A/N: >sniff> well, this is the end--or maybe not. I wasn't sure if it needed an epilogue or not. Should I or shouldn't I? And if I should, what should it be about?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

We rode. And rode some more. I rode behind the leader with my hands tied in front of me so that I could only use my legs to keep myself aboard. It was extremely uncomfortable. I went quietly, biding my time. I had a knife in my boot and another in my bodice, but I couldn't move too soon, lest they take them both from me. I had to wait for the perfect opportunity.

Aside from some snide comments and lustful looks, they treated me pretty decently, for rogues, even if it was only because they planned on selling me. I ate as much as I needed and they didn't lay—well, too many hands on me. They treated me much better than their one dog, a scruffy brown and black border collie-ish looking thing with one ear that stood up and one that flopped over a bit. He and I became friends—I'd sneak him my scraps and he would sleep with me at night, keeping me warm. I called him Robin Hood, because he was the only honorable outlaw of the group.

My opportunity came after two weeks of my thighs and butt straining to the limit for hours every day. That night, they left me tied to a tree with one guard while the rest went off to do mischief. On a hunch, I stayed put and was happy that I did. They came back shortly laden with bottles of ale or whiskey—something alcoholic, anyway, because they were completely pole-axed within an hour and fast asleep in two.

I reached into my boot and carefully sawed through the one rope binding me to the tree (apparently, they didn't think me very capable) and then worked through the ones around my wrists, which was difficult and nerve-wracking. I kept starting at every little noise, convinced that it was one of the rogues waking up.

When the ropes finally fell away, I slipped my boot off and padded away into the darkness. I hadn't gotten far when a cold, wet something nudged my hand. Stifling a yelp, I looked down to see Robin Hood looking up at me with his head cocked and tongue lolling out, as if asking where I was going.

"Christ, Robby, you scared the shit out of me," I hissed. "Go on, you'd better go back. I've got to leave."

I started off again and Robin Hood followed dutifully. I stopped again and tried to shoo him away, but he was having none of it. He sat on my foot and looked up at me in a very firm sort of way. I sighed. If he wanted to come with me, I guess I'd have to let him. Those bandits treated him like crap, anyway.

The moon was full and bright, but I had a slight problem in that I had no idea where I was and no idea where I wanted to go. Robin Hood soon started to trot ahead, so I followed him. Might as well, I told myself. As long as we're going away from the bandits. We came to rest several hours later under a willow tree next to a pond. Gratefully, I curled up with my head pillowed on Robby's flank and fell deeply asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, it was to find myself surrounded by tall, impossibly beautiful people that put me in mind of Legolas. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they were elves, too. Some, however, were dark haired and some were light haired like Legolas. I sat up, looking around warily. Robin Hood sat with a cheerful, tongue-lolling grin as if without a care in the world.

"Good morning," I said hesitantly.

"Good morrow," answered a dark haired woman. She had a surprisingly low, but pleasant voice. "I trust you slept well?"

"Very well, thank you," I answered, and it struck me that this was kind of a strange conversation to be having.

"It pleases me to hear that," the lady said. "This tree has ever given shelter to those in need of it. Perhaps you could tell us as we ride why you were in need of shelter." I could hear a ripple of laughter in the lady's voice. "And why you wear only one boot."

I blushed. "Certainly, lady. But I fear I'm completely lost...where are you riding?"

"Our destinations are one and the same, Skyla Connelly," said a light haired lady.

I stared at her in shock. "Do—do we know each other?"

The lady smiled. "Nay, little one, but I know what is in your heart. You are brave, little Skylark, and more than deserve our assistance. No doubt you are missed at Minas Tirith."

Perhaps, I thought. "But—who are you?"

The dark haired lady laughed. "We have been remiss, forgive us. My name is Arwen."

"And I am Galadriel," said the light haired one. "This is my husband, Lord Celeborn."

"And I am Elrond," added a dark haired elf. "You must forgive my daughter, Lady Skyla. We travel to her wedding and I fear she has forgotten her old father."

