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At Hope's Edge  by Cairistiona 381 Review(s)
LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 999999 on 1/3/2026
THERES AN ARAGORN ANGST COMMUNITY

BEAUTIFUL

love you again I’m excited to read more things <3

Oh is that how you got the beautiful Quenya sentence? (Nai tyeldar sí nyérelyar. Coluvan nyérelyar) because I, not knowing Quenya, looked it up and couldn’t really find anything.

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 26 on 1/3/2026
A year has fled since those dark days last autumn, and I did finally journey back to my people. But here I am again in Rivendell, in my old room, writing in this old journal. This time there will be no collapsing in the hallway; I am all but whole, although it has been a struggle. I would never have dreamt that I could have traveled so far down the road of weariness and pain that even a year later, I still feel some of its effects. My arm aches when it rains, and thoughts of the Nazgûl... I fear I will never be able to think of those unholy beings without feeling my grip tighten and a sweat break on my brow.
AS THE BOOKS PROVE <33 yessss
And yessss because he is all but whole, it makes me happy his arm still aches and the thought of the Nazgûl still fills him with fear. And next time I read that part in the book I will know exactly why he reacts as he does :))))

As summer gave way to autumn and the leaves turned, my thoughts grew heavy and dark and again I felt that old feeling of being chained, of being trapped with no way out and no way forward. When Halbarad suggested I visit Adar, this time I did not argue (much to Halbarad's delight).
Yesssss Yayy <3 much to his delight I’m sure
I’m glad he went right away <3
Also yes the heavy and darkness coming back as it does for Frodo, maybe not so significantly, but it is there

And yet as hard and long as the year has been, it was not without its rewards.
I rejoined my people shortly after my birthday, in mid-March. Adar insisted I spend the entire winter with him in Rivendell, and seeing how even Rivendell’s mild winter chill seemed to cause the very marrow of my bones to ache, I did not argue, although I very much wanted to leave with Halbarad and the others shortly after the New Year. But I knew it was a matter of me needing them more than reverse. Had not Halbarad led the Dúnedain for years while I journeyed the world to the south and east? He needs no help leading our people, at least not from me.
Mm good point. And good job shifting from “my people need me” to “I need my people” without feeling too useless or self-deprecatory (I hope). Also yay listening to Elrond’s insistence he stay all winter <3 turns out Halbarad’s prediction of mettare was actually overly optimistic even. Yess even the little chill causing his bones to ache poor guy :(

And I sent Denlad home a married man, which still astounds me. He asked me to perform their bonding ceremony on the day the Dúnedain mark the New Year. What a joyous day that was–I think we all ate and sang until we felt that all this joy and good cheer might be our end. Halbarad was three days recovering from all the wine he washed down his gullet.
AWWWWW <33333

So the winter was not without its days of joy and merriment, but oh, how good it felt to mount Bronadui at last and ride into the wild places, turning my face toward the fresh western winds! My heart was light that day, lighter than it had been in many long months. But darkness fell upon it too soon, for my first stop was Windydale, and fell memories beset me with every step Bronadui took as I traveled northward from the Last Bridge.
<:(((((
But his heart was light at first <3
And good reason for it to be heavy, even if sad

The winter fortunately had been kind to that beleaguered village, and the people had been busy. The walls rose stout and strong again, and the gate was open. I quietly rode in, without escort or fanfare, and the few people along the street did not recognize me under my hood. I stopped at the house of the mother whose cries had so raked at my soul, but it was empty and abandoned. I stood for a long moment in the small yard, awash in sad memory, until finally a young boy came around from the house alongside it and told me she had moved to Bree, to be closer to her family. I thanked him, and he nodded and went away. If he knew me as his Chieftain, he made no sign.
<:((( that’s so saddddd unrecognized and she has moved. But I’m glad she is closer to family. He knows his people so well, remembered her exact house

I looked at that town from where I stood, and I realized that they, like myself, had healed, to some extent. The scars still showed–many houses were empty and crumbling, and to my sadness, the ferry that served the village was no longer operating. I saw the remains of the barge on the far side of the river, half sunk and apparently broken beyond repair. I wondered at that, wondered if the ferry master had died in the attack and no one was left with the skills to rebuild the ferry, or wondered if perhaps the Nazgûl had used the ferry to come across and the villagers decided it too great a risk to re-open. I thought I might ask, but there seemed little point. Windydale was a village that I knew would diminish. Without the ferry, travelers, like myself, would need to ride down to the East-West Road to cross the Hoarwell, and there would be little reason to stop at a small village twenty miles to the north. Eventually everyone would move on, like the grieving woman and her surviving child.
Noooooo that is so sadddddd a town he knows will diminish

But that was a sadness for tomorrow. On this day, I saw smiles. I heard a woman’s voice in the distance, singing. And I heard the sound of a hammer on iron as the blacksmith toiled. There were smells, also... good smells of cooking and flowers and fresh-tilled earth. On this day, life continued, and that was a comforting thought.
Awww that is indeed extremely comforting <33

I mounted Bronadui and rode out of there, keeping to myself, for the sun was high and no enemies lurked. They had no need of their Chieftain. My presence would only bring back to mind all the horrible things they had endured. They had moved forward with their lives, in the way that the Dúnedain have ever done, and forcing them to look back would serve no purpose. I had no right to mar this perfect day in seeking forgiveness to assuage my own guilt. So I rode away from there, my hood still concealing my identity, and I still remember the gatekeeper’s cheerful wave.
<:(( sadd
Thanks for that wave <3 anonymous Strider visiting around

My next stop was to see my mother. She knew a little of what had happened to me, for Elrond had written to her of some of it, and it grieved me to see the worry in her tear-filled eyes. It also grieved me to see how time and care had bent her back and lined her face. But her embrace was as comforting as always, and her smile as radiant and loving. Long hours we spent talking, and some we spent in silence, our souls in quiet communion. I would have spared her, but one day as I sat at her feet, my head in her lap and her hand stroking lovingly over my hair as in days of old, she asked what still troubled my heart. So I told her of all the things dark and terrible that I had endured in this past year and my tears stained her skirts (never have I wept as much as I have in this past year). She spoke words of wisdom and love that I still cannot bear to set onto paper, for they are too dear to me. But they are etched forever on my heart, for they healed a part of me that Adar could not reach, and that neither time nor my own strength could ever have touched. Such is the balm of a mother’s love.
AWWWWWWWW
AKSKDKD I DIDNT KNOW I NEEDED THIS
such is the balm of a mother’s love <333
Her radiant and loving smile
Head in her lap stroking his hair
Telling of the dark and terrible things
And his tears stain her skirts <3333 yesss awww <:(
Akskdkdk words forever etched onto his heart he cannot write <33 that healed a part Adar could not reach awwww

I made my reluctant leave of her at last and rejoined my men. Such a time we had that first day back! Laughing and telling tales and singing songs. Halbarad was beside himself with joy and I felt we would need no fire, so warm were the smiles on all their faces. This too healed a part of me that I had not realized was still wounded, for I had approached the camp at Chetwood with a tension in my back that only relaxed when I felt their acceptance. It made no sense to be so worried, and never before had I been so filled with trepidation over rejoining my men, not even on that long ago day when my brothers deposited me, a green, barely tested youth, on Halbarad’s doorstep. It was then that I realized just how deeply the enemy had gone into my fëa ... how much had been destroyed of my hope and my joy and my confidence. There are still hidden pockets of darkness within me, and doubts still linger, and that is why I am here in the house of my father again. But it is better. Far, far better.
Ajsdjfjskdkdk <333 yayyyy yes and knowing why he is here and feeling he needs it, the darkness and doubts still unhealed, but far better <333 askdjfj realizing how deeply it had destroyed, as Elrond knew, that he was even scared to rejoin his own mennnn AND THEIR ACCEPTANCE AND JOY AND HEALING LAUGHTER and dear Halbarad beside himself with joy <333 their sweet best friendship makes me so happy

Summer brought with it the usual mix of blessing and sorrow. The crops were good this year, but several children died of summer fever, and we lost nearly a dozen good men in skirmishes with orcs. But Halbarad’s wife bore him a healthy new daughter, and as I left finally for Imladris, Denlad quietly told me that by the time I returned, he hoped that Randir would have a baby brother or sister before summer next. It was hard to leave the men, as it ever is, but it was good to have such good news to warm my thoughts on the lonely journey to the Last Homely House.
<:(( death, but YAY HALBARAD’S NEW DAUGHTER
AND DENLAD HAVING A BABY AWWWW I bet he is a wonderful father to Randir but I’m so excited for him to experience his wife birthing a baby, after that talk with Aragorn about a man desiring to have a family and be a father <3
And it makes me happy him turning back to journey to the Last Homely House so soon, it feels just right for the darkness still there, going home to the Dunedain for a few months but after a few months returning to Imladris for a further recovery

And so here I sit, having had a hearty supper to fill my belly and good wine to warm my veins and a night of singing and tales in the Hall of Fire to fill my soul. Ada seems happy to see me, and of course Glorfindel and Erestor are as well.
Awww <3 good

It is good to be home. I may not have much in the way of goods and riches, but I am wealthy beyond measure in having two homes, one here in Imladris, and one out in the lands of the Dúnedain. Few men are so blessed.
Awwwww both his homes are so dear to him and so many love him and he them <3333

Gandalf arrived today, and excitement and anticipation so fills me that I can scarcely settle myself to write of the news he brought, but write I shall, for I feel another page in my life and in Arda’s future is turning at last, and I want to mark its every detail.
Oooh Aragorn excited???!

He was returning from one of his mysterious journeys. It is always good to see him, but the ways of the Maia are ever beyond my understanding, and Gandalf’s further still at times. He seems at whiles almost as a beloved uncle to me; then he will suddenly shift and a veil of secrecy falls across his countenance and I can only stand in fear before him. I am by turns comforted and vexed and sometimes even frightened by him, and this day was no different.
what a great description of Gandalf XD <3 só true. A beloved uncle to him <3

He came to me, as I cleaned out the stalls in the stables. Adar insists again that I spend some weeks here at Rivendell–I think he wants to keep an eye on me, and I cannot deny him that, for there is still some worry in my heart that I might lapse back into that dreadful darkness, and knowing he is near is a comfort I cannot deny myself right now.
Awww <333 the comfort of having Elrond nearr

But sitting idly chafes, and I am so filled with restless energy that I have been driving all around me to the brink of murder as I pester them to give me something... anything... to do. Adar wants me to rest, to abstain from any patrols, but one can only spar with practice swords for so long, and shoot at targets for so long, and run the paths for so long. So I have taken to riding the horses out to exercise, then swamping out their stalls and feeding them their grain and brushing their coats until they shine. The stable master has thoroughly enjoyed my labors, for it has given him a much needed bit of rest. Or so he tells me as he sprawls on the hay in leisure as he watches me sweat and grunt and endure horses stepping on my feet and playfully butting me with their heads hard enough to send me sprawling. I love every moment of it, even when I have to climb back to my feet rubbing my bruised backside. It feels good to work, to feel the strength coursing through my limbs, for the memory is still too fresh of those days when I knew only weakness.
Skajdj XD the stable master telling him this
Driving everyone to the brink of murder
Taking care of and exercising the horses is an excellent idea I want to do that <3
Awwww of course he loves every moment of it. Even if he sounds like he’s complaining. Again, I want to do that
Aksjdks nooo not the fresh memory of weakness. I love that he feels the strength coursing through his limba now though <3

It was while I was braiding Bronadui’s mane that Gandalf walked into the stables, his staff thumping lightly on the hay-strewn floor.
AW YAYYY
cute braiding his mane

We exchanged the usual pleasantries and Gandalf assured me his journeys were productive, but he did not elaborate, as is his wont. I have learned not to ask, but I have yet to master the feeling of frustration that comes over me when Gandalf turns incomprehensible.
Lolllllll I’m not sure if he’ll ever completely learn

He looked long at me, taking me in from head to toe, as is also his wont. I stood still for it, even smiling a bit and turning all the way around with my arms out for full effect. He nodded, satisfied, then bade me come into the Hall of Fire where he might thaw the ice from his limbs, for it was a cold day for October. I followed, after washing up a bit, and he sat down in a chair by the fire and I poured him a cup of warm mulled cider, then stood by the fireplace with one of my own and waited. Soon enough, he came to his point.
Awww <333 turning around for full effect hes like look!! I look not sickly!

“I have need of your Rangers, Aragorn.”
“We are ever at your service, you know that.”
“They still heavily guard the Shire.”
It was a statement more than a question, but I nodded.
Mmmmm yessssssss the time approaches. Gandalf has learned things.

“I need it guarded still more vigilantly,” he said, then stopped and looked at me with troubled eyes. “I need you to double the guard, in fact.”
I took a deep breath. That was no easy task he was asking of me, or my men. “May I ask why?”
Oh dear. Yes, doubling it is a lot.

“You may ask, yes.”
I waited, and when he still did not speak, spoke rather sharply myself. “Well, then. Why?”
“I am not at liberty to say.”
LOLLLLL Gandalf XD you are frustrating, my friend

I shut my eyes in exasperation. A simple no would have sufficed, but why be straightforward when you are a Maia and can vex all those lower than yourself? I slowly relaxed my clenched jaw and looked at him. To my consternation, he simply smiled back at me as though he were enjoying this cat and mouse game he called conversation. Which no doubt he was. I finally laughed. “Gandalf, you speak in riddles.”
XD no doubt he was indeed
This cat and mouse game he called conversation

“Perhaps to you, but a wizard’s words are always precisely what he means them to be.”
What a very Gandalf thing to say XD

I opened my mouth to argue otherwise, but decided it would be wiser to get back to the matter at hand. “I assume you want the guard doubled immediately?”
“I have already spoken to Halbarad, before I came here. He told you not to worry; it will be taken care of.”
Aw thanks Halbarad <3

I nodded, and waited to see if there were more, for he had the look of a man weighing his words, and when a Maia gets that look, unease stirs in my belly.
Hmmmm yes with good reason

“Perhaps I am wrong in keeping the reasons from you, Aragorn.”
Much as I longed to shout that yes, you are indeed wrong, fill me in, you confounded old wizard, I held my tongue.
<33 LOL you confounded old wizard
Yayyy wondering if he should indeed tell him

“Yes, I think I will tell you, for who better to trust than the King of Men.” My heart started to warm but before I could puff up with too much pride, he smote me with a stern glare.
Aww lol

“But it must remain between us. I am afraid you cannot tell even Halbarad.”
Nooo sad
But at least he can still talk about it with Gandalf

And he then proceeded to tell me what he feared he had discovered in the Shire, and it chilled me.
Ansjdjd

“The One Ring,” I whispered, as if saying it too loudly would bring Sauron down on us, or worse, onto the Shire. I confess that panic tinged my next words, for my brush with the Wraith was too recent, and I knew their evil power was nothing compared to that which Sauron, with the Ring on his hand, would bring to bear on the peoples of Middle-earth. “Sauron cannot find it.”
<:(( the Wraith memory is still so near

“He has not.”
I dared breathe again.
Yayy

“Yet.”
Ajsjddj

And with that small word I again stopped breathing. I forced myself to calm down. I carefully put my goblet of cider on the mantel. “Is there any reason,” I said slowly, “to think that he might somehow discover it?”
Skajdjf his fearrrr

“There could be. Yes, there most certainly could be.”
“Then cease your maddening hints and riddles and tell me all!”
Aww hes like okay this is extremely important I need you to tell me everything!!

Gandalf immediately looked contrite, or as contrite as he ever looks. “I am sorry, Aragorn. It is just that my mind is not fully made up on this, and I must measure each word. I do not know for certain that this ring is indeed the One Ring, although my heart warns me that it is. Yes, my heart warns me....” His voice trailed off and for a moment, he stared as if into some distant, evil realm. The room seemed to dim, and I felt evil's cold touch trail down my spine. My hand reached for a sword that was not hanging at my side, but just as suddenly, Gandalf shook himself and blinked and but for the goosebumps I could still see on my arms, I would have wondered if I had not imagined the entire thing. “There is one other,” he continued, “besides you and I, who knows of this ring’s existence, and he knows in whose hands it has now come to reside. The creature Gollum. You have heard of him, no doubt, from the stories of Bilbo?”
Mmmm yesss
The goosebumps, Gandalf trying to be careful with his words but his heart warns him…

“Bilbo stole his ring... won it really, through a game of riddles. But Gandalf, surely this creature cannot know the import of the ring. To him it must simply have been a magic ring, nothing more.”
Hmmm

“Gollum may not know it's importance, but the story of his ring is surely not unknown to Sauron. I fear that Sauron, driven to exhaust all possible leads, might eventually turn his attention to Gollum, on the chance that Gollum's magic ring is that which he seeks.”
Fear trembled my gut and my mouth suddenly seemed dry. For a moment it seemed no time at all had passed since my own encounter with the Wraith, and terror threatened to undo me. I told myself firmly to get hold of myself, then cleared my throat. “Bilbo still has the ring?”
YESSS “and terror threatened to undo me”
<:(( it is such an awful terror-filled memory and still so recent

“He has.”
“And Gollum of course knows it was Bilbo who took it from him, so therefore Sauron would then hear of Bilbo.... it is very plain to see where this will lead.”
Yesss indeed

“If Sauron, through Gollum, hears of its possible existence in the Shire, as I fear it truly is, he will do all within his power to invade the Shire and seize the ring, by whatever means necessary.”
Aksjdjd nooooo
This is really fun to see it beginning on a side we do not know. We know a bit of Gandalf’s side but only that which Frodo saw, nothing of these talks with Strider long before Frodo ever met him <3

Visions of the Shire in flames did not help stem the rising tide of panic. I rubbed my face, running my hands across my cheeks and then holding them clasped before my mouth, as if in prayer. I closed my eyes before I asked the next question, trying to brace myself for an answer I was sure I did not want to hear. “So tell me what you truly think: does Sauron know of this creature’s existence?”
Akskdkd Aragorn sort of losing it, visible panic, love love. Thank you for detailing your panicky hands to us <3 :)

“I do not know, and that is what worries me. I think it likely he does. But I cannot say for certain, nor can I say if he knows where to find Gollum, and therein may lie our hope, if such is to be found.”
It was not the answer I wanted–indeed, it was barely an answer at all. Still... as Gandalf said, it seemed there might still be hope. And with that thought, something stilled within me. I felt calm again, almost relaxed.
AWW YAY
his hope is indeed returned

It is the same feeling that comes over me in those last seconds before the battle is joined, when all questioning and planning and speculating are done and it remains only to raise sword and fight. I almost smiled. I opened my eyes and looked steadily at Gandalf. “Then our task is simple. We must find Gollum before Sauron does.”
Aksjdjd <33 okay I love that. And it remains only to raise the sword and fight <3 I have not done this but it sounds…sort of like taking a test? All the questioning and planning and studying is done

Gandalf’s eyebrows shot upward. “You have a way about you, Aragorn, of making the hardest challenge sound easy.”
Akskdkf <33 aww

“Oh, it will not be easy, not by any stretch of the imagination. But find him we must, and find him we will.” I laughed then, for a reckless joy surged within me, despite the fear that had settled in my heart like a cold stone. The Ring may have been found, yes, and terrible it was to contemplate its import. But at the same time, it was as if that fell discovery had opened a locked door which now swung wide, and though I knew not what may come of it, one thing was clear: the path I had lost now lay broad and inviting at my feet. I clapped Gandalf on the shoulder. “Come then, old friend. Let us go together and hunt this creature named Gollum.”
We will leave in the morning.
AWWWWW YAYYYY
AND SO THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM BEGINS
A RECKLESS JOY <3
The fear still being there cold and hard and yet overcome by the excitement and joy
THE PATH NOW LAY BROAD AND INVITING <3 there is something so nice and exciting and comforting about being able to see the path and know the next steps and being ready to start on it, even if it will be hard and terrible

OH
MY GOSH
this was such a beautiful lovely story. Thank you so much for sharing. It…perhaps made me rather depressed, but absolutely worth it. And the ending did a surprisingly good job of un-depressing me some, with his hope returned and all but not returned too quickly :) <3 anyways it was so beautiful and I also wanted Aragorn whump and needed Elrond dadding him <333 thank you again for this beautiful story. I’ve no doubt I’ll be back to reread it, although if you’ll forgive me, perhaps with less detailed comments. Although I like leaving detailed comments because I need to scream about each word and it helps me slow down and inspect it in detail, which is always great fun for me (plus gives the feelings more time to develop and feel) it also makes reading take a lot longer XD
Love you!!! <333

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 25 on 1/1/2026
Seeing as how I am stuck in bed with not much more to do than stare down the length of my legs to my feet sticking up in twin lumps at the end of the bed (I really do seem to have big feet), or twiddle my thumbs, or count the ceiling beams (there are fifteen),
Aksjdjd I love his cute parentheses <3

I pulled down my old journal and have decided to add to it, jotting down whatever thoughts flit through my mind. Not that I have many, nor yet any that ‘flit’. I still am so tired that my thoughts move sluggishly, like leaves floating down a lazy stretch of the Bruinen.
Mmmm yess no flitting thoughts yet

There is a portion of the river, well beyond Rivendell’s borders, where the channel spreads out into a sort of marshy area. There is still a current, but it is slow, and outside the main channel, debris piles up and it is a fairly nasty place to find oneself. I went in there once, chasing down a stag, and swore never again to do such a foolish thing. The stagnant water is dark and smells of sulfur and filled with dead things and leeches and stinging bugs. That is how my mind feels these days.
Aksjd very vivid picture, his mind does not sound like a fun place to be right now :(

But it is still better than it was, so I must try to be patient. Or so I hear Ada’s voice admonishing me. We had a long talk yesterday, and cleared the air between us of many things (although not of the one thing that will always stand between us, I fear). Our conversation eased my mind considerably, but there are still so many hard memories... I see the faces in my dreams....
Awww thank you for continuing it from just yesterday!! Not still the faces in dreamssss

Some might tell me to forget, to put it behind me, but if I, the Chieftain, the leader of my people, do not remember the faces of those killed by this unspeakable evil... who will?
<:(( who will

I will remember.
And I will repay.
<:( I will

Ada woke me up before dawn this morning. I was not happy about that, but he said he heard me cry out in my sleep. I do not remember crying out in my sleep, but maybe I did. The Black Breath is gone, but my dreams are still at whiles troubling and dark. But Ada assures me that there is really nothing wrong with me that time will not sort out. I just wish time would do its job more quickly.
Mmm yay for still crying out in sleep and thank you Elrond for waking him up <333 I need people to still being doing this for a little longer yet
At whiles troubling and dark <:(

Will write a letter to Arwen today, I think. She has been much on my mind of late.
aww yay you should. You miss her so much.

Another adventurous day of doing nothing but lie abed. I think by the time I am finally recovered, I will have no strength in my legs. I may not even have legs; they might simply whither away entirely from lack of use.
XD dramatic boy

My appetite is odd. I wake up feeling like I could eat enough food to feed an entire family of hobbits, but once I put the food in my mouth, it seems tasteless and often sticks so in my throat that I feel I will choke.
Yesssssss yes I like this
Very annoying when it is you and you are starving

Again, Ada told me not to worry; it is only that my stomach has shrunk from my illness, but I cannot help but wonder what has gone so wrong with my body that I cannot enjoy food. Good food, at any rate.
<:( ooh lil nother bit of angst there, not being able to enjoy even good food

There have often been times when I could not enjoy eating out in the wilds, but that was no fault of my body’s; that was the fault of my cooking.
LOL yep
Arwen come teach him to cook?

