As usual...

Darrinia: Well, of course they're not going to fall apart for such a small thing, they love each other too much, but Sam really needed to make a point... Blaine is still too inexperienced! Gracias, preciosa!

Mildlifecrissis: Yes, Sam really needed to make a point, even though he hated to hurt Blaine (but it's for the longer good, so he can be sure Blaine will be safe). I don't know how much Sebastian knows... we'll see ;) Thank you so much, honey!

CHAPTER 3: THE RETURN OF A DEAR FRIEND

The three friends kept galloping on his newly-acquired horses –Sam on Hasufel and Blaine and Sebastian on Arod– until they reached the plain Puck had told them, where the Rohirrim had slaughtered and burnt all the uruks the night before.

The scenery was bleak, with a pyre made of bodies with smoke coming out of them still. If Marley had been with them... Sam didn't want to end this trail of thought, but he knew it was impossible she had survived. His heart ached with grief, feeling they had failed in every aspect of their mission.

He heard Blaine shakily sending an elven prayer for Marley and only added to the pain in his heart, that he could only manage with a frustrated shout as he fell to his knees. Blaine immediately ran to him and put a hand to his shoulder, squeezing it lovingly as his other hand caressed Sam's hair.

"Amin hiraetha, melamin*" he whispered in Sam's ear, reading in his eyes the guiltiness of not having been able to help their friend.

Sam put his hand over Blaine's on his own shoulder and nodded in acknowledgment for his words, grateful at having him near, especially in moments like this. Blaine had always been a source of strength and balance for him, always giving him a new perspective on things, contributing with large doses of joy and serenity that filled Sam's heart with peace and love. When Blaine was around, there was no space for pessimism, Sam thought. And this time was no different.

"How do we know, though, that Marley was here?" Blaine asked, with a sudden hope in his heart. "Sebastian, did you see a little body that could belong to a hobbit amongst the others?"

"In fact, I didn't, but that doesn't mean... Her body could have been burnt to ashes" Sebastian replied sadly.

"But we can't be sure, can we?" Blaine said, looking at Sam imploringly, silently asking him to believe.

The corner of Sam's mouth turned slightly up at his lover's buoyancy. He was begging him to give hope a chance, and who was him to deny him anything?

"No, we sure can't" Sam answered, squeezing Blaine's hand before standing up and walking in the opposite direction they had come, looking at far away. "She could have escaped into Fangorn Forest"

"Fangorn? What madness would drive her in there?" Sebastian asked rhetorically.

Meanwhile, the two hobbits were making their way to Mordor thanks to Rachel's directions. They finally were able to get out of the mountains were they had been walking in circles for days and made it to a marshy territory that Marley, who didn't trust Rachel one bit, didn't like at all.

"It's a bog! He's lead us into a swamp!" he yelled, disgusted.

"A swamp, yes" Rachel answered. "Come, master, we will take you on safe paths through the mist. I found it, the way through the marshes. Orcs don't use it. They go round for miles and miles"

After a lot of walking, they stopped on the swamp for a while to rest and eat the lembas they still had left.

"I hate this place" Marley commented. "It's too quiet. There's been no sight nor sound of a bird for two days"

"No, no birdses to eat" Rachel answered sadly. "We are famished, yes!"

Kitty took pity on her and gave her a bit of her lembas, but Rachel almost chocked on it.

"We can't eats hobbit food!" she reproached them. "We must starve!"

"Well, starve, then. And good riddance!" Marley answered in disgust.

"Oh, cruel hobbit! She does not care if we should die!" Rachel lamented, feigning crying. "Not like master" she added, turning to Kitty. "Master cares. Master knows"

"Don't touch me" Kitty told her as Rachel tried to touch the Ring hanging from his neck.

After a while they resumed their journey through the marshes and reached a place where there were dead bodies under the water's surface all around.

"There are dead things!" Marley exclaimed. "Dead faces in the water"

"All dead. All rotten" Rachel explained. "Elves, Men and Orcs. A great battle long ago. Don't follow the lights" he advised the hobbits.

Kitty stopped in front of one of the corpses and saw how he opened his eyes, revealing a light that he could not help but to follow.

"Kitty!" Marley yelled, as Kitty fell into the water.

Kitty felt as if she was drowning, as she remained incapable of moving under the weight of thousands of corpses trying to grab her, until a couple of arms pulled her from the surface and she realised it had been Rachel who had gotten her out.

"Rachel" she exclaimed, surprised and grateful in equal shares.

"Don't follow the lights" she repeated in a commanding way.

"Kitty!" Marley yelled, as she reached them. "Are you alright?"

