Losing Yourself

A/N: I know my chapters have become increasingly long, but I need to cover 2 different stories, so it takes more to get through a whole idea. Just bear with me, they'll shorten soon

A/NII: Who though LOTR got TOTALLY screwed at the Oscars? I did, but I bet the Academy is waiting out, for Return of the King.

Pippin mopped around Gondor, Ed dragging him along the street and through crowds of people. He was starting to get used to the dog pulling him wherever, though Pippin's right arm hurt quite a bit from the strain. Finally, he managed to sit down, and rest his arm. Ed curled up by his legs.

"Oh finally you've spent your energy! I didn't think you'd ever stop running about." Pippin sighed and pulled some cheese from his pocket and began to nibble away at it. Unfortunately, he unknowingly dropped the leash as he did so.

"Oh, hullo Pip!" Merry said walking up to Pippin. Ed sprang to his feet and ran at Merry, who unconsciously pat him on the head. "What are you eating there?"

"A bit of cheese." He said and then added, "the dog is really giving me a hard time, he's always run here or there, never in one place. I'm exhausted, and I've only had him for a few hours!" Merry laughed and sat down next to his friend.

"Are you going to the conference, then?" Merry asked. Pippin shrugged.

"Do they have food?"

"Probably not."

"Oh, never mind, then."

"Come on, it should be interesting." Pippin sighed,

"Alright, I'll go."

"Good," Merry said grinning

"But, we'll have to a bit to eat first."

Yet, unbeknownst to Merry and Pippin, while the two chatted, Ed slowly wandered away from him and soon enough to gallivanting around town, much as Sam had found him before.

* * *

Charlie slowly moved the boat along the river, while Frodo sat emotionless inside.

"What will you do when you get to the sea?" Charlie asked Frodo,

"I don't know, to be honest. I suppose I find out when I get there." Charlie nodded, but pressed on,

"Ever heard of the Grey Havens?"

"Why yes. Isn't that where the elves go to die?"

"Something like that, yes. It is where the Elder's live, with Círdan the Shipwright."

"Oh…" Frodo seemed confused as to why Charlie brought this up. Charlie though, said nothing more on the subject and continued down the river.

About an hour later, they stopped along the shore to rest for the night.

"Where do you come from, Charlie?" Charlie smiled, and shrugged.

"Everywhere, I don't really have a home, I move and wander. I've been all over Middle Earth, slept in castles and in caves. Any reason, lad?"

"Well, yes. You remind me of two travelers who are staying in Gondor now. Ones that are from another world."

"Ah, yes. I heard of them. From a place called Earth, yes?"

"Yes. What do you know of them?"

"Only what I heard from Gandalf." At this Charlie slapped his forehead, "opps." He muttered.

"You know Gandalf? How?" Frodo as astonished.

"We are old friends, from long ago." Charlie took off his green hat and used it as a pillow when he lied down, "Old friends from long ago." Frodo looked wistfully at him, and asked,

"So what do you think of the travelers."

"Mighty strange, I must say. I've heard of that sort of thing in folklore, though I always thought it was just a tale."

"Really? I've never heard anything about it before."

"Hmm, oh well that was long time ago. I don't imagine they keep those old stories around anymore, especially since no one used to believe them. But, nothing much will come of this either. People like to hear a hero's tales, not a traveler's log."

"But what the Lady has said will revolutionize our world, and science."

"You forget, Frodo, we are not men of science, we are men of history. We know nothing of why our world works, and have no need to find out. We only move forward in time, not trying to understand why we do so, only that we have to."

"To think, I do not even know what has happened to them. Perhaps they have both gone home now, without my even saying good bye." Frodo's eyes cast down slightly. "Perhaps Aragorn and Lady Arwen have already wed, and I was not there. I never said good bye, not even to Pippin, Merry and Sam." Charlie looked as though he was surprised or perhaps understanding in this regard. But he was not; he was just saddened by Frodo's actions and his confusion. Charlie understood why Frodo ran, but did not know when the proper time was to tell him about it.

"When I got the ring, and I was told what I had to do, I always thought that one day I would see home again, that I would move back to the Shire and grow old like Bilbo. But that hasn't happened, and I don't think it can ever happen."

"Do you want it to?"

"I don't know." Frodo said, and then was quite for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Oh no!" Pippin cried jumping up from where he and Merry sat. "Where is Ed?" He said looking around frantically for the dog.

