"Hostile Takeover"-Chapter 18: Shadow of the Past
Author's Note: I couldn't get the italics to work so I will clarify flashbacks with "PAST" and "PRESENT".
Another Author's Note is at the end.
Disclaimer is the same as the first chapter.
This chapter contains snippets of quotes from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
Merrick stood at one of the multitude of windows at Heathrow airport in London, England. He watched a large 767 aircraft back slowly away from its gate to begin its taxi towards the runway. The chances that that was the plane that carried Grigor away from them were slim but he watched it with the same intent nonetheless.
The big man described it as a spiritual journey, a need to reaffirm his connection to his past. Though he might never see his former kin or walk through the wood of Lothlorien again, he wanted to see the gates of Moria and feel their stone beneath the palm of his hand.
Merrick knew better. He recognized Grigor's reasoning as the flowery psychobabble it was. He didn't want to admit that he simply missed his friend. The slightly veiled message they received that the elf would be waiting for him was enough reason for him to buy his ticket for Oslo.
Merrick wished that he and Piper could go with him but they did not fly to London to see old friends. They came to bring one home.
Piper sat uncomfortably on the edge of a plastic chair staring at the ends of her overgrown bangs. She sighed in exasperation with herself. Once again she found she did not fit how she looked with how she felt. She had discovered her true self but she didn't look the part. It would be time for a change once again. "I hate my hair," she said sullenly more to herself than to anyone else.
Merrick did not hear her small declaration. His mind focused on a figure emerging from a gate across from them. He tapped his companion on the shoulder to draw her attention. "Pip," he called softly.
Piper rose to her feet at the sight of her lost friend. Sally's expression flickered with recognition and disbelief. So far from home, this couldn't be real. But their arms came around her, drawing her into their comforting embrace. She could not help but let herself go to them. She buried her face in Merrick's shoulder and clung tightly to Piper's hand. This was not home but it was more than she had ever hoped for. "I can't believe you're here," she said with a throaty voice.
"Gandalf sent for us," Merrick said softly. "He said it would be better to go back three together than one alone."
The words sounded right to her, familiar, but the scene was all wrong. Their quest was complete but their triumph was negated by their loss. It shouldn't be like this. They were to be sad but not grieving.
PAST
Sally had thought that she would waste away by her master's body at the Crack of Doom. Being alone as she was, she had almost tricked herself into thinking she was all that remained of the world. She never thought anyone would come for her.
They didn't come for her. They came for him. She heard them, their fair voices raised in song. The elves had entered the fire lit cavern on silent footfalls. One of them paused by her side and asked if he could lead her home. She met his request with a shell-shocked silent stare.
PRESENT
The events which had occurred to separate her from Middle Earth and put her on an airplane back home were lost behind quiet brown eyes.
Piper sensed this, a broken feeling in the words and movement of her friend. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Sally pulled away from them slightly without breaking contact. "I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "I don't even know what that means. These past few days I've felt nothing."
PAST
The elves surrounded Frodo's body and in a reverence of sacred ceremony they had draped him in a shroud of white. They had planned for this. They had waited. Yet, they mourned. Their lament was for the greatness of his burden and the passing of his benevolence. Now that his spirit was at peace, his body should find like repose.
They bore the Ringbearer out of Mt. Doom. Lost and heartbroken, Sally had no choice but to follow them. Gandalf found her straggling behind the elven procession.
That was two days ago.
PRESENT
Gently, Merrick eased her into a chair. He sat beside her as Piper crouched at her feet. Each held her hand, reaffirming their love, support and unfailing presence. "One day I was ordinary and I felt safe," Sally continued, "and then the next, I found I was part of something special . . .legendary and I lived every moment in fear and uncertainty. But now it's changed," she said defeatedly, "but I don't know what it is. I'm numb."
Sally spoke her words from such a great distance within herself that Merrick wondered if they would ever reach her. To think of where she had been, all she had done, mesmerized him. He had adventures but they were not like hers. He envied her. A single thought surfaced again and again in his mind. He could not bring himself to mention it. It was selfish and to utter it aloud would only bring attention to his childish hurt. He couldn't help the way he felt. "How was he?" he asked uneasily, having to clear his throat. "Was it painful?"
