AN: Hello, again!

It appears that I have developed a serious addiction to this site and posting and updating. So here you'll find a set of one-shots to fill in some gaps my story Family Complications left behind, or just provide some additional scenes that I have in my head, but couldn't fit into the story. (That means that I'll keep on this shameless advertising all along, because I need to define when these scenes take place in the confines of the main story)

Everything is owned by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I hope you'll like this, if you read Family Complications and if you didn't, you can still check it out, if these one-shots hook your attention. No-one is forcing you though, if you don't like it, feel free to stop anytime :) I'd be most happy to receive your comments and reviews and thank you for reading in advance.

I'm sorry for the delay. I wanted to post this in the weekend, but I just had so many things to do, couldn't get the time to go through it properly and do the editing. But now, here's the last extra one-shot part chapter thing. Ah, it's so odd... Wow, someone just spoke English under my window. Oh, love tourists. So, yeah, this is just odd. That I'm posting the last piece... I'll totally miss updating :( Thank you for reading it in advance :)

SCENE No. 10+1

- set somewhere before Sybille's wedding (Family Complications - Epilogue) -*

*obviously the flashback is set 22 years before 'somewhere before Sybille's wedding'.

Sybille was off to see the manor Lord Malberen had prepared for her and Florian, thus she was only having Brianneth and Aryana for a cake and the tea in the garden. They were both sitting in a study room, working on some tasks their tutors had assigned when she found them.

"Ready for some fresh air?" Arwen smiled as she approached the girls.

"Yes! Finally! I thought you would never come to save us, Mother" Brianneth cried out in relief and tossed away the old book she was sitting over.

"No" Aryana announced with a defiant look. "I am far more bored with Sybille and her stupid wedding than with History task."

"That is a shame" Arwen feigned a sigh. "Then, I'll only be telling this story about one of your father's journeys that I remembered this morning to Brianneth. Come, Bria" she put an arm on her elder daughter's shoulder and turned for the door.

"Wait" she heard Aryana say. "Will you really tell a story of Father's journeys?"

"Yes" Arwen turned back. "It's a shame you have such an important task, but maybe next time…" she trailed off trying to hold back a smile.

"No, no! I want to go too. I want to hear that story too!" Aryana shook her head insisting.

Arwen couldn't go any longer and broke into a fond chuckle. "Then leave your boring book and come!" she smiled at Aryana. There were two things that would always hook Aryana's attention under any circumstances; adventures and her father. She adored Aragorn and could spend hours listening to stories of her father. Aryana jumped up at once and placing her hand on her back, Arwen gently escorted her daughter out of the room.

"How could he bear the stink?" Aryana asked an hour later, once Arwen finished the story of finding Gollum. At least as much as she knew of it. Aragorn could always come up with new details to every story every time he told them - obviously those were his memories, he knew a lot better what had happened on each adventure than she did.

"Pardon?" Arwen blinked at her daughter.

"The stink. The marches are said to have a horrible odor. How could he bear it while he looked for Gollum?"

"I believe the mission was important enough, that he would bear it. Or maybe it's not that bad once your nose gets used to it" Arwen mused. "We shall ask him of that" she nodded making a note in her mind.

"Goodness me... Can't we talk about something less disgusting?" Brianneth proposed wrinkling her nose. "I'm not bored with Sybille's wedding at all, for instance…"

Aryana gave her sister a glare. "Only because you hope to dance with that stupid boy!"

"If you brushed your hair sometimes, maybe somebody would like to dance with you too!" Brianneth hissed back.

"Aryana, please. Don't hurt your sister's feelings! We already had a story that you liked, now we should talk about something that Bria likes too, don't be so selfish…" Arwen tried to soothe her daughter. "And Brianneth, Aryana will start caring about boys in a few years too, leave her be until then…" In fact Brianneth was right, concerning the hair at least, it always took hours to plead Aryana into brushing her hair, but she didn't want to make her younger one think that she always took Bria's side.

Aryana shot out her tongue at Brianneth in victory. "Fine, let's talk about something stupid she likes."

"Aryana, stop that! Do you want me to tell your father that you can't behave?!" Arwen scolded her, starting to lose patience. "What would you like to talk about, Brianneth, if not Sybille's wedding?"

