A/N Hurray for holidays and having today off because of it! Another chapter on the books. Happy number eleven!

This chapter is mostly Aragorn actually, so enjoy :P

Under those stars, with the sound of crickets and the rush of the river in the background, Josephine cried into her soft linens until her head hurt and her ribs ached. The last time she'd been in Rivendell she'd had nothing but support and understanding, and the friendship of four Hobbits and Aragorn to make her feel less alone.

But something she'd also learned back then, was how to get back up after a night like that. She pressed a cool, damp cloth to her eyes as the birds chirped in the morning sun, dressed, and left her room like nothing had happened.

She'd have until midsummer's day to rest and prepare for the rest of the journey, which included leaving behind many of the things she'd brought with her from Gondor. Gathering her vambraces and greaves she tucked them under her arm and headed to the armorer.

The sound of the falls was louder than she remembered as she passed the entrance to the smith's cavern and found an elven man bent over a table and a cut of leather. He didn't look up as she approached but he did notice her.

"What services may I do for you, my lady?" He said with a voice as clear and strong as a summer sun.

"There's a long road ahead of me, and my armor tells too much of a story." She took it and laid it out on an open portion of his table and watched as he set his tools aside.

"A design I have not seen since Isildur's age." He held one of her vambraces up to see it closer. "Well cared for, I might even guess it was new if I did not know better."

"I don't want to leave it behind, but it makes people ask too many questions. It's not safe to bring along."

"Yes." He agreed, setting it back down. "Then you wish for no heraldry?'

"None. Just something light and sturdy that you could have done within a couple of weeks." Was he the same armorer who made what she'd worn on the quest, she wondered?

"I will see it done."

She moved on from the armorer and requested new traveling clothes, pack, and supplies. With the errands out of the way, Josephine didn't have anything else to do but wander. There were no woodcraft, sparring, or riding lessons in her day and the boisterous sounds coming from the dwarves' house made her keep her distance.

In better days she might feel like joining them and making a ruckus but she couldn't bring herself to put up the energy for it. On top of that, she was too afraid to wander far along the paths of the valley knowing she might run into more than just the elves.

Josephine had decided she didn't want to see him, couldn't bear to see him. Not only would it hurt too much, but how would she explain herself to Gilraen if they crossed paths? Just sit there with the woman who would have been her mother-in-law if she hadn't passed years before the War and pretend to just be some random traveler?

But Rivendell was only so big, and Josephine was terrified there wouldn't be any avoiding it unless she spent every moment in her room. She looked over her shoulder the whole time she made her way through the valley, ears listening for footsteps or the sound of a child so she could hide before they saw her.

By the afternoon she retreated to her room, took dinner there, and didn't leave again until the next day just for want of some security from the anxiety of it.

May 3020

Aragorn didn't know what had woken him up first. Was it her side of the bed empty and cool to the touch, or the knocking coming at the door of their cabin as their ship sailed down the Anduin towards Belfalas?

He rolled out of bed, pulling at the hem of his shirt tiredly to straighten it and opened the door to come face to face with Halbarad.

"What is it?" He said, not too concerned since Halbarad didn't seem particularly hurried.

"If she asks, I did not wake you. But I don't think her majesty is taking well to the voyage."

The rougher waters of the lower Anduin coupled with the winter runoff from the mountains quickening its pace had made for a choppy voyage since they left Pelargir. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised. Aragorn went back into the cabin and pulled on a fresh tunic, buttoning it up as Halbarad leaned against the doorframe.

"She did not wish me to fetch you but Ciril wouldn't have it." Halbarad added with a tired shake of his head. "It seems she believes she can tough it out without you noticing."

"So despite her sea sickness she is otherwise unchanged?" Aragorn agreed with a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Indeed." Halbarad chuckled.

The two made their way up to the deck with Halbarad in the lead, stepping to the side once they caught sight of her at the stern of the ship. There Halbarad stayed behind and Aragorn stepped his way up to her as she leaned against the railing.

He placed his hand on her back and leaned over to see her face. She smiled at him tensely, as if it would hide the paleness of her face and the sheen on her forehead.

"Good morning."

He frowned, touched his hand to her face, and returned it to her back. "Yes, but it is clear you are not having one."

