May it Be | THE LORD OF THE RINGS 🖋

.25. Different Circumstances

A/N: I'm back! Here is chapter 25. I'm sorry for taking so long with it as I almost deleted it all and started again for I just wasn't happy with it. I'm still not completely sure if I'm happy with it. So, please tell me what your think and if it's rubbish I'll rewrite it.

*UNEDITED*

Deirdre's POV

As the day grew latter, our time amongst the company of Elves drew to a close. After breakfast we had all been sent back to the small courtyard to relax and prepare for the journey ahead.

'How are you?' Aragorn asked me once he had packed all his belongings in to his rucksack.

'I'm fine,' I replied simply as I poured myself a drink from the fountain before filling my canteen.

'Last night...you fainted,' he said concerned.

'Yes, I know. But if you are trying to ask me why I fainted, I'm afraid I do not know,' I tried to sound convincing as I lied, but the look in Aragorn's eyes said that he didn't believe me.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously, 'Lord Celeborn believes that you learnt something...something about yourself.'

I closed my eyes and sighed, trying desperation not to let me frustrations get the better of me, 'Yesterday was just a very long day. It took everything out of me.' I spoke softly once I had reopened my eyes.

Aragorn nodded, his grey eyes watching me carefully, 'Forgive me for prying, it's just that you had me worried.'

'Believe me, any worry I may have caused you was unknowingly done,' I placed my hand upon his arm. He tensed before relaxing under me touch, causing me to feel the muscles in his arm move and flex.

'I wish I had meet you under different circumstances,' he whispered.

'What? Running from Black Riders and a Balrog, not your ideal way to get to know a girl?' I smiled.

'No,' he laughed, 'no, not at all. With everything from the Ring to losing Gandalf, I feel like we haven't had much time just to...well, just to talk.'

'We're talking now,' I observed.

'Yes,' Aragorn took my canteen to free my hand which he then took and led me to a nearby stone seat, 'But I mean really talk. I feel as if everything I know about you is what Arwen has told me over the years.'

I gave him a kind smile and gripped his hand, 'Arwen always saw through me. I could never lie to her, therefore everything you heard of me is probably true.'

'So...' he hesitated, 'you really did travel here from a distant land?'

Panic started to seep through my veins. Just how much had Arwen told him?

'Yes, I did,' I said after a short pause, '...but, I traveled to there from Middle-Earth a long time ago.'

'What was it like?'

I smiled, 'It was beautiful, not as beautiful as any place here but it had its own charm to it. And it was peaceful. There were no Orcs or Balrogs; no darkness and no evil. It was a world of men and for a time I called it home.'

'It sounds...strangely perfect-'

'It wasn't perfect,' I interrupted, 'Not quite...the people in my village never liked me. They thought me a witch; cursed with eternal youth.'

'They were cruel to you?' he asked.

I shook my head, 'Not exactly. They spoke mean words and whispered things when I was not around to listen but they never physically hurt me. They simply feared what they did not understand.'