Kitty didn't answer as Marley fussed over her, as she was too busy thinking maybe she had underestimated Rachel, and she was someone she could trust.

"The air is so close in here" Sebastian said to no one in particular, as he went deep into the scary forest of Fangorn with Blaine and Sam.

"This forest is old. Very old. Full of memory... and anger" Blaine commented, just before a loud noise coming from the trees frightened Sebastian enough to lift his axe in defence. "The trees are speaking to each other"

"Sebastian! Lower your axe!" Sam ordered, and Sebastian obeyed, though not very convinced.

"They have feelings, my friend" Blaine explained kindly to Sebastian.

"Talking trees. What do trees have to talk about? Except the consistency of squirrel droppings" Sebastian replied sarcastically, always reluctant at accepting the things he could not see.

"Something's out there!" Blaine exclaimed, as he started half running, Sam close at his heels.

"What do you see?" Sam asked him, resting his hand on the small of Blaine's back when he stopped, in a gesture that implied his full trust in Blaine's sensations.

"The white witch approaches" Blaine whispered, looking fearfully at his lover.

"Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us" Sam advised his two companions in a soft voice as Sebastian joined them, and the three of them got their weapons ready. "We must be quick"

Suddenly a blinding light appeared in front of them, and they used their weapons against it, only to have them failing at the strength of the creature in front of them.

"You think you're tracking the footsteps of a young hobbit" the figure covered in light told them, even as they couldn't see her face yet because of the brightness she emanated.

"Where is she?" Sam asked him, confused that she would know about their mission.

"He never came this way, as he continued with her mission of accompanying her dear friend on her destiny from the beginning. Does that comfort you?" the figure asked, kindlier than they would have expected.

"Who are you?" Sam yelled at her. "Show yourself!"

The figure obeyed, and the light that was covering her diminished until they could clearly discover Beiste's features in her.

"It cannot be" Sam whispered, shaking his head.

"Forgive me. I mistook you for Sue" Blaine told him, deeply sorry, as he kneeled in front of her, begging for her pardon.

"I am Sue" Beiste answered kindly, asking for Blaine to stand up with a move of her hand. "Or rather, what Sue should have been"

"You fell" Sam could still not believe Beiste was standing in front of them, alive.

"Through fire and water" Beiste agreed with him.

Beiste explained to them how she had come to be with them again. She had fought valiantly against de Balrog of Morgoth. She had defeated him, but paying a big price, and darkness had taken her. But somehow she had been sent back, until her mission was over.

"Beiste" Sam called her.

"Beiste? Yes, that is what they used to call me" Beiste answered. "Beiste the Grey. I am Beiste the White now. And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide"

Suddenly Beiste started walking through the forest, and the others couldn't do anything else than to follow him.

"One stage of your journey is over" Beiste told them as she heard them walking swiftly behind her. "Another begins. We must travel to Edoras with all speed"

"Edoras?" Sebastian questioned. "That is no short distance"

"We hear of trouble in Rohan" Sam intervened. "It goes ill with the King"

"Yes, and it will not be easily cured" Beiste agreed.

"Then we have run all this way for nothing? We came looking for a hobbit that was not even here?" Sebastian asked, a little deflated to know all their efforts had been in vain.

"It was more than mere chance that brought you to Fangorn. A great power has been sleeping here for many long years. Your coming will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains"

"In one thing you haven't changed, dear friend" Sam intervened, eliciting a smile from Beiste. "You still speak in riddles"

"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder Days. The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong"

They went out of Fangorn forests to their horses waiting for them outside (including Shadowfax, the master of all the horses, and Beiste's mount) and they stated galloping towards their destination, Edoras, the capital of Rohan's realm.

When night reached them, they decided to make camp in a secluded little forest they had crossed in their way. As Sebastian and Sam prepared some dinner, Blaine went into a little pond to get some fresh water for everyone.

When he returned to the camp, he found his three travelling companions sitting on rocks or fallen trees around a fire. He smiled at the comforting picture and went to seat himself.

"You sit here, Blaine" Beiste told him, standing up from her place next to Sam.

"No, please, Beiste, don't move. I'll just sit here" Blaine answered with a humble smile, taking a seat a little further from them.

"Don't be silly, lad, I know you're dying to be near Sam" she insisted, making Sam choke on his food.

"What... how... what?" Blaine clumsily tried to ask, giving himself away much more than he would have wanted.

"Sebastian" Beiste said with laughter on his voice "don't tell me they are still pretending"

"Indeed they are!" Sebastian answered, amusedly. "Though they are not very good at it, I must tell you"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Sam tried, even though he knew it was pointless.

