Chapter Nine:
They walked single file as before. Gandalf in the lead and Aragorn bringing up the rear. They came into a giant hall.
"Behold, Durin's city, the halls of the Moria," Gandalf informed them.
"It's amazing!" Sam declared. Willow had to agree. The hall was huge, giant pillars everywhere. It's eerily beautiful.
They kept walking. Presently they came across a corridor. Faint light emitted from a slightly ajar door. They walked towards it.
Suddenly, Gimli broke from the pack and raced into the room.
"No, oh no!" the dwarf could be heard moaning. The others followed him into the room. It was covered with bodies, just like the rest of the place. Gimli knelt before a large granite slab.
Willow paused. She had been in enough mausoleums to know a tomb when she saw one. She walked over to the dwarf and wrapped her arms around him in comfort. Gimli continued to wail.
"What does it say?" came Pippin's question.
"'Here lies Balin, Lord of Moria'" Gandalf read. "So it is true, he is dead."
Gimli cried harder. Willow rubbed his back. Tears pricked her eyes. What a horrible day.
Gandalf picked something up from the floor.
"It's a record," he explained. Brushing away dust, the wizard opened the book to its final pages.
"'We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge. We cannot get out. Drums- drums in the deep. They are coming.'"
Willow gulped at the entry. This just got worse and worse.
A huge clash brought everyone's attention to the back of the room. Pippin stood beside a well, wincing guiltily with every bang.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf declared. "Next time, throw yourself in and save us the trouble of your stupidity!"
"Hey, that's enough!" Willow interjected. She went to stand beside the hobbit.
"He made a mistake," she stated evenly. "You don't have to massacre him for it. We're all scared enough as is. Don't start diminishing self- esteem as well."
The wizard stared at her long and hard.
"Resolve Face," she warned, pointing a finger to her face.
Pippin snickered. The wizard shook his head slightly. Willow caught a bit of a smile of his face.
"You will come to all's defense, even when we are against one another," he sighed. "May haps you will save all of us."
A faint noise interrupted her reply. Everyone stopped. It was drumming.
The men jumped into action.
"Orcs," Legolas hissed.
Boromir raced to the door and peered outside. An arrow embedded itself in the door, barely missing his head. Hastily, he and Aragorn set about barring the door.
"They have a cave troll," Boromir laughed mirthlessly.
"I knew there had to be something!" Willow shrieked. "It ain't an ogre, but it's close enough."
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
"Just ignore me," she instructed them. The Fellowship returned to work. The door was barred as well as it could be.
Whoever was on the other side started banging against it. It wouldn't hold for long. Everyone drew his or her weapons. Willow and Gandalf pushed the hobbits behind them.
"It won't hold," Aragorn warned.
"Let them come!" sneered Gimli, standing atop the tomb with axes in hand. "There is still one dwarf in Moria that can fight!"
The door started to come apart. Weapons and claws reached through the openings.
Aragorn and Legolas let arrows lose. Shrieks could be heard from the Orcs as the arrows found their marks. Willow twirled her sword in her hand. God, she hoped she was ready.
The door was slammed open. In entered a large blue creature with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was scary. And he had friends.
"Hey!" Willow shouted in recognition. "Those are the nasty tower workers!"
"Orcs, my lady," Gandalf informed her.
The enemy charged.
Willow raced about, cutting down as many Orcs that came her way. The hobbits were doing okay, Sam was getting into it. The boy was fiercely going after the Orcs.
Willow kept cutting them down while keeping an eye on the hobbits. Then the troll set his sights on her.
With a huge bellow, the troll charged at her. Willow freaked.
She took off, stabbing Orcs as she went. She led the troll around in circles. Finally, he trapped her in a corner. It came at her. Legolas jumped in front of her, arrows striking the creature. It was stalled. The Elf wrapped his arm around Willow's waist and carried her away while the troll was fazed.
Behind a minor sanctuary, Willow turned and kissed Legolas soundly on the mouth.
"Thinking I love you just now," she informed him.
The Elf beamed at her happily.
Shrieks from the hobbits drove them out of their hiding spot.
"Aragorn!" Frodo could be heard screaming.
Willow raced over at his cries. Aragorn lay in an unconscious heap by Frodo. The creature obstructed much of her view. She could only see the troll lunge his lance into the hobbit.
