Title & Chapter Number: Hearts in Lothlórien 3/10
Author(s): - Author's Index
Fandom: Middle Earth
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the work of the Masterful Tolkien. Tolkien's the man! Also, I shamelessly stole, er, borrowed the series title from Stephen King's "Hearts in Atlantis." And the chapter title from Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." This story, however, is all mine. I make no money off of this and probably should be working on something where I might actually make some money…but here ya' go.
Warnings: Slash, (DUH!)
Betas: Salina
Cast: Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, Sam, Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Galadriel.
Timeline: TA-AU
Spoilers: None
Summary: Aragorn is crumbling under the weight of leading the Fellowship
Notes: Here I tried to play a little bit on Legolas and Aragorn's friendship that you see in the movie when Legolas rises to Aragorn's defense at the Council of Elrond. I also like the idea that Aragorn still isn't sure about embracing his destiny, but instead has it more or less shoved at him out of necessity. Hobbity Hugs and Elf Kisses to Salina for the Beta and to Rebecca for all her help.
Because He Asked It Of Me
~*~*~*~
"None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance."
-- The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien~*~*~*~
I knew he would be here, in her bedchamber. So much time have they spent apart from each other that sitting in this room is the only way that Aragorn can feel close to my granddaughter. I can feel his heart aching inside him. I watch him now, sitting there on her bed, his head resting against one of the bed posts. Aragorn's eyes are closed, but I know he is not asleep. His heart is too troubled for rest.
"You can join me if you wish," he says to me. "I would prefer it to being watched from the shadows." Aragorn opens his eyes and looks at me, his lips curving into a slight smile.
I return the smile and go to join him on the bed. He lowers his head and briefly touches his brow in a sign of respect, then relaxes back against the bed post once more.
"Tell me, Aragorn, what is troubling your heart so? I feel much disquiet in your soul tonight."
He chuckles slightly, but it is a cold and empty laugh that leaves me chilled. "Is the mission of this Quest not reason enough to be troubled?" he asks me. "Is not the loss of Gandalf enough? Or being reunited with Arwen, the other half of my heart, only to be separated once more with the likely possibility of never looking upon her face again? Or leading my friends to death, asking them to trust me when I cannot even trust myself? Lorien is a beautiful healing land, but I am afraid that this time it does my heart no good."
I feel the darkness eating away at him. I know how he doubts himself, doubts his future, his worth. The Ring knows it as well. It will prey on this weakness. It has already begun.
What can I say to him, this Man I have watched grow from a child? This one who claims the heart of my granddaughter. There is nothing I can say that has not been said before. The only person who can help Aragorn see what it is he is truly capable of is Aragorn himself.
"Things do not always end the way we hope they will," I say to him. "Nor do they always end the way we think they will. Life is full of the unexpected. If it were not, Life would not be worth living."
I tell him all of this, though he already knows it.
"I can only imagine the burden for Frodo," Aragorn says. "He carries the weight of the Ring. Yet he also carries the weight of his friends. Sam, Merry, Pippin, they all came on this Quest because of Frodo. They didn't even know what they were getting into. I cringe to think that Legolas came on this journey because of me. I see the way Gandalf's death has torn him apart. He doesn't understand death. None of them do, save perhaps Frodo and Boromir."
"Why do you think that you are the cause of Legolas pledging himself to Frodo?" I ask, curious as to the meaning of this.
Aragorn closes his eyes. "Because he is my friend. And he made a promise to me long ago that if ever I should ride to my destiny and claim my throne in Gondor, that he would ride with me. I did not ask him to make this promise and I begged him to return to his home that needs his aid, but he refused."
"And now you feel that his Fate rests on your shoulders?"
"No. Now I feel that *all* their Fates rest on my shoulders." He opens his eyes to look at me once again. "I never wanted this. They expect me to have all the answers, but I do not. They look to me to guide them and I would, if I knew the correct path to take. But I do not. I cannot carry this burden."
His voice is shaky and he averts his eyes from me.
"If you feel this way, then why did you assume the role of the leader? Surely if you had not, someone else would have?"
"Because he asked it of me."
Aragorn raises his eyes to me now and I see his age in there more clearly than ever before.
"Gandalf?" I ask him.
He nods his head and looks away once more. "Lead them on. That is what he said. What choice do I have now but to do what he asked of me?"
I smile at him. "Aragorn, there are many who would not feel this way. There are many who would have walked away from such a task. Though most of them would not have pledged themselves to Frodo in the first place, still there are few in fact who would carry this burden."
"What other choice is there?" he asks me. "This task must be done. If Frodo can carry on, how can I just lie down and die? Or run? I cannot do either. So what choice is left for me but to lead my friends to their deaths?"
"You do not know that death is how it shall end. That you cannot even consider laying down your sword and turning back gives me more hope than I have had since the return of the Shadow."
I take his face in my hands now. He meets my eyes.
"You know not your own strength, Estel. You will do what is needed of you. And in that, even if you perish, you shall not fail."
~ Next Chapter ~
~ Previous Chapter ~
~ Library Main ~
~ Author Index ~ Character Index ~ Title Index ~
~ Hall Of Fire ~ Gallery ~
~ Links ~ Shops ~ Map ~ News ~ Rules ~ Lists ~ ~
This page is in no way affiliated with New Line Cinema or Tolkien Enterprises, and no profit is being made.
The information contained herein is NOT to be used to spam or in any other way harrass its members. Be advised that abuse of this site will not be tolerated, and the appropriate legal action will be taken.
Hall-Of-Fire.Com v.4.0, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Cristine Cook-Fireheart. All rights reserved. This web site may not be reproduced in any form, except as occurs in normal browser caching, without express written permission from the author.
Website by Infinite Connections Design.
