"Where are they?"

Pippin had the right question. The troops made their way to the Black Gates and had been waiting there for a while now with nothing to show that Sauron recognized their presence.

Looking to the others leading the front, his closest companions and friends, Aragorn began to ride towards the gate. Beside him was Gandalf with Pippin and Amina with Merry as well as Legolas with Gimli, and Eomer. The ride to the gate took but a few minutes and still there was no indication of movement behind the great gate.

"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" Aragorn then shouted, "Let justice be done upon him!"

Finally the gate seemed to open as they all eased back a few paces. A single lieutenant strode forth confidently, "My master Sauron the Great bids thee welcome." What a horrific, gruesome thing it was standing before them. His head and face covered by an ill-favored black stone helmet covering all but his mouth which was filled with sharp pointed rows of rotted teeth. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?"

"We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed," Gandalf spat at him, "Tell your master this; the armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return."

"Old Greybeard," the hideous creature hissed, "I have a token I was bidden to show thee."

And in his hands was a mithril shirt that he threw at the mighty wizard.

Both Merry and Pippin yelled out Frodo's name as Gandalf silence them. Amina reached ahead and grabbed Merry's hand, trying to let him know that they were simply attempting to get a rise out of them. It was working though, they had his mithril shirt, it could mean that Frodo and Sam were dead. But she didn't feel it to be true, not deep in her heart.

"The half-ling was dear to thee I see," came the putrid voice, "Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host. Who would've thought one so small could endure so much pain? And he did Gandalf, he did."

Tears entered not only Gandalf's eyes but the hobbits as well. Maybe it was true, Amina was hard pressed to deny the evidence in front of her. That was when a sudden movement caught her eye, it was Aragorn getting closer to the nasty creature.

"And who is this? Isildur's heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken blade."

Apparently Aragorn strongly disagreed, considering his 'broken blade' came around and beheaded the foul creature.

"I guess that concludes negotiations," Gimli smarted.

"I do not believe him," Aragorn told them, his eyes finding his sister's as he told her, "I will not."

She sent him a brief nod, feeling better that she wasn't the only one who carried doubt over the news of Frodo's death. And what of Sam, it seemed the creature didn't even know of him. But, now, at least they knew they had Sauron's attention. As the gates began to widen they caught a glimpse of the armies of Orcs marching toward them, pulling back they made their way to the rest of their own gathered army.

All but Aragorn dismounted their horses and sent them on their way back to the others; this was a fight that would happen on the ground, not from atop a noble beast. The soldiers though, they all looked so uncertain at seeing the thousands upon thousands of battle-ready Orcs beginning to surround them.

"Hold your ground! Hold your ground!" Aragorn shouted as he paced the men and looked as many as he could in the eye, "Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see it in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!" His speech was working, everyone could see his determination, Amina felt her own courage and pride swell in her veins as he finished, "By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand! Men of the West!"

All of the soldiers then had their weapons at the ready to face the hordes of oncoming enemies, just as Aragorn hurriedly sent his own horse to go to the others, away from war. Slowly but surely the orcs surrounded the combined armies of Gondor and Rohan, completely encircling them. Pippin and Merry looked fearfully at each other, yet both ready to die for their friends and freedom of this evil. Eomer was positively staring down every orc he could with a menacing glare.

Aragorn was now just in front of his sister. Gandalf was beside Amina and Legolas then Gimli on the elf's other side. She overheard a small conversation between the elf and dwarf with the result making her smile, they'd just admitted their friendship with each other. It took being surrounded and certain death at their feet before such an admission could be voiced. With that last thought on her mind her eyes caught those of Legolas once more. He must have felt her gaze on him as he turned to stare at her in return. She wondered if he could see the very heart of her.

Her attention was soon found back on Aragorn though as he took a few steps forward toward the orcs, turning slowly and looking them all in the eye, he spoke in a low tone filled with confidence, "For Frodo."

