I'm finishing this for once and for all, even though I believe the fic itself is pretty horrible prior to all this. But at least it will be done. Thanks to all who reviewed and tried to get me to finish it. I now present to you the last chapter of "Return to Middle Earth." Enjoy.

Return to Middle Earth

Kayo

Chapter X: Many Partings

Shawn and Legolas were not on talking terms. Ever since last night Shawn had avoided Legolas, as had Thaniel. Thaniel was pissed at Legolas for the entire incident. Legolas was known for his stupid antics, but nothing he had ever done involved his girl! It didn't matter that Legolas didn't know about them; he shouldn't have hooked Shawn up with a woman anyways; Shawn had his own woman! The only thing that concerned Thaniel were all the things that Lanfeir had said to Shawn…Did she mean it when she said she wanted to have his children? And walk around naked through Mirkwood? That was Thaniel's dream! Thaniel wasn't sure if Lanfeir was just playing around with Shawn, as Thaniel had also played around with Shawn. (They were both known to toy with many Elves around the kingdom.) But the kiss seemed too far. Sure, Thaniel had sucked Shawn's neck, but that was just to annoy him…seriously! It was a confusing time for Thaniel.

Things didn't get better when he met Legolas in the hallway.

--Greetings! My friend…uhm…-- Thaniel walked straight past Legolas.

--I have nothing to say to you, your highness. So if you don't mind, I would like to retire to my own chambers outside the palace walls.-- Legolas winced at the cordiality of Thaniel's voice. This was the first time Thaniel had been really really upset with him in a long time.

--Thaniel, as your prince, I must insist that you halt,--Thaniel kept walking.

--Stop!--He turned the corner.

--Please…-- And was gone.

Legolas resigned himself to a slouch against the wall. He hadn't meant to turn everyone against him. The bad thing was his father was starting to suspect something had happened yesterday. Well, it went more along the lines of Silmaril noticed Thaniel in a huffy mood, then noticed the strange-eyed human punching a pillow in his own room, and Legolas not speaking to anyone. Silence gave away everything in the palace of Mirkwood. Legolas remembered the days where he and Silmaril streaked down the hallways when the servants attempted to give them baths, only for them to climb to the tallest trees of the garden. Or the nights where he had a bad dream and he ran to Silmaril's room for protection, and they talked through the night or played a game. It all changed when she decided to become a healer. She went off to Lorien for some time, and Legolas began his training to become a warrior. He and Silmaril never became very close after that; Legolas had moved on to Thaniel. And now Thaniel had disowned him.

Being a prince sucked.

There was still Shawn. Legolas decided he might as well make an attempt at winning Shawn over again. Best place to start would be his room. Legolas rounded about the halls until he came to where Shawn was residing. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Thinking that perhaps Shawn knew that he was trying to make up for all the horrible instances that had happed these couple days, Legolas slowly opened the door anyway. He peered into the room, expecting to find Shawn, but was met with only Norbert the red eyed squirrel. Legolas sighed and was about to close the door when he heard a voice saying: --Come back.-- Legolas thought it might be Shawn hiding somewhere in the room, not noticing that the voice had spoken Sindarin. Then again, the past few days Legolas sometimes didn't know when he was speaking English.

--Close the door.-- Legolas uncontrollably followed the directions of the voice. Perhaps Shawn wanted to talk in private, no doubt because they didn't want to entire kingdom to know of their horrible drama. Soon Legolas came to realize the voice didn't sound at all like Shawn. In fact, he didn't detect the presence of a human in the room at all (humans being loud and all). The only living thing in the room was the squirrel, and squirrels couldn't talk…

A dark voice began speaking in a hideous language that Legolas did not understand, but meaning began to rise in the pitches of words. Legolas felt that hot feeling rise in him again. A giant eye appeared within his mind and enveloped his being.

--You cannot hide. There is no light in the void, only death.--

Legolas remembered no more.

Shawn wasn't in his room. Not at all. In fact, he wasn't in the palace. Auberlin was excited when Shawn had wanted to leave to go for a walk and explore the rest of the kingdom surrounding the palace. He was still a bit mad at Legolas for the previous night. What a disaster. What was I thinking anyway? Agreeing to a date…I should've just kicked Legolas in the knee. Shawn was starting to understand that part of the blame was on himself. Maybe he shouldn't be as angry with Legolas as he had been last night. All that he could do now though was cool down enough to come to his senses and them maybe work things out with Legolas and Thaniel.

