~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Quote: ~
"I am a nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore I am perfect." - Unknown (at least to me)
~ Disclaimer: ~
See all previous chapters except #25. That disclaimer is unique to that chapter. :P
~ Chapter XXVI~
~ Conversations, Explanations and an Apology ~
Boromir and I lay silent, just cuddling up against each other, for quite awhile after we made love. I decided that that had to be the best way ever to wake up in the morning. Of course, that may have been the result of the endorphin high I'm pretty sure I spent the entire morning on.
"Erin." Boromir was the one broke the comfortable silence first, and I was amused to discover that his voice went rather deep after certain activities.
"Mm?" I asked, too lazy to formulate actual words to reply. Said laziness was also what caused me to pout slightly when Boromir pulled back a bit so he could look me in the eye.
"I...I want to ask you something." Boromir said, and I arched an eyebrow at him. I thought of making a sarcastic retort, but something told me now was not a good time.
"What did you want to ask?" I asked. Boromir hesitated, and then, curiously enough, he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, seemingly trying to collect his thoughts before speaking. This curious behavior brought me somewhat out of my laziness, and I propped myself up on one elbow and looked down at him questioningly.
"Erin..." Boromir paused, shook his head, and opened his mouth to try again, then stopped and frowned. I tried to keep a straight face. Really, I did. But he looked hilarious, and a giggle escaped. Boromir looked at me oddly.
"You looked funny!" I said defensively, then poked him when his expression didn't change. And since you can't exactly turn off being ticklish, being poked caused Boromir to yelp and jump a bit. I grinned, remembering the other ticklish persons I'd discovered.
I opened my mouth to tell Boromir about my discovery, but at that moment, his hand shot out and tickled MY side. I let out a strange squeak and jerked away. Boromir, however, did not seem content with that, and decided to play the 'Boromir Pins and Tickles Erin Mercilessly' game. He didn't stop tickling me until I was laughing so hard I was crying and gasping for breath in-between giggles. Then he propped himself up, still on top of me, with an elbow on either side of my head, and watched with amusement as I gulped in air.
"That was no fair." I complained when I got my breath back.
"Nor was laughing when I was trying to be serious." Boromir replied with a grin, and kissed me lightly on the nose.
"I couldn't help it!" I mock-whined. "You looked funny!" Then, abruptly, I turned curious. "What were you going to ask, anyways?" In response, Boromir unpropped his head and leaned close to my ear. His breath on my ear tickled, but that was very quickly forgotten at his next words.
"Erin, will you marry me?" I blinked.
"Uh..." I said intelligently. Boromir's entire body was tense, I realized, and was also very close...and distracting. I turned my mind back to the subject at hand, and my mind began to whirl about. One thought occurred to me, and I realized I needed the answer to it.
"This isn't just because we -" I stopped, as Boromir had drawn back and was already shaking his head in response to my question.
"I was...I was going to ask before you left for Mordor. But..." Boromir paused, not knowing quite how to phrase that part of the answer.
"Things happened." I supplied dryly, and Boromir nodded, smiling slightly. Then his face turned serious, as did mine, as I looked up at him and seriously thought about his question. I loved him - I knew that. For that reason alone I wanted to say yes. But there was still the question of my being in Middle-Earth after Galadriel had flat-out told me that my presence here would destroy the world. Gandalf apparently didn't agree with that, but I had yet to ask him about it.
"I need to think about this, Boromir." I said softly after awhile, when it became clear that no answer would be forthcoming without first talking to a few people. Boromir simply nodded, and let the subject drop as he rolled off of me. I immediately cuddled up to him, suddenly wanted the blissful oblivion of sleep, but Boromir was in the mood to talk. After a few interesting comments about Faramir, Boromir, mud-pies and the tower guard, causing the formation of the mental image of a 7-year-old Boromir, I found myself wanting to talk, as well. Boromir and Faramir had apparently been quite the little hellions when they were younger, with Faramir's ranger-like hiding skills and Boromir's bold-as-brass bluffing to get them out of whatever trouble they got themselves into.
We spent the rest of the morning talking. We hadn't really had the chance to talk about nothing important since the Fellowship had set out from Rivendell, and it was relaxing to just lie there beside him and talk. Occasionally my mind would turn to his question, but I quickly turned it back to the topic at hand, as I knew there was nothing I could decide until I talked to Gandalf.
