There's No Me Without You

Crowds made me feel invisible. Or, at least transparent. The only crowds that I knew only ever consisted of people just like me. Average and normal in every single way. No descendants of kings, no survivors of unbelievable battles or feats. We were just people who lived in a city, and that was that. When I stood with these thousands of other people just like me, I was nothing. No reason for a double take, nothing special or unique.

Except to one person. Although, I was pushing my luck to believe he even remembered my name. But I remembered everything, I held onto those memories with a death grip. Those were some of the best times of my life, my short life. It wasn't short because I was young, no; I had lived my share of years in Middle Earth. It was short because it was quaint. Uneventful.

But I wasn't one for complaining, my mother and father had (thankfully) instilled values and manners in me at a young age. I enjoyed being polite and kind and a generally happy person. I had plenty to be thankful for. In fact, each minute I lived was a blessing, when you lived your life on enemy boarders.

From my bedroom window, every night, I could see Mordor. It was dark, always dark. Sometimes it haunted my dreams, others it plagued my days. Omnipresent, and feared amongst all. But my mother told me such wonderful stories. Of the Second Age, when Mordor was merely an extension of Gondor. It was beautiful, a place full of life and joy. Everywhere people lived magnificent and wealthy lives.

It saddened me, to see how easily things could change. How quickly things could change. For instance, if someone had told me the first day I met him it would only be the beginning of our undoing, I wouldn't have believed them. Even when it was him who told me, I didn't want to believe it. In my heart I knew he wasn't lying, no, Aragorn didn't lie. But my mind threw possibility after possibility in an attempt to coax him out of the joke I prayed he was playing.

So young, so naive, blinded by blissful ignorance. Even after he departed I expected him to sneak into my room at nights and tell me he was just playing a joke. A mean one, but a joke nonetheless. If I was angry, at least he would be around to be angry at. Although, it was impossible to be mad at him. It was impossible for him to do anything wrong...

*

"Be careful!" The strange boy called. I furrowed my eyebrows, cocking my head to the side and halting my run.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if you trip you will fall and hurt yourself." He said softly, shifting nervously back and forth from foot to foot. He wrung his hands in front of him, standing before me in loose clothing and a small bundle on his back.

"Will you catch me if I fall?" I smiled, taunting him. I took a few more steps backwards, not removing my gaze from him as I edged closer to the wall. I could have quite easily stumbled and fallen down to the third level, if I was foreign to Minas Tirith. But I knew this city like the back of my hand. The boy's eyes widened slightly as I neared my hypothetical doom.

"My mother has not yet taught me how to bandage wounds properly, but I could carry you to her if you should get hurt." He said, subconsciously hovering a step closer, eyes flickering from mine to my feet.

"You're sweet." I smiled. "What is your name?"

"Aragorn." He said quietly.

"I'm Sara. Would you like to be friends?" I asked. His mouth twitched up at the corners, and he nodded. I held out my hand for him to take, and when he finally edged close enough to wrap his hand around mine I pulled him off to show him my world.

*

I smiled at the memory. Such fun we would have together. The tender age of seven-and-a-half was the perfect median. Not yet growing up, but not still a baby. This gave us the liberty to wander around close to our houses without our parents around. I remembered how he looked when he was nervous. His then dirty blonde hair had darkened significantly over the years, and the beard was something that took me from surprise when first I saw him.

His hair always was long, and it suited him. It used to hang over his face, covering the pale blue eyes he so often turned to the ground. Infinitely strong, he was. Able to give me piggyback rides while running through the streets, carrying me to his mother whenever I got hurt, and letting me stand on his shoulders when I felt like being sneaky.

Such a devious little girl I was. But it was all innocent fun, and I didn't mean to drag him into my gypsy-like choices. My mother didn't exactly condone my affinity for running the streets, but she knew I wasn't stealing or getting into trouble. I just liked to pretend, and Aragorn liked to see what I saw. For two years we were inseparable, spending more time with each other than we did with our own families.

Sometimes, after my mother would call me inside to sleep, he would sneak in my window to see me. Usually we'd just build a castle with my blanket and pillows and pretend it was a secret place where no one could find us. We'd talk and make up stories long past both of our bedtimes. Sometimes, I'd even fall asleep. And when I woke up, I'd be tucked back into my bed as if he was never there at all. And then there was the times we would sneak out. Dangerous times, those were.

*

Cold wind blowing through my hair, cold stone robbing the heat from my body as I sat. I had shown him this place the second week we'd befriended one another, and it was the best place in the whole world. Or at least, that's what I had always thought. There was a little nook just big enough for two that overlooked five levels of Minas Tirith. The city was quiet, but neither of us really liked noise anyways. The crickets in the distance were noise enough. To a nine year old things were better without adults around telling you what to do.

"Aragorn, you are smart, right?" I asked, guilty of destroying the very silence we were floating in.

"Somewhat, I believe. What is it?"

"What's love?" I asked. "My mother and father say that they are in love. They kiss a lot and hug. Is that all love is?" He looked pensive, digesting all I had said and carefully devising the correct answer. Aragorn knew everything. Everything.

"I think love is when you do not wish to be parted from someone, and it saddens your heart when they are gone. When you want to share your days with them and wish them happiness forever and ever."

"Really?" I asked, looking over at him. He nodded once.

"I believe that to be true." He replied. Even though he spoke with a slightly serious tone, I'd learned to decipher his emotions from slight changes in pitch or difference in body language. I reached my hand over and worked hard to figure how to put our fingers together, like I had seen my parents do so many times before.

"There." I said proudly, smiling at my success. He looked at what I had done for a few moments, looking over our joined hands carefully.

