A/N Obviously, this is the newly revised version of the story! Everyone together now: YAY! It's about two chapters longer than the original and when I upload all 11 chapters, I'll be deleting the first Tipping the Scales. Let me know what you think. I didn't change much, but I added a lot. ENJOY!

Chapter 1

Buffy sat at home in Italy staring out the window at the dark city of Rome. She loved it here. The city was beautiful and full of history. There was a time in her life that she had hated that word: history. But she and grown up and moved on from that stage of her life. Now being alone with nothing to do but stare at the beauty of a historical city was actually a form of fun for her.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" Buffy shot up off the couch and grabbed a stake. As she headed out the door, the Slayer paused and decided to upgrade her weapon. A quick search through her weapons chest and the longest living Slayer grabbed her favorite broadsword and her new favorite toy: her scythe. "Time for the real fun now."

After an hour of patrolling and no action, Buffy sighed and started to move on. Maybe she could finally get a hold of Willow and catch up on things in England.

"Chosen One….." A voice echoed all around her. It was female.

Buffy turned in a circle, looking for the origin of the voice, but there was no one there. No movement anywhere. Maybe she was hearing things in her advanced age. Or maybe she'd found a shy…..

The ground dropped away and Buffy fell through a blue glowing abyss. She landed hard on a dirt and leaf covered ground. "OW!" She looked up and found tall, beautiful trees above her where a dark, star-filled sky should've been. "What the….."

"Chosen One." A male voice said behind her.

Buffy shot to her feet and found a tall, handsome man with long blonde hair and dark eyes standing there studying her. But he wasn't really a man. His ears….. They were pointy. Like an elf. "Ooook."

"Forgive me. I am Haldir. The Lady Galadriel has requested your presence."

"Who?" Buffy looked at the other pointy-eared guys standing behind Haldir.

"Come quickly, you are needed and daylight draws near." With that, Haldir turned and started to walk. Buffy figured she'd better follow if she didn't want to get lost. So, she followed. They led her through an immense forest that was just... Well, beautiful. But the sight of their dwellings took her breath away. They were in the trees and seemed to glow from an inner light. Haldir waited for her to join him and then he led her up the stairs.

"So, uh... Why am I here?" Buffy asked.

"All in good time, young Slayer."

"I hate it when someone says that to me."

Haldir smirked. "From the things I have heard about you, I thought you would be... bigger."

"Nope. Not me. But you're not the first person to say that."

"I suppose I wouldn't be." Haldir motioned for the other Elves following them to leave before he continued on.

"So, uh, what have you heard about me?"

"The Lady Galadriel has told great tales of you. How you have died twice and yet you still walk the Earth. There are even rumors that you loved the enemy which almost cost your world its life."

"Wow, how'd she know about all of that?"

"Our Lady is very mysterious. She see and knows all."

"How fortune teller of you."

Haldir stopped in front of a large garden. "She is here."

"Where?" Buffy turned. but Haldir had walked away. When she turned back, a tall, beautiful woman stood in front of her. She had long blonde hair and she also seemed to glow from an inner light like the buildings. It was her eyes that really caught Buffy's attention. They seemed to have thousands of little, tiny sparkly lights trapped in there.

"I am Galadriel." She said. "Come, there isn't much time."

Buffy sat staring at the fading image in the mirror for a long moment before looking at Galadriel, the queen of the Elves. Apparently a group of eight (two humans, an elf, a dwarf, and four, um, hobbits) were in the woods and the queen had searched for a way to give them more help to finish their mission since Gandulf, a powerful wizard, had been killed. Galadriel had come to find tales of Buffy the Vampire Slayer of an advanced plane of existence. The powerful Elven queen had summoned her here to help.

"Come." Galadriel said. "The Fellowship needs you."

Still finding all of this a bit on the absurd side, Buffy followed the beautiful queen. The Fellowship was gathered by the river and was preparing to leave. Buffy was forced to stand back and wait as each member was given a gift. She noticed the elf staring at her. He was cute. No, he was hot.

