A/N: I'll put my sappy Author's Note up here this time, just so I don't ruin the mood of the ending.

Well, what can I say? We've hit the end to another one of these stupid stories that you all seem to keep reading for some reason. And for that, I'm insanely thankful. Reading your reviews and hearing your feedback always puts a smile on my face (whether you believe it or not, it does).

But I'd be remiss if I didn't give a HUGE shout out to the two girls that made this happen in the first place. Kaia and Kathryn: Where would I be without you? Hell if I know, but I doubt it would be as good as the life I'm living now. One of the biggest reasons I love these stories is because they'll always be around to remind me of you guys. Even after we've graduated this year and split off into different directions for college...There's always going to be Chaos Unleashed. There's always going to be Changing Destinies. So thank you for being my dearest friends and helping bring these stories into existence. You guys are the best. 3

Happy reading, everyone! I'll see you around real soon. ;)

Chaos Unleashed: Part Two

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kathryn's POV

"Frodo!" I skidded to a halt, dropping to my knees where the hobbit lay in a crumpled ball on the ground. "Oh God, Oh God..." Slipping my arms underneath him, I managed to roll him over, positioning him so that he was half-draped across my lap. "Frodo! Can you hear me? Are you okay? Frodo!"

Relief washed over me when a cough came out of him, followed by a weak moan, and then eyelids fluttering open. "...Kathryn..."

"Yeah, I'm here," I said. Then I noticed the blood. "Oh my God! Frodo, what happened?" Blood slowly oozed from a point high up on his shoulder, almost right on his neck. It had been dripping down his side, and only now did I notice how pale he looked compared to normal. Holy shit, this is not good.

The hobbit took a moment to catch his breath. "Gollum..." he said weakly. "Gollum...he tried to take the Ring..."

My eyes widened as I heard footsteps come up behind me. "Where is he?"

"Gone," Frodo answered, trying to nod in some general direction down the hill. "Kaia...he went after Kaia."

I glanced in that direction, but saw no sign of her. I had no doubt that she could hold her own against Gollum, though. She was the least of my concerns in that moment. "Kathryn..." I glanced over my shoulder, again relieved to see Boromir standing behind me. He was staring at Frodo with an odd mix of fear and something else on this face.

I looked back down at Frodo, feeling that same fear being to settle in my stomach. "Where's the Ring?" I asked quickly. "Frodo, where?" Slowly, he raised a hand to his chest, opening it to reveal the One Ring sitting in the center of his palm.

"I'm so sorry, Kathryn..." he whispered. "So sorry..."

"It's okay, Frodo," I hushed him, still on the verge of panic as I turned to Boromir. "He's lost too much blood already," I said to him. "Boromir, we have to do something!"
But his eyes were now looking down the hill again. "Kathryn, we must keep moving! The Orcs are coming further up the mountain!"

"We can't leave him!" I insisted. "He could die! Where's Aragorn? He can fix this, I'm sure." My eyes rapidly scanned the scene before me, but I couldn't see the ranger anywhere. "No, no no!" I cried, looking back down to Frodo. "Boromir, he's dying!" my voice cracked. "What do we do?" No response. I whipped my head around. "Boromir!"

What I saw scared me even more. He was staring down again...but not at Frodo. "Kathryn..." he said softly. "...Give it to me."

I shook my head. "No. No, Boromir, don't you do this to me now! You've got to fight it!"

"Kathryn-"

I angled Frodo away from him, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "I will not let you have the Ring!" This can't be happening. Oh, please God, make this stop. I can't save them both.

"Kathryn!" Boromir snapped. "Can he walk?"

"Of course not!"

Boromir knelt down next to me, looking right in my eyes. "Our enemies have surrounded us. We are scattered, divided, and all but leaderless. I see only one way out of this."

I stared at him, the gears slowly turning in my head. "...No. No, you can't!" But his hand was already reaching out, already closing around the tiny golden band.

