Chapter 11.

I love how you all think it's Boromir. XD

I don't own Lord of the Rings.

(Sophie)

"Really? They actually took on those Persians all by themselves?" I can't tell you how long that man and I had been up talking, but it felt like forever. I didn't mind spending forever like this one bit.

We were now sitting down on the balcony floor talking quietly about different stories from our own people. As far as he knew, I was just from a far away country; I didn't want to scare him off. So, for the most part, I was sticking with stories that contained sword fighting.

"They had a few other buddies, but they only stayed for a little bit. Then the Spartans fought on alone so the others could retreat, and they all died. At least they took out thousands of Persians, first."

The man shook his head, a look of pure excitement on his face. "That is amazing! You must tell me more about these Spartans!"

I looked him dead in the eye. "If their babies didn't match their standards they threw then into a chasm."

He looked at me, a blank expression on his face. "Huh."

"Yepp. Other than that, I'm all out of Spartan history." A lie, but I felt like I was going to pass out I was so tired.

"Go to bed, milady." The man noticed my drooping eyes and smiled. "I can come back some other time."

I yawned, then glared at him. "Now I'm going to stay awake just in spite of you."

He shrugged. "That's alright with me. The more time with you, the better."

I rolled by eyes and leaned back against the wall. "You're full of it."

.

.

"Sophieeee..." Collin woke me up by singing my name loudly in my ear.

Wait, Collin? What happened to my Romeo guy?

I must have fallen asleep at some point while Mr. Romeo told me this children's story that his mom used to tell him when he was little before he went to sleep.

Wait a minute... He was trying to get me to fall asleep! That poop!

"Sophie!"

Finally, I opened my eyes to see Collin smiling happily in front of me. "Hello, there."

Collin's smile brightened. "Good morning, gorgeous. Were you by chance abducted by aliens? Or do you just enjoy sleeping outside? Whatever it is, I hope it involves aliens."

"Yes, Collin. I was abducted by aliens, and now I'm pregnant. Don't be surprised when a little green alien rips its way out of me through my stomach in a few months."

"Don't worry, m'dear! I'll take good care of it if you don't make it." He gave my belly a soft pat.

I rolled my eyes playfully and laughed. "I'm glad that you're concerned, Collin. I can always count on you to raise my alien children."

He laughed and stood. "Any time! Anyways, where'd you get that fancy cloak, there?"

My eyebrows furrowed and I gave him a curious look. "What cloak?"

"The one you're using as a blanket."

I looked down and saw Mr. Romeo's thick cloak-cape thingy wrapped around me. "So that's why I'm so warm!"

Collin shook his head. "And people call me crazy." He made for the balcony door.

"Where are you going?"

"To go see if Gandalf will let me help him in the library. Want to come?"

Slowly, I stood up, sore from sleeping on the hard stone ground. "Yeah, sure. Just let me change and we can go."

.

.

"Are you sure Gandalf wants our help? Didn't he have you kicked out last time?" We walked to where Gandalf was studying books, in search of who knows what.

Collin continued on with confidence. "Of course he wants our help! He's just been a little grumpy, is all."

I rolled my eyes and continued to follow Collin. If Gandalf gets ticked, I blame him; obviously, the wizard wasn't in the mood for games lately.

"Hey, Gandalf!" Collin waved to the wizard from across the room.

Gandalf shot around with a death glare. "Collin, if you keep me from my work, I'll be forced to use the darkest of magic on you. Now, if you please." He turned back to his book.

Collin shugged, unconcerned, and turned to a large stack of books and began to flip through them.

I turned to leave, uninterested in books bigger than my head. Instead, I turned my sights to a market that we passed on our way to find Gandalf.

Can you guess what happened?

I got lost.

Honestly, I'm almost twenty years old, you'd think that I'd be able to get around by now. But, no. Life likes to push me to the limit and make me insane.

I turned the corner and saw a familiar street. "I've already been here!" I stomped angrily down the street, trying to find a new street that I haven't taken yet. I had been walking around for almost an hour and I still hadn't made any progress.

"Lost, milady?"

