Summary: Songfic to Unsteady by X Ambassadors watch?v=3qylVfY . Friends and family gather for Arwen's funeral, and a secret of Arwen's passing is revealed to Eowyn. Rated K+ by Caitie (Eowyn & Aragorn)

April 8-10, 3019

Text written in bold type is spoken in Elvsih. Text written in italics is Elvish.

Cold blue eyes stared painfully at Aragorn. He stood on the blade of knife and across from him stood Arwen, precariously balancing on the tip of the blade. Wind blew ceaselessly on them, pushing Arwen even closer to the edge. "Arwen!" he called out to her. He stretched his arm out towards Arwen, his hand open to grasp hers.

"You failed me," Arwen said, her voice low as it carried on the wind. She took her last step back and disappeared over the edge.

The world around Aragorn flashed red, reflecting off of the blade and rippling in the light, as if it were a sea of blood. Aragorn raced forward, slipping of the metal beneath him and crashing to his knees at the edge. "Arwen!" he shouted, looking over the edge of the blade. The wind picked up making waves crest on the ocean of blood beneath him.

"You failed me," Arwen said again as the waves crashed over her body. His mother was with her, Gilraen; Legolas and Theoden too, all the people he'd failed in his life were thrown about in the ocean.

He heard the words Galadriel had said to the Fellowship in the air above him. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife, stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all." The wind blew furiously and Aragorn watched helplessly as his loved ones disappeared into the blood filled sea. "To the ruin of all."

..::..

"Arwen!" Aragorn woke up shouting her name. A cold sweat lingered on his skin as he fought to catch his breath. He buried his face in his hands and tried to forget the nightmare. He heard her voice in his head, "You failed me." He closed his eyes and saw hers in his head, cold blue eyes devoid of life. "You failed me." Aragorn shook his head, his fists clenching in the sheets. "No," he said as he lifted his head. He looked next to him and saw Eowyn sleeping with the sheets pulled up to her chin. He leaned down and kissed her forehead before carefully rising from the bed.

Grabbing the first shirt he could find Aragorn started towards the door of their room. He pulled it over his head as he traveled through halls until he was out in the open air. His bare feet walked across the cold stone roads down to the sixth circle of the city. He had to see her. It was only a matter of minutes before the mortuary rose up before him.

Aragorn wasn't thinking anymore, something was pulling him towards her, a force that could not be stopped, not that he wanted to stop it. He had been down here once since bringing Arwen here, and he didn't even look at her then, he couldn't, not after he'd failed her. A sea of low palette beds stretched out before him and instantly his eyes were drawn to her bed. She was easily recognized, her long black hair and white dress sticking out amongst the soldiers' armored bodies. His feet didn't make a sound as he walked over to her.

A thin white strip of linen had been laid over her neck and in Aragorn's mind he could see the jagged bloody line across her throat, the final blow that killed her. The dress she wore covered the rest of her wounds but Aragorn knew what was there. His eyes avoided her face, he couldn't look at her face without hearing her words ring in his head. "You failed me."

Aragorn felt himself sit down on the cold floor beside her and blindly his hand reached for hers. He sat like that for hours, not saying anything, not even moving. His eyes were closed but he was wide awake. "I'm so sorry," he said finally. He looked up at her face, its usual porcelain color was ashen and her lips were a light purple. A blue bruise was on her jaw and cheek bone but she was as beautiful as ever. "I'm so sorry, Arwen," he said again, feeling tears start to leak from his eyes. "I promised to protect you and I couldn't. It's my fault. I failed you." He squeezed her hand tighter as the tears flowed freely, the tears he'd held at bay since he'd given her to the mortuary attendants. "I failed you."

..::..

"M'lady." Someone shook Eowyn's shoulder. "M'lady, please wake up."

Eowyn groaned. "What is it?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry, m'lady, there is someone here for your and Lord Aragorn.

Eowyn rolled over and hugged the sheets closer to her body. She opened her eyes expecting to see Aragorn but he was gone. She sat up and looked around the room. "Where is Aragorn?" she asked the young girl that hovered next to the bed.

