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The Fellowship gasped in unison as they realized what Anemosi and Gandalf had been creating in that room of secrets: it was an escape route, a magic path cut through the very fabric of the earth to take them as far along on the Quest as the combined powers of Anemosi and Gandalf could take them. At the end of the swirling tunnel hung mountains, and the snowy peak of Caradhras was barely visible.

"Take the little ones!" Gandalf bellowed to Boromir, who gathered a stunned Merry and Pippin in his arms. Boromir paused at the threshold of the room, fearing the unknown powers that moved there, but Gandalf urged him on. "Go, you fool! There is no time!"

The rest of the Fellowship herded after Boromir, leaping into the whirling vortex to slowly fade and drift away, but Anemosi paused at the threshold as a vision froze her in her tracks.

What was this? She saw herself with Sam, traveling over a snowy mountain peak that chilled her just to see in her mind. She saw herself fighting the orcs in a dank, dark cave, side by side with Sam. She saw a demon beyond any horror her imagination could endure dragging Gandalf into the darkness. What in the name of the Lady was she seeing?

The vision continued, so vivid it made her sick. The images changed; she saw herself crawling towards Frodo as he slept...Sweet Lady! She was taking the Ring! Frodo was struggling against her, she was beating him...a blast from her hand silenced him forever. Merry, Pippin, Aragorn...they all fell to her as she slipped on the Ring and lost to them all. She saw the free lands falling under her own potency, and innocents dying in unprecedented numbers...

Worst of all, she saw herself destroying Sam as he tried to save Frodo.

*What is this?* she wailed inwardly. *What have I seen?*

*It is what will happen if you go with them.* The voice of the Lady sounded in her mind, quiet and yet strong enough to make it seem like her skull was splitting in two. *They will die if you follow them. The Ring will take you, and all will be lost. You must remain here...we have work to do, my Lady Radika.*

The voice faded, but not the command. This was the price, for the days of love? To never see Sam again? This was the cost of the Power? She would rather die than lose him after waiting for him all these years...but the will of the Lady could not be disobeyed. Agonizingly, she raised her head to stare at Sam as he extended his hand to pull her in.

"Anemosi, c'mon!" He was urging her, bewildered, wondering why she did not move.

"I can't," she whispered. "I can't go with you, Sam."

Oh no. Not this. Anything but this. No no no no nononono. She has to come she has to come she has to come...

"Anemosi, hurry!" He begged her, his arms extended as tears began to blind him. "Please!"

"I can't go!" she wailed above the wind in the room. "I'm sorry, Sam!"

"Why not?!" he cried, his eyes betraying the breaking of his heart. "Anemosi, you can't leave me!"

"I will take the Ring if I go with you!" she screamed, and caught his hand. Was there time for one last kiss? She tried to reach him, fighting against every instinct in her body and soul that told her to forget the Lady and her people and run away. One last kiss...

No. There was no time. she could hear the Nazgul behind her, and the screams of her people as they died. Sam was being drawn away, she could feel it, time was running out...

"I'm sorry!" she cried as she tried to hold on to his hand as long as she could. "I just tried to touch you...one last time."

He was weeping; his heart was breaking. "Anemosi, no!"

She was drawing back; her hand was on the handle of the door. she had never looked so beautiful as she did in that instant as her tears fell on his hand. The taena was burning against his chest, searing him, but the pain was nothing to the pain of this final farewell.

"Anemosi!" She was fading...

He could barely hear her reply. "Oh Sam...I love you..."

She was gone, the door slammed shut, and the screams of the Nazgul were shut off. He seemed to drop forever, drowning in a silent agony, but he opened his eyes into the sunlight in front of the Fellowship. Frodo ran to his side, but Sam stumbled numbly to his feet and shoved Frodo away. No comfort could assuage him, no friendship dull the heavy pain in his chest. He staggered away from his companions and fell sobbing in a small cove of trees, curling up into a tiny ball of pain.

The rest of the Nine waited for him to return, not knowing how to deal with this primal, devastating grief. Hours passed before Sam returned, silent, with dry, red-rimmed eyes. when Frodo tried to say something, he was cut off with an agonized stare from his friend. It was understood, at that point, that Anemosi was a name one could not mention around Sam. He never truly recovered, and even his smiles were sad at the edges. Frodo was thankful for his friend's safety, but another thought stuck in Frodo's mind: Sam may have been alive, yes, but his heart was far, far away. And how long could he survive without it?