Erestor came by and we spent a pleasant hour in conversation. His talkative ways are soothing when one is still too tired to hold up his end of the conversation. He told me many stories from my childhood, events I had long forgotten, and some that I do not recall whatsoever and really would rather no one brought back to my remembrance, like the ridiculous story of my wanting to be a hobbit named Trotter.
XD him too. And now that I have remembered where Trotter is from—the original version of Strider Tolkien had—this is even more hilarious. Aragorn being like that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard XD

I can see already that Ada has been reminiscing with all who will listen about that, and I dread the day when my brothers return, for I am sure he will share it with them as well. Sometimes I think Ada has a right cruel streak in him.
SKAJDJ XD a right cruel streak <3 bold claim but perhaps not entirely inaccurate for the torment he stands to receive from the twins

Erestor sat laughing at me until, annoyed beyond what I could endure, I feigned weakness sufficient to drive him guilt-ridden from the room for so tiring me.
Being bedridden has its uses.
CACKLING XDDD
Also thank you so far for having him write a little every day <333 I’m very happy not to lose time yet and this is a good way to let it pass quicker without losing days

Nothing to report today. The sun rose; I did not.
This is getting quite tiresome
fair enough <3

I re-read the story of Beren and Lúthien this morning, the second time through since being bedridden. “Bedridden”... how I hate that word! It speaks of one who is old and used up and feeble and in my heart, I know I am none of these things... but my body still betrays me and it is a sore thing to accept that only time’s slow passage will change my situation. But at least in reading I can escape such dark thoughts.
Yess it is Beren and Luthien! I love that he has always loved it <3. Yesss as I use reading as well

Theirs is my favorite tale, always has been, but now I feel more than ever a kindred spirit to my distant ancestor. Such a trial he faced to win the love of his heart; it makes my own challenge seem a breeze. At least I do not have to snatch the Silmarils from Morgoth’s crown. I merely have to regain the throne of two nations, snatching them from Sauron’s clutches and destroying him in the process. A lark, that. I can just hear Halbarad. “Should be an easy enough task,” he would say. “That is, if you happen to think it easy to fight through insurmountable obstacles to reach unattainable goals.”
A lark, that XD <3
XDD that sounds just like Halbarad awwww XD it’s all about perspective really!

I miss my friend. He cheers me up no end when I find myself, as he says, ‘all grim and gloomy skies’. He has recovered far faster than I have, and made his leave yesterday, promising to report back with despatches until I am able to join him. He will visit Windydale to see what help they may still need, then go on to Fornost to help ready our people for winter. Bilfen and Kenevir went with him, so I will no longer have the benefit of their company, either. Bilfen told me he is considering Fornost for his new inn. Fornost will someday be a thriving town again, or so I hope, so it was with great pleasure that I heard of his plans. In my wildest dreams, when I think of what I will do should I finally ascend Gondor’s throne, foremost in my thoughts is rebuilding the Northern Kingdom, and Annúminas. But that is so far in the future I almost dare not even hope. Yet I do, for it is central to my nature to be hopeful, which makes the loss of it all the more mystifying. May it never happen again.
BACK TO A PLACE WHERE HE CANNOT EVEN COMPREHEND HOW HE LOST IT YAY <333 that is great progress indeed
“All grim and gloomy skies” <33
Aww :(( Noo he’s left nowww and they’ve all left him here all alone. But at least he has stayed, and that is good. No one will let him have his way with pretending to speed his recovery this time. Yayy his new inn
YAYY imagining what he’ll do here <33 I’m so excited for that part of his reign, when it stretches beyond just Gondor and also to the inherited Northern Kingdom <3

Elrond came in at one point while I was reading. He glanced at the title of the book in my hands but he did not say a word. He simply checked my fever (which still comes and goes a bit)
Yesss yay

and then left with a brief nod. This cursed wall between us... despite our talk the other day, it is still there, sometimes almost invisible but other times rising to block all that we might speak to one another. Seeing the look in Ada’s eyes just now, I am saddened to the point where it seems Anor herself no longer can shine as brightly. I long to sit and talk to Ada, but the pain must simply be too much for him. It nearly is for me, but I cannot help but think if we could just talk, it might be an easier thing to bear. But like him, I remain silent, and my silence seems to scorch my heart with unsaid words that burn like coals.
Skajdjfjskskdk please talk again. I don’t know if they will, because it is hard, so hard. And Aragorn is right, it saddens Elrond beyond words, and himself nearly that much. Even Anor herself can no longer shine as brightly <:(

Bah. I must be feverish again, to write such overblown, whining drivel. I never did claim to be a bard, and as I read what I have written, it is obvious that I never will be. I am ever better with a sword than with words. It is just as well that I do not have to face down Sauron with pen in hand.
I do not think that you are half bad with words though <3

Glorfindel is back! He came into my chamber and surprised me while I was eating luncheon (my appetite seems a bit better finally, and I can even toddle about a bit, at least to the table from the bed, and out onto the balcony. Tomorrow's grand adventure will be to finally conquer the corridor. I am not called Strider for nothing, after all). I bade him sit down and tell me everything and he did. To my relief, he said that my brothers and my men are all quite well. Elladan and Elrohir stayed with the Dúnedain, to add to their defense during the winter. Ever am I grateful for their willing strength.
GLORFINDEL IS BACK <333
I am not called Strider for nothing after all XD indeed <33 go Aragorn
Aww yay thank you brothers

Denlad suffered a blow to his shoulder but it will heal. Galadh came through unscathed, which does not surprise me. That whippy lad moves like lightning in a fight. Eledh’s treasured bow fell to an orc axe, but it saved his head from a similar fate. I will see if I can petition Ada to send to Lórien for a bow of the Galadhrim. It is a hopeless request, I know, for the Galadhrim do not give their bows lightly, and rarely to Men. But mayhap being Lord of Imladris, he might be able to ask on my behalf. What a pleasure it would be to see the surprise on Eledh’s face as I hand it to him! But if not a Galadhrim bow, then I will have one made here in Imladris. Eledh could do no better, save one from Lórien.
That whippy lad <33 skakdj cute
Awwww ever does he want the best for his men, he wants to try and get a Lorien bow for him that’s so sweet

Glorfindel chased the wraith east, to the foot of the Misty Mountains north of Rivendell before turning back–he joked that he was wearying of shooing wraiths from these lands and would be pleased if I could try not to let such riffraff in again. I immediately told him that as the Wraith came from the East, perhaps it was his own lapse that let it in, which earned me a playful slap alongside my head that left my ears ringing. Sometimes I think Glorfindel does not realize his own strength.
LOL I love Glorfindel

On his return, Gwaihir the Windlord found him and gave report that the wraith had indeed crossed the Misty Mountains and traveled at haste south toward Gladden Fields. He followed them, high in the air, until he saw them at last turn toward Mirkwood and presumably Dol Goldur, and Glorfindel deemed it safe to assume that the Nazgûl was done with whatever mission sent him into our lands–or that the defense of said lands was stronger than he expected. Considering Glorfindel’s power over the Nazgûl, I have to think that is the only reason the foul thing fled. It surely was not anything I or my men brought to bear against him that instilled such terror in whatever passes for his heart.
Mm indeed. But I am glad he is gone. <3
Thanks Gwaihir for keeping an eye on him

Glorfindel, Elrond and Gandalf counseled with one another long into the night but could not come to any sort of definitive conclusion as to what brought the wraith here. The only thing that really makes any sense at all is that it was after me, the Heir, and that is a chilling thought. Although I know that the Enemy has long held great hatred toward Númenor and its dwindling descendants, it is something else entirely to think of his wrath being poured out on me personally. I have ever kept to the shadows, even as Chieftain, and kept my name and ancestry hidden except among my own people. To think that someone may have leaked such information to the Enemy, and, although it is apparent that I am still unknown to Sauron, that the information was enough to bring a Nazgûl to our lands... to think of the treachery of it... my hand even now shakes with barely suppressed rage.
But I must put aside my anger. Spies are everywhere; there is nothing for it. I must simply accept the fact that for some, my life is worth no more than a handful of coin. I must stay vigilant.
If only I were not so blasted weak!
Hmmm he is angry but not least of all with his own weakness :(
But YES if a spy reported news of him and caused all those deaths…anger indeed

Gandalf left today, off on another of his mysterious treks through Arda. I thought he might tell me what it was he had only hinted at that night I fell so ill, but he remained his mysterious self, merely twinkling his eyes at me and smiling and saying absolutely nothing.
Skajdjfj “twinkling his eyes at me” XD I love how for Gandalf this is like, an actual choice

I did not bother writing anything yesterday. What entertainment is there, after all, in reading, “Stayed in bed all day except to walk ten paces down the corridor and back”? I can attest that there is no entertainment in living it, nor in writing it.
Indeed :(

I fear I am turning into a right curmudgeon. An Elleth brought in clean bedding and I nearly snapped her head off when she asked me to please move to the chair. She turned red and nearly burst into tears and I felt shame down to my very marrow. I apologized profusely and she forgave me but it still horrifies me to think how badly I treated her, when all she was doing was taking care of me.
Awww <:(( and he feels so bad
A right curmudgeon loll

There is much weakness in me yet, weakness of character... selfishness that I must learn to subdue. A king cannot be so quick to anger, especially when there is no reason for such fury.
OOH is this part of where he learns such patience, self-control and courtesy?? Because I so love those qualities of his

A week has gone by, and it was not a pleasant one at all. Something went awry in my arm and the fever returned in force. I do not know for certain but I may have wrenched it helping the Elleth make my bed–I was so filled with shame, I wanted to do it all myself but she would not hear of it, so I tried to help. I lifted the mattress for her and felt a sharp pain in my arm but thought nothing more of it until that night, when it started throbbing and the sick feeling of fever came on me.
OOOH YAY YES I love how hes still weak enough that such a small thing may trigger this
And thank you for helping her <3
And thank Elleth for not letting him do it all, the idiot <3

Elrond was terribly unhappy with me. I was not very happy with me, either. But when he checked the wound, he pulled forth one (hopefully) last splinter, and now I am doing somewhat better.
Ooh is that a bit to do with he’s still been slipping in and out of fever sometimes? Not sure if just one splinter could cause that but it could keep his arm from fully healing

I hate to think how long this will delay my return to my people.
<:(( Noo

The weather turned cold and rainy, even for Imladris, and the dampness seems to settle deep into my bones. I feel like an old man. I shiver and ache and sit by the fire with a blanket over my knees and another around my shoulders and I think what a pretty pass the Chieftain of the Dúnedain has come to.
Yesssss THE CHILL STILL DOES NOT DO WELL WITH HIM not for the darkness now but the physical effect on his weak bones <3

First day able to write. Adar said the fever had settled in my lungs.
Very weak.
YESSSS YES YES
PNEUMONIA
ANOTHER OVER A WEEK OF SICKNESS
Very weak yayyy

I cannot believe Mettarë is nearly upon us and I am still so weak and useless. Oh, I can walk about now, even down to the Hall of Fire and back if I go slowly, but the lung infection set me back so far that now it will be well after the New Year before I can return to my people. I have been called the hardiest of living men, but I feel anything but hardy these days. I cannot seem to take a breath for coughing.
Yessss I wanted him to have a cough. Hard to breathe for coughing and especially coughing causing more pain but being irrepressible is great whump

Halbarad sends despatches often. Things seem well enough at home...
At home.
In writing those words, an ache suddenly stirs in my heart, for I realize that although the home of my heart is Imladris, a part of my heart now belongs out there, in the wilds of the north with the scattered remnants of my people.
Awwwww indeed <333 both his beautiful homes

I miss my men. My sworn brothers. I miss the children who laugh and play in the settlements. I miss seeing the calm grey eyes of the women as they look upon their men with love and pride. If not for Arwen, I would be proud and humbled to have a Dúnedain woman as my wife. There can be no more beautiful women in all of Arda, beautiful for their strength and compassion and pure hearts.
AWWWW <333 I wanted him to to be like a Dunedain woman

Windydale still haunts me. I will go back to that place first, to try again to make amends, although I fear the people there will never truly forgive me, despite the words of the men that dark night. I would try especially to talk to the woman who lost her babe, whose shattered grief still flails at my spirit even as her fists flailed my chest. So much grief and loss... it is something from which I doubt my heart will ever truly heal.
I need to go home.  To my Dúnedain home.
<:((((( this saddens me but also is happy for the amends he will try to make and things he wants to resolve <3 to my Dúnedain home
That women <:( grief still flails at my spirit
Noooo I doubt will ever truly heallll indeed

Mettarë is nearly upon us, and the Last Homely House is filled with secrets. Good secrets. Ada is going around looking very pleased with himself; Erestor has a constant twinkle in his eye, and Glorfindel keeps chuckling at me with no explanation. I have no idea what to think of it all.
SKAJD :) <333 this is so cuteeeee
Like Christmas

I have not been idle in preparing for Mettarë. My father is kind to celebrate the Winter Solstice in the way of the Dúnedain whenever I am home (the Elves mark the Solstice in quiet contemplation and of course song and tales, but nothing like the way the Dúnedain carry on), and I must repay in what kind I am able.
Awwwww <333 we’ll celebrate how your Dúnedain people celebrate <3

So I have been busy making gifts for the three of them, and for my brothers. Nothing fancy, just simple scabbards for their hunting knives.
Awww

Dûrion sought out and found what I needed to make them, as, while I am stronger and able to get around, I am not up for a hunt through Imladris for deerskin. I tooled the emblems of the House of Elrond into the leather. I am no artist, so I cheated a bit and used a tracing Dûrion had made from a plaque by the front entrance.
Thanks Dûrion. MVP <33
Is this the elf who first greeted his arrival?? Let me check
Yesss it was indeed Dûrion <3

He managed to do it without Elrond or anyone seeing, and it is no easy thing to sneak past the likes of Glorfindel and Elrond. Erestor, I know from personal experience, can be easily eluded. You simply wait until he is so engrossed in an old manuscript that an oliphaunt could sit on him without his notice.
SKAJDKFKSJD XDDDD Glorfindel and Elrond are not easily fooled or eluded. Erestor is XD

I hope they like the scabbards and do not think them too crude to be worth keeping. I probably should not have even attempted such artistry, but I could think of nothing else to give them. I owe them so much.
Aww <33 he’s so cute trying to make presents even though he feels his skill entirely inadequate

I wove a bracelet for Arwen. She will not receive it until spring when it can be sent to Lórien with a messenger or a patrol, but I wanted to be sure she knew I was thinking of her in these quiet hours before Mettarë. But as I look at it laying on the desk, I have about decided that it is too ugly for her to ever wear, and not worth giving to her at all. But I do not have any other thing to offer, and have no way of obtaining anything finer short of pillaging the treasures in Rivendell’s library, and I doubt somehow that such a thing would put me in better graces with Adar. I did work in several strands of blue silk the color of Arwen’s eyes, taken from a leftover scrap Dûrion found in the seamstress’ workroom, so it is not entirely drab. But compared to her beauty...
Awwww I think you should give it to her. She will still love it. And the blue the color of her eyes is very cute <3
Lollll pillaging the library

No, I do not think I will give it to her. It is not worthy of her.
Nooo
Although that is very sweet
But it is made with your love and that is worthy of her

If only she could come for a visit this Mettarë.
<33 he misses herrrr

It is now almost midnight, and I am very tired, but very, very happy.
Awwww he is actually very very happy!!!! Tired is not new but happiness is precious

Erestor, Glorfindel and Ada professed much admiration over their scabbards. I have a feeling they were only being kind, for to my eyes, a twelve-year-old elfling could have done better, but I suppose after all, it is the thought and effort that went into the gift that gives the gift value.
Awwwww <333 of course they loved them
It is indeed the thought and effort

Their gift to me ... how to tell of it? What a surprise it was, and completely unlooked for.
Halbarad is here! As are Denlad, Galadh and Eledh.
AJSJDJDJDKD THEY ARE?!?!? What a beautiful perfect gift <3333 all his best friends in his loneliness

Ada is far too sneaky for an Elf of his station, that is all I can say.
XDD yesssss I love Elrond so much

He had already given me what I thought was his only gift–a beautiful sword to replace the one shattered by the wraith.
Awwwww he needed one <33

Thinking that was the extent of it, I was fully content, or as fully content as I could be without Arwen by my side and without my Dúnedain kinsmen around me. I sat with my legs stretched out to the fire, admiring the etchings on the new sword, trying to convince myself that a quiet, introspective Mettarë in the way of the Elves was really what I needed more than one spent with Arwen in my arms or one spent in boisterous, noisy celebration with the Dúnedain. But I could not convince my heart of the same, and an odd loneliness settled onto my spirit.
Aksjdkfk indeed cannot convince himself of it <33 loneliness in his spirit <:(

So I sat, hoping I was hiding my sudden melancholy, and admired the sword and chided myself for my self pity. So deep in thought was I that the singing did not at first register on my ear. I started humming, though, without realizing, and finally I stirred enough out of my reverie to realize that there were voices coming down the hallway toward the Hall of Fire, voices loud and raucous and deep and strong and nothing like the ethereal, hauntingly light voices of the Elves. This singing was a raspy, untrained and off-key affair that I normally hear only in taverns.
Or around Ranger campfires.
SKAJDJFJDJDK

My head shot up and I stared toward the doorway, and as Elrond started chuckling, the door flew open and in walked Halbarad, his wife Miriel and their two children, followed by Eledh and Galadh!
SKAJDJFJDJDKDJKDJDJ
MIRIEL TOO
AND THE CHILDREN
he had been missing the play of Dunedain children <3

Never had melancholy so quickly released a man from its grip!
AKSJDJD <3333 that’s so cuteeeee

I leaped to my feet (and had to apologize later to Ada for letting my new sword clatter to the floor... I fear I nicked the blade) and ran to embrace my kinsmen. There was much back-pounding and not a few tears mixed in with the smiles. Halbarad looked fully healed. He gave me a once over and declared that while he was glad I was no longer grey, I had lost far too much weight, and I found I could not argue with him.
Yessssssss

I had seen myself in the mirror, after all, and knew how my clothes hung on me with no more grace than on a scarecrow. I merely shrugged and turned my attention to his wife, for to my delight, Miriel was heavy with child. I kissed her gently on the cheek, noticing the fine mithril chain that graced her neck. I glanced at Halbarad and he gave me a wink, and then Miriel placed my hand on her belly. The baby immediately kicked and I laughed and it felt good to be so light of heart.
AWWWWWWWW NEW BABY
I was just wondering if she’d gotten the chain <3
HIS FAMILY HIS FAMILY <33333 THIS IS SO SWEET AND HAPPY AND PERFECT
the elves truly could have given him no better gift (except perhaps bringing Arwen as well)

But that was not the end of the surprises. Denlad came in then, with such a red-faced, shy smile that I wondered what had gotten into him. He had been to Rivendell before, and had seen me dressed in the finery of Elrond’s house, so surely it was not that he felt intimidated... and then I saw the reason for his bashfulness: he had Neala by the hand! He led her into the room and stopped before me, his arm protectively around her waist. I know I must have stood gaping at them like a landed fish, but how great was my surprise to see, as I had suspected that long ago day at her farm, that love had indeed blossomed between them. I finally collected my wits and bowed my head to Neala. “I am happy for you, my lady,” I murmured. Denlad beamed like he was the man who had invented love, and Randir, who was standing behind them both, gave me his own shy grin as he shook my hand. I pulled Denlad aside and whispered to him wryly that I was glad that, since I had to have suffered such misery during those days on her farm, at least he had taken full advantage of it, and he threw back his head and laughed.
AKSJDJDKSKDK NEALA AND RANDIR <33333 YES YES YES YAYYYYY AWWWWW love had indeed blossomed between them <33 and they came with himmmmm
LOL DENLAD LAUGHING <33

But as I watched him guide Neala to a couch and as I watched Halbarad fuss over Miriel’s cushions, I had to turn away. The longing to have my own beloved beside me to fuss over and cherish nearly overwhelmed me. Not wanting to be the curmudgeon who darkens the day, I moved quickly to the wine table and busied myself with pouring glasses. While I was furiously telling myself to cease this exasperating self pity, Erestor came up behind me.
Aksjddksjjs <:(((( the longinggggg I feel this but it must be much worse when you don’t just wish FOR someone, you actually do HAVE your own beloved but have not seen her in years perhaps and do not know when you will next <:( he misses her soooo it’s so difficult his wishing he could just enjoy this instead of wallowing in self-pity, and yet he is so lonely still

“There is no fault in feeling sorrow when your own beloved is absent,” he said quietly.
Thank you Erestor <33333 thank you thank you there is no fault indeed and Aragorn is trying to make there be

I kept my eyes on my hands as I carefully put each glass on a tray. “It is hard, sometimes.”
<:((

He took one of the glasses and sipped from it, eyeing me over its brim. He held up the goblet and let the light shine through it. “This is a good wine,” he said. “It has mellowed with time, and has developed character that can only come through long years of aging.” He said no more, but patted me on the back and walked off.
Mmmm thanks for the symbolic message

I smiled ruefully. It was impossible even for a dullard like myself to miss his meaning, and it gave me some measure of comfort.
<33 oh I’m glad
Also honey stop calling yourself a dullard <3

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and carried the tray of drinks to the happy group by the fire. As I served each one of them, I was reminded that this, too–serving my people in even the smallest ways–was a source of joy to me, and the loneliness faded to a more manageable ache.
YES YES I so love opportunities for these tiny sorts of service <3 to my patients at work when I get to even just like, run and get someone a snack it brings a bit of joy into my heart

Halbarad took a goblet, lifted it to me, and murmured, “To Arwen.” Once again, my friend knew the right words to say.
AKSKDKFKD THANK YOU HALBARAD <3333

I touched my glass to his. “To good friends.”
It was a Mettarë to remember.
<3333 oh how sweettttttt he is very very happy indeed <333

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 24 on 12/31/2025
Aragorn swung his legs over the side of the bed and positioned his arm carefully in the sling Elrond had insisted he use until his arm fully healed.  Halbarad and I make a matched set, he thought ruefully. 
lol very cute <3

He shoved the blanket away from him and, eyeing a small book on the shelf by the fireplace that he wanted to read, slowly eased himself to his feet.  He felt shaky, and for a brief moment his eyesight dimmed but only in the way that it does when one has been squatting at length and then stands too quickly. A few blinks and his sight returned.  He smiled grimly.  He was ready.  His goal:  the book, then the chair by the fireplace.  He was tired of reading in bed.  He was tired of eating in bed, of sleeping in bed.  He was tired of being in bed.  It was time for a change of scenery.  
Hmm let’s see if this works
I think it actually might
Hes so cute going OKAY I HAVE A GOAL
I WILL REACH THE BOOK AND THE CHAIR >:)

He took a deep breath and then a step, and then in short order several more.  Not a twinge from his ankle; it had finally healed, as well it should, with all this bedrest. 
Yayyy

He was feeling ridiculously pleased with his progress
Loll see hes so cute

when the room suddenly took a slanting dive to the left and then a swoop back to the right. 
Ooooh yes yes good

He thrust his good hand out and grabbed at the back of the chair and braced himself as he waited for things to settle back in place.  Little lights popped at the edge of his sight.  Valar, do not let me faint!   After a long, scary moment where he felt hot, then cold, then hot again, and icy sweat broke out on his brow, things did indeed settle down. 
Eeeee yes I love the temperature flashes coming with the near faint

Moving more slowly this time, he eased himself around the chair until he could grasp the fireplace mantel.  That accomplished, he crept sideways, feeling far too much like a toddling infant pulling himself along a cot, until he was within arm’s length of the shelf.  He snatched the book from the shelf, and promptly dropped it and with his clumsy grab for it succeeded only in knocking to the floor the eagle feather, the rock and everything else on the shelf.
Yessss good job XD <33 I love the clumsiness

Uttering a wordless growl, he slowly bent down and retrieved the book, then, without bothering to straighten back up or pick up the rest, he fumbled for the chair and pulled himself into it, gasping and trembling and cursing his weakness.
SKAJDJ LOVE gasping and trembling
Leaving everything else on the floor, good
You should not attempt to bother with it
Anyways…he…sort of? Succeeded?

