They left Lothlorien wood the next day, a long way still before them. Before they left, Galadriel offered several gifts to the fellowship, capes with a metal leaf attached to it and boats, and gave each member a special present. Just before joining her friends to the boats, Willow was stopped by Galadriel. "Tell him the truth, Willow." The redhead's eyes widened. "I'm old and I have many powers. I know who you are Willow and I know you are wise, but don't wait too long or you might lose any chance to say it to him."
Understanding, the witch nodded and ran down to the edge of the river, jumping in Gimli and Legolas' boat. [How did she knew?] She looked back at the Elf seated behind her and frowned. He was tense, so deep in his thoughts. Willow bit her lip. [Is it because of what I told him yesterday?]
The day passed slowly, every member of the crew lost in thoughts. Some thought of Galadriel or Gandalf, others of home and two about eachother. [How can you tell someone who lived as a human all her life that she is an immortal and magical being, the last of a kind, even if I don't know how can that be?] Legolas asked himself. He was suddenly afraid of what the small redhead would do when she'd learn she was an Elf.
During the afternoon, they came upon the Argonath, two statues sculpted in hills, ancient kings guarding the river. An hour later, the three boats accosted on the western shore of the river.
Willow sat on a stone next to Gimli as he argued with Aragorn about the road they would take once in Mordor. The north road wasn't making him happy, not that going into the land of the dark lord would make anyone happy, no matter what road they took. She kept stealing glances at Legolas. He was looking deep into the woods, maybe seeing something she couldn't. But she knew it wasn't it. She felt it too. A dark presence was coming their way and quickly.
Legolas took Aragorn's arm. "We should leave now."
"No, we'll wait until nightfall then cross the river. Orcs are patrolling the eastern shore."
"It's not the oriental side that worries me," he said quietly, seeking something in the dark forest. "There is a menace growing in my mind. Something's coming near. I can feel it."
Willow quietly thought about her options and she was scared. She knew Galadriel was right. She had to tell Legolas the truth about her. The problem was that she didn't know how. So she went straight to the point. "Legolas." The Elf turned to her and she gestured to him to step away from the rest of the fellowship. When they were a couple of meters away, she stopped pulling him deeper in the trees. "I... I have to tell you something. Now, I'm not crazy, just listen. You were right when you said I was different. I'm very different. In fact, I'm not like anything in Middle-earth." She took a deep breath and continued. "You asked me some very personal things about my life, things I would have never said even to Gandalf. Only Galadriel knew." Legolas' face turned white. "I... I'm not from this world, Legolas or more precisely, not from this age."
The Elf she loved just kept looking at her. "Willow," he sighed. "Just tell me. I'm completly lost."
She looked deep into his eyes, afraid it would be the last time. "Come on, Legolas. Don't tell me you haven't notice how strange my clothes are, how different I am from any other women, human or else. Everything around me right now is a lost world. Maybe a part of Middle-earth lays somewhere in a museum as a relic from the dark ages. I've learn something during all those years fighting for good next to Buffy : everything is possible, especially on the Hellmouth. And when I say everything, that includes a witch going eight hundred years back in time when she steps in a temporal disturbance."
Realization dawned on Legolas' face, suddenly understanding what she was trying to tell him. [She's from the futur!]
But before he could speak, Merry's voice stopped him. "Where's Frodo?" the Hobbit asked. The ringbearer was gone...
...as well as Boromir.
They looked everywhere for the two of them and they all went in different ways. Willow suddenly heard swords colliding, sounds of a fight coming from up the hill. She ran as fast as she could and bumped in Legolas and Gimli on her way up. The three of them finally got on top of the hill, jumping in the fight. Aragorn had already killed many of them. The Dwarf slaughtered the Orcs one by one with heavy hits of his axe while the much more gracious weapon of the Elf was nonetheless as dangerous when manipulated by the deadly archer.
While fighting off an Orc, or more like taking revenge on him for Gandalf, the redhead noticed that Merry, Pippin and Sam had disappeared. They weren't with them. The she heard it : a horn. The sound resonated through the woods and they stopped the fight. "Gondor's horn," Legolas said.
