Happy new year, lovelies. Sorry this took so long. It shouldn't take that long again.
I'm working on a Plain Jane rewrite. For those of you who've read that, would you be down to read an improved version? Message/review me about it.
Sleeping became my favorite hobby while our friends marched to battle. I must have lost five pounds between the times they left and returned. There was never much time to eat, what with work to be done and people to see to. Not only that, but the anxiety I was feeling kept my stomach full of angry butterflies. James, Eomer, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn... I was worried about the entire army. That worry only led to even less sleep. That's why I loved sleep when I could get it, because for whatever reason God blessed me with pleasant dreams in those days, and I needed a pleasant vacation.
I'd often find myself waking up in places other than where I fell asleep. More than once I'd been carried to bed by Boromir, or tucked in by Kristy. Sometimes I would fall asleep in an empty house, only to wake up to Collin and Nesta talking quietly in the kitchen, with Kristy making a small meal. On the seventh and final day I woke up to Collin swinging the front door open, little Nesta following close behind.
"Delivery for a Miss Sophie!" He exclaimed, picking her up and dropping the giggling girl on to the sofa with me. He'd been doing such a good job with caring for her, and the idea of him adopting her made more and more sense each day. It was obvious to everyone that she was still suffering from the loss of her family, but there were moments when she seemed to shine. With Collin, I could see a chance for her to salvage what's left of her childhood.
"Well good morning to you, too!" I laughed, giving Nesta the corner of my blanket.
"Good morning sleepy head! Though you should probably go back to sleep, the weather is rather depressing today." Collin replied, sounding rather depressed himself. However, he quickly morphed back in to his usual cheery self. "You know, Boromir and I were considering moving your bed down here, since anything beyond the sitting room is too far away, apparently."
"I don't know if I like that idea or not. You see, I've grown very attached to this here sofa..."
"I can see that!" Said Kristy, emerging from the other room. "Honestly, Sophie. I don't think I've ever seen you sleep so much in my entire life."
"That's because you only ever see me sleeping these days!" I argue. "You're never home!" For good reason, too. She's got to particular men she's praying to see alive again. It's no wonder why she's trying to keep busy. We all were trying to pretend that things were normal.
Kristy pulled a roll out from behind her back and shoved it in my mouth. "I don't need to be home to know that you're all sleep and no eat. You need nutrition!"
"What about me? I need nutrition, too!" Collin whined, and Kristy handed him a roll of his own, which he promptly gave to Nesta. He was going to make a fantastic dad. However, Kristy saw this and immediately shoved a third roll into his mouth. Where she was getting these rolls, I don't know.
"I don't know how you can sleep when it's so cold in here!" Kristy sighed, pushing me over and stealing some blanket for herself. "It's freezing!"
Collin nodded in agreement, wrapping his cloak tightly about himself. "I haven't been this cold since we tried crossing Caradhras! Okay, that's an exaggeration. Still, it's more chilly than usual."
Collin had barely ended his sentence before a slight tremor ran through the city. It wasn't so violent that things were flying from the walls, but the furniture certainly got a nice rattle out of it, and I could feel the vibrations in my bones. It lasted but a moment, and afterwards all was silent, save for Kristy whispering, "what was that?"
Collin got up and marched to the door. "You three stay here," he said. "I'm going to go check it out." Not long after he left he came running back inside, and through the door we could hear a joyous uproar in the city. "Come outside, quick!"
Turns out the dreadful day had disappeared in the blink of an eye. The sun was shining, and people were out in the streets looking happier than I'd ever seen them. Not only that, but Sauron's darkness over the city had faded away. I didn't know what this meant, but for some reason my heart was bursting with joy. Apparently, the hearts of everyone else in the city was feeling equally as happy. Collin swept Nesta into the air, and I couldn't help but to hold Kristy close. It was as though all of Minas Tirith had suddenly awoken from a long and restful sleep, and I could feel a warmth in the air.
"I need to go bake something." Kristy declared, removing herself from my arms and moving back towards the house. "I don't know what we've got left in the pantry, but I am going to cook it all!"
"That's probably not a good idea!" I shouted back, but Collin silenced me with a hug.
"No one cares, Sophie!" He laughed. "She's happy. Let her do her thing."
Safe to say, we had a rather large lunch that day, and I couldn't help but gorge myself. Fortunately, it seemed as though I wasn't the only one not eating around the house, so we had a decent amount of food left. However, it was mostly grains and such. Regardless, she managed to whip up a lovely sweet cake-like mass, which we topped with preserves. We even had some dried meat to go with it, which was really wonderful. For the first time in a long time we all sat around the table, eating our fill and laughing with each other. Our little family, though missing some pieces, soothed my anxiety. It felt right. The only thing that could have made it better was a confirmation on what we all were thinking: that what we'd all witnessed that morning signaled the end of Sauron's darkness.
