Note: Uh…what was I going to say? Oh yeah, I'm letting Valerie take the initiative here…it's not really a romance scene. Well, maybe it is, a little. Can't let the guys always make the first move, can I? And I need some help here: do I bring Boromir and Val together? Or not?
Oh yeah, I should have put this fic in the Action/Adventure genre first, then Romance, but somehow, I can't seem to change it at ff.net. Sorry.
Please, please help me here. I need to know how to write the scene for Boromir and Valerie after the war, but I'm stuck. Any ideas?
Darkness And Light Chapter eleven: Last Chance"I still don't understand what it all means, but Frodo gotta destroy the Ring quick, which means he has to—wait!" Valerie found herself back in the time before the war, telling Legolas about her plan.
Legolas frowned. "You mean to tell Frodo to wait?"
The teen shook her head, confused, and mumbled to herself. "All right, last chance, girl. Make it good.
"First time, Sauron got the Ring, and Middle Earth fell. Then I got taken to whatever place that was, and I saw Middle Earth conquered, and a totally beautiful place, and…the silver ring. Yeah." She paced the glade.
"Then we destroyed the Ring and Sauron, but there was a quake…so something must have been wrong as well. So what the hell is it?" She snarled to the air.
"Would you not explain it to me?" Legolas asked.
"I don't even know everything myself," she admitted. "It's all jumbled up."
"Would you not first rest? For I am certain you will think better after sleep," the Elf commented.
"You're right. Thanks."
***
Five days later, Valerie still pondered over the images. She had managed to place them in a sequence that went:
The One Ring taken by Sauron—Middle Earth and all its races conquered—the picture of the beautiful place; the Ring destroyed—Middle Earth safe—that beautiful place in ruins (this image had came in a more recent dream); the One Ring—the silver ring—both hovering together; a white and black light intertwined together, hovering about a child.
"Someone send me to an asylum," she mumbled. "My brain's gonna explode." She paced through the woods, trying to release all her pent-up energy.
"Could you not sleep?" A voice to her right said.
Valerie jumped, surprised, for it was not an Elf who had spoken. "Boromir? What are you doing out here?" Squinting, she could see the dim image of the man somewhat.
Not answering her question, he said, "You should not wander about alone."
"This place is darn well protected," she retorted, pulse quickening a little. "No Orcs are about. What's so dangerous?"
"The Elves may shoot you in mistake of an Orc."
"Oh yeah?" She challenged, wondering why she couldn't shut up. "You're just as easy to mistake for an Orc."
Boromir laughed, and that sound was music to her ears. She giggled a little. Both of them knew that Elves never mistook men, or girls, for Orcs.
Their walk took them to a clearing, and as Boromir emerged into the moonlight, Valerie froze, and almost forgot to breathe.
The moonlight gave his reddish-brown hair a slightly silvery sheen, and it softened the lines of his face, giving him a gentler look. His dark eyes glinted as they gazed at her. "Valerie? Why do you halt so abruptly? Are you all right?"
Her lips had a mind of their own. "Yeah. Gosh, so beautiful."
Boromir frowned, not understanding. "What is it which had caught your eye?" He raised his head and looked around.
Valerie shook her head vigorously, turning red. She scolded herself inwardly for something that was becoming a habit around the man. "Uh…it's nothing." She turned away. "Stupid!" She hissed to herself.
If Boromir heard that, he gave no indication of it, his thoughts already turned to other matters troubling him.
The teen caught his sigh. "What's the matter?"
Boromir looked at her. "It is something you should not concern yourself with."
"Yeah, but it looks like it's bothering you a lot, so maybe you'd feel better if you talk 'bout it." She dropped down to sit lightly on the grass, scratching her lower back where the grass tickled her.
Oh man, please don't refuse, she prayed. I'll die if you do.
Boromir sat down, resting his arm on his drawn up right knee. He scrutinized Valerie before speaking. "This is naught to speak about, but I am afraid for Minas Tirith."
"Minas Tirith?" Valerie echoed.
