(A/N: Great guessing Lilena.)

- - - Pippin - - -

"Ah well, whatever evil was afoot is over now, I hope; or else is beyond our reach at the present," said Aragorn. "Yet I think I shall mention it to Gandalf, small matter though it may seem among his great affairs." ¹

"I wonder what he is doing," said Merry. "The afternoon is getting on. Let us go and look round! You can enter Isengard now at any rate, Strider, if you want to. But it is not a very cheerful sight." ¹¹

With that said, we all stood and entered Isengard. Grace had said little since she had woken and now she played absent-mindedly with the coverings on her arms. I remembered the first time I had met her. I had helped her remove the bandages. When I had seen the original cuts, I knew it wasn't what everyone thought. I had never found out what had happened, but she wasn't attacked, I could tell that by looking at her.

As we walked, I gently reached up and touched her hand. Her fingers clasped over mine and she smiled at me. I can't say it was a real smile; not one that you give when you have no troubles, but at least it was a smile. I grinned back at her and we walked the whole way like that. No one made a comment on it, it just seemed like something natural. We were friends and when a friend is troubled, you comfort them. Over the journey, Grace had gotten close with all of us in a different way, she had helped us, and we had helped her. The Fellowship had never died; it had been reformed.

Gandalf asked Aragorn to come with him to see Saruman but Gimli protested, saying we all wanted to see him as well. Wormtongue appeared in a window and King Théoden made a disgusted noise in his throat. As Gandalf ordered, Wormtongue went to fetch Saruman.

Then we heard another voice. It wasn't like anything I had heard before. A low, enchanting voice, it spoke words that I didn't understand. Grace's forehead was wrinkled in concentration. Finally, he spoke common tongue and we looked up when we heard him. Saruman was standing right above us, how had none of us heard him coming?

The words coming from Saruman made the Riders of Rohan stir. Gandalf had never spoken like that to their king. Why did Saruman seem so much better, why was Gandalf driving them to ruin? Then Gimli broke the spell.

"The words of this wizard stand on their heads," he growled, gripping the handle of his axe. "In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain. But we do not come here to beg." ¹¹¹

Again Saruman spoke, and again, the king seemed under his enchantment. This time it was Éomer that broke it. He said they had fought all the Uruk-hai without defeat, only to come here and be beaten by a wizard.

- - - Éomer - - -

Saruman disgusted me. He was trying to snare us in another trap. And try as I might, my uncle would not listen to me. He was being taken in by the serpent that was Saruman. The persuasive voice was turned to Gandalf then and though the words were still charming, they were now directed to a higher power; not for us.

Then Gandalf started to laugh. He was laughing at Saruman. Mocking him almost. And though he tried, he could not get Saruman come down to talk. "The treacherous are ever distrustful," as Gandalf said. As Saruman turned to leave, back into the tower, Gandalf cried out for him to come back. It seemed that against his will, Saruman was dragged back.

"Saruman, your staff is broken," he said, and there was a loud crack.

The wizard fell back in shock, looking at his broken staff. A round, heavy object came flying from the room behind him. Barely missing Gandalf, it hit the ground and rolled. Pippin chased it and picked it up. When he turned back, carrying it, Gandalf stooped quickly and took it from him.

We left that night. I do not think I was the only one relieved to leave. We rode for several hours slowly and peacefully. The next day we would have to ride much harder. Quickly a camp was set up and some slept while others ate and talked. Soon all slept except two left on guard.

- - - Grace - - -

I couldn't believe it! How did I get stuck on guard duty? Luckily whoever made me do it, had the sense to put me with Legolas instead of one of the Riders. There was a small fire going near us and although I was wrapped in a cloak as well, I was still cold. Damn Legolas and his built in elven heating system.

We hadn't talked much, mostly we sat thinking or looking around for anything to be wary about. I was so tired but I didn't want to sleep. Not after what had happened last time. Whatever it was. Had I actually been back to my home, or was it just a dream? I knew that Gandalf had been informed of it but he hadn't yet confronted me or, as far as I knew, come up with anything.

"You are not angered with me anymore, are you?" Legolas asked me suddenly.

I jumped about a foot in the air and then turned to look at him, confused. "What?"

"You were angry. When I told you I loved you."

A blush forced its way up onto my cheeks and I fought to get rid of it. How could he talk so casually about his feelings? I don't think I had ever told anyone I loved them. Well, maybe my parents when I was young. But I realized I wasn't mad at Legolas. He had never done anything wrong, so technically, I never had had a reason to be mad with him. Yet I had been.

"No, I'm not mad, Legolas," I said quietly.

There was another silence. This time I could sense Legolas staring at me. I started to day-dream (night-dream?) for a while when Legolas spoke again.

I jumped for the second time and cried, "Don't do that!"

"I am sorry, Grace."

"It's okay," I said, clutching my chest and breathing hard. "Now what did you say?"

"May I heal you?"

"May you what?"

"May I heal you?" he repeated again.

"Heal me? I'm not sick, Legolas! Why would I need to be healed?"

"Not your body, arwenamin. Your spirit. Your -" he reached out with two fingers and touched me just below the scar I had on my collarbone from Helm's Deep, "your heart."

I was so taken aback that I sat there for what seemed like an hour, probably looking incredibly stupid, gawking at him.

"You want to heal my heart?" I asked, incredulous. Legolas nodded. "How?"

"You shall see if you accept my offer."

Then, almost breathless, though I didn't know why, I said, "Yes. Heal me Legolas."

A beautiful smile graced his face then and he bent and kissed the spot when his fingers had been only moments before. I froze, not knowing what to do. Then Legolas sat up again, kissed my lips quickly yet tenderly, and went on acting as though nothing had ever happened. He had moved during our conversation, until he was right next to me. Then without really noticing it, I slept, head on Legolas' shoulder.

I woke again when there was a loud yell. I sat straight up and turned, looking for the source of the cry. Gandalf was lecturing Pippin on something he had done. As I listened, I heard him admit to taking the stone ball Wormtongue had thrown from Saruman's tower and looking into it. It seemed an innocent enough thing for someone to do, but Gandalf was upset and forced him to speak about what he had seen.

I stood and came to Pippin's side. Merry was already there, a hand on Pippin's shoulder. He turned back and looked and Merry and me. I hugged him briefly before I stood. Aragorn and Gandalf were absorbed in a serious conversation. A huge shadow came sweeping over us and some of the men cried out. Gandalf ran to Shadowfax and Aragorn set Pippin up in front of him. I caught his glance for a short time before they rode off, faster than I've ever seen a horse move.

We packed our stuff quickly. Instead of following Gandalf, we would be going to Helm's Deep again. It was a dark night, and this time I rode in front of Legolas instead of Aragorn. Gimli was seated with one of the Riders of Rohan, and Merry was with Aragorn.

Aragorn said he would also need to get to Minas Tirith, but the way would be dark and dangerous. Without thought, Gimli, Legolas and I agreed to follow him, no matter the danger or cost. As we rode, Legolas tightened his grip on me, I held his hand in mine and I could feel him running his fingers down the back of my hand. I was going to be healed.

And at that moment, there was nothing I wanted more.

(A/N: AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! The end of The Two Towers! This is where the plot thickens. A lot of this chapter was taken from the book, but not directly. Half sentences, ideas phrased mostly in my own words, things like that. So, just in case: I don't own any of it! And as I say every chapter, REVIEEEEEW!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 560

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 561

¹¹¹ The Two Towers, page 565