Just as we were clearing the table Boromir threw open the door. At first he couldn't say a word. His eyes were brimming with tears as he strode across the room, taking me into his arms and giving me a long, hard kiss. Our friends watched in stunned silence for a moment, taking in the rather bold gesture. I stepped back, gasping for air once he finally let me go. The brightest of smiles wrinkled his face, and it wasn't long before he turned and gave Collin a powerful hug, despite their still healing injuries.
"Are you quite alright?" Kristy asked in pure confusion as he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek.
"I can't remember the last time I felt so wonderful!" Boromir laughed. "My friends, it is over! The ring is destroyed!"
It was as though all of the air had been knocked out of me. I felt as though my soul might just lift out of my body and float away. My heart began to ring in my ears, and I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to jump into the ceiling or fall to the floor in tears. In the end, I merely managed a smile as I was thrown about the room for a flurry of kisses and hugs. Kristy cried, burying her face in her hands. Collin and Boromir cheered loudly, and Nesta was thrown into the air by the former. The little thing that nearly had the world of men at its knees had finally met its end. I'd never felt more secure in my position as a member of this world.
"Have our warriors returned?" Kristy asked, happy tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Not yet." Boromir replied, but he was quick to reassure her. "But we can expect them home in a matter of days. We are sending messengers now to tell the people the good news. People all across the land will know of our triumph!"
"My hands are shaking!" Collin laughed, and we all looked to our own hands. We were all trembling. "That's it!" He exclaimed. "Nesta, what's your favorite color?"
"Blue?" The young girl answered slowly, slightly taken aback.
"Alright, then. I am going to buy you the prettiest, most blue dress money can buy!" He declared. "We've got weddings to attend, now that the world's not ending!"
He was right. Boromir and I had always said that we would get married, but that was assuming that the both of us survived the war. Same goes for Kristy and Legolas, whose relationship had budded quickly and would hopefully continue to blossom. Goodness, there was so much to do before we thought about marriage. All that we'd lived through in this world had been influenced by the ring, whether we knew it or not. So much of our lives was molded by its fate, and the journey to take it there. It didn't feel real, yet there we were. We were at the end.
Boromir had to return to the seventh level, as he'd been taking over many of his father's duties since his health improved. The rest of us didn't know what to do. For quite some time we hugged out neighbors, whom I had yet to meet. Collin knew most people, of course. Not a soul in Minas Tirith went without joy on that day. Celebrations were in order. The city was suddenly very noisy, so I retreated back to the house. I needed some time to gather my thoughts. The past several years were racing through my mind.
"Can you believe it?" Collin asked, having followed me inside. "It doesn't seem real to me."
"I don't know what to think!" I laughed, falling back on to the sofa. "I don't know what I expected to come from all of this. We set out with the Fellowship months ago, and I suppose I never really thought about it. Maybe I didn't dare to hope? The ring took over our lives, I feel. Bad things were happening left and right. Theoden fell under Saruman's influence, Theodred passed, and you nearly followed him. Everything we did was centered around the ring's fate. We never carried it like Frodo, but it feels as though we did, you know? At least, that's how I feel..."
"No, I hear what you're saying." Collin nodded, sitting next to me. He let out a big sigh and closed his eyes, enjoying his moment of inner peace. "I'm just afraid that I'll wake up tomorrow, and things will be back to normal."
"Normal being complete and utter hell, you mean?"
He nodded. "Complete and utter hell. Well, it wasn't entirely hell. At least I had some good friends to go along with me."
"Agreed..." I sighed, and was a bit stunned to find tears in my eyes. "I wish that they could have seen it..."
"Who?"
"Theodred, and Theoden... I wish that they could have been here for the end. It doesn't feel right without them."
Collin kept his eyes closed, but I could see a hint of a tear threatening to break free of his lashes. "It doesn't seem fair that they're not here..."
"No," I mumbled in agreement. "It isn't."
Our moment of peace was interrupted. For all of our victories, I couldn't help but think back on what we lost. The war may have been over, but things would never be the same. We could never go back to life as it was, with Eomer and Theoden in Edoras. One was to be king. The other was dead. Collin had Nesta to look after, and I had Boromir. Aragorn was going to be king. Things were already so different, and they were about to change even more.