But during that morning, in-between tales of 'What Faramir And Boromir Did to The Tower Guard' and 'Good Places To Hide In The Citadel', we got on to the most inane things. Like whether apples or oranges were better. I was staunchly for apples, and Boromir was arguing for the good qualities of oranges. That ended in another game of 'Boromir Pins and Tickles Erin Mercilessly'. I was forced to concede that oranges were better then apples before Boromir stopped.
Around that time, our stomachs decided that this talk of oranges and apples was making them hungry, and growled loudly in unison. We laughed at that, and, since Lord Elrond had told me yesterday that I needed to stay in bed, Boromir rose and got dressed before giving me a kiss and setting out to find some food. I lay in the bed, utterly bored, until he came back. Setting the tray on the bed, he stripped again before hopping in beside me once more.
We then had a grand time cracking jokes while eating, trying to make the other laugh so hard they couldn't eat. I think I managed to do it five times to Boromir, while he only managed it twice. By the time we were done eating, I had decided that all the humour fanfiction writers in my world deserved a whole lot of sugar, since I used several of their jokes to make Boromir laugh.
Amazingly enough, no one bothered Boromir and I for the rest of the day as we continued to stay in bed and chatter away. And, of course, do other less interuptable things. Boromir managed to drag himself out of the bed once more to get some more food around the time the sun set, and by that time we were so tired that we ate in silence, and almost immediately afterwards, curled up against each other and went to sleep.
When I woke the next morning, there was a decided lack of a warm body in the bed next to me, and somehow I'd donned a night gown and underwear. I'd definitely have to ask Boromir how he managed that. I'm not a light sleeper, but I hate being moved from a comfortable position, and tend to kick in my sleep when I am.
"Good morning, Erin." Gandalf's voice made me blink, and I peered around the room until I spotted him standing off to the side of the bed, watching me. I almost made a comment about wizard-voyeurs, but decided that if I wanted to get any answers out of Gandalf, that might not be too good an idea.
"Good morning, Gandalf." I said instead as I sat up in the bed.
"And how are you feeling? Well-rested, I hope?" the wizard asked, and I nodded. He seemed inclined not to mention that I spent all of yesterday in bed with Boromir, if he even knew about it, and I was not going to bring up the subject myself.
"Yep." I replied. "And I'm actually rather glad you're here, because there were some things I wanted to talk to you about."
"I thought so." Gandalf said with a nod. "Which is why I am here. But before we talk, perhaps you should eat." I nodded emphatically at that.
"Very good idea." I said, and Gandalf chuckled. He left the room for a moment, and then returned with a tray of food. I ate around half the meal in silence, thinking up questions, then asked the most important one in my mind so that Gandalf could take his time to answer it while I finished eating.
"Haldir said you didn't agree with Galadriel about Middle-Earth being destroyed if I stayed?" I prompted, and Gandalf took a moment before replying.
"No, I do not." Gandalf said with a slight frown, and then paused again before continuing "Galadriel told me what she said to you, and I say that despite being Elven, she did not find quite the right words to describe the feeling Middle-Earth was giving her. There is not so much a strain in the world, but a struggle. Middle-Earth wishes to remain on it's proper course, but the changes you have caused are pulling it from that course. Galadriel believes that if the Middle-Earth is pulled off it's course, it will be destroyed. I do not believe it will be destroyed. I believe that Middle-Earth will simply create...a copy of itself, if you will. The two Middle-Earths will continue to coexist, one with you, and one without you." I finished my meal just as Gandalf finished speaking, and as I set the tray beside the bed, a thought occurred to me.
"The multiple universe/timeline theory." I said slowly, and Gandalf blinked at me, obviously not understanding what I meant. "It's the theory that every moment in time, when some important decision is made, new universes - or timelines - sprout off, each following the path of what would have happened if a different decision had been made. Thus there are an infinite number of universes out there, and there is always one that will continue along the right path, while others go all over the place, following different possibilities." Gandalf looked at me in surprise.
"Is this a commonly known theory in your world?" he asked.
"Eh, most of the world doesn't believe in other universes. Too unimaginative." I replied with a shrug. "I'd say maybe somewhere under a billion or so people even know about the theory, in one form or another." Gandalf's eyes went wide with shock, almost completely ignoring my answer for the number I had used in it.
"A billion?" he asked.
"There are 6 billion people on my world." I informed Gandalf, and the poor wizard looked ready to pass out from shock. He obviously knew how large a number that was, but was having trouble believing that there was that many people in my world. It stands to figure, though. Middle-Earth probably wasn't even close to a billion residents, even if you counted Elves, Hobbits, Dwarfs AND Men. The Orcs might push it over, though. Those things were like rabbits. Reproduced like crazy. Which was actually a rather BAD thing, once one stops to think about it.
