Title: New Journeys 11?

Author: David A. Knapton

E-mail: If you want but it's polite to let the author know you are doing so.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the crossover idea. The characters belong to the owners of BtVS and Lord of the Rings.

Spoiler: End of season five of Buffy and other than including Buffy and Dawn LotR follows the book not the films.

Rating: 12A/PG-13

Pairing: Dawn-Amaurëa/Legolas Buffy-Elenwë/Haldir plus book pairings

Summery: Galadriel and Slayer dreams

Notes: Partly from my twisted mind and partly from a transcript taken from BuffyWorld.

Thanks so much to Canada Bradshaw for stepping in and betaing this story.

'' Thought.

Feedback: If you wish.


Galadriel took Buffy's hand gently rubbing it, "Elenwë, do you remember those few times you had bad dreams after your friend Malvegil died? Do you remember what Celebrían would do?" she said seriously.

Buffy nodded, "Yes grandmother, she would walk with me through them," she said.

"If you are willing I would like to do the same. It may help you!"

"Amaurëa stand with me," said Celeborn holding out his hand. Dawn nodded and took hold of his hand, "Do not worry your grandmother will make things well!"

Galadriel gently pushed Buffy back down onto the bed, "Dream, little one, everything will be well, I will be there with you," she said placing her hand gently against Buffy's cheek, looking into her eyes.

"Grandmother, remember the world you will see will be unlike anything you have known." Unlike normal Elf dreams Buffy would be unable to change anything or interact with her grandmother, it would be as if Galadriel was dreaming.

Galadriel looked around; she could sense death all around her, her granddaughter stood nearby also looking around.

Buffy saw a very large chubby vampire running steadily between the headstones, followed by Spike and Tara with Giles just behind them welding an axe. As the vampire reached the perimeter fence, it cleared it and was gone.

Spike yelled in frustration as he turned on his companions, "I'm never gonna get anything killed with you lot holding me back."

This time Galadriel could understand the strange language.

"I thought the big ones were supposed to tire more easily," said Tara panting.

Galadriel looked in wonder at the young blonde girl, unlike the other two, no darkness touched her gentle soul, it shone brightly for any that could see!

Spike looked at Giles, "No, that's over-the-hill shopkeepers."

Giles was leaning against a gravestone, panting, "I'm fine. I just need to... to die for a minute."

Buffy giggled.

Galadriel looked confused not getting the joke!

Spike ignored the Watcher and turned to Tara, "It was that powder you blew at him made him rabbit off," he accused.

"It's sorbis root," said Tara attempting to justify her actions, "It was supposed to confuse him, but... it just kinda made him peppy." Spike rolled his eyes. "It's not supposed to mix with anything; you think he might be taking prescription medication?"

"Yeah, that must be it," replied Spike sarcastically.

"Good god, I hope he doesn't try to operate heavy machinery," laughed Giles.

Spike also laughed, "Yeah, we could all be in real..." he stopped and all three looked up.

Buffy next found herself on top of a large crypt, Willow standing next to her.

Galadriel looked intensely at the redhead, although her soul shone almost as brightly as the blonde's there was a taint deep within.

Buffy saw herself punch the large vampire in the face, "Big, fast, and dumb. Just the way I like 'em," she quipped.

Buffy felt that something was off with her other self then it struck her, "No, no, no. You so did not rebuild the robot to take my place!" cried Buffy at Willow as she noted the subtle mechanical movements.

Galadriel looked down to where her granddaughter was staring. She could see her granddaughter's features within the strange machine.

The vampire sat up and BuffyBot kicked him in the face, thrusting out with her stake, but he grabbed her arm, hit her with his other arm, and jumped up.

Tara and Giles appeared and grabbed the vampire's arms, holding him while Spike punched him in the face twice. Just as Spike moved for another punch the vampire head-butted him and Spike staggered back.

The large vampire threw both Tara and Giles off him. BuffyBot ran at him, tried to punch him but he blocked it before picking her up over his shoulders, swinging her around so that her feet kicked Spike in the face then threw her toward Tara.

Buffy just sighed shaking her head.

