A/N: Yeah, I don't own anything.

***Chapter 38***

**Deirdre's POV**

I was pacing in the hallway, having to take a break from the agonizing torment that was waiting for Frodo to awaken. I had been sitting at his bedside diligently, but after a few hours the urge to move and work off some of the tension had become overwhelming. So now I walked back and forth in front of his door, preparing to return to the room which housed the unconscious Halfling.

Every member of our fellowship took turns waiting for the hobbits to awaken. Not because we as a group decided that everyone had to. But because if we took turns then someone was always with one of the two and the others could get a little piece of mind and could also get some things done. So after another minute, I headed back into the room that Frodo occupied.

Various scratches and bruises were scattered around his face, his eyes were surrounded by deep circles and he looked exhausted even though he slept. Aside from his semi-conscious state when Gandalf and the eagles had rescued him from among the lava outside of Mount Doom, he had not awoken since we had found him. The healers were confident that he was going to wake, but it was just going to take time since he had been so exhausted both physically and mentally. I brushed some of his dark hair away from his pale face and sat at the bedside, silently waiting for when he would awaken.

Time passed and I was slowly spacing out, absentmindedly stroking Frodo's hair every once in a while and humming songs to the sleeping hobbit. Suddenly, a loud slamming sound erupted from the entryway as the door crashed into the door. Jumping from shock, I fell backwards off of the bed and landed on my back, before sitting up to spy Saffy in the doorway.

"Sam's awake! He woke a few minutes ago, and I knew you would want to know." She gasped out in between ragged breathes, apparently she had sprinted the entire way from wherever she had recently been, most likely Sam's room at the other end of the houses of healing.

Bouncing off of the floor, I leaned over Frodo and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, murmuring a promise to return soon. I ran over towards the door and grabbed Saffy, dragging her behind me. I grabbed ahold of the handle to the door of Sam's room, trying to open the door, but falling into it and stumbling into the room.

Sam was sitting in the bed with the fellowship standing around him, his eyes widened when he saw Saffy and I and a smile graced his face. I returned the grin and fell onto the bed next to him, gracefully avoiding both Merry and Pippin who were sitting the bed beside him; I wrapped my arms around Sam.

"Welcome back to the world of the conscious, Sam." I commented, hugging him tightly against me.

"It's good to be back, and see you all again." Sam replied, eyes gazing over the entirety of our group. "How's Mister Frodo doing?"

"Frodo is resting right now, don't you worry. I am going to go watch over him now." Gandalf declared, rising from his seat in the chair in the corner of the room.

Sam nodded his head and we all watched as Gandalf swept out of the room, moving back to the room that I had so recently departed. After a moment, Sam's eyes swept across our company again and a slight frown crossed his face.

"Where's Boromir?" he questioned.

Silence fell among our gathering, no one wanted to be the one to answer question. Finally, unable to stand the silence anymore, I tried to break the silence and distract from it slightly.

"Why don't we wait to answer all your questions and all share our tales once Frodo wakes?" I offered the group, earning some nods of agreement and a few mhmm's. "Speaking of which, I think Frodo should be waking very soon."

And with that, a great cheer from both Merry and Pippin erupted and they took off running for Frodo's room. The rest of us left the room a little slower, helping Sam from the bed and making sure that he was good to walk before we all headed out. Aragorn walked next to Sam, making sure that if he stumbled that there was someone right there to catch him, while I walked just before him with Legolas.

By the time that we had arrived at Frodo's door, there was laughter erupting from inside and I could see several members of our party standing by the doorway. I peered inside and smiled seeing Frodo sitting up in bed with a smile on his pale face, Merry and Pippin sitting on either side of him.

"Deirdre! Legolas!" Frodo's voice cried out cheerfully.

I dragged Legolas into the room before bouncing over to the bed and sitting beside Frodo, pressing a kiss against his temple. He hugged me tightly before crying out in joy when Aragorn walked into the room, my eyes turned to the man and I smiled slightly seeing that he had washed his hair. My eyes ranged over all of our company as Sam slowly made his way into the room and silence fell slowly around us. Everyone in our party had changed from when we had all come together at the beginning of the quest. Sam looked more somber and serious than when we had left Rivendell, his eyes carried sadness and a small smile marked his pale, scratched face with dark circles beneath his eyes.

Gimli had tears filling his eyes, he may not have changed as much outwardly but it was tangible what he felt for the rest of us. A great friendship had grown between him and Legolas and the dwarf didn't seem to have the same gruff exterior as he had before, nor the same prejudices.

Legolas looked the same as he had before, his face maintaining the agelessness that it had when I had first laid eyes upon him. But he wasn't, his reserve was chipped away and I couldn't help but love that elf with all of my heart.

