Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is not mine. Star Wars is not mine.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so late, y'all. I thought I'd posted it and then went to post something else and saw that I hadn't. Oops.

Chapter Five

The Fellowship journeyed in silence for the remainder of the morning, and stopped only briefly for lunch at midday. All that could be seen were hills and grass for miles and miles in front of them. By the time they set out again after lunch, Obi-Wan could tell his mind was starting to wander. He came from a world of speeders and ships and fast-moving machines. How many times had he wished he could slow things down? Yet now when everything seemed to blend together, one mile looking exactly like the last, he found himself wishing something, anything, would happen.

Yet few of the others seemed to feel the same way. Legolas was tireless, always at the front with Gandalf, who presented the perfect image of a leader, not willing to show any boredom that may have existed for him. Strider, as well, seemed more at home now that they were out in the wild. Boromir and Gimli weren't about to complain, and Frodo seemed lost in thought.

Only the younger Hobbits -- Sam, Merry, and Pippin -- showed any signs of restlessness. Merry and Pippin had been excited at first, looking around for anything to do, but were now trailing behind Frodo and Sam, resigned to the fact that the hills and grass were not likely to provide any entertainment. Sam kept looking off towards the East, as if at any moment Mount Doom would come into view, and the end of their journey would be in sight.

Obi-Wan had, of course, studied maps of this area in Rivendell. He knew they were likely to continue like this for weeks, until they reached the mountains. What he hadn't counted on was it being this quiet. No one in the entire Fellowship seemed to want to talk, so they walked along in silence.

At last, he could bear it no longer. He quickened his pace to catch up to Boromir. "So tell me about Gondor."

Boromir looked startled, and everyone else turned, as well. For a moment, Obi-Wan felt very foolish, and looked around for a nearby boulder to hide behind, but found none. Nine pairs of eyes rested on the Jedi.

But Boromir smiled. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Obi-Wan answered, for lack of having a specific question.

Boromir laughed, a long hearty laugh. Obi-Wan relaxed as they resumed walking, and eyes were removed from him. Boromir launched first into a retelling of what he'd said at the Council, and then into various stories of the history of Gondor, of the Stewards, of more recent battles against the armies of Mordor. Obi-Wan listened attentively, taking in everything. Slowly, the other members of the Fellowship began to join in the conversation, at first only asking questions, but soon with stories of their own, of Mirkwood, Erebor, and the Shire. Gandalf seemed to know something about everything, ready to fill in details that others had overlooked. Even Strider seemed to be enjoying himself, and, though, like Obi-Wan, he told no stories of his own, was quite interested in what everyone else had to say.

They continued in this manner until nightfall, when they stopped for supper, for which they were now all very grateful, having worked up quite an appetite from all their story-telling.

By the time they lay down to rest, they were all exhausted, but more or less content.

Boromir volunteered to take the first watch. Obi-Wan lay down, but felt something sticking into his back. He sat up, lifted the rock into his hand using the Force, and threw it off into the distance.

Boromir looked at him curiously. "The Hobbits would love to see you do that."

"What?"

"What you did with that rock. It just . . . flew into your hand."

Obi-Wan smiled. He'd done it without thinking, and had forgotten that people here weren't used to seeing things like that every day. "I'll have to show them some time."

"Believe me, that would keep them entertained all the way to Mordor. Merry and Pippin, at least, and probably Sam and Frodo, as well."

Obi-Wan nodded, and there was a long silence. "Thank you," he said at last. "I just thought we could use a little conversation; I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"I thought you'd have been used to people staring at you by now," Boromir pointed out. "You surprised everyone at Council."

"That was different; it was something I had to do."

"You didn't have to catch It." There was only a hint of hostility in the Gondorian's voice, but Obi-Wan noticed it.

"I had no intention of doing so."

"So you're saying this . . . thing . . . has a will of Its own?"

"Yes; if I heard Lord Elrond correctly, it is a part of Sauron, and Sauron is a part of it."

Boromir shook his head slowly. "So much power, in such a little thing." His gaze strayed to Frodo, but he caught himself and turned back to Obi-Wan. "What was it like?"