Tara seemed to duck instinctively and BuffyBot flew over her, landing against a wall. Giles grabbed the axe as he got up and swung it at the vampire, who grabbed it and spun Giles around, pinning him against the iron fence with the axe handle on his throat.

Buffy could only observe shaking her head, "They so need a slayer or they are all going to die!"

"Why do they not have one?" asked Galadriel to her granddaughter, even knowing that she could not hear her.

"Spike!" gasped Giles as the vampire was chocking him.

Spike jumped on the vampire's back but he was so big he barely noticed. He shrugged Spike off a couple of times. Spike stepped back with a sigh.

"Spike!" Giles gasped out as the vampire continued chocking him.

"What are you doing? Help him!" shouted Willow.

Spike lit a cigarette, "I did," glancing at the vampire's back. Buffy saw its shirt was on fire. The fire spread up to the rest of his shirt. He let go of Giles and staggered back, moments later, he was completely consumed by the flames and crumbled to dust. Giles put his arm over his face as the dust showered over him.

Galadriel looked in awe and a little disgust at the falling dust.

Spike took a drag on his cigarette, sauntered over to Giles and held out his hand. Giles accepted it and Spike pulled him up. "You might have let me in on your plan while he throttled me."

Spike smirked, "Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?" Buffy could not help laughing.

This Spike was almost as interesting to Galadriel as the blonde and redhead. His soul although black had a small light of hope within it; Galadriel knew that as long as it was encouraged it would grow and completely burn out the darkness.

Buffy next found herself at the Magic Box.

Galadriel looked around there were many items with great power here.

Xander was carrying a large box into the back office area. Anya was dusting merchandise while Giles sat in the background doing paperwork. "Anya," he said, "This register report for January looks a bit off." Anya turned to him; "Pull the files again."

Anya put down her duster and walked quickly over to him, frowning anxiously. "Are you mad at me?" she asked.

Giles looked confused, "Mad? No, I'm-I'm..."

Anya looked annoyed, "Well then why are you torturing me? You know, I used to punish people like this when I was a demon." Giles rolled his eyes; "I made them double-check spreadsheets for all eternity."

Giles looked seriously at her, "I'm sorry if you resent my authority, but I won't feel comfortable leaving here until I know that absolutely everything..."

"Giles is leaving them!" said Buffy sadly.

Anya suddenly grabbed a small statue from the desk, "You're taking the Ramadan effigy!"

Giles rolled his eyes again, "It's not inventory, it's my personal collection." he took the statue.

"Oh, huh. Aren't you Mister Dicey Semantics. So, what, you think you can just take anything you want?" Anya said indignantly. She grabbed the statue back from Giles. He looked angry and tried to grab it back.

They both began pulling at it.

"Give it!" ordered Anya.

"No, you give it!" stated Giles. Anya began smacking his hand with her free one. Buffy was in fits.

"Ow! Ow!" Giles cried out as he tried to fend off her smacking hand with his other hand.

Xander came from the back office, "Okay, when I'm marvelling at the immaturity..." They paused their struggle and looked at him, "Be scared." By now Buffy was leaning against the counter laughing loudly.

They stopped fighting but both still held the statue. "Anya, Giles is gonna leave the store to you when he goes. What more do you want?"

"I'm not leaving the store to anyone. I'm going to England. I'm not dead, I'm still a partner," Giles reminded them yanking the statue away from Anya.

"Silent oversees partner," Anya said sullenly.

"Who you should be very nice to, unless you want to end up working at Video Hut," pointed out Xander.

Giles gave Anya a tentative smile. She gave him a big fake smile and turned away. As soon as her back was to him, she dropped the smile and scowled, walking to the other room. Xander followed, so did Buffy and Galadriel.

Xander grabbed her arm, "What are you doing? What kind of gratitude is that?"

Galadriel looked into the eyes of the young Man, she could see the start of great wisdom in there depths, he reminded her of a young Aragorn.

"I know, I know," Anya said quietly, "It's just... he keeps saying he's going, and then he doesn't. And I keep almost being in charge, but then I'm not. And maybe he shouldn't be going at all, but we can't talk about that." she said agitated, "Buffy and Dawn have been gone for three weeks now."

