Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, this story is just for my own pleasure and I don't make any money out of it.
This is actually a sequel to my story Help comes in unexpected ways. It may be good to read that one before reading this. It is also advisable to know Lord of the Rings.
It was three years after the destruction of Troy. The citizens who had been able to leave in time had travelled further to the east, led by none other than Prince Hector. When they arrived to a flat open plain far enough from the destroyed city yet close enough to the coast and to neighbouring villages the Trojans decided to build a new city.
All of them set to work, no distinction made between social classes, for once men of noble blood worked alongside simple merchants and even farmers, whose crops had been destroyed by the conquering Greeks and who had taken refuge in Troy. Hector helped with the building of the many houses, barracks, temples and the beginning of a strong wall, while his brother Paris occupied himself with the making of the plans on which the lay-out of the city was drawn.
When the new city was more or less completed they had to name it, they didn't want to call it Troy as it would've brought back to many bad memories and probably drawn the attention of the Greeks. And so they settled for the new name of Iranea.
Three years had passed now, three years of relative peace, with only small bands of bandits that had to be dealt with. Queen Andromache had graced Hector, who was now King of the city, with another child, a daughter whom they named Alexandra. Princess Helen also graced Prince Paris with twins, two sons as beautiful as their parents with a slightly mischievous air around them, probably inherited of their father. They were named Leodas and Anastax.
Paris walked through the halls of the palace watching his two sons play in the courtyard. Sometimes he thought he should've called them Merry and Pippin, in remembrance of two of his friends that had come to help them during the war. Those two were probably the worst pranksters he had ever met and it seemed the twins were taking after them.
The Prince sighed, thinking back of the mysterious people who had come to help them. Never had they even questioned them, from the very first moment they had landed outside his father's meeting room they had agreed to help the Trojans in this war. Paris often wondered how they were doing now, they had explained there was a Dark Lord in their world that had to be destroyed and that the nine of them had set out on a quest to fulfil that mission.
He thought back to the four Hobbits. Inquisitive little beings with an enormous appetite that shouldn't be normal for the actual size they were. Merry and Pippin the eternal pranksters, Sam the shy but helpful one always near Frodo. Frodo was the quietest of the four yet seemed to be extremely wise. He was the one who had to ultimately destroy the Dark Lord.
Then there was the dwarf Gimli, he had a very gruff exterior but on the inside he was a real softie. He liked a good laugh and a good drink. Despite his small stature he was an extraordinary warrior. Paris remembered when Hector told him that Gimli had fought the giant Ajax with his axe and nearly defeated him.
Boromir and Aragorn were the only two humans of the Fellowship, as they liked to call themselves. The two of them had become a bit like brothers to him. Boromir had listened to him and didn't judge him because he couldn't fight. In fact Boromir had often told him he reminded him of his own brother, who was more of a scholar as well. Aragorn was always there to give him advise he practiced fighting techniques with him sometimes. The man was very serious most of the times but could sometimes act so immaturely, playing pranks like the two Hobbits that Paris found it very easy to relax around the man. He remembered a time when the man had actually been betting during one of his father's meetings on how long it would take for the Dwarf to fall off his chair. Paris had to laugh at the memory, even Hector had been adding his own bets then, his brother seemed to have loosened up at their arrival s well. Paris knew Hector missed them as much as he did. Aragorn had also been a great source of comfort for Hector.
Gandalf was a wise wizard that had helped them greatly, he had managed to counsel their father well. He seemed to be the one keeping the group together everyone listened to him and without him Paris believed it would probably have been impossible to keep the two Hobbits in check.
However, the one Paris missed most of all was Legolas, the Elf. The two of them had had a strange resemblance in features and at first it had scared him, yet the Elf had been very nice to him from the beginning and Paris had started to see him like an older brother. The Elf had always been there for him and seemed to know the exact words to calm the young Prince.
