Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. Consider it disclaimed.
Summary: See previous chapters.
Chapter Two
Theodwyn's Point of View
You may say as you like about Queen Natasha (Out of hearing range of the king and just about everyone else if what you say is negative) but she is very good at thinking on her feet.
As she appeared to be returning to consciousness, she quickly spoke to us in Rohirric, deliberately slurring the words to make it sound as the unintelligible muttering when one has just awoken. "I am going to feign amnesia to avoid any difficult questions. Speak only in Gondorian or Rohirric. They will not question if they think you will not understand their words.
We obeyed. The Queen of Rohan may be far more subtle than her husband, but that does not make her any less of a leader than King Eomer when he is not available.
Sure enough, the questions started as soon as everyone noticed that Aunt Natasha was awake. "What do you remember?" "Do you know where you are?" and so on. She neatly stemmed the flow with a questioning, "Who are all of you?"
They all seemed quite distressed at that and turned their attention to Bella, who followed Natasha's example. Then it was our turn as they asked our identities, our origins and our reasons for being here.
It was not hard to tell that everyone was confused at what was happening, but we followed Natasha's instructions to speak in our native tongues.
A man who I guessed was the healer beckoned the families away and spoke to them quietly, then turned back to Aunt Natasha. "You say that you do not recognize us, but what do you remember?"
My Aunt adopted a puzzled look, as though searching through her memory. "Nothing. Everything is just a blur."
The doctor sighed. "Very well. Rest now and we will visit again in the morning. Do you have any suggestions on what should happen to these children?"
Aunt Natasha's eyes widened. Apparently she had not thought that far ahead. "Can they stay here? Please? They don't seem to have anywhere else to go."
The doctor agreed and they all left the room.
About a minute later, another man entered the room. He had tanned skin, brown eyes and blonde curly hair. Aunt Natasha hid it well, but she was distressed at the man's appearance. She managed to get rid of him with the same excuse of earlier: Pretending not to know him. He looked sad as he left and shut the door.
Alyssia looked up at her mother. "Mama, who was that? You looked like you knew him."
My Aunt sighed, looking torn at something. "I did know him. That was Ryan, a boy I was courting with before I met your father. I had been planning to end the courtship because we were going nowhere. Then I came to Middle Earth and met Eomer, and I knew that there would never be anyone else for me." She buried her face in her hands. "I wish I was back in Edoras."
Now I was really getting scared. Aunt Natasha was a pillar in all of our lives, whether it was exerting a calming influence on Mother or the subtle implant and guidance of an idea or the execution of an outrageous comment with a completely straight face to brighten any situation.
Even on the rare occasion that she will admit weakness, I have never seen her so vulnerable.
Also, the idea that someone else had courted Aunt Natasha was just wrong, somehow. She and Uncle Eomer are so obviously meant for each other. Like two halves of a whole.
Oh gods, I don't even want to think about what everyone at home is going through.
Theodred's Point of View
The healers had returned and given Mother and Bella something to make them sleep. The rest of us were trying to figure out what to do next.
Everyone at home must be going frantic and I didn't even want to try to imagine Father's reaction to all of this. If there is one thing my father cannot stand, it is being helpless. On the rare occasion that circumstances render him so, Mother can usually figure out a way to distract him into doing something else. This time, however, Mother was here with us and Father was worlds away.
Suddenly, one of my deepest fears re-surfaced.
There were times when Mother would stare off into the distance when she thought no one was watching, her eyes worlds away, and I knew that she was thinking of the land she came from. My siblings had dismissed her stories as fantasy, but I knew that they were too detailed to be pure fiction. It was foolish, but one of my greatest fears was that Mother would find a way back to her old home and leave us. Now that we were here, would she wish to stay with the family that I know she has missed?
This was all too confusing. None of us knew anything about this world outside of the stories Mother had told us. Bella had been four when she and Mother had entered our world. Mother, the only one of us who really had any idea what the hell was going on around us, was a nervous wreck and still in a state of shock. That left it up to us, a group of children all under fourteen and most not even past their first decade of life! That scared the hell out of me.
3rd person Point of View.
In a ruined tower in the middle of a forest, Back in Middle-Earth...
A hooded and cloaked figure turned to its companion. "You are sure that it worked? They are gone?"
The second figure nodded. "Yes. Even better, the mortal rulers of Middle Earth are grouped together, trying to figure out what to do. If we were to strike now…"
The first cut the second off. "No. Overconfidence and moving too fast was the cause of our failure last time. This time there will be no slip ups."
In the Golden Hall of Meusled, Edoras…
The rulers of Gondor, Rohan and Ithilien had been joined by what remained of the fellowship of the Ring, and were discussing what to do about the current situation. They were getting nowhere quickly. Suddenly, Gandalf the White came into the room.
Everyone else looked up. Samwise Gamgee broke the silence. "Have you found something, Mister Gandalf? What is it?"
The Wizard looked at the young hobbit, as earnest as he had always been, and inwardly sighed. He hated to disappoint them. "I have not found anything that could yet help us directly, but I have found who brought Natasha and Bella into this world in the first place, and a few hints on how they accomplished it."
As slight as this news was, it still managed to brighten the atmosphere. This time Gimli was the one who spoke. "Well? Tell us, Gandalf."
Gandalf gave the dwarf a quelling look, then turned to face all of them. "Sauron and Saruman wanted the Fellowship of the Ring to fail, for obvious reasons. It appears that one of them heard legends of a nation with terrible powers. They could take on the form of any race and usually had the physical appearance of females in the late stages of adolescence. They were perfect beings, which held the power of being able to make people fall madly in love with them. Their main targets are elves, though they also attacked Hobbits and Men, more specifically great heroes or people in positions of high power, like kings, princes and stewards. The legends are hard to read, for many who do must recover from mental and emotional trauma afterwards, and have no wish to remember."
By now, most of the room had gone pale. Rose Gamgee took the plunge. "What were these creatures called, Gandalf? And what do they have to do with Natasha and Bella and people jumping from world to world."
The White Wizard frowned. "They are known as Mary-Sue. Saruman had thought to bring several of them here in the hopes of distracting the fellowship and other key figures in the War of the Ring. Luckily for all of us, they miscalculated, and summoned Natasha and the three children she had with her instead."
He looked at the other people in the room, lingering on Eomer, who did not look well. "As I said, it does not help us directly, but we at least have a starting point and can now focus on a specific thing, rather than rushing off in all directions."
The small gathering set to work again, a spark of hope lighting their hearts.
To Be Continued.
A/N – Chapter Two finished! I am working on the next chapter but I am not sure when it will be up. I have also fixed some mistakes in chapter one. Also, I am one vote short of the hoped-for hundred reviews for Children and Fellowships! That is more that I have ever gotten on any of my other fics. I am floating in shocked bliss!
Reviews make me post faster.
Nathalia Potter.