Shawn continued to walk through the many winding trails through the town surrounding the palace. He soon found himself in the center, many elves staring at him. Of course gossip had spread about the exotic human who had arrived with Legolas. But none could believe that this human was the cause of all the commotion in the palace. In fact, all the elves began walking closer to Shawn as he was looking at the vendors in the street. Shawn noticed the attention, and being the pompous flirt he could be at times, strutted more. Until they began to really stare at him. It was as if they wanted to play with his eyelids.

Time to slowly back away, thought Shawn. Luckily for him, just as the elves were about to start their examination of Shawn, Thaniel arrived on the scene.

--Leave him alone! Prince Legolas has asked me to escort this human back to the palace, and anyone who gets in my way will have to answer to him or the king,-- shouted Thaniel to the crowd. They settled back to their respective places and Thaniel motioned for Shawn to follow.

Of course Thaniel had been lying. Thaniel, better liar than Legolas. Shawn thanked Thaniel for rescuing him, which even though the language barrier existed, the meaning endured the conversation. As they walked back to the palace, Shawn came to realize they had to apologize to Legolas for overreacting. Thaniel had come to his wits and remind himself that he had the opportunity at all times to stop the date yesterday from the very beginning. But a good laugh wasn't worth the aggravation they all went through. Not at all for Legolas, who was only trying to make up to Shawn everything Thaniel had done to him.

And so together Shawn and Thaniel reentered the palace, much to Auberlin's dismay, and began their search for Legolas. They searched through the palace, even Legolas' room, where Shawn found the Lord of the Rings novel sitting on Legolas' nightstand, a bookmark several pages in from where it was yesterday. This made Shawn feel awful. Despite the fact Shawn had yelled at Legolas yesterday, he was still trying to remember everything that Shawn was trying to tell him. And Legolas couldn't even read that well. Shawn glanced at what part Legolas was at. He had begun "Concerning Hobbits." Well at least now he would know what kind of creatures Merry and Pippin were.

Thaniel and Shawn continued their search down the hall and to the infirmary part of the palace. Maybe Legolas had gone to one of their rooms to look for them. Thaniel's room was devoid of people, except for Silmaril, who had a good scolding for the two of them. Thaniel's wounds were still healing, and Shawn's stitches had to come out soon, though Shawn had no idea what was going on. Thaniel promised Silmaril they would do this tonight, after dinner, so that they might sleep the pain off after getting their stitches removed. Silmaril only huffed away; the healer in her did not like the patient telling her what to do. But they could suffer all they wanted if they were going to go gallivanting all over the palace.

Next was Shawn's room. And this is where they found Legolas.

--Legolas, are you alright?-- asked Thaniel. Legolas was standing in the center of the room, not facing the doorway, but instead facing the table where Norbert's cage rested. He was fiddling with the doorknob on the cage. Only when it was loosed and the squirrel ran out did Legolas look behind him. Thaniel and Shawn realized a change in Legolas. His eyes seemed cloudy, watery even. His stance seemed wild, as if to pounce at any time. This is what he seemed to Thaniel. To Shawn, he looked like a zombie.

--Now, my minion! Kill them!-- shouted Norbert in that tongue that burned the air waves that carried its voice.

"The squirrel can talk?" balked Shawn as Legolas lunged for both Thaniel and Shawn. He drew his Elven Blades of Doom at them, and Thaniel stared at Legolas in fear.

--Legolas? What are you doing? Don't you recognize me?-- asked Thaniel, quickly dodging the swipes at his body. They worked their way around the room, with Shawn standing at the doorway watching in a trance. A black spot darted in his peripheral vision, and he noticed Norbert the squirrel searching through Chloe's bag. Not only could the squirrel talk, he was searching for something too. All of the sudden he heard it shout in an aggravated voice, --Where is the Ring?--

Shawn's heart almost stopped. The Ring? The Ring was with Frodo. He was somewhere North of Mordor. But Middle Earth is a magical land, and not all things are what they appear. Frodo also was a bookmark. And a certain ring was tasseled to the end. And that was in Legolas' room!

Legolas now pushed Thaniel with all his might into Shawn. This wasn't hard, considering Thaniel was still injured. They landed in a pile on the floor outside the doorway, Legolas approaching. His knives were waiting to strike something. He began to lift them up and end one of their lives when Thaniel quickly reached for his boot and took out his hidden dagger. He blocked Legolas' blow and jumped up. Shawn was soon to his feet as well, and saw Norbert darting out of the room toward Legolas' room.

