Disclaimer in Chapter 1 - They may yet be alive.

Nin-dethro hîn, Mellon-nin.

Chapter 20 – A delicious looking scar.

"The stink in here, has gotten worse..." Sam complained as he brought his hand up to his nose and pinched it slightly with his fingers, trying his best not to smell the rotten waters he, his dear friend and their guide now travelled through "…Don't you agree, Mister Frodo?" He asked, noticing Frodo cringe at the horrible smell.

"I do." Frodo admitted "It should not take us long to reach the other side and smell the clear air once more." The Hobbit saw his blonde companion nod and smile as he obviously thought of the sweet clean air instead of the foul one they had floating around them. The Ring-bearer then looked towards Gollum. The tortured being, that used to be his own kin, had spoke no word throughout their trek in the smelly tunnels ever since they had entered.

It seemed that Sam also thought the same thing as his friend questioned "You haven't spoken a word, Gollum. Why is that?"

Gollum stopped and stared at the two Hobbits that had now stopped and looked at him, their eyes brows furrowing as they saw the creature stop his movements. Gollum never replied back to the Hobbit but rushed forwards as a great thud, that shook the very grounds that they were on, from above sounded.

"Sméagol!" Frodo shouted after the creature and then begun to ran after it. "Sméagol, come back here!" He called, watching the tortured being ran down the sewer, trying to get away from the battle that was happening above their very heads.

"Mister Frodo!" Sam called after his friend as the Hobbit gave chase to Gollum. He continued running after a short while and soon came to a stop. "It can't be…" He thought, eyes wide as he saw a white light come down from a hole that Frodo was now climbing up. The Hobbit ran after Frodo and looked up into the skies above and breathed "It is!" He thought happily, silently cheering for the fresh smell of air and the sounds of small birds singing with the gentle winds.

Frodo looked around everywhere for the small creature but couldn't find him at all. The Hobbit sighed at walked back towards the hole he had come from and saw two hands, from his dear friend, struggling to grasped the earth and pull himself out of the sewers. Frodo smiled at Sam's hands and then knelt down beside the hole and said "Need any help?"

"Don't I ever." Sam chuckled as he reached for Frodo's hands. He stopped as he got halfway towards the young Hobbits hand and then said "If you don't mind, Mister Frodo, but could you take the packs first?" He asked.

"I don't mind at all, dear Sam." Frodo's smile widened and then grasped the first pack Sam handed him. After two more were passed, the young Hobbit finally felt the blonde Hobbits hand and then he tried his best to pull his dear friend out. A while passed and still the Hobbit could not pull his dear friend out.

"How did you get out on your own?" Sam called from below, wondering how his friend had got out with no help and with gentle ease.

"Gollum helped me." Frodo answered and then saw the questioning look his companion gave him. "I do not know where he has gone." He answered Sam's silent question.

"That doesn't surprise me." Sam growled. "I know that this day would come. Sooner or later, that damn creature would aband…"

"Sam!" Frodo interrupted his friend, angered by what the blonde Hobbit thought about the creature that had been through many years of torture just like a certain Elven Prince they know. "Please, do not speak badly about him. Isn't it enough to know what kind of pain he had to endure because of the Ring and the pain the dark Lord had brought him?"

Sam was gobsmacked "But…" He began "…Why do you defend a creature like him?" The blonde Hobbit questioned, wanting to know why he would be on Gollum's side, instead of the side of his friend.

"Because I believe that there is still good within him." Frodo mumbled, the small sounds catching Sam's ears. "I do think that Gollum will be true to his word and will not cause us any harm. I believe that he will change, for good and for better." Frodo then reached out his hand, down towards the hole once more and watched as Sam took it. "One day, when this is all over, I want to take him back to the Shire. Show him what it is like to be a Hobbit once more."

Little to the knowing of the two Hobbits, Gollum was crouched behind a tree, watching the two Halflings with interest. When he had heard Sam's comment, he growled, summoning all his will power not to run to the fat Hobbit and strangle him there and then. But when he had heard what his master had said about him, taking him back to the place he used to call home, his eyes began to well up. He wondered what it would be like to see his real home once more, to learn how to eat like a proper being, understand how clothes worked and the way the days would easily go past with him and another, sat down in a small boat together as they caught many fis, that they would cook when they got back to the place where much happiness lay. A home.