"Daddy!" Paris was pulled out of his thoughts by his two sons running towards him. He crouched down so he was at their level and opened his arms to catch them in a hug. He never thought he'd be able to raise children of his own yet now he thought he wasn't doing such a bad job at it. He stood and took one of his sons' hands in each of his own before setting off along the hall.
"What do you think of going and see what mummy's doing?"
"Yeah!" came the enthusiastic reply. Smiling slightly he led them towards the room where he knew his wife was staying. As he opened the door he saw his wife sitting at the newest tapestry she was working on. Every time he saw her working on those tapestries he was amazed, she really had a knack for it.
The boys ran off to their mother and hugged her tightly, careful of her swollen belly that was beginning to show.
"When's the baby coming?" Leodas asked her.
"Oh, it will take another few months darling." Helen said with a small smile.
"So long! He must be bored in there!" "Anastax exclaimed.
"Yeah! I'm sure we didn't stay in there for so long." Leodas added
"Well, the baby feels safe in there for now, that's why the baby will stay in there for so long." Helen answered, seemingly satisfied by this answer the two boys sauntered off again, whispering excitedly amongst themselves.
Paris smiled at his wife and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. She leaned back in his embrace giving a soft sigh of contentment. They stayed like that for a long time until it was time for dinner. They went to join Hector and Andromache in the dining hall.
Dinner was a pleasant affair as always yet Paris felt tired and so decided to go to bed early. He gave reassuring smile to his wife when she gave him a concerned look. He quickly undressed and slid under the covers. He had barely touched his pillow that he had a very strange dream.
He was in a forest, a forest filled with trees he had never seen before. Everything was green around him there was not one space that hadn't been claimed by a tree. Suddenly the sounds of battle reached his ears. Even though his mind told him to leave his curiosity got the better of him and he followed the sounds.
He felt something rush past him and could make out a small form that quickly hid behind a tree. He followed at a slower pace and gasped. It was Frodo.
"Frodo!" he called but the Hobbit didn't seem to hear him. In fact he was looking the other way, then shook his head silently. Paris was confused for a moment then followed the Hobbit's gaze. A few paces ahead were Merry and Pippin hiding in some bushes. The two youngest Hobbits had frightened looks on their faces that Paris had never seen on them before. At that moment Merry gave an almost imperceptible nod and whispered something to Pippin who was looking questioningly at his cousin. A look of shock came over Pippin's face and he darted out of their hideout, then suddenly he stopped. Merry had followed him out and both looked towards the top of the slope.
Paris gasped, the most horrible creatures he had ever seen were running down the slope towards the three Hobbits.
"Hey, over here!" Merry started shouting at the monsters quickly followed by Pippin. Paris looked on in shock, what were they doing? Then as the two Hobbits led the monsters away, he understood. They were trying to get them away from Frodo.
Suddenly the scene changed. He now stood near a bridge, Boromir was fighting a large number of those monsters with Merry and ¨Pippin hovering close by. Out of the corner of his eye Paris saw one of those things aim a bow at Boromir.
"Boromir watch out!" he yelled trying to warn the man, but again he wasn't heard. The arrow hit the man in the chest, sickened, Paris closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them he expected the man to lie on the forest floor, thus he was shocked when he saw the man continue fighting. The two Hobbits looked as shocked as he was. Then a second arrow was fired, it found its' mark a bit lower than the previous one. Yet again the man continued fighting. A third was fired, this time Boromir fell down his eyes momentarily flickered towards the two Hobbits then determination was once again set in his face. He got on his feet surprising the beasts and continued fighting, yet his movements had considerably slowed. In the end he fell on the ground, exhausted, Merry and Pippin took their short swords and launched themselves at their attackers, yet they were easily lifted from the ground and hoisted over the creatures' shoulders. Paris couldn't stand it anymore, he started to advance towards the beasts not really knowing what he was about to do but before anything could happen the scene changed once again.
