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The Ties of Family by Larner	5 Review(s)
Radbooks	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 6/15/2005
Wonderful chapter, Larner! I really need to get out my thesaurus and come up with some other adjectives for your chapters! :) But I really enjoyed this one and having all the hobbits getting to come and greet the king. I loved how Legolas and Gimli were so eager to see their friends that they came early. Then the meeting again between Sam and Aragorn and then with all of the others. I could just picture in my head Aragorn sitting on the ground smoking his pipe with Paladin. (you do great visuals!) Here is one of my favorite parts: “I see. I will not sit in judgment here, though, and certainly not today. Let him see the contrast between the Travelers’ friend and the King.” The Thain, impressed by the change in the King’s voice, looked at him closely, saw the authority that Aragorn son of Arathorn wore so easily, just a layer down from the Man who sat comfortably on the ground by his table. Unconsciously Paladin Took straightened, appearing more like his son than he realized. Just very well written and seeing the contrast between the king and the man that was such a part of Aragorn and then how Paladin responded to that. Nicely done. Radbooks Author Reply: Oh, I'm glad you, also, appreciated this scene visually, for as I was writing it I could see it in my mind as well. I have seen Aragorn as an individual who is aware of the different roles he plays and who realizes he can switch easily from one to another and another, and who even realizes how to use such changes to good effect. That you appreciate that vision of Aragorn is heartening.

Tigger	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 6/15/2005
Wow...I love seeing Aragorn w/his friends. So, he hasn't met the twins yet. Looking forward to that meeting. I'm glad he got the chance to talk to Paladin and Eglantine. Both needed it. For Paladin to understand more deeply just what Pippin went through and for Aragorn to explain to them that Frodo is finally finding peace again. Also for Aragorn to show he is finally forgiving himself for what he thought was something horrible. Bringing Frodo back, only for him to face what Frodo faced...That had to have weighted heavily on Aragorn's mind and learning what he did that night at the Tree... Everyone is finding healing and peace at last and it's lovely to see. Except perhaps Beasty, but that's for the next chapter I'm guessing. Lovely, lovely chapter Larner. Made me feel snug and cozy inside. :o) Author Reply: A couple more chapters before we see Beasty before the King, I'm afraid. Hope you enjoy the anticipation. Yes, all are still healing. I've found it can take years to fully heal from a major loss, and I still miss my own husband.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 6/15/2005
Of course Rosie-lass adores Gimli. He is not so terribly tall and has a beautiful beard to play with. Although ... she seems not afraid of heights at all if she wants to ride with him on Arod. The reunion was lovely. I like it that Aragorn doesn’t stand on ceremony but simply hugs his Hobbits, and it was sweet how he treated Rosie-lass. And I would’ve loved to see the faces of Paladin and especially Eglantine when Aragorn sat at the ground besides them. It was surely not what they had expected from the High King of Gondor and Arnor, as Aragorn himself admitted! I fear I tend to strain the patience of my minister of protocol. Oh indeed! smile But it makes Aragorn so much more sympathetic, doesn’t it? All in all, I’ve enjoyed the talk between Aragorn, Paladin and Eglantine very much. Now I look forward to Aragorn meeting Fosco. It surely will be interesting considering his strong resemblance to Frodo and his love for his cousin! I’ve appreciated this chapter very much because I always wanted a meeting between Aragorn and the parents of Merry and Pippin, even if it is probably AU. It is such an interesting thing to play with how they would get along. Thank you very much! Author Reply: I'm not certain it's truly AU. In the proposed epilogue, Sam tells Elanor, now fifteen, that the King had been there before, but when she was quite small, so she undoubtedly didn't remember. So, I'm imagining that meeting, and feel fully justified as Tolkien himself had envisioned it having happened. (Thank you, Christopher, for letting us see the two scenarios for that unpublished chapter!) And I know that all my nieces loved my husband and his beard, and always when tiny seemed to love to entwine their fingers in it. So, Gimli and the children have become sort of a memorial to Tony and my nieces, and I guess I've written them into my stories in this way. And the King teasing Rosie-Lass as he does seemed to just flow naturally into the story, then the swinging her up--how often I've seen my husband, my brother, my best friend's husband, and my daughter's foster dad doing the same, and the delight in the eyes of the children.... Daddies and favorite uncles seem to delight little ones so!

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 6/15/2005
What a marvelous description of the King's visit. And these two passages really stand out, for me: “I hope that the Elves there in Elvenhome realize just what a marvelous individual they have with them.” It was a different world out there, he realized, and he was venturing out into it further this time than he’d ever done before. Author Reply: I wrote a response to this this morning before I left for work, but it got lost when I got called away from the computer and something reset before I got it posted. Sorry about that. That people so like the wording I use helps keep me willing to keep writing, and I truly appreciate it when you show me what you think to be effective. Thank you very much. How much Will Whitfoot would begin to understand of the outer world is always questionable--I doubt he'd ever have believed, prior to the Time of Troubles, that he'd ever have to deal with it. Yet, suddenly he's been imprisoned by an invasion from it, then freed as a result of the growth and training the four Travelers brought back from it. Now he's actually seeing the King and part of his court, and realizing there is indeed still another world out there, the Undying Lands where Frodo has gone, one of his own whom he obviously thought highly of as he made him deputy Mayor. He has less understanding of that world than he does of the encroaching world of Gondor and Arnor to which he now must give thought. As for Paladin, he, too, is coming to a fuller understanding, from the denial he practiced so long, to the acceptance of ways and authorities he'd never dreamed when younger he'd ever have to think of, much less interact with. It's a big step for both, I think.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 6/15/2005
I keep going all mushy when I read your story Larner. I adored Aragorn's description of the encounters under the tree. And his respect for Merry and Pippin's parents made me so proud. It must have bee so hard for them to realise how badly they had handled the Travellers' return and yet to receive the respect of the King must have been healing. It is a difficult shift in relationship when children realise that parents are also fragile beings, able to make mistakes and with their own needs for comfort and caring. Author Reply: We are fully adults in our own right when we are able to take the relationship of parent and child and turn it instead to friendship, or so I've ever felt. Not all get to that point, and not all parents are willing to change to it. I was blessed in that I could do so with my mother, and my son and daughter have done so with me. You are right--one more small yet important healing performed by the King.

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