"Amazing." Gandalf said after a moment, pulling me from my thoughts. He shook his head to gather his thoughts, and then continued along the previous line of discussion. "Yes, that theory summarizes what I believe is happening in Middle-Earth."
"But then what's this...'struggling' you and Galadriel keep mentioning feeling?" I asked. Gandalf seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Perhaps the universe, to keep from having too many replications of itself, does not...'sprout' as easily as you mentioned. Perhaps it tries to remain the same for as long as it can, thus cutting down on the number of alternate universes." the wizard said after a moment. I blinked, digesting that.
"Probably." I said.
"So the 'struggling' Galadriel and I feel would be Middle-Earth attempting to stay along it's proper time-line, as we guessed." Gandalf continued, and seemed to be on a roll, but I felt a familiar ache at the back of my head that happened whenever I thought too long on complex philosophical questions. Not something I did very often, but the ache was very hard to mistake for anything other then the beginning of a headache.
"I'm going to get a headache if I think on this any longer, so let's move on to another topic." I informed Gandalf before he could go on, and the wizard chuckled.
"Very well. We shall have to discuss this at another time, however." he said. "I very much doubt I shall find anyone in Middle-Earth with as open a mind as you with which to discuss these sorts of things."
"Why thank you!" I said, smiling and mock-bowing from my sitting position on the bed. Gandalf nodded at me, returning my smile.
"What else did you wish to speak with me about?" he asked.
"A few things." I replied. "But since we're on the topic of Why Middle-Earth Isn't Going To Blow Up If I Stay, I'll continue along that line. Have you told Galadriel about your theory? Haldir mentioned that you talked with her, but more then that, he said to ask you about."
"I have told her, yes." Gandalf replied. "And I managed to convince her that there was no need for you to return home. Thus the reason why she helped me bring both you and Boromir back here to Middle-Earth."
"OK, good." I said. "Next question, since you brought it up. What's all the stuff I'm hearing about transporting Boromir and I back here causing a certain elf queen and wizard to almost die?"
"Hm. Indeed. The spell to bring both of you home was not an easy one. Transporting you home was simple - it was your home, and you were naturally pulled to it. Transporting Boromir to your world was slightly harder, but still relatively easy, as the main force was here, in his world, pushing him out of Middle-Earth to your world. Bringing you home...that was another matter. As a general rule pulling is much harder then pushing, and on top of the general difficulty of pulling two people into our world, your world was holding extremely tightly to you. The effort caused both Galadriel and I to exhaust ourselves. If not for the skills of Lord Elrond, his sons, and the healing power of athelas when used by Aragorn, we probably would not have survived."
"Eee, yucky." I mumbled.
"But Galadriel and I had it much better then you and Boromir." Gandalf commented. "The two of us were out of danger within the night, where as Elrond was not completely sure you'd recover until you woke two days ago."
"Yeah, and he's still telling me to stay in bed." I said with a pout, then grinned. "But in revenge I discovered that he's ticklish." Gandalf chuckled. "Now - last thing, before I forget it, because it's way off topic from anything we're discussing. Remember waaaaaaaaay back before Sauron fell, when you first talked to me about stopping Boromir and Haldir from dying? You mentioned some freaky stuff about magic, my world, and Galadriel sensing some deep power in me. What was that about?" Gandalf smiled this time.
"It is true that Galadriel sensed a deep power in you. At the first, when she told me of it, I thought that perhaps it was magic, of the sort that the White Council uses. But after having seen you stand without fear before not only the Lord of the Nazgul, but Sauron himself, I have realized what it was. Your knowledge of the future." Gandalf 'explained'.
"Um..." I said uncertainly. "That just confused me more."
"Middle-Earth is not like your world. Here, magic exists, and knowledge can be more powerful than an army." Gandalf explained patiently. "And it was your knowledge of the future - and the fact that Sauron would fall - that gave you a sort of power to resist the Nazgul and Sauron."
"But when I first met Sauron, I was outright terrified of him." I pointed out.
"Because your knowledge told you that you should be." Gandalf replied. "After you got over how your knowledge told you you should be reacting to Sauron, however, you reacted as if he were anyone else." I thought about that for a moment.
"Strange." I said after a moment, shaking my head. "So, OK, I have another question that just popped into my head."
"Another?" Gandalf asked with a laugh. "You are most curious."
"Hey, if you're in the mood to answer questions, I could ask them all day." I replied. "Besides, you said you came here so I could ask you questions."