"And the old father has forgotten his sons," another remarked dryly. "I am Elrohir. My brother is Elladan."

"A wedding?" I said with a frown. "Who is your betrothed?"

"Aragorn," Arwen said with a brilliant smile.

I grinned at her. "So it was you who gave him the jewel he wears around his neck."

"He wears it still?" For a moment, Arwen lost her ancient, dignified air and seemed barely older than myself—simply a maiden in love.

"How he manages to return from battle with it intact is beyond me," I said.

"Come now," Elrond said gently, cutting off whatever his daughter was about to say. "The sooner we leave, the sooner you may see your beloved."

"The lady is welcome to ride with me," Elladan offered hopefully.

"I think not," replied his father with a disapproving glance. "Lady Skyla shall ride with me."

"An excellent idea, my lord," Galadriel agreed, favoring Elladan with a stern look. "Twould not be seemly for a wedded woman. I believe Rohan's king would be most displeased."

"The King of Rohan, eh?" Elrohir winked. "Ah, well, Eomer King is a lucky man."

I rolled my eyes. Eomer probably wouldn't mind at all, except to worry in an older-brother, overprotective sort of way. He treated me no differently than he did Eowyn—except in, er...certain circumstances.

"I would not be so certain," Galadriel murmured to me, and moved away to mount her own horse.

I stared after her in surprise. Could she read minds? I shivered and accepted a leg up from one of the guards. As we rode, I told them my entire story. Yes, the entire thing. I was going to leave out the whole came-from-another-world thing, but Galadriel, of course, knew I was hiding something. They were unsurprised to hear of my counter part, for Celeborn and Galadriel had met Lothiriel before and had been confused as to why I looked exactly like her. Galadriel—of course—knew that I wasn't Lothiriel. Oddly enough, it endeared her to me. Probably because I'd finally found someone outside of Rohan who didn't insist that I was this Lothiriel person.

They were surprised by my story of how I escaped the elephant and bade me sing something. I sang "Think of Me" from the Phantom of the Opera, taking great pleasure in the oral acrobatics at the end. I had the feeling that simple folk songs would not suffice—something about them seemed to demand something more..I don't know, classy—or at least impressive. Even if it spooked the horses.

When I came to the part with the rogues and Robin Hood, they didn't understand the name and I spent a good amount of time telling the story of Robin Hood. They were delighted with it and asked to hear more stories from my world. I suppose that they'd lived so long that it must have been a long time since they heard something new. So I told them all the stories I knew, from Greek myths to the Tooth Fairy to Sleeping Beauty and Snow White—but then I had to explain that the seven dwarves were a different variety of dwarf. It was somewhat difficult to imagine Gimli doting on a girl hand and foot and living in a cozy little cottage.

It took us a little over a week to reach Minas Tirith, which surprised me. But then, who knew what super duper speed traveling powers elves possessed? As we rode through the streets, I felt extremely small and grubby compared to the tall, dignified, immaculate assembly that surrounded me. My hair was a mess, my clothes rumpled, and I still only had one boot because there was no way that any of theirs were going to fit me. So I kept my hood up and hoped no one would notice me.

Our arrival at the palace was somewhat anti-climactic. Until I lowered my hood, that is. A stable boy—Den, I realized—took one look at me and sprinted off, bellowing that the Skylark had returned and someone fetch Lady Eowyn. Within moments Toury and Ioreth, the head Healer, had arrived and hustled me away to the Houses of Healing, despite my protests that I was absolutely fine. When we finally got there and they had a chance to examine me, they grudgingly admitted that all I needed was a bath and fresh clothes.

As I was stepping into the bathtub in my chambers, Eowyn burst in and caused me to fall over into the tub. I sat up, spluttering, and glared at her indignantly. She rushed right over and embraced me, soaking herself in the process.

"Oh, Sky, we were so worried! And then Den said that you were in the courtyard, and they said you were in the Houses of Healing, and they said that you were in here...whatever happened? Are you alright? Liadan nearly broke down the gates and when we went to look for you all we found was Grenlen with an arrow in his chest..."

