and here's chapter 20! Enjoy!

Chapter twenty

The Calm

Samwise Gamgee awoke the next morning to the sounds of birds chirping. For a second he thought he was in The Shire, or in Middle-earth at least, but his thoughts were quickly shaken when he heard the sounds of Morgoth and Sauron bickering over a piece of bacon.

"It's mine! I claimed it first!" Sauron exclaimed.

"Yes but as your superior I demand that I get it," Morgoth replied.

"You are not my superior! I'm better then you!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Samwise inwardly sighed, picked up his pillow and chucked it at the two bickering dark lords. His pillow hit Morgoth square in the face.

"Shut up! The bacon is mine!" Sam screamed as he dove for the plate. Before the two dark lords knew what had happened, Sam had just finished eating the slice of bacon.

"No! That was my slice!" Sauron roared.

"Oh shut up."

Sam picked himself off the floor and walked outside. The rain had stopped but the ground had four inches of water. Sam looked around and saw that most of the staff members were outside surveying the damage.

Kisha had woken up at seven o'clock in the morning to the sound of calm. Seeing as normally this would be a good thing, it worried her tremendously. She jumped off the couch and ran outside. What had greeted her was four inches of water everywhere. The rest of the staff members joined her ten minutes later and they began cleaning up. She spotted Samwise in the corner of her eye.

"Good morning Sam, do you think you could go back inside and tell the two Dark Lords to get their butt out here and help us?" Kisha asked.

Sam nodded.

Ten minutes and a lot of swearing later the two Dark Lords emerged from the dorm.

"Why do we have to help?" Sauron asked.

Kisha rolled her eyes.

"You just do. Now help us get the water out of the camp please."

"Whatever," Morgoth replied.

It was then that the strangest event in all of camp history happened. It appeared as if something inside Kisha snapped. Maybe it was the fact that the camp she had worked so hard to build for so many years sat so close to total breakdown, or the fact that the past week had more problems then she has ever had to deal with. But whatever the case something in Kisha did snap and her eyes showed it. Her face flared a brilliant shade of red and before Morgoth or Sauron realised what was going on Kisha had snapped, ran over and pushed Morgoth into the four inches of water. She punched him in the face and held his head under. She put her hand over his mouth and smiled as she watched him struggle. Sauron, after sensing what was going on, quickly ran over and grabbed Kisha by the shoulder and tried to pull her off. All that resulted was Kisha taking her free arm and punching him in the face. She succeeded in breaking his nose and sending him crashing into the water. Holding his nose, he got back up and tried again but Kisha would not get off him. Sauron swore and then did the only other thing he could do.

"Manwë! Kisha's trying to kill Morgoth!" he shouted as loud as he could.

A response floated through the air back at him.

"He can take care of himself," Manwë yelled back.

Rolling his eyes, Sauron tried to pull Kisha off Morgoth again but it resulted in another really hard push back into the water.

"I really mean it! Kisha's going to really kill Morgoth!"

"She can't kill him he's an ex-Valar. What ever she's doing is hardly going to give him a scratch," came the reply.

"Then why are his arms flailing about under the water? No, wait, they've stopped. I think she's killed him," Sauron yelled.

Kisha stood up and gave Morgoth a kick.

"Damn bloody batard," she said.

It was also at this moment when Manwë thought it might be wise to investigate what was going on. When they arrived they found Sauron nursing a very broken nose and Morgoth unconscious in four inches of water. Kisha was nowhere to be found but Sauron said she had wandered off towards the theatre to make repairs there. Morgoth was, of course, not dead like Sauron had said but only knocked out and so Manwë gave Morgoth a sharp kick to the side and he shot right awake.

"Ow! Damnit! Where's that girl!" he said as he staggered to stand up.

"Whatever you did to tick her off you probably deserved it. Sauron get a tissue your nose is bleeding," Manwë said.