And with that he held up his blade and began running towards the orcs! As always, where Strider went Light would follow. Now, as her king and her brother, wherever Aragorn went, Amina was right at his side with both of her own elven blades drawn. Her feet picked up and she was soon catching right up to him.

Hearing faint screams behind her of Merry and Pippin she then picked up the sound of the rest of their army running after them. Aragorn reached the line of the orcs first with his sister right behind him, slashing at them with blades as both armies collided into a fierce battle.

Hacking and slashing their way through, doing the best they could to give Frodo as much time as possible. The fellowship and the armies of Gondor and Rohan fought relentlessly. The pace of this battle was brutal, everywhere they turned more orcs came upon them. A shrill scream filled the air as the ringwraiths on their flying beasts were seen overhead. They were all happy to hear Pippin's shouts that the eagles were coming. That put a small bit of relief back into them, it would have been devastating to have to fight those on the ground and the sky.

How long the battle went on for, doubtfully anyone truly knew. There were more orcs dead than that of the gathered free men. All of them continued to push through the growing fatigue. They still fought on even though a comrade had just fallen at their side.

And then something happened that felt as though it had come straight from one of her nightmares.

"Legolas!" she screamed suddenly when she saw that Aragorn had fallen with a troll right over him. The elf was closer than she was and she knew he could be faster to save him with his arrows.

And as much as he struggled in his own battles to reach the man he was stopped at every inch he gained. Thinking fast she circled around killing three orcs which gave her a small amount of time with no enemies near her. Pulling out the knife she always kept strapped to her side, she threw it and caught the troll expertly in the side of the neck.

It did the trick but only for a moment as the huge troll yelped out in pain and grabbed at his neck only to bring his foot down on Aragorn's chest. Her eyes met her brother's in fear for him. Not like this, he couldn't be taken like this. Moving faster she tore through orc after orc to get to him. From her side she noticed Legolas finally closing in on him as well.

Then…it stopped. Everything just stopped.

The troll's gaze looked into the fiery lands of Mordor and backed away in fear, running off and leaving Aragorn alive and uncrushed. And soon all the orcs surrounding them did the same after realizing what was going on, fleeing the area as fast as they could. The surviving men of Rohan and Gondor, the fellowship, all of their eyes were on the flaring eye of Sauron watching as the great tower began crumbling in on itself. Before it fully fell to the ground and a huge shockwave was sent over all of them as the eye disappeared.

He did it. Frodo did it! Reaching Aragorn's side with Legolas just behind her they watched on in awe just as Merry began shouting out Frodo's name victoriously. The orcs were still running away only for the very grounds before them to open up and swallow them, only a few compared to the thousands upon thousands of the dark army managed to escape. Even the black gate collapsed into the earth, the armies of Mordor were destroyed. And with it, the ring and Sauron. It was finally done. Their heroes; Frodo and Sam, they did it!

BOOM!

With sinking hearts and wide eyes, all of them looked on in horror as Mount Doom erupted with a great force. Amina, along with all the others flinched back painfully in disbelief. No! Not after going through all that. Tears streamed down her face as Legolas gently pulled her into him, grief filling him wholly. He needed her touch to comfort the both of them.

What was there left for them to do? They couldn't even go in search of their bodies, if there would be any evidence of the hobbits at all with the lava streaming down all over the mountainside. They won the war of the ring yet lost the main heroes of the battle.

Amina sobbed against Legolas and soon felt Aragorn coming to place a hand on her back soothingly. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, seeing the same anguished tears on his face. The three of them stayed like that for a few moments, needing the comfort of each other in this terrible occasion.

If it weren't for Gimli making his way towards them and pointing into the sky, they never would have noticed Gandalf riding one of the eagles as he led his old feathered friends through the skies of Mordor in search of the missing half-lings. With all their might, they wished Frodo and Sam would be okay. Just one more miracle was all they needed!