"True." Gandalf said, still looking amused. "Ask away, then. Though I believe we shall have to halt our conversation soon to eat."
"Agreed." I said, then paused. "Aw crap. Now I forgot what I was going to ask. Oh wait, no I didn't!" Gandalf chuckled at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him before continuing. "OK, so it's more of a comment to start a discussion then a question. But anyways. You say that Middle-Earth is struggling to keep along it's 'proper' course, despite all the changes I've made. But I've made a tremendous amount of changes - it should have already 'split'."
"There is still a very slim possibility that we could return to the proper timeline." Gandalf said.
"VERY slim." I said with a snort.
"Yes, but as long as there's a chance, the world will continue to struggle to maintain it's proper course." Gandalf said.
"So all that needs to happen is all chance of returning to the original timeline be obliviated?" I asked, and Gandalf nodded. "I would've thought that had already happened. After all, Denethor died the wrong way, Boromir's still alive, and Sauron appeared above the Black Gate for a little chit-chat before he fell."
"Perhaps the changes have just been stacking up and all that needs to happen is one more change for the timeline to split." Gandalf suggested.
"Like the straw that broke the camels back?" I mused, and Gandalf looked at me strangely, not understanding. I ignored the look, however, and thought about what he'd said. "So until that one change occurs that pushes the worlds to split, Middle-Earth will constantly be trying to return to it's original course?"
"Correct." Gandalf said.
"Which means Middle-Earth will keep trying to find ways for Haldir and Boromir to die." I said, thinking out loud at this point. Then I went back to thinking silently as a thought formed in my head as to one significant change that could be made to push this world to finally split into it's own timeline. That thought also lead to a decision
"So, how big a change are we talking about? Something big? Or something small and inane, like, oh, me marrying Boromir?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at the wizard and grinning.
"Though I would not call it 'small and inane', yes, that would most likely be all that would be needed to cause Middle-Earth to 'split'." Gandalf said, and then his eyes seemed to sort of cloud for a moment, and when they cleared, he looked at me appraisingly.
"What?" I asked after a moment.
"You mean to cause that change." Gandalf stated.
"Duh, that's why I suggested it." I said sarcastically.
"And that would also be why -" at that moment the door opened without a knock to reveal Galadriel, looking pissed.
"Gandalf, the world has ceased its struggling." she said, sounding even more pissed then she looked.
"Yes, it's finally split." Gandalf said with amusement, and my eyes widened.
"Oopsies." I said, then grinned. "Sorry Galadriel, my fault. I decided something." Galadriel eyed me.
"And what did you decide, child, that caused the world to 'split'?" the elven queen asked.
"The answer to a question Boromir asked me yesterday morning." I replied innocently. Galadriel practically glared at me.
"I would remind you who you are talking to, child -" she began in an icy voice, but I cut her off.
"I know very well who I'm talking to, but if you'll forgive me, I'm not particularly up to feeling nice to someone who caused me to have a traumatic experience which I'm still trying not to have an emotional breakdown over." I said, my tone matching Galadriel's perfectly. "And you don't have to keep on calling me 'child'. I know I'm a helluva lot younger then you, you don't need to keep reminding me." Galadriel looked at me carefully, her gaze intense, and then she seemed to soften, and suddenly she was standing beside my bed. I blinked. Damn elves and their quick movement.
//My apologies, Erin.// The voice came in my head, and I blinked and looked at Galadriel in surprise. //I did what I thought best, but for the first time in over a millennia, I was wrong.// It's not every day you have a queen telling your they're sorry and that they messed up, so I was, for once, at a loss for words. I settled on accepting Galadriel's apology with a nod. She nodded back, and then turned, and with another nod to Gandalf, left the room.
Gandalf, though he had not heard Galadriel's apology, must have at least guessed at what had happened, but didn't mention it. We talked for a few more minutes about random things, then Gandalf excused himself, and a few moments later, Elrond entered the room with a tray of food. I thanked him, and as I scarfed down the food, he did his little hand-on-the-forehead-health-check thing to see if I was OK. He promptly scolded me for over-exerting myself, and I just stuck my tongue out at him. When I was done eating, Haldir popped in, claiming the rest of the Fellowship wanted to talk to me. Elrond, however, shooed Haldir out, saying the Fellowship could wait until tomorrow, as I needed to REST. He said the last part with a pointed look at me, and I told him he was lucky he wasn't within arms reach, which earned me a scowl from the Elf lord. Then he took the now empty tray and left, and I was left alone to sleep.
