A/N: I am picking the story up from right after Gandalf rejected the Mouth of Sauron's terms. (The Return of the King, Book 5, partway through Chapter 10). Events up to this point are book-canon

movie!verse and book!verse

WARNINGS: swearing, violence, major character death, *possibly* slash. I wasn't planning on it, but it might end up being included.

Mild spoilers, but nothing huge since I am going AU-ish with this.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Lord of the Rings! All rights belong to their respective owners. I am not making any money off this. Any dialog you recognize has been taken from the movies or books.

Enjoy!

Gandalf had rejected the Mouth of Sauron's terms. As much as Aragorn was grieved for the loss of Frodo and Sam, somehow he did not believe that they were dead. Frodo and Sam were surely alive. They would have felt it if Sauron had claimed the Ring. Yes, Frodo and Sam were alive- for now. How long they stayed that way was now up to Aragorn.

Their lives were in his hands. And he would not fail them. He turned to address his men. "Hold your ground! Hold your ground." He had faith in his troops. They could do this. They had to.

The light was nothing more than a red haze, a light from Orodruin and the rivers of molten lava that flowed through Mordor. The air felt ashy and dry, like a poisonous fume. The Nazgûl's cries permeated the air, spreading a blanket of dread over himself and his troops. Horns blew, drums beat, and an immeasurable amount of Orcs and Easterlings poured around the Men of the West from all directions. They were surrounded.

He ordered the archers to fire. He was aware of Elladan and Elrohir at his side, calmly notching their arrows. His brothers were so confident, so calm, that Aragorn felt himself grow stronger just by being near them.

The orcs fired back. Their arrows hit their marks, and many of his men fell around him. Now was the time to charge.

Aragorn readied Andúril, preparing to run at the opposing army, when something stopped him. Through the Black Gates, The Eye of the Enemy was glaring straight at him. They locked gazes. This was Sauron, the Enemy who had cost countless lives, murdered so many innocent souls. Who had destroyed people's homes and splattered blood across the pages of history. Aragorn was suddenly filled with determination. He would avenge his people.

"Aragorn...Elessar..." Aragorn heard Sauron's voice hissing across the battlefield at him. Aragorn lowered his sword, transfixed by Sauron's gaze. Sauron seemed to be telling him something. As he peered into the fiery depths of Sauron's Eye, he saw a vision of himself.

He was at Rivendell, sitting on one of the comfortable sofas in the library. The air smelled sweet, and sunlight filtered into the room. Red, green, and gold leaves fell from the trees. Elladan and Elrohir we practicing their archery on the training fields, hitting the center of the mark from twenty yards. Elrond was strolling through the gardens, stopping to talk to some of the elves. The door opened, and Arwen walked into the room, smiling at him. She held a small child by the hand. His child, Aragorn realized. Arwen sat down next to him on the sofa, leaning in to kiss him.

This vision was a promise. Sauron was offering this to him. All Aragorn had to do was give himself up, and he could have exactly what was in that vision. Although a part of him resisted, telling himself that this wasn't right, Aragorn prepared to go to Sauron.

Then he heard another voice. This voice was inside his head, he realized. It was telling him something, reminding him what he was here to do. The voice was sweet, and soft, and somehow familiar. It brought images into his head, of green hills, merry voices, and a gentle smile. The voice was like running water in a small brook, and like musical Elven voices. It brought an image into Aragorn's head. An image of brown curls and bright blue eyes. A face he had seen for the first time outside of Bree...

Aragorn turned around to look at his friends, and he knew Sauron's vision was nothing but lies. That voice reminded him why he was there. It wasn't for some illusion of Sauron's, he was there...

"For Frodo," he said, then turned around, and he ran towards the armies of Mordor.

Then he was surrounded.

Immersed in the battle, he slashed, chopped, ducked, and swung his sword around like he never had before. He cut down enemy after enemy, never tiring.

At one point, he caught sight of Gandalf, swinging his staff and slicing with his sword. He was splattered with mud and the blood of his enemies, but he kept going without ever slowing down.

A particularly large Orc came at Aragorn. Aragorn ducked its first swing, spun around behind the Orc, and stabbed Andúril through its back.

Eomer was fighting next to him at one point. He was so strong, cutting through orcs and Easterlings alike as though they were made of butter. At one point, he was fighting three Easterlings at once and destroyed all of them within seconds.

Legolas had pulled out his knife and was using it with the utmost grace and agility that only an elf could possess. Gimli fought next to him, wielding his axes with amazing strength.

Imrahil was slicing through his assailants with acute precision, and next to him Pippin was holding his own against any opposition who dared to come near him. For one so small, Pippin was an amazing warrior.

A massive troll came at Aragorn. At first, Aragorn had no problem. He dodged the troll's clumsy swings and stabbed at the troll's rough skin wherever he could. Then the troll managed to hit him off balance. Aragorn fell over, landing on his back. He could see Legolas fighting like he never had seen him fight before to get to him, literally shoving orcs aside and ripping them apart as he tried to get to him. The pain and fear on Legolas' face was awful to see. His friends should never look like that because of him. He felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude. He knew, however, as the troll pinned him under its foot, that it was too late. But then Legolas was there, hacking at the troll with his knife, and then Gandalf came, then Eomer, and before Aragorn knew it the troll lay dead on the battlefield, literally torn apart by his friends who had come to Aragorn's defense. He nodded his thanks at them, and continued fighting, knowing that there would be time to better express his thanks later.

Or at least, he hoped there would be a later. Because the orcs and Easterlings just kept coming, and Aragorn could see no end to the enemies pouring out of Mordor. He was rapidly losing men, and his position on the battlefield. He fought even harder, but he knew it was in vain. He had to do something, or they would all die.

He called for a retreat. "Pull back! Pull back!" he shouted. His men got the message and they turned and fled from the gates of Mordor.

A/N: Okay! How was that? Let me know what you thought, even if you hated it!

In case some things weren't clear, I will take this opportunity to explain: Aragorn and his army are at the Black Gate. fight are challenging Sauron head-on to provide "A diversion." (Thank you movie-Legolas for providing us with your life-changing wisdom.) Sorry. Sidetracked there. Anyways, they were providing Frodo and Sam with a distraction. Where my story differs from the movie/book is when Aragorn calls for the armies to retreat. In the book/movie, Frodo and Sam destroy the Ring before Aragorn and his armies are overwhelmed. But this is fanfiction! I can change stuff like that! So, I hope this clarified a few things.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, just let me know! You can tell me in a review or PM me. The next chapter will be from Sam's pov (point of view). This will be updated as regularly as I can, and the story will hopefully improve and make more sense by the third or fourth chapter. Thank you for reading!

(Review! Aragorn will give you cookies!)