Chapter 20

Sauron Defeated

"Are you sure about this Ruby?" Pippin asked her as she finished adjusting the livery she had been given (and no of course it was a bit big on her, though better than what she would have expected) at her insistence.

"Are you and Merry going?" She asked in return, taking a small sword thrusting it into a scabbard, and placing it in the belt around her waist.

"But that's different." Merry, who of course was also there, the three returning to their old habits of sticking together like glue (at least since the adventure had begun anyway), argued weakly. He knew of course it wouldn't work, and he was right.

"No, it isn't." She insisted. "And I'm not about to be left behind while all of those I love head off to war and a battle that they very well may not survive."

"I suppose I can understand that." Pippin said sighing, as he came over and gently touched her cheek, drawing her gaze to meet his. "Do you think we have any chance of surviving Ruby?"

"I honestly don't know, Pip." She replied shrugging her shoulders gently. "I don't know a lot of things anymore. Only that this is the right thing to do."

"Then that's all that matters." He agreed, pulling her into his arms and filling her with the warmth of his embrace for what felt like an eternal moment, while Merry stood there somewhat awkwardly.

"Are you going to leave it behind then?" He suddenly asked, as they pulled away, gesturing to where she had laid her violin case down on a bench not far from them. An overwhelming sadness and protest filled her soul as she slowly nodded her head. Her violin had been her constant companion through this whole adventure, even during the last battle (Pippin had of course given it back to her after she had been saved from the flames and Denethor's madness pretty much the only time she hadn't had it slung on her back) and she couldn't bear the thought of being parted from it. But it had to be done. There was no way she was taking such a thing of beauty to a place as evil and crooked as Mordor.

"Yes. In fact, I was just going to give it to Éowyn right now for safe keeping. Would you two like to join me?" She asked putting on a brave face, but neither of them was fooled. They knew her too well for that.

"Of course." Pippin agreed for the both of them, and they walked over to the sick house for one last goodbye before they departed with the army.

"Ruby, Merry, and Pippin it's so good to see you all." Éowyn said with a false brightness that did not seem to quite reach her eyes.

"Thank you, my lady." Ruby responded offering a small smile of her own. "We just wanted to say our good-byes and ask you a quick favor."

"You are going with the army then?" She asked the weak smile she had barely forced on her face, beginning to fade at the thought.

"Yes, my lady." Merry told her nodding his head solemnly. "We all are. We must help our friends in any way we can."

"Of course." She agreed reluctantly. "What is this favor you would ask of me?"

"Only that you would look after my violin." Ruby explained, placing the precious case into Éowyn's arms. "Battle is no place for such a beautiful fragile instrument."

"I could say the same about you." A voice spoke up from behind them, and they all turned to see Faramir standing there smiling down at them though it seemed a tad bit sad to Ruby's eyes.

"Perhaps." She agreed blushing slightly. "But as a wise man once told me that there are things that are worth sacrificing one's life for: the lives of one's family, friends, and people; their beliefs and values; the chance to protect those they love."

"Brave words indeed." He agreed looking down somewhat embarrassed at her words. "Though I wouldn't necessarily say wise."

"I would." Ruby insisted.

"So would I." Merry and Pippin agreed in unison.

"As would I." Eowyn spoke up, meeting Faramir's eyes for a long moment and Ruby could practically feel the tension flowing between them; but it was a good tension and it made her smile.

"We'll miss you." Ruby said finally, coming forward to give both of them a hug in turn, as Merry and Pippin followed suit.

"And we will miss you as well." Faramir agreed. "We'll be looking forward to the day when we may meet again."

"Yes." Pippin agreed, latching on to the faith and confidence he was offering them. "To that we will hold."

The ride to Mordor was fairly strenuous, though not nearly as long as Ruby might have liked at that moment in time. She wondered how on earth Frodo, Hazel and Sam had managed it, going on foot no less, and once again felt her heart fill with love and admiration for her big sister and cousin. Once they arrived however, they seemed to simply stand outside its gate for what felt like eternity.

"Where are they?" Ruby asked everyone and no one at the same time, though she got no response. Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Eomer and Aragorn's herald spurred their horses toward the gates of course bringing Ruby along as she was riding once again alongside Pippin on Gandalf's beautiful white horse, and Merry with Aragorn beside them.

"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him!" Aragorn called up to the fortress, not a trace of fear in his voice but solely deadly determination. Still there was a pause, before the Black Gate opened the tiniest bit, allowing a dark rider on a dark armor-covered horse to approach them.

"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome." The rider said, giving a despicable toothy grin. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?"

"We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands never to return." Gandalf said firmly not intimidated.

"Old Greybeard. I have a couple of tokens I was bidden to show thee." The creature hissed, pulling out the shiny mithril coat. "Frodo." Pippin whispered in disbelief, as he tossed the object to Gandalf. "Frodo!"

Ruby wanted to offer him some sort of support, but then she noticed the second object that the mouth of Sauron was pulling forth. A beautiful, pearl necklace. Her sister's beautiful pearl necklace.

"Hazel!" She screamed, nearly throwing herself off the horse as she struggled to catch the precious pearls even as he threw them toward her.