"It was quick. I don't think he felt a thing," Sally replied in that same lost voice. In a way, she never really left Mt. Doom. Her expression became wistful as her eyes focused on the past. "Things change so quickly. One minute he was there and the next . . ." She trailed off as the memory clouded her heart. She had to steel herself once more. "But this was the plan. This was what was supposed to happen." She said it with certainty but she had doubt. Saying it didn't make it feel any more true.
Merrick could hold his tongue no longer. "I didn't get to see him."
Sally looked up at him, stricken with a sudden stab of guilt. They had spent all these years together, the three of them, friends that shared an unspeakably deep and precious bond. They never tried to make sense of why they were together. They never saw the need. Now, they knew and the purpose of their friendship transcended destiny. They should have all been together for one last time even if it was just to say good-bye.
Sally knew it was her fault. Sam's fault.
Piper tried to ease the weight of the moment. Her hand came over each of theirs. "He knew he wasn't coming back," he said softly. Somehow she knew it too. She saw it in his eyes as he handed her his credit card on the sunny street corner in Chicago. She saw it but she didn't know what it meant. She didn't know who he was, only that he was important to them. Their missing part.
Merrick straightened in his seat and reached inside his coat. "Elrond messengered this to us after our stint at the bank," he said, retrieving a large brown envelope, folded in half, from his inside pocket. He held it out to Sally's reluctant grasp. "It leaves Shire Publishing and all his assets to you."
She took the envelope slowly as the words spilled out of her in a whisper, "All that he had and might have had." The last thing she wanted was to benefit from Frodo's death.
"His home has a library in it, Sally," Piper said suddenly, wishing to find something which might inspire hope. "I've seen it."
Sally's eyes brightened slightly. She knew what Piper really referred to. Only one book in Frodo's keeping meant anything to her now. "You've seen it. . .?" she asked hesitantly.
Merrick saw the look of hope break across her face and he wanted to fuel it. "It's old but it's still in one piece," he said.
Piper began to smile. "And it's the first of many volumes."
Sally took a quavering breath and began to smile. She could feel the tears coming, healing tears, the first step away from the Crack of Doom.
Merrick reflected her smile and then a new thought intruded. He turned away from her for an instant to reach for something he had just remembered. "Oh, Elrond sent this too, but I don't know what it means."
In his hand he held a brown umbrella.
Sally froze at the sight of it, a brown umbrella which somehow had been retrieved form the airport in Oslo. Her tears retreated, not ready to wash away the pain. A brown umbrella, a sword forever lost in the glamour of the ordinary. Slowly, she reached out and took it from him. It was hers now.
"I've got to . . ."she muttered as she got to her feet unsteadily. She looked around desperately searching for escape. She had to get away but she didn't know where to go. She didn't want to look like she was running away. People who run away usually have people chase after them. "I've got to get some air," she murmured weakly.
"That's okay," Piper said, trying to gloss over her concern. "There's a Starbucks down aways."
Sally nodded mutely and walked away.
At Merrick's shoulder, Piper sighed heavily. "We're making a mess of this."
"She'll be fine," he said. He watched after Sally thoughtfully. "We're hearty folk."
Sally stood in front of the Starbucks. She stared blindly at the menu but did not think she had the strength to order. The events of her life in the past few days had turned the simple act of buying a cup of coffee into something surreal. Life insisted on continuing all around her. The world kept turning. Her heart kept beating. She kept breathing. She truly did not want any of them to stop but she felt them. She felt nothing but them, like she never felt anything else before and it hurt. Each step. Each beat. Each breath. It hurt and she did not know if she would feel this way forever.
Something caused her to turn and watch the multitude of people rushing through the airport. A voice seemed to call to her from the madness of the real world. She looked more closely at the swarming faces and for a moment time began to slow. The sounds of the airport faded until all she could hear was her own heart, her own breaths. The crowds seemed to part to reveal what she looked for.
She saw him.
He stood alone several feet away from her. Motionless, he stared at her with such intent that she felt his gaze as a physical force. She recognized him at once. He waited for her.
She closed the distance between them until she stood before him. Somehow, amazingly, all but his clothes looked the same as he had before. Fate had chosen this image for him for all eternity. He said nothing but only looked at her imploringly, waiting for something only she could give. She swallowed hard and ventured to speak, "Strider . . .?"
