Chapter 38
Annelise passed through the opening in the tent with Legolas following close behind her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the dark figure standing tall before a small table in the middle of the enclosed space. She assumed that this man was the Chieftain of the Dunedain and was shocked to see that the man didn't appear to be much older than she was. She was even more shocked to realise that the grey blue eyes of the man seemed familiar to her.
Her shock was quickly overshadowed by nervousness at the stern and intimidating gaze from those same eyes that were focused on her.
"I am Thorongil, Chieftain of the Dunedain," the young man said in a deep, serious tone.
She noticed Legolas raise a hand to his chest and nod his head in respect to the man and quickly dipped her head as well.
"I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood," Legolas spoke, his voice sounding very diplomatic.
Thorongil dipped his head respectfully to Legolas in deference to his title before speaking. "Yes, I am acquainted somewhat with your father. You look very much like him. And your companion?"
This last question was spoken with a hint of anger and Annelise felt herself grow even more nervous. She realised that Halbarad's reaction to her identity should have served as a warning to her of how Strider and the rest of the Dunedain might react to her initially.
"I am Annelise, daughter of Thorondil and Evelyn," Annelise answered and at the mention of her father's name, she noticed the similarity between it and the name of the man before her. "Your name- are you related to Thorondil, my father?"
Aragorn studied the young woman intently as she spoke. As he had watched the two companions enter his tent, he had quickly determined that the elf had been speaking the truth to Halbarad about who he was. It was not difficult to see the resemblance between the Elvenking and the elf standing before him.
The woman's identity and appearance were more of a puzzle for him. Had he not been certain of the young Annelise's death, he could believe her to be one of the Dunedain with her dark hair and light blue eyes. She certainly looked to be the age that Annelise would have been if she had lived. There were a few things about her though that made him doubt her claim.
The woman standing before him was clearly clothed in dwarven garb, and he could see a small braid sticking out behind one of her ears with a bead of clear Dwarvish-make fastened to it. Her skin also more closely resembled the slightly tanned color of the Rohirrim, rather than the paleness of the Dunedain. 'Although Annelise was part Rohirrim,' a hopeful little voice whispered through Aragorn's thoughts. He quickly brushed that foolish thought away before introducing himself and asking them to confirm their identities.
When the young woman claiming to be Annelise asked if he was related to Thorondil, he felt himself tense up even more.
"He was a very important man to the Dunedain and a dear friend of my father. He and his family were killed many years ago," he spoke, and felt a small bit of remorse as the young woman flinched at the hostility that had managed to slip into his tone despite his intentions to be civil.
"Who are you really?"
He watched curiously as the young woman seemed to debate within herself before taking a deep breath. She seemed to shrink in on herself a bit as she exhaled and Aragorn's curiosity peaked as he watched Legolas reach up and place a supporting hand on her shoulder. The young woman sent her companion a grateful look before turning her eyes back toward Aragorn.
The man felt his posture and face soften without his permission at the emotion that he saw in the woman's eyes. 'She is grieving,' he thought to himself in surprise and knew that whatever she was going to say next would likely explain the source of the pain and grief he saw in her eyes.
"My name is Annelise. I am the daughter of Thorondil of the Dunedain and Evelyn of Rohan," she spoke softly. Aragorn tensed up once more to protest but the young woman continued speaking before he could. "However, for the last 22 years of my life I have simply been Annelise, adopted daughter of Thorin Oakenshield. I was brought to him in Minas Tirith when I was three years old by the wizard Gandalf, who was travelling with my parents when they were killed. Though I was not aware of that fact until a few months ago."
The young woman then began a tale that made Aragorn's head spin and he felt his knees begin to shake as she continued on. As she was speaking of her recent quest with Gandalf, Thorin and the Company, and subsequent meeting with Elrond in Rivendell, Aragorn had to lean against the table behind him for some support.
"Gandalf had told me little before we reached Rivendell. It wasn't until Elrond saw this that he figured out who I was and told me everything," the young woman was saying, and Aragorn looked up to see her holding up a pendant that was very familiar to him.
He quickly moved toward her without thinking and reached out to touch the pendant. From the corner of his eye, he noted Legolas shifting closer to the woman protectively but everything in him was zeroed in on the golden pendant in his hand. It was the near twin of the pendant that he saw around the neck of his adopted mother, Arwen, every day growing up.
Knowing what this meant, his eyes shifted up to the young woman's and he locked gazes with her. He searched her eyes and saw her doing the same to him. He felt tears gathering in his eyes as he fought against the hope that was growing in his heart.
Then he saw something shift in her eyes. He felt the hope surge in his chest, overwhelming his attempts to shut it out, when he saw that she was looking at him now as if she somehow recognized who he really was. But it was her next words that caused the tears to finally fall from his eyes.
"Estel? It's you, Estel. Isn't it?," she said hesitantly with tears slowly falling from her own eyes.
"Annelise-," Aragorn began brokenly, and suddenly he found his arms full of the young woman as she threw her own around him and began crying in earnest.
Aragorn quickly returned the embrace, holding her as tightly against him as he could. He heard the sound of fabric rustling and guessed that Legolas had stepped out of the tent to give them some privacy, but kept his attention focused on the young woman in his arms.
He couldn't believe that the friend he thought was lost for so many years was finally back with him. As a young child, he had often hoped that everything that had happened to Annelise and her family was nothing more than a bad dream or that it somehow wasn't true but as he grew older, that hope had faded to nothing. Especially after the death of his own mother.
