It All Makes Sense (Éomer x Fem! Ranger!Reader)
So sorry this took so long, @sketch-and-write-lover I hope you enjoy your request!
Warnings: None
The feelings started early, the sensation of coolness starting at your sternum and spreading to your shoulders consumed your conscious stream of thought as you wandered through the grasslands of Gladden Fields. The sun was beaming but you were encased in coldness as if you were walking bare through a snowy ridge.
Mortified that you were falling under an ailment, you sought after the nearest Apothecary shop you could find, only to discover you weren’t under any mysterious ailment of the body, but rather a condition of the soul. A soulmate, to be specific.
“You must have crossed paths before, otherwise the feelings wouldn’t have begun at all,” The woman spoke gently to you, as if she was trying to explain the occurrence to a small babe.
You remembered how you sat, body so cold and frigid as you stared at the aging wooden walls.
“Are you alright, dear?”
Never before would you have thought that you would have hated your ranger lifestyle, the constant travel was a thrill and no matter how tired your bones felt after a day of travelling, your soul felt full of happiness as you recalled each amazing landscape. But on this day, you felt betrayed, angry, and lost.
“I am afraid I am not alright, madam,” You spoke as a tear slipped down your cheek.
“I met my own soulmate, somehow, and didn’t even realize it.”
Since that meeting you were determined to find them, travelling only where your body began to feel warm and on the mornings where you felt the warmest, only then was your soul full of happiness for you knew you were getting closer.
“On the day you meet them again, when you two are reconnected, you will both feel as if you are burning,” You recalled the woman’s words as she gave you herbs to help ease the bitter cold on that fateful day.
“Your souls will be burning to interact, dying to connect.”
“How do I make it stop?”
“When you two finally physically touch.”
Lately though, you began to notice you would feel warm one moment and frigid the next. ‘Whoever they are…Maybe they are trying to find me too?’ You thought late at night as your eyes danced over the map of Middle-Earth, your finger circling over Rohan.
“But gods I wish they would just sit still.” You murmured, blowing out your lantern after rolling the map back up and sticking it in your pack. As you listened to the chirping of crickets, your eyes slipped shut and a sense of peace washed over you as you began to sleep.
-
As you approached the Southern hill of Rohan, your heart plummeted into your gut as the feeling of a winter’s chill crawled through your chest. “They aren’t here,” You murmured, staring up at the large wooden gate, the mighty border walls encircling the capital city of Rohan. Edoras.
Crossing through the gates, your eyes wandered as you took in every bit of the city. Soon, the sound of hooves met your ears, followed by the sensation of warmth beginning to thaw out the feeling of ice on your chest. “It cannot be,” You turned, seeing what appeared to be army men riding in on horses.
Ever since that day, you’ve awaited this very moment, yet now that it was here you were terrified. Excitement now turned fear as you recalled every thought that usually trickled into your brain during the dead of the night.
Dismissing these insecurities as best you could, a wince almost came to the surface on your expression as you thought about one thing in particular. What if he didn’t want you? Sure, you were a wonderful person, but Edoras was the city where kings and nobles were buried, surely someone riding with the protectors of the city would be considered high status-
“It’s you,” A voice pulled you out of your daydreaming to see the line of horses long gone, only to leave one man standing in front of you.
You not only missed the knowing looks as the fellow army men left their marshal, but you missed the urgency to which he clambered off his horse and handed the reins off to them so he could approach you with haste. The burning in your chest was undeniable as he walked towards you.
“It is…” You didn’t know what more to say as the corner of your lips curled, a smile taking hold on your face as his own expression mirrored yours.
“I am Eomer, Third Marshal of the Mark, and you are?” He held out his hand to you, to which you took, your hand feeling ignited with a spark before the rush of warmth in your chest you were so used to began to settle into your normal body temperature.
Telling him your name, you felt complete as he guided you through the city, comfortable conversation flowing as his hand stayed on the small of your back.
“You know,” You paused sipping from your soup bowl to look at your soulmate, examining the way his blond hair was lit up by the light of the fire of the inn you were staying at. “I searched for you, for so long,” You began, eyes dropping to the contents of your bowl while swirling your spoon.
“Did you look for me?” You questioned, finally looking up to see him looking at you.
“Every moment I could,” Eomer responded, his light hearted attitude replaced with a stone-cold seriousness as he took in your features, knowing he will never once get used to the way his heart flutters when you smile, or the ache he feels when that smile is lost.
“When I was not fulfilling orders to the king, I was riding from the Druadan Forest to the Green Way towards the Shire.” His hand moved to hold yours, the warmth of it making your body want to lean into his embrace and never leave.
“I wanted to do anything I could to find you,” His thumb rubbed against your knuckles as he spoke, seemingly to reassure himself that he did find you, that this wasn’t another cruel lucid dream.
Feeling a bit embarrassed at your own question, you grinned sheepishly as you ate another spoonful of soup.
“I never believed in soulmates,” Eomer began, pulling your attention from your soup. “I didn’t believe you could love one person upon just barely meeting them,” His words had your breath hitching in your throat as he continued speaking.
“But one look at you, and suddenly it all made sense.” Was all he could say when in reality he wanted to explain that the minute his eyes fell to your form standing on the side of the road, it felt like everything aligned just perfectly like how the moon aligns with the sun for an eclipse, how it felt like the air was pulled from his chest but at the same time it felt like the first time he could properly breathe.
How one look at you, his beloved, his everything, the stories of soulmates made sense. The stories of whirlwind romance and intense love, all made perfect and logical sense.
“-And I knew then, that if I didn’t already love you at this very moment, I certainly would soon.”
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