"Rhyyn teil," (Chase him!) shouted Thaniel and pointed at the squirrel. Shawn understood the gesture and took out his own dagger Thaniel had given to him.

Thaniel turned back to Legolas and had just enough time to parry and dodge a series of attacks that no orc or spider could. --Legolas, stop! You must be under a spell from that squirrel! Wake up! It is I, Thaniel. Your best friend! There is no need to fight!-- But no words pierced Legolas' ears. In fact, Legolas didn't even know he was fighting Thaniel. He had the feeling of burning somewhere deep in his mind and was concentrating on that alone. He had no sight, no hearing, no touching. Only the burning and the great eye watching him.

Down the hallway, Shawn was gaining on Norbert. Squirrels were fast. But Shawn was running with all his might. He didn't know why Legolas was freaking out, but he had a feeling it was because of this squirrel. He had a bad feeling about the squirrel from the start. Maybe he should kill it. That seemed like the only good idea at the time. And so he chased it.

Unfortunately, the squirrel made it first to Legolas' room. Chance would have it that the door was just open enough for a small rodent to fit through. Shawn burst through the door and saw the squirrel trying to make its way up the bed towards the book. Shawn saw the ring at the end of the bookmark glowing. Oh shit…He lunged for the book and managed to grab it before Norbert made it to the nightstand. Shawn took the bookmark from the book and through the book at the squirrel. It burnt in the air before it reached him.

--Give me the Ring,-- said the dark voice. Shawn slowly tried to back away. The door slammed behind him. The squirrel's eyes began to glow a deeper read than before, and the shape of a black streak surrounded by flame appeared in them.

"Sauron…" Shawn whispered to himself. Again. They had sent Sauron back into Middle Earth only to have to deal with him again. And not in a canon way! Shawn looked around for something that could help him. Absolutely nothing. Legolas had all his weapons with him. And he was trying to kill Thaniel.

--Give me the Ring!-- Sauron shouted again and dived toward Shawn. He turned his back to the squirrel in an attempt to keep the Ring out of his reach. But he never felt the squirrel connect. In fact, he heard a loud snap sound and turned around to see the most amazing sight of all.

A hawk had bitten off Sauron the squirrel's head.

Shawn was so not prepared to see this he let out a laugh. The hawk shrieked at him and flew to the window. Through the shadows of the curtains stood a figure, where the hawk perched. Shawn looked at the squirrel on the ground. All light was gone from its eyes. He was in shock almost. The most evil creature in Middle Earth, killed by a hawk. Shawn only gazed at the squirrel for a while, and then looked at the Ring again. It wasn't glowing anymore.

"I'd hoped you'd notice that before," said the figure in the window. Shawn's attention went back towards the man. He worked his way around the room until he was finally able to distinguish a face, and he let out a scream that the entire palace heard.

A few moments earlier, before the death of the squirrel, Legolas and Thaniel were still fighting. Legolas chucked his knife at Thaniel, who deflected it out of his way. This gave Legolas enough time to deliver a blow. Thaniel felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. And not the good one. Legolas had just cut into Thaniel's wound from the spider. Thaniel let out a sharp gasp and dropped to the floor. The stitches had all opened and were bleeding freely. Legolas smiled at his prey.

--Legolas, you must not do this. WAKE UP!-- begged Thaniel.

"Kwivra!" The word rang into Legolas. He didn't know it, but at the same time, the great eye began to flicker. It looked back and forth, almost worried, before it flashed out of existence, and Legolas was freed from the spell. Legolas felt the burning heat leave and felt his vision come back. He felt so tired, like he had just been training his sword practice. He looked down and saw his knife in his hand, and Thaniel clutching his shoulder. His knife had blood on it.

--Thaniel! Are you okay! Did I do this to you? What happened? I am so sorry! Let me help you!--

Thaniel was so relieved and shaken that he almost cried. Legolas woke up. The Prince finally did what he said! Legolas tore off the end of his tunic and wrapped it around Thaniel's shoulder. The bleeding was not heavy nor life-threatening, but Silmaril would have a fit.

--The squirrel had you under a trance, Legolas. I fear Shawn may be in peril as well,-- said Thaniel when he was finally standing again. That was when they heard Shawn's scream. They looked at each other and began to run down the hall to Legolas' room. The servants and other inhabitants had finally gotten around to hearing all the commotion in the hallway from Thaniel and Legolas' fight, and hearing Shawn's scream. When Legolas and Thaniel arrived at his room, many elves were standing at the doorway, peering into an interesting scene.