Buffy gave her friends an intense look, "Only three weeks? It's been three months," then she smacked her forehead, "Oh different dimensions," she realised.

"Just give it time, Ahn. This is hard for all of us. Just... be patient," said Xander, Buffy realised that she had missed part of the dream.

"I was being patient, but it took too long. I mean, I-I miss Buffy and Dawn. I do. But life shouldn't just stop because they're gone. I'm sick of waiting to take over here, and I'm sick of waiting to tell everyone about us."

Buffy perked up at that, "What about you?"

Xander looked nervously over his shoulder, lowering his voice, "We've talked about this. We can't announce our engagement while things are so up in the air."

"Oh way to go Xand," smiled Buffy.

Next Buffy found herself on a dark street, looking around she recognised it, it was just down from the Magic Box.

Buffy watched as a young woman closed up a shop and turned to walk down the street, putting the keys in her purse. She suddenly paused looking behind her, before walking on. She paused again, looking back again, resumed walking very quickly. Buffy wished that there was something she could do!

The woman went to pass an alley and a vampire grabbed her from behind. She screamed. The vampire pulled her back against him and prepared to bite her.

"Don't be scared," Buffy heard her robot self say from the other end of the alley as she appeared from the shadows.

The vampire looked up in surprise.

"I'm going to kill him," said BuffyBot.

"Well at least Willow has her patrolling, so at least she's good for something," mused Buffy.

"Slayer!" growled the vampire.

BuffyBot looked at the woman as the vampire released her; "You can run away now." The girl did not wait to be told twice, she ran.

The vampire tried to edge away too. BuffyBot rolls her eyes, "Not you!"

"Wow not a bad one," smiled Buffy.

Galadriel looked once more at her granddaughter with a confused frown.

BuffyBot ran after him. He pushed a Dumpster into her path. She vaulted over it and landed on top of him, knocking him down. They both get up and she hit him with a roundhouse-kick putting him on the floor again. He got up and she punched him and kicked him down again.

This time he crawled toward an empty glass bottle, grabbed it and hit BuffyBot in the face with it. She stumbled back and the vampire got up. The broken glass has torn a hole in the bot's forehead and Buffy could see sparks flying around it.

Vampire looked shocked, "You're... you're... you're, you're a machine!"

BuffyBot smiled, "Thank you!"

The vampire scrambled to his feet and began backing away.

"Stop!" ordered BuffyBot walking forward into a stack of large barrels. She backed up a few steps and walked into them again.

The vampire watched, beginning to smile, watching as she continued walking into the barrels again and again.

"Vampires... beware," stated BuffyBot.

Grinning, the vampire turned and ran off. "Oh this is so not good," sighed Buffy as she watched the bot continue walking into the barrels.

Buffy looked around she no longer seemed to be in Sunnydale, she stood in a bar full of various demons, her attention was drawn to the vampire she had seen in Sunnydale sat at the bar talking to a demon.

Galadriel shivered from being in the presence of such evil, hoping that this part would be over quickly.

"You get the Slayer cornered," sneered the demon.

"Yeah. I figured it's my duty. She's a menace to our society. So we fight, and I'm like, pow pow pow!" said the vampire making punching gestures, "And I got her on the ropes."

The demon turned and grabbed him by the throat, growling. "You're lying to me."

"I swear on all that's unholy! You haven't even heard the best part. I cut her, right? And she's... I don't know, some kind of machine. She's not human!" the vampire said in a high, choking voice.

The demon looked into the vampire's eyes for a moment, letting him go. "You're high," he said.

The vampire shook his head, "I'm tellin' you, it wasn't even the Slayer, man. It was like a trick. A robot."

The vampire started to drink his beer, but the demon grabbed him again and pushed him through the crowd of demons to where Buffy could see a really mean looking demon was sitting in a booth, surrounded by his cronies. "What's with the blood rat?" he asked the demon pushing the vampire.

The first demon turned to the vampire, "Talk!" he ordered.