My heart jumped as I swung around to come face to face with Mr. Romeo. This was the first time that I'd ever gotten a good look at him in actual sunlight, and he looked extremely... beautiful. He had light colored hair and had very noble features, as well as a bright white smile, something you didn't always see here in Middle-earth.

"Well, you look different." Bad habbit of mine: saying exactly what's on my mind.

He raised one eyebrow, a humored expression on his face. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome. Now, take me home?"

Romeo shrugged. "No."

Wait, what? "Excuse me?"

He smiled. "I want to show you around."

"Then will you take me home?" Kristy was going to freak when Collin returns home without me. Such a worrier, that one.

"If that is what you wish."

I considered this for a moment. Either I walk around town alone for hours until I find my way home, or I can be shown possibly the most beautiful city in the world by one of the most attractive men I've ever met.

Wow. Though decision. "This had better be good, or you're never going to get my name."

Mr. Romeo smiled and held out his arm for me. "I promise you, it will be well worth your time."

.

.

"This, milady, is the White Tree of Gondor." He'd taken me to the seventh level, first, to show me the white tree that inspired so many Gondorians. To me, it was just a dead tree.

"Why's it dead?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Do you know nothing of this city?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I've only been here a few days, the only place I really know about is Rohan."

"Fair enough." He stood admiring the tree for awhile, while my eye was caught by the stunning view of the city and Pelennor fields. It was like standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, we were so high up. Everything looked like a painting, mountains off in the distance, and a peculiar red glow off in the distance. Evidently, it was some place called Mordor. All I know is that Mordor = bad guys and a big monstrous volcano. Creeeepy.

"Hey, Romeo. Can we go, now? I'm short for a reason; I don't do heights." Or roller coasters, or bats, or spiders...

Mr. Romeo turned to me, confusion written all over his face. "Romeo?"

"Uh-huh!" I turned to him with a smile. "Romeo and Juliet. Long story, but it involves Romeo creeping on Juliet from underneath her balcony. So, it fits."

"I see..." He watched me for a moment. "Well, then, Juliet, shall we go to the stables?"

Horses? "I'm in." Horses reminded me of Rohan, and I missed that lovely country. Could I ride a horse? Absolutely not. Still, I'm allowed to stare happily at the giant beasts if I want! They're majestic and pretty and I've always wanted a pet unicorn, so a horse is close enough.

"Hey, do you guys have unicorns here?" I asked as we walked down to the stables. If there were unicorns, Collin'd be thrilled. Forget sword fighting, give that man a rainbow horse with a horn and he's set for life.

Even though he's already awkwardly happy. I love that boy.

Anyways.

"What's a unicorn?" Romeo was leading me through the crowded streets, earning many smiles and respectful nods from quite a few citizens; the guy was pretty popular.

I let out a disappointed sigh. "I'll take that as a no..." Come on, this place has dwarves, hobbits, and elves, yet it couldn't spare me a unicorn? Cooooool.

We finally reached the stables, the smell of hay and horse doodoo reminded me of Rohan.

Plesent memories, huh?

"Awhh look!" I ran past the horses and straight to the stable boy; the same boy who delivered all of those gifts to me. "This poor kid never gets a break does he?" I gave the kid a hug, catching him off guard. "You're such a little cutie!"

Hey, I love kids.

"Uh... Miss?" He awkwardly pat my back. Romeo approached us with a smile and pulled me off of the poor child.

"Come, you're scaring the poor boy." He pulled me over to a stall containing a beautiful brown horse. Okay, so all horses are beautiful. So let's just call it a poop colored horse and forget the beauty of it.

That makes no sense?

Being around cute guys can sometimes make me nervous. You should have seen me in junior high... Never before had there been such an awkward child. But hey, it's okay... Collin has the attention span of a squirrel, Kristy's rather shy, and James has had facial hair since he was twelve. And I mean A LOT of facial hair. Poor guy has to put so much time into shaving.

Wait, what's going on? Why's Romeo lifting me onto a horse? Dang, he's strong.

"Uh, Romeo?" He set me down into the saddle, atop the tall poop colored horse. "This is a very bad idea..."

"Nonsense, you lived amongst the Rohirrim, did you not?" He jumped up onto the saddle behind me.

