When I Needed You *

Chapter Six: The Last Homely House

Where, where were you
When I needed you most
When I needed a friend
~Erasure~

So Glorfindel had been telling the truth! Elrond wondered when this had happened. It had been several years since Estel had been home, how long had this girl been traveling with him? And why hadn’t he sent word home about her? Well, there would be enough time for questions later. For now he wondered if Aragorn understood that with his bloodline he could not just adopt sisters.

“Say hello. He won’t bite, I promise!” Aragorn whispered in Renee’s ear as she stared at the marbled floor.

Renee took a deep breath and glanced up at his face before lowering her gaze again. She was standing in front of The Lord Elrond, she thought. Her knees started to quake. If they found out she was not a real elf they might think she was a spy of Sauron or Saruman. Oh God what if Gandalf wanted to send her back! Her mind was working over time and she couldn’t make herself speak or look up. One thought kept coming back to her though, this elf had foresight, if he touched her, she would not survive.

“Renee, what is it? What’s wrong?” Aragorn turned her so that she was looking at him.

“He doesn’t like that you’ve made me your sister. What if he had Gandalf send me back? I don’t want to go back Aragorn,” tears finally slid down her cheeks as she confessed her fears. “Please, please! Don’t let him send me back. I know I don’t belong here, I’m not even a real elf. But not there, don’t let them.”

Aragorn’s heart was breaking as she began to sob. He looked up to a confused Elrond, of course he had heard every word she said.

“If would excuse us, she is over tired,” Aragorn said as he scooped up the crying girl.

“Of course, proper introductions can be made later,” Elrond nodded. “Put her in Arwen’s old room. Should I send her to you?”

“Yes, having another female around might help her calm.” Aragorn said over his shoulder as he headed toward the family wing of the palace. He almost tripped over an enthusiastic Frodo as the hobbit raced down the hall to his friends. He could hear the bright laughter echoing through the halls.

*

Renee sighed as he set her down on the white canopied bed. Her breath coming in ragged gasps and hiccups.

“I’m sorry Aragorn. I was so rude, but all I could think about was that if Lord Elrond didn’t like me and he would send me back. I can’t go back, Aragorn. I just can’t.”

“Why would you think they would send you back? I would not let that happen.”

“Gandalf might be able to do it. Even you can’t stop him if Lord Elrond told him to do it.”

“Ada doesn’t even know you why would he dislike you?” Aragorn was trying to figure out what she was thinking.

“I felt it. He was displease when you said I was your sister,” she whispered.

He sighed and sank down in one of the chairs by the balcony. Renee finally looked around. The room was beautiful, painted in white and cream, which blended perfectly with the spectacular view from the ornate French windows. Her balcony overlooked one of the many waterfalls. The bed was huge and could easily hold three people. A large fireplace dominated the wall across from the foot of her bed, with a large vanity off to one side by the door. Three doors led out of her room, one she knew to the hallway but the others were a mystery. She walked to the first door and pulled it open, it was a closet that might as well have been another room it was so large. She tried the other door next and gasped at the spacious bathing room. The sunk in tub was twice as large as any she had seen back home and was in the shape of a leaf of some kind. Everything was open and airy here, even the bathing room had huge windows that showed the spectacular waterfall view.

Renee turned back as someone entered the bed room. Arwen, she thought, it has to be. The Evenstar was reported to be the most beautiful of all elves with the only exception being her grandmother Galadriel, the Lady of Light. The dark haired beauty went straight for Aragorn, he stood and took both of her hands in his. They stared at each other for a moment before stepping and dropping their hands. Renee was stunned to see Aragorn duck his head and a suspicious red flush grace his face. He’s blushing, Renee gasped to herself!

Arwen spoke to him in elvish for a bit, they both apparently had forgotten that she was there. Renee stood silently lost in thought. Aragorn had said that Arwen would love her as much as he did, but would she really feel that way. Especially when Renee was not a real elf! A little voice in the back of her head told her she was being silly that she was a real elf, but that didn’t make her feel like one. After all elves were graceful and beautiful and wise. Renee felt like anything but graceful and she knew she was not beautiful, perhaps cute, or pretty but not beautiful. Any wisdom she could share would not be hers but something she had picked up from her gift. She sighed at the thought, no she was no elf.