"I don't know. Something that has nothing to do with stinking corpses… Some feast or event you took part in, Mother…"

"Did you ever take part in an adventure?" Aryana looked at her curiously and Arwen burst out laughing.

"No, darling, I never had such a fondness for adventures as you and your father. I have always preferred quiet and peaceful events like dinners, feasts or just a fine conversation."

"What was your favorite feast or event?" Brianneth asked.

"That's a good question. We had so many beautiful events. I always loved when we had guests from far away, especially from Mirkwood, they always brought beautiful music and amazing stories. But there was one feast that I loved more than any other" she smiled at the girls. "Aryana will hate the turn of the conversation, I know" she added with a chuckle. "My favorite event was my wedding to your father."

Aryana sniffed. "Did anything interesting happen on your wedding or was it just a usual wedding with the usual wedding things?"

Brianneth beamed. "You are so stupid, isn't it just lovely that Mother's favorite event was her wedding to Father? Aw, how romantic is that!"

Arwen laughed. "In fact it was really interesting and not usual at all. The feast was quite a challenge" she mused remembering. "It was the first time that I met all the lords in person, got to know members of the court. It was very interesting, because I always thought I knew so much of Men and their ways, through your father and in general… But that night I came to realize that I had no idea of mortals and their ways at all" she smiled.

All the stories her father had told her, all the mortal guests they had over the decades and centuries, all the books she had read… Nothing was like standing among Men, in their city, in their world.

"Why, what happened?" Aryana asked, still unsure whether she liked this topic or found it 'stupid'.

"If you are counting on some tavern fight or dragon attack, I will have to disappoint you, darling" Arwen giggled and put a sympathetic hand on her back.

"Ehh…" Aryana dropped her head in disappointment. "That would have been an interesting wedding…"

"Well, then I will be happy to arrange a dragon to attack you on your wedding" Brianneth sang teasing. "So what happened, Mother? Were the lords nice? Did you meet anybody we know?"

"Oh yes, I met many people you know. Lord Erandur, for instance, he was so much younger back then…" Arwen mused remembering. "Of course I have met many people before the wedding too, Lord Faramir, naturally, and the Lord Beregond, and the previous chancellor. You don't know him though, he had died in a few years, he was very old… And we met the Lord Malberen, too…"

But it was not the lords she had been so anxious to meet on her wedding reception, but their wives. She remembered asking Aragorn after she had arrived in Minas Tirith to tell her the most important things she should pay attention to among mortal Men. She didn't want to make any mistakes that would cause Aragorn problems with his new people. What Aragorn had said then, made her laugh. "Just be careful never to overestimate a mortal woman's age." In the upcoming days however she had met more mortal women and found that estimating their correct age was incredibly difficult. Her handmaid for instance had been nineteen, though she would have guessed something like twenty-two, twenty-three. The Royal Householder had been forty-eight, though Arwen never thought the woman looked older than forty... At least Aragorn had great fun observing as she practiced correct age-estimation and soon made up a whole game of the issue so he could continue teasing her. With that, they were looking forward to a very amusing reception.

The wedding itself was majestic. There was no other word to describe. To walk up to the altar with Aragorn and drown into his eyes while the holy man declared them bounded for the rest of their lives was something she would have never exchanged for a few extra centuries of life. This was her life, this was what she had always wanted: Aragorn. And they were so happy, they couldn't utter a single word, they just held each other's hands and smiled and couldn't take their eyes off of each other. The shouts and cheers of the hundred guests in the Ceremony Hall were nothing but a distant blur compared to the unspeakable joy and happiness she felt, only by holding Aragorn's hand, as his wife.

"Asked anybody of their grandchildren yet, my beautiful queen?" Someone spoke into her ear softly as the wedding feast went on.

"So mistrusting, Your Majesty! I would never overestimate the age of anybody that much" Arwen smiled as she turned around to face her husband.

"Judging from the tries I had seen, it is a well based concern, meleth nin" he teased on kissing her cheek.

"Well, well, be careful, my king, your regime depends on what I ask these fine ladies of tonight" she laughed joking as she nuzzled against him. "By the way, I haven't met many people so far, we just finished the last meal, so you are safe for the time being."