"Oh, you don't, do you? And why then are you blushing to the roots of your hair and Blaine hasn't still been able to close his mouth after it fell open in surprise?" Beiste replied, making Sebastian laugh wholeheartedly at the couple.

"How do you know?" Blaine asked, once he was convinced there was no way they could continue denying it.

"Come on, Blaine, I've know you since you were a little elfling, you know you're like a son to me and I know you like the back of my hand. Let's say I could see through your pretence"

"And well" Sebastian intervened. "I've been travelling with just the two of you for days. Kind of hard to keep it a secret. Let's say I don't always sleep as soundly as you think"

Blaine groaned from embarrassment, causing Sebastian and Beiste to laugh even more at them.

"And why didn't you say anything and stopped us from making a fool of ourselves?" Blaine asked Sebastian, kind or reproachfully.

"And what, miss the moment of the revelation?" Sebastian joked with his friend. "No, seriously. I thought if you were hiding it from me you must have your reasons, so who was I to contradict your wishes?"

"We were not hiding it from you per se, we were just... hiding it. From the world" Blaine excused himself.

"Hey, you don't really have to explain, laddie" Sebastian told his young friend kindly, eliciting a smile from him.

"You don't have to hide from us anymore" Beiste told both lovers warmly. "We understand why you did it, especially when Finn was... still with us and the future of Gondor's throne was in question, but we are dear friends and you can trust us. Our world is too difficult right now to be losing the precious moments we have within our reach. We understand and we want you to be happy. So please, Blaine, will you come and sit with your loved one already?" Beiste ordered him playfully.

Blaine gave Beiste one of his million dollar smile, grateful to his old friend, and walked to Sam, who still hadn't said a word. Sam was sitting on a fallen tree, and Blaine sat on the floor with his back to the tree in between his lover's legs, lifting his face to look at him and gaining himself a fond smile and a kiss to his forehead from the man.

"Thank you, my friends" Sam said, directing his words to the witch and the dwarf. "I think I speak both in Blaine's and my behalf when I say we feel very happy of being able to be honest with you and live our love naturally around you. You're the greatest friends we could wish for. But I have to ask one more favour of you. Nobody out of the four of us should know about my love for Blaine" he paused a moment just to look at Blaine with a loving smile and caress the top of his head. "It could ruin everything if word spread too soon"

"That would be my fault" Blaine added regretfully. "I don't think the people of Gondor will be very glad to welcome into their realm a male elf as their King's consort"

Sam, hearing the guilt on his lover's voice, lowered his upper body down to surround Blaine's neck with his arms from behind him, depositing a kiss on the top of his head and then resting his cheek over Blaine's.

"Love, I already told you not to worry about that. They will accept you, I'm sure. And if they don't, we'll both leave Gondor and find our own way"

"Wait a minute: are we talking about bonding yourself together?" Beiste asked, suspiciously, but the smile that broke in Blaine's left no room for doubt.

"As soon as the War is over" Sam replied, sitting up straight in pride, resting his hands on Blaine's shoulders, somewhat defiantly.

"But this calls for a bit of congratulating!" Beiste exclaimed happily as both Sebastian and himself moved to the happy couple and made them stand up to embrace them warmly, genuinely glad there was room for happiness amongst all the bad in the world.

"Well, Sam, as I already said, Blaine is like a son to me, so I hope you take good care of him or you'll have me to deal with" Beiste joked, and Sam and Blaine just looked at each other before Sam put an arm around his betrothed's shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'm planning to do just that" he said, planting a kiss on Blaine's cheek.

"I'll take good care of you too" Blaine told Sam with an adoring smile.

"I have no doubt about it" Sam replied with a matching smile.

"I think we all deserve a nice celebrating smoking session together" Sebastian announced, already grabbing his pipe from his pocket and approaching the fire to light it.

"Is that what you consider a celebration? I call that plain disgusting" Blaine moaned good-naturedly.

"You young people don't know how to appreciate the pleasures of life" Sebastian answered playfully.

"Young people? Do I have to remind you that I'm more than two..." Blaine mockingly reproached him, but Sebastian didn't let him finish.

"...thousand years older than me, I know. But you still look like a young lad to me"

"And he is" Sam intervened teasingly, as he lighted his pipe too.

"Thank you, love" Blaine answered with irony.

"You're always welcome, sweetheart" he answered equally ironic.

"Ugs!" Blaine exclaimed, moving a bit away from them, as he hated the smell. "I'm going for a walk"

"Blaine, don't go. We'll just stop smoking if it bothers you that much" Beiste offered kindly.