Arwen heard the heartfelt sigh, she had forgotten the reason she had been sent to Aragorn. She turned to see the girl standing in the doorway staring down at something in her hand. She glanced back to Aragorn for an introduction. He cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Renee, come here. I’d like for you to meet someone very special to me,” he called out quietly.

Renee walked over to them hesitantly. Arwen smiled at her with curious eyes. Renee stood slightly behind Aragorn but stood straight and met Arwen’s eyes. Arwen could tell the girl was young and unsure of her welcome. She was determined to make the girl feel at ease, after getting the tale from Glorfindel and her Ada, she really wanted to get to know the girl that Aragorn had claimed for a sister.

“Hello Renee, I am Arwen. I am most pleased to meet you,” she kept her voice soft, her father said the girl had been terrified of him.

“Hi,” Renee whispered. Then she cleared her throat and tried to start over. Aragorn looked pleased that she had spoken at all. “Aragorn has told me a lot about you. I feel like I know you already.” There, that was good right? Her heart was pounding in her chest, oh no not a panic attack again. She told herself that she had nothing to fear from Arwen. She slowly took off her gloves and walked around the room. She could tell Aragorn was watching her.

Renee could feel that this was Arwen’s room at one time. Where would be the best place to touch? The vanity of course! She tried to act casual as she walked over to the low stool and sat. She looked at Aragorn in the mirror as she slowly laid her hands on the top of the vanity.

Love, comfort, beauty from within, grace, determination. All that Arwen was she had become in this room. Hundreds of years worth of love. Renee felt herself smile as she came out of the emotions. Aragorn smiled back at her in the mirror. Arwen just looked between the two of them smiling to herself. It was good she was confident in his love for her or she might be jealous. But the love she could see in his eyes when he looked at the young girl had not the same desire as when he looked at her.

“Lady Arwen will help you bath and then you need to rest. It is after lunch so I will see you at dinner. I leave you in her capable hands,” Aragorn said as he approached Renee. He could see she was much more relieved after having ’touched’ a piece of Arwen. He might not really understand her gifts but he could read her like an open book. All that time in the woods she might have been silent with her mouth but her eyes spoke volumes.

“Thank you Aragorn, I really am very sorry for embarrassing you earlier,” she whispered.

“Oh no Renee, do not be sorry. Elrond can be very intimidating, and don’t think of him as your father if it bothers you. You don’t need a father, you have a much older brother!” he knelt down in beside her as he spoke. Again his heart warmed as she hugged him.

When she finally released him, he stood and bowed to Arwen, saying ‘I’ll explain later but, do not touch her bare skin without her permission.’ in elvish as he headed out the door.

Arwen’s curiosity was peeked but she knew better than to ask, he must have had a reason for saying this as he did. She would just have to find out later. She turned to the quiet girl and found Renee staring up at her.

“Well, let us see about getting you that bath,” she said kindly as she headed for the bathing chamber.

“Um, I really don’t need any help bathing,” Renee whispered knowing that Arwen would hear her.

“Well then, I’ll just keep you company and show you were everything is. I’ll get the bathing cloths, while you undress and get in,” Arwen headed to a cabinet that blended into the scene so well Renee hadn’t even known it was there.

Renee quickly stripped and stepped into the bath, sinking down until her head was thoroughly wet. The water was deep, standing on the bottom it was just deep enough to lap at her shoulders. She guessed that she had grown a few inches when she had become an elf, she thought she might be 5’10” or so. Still shorter than the other elves but not by much. And she was only fifteen so she still had a shot at growing another inch or two.

“Here,” Arwen said as she held out a small sliver of soap, “it is my favorite scent. I had almost forgotten that I still had some in this chamber.”