"Chosen one." Buffy looked up at Galadriel. "Come forward." The Fellowship, which consisted of not one girl, stared at her. She definitely had their attention. Little tiny blonde chick coming to join them and slow them down. "This is the Slayer. She is the most powerful of her kind. A human at first glance, but so much more. She comes from an advanced plane of existence and I have summoned her to aid you in your journey. With Gandulf no longer among your ranks, you will need a powerful companion."

"She is but a woman." The dwarf said. He looked like he was shocked by his own outburst.

"You will soon find the error in those words, Master Dwarf." The Elves crowded near Buffy and strapped weapons to her. Her broadsword, her scythe, four knives, and a bow with a quiver of arrows. "She is a warrior by nature and a descendant of the Elves themselves." Galadriel took Buffy's hand and guided her to their leader. The Elf, Legolas was his name, continued to stare at her.

Aragorn bowed low. "I am most honored by your presence."

"Watch over her, Aragorn. She is the key to many great things." The Elves departed and left Buffy with the Fellowship.

Gimli, the dwarf, walked up to her. "You are but a girl. How are you a warrior?"

"You're just a midget with an ax. How do I know you can even use it for fighting instead of chopping wood?" Buffy shot back.

Aragorn laughed. "Do you have a name Slayer?"

Buffy eyed him for a moment. Human. Not hard on the eyes either. He had that scruffy warrior guy look she only saw in historically accurate movies like 'Braveheart.' "Buffy." She said. "My name's Buffy."

"Such an odd name."

"Thanks ARAGORN." He just looked at her. "Never mind."

The other human, Boromir, stood next to Aragorn. "Do you know how to use those weapons, or shall I give you a few lessons?"

"I think I'll be the one the one giving lessons when it's all said and done."

"I like her! Watch your back, Boromir, she could prove to be more valuable than you and we will have to dispose of you." Aragorn exclaimed, clapping Boromir on the shoulder.

Buffy looked over at the hobbits, more precisely Frodo. She knew it was Frodo because there was a great power emanating from him. A great and EVIL power. It was the ring Buffy had been told about. Frodo was so adorable and he seemed to be sweet-natured and Buffy had the utmost respect for him. Galadriel had explained the poor hobbit's burden to her and Buffy knew what he felt. Being the Slayer was quite the burden too.

He walked over to her and held out his hand. "Hello Buffy, my name is Frodo."

She kneeled in front of him. "I know who you are, Frodo." She smiled and shook his hand. "I'm sorry I can't carry your burden for you, but I promise that I'll do my best to help make it easier. It's not an easy thing to carry that much power." She smiled. "Here." Buffy took off her cross necklace that Angel had given her. It was a symbol of her power and now she put it around Frodo's neck. "For strength and luck."

"Thank you." Frodo said, looking at the cross. "It's beautiful."

"A friend gave it to me to remind me of my strength and now I'm giving it to you to remind you that no matter what, that same strength is in you too."

Someone cleared their throat behind her and Buffy turned to find the other three hobbits. One held out his hand to her. "I'm Samwise Gamgee. My friends call me Sam."

"Well, hi there Sam."

"This here's Marry and Pippin."

"Hi. I'm Buffy." Buffy smiled at them. They looked like adorable little kids.

"That's a real pretty name." Pippin said.

"Yeah. It's not odd like Aragorn said." Merry added.

"Well, thank you. I like my name too." Buffy said.

"Merry, Pippin, into the boat with you." Boromir called, smiling at Buffy. The hobbits looked back at Buffy and she nodded. They waved and ran to Boromir. Sam led Frodo to the boats and Buffy was left to meet Legolas. He had stood there, silent and watching her out of the corner of his eyes.

"So, you must be the quiet, shy one, huh?"

"No." Legolas said, looking her in the eyes.

"And stoic. Very nice. I know a couple of guys like that. Dated one of em actually."

"Dated?"

"We were….. Involved for a while." Still nothing. "We were a couple." And more nothing. "Oh! He courted me for a long time, but it never got to marriage."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. He's still around, but we're not like that anymore."

Legolas seemed to start to smile at that, but Aragorn walking up cut the would-be smile short. "Legolas. Buffy will ride with you and Gimli. She is light in weight and will not be a threat in your boat."

