Disclaimer: After all this time, and all the LOTR stories, I would have thought by now that everyone knew I didn't own this...lol...however, for the sake of appearences, I will keep up the tradition. I do not, and never will, own Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, or anything that is recognizably Tolkien's. I'm also not making any profit off of this.

A/N: Yes, this is yet another story of a modern girl falling into Middle-Earth. And, yes, I know, it's been done to the inth degree, but you know how it goes...you get an idea and it bugs you until you start writing it. Anyhow, I'm going to try my best not to make her a Mary-Sue, so if you think I'm heading towards that direction please inform me.

Prologue – Falling into Middle-Earth

Most stories that involve a modern girl falling into Middle-Earth start with either a rainy night, ending up in the Fellowship, or being saved valiantly by some golden haired elven warrior, namely Legolas or Haldir. This story unfortunately, or fortunately as one may look at it, has no such beginning. It wasn't a cold night; in fact it was rather hot due to the fact that it was mid-summer. It wasn't raining either, and Wil Oakthorn was certainly not an elven warrior.

At forty years of age, Wil Oakthorn was the barge master in the town of Bree. His father, John Oakthorn, had been the barge master before him as had his father before him. In fact, as far as the people of Bree could remember the Oakthorn family had ferried the barge of Bree since the beginning of the town. Wil was well liked in the town, even if he did have a slight limp in one leg. His cheerful disposition and kind nature made up for this short coming though.

Usually Wil did not go down to the river this late at night, but for some odd reason he could not sit still this evening. Something kept nagging at him in the back of his mind, pulling him towards the river, as if he needed to be there.

Maybe he had forgotten to tie the barge properly, his friend Anna, the local healer, had suggested.

Wil scoffed at the idea. As if he would do something so careless. However, Wil trudged towards the river at the insistence of Anna. She had come over to deliver some herbs and had stayed to help with supper, but she said his pacing was distracting and had sent him out. Thrown out of his own home! Irritable woman. Kind, irritable, woman.

Upon reaching the barge, Wil bent to inspect it; nothing out of the ordinary. The ropes were knotted just right. Why then did he feel as though it was vital that he be here? Wil straightened, his back cracking loudly. He sighed. Maybe it was just his imagination running wild…again. However, as he turned back towards his home a dark lump a few feet away caught his attention. The moon was high that night so Wil was able to see that it was indeed a person, not some animal, which lay there. Worry lent speed to his feet and he was soon beside the figure. Closer inspection revealed that the person was a young woman. Wil hesitantly laid two fingers against her neck.

Was he already too late?

Was the woman dead?

"Please Eru, let it not be so!" he prayed silently as he kept his fingers on her neck. There had been to many deaths this year. Several seconds passed before Wil gave a sigh of relief. He could feel the strong beat of her heart against his fingers.

"Anna!" he yelled up the hill, "Come quick!"

Sitting back on his heels and waiting for Anna to arrive, Wil gazed at the young woman. She was dressed strangely. Her clothes were too thin and coloured in mismatched designs. The shoes on her feet were made of a material that Wil had never seen before, though, on closer inspection, they were of better make than the clothes. She looked to be in her early twenties, with shoulder length black hair that curled wildly, and much too pale skin.

A noble perhaps?

Wil was drawn out of his musings by the arrival of Anna. The older woman knelt beside the girl, her fingers checking for a pulse just as Wil had done.

"What happened, Wil?"

"I know not. I chanced upon her. Is she all right?"

"She seems to be…"

A soft moan sounded and the young woman stirred, opening her eyes for the first time. Dark eyes glanced about before seeing Wil and Anna next to her. The reaction was instantaneous. She shied away from them, a slightly frightened look on her face, only to stop herself halfway. She glanced about her worriedly before facing them again. Wil gave her a warm smile, hoping to ease her high strung nerves, while Anna laid a kind hand on her slim shoulder. She flinched at the touch and Wil had to fight to keep the smile on his face from disappearing. What had happened to her that made even a simple thing such as a touch scare her?

