Iston POV

We spend the next few weeks rebuilding the city of Minas Tirith and sending out orcs raids. It's oddly simple compared to everything we've been facing for the past few months. I spend most of my time as close to my friends and brothers as possible.

I also start to teach Éothain how to use a sword. Sometimes Aragorn joins in on the lessons too. One day, I stumble upon Éothain teaching the other boys his age the things I've taught him and my heart swells.

I'm not surprised when the elves arrive first for the coronation. Thranduil and a small band of Mirkwood elves are the first and then, not two days later, my father arrives. A week later, the dwarf lords come and the streets of the city teem with men, elves, and dwarves for the first time in history.

***

Aragorn POV

Iston and I stand on the outlook looking over Minas tirith.

"It's quite impressive." He says looking down at the people below. "To see so many come together."

"I never thought I'd see the day where elves and dwarves even consented to be in the same city as each other." I say with a smile.

I'm nervous. I know I shouldn't be.

"Where will you go now that this is all over?" I ask and he gives me a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... stay here, with me, in Gondor. Please."

This is not going as smoothly as I had hoped. I know it may sound desperate, and in a way it is. He's not the only good thing in my life but in it all, he is the best thing in my life. I do not doubt that he loves me, but I still question his willingness to stay here. I know how important his family is to him and I know he might want to go back to his life of traveling. I've been thinking about this since the moment I found out he loved me too.

"Aragorn." He looks at me softly. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"Only if you want me to." I respond, looking into his eyes.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping you."

I take both of his hands in mine and kneel in front of him.

"Iston, Elvion Celevonor, son of Elrond of Rivendell, Lightbringer of Imladris Karningul and Lorien," He shakes his head smiling as I say his full name "Iston. I never expected for one moment that I would meet you on this journey but we have been through this all together. And there is nothing in this word that I want more than to continue to go through life together. I love you with every part of who I am. Will you marry me?"

He kneels in front of me so our eyes meet.

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur, king of Gondor. Estel. We have been to hell and back together. I love you with my soul, the stars, the ground beneath our feet. I would be honored to continue on in this life with you. Nothing in this world would bring me more joy than to marry you." He says with certainty.

I look into his eyes and I'm suddenly filled with so much peace. Because this moment is real and that we made it this far. And that we will continue on together. I stand, still holding his hands, and he rises with me. I pull him into a kiss by his waist. His hands clasp behind my head as he kisses back. I hear cheering and we pull away to look around.

Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gandalf, Legolas, Eomer, Gimli, and Elrond watch us from a distance across the courtyard. Which is too many people considering that I only told Elrond and Legolas of my plan to propose today. Merry and Pippin cheer loudly. Gimli jumps in excitement. The rest clap.

"Somehow I feel both heartwarmed and violated." Iston says, trying not to laugh.

"I wasn't done kissing you." I say.

"Good because I was feeling the same." He leans forward this time. And we kiss and I don't worry for one second about anything coming next.

***

Aragorn POV

I enter his rooms without knocking. He sits at the window, reading a book from the library of Gondor.  I watch him for a minute. He looks so tranquil in the filtered light. He looks up suddenly.

"Walk with me?" He says.

"Gladly." I respond. We fall into step along the corridor. We pass through a hall decorated with portraits of kings past.

"There is something I wanted to ask you about." He starts,

"Of course."

"You won't admit it, but you are worried about your family line continuing. It is understandable."

"Iston. There is nothing to worry about." He's right. I am worried but not enough to start being really concerned now.

"It is if you're worried about it."

"If you're going to ask me if I want to marry a woman again, I swear..." I start but he cuts me off.

"I won't." He looks oddly nervous. "But... I had an idea, although you may not like it."

I look at him expectantly. He sighs.

"You know how much love I have for Éothain and his sister, I... I don't think I could leave them now. And I'd like to raise them, as wards of Gonor or, if you would agree to it, take them in as our own." I've never seen him so on edge and worried. Which is laughable because it's almost like he lives in my head sometimes. I've watched the way he interacts with those kids and I've spent more time with them myself. Éothain, he reminds me of me. I don't know what more perfect answer I could ask for besides adopting them.