He was still sitting, eyes shut, head spinning, the book closed on his lap, when a knock came.  He took one last deep breath and mopped his sweaty forehead against his sleeve.  He fumbled to get the book open one-handed.  “Come,” he said.
YESS GOOD A KNOCK
SOMEONE WILL SEE HIS FOOLISHNESS
also yes the still sitting there eyes shut, book sitting there but rather ignored while his head still spins <3 I have the feeling I’ve done something like this before lol? Like the yay I got the thing but it’s abandoned while I wait to stop feeling like I’m going to throw up or something
Trying to mop his sweaty forehead
Oh yeah and he did that all one-armed really, no wonder he was so clumsy

Elrond entered.  “Estel!  What are you doing out of bed?”
HI ELROND <333

“I thought I might read for a bit.” He turned a page, acting as nonchalant as he could considering he could not seem to focus his eyes on the words.  He prayed Elrond did not see how his hands trembled.
Lolllll how I love this. And how it seems he’s been reading fine but…after a trip across the room, his eyes won’t focus on the words. And his hands trembling yessss my favorite
Mm yes turn a page pretend you had just finished that one

Elrond’s eyes trailed across the room to the now empty shelf, taking in the items on the floor and then to the book in Aragorn’s lap.  “The book is upside down.”
SKASJFKFKSKSKDKDJDJS CACKLING
LEGIT CACKLING
so perfect
Also I love him seeing all the things obviously knocked to the floor. And then just ending with.

Aragorn hurriedly tried to right the book but it slid from his grasp. 
Skajdjf as if righting it will help his case
Yesss it falling instead

Elrond bent and retrieved it, placing it on the night stand.
Aww picking it up for him <3
And then putting it where he can reach it FROM THE BED loll

“Your impatience has gotten the better of you.  You have only been fully awake for two days, and you are not yet ready for any sort of rambling, even if only across the room. Let me help you back to bed, young one.”
ASKDJFJD “young one” <33333 makes me happy
Also TWO DAYS? My boy. That is. Not long at all.

“I am tired of staying in bed,” Aragorn grumbled, immediately cringing as he realized how petulant that sounded.   “Forgive me, Adar.  I did not mean to complain.  I am just frustrated at how slowly my strength is coming back.  A long convalescence is simply not something to which I am well accustomed.”
Aww <33 immediately being like sorry for grumblingggg
Yes and never do you let yourself even if you need it

“Rare indeed is it for you to be in such shape, and for that I am very thankful,” Elrond said as he helped Aragorn stand.  “But this has been no ordinary wound, and no ordinary illness.  It will take time.”
Indeed <333
And <3 helping him stand and supporting him back to bed

Aragorn lowered himself to the bed and suffered to let Elrond lift his legs and swing them to the bed.  “How long?”
Yesss Elrond lifting his legs and things I love very much

“As I’ve told you, as long as it takes.”  At Aragorn’s glare, he added, as he pulled the blankets over him, “You keep asking but I honestly cannot tell you, Estel.  It will depend on so many things, not least of which is that you do not push yourself too soon.  It has only been two days.”
“Point taken.”
Yess hes like I’m sorry but I’m really not trying to be cryptic. I just do not know. Aw tucking him back in <3

“If you rest and eat well, I would say you might expect to be on your feet in another day or so.”
“That does not sound too bad.”
<33 yay

Elrond smiled.  “On your feet.  But not on your horse heading for the Wilds, nor probably even into the hallway.  Your stamina, as legendary as it is, has been utterly drained, Estel.  It will take many weeks to regain what you have lost.”
Yayyyy still only as far as the fireplace. Yessss as legendary as it is (I love that it is, it should be, it is impressive indeed) has been utterly drained YES THANK YOU <3 it has indeed

Aragorn shut his eyes.  “Weeks.  You are as gloomy about my prospects as Halbarad.   Ada, I do not have weeks.  My people will need me well before then.  They need me now.”
Ada <3
Shutting his eyes in despair

“The best thing you can do for your people is rest,” Elrond said rather archly.  “Do not fret.  They have at whiles in the past gotten along just fine without you; they will again now.”
Yessss rather archly lol
VERY TRUE it is the best thing he can do

“So now you tell me I am not needed,” Aragorn grumbled, refusing to be comforted.
“I think you know better than that.”
“Yes,” Aragorn sighed.  “I hate being helpless.”
<33 aww poor boy
I love Elrond’s pointed answer, of you know what I was and was not saying. We both know you are refusing to be comforted. <3

“It is never an easy thing, no.  Here, let me see your arm.”  He watched in silence as Elrond changed the bandage and put on a smaller one.  “There.  I think that will be more comfortable.  Can you move your arm?”
Never easy indeed <3 thank you
Yay changing bandage

Aragorn eased it out of the sling and slowly lifted the arm as high as he could before pain and tightness stopped it.  
“It is improving.  You will be lifting a bow again before too very long,” Elrond said, well satisfied.  He helped Aragorn slip his arm back into the protective sling, then reached forward and brushed the back of his hand along Aragorn’s forehead and cheek.  “You seem a bit feverish this morning, though.  How do you feel?”
Yayy lifting a bow before long <333
And that he can lift it at all is good
OH YEAH THAT MENTION OF HALBARAD THAT THEY WERE WORRIED HE WOULD LOSE HIS ARM ENTIRELY
LIKE
yay little fever?

Aragorn shrugged.  “I suppose I feel as good as can be expected.  I feel–” He stopped, unable to sort out just how he felt.  Tired, yes.  Weaker than he ever remembered being in his life.  Still a bit achy.  Impatient to be better.  But something else seemed wrong, beyond what he would say was the normal outcome of such illness.  It was as though there still lingered a sort of malaise from the Black Breath, not quite a shadow but a dimming of his spirit that he could not really explain.  Still, he had to try.  “I feel... I feel like a lamp that is out of oil except for that which is still in the wick.  I feel like any moment the spark within me will fade away.  I feel... tired.”  He only hoped that Elrond understood what he meant, because he was not sure himself.
Mmmm very very well said, I think. A very good effort, and I so appreciate your trying <3 and so does Elrond. Saying all that before saying tired with an emphasis, helps to explain the soul-tiredness hes trying to explain, rather than misleading to a body-tiredness that, though also there, is less pressed and already assumed

Elrond frowned, then laid his hand on Aragorn’s forehead and closed his eyes.  He took several deep breaths and after a moment Aragorn’s own eyes drooped and in the quiet darkness, he sensed Elrond’s comforting presence within his fëa.  After a long interval, Elrond pulled his hand away and Aragorn opened his eyes and sighed.  “What did you see?”
Aww I really love Elrond going into his fëa <3 and that he can read these deep things
And the way it’s a comforting thing as well

“Nothing of the Black Breath, thankfully,” Elrond assured him.  He seemed to be weighing his words.  “But I did sense something.  I confess that though I do not know exactly what it is, I have my suspicions.  So I want you to sort it out for me, and for yourself.  Gandalf told me a bit of the conversation you and he had, the night you collapsed.  He sensed in you a great weariness, one beyond illness or injury.”
Hmmm yes, also that is so Elrond to be like “I don’t know…okay well I have a guess and it’s probably a darn good one but first you try to figure through it”

Aragorn picked at the covers.  “He sensed aright,” he said quietly.
<:(( the quiet sadness there

Elrond covered his hand with his own.  “I would that you would tell me about it.”
Asksjd stilling his hand
IS IT FINALLY TIME FOR THEM TO TALK? <:( AS PROMISED? <33

Aragorn glanced sharply at him.  He did not know if he could bring himself to talk to his father.  Anything he said would surely lead around to that which Elrond had commanded they never speak.  He frowned and looked away, toward the window.  But still, maybe he should at least try.  He owed Elrond that much.   “I do not know where to start.”
Hmm <:((
Thank you for trying

“I have always considered the beginning to be the best place to start a tale.”
:) thanks
Good answer

“The beginning... I do not know when that was,” Aragorn said faintly.  “I do not know when my hope left me.”
Askdjdj aww “faintly”
The almost like, hunched-in weak pain in the words

“Estel,” Elrond breathed.  “Has it come to that?”
SKAJDJ TEARS
Elrond’s surprise and sorrow at this admittance that I’d grown used to reminded me how painful and big it is
No one actually knows about that part, at least not the depth

“I do not know.  I sometimes think it has; other times, I find my way again.”  He rubbed his face with an impatient gesture.  “I only know that when I look around me, at my people, at their suffering... I see the children dying...”  He shook his head hard, trying to drive back tears that refused to be gainsaid.  “Ada, my soul seems to die within me,” he choked.  “I see my people dwindle year by year, and they look to me... they look to me as though I will save them and I do not know if I can.”  He took a deep, shuddering breath.  “I do not know.”
AKSJDJD tears that refused to be gainsaid
“I see the children dying…” <:( these torn words
Ada, my soul seems to die within me AKSJDFJSKDK

Elrond gazed at him with eyes full of compassion.  “Such has been the despair of every chieftain, Estel.  I listened once as your father poured out his heartbreak to me in just such a fashion.  You are so like him, Estel.  Your heart is great and filled with compassion for your people, and that is both your strength and your weakness, just as it was Arathorn’s.  Just as it was Arador’s and all those chieftains who have watched the descendants of Númenor fade to numbers seeming too few to survive.  But they have survived, Aragorn, son of Arathorn, grandson of Arador.  They have survived and will survive... and with you, they will at last regain all that has been lost.”
<3333 awwww he is like his fatherrrr
And listening to Arathorn’s worries on this, and the other chieftains before <3 and they will at last REGAIN all that has been lost <:)

“How I want that, Ada. I only wish I could be so certain.”
“Be certain of that, and of the strength of your people.  They have endured.  They will endure.”
<:)) thank you
Be certain of that
Ooooh good point too, it is not only Aragorn’s strength. It is the strength of his people as well he doubts and must not. They are strong. They endure.

“So many decisions I have made have gone ill,” Aragorn whispered.  “How can my people survive when I do not seem able to find a course that does not lead always to disaster?”
“I heard the report from Bilfen Broadbow on what happened at Bracken’s Ferry, and Gandalf told me what happened after that and also at Windydale.  Disaster was laid at your feet through no fault of your own, Estel.  You did not take a course that led to the tragedies there.”
YES YES EXACTLY

“But I failed to find a course that would have led my people through safely, and that is unforgivable.”
“Failing to find what does not exist is nothing for which you need seek forgiveness.  Neither I, nor Gandalf, nor the wisest of the wise could have done anything different had we been in your shoes.”
YES THANK YOU EXACTLY
he failed only to find WHAT DID NOT EXIST and he keeps agonizing over it, when no one could have done so

He paused.  “This despair is not like you, Estel, and indeed it is not you.”
<:(( ooh

Aragorn frowned, longing to understand.
Asksjdjdj awwww HE LONGS TO UNDERSTAND

“I speak again of the Black Breath.  It has many ill effects, one of which is a feeling of utter despair.  It seems to last longer in those who may have already been walking through dark times, and in those who have had a prolonged exposure to a wraith, and from the sound of it, you suffered both circumstances.  You had become careworn, and then you were forced to contend with the wraith far longer than any lesser man would have and survived.”
YES THANK YOU did Halbarad tell him the tale??
And he had become careworn indeed. Also I keep forgetting—he was seriously ill quite recently before all this. He never had fully recovered his strength.

“But you said that I no longer suffer...”
“True.  I said that, but I meant it in this way: the Black Breath is no longer upon you.  It can do no further harm.  You were not pierced by a Morgul blade; you are not destined to become a wraith.  All those things are good and for them we thank Ilúvatar Himself for delivering you.  But you were nearly lost to the shadow – you fought it admirably but the second exposure to it, combined with the weakness from your arm wound, proved to be your undoing.  The harm that was done...”  He stopped and looked away, staring as though into some distant land, or at memories that brought no joy.  “The Nazgûl are skilled at violating one’s thoughts.  You may think you have your mind utterly closed to them, but the smallest weakness, the smallest chink, and they pry into your mind, wrenching it open to pour their unspeakable poison into your soul.  It is a terrible thing to endure, and a trauma from which one does not quickly nor easily recover.  Most never do.”   He paused, and tears pooled in his eyes. “It is very much the same as when a woman is violated.”
Oh
Oh wow
Oh that is intense

“Ada,” Aragorn whispered.  He knew now where Elrond’s gaze traveled, and the reason for his tears, and perhaps even for the earlier sadness in his eyes:  Celèbrian, his wife, attacked by orcs and who finally sailed to the Undying Lands, unable to bear up to the sorrow over what had been done to her.  He sat up and put his right hand on Elrond’s shoulder and looked earnestly into his eyes.  “No, Ada.  Be at peace, for it is not as bad as that.  I assure you.”
Aksdjjfjskddk that is what happened? I did not know. I don’t have. Words. No wonder tears pool in his eyes <:(( oh my gosh
And Aragorn trying to reassure him it is not his worst nightmare returning skadgjfd

Elrond nodded and grasped Aragorn’s arm.  He bent his head and was very still, and several minutes passed before he finally raised his head again.  “I am glad, Estel.  I would not want that–”
<:(((( grasping his arm

“Shhh.  Speak no more of it.”
“Now who is comforting whom?” Elrond said with a shaky smile.  “I love you, my son.  I always have.  I hope you know that.”
<:) <333 these twoooo I love themmm

Aragorn nodded.  “I allowed myself to forget it, and for that I ask your forgiveness.”
Aksjdjfks I love his vulnerable honesty here <:( <3

“You need not.”  He studied Aragorn for a long time, then said, “This one thing I know, Aragorn, son of Arathorn: though you have had a hard and cruel road to travel, you have stood up to your trials as no one else could have.  Whatever you might whisper to yourself in the secret watches of the night, know that you are no failure.  The blood of Elendil remains strong and pure within you, fear not.”
Skajdjd <333 he’s like there is nothing to forgive. YES HE HAS TRULY <3 “in the secret watches of the night” agh just like Eowynnn, and oh my gosh exactly the thing he was fearing that he does not have the blood left within himmmm <33 thank you dear Elrond

Aragorn took a sharp, shuddering breath as Elrond’s words seem to rip through to his very soul, cutting through to the very heart of his fear.  He hung his head, fighting against the grief rising within him, but his emotions betrayed him.  A ragged cry ripped itself from his throat, a deep, groaning noise that shamed him and frightened him with its intensity.   He tried to turn away from Elrond, to wrest control over himself before all was lost, but Elrond stopped him.  He put a hand against Aragorn’s cheek and whispered, “Nai tyeldar sí nyérelyar. Coluvan nyérelyar.  Sorrow no more, my son.  Sorrow no more.  Let me hold your tears and your sorrows, if only for a little while.  Coluvan nyérelyar.”
AKSJDJFKSKDKDKKSKSKDJD
THE WAY THIS CUTS HIM, RIPS INTO HIS HEART SO COMPLETELY
EACH WORD IN HERE
THE SHARP SHUDDERING BREATH
HANGING HIS HEAD
THE RAGGED CRY, A DEEP GROAN HE IS ASHAMED OF—SO WELL DESCRIBING THE SHARPNESS AND INTENSITY OF THE PAIN AND GRIEF AND HOW ELROND’S WORDS HAVE HIT
FRIGHTENING HIM WITH ITS INTENSITY
but Elrond will not let him turn away, this time. Oh those beautiful words. <:( I want to say that to my children someday. Those beautiful words of love. Thank you for giving us both the original and translation. Is that Quenya?

Elrond’s gentle words, the same soothing words from Aragorn’s childhood, were his undoing.   The grief that he had kept bottled up for so many long weeks now seemed to pour out of him uncontrollably, and it shamed him to be so weak but he could no more stop the flood of tears than he could have stopped the flow of the Bruinen.   Terrible sobs tore through him with such strength that he felt he would fly apart if Elrond’s strong arms did not hold him.   As Elrond crushed him to his chest, he reached his own arms around him and clung to him and wept for Mallor, for the people of Bracken’s Ferry and Windydale... each man, each woman...
Each child.
Oh. My. Gosh. This is BEAUTIFUL. Everything I neededddd
The words from his childhood <3
Hmm do not be ashamed. To cry is not to be weak. Oh finally he cries. He sobs. As he kept promising himself long ago that he was locking the grief away to be cried over later, finally the tears have reminded him, and they have come. That he would fly apart if Elrond’s strong arms did not hold him <:((
AS ELROND CRUSHED HIM TO HIS CHEST <333 such a strong, completely secure embrace,,, and Aragorn hugs him back <3

He gave his grief free rein and it flew through him like the violent storms that assail the coasts of Gondor and somewhere in the wildness of it, in the tumult of pain and grief, something tight and cold and hard loosened and warmed and softened, and the tears finally slowed until the storm blew itself out and left only exhausted, empty silence. 
Skajdjfjsjd <333 yesssss this storm needed to fall before it could warm and soften and now it cannnn

He started to pull away, but Elrond tightened his hold.  “Not yet,” he murmured, and so Aragorn stayed where he was, and somewhere in the barren place that was his soul, peace stole its way back.  He sighed and when Elrond felt him relax, only then did he ease him back onto his pillow and release him.
Aksjdfjjdkddk thank you Elrond, for tightening your hold and saying not yet. Not letting Aragorn go yet just when the tears were over. And somewhere in the barren place that was his soul…peace stole its way back askdjfjd his soul was still barren but *now peace has found him*. And Elrond taking his relaxing as a sign that he is ready now. Ease him back down <33

Okay I was thinking, like how Elrond calls him “young one”, and I was like I want a father who is so much older than I that I will always be a young one, a child, who will always hold me in his arms so securely and lovingly…and then I realized. I have God. Thanks for helping me remember this :)

Aragorn rolled over onto his back and wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand.  “I am sorry.  I did not mean to lose control like that.”
“Sorrow cannot stay forever locked away.   Weeping must come when the heart is broken.”  He took Aragorn’s hand and touched the wetness there.  “Men or Elves, it matters not. Tears must be shed, or all that is good in a man will wither like a flower in drought.”
Aksjfksksdk so beautifully put <333 Elrond-wise words indeed, it sounds JUST like him and I want to remember them <:(
Weeping must come when the heart is broken <:( and Aragorn’s has been broken many times over
“Tears must be shes or all that is good in a man will wither like a flower in a drought”, many (at least, many book characters and só I assume many real lives too) would do well to remember this <3

Aragorn thought on that, and after a moment, he said, “My heart truly has been broken, more times than I can count, in these last years.  I know I am no Elf, but sometimes the pain of what I have seen seems so great that I wish I might sail away to the Undying Lands and be healed, somehow.  But I know I cannot, that I must live through each and every moment, no matter how they tear at my soul.”   He stared blindly at the ceiling.  “And sometimes that brings the worst despair of all.”
That. Is. I feel it. Longing to sail into the West to be healed but knowing you cannot. And sometimes that is the worst despair of all. SKADJKFVG hugs hugs hugs for him. And. How I feel life tearing at my soul. STARING BLINDLY AT THE CEILING the pain that is still there <:( <33

Elrond gave no reply for a moment, but ran a light hand across Aragorn’s hair. 
Hand across his hair <333

A wistful smile played about his lips.  “I remember when you were about three, or perhaps four.  You fell out of a tree... one of the many times you fell out of a tree because you thought at that time you were actually a Silvan Elf we were holding captive.”
AKSKDKDKDKD XDD

Aragorn frowned.  He could not imagine where Elrond was going with this.   “I thought what?”
“It was shortly after you saw a contingent from Mirkwood for the first time.  They so impressed you that you swore you were a prince of the Woodland realm, and we were holding you for ransom.  If I remember, the ransom amounted to forty-eleven peppermint sticks.”  He let out a soft laugh, remembering.  “You could not count very well at that age.  I imagine forty-eleven seemed an outrageously high number.”
SKAJDJFK MY DEAR ARAGORN XDD
CACKLING
THIS IS THE CUTEST THING
forty-eleven oh my goodness <33 staggering number indeed

Aragorn could not help but smile.  He truly loved candy as a child.  He still did, though he rarely had a chance to so indulge himself. 
Askfj I want to give that boy some candy <:( and here I am with constant access to like, basically all the candy I want.

He rolled over onto his side and propped his head up on his hand, much in the way he did as a child when Ada told him bedtime stories.  To his wry amusement, he was finding he still enjoyed a bedside story.  “And did anyone pay said ransom?”
Aksjdjd of course he is enjoying it. Rolling into the same position is so precious <33

“You still owe King Thranduil’s seneschal for the two sticks of peppermint you forced him to pay after we negotiated a more reasonable amount, since none of us were quite sure how much ‘forty-eleven’ amounted to.  Erestor, being Erestor, argued it was fifty-one, but Glorfindel and the twins insisted it had to be four-thousand and eleven.  Needless to say, you sided with Glorfindel and your brothers.”
AKSJDKFKS okay I can’t decide if they did that as an excuse to argue more candy for Estel or as a way to ensure he doesn’t get even fifty-one because it’s so impossibly higher
Aww that sensechal <33 and of course he paid them not to the elves holding him ransom but to the captive lost prince XD

“I don’t remember that at all.”
“Oh, that was just one of many wild scenarios your imagination conjured.  It went on for about three months, you insisting you were King Thranduil’s long-lost son and I the evil warlord of some realm whose name you made up and I could never pronounce.  Too many z’s and x’s and some sort of odd spitting sound in the middle of all of them.”
Aragorn chuckled, wishing he could remember that.
a tragedy. I wish he could remember too <3 this is so cute. Akskd HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE NAME z’s and x’s and some odd spitting sound, I love picturing dear Elrond trying to pronounce this and dark-haired little 3 or 4 year old Estel going no, evil warlord! It is “___”
Also of course he is the evil warlord :’) poor guy who is actually giving him a greater gift and refuge than he could imagine at the moment. But such is often the plight of a parent.
Also. He just wants to be Legolas’s long-lost brother :))

“In fact, it went on for so long that I was truly afraid that you might have some sort of serious problem in the mind. 
XD <33 he’s like is this okay???