"Silence." Gandalf admonished them.

"No!" Merry cried out in the same distress as his friends.

"Silence." Gandalf repeated sternly.

"The Halflings were dear to thee, I see. Know that they suffered greatly at the hands of their host. Who would've thought ones so small could endure so much pain? And they did, Gandalf. They did." He assured them, causing Ruby to nearly burst into tears, both of rage and despair. Gandalf lowered his head, his spirits shaking.

"And who is this? Isildur's heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken, Elvish blade." He continued turning to look right at Aragorn as he approached him. Aragorn was so furious he rushed forward and taking out his sword cut off the creature's head.

"I guess that concludes negotiations." Gimli said in an effort to break the tension.

"I do not believe it. I will not." Aragorn declared and Ruby agreed with him. It had to be another one of Sauron's lies. Both Frodo and Hazel had to be all right. They just had to. At that moment the great Eye, in all its fiery evil glory, swung its gaze toward them and they could see the Orcs marching towards them through the gate. "Pull back! Pull back!" Aragorn cried and they all rode back to their own forces.

"Hold your ground! Hold your ground!" He called to the men, as a numerous number of Orcs started marching towards them, and they one by one began to lose their heart and courage. "Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes down. But it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" He cried, riding back and forth in front of them in an effort to shore up their courage. And it worked. Together they drew their swords, the three Hobbits with them, ready to face whatever fate awaited them.

"Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an Elf." Gimli muttered to himself as they were steadily surrounded by Sauron's forces.

"What about side by side with a friend?" Legolas asked, looking at him pointedly, and he looked up startled for a moment, before nodding his head and smiling solemnly.

"Aye. I could do that." He agreed.

"Pippin." Ruby began somewhat shyly, figuring that if this was going to be the end, then she had something she wanted to say too.

"Yes Ruby?" He asked his voice gentle and kind.

"I wanted to let you know- just in case this really is the end and everything- that I'm so sorry for everything mean I've ever said or done to you back in the Shire. I didn't know what a good hobbit you were back then… how much I could care about you. And for that I'm sorry." She said quickly, doing her best not to stammer.

"I'm sorry too. You weren't the only one who was mean. I guess I didn't like the fact that you always seemed to be trying to steal Merry from me, and then I found that I just wanted to get your attention, and I was jealous about how much you seemed to like Merry." He admitted sheepishly. "But none of that matters anymore, because I love you Ruby Goodchild."

"And I love you Peregrin Took." She replied, turning to place a quick kiss on his cheek, before facing the battlefield once again.

"To the end of our days." He whispered, and she smiled as a shiver went down her spine.

Aragorn on the other hand, had no time to relax or bid soft farewells to his dear friends. He could see the fiery eye in the distance staring right at him. "Aragorn. Elessar." He could hear the voice of Sauron call to him in his mind, but he refused to cave in, rather staring straight back at it, before turning to the army behind him.

"For Frodo." He said, then turned and charged toward the Orcs, Merry, Ruby, and Pippin right behind him followed by the rest of the men. Once again, the battle around her seemed nothing more than a blur, as she fought off any Orcs that came her way, flanked protectively by both of her friends.

"We promised Hazel we'd protect you." Merry explained once; when both he and Pippin nearly fell over themselves to shield her from three Orcs who had been ganging up on her from behind, killing each with nice clean strokes. "And we intend to keep that promise." She smiled her thanks at them, before forcing herself to once again pay attention to the battle in front of her.

Her heart absolutely sank when she saw a Nazgul flying overhead heading straight for Gandalf, when all of a sudden, several great Eagles seemed to appear almost out of nowhere, one of which attacked the evil creature before it could touch her friend.

"Eagles! The Eagles are coming!" Pippin shouted joyfully at her side, and sure enough more Eagles began to fill the sky swooping down at the Nazgul and taking them on with such force and prowess. It was a magnificent sight.

But the battle had not ended quite yet, and she was forced to return her attention to the task at hand. That is doing everything within her power to keep herself and her friends alive. Suddenly she heard a cry of horror and pain, and startled she looked up for a minute, which would have proved a deadly mistake if all of Sauron's troops hadn't done the same. And they were running away, whilst Aragorn and the others stared in shock and the tower of Barad-dur fell, the dreaded Eye of Sauron disappearing once and for all. A great explosion came out from the dying Eye, collapsing both the Black Gate and lands in between, and most of Sauron's troops fell into oblivion with them.

"Frodo! Frodo!" Merry cried jubilantly, and Ruby threw herself in Pippin's arms kissing him hard on the mouth in triumph when another explosion drew them apart. Turning as quickly as she could, she stared up at Mount Doom in absolute horror as she watched it continue to erupt.

"Hazel." She whispered under her breath, and unrelenting tears sprang to her eyes as the reality of what had just happened filled her entire soul with a sense of utter anguish and despair. She clung desperately to Pippin, all of her strength abandoning her in this moment, as her body shook with sobs. "Hazel!"

Yay! Go Ruby! Like I said, for the hundredth time! So proud of this girl!

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