"I'm fine, I promise--" Suddenly there was a joyous bark and Robin Hood bounded in through the door (Eowyn had left it open in her haste) followed by two puffing, red faced maids.

"I'm sorry, my lady," one said breathlessly as Robin Hood placed his paws on the edge of the tub and licked my face, tail wagging furiously. "He just charged in as soon as someone opened the door...we'll just take him outside, shall we?"

"No, no," I said, scratching his head. "He's fine."

"But, my lady..."

"He stays," I said firmly.

"Then I suggest you give him a bath, too," the maid said with a sniff, and the two hurried off.

"Alright, explain," Eowyn said. "Eomer has been gone for a week looking for you. He'll be furious when he finds out you've come back while he's away." She must have seen something in my face because she touched my arm gently and said, "Believe me, Sky. If he were here, he would have been the first to greet you. We've sent out messengers to find him."

I told her everything that had happened and how Arwen and Galadriel had found me. I faltered for a moment when I told her who Arwen was marrying, but, to my surprise, Eowyn merely laughed and commented how lucky Aragorn was. I was astounded. The last I saw, Eowyn had been head over heels in love with Aragorn. When I asked, she merely gave me a mysterious smile and didn't answer.

When I was done, I wrapped myself in a towel and the two of us wrestled Robin Hood into the bathtub and scrubbed him down. By the time we were done, we were both completely soaked—as was the rest of the room. Robin Hood crouched in a corner, fur standing up in spikes and looking scandalized.

By the time I'd gotten dressed and braided my hair, Robin Hood had forgiven me and trotted by my side as happily as ever. First, we went to see Liadan, who needed considerably greater amounts of persuasion—that is to say, carrots—to forgive me. She didn't seem to mind Robin Hood, though, which was a blessing.

There was a feast that night to welcome the elves and to celebrate my safe return. It was then that I discovered the reason for Eowyn's blasé attitude toward Aragorn's wedding. Faramir. I grinned at her from across the table and was surprised to see her blush deeply. Faramir, completely oblivious, put his hand over hers and smiled at her in a way that seemed oddly familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but didn't have time to worry about it—Robin Hood was trying to surreptitiously snag a chunk of ham from Lord Elrond's plate as he talked with Aragorn.

Later, I asked Faramir whether he had asked Eowyn to marry him yet. He blushed and stuttered, but finally managed to spit out the word "no". I told him to get on with it, but was secretly relieved. I didn't want Eowyn to leave Meduseld.

Two days later, a commotion outside my window brought me out of a light, restless sleep. I scrambled out of bed and looked outside. There was a company of horsemen clattering through the gates. I couldn't see their faces in the pre-dawn light, but I knew who they were. I ran through the castle without bothering to change or even put on slippers and blew into the courtyard with Robin Hood on my heals.

"Eomer!" He turned just in time to catch me as I threw myself into his arms. I was surprised to feel tears pricking my eyes. I hid my face in his chest so he wouldn't see.

"Sky," Eomer said, voice ragged. "Sky, look at me."

I looked up and the look in his eyes took my breath away. But I didn't have time to contemplate it just then because he kissed me as if...I don't even know how to explain it. I mean, we'd kissed before. Hell, I'd slept with the man. But it wasn't anything like this. This was more...it was as if--

"I love you, Sky," Eomer whispered. "I know you're only with me so you can go home, but there it is. I love you."

Before I could answer, his men started shouting catcalls and making such a fuss that I blushed beet red and Eomer and glared at them until they were silent. Then he wrapped his cloak around me and strode off to put Firefoot away. I looked down at Robin Hood, who looked perplexed at this strange turn of events.

"Yeah, me too," I muttered, and waited for Eomer to come out.

When he did, he dropped my silver chain into my hands and strode off without speaking. Hurt and confused, I followed him to our rooms. He undressed and flopped down on the bed, facing away from me. Robin Hood nuzzled my hand, whining anxiously. I scratched behind his ears, not sure what to do. I padded over to the bed and sat down cautiously.

"Eomer--"

"Don't," Eomer said tightly.

