ANDREA

Invisible, I walk past Sam towards the cavern's exit, but Gollum jumps at me, knocking me to the ground. Shrieking, I claw at Gollum frantically as he sits on my back. I have to protect the Ring! I have to protect the precious! I roll so that I am on top, drawing my fists back and pummeling him with all the strength I can muster. He wouldn't have it! I won't let him take it from me. It's mine, my own, my precious!

Gollum grabs my fist that bears the Ring and bites hard, the shock of pain making me regain my senses. I bite back, the copper tang of blood filling my mouth along with two of Gollum's fingers. He lurches back, hitting his head against the ground. With him slightly dazed from pain, I stand up and bring my foot down hard on his face until I'm sure he's unconscious, spitting out his digits and blood.

"Asshole," I gasp, running over to Sam, who's just beginning to come to. "It'll be alright, Sammy," I promise, removing the Ring," I'm back and better than ever."

KHARL

I let out a yell when I see Ashley's body lying on the ground, sprinting to her and cradling her in my arms. She was still breathing, but only faintly. Her chest was barely moving under the heavy chainmail shirt she was in. Quickly, I set about removing the chainmail but trying to leave her shirt in place to keep others, not to mention myself, from seeing her chest. It was a Jack Sparrow moment of clarity that made me do it, realizing the heavy garment was hindering her.

A great stomping sound that shakes the earth makes me look up in the middle of my chore, a giant troll stomping its way through the battle and towards me. Not pausing to think, I grab Ash and carry her like a sack of potatoes through the battle, one hand wrapped around my sister's knees and the other supporting my sword, I stop to fight only when I have to.

ANDREA

"Watch out," Sam cries as Gollum jumps on me again, stealing the Ring out of my hand and beginning to dance around near the edge of the crest we were on. I glare at him, my anger boiling over at all he's caused. Rising slowly, I leave Sam on the ground and approach Gollum, kicking him square in the stomach and forcing him over the edge into the lava below, taking the Ring with him.

I collapse on the ground, glad to finally be rid of the damn thing. "We did it, Sammy, we destroyed it!"

KHARL

Terrible sounds issue from Mordor, all eyes drawn to the place. The Trolls sprint off in fear of the noises, which makes me nervous for the simple matter of them being way bigger than I am and whatever scares them is probably even worse of me. I look down at my sister, having gotten her mail off but unable to staunch her head wound.

It is deep and crusted with dirt, bleeding profusely and worse than any injury she's ever had. "It's over, Ash," I tell her as Sauron's dark tower crumbles into a pile of smoking rumble. "Andi's done it, we've won!" The Black Gate crumbles next, the Orcs fleeing in all directions as I sit and watch Mount Doom erupts, the ground crumbling in a near-perfect circle around us to swallow the Orcs and monsters.

We may have won, but Sam and Andrea could never have survived that.

ANDREA

Sam and I stagger out of the exit, dodging lava and flying debris, a blast of hot air throwing us on a large slab of rock. From above, Nazgûl fall, balls of flame and screams of agony until they hit the ground with enough force to kill anything. The ground shakes violently under us as the rock we're on floats out into a river of lava.

"It's finally over," I smile, exhausted.

"Yes," Sammy nods, relaxing on his back. "It's done with." I close my eyes to keep them from stinging in the heat, finally at rest.

"I can see my home... The rolling fields of my farm, grassy and full of places to explore. My mum and dad, and my sisters. Lemon fried chicken…"

"Rosie Cotton dancing," Sam reminisces," she had ribbons in her hair." I look over at my friend, taking his hand in mine as he starts to cry. "If I ever was to marry someone…. It would have been her…. It would have been her." I pull him close to me, resting my cheek against the top of his head as he continues to sob.

"I couldn't have done this without you, Sammy. I'm glad to have you here even though I did kind of lose it back there." We share a tear filled smile before I close my eyes again, waiting for death to come for me.

