Main Characters: Aragorn, Arwen, Éowyn
Rating: PG
Pairings: Aragorn/Éowyn
Genre: Romance
Length: Short story
Summary: AU. Sometime during the War of the Ring, Aragorn decides to take a different path for his heart
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"Do you love me?" asked Aragorn gravely.
"Yes," said Arwen merrily, with her usual smile.
"Do you trust me?"
"Why do you ask?" answered Arwen with distrust of his words.
"Do you?" He sounded confused, hoping for an obvious answer.
"Yes."
"Then why do you wait?"
"Your words are strong, but I do not understand them."
"You told me once that you would bind yourself to me, forsaking the grace of immortality you were born with."
"I still do not understand you, Estel. What kind of dark thoughts are you having? Do you trust me?"
Arwen stood up from the bed and opened the silk curtains. She looked at her home and a tear fell from her bright blue eyes. From that view, she could see the waterfalls that shone bright since the beginning of her existence. She could also see the houses very well, for the sun had risen above the mountains, and shone down, slanting through the thin silver mist.
"I hold to my promisse. I will be with you when my heart allows me to."
Aragorn stood up and stood beside her. He did not touch her, he just looked deeply into her eyes, and answered with a lovely tone: "If time is what you need, it is what I will give you, for my love is still yours. But I have waited on faltering feet long enough...do you understand me?"
Arwen was now crying, but you could not feel her pain, for she seemed cold, drowned in her own thoughts. Then she answered, still looking at the trees: "Why are you saying this? I see that you will leave me here, waiting like I made you wait. But where does your heart want to lead you?"
He looked at her, trying to understand what she was feeling, but he could not. Her eyes were now dry, and her skin pale.
"Will you do nothing?" asked Aragorn
"I cannot stop your own will. Go. But if she does not respond, I will be here."
His feet could not move, for he was feeling guilty.
"Go," she replied again.
Aragorn kissed her brow and walked away from Rivendell, still not sure of his own action. Then in a whisper, he answered his own heart: "To Edoras."
Aragorn rode slowly, for he was still thinking about the right words to use.
Edoras was still beautiful to his eyes, like the last time he saw it. And when he saw the gate, he remembered Éowyn's image. Her hair that was like a river of gold, and her eyes...so cold, asking for warmness. And her. Fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood.
He did not enter the Golden Hall, for it was late, and the sky was already dark. He stood there, now off his horse, waiting for something to happen, for he was not sure of what to do, how to act, nor what to say.
The gates suddenly opened.
"Lady of Rohan!" he shouted.
She could not believe her eyes, for she didn't believe her dream was happening, and that he was really there.
"What brings you to Rohan, My Lord? Late is the hour, and you bring no one by your side."
"Do you think it would be possible for us to talk without being interrupted?"
She looked still confused, but her brown eyes were shining, as the first time they laid on Aragorn. "Yes, my lord. Follow me."
They walked side by side, without saying a word. Éowyn led him to a small wodden table, with two rock seats, one next to the other. They sat, and Aragorn began to talk, looking deeply into Éowyn's eyes:
"When I look into the blue sky, I do not see the stars anymore."
"What do you see?"
"You." His hands were now on her soft hair, that was reflecting the moon. "And when I look at the holy Rivendell, at the Elves, at that place where every men wants to stay, and that I am so blessed to be in, I see nothing."
"The eyes of a man who is not sure of his ache, reflect the will of a man who is searching for his fate."
Aragorn looked up on her, and a tear came down his cheek. "You once told me you didn't fear pain. And for that I understood that you don't fear a sword upon you. But do you fear a heartache?"
"A bird can fly looking for food, being sure of his strength. But it can still cry when it realizes another bird got there first."
Aragorn took Éowyn's face with his hand, and approaching her lips he answered: "That birds lies in my heart no more, Shieldmaiden of Rohan."
Éowyn reached the Evenstar from Aragorn's chest and took it, putting it in his pocket.
"Do you love me?" he asked merrily.
"Yes."
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life."
Then his heart understood his will, and they kissed under the sky full of stars, and did not let go of each other until the end of their time.