~ Quote: ~
"I am a nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore I am perfect." - Unknown (at least to me)
~ Disclaimer: ~
See all previous chapters except #25. That disclaimer is unique to that chapter. :P
~ Chapter XXVI~
~ Conversations, Explanations and an Apology ~
Boromir and I lay silent, just cuddling up against each other, for quite awhile after we made love. I decided that that had to be the best way ever to wake up in the morning. Of course, that may have been the result of the endorphin high I'm pretty sure I spent the entire morning on.
"Erin." Boromir was the one broke the comfortable silence first, and I was amused to discover that his voice went rather deep after certain activities.
"Mm?" I asked, too lazy to formulate actual words to reply. Said laziness was also what caused me to pout slightly when Boromir pulled back a bit so he could look me in the eye.
"I...I want to ask you something." Boromir said, and I arched an eyebrow at him. I thought of making a sarcastic retort, but something told me now was not a good time.
"What did you want to ask?" I asked. Boromir hesitated, and then, curiously enough, he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, seemingly trying to collect his thoughts before speaking. This curious behavior brought me somewhat out of my laziness, and I propped myself up on one elbow and looked down at him questioningly.
"Erin..." Boromir paused, shook his head, and opened his mouth to try again, then stopped and frowned. I tried to keep a straight face. Really, I did. But he looked hilarious, and a giggle escaped. Boromir looked at me oddly.
"You looked funny!" I said defensively, then poked him when his expression didn't change. And since you can't exactly turn off being ticklish, being poked caused Boromir to yelp and jump a bit. I grinned, remembering the other ticklish persons I'd discovered.
I opened my mouth to tell Boromir about my discovery, but at that moment, his hand shot out and tickled MY side. I let out a strange squeak and jerked away. Boromir, however, did not seem content with that, and decided to play the 'Boromir Pins and Tickles Erin Mercilessly' game. He didn't stop tickling me until I was laughing so hard I was crying and gasping for breath in-between giggles. Then he propped himself up, still on top of me, with an elbow on either side of my head, and watched with amusement as I gulped in air.
"That was no fair." I complained when I got my breath back.
"Nor was laughing when I was trying to be serious." Boromir replied with a grin, and kissed me lightly on the nose.
"I couldn't help it!" I mock-whined. "You looked funny!" Then, abruptly, I turned curious. "What were you going to ask, anyways?" In response, Boromir unpropped his head and leaned close to my ear. His breath on my ear tickled, but that was very quickly forgotten at his next words.
"Erin, will you marry me?" I blinked.
"Uh..." I said intelligently. Boromir's entire body was tense, I realized, and was also very close...and distracting. I turned my mind back to the subject at hand, and my mind began to whirl about. One thought occurred to me, and I realized I needed the answer to it.
"This isn't just because we -" I stopped, as Boromir had drawn back and was already shaking his head in response to my question.
"I was...I was going to ask before you left for Mordor. But..." Boromir paused, not knowing quite how to phrase that part of the answer.
"Things happened." I supplied dryly, and Boromir nodded, smiling slightly. Then his face turned serious, as did mine, as I looked up at him and seriously thought about his question. I loved him - I knew that. For that reason alone I wanted to say yes. But there was still the question of my being in Middle-Earth after Galadriel had flat-out told me that my presence here would destroy the world. Gandalf apparently didn't agree with that, but I had yet to ask him about it.
"I need to think about this, Boromir." I said softly after awhile, when it became clear that no answer would be forthcoming without first talking to a few people. Boromir simply nodded, and let the subject drop as he rolled off of me. I immediately cuddled up to him, suddenly wanted the blissful oblivion of sleep, but Boromir was in the mood to talk. After a few interesting comments about Faramir, Boromir, mud-pies and the tower guard, causing the formation of the mental image of a 7-year-old Boromir, I found myself wanting to talk, as well. Boromir and Faramir had apparently been quite the little hellions when they were younger, with Faramir's ranger-like hiding skills and Boromir's bold-as-brass bluffing to get them out of whatever trouble they got themselves into.
We spent the rest of the morning talking. We hadn't really had the chance to talk about nothing important since the Fellowship had set out from Rivendell, and it was relaxing to just lie there beside him and talk. Occasionally my mind would turn to his question, but I quickly turned it back to the topic at hand, as I knew there was nothing I could decide until I talked to Gandalf.