Boromir swallowed thickly and looked at the Ringbearer. "Frodo..." His voice was shaking. "I am sorry for every way I have ever wronged you. Twice I nearly broke my vows to protect you." He paused. "...No more."

"Boromir!" I cried. "No!"

"I am honored to have called you my friend." The Gondorian stood up, gripping the Ring tightly in one hand, his beloved shield in the other as he looked down at me. "Keep him safe, Kathryn."

"Don't do this," I begged him, powerless to do anything else with the hobbit in my lap. "Please." He held my gaze for a moment longer before shaking his head and turning away.

oOo

Boromir's POV

As much as I wished I could have remained, I knew I could not afford to falter. Before I could rethink my decision, I had turned and gone, running up the mountainside with what strength I had left in me. I will not succumb to this darkness.

The Ring burned in my hand, a weight that was almost impossible to carry. Son of Gondor... it whispered.

But I refused to listen. I had no choice but to shut it out. I will resist your lies. An Orc came at me from the side, and I blocked his blade with my shield, though I felt myself shudder from the impact.

This is your chance, it whispered. You could reclaim all the glory you deserve. You could make your people proud.

No. Not that way. Another enemy jumped forward, and this time I swung my shield out in an attempt to strike him. It failed, and the Orc stuck his blade out at me. I moved aside, the tip of it barely grazing my cheek. Hissing in pain, I pushed him aside and kept running.

You have failed. Keep going. Even now, you are too weak to take advantage of such an opportunity. Too blind to see what lies in front of you.

I saw clearly enough. I will make my father proud, I told myself. I will make my brother proud. I will make Frodo proud. I will make Kathryn proud. Another Orc approached, and again I blocked with my shield. I will not succumb to this darkness!

oOo

Faramir's POV

Another slash, and the Orc before me fell to the ground with a thud. I took a moment to catch my breath, but was distracted by hearing faint screams in the distance. My eyes found the source of the sound – it was Kathryn. She was hunched over what looked like a body, and she was weeping, but not over them. Her gaze pointed elsewhere. I followed it, and once I saw the cause of her tears, felt every muscle in my body go rigid. There, running in the direction of Mount Doom's great doorway, was my brother; shield in hand, wrenching away from where an Orc had sunk a knife deep into his side.

"NO!" I screamed, taking off towards him. "BOROMIR!" Orcs continued to swarm around me. I stopped fighting them entirely, only pushing them out of my way now. Anything to get to my brother. "BOROMIR! STOP!"

oOo

Boromir's POV

I tried desperately to ignore the searing pain in my side; the feeling of warm blood dripping down my leg as I shoved another Orc out of the way. I will not stop. I must...I must reach it...

You are weak, the Ring hissed again from where I still firmly held it in my hand. A lesser son of greater sires. Your father would be ashamed to see you now.

My father... But then I heard his voice, echoing in the back of my mind amongst all the others. "Ever the Ring will seek to corrupt the hearts of weaker men, but you! You are strong!"

I am strong... I kept running, gasping in pain as the slope started to become less steep. Heat began to radiate from inside the volcano.

"Remember today, little brother," I heard myself saying. I took another step, but the pain was too great. Dropping my shield, I collapsed to the ground, crying out in agony.

oOo

Faramir's POV

I watched him fall. "NO!" I screamed so loud I thought my voice would be ruined for an entire age. "BOROMIR!"

oOo

Boromir's POV

"By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe!"

You have failed. You have failed them all.

I would not succumb to such darkness. I pushed my shield aside, mustering every ounce of remaining strength I had to lift myself up on my knees and continue forward.

"Yes, there is weakness, there is frailty, but there is courage also!"

Gondor will fall. The greatest kingdom of men in the West will come to ruin by your hand!

I crawled further, dirt giving way to smooth stone. I am Boromir, Son of Gondor.

Isildur's Bane is yours for the taking! Do not throw away such power so rashly!

I am strong.

"Never again will the land of my people fall into enemy hands!" I kept crawling. The heat was excruciating. My limbs grew heavy. I kept crawling.

This will be your ruin! You could have the power to hold dominion over all Men!