The vampire looked around nervously, "Okay, uh, so, I was over in Sunnydale, minding my own beeswax, when I see the Slayer..."

The demon shook him, "The part about the robot."

The vampire frowned slightly, "We fought, right? And I was like all over her," he made punching gestures, "Boom boom boom..."

The demon looked contemptuously at the vampire before turning to the demon in the booth, "He says the Slayer's been replaced by some kind of machine."

The vampire stopped making punch noises. The demon in the booth looked interested. "A robot, yeah! And I kicked her synthetic ass. You shoulda seen the sparks..."

The large demon got up, towering over the vampire, "You tellin' me there's no Slayer in Sunnydale?" he said, the room was very quiet as the other demons turned to look in his direction.

The vampire nodded, "That's what I'm saying, they got some kind of decoy standing in for her... Town is wide open."

"Nowhere like the Hellmouth for a party. There's all kinds of bad in that place," pointed out the first demon.

The large demon nodded thoughtfully. He laughed, moments later he was joined by everyone else.

The vampire laughed too, patting the large demon on the chest, "I guess with your muscle, uh, you could own it in no time." he nervous chuckled, "Hey look, I know you guys don't usually let vampires join the gang, and I got the whole sunlight issue. But I was thinking, you know, as thanks for the 4-1-1, you could let me jo..."

The large demon grabbed him by the neck, moments later the vampire's headless body hit the floor and turned to dust. He brushed dust off his hands, "I'll think it over." He looked around. All the other demon waiting, "Let's ride!"

The demons all cheered and turn to leave.

"Damn, so not good," said Buffy as she watched the bar empty.

Buffy next found herself stood in Xander and Anya's apartment.

Willow was holding a small jar and gazing at it. Tara sat beside her, "The Urn of Janus," said the blonde.

"Ah wasn't that the guy Ethan invoked that time?" asked Xander a little worried.

"Yeah," said Willow, "But Janus is also the guardian of doorways," Xander frowned; "Portals."

It was like a light bulb appeared over his head, "Oh right portals, got it," said Xander.

A look of worry crossed both Buffy's and Galadriel's faces.

Willow looked up at Anya, "You really found it."

Anya sat opposite Willow, "Yeah. It wasn't easy. I went through every supplier the Magic Box has."

Willow looked alarmed, "You used a Magic Box supplier? What if Giles finds out?"

Anya shook her head, "He's too busy not leaving to pay attention to me. Besides, I ended up getting it on eBay."

"You found the last known Urn of Janus on eBay?" said Tara in shock.

Anya smiled, "Yeah, from this desert gnome in Cairo. He drove a really hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox for a..." Xander coughed, making Anya paused, Xander looking nervous; "...a friend," finished Anya.

Tara looked at Xander with a little smile.

"So you got your sombre on, Will, is the Urn not up to spec?" asked Xander pretending not to notice the smile.

Willow studied it with a frown, not seeming to have heard. She looked at Tara. "It's the one. Which means it's time," she said putting it down.

Xander looked anxiously around, "It's time? Like, time time? With the... timeliness?" he said making vague hand gestures.

"Are you sure?" Anya asked quietly looking at the redhead.

"I am," nodded Willow.

"Mercury's in retrograde, and we have..." said Tara then looked at Willow, "Do we have everything?"

Willow nodded, "Just about," she got up, going over to another table and began putting things in a bag.

Xander looked around still anxious, "But why the sudden rushy-rush? I mean, the bot didn't blow our cover on patrol?"

"No, she did great," said Tara.

"And the vamps still think it's Buffy?" pointed out Xander.

Willow turned back to them, "Tomorrow night, we'll meet back here..."

Xander jumped up, "Whoa! Let's apply the brakes and check the rear, and side, view mirrors here." They all looked at him. "This is deep stuff, Willow. We're talking about opening a portal," finished Xander more calmly.

"It's time we stop talking. Tomorrow night... we're bringing Buffy and Dawn back," announced Willow.

"NO!" cried Buffy.

"Xander, I can do this, I promise. But not without you," said Willow.

"Should we maybe tell Giles? You know, now that we're really ready? It's not like he's going anywhere. Ever," said Anya.