Aragorn was kneeling next to Boromir who still had the arrows embedded in his chest, the two of them were talking in soft tones. Gimli and Legolas arrived in the clearing as well. Both had a look of profound grief on their faces when they saw their comrade and Legolas' face seemed to wear a shocked expression as well. It seemed the Elf was much younger now, more Paris' age when the Trojan war started.
Again the scene changed, they were on a riverbank and Boromir's body was being laid in a boat, then sent on the river. Legolas pushed the remaining boat in the water.
"Hurry! Frodo and Sam have already reached the eastern shore!" the Elf cried yet one look at Aragorn's face told him all he needed to know. "You mean not to follow them." He stated.
"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands." The man stated
"Then all of this has been for nothing. The Fellowship has failed." Gimli stated dejectedly. A look of determination crossed Aragorn's face.
"Not if we hold true to each other. We will not leave Merry and Pippin to torment and death." Many cheers and nods of agreement followed his explanation and the three friends set off in the forest.
Now Paris found himself at the edge of a cliff, Legolas and Gimli stood next to him as well as a man he didn't know. The three of them had looks of shock on their faces and Paris was afraid he knew why. This could only mean Aragorn had died as well. He followed them on their way towards a fortress in the mountains. All the while he could see Legolas was slowly falling into despair. Suddenly the words of Aragorn about Elves came back to him: "They can die of grief." Paris was determined he wouldn't let that happen, even though he didn't know how he would be able to do that.
Again the scene shifted they were a bit later during the day it seemed and he was standing a bit away from Legolas who seemed to be waiting for something. He wanted to go towards him but found that he couldn't. Then he saw Aragorn appear and a look of relief passed across the Elf's face. He couldn't help but smile, the man was all right and so the Elf would be fine as well.
Now he found himself in the middle of a battle again. He could see other Elves as well, they must have arrived earlier to help. He witnessed many near-death situations for his friends but everything turned out all right with the arrival of Gandalf. Paris was surprised when he saw the wizard was dressed in white instead of grey but didn't pay further attention to it.
Then came different scenes, he saw the Hobbits Merry and Pippin being reunited with Aragorn Legolas and Gimli. Then he saw Pippin and Gandalf leave for a white city that was even more beautiful than Troy. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli entered a cave and were surrounded by what seemed to be ghosts while Merry was riding with a woman towards battle. After the battle everyone was reunited again and Paris had to think back on what Legolas had done with the giant elephant. He had killed it entirely on his own! Then they were all riding to battle again, this time to a dark and gloomy place. The battle ended when a mountain exploded.
The next scene was of Frodo, the Hobbit woke up in what seemed to be a Healer's wing. Everyone was gathered there, all except Boromir and Paris felt a slight pang of loss at the thought.
Then came Aragorn's crowning and Paris couldn't help but note that the man looked entirely different from the first time he met him. He looked clean for once, Paris smirked at the thought of how many times Legolas and he would pester the man about it. Yet the man had a royal air around him, as if he had been this all his life. He walked down the aisle to greet Legolas and was then in his turn greeted by a beautiful woman. The two kissed passionately and Paris realised this had to be Arwen, the Elf maiden who gave up her immortality to be with him.
When Paris woke up it was all ready morning. He turned to look at Helen and sighed contently, he was lucky, he had a beautiful life and two beautiful children, well nearly three. As for the dream, as the day progressed Paris was more and more certain he had witnessed part of his friends' mission. It eased his heart to know they had succeeded, after all they had done for them.
Very far from there, in another world, an Elf smiled contently. He had sent all his memories of the Quest, leaving out the part of the Balrog,to Paris. Legolas' thoughts never strayed far from the young Prince who was so much like him and he wanted Paris to know they had succeeded. He himself, thanks to some Elvish magic had been able to know what went on in the lives of his friends from Troy. Yes, everything would be well now, both he and Paris would be able to live their lives in peace from now on, far from war.
The End. Read and Review please!
A/N: concerning the names of the children and of the city, I have no idea if they are correct terms so please bear with me.