Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own characters and the storyline. The rest belongs to Tolkien.

A/N: Hey guys. Once again, I apologise for the delayed update. Life has not been all that grand lately but fear not, I'm not about to let this fic suffer. Also thank you ever so much for the reviews that have dropped in during my hiatus, I'm glad people are still reading this and you guys are a huge inspiration for me to continue writing. Also, as updates may not be regular I'm going to try and make the chapters quite long. Without further ado, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

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"Home? What do you mean home?" Faramir had a feeling in his gut he knew exactly what Maggie meant but part of him was hoping he was wrong. Middle-Earth was his home and he was struggling to comprehend the ideas of worlds beyond theirs. From what Laura and the others had told him, there was no such thing as magic in their world. Hobbits, elves, dragons and dwarves did not exist. It was a world where men ruled and Faramir could not imagine a world where magic did not play a part in shaping ones destiny. For the first time in a very long time, Faramir felt fear because he didn't know what would happen next or how they were to get back to Middle-Earth. Eventually the rain quieted down and the storm faded. They walked in silence for two or so hours and it seemed as though Maggie wasn't sure how to handle these news either. The houses they passed by looked different from that of the architecture in Gondor – the houses were smaller and in some ways more quaint and elegant. Each of them had its own garden and fence around it; it was almost like how the hobbits would often describe Hobbiton.

"This is a village of sorts?" said Faramir as he broke the silence between them. He heard Maggie let out a heavy and somewhat concerned sigh.

"Yeah, Riley and I grew up here. We're not far from my mum's house." Maggie felt a heavy lump in her stomach growing. She had no idea of how this situation was going to progress; hell she didn't even know how she felt about it all. There was no telling how long it had been since their departure to Middle-Earth, time ran differently between the two worlds and Maggie had never been able to fully understand it.

Faramir kept looking around him, reacting to every new noise and when the first car drove by them the steward of Gondor stood nearly mortified. "What in the name of the Valar is that?" he asked

"That is a car; it's a transportation vehicle. It's how we get around. It's not going to hurt you or well, that would actually depend on the driver I suppose." Maggie explained and couldn't help but to smile at Faramir's confused expression.

"Are horses not good enough in this world of yours?"

"Well, horses are just a bit slow." Faramir almost looked offended but decided to not argue. This was very clearly nothing his world and he had a feeling there were stranger things he was going to encounter. They soon came to a house at the very end of the road which didn't look much different from the others but Éomer saw the look in Maggie's eyes as they were stood outside the fence. She let out a sigh, probably heavier than she had meant for it to be but without saying anything she opened the gate and walked down the brick path that lead up to the front door. She raised her hand to knock on the door but stopped and turned around to Faramir.

"Uhm, right. I don't know how this is going to go. Time in our world doesn't flow the same way it does in Middle-Earth, there's no telling how much time will have passed over here or how long I've been gone so it's probably best if I do the talking. My mum can be a bit….hysterical." said Maggie, and boy was it true. She eventually knocked on the door and it took a few moments but the door was opened by the woman Éomer assumed was Maggie's mother.

You could rather easily tell they were related; they had the same caramel coloured, wavy hair although Maggie's hair was longer and fell down to below her waist. Her mother's hair also had some grey streaks in them. Faramir estimated that she was probably in her late fifties. Faramir remembered that when he had first met Maggie however, all those years ago it had been a fair amount shorter but she had let it grow out over the years. They also shared the same dark brown eyes. There was a moment of silence between them and Maggie's mother seemed to be surprised to see her daughter which probably wasn't that strange.

"Maggie!" she exclaimed happily. She pulled her daughter in for a hug and Maggie. "You should have told me you were coming, I'd have gotten of these scrubs. We're repainting the attic."

"Uhm, yeah. Sorry. Surprise visit. You're…not upset?"

"Upset? Goodness no, I was actually going to phone you to ask when you were planning on visiting. I've not heard from you in a while." Maggie had a mixed look of surprise and relief on her face. Judging from her mother's reaction she couldn't have been gone for as long as she first assumed.

"Yeah, about that. When was the last time we spoke? I can't quite remember." Maggie asked.

"Oh gosh well let's see. Not decently in a few months I think, maybe four? It's been a bad mad and I remember Riley saying something about the both of you having exams and assignments so I figured you'd be in touch when you have time. I never expected a surprise visit. I'm so glad to see you."

Maggie's mother hugged her again and it was only afterwards she realised Faramir was stood behind Maggie and she only then seemed to notice that their clothes were a little out of place. Maggie was still in her dress and Éomer was in his usual robes.

"Who's your friend?" asked Maggie's mum.

"Oh, right, mum this is Faramir. Faramir, this is my mum, Susan." said Maggie. Susan reached out her hand for a handshake and Faramir bowed in his usual polite manner.

"It's nice to meet you. Faramir is quite an unusual name. Where are you from?" asked Susan

"He's an exchange student from Scandinavia. Sweden. He wanted to see a bit more of the country so I figured I'd bring him with me. I hope that's okay."

