Chapter 15: Welcoming old friends

Faramir cleared his throat as everyone settled back in his or her seats. It was only an hour later (they had a really good therapist), and they were all back to normal (as much as they ever were).

He was about to continue on, much to the displeasure of Legolas, when there was a knock on the door.

A sandy-haired teenage boy walked in, glancing nervously at all of the important figure in the room, before turning to Aragorn.

"My Lord, there are two visitors requesting your presence in the Main hall."

"Godan, who is it that waits for me?"

"I know not, My Lord, for they are hooded and cloaked."

"Very well, send them up here," Aragorn said after a short pause.

Godan nodded and left the room. Arwen laid a hand gently on her husband's arm. "Were you expecting visitors, Hervenn?" (husband)

Aragorn shook his head, confusion clouding his face.

Merry and Pippin settled themselves on the floor, munching on apples, while the others sat in the chairs that remained from when they last had read.

Another soft knock on the door, and the two figures walked in. Indeed, it was impossible to distinguish their identity, except for the fact that they were male. All that was visible was their mouths.

"Your Highness." One nodded.

"Who are you?" Aragorn asked bluntly, quite baffled.

The corners of the mouth of the one who had spoken turned up slightly. "I am hurt. You do not remember an old friend?"

The hood of his cloak was thrown back, and long golden hair streamed over his shoulders.

"Glorfindel!" Aragorn exclaimed, and embraced the Elf. He looked awkward, then hugged back.

Elladan and Elrohir had identical Gee-I-Should-Have-Recognized-Him looks on their faces.

Everyone jumped as Eowyn suddenly tackled the second stranger.

"Eowyn, wha—" Faramir began, totally surprised.

She pulled back the hood to reveal…

"I knew it! Eomer!" Eowyn squealed quite uncharacteristically, and hugged him so tight he turned blue. (I know there is an accent over the E, but I'm too lazy to put it in…)

"Dear sister, good to see you!" Eomer said, massaging his ribs as Faramir pretty much dragged Eowyn off him.

The two men clasped hands, and Eowyn was simply beaming.

"How does Rohan fair?" Faramir asked.

"Pretty smoothly, though my uncle was much better at it than I…" Eomer stopped when a look of sadness passed over Eowyn's face. It was gone as quickly as it came, and she walked over to the other group who was welcoming Glorfindel.

"She tries very hard to hide her sadness, does she not?" Eomer said softly.

"I don't think she wants to worry the rest of us…" Faramir said sadly. "But these are dark words for a light time. Come! Join us for a bit of 'fun'…"

Legolas, who had joined them for the last bit of the conversation, rolled his eyes, exasperated. "If you can call it that…Fun for you, maybe."

Glorfindel took a seat next to Arwen, and Eowyn insisted Eomer sit next to her, with Faramir on her other side.

They were about to recap for the two new listeners, when Godan appeared at the door once more.

"Begging your pardon, My Lords, My Ladies, but I believe that you have forgotten someone…" he shifted uncomfortably.

Eomer smacked a hand to his forehead. "How inconsiderate of me! Send him up!"

Godan nodded. "Yes, My Lord."

The ten others looked at the two mischievous newcomers.

"Who else is here?" Elladan asked.

"You'll see…" Glorfindel said lightly.

Soon another figure appeared in the doorway, much…shorter than the rest.

"SAM!" Merry and Pippin exclaimed, jumping up and running to greet their hobbit friend.

"Nice to see you all again." Sam said as he entered.

"And it does my heart good to see you again, Master Hobbit." Gimli said gruffly.

"Welcome back to Gondor, Master Gamgee." Aragorn said, beaming. Most of the Fellowship was now reunited, along with several others.

So now, with three new members, bringing the total readers up to thirteen, those familiar attempted to recap the story so far:

"She thinks she is the most PERFECT thing in the whooooole Arda!"

"She weighs next to nothing!"

"Males who look at her get nosebleeds!"

"That damn faerie should die!"

"They have random pillow fights for no apparent reasons!"

"Nightgown sleeves mysteriously slip down!"

"Her hair is shinier than an Elf's!"

"She THINKS she's smarter and more beautiful than anyone alive!"

"THERE WAS A TWENTY-FIVE PAGE SEX SCENE!" Elrohir yelled suddenly.

Sam, Glorfindel, and Eomer stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Well, there was!" he insisted.

Silence fell over the room as everyone mentally eviscerated Starr with a toothpick, and then continued on with the recap.

"She could walk on snow due to 'lightness in general'!"

"Her reflexes are faster than Legolas!" (Sam: How is THAT possible?)

"Yet when buried in snow she is helpless!"

"She hates Dwarves!"

Glorfindel smiled. "No comment." Then, at Gimli's murderous look, added, "Kidding!"

"She died and came back to life!"

"My brother 'died' to save her, even though she could just be resurrected again!"

"She makes TONS of irrelevant references to things we know nothing about!"

"She sings too much," Merry said decidedly.

"SONG STEALER!" Pippin yelled suddenly.

Arwen sighed. "So, to sum it all up, Starr is the most perfect being in the entire Middle Earth, she is strong and brave and beautiful and smart, she is immortal, and she gets the hot Elf."

"Gotcha."

TBC…