Title: Christmas in Middle Earth
By: evans (aka Roswell428)
Written for the TTH Fic For All 2004 Holiday Challenge
Pairing: Buffy Summers and Eomer
Note: I have taken a little bit of liberty with the timeline. I'm putting Buffy as having been dropped into ME around May and when she and the rest of the fellowship meet the Riders of Rohan and Eomer, it will be the Christmas season. As I don't know how many months it took for the fellowship to reach Rohan, I'm just going to assume I've messed with the timeline slightly, and anyway, this is a Christmas fic. Also, slight liberty with the comings and goings of Eomer.
As Always, I Own Nothing…
Buffy Summers had always loved Christmas. When she was a little girl, she had diligently tried to be "good" for Santa. After growing up a little and learning of her calling, Buffy's faith had severely diminished. She no longer blindly believed in a jolly old man who only thought to do good- her thoughts became much more cynical. In fact, when she discovered just what kind of monster the real "Santa Clause" was, she wasn't really all that surprised.
Her feelings about Christmas had changed- that is, until she'd been stuck in Middle Earth for a while. After jumping into the portal for Dawn, she'd been dropped right into the middle of Rivendell. She'd gained their trust, attended the Council and become a part of the legendary fellowship, almost, as if, by accident.
She'd been in Middle Earth now for around 8 months and had formed fast friendships with the rest of the fellowship. She'd for the most part, gotten over her longings to go home and her missing of her friends. She'd always miss them to some degree, but she had finally realized that she needed to make a life in her new world, so she was putting her energy into doing just that.
That is, until she realized just what season it would have been at home.
The remaining members of the fellowship had been taking a brief break for some food, still in hot pursuit of the orcs holding Merry and Pippin, when Buffy's head had popped up sharply.
"Oh my God! It's Christmas," she exclaimed.
The rest of the fellowship (Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli) all looked at her strangely.
"What's this 'Christmas', lass," Gimli questioned her.
"Oh, it's this season at home where we celebrate the birth of Jesus and buy each other presents and everyone has good will and stuff like that," she responded, musing.
"I haven't been really big into Christmas in years," she continued, "Not since, well not for a while anyway… But I just realized, this is the first Christmas I'm gonna spend without my family." She looked down sadly.
"Oh cheer up, lass," Gimli said, causing her to look at him, "You'll still be with family this year."
"We are rather like a family, are we not? Yes, you will be with family this… Christmas," Legolas replied, trying out the strange word.
Aragorn just smiled at her.
As they resumed their journey after the orcs, Buffy felt her spirit lighten. She would celebrate Christmas this year, as she hadn't really in a while, if only to show her new friends the joys of Christmas.
It was not long until they ran into the Riders of Rohan with their terrible news. After their brief talk, Eomer had volunteered to show them were they had burned the orcs bodies.
As they rode along, Legolas asked Buffy to tell them more about "this Christmas" in an effort to lighten the mood. Buffy, taking the bait began to explain some of the holiday traditions such as decorating houses with lights and holly and mistletoe. When she got to mistletoe, Buffy blushed brightly and trailed off.
Eomer, noticing, thought she looked adorable when she blushed like that.
Gimli, with amusement asked, "What is mistletoe and why does it bother you?"
Buffy squirmed uncomfortably on her horse, and then replied, "Mistletoe's like this plant that people hang. When two people are underneath it, they have to kiss. It's where I had my first kiss." She was looking at the ground now.
For the rest of the short journey to where the riders had encountered the orcs, she was asked to describe mistletoe and what it looked like. She tried to answer them to the best of her ability, not ever having been really interested in the plant itself before, just what it stood for.
When she finished, Aragorn replied, grinning mischievously, "I believe we have a plant similar to that here."
Legolas looked at Buffy who was again turning a slight pink, "Oh yes, I believe we do as well. Mayhap we will run into some." He chuckled quietly while Gimli laughed uproariously. Even Buffy giggled slightly at her friends' mirth. Eomer just smiled at the beautiful girl and when Buffy noticed, she blushed even hotter.
Legolas, seeing his friend's reaction to the horse lord, resolved to try to find some of this mistletoe.
As they were leaving Fangorn forest, with Gandolf in tow, Legolas was studying the canopy intently. With a small grin, he stopped Buffy and Eomer for a moment. They both looked at him confused, until he pointed upwards and said, "I believe that is what you call mistletoe, is it not?"
Buffy turned pink and looked at him, her jaw falling open, and she said to the slightly grinning elf, "You planned this." She looked at Eomer helplessly and turned even pinker when she noticed the predatory gleam in his eyes and the way he looked about ready to devour her.
Legolas shrugged, "It matters not if I did or not. The fact remains that you are both standing under mistletoe and I believe custom requires that you kiss."
Gandalf looked at Aragorn with some confusion, wondering what was going on. Aragorn, with a shake of his head, promised to tell him later.
Buffy was aware that all eyes were on them as Eomer slowly lowered his head to capture her lips. And then, she didn't care. The whole world could have been watching and she wouldn't have cared. The only thing Buffy could think about was the fire his lips on hers created and the way she was longing to do much more than that, as she melted into his embrace.
Eomer was having similar thoughts. He had been intrigued and attracted by this beautiful creature the moment he saw her. Now all he wanted to do was lower her to the ground and ravish her right there, especially as he felt her response.
They finally came up for air when they heard a throat clearing in amusement. Both pairs of eyes whipped to Gandolf and both grinned sheepishly.
On their way to Rohan, Buffy and Eomer only grew closer. They talked as they kept watch together and shared more than a few kisses. When they reached the city and had freed Theoden, Eomer introduced her to his uncle. Theoden could only raise an eyebrow at their joined hands; he had never seen his nephew so taken with a woman before.
Buffy for her part, finally felt like a missing piece of herself was returning. True, she had loved Angel completely and part of her would always love him, but what she felt with Eomer went deeper than that and she had known him only briefly. A part of her was scared that she could come to feel so much for him in such a short time, but the rest of her just gave into the sensations that he caused in her. She had it bad.
After supper that night, though she had been assigned her own room, Buffy followed Eomer back to his. One thing led to another and then clothes were flying in every direction. In the warm afterglow, Buffy felt more at peace than she had for a long time. This had been the best experience she had ever had, and though her past experience had been rather limited, a part of her knew that it would never get better than what she had just shared with Eomer.
He caressed her cheek and said haltingly, "I… I love you, Buffy."
She found herself saying the words back and knew that they were true. She did love him. And as long as she was with him she could get through anything, even the upcoming war. With a mischievous glint in her eye, Buffy rolled him over for the fun to begin again. She could worry about the war tomorrow, right now she was the only place she wanted to be.