I'm sure you've heard it all before. This is my first story, and it starts off slow, but i have to get a few things over with before anything gets good. Anyhoo, enjoy. :) I don't own Lord of the Rings, or anything else in this story, for that matter. All I own is Jane and Heather.
Chapter 1.
"Janey-pooh!" My best friend Heather attempted to violently shake me awake while using her baby voice. "JANE ELISE MILLER! You promised me you'd stay awake this time!"
I slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I sleepily looked over at the clock. 3:35 A.M. I have insomnia, so I'm used to staying up late every night, if not all night, but after about a week without sleep I tend to just pass out. Unfortunately, Heather has bad timing with her visits. She's always the victim of my sleepless weeks, and tonight was no exception.
Poor Heather. For the past three months I've been trying to get her to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies with me, but every time we sit down to watch them I always pass out on the poor child. She's never seen them all, because as I said, she always comes over at the worst times. She insists that we watch them all in order and we've never made it to the third movie. I, on the other hand, am a Lord of the Rings crazed woman.
I look at the TV screen to see the battle of Helms Deep coming to an end. "How long have I been out?"
"Just about an hour." Heather yawned while turning off the movie. "Seriously, for an insomniac you sure do sleep a lot."
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm exhausted! I've only gotten ten hours of sleep all week, and I had to work every day. Give me a break, my body can only take so much abuse." I slowly stood up on sore legs. I've been working at Wendy's since I was sixteen, and two years of standing up for hours on end while dealing with fat, ungrateful customers all day still wears on me.
Heather has been my best friend for years. Unfortunately, she's the obnoxiously pretty one. Perfect body, perfect hair, perfect everything. She practically screams Mary-Sue. All that's missing is a couple of fictional characters fighting for her attention. As if she didn't already have enough of that here. Guys have been going after her for as long as I've known her, and she lives off of it.
It's safe to say she's not the brightest crayon in the box, caring more about parties and men than actually getting somewhere in life. It's a shame, she really is a smart girl- she's just also an irreparable idiot. That's where she and I are different. While she's out partying with guys falling at her feet, I'm at home reading cheesy romace novels, listening to my "Jesus music," or at work trying to make poop customers happy. I've never been into the whole party scene.
Now, I will admit, I have a slight addiction for fanfiction. I've always hated the self inserted characters, though. Not the story itself, just the characters. Seriously, they're always whiny girls who will throw a fit if they're not allowed to fight at every single battle, and they always steal people's lines. If I were lucky enough to fall into a world such as Middle-Earth, I'd at least have some common sense and accept the fact that I can't fight worth shit and I'd be better off not trying to join the fellowship.
But seriously, what are the chances of that happening?
Evidently, it's not so impossible.
I woke up to an arrow in my face, and an angry man glaring daggers at me. Yeah, original, I know. And who else but the famous Aragorn to be the one with his arrow pointed at me? Convenient.
"Who are you?" He demanded, rather rudely, I might add. But hey, I forgive him. He looks so much like Viggo, but a lot younger than I expected. I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified. In fanfiction all of the people who fall into this world are almost immediately welcomed, so I all but peed my pants at the thought of an arrow sticking out of my throat.
"Who are you?" He demanded again, a little more forceful this time.
"My name is Jane Miller, and I'm begging you to not shoot me." I fought to keep the shake out of my voice, but I failed miserably. Hey, this guy had my life in his hands, it's not the kind of situation I want to be in.
He noticed how frightened I was, and loosened the string of his bow slightly. "What are you doing here?" His voice was a tad more friendly this time.
I looked at my surroundings, and realized that I was in a forest. "I don't know where "here" is. Let alone how I got here."
Aragorn lowered his bow and studied me carefully. "You are just outside of Rivendell, milady." He noticed my clothes, black sweat pants and a white v-neck, and raised an eyebrow. "You just appeared right before my eyes, as if by magic. If I may be so bold, I must say that your clothes are quite odd. From where do you hail? You are no elf."
"You're not going to believe me. I feel like if I tell you, you'll suspect me to be a spy and shoot me. Forgive me," I looked at his bow nervously, he still had an arrow at the ready. "But I'm not too fond of pointy things."
He raised his bow slightly. "Ah, but how can I trust you if you are not honest with me? For all I know, you could be one of Sauron's spies."
"Oh yes, because Sauron would send a five foot tall, unarmed, untrained teenaged girl to the land of the mighty elves." I rolled my eyes. These people never trust anyone, and I had a feeling that this place was going to get real old REAL fast. "If that were the case, then I'd have to say that Sauron's intelligence is surely lacking, and yours would be no better for fearing such a thing."
Aragorn raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't back down.
"What year is it, anyways?" I asked, hoping that the war would be soon. I can't deal with people not trusting me for too long. If I have to put up with this crap for more than a few months, I'll go mad.
