I know I've been slacking off a lot… Unfortunately, I'm moving right now and in the past months I didn't have Internet since we were forced to stay in a small apartment we rented and said apartment didn't have a phone. I'm stuck with school computers – I thought mine was slow and all, but those are even worse!

I'm really sorry…I'm pretty sure most people have lost interest and stopped reading. I apologize again.

Arami: Why should I be offended by your suggestion? Your review really made my day! I'm really glad you told me all you felt about Victoria and Slytherins. Thanks again! As for Galadriel's bracelet – I haven't thought about that, I swear. That was just a random scene that popped into my mind while I was writing the chapter.

Unfortunately, I can't promise anything about Boromir – my characters tend to do whatever they want to. Boromir and Victoria weren't even supposed to get along so well when I started imagining this story, but…It simply happened.

Er…I hope you didn't read it twice. I'm having troubles with and inverted commas. I update twice to experiment a bit..

Lothliana: Actually, it was your review that coaxed me into updating as soon as I could- which means as soon as I'll get my hands on a computer. Thank you for shaking me out of my laziness. I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter – I'm sure here you'll find the answer to your question…

CHAPTER XXII: COME UNDONE

The next day, they went back aboard earlier than usual, rowing vigorously. The water was covered with a faint heat mist. The only sound was the paddles cutting through the waters of the Great River, the shores looked like distant ghosts. Victoria started singing, minding to keep her voice low, but even the Scottish ballad sounded sad in that gray morning.

"Oh, you'll take the high road and I'll take the low,

and I'll be in Scotland before you,

but me and my true love never meet again

on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond."

When the song ended, she did not start another one. She remained silent even when the fog was chased away by the sunrise.

The river ran through between two huge, perpendicular and impressive walls of rock. Then, after a bend, two enormous statues appeared, one on each riverbank like pillars of a gate. They looked like they were watching over everything with their eyes of stone. They were a breath-taking sight and their sense of solemnity and impressiveness was highlighted by the presence of the hawk flying in front of them.

"Frodo, the Argonath…" Aragorn murmured, staring at the faces of the statues. "Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old, my kin."

In the other boat, Victoria let out an appreciative whistle. "Wow…"

When they passed the statues, a great lake spread in front of them. On the other side, they could see the sprinklings of water, as white as clouds, from the Falls of Rauros. By the time they reached the shore, it was late in the morning.

"Are you okay?" Victoria asked to Boromir as he helped her get down from the boat.

"Not really…But don't you worry, I can do it," the warrior nodded, avoiding her gaze.

The girl took his hand. "You sure?" He nodded. "Ookay…" She put down her back pack and took something wrapped in a white-and-green scarf out of it. "Do I have half an hour?" she asked Aragorn.

"I think so, why?" He asked back.

"You see, Billy Yank…" she closed her backpack and stood up. "Today it's Sunday."

He frowned, "So, you are going to pray?"

"Exactly." Seeing the two Men and the Elf's dark faces, she added, "What's wrong?"

"Can't you do it here?" her father asked.

"Guys, we've already talked about this and more than once, too. I need some privacy. Please…"

Aragorn sighed. He knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Fine. But do not go too far,"

"And be careful!" Boromir added.

"Don't you worry." She started walking away, but before she entered the forest, Legolas stopped her by gently catching her by the arm. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to tell you not to let your guard down and come back as soon as you can."

"I will," she replied with a light pat on his arm. Then she left, closely followed by her hawk.

Legolas followed her with his eyes until the trees hid her from his view. He was worried and he wasn't the only one who felt like that. About a quarter of hour later, Boromir stood up and quietly walked into the woods. He needed to ponder on a few things and wanted look for Victoria. He didn't want her to be all alone, it could be too dangerous. Duke wasn't certainly enough to help her, should trouble arise.

"What are we waiting for, Aragorn?" Pippin asked.