But I did not want that power. "If this is the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

You are a fool! You will never make it out of this alive!

"...Gondor will see it done."

I kept crawling. I could see the edge of the walkway through the haze of smoke. It was so close... I coughed, blood dribbling from my lips.

You have forsaken those you love! They will burn! Your world will burn!

"Gondor will see it done."

I pulled myself forward. The Ring still burned hot in my hand.

There is nothing you can do to save them! You can never save them!

Gondor will see it done. My fingers reached the edge of the stone, and I pulled myself forward again, just enough to look down and see the fiery inferno far below. "Gondor...will see it done..." Blackness crept up from the corners of my vision, threatening to overcome. I reached my hand out over the edge, closing my eyes and feeling the impossible weight leave my hand just as the last of my consciousness faded from me.

Gondor has seen it done.

oOo

Kaia's POV

I watched the greatest spectacle Middle-Earth had ever seen in silence. Sauron's great Eye withered up as he screeched in unbearable agony, shrinking and writhing around at the top of Barad-Dûr. Then, piece by piece, the obsidian tower began to crumble, slowly collapsing as our most powerful enemy continued to scream. The Orcs ran wild through the lands of Mordor, their terror evident as they also witnessed the fall of their Master. The black clouds above our heads rolled and twisted as Barad-Dûr continued to disintegrate, and I even caught the shrieks of the Nazgûl from where they sat atop their great beasts in the sky. The unthinkable was happening. Sauron was dying. Evil was dying. With one final cry of anguish, the Eye folded in on itself and burst, sending a shockwave across the land and decimating any remains of the tower it had once occupied.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound like an explosion from behind, and all heads turned to see Mount Doom erupt in a glorious display of fire and brimstone. It rained down onto the plains of Mordor like a meteor shower, angry reds and oranges streaking across a deep grey sky, many of them catching the Nazgûl aflame. I could honestly say that I had never seen anything like it in my entire life.

I looked to my left and wrapped an arm around Kathryn, who was sobbing as she watched lava come flowing out of the entrance to the mountain. Faramir sat beside her in near silence, tears also streaming down his face as he quietly wept. Merry and Pippin were crying too, for both Boromir and the unconscious Frodo.

I watched as the lava surrounded our small island of rock, feeling the exhaustion start to creep over my shoulders. I almost hadn't believed Kathryn when she'd told me what Boromir had done, but my respect for the man was endless because of it. He'd overcome his greatest obstacle by destroying it himself, and laid his life down for the good of the quest in the process. I bowed my head as a sign of appreciation, continuing to sit in silence as the aches and pains of battle continued to make themselves known.

After what seemed like ages, I laid down on the rock and stared up at the sky, watching as the first few ribbons of sunlight broke through the clouds overhead. It's done. The light grew stronger, brighter, cleansing what had once been the most tainted land in all of Middle-Earth. We did it. We actually did it. An extreme happiness that I hadn't felt in months descended on me like a silk blanket, and a ghost of a smile appeared on my face as I saw hints of blue start to bring color back into the world. Just as I closed my eyes to allow sleep to take over, the cry of an eagle sounded in the distance. Never had one sound given me so much joy.

oOo

Kathryn's POV

It seemed like the next several days passed us by in slow motion. I remembered waking up on a bed of feathers for what seemed like a fraction of a second, and the next thing I knew I was being gently shaken awake by Gandalf as he announced that we had to walk the rest of the way back to Minas Tirith from where the eagles had left us on the borders of Ithilien. Frodo had recovered well from his injury thanks to Aragorn and Gandalf's combined healing skills, so we were able to move much faster going back than we had been when traveling into Ithilien.

At one point in the afternoon, we came to the top of a large hill, and I stopped there, turning around and looking back over my shoulder as Kaia and Frodo stepped up on either side of me. We looked out at the land that laid before us: the valleys of Ithilien, where Erin had sacrificed herself for our sake, and the borders of what had once been Mordor, where Boromir had given up his life in order to bring peace back into the world. It was hard to think that two of our dearest friends had been taken from us in such a short span of time. "...We never really did get the chance to grieve," I said quietly, feeling the all too familiar tightness in my chest rise up as I spoke.

