Title: May it be

Author: Elentirmo aka Misty

Rating: G

Beta: Rhonda

Disclaimers: I don't own any of this. It all belongs to Tolkien. The song 'May It Be' was sung by Enya at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, and it belongs to her, or whoever wrote it. Again, I don't own any part of it. I'm just borrowing it all for a little bit.

Summary: Aragorn's thoughts as he waits for the hobbits to appear in Bree.

A dark hooded figure stood in the shadows of the alley. Grey eyes searched the skies above the town until they found what they sought. A faint smile briefly touched the lips of the solitary figure before fading as if it had never been there, chased away by a silent sigh.

May it be an evening star

Shines down upon you

May it be when darkness falls

Your heart will be true

You walk a lonely road

Oh! How far you are from home

Aragorn gazed at Eärendil, lost in his thoughts. The sight of that star always reminded him of home and his family. He could still remember Lord Elrond teaching him the names and stories of the stars in the heavens. Thoughts of his family were always a little bittersweet. It had been so long since he had been back to Imladris. He had been a Ranger for most of his life, and that was a solitary existence. Most of his time was spent patrolling the borders of the Shire and the lands nearby. He did not get home frequently, but was at least able to exchange messages with them occasionally. What he had been hearing from Elrond and what the Rangers had been reporting, though, filled him with dread. The Nine, the Ring-Wraiths, were on the move. He and some of the other Rangers had already encountered a couple of the wraiths. They had all survived the encounters, but in some cases, it had been a near thing. Aragorn shifted his stance slightly and felt a tightness across his shoulders. He had not come from his last battle unscathed, though the wound was nearly healed. He had been lucky that the blade had not been a morgul blade or poisoned in any way, but the injury hampered his movement more than he liked.

Why now, after all this time, had the ring awoken? That was the question foremost on his mind. From what he had heard from Elrond and Gandalf, the ring had been in the possession of Bilbo Baggins for decades now. It had lain dormant, passive. But now that it had awoken, it was calling out to the wraiths, tying to get back to its Master. A wry grin briefly twisted his lips as he realized that many people would think him crazy for attributing intelligence to an inanimate object. But the One Ring was not simply an object. Sauron had put so much of himself, of his power into that ring that it was now a part of him. It may not think for itself, but it had an intent, a malice all its own. And for whatever reason, it had reawakened.

Aragorn still found it hard to believe that his irrepressible friend, Bilbo, had had the ring all this time, and no one had known it. When he met with Gandalf a few months ago, the wizard had informed him that Bilbo had left the Shire to travel to Imladris, leaving all his possessions, including the ring, to his nephew Frodo. Aragorn had never met Frodo, but he was very fond of the elder Baggins. As a child, he had met Bilbo in the halls of Imladris, and the two had quickly become friends. Bilbo loved telling stories, and Aragorn had loved listening to them.

Mornie utúlië (Darkness has come)

Believe and you will find your way

Mornie atlantië (Darkness has fallen)

A promise lives within you now

Sighing again, Aragorn thought about the danger that was actively hunting the ring. Bilbo would never have intentionally put his favorite nephew into danger, but that was what had happened. Darkness was sweeping across the land and hunting whoever had the ring. Frodo was now in more danger than he could ever have imagined. Aragorn vowed that he would do all in his power to protect the younger hobbit. He had gotten caught up in something that was not his fight.

'No', Aragorn thought darkly. This was not the hobbit's fight. It was his. After all, was it not his ancestor who had refused to destroy the ring when he had the chance? If Isildur had thrown the ring into the fires at the heart of Mount Doom, none of this would be happening now. Sauron would have been completely destroyed then, and this darkness would not now be covering the land and threatening the lives of all the free peoples of Middle Earth.

May it be the shadows call

Will fly away

May it be your journey on

To light the day

When the night is overcome

You may rise to find the sun

Mornie utúlië (Darkness has come)

Believe and you will find your way

Mornie atlantië (Darkness has fallen)

A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now

------'May it be' Enya ------

Intellectually, Aragorn knew that those events had happened long before he or his father, or even his father's father had been born, but he could not help feeling responsible, at least in part, for the fate of the ring. There was no way that he could make amends for the actions of his ancestors, but he would do whatever it took to keep the ring out of Sauron's hands. And right now, the best way to do that was to see Frodo and his companions safely to Imladris. Lord Elrond would know what now needed to be done.

Glancing around uneasily, Aragorn's thoughts returned to Frodo. On his way to Bree, he had come across four hobbits from the Shire heading in this direction. After eavesdropping on them, he knew that they were the ones he had come to find. He could not approach them on the road without frightening them, so he had remained hidden, and when he determined where they were heading, he had arranged to arrive before them. It had been long enough that he was growing worried. They should have been here by now. If he had left them and they were now in trouble, he would never forgive himself. Movement seen out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn and watch as four small figures made their way through the streets to the Prancing Pony Inn. A sigh of relief escaped him. They were safe…for the moment.

Aragorn vowed that he would do everything in his power to keep them thus. He feared facing the ring, knowing his ancestor had succumbed to the power of its call, but he knew that it was his responsibility to do whatever it took to keep the ring from falling into Sauron's hands. He would pledge his very life to this one goal, and maybe, he could begin to make up for Isildur's actions. With this thought clear in his mind, he looked briefly up at Eärendil, then turned to follow the hobbits into the Inn.

The End (You all know the rest of this story.)