"Don't what?" I asked, becoming upset. Hadn't he just told me that he loved me? Did he regret saying it?

"Just leave me be," he growled. "I rode all night to get here. I'm tired."

"You rode all night so you could get here and be a complete bastard?" I demanded, tears threatening once more, but for an entirely different reason.

Eomer rolled over, astonishment and indignation evident on his tired, unshaven face. "I just told you I loved you, woman! D'you have to rub it in?"

I felt cold. "Are—are you ashamed? Is that it?"

"Ashamed that I love a woman who only wishes only to leave me?" Eomer said bitterly. "Aye, somewhat."

"You seem to know an awful lot about what I want and don't want," I huffed. "Not that you ever bothered to ask."

"You never made a secret of it," he snapped. "Do you know what I was thinking these past weeks? No? I was thinking that it was a shame that you'd lost the baby because then maybe you could have gone home and I could find a wife who would marry me and bear my children because she loved me and because she wanted to, not because she was forced to."

I tried to speak, but no sound would come out. I felt sick. He was mad about the baby. And not even for the baby's sake, but because he wanted to get rid of me. I couldn't breathe. I whirled around and dashed past Robin Hood, who was clearly confused as to why his mistress kept running about this early in the morning. But he followed me faithfully, as always.

I found myself in the stables. I threw myself down in the fresh hay of Liadan's stall and sobbed inconsolably while Robin Hood licked my ear in what he clearly thought was a comforting way and Liadan blew softly into my hair. How could things have gone so horribly wrong? I'd been—well, frankly, I'd been thrilled when Eomer told me he loved me. And somewhat less than thrilled when he told me he was ashamed of it.

I was alerted to an intruder by Robin Hood's low growl. I looked up and saw Eomer, looking shamefaced and upset.

"Sky, could you please call your dog off?" he asked. "Tis somewhat difficult to apologize to someone with an angry dog snarling at you."

"You've just realized that you still have to live with me until I bear you a son, is that it?" I hiccuped. "Just leave me alone, Eomer. Robby's only trying to protect me. He's not ashamed of loving me."

"I'm sorry," Eomer said desperately. "But you must admit that it's fairly awkward to proclaim your love to someone who you know doesn't feel the same way. Especially when that someone is your wife."

"Who says I don't feel the same way?" I cried, turning my face back into the straw. Robby abandoned snarling at Eomer and laid his head on my side."You fuckin' eejit, you could have waited for an answer before tearing my heart out with your bare hands!"

"Then—then you do love me?"

"Of course I do," I sobbed. "Only I didn't realize it until you'd gone and then I find out that you want me gone so you can find someone else—some flaxen haired beauty from Rohan--someone your own age--"

Suddenly I found myself held against a hard chest with warm, strong, familiar arms wrapped about me. Eomer pushed my hair out of my face and wiped away my tears, kissing each cheek softly. Then each eyelid, then my nose, then my lips. I kept my eyes closed, and my arms around his neck. I couldn't stop shaking.

"I'm sorry," he whispered raggedly. "I'm not ashamed, truly. Even if you didn't love me, I could never regret loving someone as brave and beautiful as you are. And if you want to go home, I'll understand. We don't have to wait for a son. I'll help you go home if that's what you want."

"No," I sniffed. "It hurt to give up my family, but it's done. I don't think I can give you up. And at some point—someday I will bear your children. Because I love you and because I want to."

For a long time he simply held me tightly and stroked my hair until my body stopped shaking. In the aftermath of that emotional thunderstorm, I felt the most wonderful sense of peace. For the first time, I felt like I was truly married, not just sharing a bed with a good friend. And it felt good. Perhaps Gandalf was right and I was destined to marry Eomer and save Eowyn's life. Destiny or not, I was happy with my lot. I was married to the man of my dreams—and what was more, a man I loved and who loved me in return.

If the stable hands thought it odd to find the King and Queen of Rohan sleeping propped up against the wall with a dog curled beside them and a horse standing guard, they never mentioned it to either of us. But then, they wouldn't, would they? Royals aren't real people, after all.