He did not nod but smiled an easy smile of gratitude at having been recognized. He cleared his throat slightly and spoke with a voice so familiar, Sally felt a heaviness grow in her chest. "I ask your leave once more to be your companion," he said. His words held the formality of his former life but she could hear the warmth and joy at having found a connection to the Fellowship. To her alarm, he suddenly dropped down to one knee and bowed his head to her. "I pledge my strength and what arms I can find to your cause."
Sally's stomach lurched with discomfort. Dear God, he thought she was Frodo.
"Please, stand up," she said, pulling at him until he returned to his feet. "You owe me no alliegence. I'm Sam."
His smile faded slightly and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "I had a dream," he said softly. "I believed it to be a vision. I saw you at the Crack of Doom." He paused, watching her closely for a reaction. "You had the Ring." He didn't understand and he had little hope that she would hold the answers.
But she knew more than he would ever dread. "It wasn't a dream," she said carefully. Her words tread softly as a harbinger of unpleasant news.
His keen mind focused on the setting of her statement. "Wasn't?"
Sally steadied herself and spoke. "It happened. It's gone. He's gone." Her words were blunt and simple but they were all she could manage to relay to him. She didn't want to tell him. Each of them had suffered the despair left behind. Sometimes it was by choice. Sometimes it was by chance. Either way, it hurt, a sad, pitiful emptiness that could only hold uselessness. Aragorn was not simply left behind. He missed all of it. There was nothing left for him to do, not even worry or hope.
He no longer looked at her as his expression settled on one that Sally knew intimately. "I'm too late," he realized aloud. He focused on finding where he went wrong. What could he have done to make this different? What was the point of his being there if he could do nothing? Fate had a purpose for him but as he had in his former life, he knew that he must endeavor to find it for himself. Life does not always have easy answers.
"It wasn't your quest," Sally said in an effort to ease him. "You did all that your were fated to before." Her manner lacked the warmth and spirit she once had and Aragorn saw for the first time a haunted look behind her eyes. She had locked much of herself away behind a wall, a defining event for which she alone could take the blame. But the wall had cracks and her foundation of silence was beginning to weaken. She tried to take his pain and she could not help but add it to her own. "This whole thing was my mess to clean up. All of this was my fault."
The man that was Aragorn looked upon her with pity. "Oh, Sam, you didn't know."
"But I do now," Sally choked. She flinched as the wall gave way. All of her guilt and shame began to spill to the air for the world to see. "If I hadn't have done what I did. If I hadn't have pulled Gollum off of him. If I hadn't fallen, he wouldn't have been alone." Her tears came and nothing could stop them. "I would have been there to help him then. He could've destroyed it then. Frodo would have been saved while there was still enough of him left to be saved." She grimaced with self-loathing and shook with trembling breaths. "Me and my foolish impulse to save him. Look at what I've done! I sacrificed myself, thinking I died for him, but now I see. Fate has brought me back to see the consequences of my actions." The actions that ended the life of Sam Gamgee became Sally's burden to bear. Until now, she had not spoken of her 'sin'. She had not found a confessor worthy of its magnitude.
Before she realized his intentions, Aragorn had taken her hands and pulled her to him. He held her and she cried. He spoke to her soothingly in soft words that did not register to her conscious mind. Her sobs began to subside as a familiar and welcoming feeling crept into her. 'I am safe. Strider is here. I can rest. Strider will protect me.'
They stood like this for many minutes as the rest of the world continued.
Aragorn looked up at the approach of a young woman with blue tipped black hair. She looked at him curiously with hope and hesitation. "Hi . . ."she said nervously as if she were afraid he might chase her away. "I'm Pippin."
Somehow he knew. She looked oddly right. The smallest, youngest member of the Fellowship, Pippin in no small way represented the innocence of the free world. She could be no one but Pippin. He opened his arm, extending it to her and she jumped into the embrace like a happy child.
"You were the only one who hadn't shown up," a warm male voice spoke from the spot young Pippin had stood. The young man held a twinkle in his eye denoting a cleverness of mind. "We were wondering if you had gotten lost."
Aragorn greeted him with a warm smile. "Fashionably late, Master Brandybuck." He released his other arm from Sam and invited Merry into the fold.
For a moment, Merrick hesitated, held back by the modesty of man, but only for a moment. He stepped in and hugged them all together for in his heart was more than what appeared on the outside. He loved these people. He loved them all.
