The Music of Her Life
Written for Teitho Challenge: Music. I don't own LOTR or "We Danced" by Brad Paisley.
The wind whistled softly through the barren trees dotting the landscape. Alone at the pinnacle of Cerith Amroth, Arwen sat with her back against the scarred bark of a once stately mallorn tree. Her dark hair whipped around her in the chilling breeze sweeping down the hillside. Her grey eyes stared out across the land with a faraway look that spoke of memories and days long past. She let her head fall against the tree behind her as her eyes closed and images rose unbidden from her thoughts.
“Melamin,” Aragorn’s voice came from behind her as she sat in her garden tending her flowers. She turned to see a mischievous twinkle in her beloved’s grey eyes. He held out his arms to her. “Dance with me?”
Arwen’s silvery laugh rang out. “But there is no music, Estel.” She replied as he drew her to her feet.
“We can make our own music, Beloved.” he murmured in her ear before beginning to hum a familiar tune. She laughed again as he spun her across the soft grasses around them.
“And we danced, out there on that empty hardwood floor.”
Arwen blinked back the tears as she watched her husband spin their young daughter around the ballroom. The little girl’s face was tilted up at her father and a happy smile spread across her childish features. The child’s movements were less than graceful but her mother took no notice as the two continued their dance. As the little girl began to tire, Aragorn skillfully directed her back to her mother’s side. “My lady, will you do me the honor of this dance?” he asked as he bowed before his queen.
“But of course, my love.” She replied with a smile as she took his outstretched hand.
“With the chairs up and the lights turned way down low.”
Eldarion moved gracefully across the ballroom, his new bride in his arms. His father stood looking on with his queen wrapped in his arms. The royal couple smiled with pride as the slow music filled the room. Their son had become a man and was now starting his own family. As their first dance ended, Aragorn drew Arwen onto the dance floor, holding her as close as propriety would allow. Her eyes met his and they held each other’s gaze as the music swelled around them. The walls of the ballroom faded around them and for a few moments, it felt as if they were the only two people in all of Arda. The strains of the orchestra swelled, washing over them and carrying them to a place that only they knew. Before they realized it, they were alone on the balcony overlooking the garden. The silver light of the stars sparkled in the night sky above them. The strains of the music still echoed behind the two yet they moved to the beat of a tune that only they could hear. Arwen’s pale blue dress floated around her as they danced under Ithil’s pale light. Aragorn’s silver and black rippled in the moonlight as Earendil reached his zenith in the night sky. They were two lovers lost in the music of their love.
“The music played, we held each other close.”
Arwen stirred as she emerged from her memories. She sighed as she felt herself becoming weaker. She knew she was fading and a tear slipped down her cheek. She missed her Estel and she understood the bitterness of Eru’s gift. Yet she couldn’t find any regret in her choices. Images of Estel, her daughters, Eldarion, and her grandchildren danced before her eyes. She smiled as their faces appeared before her. She began to softly hum the same tune that Aragorn had sung to her on the day they had danced in her garden. Her eyes drifted closed as she once again became lost in the music of her memories. As the song wafted through the silent trees, it too started to fade and as the notes disappeared into the air, Arwen’s chest stilled and did not rise again. The last refrain of the music was over, yet a smile borne of the last dance between Aragorn and Arwen remained upon her face. The song was completed but the melody would remain for all eternity.
“And we danced.”