I was in a strange mood when I wrote this...

Alarain woke with the sun hitting her face through the window. Rubbing her eyes, she discovered that both Aragorn and Brenir were gone. Disappointment filled her for a moment before she got up. She wandered sleepily to the kitchen for some food and found her dog being spoiled with scraps. Rolling her eyes at him, she ate and went in search of Pippin to see how he was after his ordeal.

"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes." Gandalf's voice came. She followed it into the main hall to find him, as well as the rest of the fellowship, speaking with Theoden King. "A fool, but an honest fool, he remains."

Pippin was sitting in a chair with Merry at his side and she wandered over to lean on a pillar behind them. The hobbit turned in his seat and she gave him a smile. He half-smiled back and returned his gaze to the others.

"He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring." the wizard said, and Gimli let out a breath beside Legolas. "We've been strangely fortunate." Gandalf continued. "Pippin saw in the palantir, a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith." Boromir's face hardened from his place beside Aragorn and he frowned deeply. "His defeat at Helm's Deep showed our enemy one thing." Gandalf looked over to Aragorn. "He knows the heir of Elendil has come forth. Men are not as weak as he supposed. There is courage still. Strength enough perhaps to challenge him." Alarain felt a rush of pride for Aragorn as the wizard spoke. "Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle-earth uniting under one banner." He paused. "He will raise Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a king return to the throne of men. If the beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war." he said to the king.

Theoden had been silent up until now and he looked annoyed. "Tell me." he began, looking across at Gandalf. "Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours?"

"What?" Boromir snapped.

His eyes moved to Boromir. "What do we owe Gondor?" he asked.

Boromir fumed. "How can you say that? Gondor wasn't even aware of what was happening at Helm's Deep!" A guard stepped towards him, but the king motioned for him to stop. "Even if they did, they could not have arrived in time." He glared at Theoden. "If you hadn't noticed, Gondor has it's own battles to fight."

The king glared calmly back and Aragorn spoke. "I will go." he whispered.

"No!" Gandalf said.

"They must be warned."

Gandalf looked back to him. "They will be." he said before slowly walking over to Aragorn. He spoke quietly to him and Alarain strained to hear. Gandalf finished and turned back. "Understand this. Things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith." He turned to Pippin. "And I won't be going alone." The hobbit shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Come Peregrin." he ordered before striding out of the hall.

Pippin looked confused and Merry began to follow the wizard. "Come on Pip!" he called, annoyance in his voice. He sent Alarain a worried look before rushing after Merry.

She watched them go and Boromir trudged past her, muttering to himself. She didn't follow and allowed him to blow off some steam alone. Instead, she decided to wish Gandalf and Pippin farewell and hurried after them. She had changed back into her ranger clothes and ran to the stables with ease. Entering, she saw Pippin was already up on Shadowfax and Gandalf was just mounting behind him.

"Run Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste." the wizard said before the horse took off. She jumped back and watched sadly as they rode away. Merry dashed past her and towards the wall. She watched him run up the stairs to a watchtower with Aragorn close behind. They stood together at the top and exchanged words. Alarain already missed the hobbit and wizard. Especially having just reunited with them.

She felt a presence by her side and turned to see Eowyn watching her. She gave her an encouraging look and spoke softly. "I'm sure they'll be fine Alarain. After all, from what I've heard, they've survived a great deal already." Alarain nodded her thanks to the woman before wandering away in silence.

The sound of a swords clashing came to her ears and she followed the noise. It lead her to a sparing arena where she found Boromir taking his anger out on Legolas. She watched and it became apparent that in his fury, Boromir wasn't doing very well. The elf easily blocked his hits with one of his knives while the other just hung in his hand by his side.

"I apologize Boromir, but I must be off." he said. Boromir halted his attack and frowned. Legolas quickly made his escape and Boromir noticed her.

"Do not say a word." he growled.