"We do not know, but they want to see you now, m'lady."

"Who are they?" she asked, half-expecting it to be another city official that need to speak to them promptly.

The girl shook her head.

Eowyn sighed. "Alright," she said. "Give me ten minutes." The girl scurried from the room as Eowyn climbed out of bed, holding the sheets against her body as she looked for a dress. She settled on a blue one and quickly braided her hair out of her face before walking out into the hallway and finding the young girl.

Immediately the girl led Eowyn through the halls to the main court. Eowyn stopped, her feet suddenly unwilling to go any further. Her heart beat a mile a minute and she could hear it beating in her ears. She felt her heart clench at the sight of Alida and Leonid sitting on the floor playing quietly with each other. "My lady Eowyn," Elrond said, his voice deep as it echoed through the room. All eyes were on her and still she could not move, she couldn't lift her gave from the children.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" the young maid asked Eowyn.

Hesitantly, she nodded. "Go find Aragorn," she said, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"Eowyn," Elrond said again after the girl had left, his voice friendlier than she had ever heard it before. He stood before her, his eyes broken with pain.

Eowyn met his gaze, his eyes were so much like Arwen's and it was then that she felt tears begin to form. She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said as they started to spill down her face. She looked up at the others who had come. Elrond and his sons were there, Arwen's children had come, Galadriel and Celeborn were there as well. She looked past them and saw two more men, one she recognized as Hadrin, but the other took her breath away. "Legolas," she said quietly, not believing what she was seeing. But as he came closer she saw that it was not him, this man looked older, his eyes were colder and his face was firm.

"No," Galadriel said. "His father, King Thranduil." Eowyn's eyes found Galadriel's and in them she saw a reflection of her own pain. "Child," she said, her voice full of pity. She stepped forward and opened her arms to Eowyn who fell into them willingly. Galadriel's touch was motherly as she embraced Eowyn.

"I'm sorry," Eowyn found herself saying again."

"Shh," Galadriel whispered. "There is no need for you to apologize for this, it was not of your doing."

Still Eowyn cried and apologized until she heard soft pad of bare feet on stone floors come into the room. She looked over her shoulder to see Aragorn standing in the doorway. His steps slowed, it was clear he had not been expecting this. Eowyn let go of the older woman and started towards her husband.

"Aragorn," Elrond called to him.

Eowyn stopped and looked at Elrond as he slowly walked towards Aragorn. Eowyn could see the fear in Aragorn's eyes, she knew he blamed himself for Arwen's death. Elrond stopped in front of Aragorn and placed a hand on his shoulder. "My son," he said, his voice full of sadness. "Where is my daughter?"

..::..

Candlelight flickered against the cold stone walls casting eerie shadows like ghosts that followed Elrohir down to the crypt. The stench of decay assaulted his senses with every heavy step he took. The air was cold and stale when he arrived to the lowest level of the mortuary, the crypt where important people waited to be placed in their eternal resting spot. In all the years he'd lived never had death hit Elrohir like this night. The pale faces of the dead looked up to the ceiling their eyes closed as if deep in sleep.

News of Arwen's passing had reached Rivendell quickly, Galadriel had seen it in her mirror. As soon as it had reached Elrohir's ears he had started the preparations for the journey to Minas Tirith and they had left before the sun rose the next morning. They'd met Galadriel and Celeborn in the Gap of Rohan, and the Mirkwood Elves just outside the borders of Gondor with Elrond who had waited nearby since meeting with Theoden's camp.

'She couldn't be dead,' he'd thought to himself the whole journey to Gondor. 'She couldn't be dead.' He had lost his mother, he could not lose his sister too. But as he descended further into the mortuary those thoughts started to fade from his mind.

