As usual...

Darrinia: Yes, poor them, they're always worried about each other. Thank you so much!

Mildlifecrissis: I'm glad then that it was not too confusing! Yeah, Sam and Blaine make a great team in battle, I'm sure Sam is happy now that he brought Blaine with him in spite of his initial retisence. Unfortunatley the "don't tell the elf" thing is not mine, it's in the movie :) And yeah, Blaine doesn't care about his hands as long as Sam and Sebastian are alright! Thank you so much, darling!

CHAPTER 9: AFTER THE BATTLE

When the Uruk-hai still alive saw the two thousand men riding down the slope with their magnificent horses, they moved away from the fortress to meet them, but they were quickly outnumbered. As they waited with their spears prepared to attack, the Rohirrim just jumped over them and fell on them, mercilessly killing as many of them as they could, turning their odds on their favor.

"Victory!" King Burt shouted at the tops of his lungs when after a while he realized the battle had taken a turn for the best, and some of his men cheered in happiness.

The remaining Uruk-hai chose that moment to escape, as they knew there was no way they could win that battle now, and they ran into the forest close to the deep. But as Beiste had predicted days ago, the trees that Sam, Blaine and Sebastian had awakened on their way through Fangorn Forest made their contribution to the cause, stopping the Uruk-hai's escape.

"Keep away from the forest!" Beiste warned the men who were ready to follow the orcs running away. "Keep away from the trees!"

And as they all looked to the forest to see what Beiste was referring to, they saw, bewildered, how the trees moved and trapped and slaughtered the orcs trying to pass them by, so the few of them that had survived the battle perished on an even crueler way.

When the men, exhausted but happy, made it back to the fortress after the victory, the women and the children were already making their way out of the caves to welcome them, Brittany amongst them. She ran to Sam as soon as she saw him and threw herself at his arms as he dismounted his horse.

"You're alive!" she cried.

"Indeed I am, my lady" Sam answered politely, awkwardly returning the embrace, slightly uncomfortable around her now that he more than suspected that Blaine was right about her feelings for him.

She broke the embrace to cup his cheeks, teary-eyed from emotion, and before he realized what was happening, her lips were making their way towards his own. He was able to react before it was too late and gently, but firmly, he picked up her hands from his cheeks and lowered them down.

"The one I love with all my heart made it out of there alive too, my lady" he explained to her, as kindly as he could, but no leaving room to doubt and leaving her speechless.

Sam didn't feel the need to say anything else and as he turned around to leave, he saw Blaine standing a few feet away from him, but looking intently at him, an indefinable expression on his face. At first, Sam thought Blaine would be angry, having misinterpreted what had happened from his position. But then Blaine sent a loving smile in his direction, and Sam understood that there wasn't a bit of distrust in the love Blaine felt for him, and he felt so proud that he couldn't help sending a goofy smile to him in return.

Blaine turned then to his friend Sebastian, who was sitting near him on top of a dead orc, quietly smoking on his pipe. Under his appearance of not giving a damn about the devastating scenery around him, Blaine could tell the dwarf was exhausted and somewhat upset, so he tried to keep the light atmosphere they had created while fighting on everybody's behalf.

"Final count: forty-two" Blaine announced, proudly, knowing that would awake the dwarf's interest.

"Forty-two?" Sebastian responded, feigning pride. "That's not bad for a pointed-eared Elvish princeling. I myself am sitting pretty on forty-three"

Blaine had to fight not to burst out laughing at the dwarf's never-ending competitiveness.

"He's not dead! He's twitching!" Blaine protested, trying not to laugh.

"He's twitching because he's got my axe embedded on his nervous system!" Sebastian answered angrily while he moved the axe to prove he was right, determined not to lose the competition.

"Dear friend" Sam told Sebastian, as he approached them and brought his hand to rest lovingly on the small of Blaine's back. "Do you mind if I steal him from you for a while? His hands surely need to be looked after and I can't trust him to take care of them himself, so..." he smiled as Blaine playfully punched him in protest.