"Boromir!" Aragorn exclaimed. He started to run toward the sound, Gimli, Legolas and Willow on his tail. Soon, he was out of sight even for the Elf. Orcs standed in their way to help the two men and they slayed the disgusting creatures without batting an eye.
But all their efforts were in vain. They were too late.
They stumbled on a dying Boromir speaking softly to Aragorn. He had been shot with three arrows. The decapitated body of an enormous Orc lay not far from them. The sad face of an Elf looked at them and Gimli sighed, letting his axe fall on the ground. Willow shed a few tears while looking at the man that had did his best to protect Merry and Pippin.
After mourning the man fallen in a vicious fight, they prepared to tell him goodbye, placing him in a boat and letting it free to go down the fall. Legolas pushed another boat to the edge of the river. "Hurry! Frodo and Sam are already on the oriental shore!" He frowned when he saw that Aragorn wasn't doing anything but stand there. "You are not going to follow them," he stated.
"Frodo's faith isn't in our hands anymore."
"Then we've done it all for nothing," Gimli said angrily. "The fellowship has failed."
"Not if we stay true to each other," Aragorn replied. "We won't leave Merry and Pippin die awfully. We'll travel lightly : take only what is necessary. Lets go hunt some Orcs!"
"I'm not going."
Three heads turned toward the owner of the voice. Willow was looking the other side of the river, her back to them. Her hands were shaking slightly. The Elf was worried, especially after all she had told him. "Willow?" he asked.
The redhead started sobbing. "Why?" she cried. "Why are they calling me back now?!" She turned around and looked into the Legolas' eyes. "I can feel it. They found a spell. They are trying to bring me back to the 21th century in Sunnydale." The Elf took her in his arms. "But I would prefer being stuck in Middle-earth when a war is brewing than being stuck on the Hellmouth without you," she said softly, crying.
Beside them, Gimli and Aragorn watched in amazement as a swirling pool of light appeared behind the redhead. "Willow," Legolas started. "Wait for me. I'll come to you. Galadriel told me to keep an eye on you. You are the last of a kind, Willow."
"What?" she asked incredulously.
"The blood in your veins is the same as mine," he whispered, drawing her close. "You are an Elf, the last..." His sentence was cut short when the redhead cried out. The disturbance was pulling her inside, the spell almost finished. She grabbed tightly Legolas' hand, but the force of the swirling temporal fold was too strong.
The last thing she heard was the sound of his voice calling to her.
* * *
"Willow!"
The redhead laid still on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Someone was calling to her, a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Buffy standing over her with a big smile plastered on her face.
"Giles! She's waking up!"
Willow winced at the loud voice, her ears highly sensitive. She was confused, totally lost in the once familiar appartment of the watcher. She startled when Xander jumped on her and took her in his arms, the slayer joining them in their embrace. The redhead saw the old man standing before her, looking happy.
On the stairs, Spike was sitting quietly for once and he stared at her. He was the only one to notice that she wasn't responding to her friends' affection. Willow Rosenberg didn't respond to the love of friends she had not seen in over one month. He moved quickly when he saw her fall down and he caught her in mid air.
The slayerettes watched wide eyes open as the redhead sobbed wildly in the vampire's arms. "I couldn't even tell him!" she cried.
"Who, pet?"
[Tell him the truth, Willow.] The voice seemed to have owned to someone from a dream, a fantasy world, but Willow remembered every word she was told that morning. [I know who you are Willow and I know you are wise, but don't wait too long or you might lose any chance to say it to him.] She clutched to Spike's arm as memories overloaded her brain. "I was too late! I couldn't tell him!" she cried.
Her friends positively started panicking when she started yelling. "Hlasta! Qyetes hfirimain!" Then she started repeating the same words over and over again. "In gwidh ristennin, i fae narchannen!"
Every words coming out of her mouth didn't made any sense to them, but the watcher's eyes widened as the same time Spike's did. "Listen - it speaks to those who were not born to die," Giles whispered. The slayerettes listened as he translated a part of what the redhead was yelling.
Spike continued where the watched had left it. "The bonds cut, the spirit broken." He looked up at the older man. "We were wrong to bring her back, Watcher."