"My city," the man clarified. "I do not wish for Gondor to fall if I may prevent it."
Gondor she had heard from Aragorn before, and the mention of it brought back memories of the Ring and the war which would begin the next day, for Lothlórien scouts had sent word that day that the Orcs were but a day's march from the Golden Wood.
But however much her part to play in this whole war was hazy, she wished to offer some comfort to the man. "Gondor won't fall. We'll defeat Sauron, and kick his ass." But she didn't yet know how.
"What with, Valerie?" Boromir cried, flinging his hands up. "Sauron's armies grow a hundredfold each day! We cannot fight him forever! And it is now too late for Frodo to leave Lórien."
His eyes glinted. "How strange it is that we should fear a thing so small. The Ring should not be destroyed. It is for us to use!"
Valerie realized that Boromir was also sorely tempted to take and use the Ring, and groaned. If he took it, he'd die, and if he died, where would that leave her? Where did that thought come from? She chided herself. "Didn't you learn anything from what the others have been saying?" She said instead. "You can't control the Ring. Even I can't."
Boromir reeled back. "You cannot?"
"No, I can't. I'm totally tempted to take it as well, but I don't want to. It's driving me totally nuts."
The man snorted. "All hope for Gondor is gone then."
"Not if we fight." With what? She asked herself.
But Boromir said nothing about that, and instead gazed at her, and his eyes seemed to pierce her. "You did not wish only to listen to me talk, Valerie." It was a statement said without doubt.
Valerie was caught off guard. "What? No—no. I only thought that you'd feel better!" Her voice became a little shrill.
"Peace! I meant naught by that."
Too unsettled, the teen rose hurriedly. "I better go back to rest. G'night."
Boromir caught her hand as she passed him. "You have not spoken your mind, Valerie."
She shivered at the sound of her name spoken through his lips. "Nothing to say."
He stood up, not letting go of her hand. "I would have you do so."
She almost panicked. She had wanted him close, but not that close! She was totally unprepared for it. She had to do something to get him to release her!
"Let me go," she said.
"If you would first speak your mind."
"Fine, you want to know?" She grabbed the lapels near his neck and pulled his face down, kissing him on the lips, managing not to bump noses with him.
Boromir's hold loosened in surprise, and she pulled away, face burning. "Sorry."
And she fled, the sweet taste of him still on her lips.
***
Tomorrow came, much too fast for Valerie's likings, but she got prepared as well as she could. She felt strangely full of energy, even though she only got a few hours of sleep the night before.
They rode out to the battlefield, Valerie on horseback behind Legolas. She had managed to avoid Boromir and persuaded the Elf to let her ride with him, for she was unsure of how to act around the man.
But the images took claim of her thoughts. Maybe, she wished wistfully, we'll be able to kill off this whole batch of Orcs.
But that proved to be harder than she thought. Though Frodo had not taken the Ring to Mordor and fought with then here, and Sauron did not have the Ring yet, the number of Orcs exceeded them by tenfold. There was no way they could win by brute force alone.
No, she thought as she slain an Orc. Frodo (and I) failed the both times he took the Ring to Mordor and sorta faced Sauron, so that means I have to face him.
With that in mind, she cleared her way over to Aragorn, almost getting beheaded in the process. "Aragorn!" She yelled over the noise. "Do you have anything I can see Sauron with?"
"What do you mean to do?" He shouted back, taking down four Orcs.
"I'm going to face him! C'mon!"
Aragorn stopped abruptly to reach into his tunic, leaving Valerie to fend off a few attackers. He held out a black orb to her, given to him by Galadriel the night before, for reasons unknown to him at that time. He would not let the girl go, but needed some miracle soon. "Do not fall into Sauron's trap, Valerie."
"I'll try not to. But I still need the Ring!"
The man knew that Frodo would not surrender the Ring willingly to Valerie (or to anyone else, for that matter), and fought his way over to the Hobbit; Valerie followed, wondering why she wanted the Ring for, but a strong compulsion, different from the darkness, told her to have it with her.