Elrohir stopped, suddenly free from his thoughts. He stood amongst a sea of corpses, hundreds of bodies resting in wait. But there she was, her features easy to spot in this room full of soldiers. Her body not clad in the shining armor of those she shared the room with, instead she wore a simple white dress. He felt as if his world was crashing down around as he slowly walked towards her. 'She's sleeping,' he tried to tell himself. Her grey face told another story, her purple lips brought reality back, and the white rag that covered her throat brought Elrohir to his knees. His hand had a mind of its own as it slowly peeled the strip of fabric away. Tears filled his eyes and spilled down his face when he saw the wound that finished her. He dropped the fabric blindly and closed his eyes, his head resting on Arwen's collar bone as he cried. His now free hand held tightly onto one of her cold ones, squeezing it, hoping to bring life back into her.

Elrohir had never asked Galdariel what she'd seen in her mirror and now he wished he had, to prepare himself for this. Images of his mother flashed through his mind, she had been so weak when they'd found her and weaker still when they sent her away. He could see Celebrian in Arwen's face, she had their mothers smile and her eyes too. But now Arwen did not smile, her impassive expression resembling the look that constantly rested on Elrond's face.

The sound of heavy footfalls ripped Elrohir from his thoughts. His eyes searched the dark recesses of the room and rested on the silhouette of a man with wide shoulders. His blond hair glowed in the candlelight as he walked further into the room. "I'm sorry for intruding," he said in a deep voice. "I was looking for my sister, she comes down here often."

Elrohir watched him cautiously as he came closer. His eyes rested on the stranger's chest, a horse was embroidered on the man's green tunic. "You are the Lady Eowyn's brother," Elrohir stated more than asked.

"Yes," he said as he nodded. "I am Eomer." Eomer's eyes fell to Arwen's face, he sighed. "You look like her," he said. "You're one of her brothers?"

Elrohir nodded. "I am Elrohir," he answered.

"Elrohir," Eomer repeated the name. "She spoke of you once."

Elrohir lifted his eyes to Eomer's. "Did you know her well?"

Eomer shook his head. "No, but she was very close with Eowyn. After Legolas' passing I spent some time with her." Eomer reached for the strip of cloth and placed it back over Arwen's neck.

"Were you with her?" Elrohir asked suddenly. Eomer looked up at him. "Were you with her when she died?" He voice trailed off as he said those last words.

Eomer shook his head. "I was not," he answered. "I didn't make it to the city until it was finished." He looked down at Arwen's peaceful face. "She made it to the second level."

Elrohir nodded slowly. He looked down at Arwen's hand in his, he didn't notice that he still held it. "Was she alone?"

"There was boy," Eomer said. "Harmen was from Edoras, he met Arwen in Helm's Deep. He was the one who found her. Aragorn said there was also an orphan girl, I do not know her name." Eomer watched Elrohir's face, pain was evident in his eyes but his face shared Arwen's vacant expression. "I am sorry," he said again. "I lost my parents when I was boy."

Elrohir's tears stopped. "Elves do not know death," he said. "My mother left this world, but she is not dead." He set Arwen's hand back over the hilt of Hadafang. "Arwen is lost to me forever." He looked Eomer in the eyes for a short moment then left without another word.

..::..

Filtered moonlight glowed through sheer curtains into Eowyn and Aragorn's room. The night was silent in the citadel, a deep sadness resting over everyone. Eowyn watched mindlessly as the white curtains danced in the cool night air. Her eyelids grew heavy and in a matter of seconds she felt herself drift off into a deep dream filled slumber.

..::..

Crickets chirped loudly as they hid in the tall grass, so loudly that they woke Eowyn. She grumbled to herself about the nuisance of crickets. Her eyes opened hesitantly, the moon was high in the sky and stars glittered in the dark night. A silhouette sat beside the river and Eowyn knew in an instant who it was. As quietly as she could, Eowyn rose to her feet and crept toward Arwen.

"I can hear you, Eowyn," Arwen said without turning around, her voice soft and low.

Eowyn sighed as she sat down beside the Elf. "It's not fair," she said. "I want to have hearing like yours."

Arwen chuckled. "I'm sure you do."

