Disclaimer: see chapter one, part one.

Chapter nine: Changing the stars

Part one.

Aragorn filled his lungs with air before he slowly exhaled. He watched Legolas and Boromir walk away, and then he turned to Pippin. Pippin looked towards Merry, Merry looked another way and Pippin cast his eyes to the ground. Gandalf stood, leaning on his staff his eyes closed.

Aragorn turned to Gimli and said gruffly.

"Get them back"

Gimli nodded and then hurried after them.

Aragorn was about to ask Gandalf  what they should do, when he saw something he had never seen before in his entire life. The old wizard had started to pace. One hand was resting on his back, his head was bent and the other hand was stroking his beard and he walked back and forth between the rubbles muttering.

Merry, and the riders were looking at the pacing wizard and at Aragorn not sure what to do. At last, Merry also sighed deeply, then turned to Pippin and asked gravely.

"So, this is the secret you have been carrying…did she tell you?" Pippin shook his head.

"Eh… no I heard her talking to Treebeard and then…" he stopped when he saw that Gandalf was staring at him. The old wizard was about to say something, when they could hear Legolas telling Gimli to take his hands off him.

"I said…..let go!" Legolas ordered and tugged his arm free from the dwarf's grip. When he noticed that everybody in the room was staring at him, he crossed his arms and turned his head in another direction. He did not say anything; his fingers were curled around the ring, hiding it from the others.

"Now Legolas, if you even are going….." Aragorn started calmly.

"He will not go" the White Wizard said. "Feavair must not be stopped. If she is hindered then all that we have accomplished is worthless. Even without the One Ring if she is alive, Sauron will have enough strength to cover the land in another darkness" Gandalf sighed.

"Everything happens for a reason. You were meant to find her in Bree, she was meant to go to Rivendell and she is meant to go to the Mountains, her time has come."

"There must be another way," said Legolas.

"There is not another way!" answered Gandalf.

"There is always another way!"

"Not this time!"

"How come you did not know of this?" Boromir said suddenly and Gandalf looked at him puzzled.

"Not once did you mention her at the Council of Elrond. Why should we have taken such a dangerous journey if it was all in vain if she did not come!" he demanded. "Or how come Lord Elrond did not know?"

Aragorn, Legolas, Merry and Pippin turned towards Gandalf. The white wizard suddenly looked very old and very tired.

"Lord Elrond knew, but there was nothing he could do, he could not force her to go to Mordor, just as he could not force Isildur to cast the Ring into the fire, when he first claimed it"

"Not force!" ask Gimli "he was willing to sacrifice the future of Middle-earth just to let her live"

"No force on this earth can kill her, just as no force can destroy the One Ring. The Dark Lord Sauron protects her. She could very well have claimed the darkness inside her and defeat us all. She has fought the shadows and she makes the sacrifice willingly."

"How do you know the Dark Lord protects her?" asked Aragorn.

"The Balrog feared her, the…."

"The Uruk-kai or the orcs at Rauros Falls" said Merry  "They did not capture her and…."

"The orcs in Mirkwood" said Legolas and sat down.

"Aragorn captured Gollum in the Dead Marshes, and brought him to my father Thranduil in Mirkwood. Feavair was with my father when they were attacked by wild orcs roaming the forest. My father was only injured but she " he paused 

" she was running to my fathers aid when she was stabbed in the stomach. She fell; she was covered in blood…. I was with her when she stopped breathing.  And….I" he stopped again and stared at the ring in his palm.

" I left her and to pursue the orcs. They ran deeper in the forest, we had no idea how many of them they were…..when I returned, she was gone. Orcs…." He hid his face in his hands and said nothing.

They were silent and Aragorn swallowed. He knew what orcs did with their victims. She was alive when they….

"That was the reason she did not remember who she was" Aragorn swallowed "she must have……her mind, she must have suppressed it…."

They were silent again; nobody could manage to find the words.  Finally, Boromir opened his mouth and said calmly.

"You should have told the truth. Perhaps the inkling to use the Ring against Sauron been stronger had we known that destroying the Ring would achieve nothing. We could have…."

"Had you used the Ring Boromir son of Denethor II, the Ring of Power would have deceived you. Even if you wish to use the Ring for good, its will would twist your mind to evil and the Dark Lord's power would have been reborn in you." said Gandalf equally calm.

"Then what do we do now?" said Gimli.

"It is out of our hands. It all depends on Frodo and Feavair"

"I will not leave her again" said Legolas and looked up " I will not leave her, she will not be alone." He rose and walked out again.

Boromir looked a little hesitated around the room. Aragorn walked over to him, placed an arm on his shoulder and said.

"You know what must be done."

Boromir closed his eyes and said "She saved my life….how can you ask me to?" he opened his eyes and looked at Aragorn.

"She saved your life so you would live. She is going to Mordor so that you will continue to live."

Boromir stared down in the ground and then said, " I will not let him stop her. You have my word" he placed his hand on his heart and bowed.

He walked over to his backpack, lifted it up and swung it on his back. Then he grabbed his shield and sword. He stared at the sword for a long time, before he slid it into its sheath.

Legolas leaned heavily against his horse and felt the taste of salt tears on his lips. He should never have left her, if his anger and not driven him after the orcs then none of this would happen.

"Everything happens for a reason"

Gandalf's voice said inside his him. There was a reason why the orcs attacked that day, there was  reason she left him. The stars had decided it. The reason was that she was meant to die in the fires of Mordor.

"She could very well have claimed the darkness inside her and defeat us all. She has fought the darkness and she makes the sacrifice willingly"

Things seemed to fall in place. She did not know that he had watched her fight the nightmares. Sometimes he had woken up from his sleep because she held on to his hands so tightly and dug her nails in his palm so hard that they drew blood.

She had pretended like nothing, and he had never said anything, because he did not want to know. He did not want to know that she struggled through life, only to face a brutal death.

Now there was nothing he could or should do, to stop her.

He knew that he should not go after her, that he was breaking a promise but he could not abandon her, again.  His heart and mind yearned to see her once again, to touch her once more, even if it meant saying good-bye forever.

He felt the horse exhale heavily, before a soft nuzzle nipped against his cloak. He looked into the gleaming brow eyes of the white mare, as if she knew what he was feeling. Legolas smiled sadly and let his fingers stroke the horse's forehead. The he sighed deeply.

It mattered not what he had promised, he would not have peace of mind before he had talked to her, until he saw her once again.

He swung his body upon the horse and was about to ride away, when suddenly Boromir caught up with him again. The man said nothing, just mounted another horse, and then looked at Legolas waiting for the elf to make the decision. The elf exhaled slowly once again before he clicked his tongue and the horse started to move.

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