He raised his eyebrows higher, and gave me a look of disbelief. "2950." He answered, slowly, wondering if I was serious.
"WHAT?" I practically screamed in disbelief. I started running through the history of Middle Earth in my head. I knew that the Lord of the Rings trilogy takes place mainly in 3018-3019. And Aragorn's 87 then, so now he's, what, 19? Dang! I'm gonna be dead by the time anything cool happens! I've wanted to come to Middle Earth for years, and when I actually get here it's almost 70 years too early.
"But that means I'll never meet Boromir! Hell, you don't even know who you are, yet!" Okay, that wasn't supposed come out. I clamped a hand over my mouth.
"What do you mean?" Aragorn, well, I guess he thinks he's Estel right now, took a step closer, and gripped his bow tighter.
I searched my brain for the right thing to say. "Look, I am sorry, but you don't understand. I'm not from here." I backed away as he came closer. "And I don't mean Rivendell, I'm talking about this whole world. I come from a place called America in the year 2010. There, this whole world... You, Elrond, Rivendell... It's all written in a book. A story."
Aragorn raised his bow at me. "Tell me the truth. How do you know of Lord Elrond?"
I raised my hands and gave him a pleading look. "You have to believe me, Estel." He looked shocked to hear his name. "I am not lying. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I need you to believe me. I know very well that this world is dangerous, and I have absolutely no means to survive here. If you could only let me speak to Lord Elrond, I can perhaps explain my story more fully."
He looked like he was debating whether to kill me then in there, but instead he lowered his bow. "I suppose it makes sense enough to believe you. After all, you did appear out of thin air. Let's just hope that Elrond believes you, for it is not my opinion that matters here."
I'm just going to skip to the important part. Elves... Yeah, Orlando Bloom's got nothing on 'em. These people are absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, being in their presence for more than a few minutes is enough to make any normal person like me hate themselves. The one thing I'll never understand, though, is Elrond's receeding hairline. Is it even possible for elves to go bald?
Anyways, Elrond is actually a pretty cool guy. Everyone always makes him sound like he's always angry. I'm pretty positive that in one fanfic I read he tried to murder someone for insulting him or something like that... No, I'm pretty sure he's just a little bummed about the whole Sauron situation, but who could blame him? Isildur's an ass.
"Well, if what you say is true, it seems as though you have a problem." Elrond gave me a comforting smile, and took my hand in his. "You are alone in this world, and that isn't a good situation for such a young woman. You must forgive Estel for his treatment towards you," He shifted his gaze to Aragorn, who was standing off to the side, looking rather guilty. "He was right in doing so, though. For I am sorry to say that you come at a very unhappy time for us all, as you already know. I am just sorry that we can not get you home."
"I don't really want to go home." I shrugged, as if the idea of never seeing my friends and family again was no big deal.
Aragorn quickly looked up at me from his spot in the corner, and Elrond raised his eyebrow curiously. "Surely you miss your family? Your friends?"
"Your husband?" Aragorn added hesitantly, all of the sudden becoming quite shy. Weird.
"My world kinda sucks." To put it simply. Elrond and Aragorn looked at me, obviously expecting an explanation. "Don't get me wrong, it's a cool place and all. Just... Not for me. We've had our fair share of Sauron's, and it's practically destroyed us. My home is dying, because no one cares anymore. The only thing I'll miss is my family. Other than that, there's nothing for me on Earth. Not even a husband."
Elrond seemed to ponder over this for a moment, and then came to a conclusion. "Then you must stay here." He gave me a smile. "You are welcome in my home as long as you shall wish. For the rest of your days, if it pleases you."
My jaw dropped. Forever? Here? In Rivendell? HELL YEAH! "T-that would be... amazing! Thank you!"
"It is the least I could do. You are alone in this world, and you need someone to watch over you. I'll have the arrangements made! But for now, Estel, please show dear Jane around her new home." I completely forgot that Aragorn was there. He took a step forward and gave me a small smile.
"Of course." He held out his arm for me, and led me out of the room. We were quiet for a while as he guided me through the halls.
"I am sorry."
I looked over at Aragorn. He was looking down at his feet.
"For what?" I asked as we stopped on a balcony overlooking the waterfall. The same balcony where Frodo will reunite with Merry and Pippin 68 years from now.
"I'm afraid that I may have forever ruined your opinion of me." He gave me a weak smile. "After all, I did come close to killing you."
"Don't say that! You're one of my favorite characters!" I laughed, and plopped down on a bench.
"I am glad to hear it." His smile brightened and he sat beside me. We sat in quiet for quite some time, just admiring the landscape around us. The stars were out by now, and I can tell you, I've never seen so many. Back home, the only stars I see are the glow in the dark ones I stuck on my ceiling. The sound of the waterfall in the distance was calming, and to my surprise, there were fireflies out.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I looked over to Aragorn, who was watching me as I took in my new home.