"You ask it as if I would be doing you a favor, but I've been thinking the same thing for a while now." I respond. I take both his hands in mine and face him. "I... have always wanted a family and this can be ours."

I realize that Iston is crying and I wipe away his tears with my thumb. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just... Never truly thought we would get here. Some part of me always assumed we would die by the end of the war. And I'm just so glad we didn't."

"I am too." I smile at him. "Do you want to go ask them then? If they want to be part of our family?"

"Aragorn... the thing is, I still have my gift from the Valor left. And if Éothain decides to, I want to offer them the option to become immortal as well. I don't think I could stay alive just to watch my children grow old and die. And Éothain would have to make that decision."

"Oh." Sometimes I forget how being anywhere near Elvion usually means that any situation is complicated. 

"It doesn't matter to me what they want to do, but I want to give them all the options. We can take them on as wards, or adopt them." Iston says firmly. He's very set on them making the choice. It would be Éothain deciding, Freda is too young, but I trust him to make a good choice for them both.

"Yes." I don't have anything else to add. I agree with him.

"You're not saying enough."

"I have nothing else to say. I agree with you and you are so very clearly excited about this" I smile at him. He practically glows with happiness.

"I'm meeting Éothain outside the gates to practice swords, should we ask him about it? He would have time to think about it." Iston asks. I nod and we loop back around the halls and out onto the streets. He grabs my hand and laces his fingers in mine.

We pass Legolas and his father and he raises a hand towards us. Thranduil gazes down at us. I nod my head at them. I don't think Legolas has told his father about him and Eomer but I want to hear all about that conversation when it happens.

We leave the city and out into the plains. I see Éothain sitting against the wall. He has a wooden practice sword in his hands and he jumps up when he sees us. I finally got him to stop calling me "my lord" and look me in the eyes a few weeks ago.

"Hello." He says, grinning. He must be able to tell something is different because he looks at us curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." Iston says. "

"In fact, it might just be the opposite of wrong." I add.

"Okay? You're being weird." The boy says, glancing between us. 

"Éothain, we wanted to ask you something. But you don't have to answer now alright."

"Okay?" The boy looks between us. Elvion looks at me as if prompting me to speak.

"We were wondering, if you would want us to take you and your sister in? To raise you here in Minas Tirith. We understand that it won't change the loss of your parents but we would love to have you as part of our family." I try to choose my words carefully. 

He looks shocked but I don't think he should be. It's very clear how much we care for him and his sister. But I guess he didn't expect it.

"You mean, you want to adopt me and Freda?"

"Yes." Iston.

"But that would mean... I would be..." Éothain seems to be trying to add everything it would mean up in his head. 

"Next in line for the throne of Gondor."

"I couldn't do that. I'm just a farm boy."

"When children are born into noble families, the only thing that separates their ability to be great leaders from those who are born on farms is the fact that they are taught how to. You are smart, good with a sword, and already a good leader. There is nothing you can't do and where you were born certainly doesn't change that."

Éothain just stands there. He's already trying to process it but Iston isn't done talking.

"And if you decide you do want to be adopted by us, you have a second choice to make. You know that I, as an elf am immortal. Aragorn has also been given immortality. And it can be gifted to you as well, if that's something you want." 

Elvion seems to realize how much he's saying and how confusing and overwhelming it must be and looks towards me. 

"You don't have to choose now. You can have all the time in the world if you need it." I say.

"I don't need any time to decide," Éothain says looking back and forth between me and Iston. "Freda and I have no home to go back to. And, well, we like you two a lot. And you like us. I think my parents would have wanted us to be happy and to grow up with good people around us. So it's not really a choice. Of course we would want to be taken in by you." He nods as if he's making sure we understand. "I'm not sure about the immortality thing yet. I want to think about that one."

"This is why you'll be a good king," I look down at him. "Because you know what you need and you care so much."

He surprises me by hugging me. As I feel him wrapped in my arms, I realize that this is my son. I have a son. And he's already such a good person.