"We didn't have the time then," Kaia said. "...But now we do." She took a deep breath, looking down into the valley. "See you on the other side someday, Erin. I wish you could've been here to see how all our hard work paid off."

"I'll miss you," I whispered to the wind. "You and all your stupid jokes." My voice shook.

"You gave your life nobly," Frodo said. "I wish I could've done something half as brave as your sacrifice."

Then Kaia lifted her gaze to the mountains above. "And you, Boromir...wow. I won't ever forget about you. I'll make sure they sing about you in every single song and write your name in all the history books. You deserve it."

I tried so hard to not cry again. "You did it," I whispered. "You fought back...and you saved yourself. Faramir and I are both so proud of you."

Frodo was quiet for awhile, and at first I thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, but when he did, it was so full of emotion I could barely handle it. "...Farewell, Boromir, Son of Gondor. May your memory never fade." He turned and began to walk down the other side of the hill, and Kaia and I slowly followed. But all the while, I kept throwing glances back over my shoulder, wishing that one of those times I would look back to see them running after us, laughing and telling us to wait up.

oOo

Kaia's POV

The grief still clung to us like smoke, even after we'd reached Minas Tirith. I was sitting on the balcony of the room Éomer and Faramir had provided for Kathryn and I, staring out towards the horizon as the last of the sunlight disappeared for the day. Kathryn came up beside me and took the other seat, with Frodo not far behind. The young hobbit had taken to spending a lot of time with the two of us ever since we'd started the journey back, which was totally fine by Kathryn and I. It felt...comforting to have our little trio wandering the halls together again, even if it wasn't quite the same lineup as before.

Kathryn poured herself a bit of wine as she also stared out at the landscape ahead. "...I feel like I didn't do enough."

I glanced her way, frowning. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "I don't know... I mean, I should've done more to try and protect both of them. Boromir and Erin didn't deserve to die...they were probably two of the most passionate people in the Fellowship. They both loved Middle-Earth so much...and they don't even get to see it now that it's being restored."

"Erin and Boromir willingly chose their own fates," Frodo reassured her. "It had nothing to do with you. They laid down their lives for the sake of the quest, showing courage and wisdom beyond their years." His eyes jumped between the two of us. "This is exactly what was meant to happen. Middle-Earth is restored, and now the world can thrive in peace as Aragorn takes his rightful place on the throne."

"Speaking of which..." I looked up at Kathryn as she turned back to me. "Are you going to take Aragorn up on his offer to be part of his royal guard?"

I shook my head. "No."

Kathryn frowned. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "I just...don't want to be stuck in one place all the time. After everything that's happened, I don't think I'll ever be able to settle down somewhere or whatever."

"What will you do?" Frodo asked.

"Still working on that part," I admitted. "Maybe I'll just start traveling. See all that Middle-Earth has to offer now that it's safer. I assume you'll be going back to the Shire, right?" He nodded, and I looked back at Kathryn. "What about you?"

"I think I'm going to follow the hobbits up there, too," she said. "It seems like a pretty happy place, from what I'm told. I've always wanted to see what it's like up there."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you think you're going to stay here for awhile first?"

"Actually, I was planning on leaving within the next couple days."

"What?" Kathryn looked shocked. "So soon?"

"You'll be missing Aragorn's coronation ceremony!" Frodo said.

"And Faramir's wedding too, remember?" Kathryn cut in. "He said he's soon going to propose to that Lothíriel girl to help get his mind off things."

"Aragorn already knows that I won't be there," I said, "and I'm pretty sure Faramir won't be too devastated if I'm not at his wedding."

"But why are you leaving so soon in the first place?" Frodo asked, still totally confused.

My gaze fell on a very important set of items that were stored by my bed on the far side of the room. "I have something really important to do."

oOo

I nodded to the guard in thanks, removing my veil and hood as I worked my way down the long, winding pathway. Erin hadn't been kidding when she'd said how breathtaking the structure of this place was. I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that it had all been carven out of stone.