"Sweden? How fascinating! Yes of course that's okay but you shouldn't be standing out here, it's going to rain any minute. Come in, I'll put the kettle on."

Susan went inside before them. Maggie turned to Faramir and gave him a look of relief and to be perfectly honest, Faramir felt the same relief. It was all strange to him however and there were a lot of things they needed to figure out but at the moment, he was cold and wasn't going to say not a warm cup of tea.

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"What do you mean they're gone? Where they kidnapped? They can't just have disappeared into thin air." Laura sounded more hysterical than she had meant to. After all the things that had happened in the short time they had all been in Minas Tirith, this was the last thing they needed. To be honest all she had wanted was a peaceful and an uneventful reunion with her friends, her family but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

"Something else is at work here Aragorn." said Elrond, he had been pacing back and forth so much that it was starting make everyone a bit nervous. "Maggie has disappeared from my sight."

"What the hell does that even mean? Laura is right, they can't just be gone they have to be somewhere." Nat said

"Maybe they are somewhere though." Everyone turned their attention to Felix whom had remained silent for a while. There was so much to this that was strange but if Felix had learned one thing about Middle-Earth it was that everything always happened for a reason even though that reason sometimes wasn't always clear.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Nat

"You remember that night we first arrived in Middle-Earth. The first time we met Aragorn and the hobbits? There was a thunderstorm, just as a violent as this one." said Felix.

"What are you suggesting?" Merry asked. He remembered that night clearly. It had been one of the strangest moments of his life. The five of them, Laura, Felix, Maggie, Nat and Riley had all just appeared in a pile on the ground from out of nowhere. It was a moment that Merry would never forget.

"It's just a feeling in my gut, I could be wrong but if Elrond can't even sense Maggie, and the gods know their bond is strong, then maybe they're not in Middle-Earth anymore."

An eerie, uncomfortable silence filled them room as if everyone present were contemplating the possibility of Felix's words. Stranger things had happened and even Lord Elrond had to admit that it wasn't entirely impossible.

"But that's not possible." said Laura "No. Gandalf said once we made our choice we couldn't go back home. Not ever. You were all there, you heard him." Laura wasn't sure what scared her so much about it but she felt, perhaps like everybody else, that there was something else behind it and whatever it was, it didn't feel right.

"Felix is right though," said Aragorn as he sat down, deep in thought. "It is the only thing that makes sense."

"But why?" Nat asked "Why Faramir and Maggie? Why those two?"

Aragorn and Elrond exchanged glances.

"Aragorn," said Frodo, who had merely been observing and listening for a while. "What's wrong?"

"What aren't you telling us?" Felix asked

"Maggie has been having dreams lately," said Elrond "Although personally I think they are visions, and if Felix is right regarding their whereabouts it would explain rather a few things."

"What kind of visions?"

"She has been having visions of Riley." As soon as Riley's name was mentioned, the room fell quiet and there was a sort of heavy feeling in the air. It had been years since their friend's death but the pain hadn't necessarily eased nor had it become any easier to deal with. The last person to have had been visited by Riley in visions had been Laura at the very end of the War of the Ring to tell her that everything was going to be okay. What if it really was Riley? Why had he visited Maggie in the first place? Did he have anything to do with the fact Maggie and Faramir were gone. If they were back in their world, back on Earth, it would be a hell of a transition for Faramir who knew nothing about their world except what Laura and the others had told him.

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"Bloody hell I'd forgotten how much of a nag mum she can be." Maggie sank down onto her bed and let out a deep breathe. They had spent the evening mainly listening to her mother telling her all about the gossip that had been going on in the village and things they had missed out on. Admittedly, she had missed some of that, just talking and listening to her mother ranting about how useless her father was. "God I hope I don't turn into her with Caspian. Of which we'll say no words okay?"

Faramir raised an eyebrow. "You wish to not tell your mother about your son?" he asked. He'd been given one of the guest room's to stay in and after Susan had retreated to bed Faramir had walked into Maggie's room.

"Well I'd love to, it would just be the whole matter of explaining who his dad is and you know the fact that I've been in Middle-Earth for the past six years when it's clearly not been that long here." Maggie sat down on her bed and breathed "Now I know what the Pevensies had to go through every time they came back from Narnia."

"Whom?"

"I'm just talking to myself. Right, we might be here for a while so we're going to need to get you some new clothes I doubt anything in Riley's wardrobe will fit you so we're gonna have to head into town tomorrow." Although it would be quite amusing to see the look both Faramir's and the local's faces when they headed into town.

"What's wrong with the clothes I wear?" asked Faramir, with a semi-offended expression on his face.

Maggie couldn't help but to chuckle. "Oh, you'll see."

To be continued…..

So that was finally an update and a long-ish chapter. I also finally have an outline for this story and have a plot which I think you'll rather like when it all unfolds. Please review!