"My lady, are you all right?" Wil queried. She gave him a puzzled look, as if she had never heard Westron language before now. Anna and Wil exchanged a look. Who did not know Westron?

"I am well," she replied in Westron after a moment.

"What is your name, my lady? How did you get here?" Anna asked, her hand still on the woman's shoulder.

"I…" her eyes became unfocused for a moment.

(Flashback)

"W-where am I?" Mary wondered as she gazed about her. Everything was white. Had she died? If so, how in the world had she died? She didn't remember anything happening. She'd been in the library for heaven's sake, checking out the book, The Silmarillion! Unless she'd had a heart attack – which Mary was pretty sure she hadn't – she hadn't died. But then that led back to the question, where was she now?

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Mary called, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Hello, child," a motherly voice said from behind her. Mary whirled around and found herself face to face with two of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. One was a woman who wore a light green dress of medieval style and had long flowing blonde hair; next to her stood a man with black hair and long white robe.

"Who are you?"

"I am Manwë and this is my wife, Varda," the man explained. Mary gasped. The Valar! She was literally standing in front of the Valar! All her life she had dreamed of doing something like this, but now that the moment had arrived she found her voice had fled her and that her knees shook with some unknown fear.

"Peace, child of Eru," Varda said, her soft words seemed to flow over Mary and she was calmed instantly. How this was accomplished with only words, she did not know, but it was.

"My lord, my lady," Mary answered finally, dipping down into a curtsey. Peering up, she saw that both had smiles on their faces as they gazed at her. She felt like a child before them, but for some reason she was not embarrassed about the feeling.

"Why have I been brought here? Have I died?" Mary then asked. If possible the smiles on their faces grew.

"Why is it that almost everyone who comes here believes they are dead?" Manwë asked his wife.

"Most are, husband,' she replied easily.

"True…However, child, to answer your question, no, you are not dead."

"T-then why am I here?"

"In recent times you have begun to doubt yourself and your value. Eru has seen fit to gift you with this rare chance. He wills that you be sent to the place you call Middle-Earth, to learn of your true value," Varda explained.

Mary's hazel eyes widened, "I'm being sent to Middle-Earth? As in the Lord of the Rings Middle-Earth?"

"Yes, child," Manwë chuckled.

"But how am I going to speak to anyone? I mean, I know I'm a fan and all, but I'm still trying to learn Elvish. I don't even know Gondorian or Westron. And what about my glasses? No one there wears glasses!"

"Your vision will be made better, so that there will be no need for the glasses and we will give you the gift of tongue, so that you will know all that is spoken to you and others will understand you," Varda answered.

"You will retain all your memory, but are forbidden to tell anyone about the One Ring, the Fellowship, or anything that pertains to such matters in the war," Manwë inserted firmly. Mary nodded. That made sense. One change and history could be irreparably damaged for good.

"Am I going to be an elf?"

"Do you wish to be, child?"

"Not really," Mary admitted. The two Valar seemed somewhat surprised at this.

"Indeed? Why is that?" Varda asked.

"I…I'm human, my lady, I don't know the first thing about being an elf. I'd much rather be a human…plus I don't want to run the risk of becoming a Mary-Sue." This last statement was said in a hushed whisper, but Mary was sure from the amused smiles that they had heard it.

"Very well, you shall remain human."

"It is time to go, child," Varda announced, waving her hand to open a hole in the whiteness. Mary could see a small town next to a river below.

"How long will I be there?"

"As long as it takes for you to learn," came the unhelpful answer.

(End flashback)

"I cannot remember…I cannot remember! Why can I not remember?"

The last statement was said in such a frenzied state that Anna had to grab both her shoulders to keep the woman from bolting away. The frightened look came back into her eyes as she was held still. Wil felt an overwhelming desire to protect her right then and there. Maybe it was because his own daughter had died just recently, Wil could not know for sure. All he knew was that he wanted to protect her from whatever it was that had so frightened her.