But even so, I didn't want to be here for very long. I quickly came to the end of the pathway, bowing low before the man before me as he sat upon his throne. "My Lord."

Thranduil's voice was deep and intimidating. "Who are you," he asked, "and what are you doing trespassing in my kingdom? It is an odd thing for a mortal woman to be wandering these woods alone."

"Forgive me," I said, stepping forward and reaching under my cloak. "I was asked to return something to you." Unhooking the clasp, I carefully removed the sheath and twin knives from where they'd been sitting on my back. I held them out to the elvenking, clearing my throat when he abruptly stood up. "They belonged to your son."

The look on his face was heartbreaking, I'll admit. "My son..." It seemed like Thranduil couldn't grasp the idea that Legolas hadn't returned...or maybe he just didn't want to accept it. His cool blue eyes met mine, looking confused and deeply wounded. "...How came you by these?" he asked softly.

I sucked in a breath. "They were passed on to me by Erin." I saw the recognition spark in his eyes. "She...she would want you to know that he's been properly buried."

Thranduil didn't look away from the knives once as he slowly descended the steps and approached me. I noticed that his hands shook slightly as he reached out and took them from me, but didn't mention it. "...You have my deepest gratitude," he said, still not looking up at me until several seconds later. "Thank you." I could see how hard he was struggling to keep his emotionless mask in place. I nodded once, turning on my heel and leaving the king without another word.

oOo

It is said that the elvenking grieved long and hard for his son upon hearing news of his death. His spirit was deeply wounded for much of his life, but eventually he found solace in knowing that Legolas died an honorable death as a noble warrior. A great tomb was built to honor the Prince of Mirkwood, capturing all his splendor, grace, and spirit in a most excellent way.

Aragorn went on to become the greatest king of the Men in the West since the days of Númenor. Though he was never able to marry the love of his life, Arwen Undómiel, he worked tirelessly for the rest of his days to bring peace and prosperity to all the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. Meriadoc and Peregrin returned to the Shire with enough magnificent tales to last a lifetime, and are hailed as some of the most famous hobbits in the Shire from now until forever for their daring deeds.

The wizard Gandalf also spent much of his time cleansing Middle-Earth before one day building a grey ship to carry him across the sea, taking many of the last elves remaining in Middle-Earth with him to the Undying Lands. Lord Faramir was happily wedded to the Lady Lothíriel of Dol Amroth, and he became the hand of the King Aragorn Elessar, well-respected and trusted across all of Arda.

Now what of Kathryn and Kaia, you may be wondering? Well, as she has told you, Kathryn spent a small amount of time with us Shire-folk before realizing that a hobbit's life was not entirely the best fit for her. She did not desert us, of course – Kathryn took up residence in Bree and kept in close correspondence with all of her dear friends from within the Fellowship.

Kaia, on the other hand, ended up following her heart's desire and becoming something of a nomad. Some say that by her final days she had traveled to every corner of Middle-Earth, to places even the most experienced Rangers had not discovered. She also remained close with those she loved from the Fellowship, visiting often and never ceasing to keep in contact.

What's that? What about me? Well, I suppose I am an important character of sorts, having been the Ringbearer and all. As it were, I could not bring myself to leave my comfy hobbit hole...the trees, and the sparkling rivers of the Shire. So I have remained here in Bag End, writing down everything I can remember about this great adventure so that you might be able to understand everything that happened.

And here we are! Finally at the end of our tale. I warned you that it would be quite a spectacular one, didn't I? I do hope you've enjoyed it, my friend. It has always been a wonderful thing to be able to share these nutty old stories of mine with people like yourself.

So! You may pick up your hat and coat at the door on the way out; don't forget them! I should hate for you to leave such fine garments here. And if you should like to hear this story every again, you are welcome anytime. Don't bother knocking! I will eagerly await your return.

Farewell!

...Until our next meeting.