and fighting an evil he could find but now he felt like he would never be able to function, he wanted to lie somewhere and never get up. It was not fair, he had only just told her that he loved her, only just discovered that he too held her heart and he had lost her. More than anything though he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, he had known that she was hurt by the attention Eowyn had been paying him and at first he had dismissed it. It was in fact only as they were riding this afternoon, shortly before the attack, that he had realised how naive she was in matters of the heart and he had deigned to make it up to her, to reassure her when they reached Helms Deep but it was too late now and she would never know just how deeply he loved her.
It is hours later when he drifts into an uneasy sleep and dreams of her, dreams of their meeting, of their lives up until this point and then his treacherous mind plays out in his dreams all they could haver had and he wakes, tears already making steady tracks down his cheeks and a wrenching, choking sob stuck in his throat.
"Estel," the voice is hushed and thick with a grief of its own as he looks up to see Legolas standing in the doorway, "I head you call out," he says by way of explanation before moving to sit beside the ranger. Legolas grieved for Meduineth but also for his friend beside him, it tore at his heart to see such pain and such fragility in a man so strong. He appeared… broken, incomplete somehow, a piece of him was missing and without her it would always be so and that worried him for he was not sure of Aragorn's ability to go on fighting with such ferocity without her there beside him.
"I…" Aragorn's voice is hoarse and raw as he attempted to speak,
"There is no need to explain Estel. We should be moving to see the King, he will be wanting our council," Legolas is quick to say and then comes close to jumping as Aragorn jumps up and begins pacing almost growling as he does so.
"How do you expect me to give the King council? How am I supposed to do that when Med… when she is gone?" he finishes unable to say her name and sinking once more to his knees.
"As I said before my friend you must never give up hope and it is what she would want," Legolas replies quietly after a moments pause and Aragorn simply stares at the elf for a moment longer before tiredly dragging himself to his feet and moving towards the door.
Meduineth lay on the river bank, her body battered and bruised, her breathing shallow, too shallow. For a long time she seemed to drift between waking and dreaming until darkness fell and she closed her eyes only to wake up back in Rivendell. She was laying on her favourite seat, the one close to the library, that sat in the little alcove that looked out over the waterfalls and the bridge that entered the city. She had spent hours a day sitting here whenever she missed Aragorn, waiting for him to come home.
"You are tired little sister," a voice says gently from beside her and she turns her head to see her sister standing, tall and beautiful as ever before her.
"Arwen," she cries, throwing herself into her sisters arms, "oh how I have missed you," she sobs her body shaking with pent up emotions.
"He is waiting for you little one," Arwen says simply and Meduineth moves away finally, sitting back on the seat and staring at her sister.
"I am scared Arwen," she admits in a whisper after a long silence.
"What are you scared of? Of Estel?" she asks gently and then smiles slightly at Meduineth's outraged expression.
"Never," she exclaims adamantly shaking her head and gesturing with her hands, her whole body seemingly desperate to show just how wrong this sounded.
"Then what is it you fear?" Arwen pushes gently, her hand finding it's place on her little sisters arm to offer comfort.
"I am scared I will never see you and father and our brothers again. I am scared that I am not strong enough to finish this fight and I am scared of losing Aragorn," she admits after a long pause and Arwen merely smiles gently at her.
"Nothing is certain in this world Meduineth, but I believe that we will be together as a family again, and I have faith that Aragorn will not be lost to you. The one thing I am certain of is your strength. You must go back to him now though as I fear he will lose hope without you," she says and before Medunieth can reply everything becomes hazy and pain begins to wash over her more strongly than before.
Something pushing it's nose against her face and snuffling in her ear wakes her and she opens her eyes to see Brego kneeling beside her.
