Aragorn sank to his knees and she knew what was going through his mind. They had failed. Legolas put his hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. When Lhindril looked to the river she saw three ships

"Are these the corsair's ships that Elrond mentioned?" the others looked up too. It seemed to distract Aragorn and he agreed but told them that without the army they had no chance against them, as Elrond had suggested. Then he spun around and when she did the same she saw the ghosts behind them.

"We fight" was all their king said and it made her smile and thanked them with a little bow.

"The first thing we have to do is get these ship under our control" she then spoke and the undead king looked at her, obviously not quite pleased.

"She is right" Aragorn concurred and at this their new ally nodded. They turned invisible again and they approached the shore, where Aragorn ordered the corsairs to stop and that they would never get to Gondor. They obviously thought it was a joke and didn't even react when her brother told the archers to give warning shots. To her surprise. Legolas even killed one of the men and she quickly realized it had been Gimli who slightly moved the Elf's bow and now pretended to be shocked. Obviously, now the corsairs weren't as 'friendly' anymore when Gimli told them to prepare to be boarded.

"Boarded by you and whose army?" on cue, the ghosts showed up again and together they lunged at the ships, managing to subdue all enemies within a very short time. Now all they had to do was get the ships to Gondor and then join the battle. According to her brother this might take a few days.

"So we'll have a multi-day journey by ship?" Gimli growled. She knew from experience that Dwarves did not really like water much

"No that's not necessary" Aragorn said

"Oh good"

"If you don't like going by ship you can get you and walk along the shores" the words made the others laugh

"Of course I only asked because I would indeed like to travel per ship one time in my life" Gimli tried to talk himself out, making everyone else laugh even more. Obviously, he hated walking more then and she remembered how he had constantly been complaining about that fact when they were looking for Merry and Pippin. Well, she too was more of a burden rather than help but she had been injured shortly before. Gimli had always tried to tell them that Dwarves were only made for short distances, whereupon Fíli and Kíli had reminded him that they too could keep up well and that despite being older. Once it had almost made them fight because Gimli had insulted Kíli's choice to wear his beard shorter than most Dwarves but by feigning unconsciousness and Aragorn who played along it soon was over.

Once they had figured how to steer the ships Fíli joined his wife, asking what she was thinking going to the path of the dead and endangering her life like this. She explained that Elrond had told them to do it to get help and to her surprise and relief he didn't ask further and accepted it. However, he insisted that when they reached the battle she would stay on the ship.

"What if a bunch of Orcs come my way? I couldn't flee and am all alone. Besides, we have the ghost army with us, so what can happen?"

"Still too much"

"You know I can take care of myself. And I too have the right to go into battle. After all, Gondor officially is my kingdom until I renounce my claim to the throne"

"I know. But in case something happens to me, you have to get home and get things into order at Erebor. Can you promise me that?" he leant his head to hers

"No. We all will get out of this. You hear me?"

"That's what I hope too" he whispered and tried to kiss her when Gimli cleared his throat

"Would you this somewhere more private?"

"If you don't like it and feel lonely why don't you leave or look away?"

"I was here before you. And you really could find a room for that"

"I bet you're just jealous that you have no one"

"I am not"

"Oh but you are annoyed" she couldn't tell if it was only a mock fight or if one of them or even both were serious.

"No. And I will leave because I don't feel like fighting"

"Who says we're fighting? It's just a discussion"

"A heated one" Kíli piped up

"I will listen to you even less"

"Actually, I only corrected my brother and not you"

"I don't care"

"Why are you still talking then and keep getting annoyed?"

"Because you infuriate me"

"Oh and who started this?"

"You"

"We were doing nothing wrong when you started complaining because you were against it"

"That's enough" Lhindril said, feeling she had tolerated this for too long now and when she saw that Kíli just wanted to say something she got louder "Everyone stop this right now!"

"You hear that, prince? Listen to your queen and leave me alone. Although I doubt you're a real Dwarven prince. I have seen Elves with a longer beard than you"

"That's it" Fíli yelled before lunging at the youngest Dwarf and also Kíli didn't hesitate and soon a fight broke out, two against one. Lhindril was both glad and surprised they didn't use weapons. Trying to make them stop was fruitless as was trying to pull her husband away, so she called for help and it wasn't before long that Aragorn came to her aid, trying to get Kíli out of there too and even Legolas tried to help.

"Perhaps we could just leave them?" Aragorn suggested

"That can last hours and they might get hurt" she replied, letting go of Fíli. She had once witnessed a fight between two Dwarflings and they wouldn't stop no matter what happened, only when their parents came. Funnily, both of them weren't even tired and instantly ran off to play again as if nothing had happened. But at least she had an idea how to end the fight and told the others to get buckets and fill them with water. Once everyone had one, they emptied them over the Dwarves who instantly scattered.

"What was that for?" Kíli complained

"Well, sorry about that" she replied with a shrug "But there was no other way. And I want you to stop this stupid fight right now. And you will apologize" they looked at her and she simply tried to stare them down and finally they listened, each of them mumbling an excuse and Gimli quickly hurried away. Also Lhindril decided to leave them and teach them a lesson so she joined her brother.