"Uh, yeah..." I only forgot to mention the fact that Eomer wouldn't let me go near the horses because I tried to pet Shadowfax and nearly got my hand bitten off... That horse is possessed.

"Well." Romeo smiled. "We've got nothing to worry about, then." He kicked the horse and it shot forward and out onto the streets of Minas Tirith.

"What the hell are you doing?" Was this man insane? He was going to kill someone; probably me! That terd just laughed and continued to ride quickly down the streets of Minas Tirith, until we were at the very last gate. As the guards saw us coming they opened the giant gates, and our horse ran right through, refusing to slow down.

Whenever I get off of this horse, I'm going to kill him.

(Kristy)

You want to know what's lovely? Waking up in an empty house and having absolutely no idea where your friends are, in a city that's too big for you to simply 'explore.' Unless you're Collin. He's superman.

"Helloooo?" I popped my head into Gandalf's little mini-library. Nothing. Sigh.

We were out of food, so I needed to go get groceries, but I had absolutely no money. Either I could suck it up and wait for Gandalf to get home, which won't be for a while, or I could go to the library and risk having Gandalf rip my head off in order to get some money.

Hmmm.

I'm not a big fan of grumbly stomachs, so if Gandalf rips my head off, at least I won't be hungry!

Fortunately, I knew the way to the library; it was the one place I found important at the moment, since Gandalf spent most of his time reading those books. Quietly, I walked into the dusty old library filled with giant leather books and countless stacks of aged parchment. It smelled like one of those really old books that you might find in your grandparent's basement. Old and stinky.

Not only did I find Gandalf, but I found Collin as well. He was hunched over a book, looking more frustrated than Gandalf. I went to the wizard, first.

"Hey, Gandalf?" I whispered quietly, not wanting him to get mad and make me grow two heads.

He shot up, like being brought back to realitly, and looked to me with tired eyes. "Oh, Kristy. What can I do for you, my dear?"

Maybe he wasn't so dangerous, after all! "I was going to go grocery shopping, but I don't have any money..."

Gandalf nodded and pulled out a small money bag. "Get whatever we need. Make sure that we have enough ingredients to make those flimsy pieces of bread..."

"Pancakes?" I smiled. "Of course, Gandalf. I'll make you some pancakes for dinner tonight. How does that sound?"

The old wizard smiled and pat my hand gently. "Delightful, Kristy. Thank you."

I nodded and turned back to Collin, who was still glaring at his giant book.

"You alright, Ollie?" He looked uncharacteristically mad.

"No." He began flipping through the pages, revealing an odd writing that was far from our language. "These people don't understand how to write in English!" He threw the book over to where Gandalf was sitting.

The wizard shot up, frightened when the book landed in front of him, wide open. "Collin!" He turned angrily to my friend. "Do you know how expensive these books are?"

"Who cares?" Collin sighed in frustration. "All of these books are written in a whole new language! Honestly, what kind of language is written in squiggles? You'd think that a squiggle language would be cool, but it's a pain in the arse to attempt to read..."

Gandalf turned to the book and sighed. "People. They don't respect anything anymore. Ridiculous." He carefully picked up the book to close it, but something on the page caught his eye. Quickly, he sat down and began to carefully study the pages, completely engulfed in its words.

"Huh. I'll have to have Gandalf teach me how to read squiggle." Collin was back to his usual happy self.

After the longest time, Gandalf shut the book and turned to Collin. He gave my friend a gentle pat on the back. "Thank you, Collin."

"Find what you're looking for?" I asked, hopeful.

Gandalf gave me a small smile. "Yes. Thanks to Collin, we are leaving."

(Sophie)

"I hate you, you know."

Romeo turned to me with a smile. "Yes, you have been kind enough to advise me of your new resentment towards me several times, now."

"Yeah, well. It's true." We were back in Minas Tirith after our joyride from hell.

"Don't pretend like you're mad. You know you had fun."

Truely, I did. A lot of fun, actually. Even though I was terrified, and saddles are a pain on the crotch, Romeo's good fun to hang out with. He showed me around the farms of Pelennor, and we spent the entire hour messing with farmers and chasing his poop horse (It had escaped more than once). All in all, the best date I've ever had; if it was even a date at all.