Willow shook her head, "No. No one else can know. Not Giles, not Spike. They might not understand."

"What if something does go wrong?" asked Tara a little worried.

Willow smiled reassuringly, "I'm telling you it won't."

Xander looked seriously at his oldest friend, "Scenario. We open the portal and something else comes through with Buffy and Dawn do we a) congratulate ourselves on a job well done or b) hope it is not one of Glory's loving brothers."

"Xander, that can't happen we will only be able to open the portal to where Buffy and Dawn are and only they will be able to pass over," said Willow.

"Which means we do have a shot," asked Xander.

"It means more than that. It means we don't know... where they really are," said Willow, "Other than they are not dead. They could be trapped, in-in some sort of hell dimension like Angel was." she said tearfully, "Suffering eternal torment, just because they saved us, and I'm not gonna let... I'm not gonna leave them there."

"We're not in Hell we are home," cried Buffy in frustration falling to her knees.

Galadriel looked sadly at her granddaughter, but not understanding what was meant by Hell!

Xander looked at Willow for a long moment, "What time do we meet?"

Buffy looked up from her kneeling position, she recognised the place were the crazies had built the tower.

Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya were standing in a semicircle below the tower, Willow nearest the stairs. Xander and Tara held lit candles.

Willow looked up, "Does everybody have their candles?"

"I'm trying, my lighter won't stay lit," exclaimed Anya flicking her lighter continuously.

"Well, hurry, it has to..." Willow began to say with some annoyance.

"What time is it?" asked Tara trying to distract her girlfriend.

Xander checked his watch, "A minute till one," he told them.

"C'mon, Anya, do you have it?" asked Willow a little frustrated.

Anya finally got the lighter lit and lit her candle, "I got it, I got it, I got it," she said excitedly.

Willow looked around at the others, "Okay. Start the circle. Now." They all knelt, holding their candles, all except Willow who held the Urn of Janus. She produced a small jar containing fawn's blood and poured it into the Urn. Tara and Xander looked on nervously.

Willow began the ritual, "Janus, keeper of the gates, master of all destinations, hear us." She dipped her finger into the Urn and marked her forehead and both cheeks with the blood. "Before time, and after. Before knowing and nothing." She poured the contents of the Urn onto the ground. "Accept our offering. Know our prayer." Suddenly she jerked backward, panting; her arms went out at her sides. Deep ugly gashes appearing on her arms.

Xander frowned, worried for his friend, "Willow!" exclaimed reaching for her.

Tara fear on her face cried out, "No! She t..." she stuttered, "She told me... she'd be tested. This is supposed to happen," she quickly explained to the others.

Willow's voice grew louder, "Janus! Here the warrior of the people passed over with the sibling. Let them cross back." Willow winced in pain, blood was running from the cuts on her arms, and round shapes were moving under her skin. She gave a little moan of pain. The round things moved up her arms and over her chest toward her neck.

Xander was becoming more worried about Willow as he saw the things moving under her skin, "She needs help!"

Tara was also worried but tried to calm Xander's fears, "Xander, she's strong! She said not to stop, no matter what. If we break the cycle now, it's over," she explained.

They all watched anxiously, Willow continued breathing heavily. Suddenly they heard a loud rumbling.

"Oh god, what is that noise?" asked Anya as she looked around nervously.

Willow still kneeling with her arms held out, panting. The others watched with concern on their faces. She cried out again, "Janus, let them crossover! Aah..." She began making choking noises as the round things under her skin moved up her neck.

Tara wailed, concerned for her lover, "Oh goddess, oh goddess."

Willow leaned forward putting her hands on the ground, gagging, as a snake's head appeared in her open mouth, it slithered out and onto the ground. The others had horrified looks on their faces.

Tara continued to try to reassure the others as well as herself, "It's a test. It's a test... Willow..."

Willow was still leaning over the ground with her mouth still open.

Anya, Xander, and Tara continued staring as orange light swirled around Willow, who was kneeling up again, her breathing ragged, "Janus, open the door!" she called out once more.

