Not much left in this story, now!
Aragorn's coronation day came swiftly, and the city was looking far better than any of us could have imagined. Rather than the major siege that had occurred here in Minas Tirith, it looked as though it'd been more of an unpleasant minor siege, but a siege nonetheless. People from all across the realm had arrived to help the city clean up and rebuild where it was needed. Unfortunately the loss of lives had been great, which in turn left many homes empty, though free to shelter the many left homeless by Sauron's siege machines. Many survivors showed compassion in this time by opening their homes and hearts to harbor those left orphaned, childless, or incapable of providing for themselves. We even took in several lovely children for a time, as their parents were often too busy working to restore their homes to care for them. It was a time of great compassion unlike any I had seen before.
The days prior to the coronation were filled with excitement for every level of Minas Tirith. The return of the king was lining up to be one of the biggest celebrations I would ever see, with every sorrowed soul uplifted at the hope that came with Aragorn's name. My handsome inside source (and soon-to-be husband) assured me that every citizen present would be fed only the finest foods, and in great quantities. Considering what the country had just been through, I was a little more than surprised at his confidence, but as a mere citizen of the realm I was hardly qualified to argue. I was sure that Collin's encouragement and eternal optimism on the topic only fueled the flame that was Boromir's determination.
Speaking of my dear and eccentric friend, Collin had busied himself with helping James acquire the funds to buy everyone in the house a new set of finery for the coronation celebrations. When not helping with the relief efforts, the two did their best to allot what money they had appropriately. In the end, their grand dream was trumped by their compassion, and most of their gold went to purchasing food for those who could not. In the end, such acts of kindness ended up lifting their spirits far more than the finest silks ever could, though a very lovely woman named Maerwen arrived just in time to give our boys the best of both worlds.
James' family arrived several days before the coronation, along with many other elves arriving for the special occasion. She was as lovely as James had painted her, with blue eyes as deep as the ocean and dark hair braided in ways that I could never replicate. Her belly swelled with an oncoming addition to the family, looking nearly ready to burst. Even more beautiful was the small child she had in tow: little Faelwen. The day they arrived at our doorstep left James in tears.
Kristy had answered the door, only to find a smug-looking Legolas escorting Maerwen and Faelwen, whom she immediately recognized from the little half-elven child. Jaw dropped, Kristy nearly collapsed, eyes ready to overflow with tears of joy. Maerwen reacted in kind, sweeping my friend into a loving embrace, creating an image of two women who could have known each other for years. It was all I could do to watch from a distance, a smile plastered on my face, as Legolas lifted the young child into his arms and said, "Faelwen, this is your Aunt Kristy."
James, having been out working in the city, arrived home just hours later, along with Collin. The two were a mess, no doubt having come from what few areas of the city that were still nearly as ruined as the final day of the siege. We'd long since settled in the sitting room, where Kristy sat bouncing Faelwen upon her knee. An impossible excitement still hung in the air as Legolas called out for the two to join us. I could've sworn James was prepared to bicker with his elven friend, no doubt exhausted from the day's work, but the moment he stepped in the room he sprinted towards his wife and child. Soon there was a group hug forming in the center of the room as little Faelwen joined her parents, along with Kristy, whom James had dragged in by the hem of her sleeve. I'd never seen James so happy in my life, and all of those hours of listening to him gush about his family finally came to fruition. They were as wonderful as he'd described, and it was then that I realized that in a small way they'd become my family, too. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I grew to love them as I loved Collin, James, and Kristy.
"I could hardly believe the news, when James sent word of having found you," Maerwen confessed over dinner. "His circumstances had been strange..."
"To say the least," pipped Legolas.
"I must speak honestly," Maerwen continued. "Though James spoke of you three often, it had always been difficult to imagine you in the flesh. Seeing you three alive and well has done my heart a world of good. I always regretted that our children would only have stories of their father's family, but now you are here, and just in time for our new little one!"
James smiled at the phrase, "little one." His reaction to his wife's pregnant belly was the equivalent of a child getting a puppy for Christmas, multiplied by a thousand. I could tell that he was fighting the urge to caress the baby bump the entire night, at least when he wasn't busy cuddling with Faelwen. The little girl was the life of the party, finally having settled next to Nesta, whom I couldn't help but picture as an amazing older sister.