"The sunset," the Ranger replied, unloading some bags. "We shall cross the lake at nightfall, hide the boats and continue on foot. We will approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh yes?" Gimli spoke up polemically. "Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks! And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking marshlands as far as the eye can see!"

"That is our road," Aragorn replied firmly. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

"Recover my…! Umpf!" he grunted, offended.

Legolas came near the leader of the Fellowship. "We should leave now."

"No. Orcs patrol Eastern shore. We must wait for cover of darkness."

"It is not the Eastern shore that worries me…" The Elf murmured, letting his gaze wander between the trees. "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind." He turned to look the other in the eyes. "Something draws near, I can feel it."

Meanwhile, Gimli kept on muttering under his breath like a pot of beans. "No Dwarf need recover strength! Pay no heed to that, young Hobbit!" He said to Merry, who had just came back from the forest, carrying a faggot of wood. The Hobbit looked around, worried. He had a strange feeling, as if something or somebody was missing… Suddenly, he realized what – or rather who – it was. "Where is Frodo?"

When he heard those words, Sam, who had dozed off, woke up immediately.

Out of instinct, Aragorn turned to the spot where Boromir had been resting a few minutes ago: now it was empty. Against the trunk of the big tree leaned his big, round shield, from which he had never parted before.

The wood was so silent, Frodo's own breathing seemed too loud. As he walked on between the huge fallen statues, on a carpet of withered leaves, he kept on repeating to himself that he had walked away just to clear his mind…Just to find the courage to leave for good. After all, that was like a 'dress rehearsal.'

'The problem is not leaving the camp unseen…is finding the strength not to go back.'

But that was hard, terribly hard. As soon as he had thought that, he had seen their faces dancing in front of his eyes. He had seen Merry and Pippin and Sam…and Victoria. A voice caught him off guard. "None of us should wander alone, you least of all."

He turned around swiftly, staring at the Man of Minas Tirith. Boromir was a few meters away and was gazing at the forest around them. He turned toward him for a moment, then he turned back toward the forest, looking for something he couldn't find. "Did you see Victoria?"

Frodo shook his head, but since the other wasn't looking at him he had to answer out loud. "No, I did not see her."

"And she said that she wouldn't have gone too far away from the camp! He shook his head. "When I find her, she shall hear about this!"

Frodo kept on watching him warily. He knew that the Man was truly worried…But a part of him warned him to be on his guard and suggested to himself to get away from there as fast as he could.

Victoria hurriedly strode through the thicket. She hadn't realized that she had walked that far. She glanced at her watch and discovered that she had been away for almost an hour. The girl quickened her pace, though she wasn't anxious to receive the lecture that was surely waiting for her at the camp. She pushed the branches of a bush out of her way. "Here I am! So, did you…" the rest of her sentence died in her throat. "Guys?"

No one answered. The clearing was empty.

She looked around, confused. Her heart started hammering in her chest, but she tried to keep her self-control and ponder calmly on the situation. There were no signs of a fight, and that was a good thing to begin with. Somebody else, in her place, might have thought that the others, worried by her long absence, had gone to look for her, but Victoria didn't think she was so important – and truth to be told, she undervalued herself. She didn't know what had happened exactly, but the first thing that had come into her head had been a single name, 'Frodo…'

She thought she heard a distant voice…Then she turned around and ran into the forest.

Victoria didn't know what or who she was looking for, but she could feel a thin, icy chill of fear in her soul.

A low noise caught her attention. She raised her gaze and saw her hawk roosted on a branch. "Duke, help me…"

That was enough: the hawk took off and flew high above the threes, watching the ground with his sharp eyes.

Victoria didn't know how long she had been walking between the trees, how long she had been searching in vain before Duke came back and guided her to the ruins of a great statue. There, leaning against the white marble, there was a man with his head hung low.

"Daddy…" She whispered.

Hearing her voice, Boromir raised his gaze but then dropped it down immediately. Victoria stood between the trees surrounded by the sunrays, confused and lost, the silver coronet he had given her shone upon her head…but he did not feel worthy to look at her, to be called her father. His sin was too grave.

