Chapter 10: Victory!

The return journey to Minas Tirith was a cheerful one, despite Frodo's missing finger. They hurried back to the city because no one was particularly inclined to celebrate their victory in the wastelands near Mordor. The entire city turned out onto the plains of Pellenor to greet them, forming a long aisle for them to ride down that stretched for nearly a mile from the city gate.

"How did they know to expect us?" Gimli wondered aloud. "Or that we had won?" He peered at the crowds from behind Legolas' back on the horse they shared.

"The victory, I think," Legolas said thoughtfully, "may have been communicated by the lifting of the heavy weight of doom from everyone's heart. But as to our return, perhaps we should look to our companion, Duo, for that explanation."

Riding nearby, Duo shrugged. "I didn't tell anyone, but Jett always knows where I am, so she probably figured out we were on our way back and when we'd get here."

"Ah, that makes sense," Legolas nodded.

The first person to greet them was Boromir with a wide smile on his face, sitting on his horse in the middle of the lane formed by the crowds. "My friends!" he cried as soon as they were within earshot. "The whole world cries your names with joy! Welcome home!"

"Thank you, Boromir." Aragorn rode up to him and they clasped forearms. "Our victory was never assured, but the Ringbearer fulfilled his quest and Sauron is no more."

"That is the welcome news I expected to hear," Boromir replied. "For on the day that the volcano erupted, instead of dread and despair, a sense of wonder and release swept over every living being. We knew some momentous and wonderful thing had happened, and could only assume that Sauron's fall was the cause."

"And so it was," Aragorn said. He stood up and surveyed the people massed on the plains. "It would seem that the whole city is emptied."

"Nearly so," Boromir agreed. He turned his horse. "Every person except the most gravely injured wanted to stand where he or she might set eyes on you on this day of ultimate victory. Shall we proceed?"

"Yes." Aragorn nudged his horse back to a walk and Boromir rode beside him. The former members of the Fellowship came next and the Gundam pilots trotted after them. The massed forces of Gondor and Rohan marched behind. As they passed along that aisle of humanity, the cheers were nearly deafening. Nevertheless, Jett's shout easily surpassed it all.

"Momma!"

Several people near the little girl clapped their hands over their ears.

Jett and Alexa were standing near the gate with Elrohir and Elladan, but the two girls quickly abandoned their chaperones to run out into the aisle to greet their parents.

"Momma!" Jett repeated at a more reasonable volume. "You're back!"

"Indeed I am, little one!" Duo leaned down and caught Jett by the hand, pulling her up in front of him.

She gave him a big hug. "I was worried, Momma. Did you fight good?"

"Yes, I fought well," Duo corrected and Wu-Fei nodded approvingly.

Jett wrinkled her nose.

Alexa did not wait for Zechs to pull her up. She took a running jump and clambered her way up, using his leg and the saddle to climb. She squirmed into place in front of him. "We've been good," she declared.

Zechs lifted any eyebrow. "Oh? I question that this is the first thing you choose to tell me." He glanced at the twins. "They do seem unharmed, however."

"Oh, they're fine!" Alexa waved a dismissive hand in the twins' direction. "We left them alone most of the time so they could snog. You wouldn't believe how many little secret passages there are in this city. We found one that went from the back of the royal crypt all the way up into the mountains. It was really cool. It was all dark and twisty and full of cobwebs and bugs and stuff. We decided to come back down the outside of the cliff rather than go back that way when we got to where it ended." She giggled. "That was pretty funny because when we came sliding down the rocks onto the top of the citadel, Boromir nearly had kittens! He yelled at Elrohir and Elladan for an hour for not keeping a better eye on us."

Zechs shook his head. "Please tell me that was the worst thing you did."

"Oh, um, yes!" Alexa said brightly. "It was."

Zechs sighed.

Alexa quickly changed the subject. "Hey, Hadeya! You're back!"

"Yes," Hadeya said. "We completed the quest successfully. Unfortunately, Frodo lost a finger at the end."

"Did you keep it? I bet Roku could put it back on."

"I daresay he could have, but it fell in the lava."

"Too bad."

"These things happen. But now I'm ready for a long hot bath, a good meal and some drunken debauchery." Hadeya grinned at Alexa. "There's nothing like a satisfying quest to bring out the Norse in me."

"You should let Elrohir and Elladan attend you," Alexa snickered. "I bet they would be happy to take care of all your needs."

"And who might they be?"

"Elrond's sons. They can be annoying, but I bet they know how to show a demigod a good time."