Alarain nodded and walked forwards. She drew her sword and faced him. He gave her a disbelieving look before raising his sword and swinging at her. She jumped back and his blade rang on hers. It vibrated her hand with the impact and she lost focus. He swung again and she ducked. He drove her back and she slipped under his swing and behind him. She brought her hand up just in time to block another crazy attack and he paused.

"Why did you stop?" she asked.

Boromir sighed. "I'm not the best sparing partner when you haven't practiced for a while." he said.

Her wrists were already aching with the weight of the sword and of his attacks, and she couldn't disagree that she was out of practice. "Alright." she agreed. "What shall we do then?" She sheathed her sword and gave him a questioning look. He shrugged, putting his sword away as well. A mischievous grin grew on her face. "We'll just have to get your mind on something else. Come on." With that, she strode away.

His footsteps followed and he was soon at her side. "How?" he asked, a worried look on his face.

"With some harmless trouble making." she smiled.

Boromir gave her a funny look and rolled his eyes. "What kind of harmless trouble making do you have in mind?" His voice was tentative.

"We'll see." she answered mysteriously.

He was silent as they wandered down to a marketplace. Alarain stopped and looked about. She soon spotted her prey.

Sneaking away, she motioned for Boromir to stay where he was. A man was sitting at an apple stand reading what looked to be a letter. He had his own apple on the table beside him and Alarain crouched down behind his chair. He was busy with his letter, so she stretched over and moved the apple to the other side of the table. She hid behind him and he absently reached for his treat. His hand waved at nothing and he looked up. A confused look came over his face and he reached over to grab his food. The man took and bite and placed it back down before returning to his letter.

Alarain peeked over to see a smile forming on Boromir's face as he watched. She repeated it and when the man reached over for his apple again, he found it was back on the other side of the table. He began to look around and Alarain quickly walked away, pretending to be looking at the stands. She made her way back to the apple man, and as she passed, she moved it again. Jogging back to Boromir, they laughed as they saw the man grow frustrated with his seeming possessed apple.

Boromir shushed her and walked nonchalantly by a stand, pretending to look over the bread that was being sold. When the saleswoman was distracted by someone else, he quickly rearranged her bread. He hurried back to Alarain and snickered.

"What did you do?" she asked, confused.

"Her bread now says 'hello'." he said with a laugh.

They looked over to see the woman turn back to her bread. She stared at it before looking around nervously. Alarain began laughing and the woman spun around. Her and Boromir quickly pretended to be deep in conversation and she looked away.

They wandered to another part of the market and Boromir put some salt into someone's cheese, Alarain switched peoples chairs, and they both completely moved a table. They got some weird looks for that one, but it was worth it when the person the table belonged to came back. He stood in the empty spot looking around in confusion until someone gave them away and he glared over. They hurried somewhere else after that.

As they strolled along, Boromir walked away and she waited and watched to see what he was going to do. He walked up to a stand selling eggs and spoke. "Excuse me. Do you sell eggs?" he asked.

The man looked at him like he was crazy. "Yes sir." he said.

Boromir moved his eyes to the eggs. "These aren't eggs." he said in disappointment.

"I believe you're mistaken sir." the man said again. "These are eggs. I collected them this very morning."

"Prove it." Boromir said.

Flustered, the man stared at him. "Pardon me?" he asked.

"Prove that these are indeed, eggs."

The man looked confused. "How?"

"Juggle them." Boromir ordered.

"Excuse me?"

"Juggle the eggs." the Gondorian said seriously.

The man looked around for help, but no one offered it. "I don't know how to juggle sir." she apologized.

"If you don't juggle them, how am I supposed to know they're eggs?" Boromir asked, leaning forward and looking him in the eye. He stuttered and Boromir spoke again. "Next time I see you, you'd better know how to juggle eggs." He eyed the poor man before marching away.

Boromir lost it half way back to her and burst out laughing. She had already lost it way before him and now they turned, about to look for another victim when they almost ran straight into Aragorn. They ceased their laughing and stared at him.

Aragorn was glaring at their guilty faces. "What in the name of all that is good, are you two doing?" he asked.