Aragorn had put aside the ranger exterior; his face had lost the dirt and gained responsibility. Even his clothing change was shocking, no longer was he garbed in rain soaked garments but in a tunic that befit the King of Gondor.

Gandalf had changed physically, no longer was he a grungy grey wizard, but he shone with an inner light as Gandalf the white. The lines in his face had deepened but there was joy shining in his face as he looked at Frodo caringly.

Nimiwen was strong physically but since we had met her she had opened up to our group and now was obviously a seriously badass chick. Her arms encased Saffron and the adoration they both held for each other was thick in the air about them.

Both Merry and Pippin had lost the carefree attitude of shire youths, their experiences marked them and formed lines on their innocent faces. Both were warriors, scarred from battle, but desperate to keep some of the carefree attitude if it could help their friends.

Frodo was pale and looked travel-worn, but his eyes shone with mirth as the weight that had weighed so heavily on his shoulders was tossed into the fires of Mount Doom, along with his finger.

And Saffy, my dear Saffy. She wasn't the girl that I went to high school with anymore. She was beautiful and grown, I was glad to say that she was my best friend. Instead of being innocent she now was a warrior and a lover. Middle earth had changed her; she could hold her own in a fight and had found someone who could make her truly happy. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the real her shining brightly in her face, not hidden behind makeup but my best friend, the bright girl no longer bound by any limitations.

"So what happened with all of you after Sam and I left?" Frodo questioned, drawing me out of my contemplative state.

Merry and Pippin automatically picked up on their story, giving step by step encounters with the Ents and their invasion of Isenguard, all the way through when they charged the black gates with the rest of our army. And all throughout, they would get up occasionally and act out parts of their story, earning smiles and laughter from our group.

Then Gimli gave the gruesome details of his battles as Aragorn and Legolas filled in on the rest of the story that Gimli wasn't as eager to share. Gimli included the scores of the battles between him and Legolas, declaring that he won the battle of Helm's deep, while I interjected that I won the battle of the Pelennor fields.

We insisted that Frodo and Sam give their story on the journey to Mount Doom. Frodo admitted how he had trusted Gollum and the fight with Shelob, and how he would have been lost without Sam who came back and saved the ring from being captured by the Orcs. Sam blushed when Frodo complimented him and his heroism. But neither would say how the ring was thrown into the fires, only that Gollum had taken the ring and Frodo's finger into the fires and death with him.

Gandalf shared all the knowledge that the rest of us weren't aware of, telling us how he got back from death after the battle with the Balrog as well as how he found the Rohirrim, even sharing the story of how he became friends with Shadowfax.

Finally, they pressed me to find out what made me go to Isenguard and everything that happened there. As I spoke, I could feel myself editing the story similarly to how Frodo had done. Explaining only the facts really, about the wound in my shoulder and how I wanted to even the odds between Saruman's Uruk army and the people of Rohan. The others seemed to understand my hesitation to talk about my time in Isenguard, as I wasn't really me when I was there and was instead a liar and traitor, so I was spared some of tale.

After that, Merry and Pippin took up the story again, telling Frodo and Sam about all the people that they had met, like the royal family of Rohan, the Ents, and Pippin had met Boromir's family. When Boromir was mentioned, tears were in many eyes.

As the stories wrapped up, Frodo's mouth opened in a yawn and Sam attempted to stifle a yawn of his own. I pressed a kiss to Sam's head just before he rose from the bed.

"I think it's time that we left Sam and Frodo to rest." Gandalf said as he rose from the chair that he was occupying.

The room vacated swiftly, Sam placing his hand on Frodo's shoulder and once Frodo patted his hand, he left the room. Finally, I was the last one in the room with Frodo and I pressed a kiss to the top of his head before moving towards the door.

"Deirdre, there was more to your story about Isenguard that you didn't tell us. Wasn't there?" Frodo asked, causing me to stop on my way out of the room.

"And there was more to hear about your tale in Mount Doom. Some things aren't happy to hear, but you know that don't you?" I responded before giving him a soft smile and leaving the room.

I made my way back to the room that Legolas and I shared, opening the door to find him lying back on the bed, relaxing. With a smirk I moved as quickly and quietly as I could before pouncing on the bed and capturing his lips in a kiss.

Instantly, Legolas flipped me over so that I was trapped beneath him and he trailed his lips down my neck, settling on my pulse point as my fingers wove into his hair and toyed with the sensitive tip of his pointed ears.

"You know that dinner is soon, correct?" he muttered, barely pulling away from my neck.

"Maybe we can skip tonight." I offered before pulling him back to my lips and working at the ties of his tunic.

***End Chapter***

So sorry that I haven't updated in forever, please forgive me. I've been super busy with both work and school. And sorry that this chapter is so short. I already have an idea about how I want the next chapter to be, so hopefully I will be able to get it up pretty soon.

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