The man who once was king hugged the three who once were hobbits. Their arms surrounded the young woman he knew as Sam, sheltering her. It was then that Aragorn knew his purpose and the reason for the timing of his arrival. He recalled a boon Frodo had once asked of him just before the Fellowship was broken. He spoke of his leaving. The Ringbearer's words echoed in his mind.
'Take care of the others, especially Sam. He won't understand.'
He bent his head down to her and whispered to her. "My presence here is not useless," he said. "I'm here. All of us are here for you."
Sally sighed, not able to find the words to respond. She didn't know if she could believe him. He elevated her importance too high for her to accept. She was only a gardener, a secretary, a faithful servant. Those identities were real. The rest were illusions, temporary, something she couldn't hold.
But she knew something of stubbornness. She could not talk him out of his pledge. She knew his resolve and at least for now, she would accept it. For the first time in many, many days, she began to think of the future.
THE END
Author's Note: It's over. It's been a long tough road through family obligations, illnesses, and unforeseen computer glitches. Your support has been invaluable to me. I wish I could have honored it better by writing more quickly. I hope you have enjoyed this journey. I know many of you have. I know for certain that one of you didn't. (For that one, I am truly sorry you feel that way but I have to write what's in my heart.)
All that you have seen here is all that I will ever write of Sally, Piper and Merrick and the rest of my reincarnated Fellowship. I leave them all to you. If you wish to continue their journey or enlighten a moment in "Hostile Takeover" that needed more, or, heck, if you even want to go back and rewrite it so that Sally throws herself into the Crack of Doom, feel free. I just want to know about it so I can read it. ( I'm going to devote myself to original works for now. (Look for them as I finish them! "Morticia", "Sweet" and my long one, "Wisdom Tooth".) I think I'm ready.
I will keep up with Bookworm's "Dandelion" and Nix's "Iris" and as I find time, I will look at the rest of your works. You've read mine, now I will read yours. If you need good works to read browse among my fine audience (especially the above-mentioned). Like minds write alike. I will keep you in my thoughts. Happy Holidays!
P.S. Ron's Girl, you've pointed out a huge error in my work to me and I will work to correct it. I plan to fix all errors before posting this to Nindaiwe. Thank you for your vigilance.
God Bless!
Author's Note: I couldn't get the italics to work so I will clarify flashbacks with "PAST" and "PRESENT".
Another Author's Note is at the end.
Disclaimer is the same as the first chapter.
This chapter contains snippets of quotes from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
Merrick stood at one of the multitude of windows at Heathrow airport in London, England. He watched a large 767 aircraft back slowly away from its gate to begin its taxi towards the runway. The chances that that was the plane that carried Grigor away from them were slim but he watched it with the same intent nonetheless.
The big man described it as a spiritual journey, a need to reaffirm his connection to his past. Though he might never see his former kin or walk through the wood of Lothlorien again, he wanted to see the gates of Moria and feel their stone beneath the palm of his hand.
Merrick knew better. He recognized Grigor's reasoning as the flowery psychobabble it was. He didn't want to admit that he simply missed his friend. The slightly veiled message they received that the elf would be waiting for him was enough reason for him to buy his ticket for Oslo.
Merrick wished that he and Piper could go with him but they did not fly to London to see old friends. They came to bring one home.
Piper sat uncomfortably on the edge of a plastic chair staring at the ends of her overgrown bangs. She sighed in exasperation with herself. Once again she found she did not fit how she looked with how she felt. She had discovered her true self but she didn't look the part. It would be time for a change once again. "I hate my hair," she said sullenly more to herself than to anyone else.
Merrick did not hear her small declaration. His mind focused on a figure emerging from a gate across from them. He tapped his companion on the shoulder to draw her attention. "Pip," he called softly.
Piper rose to her feet at the sight of her lost friend. Sally's expression flickered with recognition and disbelief. So far from home, this couldn't be real. But their arms came around her, drawing her into their comforting embrace. She could not help but let herself go to them. She buried her face in Merrick's shoulder and clung tightly to Piper's hand. This was not home but it was more than she had ever hoped for. "I can't believe you're here," she said with a throaty voice.
"Gandalf sent for us," Merrick said softly. "He said it would be better to go back three together than one alone."
The words sounded right to her, familiar, but the scene was all wrong. Their quest was complete but their triumph was negated by their loss. It shouldn't be like this. They were to be sad but not grieving.