They glanced at each other like children who were just caught doing something naughty and Boromir quickly pointed at her. "It was her idea." he said. She whacked his arm and Aragorn just continued to glare at them. Boromir sighed. "Alright. I'll go back to the hall." he said grumpily before trudging off.

When he was gone, Aragorn turned his gaze back to Alarain. He crossed his arms and waited for an explanation. Alarain glanced up and him and he raised an eyebrow. "Care to tell me why you were disrupting the market?" he asked calmly.

"I was trying to get Boromir's mind off Theoden King. What he said about Gondor really bothered him." She looked down, no longer being able to hold his gaze.

"I care for you Alarain, but I do not care for what you were doing."

Her heart fluttered and, glancing up again, she thought she saw a hint of a sparkle in his eyes. "You have to admit it was quite funny." she said, trying to get a reaction. She got nothing, so she tried again. "I mean, it's not every day you see and grown woman and a grown man making trouble in a marketplace." Still nothing. "I wonder if that man is going to quickly try and learn egg juggling." She peeked back up and saw his lips twitch. She smiled sweetly up at him and batted her eyelashes.

Aragorn sighed and finally broke out into a smile. Alarain laughed and he spoke. "Alright. I suppose that was slightly amusing." he said before shaking his head in defeat. His face turned mockingly dangerous. "But if I ever catch you doing that again..." Before he could finish, Alarain dashed off, leaving him staring at her in confusion. He shook his head and shot after her.

Alarain ran like her life depended on it. She nearly fell a couple of times, but seeing Aragorn closing fast made her keep going. The woman wasn't sure why she had run, but now that she had, she couldn't let him catch her. Thoughts of what he would do if he did began to cloud her mind and she almost ran straight into Legolas as she hurried up the stairs to the Golden Hall. Swerving around him, she glanced back to see Aragorn nearly run into the elf as well. Inside, she quickly turned right and ran into the side halls. Her footsteps pounded loud on the wooden floor and her hopes of escaping quietly vanished.

Turning corners at random, she suddenly came face to face with door that lead outside. She knew because it had a small window with light coming through. Quickly grabbing the handle, she twisted. It didn't budge. It's stuck! Aragorn suddenly came around the corner and Alarain spun to face him. He stopped and, panting, grinned with a dark, teasing look. She was breathing hard as well and they stared at each other for a moment.

Alarain suddenly jumped into action and yanked hard on the door. She looked to see the ranger walking slowly towards her. Her heart was racing and she desperately tried to get free.

She gasped when his arms slid around her waist and pulled her back into him. His breath was at her ear and he whispered very quietly. "You shouldn't have run." His voice was low and teasing and Alarain felt her heart jump like mad. All of a sudden, he turned her around and pinned her to the wall by her wrists. His eyes were sparkling as he gazed into hers, and she felt her legs weaken. His fingers slowly entwined in hers and she blushed.

"Alarain." he whispered before moving in. Their lips brushed and as Alarain let her eyes close, she felt him press forward and kiss her gently. His hands left hers and cupped her face while his thumbs caressed her cheeks softly. Her own hands then came down and grabbed onto his tunic front, pulling him closer. It was a soft, slow kiss, unlike the one the night before. Alarain felt all her fears and worries disappear when with him. Especially when she was with him like this.

They pulled apart slowly and gazed into each others eyes. Alarain smiled nervously and he moved forward again, kissing her with just the right amount of gentleness, passion, and force. He smelled of earth and pine trees, and the warmth of his body against hers made her melt. She felt lightheaded when he stepped back, panting and smiling. He moved his hands from her face to her hands on his chest and took them tenderly. Alarain was still dizzy, but she blinked it away and looked up at him.

Aragorn narrowed his eyes. "No torturing the marketplace." he whispered menacingly.

She felt her cheeks redden and was glad it was dark in the hall. The only light was from the small window in the door, and it wasn't bright enough for him to see her blush. She didn't answer him, so he leaned down and gave her cheek a soft kiss before letting her hands go and walking away. When he was gone, she slid down to the floor and let out a breath she had not known she'd been holding.