That Evening In Rivendell by Elelome

TITLE: That Evening In Rivendell
AUTHOR: Elelome
EMAIL: melda_hiril@yahoo.com
RATING: PG 13
PAIRING: Arwen/Aragorn
DISCLAIMER: JRRT owns her, lucky man, even if he is dead.
FEEDBACK: Oh yes. CC, praise, flames, I don't care.:-)
SUMMARY: A lovers' reunion and a few memories. Arwen's POV.
NOTES: I wrote this years ago, probably when I was sixteen or so. Just found it again, and figured why not post it? :-)

*

I turned at the sound of slow, yet eager, footsteps. I quickly guessed who it might be-my beloved, of course- and stood up swiftly.

"Arwen, my dearest!" he exclaimed.

"I waited long for your coming, beloved," I said quietly, putting out my hands to him. He took them with fervent possession.

"I came with the one who bears the Ring, Frodo the Halfling. He is there, with Bilbo, who is his uncle, by the door."

I smiled at the halflings as they passed out the door. Aragorn gazed at me, his heart in his eyes.

"Come, heart's beloved," he said. "We have much to speak of and to do. Our hope rests with that one, little though he is."

Quietly we slipped out to the moonlit terrace. Then Aragorn turned and drew me to him. I looked into his face for a long while, or so it seemed; then he bent and kissed me softly.

"Am I now welcomed, dear lady?" he asked.

"Beloved, you are always welcome, whether you succeed or fail, for my heart is yours!" I whispered.

"What if I should fail?" he said tensely.

"Then I will follow thou my lord throughout the world. But you will not fail! Come, see what I have made for thee."

It was a banner of dark silk. On it were laid the Seven Stars of Gondor and the White Tree of Numenor-but not yet was it finished.

"In hope I am making this for thee, Dunadan. When it is finished I will send it to thee-I know not when or how," I said quietly, in the shadows of my room.

"This then, Evenstar, thou hast made for me! With love thou hast long labored and"-he took my hand and held it up, "thy hands grow fairer because of it."

He took me in his arms and kissed me again. I looked into his face and noticed the lines care had put there.

"Oh, beloved," I said. "Thou hast had many cares. Here, I beg you, forget them a while. Thou art weary. Here rest, Estel."

I laid my hand on his brow, my heart thrilling to his nearness and his touch.

After a while we wandered slowly out into the garden. We walked to the place we had always gone to-across the porch, up the steps to the stone bench that overlooked the waterfall. Aragorn took my hand.

"The Evening Star is bright this night," he said. "And so is our hope. What will tomorrow bring? That is both fear and joy."

"Nay, lord, not to me," I said, raising our clasped hands to the sky. "Those stars will shine, for it matters not who triumphs. Good still reigns."

"Yes, lady, you are right, for it is beyond those stars that we are bound and there is no sorrow or weariness there!" he exclaimed.

"Beyond the stars?" I asked wonderingly. "I do not know of what you speak."

"It is placed in the spirit of man to yearn ever for something higher than the ever-changing earth. More awaits us than the soil of Arda. Lady, thou art one of the Eldar and I know thou canst not see, not yet, at least. One day, if our hope is accomplished, thou too will ascend beyond the stars."

I still did not understand.

"Yes, beloved," I said. "Then I will see! Yet, is it not sorrowful, even to despair, to part from those thou lovest, who go you know not whither?"

"Dearest beloved," he said, holding me close, "Speak not of despair! Sorrow, yes, but I will not die in despair. And thou wilt not despair, even should I die!"

"But I foresee," he added, with a slow smile, like the day's dawning, "That event is dim and far in the future. Fear not for me, Evenstar. Our hope will be attained, although the paths are dim."

"You are my hope, dearest, as your name signifies. You have been Estel, you are Aragorn Dunadan, and you will be the king Elessar, the healing hand that wields the sword!"

"And thou, thou art the fairest star the earth has seen," he said, bending his head to look in my eyes. I laid my head against his shoulder and heard the swift beating of his heart. He kissed me again, his mouth passionately pressed to mine.

"My love," I whispered softly. "What gives you hope when all is dark about you and what gives you joy when all is sadness?"

"Many times I have protected, how I do not know," Aragorn said. "I am encradled, loved, held as a father would hold. I cannot explain it, although such joy cannot be equaled."

"I know what you speak of, beloved," I quickly replied, "though I have never spoken of that joy to any. It was like lightning flashing through me, the feeling that I was not fashioned in vain, that the one who made me did not abandon me but cares! Even the memory brings back some of the joy."

As I spoke, the years slipped away and I remembered the saddest day of my life.

I stood silent on the quay. The last kisses and mingled tears were over and she was gone. A little apart my father stood and the thought in his mind chimed with my own-she is gone!

Mother, Celebrian, beautiful daughter of Galadriel, fair wife of my father, noble mistress of Imladris-she had departed in grievous pain to be healed in Valinor and never to return. My grief was too great to be expressed in word or gesture or tear. I silently turned and walked down to the seashore, wandering on the sand for a long time. As I did, night swept over the water, but the clouds covered the stars and all was black.

"This, then, is the night no stars will shine in, " I thought, sorrow washing over me like the waves I walked beside. "Will the stars ever shine again?" Loking toward Valinor, whither the ship was bound, grief and anger filled my heart and ill-considered thoughts my mind.

"Oh, how could you take my mother, my mother-the one I share my dreams and hopes with-the one I laugh with-the one I follow and hope to become like? Have you abandoned my life? Can you not care? do you not feel any pain or joy, sorrow or loss? Is there no Hope then? Does darkness indeed rule the world?"

At that thought I cried, "No it is wrong to even think thus. I cannot. 'Arda was made by loving hands for the dwelling of the Eruhin-Children of God,' I quoted out of old books of ancient Elvish lore.

"Yet it is not just that my mother, who is like to the Valar in beauty, so saith my father, to leave me and go whither I cannot come! Eru, if you truly care, rescue me!" I said as I fell back lightly against the warm dark sand.

At that moment, I felt a quiet voice through the core of all that was myself, Arwen Undomiel. It stilled my racing heart as a peace spread through me, of source unknown, yet it felt as though light flowed through my veins.

Just then, the clouds broke and revealed a moonless night. The stars hung faint in the distance, but I took courage.

"My hope shall indeed come," I whispered," though far away it may seem and long still is my waiting, he shall come."

I rose to my feet and walked back to the quay. Far off in the black night I saw a faint light, like a star shone in the water.

And now here in Aragorn's arms, I knew that my dream had been fulfilled and that Hope indeed was standing beside me, his hand clasped in mine. I was content. ~end~