PAST
Sally had thought that she would waste away by her master's body at the Crack of Doom. Being alone as she was, she had almost tricked herself into thinking she was all that remained of the world. She never thought anyone would come for her.
They didn't come for her. They came for him. She heard them, their fair voices raised in song. The elves had entered the fire lit cavern on silent footfalls. One of them paused by her side and asked if he could lead her home. She met his request with a shell-shocked silent stare.
PRESENT
The events which had occurred to separate her from Middle Earth and put her on an airplane back home were lost behind quiet brown eyes.
Piper sensed this, a broken feeling in the words and movement of her friend. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Sally pulled away from them slightly without breaking contact. "I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "I don't even know what that means. These past few days I've felt nothing."
PAST
The elves surrounded Frodo's body and in a reverence of sacred ceremony they had draped him in a shroud of white. They had planned for this. They had waited. Yet, they mourned. Their lament was for the greatness of his burden and the passing of his benevolence. Now that his spirit was at peace, his body should find like repose.
They bore the Ringbearer out of Mt. Doom. Lost and heartbroken, Sally had no choice but to follow them. Gandalf found her straggling behind the elven procession.
That was two days ago.
PRESENT
Gently, Merrick eased her into a chair. He sat beside her as Piper crouched at her feet. Each held her hand, reaffirming their love, support and unfailing presence. "One day I was ordinary and I felt safe," Sally continued, "and then the next, I found I was part of something special . . .legendary and I lived every moment in fear and uncertainty. But now it's changed," she said defeatedly, "but I don't know what it is. I'm numb."
Sally spoke her words from such a great distance within herself that Merrick wondered if they would ever reach her. To think of where she had been, all she had done, mesmerized him. He had adventures but they were not like hers. He envied her. A single thought surfaced again and again in his mind. He could not bring himself to mention it. It was selfish and to utter it aloud would only bring attention to his childish hurt. He couldn't help the way he felt. "How was he?" he asked uneasily, having to clear his throat. "Was it painful?"
"It was quick. I don't think he felt a thing," Sally replied in that same lost voice. In a way, she never really left Mt. Doom. Her expression became wistful as her eyes focused on the past. "Things change so quickly. One minute he was there and the next . . ." She trailed off as the memory clouded her heart. She had to steel herself once more. "But this was the plan. This was what was supposed to happen." She said it with certainty but she had doubt. Saying it didn't make it feel any more true.
Merrick could hold his tongue no longer. "I didn't get to see him."
Sally looked up at him, stricken with a sudden stab of guilt. They had spent all these years together, the three of them, friends that shared an unspeakably deep and precious bond. They never tried to make sense of why they were together. They never saw the need. Now, they knew and the purpose of their friendship transcended destiny. They should have all been together for one last time even if it was just to say good-bye.
Sally knew it was her fault. Sam's fault.
Piper tried to ease the weight of the moment. Her hand came over each of theirs. "He knew he wasn't coming back," he said softly. Somehow she knew it too. She saw it in his eyes as he handed her his credit card on the sunny street corner in Chicago. She saw it but she didn't know what it meant. She didn't know who he was, only that he was important to them. Their missing part.
Merrick straightened in his seat and reached inside his coat. "Elrond messengered this to us after our stint at the bank," he said, retrieving a large brown envelope, folded in half, from his inside pocket. He held it out to Sally's reluctant grasp. "It leaves Shire Publishing and all his assets to you."
She took the envelope slowly as the words spilled out of her in a whisper, "All that he had and might have had." The last thing she wanted was to benefit from Frodo's death.
"His home has a library in it, Sally," Piper said suddenly, wishing to find something which might inspire hope. "I've seen it."
Sally's eyes brightened slightly. She knew what Piper really referred to. Only one book in Frodo's keeping meant anything to her now. "You've seen it. . .?" she asked hesitantly.
Merrick saw the look of hope break across her face and he wanted to fuel it. "It's old but it's still in one piece," he said.
Piper began to smile. "And it's the first of many volumes."
Sally took a quavering breath and began to smile. She could feel the tears coming, healing tears, the first step away from the Crack of Doom.
Merrick reflected her smile and then a new thought intruded. He turned away from her for an instant to reach for something he had just remembered. "Oh, Elrond sent this too, but I don't know what it means."
In his hand he held a brown umbrella.