The sound of motorbike engines grew louder then suddenly there were demons riding around the four friends. Anya, Xander, and Tara got up and clutched each other, looking around at the demon bikers.

Willow still encased in a tube of reddish-orange light was panting. The demons rode around and around them.

"Willow!" cried Tara.

One of the demons ran his bike over the Urn of Janus, shattering it. "No!" cried Willow. The red light dissipated and she fell to the ground.

"Willow!" shouted Tara running forward but one of the demons rode in front of her, cutting her off, she screamed and moved back.

Energy suddenly shot up from where the blood had seeped into the ground, it struck the place where the portal that Buffy and Dawn had fallen into had been, reopening it. But instead of being blue and white, this time it was red and black!

Xander saw an opening and dashed forward to grab Willow; but as he closed on her a blast of energy struck out from the portal striking him, for a second it looked as if Tara and Anya were seeing a full body x-ray before his body vanished in a pile of dust as if he were a vampire.

"NO!" screamed Anya falling to her knees.

"Xander," cried Buffy, joining Anya on her knees.

Buffy looked up watching in horror as the portal energy continued to strike out more and more quickly, destroying everything it touched. The last thing she saw was Tara being hit by a bolt of energy.

Buffy sat up in bed hugging her grandmother tightly sobbing into her chest as Galadriel gently stroked her hair.

"I do not want to give you false hope but we may be able to aid your friends, this once only," said Galadriel.

"How grandmother?" asked Buffy looking up into Galadriel's eyes hopefully.

"By the use of my Mirror and a little of Amaurëa's blood I maybe able to use the power of Nenya to open a small portal, for a little while. It would remain for only a day and night!" explained Galadriel. "Do you wish such a thing?"

Buffy nodded, "Yes grandmother. I must save them... Would I be able to take someone with me?" she asked eyeing Dawn, who nodded her head slightly.

"Yes child. In fact four may go if it is your wish," Galadriel said rising. "Bring whom you wish to go with you to my grove at noon. Your grandfather and I will leave you and Amaurëa to prepare." With that, she and Celeborn left the two sisters alone.

They were silent for a long time as Dawn joined Buffy on her bed, looking at the quickly rising sun. "Are you sure you want to come Dawn?" asked Buffy suddenly using her sister's Earth name. "It could be very dangerous... There is no guarantee I will be able to stop it from happening."

Dawn looked over at her sister, "I love Xand and Tara as much as you!" she said. "I obviously don't know what happened to them... And please don't tell me... Ever. But I would like to help. And anyway it will give us the chance to say goodbye to them," she said quietly. Like Buffy, she had felt the sadness of knowing that she would never be able to see her friends back in Sunnydale again, she was not going to pass up this opportunity!

Buffy rose with a small smile on her face, "Okay you can come. Pick someone to come with you," she told Dawn already having a good idea who she would ask!

Dawn stood up smiling back at her sister, "I'll go and see the others and ask him...them if anyone wishes to come," she said blushing at her slip. "Do you want me to send anyone to you?"

"No, I will find who I want to take myself," answered Buffy gathering the things she thought she would need.

Dawn entered the much larger room/talan that the rest of the Company occupied. All were already up and sitting around talking and joking. They greeted her warmly, "Good morning Amaurëa," smiled Aragorn.

"Good morning everyone," Dawn said returning their smiles, she looked to Legolas, "May we speak privately my lord," she asked, the others catching her formality.

Legolas rose, "Of course Amaurëa," he said joining her.

"Is something wrong Amaurëa?" asked Aragorn.

Dawn sighed; there was no real reason to deceive the rest of them. She took a seat among them indicating that Legolas should also sit, "I just came from my sister's room. A little before dawn, grandmother sent someone to get me as grandmother had gone to her room and was unable to wake Elenwë.

"It turned out that she was having a Slayer-dream. Unlike back in Sunnydale, she was unable to wake-up. I know most of you don't understand the meaning of it but Slayer-dreams are only sent to a Slayer as a warning that something bad is about to happen."