ASHLEY

When I open my eyes, I'm no longer on the battlefield but in a large room on a bed. I look around me, still in the stage of half-sleep where everything is strange and out of place. Everything is done up in white and gold, and the sunlight streaming in from the open balcony doors makes me wince. Could this place be any damn brighter?

"Where the hell?" I sit up slowly, almost not able to on my own as a searing pain runs the length of my right side. "What happened?"

"You were thrown by a Fell-beast." My head snaps to the right where Adar is sitting on the edge of my bed. "You were also cut by an Orc blade here." He touches my forehead above my left eye. "And Kharl accidentally cut open your ride side while trying to remove your chainmail so you could breathe easier." Nodding, I rest against the head board and soft pillows, contemplating everything.

"The others, are they okay?"

"Perfectly fine. The only one we're waiting on now that you're awake is Andrea." I swallow past a lump in my throat and blink back the tears. "She'll be fine too, you know. She's too stubborn to do anything but hold on, just like you." I smile at that, snuggling up next to him for warmth. It's so cold in the room that I had begun to shiver. "You should get some more rest. I'll come find you when Andrea wakes up. I'm sure Haldir would be happy to come in here and keep you warm, Lariel."

"Oh, I'm sure he would." My reply is muffled by a yawn and soon I'm back in Dream Ville, a place where talking pickles rule and that damn Ring never happened.

ANDREA

The last thing I expected to do was wake up, let alone wake up to the sound of soft snores. I open my eyes to see the cause of the snoring, wincing in the harsh sunlight that filtered in through gauzy white curtains. Sitting on a bench across from the bed I'm lying on are Ashley and Kharl, leaning their backs against each other with their mouths hanging wide open. I was kind of hoping to see a topless Aragorn sitting on the edge of my bed and holding a tray of chocolate covered strawberries, but no, I get two geeks snoring and drooling all over themselves.

"That's attractive," I quip, sitting up. Ash's eyes snap open at the sound of my voice and she jumps up, leaving poor Kharl to fall backwards and then roll onto the floor.

"You're alive," she shouts, pouncing on the bed and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. At her loud-mouthed cry, Aragorn and all the others run into the room, leaving Kharl to sleep on the floor. He doesn't even twitch when Pip and Merry step on him in order to climb onto the bed. Sam follows soon after, pulling me into an even tighter hug than Ashley had. All of them start talking at once, the overlapping voices drowning out Kharl's snores.

I laugh, bantering with Ashley, flirting with Aragorn, and playing I-spy with the Hobbits, while I tease Gimli and Legolas' friendship. I had missed all of this and it was what I looked forward to in the beginning part of the journey to Mordor. It was also all Sam would talk about back then until the hopelessness had kicked in.

"I've missed you so much," Aragorn tells me when the others leave, dragging Kharl behind them. "I dreamed of the day I would see you again, now I dream of the day you become my Queen and rule at my side."

"With one condition."

"And what's that?"

"I ain't calling Ashley my daughter. That would be weird on so many levels that it ain't even funny!" He chuckles, hugging me close and allowing me to rest my head against his broad chest. I had a few scrapes and cuts in places, a scar around my index finger where Gollum had bit me, and pale scar from getting pumped full of Shelob's venom, but was unmarked other than those. "I missed you so much."

"And I you." I could make out faint whispering from the other side of the door, sharing and amused look with Aragorn as he held a finger up to his lips. With stealth that could put a Ninja to shame, he rises from the bed and tiptoes across the room to the door, grinning broadly as he throws it open with no notice. Kharl falls forward with two Hobbits and Ashley landing on top of him, three of the four looking sheepish.

"I was looking for my contacts," Ashley tries as she sets up on her elbows. I raise my eyebrows, staring at her until she gave in and smiled. "Alright, I was making sure my dear old—and I mean old—dad here made sure to tell you how great I was at keeping him celibate."

"She was the best birth control I could hope for."