Sally froze at the sight of it, a brown umbrella which somehow had been retrieved form the airport in Oslo. Her tears retreated, not ready to wash away the pain. A brown umbrella, a sword forever lost in the glamour of the ordinary. Slowly, she reached out and took it from him. It was hers now.
"I've got to . . ."she muttered as she got to her feet unsteadily. She looked around desperately searching for escape. She had to get away but she didn't know where to go. She didn't want to look like she was running away. People who run away usually have people chase after them. "I've got to get some air," she murmured weakly.
"That's okay," Piper said, trying to gloss over her concern. "There's a Starbucks down aways."
Sally nodded mutely and walked away.
At Merrick's shoulder, Piper sighed heavily. "We're making a mess of this."
"She'll be fine," he said. He watched after Sally thoughtfully. "We're hearty folk."
Sally stood in front of the Starbucks. She stared blindly at the menu but did not think she had the strength to order. The events of her life in the past few days had turned the simple act of buying a cup of coffee into something surreal. Life insisted on continuing all around her. The world kept turning. Her heart kept beating. She kept breathing. She truly did not want any of them to stop but she felt them. She felt nothing but them, like she never felt anything else before and it hurt. Each step. Each beat. Each breath. It hurt and she did not know if she would feel this way forever.
Something caused her to turn and watch the multitude of people rushing through the airport. A voice seemed to call to her from the madness of the real world. She looked more closely at the swarming faces and for a moment time began to slow. The sounds of the airport faded until all she could hear was her own heart, her own breaths. The crowds seemed to part to reveal what she looked for.
She saw him.
He stood alone several feet away from her. Motionless, he stared at her with such intent that she felt his gaze as a physical force. She recognized him at once. He waited for her.
She closed the distance between them until she stood before him. Somehow, amazingly, all but his clothes looked the same as he had before. Fate had chosen this image for him for all eternity. He said nothing but only looked at her imploringly, waiting for something only she could give. She swallowed hard and ventured to speak, "Strider . . .?"
He did not nod but smiled an easy smile of gratitude at having been recognized. He cleared his throat slightly and spoke with a voice so familiar, Sally felt a heaviness grow in her chest. "I ask your leave once more to be your companion," he said. His words held the formality of his former life but she could hear the warmth and joy at having found a connection to the Fellowship. To her alarm, he suddenly dropped down to one knee and bowed his head to her. "I pledge my strength and what arms I can find to your cause."
Sally's stomach lurched with discomfort. Dear God, he thought she was Frodo.
"Please, stand up," she said, pulling at him until he returned to his feet. "You owe me no alliegence. I'm Sam."
His smile faded slightly and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "I had a dream," he said softly. "I believed it to be a vision. I saw you at the Crack of Doom." He paused, watching her closely for a reaction. "You had the Ring." He didn't understand and he had little hope that she would hold the answers.
But she knew more than he would ever dread. "It wasn't a dream," she said carefully. Her words tread softly as a harbinger of unpleasant news.
His keen mind focused on the setting of her statement. "Wasn't?"
Sally steadied herself and spoke. "It happened. It's gone. He's gone." Her words were blunt and simple but they were all she could manage to relay to him. She didn't want to tell him. Each of them had suffered the despair left behind. Sometimes it was by choice. Sometimes it was by chance. Either way, it hurt, a sad, pitiful emptiness that could only hold uselessness. Aragorn was not simply left behind. He missed all of it. There was nothing left for him to do, not even worry or hope.
He no longer looked at her as his expression settled on one that Sally knew intimately. "I'm too late," he realized aloud. He focused on finding where he went wrong. What could he have done to make this different? What was the point of his being there if he could do nothing? Fate had a purpose for him but as he had in his former life, he knew that he must endeavor to find it for himself. Life does not always have easy answers.
"It wasn't your quest," Sally said in an effort to ease him. "You did all that your were fated to before." Her manner lacked the warmth and spirit she once had and Aragorn saw for the first time a haunted look behind her eyes. She had locked much of herself away behind a wall, a defining event for which she alone could take the blame. But the wall had cracks and her foundation of silence was beginning to weaken. She tried to take his pain and she could not help but add it to her own. "This whole thing was my mess to clean up. All of this was my fault."
The man that was Aragorn looked upon her with pity. "Oh, Sam, you didn't know."