Now that hope had burst through and he felt lighter than he had in years, since the death of his mother. He was then reminded of the meaning of the name that Elrond and his mother had given him all those many years ago. 'I won't lose hope again,' he promised himself silently.
He was pulled out of his own thoughts and emotions as his mind finally registered that it wasn't just crying that he was hearing from Annelise. Her cries had begun shifting into softly sobbed words and his arms tightened around her again as he was able to make them out.
"I'm sorry, Estel. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Estel."
"No, no, hush. You have nothing to apologise for. You have brought hope to me again."
His soft, reassuring words made her cry even more and she pulled away slightly. Aragorn looked down at her in concern and started brushing the tears away as they fell from her eyes. She then sent him a soft smile through her tears and he felt his face shift to match her own automatically.
"I got your flower, Estel."
When Legolas walked out of the tent alone, Halbarad couldn't stop his eyebrows from raising in confusion.
Instead of answering the man's silent question, Legolas simply said, "He's Strider, isn't he?," and Halbarad knew what the woman said must have been true.
He absentmindedly nodded to the elf, confirming his question, while his mind was spinning with the revelation that the young woman must really be Annelise. Before he could decide what to do with this new information, there was more movement at the entrance of the tent.
He turned and saw Aragorn walking out, pulling the young woman behind him by the hand. The young chieftain quickly turned to Halbarad and pulled Annelise up next to him with a huge smile on his face. The older ranger felt a smile grow on his own at the sight. Since Aragorn had returned to the Dunedain to take his rightful place two years ago, Halbarad had gotten to know him well and had not seen him smile very often. His heart was glad to see his chieftain so happy after all the pain and sadness he had suffered in his life.
"Halbarad, my friend. Meet Annelise, daughter of Thorondil," Aragorn spoke happily and Halbarad found himself laughing as he bowed his head to the young woman before him.
"It is an absolute pleasure, my lady," Halbarad laughed joyfully, drawing the attention of the other men around the camp. Seeing this, Aragorn turned to address the men.
"My friends, this is a day of great joy for the Dunedain! For one of our own who was long thought lost has returned to us. Here stands Annelise, daughter of Thorondil."
Annelise found herself laughing happily with Halbarad as a loud cheer of celebration went up through the camp of the Dunedain.
After meeting the rest of the men in the camp, Aragorn led Annelise and Legolas back into his tent with Halbarad. Aragorn had Annelise sit in the chair close to his own and turned his attention to her and Legolas once more.
"Now, my friends, please tell me the rest of your journey. We had word of the great battle of Erebor and the fall of the dragon but the reports were vague at best," Aragorn spoke but instantly noticed the happy look fall from Annelise's face at the mention of the battle. He quickly reached over to grab her hand with his own, something he had found himself doing often since their reunion.
"Annelise? What is it?"
"The battle…we-we were there," she started haltingly, glancing at Legolas and Aragorn squeezed her hand in encouragement. "My father- sorry, I mean Thorin, my adopted father. Not my real father obviously, since that was Thorondil, but-"
Aragorn interrupted the rambling girl and squeezed her hand lightly.
"Your father, Thorin…?"
Annelise sent him a grateful look at his words and took a calming breath before beginning again.
"My father and two cousins were all killed in the battle," she said softly and Aragorn finally understood the grief in her eyes.
Aragorn was silent, unable to find any words that could possibly comfort the young woman and Legolas quickly took over the telling of the story, answering the man's original request. Aragorn listened to the elf prince's tale, growing concerned at the news they brought of the enemies' movements. He kept some of his attention on Annelise from the corner of his eye, watching the emotions flash across her face during the elf's retelling of the battle.
He turned his full attention back to Legolas when he began speaking of their reason for being there.
"My father sent me here in search of a ranger by the name of Strider, telling me he was the son of Arathorn. When I heard this, I went to Annelise and she deduced that this Strider must be the same Estel that she had known as a child."
"Yes, I am sorry for the charade when we met. I thought it wise to conceal my identity if your story proved false," Aragorn spoke, shifting his gaze between Legolas and Annelise. "Thorongil is a name I sometimes go by, but I am Strider. Or rather Aragorn, for that is my true name though I have only learned it in recent years. And now that you have found me," he continued with a smile toward Annelise, "what are your plans?"
"We have no plans at the moment," Annelise answered, looking toward Legolas. "In time, I would like to journey to Rohan to inform my mother's family of my survival, but for now we had hoped to stay with the Dunedain for a time, if possible."
With these words, Annelise turned her focus back to Aragorn and he smiled.
"Many of the men in this camp will be departing soon to return to their own homes for the winter. For myself, I will be travelling to our main settlement to help train some of the younger men for the winter before I continue journeying through the wild. I would be happy for both of you to continue on with me. With the enemies' recent movements, we need all the help we can get."
With these words, Annelise watched as Aragorn's face turned serious, his eyes betraying the sadness in his heart. She quickly squeezed his hand in encouragement, as he had done just moments ago to her, and he sent her a small smile. She sent him a smile in response before speaking again, holding his eyes to convey the sincerity of her words.
"Where you lead, I will follow."
A/N - Well there's their reunion! I hope you guys like it…..
I think there will be just one chapter left in this story, before the transition into Lord of the Rings so be on the lookout for that. I will probably post that chapter at the same time as the first chapter in the sequel, but I'll let you know for sure when that comes. I'm still trying to work out some of the events in the time between the events of the Hobbit and the events in Lord of the Rings. Let me know what you would like to see during that time!