Renee took the softly scented soap, orange blossom, or some type of citrus. She smiled, finally she was going to smell like a girl!

“Thank you! Aragorn smells ok after a bath, but I don’t really like smelling like a man all the time!” she laughed as she soaped a cloth Arwen held out to her.

Renee scrubbed every inch of her skin twice before moving on to her hair. It wasn’t the easiest thing to scrub out her long hair and even harder to rinse it thoroughly, but Arwen helped with that. Renee got over her shyness quickly as Arwen was nice and efficient. Renee stood on one of the small seating places in the water as Arwen poured water over her head from a leaf shaped basin. When she was scrubbed clean from head to toe and relaxed from the steamy water she stood and let Arwen wrap her in a large towel. Renee could feel the other woman staring at her many scars as she stood behind her rubbing her skin briskly.

Arwen rubbed the quiet girl down and wondered where she had gotten such marks. Her back was covered in thin silvery scars as where her thighs and buttocks. As she continued to dry the girl she moved to her front and there were more scars, not as many but they were there. Not for the first time Arwen wondered how old the girl was, she acted so young and yet Arwen had the impression she had an old soul. Perhaps she was ’adonna’ or born again, a reincarnation of an elf fallen in battle, like Gil-galad and Glorfindel.

“So, how did you meet Estel?” Arwen asked, attempting to make conversation again. So far Renee had only answered direct questions.

“I was lost in the woods, and he found me,” Renee whispered. She was feeling very vulnerable standing there in the nude, but Arwen soon pulled a soft red dress off a hook near the door. Renee looked at the dress in awe.

“Surely you don’t mean for me to wear that?”

“Of course I do!” Arwen laughed.

“Oh but, that’s too fine for me, I couldn’t possibly,” Renee tried to protest. She had never even seen anything that nice let alone to wear it.

Arwen thought for a minute before speaking again. “Aragorn would probably like you in it.”

“Aragorn likes me anyway,” Renee said stubbornly. Arwen had to laugh at the truth in that. Aragorn would probably say she was beautiful even if she showed up in a mans tunic and breeches, but she was not going to give in so easily.

“You are Aragorn’s sister now. What you do reflects on him, that includes how you look,” Ah ha, she thought at the guilty look on Renee’s face. She sighed as the other girl chewed her lower lip again, she had noticed the girl did that when she was unsure or nervous.

“This dinner will be formal, several Princes and noblemen will be attending, please wear the dress.” she was sorry to be using the girls guilt to get her way but really the dress was nothing, one of thousands in the house.

Renee nodded and straightened her shoulders, she would not embarrass her new brother again. Wow, she thought, how easy did I think that? Aragorn son of Arathorn, King of Men, from a storybook is now real and my brother. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves then looked to Arwen.

“Okay, but I don’t know anything about formal dinners and stuff.”

“Renee, can I ask how old you are? It’s just that you seem so young, I apologize if the question is to forward.”

“Oh no like I told Aragorn I’m still young enough not to care about telling my age. I’m fifteen.”

Arwen was shocked surely she couldn’t mean.

“Centuries?” she asked hopefully.

Renee grinned and shook her head.

“Decades?” she asked again almost breathless with shock.

“Nope, sorry,” this time Renee laughed out loud.

“Years!” Arwen whispered.

“Yeah,” Renee stopped laughing and stepped back. She quickly pulled the dress over her head and adjusted the bodice. The fit was perfect, but she didn’t care. Arwen had paled and was looking at her with a really weird expression on her face.

Renee walked quickly to the vanity leaving Arwen in the bathing room. She sat at the vanity and started brushing her hair. No wonder elves always had help with their hair, it knotted up so easily when wet. She was so busy attempting to straighten out her hair she didn’t notice Arwen coming to stand beside her until the lady reached out and touched her cheek.

Arwen forgot about Aragorn’s warning too late. She reached out to touch her cheek, it had been so long since an elf child had been born in Rivendell. The youngest elf there was five hundred or so. Arwen was amazed she just had to touch her to make sure she was real. Then the spell was shattered as the girl began to shudder and cry. Arwen immediately snatched her hand away.

