Author:  washow

Title:  The Miracle

Rating:  G

Summary:  Severely injured Aragorn curls up under a bush, thinking he will have to suffer alone and perhaps even die alone but then he gets a miracle.

Disclaimer:  I am writing this purely for my entertainment and am making no money from this piece of fan fiction.

The Miracle

       Aragorn slowly began his ascent to consciousness but as he did the aches and pains returned with a vengeance.  Finally, just as he was about to open his eyes he noticed something was amiss with his surroundings.  The last thing he remembered was dragging himself under a low bush to wait for morning so he could tend his wound but now he sensed a fire nearby, which should not have been since the Dúnedain chieftain was alone on this patrol.  The man instinctively tensed, who had found him while he was incapacitated?  Was this friend or as was more likely foe, which now had him at their mercy?  Realizing that he would never find out if he didn’t open his eyes and face the inevitable Aragorn slowly let his eyes open and blinked at the sudden assault of light.  When his head stopped pounding he took the chance and slowly turned his head so he could see his surroundings, the man was astounded when he found himself lying, unbound, near a small fire.  Even greater than his surprise at being unbound was his shock at being alone, he had figured there was another near, be they friend or foe.  Confused but feeling stronger than he had expected to, Strider gently rolled onto his side and placed his hands on the ground in order to push himself to his feet, he felt the best policy was to get out of sight until this unknown person or persons returned to the camp.  Just as he was about to push himself upright he heard a light rustling behind him and before he could convince his body to turn toward this new mystery someone had knelt behind him and gently pressed on his shoulders- urging him to lie down again.  The man was confused but refused to be manhandled by an unknown person so he invested all of his minimal strength into fighting to stay as he was.

      “Please, my son do not fight me just lie back and let your body heal.”

      Aragorn froze as his confused mind tried to make sense of what was just said, as he was concentrating his defenses were lowered and he was pressed back to the earth.  When the ranger became aware of what had just happened he looked up and saw the loving face of his father looking back at him.  “Ada?  How can this be?”  The man did not bother to wait for an answer from his father but continued as if he were talking to himself, “I must be dying, and in my last moments you have come to me as a vision.  Strange, although I hurt I thought dying would feel much worse than this.”

      The ancient elf smiled at his foster son and lovingly stroked the man’s cheek, forcing him to meet the elf’s eyes, “You are not dying nor am I a vision.  I am real and although your wound was infected you will live.”

      The man squinted his eyes at his father, “I do not understand, how did you come to be here?”

      The elf lowered himself until he was sitting next to his son, “I could sense you needed me, so I packed my horse and followed my heart to you.”  Elrond closed his eyes as his heart lurched at the horrible memory which was coming to the surface.  The memory of how he had found his youngest son wedged under a bush; cold, alone and very close to death.  During those first few days he had wondered if his youngest would pull through this time but he was reminded of the resilience of the Dúnedain when the man had began to get better just the previous morning.  Aragorn watched as his father’s eyes grew distant and knew he was reliving some ugly memory, and given the present circumstances probably some ugly memory about him.  The man let the ancient elf wonder in the past for a few moments but finally decided it was time to bring him out of him and gently shook his father’s shoulder while calling his name.

     Elrond shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts and once more focused on the man who was so desperate to gain his attention, “I am here my son.”  Elrond reassured the youth.

     “You seemed so far away for a moment.”  The man quietly justified his anxiety then moved the conversation away from what had just transpired, “Did you manage to get out of Imladris alone?”

     The elf lord smiled as he shook his head, “No my son, the lord of the valley I may be but I could not evade those who would follow me.  Your brothers are near, once they heard you were recovering they had an errand to run but they should be back later this evening or perhaps tomorrow morning.”  The man went to ask another question but Elrond cut him off, “No more now, just rest until they return.”

     Aragorn wanted to resist the urge to sleep but as always found he was incapable of denying his father anything and gently fell into a healing sleep.  Hours later the man once more woke but found that unlike his last awakening he was not alone, having in fact more company than one would expect in the wilderness for there around the fire were his two brothers and father.  He struggled to get to his feet for he had missed his brothers and desperately wanted to greet them but found his weakness kept him from springing to his feet as he once would have, instead he fumbled and would have ended up falling on his face if it was not for the older twin, “Easy there little one, we just got you back I would not have you hurting yourself again so soon.”

     The man leaned into the hug and accepted one from the younger twin as well before letting himself be lead over to the fire.  Elrohir smiled gently at his human brother, “It warms my heart to see you on the mend Estel, and on this night especially.”

     The man was about to ask what was so special about this night when Elladan suddenly appeared from the darkness carrying a pile of parcels.  The older twin settled himself down by the fire and pushed the packages toward his brother.  Aragorn looked at the packages which were now in front of him then at each of his family members in turn, “What are these for?”

      Elrohir smiled warmly at his brother, “For being here Estel, especially since we thought we would never get to see you like this ever again.  Happy birthday Estel.”

     And so the little family celebrated in that hidden glade out in the wilderness of Middle Earth.  Three of them had been called to the aid of the fourth for that is what families do – come to the aid of the others.  And while there they celebrated for that is also what families do, especially when it so easily could have turned out differently.

                                                THE END