"Brego," she whispers hoarsely, whimpering in pain as she pulls herself onto his back, "come my friend we must get to Aragorn as quickly as possible," and with a whinny Brego takes off at a trot. It seems to Meduineth as if they are traveling for days, every inch of her hurts, more than she could say and her heart longed to be close to Aragorn again, wrapped in the safety of his arms. She had not realised until now how accustomed she had become to sleeping close to him and whilst she sat atop of Brego, him leading her in the right direction without the need of her help she was able to think, and worry, for a moment about how she would fair now that they seemed to be in settlements of men. She knew little of the customs of men, but she knew enough to know that laying close beside Aragorn at night whilst unmarried, despite their love for one another, would damage both of their reputations. She wasn't overly concerned about her own but she could not risk Aragorn's honour being damaged because of her. At the top of a particularly high hill Brego passes and as she gazes into the distance a ragged gasp is ripped from Medunieth's throat. A great sea of hatred and evil was slowly washing towards them. An army of Uruk Hai and Orc so large that her exhausted mind could hardly comprehend it. "Come Brego, we must hurry," she murmurs spurring him on slightly and clinging to his mane as he begins cantering, trying her best not to cry out at the pain that this causes to rip through her.
"Open the gates," hearing the voice calling out she finds the strength to lift her head slightly as Brego's hoofs clatter noisily across the stone causeway and into the stronghold.
"Let me through, let me see her," the sound of Gimli's gruff voice very nearly make her sob out loud as she slides down from the horse having to hold onto his mane for a second to steady herself as the earth seemed to tilt and sway.
"Oh Gimli I have missed you," she whispers as he pulls her into a rough hug causing a tiny whimper to escape her as he hits against a few of her many wounds.
"You are one canny lass," he laughs and she smiles slightly before sobering quickly,
"Gimli, where is the King I must speak with him?" she says knowing that no matter how much she wanted to see Aragorn right now she must first let the king know what she had seen.
Meduineth is rushing so quickly through the streets, trying to make her way to the great hall before exhaustion claimed her completely that she walks straight into a solid wall, gasping as two strong hands shoot out to steady her.
"Oh how I had hoped that my faith in you was well placed," Legolas smiles, causing her to raise an eyebrow slightly at him, "you look terrible," he adds with a slight smirk and she chuckles a little.
"Yes, well, falling off a cliff can do that to a girl," she retorts and he laughs out loud before sobering slightly, his grip on her arms tightening briefly.
"It is good to have you back, he has been… lost without you," he says more quietly and she swallows guiltily before managing to nod and moving away to push the doors open.
Aragorn is standing listlessly in the hall with the King, listening to him talk strategies but hardly able to comment. He feels as though there is a gaping hole inside of him and the blackness was threatening to swallow him. Legolas had stepped out to get some air briefly and so he was alone. A sudden noise makes him turn and for a second he is frozen in place. He must be hallucinating for surely that was his Meduineth standing in the doorway to the hall. She looked exhausted and wounded, like she could barely stand but she was there, his little one, his little mystery. Alive. A strangely sound escapes him before he can stop it and within just a few strides he had her in his arms and his own knees very nearly gave way such was the emotion that flooded through him in that moment.
Meduineth's own breath was stuck in her throat, for a second she wasn't able to breath, to do anything other than hold him to her and try to ward off the tears that so desperately wanted to fall, that had wanted to fall ever since she had woken alone on the bank of the river.
"King Theodan," she murmurs eventually and Aragorn pulls back slightly to allow her to speak but does not relinquish his hold on her, still scarcely able to believe that she was really here.
"What is it my Lady?" the king asks as he steps forward having given the lovers a moment to greet one another.
"All of Isenguard has been emptied, a great host is marching here now," she says although her voice is already weaker even to her own ears, it was as if even her body knew she was back in a small amount of safety and was giving up its fight.
"A great host?" Aragorn asks, concern audible in his voice,
"Ten thousand strong at least, they march here to destroy us all," she whispers before groaning a little as her legs give way and suddenly the only thing holding her up is Aragorn.
"Then let them come," the king says with a stubborn determination, "women and children will go to the caves and every able bodied man and boy will be given arms," he adds as Aragorn lifts Meduineth into his arms and begins walking from the room.
"Come melamin, your battle is over for now, let us get you somewhere to rest where you shall be safe," he murmurs his arms holding her as close to him as possible as he carries her.