"NOOO!" she screamed. Pippin and Merry jumped on the thing's back. It jerked away from Frodo, trying to pull them off. Legolas threw arrows at it, Gimli threw axes, and Boromir and Gandalf finished off the remaining Orcs.
Willow looked to Frodo. He wasn't moving. She turned back to the troll. It chucked the hobbits off its back.
Willow was pissed. She gathered her magic. She didn't need a spell, this was just pure emotion. Her anger gathered at her fingertips. Electricity crackled off her body, her eyes glowed an inhuman green.
The troll stopped at the sight of her. She snarled at it.
The energy left her hands and barreled towards the creature. It blew a hole right through him. The troll flopped to the floor dead.
Everyone stared at her. Willow raced over to where Aragorn held Frodo in his arms.
"Is he. .?" Willow trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.
Coughing from the hobbit answered her question. Frodo opened his eyes and stared at them.
"I am all right," he assured them. "I am not hurt."
Willow yanked the hobbit into her arms.
"I was so scared," she murmured.
"I am sorry," he replied.
She laughed through her tears. "Not your fault, silly hobbit."
"How?" came Boromir's question.
"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye," Gandalf answered.
Wordlessly, Frodo lifted up his shirt and showed them a chain mail he had on underneath.
"Mithril," breathed Gimli. Willow touched the armor. It was beautiful.
More drumming drew their attention away from the hobbit.
"We must make for the bridge," Gandalf informed.
The Fellowship gathered itself together and raced out of the room. Willow kept Frodo clutched desperately in her arms.
*****
And they ran.
The whole Fellowship raced madly for the bridge, or something. Willow wasn't entirely sure where they were headed, but the others seem to have a goal in mind.
It would have been okay if only it hadn't been for the masses of Orcs that suddenly appeared everywhere they went.
Willow was forced to put Frodo down mid run. The Orcs were chasing them, flying down the huge pillars of Moria. Willow threw as much magic as she could at them. It helped a little, but not much. At one point, they had the Fellowship surrounded.
Willow glanced around them. She gathered her magic into her hands. She shot a look at Gandalf. He raised his staff. They were as ready as they could be.
And then magic flooded the hall. Black magic, of a very evil kind. Everyone sensed it. The Orcs went running for cover.
Willow was guessing that was a bad sign.
"What is this?" Boromir whispered. "New devilry?"
"No," answered Gandalf. "Very old."
Fire and shadow cast upon the halls. Willow gulped audibly.
"Is that a balrog?" she asked tentatively.
Gandalf nodded.
Shit.
"Your weapons are of no more use here," he informed them. "Run!"
And they ran.
Willow herded the hobbits in front of her, pushing them along briskly. Didn't want to give the balrog a chance to catch up.
Fire burned the trail behind them.
Yep, definitely didn't want that thing to catch up to them.
They came to a series of stairwells. None looked too sturdy. But given the options, what else could they do?
They came to a gap in the stairs. Legolas leapt across easily.
"My lady," he motioned.
"Oh no," Willow protested. "I may be from Sunnydale, but I ain't that crazy."
"Now with it lass!" Gandalf commanded, throwing her across.
Willow shrieked in panic. Legolas caught her deftly and turned back for Gandalf.
When the wizard landed, Willow gave him a loud smack on the arm.
"Don't do that!" she admonished.
The wizard grinned a sheepish apology.
Arrows flew around them. Willow gazed towards the source. More Orcs, shooting at them from the rafters. Willow tossed lightning at them. The Orcs screamed as the bolts fried them alive. Teach those bastards.
Next came Sam, virtually tossed across by Aragorn. Boromir clutched both Merry and Pippin in his arms and leaped across.
Aragorn turned to Gimli.
"No one tosses a dwarf," he protested. The dwarf squared his shoulders and leapt across the barricade. He came up a little short. Legolas latched onto his beard to keep him from falling into the abyss.
"Not the beard!" he shrieked.
The Elf smirked a little and hauled the dwarf to safety.
A sudden rumbling shook the cavern. The steps crumbled away, stranding Frodo and Aragorn on the other side.
The Fellowship panicked. They couldn't get to their friends and they had to deal with the arrows fired at them by the Orcs.