Eowyn turned her head to look at Arwen. Arwen's long hair fell around her shoulders and touched the grass she sat on. Her long legs were stretched out before her so her feet could dip into the Anduin. Arwen's face was turned to look up at the sky, the moonlight making her skin glow white and her eyes glitter like stars. "What are you doing over here?"

Arwen smiled a little and closed her eyes. "When I was young my mother often took me to the waterfalls of Imladris."

"Imladris?" Eowyn said questioningly.

"Rivendell," Arwen answered. "We call my home Imladris."

"Oh," Eowyn said, looking up at the sky.

"When my mother left this place she told me to always remember her when I looked up at the moon, for she would always think of me when she looked at it."

They sat in silence for a while, Eowyn listened to the crickets and Arwen took in the night. "What will you look at when I'm gone?" Eowyn asked suddenly.

For the first time that night Arwen looked at Eowyn. "I will pass from this earth long before you, my friend."

"But I'm a mortal," we die…"

"The sun," Arwen interrupted her. "If you should pass before I do I will look to the sun. For your fierce personality burns as it does." Arwen fingered a piece of Eowyn's long blonde hair before turning once more to the moon. "Can you think of anything more peaceful than the night?" she asked as she closed her eyes.

..::..

Eowyn's eyes opened slowly, the moon was still hanging in the dark night sky. Pale silver light made the room glow and in her mind she could still see Arwen sitting beside the river. She couldn't help but remember that night, they had continued to talk almost till daylight. She missed those nights, she missed those adventures, but mostly she missed her friends. Legolas had died just over a month ago now, it felt like it had been years, already pieces of him faded from her memory. She could still see his face, but his voice, his laugh had disappeared from her mind. And Arwen, she hadn't even been gone for a month yet and still she couldn't accept it.

Clouds blotted out the moon for a split second and Eowyn rose from the mattress and walked out onto the balcony. The moon reappeared and made the city beneath her glow white. On the pinnacle of the city she saw a woman, her long black hair streamed out beneath her as her bare feet walked on the stones. She turned back and Eowyn held her breath. Arwen smiled at her. Eowyn closed her eyes tight.

"Eowyn?" Aragorn said from the bed behind her. "Eowyn, are you alright?"

Eowyn heard him get out of bed felt his warm arms wrap around her. She opened her eyes, Arwen was gone. She looked around and peered over the balcony. "Where is she?" she said, looking frantically around. "Where did she go?"

"Who?" Aragorn asked as he looked over the city.

"Arwen," Eowyn said desperately.

Aragorn hesitated a moment, his body growing stiff at the sound of her name. "Eowyn," he said her name in a sigh.

Eowyn could feel tears start to pool in her eyes. "She was there, Aragorn." Aragorn's arms tightened around her body and she felt herself hug his arms closer to her. "She was there."

..::..

Eowyn sat at the main dining room table staring mindlessly before her. Her hands wrapped around a stone cup and through the steam escaping out of it she looked at the littered table top. Hadafang rested closest to her in its plain leather scabbard, in the early morning light Eowyn could just make out the Elvish runes etched into the fabric. Beside it were Legolas' twin blades in their back sheath. Next were their bows, their quivers with whatever arrows they had left, and a collection of knives. The whole table was covered in their personal effects. The Evenstar necklace glittered in the sunlight in corner beside her and without thinking she picked it up and spun the chain in her fingertips.

"I remember when her mother gave that to her," Elrond said from behind her. Eowyn jumped in her chair and turned to see him all in black. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice low. "I didn't mean to startle you." He sat in a chair a few seats away from her and looked over the table. "I remember when I gave her this as well." His hand rested on the hilt of Hadafang. "It's funny how one thing can bring back so many memories." He smiled a little and looked over at Eowyn. "You miss her," he said.

Eowyn looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "She was like a sister to me," she said hesitantly. "A friend, a sister, and a mother all at once."