You see, you were the youngest of all the heirs I fostered over the ages, and I was unfamiliar with the ways of very young edain, for although I have had many children of Men underfoot, they always had both their parents to care for them.  I was never quite as involved in their lives as I was... and still am... with yours. 
Awww <33 and I am grateful

But your mother assured me it was common for children to go through, as she called it, seasons.  She assured me that as your imagination latched onto some new thing, it would pass as winter gives way to spring, and that indeed happened.  You decided one day at breakfast that you were not a Wood Elf after all, but a Hobbit.  You even strapped rabbit fur to the tops your feet and, though it was the dead of winter, refused to wear shoes.   You called yourself Trotter, if I remember correctly.  And you tried to convince me to let you drink ale instead of milk.”
Skajdjfjs XD hes a hobbit now <333

“I did not.”
“Ask your brothers.”
XD I DID NOT

Aragorn would definitely not ask his brothers anything of the sort.  If they remembered, best not to remind them of the follies of his childhood.  
XDD he won’t

“But to get back to the days when you were the captive lost Princeling of Mirkwood... you fell from a tree and came crying to me with a skinned knee.   I washed it, and kissed it – for at that age, you still suffered me to treat you in such an unmanly way.” 
He still suffered it <:(( Elrond kissing and washing his knee <33
I love how hes like evil overlord of the realm holding me captive! Oh wait I skinned my knee—Ada!! <:)

He paused, his wistful smile turning sad.  “The small hurts of that little boy were easily healed, but these wounds you now carry on your soul... they will take more than a father’s kiss to heal them, and more even than such Elven medicine as I can provide.  Time and your strength alone will bring your healing to you.  And your healing will come, Estel.  Have no fear otherwise.”
Akskdks <33 this sweet reassurance but also warning that Elrond cannot provide all the healing this time, nor can it come without time and the strength that is still now lost to him

Aragorn picked at the coverlet, running a bit of fringe over and over through his fingers.   After several minutes, he spoke.  “I... I was afraid I would not be welcome here.”
<:((( indeed

Elrond shifted, and his words, when they came, were quiet.  “Do you remember when last you left here, three months ago?   Regrettably, our parting was not warm.”
<:( he knows

Aragorn nodded.  He had asked after Arwen, as he often did, wanting only to know how she fared.  Usually such inquiries were returned with warm assurances of her well-being.  Though they had carefully avoided speaking of his betrothal for all these years, they could speak still of Arwen herself, and thus Aragorn stayed always carefully within the bounds of what he knew Elrond would allow in asking after her.  But for reasons he still could not fathom, his cautious inquiry that day had angered Elrond.   Though no words passed between them, Elrond’s terse reply that she was well, in Lothlórien, held such tension that Aragorn could only assume that he had somehow roused his father’s fury.  He thanked Elrond as humbly and as quickly as he knew how, then hurried out of the study, shaken and hurt.  And as he made his leave of the house itself, he had paused at the door, thinking himself out of earshot.  He remembered standing in the double doors, looking toward the sky, thinking how Elrond could never understand how much his spirit was torn asunder at the two conflicting loves in his heart.  Love for Arwen, love for Elrond... and whatever choice he made would leave all their hearts broken.  He had not been able to keep the pain inside, and he had spoken the words to the listening sky, in a nearly soundless whisper.  “I have chosen Arwen, but it feels almost as though, because of love, I have had to choose to tear off my left arm instead of my right.”  But Elrond could not have heard him.  Aragorn had left Rivendell without a backward glance, knowing in his heart that unless circumstances were dire, he would not return, not if it caused Elrond such pain.  And if return he must, he knew it would not be to any sort of welcome embrace.
Akakdkfkskakdkfksksks “he knew”
And we see he did not know, but, his being so sure of that hurts. This asking going inexplicably awry and his broken whisper he could not keep in <:(( and not returning because he didn’t want to cause Elrond more painnn

“I would not wish for you to tear off either of your arms, Estel.”
<:(( AWW THANK YOUUUU

Aragorn jerked his head up.  Elrond knew, and it explained so much.  It explained why Elrond had welcomed him with open arms and not with coldness.  But still... how had he heard?  Elven hearing was sharper than men’s, but he had barely made a sound.  “You did not... you could not have heard that ...”
“I can hear the softest whisper of your heart, my son.  You should know that by now.”
SKASJDKDK <3333

Aragorn shut his eyes.  Elrond had heard, and understood, and in his selfish ignorance, he had deemed his father uncaring.  It was unconscionable.   I seem able only to cause suffering to those I love... Father... Halbarad... even the people over whom I am Chieftain.
<:((( it is only pain to them because you bring also love to them

He collapsed back onto the pillows and laid his forearm across his eyes, wishing suddenly for the oblivion... the escape... of sleep.  He was just so very weary of himself, and he was growing ever more certain that everyone else was tiring of his constant blundering as well.  “I am sorry, Adar.  I foolishly misjudged you.”
<:(( WEARY OF HIMSELF
he just
He’s like how could anyone live with me. I can’t live with myself.

“No, you did not misjudge me.  I heard your words but did nothing, when what I should have done was rush to your side and give you reassurance.
<:(( wishing he had done this <33 thank you

I had been in a foul mood that day, worrying over some no doubt foolish trifle that now I cannot even recall, and I took it out on you.   And when you finally returned, and collapsed as you did... my fear was that you would die before I had a chance to make things right between us.  Ilúvatar has granted me mercy in this, however, and so now I must ask you to forgive me.”
Awwwwwww he makes mistakes too. And what a horrible fear and a great mercy, thank you <3333

“We seem to be doing nothing but exchanging pleas for forgiveness,” Aragorn said with a rueful smile.
“Because we seem to have done much to hurt one another.  Or at least I have done much to cause you sorrow.”
“No, Ada.  I think, were anyone keeping score, perhaps we would fall just about even.”
“Then shall we simply move forward from here?”
Awwwww yay <33 they are so similar and I love them

Aragorn smiled, and a weight seemed to lift from his soul.  “I think that is an excellent idea.”  It was not a perfect solution, by any means.  His betrothal to Arwen still stood between them, and this dancing around the issue was far from a satisfying resolution, but for now, knowing that he had not lost his father’s love entirely because of that was more than enough to reassure him that somehow, someday, things might work out.    And knowing that things were as right as they could be between Elrond and himself gave him that much more strength... and hope... to carry on.   
Aksjdkdkskdkfksk more hope!!!! Within Aragorn!! <3 an excellent idea
The comfort that he has not lost his fathers love entirely <:(

It was enough.
Elrond’s smile was like the sun coming out.  “Ah, that is good to see.”
SAKDJFJ

“What is good to see?”
“The light in your eyes.   It is back, and it makes my heart glad to see it again.”
SKAJDJFKAKSKDKSK <333 it does indeed make a father’s heart shine to see his son’s eyes shine once more

Aragorn hitched himself up against his pillows.  “There may be a light in my eyes, but there is precious little in my stomach.  Are meals provided with the convalescence, or is starvation part of the treatment?”
XD oh him

Elrond laughed and rumpled Aragorn’s hair and laughed again as he stood.  “I will arrange to have breakfast brought to you.”
<333 rumpling his hairrre

“Thank you,” Aragorn said as he smoothed his hair back down, or tried to.  From the feel of it, he was sure it looked as unkempt as a packrat’s nest.   Elrond reached the door, and Aragorn suddenly cried out, “Ada, wait!”
Elrond’s spun around in alarm at Aragorn’s frantic tone.  “What is it, Estel?”
Aksdj this feels like vibes of that first time when he panicked for Elrond to leave and tend Halbarad

“Can you please hand me that book?”
Elrond scooped the book off the night stand and tossed it onto Aragorn’s stomach.  “Helpless Dúnadan!” he snorted in very un-lordly fashion, then left.
XD sure
ELROND SNORTING <3

Aragorn smiled as Elrond’s chuckles faded down the hallway, then opened the book to the first page.  
    “The leaves were long, the grass was green...” (1)
Awwwwwww
Chuckling down the hallway
Wait which poem is this?? Beren and Luthien?

It’s been long but now I don’t know if I’m ready for it to enddddd but here we go. I will be brave and start the epilogue. <33

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 23 on 12/29/2025
Such sleep he had. And such dreams! Dreams of Arwen, of riding Bronadui across windswept plains, of eating at banquets and dancing and singing and laughing. It seemed that after so many nights of nightmares, his mind was desperate to fill his sleep with all that was pleasant and good. But fever still plagued him, and nightmares crept in and he fought battles that went ill and watched loved ones die because he could not reach them in time and through it all he felt hope’s flame falter and weaken. He cried out at such times, and invariably felt a calming hand on his brow and then the good dreams would return until fever drove them out once more.
AND SUCH DREAMS <33
Aksjdjfk this warms me so much. The complete consistent responsiveness of the calming hand on his brow <33 and the nightmares are not all banished for he still has a fever, and hope’s flame faltering suggesting how it has begun to grow tentatively strong within him again <3 and crying out still but each time he is comforted and brought relief ajsjdjfjd

He woke up at intervals, long enough to drink from cups held to his lips, some filled with broth, others water, and still others with a bitter brew of medicine. Sometimes he was aware enough to recognize the face that belonged to the hand holding the cup; other times it seemed all were strangers to him, and it was at those times that the nightmares rushed in and he was convinced all hope was lost.
Yesssss I love thisssss them all taking care of him, holding cups to his lips, sometimes it needing to be bitter still, sometimes not recognizing them for fever, sometimes hope still seeming lost as the nightmares rush in askdjjf
The power recognizing a face that loves you can hold

But as time seeming unmeasured passed, the nightmares faded and the good dreams strengthened and more and more he knew faces and voices around him. And then finally came the day when he opened his eyes to a clear world, with sunshine falling warm on his face and dancing on the wall through the billowing curtains and a sense that he had emerged at last from a dark place to which he would never return. He blinked a few times and tried to lift his head, but he was too weak. So he rolled his head on the pillow and saw Elrond sitting in a chair beside his bed, reading a book.
AWWWWW YAYYY <333
And Elrond reading close by <3
Also thank you for him being too weak to lift his head yet. His fever may have broken but he does not need to be back to strength yet, nor would that be reasonable.

As if he felt Aragorn’s gaze, Elrond lifted his head and smiled. "So you have decided not to sleep away the rest of your life after all."
Awwwwwwwwww <33 this cute greeting

"How long?" he rasped, feeling like he had been here before, had gone through this already, and then realizing he had, with Halbarad, on a farm along the plains overlooking the Hoarwell. It was getting tiresome, this.
Akdjd love that last sentence. Tiresome, this.

"Today is the fifth day."
Ah wow. That feels just about right.

Aragorn’s eyes widened as he silently took in that information. He looked around the room and saw the evidence of Elrond’s care... no, his battle, for Elrond’s face held the fatigue of a soldier who had fought long and hard but knew the joy of victory.
AKSJDJFJD BEAUTIFUL <3
Fatigue but knew the joy of victory aaaaa

Indeed, the cluttered nightstand looked like a field after battle: a pitcher of water, and a bowl and cup. A pile of fresh bandages. Several jars and bottles of medicine. He smelled athelas and wintergreen and a mix of other spicy and medicinal odors, not all of which were pleasant. He had the thought to hitch himself up in the bed but managed only a weak shift of his right arm that barely moved the sheets covering him.
Aww lol thank you again <3 just barely shifts
Left arm doesnt move at all lol
Yay pile of fresh bandages

Elrond moved to his side. "How do you feel, my child?"
"Tired," he whispered. He did not understand how he could spend five days sleeping and wake up feeling like he could sleep for five weeks more.
WHAT A MOOD although I have not experienced it nearly this strong, my fever broke yesterday (fourth day), and it had never gotten all that high but I was still like…does that mean I have to get up and do things now? All I want to do still is sleep. I’m still so tired.

"You are weakened not only from both fever and the Black Breath, but also from plain and simple exhaustion. You pushed yourself too far this time, Estel. You nearly died."
Aksjdjdk not “you nearly pushed yourself too far”, but “you pushed yourself too far this time”. Nearly died is always too far. Thank you for saying that <3

"I did?"
"A festering wound and the Black Breath make a formidable partnership. The presence of either could have certainly killed you, and both of them combined...." He left the thought unspoken. "The Valar must be exhausted from watching over you."
Aksjfjf a formidable partnership
Either could have indeed

"I am sorry, Ada."
"My words are not a reprimand, Estel," Elrond assured him. "Only a small joke, and one poorly placed, for you are still in a fragile state.
<33 I love you Elrond

No, do not argue!" Elrond added as he saw the frown building on Aragorn’s brow. "You have managed to come back from the road upon which there is usually no returning, and that is no small feat of strength. But still, you have a long way yet to travel before you can call yourself healed."
Yesss thank you
Do not argue

"How long?"
"As long as it takes."
Aragorn pulled a face. His father may be a Peredhel but when it came to answering questions, the Elven side of him usually took over to give answers that were no answers at all.
LOL yep and I love him

Elrond looked at the bandage wrapped around Aragorn’s left arm, pulling its edge back just enough for a peek. "It is better now, but the infection in your arm found a strong hold before any of us realized you were wounded. You insisted I take care of Halbarad, and in my haste to care for him, I foolishly ascribed the fever and pain I saw in your eyes–even the shadow I sensed in your soul–to nothing more than exhaustion and simple sorrow.
Mmmmm so he indeed did not see so deeply as Aragorn feared

So I hurried off when I should have seen to it that you received care yourself. But you hid your pain so well from all of us – from me, from Erestor and Gandalf – that we did not realize how ill you truly were.
OH MY GOSH yes he did and that is a great feat indeed. They could tell he was near collapse but he managed to keep from them just how exceedingly deep his wounds and darkness ran. Enough that they were all shocked

And for that," he said with a deep inward breath, "I do not know how you will ever forgive me." Tears suddenly shimmered in his eyes. "My son came home at last and I nearly let him die."
ANSJDJFKDKD

My son came home at last...
SKAJSJFJFJAJSKDJD
OH HOW THOSE WORD AND THE SHIMMERING TEARS WARM MY HEART
he has been longing, longing for his son to come home <:((((
The pain in Elrond’s face and voice and words aghhhhhhh it’s beautiful even though I don’t want him to be in pain

The words cast a warm glow in Aragorn’s heart,
<3333

but it was overshadowed by dismay. He could not allow his father to take any blame in this fiasco. "No, Ada. Do not blame yourself." He licked his lips. Speaking at length was proving very difficult. "My fault... for hiding it."
"You think you are the only one skilled in self recrimination," Elrond said with a sad smile. "You no doubt learned it from me." Then he waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "But that is not for you to worry about, either way. What matters now is getting you well."
Awww <333 oh boy these two
At least Elrond is very aware of its presence in them both
And thank you for not scolding Aragorn for hiding it so much as regretting not noticing and also letting him know how dangerous it was in hopes he will learn to be more open in the future
Also yesssss his struggle to speak, licking his lips,

"How... what happened? Did I fall?"
Yep!

"You apparently collapsed in the hallway outside your bedroom.
Yesssss Collapse

Gandalf heard you, and summoned – nay, not summoned but in truth shouted for me loudly enough that I would have heard him had I already been in Valinor."
YESSS HE BELLOWED :))
They were all so worried about him <33 and rightly so

He reached over and moved a stray lock of Aragorn’s hair out of his face. "You should purge the word ‘fine’ from your vocabulary. I never want to hear it coming from your mouth again."
YES
PLEASE
you may say “I am well” or “I am not well”. Because you are probably one of those two things.
Not
Fine
Also brushing back a bit of hair <3

Aragorn smiled faintly, but other concerns weighed on him. "How is Halbarad?"
"He is well. Back on his feet, as a matter of fact, though I ordered him to rest. But I cannot keep him from your side; when I am not here, he insists that he must be, telling me that while he may not be able to fight off orcs, he can surely manage to sit quietly and watch over his chieftain. He is a rare friend, your Halbarad."
Awwww yes of course <333 they take turns now
How I love him. What a rare and wonderful friend indeed <:)

"The best," Aragorn murmured. So why did I dream over and over that he was a traitor?
"Estel? Something troubles you."
He waited a moment, drawing strength. "I dreamt of him... betraying me. How I could be so unfair... to dream of him like that?"
Skajd thank you Elrond for asking
Drawing strength

"Fever affects the mind in strange ways, and so does the Black Breath. It twists our thoughts, turns good to evil and evil to good. The nightmare realm you were trapped in... I have never seen such in all my experience. Usually it is far darker, more murky, less vivid, less... terrifying. I would give anything to have prevented you from experiencing what you did." He paused, his gaze troubled, but then he gave Aragorn a reassuring smile.
AKSJDJFKS
<333 <:( he would have given anything
Has never seen any nightmare realm of the black breath so terrifying
It is usually darker but less vivid…and so less terrifying. Not so detailed and horrific and hopeless. And as a father, he would have given anything to keep that experience from him <:(

"But rest assured, dreaming such does not mean somewhere deep down you harbor mistrust toward Halbarad. I think, perhaps, so twisted by the Black Breath that your thoughts were, he somehow became a symbol of evil corrupting even the best, most pure things in your life."
They made sense, Elrond’s words. Aragorn let out a long breath. "I hated that more than anything else, I think."
<33 that does make sense. Thank you for your wisdom, Elrond.

Elrond said nothing, but merely took Aragorn’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Awww thank you

"My men... Glorfindel... my brothers?"
"I have not heard any news."
"I hope–" Aragorn started, but there was no point in finishing the thought. Whatever had happened after he left was nearly a week past, and worrying now served no purpose. That the wraith did not follow Aragorn and Halbarad across the river must mean that Glorfindel and the others were successful in some measure in their pursuit. But not knowing worried him greatly.
Mmm yess all very fair. Good job recognizing the purposelessness of the worry, though. And the likely success.

"If it helps, I do not sense that Glorfindel or your brothers are in any danger."
Aragorn nodded. It was not the complete reassurance he sought, but neither could he dismiss the comfort Elrond’s words offered.
"Would you like some broth?"
<33

Aragorn shook his head. "Too tired." And he was. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Awww
Hes like I can literally only say the two words

"Ada?"
"Yes?"
"Tell him... tell Halb’rad..." His words slurred and he tried again. "Tell him... thank you." He felt Elrond squeeze his shoulder, then he drifted back to sleep.
sleep, Estel <3
The shoulder squeeze <3
Awww hes like please tell himmm

"Aragorn," a voice whispered softly, urgently. Someone gently shook his shoulder. He took a deep breath and let it out. He was floating on a warm cloud, safer and happier than he had been in months and he did not want to leave that cozy place. He burrowed deeper into his pillow.
Awwww
HE’S SAFER AND HAPPIER THAN HE’S BEEN IN MONTHS

But the voice would give him no peace. "Aragorn!"
"Go away."
hehe

A chuckle, then another shake of his shoulder. "Come now, Strider, open your eyes."
AWWW
I knew it was Halbarad <33

Since it seemed whatever intruder trying to haul him from his comfortable cloud was not going to give up, he slowly opened his eyes. Halbarad stood over him, pale and wan and with his right arm in a sling, but grinning like a cat that had just finished off the cream. Aragorn could not help grinning back.
LOLLLL OF COURSE HE’S GRINNING LIKE THAT THE LITTLE IMP <3

"Halbarad!"
Awwwwww HES SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM TOO

"Lord Elrond told me you had finally wakened. He also told me to leave you be, but I have never been any good at following orders."
LOLL <33

He looked him over, even lifting the sheet to check out the rest of him. "You look fairly awful, but I suppose I’ve seen you in worse shape. How do you fare?"
"I have been in worse shape."
Halbarad snorted. "Ever do you avoid a direct answer when it comes to how you feel. Tell me straight, Strider."
Lollll yes thank you
Also lol even lifting the sheet

Aragorn sighed. "Very well. I ache all over. My left arm still feels like a Balrog is whipping it. And I’m tired. Very, very tired. But otherwise, more or less recovering well, according to Elrond."
Ouch
A Balrog is whipping it
Very ouch
Great job telling him straight <3

"Hmm."
"I am on the mend, truly."
"Hmm."
Aragorn shot him a look of exasperation. He was far too tired for all this. "How about you?" He nodded toward the sling and frowned.
LOL hes like stop your hmming

"This? Oh, your father has me using it to ease the strain on my shoulder and back muscles. Have to admit that he is right. My back gets very sore if I try to go long without it. You have no idea how heavy an arm can be."
Thinking of how heavy his eyelids felt at the moment, Aragorn figured he had some idea, but he merely nodded. He longed to say more but he was already losing the battle against sleep. He wondered when he might be able to keep his eyes open for longer than a few minutes at a stretch.
lol <33 hes like if eyelids can be this heavy, imagine an arm

"Yes, I am definitely on the mend, thanks to your father’s skill, and thanks–" Halbarad stopped and suddenly looked so stricken that all of Aragorn’s sleepiness momentary fled.
"Halbarad?"
Aww I love them <3

He chewed his lip for a moment, struggling for control, then finally said, "You nearly sacrificed your life for mine, riding through the night, sick and wounded yourself. It is no small thing, and I have no words sufficient to thank you."
Aksjdjdjdkdkdkd struggling for control
Reminded of what Aragorn did <:(

Sleepiness again swept over Aragorn in a warm wave, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open. "It was truly no sacrifice."
Uh-huh

"Aragorn, you nearly died!"
Yep!

"But I did not. I am still here."
"Only by the mercy of the Valar." He paced away from the bed and stood by the window for a few minutes, and when he turned, his eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Do not ever do this to me again, Aragorn. Promise me."
Skjdjfjdjdjd <333 <:(

"You do not want me to save your life?"
"No... I do not want you to lie to me. Say that all is well when you know it is not. I cannot..." He stopped, struggling for control, then continued. "When I woke up, after Elrond had removed the arrow, and Erestor told me what had happened, that you had collapsed, that you might lose your arm and that you were nearly overcome by the Black Breath..." Anger brought color to Halbarad’s cheeks. "The same Black Breath you kept telling me you had defeated and that I, putting aside every instinct that screamed otherwise, accepted as truth!" He shook his head and whispered, "Do not ever do that to me again."
AKSJDKDKS
the whisper
I forgot he did that. And that Halbarad sort of listened. And wow he even sort of accepted it as truth, if only because of Aragorn’s forcefulness

Aragorn looked long into Halbarad’s eyes. He saw in his companion’s burning gaze a demand for trust. For the honesty that Aragorn knew was fully Halbarad’s due. Aragorn again cringed at the unfairness of his nightmares, of them casting this stalwart companion into the role of traitor. He looked at Halbarad and the naked emotion in his face and knew he could give him but one answer. Aragorn struggled to prop himself on one elbow, wishing beyond measure he could go to Halbarad and put a hand on his shoulder. "I promise you, I will not do that again. Ever."
Aksjdjdkskdkfk <33333 a demand for trust HE NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO TRUST ARAGORN <3 on not just other things but his own health. The naked emotion. Aragorn propping himself up to give a grave and sincere answer <333 the only one he can give
Aksjdjddk wishing beyond measure simply to put a hand on his shoulder

"Do I have your oath?"
"You do."
<33333 awwww it is so simple and so deeply meant

Halbarad shut his eyes and breathed in deeply. He nodded. "Thank you," he said, and returned to Aragorn’s side. He helped him lay back down, then settled himself in the chair beside the bed. "Do you need anything?"
Awwwwwww THE RELIEF <33 and helping him lay back downnn

"My strength back."
Halbarad chuckled. "Only time will do that."
lol yess

"Will you stay long?"
"Another week, perhaps. I think I should get back to Windydale as soon as possible. And seeing how you’ll be flat out until at least Mettarë..."
"No. That is too long," Aragorn murmured. My people need me sooner, much sooner...
Hmm Aragorn I hear your old thoughts
I know they have not and will not change. But we need to get some self-preserving thoughts in there.