***********************

Elanor sat before her father with tears streaming from her eyes. Kerra's head was bowed and her traveling skirts were spotted with teardrops that she tried to smooth away with her hands. Sam sighed deeply, as if a deep weight had come off his shoulders, and settled more deeply into his chair.

"There you have it, Elanor. The story. The whole thing, nothing left out, no matter how hard it is for us to tell it." His brown eyes were sad as he gazed upon Anemosi's taena, cradling in his hand the last remnant of a love that had lasted through the years. After his voice faded away, there was silence for a long time in the light of the flickering fire.

"Sam." That was Kerra's voice, low and sad, and Elanor wiped her eyes in time to see the fey warrior rise from her chair and come to kneel before her father. Kerra took Sam's hands in hers and looked him full in the eyes.

"Forgive me, Sam...I never got to ask your forgiveness for what I did and...and that is why I have come here tonight." Her voice shivered and tears fell upon their intertwined hands. "To ask for your forgiveness, for my weakness." She barely held back a sob as she tried to meet Sam's eyes.

Elanor watched her father...would he forgive Kerra for letting Ring take her? Stupid question; this was Samwise Gamgee, not a normal hobbit.

"Oh, Kerra," he sighed, and smiled sadly. "I already did forgive you, see. A long time ago."

She burst into tears and buried her head in his lap as he stroked the crimson curls gently, soothing the sobbing warrior. Elanor nearly wept again, amazed at her father's compassion once more. He never ceased to amaze her with his kindness in any situation.

"Now, now, there, Kerra, stop your crying." Sam raised her tear-streaked face up to the light and smiled at her. "There'll be time enough for that when I say goodbye."

Kerra frowned in confusion, but Sam only stared at her. A few seconds passed before her face cleared and she gasped in sudden realization. He only nodded, and gripped her hands tightly.

"You'll come with me, my old friend?"

She nodded wordlessly, her eyes full of tears again. "Oh Sam, why did you wait so long?" she breathed. "It's been so many years..."

"I know," he sighed, "but there were things I had to do first. Mr. Frodo told me that I wouldn't always be torn in two, but that I am. It's time to be me again, all of me."

"Papa, what are you saying?" Elanor whispered. Kerra and Sam stared at her as if noticing her for the first time. "Where are you going?"

Sam sighed. "Elanor, it's time for me to leave, see. I've been wanting to do this for a long time now, and 'tis time to do it. I'm leaving for the Grey Havens tomorrow, to go...away." His voice drifted off as he stared out the window into the night.

"I want you both to come with me, to see me off, like." His eyes were gentle and pleading. "There's no others I have to say goodbye to, see."
Elanor stifled a sob. "Of course, Papa," she whispered brokenly. He was leaving? Her beloved father was going away? But he would be with Mr. Frodo again, and he deserved that, didn't he?

But how could he be happy without that silver woman who had haunted his dreams for all these years?

He rose out of his chair slowly, minding his old bones. "It's time for bed," he said softly. When Elanor rose to help him to his room, he waved her away with a wrinkled hand.

"I can manage just fine on my own, dear." She nodded and retreated back to his chair, where she sat down opposite Kerra in silence. Her father disappeared down the hall, shuffling quietly with bent shoulders. Seeing him weighted down by age made Elanor begin to weep silently all over again. Until he had told his story, she had not realized how old he really was.

Sam closed the door to his room with relief, reflecting quietly on the memories so long kept put away in his mind. He undressed slowly, and was about to crawl into his soft bed when the moonlight caught on the taena that still hung about his neck. The flash made his heart ache with the heaviness of all the memories of his love for Anemosi, which still lived, warm and content, deep in his heart.

"I made a promise, Anemosi. I never forgot you...I never did." A chill breeze from the open window brushed past him, and he broke down into sobs for the first time that night. Alone and old, Samwise Gamgee wept for a life wasted without his love.

**************

The end is yet to come, my friends...will I make you cry? I know I did, writing this.