Frodo jumped slightly as he saw Gollum crawl towards him, gently grabbing Sam's other free hand and helping the blonde Hobbit out of the hole and into the fresh outdoors. "Thank you, Sméagol." Frodo smiled, showing his thanks, with or without words needed.

"That was very decent of you, Gollum…" Sam puffed as he breathed in the clear wind that was slowly drifting through his curly hair. "…Thank you." The Hobbit smiled as well and soon both Hobbits were laughing as they were sure they saw the tortured being blush and then turn away, a small smile apon his bony features.

The two Halfling stood and then looked at the surroundings around them. Tree's circled the small hole they had just climbed out off and they could both see that night had approached them. The timings had messed up their minds as the sewers showed no light, making the two Hobbits forget whether it was still day or not.

"Come on, Hobbitses." Gollum called, poking his head out of a bush, startling both the small beings and making the creature laugh the slightest.

Sam smiled back at his dear friend, when he saw Frodo look at him with the kind face he always wore. "Alright…" The blonde Hobbit began to walk forwards with Frodo and into the trees "…The closer we get to this place, the closer we are to destroying the Ring."

Frodo nodded his agreement with the blonde Hobbit behind him. "I sure do miss the gentle singing of the Elves..." Frodo sighed as he listened to the soft tunes the birds played as they danced around each other in the nightly winds. "…And the tales!" Frodo shouted to Sam behind him, a bright smile apon his face.

"I wonder…" Frodo tilted his head slightly at Sam's thought. "…I wonder if we'll be put into songs or tales." Sam furrowed his brow and looked up to the darkened sky above, thinking that such thing could be a possibility.

"What?" The brown haired Hobbit glanced back at his dear friend as he continued his walking.

"I wonder if people will ever say 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring.' And they'll say, 'Yes!..." Sam shouted, throwing his arms into the air, lost in the wonderings of his own mind. "…That's one of my favourite stories.'

"Frodo was very courageous wasn't he, Dad?"

"Yes, my boy. The most famous of all the Hobbits. And that's saying a lot."

Frodo laughed as his friend told his thoughts. The young Hobbit glanced back at his dear friend and said "Well, you left out one of the chief characters:…

"Samwise the Brave."

"I want to hear more about Sam." Frodo looked around once more and saw a deep red blush of Sam's cheeks. He let out a laugh and then stopped. He then placed a gentle hand on his blonde haired Hobbits shoulder and said "Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam."

Sam's cheeks reddened "Well…Urm…" He chuckled nervously, a small smile apon his face "…Thank you, Mister Frodo. I wouldn't have gotten far without you either."

Frodo smiled and then turned back towards the path Gollum was leading them down. He knew he and Sam were going to have to prepare for the night and the more deadly journey that was to come their way.

"Samwise the Brave."

The young Hobbit almost laughed aloud when he heard Sam whisper the very sentence that made him blush.

"How goes everything, 'Ro?" Aragorn asked as he sat opposite his brother who was checking Legolas' facial features for any signs of the nightmares that were to come.

Elrohir sighed as he quickly turned his eyes to his young brother "Everything is fine, Estel, do not worry about him." His eyes fell back to the sleeping Prince before him.

Aragorn nodded and then stood again, knowing that he was not needed. As the future King walked towards the Keeps door, wanting to see what had changed since the battle had ended but something bumped into him or rather someone had bumped into him. The ranger looked down at the Elven form of an Elleth…Or was it an Ellon? He wasn't too sure as the body of the Elf in front of him was slim but the armour that the Elf wore was still covered in the blood of the foul beasts that had been slaughtered not so many hours ago and the hair apon the beings hair was far too short to be that of an Elleth. "Forgive me, my Lord." Aragorn said as he came to a conclusion that it was an Ellon instead of an Elleth.

Oh, how wrong he was.

The Elf gasped as it looked up into the stormy grey eyes of the ranger before its form and narrowed its own eyes before saying "I am no Lord, my Lord and neither am I an Ellon!"

Aragorn's eyes widened and he bowed immediately "Please accept my dearest apologises, my eyes deceived me."

"Yes, they did." The Elleth spat, not knowing that this man was the hope of all man. She began to shift nervously as all eyes turned towards her, noticing the ranger bowing at her as if she was royalty itself. "Stand up straight, it's embarrassing." She whispered harshly to Aragorn and she watched as the man obeyed.