"Peace, my lady. Everything will be all right," Anna crooned kindly.

"B-but, I cannot even remember my name! I c-cannot…W-where am I?" Here the young woman's voice began to wobble.

"You are near Bree, my lady."

"Bree? B-but how did I get here?"

"Peace, my lady," Anna continued, putting a finger on the girl's lips. The darker haired woman immediately ceased speaking. She looked at Anna expectantly. When she was certain the girl was calmer Anna continued, "I will look after you until you can remember more."

"B-but you do n-not even know me…H-how do you know I am not evil?"

Wil smiled, "You could never be evil, my lady. And as for not knowing each other? That is a technicality which I shall remedy now. I am Wil Oakthorn, the barge master of Bree, and this is Anna Whiteshell, the local healer. There see, we are not strangers anymore."

The young woman gave a little smile at this. It was a nice smile, pure. Its calm seemed to spread throughout her body.

"I-it is a pleasure to meet you, sir, ma'am. I am…" here the woman stopped and her eyes became misty with tears, "I'm afraid I do not remember my name."

"Then I will just call you Sybil for now," Anna replied, taking charge. Wil got up and held out a hand to both women. Anna opted to get up on her own power. Sybil, however, accepted his help gratefully.

"Sybil," she murmured to herself, "I like it. Thank you."

"No thanks is needed."

"Will it not be strange for me to live with you?"

"Mayhap…but then I've never really cared what others think of me."

"Truer words were never spoken!" Wil laughed. Anna sent him a mock glare of reproach. Sybil watched the banter with cautious eyes.

"T-thank you. I am most grateful for your help."

"Well, then, that is settled," Anna announced as they walked up the hill and towards Wil's small cabin, "Tomorrow we will have to see about getting you some decent clothes."

Sybil glanced down at her attire, slight worry in her eyes. "I am not decent?"

Wil chuckled, "No, no, not that way, my dear. You are decent, but I am afraid that those clothes you are wearing are not suitable for working in. They are almost threadbare."

"Oh…I see…"

"Worry not, dear; I will have you right as rain soon!" Anna proclaimed as they entered into Wil's home, "You have nothing to fear now."

OoOoOoOo

"And you are sure?" the voice pounded throughout his mind. Jim McKiernan drew back in fear, instincts screaming him to run away as fast as he could go. Rough hands grabbed hold of his arms and held him still. Jim licked his suddenly dry mouth and gazed up at the fiery Eye before him. How in the world people could be fans of this world was beyond him. He would much rather stay on Earth, in 2010, but to each their own, he supposed. He wet his lips again before answering.

"Y-yes, my lord, I am certain."

"How could one woman change the tide of this war?"

"She has valuable information, my lord, on the Ring," The pressure in his head increased at this, but Jim forged on, "She also knows which people you will have to kill to win and where they are hidden."

"Where is she?"

"I…I don't know for sure," Jim admitted, but continued quickly before they could change their minds about his value, "Though I am sure it was near the Shire."

"Useless information," the voice boomed ominously and Jim felt his heart plummet to his feet, "Why should I keep you alive if this is all you have to offer me?"

"Because, my lord," Jim gulped, "I am the only one who knows what she looks like. Without me you would not know for certain if you had found the right woman."

"A valid point," the voice conceded, "You think well for a human. I will keep you alive, if only so that you may do this service for me. Succeed and you will be rewarded greatly, fail and the punishment will be equally great."

"Y-yes, my lord…my thanks, my lord," Jim stuttered as he was led away.

And that's all there is for the prologue, folks! Short, I know, but it is just the prologue. Hopefully, the chapters will be longer. Please, please, with a cherry on top, review this and tell me how I did.

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Should be thrown into the nearest dumpter?