"But I do now," Sally choked. She flinched as the wall gave way. All of her guilt and shame began to spill to the air for the world to see. "If I hadn't have done what I did. If I hadn't have pulled Gollum off of him. If I hadn't fallen, he wouldn't have been alone." Her tears came and nothing could stop them. "I would have been there to help him then. He could've destroyed it then. Frodo would have been saved while there was still enough of him left to be saved." She grimaced with self-loathing and shook with trembling breaths. "Me and my foolish impulse to save him. Look at what I've done! I sacrificed myself, thinking I died for him, but now I see. Fate has brought me back to see the consequences of my actions." The actions that ended the life of Sam Gamgee became Sally's burden to bear. Until now, she had not spoken of her 'sin'. She had not found a confessor worthy of its magnitude.
Before she realized his intentions, Aragorn had taken her hands and pulled her to him. He held her and she cried. He spoke to her soothingly in soft words that did not register to her conscious mind. Her sobs began to subside as a familiar and welcoming feeling crept into her. 'I am safe. Strider is here. I can rest. Strider will protect me.'
They stood like this for many minutes as the rest of the world continued.
Aragorn looked up at the approach of a young woman with blue tipped black hair. She looked at him curiously with hope and hesitation. "Hi . . ."she said nervously as if she were afraid he might chase her away. "I'm Pippin."
Somehow he knew. She looked oddly right. The smallest, youngest member of the Fellowship, Pippin in no small way represented the innocence of the free world. She could be no one but Pippin. He opened his arm, extending it to her and she jumped into the embrace like a happy child.
"You were the only one who hadn't shown up," a warm male voice spoke from the spot young Pippin had stood. The young man held a twinkle in his eye denoting a cleverness of mind. "We were wondering if you had gotten lost."
Aragorn greeted him with a warm smile. "Fashionably late, Master Brandybuck." He released his other arm from Sam and invited Merry into the fold.
For a moment, Merrick hesitated, held back by the modesty of man, but only for a moment. He stepped in and hugged them all together for in his heart was more than what appeared on the outside. He loved these people. He loved them all.
The man who once was king hugged the three who once were hobbits. Their arms surrounded the young woman he knew as Sam, sheltering her. It was then that Aragorn knew his purpose and the reason for the timing of his arrival. He recalled a boon Frodo had once asked of him just before the Fellowship was broken. He spoke of his leaving. The Ringbearer's words echoed in his mind.
'Take care of the others, especially Sam. He won't understand.'
He bent his head down to her and whispered to her. "My presence here is not useless," he said. "I'm here. All of us are here for you."
Sally sighed, not able to find the words to respond. She didn't know if she could believe him. He elevated her importance too high for her to accept. She was only a gardener, a secretary, a faithful servant. Those identities were real. The rest were illusions, temporary, something she couldn't hold.
But she knew something of stubbornness. She could not talk him out of his pledge. She knew his resolve and at least for now, she would accept it. For the first time in many, many days, she began to think of the future.
THE END
Author's Note: It's over. It's been a long tough road through family obligations, illnesses, and unforeseen computer glitches. Your support has been invaluable to me. I wish I could have honored it better by writing more quickly. I hope you have enjoyed this journey. I know many of you have. I know for certain that one of you didn't. (For that one, I am truly sorry you feel that way but I have to write what's in my heart.)
All that you have seen here is all that I will ever write of Sally, Piper and Merrick and the rest of my reincarnated Fellowship. I leave them all to you. If you wish to continue their journey or enlighten a moment in "Hostile Takeover" that needed more, or, heck, if you even want to go back and rewrite it so that Sally throws herself into the Crack of Doom, feel free. I just want to know about it so I can read it. ( I'm going to devote myself to original works for now. (Look for them as I finish them! "Morticia", "Sweet" and my long one, "Wisdom Tooth".) I think I'm ready.
I will keep up with Bookworm's "Dandelion" and Nix's "Iris" and as I find time, I will look at the rest of your works. You've read mine, now I will read yours. If you need good works to read browse among my fine audience (especially the above-mentioned). Like minds write alike. I will keep you in my thoughts. Happy Holidays!
P.S. Ron's Girl, you've pointed out a huge error in my work to me and I will work to correct it. I plan to fix all errors before posting this to Nindaiwe. Thank you for your vigilance.
God Bless!