"Alexa!" Zechs interrupted. "Where do you get such ideas? That is hardly the sort of recommendation I want to hear being offered up by my innocent little girl."

Alexa lifted an eyebrow at him. "Mommies who want their little girls to stay innocent should not be so immodest when it comes to trying to get laid by their little girls' daddies."

Treize burst out laughing.

Zechs glared at him. "What are you laughing at?"

"I didn't say it!" Treize choked out.

As the returning army wound up into the city, more people lined the streets, waving and cheering. Although the city had taken some damage during the fighting, enough of the rubble had been cleared to make room for all of the warriors within the city's walls. Buildings that had once been homes or businesses were pressed into service as stables for the extra horses. Water was carried from cisterns in buckets by happy citizens to fill water troughs where the pumps that would normally have filled them were broken. While most of the Rohirrim stayed in the lower levels of the city, Gondor's soldiers went to their own homes or barracks. But Aragorn and his party rode all the way to the top of the city to the citadel, where eager servants quickly took them in hand. Hot baths were waiting for all of them, but Frodo was not ready to celebrate with the others. Bathed and changed into fresh clothes, with his wounded hand neatly bandaged, Frodo went to bed right away in a comfortably appointed room.

Sam looked in on him after his own bath, but Frodo was already sound asleep. "I hope Mr. Frodo will be all right," he murmured.

"He'll be fine, Sam," Merry said. He looked none the worse for his encounter with the Witch King of the Nazgul. He and Pippin stood beside Sam, also peeking through the door at Frodo.

"But he hardly spoke at all on the way back," Sam said. "And he looked so tired."

"From what little you've told us," Pippin said, "that was a terribly hard journey. He needs rest. Let's leave him be for now."

Sam quietly closed the door. "You're right, I suppose."

"Come on!" Pippin caught Sam by the hand. "Let's go eat! There's to be a feast, with ale aplenty!"

Sam perked up. "Real food!" he exclaimed reverently. "Mr. Frodo wouldn't begrudge me that!" The three hobbits scurried away.

As the hobbits disappeared from sight, Gandalf and Aragorn stepped into view.

"Will you be joining us at the celebration, Gandalf?" Aragorn asked.

Gandalf shook his head. "I want to sit with Frodo. He has risked much and lost much because I was too much of a fool to recognize what Bilbo had before it fell to Frodo. I want to be there when he wakes up."

"I understand." Aragorn patted Gandalf on the shoulder. "But we would not have made it to this point without you, Gandalf. Don't forget that."

"I won't." Gandalf went into Frodo's room and closed the door quietly.

Aragorn followed the path taken by the hobbits. At length he came to a long banquet hall with tall windows looking out across the plains. Below, lanterns sparkled in the city, with here and there large bonfires lighting spots were revelers rejoiced in the salvation of the world. Long tables ran the length of the hall with benches on either side. Lamps in sconces along the inside wall and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling filled the room with brilliant light, shining down on the happy faces of the celebrants. A cheer rang out when Aragorn entered.

Gimli, already well into his cups, surged to his feet. "Aragorn! Once a mere ranger and now a king among men! Come and lift a tankard with me, friend!"

"It will be my pleasure, Gimli!" Aragorn said. He squeezed in between Gimli and Legolas and accepted the brimming tankard Gimli shoved into his hand. "To Gondor!" Aragorn cried, lifting the tankard.

"To Gondor!" echoed a universal roar.

Dozens of tankards were upended and the contents drained.

"More ale!" Gimli cried.

Grinning servants rushed up and down the table, filling cups. Other servants brought platter after platter of food. Roasts of beef, pork and mutton were brought, along with roasted whole chickens, ducks and geese. Tureens of boiled potatoes; leak and onion pies; pot pies with crispy tops and flaky bottoms stuffed with diced vegetables and gravy were brought out by the dozen. Countless loaves of soft white bread, sharp rye bread and thick black bread were piled on plates next to bowls of churned butter and currant jelly. There was fresh milk by the gallon for those who weren't drinking ale. All in all, it was a most exceptional feast and everyone ate like they had not had any decent food for months, which was pretty much true for most of them.

Sam ate like he'd never seen food at all.

Watching him, Eomer shook his head appreciatively. "That young hobbit is doing more damage to the table than many a larger man," he remarked. "His task has left him empty beyond words, it would seem."

"From what I was getting from Hadeya while they were traveling," Duo replied, "they didn't eat particularly well toward the end."

"I've no doubt of that," Eomer said.

Hadeya swept into the room looking extremely clean and very satisfied. "I smell ale!"