He pulls away from our embrace and hugs Iston. Then we all stand back and look at each other.

"So what now?" Éothain asks.

"I think, we find your sister. And we have dinner. Just the four of us." Elvion says. And I like that idea. A family dinner. Our family.

"Can we practice with the swords first?" He asks.

"Yes." Elvion and I respond at the same time.

We practice for a while and I have to say, he is remarkably good with a sword for how little he's used one. The sun starts to set and we start our walk back towards the city.

"What's that?" Éothain asks, looking over his shoulder. I turn to see a white white blur on the horizon. Elvion squints and then his eyes widen.

"It's Galadriel. With Celeborn and Arwen." He says in amazement.

"Who?"

"My grandparent's and niece." He explains.

They're still far enough away where we climb the steps and wait just inside the city for them, asking the guards to wait to close the gate for nightfall. The word seems to spread and Legolas and Thranduil come to wait to greet her. We're soon joined by Elladan, Elrohir, and Elrond. Gimli shows up with a few other dwarves. Finally the hobbits appear with Gandalf in tow.

Six white horses ride through the gate and stop just inside the city. Galadriel is flanked by her husband, Arwen, Haldir, and two other Lorien elves. Celebrain gets off his horse to help his wife to step to the ground.

Elvion walks forward, his brothers and father just behind him.

"Im did ú- think cin would tul-. (I did not think you would come)." He says,

"Nin hén, mín would ú- miss hi. (My child, we would not miss this)." Galadriel responds with a smile. She's glowing in the dim light. Arwen jumps off her horse and rushes to her father, pulling him into a big hug. Elrohir kneels down to hug her more closely and everyone else moves in to greet one another. People walking by watch us.

Éothain hangs back from the group. He looks confused on what he's supposed to do and he sort of moves behind me.

"You'll have to meet them at some point." I say to him quietly. He nods and follows me as I go to greet Galadriel. She smiles at me and takes both my hands in hers.

"You have done well, Aragorn of Gondor." She says,

"I'm pleased you chose to come here."

"You have brought many different people together here. It brings me joy to see it."

She glances down at Éothain who looks up shyly.

"Suilad (hello)" He says very quietly. Iston must be teaching him some elvish. Galadriel bends down to look him in the eyes.

"You are going to be quite special, Éothain son of Gondor." She says kindly. "I welcome you and your sister into my family gladly."

He seems to become less nervous as she talks to him and Arwen bounces up to us.

"I'm Arwen." She says, and then goes back to correct herself. "I am Arwen, Daughter of Elrohir and evenstar of Rivendell."

"I am Éothain..." He seems unsure of what to say next, but then confidently says, "Son of Aragorn of Gondor and Elvion of Rivendell."

I feel so much pride for him at this moment. He glances back at me as if to make sure what he said was alright.

Elvion walks up beside me and looks around, smiling.

"Look at them all." He says, "This is incredible. You did this. And it's wonderful."

"I'm just grateful they all agreed to come." I watch Gimli introduce one of the other dwarf lords to Galadriel. 

"We are, however, standing in the middle of the street. Shall we take them up to the hall?" I laugh at his words.

"Yes."

We start to round them up and they start their way through the streets, cutting through the people who watch them as they pass. Éothain runs ahead with Arwen, they already seem like they will be good friends. Galadriel is still talking to Gimli, who is gesturing with his hands. I see Eomer talking to Legolas and Thranduil. Faramir and Elrohir and Elladan seem to be deeply in discussion over something. Gandalf laughs with Elrond.

Elvion leans in and kisses me once. I pull him back in to keep kissing him. There is something about this that just feels so perfect.

"Hey!" Gimli yells back at us. "Try to keep up. You'll have plenty of time to do that tomorrow."

I almost forgot that we're getting married tomorrow.

Everyone in the group turns around to look at us. I shake my head at Gimli, amused. I step away and towards them but Elvion grabs my arm and kisses me again.

"Alright I'm done now." He says and we follow the rest of the group to the hall. 

See I told you, picture perfect endings. One more chapter after this!