But during that morning, in-between tales of 'What Faramir And Boromir Did to The Tower Guard' and 'Good Places To Hide In The Citadel', we got on to the most inane things. Like whether apples or oranges were better. I was staunchly for apples, and Boromir was arguing for the good qualities of oranges. That ended in another game of 'Boromir Pins and Tickles Erin Mercilessly'. I was forced to concede that oranges were better then apples before Boromir stopped.
Around that time, our stomachs decided that this talk of oranges and apples was making them hungry, and growled loudly in unison. We laughed at that, and, since Lord Elrond had told me yesterday that I needed to stay in bed, Boromir rose and got dressed before giving me a kiss and setting out to find some food. I lay in the bed, utterly bored, until he came back. Setting the tray on the bed, he stripped again before hopping in beside me once more.
We then had a grand time cracking jokes while eating, trying to make the other laugh so hard they couldn't eat. I think I managed to do it five times to Boromir, while he only managed it twice. By the time we were done eating, I had decided that all the humour fanfiction writers in my world deserved a whole lot of sugar, since I used several of their jokes to make Boromir laugh.
Amazingly enough, no one bothered Boromir and I for the rest of the day as we continued to stay in bed and chatter away. And, of course, do other less interuptable things. Boromir managed to drag himself out of the bed once more to get some more food around the time the sun set, and by that time we were so tired that we ate in silence, and almost immediately afterwards, curled up against each other and went to sleep.
When I woke the next morning, there was a decided lack of a warm body in the bed next to me, and somehow I'd donned a night gown and underwear. I'd definitely have to ask Boromir how he managed that. I'm not a light sleeper, but I hate being moved from a comfortable position, and tend to kick in my sleep when I am.
"Good morning, Erin." Gandalf's voice made me blink, and I peered around the room until I spotted him standing off to the side of the bed, watching me. I almost made a comment about wizard-voyeurs, but decided that if I wanted to get any answers out of Gandalf, that might not be too good an idea.
"Good morning, Gandalf." I said instead as I sat up in the bed.
"And how are you feeling? Well-rested, I hope?" the wizard asked, and I nodded. He seemed inclined not to mention that I spent all of yesterday in bed with Boromir, if he even knew about it, and I was not going to bring up the subject myself.
"Yep." I replied. "And I'm actually rather glad you're here, because there were some things I wanted to talk to you about."
"I thought so." Gandalf said with a nod. "Which is why I am here. But before we talk, perhaps you should eat." I nodded emphatically at that.
"Very good idea." I said, and Gandalf chuckled. He left the room for a moment, and then returned with a tray of food. I ate around half the meal in silence, thinking up questions, then asked the most important one in my mind so that Gandalf could take his time to answer it while I finished eating.
"Haldir said you didn't agree with Galadriel about Middle-Earth being destroyed if I stayed?" I prompted, and Gandalf took a moment before replying.
"No, I do not." Gandalf said with a slight frown, and then paused again before continuing "Galadriel told me what she said to you, and I say that despite being Elven, she did not find quite the right words to describe the feeling Middle-Earth was giving her. There is not so much a strain in the world, but a struggle. Middle-Earth wishes to remain on it's proper course, but the changes you have caused are pulling it from that course. Galadriel believes that if the Middle-Earth is pulled off it's course, it will be destroyed. I do not believe it will be destroyed. I believe that Middle-Earth will simply create...a copy of itself, if you will. The two Middle-Earths will continue to coexist, one with you, and one without you." I finished my meal just as Gandalf finished speaking, and as I set the tray beside the bed, a thought occurred to me.
"The multiple universe/timeline theory." I said slowly, and Gandalf blinked at me, obviously not understanding what I meant. "It's the theory that every moment in time, when some important decision is made, new universes - or timelines - sprout off, each following the path of what would have happened if a different decision had been made. Thus there are an infinite number of universes out there, and there is always one that will continue along the right path, while others go all over the place, following different possibilities." Gandalf looked at me in surprise.
"Is this a commonly known theory in your world?" he asked.
"Eh, most of the world doesn't believe in other universes. Too unimaginative." I replied with a shrug. "I'd say maybe somewhere under a billion or so people even know about the theory, in one form or another." Gandalf's eyes went wide with shock, almost completely ignoring my answer for the number I had used in it.
"A billion?" he asked.
"There are 6 billion people on my world." I informed Gandalf, and the poor wizard looked ready to pass out from shock. He obviously knew how large a number that was, but was having trouble believing that there was that many people in my world. It stands to figure, though. Middle-Earth probably wasn't even close to a billion residents, even if you counted Elves, Hobbits, Dwarfs AND Men. The Orcs might push it over, though. Those things were like rabbits. Reproduced like crazy. Which was actually a rather BAD thing, once one stops to think about it.
