Disclaimer: I don't own anything LOTR or YYH. I own Sara and Faythe, and Jake, and Jake's doctor. I don't own Sydney Beach. I'm not sure about the hospital, though, so I won't lay claim to it or deny it until I'm sure.
Author's Note: I guess Jake wasn't dead, after all.
Chapter Eleven
Beach Bums & Beer Runs
SYDNEY BEACH
The sun was going down on the water. Faythe and Aragorn stood with their feet in the water, looking at the big orange ball.
"It's so pretty," Faythe said, in awe.
"I guess," Aragorn said, bored.
"What do you mean you guess? It's really romantic!"
"What does it matter?"
"What's the matter with you?"
Aragorn smiled at her. "Nothing. Everything is all right."
"Alright. If you're sure."
"I am." They stared at the sky in silence.
SARA'S ROOM
Kurama was on his fifth drink and was feeling a bit tipsy. Sara and Hiei had calmed down and they had moved on to poker. "Why do we always play poker?"
Sara shrugged. "It gives us something to do, I guess."
"Does it matter?"
"Not really. No."
"Do you want to play something else, Kurama?" Sara asked politely.
"No."
"Okay then." She shuffled and dealt.
Hiei burped. "Hand me a beer."
"We're all out," Kurama said.
"What? How?"
"Well, I had five, you had four, and Sara had three. We only bought a twelve pack."
Sara did the math in her semi-drunken mind. "We drank nine beers! Where are the other three?"
"Sara, did you add the beers you drank?" Hiei asked.
"Whoops."
Hiei sighed, Kurama shook his head, and Sra shrugged. "Well, let's go get some more." The others nodded and they left.
SUPERMART
"Who names a store SuperMart? I could've come up with something better!" No one argued with her. Sara grabbed a basket and headed to the isle she was looking for. "What kind do we want?"
"Just grab something." Sara grabbed a couple of packs and they headed for the checkout. On the way, Hiei accidentally tripped into a display. A worker came over, yelling. He looked at Sara, whose eyes flashed and she smiled at them.
"I'll take care of it."
BACK THE MOTEL
Sara and Kurama were singing while Hiei watched. Aragorn came in, listened for a bit, and smiled. "You should start a band."
As he was leaving, Sara looked at the others. "Good idea." She grabbed another drink.
Faythe came over. "Good news, guys," she said, smiling, "Legolas had stopped singing and Jake can leave the hospital. Turns out he had a strawberry lodged in his esophagus. We can pick him up now."
Sara smiled widely. "All right! We're going to the hospital!"
Legolas came over from Faythe's room. His eyes were very bloodshot. He was humming "There's A Tear In My Beer." He hiccupped. "Are we going to get Jake now?"
Aragorn thought for a moment. "Should we go like this?"
Kurama grinned. "It won't be a problem. Eat this." He shoved some leaves at everyone.
Faythe looked at the little blue leaves skeptically. "I don't eat blue plants."
Legolas squinted at his leaves. "Do these have hallucinogenic side effects?"
"No, that a different plant altogether," Sara replied. She, Hiei, and Kurama had already eaten their leaves and looked a lot better and a lot less drunk.
Aragorn ate his. "Hm…minty."
Legolas took his next. "Not bad. A pleasant aftertaste."
Only Faythe was left. She refused to eat them. "I'm not that bad," she said, stumbling on nothing as she moved towards the garbage can to throw the leaves away.
Sara glared at her. "Eat them. NOW."
Faythe winced and took a nibble of a corner of a leaf. "Not bad," she said. She quickly devoured the rest of the leaves.
Kurama patted her shoulder. "See? You didn't die."
"I guess not. Let's go!"
SYDNEY METRO MERCY HOSPITAL
Jake smiled at everyone. "Did you come to see me?"
Legolas sat down on the bed. "No."
Faythe flopped down in a chair. "We're here to take you home. Well, back to the hotel, anyways."
Jake looked first to Faythe, then to the doctor, then to Legolas. "Really?"
The doctor nodded. "You can go home any time you want."
The doctor left and Faythe clapped her hands together. "Let's go get smoothies to celebrate!"
"NO!" everyone shouted.
Faythe looked confused, so Hiei summed it up. "Those things are a danger to our health! Never again!"
Faythe pouted and Aragorn put his arm around her. "I'll make you a smoothie later."