Legolas and Thaniel knew then that Shawn must be seriously hurt. The servants always only stared at Shawn. They pushed their way through but found Shawn not in a state of agony. Actually, he was hugging another man. Thaniel almost felt a blow of jealousy.

--What does this mean?-- he shouted as he and Legolas entered the room. They saw the bloody carcass of the black squirrel and a hawk nibbling at it. Legolas recognized the hawk.

--Mirky?--

Shawn had released the embrace with the other man. He had a deep hood covering his face and a staff in his right hand. Legolas at once thought of the letter he sent and asked quizzically, "Mithrandir?"

The man chuckled and said, --No, not Mithrandir.-- He spread open the cloak and lifted the hood back. The first thing Legolas and Thaniel noticed was the odd color and shape of his hair: Orange tips fading to blonde, and short all around. And then it hit Legolas,

"Jared! What are you doing here with Mirky?"

He only smiled. "Let's just say that we chanced upon each other. Now if you'll be kind enough to bring us somewhere where we might all be able to speak without many ears listening," the elves around the door blushed and slowly dissipated.

"Yes, of course, we can go to the meeting chambers of my father."

The group traveled to the chamber and luckily the king and Silmaril hadn't found out about the commotion yet. That gave the group little time to discuss the things that needed discussion.

At once they were all seated around a table and Legolas noticed the ring that Shawn still held in his hand. The fellowship hit him like a ton of bricks, as well as the plight of Middle Earth, Merry and Pippin, and the fate of the One Ring. Thaniel looked upon the ring in wonder. He did not know if it was the real One Ring. There had been rumors around Mirkwood after Gollom's capture and residence in Mirkwood.

"Jared, how is it that we only remember these things now? Why couldn't we remember after Shawn and I arrived in Mirkwood?" asked Legolas. Jared began a long explanation.

"The black squirrel named Norbert was actually Sauron in disguise after we banished him from Shawn's world. After he arrived, he knew that you, Legolas, would soon be sent back as well, and attempted to separate you from the Fellowship by fogging the minds of all the inhabitants of Mirkwood. The realm of Mirkwood has been under an amnesic period for the past several days since his and your return. Only now that he is dead is the spell broken and Sauron's soul returned to Mordor."

Shawn piped in, "But why was Sauron after a fake ring? I mean, it's just plastic."

"Of course it's just plastic, but that doesn't mean it's not magical. I figured Sauron would try something when Legolas returned, and I knew that you would be returning with him for a short period. Istari after all have inklings about these things. I decided to put a spell on the ring that would seem like the calling of the One Ring that Frodo now possesses. Sauron followed the calling after putting the spell on Mirkwood, and so it was impossible to detect the true One Ring so close to Minis Morgul.

Seriously, Frodo is trying to climb those stairs and not one orc or Nazgul feels the presence of the Ring in the movie? I don't thing so. This was the only distraction that I could come up with in order to save Frodo from death."

Shawn was so confused. So was Thaniel. But Thaniel didn't understand English, so it was okay for him. "But how can the story be going on right now? I don't understand."

"There are many things in Middle Earth that normal humans from your world are not meant to understand, Shawn. This is just one of those crazy instances."

Legolas now had a question for Jared. "But if I am here, then who is with Aragorn and Gimli? Is there another me?"

Jared just shifted his eyes and said nothing more. There was a moment of silence as they all absorbed the information, and Legolas translated it all for Thaniel. Shawn tried putting the ring on and off, and though for all those days it was a fake magical ring Sauron was following, it still didn't turn Shawn invisible. Can't spy on Nina now…

Jared cleared his voice. "Legolas, it is time for you to continue your quest. There is a way for me to send you back to the plains of Rohan in your search of Merry and Pippin. Do not be troubled. This entire coincidence will be erased so that you may be able to continue without worrying about the rest of Mirkwood after this instance or about Shawn. Actually, all of this will be forgotten by Mirkwood. But if this is to be, we must do it soon. My power dwindles, and Shawn and I must return home."

Shawn looked at Jared. He was an Istari, he belonged in Middle Earth with the rest of the wizards. Couldn't he help Gandalf? Legolas agreed to the conditions and they all began exiting the meeting chamber and head for the garden, where all the magic would go down. On the way out, Shawn asked Jared why he was going back to Edison.