--

"Kisha I wish you really did succeed in killing him," Fëanor said as he, his sons, Nerdanel, and a few dwarves helped her repair the outside damages to the theatre and also the catwalk that had been broken a few days ago.

Kisha nodded.

"Yeah, if only."

Kisha held the board and Fëanor nailed it in.

"He's going to be after you, you know," he said.

Kisha shrugged.

"Fudge it, I don't care."

They worked in silence for a bit. They had just finished the catwalk and gone outside when Kisha realised that there was a need for music.

"Hey Maglor, come here for a sec," Kisha said.

Maglor put down his hammer and walked over.

"Yes?"

"Go ask Gwen to put in Gaelic Storm on the central music system please," Kisha said.

Maglor shrugged.

"Okay."

Ten minutes later the sound of Gaelic Storm's Johnny Tarr played through the speakers. Working with the sound of a song about drinking felt better and they finished the back of the theatre, even though it only had minimal damage, in about two hours.

By now the campers were up and most had offered to help with repairs. Kisha sent some to the Great Hall, others as grounds cleanup, and a few with Oromë and Tulkas who started pulling the trees from the main camp road.

Manwë had decided against talking to Kisha. He was sick of being camp psychologist for the staff members. His thoughts were if they were going to fight then he'll only break it up when someone was about to kill someone else. He noticed that Morgoth still looked a little sour (and smelt it too) after he changed into something that was not wet. Sauron's nose looked normal after Gwen bandaged him up. She had to pull on his nose to get it straight and his screams were heard all across camp. Kisha couldn't help but laugh at the sound and she remembered that she was the one who had done it.

At around lunch time the entire camp went into the Great Hall for a bite of lunch. Morgoth still looked visibly upset and Sauron kept touching his nose.

"Don't touch it!" Gwen snapped as she adjusted the bandage.

"But it hurts like frickin hell!" he yelled.

"Yes, well now you know how it feels when you torture innocent beings," she replied.

He shrugged.

"No, I'm pretty sure I do much worse to them."

Gwen flicked him in the nose.

"OWWWW!"

"Are we getting closer?"

"To what?" Sauron asked holding his nose.

"To what its like for your torture victims?"

"Don't touch my nose!" yelled Sauron.

She made a frown and patted him on the back.

"Aw, does that hurt baby?"

Sauron made a growling noise and it appeared as if he was going to turn into a wolf or something. But of course that was not going to happen at camp seeing as everyone who had gone through the lights lost their power.

"I swear to Mordor, if you ever call me baby again…"

"You'll what?" Gwen asked innocently.

Sauron took a deep breath and replied with all sincerity.

"I'll kiss you."

Whatever Gwen had been expecting it was not that and she drew back. Sauron then gave a very devilish smile and laughed.

"Didn't see that one coming did you?"

Gwen shook her head realising that he was only joking.

"That's why I'm a Dark Lord. I'm very unpredictable."

Gwen decided that two could play at that game. She put on her best seductive look and inched closer to Sauron.

"Well you know, I've always thought you were hot, and not in the Mt.Doom way either. I've always found you irresistible," she put emphasis on irresistible and then inched even closer to Sauron.

By now the area closest to them had quieted down and was watching the two intently. It appeared as if Sauron was beginning to sweat. He had not expected this. Gwen gave a seductive smile.

Morgoth looked on with shocked fascination. Kisha walked into the Great Hall at around the same time Gwen told Sauron she found him irresistible and she dropped her pop and sandwich. Neither one took notice.

Everyone watched on wondering who the first one to crack was going to be. But it wasn't Gwen or Sauron but Thuringwethil. She had entered the Great Hall with Kisha and did not hear Sauron's words first and so she ran over looking very livid.

"Back of girl he's my man!"

Gwen looked up and laughed. She inched away from Sauron.

"You can have him," she replied and then added. "Just remember Sauron, if you're going to dish out love as a threat then be ready to get it back."

Thuringwethil eyed Sauron suspiciously.

