"The animal survival instincts kicked in, it wasn't entirely your fault," Alex comforted the much embarrassed and still scared Fellowship as they walked out of the subway station. Boromir seemed to be the most conscience stricken.

"How could we leave our hostess in their hands?" Alex patted him on the shoulder.

"She knows how to handle them. Just watch. Now when we get home, we'll have a good meal and fortifying drinks, and then you can go to bed. This has been a very stressful day."

"I need a smoke," said Merry melancholicly."I have some weed, but our pipes are in Lorien." Alex smiled slyly.

"We'll see about that!"

True to his word, they had a good supper. But there were shrieks of joy when Alex disappeared into a room they hadn't noticed before and returned with a collection of pipes. Soon he had to open all the windows for the smoke. Even so the fire alarm went off and the Fellowship cowered with hands over ears until Alex temporarily removed the batteries. Having gotten everybody relaxed, Legolas stood near the biggest window overlooking the rear recreational center. For a while he observed quietly, then called Alex to his side.

"That's your wife, I think, sneaking up to the door. She looks tired."

"I'd better go help her. Stay out of trouble!" Running, he reached her just as she put her hand on the stair banister. She looked exhausted.

"Don't let them go out there. Fan girls approach from the west."

"FangirlS?"

"Amanda has an army."

"We'll call the police if they try anything,"

"Yeah, and tell them to bring a helluva lot of bullets! What good are police against them? I'm so tired. I lost my car keys, so I ran for a mile till I found a bus, which was stuffed. Then I realized it was going the wrong way, so I had to walk another two miles before..."

"It's not that we aren't grateful for your hospitality, but we have to continue our Quest," explained Aragorn dutifully.

"You do have to go back sometime," agreed Chrysies from her recliner in a tired voice.

"But we don't know how," he hinted. She yawned.

"Did you try clicking your heels together three times and saying "There's no place like home"?" Mystified, Aragorn made everyone get up and try it, because he wasn't about to do it alone. Of course it didn't work.

"Tell us again how you got here."Alex requested thoughtfully. When they finished, he wasn't much wiser. "Well, getting wet isn't the problem, and Galadrial's Mirror no longer exists in Arda-"Someone banged on the door, hard. Chrysies jumped to her feet.

Over the intercom, she asked who it was, though she thought she knew.

"Joseph Hamm. For heaven's sake get these-"Joseph was promptly gagged.

"They're here. They've caught our next-door-neighbor. Quick, get into the fan room." Alex pushed the bewildered Fellowship into the very same room he'd gotten the pipes from.

"Don't touch ANYTHING," he warned, locked the door and walked away to face the invaders. Despite their worries, the companions inspected the small room with great interest. It featured nearly every collectable imaginable, and there were two shelves full of practically every edition of LOTR. Towards this shelf they irresistibly gravitated. Frodo reached out to take one, the very first Houghton Mifflin in fact, but Boromir stopped him.

"He said not to touch," Frodo let his hand drop to his side reluctantly. They turned towards the door, where they heard a great deal of arguing and shrieking. Alex and Chrysies were losing the fight fast. Police arrived with wailing sirens, but at the same time the mad fans rushed into the apartment, tearing up everything in the living room, searching the kitchen cupboards, even the refrigerator! The bathroom was ransacked in the same way over and over again as waves of females moved in. They broke several lamps in the bedroom, and all the towels in the linen closet were tossed on the floor recklessly but for a while they didn't seem to notice the last room. Finally Amanda turned and saw it.

"Here they are!" she shouted, and rattled the knob with all the determination of a madwoman. Inside the Fellowship was aghast.

"They are coming!"

"We cannot get out!"
"I wish Gandalf was here." Suddenly, Pippin said,

"Come look at this!" He had FOTR-still closed- in his hands.

"What are you doing?"

"Never mind, come and look!" Merry and Frodo had now joined him. Knowing there was nothing else they could do they gave in to curiosity and either shared or grabbed a book of their own. But the instant they opened them, a slight dizziness, the nerve-racking noise and dark blue carpet faded away...and they were back in Lorien.

When they could see properly, they stepped back from Galadrial's Mirror hurriedly, and wondered what had happened, for obviously it had all taken but a moment.

"I think I understand now," said Frodo thoughtfully. "We could see the past, present and future in the Mirror, AND in the books. They're almost the same thing."

"I knew that all along," sniffed Legolas, his spikes drooping drearily.

"Did not," said all the others in a tired voice.

Sheepishly they turned to go, only to see Galadrial herself at the edge of the glade, frowning a most fearsome frown. They ran for their lives.

Afterword

Galadrial was very displeased with the Fellowship, which was why she sent them away the very next day, though under the semblance of friendship. Among the Companions themselves the memory grew quickly dim, which led to quarrels about what really happened, thus furthering the rift between the Fellows.

THE END