Elrond nodded. "That sounds like my daughter." He paused, his eyes once more surveying the table. "Did she ever mention her uncle Elros to you?" Eowyn shook her head. "I didn't think so, she never knew him, he passed long before she was born into this world."

"Was he your brother?" Eowyn asked.

Elrond nodded slowly. "My twin actually, he older by just a few minutes but he always made sure to remind me of that fact." He chuckled.

"What happened to him?"

"My people are known as Peredhil or Half-Elven, which means were are able to choose whether we wish to live immortal lives as Elves or chose to live like you. That is where the Numenor come from, Aragorn's people. I chose the life of an Elf, but Elros, he chose to live like a mortal, saying life means so much more if you know that one day your life will end. He was five hundred years old when he died, almost to the day in fact. I was with him when he died, I held his hand as he took his final breath." He sighed.

For a long while they sat in silence together. Eowyn continued to twirl the necklace in her fingers, watching the early morning sunlight reflect off the diamonds. "I saw her last night," Eowyn found herself saying without a thought. She looked up at Elrond and found his eyes were already on her. They weren't judging her, or pitying her, they were looking at her with understanding. "Not in my dreams," she started to explain. "I saw her last night walking in the moonlight by the white tree."

"When Elros left me and when Celebrian left me I saw them everywhere." Elrond said.

"But I thought your wife didn't die," Eowyn said.

"She didn't, but she is lost to me all the same." There was silence for another long moment. "Arwen knew," he said quietly. Eowyn looked up at him, her eyes questioning him. "Galadriel saw what would happen if Arwen should go, she would not listen."

Eowyn started to shake her. "No," she said refusing to accept it. "There's no way…"

"I know you don't want to believe it but it's true, Eowyn. I didn't want to believe it myself, but I know my daughter."

"If it's true then why did you let her go with Aragorn? You could have stopped her that night by the pass." Eowyn's eyes started to fill with tears.

"You know Arwen, you know her perhaps even better than I do. You know that she would not have stayed, no matter what I said to her, no matter what I did she still would have gone."

Eowyn's tears started to fall down her face. "She didn't know," Eowyn said through her tears. "She couldn't have known."

Elrond stood up from the table. "Eowyn," he said her name softly and put his hand on her shoulder. "We all have our own paths in life, some are longer, some are straighter, and some come to sudden ends. It was just time for Arwen's path to end. Do not let her end make you stray from your path, Eowyn."

As Elrond started to retreat from the room memories of that night by the pass flooded his mind. He stopped, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"You can't go," Elrond said for what had to be the hundredth time.

Arwen walked away from him, tightening her leather vambraces as he went. "Father," she said, and in her voice he could hear her irritation. She sighed. "Sometimes you have to fight when all you want to do is fly. Do you know who told me that?"

Elrond groaned. "That is not fair, you cannot use that against me."

Arwen smiled. "Those are your words."

"Arwen..."

"No, Father," Arwen said, her head falling slightly to one side as she argued with him.

"You know what she saw in her mirror."

"And you know that what she sees does not always come to pass."

Elrond sighed. "There's no chance of me persuading you to come home is there?"

"I have to go," she said with finality. "It doesn't feel like home without him."

Elrond looked at the woman in front of him, the daughter he'd known for so many years and in that moment he almost didn't recognize her. The woven bronze armor she wore glittered in the pale light of early morning, she reminded him so much of himself. He sighed as he realized he had never been more proud of her than now.

"Hold onto her, Eowyn," he said, as he looked over his shoulder to Eowyn. "Just because she has passed from us doesn't mean we have to let her go."

..::..

The sky was unnaturally bright for April, the sun shone down mockingly on Minas Tirith and all those within the city. The top tier of the city was crowded, people stood shoulder to shoulder along the outskirts of the uppermost level, the center left clear of observers. Those who had known Arwen stood just past the white tree, a pyre built in their midst. Eowyn averted her eyes, she looked at the people gathered before her, not Arwen's family but those who had come to pay their respects. There had to have been at least a hundred gathered here alone, and she knew without needing to look that the streets from the mortuary to seventh circle were crowded too. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and Aragorn held her close. She looked up at him. Aragorn stood tall, his face placid but his eyes pained. Was he holding Eowyn to comfort her or to comfort himself? Eowyn didn't know. She leaned into his body.