"Gwethil, she came onto me. I didn't do anything," Sauron said.

"Oh please, you threatened me with a kiss," Gwen said.

Kisha rolled her eyes.

"Alright enough, we have more work to do and I don't want there to be sexual tensions between staff members."

Gwen laughed.

"I don't think there would be any sexual tension between us," she said.

Kisha sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Please, there are teenage campers here. Now help me fix the camp. I'd like to get this done before the end of the week. Morgoth and Sauron, you're fixing Lammoth," Kisha said.

"Damnit," Sauron mumbled.

--

The day's passed and the cleanup continued. Morgoth and Sauron finished repairing Lammoth and Gwen drove the truck into town with Aragorn and Théoden to buy mattresses and room furnishings that had been destroyed. The Valar rebuilt the fire damaged dining hall and the campers helped get rid of the water that had filled the camp. On Thursday evening the rebuilding process finished and Yavanna began planting flowers and trees. The campers all went to bed exhausted; everyone had been getting up at six in the morning and working until ten at night. Everyone had worked extra hard on Thursday seeing as it was the last day and also that Kisha said that if everyone finished repairs then Friday would be a 'do whatever' day. So naturally everyone worked harder and by ten the entire camp looked like new. The campers went off to bed and Kisha called an emergency meeting in the main living room of Lammoth. She seemed to be pacing back and forth frenetically. Everyone had settled down in the living room and they watched her pace.

"What's going on Kish?" Gwen asked.

Kisha finally stopped pacing and sat down.

"We have a bit of a problem," she replied.

"What kind of problem?" Haldir asked.

Kisha took a deep breath and looked worriedly towards the ceiling.

"Kisha, what kind of problem?" Gwen persisted.

She stood up and began pacing again.

"We have no money! We're completely broke! We can't even pay for the next food delivery which is Saturday!" she exclaimed.

Gwen furled her eyebrows. Whatever the problem was she clearly did not expect this to be it.

"What? That's impossible. Our budget was for one hundred thousand. Surely that plus the camper payments is enough to keep this place afloat," Gwen said.

Kisha nodded.

"Normally it would but we bought clothes for everyone and had to rebuild the camp. It's wiped us clean," Kisha said.

"You mean we have nothing left?" Gwen asked.

Kisha sighed and nodded.

"Well maybe five bucks but that's about it."

"What are we going to do?" Gwen exclaimed.

Kisha shrugged.

"Well maybe you can get a second job in town and that could pay for the food for camp," Kisha suggested.

"What!"

"What else are we going to do then?" Kisha yelled.

Aragorn jumped up.

"Ladies! Ladies! Stop yelling at each other! That's not going to help!"

The two grumbled and sat back down.

"Did we have any money to pay for electricity?" Gwen asked.

"We have until Friday to pay for that," Kisha answered.

"What about water?"

"Saturday,"

"Is anything already paid for?"

"Nada."

"We're screwed," Gwen concluded.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment. Gwen couldn't believe what was happening. Her favourite place every summer appeared to be on the verge of total collapse. If they had to close early then that meant that next year they won't even open because nobody will trust them and that also meant most of the campers money would have to be returned. It was then that Gwen had a thought.

"You know I did buy a few Mega Millions tickets. Maybe they won," Gwen said.

Kisha laughed.

"I'm sure they didn't," she said.

Gwen stood up and went to the door.

"I'm going into town to find out. It probably didn't win the big money but maybe it won a couple hundred dollars. Every bit will help. Does anyone want to go with me?" she asked.

"Yeah I do. I need to talk to you about something," Sauron replied.

"About what?" Gwen asked.

"Something okay?"

Gwen shrugged.

"Okay, whatever."

"Gwen there's no point in going. All that's going to happen is you're going to waste gas," Kisha said.

Gwen backed up and stood in the doorway in the moonlight.

"Then take it out of my pay if I don't win," she said.

"Gwen, there isn't even any money to pay you this year."