"Of course, you take care of him" Sebastian answered. "With his hands like this he wouldn't be able to use his bow, and then what good would he do?"

"Well, thank you!" Blaine intervened, with mock indignation, as Sam laughed wholeheartedly. "You both are horrible travelling companions, you know that?"

"We know, that's why we are so lucky that you love us in spite of everything" Sam answered, kissing his cheek in mocking apologize.

"You surely are" Blaine pointed with a smile.

"Come, love" Sam asked him, all joking forgotten. "Let's go to our room where I can take care of your hands before they become infected"

"We'll see you later, Sebastian, right?" Blaine asked him.

"Sure! I'll just be here, smoking my pipe" Sebastian answered, and the couple left.

As they walked silently to the inside of the castle towards their room, they had to pass by hundreds of corpses, men, elves and orcs, who were being taken away by some of the survivors. Sam could feel Blaine's sensitive and inexperienced spirit flagging at such a horrendous sight and his heart went to him. He yearned to grab his hand strongly to offer his support, but that was out of question, due to the injuries in the elf's hands. However, he couldn't ignore Blaine's pain, and he knew nobody would be paying attention to them with so much to do, so he put his arm around Blaine's waist, as they walked, to bring him to him and then he kissed his cheek, to which Blaine smiled gratefully and put his arm around Sam too.

Once in their room, Sam gently pushed Blaine to one of the beds and forced him to sit down, as he kneeled in front of him and picked up his hands to examine them.

"They look really painful" Sam commented sympathetically, caressing the back of Blaine's hands with his thumbs as he examined them.

"It's not that bad" Blaine dismissed his worry, shrugging his shoulders.

"I didn't get to thank you, by the way. After all, you wouldn't have been hurt if you hadn't saved my life and Sebastian's lifting us to the top of the wall like that"

"It seems like a very small price to pay to keep you both safe" Blaine answered honestly, and Sam felt so moved that he couldn't help but to join his lips with Blaine's for a quick but loving kiss.

"Well, the least I can do is make it better, isn't it? I'll just make a poultice with athelas and bandage your hands, okay?" Sam told him tenderly, already turning away to prepare it, as Blaine waited. "With that and your Elven healing abilities, you'll be as good as new in no time"

Blaine knew that Sam's healer spirit always made him travel with a good load of athelas, the most useful medicinal plant, as it was the most trustworthy remedy to all kinds of injuries.

"Thanks, Sammy. You're so good to me..." Blaine told him to his back as the human worked, and Sam smiled fondly.

"Says the one who ruined his hands for me" he answered. "Have I told you recently that I love you?"

Sam's heart warmed with Blaine's chuckle, knowing he was succeeding in making his lover feel better.

"Yes. But you can tell me as much as you want" Blaine responded, only half joking.

"Well, I wouldn't want to repeat myself too much" Sam joked, but he could sense that Blaine needed the reassurance in that moment, after all he had had to witness that night, so he hurried to comply. "But I'll risk it nonetheless. I love you, melamin*"

"I love you too, more than life itself" Blaine answered honestly, apparently lost in his own thoughts, as Sam made his way back to him and kneeled in front of him again, the poultice ready to be used.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked his lover while he was taking care of his hands, worried about his silence.

"Yes" Blaine simply answered, not quite convincing his lover.

When Sam finished bandaging Blaine's hands, he lifted his gaze to look at his lover and smile at him, but he was surprised and saddened to find some tears in the elf's golden eyes.

"Hey, sweetie" Sam tenderly told him, as his hand had already found its way to Blaine's cheek to remove the intrusive tears there. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... I can't believe Mike's gone"

Sam couldn't believe he had forgotten about Mike's death –but, of course, the elf surely hadn't. Even if Sam had never met Mike before the fellowship arrived to Loth Lorien after crossing the mines of Moria, he had heard about him many times before, as he had been a dear childhood friend to Blaine. He could clearly picture Blaine quite a few times explaining to him with a mischievous smile some of their elfling adventures, which were a lot. And even if they had not been able to keep such a close contact in their adulthood, he knew Blaine still held him in great esteem.

