The way to Gondor (Aragorn and Legolas fanfic)

With the Ring of Barahir

Aragorn POV

He was gone. I felt it even before I knew it. It was the next morning and the sun had not yet risen, but he had left already. And on one of Elronds horses he would be far away by now. My brain told me to get up and have breakfast, behave like a normal person, and as was expected in a elven palace. I obeyed it, because my heart was completely silent.

Of course Arwen was there, eating in company of her father. I approached them and bowed, then took a seat beside Elrond. Arwen was instantly observing me again, but I couldn't look her in the eye, so I silently bent down over my plate and tried not to throw up while eating.

"I believe prince Legolas has left already, father?", her sweet little voice asked innocently. She couldn't know, that she hurt me by saying it out loud, and I couldn't let her know either. 

"Indeed, my dear daughter. I gave him one of my horses. But let us eat now and leave the topic", her father replied in a soothing tone. I made a note in my head to thank him for it someday. 

After another few bites I couldn't face this company anymore. The tension between Elrond and Arwen, and between Arwen and me was to big, almost that you could taste it.

"Will you excuse me, my lord. I am not feeling well, I shall go to my room and rest", I said and stood up.

Arwen immediately looked up and made a worried face, but I ignored her. Elrond sighed.

"Of course, Aragorn. But don't let it get to you too much, it will make you sick."

Wise as always, he was. I nodded and left the hall, feeling their looks on my back. I heard Arwen ask the older elf about his strange choice of words, but was to far away to hear his answer. 

The rest of the day I spent in my room and on a nearby balcony that faced the river and the woods behind, where Legolas must have passed on his way home. I still tried to understand my feelings. But one thing I knew for sure. I loved Legolas. I knew, because I thought I loved someone before, but this was something else. It filled my whole body, my whole being, and without him here one half of me was missing. It was the sensible half. I could already feel myself doing something stupid.

Arwen POV

I hadn't spoken to Aragorn the last few days. He mostly was out with Astaldar and discovering the forest and its beauty down in the valley. He seemed absent somehow, and I wondered what it was about. But at the meals and when we accidentally met in the hallways he was always nice and talked to me, so I figured it had nothing to do with me. Maybe the task Gandalf had given him had occupied his mind again.

Therefore I was surprised when he caught me outside the throne hall after dinner. He was calm and polite as always. 

"Arwen", he spoke and touched my arm slightly. "Will you join me for a walk outside? I enjoy these last autumn days here in Imladris."

He smiled at me, but it felt like he was not fully into it. Or, he was, but it still felt strange. I couldn't explain it. But of course I wanted to spend time with him, he was the man I would literally give my life to.

"Yes, I will. Let me fetch an overcoat", I answered.

He nodded and said he would wait for me outsides the stables. I hurried to my room to cast a wide white coat over my shoulders, and then followed him outside. When I arrived, he was standing in the shadows, looking into the forest, his eyes seeing something I couldn't see, because it was just in his mind. 

"Ní am símen, Estel (I am here, Aragorn)", I said. I don't know why I used his elven name, it just slipped my lips. Father had told me about it just a few days ago. 

"Mára", he whispered almost. "Hil-ni, Arwen. (Follow me)"

He strode off towards the river, which was barely a small stream of water up here by the palace. I wondered where he was going, because we wouldn't get anywhere in this direction. But then I understood. He was leading me to the little bridge he loved so dearly. I knew he had been here often the last few days, and I understood him, because I loved the place too. It was surrounded by flowers and trees and so calming and ... romantic. If I dared to think that.

We walked until the water was right beneath us, under the bridge. He closed his eyes once, and took a breath. I watched him closely. And slowly, yet confidently, he went down on one knee. Out of his pocket he took a small glittering ring with a green emerald. It caught the last ray of sun and made the stone shimmer like it were out of this world. This couldn't be true. Was I dreaming? 

"Arwen, mime Undómiel, indóme tye vest-ni?"

"Ni indóme"

Will you marry me? I will.

Aragorn POV

My heart finally left me, when I proposed to Arwen with the Ring of Barahir. Finally the grief had gone and my heart was dead.