Main Characters: Aragorn, Éowyn
Rating: PG
Pairings: Aragorn/Éowyn
Genre: Drama
Length: Short story
Summary: A missing scene from TTT: EE
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"They fight beside you because they would not be parted from you. Because they love you." The last words burst from her lips without conscious volition and she stopped, her eyes widening slightly, her lips parted, breathing fast from the force of her emotion.
He sighed slightly, unable to meet her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, and hurried away.
This was no time for words of love. Not a time for soft words of comfort, either. And yet... He stared after her and made a quick decision. He could not let her go with no further words. He could not let her, so fair and so full of valor, go thus, thinking her courage was unappreciated. Not even now, with the battle hastening on their heels, urgency and desperation quickening everyone's step.
He followed her, catching up with her where she was again over-seeing the organization of supplies being sent into the caves. "My lady!"
She turned, her usual expression of calm capability once more in place.
He sighed again as he stopped before her. "Éowyn," he said softly, calling her by her name for the first time.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly and she turned to face him fully.
"Éowyn, do not think that we doubt your courage. We do not doubt the strength of your heart in sending you to the caves. No, we honor it. It takes more true courage to remain behind as the last defense of those dearest to us, the helpless, than it does to charge out in the first offensive. Then, there is no time for fear, no time for apprehension. When you are the last defense, there is time to fear, time during which even the bravest hearts might be forgiven for trembling - and yet, we do not doubt that you will stay strong." He paused and used one finger to lift her chin gently, forcing her to meet his serious gaze. "If the battle should go ill--"
She interrupted him at that point. "Do not say that!" she burst out in a fierce whisper, her eyes flashing with determination - and with steadfast hope.
He shook his head a little, continuing despite her interruption. "If the battle should go ill, we need to know that those dearest to us, the people we fight for, will not be left alone and unprotected. That knowledge is what gives the men the strength to fight." He paused and then continued, his tone forceful despite its softness. "It is our belief in your strength which gives us courage to risk our lives so completely. That is no light task and no light honor."
She nodded, looking slightly abashed now at her earlier outburst out on the ramparts. "I am sorry," she said again.
He shook his head. "No, do not be. It is not an easy thing to feel left behind, not an easy thing to know you must wait - for what, you do not know. That takes a rare strength, too."
Her expression cleared as she looked up at him with naked emotion on her face and in her eyes. "Thank you, my Lord."
His hand lifted as if to touch her cheek - and then stopped, in mid-air, as he recollected himself. No. He could not. This was neither the time nor the place - even if he were free to love.
He dropped his hand to his side, remembering his other purpose in seeking her out. He took the smaller rapier which hung at his side and handed it to her.
She took it, a question in her eyes.
"Keep this - as well as your sword which you brought - with you in the caves. You may yet be required to wield a blade in defense of your people, Éowyn."
She straightened her stance, her chin lifting. "I will," she said simply, but it was a promise. A promise to stay strong. No matter what that night brought, she would not fall, or falter. She would keep faith.
He nodded, his understanding of her promise in his eyes, stepping back. He needed to return to over-seeing the plans for defending Helm's Deep. That was his duty, where he was needed.
He lifted his sword before his face in one quick, practiced motion, saluting her as he would any equal, any ally, on the field of battle. And then he bowed, slightly, repeating his words from Edoras. "You are a daughter of Kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan. You will bring honor to your people through your valor; I do not doubt it."
He turned and was hurrying away when she called his name.
"Aragorn!"
He paused, turning his head to look at her.
"Help my uncle," she said quickly.
He nodded silently, remembering the open concern on her expression as she watched Gandalf expel Saruman from her uncle's mind in the Golden Hall, the strength born of devotion which had let her break away from his restraining hold when it seemed her uncle would fall to the floor, marveling that one so brave could still have such a great capacity to love. Ah, but it would be something to be loved by such a – he stopped his train of thought abruptly. No, he wouldn't - he couldn't - allow himself to think such things.
He would have turned away again but she continued, her voice softening. "Be careful."
His expression softened into the slightest, briefest of smiles - so faint it might easily have been missed. "And you, my lady."
And then he was gone, returning to his duty but with an added purpose, an added hope, beginning in his heart. It was something - heartening, somehow - to know he fought alongside a people with such courage in their hearts; such courage could not be for nothing...
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Later, in the caves, Éowyn reached up and pulled her hair back away from her face in preparation for what she was sure would be a long vigil in the caves, listening and wondering what was happening to the men they loved out there on the ramparts. There was a new strength, a calm resolution, in her expression, as she turned to answer the pleading voice of one of the older women carrying a child in her arms.
She would not fail. And after all, Lord Aragorn had been right; it did take courage, of a different sort, to remain as the last defense. And so she would.
The last defense of her people... It was not an unworthy task for a Shieldmaiden.
And she could wait. There would be other battles...