Soon, a door to the left opened and the Lady of Morbaneiâ came walking in, smiling as she saw the ranger. "Ah, Aragorn, how fares you?" She asked, coming ever closer to the future King of Gondor as well as the short haired Elleth.

The Elleth's eyes grew wide as she looked at the man that had bowed at her. "You…are…Aragorn? The future King of Gondor and Arnor? The one my kin held in secret to keep away from the darkness that was ever growing in these lands?" She questioned many, complete disbelief in her eyes. She watched as the man nodded with a small smile, his mouth opening as he was about to speak. But she wouldn't let him. The Elleth quickly bowed and said "Forgive me, my King. I had no idea it was you." She blushed, causing the Lady to laugh at her.

Aragorn raised his hand at the Elf "Nay, nay, please do not bow. I am not King yet but it is true. I am the man you speak of." He smiled as he watched the unnamed Elleth stand straight once more.

"Ah, I see you have met Aranel." Larien winked as she finally stood with the two, a smile still apon her fair features. The Lady laughed as she saw the ranger's questioning expression. "She is a warrior from my forest." She explained, watching as Aragorn made an 'O' shape with his mouth.

"Come now, Aranel. Let us leave the King to his peace and look for our wounded and dead kin." Larien gave one more smile as Aranel slightly bowed at the hope of Men, just before both walked soundlessly away from the King, exiting through the Keeps doors towards the broken fortress of Helms Deep.

"Legolas, wake up!"

Aragorn turned quickly at the shout from his brother. The hope of Men exhaled, not knowing that he had held his breath, as Legolas awoke with a jerk but still…Something was not right. The ranger ran towards his dear friend and brother, gently kneeling beside Legolas and watching as the Prince's hand went towards his head and he moaned in pain.

"Legolas, what's wrong?" Elrohir asked, a worried expression painted across his face as he looked at the pain in the blonde Elf's eyes.

Legolas whispered something but it was barely audible, another moan left his lips.

"Do you honestly think that you will make it back to Edoras alive?" A dark voice snarled within Legolas' mind.

"Please." Legolas whispered to the dark Lord as he had his cold, dead hands wrapped around his own throat once more. The Mirkwood Elf never realised he was talking aloud, causing his friends to worry more about the condition he was in.

-"Legolas?"-

"You leave in four days? That is a pity." Sauron laughed, tightening his hold around the Prince's neck, making Legolas gasp and his own fair hands fly to those of the dark Lords, trying to claw the hands of from his throat. "You will never make it for I promise you, only you will survive and I will have you be brought to me once more. Oh, the fun we will both have." Sauron laughed as he watched the Prince under him, eyes widen at the thought of being tortured by his hands again.

"Please! Anything…Anything but that!" The Elf gasped out, his voice shaking from the traumatic dream that had began to resurface but it was interrupted when his other half, the star of night, grabbed his neck while he slept, sending the Prince into shock. "I do not…Wish to go back!...I never want to go back!"

"My, my Greenleaf, you look awfully scared." The Lord snarled, grinning evilly "You look like a child once more. Where is that form that I have missed? I wonder when I will see it again. The sweet face you made when you felt the hot iron first burn your delicate skin. It was most enjoyable to see." One of Sauron's hand loosened from the Prince neck and then slid down Legolas' body, lifting his tunic and revealing the burn that Legolas had first received for when he was imprisoned in Dol Guldur.

Legolas began to struggle as he felt the cold hands of the being on top of him circle the burnt flesh. He could breathe more easily knowing that there was only one hand around his throat, noticing it had loosened but not enough for him to actually get free. The dark Lord was strong and he was pinned down by the strength of Sauron's body on top.

"Ah, such a delicious looking scar." Sauron smiled, licking his lips slightly as he watched Legolas struggle more when he spoke the words the Prince so much hated.

Legolas' breathing had quickened and then he screamed in pain when he suddenly felt a white hot searing pain shoot through his being, directly to where the burnt scar was etched within his skin. He summoned his strength to lift up his head to see what the dark Lord was doing to his body. If his blue eyes could widen anymore, they would have for he saw a red glow emitting from Sauron's hand. He through his head back and arched his back when he felt the pain shoot through him once more. The Elf panted hard. It felt just like the first time he was burnt. This was something he was never going to forget.