“Oh I am so sorry. I did not mean any harm,” Arwen tried to calm her but the girl would not listen. When she finally got a look at Renee’s face she saw why. She was in a trance of some kind, Arwen had seen her grandmother often in a trance but the great lady had enough experience with her visions that she was not so affected as Renee.

Arwen rushed to the door, hoping Aragorn could bring her out of this vision. As she rushed up the hallway she saw Legolas heading in the direction of Aragorn’s room and called out to him.

“Legolas, run and get Estel. Tell him that Renee needs him,” she didn’t stop to see him acknowledge her before she sprinted the other direction to get her father.

*

Love. Over powering unconditional heart gripping Love. The kind of love that makes you give up anything and everything. A love to last the ages. Loss. Grief. Death. But still, Love. Loss of Love. Grief, seeking the black oblivion of release in Death. Love. Loss. Grief. Over and over.

Flashes of a life. Dancing under fire flies, no not fire flies, floating lights. Caras Galadhon. Lothlorien. Love at first sight. Marriage, children, grandchildren. Sitting under a leafless tree overlooking a white city. Love always love. Hope. Estel.

When Renee woke she was in her bed and someone was talking. Who? Her, she was speaking, what?

“Strider, Captain of the Dunedain Rangers, last of the Numenor. Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Estel, King Elessar, the Elfstone. The Legend who Walks. Wielder of Narsil, the blade reforged. Protector of the Ring-bearer. King of the Dead Who Walk. Son, lover, husband, father,” she was reciting his titles again. Something was wrong, her gift was going crazy it had never happened like this before. And yet this was the third time someone had touched her and she gotten visions from them.

There were people all around her. Aragorn was sitting next to her on the bed holding her hand and looking worried. Arwen was standing behind him looking guilty. Lord Elrond standing at the foot of her bed speaking to Glorfindel and last a blond elf she had never met before, standing next to the door looking uncomfortable but curious. Their eyes met briefly before she turned back to Aragorn.

“I’m sorry, it’s never been like this before. Honestly, I don’t mean to keep doing this,” she whispered.

“Hey, your awake! And don’t apologize, I’ve told you before. We just have to learn how to control this that’s all,” Aragorn said back as he released her hand.

Elrond walked to the other side of her bed and looked down at her, this time she wasn’t as terrified of him. She could still feel some of Arwen’s love for this very intimidating elf lord.

“Well Aewnaur, how are you feeling? Better I trust,” he smiled a little trying to sound less like the intimidating creature that he was. He had to admit to himself that he might not like the fact that Aragorn had claimed her as a sister, he did like this young elleth. He could feel some of her emotions. He felt her terror at their first meeting and her guilt now, but he also sensed her love for Aragorn, it was something like hero worship but deeper. Immense respect.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Renee, here drink some water. It always helps your head,” Aragorn said as he handed her a glass.

She accepted it though her head didn’t hurt as bad as the last time this happened. “You brought me out of the vision. My head doesn’t hurt as bad as usual,” she drank the water anyway.

“How long was I out this time?”

“Just a few minutes. It was Lord Elrond’s idea for me to touch you since I’ve touched you before without this reaction,” Aragorn answered.

“Thank you again,” she whispered to Elrond.

“Think nothing of it child. Now if you are feeling better we all should let you finish getting ready for dinner and we should be getting ready ourselves,” Lord Elrond walked towards the door and motioned for the others to follow.

Aragorn and Arwen stayed but the others left, Legolas turned to look at her again before closing the door quietly behind them.

“Muinthel, would you like for me to braid your hair?”

“Oh my hair! It must look a mess!” Renee groaned at the thought of the tangles that were probably in her hair now.

Arwen giggled at the first real showing of Renee’s personality. Aragorn chuckled at the pout she gave Arwen. It seemed the vision had broken some of the tension Renee had still felt around his love.