"Come sit here, nephew!" Duo called out. He patted the place on the other side of him from Eomer. "I've been saving you a tankard."

"Which is to say, he's been making sure to get it refilled every time he empties it," Eomer laughed.

Duo grinned. "I didn't want it to get stale waiting for him."

"Of course not!" Hadeya chuckled. He plopped down and picked up the tankard. "To Gondor!" he intoned and emptied the tankard in one long pull.

"To Gondor!" several voices chorused and more tankards were drained. "More ale!"

Hadeya waved his empty tankard, too.

Duo leaned closer. "Are Elrohir and Elladan conscious?"

"Yes." Hadeya snagged a roast chicken and started eating it whole. "They'll be along in a minute. They were having trouble walking."

Duo stared. "How hard did you bang them?"

"Now, now, Uncle Duo," Hadeya admonished him. "I do not bang and tell."

"I could just pick it out of your head, you know."

"That would be impolite."

Just then, the twin elves shuffled into the room. They were leaning on each other and walking very stiffly. They made it as far as Legolas before they sank down at the table. Legolas squished over to make room for them.

"You are most kind, cousin," Elrohir rasped out. "Although, in all honesty, I am not sure I can sit without a cushion beneath me."

"Nor I, neither," Elladan groaned. The two elves sat rather primly on the edge of the bench. "It seemed at first an excellent idea to attend that handsome young stranger in the bath, for he has such lovely hair that washing and braiding it seemed a wonderful idea."

"Even so," Elrohir agreed. "I remember some of our brethren speaking of him after we missed seeing you at Rivendell and I was glad for the chance to make up for that regret. But neither of us ever thought he would have such raw seductive power! Alas!" He turned to his brother with a stricken look. "Never would I have thought that any man but my dearest brother could draw such unrestrained cries of pleasure from my throat! But yet, I was helpless before his immeasurable masculine power!"

"Do not blame yourself, dearest brother!" Elladan replied. "I was no better than you; for did I now writhe upon the bed crowing with helpless pleasure beneath him? Oh, alas! That I should feel such scorching ecstasy at the hands of another!"

The two handsome elves clasped hands and leaned together, their foreheads touching.

Everyone else rolled their eyes.

"You should have banged them harder, Hadeya," Treize grumbled. "They can still talk."

"I wasn't using their mouths."

"Maybe you should have."

"There are children present," Quatre interrupted pointedly.

"We'll let you know when they get to something we've never heard before," Alexa said over a mouthful of roast duck.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Zechs said absently.

"You're not going to admonish her for the remark?" Trowa chuckled.

"It's hard to argue with the truth. Your conversation is frequently in the gutter."

"That's not true for all of us," Wu-Fei said.

"Playing the straight man for their filthy talk still makes you a part of it."

"I do not play the straight man!"

"Well, that's true," Duo said. "He hasn't been straight for years."

"Shut up!"

Boromir entered with Eowyn leaning on his arm. The soon-to-be-crowned Queen of Rohan was pale, but she smiled happily. Faramir walked on her other side. He looked almost his old self, except that he was walking very slowly.

"My friends!" Aragorn cried when he saw them. He went to meet them, kissing Eowyn on the cheek and clasping Faramir by the arm. "I was loath to leave you while you were still recovering from the black breath of the Nazgul, but the necessity of war dictated my actions."

"Do not dwell on it," Faramir said. "The outcome of these long years of trial is everything that we had hoped for and I have no regrets."

Quatre leaned toward Duo. "Do you suppose he included his father's very helpful suicide among the things he hoped for?" he whispered.

Duo just chugged his ale and didn't answer.

"I think that means yes," Trowa murmured.

"Faramir and his father did not have the best relationship," Pippin added quietly. "It was really rather sad."

"So he's probably better off," Quatre said. "Neither of them seems to miss him very much."

Indeed the two sons of the late Steward of Gondor kept smiling at each other all through the meal.

Seated next to Aragorn, Eowyn ate delicately. "I look forward to hearing the full details of your final, epic battle," she said. "Is it true that one of your companions suffered an injury at the end?"

"It is true," Aragorn replied gravely, "but the greater injury may be the long months during which the ring was in his possession. It has left a deep mark on him that only years will erase, I fear."

"Speaking of the ring, Hadeya," Treize said, "did it ever trouble you?"

