Part 17

Posted: January 2004
Author: Larien Elengasse

*~*

Third Age, June 24, 2980, Lórien

It was well past midnight as Elladan stared up through the boughs of Elrohir's talan, watching Ithil's path across the sky. He held his twin in his arms; their naked bodies pressed together, Elrohir's scent covering him like a blanket. The full weight of what they had done was sinking in, and he knew it was a burden they would carry until the end of their days. **The end of their days…** it felt strange thinking about it. Just yesterday, there had been no ‘end'. He and Elrohir had talked about it of course, of the choice they would one day have to make, whether to sail into the west with their father, or stay in Middle Earth and accept the doom of man. They had decided to sail with their father, to see their mother again, and to be with their own kind.

He shivered and pulled the blanket up around him and his twin, when he was suddenly struck by reality. "Cold… I am cold…" he whispered to himself. He had never been cold before, his elvish blood making him impervious to the weather. "Gods…" he whispered, "it has already begun." Suddenly it seemed there was not enough time, that he felt his own death chasing him down and no matter how fast he ran it was always there, just behind him. He squeezed Elrohir tight as a tear fell from his eye. **We are going to die…** he thought to himself, and he pressed a kiss to his twin's head.

Elrohir shifted against him and moaned quietly. Elladan felt his twin's lips curve into a smile against his chest. He closed his eyes, a strange mixture of sorrow and profound joy flooding his senses. **I finally have what I have always wanted…** he thought, **and I have so little time to savor it.**

* * * *

Aragorn sat upon the slopes of Cerin Amroth, gazing at the night sky, and he was filled with a sense of hope and comfort. A smile crossed his lips as he watched the stars circle overhead, the undeniable beauty of the Golden Wood seemed to make him feel better; it lifted the weight he had carried for so long. "Oh that I could stay here forever…" he said softly to the wood around him.

"But you know that is not your path," came the deep, honeyed voice of his friend and the keeper of his most secret fears.

He stood and turned around, his gaze falling upon the Evenstar as she gracefully ascended the hill to where he stood. "No, ‘tis not my path," he answered softly, "for my path leads me to you."

Arwen smiled and took his hand. "My grandmother told me you needed to tell me something," she said quietly.

Aragorn looked into her unfathomable blue eyes and beautiful face, and he answered, "Arwen, I have searched my heart through all my travels and one constant has remained."

She smiled and caressed his face. "What would that be, Estel?"

Aragorn raised his hand to cup her cheek. "You. You are the constant, Arwen. When I dream of my future, you are there with me. When I am afraid and need comfort, it is you I turn to. When I long for home, it is you I miss." He took a deep breath and sighed. "When I lived with you and your family, I was young, I was foolish, caring more for needs and wants than comfort." She opened her mouth to protest and he silenced her by placing his fingers upon her lips. "Wait, let me say my piece." She nodded and smiled again and he continued, "I will always love Elrohir and Elladan; perhaps I will love Elladan most of all for everything he taught me. But I love him as my brother, Arwen, nothing more. He was there when I needed him to be, he gave me what I needed then; but that is not what I need any longer." His fingers trailed down her cheek. "What I need, what I want, is you."

He dropped to his knees in front of her and gazed up into her luminous eyes. "I, Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, pledge my troth to you before the Valar, Arwen Evenstar, daughter of Elrond. I will love no other, cherish no other, want no other for the rest of my days. No bond will be stronger than that of mine to you."

Arwen smiled through her tears, and gracefully sank to her knees before him. "I, Arwen Evenstar," her deep silky voice began, "pledge my troth to you before the Valar, Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. I will love no other, cherish no other, for the rest of my life. No bond will be stronger than that of mine to you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his soft hair as she whispered, "Amin mela lle, Estel."

He squeezed her tight and answered, "Amin mela lle, Arwen."

They held one another close under the night sky, whispering words of love and hope, and promising to love one another for all time.

Little Estel, the fatherless boy that came to Imladris so long ago, was finally the man he was destined to be.

* * * *

Aragorn II, Son of Arathorn, performed many valiant deeds as a Ranger from the north. Just as Legolas had predicted when he was but a young man, their paths crossed again in the year 3018 of the Third Age when Legolas and Aragorn were members of the Fellowship of the Ring. Legolas and Aragorn suffered many trials together, and bravely faced each one, side by side, as friends, and as brothers in arms. Aragorn ascended the throne of Gondor and reunited the estranged kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in the years following the War of the Ring. He and Arwen married and she bore him three children, two daughters, and a son, Eldarion, who would one day succeed his father as King of Gondor.

Elladan and Elrohir, the twin sons of Lord Elrond, rode with the Grey Company and the Rangers of the North in the War of the Ring. After the Dark Lord's downfall, they chose to remain in Middle Earth and accept the Doom of Man, as did their sister Arwen, though only the Lord and Lady of the Wood knew why.

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