"How can you say that?!" Xander cried angrily.
"Legolas!" Willow screamed. They all startled except Spike.
The vampire looked deep into the teen's eyes. "Because we've broken the bond between two of those who were not born to die."
Understanding, the witch nodded and ran down to the edge of the river, jumping in Gimli and Legolas' boat. [How did she knew?] She looked back at the Elf seated behind her and frowned. He was tense, so deep in his thoughts. Willow bit her lip. [Is it because of what I told him yesterday?]
The day passed slowly, every member of the crew lost in thoughts. Some thought of Galadriel or Gandalf, others of home and two about eachother. [How can you tell someone who lived as a human all her life that she is an immortal and magical being, the last of a kind, even if I don't know how can that be?] Legolas asked himself. He was suddenly afraid of what the small redhead would do when she'd learn she was an Elf.
During the afternoon, they came upon the Argonath, two statues sculpted in hills, ancient kings guarding the river. An hour later, the three boats accosted on the western shore of the river.
Willow sat on a stone next to Gimli as he argued with Aragorn about the road they would take once in Mordor. The north road wasn't making him happy, not that going into the land of the dark lord would make anyone happy, no matter what road they took. She kept stealing glances at Legolas. He was looking deep into the woods, maybe seeing something she couldn't. But she knew it wasn't it. She felt it too. A dark presence was coming their way and quickly.
Legolas took Aragorn's arm. "We should leave now."
"No, we'll wait until nightfall then cross the river. Orcs are patrolling the eastern shore."
"It's not the oriental side that worries me," he said quietly, seeking something in the dark forest. "There is a menace growing in my mind. Something's coming near. I can feel it."
Willow quietly thought about her options and she was scared. She knew Galadriel was right. She had to tell Legolas the truth about her. The problem was that she didn't know how. So she went straight to the point. "Legolas." The Elf turned to her and she gestured to him to step away from the rest of the fellowship. When they were a couple of meters away, she stopped pulling him deeper in the trees. "I... I have to tell you something. Now, I'm not crazy, just listen. You were right when you said I was different. I'm very different. In fact, I'm not like anything in Middle-earth." She took a deep breath and continued. "You asked me some very personal things about my life, things I would have never said even to Gandalf. Only Galadriel knew." Legolas' face turned white. "I... I'm not from this world, Legolas or more precisely, not from this age."
The Elf she loved just kept looking at her. "Willow," he sighed. "Just tell me. I'm completly lost."
She looked deep into his eyes, afraid it would be the last time. "Come on, Legolas. Don't tell me you haven't notice how strange my clothes are, how different I am from any other women, human or else. Everything around me right now is a lost world. Maybe a part of Middle-earth lays somewhere in a museum as a relic from the dark ages. I've learn something during all those years fighting for good next to Buffy : everything is possible, especially on the Hellmouth. And when I say everything, that includes a witch going eight hundred years back in time when she steps in a temporal disturbance."
Realization dawned on Legolas' face, suddenly understanding what she was trying to tell him. [She's from the futur!]
But before he could speak, Merry's voice stopped him. "Where's Frodo?" the Hobbit asked. The ringbearer was gone...
...as well as Boromir.
They looked everywhere for the two of them and they all went in different ways. Willow suddenly heard swords colliding, sounds of a fight coming from up the hill. She ran as fast as she could and bumped in Legolas and Gimli on her way up. The three of them finally got on top of the hill, jumping in the fight. Aragorn had already killed many of them. The Dwarf slaughtered the Orcs one by one with heavy hits of his axe while the much more gracious weapon of the Elf was nonetheless as dangerous when manipulated by the deadly archer.
While fighting off an Orc, or more like taking revenge on him for Gandalf, the redhead noticed that Merry, Pippin and Sam had disappeared. They weren't with them. The she heard it : a horn. The sound resonated through the woods and they stopped the fight. "Gondor's horn," Legolas said.
"Boromir!" Aragorn exclaimed. He started to run toward the sound, Gimli, Legolas and Willow on his tail. Soon, he was out of sight even for the Elf. Orcs standed in their way to help the two men and they slayed the disgusting creatures without batting an eye.