-"What is it, wants wrong with him?"-

-"We don't know. We have tried everything and still he doesn't wake!"-

Sauron eyes sparkled dangerously, his tongue wetting his lips at the sweet sight before him "Yes, yes just like that." He laughed watching as he sent another burst of the hot pain through the Prince's body, sending it directly to the burn he had his hand over. "That is the face I have been waiting for. Ah, the broken stars within your eyes, your sweet cries. You have pleased me…" The Lord paused, lowering his face so that it was only a few centimetres from Legolas' "…But it is not enough. Something is missing."

When Legolas saw the evil smile once more grace the dark Lords face, he almost scream in fear but instead screamed when another pain shot through him "Valar, how long will this torture last?!" His mind screamed, wanting it to end as quickly as it had began. But the world was a cruel place and so was the being before him. He knew that his prayers wouldn't be answered. He could only wonder…What was missing?

Suddenly, he felt the cold forehead of the Lord of all shadows apon his own. A gentle whisper was all he heard from Sauron and he could have fainted when the words reached his ears.

"Let us have an audience."

Cliff hanger! Please, please don't kill me! o.o Actually I was just thinking...If you do kill me, you will never find out what happens next…M'ahahahahahaha! *cough cough* I actually wrote Frodo's and Sam's bit yesturday but I couldn't think of what to write in the second half :O I was going to write about Pip and Merry but then I completly scrapped this idea for a more interesting one ;D

I' tel' supëltíe chapter 2 is also up! :D

There is nothing you need to know except that:

1. SAURON IS BACK ;D - This guy is so popular :3

Reviews;

ArwenElf16; Aww thanks, I do try 3 You...You want...To...Marry Leg...Legolas? WELL YOU CAN'T! HE'S MINE ;D Gimli always makes my day :') He's just so awesome :D Thank you again and again for writing a review for it :') It means a lot :D I hope you liked this chapter? :)

BrightWatcher; Well, I thought that doing a heavy chapter would make it a bit boring so I decided to have a little fun before I wrote something like this ;D It's out! I hope you like it :') THANK YOU *Huggles* I don't know what is wrong with me lately...Not being able to write a chapter because I have a lot going on in my mind and then being sent home from college because I was ill :O All in the space of 2 weeks! D: Ahaha thank you anyways :3 He is but that sneaky little ranger will always have eyes for you...And Éowyn of cause ;) Thank you once more :D

Nardhwentheelf; Thank you! :D Aahaha yeah, I missed Leggy talking to people through his mind so I thought "Why not bring it back in?" ;D ahaha! The Dwarf and Elf are going to be fine, I hope! *fingers crossed* I hope this chapter was soon enough? :') xx

Calemireth; They are, aren't they :'3 Comedy Trio :D Don't be sad, be happy ;D This chapter did have him so I can only guess this made you feel like you were over the moon ;D A hug from Sauron...Now that is something :o I shall ask him, when I finish my reviews ;) Do not blame me if he says no O^O Ahaha I am and it's perfectly normal to be slow :') Ahaha *bows* I hope you enjoyed the chapter! ;)

LightsCDark; Very wise indeed, mellon ;) Yeah, instead of looking through all the pages for the answer, I came across one of Google and I was like "WHAT?!" I couldn't believe it...Poor Dwarves :( They could have been best friends with the Elves, just look at Gimli and Leggy? :D Thank you and thank you again :3

Jasperslittlesister; Ahaha I always do, mellon ;D Aww thanks :3 I just felt that Gimli needed to become greater friends with the two considering that they are going to journey with them...OH NO, SPOILER! ;D I will certainly try and it all depends when I can and the appropriate time for me to use it xD Yeah, I love that man :') Would have been interesting to see him in the movie/books to learn more about him :/ Thank you and I hope this was soon? :D

nightrunner144; Ahahaha :') Awww thank you :3 I will be ending this fic but there will be another that will cover ""The return of the King" So do not fret :D

Urm, Sauron?

Sauron: What is it peasant?

Bit rude -.-

Sauron: What is it, Sophie? -.-

Well I was wondering...Could a reviewer hug you?

Sauron: Are you insulting me?

Excuse me?

Sauron: How dare you ask me if another slave could hug me!

They're a reviewer...Not a slave...And who tried to hug you before?

Sauron: You did, remember? -.-'

No, I...Oh wait...Yeah I do :3 Love you Sauron! :D *Runs away*

Sauron: Get her and bring me her head!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Namarië!