[Crystal Heart]

Crystal got up from the table and headed out to the stables. She just didn't know if she could stay anymore. She wanted to look at the horses, to get a sense of freedom.

She walked in and noticed others, but didn't give them much thought. She went over to a horse that she had seen before and stroked its face softly. She over heard someone talking about a non true Rohan horse, but she didn't care. She had no other reasons to fear people from Rohan since her father's death. It just wasn't important any longer.

The disappearance of Angry Brandybuck made her incredibly sad. She had to wonder if he was with his parents and his parents-whom she had already met-had taken him and brought him back home. She was sure that it was it. They hadn't been very happy with the thought of a human woman staying in his hobbit hole, but they had been furious with the fact of their love for each other. Or that is what Crystal had originally thought. She had thought that they did love each other, that they would marry and live happily ever after. She had been wrong.

"Crystal?" A deep voice asked her as she stood there. She turned, her eyes widening. Arty, her Arty was standing there. Alive! There was no way possible. She had seen her father kill him when he was just a lad, almost pushing Crystal over the edge of sanity. Yet, there he stood all grown up.

"Arty?" She asked him, not wanting to believe what her eyes saw. He nodded. She stepped backward and hit the wood of the stall.

"How can it be? My father killed you!" She said in shock. He smiled and stepped forward. He took her hand in his.

"He didn't kill me. He wounded me. He thought he killed me as well. Bartholomew even thought I was dead. He has no idea. I heard you were residing in this place, this Shire as they call it. I had to come and find you since your father was killed by me." He said quickly.

She swallowed hard. The death of her father had come at the hands of her love? The man that she had always thought about each and everyday.

"How did you pull off being supposedly dead. And how did you kill my father?" She asked him, totally bewildered.

"I don't know how I pulled off being supposedly dead, but I saw him and decided to take out my revenge. He separated us, I shall never forgive him for that."

"Do you have any idea what I have been through, Arty? Do you? I have been grieving your death for years. I still have. I continuously think about you and wish that my father hadn't done what he had done. You don't realize how angry I am at you. Besides I have moved on."

There was a deep silence that came over them. He looked at her in shock and there was the thread of hurt that she knew all too well. His eyes were the same shocking blue that they always had been and his hair that chestnut brown she loved so much. He had become a man in the time that she had thought he was "dead." He had grown up and she had to wonder if he was thinking the same things about her. She had changed, had grown up during his absence. She had gone through so much since she had thought her father had killed him, and yet here he was in front of her. And she had just told him she had moved on.

In actuallity she hadn't in her mind. Yes, she and Angry had talked about getting married and things of that nature-but she had always had to fight to keep Arty from her mind. Two men, both named Arthur and both with a nickname -she had no idea what to do.

"Who is the lucky man?" He asked her softly.

"A hobbit."

His eyes widened, "A hobbit?" She nodded.

"Why a hobbit? Why?" He asked her angrily.

"He acted as if he loved me."

"As if he loved you. Where is this hobbit. I'll fight him for your hand."

"He is not here, Arty. He has disappeared and I can not find him."

"Why? Did he leave? Did he decided that you were not good enough for him?"

"I don't know. There was nothing taken from his home."

"And you know that how?"

"I live with him."

"Unmarried?!"

"Yes."

"That's blasphemy against all your morals, Crystal!"

"Well I thought you were dead! Besides I had an illness. He saved me from dying!"

"But he's a hobbit!"

"What do you care?!"

"I care because I love you still, Crystal!!"

"WELL MAYBE I STILL LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!"

The arguement stopped. They stood in front of each other, just looking at each other. Tears welled up in Crystal's eyes. Arty took her in his arms and held her as she cried. He kissed her forehead gently.

"I love you, Crystal."

"I love you too. Don't leave me again." He nodded as he just held her. They were together once more, nothing would drive them apart not even the hobbit if he ever returned.