"Amazing." Gandalf said after a moment, pulling me from my thoughts. He shook his head to gather his thoughts, and then continued along the previous line of discussion. "Yes, that theory summarizes what I believe is happening in Middle-Earth."
"But then what's this...'struggling' you and Galadriel keep mentioning feeling?" I asked. Gandalf seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Perhaps the universe, to keep from having too many replications of itself, does not...'sprout' as easily as you mentioned. Perhaps it tries to remain the same for as long as it can, thus cutting down on the number of alternate universes." the wizard said after a moment. I blinked, digesting that.
"Probably." I said.
"So the 'struggling' Galadriel and I feel would be Middle-Earth attempting to stay along it's proper time-line, as we guessed." Gandalf continued, and seemed to be on a roll, but I felt a familiar ache at the back of my head that happened whenever I thought too long on complex philosophical questions. Not something I did very often, but the ache was very hard to mistake for anything other then the beginning of a headache.
"I'm going to get a headache if I think on this any longer, so let's move on to another topic." I informed Gandalf before he could go on, and the wizard chuckled.
"Very well. We shall have to discuss this at another time, however." he said. "I very much doubt I shall find anyone in Middle-Earth with as open a mind as you with which to discuss these sorts of things."
"Why thank you!" I said, smiling and mock-bowing from my sitting position on the bed. Gandalf nodded at me, returning my smile.
"What else did you wish to speak with me about?" he asked.
"A few things." I replied. "But since we're on the topic of Why Middle-Earth Isn't Going To Blow Up If I Stay, I'll continue along that line. Have you told Galadriel about your theory? Haldir mentioned that you talked with her, but more then that, he said to ask you about."
"I have told her, yes." Gandalf replied. "And I managed to convince her that there was no need for you to return home. Thus the reason why she helped me bring both you and Boromir back here to Middle-Earth."
"OK, good." I said. "Next question, since you brought it up. What's all the stuff I'm hearing about transporting Boromir and I back here causing a certain elf queen and wizard to almost die?"
"Hm. Indeed. The spell to bring both of you home was not an easy one. Transporting you home was simple - it was your home, and you were naturally pulled to it. Transporting Boromir to your world was slightly harder, but still relatively easy, as the main force was here, in his world, pushing him out of Middle-Earth to your world. Bringing you home...that was another matter. As a general rule pulling is much harder then pushing, and on top of the general difficulty of pulling two people into our world, your world was holding extremely tightly to you. The effort caused both Galadriel and I to exhaust ourselves. If not for the skills of Lord Elrond, his sons, and the healing power of athelas when used by Aragorn, we probably would not have survived."
"Eee, yucky." I mumbled.
"But Galadriel and I had it much better then you and Boromir." Gandalf commented. "The two of us were out of danger within the night, where as Elrond was not completely sure you'd recover until you woke two days ago."
"Yeah, and he's still telling me to stay in bed." I said with a pout, then grinned. "But in revenge I discovered that he's ticklish." Gandalf chuckled. "Now - last thing, before I forget it, because it's way off topic from anything we're discussing. Remember waaaaaaaaay back before Sauron fell, when you first talked to me about stopping Boromir and Haldir from dying? You mentioned some freaky stuff about magic, my world, and Galadriel sensing some deep power in me. What was that about?" Gandalf smiled this time.
"It is true that Galadriel sensed a deep power in you. At the first, when she told me of it, I thought that perhaps it was magic, of the sort that the White Council uses. But after having seen you stand without fear before not only the Lord of the Nazgul, but Sauron himself, I have realized what it was. Your knowledge of the future." Gandalf 'explained'.
"Um..." I said uncertainly. "That just confused me more."
"Middle-Earth is not like your world. Here, magic exists, and knowledge can be more powerful than an army." Gandalf explained patiently. "And it was your knowledge of the future - and the fact that Sauron would fall - that gave you a sort of power to resist the Nazgul and Sauron."
"But when I first met Sauron, I was outright terrified of him." I pointed out.
"Because your knowledge told you that you should be." Gandalf replied. "After you got over how your knowledge told you you should be reacting to Sauron, however, you reacted as if he were anyone else." I thought about that for a moment.
"Strange." I said after a moment, shaking my head. "So, OK, I have another question that just popped into my head."
"Another?" Gandalf asked with a laugh. "You are most curious."
"Hey, if you're in the mood to answer questions, I could ask them all day." I replied. "Besides, you said you came here so I could ask you questions."