"Oh, Blaine" Sam lamented, moving to sit next to Blaine and embracing him strongly. "I'm so sorry, my love, I can't believe I had forgotten about that"

"Don't feel bad about it. When the battle finished I was so relieved both you and Sebastian were alright that I forgot for a while too" Blaine admitted, resting his head on Sam's shoulder, grateful for the warmth of his lover's arms around him after such a terrible night.

"Still, I should have known you would be grieving. I know he was a dear friend to you" Sam told him, caressing the elf's hair lovingly, comfortingly.

"He was" Blaine answered, his voice shaky from sorrow. "In fact, you know what? He was the first person I ever talked to about you" Blaine said with a sad smile as he lifted his head of Sam's shoulder to look him in the eye, eliciting a matching smile from his lover.

"Really? And what did you tell him?" Sam asked, both because he was curious and because he thought it would be nice for Blaine to concentrate on happy memories, instead of those of grief and loss.

"You know, that I'd met a dirty and hairy man who didn't seem to be able to say a whole sentence without stammering but somehow I couldn't stop thinking about him"

Sam's honest and tender laugh warmed Blaine's heart more than any comforting words would have done, and Blaine just curled on Sam's chest, grateful for the comfort his lover always provided in times of need.

"On my defense I have to say I only stammered around you, because I was so awed with your beauty and your warmth that I got incredibly nervous whenever I tried talking to you. I was trying so hard for you to like me that I was making a fool of myself" Sam confessed, lovingly caressing the head on his chest.

"And to think you didn't even need to try..." Blaine answered, his voice full of love. "I was the one who thought you would never want anything to do with me. Imagine a well-respected and successful warrior of the Dunédain, who had been all around the Middle Earth and had seen everything, fixing his eyes in a childish and moody princeling, who hardly had set foot out of his father's realm?"

"I never saw you like that" Sam corrected him. "I saw you as a strong-minded and brave elf who was still too young to have made his own way and whose father tended to keep on a close rein, which frustrated him a lot. I never doubted your potential, and I was surely dying to help you discover it"

Blaine smiled at his lover's appraisal and they remained quiet, in each other's arms, for a while, each comforted by the other's presence.

"Do you know it was Mike who encouraged me to try and befriend you?" Blaine confessed, his voice shaky again as he remembered his friend.

"Then I'll be forever in his debt" Sam answered honestly, strengthening the grip around Blaine's body as he felt the elf silently sob for his fallen friend. "Just try to remember the good times with him, which were quite a few, and take reassurance on the fact that he died doing a good thing" Sam tried to comfort his young lover, and he rested his head on top of his, kissing his hair.

"I'll try" Blaine promised, letting himself be comforted by the person he loved the most in the world.

"If I tell you something, do you promise to never, and I mean never, tell Sebastian I told you?" Sam asked his lover suddenly after a while as he continued caressing his hair, looking for something to distract him from the pain.

"I promise" Blaine answered with a little smile, clearly intrigued.

"Can you believe I had to toss him, up in the bridge? Or even better, can you believe he was so embarrassed about it than the only thing he could say was don't tell the elf?

Blaine chuckled, and Sam felt so glad to know he had helped and to feel him smiling that he could only squeeze Blaine more strongly to his chest.

"We should get some rest" Sam gently suggested. "We have been fighting all night without any sleep"

"I guess you're right" Blaine conceded, not in the mood to offer any resistance.

"Why don't you lay down for a while and let the athelas work?" Sam made it sound as if it was only a suggestion, but he was already pushing Blaine's body to rest on the bed, surprised to find little objection. "I'll go and speak to Beiste and the King to see what are the plans now and to see if Sebastian wants to take a nap too, and I'll be back in a heartbeat, okay?" he carefully laid the blanket on the bed over Blaine's body until he covered his shoulders and then leant down to kiss his cheek.

