Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. I also dislike repeating myself so many times. Is this really necessary?

Summary: See previous chapters.

A/N – Unless stated otherwise, most of the story from now on will be in Third Person point of view.

Chapter Six

An out-of-the-way room, Edoras...

Ben Ross was jolted awake by his youngest half-sister slamming the door open. He blurrily looked up to see Alice Ross pacing the room, swearing her head off. Nearby, he could see Ryan, his second half-sister Sarah and the old man they had seen just before they came to wherever 'here' was, sitting up in confusion.

Sarah stifled a yawn. "What's got you in such a fuss, Alice? And can't it wait until morning?"

Her sister whirled around, eyes blazing. "It is morning! As to the other-," she broke off, spluttering incoherently, "Come see for your self!"

Curiosity overcame sleepiness, as they followed the infuriated blonde woman out of the room. None of them noticed Gandalf wince visibly and hurry after them.

He only hoped that he would not have to stop them from killing each other.

Sarah was not sure what she had been expecting, but opening a door to see her older twin lying naked in a bed, just barely covered with a sheet and fast asleep with her head resting on the chest of an equally undressed man was not it!

Closer inspection revealed that sleeping had not been the only thing happening the previous night. Natasha lay on her side with one leg thrown over the man's waist and one hand resting on his torso. The man had his arms around Natasha and didn't look to be letting go any time in the near future.

Add the fact that Sarah had never seen her sister's hair in such a mess first thing in the morning, even after a vivid nightmarewith the tossing and turning, and the grand total was an image that the younger twin did not really want to consider.

She also did not expect to have them bolt upright at the sound of the door opening and next thing she knew, there was a dagger sticking out of the woodwork next to her head!

From past experiences of barging into her sister's room without knocking, Sarah braced herself for a scowl and an order to get out. Possibly followed by a volcanic eruption for the disturbance. It looked like they had interrupted something important.

What they got was Natasha settling back down to sleep with an un-intelligible mutter and a very intimidating glare from the man, which quickly switched to the old guy Natasha had called Gandalf. Gandalf hastily ushered them out, despite their protests. Ryan, being the tallest, tried to catch a last look over the Wizard's head, seeing the man start to gently shake Natasha awake again.

Outside the closed door, (it seemed that the Mary-Sues had disappeared during the night) the four younger people turned to Gandalf, all asking at the same time, "What the hell was that about!"

The Istar gave them a strange look. "I do not see what you are all so worked up about. They have been married for almost fourteen years, after all, and they are likely to have missed each other." He caught sight of their confused/shocked expressions. "Didn't Natasha tell you?"

Ryan stared at him. "She claimed to have lost her memory! She barely remembered who she was, let alone anyone else!"

There was silence for a long moment, broken by a soft voice from the other side of the closed door. "So, Eomer, tell me what has been going on while we were gone. Are we meant to be doing anything today, or should I just pick something to wear at random?"

The man – Eomer's – voice replied, "We have nothing scheduled, but knowing our luck, something is bound to come up to demand attention. Anyway, not long after you and the children were taken, Gandalf found out how you came here in the first place. Sauron and Saruman were trying to summon these creatures by the name of Mary-Sue. They are supposed to be the epitome of perfection and can take on the form of any race…"

He launched into an explanation as Gandalf dragged them off to change into something more suitable.

Meanwhile...

"I'm going to carve out their hearts with a wooden spoon!"

Eomer dodged a flying clay jar as his wife hurled it at the wall, followed by a – thankfully empty – tankard.

Her eyes blazed with fury as she looked around for something else of non-sentimental value to throw. Eomer had told her of the Mary-Sue's purpose in Middle Earth and what they had been doing. Now he feverently hoped that Natasha would not turn her anger on an unfortunate by-stander, namely him.

She didn't, and he ventured a question. "Why a spoon, dear? Would not a knife or axe be more effective?"

His wife searched her vanity for hairpins to keep a stray curl from her eyes. "Because it is blunt, Eomer. It'll hurt more!"

The King of Rohan decided not to pursue the subject. He offered Natasha his arm. "Ready to face the dreaded monsters?" He gave a mental sigh of relief when she smiled and accepted, anger vanishing like smoke on the wind. His wife was usually the most even-tempered woman in the world, but the gods help anyone foolish enough to provoke her fury.

She placed her hand lightly on his, eyes bright. "These Mary-Sue things, or the people who were dragged along with me?"

He shrugged. "Either, both. Why is Ryan so hostile when it comes to you and me?"

They started out the door as Natasha rolled her eyes, sighing, "I think that to an extent, he still cares for me. He doesn't know you and as far as he and everyone else in my family are concerned, you are a stranger who came out of nowhere to steal me away. I am no longer the girl that they all once knew. I have not been her for a very long time. But they do not see that. As far as they are concerned, I am still the eighteen year old girl who was thrown into a coma nearly fourteen years ago."