"True." Gandalf said, still looking amused. "Ask away, then. Though I believe we shall have to halt our conversation soon to eat."
"Agreed." I said, then paused. "Aw crap. Now I forgot what I was going to ask. Oh wait, no I didn't!" Gandalf chuckled at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him before continuing. "OK, so it's more of a comment to start a discussion then a question. But anyways. You say that Middle-Earth is struggling to keep along it's 'proper' course, despite all the changes I've made. But I've made a tremendous amount of changes - it should have already 'split'."
"There is still a very slim possibility that we could return to the proper timeline." Gandalf said.
"VERY slim." I said with a snort.
"Yes, but as long as there's a chance, the world will continue to struggle to maintain it's proper course." Gandalf said.
"So all that needs to happen is all chance of returning to the original timeline be obliviated?" I asked, and Gandalf nodded. "I would've thought that had already happened. After all, Denethor died the wrong way, Boromir's still alive, and Sauron appeared above the Black Gate for a little chit-chat before he fell."
"Perhaps the changes have just been stacking up and all that needs to happen is one more change for the timeline to split." Gandalf suggested.
"Like the straw that broke the camels back?" I mused, and Gandalf looked at me strangely, not understanding. I ignored the look, however, and thought about what he'd said. "So until that one change occurs that pushes the worlds to split, Middle-Earth will constantly be trying to return to it's original course?"
"Correct." Gandalf said.
"Which means Middle-Earth will keep trying to find ways for Haldir and Boromir to die." I said, thinking out loud at this point. Then I went back to thinking silently as a thought formed in my head as to one significant change that could be made to push this world to finally split into it's own timeline. That thought also lead to a decision
"So, how big a change are we talking about? Something big? Or something small and inane, like, oh, me marrying Boromir?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at the wizard and grinning.
"Though I would not call it 'small and inane', yes, that would most likely be all that would be needed to cause Middle-Earth to 'split'." Gandalf said, and then his eyes seemed to sort of cloud for a moment, and when they cleared, he looked at me appraisingly.
"What?" I asked after a moment.
"You mean to cause that change." Gandalf stated.
"Duh, that's why I suggested it." I said sarcastically.
"And that would also be why -" at that moment the door opened without a knock to reveal Galadriel, looking pissed.
"Gandalf, the world has ceased its struggling." she said, sounding even more pissed then she looked.
"Yes, it's finally split." Gandalf said with amusement, and my eyes widened.
"Oopsies." I said, then grinned. "Sorry Galadriel, my fault. I decided something." Galadriel eyed me.
"And what did you decide, child, that caused the world to 'split'?" the elven queen asked.
"The answer to a question Boromir asked me yesterday morning." I replied innocently. Galadriel practically glared at me.
"I would remind you who you are talking to, child -" she began in an icy voice, but I cut her off.
"I know very well who I'm talking to, but if you'll forgive me, I'm not particularly up to feeling nice to someone who caused me to have a traumatic experience which I'm still trying not to have an emotional breakdown over." I said, my tone matching Galadriel's perfectly. "And you don't have to keep on calling me 'child'. I know I'm a helluva lot younger then you, you don't need to keep reminding me." Galadriel looked at me carefully, her gaze intense, and then she seemed to soften, and suddenly she was standing beside my bed. I blinked. Damn elves and their quick movement.
//My apologies, Erin.// The voice came in my head, and I blinked and looked at Galadriel in surprise. //I did what I thought best, but for the first time in over a millennia, I was wrong.// It's not every day you have a queen telling your they're sorry and that they messed up, so I was, for once, at a loss for words. I settled on accepting Galadriel's apology with a nod. She nodded back, and then turned, and with another nod to Gandalf, left the room.
Gandalf, though he had not heard Galadriel's apology, must have at least guessed at what had happened, but didn't mention it. We talked for a few more minutes about random things, then Gandalf excused himself, and a few moments later, Elrond entered the room with a tray of food. I thanked him, and as I scarfed down the food, he did his little hand-on-the-forehead-health-check thing to see if I was OK. He promptly scolded me for over-exerting myself, and I just stuck my tongue out at him. When I was done eating, Haldir popped in, claiming the rest of the Fellowship wanted to talk to me. Elrond, however, shooed Haldir out, saying the Fellowship could wait until tomorrow, as I needed to REST. He said the last part with a pointed look at me, and I told him he was lucky he wasn't within arms reach, which earned me a scowl from the Elf lord. Then he took the now empty tray and left, and I was left alone to sleep.