"Hmm. You should see yourself in a mirror, Strider."
"That bad?"
YES GREAT RESPONSE enough flat-out skepticism to stop even Aragorn
And Aragorn’s like okay fair argument probably

"Let me simply say that the color of your skin should not match the grey of your eyes."
Aragorn shut his eyes. "I certainly feel grey."
Lolll oh dear
I should see this
I forgot he would be grey

Halbarad made a sympathetic noise, then a quiet fell between them, comfortable and easy. Aragorn felt himself dozing but some part of him still heard the little noises Halbarad made as he shifted in the chair or let out a soft sigh. The sounds comforted him more than he ever would have thought.
Awwwwww
That comfortable place nearly asleep but made so much more comforting in hearing Halbarad alive <333

He opened his eyes. "Halbarad?"
"Yes?"
He held out his hand, and Halbarad took it. Aragorn looked at him for a long moment, wanting to say so many things, but in the end he finally simply gave his hand a squeeze.
Awwwwwww <333
Hes like
Just take my hand please

Halbarad smiled, understanding plain in his eyes. But he only said, "Sleep now, my friend," as he pulled the blanket higher and tucked Aragorn’s hand under it. He laid a hand on Aragorn’s forehead, and Aragorn closed his eyes and let himself drift toward sleep, but not before hearing Halbarad’s whispered benediction, "Sleep, my liege. I will watch over you, as I always have."
AKSJDJDKSKDKD GONNA CRY
the understanding
Tucking him in, tucking his hand under as well
Putting a hand on his forehead <333
HIS WHISPERED BENEDICTION <333 my liege this time being entirely sincere, I think. “I will watch over you, as I always have” AKSJDJDKDKDK <3333 indeed I needed these beautiful words

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 22 on 12/29/2025
It was the same, in many ways.
Utter loneliness. Utter despair. Drowning in frigid waters.
Skajdjdjd

He sank under dark, churning waters that had never been touched by life, that had never known the song of Ulmo or danced with the air of Manwë.
AHHHHH ALL THESE THINGS OF LIFE AND JOY COMPLETELY ABSENT AND DARKNESS IN THEIR WAKE

He sank, and then he fought to the surface, then sank again, and wondered why he should bother. He knew what awaited him. Knew that as soon as he crawled ashore, Halbarad would be there, chains in hand. He knew that everyone he knew and loved would condemn him for his failure and chain him and leave him in the merciless hands of Sauron.
Far better to simply let himself drown. Had that not after all been what he wanted as he sat along the Bruinen?
Akskddkdjdkdkdkdkdkdjdj
Relieving the exact nightmares, knowing how they will go, WHY SHOULD HE FIGHT

He went limp, feeling the weight of the water push him ever downward. There could be no hope of rescue this time. He was too deep in the realm of shadow, too far into that nether region where evil sundered the gift of death from mortal life and trapped its victims for all eternity.
aksskkddkdk nooo please no okay “where evil sundered the gift of death from mortal life” that is cruel indeed, especially to one so tortured as he is

But in the end he discovered it simply was not in him to give up. It was wrong. It went against every pulse that still coursed through his veins. It might be hopeless, but he had to keep on. He would never surrender his will to the enemy. Never.
GOOD JOB
THAT’S MY ARAGORN <333
It is so deeply ingrained in his character
He will never give up, never give in, not while he has an ounce of life or strength

And so he kicked, feebly, then with more strength and his head broke the surface and he gasped and choked but he could breathe.
And if he could breathe, he could fight.
I’m so proud <:(

He looked around him and almost wished he had not. Gone was the endless black sea of the last time he was lost. Instead, he found himself in a river twisting through a corruption of all that he knew of Arda. Trees, misshapen and horrid, crowded the banks of the river. Their branches stretched down into the water, reaching for him as he floated past, as he fruitlessly looked for a break along the bank where he could crawl out. He dove under and felt their branches snag on his clothing and he twisted and fought them off and kicked harder as he pulled with his arms, and somehow stayed just ahead of their grasping clutches.
Skajdjfjfkdkd that does indeed sound horrid. His nightmare is somehow made even more evil, twisted rather than simply desolate

Finally the river turned a bend and the forest fell behind him. He was tossed about against rocks and pulled under in eddies and whirlpools and the battering seemed to go on endlessly but eventually he was able to lunge for a low bank and pull himself out of the water. He knelt, dripping and exhausted, and looked around him. It seemed he was in a valley, a sere place filled with rock and dead grasses and pockmarked with vents in the ground that spewed out sulphurous fumes. Black stone walls rose sheer and forbidding all around the valley’s perimeter, save for this one spot where the river cut through them. He pulled himself to his feet and stood swaying, wondering if he should continue into the valley or simply collapse here by the river and accept whatever fate awaited.
HE MADE IT OUT OF THE RIVER
although I’m not sure that’ll help much but like
This sounds much like the black land, or the lands just outside it…

He looked to the far horizon. Blackness there ate at what little light the sky held, and a red glow suffused the land below, reflecting dully on the roiling underbelly of clouds that seethed as though they were furious with the sky and the ground and all things between. It was there, he knew, that Sauron dwelt, and it was there that he would be dragged, chained and helpless.
Mmm so just outside
AND HELPLESS
his least favorite feeling
Also “dragged”, yes, is a very painful humiliating and helpless thing
Furious with all things

Panic started to rise in him but he fought it back. He looked around the valley again, trying to find a hiding place, but there was none. There were only a few scattered trees, stunted and bare. Even if he had the strength, there was nowhere to go. He staggered toward one of the shriveled trees and slumped to his knees beneath it, wondering if, like its cousins in that foul wood behind him, it would snatch him up and crush him in its branches. He eyed it warily, but it remained motionless.
Aksjdkdkd can’t trust even the trees <:(
The panic
Falling to his knees

There was little sound here. No birds twittering. No insects buzzing. He glanced upward and saw a break in the clouds, and a star dimly shining, but the clouds moved over it and even its small comfort was lost to him.
THE STAR
IMMEDIATELY LOST
Unlike Sam’s star, it abandons him far too quickly

He searched the sky all around and caught a glimpse of a bird, high and far off. An eagle, but it did not see him. Its attention seemed focused on the jagged peaks far away, and not on this dead valley.
Askdkfksk any thing that could give him hope is paying him no attention

And that was truly what it was: a dead place. Here he would die and here Sauron would seal the doom of Middle-earth.
Noooooo

I am sorry, Adar. Please forgive me.
SKAJDJF <:(((

For a moment, an instant only, a feeling came over him... or was it merely a dream within this dark dream? The drear valley around him faded and he was aware, somehow, of being in another place entirely: a calm place, a place filled with peace where gentle hands touched him, held him. He heard his own voice crying out that Sauron knew who he was... and then another voice, a musical voice that had filled his childhood with words of encouragement and love...
"No, Estel. You have not failed me, my son. You have not failed."
AKSKDKFKDKDKDKD IM GONNA CRY
my favorite words
A calm place
Filled with peace
*Gentle hands*
Touched him (he is worthy of being touched gently)
HELD HIM <:((((( <333
And hearing his own voice, and Elrond’s loving musical encouraging response <33 listen to him
The way it seems less a moment of wakening and more a moment of deeper dream :(

But then the vision faded and he saw only the scorched, empty valley and he was alone.
He knelt in the silence, too weak to go on, and waited.
Alskddkjdkdkd waited because he can do nothing else. Nothing but keep himself upright on his knees.

He heard a step beside him. With an effort, he raised his head. Halbarad stared at him, his hands filled with chains.
Mmmm noooooo

"No," Aragorn growled, staggering to his feet. "I will not let you take me."
HE FIGHTS
HE GROWLS
has he really fought this part before?

Halbarad said nothing, but reached out and grabbed Aragorn’s left arm.
his LEFT arm eep

Aragorn yanked his arm back and for a moment freed himself but then Halbarad swung the chains at him and they slammed into his upper arm. Pain exploded in a thousand blinding flares of light and he crumpled to the ground.
Eeeeeeeeeee :(

But even in the midst of the pain, he sensed a movement behind Halbarad, a flash of purest light emerging from a cleft in the rock wall. He saw it and for an instant hope bloomed in his chest,
OOOH

but then Halbarad again swung the chains. Pain dimmed his vision and the sight of... whatever that had been... was lost to him. Aragorn felt the cold touch of a manacle around his right wrist and then his left and he knew he had lost.
AAAAAAAAAA cold strong manacles on his wrists <3
the moment of hope is lost, he cannot even remember it hardly

Aragorn’s eyes were shut. He knew what was happening; he had no need to see it. It was his nightmare come to life or death or whatever passed for existence in this plane. He felt a tug at his waist; Halbarad was taking Narsil from him. He heard the broken blade clatter to the ground and cursed the weakness that doomed him to be the failure, the one to bring to an end the line of Isildur, the line of Kings. He had thought perhaps... maybe... he might have had the strength after all... but no.
Mmm yes…that is…definitely…what is happening
I wonder how many of these things actually are going on in real life and what’s just pure nightmare. Like the clatter and tug. And how much else he’s saying out loud. Did they hear his growl to Halbarad?

What passed for his own strength was utterly spent. The fight was over, and he had lost, and thus sealed the doom of all.
“What passed for his own strength” askjdk a good description
And wow, it is finally gone
He fought long, he scraped his deepest reserves again and again. And finally he has utterly spent all. <3 <:(

Halbarad took him by the arm and started to lift him, then unaccountably let him fall back. Aragorn’s head hit the ground with a blow sharp enough to send lights shooting through his closed eyes. He groaned and rolled over on his side, away from Halbarad, away from the valley. He knew not what was happening but he did not care. He huddled against the base of the tree and tasted the bitterness of his failure.
Skajdjfjsk utterly bitter strengthless hopelessness
Huddling in his black despair
Weakly groaning and rolling away onto his side, he has no other strength or will left to even consider attempting to withhold a groan or fight his body’s attempts to face away from the danger or anything else
And the renewed apathy of “he knew not what was happening but he did not care”

He heard Halbarad’s feet shuffle. Heard a sudden intake of breath. Then, incredibly, he heard another voice, a voice strong and confident. "Be gone, servant of darkness! Leave him be!"
<333 SKAJD THANK YOU

But Aragorn did not stir himself to look. It sounded almost like Elrond, but Elrond surely could not have delved so far into this evil place. No, it was only his mind playing cruel tricks on him. Better to stay where he was, his eyes shut tight against the terrible sight of his friend turning on him.
Nooooo no no no
He knows only he cannot bear the sight and cannot imagine relief

He heard footsteps coming toward him.
"Estel!"
Hmm footsteps in real life??

Elrond’s voice again. How could that be? He wanted to ignore it, to shoo it away as just another trick of his mind, but something compelled him to look. He started to roll over, but the chains were too heavy, and somewhere along the line Halbarad had managed to manacle his ankles as well. He lifted his arms, then listlessly let them fall. It is not Ada... it is nothing more than a dream... a failing hope...
Skajdfjjd the chains too heavy

"Tolo enni, Estel," Elrond cried.
Come to you?
Come to me <33 a command from Elrond <:(

But how... how can I trust you? Still, the imploring tone cut straight through to his soul and could not be denied. He turned his head and opened his eyes.
BUT HOW CAN I TRUST YOU <:(
but cut straight to his soul and could not be denied <333

For the longest moment, what he saw simply did not register in his mind. It was Elrond. Shimmering with light and more radiant and powerful than Aragorn had ever seen him, but unmistakably his Adar. But it made no sense for Elrond to be here.
AKSJFKDKSKD <33 those words that vision

"Estel!"
Each time he says his name <3

He blinked. As unlikely as it seemed, Elrond knelt on the ground a scant arm’s length away, looking at him with a mixture of love and fear and joy and fatigue such as he had never seen on his father’s face. Of Halbarad there was no sign. "Adar?" he whispered.
Akskdkdkdkdkdk that beautiful tender mixture <:( <3

"Yes, Estel. It is your adar. I’m here. I have come to take you home." He held out his arms, reaching for Aragorn.
SOB
SOB SOB SOB
HOLDING OUT HIS ARMS TO TAKE ARAGORN HOME
who has not been able yet to truly come home yet, even after arriving in Rivendell
Also. Elrond like, rather than just pulling Aragorn out of the dream, coming in himself to appear in Aragorn’s own world and rescue him, is so beautiful to me? <:( also that’s what the footsteps wereee he is actually here

"Home? " Aragorn whispered. Home! How he longed to take his father’s hands, to let him draw him into his arms and take him away from this vile place, but how could he know this was really Elrond? How could he know that this was not another apparition designed to make him reveal his true name? He shut his eyes and re-opened them, trying to sort out the confused muddle of his thoughts. He finally stiffened his resolve and shook his head. "No... it is a trick. I will not... not tell you... who I am. You cannot make me..."
Skajdjfkkskd he still manages to fight with his words
I am proud, but now is not actually when it is needed

"Estel," Elrond implored. "Listen to my voice! It truly is me. You must trust me!"
Yes. Yes. Please trust <:(

He shut his eyes. "No!" he moaned. "It is a trick... I will not listen!" He curled into a ball, burying his head in his arms. Perhaps if he refused to look, refused to even speak, the vision would go away.
Aksjdkdkdkd literally moaning, curling up, and burying his head in his arms
Absolute misery

There was silence for a time, then, quietly, "Estel, a few moments ago you woke from this, briefly. You looked at me and told me that Sauron knew who you were."
Oooh so even if Aragorn was not seeing, he opened his eyes and stared at Elrond. I love that
Also “moments ago” that probably feels to Aragorn an eternity

Aragorn shuddered, but did not look up.
"There is more, Estel, things that I would know but Sauron and his minions would not. If you search your mind you will know to them to be true and know that I am true. Halbarad was injured. You brought him to Rivendell. You waited all day beneath the old willow tree, worrying over him, as I worked to remove the shards of the arrow from near his spine and lung. And you were so concerned for his well-being that you ignored your own wound, the splinter wound on your left arm. It has become inflamed, and is giving you fever."
Yes yes listen Aragorn

Aragorn opened his eyes. But he did not look at Elrond. He stared instead at the ground in front of him, weighing Elrond’s words and wondering; if this were not Elrond, how then could he know these things? He did not feel Elrond’s presence in his mind, so it could not be that Elrond knew these things that way. And neither did he feel any other darker presence, and that gave him the tiniest bit of hope.
Aksjdjdkdjjd and the tiniest bit is the hugest start in this moment and place where all hope for him has absolutely fled

"I followed the eagle, and then the star. You saw them both, from a distance. They are your tokens, my son, and they drew me to you."
OH OH OH
THAT’S WHAT THOSE WERE
THAT’S HOW HE CAME TO BE HERE <33

Hope flickered brighter, but Aragorn still could not bring himself to look up.
Aksjdkfkdkd
But it flickered brighter
For once, it is growing

"Just now I saw Halbarad," Elrond continued, "or the being that was pretending to be Halbarad, swing the chains and hit you. But the chains did not wound you; you were already wounded when you came to Rivendell."
Yessssss
Thank you so much that Elrond was able to see these visions of Aragorn’s, directly see his delirious pain

"At Bracken’s Ferry," Aragorn whispered. He finally looked at Elrond. "How do you know? I have not told you anything..."
HE LOOKED

"No, but I can see the wound on your arm, and no chain did such damage. Splintered wood, still embedded and festering. Erestor has cleaned it, though, and that was the pain you thought came from those chains," Elrond said with a gentle smile. "Come, my son, let me take you home and then you can tell me everything."
THE SMILE
OH HOW I WANT HIM TO TELL HIM EVERYTHING
OH HOW THAT OFFER COMFORTS ME <:((
Splinters still there, for all his efforts Halbarad could not get them all. Getting them out is going to prove further pain for him unless they use anesthesia. Also, simply cleaning the wound being pain enough to send his imagined self blinded and collapsing to the ground again <3

He stared at Elrond, then looked around at the deadness surrounding him. If this was a trick, could it be any worse than staying here in this wretched place? He looked again at Elrond, then dared to stretch out a trembling hand. "Ada, is it really you?"
Askdjfkskks REACHING FOR HIM

Elrond reached forward and as soon as he touched Aragorn’s fingers, Aragorn knew. "Ada!" he cried and threw himself into his father’s arms. Elrond folded him into his embrace, and as he did so, the chains fell and a sweet wind laden with the aroma of athelas swept away the toxic fumes.
AKSJDJDJSKD SOBS SOBS SOBS
Aragorn knew
CRYING OUT “Ada!” <:(
Elrond *folded him into* his embrace <33
And that is when everything can fall away
And he can smell the Athelas at last <3

The valley seemed to melt around him. He shut his eyes and buried his face against Elrond’s neck....
aksjdjdjdkdkdk awwwwww
He is his place of safety and security <33333

...and when he next opened his eyes, he saw the familiar walls of his room, and Erestor’s drawn face, and Gandalf’s smile of relief. And he saw Elrond. Saw him and heard him and felt his arms holding him, keeping him safe. "Ada," he croaked.
Awwwwwwwwwww AND FELT HIS ARMS HOLDING HIM, KEEPING HIM SAFE

"Give him water!" Elrond cried, and Erestor hurried forward with a cup. He handed it to Elrond and then helped support Aragorn’s head. Elrond’s hand was shaking as he guided the cup to Aragorn’s mouth. Some of the water slopped onto his chest, but he greedily drank down the rest until Elrond pulled the cup away.
"Slow down, Estel," he laughed.
AKSJDJF HE LAUGHED <33
Also the immediate give him water!! And Elrond giving it to him himself, ELROND’S OWN HAND SHAKING <3 from fear or relief or exhaustion or all three I do not know, and Erestor helping hold up his hand so he can laugh, as I love,

Erestor lowered Aragorn’s head back to the pillow and Elrond released him, and for a long moment, Aragorn simply looked at Elrond, savoring the sight of him and the sight of his room and wondering how in the world he was suddenly back here, safe and in his home.
Akakdkdkdk so surreal after that desolate place

"Welcome back," Elrond finally said softly, and laid a tender kiss on Aragorn’s forehead, just as he had done so many times to him when he was a small child.
TEARS
as I thought, he may not be a small child any longer but he still needs and has his father’s tender care <333

He found his voice if not coherent words. "What... how did..."
"Shhh. Save your questions, my son," Elrond said. "You were in a far country, and an evil one, but now you are back home and you will recover."
<333 he will

Still confused, Aragorn shifted uneasily on the bed, wincing as the movement jostled his arm.
"Your arm is deeply infected," Elrond said. "It will trouble you for some time, I fear, but it will heal."
<3 yay both things I wanted to hear. “It will heal” and “it will take awhile”. Also, still being rather childlikely confused <3

Aragorn nodded and closed his eyes. He was so tired, and still in so much pain.
Yesss

But there was a spaciousness, a weightlessness, within him that had not been there in a long, long time.
Yesssssss

Gone was any trace of a dark shadow, and as he dared turn his thoughts toward the Nazgûl, he felt only memory, like so many of his other memories of horrific events and bitter tragedies and hard-won and hard-lost battles. Wrenching and sorrow-filled and still so fresh that it almost brought physical pain, but still... it was merely a memory. Nothing more.
AKSJDJDJDKD
still wrenching but the darkness is gone. It is GONE. As it has never yet been. Still a powerfully painful memory, but not shadowed.

He sighed softly and looked again at Elrond. His father was watching him with a curious expression – a wistfulness, but with a depth of sorrow that only immortal elves could know.
Mmm yes for death is indeed a gift <:(

"Adar?" he said softly, asking with his eyes questions he had no strength to speak.
<3 eye communication
And luckily hes asking Elrond

Elrond blinked, then a ghost of a smile lit his face. He laid a hand against Aragorn’s cheek and the sorrow fled from his eyes. "Worry not," he said. "I am not troubled. Not any more."
<:(( Estel will be healed

Aragorn frowned, not accepting the words. He knew what had put the sorrow in Elrond’s eyes – his betrothal to Arwen, his failure as a leader... so many, many things, but mostly his love for Arwen. But he dared not speak of it, so he simply whispered, brokenly, "I am sorry, Adar."
Aksdkkdkskdkd “brokenly”
Also…it makes so much more sense to me than it used to. Elrond is not angry at Aragorn. He is immeasurably grieved at the prospect of being literally forever separated from his daughter. <:(

Elrond’s eyes filled with concern. "Shh. You have nothing to be sorry for, my son. Cease your worries, Estel, for there is truly no need." He pulled the blanket up closer to Aragorn’s chin and smoothed it over his arms. "Now get some sleep. There will be time for talk later."
<33 concern for his broken apology awwww he wants him simply to rest
Yes they will talk long <3

Aragorn nodded. His eyes drifted closed, but before slumber took him into its gentle embrace, he murmured, "Thank you, Ada."
He felt another gentle kiss on his forehead, and then he slipped at last into the healing warmth of true sleep.
HE CAN SLEEP AGAIN
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WEEKS
Also another forehead kiss <:( <3 and thanks this time instead of an apology

This was indeed Deliverance <333

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 21 on 12/27/2025
“‘Fine,’ he says!" Gandalf glared at him from under those massive grey eyebrows of his, which were drawing toward each other like two warships bent on destroying each other. "Aragorn, did Lord Elrond not teach you that it is exceedingly unwise to prevaricate to a wizard?"
GANDALFFFFFFF
lol like two warships :)
Yessss exceedingly unwise

"Gandalf, truly... there is nothing you can do for me."
"Do? That tells me that there must indeed be something you need, from me or from someone." His gaze softened. "Come. Tell me, old friend."
Yesss well spotted

Aragorn’s shoulders slumped. Maybe....
Yes. He would tell him. Carrying the burden of hopelessness was too tiring, maintaining a facade that all was well too exhausting.
Please. Please do <3

Still, his words were faltering and slow. "Somehow... I feel I have lost the path. Or perhaps the path that I once saw so clearly in my youth is no longer open to me. I feel as though I stand at hope’s edge, and any step from here will only lead me farther away from all that I once thought possible." He looked far into an empty distance. "I-I feel like my destiny is so far out of reach that it is nothing more than the hopeless dream of a... of a fool."
Skajdjfjsksk trying to explain but still struggling

"Is that what your heart tells you?" Gandalf asked gently.
Great question <3

Long minutes passed as he searched for an answer in the dancing flames. He finally turned to Gandalf. "My heart sees only shadow."
VERY ACCURATE ANSWER I didn’t know what he’d say but that sounds so right

To his surprise, Gandalf smiled, gently and a touch sadly. "And you think that yours is the only heart blinded in these dark days?"
"But I am to be the king! I cannot afford to be so blind!" Aragorn said angrily, turning from Gandalf’s infuriating calm to pace the distance to the window. He stared out but saw nothing of moonlit beauty of Rivendell. His voice fell to a whisper. "What good is it to Middle-earth if the heir to the throne of Gondor is so easily defeated?"
Hmmm <:((

"Defeated? I think you use too strong a word. The inability to see the path before one’s feet does not always amount to defeat, else we would all fail before we left our doors, whether we be merchants or farmers, wizards or, yes, even kings. We are all feeling our way through an impenetrable fog, Aragorn, moving forward only one uncertain step at a time. But moving forward nonetheless. " Aragorn heard robes rustle, then a hand gently squeezed his shoulder. "Tell me, Aragorn, my friend. It is not like you to have such despair in your eyes. What is it that so haunts your dreams that you cry out in the night?"
SKASKGDSFHJ
okay has he been here for multiple days now or does Gandalf just know that
Anyways his perception makes me happy <3
And he just Sounds like Gandalf

Aragorn folded his arms around his chest and tried to hide his shiver with a shrug. "I have no dreams of late. Only nightmares."
Skajdjfks
Nightmares
Not even counting them as dreams
THE SHIVER

"We all have nightmares, but I must say I have never known you to suffer unduly from them, no matter how bleak the night."
Mmmmm yessssssss <333

Aragorn gave no answer. That after all this time, the effects of the Black Breath would still be plaguing him only brought a wave of shame that he should be so weak. To speak it aloud... no, he could not bring himself to do it. To have admitted his despair had been hard enough.
BUT ARAGORN
YOU NEVER REALLY GOT THE PROPER CARE

Gandalf sat down on the bed and leaned his ever-present staff beside him. He folded his hands over his knee and studied Aragorn so intently that Aragorn felt as though he were being judged before Ilúvatar himself.
Yesss <33 STUDY HIM
Also yay hes on a bed now
I wonder what got him there

"Gandalf," he protested, but fell silent at Gandalf’s raised hand.
HEHE I love those sorts of cut-off protests

"You mentioned fighting off orcs. But what of the Nazgûl? Did you encounter him directly?"
After a long moment, Aragorn gave Gandalf a terse nod.
Yesss
Okay I love these probing questions and Aragorn’s pauses and this terse nod. Hes so reluctant but they need to know.

Gandalf’s eyebrows shot upward. "Ah," he said, as if coming to full understanding. "And how long ago did you fight him?"
YESSS
SHOT UP
full understanding indeed <3 he is asking the right questions

"Almost two weeks, then again, briefly, just yesterday."
Thank you for also mentioning yesterday because like. Maybe there was no hand to hand combat but he certainly had to fight off the darkness. And I honestly wouldn’t trust Aragorn to count that in to Gandalf when he’s being so reserved, so I’m glad he did
Also Yayy it’s still the same day, I hoped it was. At the same time, it barely feels like that was only yesterday.