"It was . . ." He paused, unsure how to answer. "It was like looking into the face of Evil, and being unable to turn away or to close my eyes. It was like hearing the voice of Death, and being unable to shut out the sound. I couldn't see anything, hear anything, except Him." He shuddered at the thought, but met Boromir's gaze. "It's pure Evil, Boromir. And it is powerful."

"But with that power --"

"Yes, with that power, you would be able to save your City, for a time. But after the Orcs are gone? After Sauron has met defeat at your hand and the evil of Mordor is no more, what then? Do you really think you would be able to cast away that power so easily? No, you would want to keep It, and It would eat away at you, until you were even as the Dark Lord himself. No, Boromir, Evil cannot be used for good."

"But we must defend ourselves somehow!"

"Then defend yourselves with hope! Hope that the Quest will succeed, that Minas Tirith will be able to hold out against the forces of the Enemy!

"The time of your people is at hand, Boromir. Everything I have seen and heard since my arrival points to one ending: the Age of Men is near. The Elves are sailing over the Sea, or take refuge in what few havens are left to them. The Dwarves stay in their mountains. But your City has been the one to rise up and fight the Evil that is coming. You can be sure, Boromir, that your people will continue to do so even in your absence.

"I know you wish to return to Gondor, to defend your homeland. You feel that is your duty. In that we are alike. But now we have another duty, to this Quest."

"I am the son of the Steward of Gondor! The safety of the City is my responsibility!"

"And I am a Jedi Knight. We are entrusted with keeping the peace in our galaxy. But I'm not in our galaxy, and I arrived here to find a war about to begin. So much for keeping the peace!"

There was an awkward silence. Boromir looked around. "They sleep soundly, don't they?"

Obi-Wan smiled. "I'd better get some sleep, as well. I've got the last watch before morning."

Boromir shrugged. "You volunteered for it."

Obi-Wan lay down. "I know. I like the sunrise. Good night, Boromir."

"Good night, Obi-Wan."

The hours passed silently, without trouble. Boromir was relieved by Gimli, and Gimli by a rather sleepy Pippin. Then, in the middle of Pippin's watch, the silence was broken by Obi-Wan, who suddenly began thrashing out at the darkness in his sleep. "Anakin!" he yelled. "No! Anakin!" His eyes flew open, as did the eyes of most of the Fellowship.

Obi-Wan sat up, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm . . . I'm all right. It was . . . just a dream." But he sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than the others.

Pippin came over. "Are you sure you're all right? They probably heard that back in Rivendell."

That only made Obi-Wan feel worse. Only one day into the journey, he'd now made a fool of himself twice, in front of the whole Fellowship. Well, not the whole Fellowship, he reminded himself. Sam, Merry, and Gimli were still sleeping soundly, and Gandalf, Frodo, Strider, and Legolas had already had the courtesy to at least pretend to go back to sleep.

Pippin yawned. "Go to sleep," Obi-Wan offered. "I'll take your watch; I'm awake now, anyways."

The Hobbit grinned. "Thanks, Obi-Wan." He immediately found a place to lie down and was soon snoring softly.

That left only Boromir awake. Slowly, the Gondorian sat up, not a trace of sleep left in his eyes. "It's all right," Obi-Wan assured him. "I won't fall asleep. I'm sorry I woke you."

"No, I'm . . . grateful . . . that you did," Boromir admitted,looking around. By now, the others were asleep. Still, he hesitated to explain further.

"It's all right; you don't have to tell me."

"Then . . . may I ask you a question?"

"Just don't ask me if I want to go back to Rivendell because of one dream. I don't."

Boromir actually smiled. "If each of us turned back as soon as dreams began to haunt him, you would at least have me to accompany you tonight, and, I suspect, some of the others, as well, though some of them certainly won't admit it."

"I didn't have the choice to admit it or not."

"You're afraid of appearing weak, is that it?"

"I don't want them to worry about me. They have enough on their minds, all of them."

"Yes. Each of us here has something he doesn't dare share for fear of burdening the others. That's the way it is in war."