The Company now had worried looks on their faces; "I thought the same as you that something bad was going to happen to us," added Dawn. "But it turns out that something bad is going to happen to some of our friends back in Sunnydale! Grandmother told us she can send us back to help for a little while." She looked over at Legolas, "Grandmother said we could take a companion each, to help... I thought to ask you my lord!" looking shyly at him.

Legolas looked into Dawn's eyes, "I would be honoured my lady," he said smiling.

"Thank you," said Dawn a big smile on her face, rising she said, "I will go now and get ready, Elenwë and I will meet you here just before noon. We will be gone for one day... That is as long as grandmother can keep the portal open." With that, she left for her own room.

Buffy descended to the lawn far below, she carried her bow, Elven sword and a long knife. As she stood at the base of the great tree looking around, wondering if she would be able to find Haldir in time, when the Elf in question appeared striding across the lawn towards her.

"Good morning my love," smiled the Marchwarden. "Why are you armed so?"

"Beloved," said Buffy, "I would talk with you Haldir. Will you walk with me?"

Haldir seeing the serious look in Buffy's eyes he nodded, "Of course Elenwë."

They walked down the many tree-arched avenues, Buffy silent as she looked around taking in the peaceful air that permeated Lothlórien; "I must return to the other world for a time... Some of my friends are in danger... They need me," she stopped looking over at Haldir, "I would have you come with me!"

"But why do you need to go?"

"I was sent what is commonly called a slayer-dream. They are only sent as warnings and to point me in the direction the Valar wish me to go. Haldir I cannot abandon them when I can hopefully do something about it."

Haldir looked long and hard at Buffy before replying, "I would walk with you into Barad Dûr if you asked my Elenwë. When do we leave and how long will we be away?"

Buffy hugged him, "Thank you beloved. We leave at noon and will be gone a day and night," she said smiling at him.

"Let us hurry then," Haldir said taking her hand.

The four Elves entered Galadriel's grove trailed by the rest of the Company who all wished to see them off. Galadriel and Celeborn awaited them.

"There is but little time for you to lose, but when you return child we will talk about your deception concerning the Slayers!" said Galadriel.

Buffy blushed lowering her head, "Yes grandmother," she whispered.

"Come, I require the four of you to stand next to my Mirror and you Elenwë must look within it and think only of your dream," said Galadriel.

The four Elves stood as instructed and Buffy looked into the Mirror, she began to see the images from her dream. Galadriel held up a small dagger Celeborn had handed to her, "Give me your hand child," she said looking at Dawn, who wore a look of apprehension, Galadriel smiled at her, "I but require a little," she explained taking Dawn's hand and pricking her finger and allowing one drop to fall into her Mirror.

As the drop of blood hit the clear water, instead of being swamped by it the blood spread in a thin film over the surface. Galadriel dipped the tip of the ring Nenya into it, taking care not to get any on her skin, and touched it to the forehead of each of them. "Come stand with me," she said beckoning them to stand away from the Mirror.

Celeborn carefully picked up the Mirror bowl and placed it on the ground in front of Galadriel before moving over to where the rest of the Company stood watching with interest.

Galadriel turned to one of her maids who handed her some things, she turned back to the four Elves, she handed each a small necklace, "On these I have place a spell that will disguise your true nature, do not put them on until to reach the other side or the portal will disrupt them," she explained. "And this is for the one called Tara," she handed a small crystal phial to Buffy, "It holds the light of Eärendil's star and will destroy any vile vampire that it is held up to."

Galadriel stepped back from the Mirror and began the spell.

Mirror of reflection,

Mirror of sight,

By Ilúvatar's might,

Open the way,

Let these four pass the way,

By Ilúvatar's will,

Open.

A sheet of white sprang from the bowl, streaked through with blue and red, after a moment the light settled into a door shape; "Hold hands while you pass through or you may be lost to each other. A word of warning before you go Elenwë, Amaurëa, the touch of an Elf will burn the flesh of many evils in the other place, be careful of your friend Spike, I sense the chance of redemption within him for he retains his spirit but he is still a vampire. Farewell, we will await your return."

"Thank you grandmother," said Buffy as she took Haldir's hand, who took Dawn's who in turn took Legolas'. As Buffy entered the portal, the four vanished.