"Don't be long" Blaine pleaded, and Sam could only smile fondly.

"Nothing could keep me away from you, love" Sam promised as he gave one last caress to Blaine's curls and went out the door.

He found Sebastian exactly where they had left him, lost on his own thoughts, his pipe long forgotten.

"Everything alright, mate?" Sam asked him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I was just thinking about all this... nonsense" Sebastian answered, referring to the scenery around him with a gesture of his hand. "Is the laddie okay?"

"His hands will be alright in no time"

"What is it, then?" Sebastian asked, sensing Sam's seriousness.

"Did you know Mike died last night?" Sam spoke out plainly.

Sebastian sighed sadly, for he hadn't known but he understood how the elf would be grieving about it.

"No, I didn't know. How's Blaine?"

"Well, he's grieving for his friend, of course, but he's strong and he always tries to focus on the good things. He'll be alright"

"I hope he will. This journey is taking its toll on the poor lad"

"It sure is. But he's resting now, which is the best cure for him at a time like this. I came to get you, for you need your rest too"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll find somewhere to get some shut-eye when I finish my pipe" Sebastian tried to dismiss him, but Sam was more stubborn than that.

"Your pipe has been finished for some time now, it seems, and you don't have to find any place, as you already have a room, with us"

"No, Sam. That room is for the two of you"

"Come with us, please. There's two nice enough beds. Blaine and I will take one and you can take the other. We promise to behave" Sam joked, and the dwarf had to chuckle.

"It's not that, you silly man. But I know Blaine will be grieving for his friend right now and he needs you, I think you need to be with him without me interrupting"

"Don't be ridiculous, Sebastian. Blaine lost a dear friend last night. I know he would appreciate the company of another one. Especially someone as important to him as you are. He loves you very much, you know"

Sebastian mumbled something that Sam could not really understand, but that sounded mysteriously close to I feel the same way about him, as he started going up the stairs that would lead him to the room were Blaine was already resting.

Sam went to see the King and Beiste, as he had told Blaine, and they agreed not to start travelling back towards Edoras until the next day, as the men needed their time to bury their dead, take care of the wounded men and generally rest after an exhausting night.

Once the agreement was made, Sam didn't lose a second to make his way back to his loved one, as he had promised.

When he reached the room, he saw Sebastian friendly kissing Blaine's forehead, apparently after a good conversation, eliciting a grateful smile from the elf. Sam felt grateful too that they had found such a good friend in those horrible times, especially considering how unthinkable it would had been just weeks before for an elf and a dwarf –especially those two very stubborn creatures– to become best friends. But it had happened, and Sam couldn't help but to wonder how many good things this war would bring, in spite of everything. A smile broke in his lips as he thought about the best of them all, the one that would take place when it was all over: his bonding with Blaine.

Sebastian realized he had been caught in his affectionate gesture toward the elf and immediately felt embarrassed about it, so he just mumbled some excuse that neither Blaine or Sam could understand and turned to the other bed, where he laid down with his back to them and didn't make a sound again until his snores filled the room.

Sam chuckled and moved to lay down himself, in a big need of rest and of being close to his lover, to reassure himself and Blaine of the love they had for each other after such horrible happenings. He climbed on the bed behind Blaine and wrapped his arms around the elf's body, holding onto him strongly and kissing the back of his neck. Blaine just rested his hands over Sam's arms, grateful for their protection and whispered three words that only Sam could hear.

"I love you" and there was so much emotion in his voice that Sam had to fight not to cry right there.

With that, the elf seemed to finally let go of some of the burden weighting his heart and he sighed. He brought Sam's hand to his own lips to kiss it and then he closed his eyes in contentment, purring in bliss as his lover rested his own head on the back of his neck and his breath warmed Blaine's skin.

"I love you too, my beautiful elf" Sam whispered close to his ear, and the two of them fell asleep almost in unison.

*melamin: my love

END OF PART 2