Legolas nodded and held out his hand to Buffy. "Come, I'll help you into the boat." For the first time, he smiled completely and Buffy felt totally at ease with the Elf.

Buffy listened to Gimli tell stories of his early days and of his cousin. She kept stealing glanced back at Legoals. He watched her closely, studying every move she made.Normally she would have given him a piece of her mind, but for some reason, she felt protected under his watchful eye. Not to mention she liked watching him too. The fluidity of his movements enchanted her and she found herslf lost in his rowing of the boat.

"Does Gimli bore you?" Buffy looked over to see Borormir rowing up beside their boat. "His tales can be quiet boisterous, but they tend to stay on the side of dullness."

"No. It's fine. I was just... The river is so pretty." Buffy said.

"Now go away and let me finish." Gimli said. "I'm entertaining the lady now. You'll have your turn." Boromir just laughed.

Pippin, who was in the boat with Boromir, offered Buffy some type of bread. "Here. Legolas says that one bits should fill you up. I've had twelve already and I'm still hungry."

"Where do you put it all?"

Pippin looked confused. "In my belly, of course."

Buffy laughed. "Thanks Pippin, but I'm not hungry."

Pippin looked at Legolas. "Boromir's getting tired, so we're not going to be able to keep up with you. Do you have some bread left?"

"Yes." Legolas said. Boromir's boat started to drift behind them.

"Good. Don't let her starve." Pippin said.

"I promise I won't." Legolas smiled at Buffy and she smiled back at him.

Boromir watched the beautiful Slayer closely. Only two days had passed since they had first met her and set out from Loth lorien. She hadn't said much, but her actions suggested that she was a trained warrior. He suddenly found himself thinking of his return to Gondor after this long journey. What a return it would be: Him glorious in victory over evil with the ring and a beautiful warrior wife at his side.

Buffy sat at the edge of the water watching the current flow. She enjoyed the lulling sound of it. It had been a long time since she'd had anything to so with nature other than the sight of a battlefield or her slamming onto the fresh cut grass of a cemetery.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" Boromir said behind her.

She looked up. "I haven't seen a river like it before."

"It will never compare though."

"To what?"

"To your beauty."

"Oh."

Aragorn glanced over at Boromir. He was moving in on Buffy and Aragorn sensed that Legolas wasn't happy with the competition. The elf seemed smitten for the lovely Slayer.

"Where did you learn your skills?" Boromir asked her.

Buffy was a little confused. "My skills?"

"In battle."

"Oh. My Watcher and my ex-boyfriend. A lot of its instinct though."

"I look forward to seeing you in battle."

"You're expecting one?"

"I believe one is inevitable."

"Ah."

"What enemies have you faced?"

"Vampires, demons….. You name it."

"And what of Orcs?" Aragorn asked from behind them.

"What's that?"

"The enemy that follows us even now."

"Never faced one. Are they easy to kill?"

"Cut off their head, stab them to death….."

"Your basic kill then." Buffy nodded. "I can handle that." She stood and walked off.

Merry and Pippin ran over to her. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really guys."

"You have to eat." Pippin said. "Everyone has to eat."

"Pippin….."

"Come on!" Merry said. They each grabbed one of her hands and pulled her to their little fire. Aragorn chuckled to himself. The hobbits had taken a liking to Buffy.

Frodo scooted over so she could sit next to him. Sam, on Frodo's other side, handed her a plate and smiled. "It's good for you. It'll put meat on your bones."

"Are you saying I'm too thin?" Buffy asked.

"Oh no, ma'am. I'm just….."

"He just worries that you could be easily hurt should something happen." Frodo said.

Buffy smiled and patted Sam's hand. You don't need to worry about me, Sam I'll be perfectly fine. I promise."

Aragorn glanced at Legolas. The elf smiled at the Slayer. He had been watching her move about and interact with the others and had found himself nearly speechless when she interacted with him. A part of him sensed that Boromir had developed an infatuation with Buffy. And for some reason, that upset Legolas. He would just have to try harder to keep Buffy's attention when he had the privilege of having it directed at him.