Frodo hesitated, and reluctantly handed the Ring to Aragorn, who passed it to Valerie. "Be safe, child." He didn't add that the fate of Middle Earth (may) depended on her, if she knew what to do.
"Yeah, I'll try. Cover me, Aragorn."
She stood back-to-back with him, and gazed into the orb. It was not long before the Eye came and consumed her in its glare, and she disappeared.
***
He took her name from her mind. "Valerie," he hissed. "You bring yourself to me freely. But foolishly."
Valerie shuddered at the Lidless Eye that loomed before her, and took a few steps backwards, trying in vain to put more distance between them.
Sauron saw what was in her hand—his Ring. "You cannot defeat me, child. I will have my Ring."
The teen shook her head and clutched at the Ring. It was a mistake looking into the orb. She could not possibly face Sauron alone! What had she been thinking of?
The flames still burnt high, but the Eye shrank and took on another form—one looking like a human, or an Elf. It mattered not to Valerie, just that it now had a body like hers.
Sauron strode nearer, very much the same as he had been when he fought Isildur and Elrond thousands of years ago.
She could see no eyes behind the mask, and that only made him all the more frightening to her. No eyes, her fear-numbed mind whispered in horror. No face, no head, no body, no soul…stop scaring yourself, Val!
The Dark Lord chuckled, for he knew the girl's thoughts. The Palantir was his world, his domain, and ruled it, he did. "Return me my Ring and death will be painless."
Valerie's hand opened slowly, and reached out to let Sauron take his Ring. For he is my Master, the Ring whispered. And he is master of you.
But the same addiction to the Ring that caused many to be unable to even try to mar the beauty of it overtook her, and she snatched her hand back.
Sauron's sword was out in a flash, and heading for her head. Without even realizing it, her own blade blocked his.
The madness which consumed her as she fought the Orcs in Moria returned, and with that, the dam of darkness in her was broken.
It was Sauron's turn to back away slightly. "No mortal are you."
That statement was one she thought stupid, and it annoyed her. "Crap." She swung her sword at him, but he parried it.
They were evenly matched.
***
"Where is Valerie?" Boromir reined his steed in beside Aragorn as he slashed down a few Orcs. Some Elves had already been taken down.
"She means to face Sauron alone!" Aragorn's low voice carried well over the noise.
"What madness did overtake her?" Boromir cried. A child she was, yet a child who had traveled with the Company. He could not bear the thought of her facing the threat of Sauron alone!
"Do not be distracted from the battle!" Gimli roared. "She will return!"
"Let us hope that she shall," Aragorn muttered.
***
"You will not prevail, child," Sauron mocked. Already, his strength and experience had given him tremendous advantage over the girl, and though she had been able to fend off his attacks and even retaliate at first, she was tiring fast.
Yeah, I cannot win, she agreed silently. Just give up. Give him the darn Ring.
Valerie's strength quailed and she dropped her sword, falling weakly onto a knee, as if in reverence for Sauron. She hung her head. All was lost. She had failed, and Middle Earth would fall; Aragorn, Gimli, the Hobbits, Legolas and Boromir would fall.
"'romir," she mumbled in a final apology.
Sauron laughed, moving in for the kill, his sword held point-down above her head.
"I do not wish for Gondor to fall if I may prevent it."
Valerie's head snapped up. Boromir's voice had seemed to come from inside her head and everywhere at once, but it didn't matter.
"Gondor won't fall," she had promised. "We'll defeat Sauron, and kick his ass."
Just as Sauron's sword came down, she threw the Ring upwards and rolled away, hoping to distract him, grabbing for her blade and rising to her feet, her promise and the image of Boromir in her mind giving her strength.
"I made a promise to kick your ass, Sauron, and I will."
The Ring reached the apex of her throw, but it did not fall. It remained there, spinning.
Sauron actually looked afraid and Valerie smiled. "So you can be afraid too?" She eyes hardened. "I've got friendship on my side. What do you have?"
And their world was enveloped in a flash of blinding white.