"I hope we won't have another fight" he voiced her thoughts

"Me neither. After all we still will be on the ships for a while… perhaps we could split them up if we have to"

"Exactly. Do such things happen more often? Among Dwarves?"

"Well, he only fight I ever saw was between two little boys. Arguments more often but that's normal. Even among siblings" she grinned when she thought of the mocking fights between her husband and his brother. And the arguments that were serious soon were forgiven and forgotten again. The bond between them simply wasn't easily broken. Not even through her when she joined the family and she started to be one of the most important people in Fíli's life and she would have hated if something had changed between the brothers because of her. Which was why she often let them spend time together without her being there.

"As long as you make up afterwards it really is normal and part of any relationship and life"

"That is true"

"What do you think is the worst fight we ever had?" she looked down

"Honesty, I don't think it was a fight. It was when I left Rivendell and just ran away from you"

"I always blamed myself for this. We thought something had happened to you because you didn't return"

"No, nothing ever happened to me. I've always been lucky. But I couldn't return because I could not take over the responsibility of a kingdom and lead our people. And I needed to find Azog and kill him. Unfortunately, I only managed this too late when I thought for the second time to have lost everything. But it was too late for Thorin and somehow I feel responsible. If I had come to his help sooner…"

"It was not your fault" he comforted her and she felt a hand on her back

"Do not blame yourself for my uncle's death. The only one to blame is Azog the defiler; and he got defeated, thanks to you" while talking, Fíli leant his head to hers and she closed her eyes "And I am glad you decided to leave or else we would have never met"

"Who knows, maybe we would have met in Rivendell once you were there?"

"But that would have been under other circumstances and I might have never fallen in love with you. Or realized it too late" she opened her eyes and noticed that Aragorn was watching them

"I for my part want to thank you, Fíli. Thank you for taking care of my sister and protecting her when we were apart. You did what I could not. And the two of you belong together and deserve to be happy with each other" feeling a little embarrassed as she leant closer to her husband.

"As if I couldn't take care of myself" she muttered with a grin, then got serious again "And I am so sorry for you that Arwen has left. I bet the two of you would have been so very happy too. I wish you too had someone you can spend your life with someone you really love"

"I maybe should not say this but Theoden's niece, Éowyn, seems to be very fond of you"

"I know this but my heart belongs to someone else" for a while Aragorn stared out at the water "When Elrond was at Dunharrow with us, he told me that Arwen has decided against a life in Valinor and stayed because of me. But her life is fading and it is connected to the fate of the ring; only if it gets destroyed she will survive" she didn't know what to say; whether this was good news or not so she stayed silent.

-oOo-

The other days on the ship passed without problems and they came closer and closer to Gondor. Even from afar it was apparent that the battle had already started.

"So" Fíli commented when they saw the white city "This could become your kingdom?"

"Could have become" she corrected because for her the decision was made. Aragorn gathered them and explained them the plan; to simply jump of the ships once they had reached the battle

"I am sure the enemy will think us to be the Corsairs and ignore us until it's too late and we're in their middle" she smiled

"Wait" Fíli raised his hand "If you say 'we' does that mean Linnie comes too?"

"Of course" she protested and also Aragorn supported her

"I don't think I can let this happen"

"But Elrond too said I have to join the battle" it wasn't exactly the truth but he had somehow implied it.

"And I am not an Elf and am worried about you"

"I think you know my sister well enough that she would come with us anyways if we allow her to or not"

"Still I would prefer if you stayed" he turned to her

"I know. But Elrond is something like a father to me and he too thinks I can do this and doesn't worry"

"I do" he let out a sigh "Well, I know you well enough that you wouldn't listen to me anyways. Just try to stay close to me and be safe. Sometimes you are more stubborn than a Dwarf"

"Well, after decades of living with you I need to imitate some things that are to my advantage" they both smiled

"So is she coming or not?" Gimli complained

"I'm coming" she confirmed with a little nod.

"Don't you worry. We'll all look out for her" Aragorn promised and Kíli gave a nod "We should get ready. Anyone has questions?" they shook heads and got into positions and she only hoped that also the army knew what to do and would be true to their word or they'd be in mighty trouble.

"I'm sorry to doubt your plan but didn't you say they would ignore us?" Kíli asked "There is half an army of Orcs at the shore as if they are waiting"

"Show me" Gimli said, trying to get a better look but they stopped him. They couldn't see them already.

"I believe they think we're their backup. The Corsairs. We have to stay hidden to use the element of surprise. Shortly after the leader of the Orcs scolded them for being late and she smiled. The plan had worked, they thought they were their allies. They jumped overboard and the looks of the Orcs were priceless. First there was surprise then not really shock but suddenly they moved back and seemed scared and that was when she knew that the ghosts had joined them.