Willow squared her jaw. She concentrated on the wavering steps. In her mind, she reached an invisible hand out to steady it. Sweat formed on her forehead. She shook physically from the force of holding the steps up. The steps steadied.
"Careful lass," came Gandalf's warning. "Do not let your hold slip."
"Not helping wizard," Willow choked out.
"Frodo, lean forward," commanded Aragorn. The two strandees leaned forward, pushing the stairs forward. Boromir and Legolas tensed, preparing to catch them.
The stairs creaked forward, the two jumped into the arms of their awaiting comrades. Willow let go of the stairs with a gasp. It took a lot out of her.
"Hurry!" came Gandalf's command. Easy for him to say.
Legolas grabbed Willow by her waist and pulled her along. She was too dizzy to make it on her own.
The Fellowship raced across the bridge. The fire trailing behind them took form. The balrog reared up in rage. Gandalf turned to face it.
"You cannot pass," he snarled at it. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail, flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."
The balrog had no answer. A fiery whip appeared in his hands.
This was not good. Gandalf was tired; Willow had done too much magic already. She had very little left.
The balrog shot his whip at the wizard. A blue glow flashed when the whip met Gandalf's magic.
He didn't have much left, Willow could tell. She had to help.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf and Willow bellowed in unison. She sent out her magic. A flash of light burst out in the middle of the air. The bridge gave out under the monster. He fell. They won.
Willow fell to the ground in a heap. Legolas wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to her feet.
Gandalf turned to face them. Willow smiled weakly at him. They won.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red. She couldn't warn him in time. The balrog's whip spiralled upwards and knocked the wizard off his feet.
"Gandalf!" Willow screamed in panic. She tried to use magic to pull him up. Nothing. She was out of magic. She had done too much. She gazed into the wizard's eyes in shock. The wizard gazed back and understood.
"Fly you fools!" he commanded. Then, he let go of the ledge. And Gandalf the Grey fell into darkness.
"NOOOO!" came Frodo's heart breaking scream.
Willow was aware of pulling. Legolas was pulling her up some steps, leading her to the exit. But Gandalf was left behind.
"NO!" she protested, sobbing. "We can't leave him!"
"We must!" came Aragorn's response.
Legolas pulled her into sunlight. The Fellowship ran from exit, dropping exhausted beside a small pond.
Gandalf the Grey had fallen into darkness.
*****
The whole company was in sorrow.
Pippin lay on the ground, the force of his grief unable to keep him upright. Merry sat next to him, crying his eyes out. Sam sat alone on a rock, weeping. Gimli and Boromir stood side by side, looking on in helplessness and sorrow.
Willow couldn't stop sobbing. Legolas held her in his arms. She cried into his tunic. The Elf stroked her hair.
"We must move," Aragorn spoke softly.
Willow turned disbelieving eyes on him.
"Give them a moment's peace!" demanded Boromir, his own deep voice catching with emotion.
"We cannot stay," Aragorn stated. "By nightfall, this whole area will be crawling with Orcs. We must make it to Lothlorien. Come on, Legolas get them up."
The Elf paused. He looked at the weeping girl in his arms.
"Go on," she whispered, drying her tears on the back of her hand. "I'll get Frodo."
He looked at her, still unsure.
"Go on," she prodded, pulling away from him. "You heard Aragorn, we have to get to La-La land or whatever."
He smiled at her sadly.
"Lothlorien," he corrected her quietly.
"There too," she agreed absently, this time giving him a push in the direction of the others. Right now, all she wanted to do was to wrap herself up in the Elf, but there were more pressing matters. Her comfort would have to wait until they got to safety.
The Elf gave her a parting hug before going to help Aragorn gather the others. Willow watched him trot off. Boy still had a great ass. She wanted to go jumping into his arms and start bawling anew.
She turned away abruptly. She couldn't afford to start crying again, she wouldn't be able to stop. She looked for the hobbit. He was off walking by himself, as if in a trance.
"Frodo?" Willow called after him questioningly.
The hobbit turned at the sound of her voice. His face was streaked with tears. Willow's heart broke.
She gave a slight sob and opened her arms. The hobbit ran into them and the two of them cried together.