"I don't know, he was just…" Merry looked at where Ed had just been but saw nothing there. "Oh no!" With that the two hobbits raced off to search around Gondor for the lost dog.

* * *

"How do things fare?" Legolas asked upon meeting up with the search group.

"Not well, not well. What news do you bring from the King?" the Prince asked.

"He instructed us to continue on our way until the Mouths of Anduin and then to return, if there is no sign of him." The Prince nodded, pressing his lips together slightly, and then turned back to the group. Sam rode in front of Legolas, and gave him a despondent gaze.

"Do not fret yet, Sam, for there is still time, and there is still yet hope."

* * *

"I do believe we are being followed." Charlie said as they continued down the river.

"Followed? By who?" Frodo asked getting dragged out of a trance.

"Well, I don't know exactly, but I would guess it is your friends from Gondor." Frodo turned behind him as if they were close enough to see, and Charlie gazed down at the hobbit's face to see his reaction

"Why would they follow after me?"

"What do you think most people do when their friend has run away?"

"They want to take me home…"

"Do you object to this?"

"It's is no longer my home…" Frodo turned back around and stared ahead of him, at the endless flow of water before him.

"How far away are they?"

"Oh at least 2 days behind."

"Then how do you know…" Frodo looked up at Charlie, who just shrugged.

"If you would really like to get away from them, we can turn and move up stream…" Frodo sighed deeply,

"I do not know any longer what I want." Charlie smiled a bit, but bite his lip to hide it. He saw Frodo's wall cracking, and aimed to get it to crumble completely.

* * *

Allison paced her room back and forth, holding a few papers in her hand. She muttered to herself, memorized lines and calculations she would be explaining for the conference later that day. As she paced, there came a knock at the door, and she opened it, reveling Laura.

"There is a problem."

"Oh, what more can go wrong?"

"Ed is missing…"

"Oh for heaven's sake! Blast that Pippin, he would lose his own head if it weren't screwed on to his shoulders!" Allison stormed out of the room, Laura following after her, to find Pippin.

When she did, the first thing she said to him was,

"What kind of a caretaker are you?"

"I'm not! I told you I couldn't do this!" Pippin cried haplessly. Allison sighed, but her anger dissolved into pity, looking at poor Pippin and Merry searching desperately for the dog. She bite back any further anger that might arise and said, exasperated,

"Where did you last see him?" The two hobbits told her, and Allison and Laura were about to join the search for Ed when a messenger of Rohan approached them.

"Lady Allison?"

"Yes?"

"King Éomer wishes to meet with you." Allison and Laura exchanged looks of confusion, and Allison shrugged.

"Ok, when?"

"Immediately."

"Oh, ok." Allison followed the messenger into the Court and into a small room within it. He opened the door for her, and closed it after. Allison walked in and saw Éomer sitting in a plush chair. Allison didn't walk any farther in.

"You wanted to see me?" He smiled, nodded and motioned for her to sit down. She did so,

"I hear that you have discovered what you set out to discover, did you not?"

"I did."

"So, is you stay in Middle-Earth complete?"

"I suppose so."

"Are you to part with us soon, then?"

"No, not until they find Frodo, and Aragorn and Arwen have their wedding."

"And then…"

"And then…I don't know. I suppose I'll go home." Allison sounded lost and unsure, "I hadn't given it much thought."

"Or perhaps your thoughts leaned towards an option you feel is impossible."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I speak of." Of course, Allison did, and she cast her eyes down to her hand wrapped still in the bandaged.

"I want to stay, I really do. I love it here, and I love everyone here. But even if I don't feel it, I belong at home. I have no place here." She said quietly.

"But what if your home, was really meant to be here. You spoke so much about independent destinies, yet did you ever consider that perhaps two destinies could cross and have their meeting be fated as well."

"If you mean what I think you mean…"

"Lady, I think you understand my feelings for you. I do not wish you to leave, and if you stay you will have a place to reside. In Rohan, beside me." Allison looked up at Éomer, his eyes sincere and beautifully clear. Allison couldn't articulate words for a few moments, and he took her hand and said,

"I know your heart, and I know what your desired answer is. I also know that you have feelings and obligations that keep you from answering."

"So what do you want me to do?" Allison asked meekly.

"I wish for whatever you wish to do, and nothing more." Allison gripped his hand,

"I want to stay with you, I really do, but I can't…I just can't. You must understand that?"

"I do. I only want what you want." Éomer said, and the two stayed in the room for the remainder of the evening.