“Don’t pout, you know I can fix this. And if I can’t I’m sure Arwen can. This time she will be more careful to not touch you,” Aragorn reassured her.

She looked up to Arwen and sat up as she spoke. “My Lady, I am very sorry for worrying you. I should have warned you.”

“Renee, please call me Arwen. I’m sure we will become very good friends. And think no more of worrying me, it was not at all your fault and I’ll not have you thinking that it was. Now come over to the mirror and we will see what we can do with your hair.”

Aragorn stood with his shoulder propped against the wall watching them attempt to brush Renee’s long black hair. Finally he spoke up.

“Arwen why don’t you go ahead and get yourself ready for dinner. I can see to Renee. I know all about this demon hair of hers.”

Arwen looked from Renee to Aragorn and back. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t remove the tangles but every time she worked through one another would take it’s place. She sighed as she relinquished the hair brush and stepped aside. She didn’t leave, she wanted to see how Aragorn was going to manage this.

Renee grinned up at her adopted brother in the mirror as he stood behind her and surveyed the mess that was her hair.

“I told you it would be a mess. I should just cut it all off!” It was the same comment she made every time he brushed and braided her hair. His reaction was always the same. His eyes became hard and he set his jaw in a determined clench.

“You will not cut this beautiful hair.”

Renee stifled a laugh as Lady Arwen lifted one eyebrow at their antics. He started on the left side of her head and as soon as he had enough hair to braid he quickly and expertly braided two tiny intricate braids down and around her ears. Then he moved on. Almost half an hour later he was just pulling the four braids back into one braid when there was a knock on the door.

Arwen stepped over and opened the door. The same blond elf from earlier was standing there looking anxious. His expression turned to relief when he saw Arwen.

“My Lady, Lord Elrond bid me find you and escort you to dinner. I’ve been looking everywhere,” Legolas stepped into the room as he spoke.

Renee and Aragorn laughed as Arwen fled into the closet, she had watched Aragorn perform his miracles with Renee’s hair and had forgotten to get herself ready! They had been talking and Renee was relaxed in Aragorn’s presence enough to finally open up to Arwen. When Aragorn finally pronounce her hair a masterpiece she stood and went to help Arwen with her dress. When she reached the closet room she realized why she still felt funny in her dress. She didn’t have any panties on! Where was her pack? She had lost it in the confusion of her arrival. She turned back to ask but found the elf and Aragorn already deep in conversation.

She had a moment to study the elf, he was tall perhaps half a foot taller than her with golden blond hair. His nose was straight and not quite pointed, what she would call noble. His chin was neither square nor rounded but somewhere in between, his skin was flawless in a pale sun kissed kind of way. The only was she could describe him would be to say beautiful but she really wanted to find another way. Everything here was beautiful and it seemed so inadequate to keep saying it.

As she turned back to help Arwen she nearly bumped into her. Arwen was smiling having caught her friend staring at the beautiful male. She pulled Renee back into the room even though she was dressed.

“He is beautiful isn’t he! His name is Legolas, he is from Mirkwood,” She explained in the age old tradition of gossiping females.

“Don’t you ever feel bad calling everything beautiful? Everything here is great but some things are better than others. What do you call it when something is more beautiful? I mean, I’m sorry I just,” Renee trailed off totally embarrassed at being caught staring at a guy.

Arwen laughed she had forgotten Renee was so young, she would be perfect for Legolas!
“More beautiful than beautiful. Hmm, usually I just call that Estel but in your case you can call him Legolas!” they laughed for a bit before throats clearing in the other room brought them back to their senses. They walked arm in arm to the males waiting on them.

“Alright let me look at you,” Aragorn stepped forward and motioned for Renee to spin. They had done this in Bree when she had modeled her new breeches and tunics for him. This also allowed Legolas to look without being obvious.