"And in this first encounter... how close were you yourself to him, Aragorn?"
Yesss still the right questions very good

At Aragorn’s continued silence, Gandalf’s fierce scowl returned. "Aragorn, you must tell me everything. Do not leave out even one detail."
YESSS THANK YOU THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
fierce scowl <3 at his silence, because HE NEEDS ARAGORN TO TELL HIM, SO HE CAN HELP, I love that sort of scowl

So Aragorn told the entire sad tale, trying to skim over his own defeat by merely saying, "I fought with him, and he fled after Halbarad threatened him with fire. We contended with him again at Windydale, only I did not get quite so near, nor for very long – a matter of minutes only. Glorfindel finally drove him out of the area, as far as we were able to ascertain. Then Halbarad was shot, and I brought him here, for it was only the skill of Lord Elrond that could save him."
ARAGORN
YOU ARE
LEAVING OUT
SO SO MANY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAILS
YOU…IDIOT
I SAY THIS WITH ALL LOVE BUT

"Aragorn," Gandalf said, a warning flashing in his eyes. "Do not try to fool a wizard! Is that truly all that happened? Are you trying to tell me that you did not feel the effects of being so near a Nazgûl not once but twice?"
THANK YOU
BE ANGRY UNTIL HE STOPS TRYING TO FOOL YOU

"Yes... I mean, no. I did, but I am fine. I..." Aragorn started, but then the lie locked in his throat.
Yess good

The blackness that seemed more and more to take all his energy to keep at bay surged once more. He forced it back, bleak in the knowledge that the next time it would return stronger than before, like an ever rising tide, and the way he felt at the moment, it would be highly unlikely that he could fight it off again.
Aksjfjfkskdk
Also good :) I would like him to pass out or SOMETHING to give others the opportunity to actually do something for him

"It... I feel it... him... I don’t know what it is, if it’s simply the memory that still plagues me, or something... something worse. A blackness... like a cold shadow that the sun cannot penetrate... still lingers in my mind. And there is a chill in my bones that no fire seems able to thaw."
Yesssssss
The barely masked horror in the “I feel it…him…” it feels reminiscent of Frodo
THANK YOU FOR SAYING ALL THESE WORDS <3 a blackness lingers. A chill in my bones YES ITS STILL THERE these are very strong words, good job Aragorn

Gandalf leaned his head back to squint at Aragorn down the considerable length of his nose. "It is unusual, I must say, after all this time. Most men would long have died by now," he mused, seeming to be talking to himself more than Aragorn. He blinked, then fixed Aragorn with a bright gaze. "But your Númenórean blood gives you greater strength than lesser men, and you do know a bit about healing, and there is the fact that your line has a special touch with the athelas. Although I’ve not heard of a healer healing himself of this, I suppose to a certain degree, you managed. Yes, I do believe that’s all this is. Well then." He stood up, shaking himself and arranging his long grey cloak.
Okay “that’s all this is” feels rather dismissive of the depth of his suffering to me but I don’t think it’s actually meant to be. It’s just. He doesn’t know about the sword and arm and all those things

"That’s all what is? Surely you are not leaving without explaining yourself?" Aragorn asked, his voice a bit sharper than he intended, but his head was starting to throb harder than ever, and he had little patience for the wizard’s enigmatic ways.
Lol too exhausted for his riddles <3

"Of course not, my dear boy," Gandalf said, a kind smile on his face as he put both hands on Aragorn’s shoulders. He studied Aragorn’s eyes and then shook his head sadly. "Ever do you think you can carry burdens too big for you."
THANK YOUUUU
and he DOES NOT NEED TO CARRY THEM ALONE
NO ONE BUT HIMSELF EXPECTS HIM TO

Aragorn shook off Gandalf’s hands. He had to change the subject–this was getting them nowhere.
…uh-huh. Sure. Perhaps, only because he is being so RESISTANT to give away any information

He angrily stepped away and started pacing before the fireplace. "It is not so great a burden.
SURE
I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR MY SARCASM
Also wait WAS he sitting on the bed or was that only Gandalf?? I would not be surprised if he’s been standing this whole time

I lived, and I will get better in time. You said it yourself; the healer can heal himself, and I have.
THAT
IS NOT WHAT HE SAID
the words were “I’ve not heard of a healer healing himself of this”

Or am still doing so, however you want to say it." He made an impatient gesture and went on, "What really concerns me is what to do about the fact that a wraith lingers yet in my lands, terrorizing and murdering my people for reasons I am apparently too much the dullard to figure out, save that it is evil and, like its foul master, full of hate for all men."
<:( he just cares about his people
WHICH I LOVE ABOUT HIM
I don’t love, however, that he tries to use it to avoid and get angry over any care for himself
Also…this is strong language also

"Trust me, Aragorn, you are neither a dullard nor a fool.
THANK YOU
I do not like Aragorn calling himself that

None of us have figured out the wiles of the enemy or he would have been defeated ages ago. But, since you seem so eager to avoid the topic of your own well being, let us for a moment speculate together and maybe we will come up with something that assures us that neither of us are as thickheaded as we might fear," Gandalf said with a mischievous wink.
<333 I love him
He sees exactly what he’s doing but will use it to his own purposes

Any other time, the twinkle in Gandalf’s eye would have lightened his mood, but Aragorn merely scowled, not missing a step in his restless measuring of the distance across the room and back. His legs were feeling shaky but he used his anger to goad them to keep moving. A pulse started to beat deep within the wound on his arm, so he again surreptitiously grasped his left elbow. "I would be glad of your insight, for mine has been of precious little use."
Lolll hes so grumpy poor guy. Also SIT DOWN
or collapse. Actually, do that. That sounds great.
Hmm surreptitiously
Again this typical to Aragorn feeling in dark moments like he only makes bad choices
Also, lucky for him he has a tunic that is not ripped, and no one has seen the bandage like his brothers immediately could with the ripped one. I mean not lucky for his health but he’s probably happy

"Right, then. Let us consider. He may be searching for the One Ring. That is, after all, their sole purpose in whatever it is that passes for their lives," Gandalf mused. "Saruman claims it washed down the Anduin to the sea, and may it be so. But if the servants of the Ring... of Sauron... are stirring, then I fear that Saruman may be wrong in his assertion that the Ring is no more. It may have awakened and is calling to its servants, and this one is searching for it." Gandalf paused and looked pointedly at him.
Yesss indeed

Aragorn slowed but did not stop his troubled prowling. "Go on. I am listening."
lol troubled prowling <3

"Like talking to the pendulum on Bilbo’s clock," Gandalf huffed, but continued.
LOL <3

"Not quite. I think there could be another reason the wraith is astir in your lands."
Aragorn stopped. "And that is?"
Yesss

"Foremost always in Sauron’s thought is his desire for the One Ring. How he wants it, for it is part of him and he of it. They are bound to one another. But second to that desire is this: he seeks the Heir of Isildur. He seeks to utterly destroy both him and his line, because it is only through him – through you, Aragorn, son of Arathorn – that his defeat will be assured."
Yesssssss he fears you, Aragorn

"But the secret... he surely does not know I am the one he seeks." He hunched his shoulders, rubbing his arm. It felt like someone was jabbing it with a hot poker.
Hehe yes
Also OUCH
um
Jabbing with a hot poker
This is getting bad

"Sauron’s spies are everywhere, their methods devious and cunning. Who is to say that Sauron has not heard rumor that a son yet lives, a son that is hiding among the Dúnedain remnant? A son that has taken his rightful seat as Chieftain?"
Hmmm good point

Aragorn felt as though someone had punched him in the gut. "He is destroying the settlements in order to draw me out." That could explain why he doubled back to attack Windydale a second time... I was there... I drew him there...
NOPE NOPE DO NOT HEAP MORE GUILT UPON YOURSELF

"I am not sure, of course, but it is something we cannot dismiss."
Aragorn stared at Gandalf without seeing him. Instead he saw burning buildings and the tormented faces of the dead. "Ever have I sought to protect my people," he said, his voice sounding thin and somehow distant, even to his own ears. "But now it seems as though my very existence has hastened their destruction."
Nooooooo no no stop

Gandalf shook his head. "No, Aragorn. Do not look at it so. Your service to your people has not been undermined. You have led them better than any other chieftain before you, and none in the long line of Isildur’s heirs have given themselves so selflessly to such a seemingly hopeless task as you have. You have not brought them destruction, but hope, and hope ever will be embodied in who you are and what you will become."
Awwwwww THANK YOU SEE he is better even than each of his ancestors and prior chieftains. He is a great and kind and powerful and selfless chieftain. AND BRINGING THEM HOPE <3

Hope does little to serve the people when the enemy uses it against them," Aragorn said, bitterness riding hard on his heart. "If he knows who I am, then I give no succor to my people but am a threat to their very survival." He gathered his coat and his sword, then bent to pick up his boots. "I must leave. We will put forth the word that the Chieftain has died, the line truly ended, and maybe thereby give my people time while I go forth to Mordor."
ARAGORN NO STOP
DO NOT DO THIS
THAT IS EXTREMELY HASTY AND FOOLISH
also Buddy what do you think your half-alive hopeless self will accomplish alone at Mordor?

"Aragorn, I am certain that Sauron does not know–"
"It is as the visions... the nightmares... showed, only it will not be by the hand of my friends that I find myself at Sauron’s feet, nor chained and helpless, but by the strength of my sword and Sauron will be the one–"
Noooooo not the nightmares
Not the even worse all-my-fault twists on it
Stop

"Aragorn!" Gandalf’s voice sliced through the room like lightning.
YES is this gonna be a BILBO BAGGINS! moment THANK YOU GANDALF

Aragorn froze, a boot dropping from his hand. He barely kept himself from cowering in fear at the sight of one of the Istari in full-blown wrath. He started to open his mouth to speak, but shut it with a snap as Gandalf seemed to loom larger than the room itself.
HA YES
one of the only people, I think, who could make Aragorn cower in fear, and he sure needs that shock right now

"You will do no such thing! The time is not yet full, and you would only destroy yourself and with that, all of Middle-earth!"
YESSSS

Then Gandalf’s rage passed as quickly as it erupted. He seemed to shrink, to become again a harmless-appearing old man with friendly eyes who spoke as a patient teacher to a stubborn pupil.
Yess just like with Bilbo <33 he does not mean to gain some kind of like fear over him, just enough momentarily to knock some sense into him

"I have no idea what you mean with this prattle of visions and being thrown to the enemy, but trust me in this: the enemy does not know you exist, else this region would be swarming with every evil weapon and soldier Sauron has at his disposal. That there has been just the one Nazgûl with a small force of orcs, as terrible as that is, tells me that your identity is mere rumor, as it always has been. Nothing more.
Thank youuuuuu Aragorn jumping so quickly to these conclusions before Gandalf can refute them lol

And, goodness, my boy, none of us will bind you over into Sauron’s hand."
I LOVE THIS SENTENCE
first hes like I have no idea what you mean by that but, and then he comes back and is like, “goodness, my boy” (love those words <3) we all love and are so loyal to you!!

Aragorn put his sword down, and suddenly weariness replaced panic and he felt very foolish. As if he could hope to take on Sauron! "I know," he sighed. "It is just a recurring theme in my nightmares, nothing more. As to the other, I spoke rashly. I know I cannot take on Sauron, not now and not alone, much as my anger would drive me to try." He laid the coat back across the chair and then stood for a moment, chewing his lip before he finally spoke again. "So you truly think he has not discovered who I am?"
Yessss THANK YOU for recovering your reason
And seeing now how absurd the moment was

"He cannot possibly have, else you would not be standing before me, even in so bedraggled a condition that you seem barely able to stand. Aragorn, you look like the brush of a butterfly’s wing would knock you down."
THANK YOU MY DEAR GANDALF

Aragorn pulled a face. "I am fine." He resumed pacing in front of the fireplace, albeit more slowly than before.
YEAH SURE

"Again, you try to fool a wizard at your peril. And I do wish you would sit down and stop pacing," Gandalf said sharply. He added under his breath, "Is it any wonder you call yourself Strider?"
Yessss this sharpness, like when it came from Halbarad, is making me happy. “At your peril” THATS THE TRUTH
he’s like, this is your danger you’re putting yourself into by trying to fool me??? Also, trying to fold a wizard? Really?

"I don’t call myself that. Usually." Aragorn stopped his prowling but refused to sit down. "The question is, then, what can I do to stop the wraith returning?"
Mmm usually lol
And yeah, thats mostly others’ nickname. But this is rather a funny accurate application

Also I just realized, if Aragorn manages to hide exactly what happened and how close to death he was until Halbarad wakes up…well, wait till Halbarad wakes up

"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Anger rose again. "How can you say–"
Aragorn my friend you have a very short temper tonight <3

"You do not stop him. No, not by yourself nor with your Rangers, nor even with Glorfindel, although he has bought us time with his strength. No, you have a large role to play on the grand stage of Middle-earth’s doom, you and your Rangers, but before this is over and Sauron is defeated, you will have help from an entire array of folk, both expected and unexpected."
Yessssss truth truth

Aragorn frowned. "What ‘folk’?"
HEHE
shire-folk :)
Among others

"All in time, my dear friend, all in time," Gandalf replied cryptically. "But we must first deal with the matter at hand, for you can only play your part if you are healthy and strong. This broken-down shell of a man standing before me is not capable of dispatching a mosquito, let alone a Nazgûl. You must heal, and then we will talk of strategy, and of the plans I have for you."
Thank youuuuu broken-down shell of a man, although I’m sure Aragorn does not appreciate that description, I like Gandalf using strong descriptions to show how greatly Aragorn is failing at hiding his physical state
Also yay the plans I have for you <3 (sounding rather like Jesus there :))

"What plans?" Aragorn asked warily. He was far too tired for the wizard’s riddles.
lol

"Future plans, nothing imminent," Gandalf waved him off. "I am still searching and watching and traveling, trying to find answers that are slow in coming, but coming nonetheless. But they needn’t concern you yet.
Heheee hes like oh don’t worry atm

In the coming months, perhaps. But for now... you need the care of your father. You have not told him of the Nazgûl, have you?"
YES THANK YOU
I AM SAYING THAT A LOT
BUT I SAY IT SINCERELY
HE NEEDS THE CARE OF HIS FATHER <333 I need him to have the care of his father

Aragorn glanced away. He rubbed his temples, which were pounding with an intensity that threatened to rob him of his sight. "Not yet. He has had his hands full with Halbarad. My own troubles can wait until morning. The dark of night is not the time I would have preferred to speak of it. To anyone," he added pointedly.
Mmmm
But the dark of night is exactly when it’s strongest and you need the most support

"Then you should learn to keep your mouth shut while you sleep. I’m surprised your howls were not heard in the Shire."
LOL okay this all makes sense now. Aragorn went to bed and had nightmares and screamed himself awake (<:() and Gandalf heard
Also “your howls”, like as much as his says this almost teasingly (which I like) there’s also. Aragorn does not howl, ever, if he can help it. That makes it sound like. So intense and loud. And PAINED

Aragorn felt his cheeks burn but he could not really say anything in his own defense. He had woken himself up, after all. And over the past week, Halbarad and the men certainly had let him know in no uncertain terms that their sleep had also suffered because of his nightmares.
Loll they’re sympathetic but also they will let him know he’s disrupting their sleep. Poor guy is extremely aware and feels bad

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am sure I was not heard in the Shire," he muttered.
Aww this rather petulant but also embarrassed and pained mutter <3

Gandalf again put his hands on Aragorn’s shoulders, his eyes compassionate. "I should not tease, for I know how distressing this is. You have suffered much but rest assured, Aragorn, this affliction is near its end. Elrond knows how to treat the Black Breath and rid your mind fully of this menace, fear not. Shall I find him now?"
Skajdjfjs yes he can fully rid his mind of this great menace <3

"No. He worked long and hard today; there is no need to disturb him."
"If you are sure?"
Aragorn nodded, wincing a little as the motion sent a wave of pain rocking through his head. "I just need to sleep."
lol sure
Also is he like, severely dehydrated? I feel like he’s been taking random gulps of water here and there but that’s it

"I do not know whether to trust your judgment in this, but seeing as it appears you have gotten yourself this far, I will agree. And you are right in that Elrond worked long and hard on Halbarad and needs rest before dealing with you.  Very well. Get some rest of your own, in the meantime. And have you any athelas?"
A great point and conclusion <3 Aragorn’s judgement may or may not be trustworthy on this but he will not die between now and then and Elrond can better heal him and give him his full love and care if he is rested
“before dealing with you” lol

"I can find some, yes."
"Good, good. Use the athelas... I think perhaps in the rush of fighting off wraiths and hauling wounded friends to Imladris that you have neglected yourself too much."
Mm good idea
YEP
I didn’t think of him using Athelas again but I’m sure that would help him last longer

Aragorn ducked his head but did not argue. Gandalf was right, as always.
<3 indeed

"Feel no shame, my dear boy. ‘tis one of your strengths, that you look to the welfare of others before you take care of your own. It will serve you well as King. But it can also be a great weakness when you neglect yourself to the point where you are near collapse."
Mmm yesss often our greatest strengths undermine us in certain situations

Gandalf patted his arm. "There. I will stop my lecturing and let you rest. Then I will see you in the morning and take you straightaway to your father."
Yayyyyy take him to his father <33

"What, no breakfast?"
Gandalf stared for a moment, then laughed. "You must not be too near death, if you can still make a joke."
LOL
says the guy to whom food tastes like nothing
(Also if I have not already said this, starving but no appetite and having to force down food if they eat at all is a great trope and I’m glad you used it)

"Who was joking?" Aragorn smiled, then opened the door. He leaned his arm on it as Gandalf walked out. "Gandalf, wait."
Gandalf stopped in the hallway and turned.
"Thank you. For listening."
<333 thank you for appreciating him. There is still reason under the hopelessness-induced crabbiness

"All in a day’s work." He glanced toward the darkened window. "Or night’s, as it were. Good night, old friend."
:)) night’s
Old friend <333

"Good night, Gandalf." Aragorn shut the door and leaned back against it. He shut his eyes for a moment as again he kneaded his temples. Maybe before hunting down athelas, he should go down to the kitchen and get another cup of willowbark tea. Then he could stop by Elrond’s study... he always kept a supply of athelas and other medicines there. Aragorn opened his eyes and looked once more at his room, and at the bed.
OOH IS HE NOT GOING TO ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO THE ATHELAS
I would like that muchly. As much as he needs some, him still being as depressed and hurt as possible when Elrond tends him also scratches my whump itch so
And good idea to get some tea, I’m impressed you’re actually planning to do extra things to take care of yourself
Also you’re doing such a good job of prolonging his pain. Thank you >:) I was not expecting it to last this long (besides the hints of the chapter titles)

Somehow now it all looked very inviting. It would be good to come back to it and finally sleep.
HE ACTUALLY WANTS SLEEP AND REST
like, he can actually accept it

Smiling, he opened the door and stepped into the hallway, but stopped short as a knife of pain suddenly stabbed through his skull. He gasped as he grabbed his head with one hand and slapped a hand against the wall to steady himself with the other.
OOOH
that is indeed a knife of pain, to make him gasp and stagger
AND JUST WHEN HE HAD A GENUINE SMILE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WHO KNOWS HOW LONG

He stood that way for a long time, praying for the pain to ease but it did not, and shadows gathered in a filmy haze before his eyes. He took another step but his knee buckled and he slid down the wall, knocking into a potted fern on an iron stand. He tried to grab it but pain from his head and his arm made him clumsy, and he only succeeded in knocking it completely over. It crashed to the floor with the clamor of shattered pottery and clanging metal and he landed on top of it, its wrought iron edge digging excruciatingly into his wounded arm. Aragorn cried out and then felt more than saw a door open and footsteps rapidly approaching.
YESSSS YES YES COLLAPSE COLLAPSE
I WAS HOPING HE WOULD COLLAPSE BEFORE HE RECEIVED CARE
he lasted impressively long
And “excruciatingly” is right, and a good strong word, I CANNOT IMAGINE, an iron edge (I assume with like curls and stuff too?) digging into a wounded and infected arm that was already poker-hot stabbing him earlier with no provocation, like
Anyways I loveeee this it was very good. The waiting for pain to ease but it does not, and then instead of a quick collapse the whole struggle of knee buckling, sliding down the wall, clumsily unable to right the pot and instead falling on it, is so great

"My dear boy!" Gandalf’s alarmed voice in his ear. "My dear boy. Let me help you."
YAYYY AWW
My dear boy <3
“Let me help you” aksjdjdk

Strong arms slipped beneath Aragorn’s and he felt himself being pulled to his feet. "Gandalf..."
"Shh, do not try to speak."
Yess like when the Black Breath first came over him, and his friends kept telling him “don’t try to walk”

Aragorn tried to walk but his legs seemed incapable of supporting him. He sagged dizzily against Gandalf and started to fall again. He felt an arm sweep behind his knees and he knew he was being carried and hated it.
BUT I LOVE IT SO
Gandalf is indeed strong. And I love that we have proof with him having effortlessly carried Faramir. Anyways Gandalf carrying Aragorn!! Makes me happy!!

"I am a fool of a wizard for believing you!
Yesssss fool of a wizard hehe
Even I believed his judgement may possibly have been okay! Until I realized he was going to try to walk around the house

It is as I feared. Worse even; you are burning up with fever. We cannot wait for morning. Elrond!" Gandalf bellowed and then hurried into Aragorn’s room.
Yessss GANDALF BELLOWING makes me happy
Also: thank you Gandalf for sleeping close to his room
Mm yes I suppose he had not felt the fever

He laid Aragorn on his bed and Aragorn grabbed at the coverlet, hoping against hope that he might ride out the crazy spinning of a world gone wildly out of control.
Skajdjfdj I love how even though he senses the things going on, when we turn to his own mind hes just worried about THIS CRAZY SPINNING and we go oh whoa oh dear he is clutching at his coverlet to make wild world stop, he is not well indeed

He felt a hand on his forehead. "Yes, you are indeed ill beyond the remnants of Black Breath, young man," Gandalf said testily. "And no doubt have been all evening and yet all you could tell me is ‘fine’. Stubbornness, your name is Estel Elrondion!"
OH MY GOSH
SO
SO
SO
TRUE
THE MOST STUBBORNEST PERSON HE IS

His footsteps moved away and again Aragorn heard a bellow. "Elrond!"
Aragorn tried to sit up.
"No, no. Lay down. Be still."
Indeed <33

But he had to get up. Had to keep moving. "No... have to move... the shadow..."
skajdjdjdjdj this again
Delirium

"Shhh. Easy, my child." Against the footsteps faded and again a bellowing shout into the hall. "Elrond, cease your slumber and come immediately!"
Oh my gosh this is making me GRIN
All of it
And Gandalf bellowing three times
And PARTICULARLY “Elrond, cease your slumber and come immediately!” YES I LOVE

Aragorn looked toward the doorway, but the room seemed dim, full of shadow and flame. He groaned. It was getting hard to breathe. He dropped his head back to his pillow with a low cry. Fire-wreathed darkness enveloped him, and then it felt as though he fell into black waters. They closed over his head and he knew no more.
SKAJDJFJD
the groan
GETTING HARD TO BREATHE
the low cry ahhhhhhh filled with weak pain
(As in, not the pain but him that is weak)
FIRE-WREATHED DARKNESS only Sauron and his servants could achieve that
ASKDJDJD THE DROWNING DARK WATERS ARE BACKKKKK
and before he was struggling to keep above the surface, even on death’s door, but now they have finally closed above his head…what does that say???