The sea of people before her parted as a pallet bed was carried through. Eowyn's breath caught in her throat and everyone grew silent. The Elves that carried Arwen slowly to the pyre wore bronze armor that reflected the sunlight. As they carried Arwen past her Eowyn had to force the tears back. They had dressed Arwen in a new white dress that contrasted against her hair, and in changing her they had removed the coverings on her wounds. The line across her throat was no longer harsh and red, but it was no less heartbreaking to see. She felt a hand on her shoulder and new it was Eomer's, her free hand covered his. Eowyn took in a breath then lifted her head, she would not break today.

Arwen was carefully set down on the pyre. Gandalf stood behind it and looked to Arwen's family and friends. He sighed. "On March fifteenth of the year three-thousand and nineteen a soul was lost." He paused for a brief moment. "A soul that will never be forgotten for all the years this world has left. Arwen Undomiel, the Evenstar of her people, fell in the Battle of Pelanor Fields. Let it not be said that she failed in the battle against darkness, for if not for her the outcome could have been very different."

Eowyn watched the sea of black through blind eyes. All but Arwen and her children wore black, even Gandalf had abandoned his white robes for the color of mourning. Her eyes turned to Alida and Leonid who sat at their grandfather's feet peacefully. Her heart broke every time she looked at them.

"Today, we come together to say farewell to a friend." Gandalf paused and looked to Eowyn, his grey eyes catching hers. "A sister, a daughter, a mother, a hero." He raised a hand to Arwen's family and one by one they each walked up to the pyre and placed a white flower upon the pyre, even Alida and Leonid.

Gandalf motioned for Aragorn to come up and Eowyn slowly followed. Her feet felt like they were made of stone, growing heavier and heavier with every step that carried her closer to Arwen. She clenched a white rose in her hand, the thorn pricked her skin but she took no notice of it. Her mind raced as she realized this would be the last time she looked upon Arwen's face. She tried to memorize every detail, every defining feature of her friend. She took her last step up the pyre and rested the bloodied rose on Arwen's chest. Eowyn felt a tear escape from her eye and watched it fall from her face onto Arwen's. She took in a shaky breath and leaned down to lightly kiss Arwen's forehead. "I will hold onto you," she whispered. Aragorn took her hand then and led her back to their place. His hand rubbed her arm as they stood back and he kissed the top of her head.

"Those of you that wish to pass on a token may come forth now." The sea of black moved forward like a slow wave. None of these people had known her and still they came to say their goodbyes. At the forefront of the sea was a young girl with light blonde hair and big sad green eyes. Eowyn knew at once that this had been the child Arwen died for. She carried a little white daisy in her small hands. Faramir walked behind the girl and picked her up when she came to pyre so that she could tuck the small flower in Arwen's hands. When the people were done Arwen was covered in a sea of flowers, you could hardly see the wood of the pyre anymore.

"It is time now to send her at last into the arms of Varda." A torch was passed to Gandalf, he sighed as he took it. "Our hearts shall weep until we meet again," he said. He lowered the torch to the pyre, the flowers instantly catching the flames. "Novaer." Farewell.

Eowyn's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat once more as she watched the flames engulf Arwen's body. "Nana," Momma Alida said the word as clear as day and Eowyn knew that she was calling for Arwen. The small child started to cry and soon Leonid was crying with her. Eowyn felt as if her heart was going to break into a thousand pieces. She looked hesitantly up into the flames, blue eyes met hers through the fire, Arwen's blue eyes. But as soon as Eowyn saw her she was gone and Eowyn was left staring into the flames and listening to the cries of Arwen's children.

Author's Note: For the sake of the story let's just all pretend like Elves take forever to decompose. According to "noaver" is Sindarin for farwell, and "nana" is Sindarin for mother.