Eomer looked down at his shorter wife, smirking as she wrinkled her nose at him in annoyance. "They should learn eventually. I came too close to losing you before, I do not intend to repeat the experience."

Natasha rested her head against his shoulder briefly as they walked. "I'm glad. Bearing the idea that I might never see you again was even harder than coming up with a believable story to tell everyone, not to mention maintaining it."

They walked in silence the rest of the way outside, a comfortable silence that said more than words ever could.

It looked like word of Natasha's arrival had spread like wildfire. A cheer went up as they stepped outside, a ray of light breaking through the clouds.

Yalewen, Natasha's Lady-in-Waiting and best friend, formally of Gondor, moved to her place behind her Queen, whispering to her. "They cheer for the return of their queen. It gives them hope that the darkness will be gone." There was a slight pause; Natasha could almost feel the smirk that was sure to be gracing her friend's face. "Plus, the king has been absolutely unbearable in your absence. Maybe now he can be lived with."

Natasha fought back a smirk of her own at Yalewen's words. The dry wit of her Handmaiden had been greatly missed.

A ruined tower in the middle of a forest...

The old man tried not to reach for his staff and exterminate the women in front of him.

Recent events had provided him with the ultimate ancestor of all headaches and the furious shouting he was forced to endure from angry young females was not helping. He fought the urge to rub his temples as yet another of the Mary-Sues began to yell.

"It's not bloody fair! The wretched women set all of our plans back by months! Now Eomer won't even look at us and Her Majesty is walking around like the proverbial cat who shagged the canary! What do we do now? Not to mention that if we even try to say something negative about her, someone glares at us and practically bites our head off! Even worse, those that we had under control are starting to break free somehow! Which is meant to be impossible!" She paused for breath, trying to think of how to express her outrage.

A dark-haired girl spoke up from a corner. "It isn't that bad. Now that we've seen them together it is kind of hard to imagine Eomer with anybody else."

She flinched back from the multiple glares aimed at her. The old man looked relieved at attention being diverted elsewhere and remained silent, hoping to keep it that way. He quickly adapted a neutral expression as Mary-Sue#8492 (a.k.a. Sasha) turned back to him.

"I'm going to Edoras." She stated flatly. "I will not let that bitch get away with this without a fight. Eomer is mine!" She turned and left the tower, followed closely by Lothiriel and several others.

The dark-haired girl quietly left the room, ignoring the rest of the Mary-Sues, who were still arguing.

She had decided a while back that what the old man and the other Mary-Sues were doing was wrong. You shouldn't make someone fall in love, even if you did have the power! She skimmed through the information booklet they had all been given, an idea forming.

Ah! There it was. Item 64: Each Mary-Sue will be given a special power. You may choose your own or ask the Master for one.

Most of the others had chosen to be able to fly, or speak mind-to-mind. Personally, she thought that they were stupid ideas. What use would flying be? And she had seen that people with a close bond could tell what the other was thinking without words, so why waste ability?

To her mind, the ability of instantaneous travel to wherever she wished, being able to bring others with her, would be much more useful.

She re-read the instructions, then concentrated hard, willing herself to Edoras, hoping she would get there before the others.

The Citadel, Minas Tirith...

If Princess Theodwyn of Ithilien heard the words 'Are we there yet?' once more, the person voicing it was going to discover just how much her mother had taught her about being a shield maiden.

She breathed a sigh of relief as they neared the royal wing of the Citadel.

Eldarion knocked on the door of his parent's room, calling to them. The door opened to reveal a furious-looking Queen Arwen, holding her sword in a white-knuckled grip.

The expression on her face changed to one of joy and relief. She dropped the sword and pulled them all inside, calling for King Elessar.

The King of Gondor entered the room. Eldarion looked relieved and immediately began questioning his father about a dream that might have been foresight and asking what had been going on while they had been away.

Elessar exchanged a glance with Arwen and began to explain about Mary-Sues and how they had been invading Middle-Earth.

Theodwyn, Eldarion and the Twins grew more worried with each sentence. How in the Void were they meant to combat this? If Arwen and Eowyn were busy fending these creatures away from their respective spouses (which explained why Arwen had been holding a sword); the rest of the Fellowship, along with most of the elves left in Middle Earth, were in hiding and Eomer had his own horde to worry about, and they had no idea where Natasha was, who would there be to try and fight?

Horrifying realization dawned in the eyes of the eldest children of Rohan, Gondor and Ithilien as they looked at each other, a single thought running through their minds.

'Us.'

TBC

A/N#2 – OK, Chapter Six is a go. Review and tell me your opinion.

Does anyone want to try and guess who the second mystery figure is? Arianna Undomiel got the first one, and I've been dropping hints like crazy. If you guess right you get a chapter dedicated to you, so guess and see in a review. I am trying for at least five more before the next chapter.

Hey, has anyone noticed that it is harder to write a good sequel than it is to write a good story? It is, so updates may have a while between them. Sorry.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Laer4572 for her review on chapter three and her appearance later in this story.

Thanks again,

Nathalia.