"I'm fine, don't worry!" She said with obviously fake enthusiasm that dissipated suddenly and she turned her head to look back out at the river behind them with a frown.

"You are seasick, meleth nin."

"No I'm not. Gondorians are a sea faring people, we don't get seasick."

He shook his head with a tired smile. "Gondorians near the sea, perhaps."

She groaned. "I thought I'd like ships."

"It will pass, you need only give yourself time to become accustomed to it." He assured her.

Underneath their feet the ship passed through a particularly rough spot and she gripped the railing with white knuckles and pinched her eyes shut.

He hated to see her so ill, especially when she'd been so excited about the voyage. Nearly a year since their wedding, it had been a long awaited journey.

After a few moments she collected herself again. "Some honeymoon this is turning out to be."

Behind them someone cleared their throat and Aragorn looked to see Halbarad motioning with his head towards Ciril who was holding a tray of tea and light fare next to a bench where a suspiciously large number of cushions had been arranged. Josephine's lady's maid moved so silently and anticipated their needs so quickly he often wondered if his wife was not the only one in their midst to tell the future.

"Come, rest for a time." He urged, taking one of her hands in his and resting the other arm around her waist as she let him lead her down to the bench.

"I don't wanna puke in front of the men."

"They will understand."

"I fought with some of them during the war, I'll lose my cool points." She laid down and sighed as he pressed a cold cloth to her forehead.

"I do not think those can be revoked by being ill." He sat on the edge beside her legs and leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "Now rest."

Her fingers played with the hem of his sleeve and drew over his hand lazily. "Tell me a story?"

Aragorn smiled at her request. A pastime that never seemed to grow old. There were always more tales to tell and many that were favorites to tell again and again. That in mind, he already knew what she'd like to hear, and began one she was already familiar with. Enough to take her mind off the rolling waters, but familiar enough that if sleep called to her, she wouldn't fight it.

Present Day

Halbarad led Aragorn through the ruins effortlessly, seeming to know every step and rock and bush they passed to the point of almost ignoring their presence. Aragorn looked around the old walls and arches as they passed, thinking to himself how excited Josephine must have been to see so much of it standing.

He rued the day she rode from the city and he did not follow, as if he could have done anything to stop the continuation of her path. His bitterness towards the Valar was something he tried to bury, to let go of. If she was gone, he knew in his heart it was because she was needed, but surely they could have found another way. If nothing else, they could have sent him with her.

"It was here." Halarad's voice interrupted his thoughts.

The old ranger pointed to the ground in front of him, empty and storiless. Even her tracks were gone, washed away by several rainstorms since that day.

Aragorn paced the area, still hoping somewhat in vain to find a hidden passage or clue that perhaps she could've slipped away, gotten lost in the wilds maybe? Anything but moving closer and closer, day by day, to the fiery maw of Smaug as Gandalf and Legolas told him.

"There is no passage." Halbarad assured him. "I scoured these ruins myself and the Rangers of Ithilien know them better than anyone else."

Kneeling at the spot Halbarad had motioned to, Aragorn drew his fingers over the soil. He could see her there in his mind, standing just as she'd looked when she left Minas Tirith. "I do not doubt you, Halbarad. The Valar's will in this is beyond our control."

"I was near, they should have taken me as well." He said angrily.

Standing, Aragorn grasped his shoulder firmly. "If they had, it would bring me much comfort. But do not place blame on yourself, my friend."

"Then why do you come here, Aragorn?" Halbarad pressed. "To look upon an empty ruin that shows no sign of her presence?"

Why had he, except to spend his time waiting, looking for signs that he knew weren't there? "Perhaps I had to see it myself, to know in my heart there is nothing I can do to help her." And it tore him to shreds to know that. He had no way to reach the past, except through the faded memories of a young child who knew not to whom he'd spoken.

He could only place his hope in her and Gandalf, and a company of dwarves to keep her safe. And to return her back to him, he had to place his trust in those that had taken her from him.

"Aragorn?"

"A day will come when I pass from this world and I may in that time come before the Valar." Anger welled in his chest and he stepped over to an ivy framed window overlooking the Anduin. "If she is lost to this task, it will not be I, asking forgiveness from them for my wrongdoings. It will be they who must beg mine."