"No, please, Beiste, don't worry, I'll just go for a walk" Blaine told them with an honest smile, as happiness was still quite evident in his face. "I feel like doing it anyway, I need to bond with nature for awhile, I haven't been doing it these days with all the running and worrying. I'll see you guys later. And... thank you. For everything. You're the best friends we could have wished for" he told them in an embarrassed whisper as he turned to go.

"Blaine?" Sam called before he went.

"Yes?" he answered, turning again to look at him.

"I love you" Sam answered in a firm voice, and Blaine had to smile about the security Sam had in their love so as to proclaim it so confidently in front of their friends.

"I love you too" he answered with a loving smile.

With him being surrounded by trees at last, after endless days just running across plains, and with the knowledge of the acceptance of his friends on his relationship with Sam, there was a happiness in Blaine's heart like he had never experienced before. Even if he knew that, being at war like they were, everything could change in a minute, at times like this he felt as if nothing could go wrong, and that all the remaining members of their fellowship, wherever they were, would make it safely to see the end of it.

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't hear a dark figure approaching.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sam's playful voice reached his ears and he only had to lift his face to see him right next to where he was sitting, resting his back on a tree.

"In fact you are, but the interruption is highly appreciated" Blaine responded with a smile that lit his whole face.

Sam sat at Blaine's side, facing him, and bringing his hand to rest on the floor at Blaine's other side, capturing him with his arm so their chests were almost touching, their faces merely inches apart.

"Are you done with your pipe now?" Blaine asked, trying to look reproachful but not succeeding, as a smile broke on his lips the instant his lover was at his side.

"I had to finish it quickly because I was missing you too much" Sam responded playfully, though there was a lot of truth in his words.

"I wouldn't have had to go away in the first place if you hadn't been smoking, you know" Blaine joked back as he idly played with Sam's long hair. "At last we don't have to hide anymore and you send me away with your pipe..."

"And how great was that?" Sam exclaimed, leaving the joking aside. "As much as I didn't want anyone to know yet, I feel so relieved and thankful they know and they respect it... The journey is going to be so much easier now, with me being able to kiss you and hold you and basically love you as much as I need..."

Blaine chuckled at that, and gave Sam a little peck on his lips.

"Yes, Sebastian and Beiste were so great... How they supported us..." Blaine said, not been able to continue because he was very moved by their friend's attitude towards their love. Sam could see that and kissed his nose in a comforting gesture.

"They love you so much... and by extension they love me too, so it's just natural that they are happy for us"

"Thank you for not telling them about..."

"About what?" Sam asked, moving Blaine's hair out of his face tenderly.

"About my mortality" Blaine said in a whisper.

"It's not my place to tell them, love. And it was such a happy occasion, I didn't think it was the time to mar it with sad news"

"You see it as sad, I see it as the start of our happiness together"

"I know how you feel about it, but I still find it hard to accept you're giving up your immortality for me. Maybe I'm still hoping you'll change your mind"

"That's never going to happen"

"I was suspecting that" Sam answered with a sad smile.

"Then please stop feeling guilty about it and above all stop wishing I change my mind. I already told you, it's not even in my hands anymore to put an end to my love for you. Why can't you just be happy that I love you so much and that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together?" Blaine implored Sam to understand, and the man could only smile fondly at his reasoning and leant over to kiss his lips as tenderly as possible.

"I am very happy" Sam reassured him, eliciting a smile from the elf. "In fact, I'm so happy that sometimes my heart feels like it's going to explode. Don't think for even one minute that I'm not yearning for the moment when I become yours and you become mine. Not that we aren't already, but you know what I mean"

Blaine laughed wholeheartedly and Sam could only appreciate his beauty, which only seemed to brighten with Blaine's laughter.

"Lle naa vanima*" Sam whispered to him as he cupped his cheek to contemplate his face carefully, making Blaine blush embarrassedly.

"You're just too good to me" Blaine whispered to his lover, just before putting his arms around his neck to bring him to him and kiss him slowly, adoringly.

"Maybe" Sam mumbled against his lips. "But only because you deserve it. Just as I deserve to be able to sleep with you by my side without worrying at last!" he joked, making Blaine laugh again.

"Esta sinome*" Blaine invited him, laying down and patting the ground at his side for Sam to lay down. Sam obeyed, and Blaine immediately curled at his side, resting his head on Sam's chest and holding onto him strongly, just as he felt Sam's arms envelop him protectively and a kiss been laid on the top of his head.

It was the first night since the journey started they could spend with their bodies entwined around in each other. And it felt as good as they had dreamed.

*Amin hiraetha, melamin: I'm sorry, my love.

*Lle naa vanima: You're beautiful

*Esta sinome: Rest here