West of the Moon, East of the Sun

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Author: Kenaz
Email: kenazfiction@gmail.com
Beta: Larien Elengasse
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Aragorn/Halbarad
Summary: Near the ruins of the Hornburg, Halbarad has stories to tell.
Written for Talullah Red, Ardor in August 2008.

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And Aragorn said: "Now I know what you bear. Bear it still for me a while!" And he turned and looked away to the North under the great stars, and then he fell silent and spoke no more while the night's journey lasted.
- Return of the King, "The Passing of the Grey Company"

"Tell me a story, Halbarad."

Comments

[ennorwen.livejournal.com]

Oh, God Kenaz - I can't tell you how much I love this story - the very first line created a lump in my throat that never went away. Appreciated that you allowed a lot of each of their different facets come out - the love, the nobility, the understanding, but also the fun and banter in their reminiscence.

Their innate understanding of one another made it just that much harder to bear. Halbarad's burden, twice - three times over.

I think you've had this one in you for a long time, yes?

This was one of those scenes that I looked so forward to in the movies (Aragorn and the palantir) - and however much I loved the movies, this is one that they just blew all to hell. Arwen dying, my ass. I think even beyond Faramir's mischaracterization, I loathed what they did to Aragorn. The whole sword thing, too.
And almost no hint to his loving relationship with Elrond. Notwithstanding their "understanding" of the Arwen situation.

Well, I digress. Thank you so much for restoring Aragorn's nobility and Halbarad's sacrifice and friendship to their proper place. Even beyond loving this story, I appreciated it.

[erviniae.livejournal.com]

This was just a beautifully written story.
I am not that eloquent to express myself in the way I want to, but it was wonderful. :)

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Ervy! I'm glad you liked it!

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

I thought for a while that this was the fic that was going to kill me. This was the one that was going to drive me to drink. I all but dangled my laptop out the window by its power cord and it fought me every step of the way.

But it finally came together, though every last word was hard-won. And I actually like it, far more than I initially believed I would.

There's just so much love between the two of them, but they both know the nature of that love. Frankly, I was concerned about writing such a low-rated piece for an exchange that usually skews toward wonderful smut, but it just wouldn't have been right here. It wouldn't have been honest. At the end of the day, it's all pretty much right there in the first lines: Aragorn gives him choices-- to escape his fate, and to taste for one last time what he most wanted-- knowing full well that Halbarad will always make the right, if devastating, choice for them both. It really sort of broke my heart, but it couldn't be any different than it was.

I, too, would have liked to have seen the Palantir scene in the movies, but failing that, I'll have to write my own scenes and craft my own conclusions.

Thank you so much for your kind words. It's a relief to have written something after such a dry spell and find that people I respect find it a worth-while read.