"No." Hadeya swallowed a mouthful of the mutton leg he was now working on. "Initially, I couldn't hear it at all. Once we got into Mordor, it got quite a bit louder and I could hear it nattering on about giving me the power to rule the world. It was really quite irritating because sometimes it made it hard to hear Uncle Duo. If you ask me, it was a pretty stupid object. If its goal was to reunite with Sauron, you would think it would focus on giving bad directions to lead us into Sauron's clutches, rather than offering itself up like a cheap whore to anyone who felt like sticking a finger in it."

Boromir made a choking sound. "A cheap whore? The One Ring?"

Lifting his whiskers out of a bowl of milk, Roku spoke up. "I'm pretty sure I could make one of those things, if you still really want one, Mr. Boromir."

"I do not think that would be a good idea," Aragorn said.

"Your offer is kindly made, young Roku," Boromir said, "but little good has come of rings of power in this world, so perhaps it is better to let them pass away."

"Ok." Roku stopped a passing servant. "May I have some raw meat, please?"

The servant blinked. "There might be a side of beef in the larder."

"That will do."

"Roku," Quatre said. "You've already eaten two beef roasts."

Roku shrugged. "They were cooked. Now I want something raw. Raw meat is yummy."

"You're such a cat, Roku," Trowa chuckled. "But didn't you already take a bath? You'll get filthy again if you eat a side of beef."

"There's more bath water." Roku licked his chops. "I'll take a bath with Eomer. He still smells like a horse."

Eomer paled.

"I really don't think that horse smell comes off the Rohirrim," Trowa cautioned, but he was grinning with amusement.

"I bet I could get it off."

"Perhaps I should point out that he needs his skin."

"People pay good money on Mars for exfoliation treatments."

"Maintaining a healthy layer of old skin cells might be a cultural thing."

"Miss Eowyn doesn't have a layer of old skin cells. She doesn't smell like a horse, either."

Trowa turned to Eomer with a shrug. "Sorry, my friend, I tried."

"You realize now that you've warned him, he'll just run away," Duo said.

"That's ok," Roku licked his chops again. "I like hunting and chasing. I can bring him back in my storage space."

Eomer sat back, gripping the edge of the table with shaking hands.

Gimli thumped him on the back. "Seems unfair that you should survive three of the greatest battles in the history of Middle Earth only to be felled by the affections of a beastly companion." He swigged his ale. "We will remember you fondly."

"But why me?" Eomer gasped out rather plaintively. "There are horsemen aplenty as manly as I am. Why must I be the one he afflicts?"

"It probably has to do with your scent," Treize said. "Animals are very scent-driven."

"But, but…"

"That's very true," Zechs said. "I have noticed that about Roku in the past. It colors his behavior even when he is in human form."

"Well, he is really a tiger by birth," Treize responded.

"Even so," Zechs nodded. "It's quite interesting, if you think about it."

"Yes, it is."

"It is not interesting!" Eomer exclaimed. "I don't want to be licked raw again!"

"I don't know…" Zechs smiled languidly, stroking his fingers up through his hair and letting it trail back down over his shoulder in a shimmering wave. Everyone who was looking stopped what they were doing and stared. He dipped his head and gazed seductively through his bangs at Eomer. "It depends entirely on where one is being licked, I would think."

Eomer's mouth fell open.

"Quit flirting with my bath partner, Uncle Zechs," Roku growled. He pounced onto his newly arrived side of beef with his claws out.

"I agree," Treize said. "If you need someone to lick you in the bath, you needn't look very far."

"I wasn't suggesting that I needed licking," Zechs purred. He tipped his head to the side and his smile widened.

Treize smiled back. "Of course you weren't."

Alexa rolled her eyes. "My earlier point is totally proved," she muttered.

Sitting nearby quaffing a tankard of ale, Pippin leaned toward Wu-Fei. "What's wrong with Heero?" he asked. "He hasn't said a word all evening."

"Oh, he's just depressed," Wu-Fei said.

"Depressed? Why?" Pippin stared curiously at Heero. "Did something bad happen during the battle?"

"Yeah, it ended." Wu-Fei snickered.

"But…" Pippin scratched his head. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"It is for normal people."

"Quit talking about me!" Heero grumbled. "I'm not depressed. I'm just thinking that with a little more time, we could have wiped out that orc army. Frodo should have waited a few more minutes before he threw the ring in the volcano."

Wu-Fei blinked. "Did you miss the part where Gollum bit off his finger and fell in?"

"I thought Hadeya pushed him in," Trowa said.

"He had it coming," Hadeya retorted.

"All I'm saying is we were about to turn the tide," Heero continued irritably.

"We were outnumbered about twenty to one," Wu-Fei pointed out.

"I know!" Heero exclaimed. "With odds that low, our victory was inevitable!"