"Then it's high time you met some people, my love" Aragorn nodded and fed her the last piece of grape from her dessert plate. "Over there" he gestured at the officers' longtable. "There's Beregond with his wife, the Lady Salarien. They have a son, three years old."

Lord Beregond's wife looked to be a happy, young woman as she chatted with her husband's fellow officers' wives around the table, while a small boy stuffed cake into himself beside her. It was a sweet scenario, indeed. "And she is.. oh… somewhere around twenty-five?" She guessed blinking at Aragorn with musing smile.

"I would say she is closer to twenty, but you are not hopeless…" he chuckled.

With the last of many desserts served and half eaten already, the chief groom, who was in charge of announcements opened the time for every guest to congratulate and greet the freshly wedded King and Queen. That sounded so weird and so amazing at the same time. She was Queen!

First they were officially greeted by Lord Faramir and the Lady Éowyn. Arwen still wasn't sure if friendship was indeed the only feeling the Lady Éowyn still had for Aragorn, but she thought it best to keep these doubts to herself and accept Éowyn's friendly approach. The first of the nobility to walk up to greet and congratulate them was a lord named Malberen, head of the wealthiest family in whole Gondor, according to Aragorn. He introduced his wife, the Lady Doriel to them, who was a humble, kind young woman of her mid-twenties, at least as far as Arwen could judge. They had a little boy too, the sweetest child of the whole feast who even performed a proper bow in front of her, most probably upon his mother's insistence.

"And this little gentleman is…?" Arwen smiled at the child, looking up to Lady Doriel for answer.

"Our son, Barahin, Your Majesty" Malberen answered her.

"How old is he? Half a grown man, already…"

"He turned six just a fortnight ago, Your Majesty" Lady Doriel said stroking her son's dark blond head. "He wants to be an officer when he grows up."

"A warrior!" the little boy corrected her with a scolding glare.

"And that he shall be, I am sure" Aragorn smiled.

This child was so sweet, there were no words to describe. "And you already know what sort of weapon you shall carry?" Arwen asked him.

He thought for a moment before he replied with sincere seriousness in his eyes: "Sharp sort."

That was all for everybody, she and Aragorn burst out laughing along with Lord Malberen and his wife. Little Barahin was beyond adorable. Lord Malberen and his family soon returned to their table though, to give a chance to the rest of the lords to greet the King and Queen too.

"He was so cute!" Arwen tugged at Aragorn's arm. "Aw, such a sweet child…"

She couldn't wait to have her own sweet child with Aragorn.

Her husband nodded, but he was already greeting Lord Galador and his wife. They were both very young with no children yet, so Arwen just gave them her congratulations on their wedding which they had just last fall and her condolences on the death of Galador's father, who fell during the battle of Pelennor. After them, Prince Imrahil arrived and introduced them his daughters. They were both nice, though the younger one was nowhere near as beautiful as her sister, in who the Lady Éowyn's brother was already starting to take a great interest.

"Your Majesties" a middle-aged lord approached them a few minutes after Imrahil left for his table, and his daughter for a dance with King Éomer.

"Lord Forlan" Aragorn inclined his head in greeting.

"May I introduce my wife, Lavarien" Lord Forlan replied with a smile gesturing at his wife, who curtsied and expressed what an honor it was to meet His Majesty. Aragorn then, presented her to the couple too, as his Queen.

"My queen" they both bowed their heads shortly and the Lady Lavarien even gave her a stiff smile.

"It is nice to meet you both, my lord and lady" Arwen said. "And the young men are your sons?" she asked after three seconds of embarrassing silence.

They were indeed, Lord Forlan had two sons, one fourteen, the other ten years old; and also three daughters, ranging from the age of four to nine the Lady Lavarien told her with the same measured expression. What reason this woman had to dislike her so, Arwen had no idea… Judging from the number and age of her children, the Lady Lavarien had to be in her late thirties, Arwen noted in her mind while the couple said their – kind and friendly – goodbyes to her husband. And she looked even older.

"How old was she?" Arwen murmured to Aragorn after they left.

"Early thirties…" Aragorn grinned. She would never get it right, it seemed.

"She was very..."

"Proud?"

Obnoxious, Arwen finished in her head.

"That's not the word I would have used, but yes. She was definitely very proud" she nodded.