* * * * * * * * * * *
They walked single file as before. Gandalf in the lead and Aragorn bringing up the rear. They came into a giant hall.
"Behold, Durin's city, the halls of the Moria," Gandalf informed them.
"It's amazing!" Sam declared. Willow had to agree. The hall was huge, giant pillars everywhere. It's eerily beautiful.
They kept walking. Presently they came across a corridor. Faint light emitted from a slightly ajar door. They walked towards it.
Suddenly, Gimli broke from the pack and raced into the room.
"No, oh no!" the dwarf could be heard moaning. The others followed him into the room. It was covered with bodies, just like the rest of the place. Gimli knelt before a large granite slab.
Willow paused. She had been in enough mausoleums to know a tomb when she saw one. She walked over to the dwarf and wrapped her arms around him in comfort. Gimli continued to wail.
"What does it say?" came Pippin's question.
"'Here lies Balin, Lord of Moria'" Gandalf read. "So it is true, he is dead."
Gimli cried harder. Willow rubbed his back. Tears pricked her eyes. What a horrible day.
Gandalf picked something up from the floor.
"It's a record," he explained. Brushing away dust, the wizard opened the book to its final pages.
"'We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge. We cannot get out. Drums- drums in the deep. They are coming.'"
Willow gulped at the entry. This just got worse and worse.
A huge clash brought everyone's attention to the back of the room. Pippin stood beside a well, wincing guiltily with every bang.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf declared. "Next time, throw yourself in and save us the trouble of your stupidity!"
"Hey, that's enough!" Willow interjected. She went to stand beside the hobbit.
"He made a mistake," she stated evenly. "You don't have to massacre him for it. We're all scared enough as is. Don't start diminishing self- esteem as well."
The wizard stared at her long and hard.
"Resolve Face," she warned, pointing a finger to her face.
Pippin snickered. The wizard shook his head slightly. Willow caught a bit of a smile of his face.
"You will come to all's defense, even when we are against one another," he sighed. "May haps you will save all of us."
A faint noise interrupted her reply. Everyone stopped. It was drumming.
The men jumped into action.
"Orcs," Legolas hissed.
Boromir raced to the door and peered outside. An arrow embedded itself in the door, barely missing his head. Hastily, he and Aragorn set about barring the door.
"They have a cave troll," Boromir laughed mirthlessly.
"I knew there had to be something!" Willow shrieked. "It ain't an ogre, but it's close enough."
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
"Just ignore me," she instructed them. The Fellowship returned to work. The door was barred as well as it could be.
Whoever was on the other side started banging against it. It wouldn't hold for long. Everyone drew his or her weapons. Willow and Gandalf pushed the hobbits behind them.
"It won't hold," Aragorn warned.
"Let them come!" sneered Gimli, standing atop the tomb with axes in hand. "There is still one dwarf in Moria that can fight!"
The door started to come apart. Weapons and claws reached through the openings.
Aragorn and Legolas let arrows lose. Shrieks could be heard from the Orcs as the arrows found their marks. Willow twirled her sword in her hand. God, she hoped she was ready.
The door was slammed open. In entered a large blue creature with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was scary. And he had friends.
"Hey!" Willow shouted in recognition. "Those are the nasty tower workers!"
"Orcs, my lady," Gandalf informed her.
The enemy charged.
Willow raced about, cutting down as many Orcs that came her way. The hobbits were doing okay, Sam was getting into it. The boy was fiercely going after the Orcs.
Willow kept cutting them down while keeping an eye on the hobbits. Then the troll set his sights on her.
With a huge bellow, the troll charged at her. Willow freaked.
She took off, stabbing Orcs as she went. She led the troll around in circles. Finally, he trapped her in a corner. It came at her. Legolas jumped in front of her, arrows striking the creature. It was stalled. The Elf wrapped his arm around Willow's waist and carried her away while the troll was fazed.
Behind a minor sanctuary, Willow turned and kissed Legolas soundly on the mouth.
"Thinking I love you just now," she informed him.
The Elf beamed at her happily.
Shrieks from the hobbits drove them out of their hiding spot.
"Aragorn!" Frodo could be heard screaming.
Willow raced over at his cries. Aragorn lay in an unconscious heap by Frodo. The creature obstructed much of her view. She could only see the troll lunge his lance into the hobbit.