Renee’s black hair and soft blue eyes contrasted perfectly with the soft rose color of the dress and matching slippers. Her hair was pulled back on the sides with two pencil thin braids on each side then plaited together down her back with the rest of it hanging loose in the elven style. Legolas thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He watched as she spun in a circle and chewed her lip. He found it highly erotic to watch her teeth catch her lip and worry it. The thought of helping her chew on that full bottom lip struck him hard, almost like a blow to the gut. He swallowed audibly and turned to the door.

Arwen watched the whole thing with a knowing smile on her face. This would be interesting to watch. She couldn’t wait to see his face when he learned how old Renee was. Legolas opened the door just as Aragorn finished his inspection with a sigh.

“You’ll do I guess, though I still like you in that grey tunic,” he said, his eyes laughing.

Renee looked to Arwen with an expression that said, ‘I told you so!’ Arwen laughed.

“Yes well I don’t think Ada will be please with us. We are very tardy as it is.”

Aragorn escorted Renee by the elbow as Legolas led Arwen to the dining hall.
At the dining hall Arwen switched seats with Legolas at the last minute. Lord Elrond narrowed his eyes a little but said nothing. Arwen sat next to her father with Legolas on her left, then Renee, then Aragorn.

Legolas didn’t think anything of the change in seating he just thought Arwen had something to talk to her father about. He was never really big on protocol and he had dined at Rivendell almost as much as he had at Mirkwood. He was apprehensive at having to make conversation with the Lady Renee though. He sat silently waiting for the inevitable chatter to start.

Renee realized her mistake almost immediately. She had forgotten her gloves. She leaned over to Aragorn as soon as she was seated.

“Aragorn, where are my gloves? My pack?”

Aragorn groaned, they had both forgotten. “Your pack is in my room.”

“I’m sorry I’m so much trouble. I’ll just go back to my room and maybe get a plate later,” she whispered.

“For the last time, quit apologizing for everything. And you are not going to your room. Just stay here I’ll be right back,” Aragorn excused himself and left the room quickly.

Lord Elrond stood and spoke for a moment before announcing they could begin eating. Renee sat quietly thinking back to her family. This was so unreal, and yet she felt more at peace with herself here than she ever had there. She smiled as she looked around. There were the dwarves sitting at the other end of the table with the hobbits. A small group of female elves were sitting together and laughing behind their hands, every so often they would look up to the high table and giggle some more. She had seen this before. It was just like the school cafeteria. She couldn’t tell who they were laughing at but as usual her self consciousness kicked into high gear. She held her hands together in her lap and stared at her plate, wishing Aragorn would hurry back. She tasted blood in her mouth and realized she had chewed into her lip.

By the time Aragorn returned with her gloves her hands were shaking so much that she had trouble putting them on. He had brought the longer ones and the black leather went perfectly with the half sleeved dress. She ate a little of everything Aragorn put on her plate even though the gossiping females had ruined her appetite. No one had spoken to her at all other than when Aragorn put more food on her plate. He would tell her what it was in common and then repeat it in elvish. She knew a few words from their journey but never spoke it. As people started leaving the dining hall she wondered where Gandalf was.

Legolas startled as the girl beside him spoke for the first time.

“He usually takes his dinner in his rooms,” he answered.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t meant o disturb you. I hadn’t realized I had spoke out loud,” she blushed.

“Like Estel said earlier. Stop apologizing for everything,” he smiled as she blushed even more. “Do you know Gandalf?”

“No,” she mumbled once again staring into her plate.

Legolas stared at her. She was enchanting. He wanted to know more about her, but thought to wait and ask Aragorn.

When the evening was finally over Renee found herself in Aragorn’s room rummaging around in her pack. She got frustrated at not being able to find anything and dumped the whole thing out on his bed.

“Ah ha!” She exclaimed as the snagged her last pair of panties. She was waving them in the air.

“What are you doing?” Aragorn asked as he reentered the room, he was now dressed in soft silky pajamas.

She quickly stuffed the panties behind her back and whirled around towards him.

“Nothing! I’m not doing anything. Nothing wrong anyway. I was just going through my clothes.” she sputtered.

