Main Characters: Aragorn, Éowyn
Rating: PG
Pairings: Aragorn/Éowyn unrequited
Genre: Drama
Length: Vignette
Summary: Aragorn's thoughts as he leaves Dunharrow
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Then she fell on her knees saying: 'I beg thee!'
'Nay, lady,' he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back; and only those who knew him well and were near to him saw the pain that he bore.
"Nay, lady," Aragorn says; and then he breaks. Like Isildur before him, he is too weak to do what should be done. He cannot leave her kneeling in the dirt.
He reaches down to her. It starts as a courtly gesture, but she grasps his forearm firmly and puts her full weight behind it, so that he has to throw real muscle into heaving her up; and then she is standing inches from him. She rests in his hands and his sight is filled by her. She's wearing riding leathers. She smells of hay, sweet and grassy and rich. Her hair blows about her face and her eyes are full of shining desire.
He cups her hand in both of his, sweeping his thumb across her palm. Her hand is rough and calloused, the nails broken. It seems very small and pale against his. He leans in and kisses her fingers. He thinks she will understand: it is an act of despair.
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Aragorn rides to Dimholt. He opens the Dark Door. He crosses the Paths of the Dead. He challenges an army of ghosts, then leads them across the length of Gondor. For five days and nights, he is wrapped in the chill of the grave, followed by the whispers of the dead.
He is haunted only by her face.