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 19 on 12/27/2025
It was as Aragorn feared. Rest utterly eluded him.
<:(

He could not bring himself to go upstairs to his room. He only went inside as far as the kitchens, eating a meal standing by the door, as though he were some frightened stray dog ready to bolt at the slightest crosswise look.
Skajsjdj this <:( the fact that he himself is describing himself as acting like a frightened stray dog ready to bolt…he’s hurting emotionally so much
Also like. Not even sitting down to eat. When hes about to fall over

He barely tasted the food and a moment after swallowing the last bite could not remember what it was he ate. And he grimaced but swallowed a cup of willowbark tea, hating the taste but knowing it would help both his headache and his growing fever. As he finished, he had to politely shake off an offer of a bath, and then refuse another of a chair, and a third of a change of clothing. By the time he disentangled himself from the last cloying offer of assistance from the well-meaning staff, he felt ready to explode.
<:( BUDDY TAKE A BATH
CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES
PLEASE
you can’t avoid comfort forever, you know
The offers feeling “cloying”, he just can’t right now <:(

He hurried outside where he prowled through the gardens around the Last Homely House, trying to find solace in the flowers and trees that flourished there even this late in the autumn. He sat down on a bench, but restlessly moved on after just a few minutes. He sat on a rock beside a small stream, but its incessant gurgling only jangled his already taut nerves. His mind seemed to buzz with the intensity of his worries. Thought circled thought and fear swirled around fear and peace was something that he may have known in the distant past but was far out of reach this day.
Skkajdj I love the use of “this day”, especially when used by Aragorn, always. Because like, yknow, the movie speech. And also it just sounds like him <3

He paced and shoved his hands through his hair and tore off leaves from the bushes and shredded them in his nervous fingers. He scowled at the heat of the sun and shivered at the shade and as the minutes ticked into hours and the morning waxed and then waned into afternoon with no news, his anxiety over Halbarad grew to unbearable proportions. Finally, when the sun’s shadow told him it was well past mid-afternoon, he could endure it no longer. He turned on his heel and headed for the House of Healing.
AKSJDJD HIS EXTREME ANXIETY
SHREDDING RANDOM LEAVES
it’s so real, you can FEEL it
Yayyyy go go

He entered the quiet sanctuary nearly on tiptoe, afraid of what he might find. A familiar Elf carrying a bowl of water turned toward him as he hovered uncertainly in the doorway. "Estel! I wondered how long it would be before you came to haunt the doorstep. You lasted longer than I would have thought. I trust you found some rest,"
Uhhhh

Erestor said with a smile, and Aragorn said nothing to disabuse him of the notion. Erestor lowered the bowl to a counter and embraced Aragorn. "How very good it is to see my favorite pupil again!" He released him and picked the bowl back up and dumped the water down a drain. He worked the pump handle to refill it. "You will have to forgive my tardiness in coming to greet you. I have been a bit preoccupied."
AWW picturing him following Erestor around when he was young to learn everything he could about healing <33

Aragorn bowed respectfully. "Please, do not apologize. I hope you are well?"
"As ever. But I would assume inquiring after my health is not the reason you are here."
Thanks <3

"No," Aragorn admitted, "although I am glad to see you. But please, can you tell me... what of Halbarad? It seems to be taking so very long."
"Again, please accept my apologies, for I should have come to you sooner with news or at the very least sent someone to you. We become so involved in the matter at hand, we sometimes forget that loved ones are waiting and worrying. So," he said, clasping his hands and falling into the old role of teacher. "You know, of course, that it appeared the arrow was very close to Halbarad’s spine."
Skajd that’s so cute. Hes like I know he’s your friend but also. Teaching opportunity

"I cannot say," Erestor said, not without sympathy. He took a moment to thank a young Elf who came for the bowl of fresh water,
Aw see I love how they’re all so good and make sure to be kind to and appreciate everyone <3

then continued, "But Lord Elrond is not concerned. He is merely being very, very cautious, moving slowly and carefully so as to do no further damage and to make sure he gets every last bit of arrowhead, lest infection set in later, or the shards work their way into spine or lung. But the arrow was not poisoned, thank the Valar, and Halbarad is hardy; his Númenórean blood is serving him well, as yours so often has you.
Yay <333

His heart is maintaining its sure and steady rhythm and his breathing is strong despite the medicine that keeps him asleep." He paused and looked thoughtful. Aragorn stifled a groan; Erestor the Endless Elocutionist, as he used to silently grumble under his breath as a bored child, was about to regale him with far too many facts about surgical procedures and the risks thereof.
LOLLLLLL

The Elf could lecture for hours on end when such a mood fell on him, and sure enough, Erestor leaned a hip against the counter, pressed a finger thoughtfully against his chin, and continued on as though he had all the time in the world. "Sometimes the medicine will put a patient too far into sleep, as you may know, if one does not get the dosage just right. Weight, muscle, all these things must be taken into account. Halbarad has not an ounce of fat on him, and that makes it easier, for it is the heavy men, the ones too fond of sitting before a tankard of ale and a plate piled high, that give Elrond the most trouble. Those patients tend to move so deeply and quickly into the realm of slumber that they actually quit breathing, and then of course all sorts of terrible complications ensue from the lack of air. The brain starts to die, you see. And if air is not restored, if breath does not return, the damage can be so severe that there is no recovering. I knew of one unfortunate man who–"
Aragorn wondered if his eyes looked as wild as he felt. He lifted his hand, ready to take Erestor by the collar and shake him and only just managed to thrust his hand through his own hair instead.
OKAY I LOVE THIS hes like YOU ARE NOT HELPING MY WORRIES LISTING THE THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG even if they’re not applicable to Halbarad. “Wild”, when Aragorn’s eyes are wild there’s some strong emotion there
Thrusting his hand through his hair, trying to control himself, not managing to hide really any of his feelings

Erestor saw the movement and actually blushed.
LOL

"Ah, I apologize again. The urge to teach, you know," he smiled, but as Aragorn’s frown deepened, he hurried on, "Lord Elrond will be some hours yet before he can come to you himself, perhaps not even until late evening, for even after he finally removes the arrow, he will stay with Halbarad until he awakens, to keep him still and to ensure that he still has use of his arms and legs."
Aragorn felt the blood drain from his face. "What do you mean, he still has use? Did the arrow indeed hit his spine? Is there still great risk? Has he lost the feeling in his legs?"
THE WAY HE INSTANTLY PANICS <3

"Steady!" Erestor cried and put a bracing hand on Aragorn’s arm. "I said no such thing. I said ‘to ensure that he still has use’, as in, ‘retaining his normal abilities’." He raised an austere eyebrow and it was Aragorn’s turn to blush. He looked down at the floor and resisted the urge to hunch his shoulders and squirm like the school boy he had been those many years ago.
Akskfkdkdk so cute <333

"I am sorry. I just thought... I was afraid that..."
"Calm yourself, my child. All will be well." Erestor tugged him toward the door. "Come. Lord Elrond can do without me for a few moments, and you need to wait where it is quiet and you can find rest and distraction, for you are quite beside yourself. Fortunately, I know just the place."
“My child” <333 and this time, since Erestor is not his father, calling him “my child” instead of just “child” is so sweet and perfect

Aragorn let Erestor lead him away from the House of Healing. "Will you come and tell me any news?"
"Of course. But I must be able to find you and I do not fancy having to trek over all Imladris to do so. So I will take you to a spot where a certain small child of Men used to play and fight imaginary armies and, as he grew older, while away the hours with his nose stuck in a book."
AKSJDJ AWWWWWW
adorable

And indeed, he led him to one of Aragorn’s favorite childhood haunts: a giant willow tree growing near the Bruinen. Under the embrace of its vast weeping branches, Aragorn had fought armies of orcs from a hidden fortress and battled Smaug alongside an imaginary Bilbo and company of dwarves. He had watched baby birds hatch in their nests in its branches, and once he found a small lizard that let him feed it by hand. And in the secret bower beneath its fronds, he found escape from the sometimes merciless aggravations of twin brothers who never seemed to tire of tormenting and teasing their younger brother when they were not out on patrol. After a particularly trying day that had left him in tears, Elrond had come to his rescue, declaring the willow as Estel’s own, and forbidding Elrohir and Elladan entrance into Estel’s leafy domain upon pain of, if not death, then severe application of kitchen duties.
THIS IS
THE
SWEETEST THING
EVER
detailing the things small Aragorn did there <33 OKAY WAIT was Aragorn still living here when Bilbo passed through??? I never thought of that but probably??? I love that so much baby him is like I wanna be like Bilbo and the dwarves and fight Smaug! That is so accurate to a child’s play. Seeing others around them they think are cool and going “I’m gonna play that I’m them, or on adventures with them” by name
And then, they arent a perfect family. Also that the twins who are probably as old as a lot of the other elves around here? Perhaps? Going “ah he is our brother” while everyone else, being so much older than him, goes “ah he is our child” <3 it’s cute, even if it does mean they torment him
ALSO
ELROND
BEST DAD EVER AWARD LIVING UP TO HIS REPUTATION OF KINDNESS AND WISDOM <333
“Declaring the willow as Estel’s own” skajdjfjjs <3333 <:))) coming to his rescue, and giving him a space for his own, his favorite space, and not only like, saying “you can take refuge there”, but “this is yours now” <:(( and a tree, a weeping willow, no less. And like. Elves and their trees. So it means a lot to give him a tree of his own. “Estel’s leafy domain” <33
Severe application of kitchen duties LOL <3
How I love this paragraph

Lost in memory, Aragorn stepped into the verdant space, thick moss springy beneath his feet. Someone had added a cushioned chaise and a table, whereas Aragorn had only ever had a stump for a seat and a rock for a table. Not that he had needed more. As a boy, he had never been overly interested in reclining sedately when there were dragons to slay.
Loll naturally

He ran his hand over the table. "I remember this place well, although this is new."
"I added a few creature comforts after you left. A rock might have done for a small child but my bones prefer a little cushioning. I come here often," he added.
<33 hes like it’s Estel’s placeeee and he picked a good one

Aragorn took a deep breath. The air was cool, but comfortable, redolent with the sweet aroma that was found only in Rivendell. He never could decide what created the fragrance. It smelled of heather and honeysuckle, athelas and fresh rain... and something exotically spicy that he could never place. He always thought of it as the scent of all that was good on Arda. It was the scent of home.
AKSJDJD that sounds like the most wonderful scent ESPECIALLY if it literally is your home <3
Oooh athelas smell

"It is a good place to wait. Thank you."
"Do not think I did not notice how you failed to go into the house save for a meal," Erestor said quietly. "Perhaps the Ranger, like the child he once was, still seems most comfortable out of doors?"
Thank youuuu Erestor
Mm the blood of the Rangers runs deep in his veins

Aragorn shrugged ruefully but said nothing. He was not sure himself why he felt unable to go inside his old home. Perhaps the comforts therein were too sumptuous, too luxurious to indulge in when Halbarad lay suffering and perhaps dying.
Or perhaps he did not want to feel caged.
Skajdjfjdj ooh both make much sense. Perhaps both?

Erestor gave him a small, sad smile. "It is hard, I know. Even the most blind Elf can see that you are troubled and careworn and exhausted. Speak and unburden yourself if you wish, but if not, find what solace you can here." He smiled a bit wistfully, looking up into the willow fronds. "‘...they came at length to Nan-tathren, the Land of Willows, and there they rested a while, and were healed of their hurts and weariness...’"(1)
<:((( even the most blind elf can see that
Oooh a beautiful quote

"‘But their sorrow could not be healed,’" Aragorn murmured, finishing the quote about the remnant of Gondolin. He shrugged. "Forgive me. My mood is dark this day."
SKAJDJ TEARS <:( also mood, the ending with the dark part of the quote because that’s how I’m feeling but then apologizing for being dark
Again “this day” <3

Erestor patted his shoulder in a paternal gesture. "I will send someone with food and drink. You look as though you need it." He lifted an eyebrow and then added delicately, "And a bowl of water, towel and comb, I should think."
lol thank you <3
Delicately hehe

"Thank you, Erestor. Again, I am sorry I am such poor company."
"There is nothing to forgive, my child. Rest, and recoup your strength. I would like to see the light of Elendil shine once more in your eyes."
<:( SKAJDJ the light is not there. All is darkness.

So even Erestor sees that there is no light within me. Little wonder, really. It seemed for weeks now that his spirit was as a lamp that was fast running out of oil, and now, after Windydale and the hard ride, there seemed only the most feeble flicker to ward off the encroaching darkness. But that was not something of which he could comfortably speak to his old teacher. He looked toward the Last Homely House, barely visible through a gap between branches. "Tell me, Erestor," he said, searching for some other subject, something to divert his mind from dark paths if only for a little while longer, "did Bilfen Broadbow arrive?"
Skajjdjfjaksjfkskaksj all Aragorn’s feelings on this, and a reminder that the darkness is really receded only enough for him to be walking and talking. And that’s. Pretty much it.
Bilfen!
IF ONLY FOR A LITTLE LONGER
a last distraction, only putting off the inevitable dark paths of his mind. That is kind of the worst kind of suffering. No light. No hope. Only dark, weary, pained thoughts that will not go elsewhere

"Oh yes. He and his dour companion both. Kenevir, that was his name. Master Bilfen has been through much sadness, has he not? I think of Rivendell destroyed as Bracken’s Ferry was and my fëa grows cold within me. But he seems to possess remarkable resiliency, as all Men seem to. It is something I greatly envy about the Race of Men," Erestor said almost wistfully.
Mmm whoa
An elf envying the resiliency of men
I love that. It makes me feel…more capable of being resilient, I guess.

Aragorn was taken a bit aback at the thought of an Elf as wise and seemingly content with his life as Erestor feeling any dissatisfaction with his lot. He said nothing, though, and Erestor continued, "Right now he is in the eastern reaches of Rivendell, hunting mushrooms or some such thing. He said he would be back in two days, maybe three, so he is not here to greet you. But he has been busy in the kitchens, watching the cooks and learning new recipes to prepare in, as he puts it, ‘the Hunter’s Horn Reforged’. It seems he was quite taken with the murals of Elendil and Isildur battling Sauron and said he wanted to honor the Shards of Narsil, and Isildur for his bravery, and for producing such a fine descendent in, as he put it, ‘that crazy Ranger, Strider.’ While I was a bit surprised he knew your true identity, though I suppose many in the North do know who you are, I must say, it touched me deeply for him to do such a thing for your house, and for you."
AKSJDJFK AWW <3 touches me as well
“That crazy Ranger, Strider” loll <333

Aragorn felt his cheeks color at the secondhand news of such praise. "Bilfen has a good heart."
Aww he does

"Just so, just so." Erestor looked at the sun and clasped his hands. "Well, I must be returning to the House of Healing. You are sure you will be well here?"
"Yes, it will do perfectly. Rivendell’s own Nan-tathren," he smiled. He paused, then put a hand on Erestor’s shoulder, "Thank you, Erestor. It has been good to speak with you."
<333 yess

"Then I take it Erestor the Endless Elocutionist did not bore you over much?"
SKAJDJFJ

Aragorn felt his face flame. "How did you know–"
Erestor merely smiled without answering, then bowed and left.
SKAJDJFJKSDKDJ
JUST SMILES AND BOWS
I love him
Also this is so cute because like. I love how self-aware he is, actually self-aware and others-aware, and he does not take offense at the label or get embarrassed and try to not do any lecturing, he just. Is humored and maintains awareness

Aragorn rubbed his face, trying to wipe away his embarrassment. How does Erestor know everything that happens in this realm, from whether or not I entered the house to knowing the thoughts that I try to keep hidden?
Great question <3 he sees much

Hidden thoughts ... he wondered if the extent of the emptiness within him escaped Erestor’s notice. Probably not.
Skadjjf “the extent of the emptiness” suggests how infinite it is

In the silence that fell with the Elf’s departure, Aragorn felt the shadow swell again.
Aksjdkdkskssss alone IMMEDIATELY the shadow swells. Even in Imladris.

He shivered, then wrapped his arms around his chest. He looked up at the leafy canopy and the limbs where he had sprawled as an ungainly teenager, his nose indeed buried in a book most of the time. He had been so young, and life so full of promise.
<:((( NOO THE ACHE OF A LOST HOPE AND BRIGHTNESS IN LIFE
HE FEARS WILL NEVER RETURN

He touched the furrowed bark of the tree, and for a dizzying moment, Rivendell vanished and he was bracing himself against the rough bole of another tree, one shrouded in golden splendor in a field to the west, the body of a young Dúnadan at his feet, his eyes accusing him as he lay broken and dead among the corpses of dozens of orcs. Aragorn groaned and shut his eyes, and when he opened them again the grisly scene had faded. Strength left his legs and he dropped to his knees. He wiped the back of his hand across his brow and took several deep breaths, trying to slow the heavy pounding of his heart.
No no no nooooo GROANED that is a noise of deepest distress. And not the “accusing” eyes, which are only accusing to his perception. DROPPING TO HIS KNEES and “the HEAVY pounding of his heart” feels like almost a suggestion that it is deliberately tormenting him <:(

Where had that vision come from? He shook his head, trying to clear it but the movement merely made it feel as though his brain were rocking from one side of his skull to the other. He held himself perfectly still and the pounding finally eased. Elrond was right... he was indeed ill. Something beyond fatigue was causing this fever. Maybe he had picked up a chill riding through the cool night air. Or maybe his arm was so infected it was poisoning him. Not that it really mattered. He kneaded his temples, wondering at his lack of concern over either possibility.
Mmmm rocking that’s not fun
NOT THAT IT REALLY MATTERED
HMM
the seeming juxtaposition of numbness and apathy with still a very loud grief and sorrow and pain is so. Real.
Anyways his uncaring. Hurts.

He found that the truth was that he simply did not care.
<:((

Finally, out of nothing more than a vague sense of duty as a healer, he roused himself to lift his left arm.
<:( the vague duty
Bless that sense of duty but…experiencing it yourself is kinda annoying when you kinda just want to…not care in peace?

There was a sharp sting as the muscle flexed. He peeled back his shirt. The bandage was stained with dried blood but there was evidence of fresh bleeding and some yellowish pus. He laid his hand over it and felt heat even through the layers of bandage. He sighed and pulled his shirt back up. So it was infected, probably much worse than before. "You said you would keep an eye on it, Halbarad," he whispered, and his throat ached.
<:((( SAKDJFJJFKS TEARSSSS
this grief that his friend did not take care of him as he promised because he almost died himselfffffff
Unintentional broken promise that was maybe unavoidable but hurts so much. Because of what it means happened to Halbarad. And there’s sometimes (not sure if it’s in this case) an anger that comes with it as well, misplaced but there, against the person (Halbarad) for getting hurt. Or just, a general anger, that it happened. Because the pain is so strong that some of it is funneled into anger, to try and feel less pain. Anyways I was not expecting this whisper and it Got To Me

He shook himself. Maudlin thoughts never accomplished anything. He lowered himself completely to the ground and drew his knees up to his chin. Wrapping his arms around them, he watched the river. With nothing left to distract him, he could sense the shadow hovering at the edges of his mind, there and gone in glimpses, like seeing a snake sliding through tall grass. Would he ever be rid of its haunting presence? Freedom from its constant bedevilment seemed as beyond reach as the throne of Gondor. As impossible as gaining Arwen’s hand in marriage. And hope.... He picked up a rock and threw it forcefully into the water.
SKAJFJDJSJ THE DEPRESSION IS SO
SO
SO
HEAVY
wrapping his arms around his knees like a child <3 <:(
Freedom from its constant bedevilment
This is why you’re here, Aragorn. Okay not why exactly but why you needed to come here eventually. Elrond can help with this.
The feeling like the darkness will never ever truly leave though, is also very real and heartbreaking. Cannot imagine that it could really leave while experiencing it.

Hope was nothing more than a word bereft of any promise.
SKAJDJFJSKSKD
THIS
SENTENCE
BROKE ME

Interruption to say: when you used the word redolent earlier I looked it up and quite liked it and wrote it down to remember. Well it is now the next day and I am reading the letter by Tolkien in the intro to the Silmarillion, which I got for Christmas, and he used the word redolent also and so that made me happy XD it is officially a Tolkienesque word, which like, when you used it it already felt like a word he would use so. Anyways it also made me happy to get another reminder of the word and example of using it

Also I just realized from a Sindarin book my little siblings got from the library that I’ve been pronouncing Eledh and those names wrong lol

He stared, unblinking, unmoving, and the river flowed ever onward. Its swirling eddies seemed to beckon to him, to call to him to dive into its embrace. How easy it would be! He could just walk slowly in... the water first coming to his ankles... then swirling around his knees... then his hips and then his chest and then lifting him as the current carried him away from this hopeless darkness... down to the sea and to the unknown lands beyond where he would find rest at last...
OH
OH
<:((( oh how dark a place he is in. I think Aragorn is not easily driven to suicidal thoughts, this is very extreme. Aksjdj I want him to have more hugs

No! I cannot. I will not.
<33

The depth of his despair shook him. But how could he not despair? The road before him was so clouded that he could not see beyond today. Nay, not even beyond the next hour. He could not tell if a cliff awaited his next step, or a snare to entrap him, or if the way would suddenly open to a broad and sunny lane. He grimaced. Small chance of that.
Mmmm see he is shaken and surprised by his mind turning to this

He threw another rock in the river. Tried to deafen his ears to its seductive call, to fight back that cursed shadow with strength that was waning moment by moment.
Skajdjdjd strength waning each moment

You are Estel. Hope. You must not give in.
The words rang false, like a chord struck on a harp that had never been tuned.
SKAJDJFJDKSK
that is such a beautiful devastating sentence. Also just “the word rang false” LIKE he hears no truth whatsoever in the claim that he is hope

He took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Sent another rock to pierce the treacherous waters. Why do they so tempt me? Long have I known my destiny, and long have I known the road would be long and difficult, but ever have I felt the joy of it.
Skajsjfjdj yes see he knows his destiny AND THE JOY OF IT, as much as it is ever a burden. He has still carried the joy that will be part of the difficult road and responsibility

Middle-earth looked to him for their hope. He saw it every day in the eyes of Halbarad, of Denlad and Eledh and all his men, and in the faces of the villagers and farmers and traders and all those scattered remnants of Númenor that he led. He had seen it in Gondor, where he had served under their Steward as Captain Thorongil and listened as men wondered with wistful voices how it might be if a king ever did reclaim the throne. He had seen it in Rohan, when a young soldier had sighed and told him that if Gondor only had a king, Rohan would be immeasurably safer from Sauron. And in the eyes of the men of Gondor and the man of Rohan, he saw the same expression: hope daring to war with disbelief, faith in what was likely a myth nonetheless lighting their eyes, if only for a moment.
Skajdjfksksj
Oh how I love the hope the expected return of the king gives them

No, he could no more take that hope from them than he could snatch food from the mouth of a starving child.
Skajd and we know he would never do that <:(

So why this doubt? This despair? This... this weakness.
ITS
CALLED
THE BLACK BREATH
DO NOT TRY TO PRETEND IT HAS PASSED

Did he not have the pure blood of Númenor flowing in his veins? How often had he been told by Elrond that he was the best of all that had gone before. Why then did he now falter, suddenly seeking escape when none other of his ancestors had suffered such failings. Would he be the lesser son of greater ancestors? Why could he not follow the example of his own mother, who kept no hope of her own, but gave of it freely through her son? The memory of her self-sacrifice flayed him, derided him for being so impotent that he seemed unable to find his way out of this dark tunnel in which he found himself. Gilraen never would find herself in such straits, nor would Arathorn had he lived. They had found their hope, and given it away without fear or hesitation. They had lived up to the legacy of Elendil their ancestor, who had given all in the battle against Sauron. Now so must he.
So must he.
AKSJDJDKSKLSDK
flayed him, derided him for being so impotent…NO
you are nothing if not potent
Again. Do not forget the Black Breath.
The repeated “so must he” <:(

