Chapter 21

The Fellowship Reunited

Hazel had awoken in a strange place. She figured it was Heaven. The walls and windows were bright with white lights. Her fever was gone, and she never felt safer. She also felt bad. What would poor Ruby do without her? Would she be lost without her elder sister? How would the grief affect her…and her mother?

Mother…Her poor mother.

Hazel stretched and yawned in her bed. Heaven was nice. Their beds were of very high quality, even though it might have been too big for her. She still felt sore, but she was feeling a lot better.

Oh! It felt so good to stretch!

She sat up slowly. It hurt so much that it felt good to stretch and move. She looked up and saw a familiar face.

Gandalf.

She stared at him in shock. She couldn't believe it! She really was dead! Had Gandalf come to welcome her to Heaven? That was awfully nice of him!

"Gandalf?" She asked her voice was quite sore. He nodded. "Am I dead?" She asked again, fighting back the panic.

The reply that came from Gandalf was only shaking his head, and laughing.

At first, Hazel was very confused. Didn't Gandalf realize how serious this was? Hazel was…

Suddenly, the fear passed over Hazel as she connected all the dots. She realized why Gandalf was shaking his head. She sighed in relief and she too began to laugh. It felt so good! It had been a long time sense she laughed from the heart.

"You see, my friend." Gandalf said. "A Servant of the Secret Fire is never demolished so easily." Hazel had never been more proud to be called such a title.

Suddenly, Merry and Pippin came through the door and looked at her in joy. They ran and literally attacked her with hugs. They jumped on the bed and began to ask her questions. She simply asked what they had been up to, and Merry threw his arms over his head and laughed. Hazel figured they had been causing nothing but trouble-for the enemy that is.

Ruby had walked hesitantly through the door, as if she couldn't believe her ears. Her face lit up as she saw her sister, once again, back with the living. Hazel's heart soared to the sun when she saw her sister. Oh, her best friend was alive! Ruby ran over and embraced her sister. Once again, they were reunited. It had been way too long!

Suddenly, Gimli walked in and held his arms up in excitement.

"Hazel!" He cried.

"Gimli!" Hazel laughed.

He clapped his hands and entered into the room. He was closely followed by Legolas. The beautiful elf smiled and entered as well, followed by Aragorn.

"Aragorn!" Hazel cried. A smile crept across the man's face as he came forth. Aragorn seemed to change the most. He no longer looked like a ranger…he looked like a king.

The Fellowship seemed to be complete again.

Except…

No one could replace Boromir. He might have made a few mistakes, but that didn't mean he wasn't an honorable man. For the first time, Hazel missed him. He should have been here with the Fellowship, celebrating their victory.

Hazel shook her head and smiled. But it disappeared when she realized the Fellowship still wasn't complete.

Where were Frodo and Sam?

She looked at the doorway, hoping to find her friends there.

In the doorway, stood two beaten up hobbits. One had a humble smile on his face, the other's smile seemed to brighten the whole room. Hazel jumped up, surprising her friends and ran into the loving embraces of Frodo and Sam. She gazed into their faces and sighed in relief; knowing they had survived was the best news of all. The other three hobbits ran after Hazel, and the six hobbits were once again, reunited.

~jb~

Hazel had gone back to rest at Aragorn's request. She knew she would want to get as much as possible. She had peaceful dreams and kept seeing her daughter walk through them. Her little Primula. Excitement had also danced in her dreams as she slept peacefully.

When Hazel finally awoke, she looked up into the piercing blue eyes of Frodo Baggins. He was lying beside her, with an arm wrapped around her. He was in somewhat of a sitting position, watching over her. Hazel never felt so peaceful and lazy before.

"Good morning," She whispered.

"It's noon." Frodo smiled. "You sleepy-head!"

Hazel got up after that. She was able to bathe in warm water. She dressed in a long sleeved, blue dress with salmon colored accents. She cleaned up and was able to eat something other than slices of lembas bread.

After many moments of a girl's simple pleasures, Hazel walked around and explored Minas Tirith. She of course, found the library and made an attempt to read as much as she could. She had pulled out a book about dragons and settled herself down to read. She heard the familiar chuckling of Faramir, looked up, and smiled.

"I thought I would find you here." He said. "Not much has changed."

"And yet, everything is different." Hazel finished.

"Yes," Faramir said. "Hazel, you once told me I had the air of a wizard."

"Yes?" Hazel said.

"Well, I think you have more of a wizard air than I ever will." He continued. These words stayed with Hazel for a long time.

~jb~

Hazel had wandered Minas Tirith for a while longer. She felt like Frodo was avoiding her (we all feel that way, even if it's not true). She found him in a lovely courtyard, with a dead, white tree. It seemed very pretty.

"Frodo?" Hazel said as she approached him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Frodo said. "I just needed to be alone for a while."

"That means something's wrong." Hazel said. "You can't hide that from me anymore, don't try. Now tell me what's really bothering you."

Frodo was silent.

"Very well," Hazel said. "That doesn't mean I won't try to cheer you up. They have a library here-"

"It's not that, it's just…I'm not sure how to say this…" Frodo hesitated before putting a hand to his head. "How could I have been so stupid?! How could I have let myself fall under the ring's power?! One moment was all it took, and the world would've fallen to ruin!"

"I know," Hazel said, taking his arm. "But just think about if anyone else had to bear this burden. How far do you think Gandalf would have gotten, what about Aragorn, what about Boromir?" She paused to let the questions sink in. "There is no one else who would have gotten where you were. Do you know why the enemy lost? Because you had something he didn't. You had me. You had love, and something worth fighting for. The Shire, your family, and all the lives of Middle-Earth! You cared about every single one of them. Love is a greater power than power itself.

"Of course, you didn't have to bear this burden alone. I was there for you. You didn't fail because you and I shared this burden, and it was lighter-for part of it. But that counts for something, doesn't it? Neither of us could have done it alone. The weight must always be shared.

"And Gollum…dear Gollum. Now I realize that Gandalf was right. He said, even now Gollum may have yet a part to play for good or evil. And it was for good. But for him, even I could not have destroyed the ring. The quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So, let us forgive him! For the quest is achieved and now it's all over. Our dreams are going to come true at last!"

Frodo's heart had lightened at these words. It almost felt like he was speaking with Gandalf, for he always had encouraging words.

"Hazel," Frodo said. "You have changed so much."

"You've done a lot of improving yourself." Hazel winked. "Remember the Shire? Remember how careless we were? You're not the little boy I met in Bag End! You have changed so much!"

"You're not as carefree either." Frodo said. "In fact, I think you got smarter!"

"I have always been smart!" Hazel said. "Have you just barely noticed?" The two of the laughed as they realized it was all so true. They had changed so much. They had lived a carefree life until the Ring came. Now they felt responsible and…well…grown up.

The two of them paused and looked at the tree. Hazel noticed the tree was not dead after all. A small blossom was growing from the branches. It was very pretty to look at, and it seemed to mean something. What it was, Hazel could not think of it.

Frodo took her hand in his. "Hazel, dance with me."

At first, Hazel thought Frodo had officially lost his mind. There was no music! Unless he was hearing things-then he would be insane! But then, Hazel realized there was music. Only music the two could hear. She stood close to him and they danced.

It wasn't exactly the same as they had done in the Shire, but it sure felt the same. Only one thing had not changed about them. That was their love for each other, and no evil could have penetrated it.

Seriously…Ruby has such great character development and Hazel just has a sappy love story! I guess it's not that bad now that I'm typing this Author's Note…still, I'll never get over Ruby's character development.

Hope you enjoyed the sappiness…unless you hate sappy, then I am sorry.