"I understand you are to be married soon, Sophie?" asked Maerwen. "To the son of the steward, if I am not mistaken?"
"Correct!" Though Denethor was still alive and technically held the title of steward, Boromir was doing much of his father's work, along with Faramir. Their father was bedridden and relatively unresponsive, though the brothers were handling it well. In reality, there were bigger things to worry about, though they often tried to spend meals with him as they could.
"Might I ask of your own future plans, Collin?" Maerwen inquired. "Forgive my curiosity, but I am still fascinated at your presence. Oh, the stories I have heard."
Collin laughed. "Not a problem! I'm excited to have finally met you, and you're part of my family now, by default! Feel free to bombard me with questions, I do love talking about myself. In any case, I'm content to be the bachelor of the group. Say hello to your cool uncle, Faelwen! I feel the title suits me. Besides, I'm quite content to spend my time caring for Nesta, and getting her a good education. She's going to know all about Middle-earth by the time she leaves home."
"I'm sure that I already know more than you, Collin." Nesta teased.
"Of course! But I won't rest until you've been through every book Minas Tirith has to offer. And once you're through with those, we'll ride to Rohan and learn even more! And then you'll write books that some child like you can read one day! Or we don't have to do any of that at all, and you can do whatever it is you please."
Nesta's face brightened like the sun. "I think that sounds like a splendid idea!"
"I think you should be careful what you wish for," Kristy warned, teasingly. "Collin likes to follow through with his plans, no matter how grand. You'll be traveling distant lands in ten years, reading languages you've never even heard of in search of new and wonderful things."
"And what's the downside to that?!" cried Collin. "We've been all over this land, and yet I feel I've seen so little. Rohan to Gondor, Gondor to Rohan, an extended vacation in Rivendell and a detour through several places I'd rather not see again. I'd like to go south, or perhaps to Mirkwood one day. All of my adventures thus far have been marred by Sauron's evil. I say it'd be worth while to revisit where we've been, only this time we won't have to worry about our seemingly inevitable death."
"I'd like to see Lothlorien," Kristy mused. "I've heard such wonderful things."
"Perhaps now that Gandalf's back and kicking we can go back, and bring him along," I suggested. "Though, I'm not exactly sure what his plans are, now that the ring is gone. He never did seem to stay in one place for long."
"Road trip with Gandalf. That's my mission," declared Collin. "It's going to be wild."
"We'll have to build him a wagon!" I laughed. "But this time with a canopy, and pillows. Also blankets. We'll pitch a tent in the back of Gandalf's wagon and he can take us on adventures."
"Sounds like a good honeymoon, don't you think?" James teased, giving me a wink. I rolled my eyes.
"I doubt we'll have much time for a honeymoon any time soon, James. Nor do I imagine it's high on the priority list."
"But we've got to go on one last adventure together!" Collin insisted, looking like a wounded puppy. "So much has changed. It'll be like how the seniors would make one last victory lap through town when we were in high school. One last trip to Rohan and back, we've got to do something."
Collin was right. The more we talked about Aragorn's coronation, my engagement, James' growing family, and all of those we'd lost, the more I felt the need to revisit certain aspects of my youth. It's hard to see just how much you've changed when you're not thinking about it. I knew that I'd grown a lot. I knew that things were going to be very, very different in the future. One day I would have kids, the war would be long gone, and some day I'd grow grey. Nostalgia was hitting me hard, and Collin was only serving to make it worse.
"Maybe," I finally replied, though not entirely sure how realistic of an idea it was. An engaged woman leaving just before the wedding for one last adventure? Some would think I was never coming back, not that it mattered. I thought of Boromir and smiled. Whatever the changes that the future held, I was glad that I was going to share them with him, and I was even more glad that I'd gotten to share such a beautiful, if colorful, past with the most beautiful friends I could've hoped for.
Not a huge chapter, I just wanna inch my way to the end because it's weird to actually be closing this chapter in my life. This story has been so important to me, thank you all for reading it.