He squeezed his eyes shut. "But how?" he whispered. "How do I find the hope that I once had, that I might give it to others?"
Skajdjfjsjsjdj <:(((

Willow fronds swayed in the breeze but gave no answer. There was no answer in the waters, nor in the sky nor the mountains nor the sea. In all of Arda, there was none who could give him what he needed most, and he feared he no longer had the strength to find it for himself. It was as though the pure blood of Númenor had faltered in him, somehow. Diluted perhaps by time itself into something unrecognizable and something without strength or purity. He shuddered. Has it come to be that the last descendent of forgotten kings is the weakest? My own lack, my own inabilities... have they doomed the Men of the West to extinction, and Middle-earth to ruin?
NOPE
okay I really love whatever it is (I forgot) that says the image of Elendil is most closely reflected, out of all his descendants, in Aragorn. Elendil is so so cool and so is Aragorn and I LOVE them being compared <3

He longed for someone to tell him no, that it was not so, that his blood had not failed, but he knew not who could so reassure him. He dropped his head to his knees and choked back silent tears of despair.
SKAJDJJFJSKD silent tears
Choked back
Perhaps this seems my answer to everything but…I think Elrond can reassure you

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 18 on 12/26/2025
Two hours had passed to the steady rhythm of hooves and musical bells. Aragorn tightened his hands on the reins. No, it had been more like three hours. Time had slurred into a meaningless passage of night-shadowed steps down an endless road of misery. Aragorn’s back ached with a ferocity he had never before experienced as Halbarad’s weight leaned against him. And the rope! Halbarad’s every move, no matter how small, made it saw into Aragorn’s chest with breath-stealing agony. Not for the first time he cursed his stupidity in failing to see that the rope had not cut across the bruise on his chest when Glorfindel tied it in place. But there was nothing he could do about it now but grit his teeth and endure.
Oh well there’s my answer XD YES THE AGONY “and the rope!” “With a ferocity he had never before experienced” yessss

But at least Halbarad still lived. He lived, and that was no small comfort.
Yessssss <33 a great comfort indeed

Halbarad shifted behind him, awake again, or at least partially. Aragorn shifted his death grip on the reins to place his left hand over Halbarad’s where it gripped his belt. Halbarad had not let go of him since they left, not even when he drifted into unconsciousness. It was as if some primal instinct kept his hand locked in place. Aragorn glanced over his shoulder.
Yessss I love <3 hold on to Aragorn

Halbarad stilled, and, if the deep breathing Aragorn felt against his back was any indication, almost seemed to be peacefully sleeping, his cheek pressed against Aragorn’s shoulder. Aragorn knew better than to believe it was mere sleep, but the pulse in his wrist was strong and at least Halbarad seemed not to be in any sort of agony.
Good <333

And from the way he moved his hands and occasionally shifted his legs, Aragorn knew the arrow must not have slipped any closer to his spine. The bindings were working, and Asfaloth’s gait was as smooth as Glorfindel promised: despite his steady gallop, Aragorn could almost imagine that they were barely moving, so little did Asfaloth jar them. The horse somehow was able to evade rough patches and avoid holes and all the while keep up a mile-eating gait that was neither too fast nor too slow. Asfaloth seemed to possess such miraculous wizardry that Aragorn found himself sending endless thoughts of thanks to Ilúvatar, Glorfindel, Elbereth and every other person, Maia, Vala and Elven horse trainer he could think of who might have had a hand in creating this wonderful creature.
YESSSSS THANK YOU ASFALOTH AND ALL WHO HELPED CREATE HIM <33

After this, it would be hard to return the horse to Glorfindel, he thought wryly.
lol fairrr

With slow careful movements, he reached up and tried to ease the rope to a new position. Halbarad sighed and murmured, and he immediately stopped. What, really, did it matter if he was uncomfortable? If a little discomfort on his part ensured Halbarad’s survival, Aragorn would endure far worse.
“A little discomfort” LOL what an understatement
But
Fair about being willing to endure far worse for Halbarad’s survival

Valar, help him live!
Pleaseeeee <333

Time crept forward. Aragorn stared dully at the dark hills around them, trying to ignore the myriad aches in his body, in his legs and back and arms. The wind in his face carried the scent of heather and moss and fallen leaves and he wondered how much farther they had to go. He had hunted these lands, once or twice as a youth tagging along with Elladan and Elrohir. And he had dwelt here for a time, after learning his true name; long, joyless days trying to bury the pain of losing what had felt all chance at marrying Arwen.
AKSJDJD NO IT WAS NOT <:(
That’s so sadddddd
Learned his true name, the fact that it resulted in such a great loneliness and struggle is so sad

He had roamed lost through these rugged hills and thickets for months, seeking for peace to come and settle the storm in his soul. But peace ever eluded him, and at last he turned westward, to join the people of his blood and take his rightful place among them. In all the years since, he had managed to avoid like plague this cheerless land and the dark memories it held.
<:((((
And now you’re here

And now here he was again, lost not in a fog of heartache but lost all the same.
<3 <:(

He tried to see a landmark that might clue him in as to their whereabouts, but the darkness and his fatigue conspired to leave him utterly lost. It was not a feeling to which he was accustomed, but he found he was too exhausted to be alarmed. He shifted slightly, trying to ease a cramp in his lower back, but that set off the pain in his chest, and in the last hour or so he had noticed the throbbing around the wound in his left arm had deepened. He reached up and gently massaged the area around it, to no noticeable relief.
Aksjdj feeling so unfamiliarly lost
And to tired to freak out
And all his painsssss acting up

More unmeasured time passed and his arm continued to throb with each heartbeat. He tucked it against his body and supported it as best as he could with his right, thankful that Asfaloth seemed not to really need him to keep an active hand on the reins. He really should have somehow contrived to grab some medicines from his pack before they left, but it had been impossible. He felt shivery, as if bugs were crawling all over his skin. Fever setting in, he supposed.
Yesssss
I have a very small fever right now, I fully support Aragorn suffering even more

He shut his eyes. How he longed for the moment when he could succumb to sleep, to rest without fear of nightmares and the dark shadows that even now pressed against the edges of his mind. Oh to lose himself in sleep’s warm oblivion, to dream sweet dreams of Arwen! How long had it been since he had enjoyed pure rest? Too long... far too long...
aksjdjdjdjdjd WITHOUT FEAR OF NIGHTMARES <:((( hes exhausteddddddd and needs warm oblivion

He felt himself sag and jerked his head back up, heart pounding at the near calamity. He must not fall asleep! He dared not risk tumbling from the saddle and pulling Halbarad with him.
EEP
good point

To fall at such speed would be the death of them both. And although Glorfindel had tried to assure him that Asfaloth would not let them fall, Aragorn could not take the chance that even so great a horse as Asfaloth might not be quick enough to counter Aragorn’s own clumsiness. He rubbed his face with his hand and shook his head to clear away the fog. He felt Halbarad’s wrist. A pulse, steady but growing more faint. His own heart lurched. Time was chipping away at Halbarad’s strength.
Skajdjfjdj nooooooooo

"Hang on, Halbarad," Aragorn rasped, the wind catching at his words and whipping them away into the night. "Please, you must hang on."
<:(((( RASPED
BEGGING

He looked at the sky, at the stars. Looked for Eärendil but could not find him. He frowned. Gil-Estel, the star of his ancestor, should be there, guiding him with the light of the Silmaril and giving him hope. But it was not. He looked everywhere but did not see it and suddenly tears of despair and pain blurred even the thin light of the stars he could see. He dropped his head. "Elbereth, help me," he whispered. His thoughts strayed to his beloved. "Arwen, how I need you right now."
AKSJDJDJDJDJD <3333
Thinking of Arwen
Needing her comfort
ALSO immediate tears when he can’t find his ancestor <3

He raised his eyes again, but it was hopeless. This torment would never end. He would go riding for eternity, never reaching Rivendell, forever chased by shadows of evil, lost in the half light before dawn...
He blinked. The half light before dawn. He stared at the horizon, trying to see past the silhouettes of the trees...
HA
YES
DAWNNNN

The silhouettes of the trees! Of course he could not find Eärendil! He had finished his nightly voyage, hours ago, and now it was it was dawn.
okay wait does Earendil not rise in the morning just before dawn?

"Halbarad!" he cried. "It is dawn! We must surely be close!"
Halbarad was silent but his arm tightened ever so slightly against Aragorn’s waist. He had heard.
AWWWW
that silent slight slight tightening was everything <3

New life surged in Aragorn, driving away the despair like so much mist before a strong wind. Even the pain suddenly seemed tolerable. He paid close attention to the trail, trying to determine where they actually were in relationship to Rivendell. As they passed a white rock, and then after a ways another, joy rose in his heart. The trail markers! He now knew exactly where they were, and they were close. Very close. The secret valley of Imladris lay just ahead, and the first sentry should spot them any moment–
AWWW

"Halt! Who approaches the realm of Imladris?" called a grim voice.
YAY <3

Asfaloth stopped at a gentle pull on the reins. He shook his head and pranced as though he had not just raced nearly a hundred miles through the night.
This horse <333 how I love him

Aragorn longed to lay his head alongside the horse’s proud neck, in exhausted thanks, but he could not pull Halbarad into so painful a position, so he settled for patting Asfaloth’s neck.
Aww i love all of this
I wanna see but also…he could not pull Halbarad into such a painful position <3

"You have done it, my valiant friend!" he whispered, fighting to keep a giddy smile off his face, to keep from laughing aloud like a lunatic. But despite his best efforts to sound calm, joy filled his voice as he called out, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Chieftain of the Dúnedain, here to see my father!"
AWWWWWW
the son has returned <3
Also i love how he names his father and also still calls Elrond his father <33
AND JOY FILLING HIS VOICE you would never know how he’s PHYSICALLY feeling right now

A movement in the shadows caught his eye and then a tall, dark-haired Elf stepped up to Aragorn. Aragorn recognized the Elf but did not know him well. Dûrion was his name, if he recalled. "Welcome, Lord Aragorn! Such singing shall there be in the Hall of Fire at your return!" Dûrion cried with a merry laugh, all sternness gone. "Forgive me for not recognizing you. I did not know what to make of two dark-haired men astride Lord Glorfindel’s horse, and caution seemed necessary over welcome, given recent events. I trust Lord Glorfindel is well?"
AWWW his joyful merry welcome <33 also he clearly does not realize yet why Aragorn’s here <3
Also like. I love how much everyone loves him! You can see it so well here in the way Dûrion and Aragorn don’t know each other well but Dûrion is so merry to see them

"Thank you, Dûrion, and yes, Glorfindel is indeed well, or was when I saw him last evening. I am indebted to him beyond what I can repay for the loan of Asfaloth. But I must hurry, for my companion is wounded and in dire need of Lord Elrond’s care."
Dûrion stepped closer and let out a small gasp when he saw the arrow. "My pardon, Lord Aragorn. I did not realize! Go, and ride swiftly! I will sound the news so that they will be ready for you."
YES thank you <3
Sound the news <33

"Thank you, my friend," he said softly, then touched his heels to Asfaloth’s sides. Even as they moved out, silver trumpets sounded through the trees and beyond the hills. As the liquid notes echoed through the air, Aragorn’s heart lightened and tears formed again, but this time they were tears of relief.
AKAKDDKDKDKDK
TEARS OF RELIEF
FINALLY
This man so desperately needed some relief. And like. This is a POWERFUL feeling of relief it made Aragorn CRY

Asfaloth took them surely and steadily down the treacherous path that hugged the tall stone-sided cliffs, and then across the bridge over the Bruinen. Aragorn could not stop a quick intake of breath at the sight of the Last Homely House.
Awwwww
Home. He was home. Whatever awaited upon his meeting with the father, nothing ever took away the warmth that bloomed in his heart whenever he rounded the last bend and the great house of Elrond spread before him, standing watch over the valley even as Aragorn felt it stood watch over his own life.
HOW I LOVE THIS <3 his feelings always at rounding that last bend…standing watch over his own life

Sanctuary, shelter, peace... such were the offerings of Imladris, and his soul always seemed to settle within him when he arrived.
Awwwwwwwwww okay Rivendell is SUCH a beautiful place because of EXACTLY this. These are my very very favorite places (although of course I haven’t been to one quite so wonderful as the Last Homely House), offering security shelter and peace to the souls of all who are in need, and I want to have a home like that someday

The sun that brightened the sky beyond the hills would not reach this deep valley for another hour yet, but lights shone warmly in several windows and through the wide open doors. A tall figure paced there, his shadow moving back and forth in agitated crossings. "Lord Elrond," Aragorn murmured, though they were still too far away to call out. His heart thumped oddly at the sight of his father. The house’s welcome he already felt, but what manner welcome would he receive from his father?
Ajsjdjfjdkdkdksssssss
Also I presume the agitation is because Halbarad is in danger and also he’s been waiting anxiously for Aragorn for some time now…even if he doesn’t know Aragorn’s hurt too. Or maybe he does guess that I don’t know. Anyways I love love agitated pacing dad!Elrond

Halbarad stirred. "Rivendell?" he rasped.
"We are almost there."
"He ... he will be glad to see you," Halbarad whispered.
"Is my fear so obvious?"
AWWWW even half-conscious Halbarad so well Perceives him, and how I love that about him <3 Aragorn needs to be Perceived by someone

Halbarad’s words were barely audible, but even so, there was no mistaking the mocking humor in his voice. "Unless you always ride... with a back stiff as a...a board."
XDDD how I love himmmm
MOCKING HUMOR XD be nice to my guy lolll

Pulling a face that Halbarad could not see, Aragorn tried to relax, without much success.
lol <33

They clattered up into the courtyard at last and two Elves ran forward with a litter held between them. "Lord Aragorn! Let us see to Halbarad." Eager hands reached up to catch Halbarad as Aragorn loosened the knots in the ropes that held him. There were no words to describe the sense of relief that washed over him as Halbarad slipped into their strong arms.
<3333 oh my gosh the Security. Someone else is here. Someone competent and strong and Safe (and not injured themselves) will take care of Halbarad <33

Then Elrond was standing at his knee. He looked down at his father’s face. "Father," he said, his voice hoarse with fatigue and emotion.
"It is good to see you, my son," Elrond said warmly. He reached up and clasped Aragorn’s hand. "I have missed you."
AKSJDJFKDKDKDKD
the warmth. The warmth. How it warms my soul. <333 CLASPING HIS HAND
Halbarad was right, as usual. Elrond missed him. Elrond is glad to see him.

Aragorn tried to smile, but he was so exhausted and his feelings in such a muddle he felt almost numb. "It has been too long," he managed, then slid stiffly down from Asfaloth, trying his best to hide the fact that his feet hitting the ground sent a spike of pain through the top of his head.
Skakdjdj Numb yesss great whump
Painn you will not be able to hide it long

There was time for only the briefest embrace, a matter of clasping both hands, before he turned to Halbarad, who had been placed on his side on the litter. Aragorn knelt down and grasped Halbarad’s hand. "How do you fare, my friend?"
<:((( that he can’t take time to embrace his father properly BUT I expect he will late and I love him kneeling to speak to Halbarad before he is taken away

"I have had ... better nights," he sighed, then closed his eyes. He pulled his hand away and fumbled in his cloak, then pressed something into Aragorn’s hands. Aragorn looked down and saw it was the mithril necklace Halbarad had bought from a traveling peddler when they were in Bree. Valar, how long ago did that seem! "Give it to Miriel for me, if..."
nooooo no no
Okay I forgot about buying that gift for Miriel. It HAS been long.

"Give it to her yourself," Aragorn said, and tried to tuck it back into Halbarad’s pocket, but Halbarad pushed his hand away.
"Then hang onto it for me. Don’t want to... to lose it."
"That I can do." Aragorn brushed a hand against Halbarad’s hair. "Rest, my friend," he murmured, then nodded to the Elves that had positioned themselves at either end of the litter. They lifted him, and Aragorn rose stiffly and stepped back.
<333 yessss he can hang on to it so Halbarad doesnt lose it
Also his turn to brush back Halbarad’s hair <3

But Halbarad opened his eyes again and called out. "Wait."
The Elves halted and Aragorn hurried over and bent close. "What is it?"
Halbarad smiled faintly and moved his head toward Lord Elrond. "I told you so," he whispered, and winked.
SKAJDJD
XD love him
THE WINK

Aragorn stared at him for a moment, then let out a disbelieving laugh. He stood and nodded to the Elves and they again moved out. Aragorn’s smile faded as Halbarad winced. "Valar be with you," Aragorn whispered. He watched as they hurried off to the House of Healing, wondering if perhaps they had just exchanged their last words.
NOOO no <:(((

No. Halbarad is strong. He will live.
He has to.
Yes yes yes

As the door slammed behind them, Aragorn flinched at the finality of the sound. Like the closing of a tomb....
Skajdjd nope nope
I am so grateful to know how this story ends

He cut short the morbid thought, looking instead at the chain in his hand. He remembered how long it had taken Halbarad to finally decide to buy it, for the price had been steep, even for such a slender strand, and Halbarad had been sure the peddler was a thief for demanding such a high price. They had left the peddler’s cart and then gone back, and when Halbarad tried again to leave without making the purchase, Aragorn could stand it no more and told him crossly to buy the thing and be done with it; he was getting hungry. And with a relieved grin, Halbarad had pulled out the money and paid for it, and they went to the Prancing Pony to sup.
Akskdfk sometimes you just need someone to tell you you can do it

That grin did not leave his face the rest of the night, and he kept pulling the necklace out to show everyone and talk of how lovely it would look around Miriel’s neck, how it needed no gem because she was the jewel,
AWWWW that is so cute

and finally Aragorn could stand no more of the lovesick prattle. He had moved to a booth by himself, where his thoughts strayed toward Arwen and the seeming hopelessness of ever gaining her, and he gave himself over completely to abject self pity. Halbarad seemed not to notice and that only soured Aragorn’s mood still more.
He rubbed the necklace absently with one finger. What he would give to be back in that inn right now. He started at a touch on his shoulder.
Awwww OKAY how he thought he was so depressed and hopeless then because he was missing Arwen so bad and no one Saw but now he would give anything for a normal night with an unharmed Halbarad

"It is a lovely thing," Elrond said, but then he closed Aragorn’s hand around it. "Keep it for him, but find rest for yourself now." He slowly took in Aragorn from head to toe. "It takes no healer to see that you have suffered a long and hard journey. I will tend Halbarad. Go to your room and sleep."
<333 find rest for yourself now
TAKING ARAGORN IN FROM HEAD TO TOE thank youuuuu
Awww yes it is extremely obvious

"Father, I ..." But he couldn’t finish. There were so many things to say, so much to tell. The words eluded him.
<:((

Elrond pulled him into a fierce embrace. "Say nothing, child," he whispered against Aragorn’s hair. "You need say nothing. Just be, Estel. Here you are safe and can lay down your burdens, if only for a little while."
SKAKSJDJDKSKSK <:(((( <3333 oh oh oh this is exactly what I needed. Fierce embrace. Calling him “child”. (And for some reason this time “child” is better than “my child” I think? Like “my child” feels more like “oh you’ll always be my baby no matter how grown you are” but “child” just sounds like…you’re safe here, and you’re not in charge, and you don’t need to know or do everything here or to even be so strong

Aragorn put his arms around his father, hesitantly at first, but then something within him seemed to break and he clung to him. He buried his head against Elrond’s shoulder, breathing in the comforting familiarity of him. Tears threatened but he blinked them away and then pulled back. "Thank you," he whispered.
<:((( let yourself cry, dear
THE HESITANCY AND THEN BREAKING AND CLINGING again EVERYTHING I need
BURYING HIS HEAD AGAINST ELROND’S SHOULDERRRR

Elrond smiled sadly, cupping Aragorn’s face in his hands. He looked so deeply into his eyes that Aragorn felt as though his father could see into his very soul. Then he ruefully admitted to himself that Elrond most likely could see that far. Concern wreathed Elrond’s brow as he said, "It is as I felt it. There is a shadow on your fëa."
<333 He also Perceives him <:( THANK YOUUU
yesssss a shadow on his soul. Thank you for not pretending Elrond wouldnt see that. Also yay Quenya word <3 (yes I had to look that up, no I do not know Quenya, sadly)
Also yesss confirming that he does in fact see that far
CONCERN WREATHED ELROND’S BROW <333

For a moment, Aragorn was sorely tempted to blurt out everything, to let go and allow Elrond to care for him like he did when he was a small boy in need of patching up after a hard fall.
<:((( pleaseeee I know Halbarad needs him but please can he after? It is not only small boys who need care after a hard fall
(Also picturing tiny Aragorn and Elrond taking care of him is so cute)

But those days were long over, and Halbarad needed Elrond far more. He shook his head and, though he did not feel like it, smiled. "I am fine. Just tired. It has been a long journey and a hard one. Worry not, for Halbarad needs you, and you must not be distracted by needless concerns over me."
Mmmm really now

Elrond searched his eyes for a moment more. "Needless my concerns are not, but we will talk long of this, as soon as I am able. In the meantime, find sustenance and rest, for I feel fever upon you–I will have some willowbark tea sent to you."
SKAKDJ THANK YOU <3 needless my concerns are not. You can’t fool Elrond, especially not on this. And you can’t convince him to pretend to be fooled. ALSO THANK YOU “we will talk long of this as soon as I am able” <333 thank youuuu for agreeing that they will talk of it (and long!!) after he cares for Halbarad

"Adar, let me help–"
"No, my son. You are too full of care and grief, and I fear ill besides. What you need is rest. I will have Erestor with me. Do not worry."
<33 yes, Aragorn is not now in the condition to help

As if he could stop worrying. But he nodded and, tucking the necklace safely away in a pocket, patted Asfaloth’s neck. "I will care for Asfaloth, then," he said. He knew that Asfaloth normally suffered no one to touch him but Glorfindel, but he hoped the horse would tolerate his hand on the brush. "I will await word."
<3 <:( he’s so thoughtful. Also yay that Asfaloth who normally tolerates no one else will be (I assume) okay with Aragorn <3

Elrond touched Aragorn’s arm one more time, then turned to go.
Aragorn felt a moment of unaccountable panic as he watched Elrond walk away. "Adar!"
Elrond stopped. "Yes?"
"I.... Nothing. Never mind," Aragorn said. He could not explain even to himself why, after all these years of dreading to see him, he now could hardly bear for his father to leave his sight. He finished lamely, "May the Valar guide your hands."
SKAJDJF
the exclamation mark
The panic watching him leave
HE NEEDS HIS DAD
but he can’t stay with him, not yet <:( AGAIN THE PANIC AND IT ACTUALLY BEING TO SUDDEN AND UNCONTROLLABLE THAT HE CALLS HIM BACK BEFORE REALIZING WHAT HE’S DOING
but he has nothing to say, not now, with Elrond urgently needed. But obviously Aragorn would not call out (also, calling him Adar <3 or Ada is always my favorite) if his mind was not troubled, and Elrond knows that and I think will address it later <3
But also, “May the Valar guide your hands” indeed <33

Elrond smiled, then hurried away. Aragorn’s shoulders sagged as he pressed his forehead against Asfaloth’s. "Thank you, Asfaloth. You have earned your rest, but I fear I will not rest for a long, long time."
Askdkfkfk noooo please at least try?

LexilooperReviewed Chapter: 17 on 12/25/2025
Also. When Glorfindel ties them around the chest is that putting pressure on Aragorn’s bruise?? It’s been enough days that I can’t remember how many days have passed in the story, but I think just a day or so ago Aragorn was still faltering when the woman pushed him in the chest? Or does the rope not have that effect either because it is elvish or because it is not human contact?

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