DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.

A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (6.1-2) "Bargaining, 1 and 2" written by Marti Noxon & David Fury, (7.17) "Lies My Parents Told Me" written by David Fury & Drew Goddard, (7.18) "Dirty Girls" written by Drew Goddard, (7.19) "Empty Places" written by Drew Z. Greenberg, (7.20) "Touched" written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner, (7.21) "End of Days" written by Jane Espenson & Doug Petrie and (7.22) "Chosen" written by Joss Whedon. The Angel episode used was "Orpheus" written by Mere Smith. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, you just suck).

17. Place in the World:

The portal closed behind Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam, Merry and Pippin as they entered the Hall of the King. Inside the court, Gandalf, Arwen and nearly all of Gondor was waiting, backed up all the way out of the Tower of Ecthelion. Arwen ran to her husband and wrapped her arms around him, and in that moment he once again fell in love with his wife. He closed his eyes and held her tightly.

"Sam!" the hobbit heard. "Sam!" He turned around to see Rosie Gamgee run through the crowd towards him. He grabbed her and embraced her lovingly, his heart soaring in her presence. "Oh, Sam, I thought I'd never see you again!" she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm home, Rosie," he promised as he held her in his arms. "I'm home for good."

"Would somebody get a doctor!" Gimli shouted as he stood next to Legolas, still holding his shoulder. "Are we not visible? This elf is bleeding! Less reunion, more working!"

Pippin turned to Merry. "Guess it'll take a while for that Sunnydale thing to wear off."

"Well, I... I don't understand," Gandalf declared as he looked around at all of them with a grave voice. "Buffy is not with you? The mission was a failure, then?"

"The mission was not a failure," Merry answered. They turned to him as he gazed into space with a half-smile on his face. "Not at all."

"Then where is she?" Gandalf asked.

"Where she is needed," Merry responded. "She's home."

Arwen turned to Aragorn. "And Frodo? Where is Frodo?" Rosie looked at Sam as his face fell flat, his eyes filled with a hint of sadness. Aragorn placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and gazed up at Gandalf and his whole kingdom with a knowing smile.

"He has chosen his place."

"I don't understand," Giles declared as he stood outside of the bus and gazed back at what was left of Sunnydale as the sun beat down on them. "What did this?"

Buffy let go of Dawn as Frodo came to stand by their side and stared out at the massive crater. "Spike," Buffy replied.

Buffy, Giles, Dawn and Frodo walked to the edge of the crater as Willow, Xander and Anya followed. "So, guess you decided to stay after all," Xander declared, staring at Frodo.

"What can I say?" Buffy replied. "I told him to make a choice. So he did."

"Are you sure that's smart?" Anya asked. "I mean, god knows how this was supposed to end."

Buffy answered as she crossed her arms, "I'm not worried."

Faith strolled up to them with a smile. "I guess the Hellmouth's officially closed for business."

"There's another one in Cleveland," Giles enlightened. The gang turned to him, giving him a dirty look. "Not to spoil the moment."

"Guys, take a moment," Xander announced. "We saved the world."

"We changed the world," said Willow.

"She's right," Frodo answered. "And everything that Lithuen said would come to pass has. You became the Ultimate Champion, left the Hellmouth in ruin and ended the world as we knew it."

"For the better," Dawn added. "We have to find the new Slayers."

"We will," Willow assured.

"Yes, because, the mall was actually in Sunnydale so there's no hope of going there tomorrow," Giles observed.

"We destroyed the mall?" Dawn sighed. "I fought on the wrong side."

"All those stores gone," Xander shook his head. "The Gap, Starbucks, Toys 'R Us. Who will remember those landmarks unless we tell the world about them?"

"Oh, god," Anya breathed. "All that money destroyed. How horrible."

Giles answered, "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Can I push him in?" Faith asked tiredly.

"You've got my vote," Willow replied.

Faith gave Giles a friendly punch on the shoulder. "I just wanna sleep, yo. For like a week."

"I guess we could, if we wanted to," Dawn said with a shrug.

"Yeah." Willow grinned as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I mean, the First is scrunched, so… what do you think we should do, Buffy?"

Faith turned to her. "Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. You gotta live like a person, how does that feel?"

"Yeah, Buffy?" Dawn asked. "What are we going to do now?"

Buffy stared out at what was left of her world. A beaming smile came over her face as she pondered exactly that.