"NOOO!" she screamed. Pippin and Merry jumped on the thing's back. It jerked away from Frodo, trying to pull them off. Legolas threw arrows at it, Gimli threw axes, and Boromir and Gandalf finished off the remaining Orcs.
Willow looked to Frodo. He wasn't moving. She turned back to the troll. It chucked the hobbits off its back.
Willow was pissed. She gathered her magic. She didn't need a spell, this was just pure emotion. Her anger gathered at her fingertips. Electricity crackled off her body, her eyes glowed an inhuman green.
The troll stopped at the sight of her. She snarled at it.
The energy left her hands and barreled towards the creature. It blew a hole right through him. The troll flopped to the floor dead.
Everyone stared at her. Willow raced over to where Aragorn held Frodo in his arms.
"Is he. .?" Willow trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.
Coughing from the hobbit answered her question. Frodo opened his eyes and stared at them.
"I am all right," he assured them. "I am not hurt."
Willow yanked the hobbit into her arms.
"I was so scared," she murmured.
"I am sorry," he replied.
She laughed through her tears. "Not your fault, silly hobbit."
"How?" came Boromir's question.
"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye," Gandalf answered.
Wordlessly, Frodo lifted up his shirt and showed them a chain mail he had on underneath.
"Mithril," breathed Gimli. Willow touched the armor. It was beautiful.
More drumming drew their attention away from the hobbit.
"We must make for the bridge," Gandalf informed.
The Fellowship gathered itself together and raced out of the room. Willow kept Frodo clutched desperately in her arms.
*****
And they ran.
The whole Fellowship raced madly for the bridge, or something. Willow wasn't entirely sure where they were headed, but the others seem to have a goal in mind.
It would have been okay if only it hadn't been for the masses of Orcs that suddenly appeared everywhere they went.
Willow was forced to put Frodo down mid run. The Orcs were chasing them, flying down the huge pillars of Moria. Willow threw as much magic as she could at them. It helped a little, but not much. At one point, they had the Fellowship surrounded.
Willow glanced around them. She gathered her magic into her hands. She shot a look at Gandalf. He raised his staff. They were as ready as they could be.
And then magic flooded the hall. Black magic, of a very evil kind. Everyone sensed it. The Orcs went running for cover.
Willow was guessing that was a bad sign.
"What is this?" Boromir whispered. "New devilry?"
"No," answered Gandalf. "Very old."
Fire and shadow cast upon the halls. Willow gulped audibly.
"Is that a balrog?" she asked tentatively.
Gandalf nodded.
Shit.
"Your weapons are of no more use here," he informed them. "Run!"
And they ran.
Willow herded the hobbits in front of her, pushing them along briskly. Didn't want to give the balrog a chance to catch up.
Fire burned the trail behind them.
Yep, definitely didn't want that thing to catch up to them.
They came to a series of stairwells. None looked too sturdy. But given the options, what else could they do?
They came to a gap in the stairs. Legolas leapt across easily.
"My lady," he motioned.
"Oh no," Willow protested. "I may be from Sunnydale, but I ain't that crazy."
"Now with it lass!" Gandalf commanded, throwing her across.
Willow shrieked in panic. Legolas caught her deftly and turned back for Gandalf.
When the wizard landed, Willow gave him a loud smack on the arm.
"Don't do that!" she admonished.
The wizard grinned a sheepish apology.
Arrows flew around them. Willow gazed towards the source. More Orcs, shooting at them from the rafters. Willow tossed lightning at them. The Orcs screamed as the bolts fried them alive. Teach those bastards.
Next came Sam, virtually tossed across by Aragorn. Boromir clutched both Merry and Pippin in his arms and leaped across.
Aragorn turned to Gimli.
"No one tosses a dwarf," he protested. The dwarf squared his shoulders and leapt across the barricade. He came up a little short. Legolas latched onto his beard to keep him from falling into the abyss.
"Not the beard!" he shrieked.
The Elf smirked a little and hauled the dwarf to safety.
A sudden rumbling shook the cavern. The steps crumbled away, stranding Frodo and Aragorn on the other side.
The Fellowship panicked. They couldn't get to their friends and they had to deal with the arrows fired at them by the Orcs.