"That's an understatement. We don't have many places such as this in my world."
Aragorn nodded, and we resumed our silence. After a while, he spoke again.
"Tell me of your home."
"Well," I began, scrunching my eyebrows together as I thought of where I should start. I must've talked for hours. Once you get me going, I'll never shut up. My family takes to ignoring me after a few minutes, but Aragorn was very nice. He sat there patiently and listened to me rant about various historical moments, smiling at the appropriate moments and asking questions about things he didn't understand. All in all, a pretty decent moment.
"Your world is definately a wonder." He said as I finished up with an explanation about cars and airplanes.
"Meh, it's alright. I like it better here, though." He walked me to my new room and he smiled at me before leaving me for the night.
"I am happy that you like it, here." He began, awkwardly. Is he blushing? Oh no. "I'm glad that you are staying, goodnight, Jane." He kissed my hand and walked away... Well, poop.
When I woke up I was back in my room. Heather was still snoring away, and I looked at my clock. It was noon. Damn it, it was all a dream. I sighed and sat up. Wait a second... I shot up and looked at my clothes. I wasn't wearing my sweats anymore, instead I was wearing my nightgown from Rivendell. It wasn't a dream!
That day couldn't have gone any slower. If what I was wearing passed with me between worlds, then surely I could sneak a bunch of my modern crap into Middle Earth, right? I got on my computer and printed out tons of pictures of things I thought that Aragorn may like- airplanes, cars, guns, nuclear explosions, gorillas (strangely, he's never heard of them. I guess they don't have them, there), basically everything that would entertain a 2 year old. I shoved them into a folder and packed it into my bag, along with my I-Pod, I-Pad, some men's cologne (what the hell, right?), and whatever else I could get my hands on.
When night came, I couldn't sleep. Curse you, insomnia.
Eventually, I did fall asleep, and I woke up laying in my room in Rivendell, clutching my bag for dear life.
"YES!" I shouted, and ran out of the room to find someone to show my cool modern stuff to. I didn't get far before I slammed into someone while turning the corner. "I am so sorry!" I scrambled to my feet, and looked up to see Aragorn.
"Jane?" He looked at me in disbelief.
"Hey! Estel, guess what! Last night, when I fell asleep, I woke up in my world! So I figured that I'd bring you some stuff from my world, in case I somehow came back in my sleep again, and I did! So now I can finally show you a gorilla!" I dug through my oversized back to find the folder, and Aragorn just continued to look at me in disbelief. "Stop looking at me like that, you're killing my excitement."
"Jane..." He shook his head and blinked, as if unable to see clearly. "Jane, you've been gone for six months..."
I stopped digging through my bag and looked up at him slowly. "What? No, that's impossible.. When I woke up in my world it was only the next morning!"
He shook his head and frowned. "I'm afraid it's true. We thought you had left in the night." He smiled, then, took my hand. "But I am so glad that you are back, and you brought a gorilla!"
"No, no no!" The look on his face was priceless, he was so excited about that gorilla. "I brought you a picture!" I whipped out my gorilla photo, and he just stared at it. His eyebrows furrowed together, and he studied the picture carefully.
"It looks like a very hairy orc."
Wow, Aragorn. Off all the things to say about a gorilla, you compare it to an orc. You fruitloop.
"Actually, it's closely related to man. Way cooler than an orc. We don't even have orcs." Aragorn's eyes shot up.
"No orcs?"
"Nope."
"And you say you don't like your world!" He looked through the rest of my photos, and I whipped out my ipod. "What is that?" I handed it to him, and he studied it. He pressed the play button accidentaly and the screen lit up, causing him to jump and throw the ipod down.
"Damn it, Estel!" While picking up my luckily unharmed ipod, I marveled at how wonderful I was at avoiding calling him Aragorn. It shouldn't be too long, now, until he finds out his true heritage. He said it was six months later, right? That makes this... February the thirteenth! "CRAP!"
"What, what happened?" Aragorn looked around frantically, expecting something to be wrong.
"Tomorrow's Valentine's day! And my best friend's birthday! If I don't get her anything I'm screwed!"
"What is... Valentine's day?"
I looked up at him. Wow... He's a tall one.
"You guys don't have that? Well, I guess not, since St. Valentine isn't real here." Note to self, teach elves about Christmas. Heck, maybe even Halloween. "It's a holiday in my world. You buy something for someone you care about, and sometimes you give your friends cards, or flowers, or gifts if you feel like it."
"Ah, I see." Was his short response. Second note to self. Middle Earthians don't like holidays. Or love.
I pulled out my portable speaker and plugged my ipod in. I laid it down on a bench and started playing some Yiruma. Why would I want to start him off on something radical like Lady Gaga? The guy's nineteen, I don't want to corrupt him just yet.
Speaking of, our favorite young Ranger jumped at the sound of the piano playing. "Where is that coming from?"
I just smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just listen."