Victoria knelt down in front of him, uselessly trying to meet his eyes. "Daddy, what happened? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Merilìs…I'm so sorry," he murmured. "It was all my fault!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, astonished. "Did you see Frodo?"

"I saw him…" Boromir answered dejectedly. "Unfortunately, I saw him."

In that moment, Victoria understood. "The Ring…" she murmured with half a sigh.

The warrior of Minas Tirth lowered his head, as if he wanted to disappear from her sight.

Victoria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she forced her father to look at her. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was! I should have…" She cut him off.

"You've done your best. You resisted until the end." She grasped his arm. "No one could have done more. It wasn't your fault."

Boromir shook his head. "I cannot believe it, Victoria." He raised his hands behind his neck to unfasten the cross he wore. "Take it back. I betrayed your trust, my people and the others, because of me the quest will fail…I cannot be called your father."

"Stop saying these idiocies!" She replied, pushing back the hand that offered her the cross. "Listen, you can't know what will happen. None of us can. And nobody says that the quest is doomed to fail. Frodo still has the Ring, let's not give it all up for lost." She fastened back the chain around his neck and grazed the crucifix. "Have faith, daddy…" She raised her gaze and met Boromir's eyes.

"I cannot understand you, Victoria…" He murmured. "Why do you keep on calling me father? Why do you insist on staying by my side if I failed?"

Victoria took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his own. "Because you are my father and I love you. Because I'm a Slytherin and not a damned Gryffindor. Because I'm not an Elf, but a human being just like you…and I know that if I had been in your place, surely I'd have sunk long ago."

"That's not true, your heart is strong…it didn't answer the Ring's call," he argued.

"Neither did yours." She ran her hands through her hair. "Can't you see it? I don't answer only 'cause the Ring doesn't call me!" She gripped his shoulders. "You carry the responsibility of a country devastated by war when I live of past and present…The Ring knows that there's nothing he could offer me." She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close. "I love you, daddy…and there's no one else in the world I would have in your place."

Though hesitantly, Boromir hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Merilìs…"

"It doesn't matter. As long as we keep on fighting, everything will be fine. And then…" she swallowed hard. "I should apologize to you, not the contrary."

He pulled her back a little, just enough to look at her face. "You? What are you talking about?"

"I should have been closer to you. I should have done better…" Her eyes started filling with angry tears. "I should have helped you, not burdened you."

"You have never been a burden to me, Merilìs…If it had not been for you and the little ones, probably I would have fallen a long time ago. You are not to blame yourself for what happened."

"We should have known…" the girl murmured, burying her head against his shoulder. "…that that scum attacks only by treachery." She held him a little bit tighter. "Remember, dad: even angels sometimes fall down, but it's just to fly higher than ever."

Boromir took her face between his hands. "You are my angel, Torey," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "You are my little girl, my little soldier, my morning star. If it wasn't for you…"

Victoria forced an half-smile, very embarrassed.

They stood up.

"I must beg Frodo's forgiveness…I hope he will understand."

"He will, he will…" Victoria reassured him.

Boromir lowered his gaze. "I hope you are right about this, Victoria…and about the rest too." He held her hand between his own. "For now, your forgiveness is more than I deserve."

The girl sighed exasperatedly. "We'll talk about this again…Now let's go back to the others."

They had taken but a few steps that they stopped dead in their tracks. The forest, silent and peaceful until a few minutes before, now echoed with bestial shouts, the clamor of swords resounded far away, the ground shook. Boromir instinctively turned to Victoria, who stood a few steps behind him. The young witch was pale and scared. "What's going on?"

"I do not know…But the others need us," he replied unsheathing his sword. For a moment he considered ordering her to stay hidden where they were now, but then she would have never obeyed such a command and, after all, that place wasn't really safe…and he would not have her leave his sight for a minute, or he wouldn't be able to help her and protect her.

"Let's go. Stay close to me and be very careful, understood?"

"Yes, dad."

And off they went.