Willow squared her jaw. She concentrated on the wavering steps. In her mind, she reached an invisible hand out to steady it. Sweat formed on her forehead. She shook physically from the force of holding the steps up. The steps steadied.
"Careful lass," came Gandalf's warning. "Do not let your hold slip."
"Not helping wizard," Willow choked out.
"Frodo, lean forward," commanded Aragorn. The two strandees leaned forward, pushing the stairs forward. Boromir and Legolas tensed, preparing to catch them.
The stairs creaked forward, the two jumped into the arms of their awaiting comrades. Willow let go of the stairs with a gasp. It took a lot out of her.
"Hurry!" came Gandalf's command. Easy for him to say.
Legolas grabbed Willow by her waist and pulled her along. She was too dizzy to make it on her own.
The Fellowship raced across the bridge. The fire trailing behind them took form. The balrog reared up in rage. Gandalf turned to face it.
"You cannot pass," he snarled at it. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail, flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."
The balrog had no answer. A fiery whip appeared in his hands.
This was not good. Gandalf was tired; Willow had done too much magic already. She had very little left.
The balrog shot his whip at the wizard. A blue glow flashed when the whip met Gandalf's magic.
He didn't have much left, Willow could tell. She had to help.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf and Willow bellowed in unison. She sent out her magic. A flash of light burst out in the middle of the air. The bridge gave out under the monster. He fell. They won.
Willow fell to the ground in a heap. Legolas wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to her feet.
Gandalf turned to face them. Willow smiled weakly at him. They won.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red. She couldn't warn him in time. The balrog's whip spiralled upwards and knocked the wizard off his feet.
"Gandalf!" Willow screamed in panic. She tried to use magic to pull him up. Nothing. She was out of magic. She had done too much. She gazed into the wizard's eyes in shock. The wizard gazed back and understood.
"Fly you fools!" he commanded. Then, he let go of the ledge. And Gandalf the Grey fell into darkness.
"NOOOO!" came Frodo's heart breaking scream.
Willow was aware of pulling. Legolas was pulling her up some steps, leading her to the exit. But Gandalf was left behind.
"NO!" she protested, sobbing. "We can't leave him!"
"We must!" came Aragorn's response.
Legolas pulled her into sunlight. The Fellowship ran from exit, dropping exhausted beside a small pond.
Gandalf the Grey had fallen into darkness.
*****
The whole company was in sorrow.
Pippin lay on the ground, the force of his grief unable to keep him upright. Merry sat next to him, crying his eyes out. Sam sat alone on a rock, weeping. Gimli and Boromir stood side by side, looking on in helplessness and sorrow.
Willow couldn't stop sobbing. Legolas held her in his arms. She cried into his tunic. The Elf stroked her hair.
"We must move," Aragorn spoke softly.
Willow turned disbelieving eyes on him.
"Give them a moment's peace!" demanded Boromir, his own deep voice catching with emotion.
"We cannot stay," Aragorn stated. "By nightfall, this whole area will be crawling with Orcs. We must make it to Lothlorien. Come on, Legolas get them up."
The Elf paused. He looked at the weeping girl in his arms.
"Go on," she whispered, drying her tears on the back of her hand. "I'll get Frodo."
He looked at her, still unsure.
"Go on," she prodded, pulling away from him. "You heard Aragorn, we have to get to La-La land or whatever."
He smiled at her sadly.
"Lothlorien," he corrected her quietly.
"There too," she agreed absently, this time giving him a push in the direction of the others. Right now, all she wanted to do was to wrap herself up in the Elf, but there were more pressing matters. Her comfort would have to wait until they got to safety.
The Elf gave her a parting hug before going to help Aragorn gather the others. Willow watched him trot off. Boy still had a great ass. She wanted to go jumping into his arms and start bawling anew.
She turned away abruptly. She couldn't afford to start crying again, she wouldn't be able to stop. She looked for the hobbit. He was off walking by himself, as if in a trance.
"Frodo?" Willow called after him questioningly.
The hobbit turned at the sound of her voice. His face was streaked with tears. Willow's heart broke.
She gave a slight sob and opened her arms. The hobbit ran into them and the two of them cried together.
* * * * * * * * * * *