“And what are you hiding behind your back?” he grinned at her blush. He had seen her under things enough to know exactly what she was hiding, but still she blushed.
Sometimes she was so innocent he forgot all of her troubled past.

“Nothing, I don’t have anything really,” Renee started backing to the door. No way was she going to show her under pants to Aragorn, even if he had seen her in them. She had almost made it to the door when he really started laughing.

“So now your just going to wander the halls with your underpants in your hands!”

“Oh you!” Renee laughed and walked back to the bed, in her embarrassment she had forgotten the rest of her things were still strewed all over his bed, including the rest of her panties! Started repacking her bag, really there was not much there. She piled all of her dirty things in one pile and looked at her meager possessions. Her walking shoes from home that she had not been able to get rid of, a half full jar of peanut butter, her small bag of herbs and ointments and one can of soda! She squealed when she saw the soda.

“Aragorn, how do they keep food cold here?”

“In the ice cellars. Why?” he asked as he eyed the strange object in her hand.

Renee dumped out her herb bag and put the soda inside. She handed him the bag and grinned.

“Have this put in the cellar and when it is very cold but not frozen we my friend will have a treat!”

Aragorn couldn’t help but smile back, her smiles were so rare. He took the bag and set it aside, then pointed back to her things all over his bed.

“Am I supposed to sleep with all of this?”

She laughed as she put her shoes back in her pack along with her peanut butter and medicine stuff.

“What do I do with my dirty clothes?”

“Just leave them in the basket in my bathing chamber. I will make sure they get back to you.”

“Okay, well then I’ll see you in the morning then,” she said as she took the pile of clothing to the bathing chamber, and came back. She grabbed her pack and headed for the door.

“Good night Renee, I’ll come and get you in the morning.”

“Okay, Good night Aragorn,” she left the room.

When she found her room, she prayed that it was her room, she knocked before opening the door. She felt a little silly but would much rather feel a little silly for knocking on her own door than walk into someone else’s room unannounced. Score, she thought as she walked into her room! She threw her pack into the corner of her closet after grabbing her last pair of clean underwear. She pulled off the dress and left it in the empty basket in her bathing room and pulled on the night dress that was left on her bed. Finally after the longest day in Middle-Earth history, she laid down and went to sleep.

About an hour later she woke up with a gasp. She punched her pillow and rolled over.

Twenty minutes later she rolled back over and punched her pillow again. After another ten minutes she finally got out of bed and pulled a chair out onto her balcony. There where lights all over Rivendell so the night was not dark. She was exhausted, so why couldn’t she sleep. She was tense, nervous, but why. She groaned when she realized it was because she was used to Aragorn being there when she woke up. She wondered how much of a baby did that make her? That she wanted to sneak into his room and sleep with him.

Hmm, maybe if I just slept at the foot of his bed he wouldn’t care. I mean it isn’t like we haven’t been on the trail together alone for weeks. Once the idea entered her mind it wasn’t half a minute later that she was racing down the hall to Aragorn’s room. She stopped just outside his door and chewed her lip. What if he got mad? What was the worst he would do? Probably just escort her back to her room. She trusted him, he would never hurt her. As she was about to grab the doorknob she had a horrible thought, what if he wasn‘t alone! She decided to chance it since she didn’t hear anything from inside the room.

She held her breath as she opened the door and looked inside. The room was dark but she could see fine. He was alone, she sighed in relief, then quickly went in and closed the door. She waited to see if he was going to wake up, but he didn’t move. She moved slowly to the foot of his bed and sat down with her back propped up on the footboard. Of course now I think to bring my pillow and blanket, she thought with a yawn. She let out a relaxed sigh and drifted off to sleep however.

Aragorn grinned when he heard her sigh. He had thought about going and checking on her but had passed it off as a silly idea, now he wished he had done it. He waited a few minutes before getting up and going to his closet. He pulled out her odd sleeping bag and a spare pillow. When he knew she was deep into her sleep he set the pillow down and eased her sideways until she was laying down, then he tucked her sleeping bag around her. Finally he went back to bed and found his own rest.



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