Part 4

Xander was walking through a forest enshrouded with fog. Standing in a clearing was a beautiful blonde woman in a flowing white hooded gown. She beckoned him closer.

"Welcome to Lorien, Xander. Do not be troubled in the loss of the warrior and the magickal one. They have been summoned to fight the Dark Lord."

"Okay, am I getting the funky dreams now that Buffy and Willow are gone? And if I am could you please speak English or at least subtitle this dream. I have no idea what you just said."

Galadriel smiled at Xander. "This is Lothlorien or at least a version of my home. Your friends, Buffy and Willow have been summoned to help us in the fight against the Dark Lord Sauron. Do not blame Anyanka for the disappearance of your friends. She was just the tool. Gandalf and I brought them to our realm. They are safe and when their quest is complete they may return home if they so desire."

"So this isn't a dream?"

"I can only appear in the age of man as a dream so yes, to you it is a dream. But I am real."  She reached out to touch Xander's shoulder.

"Well, then thanks for coming and can I just ask why me?"

"You were the one chosen by the warrior."

A smile broke out over Xander's face. "Oh yeah, I'm the man."

Xander smiled in his sleep and pulled Anya into his arms.

~~~~

Buffy softly shook Willow's shoulder when she heard the others rise.

"Five more minutes."

Buffy smiled, "If you don't get up now you're going to miss seeing a shirtless Elf."

Willow's eyes popped open and Buffy laughed. "I knew that would wake you up."

Willow playfully hit Buffy on the shoulder, "Did anyone ever tell you that you're evil?"

Buffy smirked, "Just a few vampires but that was right before they turned to dust."

Willow stretched and glanced over to where the Fellowship was gathering. Legolas caught her eye and smiled. Aragorn watched the silent interaction between the two and sighed inwardly. He was glad for his friend and happy that Legolas felt he had found his destiny. He just hoped it turned out better for him than it had for he and Arwen.

"Good morning, Lady Willow. Galadriel and Celebron have been kind enough to lend us boats for the next part of our journey."

Buffy looked over her shoulder and watched as Galadriel and Celebron approached. When the Elven woman drew along side her Buffy asked, "Did you get the message to Xander?"

She smiled at Buffy and nodded. "I appeared to your friend in a dream. He knows of your quest and will not worry."

Willow overheard the conversation. "What about Xander?"

"I followed Frodo last night and heard him talking to Galadriel. She showed me what was happening in Sunnydale and promised to get a message to Xander and the others to let them know that we're all right."

Willow felt guilty. She hadn't even thought about Xander or Dawn or even Spike since they arrived. Even though she cared for Xander and she always would, they had been drifting apart ever since their lives took different paths.

The ten travelers made their way down to the river and the boats. Celebron pulled Aragorn aside before they reached the boats.

 "Le aphadar aen." You are being followed.

Aragorn nodded, he had suspected as much. The Urok-hai would not give up on their hunt for the halflings.

Willow sent curious glances back to where Aragorn and Celebron were talking. She could tell something was up but she didn't know what. She tugged on Buffy's arm to get her attention.

"Buffy, have you been getting any Spidey Sense this morning?"

"It's hard to tell here, Will. My Slayer sense is tingling but I can't tell if it's because of all the Elfishness around here or what. I haven't quite gotten a handle on the whole Slayer feeling here in this realm. Why?"

"Ever since this morning I've felt something different than I've felt earlier. I get a sensation from Frodo but I figure that it's the ring. I feel the Elvish magick very strongly but this is just a feeling that I'm getting that is different from the others." Willow pointed to Aragorn and Celebron. "With the intense discussion they seem to be having I'm thinking something's up."

Gimli approached Willow and Buffy, "Forgive me ladies. I overheard your discussion and I believe Lady Willow is correct. There was a group of Urok-hai following us before we came into this forest. I do not think they have given up so easily. That is one of the reasons we are taking the boats. The Urok-hai will travel over land and we can cover more ground."

"Urok-hai?" Buffy asked.

"The blue funky looking guys in the movie. They had the white handprint on their faces."

"Ah. I take it they're the big bad around here."

Gimli was confused at to what the two women were talking about. He didn't know this word 'funky' but he understood big bad. "The Urok-hai are servants of the White Wizard and are very 'big bad'."

Buffy grinned and hooked her arm through Gimli's, "We'll have you talking in slang in no time." She threw a wink over her shoulder at Willow as they made their way to the boats.

There were four boats and Aragorn decided that Buffy with her Slayer strength could paddle one, which left Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir to the other three.

Willow just knew Buffy had grabbed Gimli on purpose when she saw her help Gimli into the boat she would paddle. Buffy tried to give Willow her best innocent look but it was ruined by the huge smile when Legolas took Willow by the hand and helped her into his boat.

Once everyone was settled in their boats they began their journey down the river and along the Great River that will take them on their journey to Mordor.

Willow watched as Aragorn kept looking toward the shore.

"Are the Urok-hai following us along the shoreline?"

"Why? Do you feel them?"

"Well I do feel something and I'm guessing it's them but actually Aragorn keeps looking towards shore."

Legolas smiled and leaned closer to Willow's shoulder. "Do you see the movement of the birds that are taking flight a little to the left of us?"

Willow shivered as his breath hit her ear and nodded.

"They are in front of the Urok-hai. Aragorn and I can tell where they are by the animals that are fleeing their path. We will probably stay a half a day ahead of them."

Legolas indulged himself by staying where he was and not sitting back up. She smelled of the forest after a cleansing rain. It was his favorite time in the forest. Everything was clean and beautiful. When he had helped Willow to her feet the previous night he had felt a bolt of power go through him. He assumed it was her magick connecting to his Elvish power at first but then he had received flashes. It was like looking into Galadriel's mirror. He hadn't told Aragorn but that is how he knew that Willow was his Maranwe.