But all their efforts were in vain. They were too late.
They stumbled on a dying Boromir speaking softly to Aragorn. He had been shot with three arrows. The decapitated body of an enormous Orc lay not far from them. The sad face of an Elf looked at them and Gimli sighed, letting his axe fall on the ground. Willow shed a few tears while looking at the man that had did his best to protect Merry and Pippin.
After mourning the man fallen in a vicious fight, they prepared to tell him goodbye, placing him in a boat and letting it free to go down the fall. Legolas pushed another boat to the edge of the river. "Hurry! Frodo and Sam are already on the oriental shore!" He frowned when he saw that Aragorn wasn't doing anything but stand there. "You are not going to follow them," he stated.
"Frodo's faith isn't in our hands anymore."
"Then we've done it all for nothing," Gimli said angrily. "The fellowship has failed."
"Not if we stay true to each other," Aragorn replied. "We won't leave Merry and Pippin die awfully. We'll travel lightly : take only what is necessary. Lets go hunt some Orcs!"
"I'm not going."
Three heads turned toward the owner of the voice. Willow was looking the other side of the river, her back to them. Her hands were shaking slightly. The Elf was worried, especially after all she had told him. "Willow?" he asked.
The redhead started sobbing. "Why?" she cried. "Why are they calling me back now?!" She turned around and looked into the Legolas' eyes. "I can feel it. They found a spell. They are trying to bring me back to the 21th century in Sunnydale." The Elf took her in his arms. "But I would prefer being stuck in Middle-earth when a war is brewing than being stuck on the Hellmouth without you," she said softly, crying.
Beside them, Gimli and Aragorn watched in amazement as a swirling pool of light appeared behind the redhead. "Willow," Legolas started. "Wait for me. I'll come to you. Galadriel told me to keep an eye on you. You are the last of a kind, Willow."
"What?" she asked incredulously.
"The blood in your veins is the same as mine," he whispered, drawing her close. "You are an Elf, the last..." His sentence was cut short when the redhead cried out. The disturbance was pulling her inside, the spell almost finished. She grabbed tightly Legolas' hand, but the force of the swirling temporal fold was too strong.
The last thing she heard was the sound of his voice calling to her.
* * *
"Willow!"
The redhead laid still on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Someone was calling to her, a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Buffy standing over her with a big smile plastered on her face.
"Giles! She's waking up!"
Willow winced at the loud voice, her ears highly sensitive. She was confused, totally lost in the once familiar appartment of the watcher. She startled when Xander jumped on her and took her in his arms, the slayer joining them in their embrace. The redhead saw the old man standing before her, looking happy.
On the stairs, Spike was sitting quietly for once and he stared at her. He was the only one to notice that she wasn't responding to her friends' affection. Willow Rosenberg didn't respond to the love of friends she had not seen in over one month. He moved quickly when he saw her fall down and he caught her in mid air.
The slayerettes watched wide eyes open as the redhead sobbed wildly in the vampire's arms. "I couldn't even tell him!" she cried.
"Who, pet?"
[Tell him the truth, Willow.] The voice seemed to have owned to someone from a dream, a fantasy world, but Willow remembered every word she was told that morning. [I know who you are Willow and I know you are wise, but don't wait too long or you might lose any chance to say it to him.] She clutched to Spike's arm as memories overloaded her brain. "I was too late! I couldn't tell him!" she cried.
Her friends positively started panicking when she started yelling. "Hlasta! Qyetes hfirimain!" Then she started repeating the same words over and over again. "In gwidh ristennin, i fae narchannen!"
Every words coming out of her mouth didn't made any sense to them, but the watcher's eyes widened as the same time Spike's did. "Listen - it speaks to those who were not born to die," Giles whispered. The slayerettes listened as he translated a part of what the redhead was yelling.
Spike continued where the watched had left it. "The bonds cut, the spirit broken." He looked up at the older man. "We were wrong to bring her back, Watcher."
"How can you say that?!" Xander cried angrily.
"Legolas!" Willow screamed. They all startled except Spike.
The vampire looked deep into the teen's eyes. "Because we've broken the bond between two of those who were not born to die."