Obi-Wan nodded. Boromir was a soldier, through and through. It had taken a great amount of courage for him to admit even to one person that he, too, was troubled by his dreams. Obi-Wan often sensed the same thing from his apprentice, that he felt he had to handle things like this alone. Only recently had Anakin admitted to him that he had been having troubling dreams about his mother. "Dreams pass in time," Obi-Wan had told him. Now he wondered, had that been the right thing to say?

Obi-Wan shook himself from his thoughts. "You wanted to ask me something?"

"Yes; just before you woke up, you called out to someone named Anakin."

Obi-Wan nodded. "My apprentice, and my friend. He wasn't with me when . . . when I was brought here. I tried to send him a message, but he never received it. I just . . . I wish I knew where he was, if he's all right. I told him to stay on Naboo, but he didn't. He could be anywhere by now, especially if he's looking for me, which he will, sooner or later, with or without the approval of the Jedi Council."

Boromir nodded slowly. "I do know something of what you must be feeling, Obi-Wan. In choosing to leave Gondor, I also left my younger brother, Faramir." He smiled at the thought of his brother. "Don't get me wrong; I trust him. He's a capable leader, and a brave warrior when the need arises. But our father, Denethor, he thinks less of him. Even if Faramir were perfect, he would still find some cause to criticize him, to blame him. He's under a lot of pressure, and it's only going to get worse as the Orcs multiply."

"That's what's troubling you, then. That's what your dream was, that he's in trouble."

"Yes. Please, don't tell the others. I don't want to--"

"Appear weak," Obi-Wan finished. "Don't worry, Boromir; dreams are safe with me."

"Strange, it was a dream which led me here in the first place."

"Yes, you said that at Council." But even then, it had struck Obi-Wan as odd. Dreams were, obviously, not uncommon, but dreams of this nature were rare, and not something he would have expected from Boromir.

Boromir smiled. "Of course, I can't take all the credit for that. The dream came to me only once, but I don't even want to try to guess how many times Faramir had it." He laughed. "Maybe the only reason it came to me was so that our father would finally pay attention to it." There was a long silence.

At last, Boromir broke it. "I know Pippin's grateful for you taking his watch. He didn't mean what he said about them hearing you back in Rivendell."

"I know. He was tired."

Boromir nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I'll join him."

"Of course. Good night."

"Good night."

Soon, Boromir was asleep, and Obi-Wan alone was awake in the darkness, looking out to the East, waiting for the dawn.

Ally 127 – They do seem to get along quite well, don't they. :)

ketw – :) How mature would you act if you'd just been thrown into Middle-Earth:) If you're referring to the swordfight with Aragorn, I figured it was okay to put that in because Merry and Pippin fight Boromir, so one between Obi-Wan and Aragorn would be fun. :)

Booklover Fanatic – Hopefully you won't have to wait as long this time. :)

Christina B – Well, I'm glad you like Obi-Wan, because he's not going away. :)

Crazy Canadian Llama – Yeah, I figured I should put Bilbo in there because I'd already gone ahead and put him in at council, so I had to do something with him.

SNAITF – :) Everyone seems to like Bilbo. :) He's such a likable old Hobbit.

Satra – Come to think of it, they do have a lot in common. Obi-Wan doesn't like politicians and Aragorn doesn't want to be king. :)

MeguimiFuu – Yeah, after Anakin, Frodo must be quite a relief. :)

Lunatic Pandora 1 – Hmmm, haven't really thought that far ahead yet. About Obi-Wan training Aragorn, that is. Not a bad idea. :)

Freakazoid – :) Glad you like it.

Herendil – :) No, they didn't rush out of Imladris and they really don't seem to be rushing much of anywhere. I've got a bit of time to kill before they get to Caradhras. They never really say what the Fellowship does all the way there. I mean, all they do is walk and walk and walk and walk . . .

The Dancing Cavalier – Hmmm, force fields. I'll have to remember that when he finally fights something besides Aragorn.

Night of the Land – Oops. Like I said, I thought I'd updated this, but apparently I hadn't. That's what I get for trying to write too many stories at once. :)

xWhit3StaRx – Wow, did I actually not end a chapter with an evil cliffhanger:) Well, I couldn't really help that, considering they have a while before I can throw in anything really dangerous. But once they get to Khazad-dum . . .