"That is a trait of ancient Gondorian families, you'll have to put up with. Remember Boromir. He was the same, but you must not judge them by this. Boromir was a good man too and I am sure Forlan and his wife are the same, once one gets to know them" Aragorn told her. "And you can't blame the poor woman for envying you…" he added with a small smile.

"Envy me? Why in Valar's name would she envy me?"

"My love, you are the Evenstar of your people, while she is not the most beautiful of women even among her own kin…" her husband said.

"She can't possibly envy me for what I look like…" Arwen sighed. Such thing would never happen among Elves. Maybe mortal women held their looks as delicate a matter as their age. Nonetheless, Aragorn aimed to compliment her, and did not fail to draw a pleased smile onto her lips as she watched Lady Lavarien join Beregond's wife chatting with her blond friend at one of the longtables. Not the Lady Lavarien, but the blond friend was the most beautiful of women among her own kin, however, Arwen noted with an incredulous smile.

"Everybody loves you, my dear. That few who don't, will love you too. Just be patient and give them time. Gondor had not had many Elven queens before" Aragorn took her hand and kissed it.

She nodded and twined her fingers into his. "I am so happy to be your Elven queen" she smiled as she leaned against him.

More guests arrived to greet and congratulate them, Lord Erandur, a sly looking man named Hirgon, the elderly chancellor she had already met before. They were all very kind and friendly with her. There was another middle-aged lord, an ambassador of the Lord Faramir's father who greeted them and introduced his sons; the poor man's wife had died giving birth to their baby daughter just six months ago. After he left, they took a break so they could dance for a while.

She danced with Aragorn, with her father, with her brothers, Legolas even with Gandalf. That was one of the merriest moments of the night. Aragorn laughed so hard as he watched them, it was so good to see him like that, carefree and happy again. And surprisingly enough, Gandalf was a good dancer; better than Elladan and Elrohir combined, though the whole scene was still immensely hilarious. Almost competing with the other funniest moment of the night, when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decided to play a game of telling the most embarrassing stories of each other during the dinner. That eventually resulted in Gimli declaring Aragorn the winner once he mentioned that in the next round he would tell Legolas of a certain memorable moment he had shared with Gimli by the bridge of the Helm's Deep gate*. Aragorn was merciful enough and so Legolas never got to know what happened at the Helm's Deep gate, but he promised Arwen he would share it with her later.

All the while many and more guests joined the dancing, the Lord Galador and his wife, one of Lord Erandur's sons and his betrothed, and even the elder son of Lord Forlan led a similarly young girl, no older than thirteen or fourteen, to the dance floor. They were amazingly adorable, though of the two, it was Lord Forlan's son who was more fond of the other, his golden brunette partner was mostly just enjoying the attention of the first of many youths who would fight to win her heart. Lord Beregond took his wife for a dance too leaving their son to the care of their blond friend who, heavy with child, already returned to her table having tired of dancing quickly enough. Whatever she was playing with the little boy in her lap was amusing enough to attract the Forlan girls as well, who were soon all squalling with laughter too. Shortly a dark haired boy joined the gathering and devoured three slices of chocolate cake listening to the blond lady's stories before he joined the younger Forlan brother to make two apples joust, using their forks as lances for the fighting fruits. The little ones looked at them as though they had gone mad, but changed their minds at once as the blond lady gave each of them a peach which they declared princesses at once and started begging the boys to save them from the dragon, the half eaten chocolate cake. She would make a wonderful mother, there was no question, Arwen mused with a smile as she watched them.

Soon they returned to accepting greetings and congratulations as there were still dozens of lords willing to meet her and Aragorn. Arwen didn't mind, in fact it was interesting to get to know these people and to Aragorn it was also very important. They were their people now, after all, and a King and Queen should always know their people. After two lords and their families left from West-Gondor another nobleman of the White City rose to approach them with his young, pregnant wife, no other than the blond friend of Lady Salarien. Aragorn had known them already, the lord at least and thus it was Arwen who got to be introduced first, as his beautiful queen. They congratulated on His Majesty's marriage, and Aragorn congratulated them on the baby which the woman thanked with a warm smile.

"Your first baby?" Arwen asked her but the Lady Narlien just stared back at her with wide, light hazel eyes as though she was deranged.