"I'm not right for this world…I'd fuck it up too much." They both laughed.

Outside the palace in the garden, Legolas and Thaniel were saying their goodbye. Jared was already chanting a spell that was erasing the memory of Legolas returning for the past couple days and of Shawn. All the elves would remember were their daily lives and that Legolas was away at Elrond's for the journey of the Fellowship. Shawn asked what to do with the fake One Ring.

"You cannot offer me this Ring, Shawn!"

"But I give it too you freely."

"Oh I just can't wait to be king," sang Jared.

"Treacherous as the sea."

"Can you sail under the command of a pirate or not?"

"You're the Dread Pirate Roberts!"

"Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries."

"Okay you got me," said Shawn defeated.

"Score one: Istari. Alright everyone, let's get this show on the road!"

Shawn woke up to his alarm going off. It was nearly ten in the morning. He felt sore all over, as if he had been exercising all day yesterday. He felt for the wound on his stomach and felt - nothing. His eyes darted open and he searched his body for clues. He was wearing his pajamas, his room was clean. No sign of anything out of the ordinary. Was Middle Earth all a dream? He rushed out of bed and found Megan watching her Saturday morning cartoons.

"What do you think about Legolas?" he asked his little sister. "How was his visit the other day?"

"What are you talking about? I'm watching Powerpuff Girls. Shhh!"

Megan doesn't remember…what's going on? He ran back to his room. He noticed something bright pink in his room. Chloe's bag! He reached in and found everything there as it was the very first time he looked inside it when he was lost in Mirkwood that first day. The fake One Ring was even perfectly tasseled to the Frodo bookmark. What was going on. All of the sudden there were many people talking downstairs.

"Hey Shawn, get your ass down here!" yelled Jared.

"Hey! Little ears!" Shawn heard Nina scold Jared. Jared would remember everything! He had to, he was an Istari! He ran downstairs and into a conversation about Return of the King and how glorious it was and how they want to watch it now. But Megan won't let them until the end of the show. Nina spotted Shawn and gives him a peck on the cheek.

"My poor baby, you caught that cold from Nina and were so sick these past couple days. But don't worry. Legolas will cheer you up!"

"You remember all about Legolas? He was here for like two weeks! And you and Chloe tried to rape him every night! And then I went to Middle Earth. And…" he noticed Nina was looking at him funny.

"Are you okay? Did you have delusional dreams? I hear those are really realistic and fun. I wish I could have a fever and hallucinate."

Shawn sat on the couch in dismay. Jared sat down next to him as Megan's show ended and Nina was popping the movie in. Chloe screams.

"Shawn! YOU had my bag! I've been looking for this everywhere!"

Shawn didn't care at this point. He was so frustrated. Was it all a dream? It couldn't be. It was too real. And he didn't remember being sick. This was all a big mistake. He was just waiting for Jared to say "just kidding!" and for everyone to start laughing at him for being so gullible. But none of that came.

Chloe handed him a piece of paper. "You're name on it, not mine. Probably one of Nina's notes to you I'm supposed to pass on."

Shawn undid the tape and started reading the letter. It definitely wasn't from Nina. It went:

Shawn-

Fangirls are crazy. So I've erased everyone's minds here on Earth too. As well as my own. I want to live out my life here as an ordinary person. I'm letting the Istari life go. Not that I'm not insanely powerful. I just enjoy this world too much for magic to get in the way.

It's probably really hard for you to cope with this right now, with everyone not believing your story. Hell, ask me right now, I'm probably near you anyway, just ask me about Legolas. You'll get the same response as everyone else. That's right. No one remembers a thing. So I know this is hard to deal with, so I'll make a deal with you. The memory card from Chloe's camera is under your mattress. I'll let you do with that as you will. If you want, I can still erase your mind if you say certain words to me. Don't mind who's around, it'll all work. Just say "Thaniel felt me up three times."

The choice is yours.

-Jared

Shawn looked at Jared who was all pumped for all the fight scenes that would be ensuing very soon. He looked at Nina and Chloe, who were soon to be swooning over Legolas at the end of the movie with his tiara on. Shawn just smiled at his Lord of the Rings obsessed friends.

And he lived happily ever after, till the end of his days.

The End.

Thanks to all the reviewers who followed this story from the very beginning. I hope you enjoyed this journey and maybe we'll meet in another fic sometime in the future! Thanks again!