"We should get back to the sixth level, soon." I looked up at the darkening sky. "A storm's coming, soon."

Romeo nodded, and we began the long walk through the city. We hadn't gone far before the first raindrops fell, slow at first, but they were quickly growing larger and coming faster. Our paces quickened, and we had made it to the fifth level before the rain began to fall at a terrible pace.

"Screw it!" I laughed, enjoying the rain. "We're never going to make it back!"

Romeo was laughing, too, as he pulled me into a small alley, shielding us both from the thick rain. It was a tight fit, and we were both soaked to the bone.

Bright smiles dominated our faces as we simply looked at each other. His smile softened as he pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, and behind my ear. Slowly, he began to close the short distance between us, while tilting my chin up to him. Without a word, our lips met, and a strange fire began to grow in my chest. I didn't even know this man... How could he make me feel this way?

As quickly as the rain came, it left, and we pulled away from each other, happy smiles plastered on both of our faces. He was beautiful, even without a name.

"Will you come with me to meet my father?" Was the first thing he said. Odd, but I knew that it was significant for couples in Middle-earth to meet each other's parents.

"Sure." I nodded, and looked down at my drenched clothes. "Let's get me home, first, I don't want to meet your father looking like this."

So we made our way back to my house, hand in hand. An odd couple, but also an extremely happy one. How long would this last?

We reached my house in ten minutes, and I stopped him outside my house. "Wait here..." I didn't want Collin and Kristy questioning him the second he entered the room. I should at least enjoy him for a little while before my friends scare him away.

But when I entered the house, an unhappy truth and an unwanted departure smacked me in the face.

I knew what was happening; Kristy and Collin were sitting at the kitchen table, their bags and possessions packed and stacked by the door, along with mine. They took one look at me, and while Kristy gave me a worried look, Collin let a smile grow on his face.

"Where have you been?" Kristy stood and began examining my wet dress.

"Isn't it obvious?" Collin's smile grew brighter. "She was dancing in the rain, like any smart person. Good job, Soph! I would have joined you, but Gandalf wouldn't let me..."

I shook my head, not wanting to believe the sight in front of me. "What's going on?"

"We're leaving." Kristy shrugged. "Gandalf found what he was looking for, and we're headed west, again."

My eyes widened. "So soon?"

Collin's smile faded and his eyebrows furrowed together with worry. "Are you alright, Soph?"

Kristy pulled me into the other room. "Don't worry, Col. Girl stuff." When we were out of Collin's hearing range, Kristy turned to me. "It's about that man, isn't it?"

I nodded. "He's outside... We're supposed to go see his father..."

Kristy frowned. "Sophie, I'm so sorry... You have to go tell him we're leaving."

Sigh. The second I get a boyfriend, I'm leaving the country. Figures.

Without a word, I went back outside where Romeo was leaning against the wall, waiting for me. When he saw my still wet clothes, his eyebrows furrowed. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm leaving. Gandalf has decided that it's time to go, and he intends to leave today."

Romeo's eyes widened. "Now? But you can't leave, now."

I shrugged. "I have to. Gandalf's all I've got."

He shook his head and placed his hands on both sides of my face. "Stay here, with me..."

"You don't even know me..." My eyes were tearing up slightly, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

"I know... And I want you all the more for that..." He stroked some hair away from my face.

But he didn't know about Collin and Kristy. I couldn't leave them if I wanted to. They were my home, now.

"I'm sorry... But it's best if we leave things as they are now..." No matter how much it hurt. "We'll be able to move on, this way."

Romeo shook his head, eyes intense. "Not I, milady."

I smiled. "Maybe I'll be back. You never know, with Gandalf..."

"I hope you will be..." He studied me for a moment, like he was trying to remember me. "Until then, milady..." Gently, he kissed my forehead and turned away, walking out of sight without a second look back.

I watched him go, and Kristy appeared beside me. "We'll come back... We have to, now... That man's beautiful..."

With a small smile, I turned back to the house. "He sure is."

Slight ending note.

The whole "I don't know you, but I want you all the more for that" jazz is from a song called "Falling Slowly" in this movie called Once. I've never seen the movie, I just like the song. So yeah, I don't own that. Props to the songwriter, though.