"The fourth" her expression was as stiff as Lord Forlan's wife's, she sounded almost offended by the assumption. It was Arwen's turn to stare wide eyed, then; this woman was just way too young for that.

Aragorn gulped down a chuckle, probably at her failure to observe the woman's age and saved the day. "And where's your son? Practicing archery somewhere?" he asked the man and turned back to her. "Lord Turgon's son sneaked off with some friends during the battle of Pelennor so they could shoot orcs from the battlements. He has a real talent for the bow."

"I would voucher he is entertaining some little girl with the story right now, Your Majesty" Lord Turgon replied with a chuckle and gave Arwen a measured smile too.

"Oh… I had no idea" Arwen replied, more to her husband, than to the Lord Turgon and his wife who both still seemed to deny her all the friendliness they offered to Aragorn. "And how old is he?" she added, willing to give another chance to a proper conversation.

"He'll be twelve in the autumn" the Lady Narlien replied, pride and love radiating from every inch of her body as she talked of her son.

Arwen was horrified. Twelve year old boys shooting orcs instead of staying safe in hiding places was not something her Elven standards could take in. After a moment of embarrassing silence Lord Turgon and his wife gave their rather warm goodbyes to Aragorn and bowed their heads with a rather cold "my queen" to her before they took their leave and returned to Lord Forlan and his family.

"Twelve?" Arwen turned to Aragorn in outrage.

"It is an ugly thing, I know" her husband nodded. "But I myself have put bows and knives into the hands of thirteen year old boys at Helm's Deep too, and the situation here was even worse. There was war and nobody could protect those boys except for themselves. And not only themselves, but injured soldiers they have protected too."

Arwen sighed. She would never understand this. And she was glad she wouldn't.

"So, I believe I did not overestimate her age, suggesting it was her first pregnancy. Is there some extra points for that?" She looked at her husband with a smile, willing to change the topic to something more pleasant than children in war.

"No, since you never got it right, only underestimated it" Aragorn grinned at her. "How old did you think she was?"

"Twenty-five? She doesn't look any older…" Arwen said defensively.

"She is around thirty for what I know. They have an elder daughter too."

"How?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Do I need to enlighten you?" Aragorn laughed at her.

"At this age, I mean!" Arwen shook her head with a giggle and gave him a fond eye-roll.

Aragorn shrugged. "Shall we go for a dance, my beloved queen?"

Nodding, she accepted Aragorn's arm and they made their way for the dance floor. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the Lord Turgon and his wife introducing their son, the chocolate cake eating dark haired boy to King Éomer and the Lady Éowyn.

Yes, their wedding did indeed involve some very interesting moments… If she had known back then… If she had had any idea...

"Mother?"

Wakening from her memories Arwen turned back to Brianneth and Aryana. "Pardon me. Did you say something, darling?"

"I asked if you met Florian too" Aryana repeated with a suspicious frown.

Brianneth rolled her eyes. "Florian is only a few months older than Eldarion, you silly! How could Mother have met him at her wedding?!"

"Oh…" Aryana nodded. "All right! So what? You always ask so much stupider things!"

"Girls!" Arwen interrupted the quarrel with a sigh. "Please! Let us go now and see if Sybille is already back so she can tell us about the manse" Brianneth nodded and jumped up, while Aryana was already opening her mouth to say some, possibly not very kind thing about the idea. "Or" Arwen went on before her youngest could speak up. "Find your father and ask him of how he could bear the stink on the hunt for Gollum, will that suffice, Princess Aryana?" she asked with a glare.

"Yes, that will" Aryana nodded with an evil smirk and stood up to follow them back to the palace.

*(Referring to Gimli asking Aragorn to toss him because he couldn't jump long distance, but never to tell Legolas. Movie. /The Two Towers - Battle of Helm's Deep) Just in case.

Now read Prologue of Family Complications and try to take Barahin seriously :D Just joking.

So this was my last update pro tempore. Thank you so much for reading this extra extra piece. Also thank you so much for reading all the rest of this story too and for your kind and motivating reviews. :)

I hope to return once with more shit :D On this story, or another one, who knows? We shall see. Until then beautiful summer (or winter) to everybody!