"What is this?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I see my mother and father do it when they walk together." I replied, and then scrunched up my nose. Laughing, I added "But then they kiss."

His smile was my favourite thing to look at. It was bright and always unexpected. I basked in it's beauty, and then his teeth retreated behind his lips and I was left with a slight upturn of his mouth. His eyes remain fixed on me.

"What?" I asked.

"What do you mean by this?" He asked. I smirked, seeing the game he was playing.

"Love does not sound so odd when you describe it."

*

"Now come the days of the king. May they be blessed..."

I watched as he rose from his knees, the crown of kings now placed upon his head. He was head to toe in new clothing and was freshly groomed. But those eyes and those lips stayed the same. He was still the same Aragorn I had known when I was little. He looked at the entire crowd- the entire city that had gathered on the seventh and usually off limits level for this marvelous ceremony.

"This day does not belong to one man, but to all. Let us together rebuild this city in the days of peace." He announced in a voice much deeper than I had imagined. But then again, I had only ever heard his young voice. He began to sing a few lines of a song in a language I didn't know, but it was beautiful. No doubt something Elvish.

Gondor had been king less for too long a time. With each day that passed the people of Gondor lost hope. And lost it again, and again. Eventually Lord Denethor became Steward. He ruled with an iron fist and a tyrannical attitude. No one could do anything, and as Mordor began to rise the city became darker and darker. Osgiliath was attacked eventually, and the south bank was claimed for Mordor. That's when news of Aragorn, the heir of Elendil had showed up.

Where he was, no one knew for sure. Rumours flew that he was with King Theoden of Rohan, but why he hadn't come to rule was a mystery. To them. I knew why he was staying away from Gondor. I knew why he had disappeared off of Middle Earth for numerous years, and I knew why he left me to finish growing up by myself.

Here, Aragorn, Isildur's heir slowly walked down the path. He was bowed to by adoring citizens and friends alike, and bowed back. The respect he showed, the humble smile and lack of arrogance- it screamed at me. My brain flew off the handle, bells and whistles ringing to say "It's him! He's here, he's returned, and he has not changed!"

He passed me, and our eyes met. For a brief moment my breath was stolen, and I had no need for air. We connected. Recognition filled his eyes as he tried to pinpoint who I was, where he had seen me, why I was so familiar. I smiled, bowing with the rest of the people in the second row. When I rose he was still hovering, but pushed on. I wondered if he was remembering what I was.

*

"Sara...I have to leave." His voice was quiet, but regret was a tone he could never hide. I stared at him, speechless for the first time in my 11 year old life.

"No you don't, you are always late Aragorn. Your mother knows that." I said, nervous feelings stirring within me. He sighed, slowly taking my hand in his.

"I'm leaving Minas Tirith, Sara." He said. I slowly shook my head.

"You can't" I whispered. "We have so much to do...So much to see. You'll never come back and I'll be alone forever!" I whined, hoping that by chance a guilt trip would coerce him into staying.

"I must go. My mother is taking me tonight to Rivendell, she says it's safer there-"

"It's safe here!" I cried, little balls of salty water welling in my eyes. It was the first time in my life I'd cried over something that wasn't an injury. Although, this was a different type of injury. One that was inside of me.

"If I could stay Sara, I would." He said, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Then take me with you." I begged. He sighed quietly. Without warning he gently lowered his lips to mine. The shock set my eyes wide open, and they stayed that way until he retracted. I was blushing, I was sure of it. "What was that for?"

"I did not want you to miss out because I am leaving." He said. "I'll come back, I promise."

And with that, he was gone. Slipping out of my grasp and molding into the shadows. Gone. Leaving me with nothing but the misplaced air tainted with the fresh memory of him before me. Alone.

*

I was ecstatic to know he was here, alive, healthy. I had worried about him all the time, for the numerous years he was gone. He was always in my prayers, he was always in my thoughts. I had almost loved after his departure, but it wasn't the same. There was something missing, a part of me that Aragorn had accidentally taken when he left.

Although, technically, it belonged to him. It was just slightly difficult to function on a day to day basis when you had a hole inside of you. Sometimes I wondered if he was dead, but as much as my brain considered it, my heart wouldn't go near that thought with a ten foot pole.

Here he was. In the city, up on the seventh level while I now sat on the wall of the sixth. Our spot. I traced my hands over the brick where he used to sit. When we would watch the world be affected by time until our eyelids were heavy and our bedtimes were long since past.

"Sara?"

My eyebrows squished together as I slowly turned. My eyes then proceeded to widen.

"You...remember?" I breathed. A smile played on his lips. He had changed out of the elaborate clothing and was in comfortable and slightly torn clothes. I got up as he responded, taking a few steps towards him.

"I promised." He whispered. A smile broke across my face as I leapt at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and holding him close. I felt the oh so familiar sensation of watering eyes and did not attempt to halt the tears' descent down my face.

"I thought you'd never come back." I admitted, winding my hand in his when we finally pulled away from one another. He smiled, looking down at the gesture.

"What is this?" He asked, holding up our hands. I bit my lip, smiling.

"It's this weird thing I saw my mother and father do, right before-"

"They kissed." He finished. I smiled wider, knowing what was coming. He placed his hands on either side of my face, pulling my lips to his. His hands held my face gently, his thumb brushing against my cheek as I grabbed fistfuls of his vest, keeping him in his place. When we finally ripped away, I wanted to do nothing more than pull him back, my mind still having trouble wrapping around the fact that he was here.

"You're staying?" I asked, my eyes happy to meet the sight of his looking down at me.

"Forever." He replied.

"And Ever."