"There's plenty for the both of us, may be best Dwarf win!" Gimli said to Legolas before lunging at the Orcs. Lhindril really tried to stay with Fíli as best as she could but then she decided to leave so far that she still had a view of him or at least someone else of the fellowship. But it wasn't very long until Fíli fought his way towards her. Rolling her eyes she decided to join him, killing all Orcs she met underway.

"Are you alright?" he asked when they still were ten feet apart. Since she was fighting two enemies at a time she had troubles answering and to her dismay they also were pretty persistent enemies. One of them was mostly behind her and she constantly had to turn around to not get slain. And whenever she thought she had them yet another Orc would come and disturb her so she had to take care of him first which gave the other two time to gain advantage. But finally she managed to behead one of them with a little cry of surprise. Before she could take care of the second Orc, she had to deal with another that had joined them too and then when she turned to her other enemy, she saw that someone else had done the work for her; a blade was sticking through his chest. When he fell to the ground dead, she saw Fíli behind him, making her breath out in relief. Her husband deemed it necessary and sensible to hug and kiss her right in the middle of the battlefield. Unfortunately, their moment was abruptly interrupted when another bunch of Orcs lunged at them. They let go of each other and took care of the Orcs and it seemed like Fíli wanted to continue the kiss but a horn made them both turn around. She almost lost her voice when she saw what it was.

"Are these Mûmakil?" she asked in surprise and stared at the Oliphaunts that marched onto the battlefield, under control of Haradrim. What she didn't like to see even less was that some Rhohirrim suffered great losses when they fought them. And they even were attacked from above; Nazgûls were flying on dragon-like creatures. It were only two but they still did a lot of damage. One of them landed on the floor, confusing her even more. Someone beheaded his steed and she almost found herself smiling. Only when she heard Fíli call out for her did she notice that he had let go of her and was fighting some Orcs that had approached them again. She blinked and even though she as fighting the Orcs but also tried to get to the ring wraith, feeling the sudden need to kill it for whatever reason. Maybe because they had wanted Fíli to betray Bilbo. When she got closer she saw Rohan's king who was buried under his horse, gasping for air. If she should help him? But then she saw that the one who had defeated the steed was holding his chest, threatened by the Nazgûl who spoke; to her surprise in Westron even.

"You fool!" he whispered with a hoarse voice "No man can kill me. Die now!" he lifted the Rhohirrim by the throat before throwing him down again.

"You there" Lhindril called, to distract him "Maybe you should have stayed in bed with a sore throat like this" she got closer from the side, threatening him with her sword. From behind, Merry lunged at the enemy and stabbed him with a dagger, before falling back with a cry. But at least the Nazgûl fell to his knees. The person in front of him got up and removed the helmet. She was surprised to see it was Éowyn. If she was allowed to be here or had sneaked here?

"I am no man" she stabbed him in the face and an ear-piercing whistle and the Nazgûl's scream could be heard while he seemed to fold himself together like a wilting plant. But also Éowyn and Merry had fallen to the ground and she ran to Éowyn first because she seemed hurt worse. There was a wound on her chest and Lhindril tried to bandage it a little

"Don't you worry. You will get through. You just managed to kill an undead ring wraith. Women are not weak and should never be underestimated" she tried to comfort her and it worked because her friend smiled a little. But then her mien turned to shock again.

"Watch out" she breathed and made a small hand movement past her and Lhindril turned around. An Orc was approaching them; a very ugly one and his skin looked as if someone had thrown some clumps of clay at him and they began to grow into his body. She wondered how he could even see through all of the excessive skin. She jumped up and grabbed her weapon so she could defend herself and Éowyn better, knowing it might not be the cleverest idea to try and lunge at him so she waited until he approached them. When he got a bit too close for her liking she grabbed a dagger too and threw it at him, so that he was distracted for a moment and she used it for an attack. It came so surprising that she managed to cut off his arm. With an angry growl he aimed for her legs and she stumbled back, falling onto her bum. He raised his weapon and wanted to attack her and she rolled away getting back to her feet again but before she could do something, Kíli was beside her, stabbing him in the stomach and also Aragorn showed up, cutting off his head with a clean stroke. With a breath of relief she tightened her grip on her sword and got back her dagger

"Are you hurt?" she got asked from both sides

"I'm not but Éowyn is" Aragorn nodded and walked the few steps to her to take care of her

"Never thought I'd say this one day but this Orc is almost uglier than Azog and his son" Kíli said with a grin. She looked around again and saw that the ghost army was taking care of the Oliphaunts, making it look like the animals were infected by some sort of green virus that made them fall; it almost looked funny. Then her gaze wandered to the sky to find the second Nazgûl but couldn't find him. With a slight feeling of shock she searched him on the ground and quickly discovered his dragon and thought that its master couldn't be far and therefore she went towards it, wondering why he had landed. After all, the first one had done so to attack Theoden, maybe this one had found someone too. Before she reached them, the dragon suddenly collapsed and fell to his side. Now she grabbed her sword tighter. If it really was true that no man could kill them she might be the only one who could help since she doubted Éowyn was in a condition to get up and fight. Then she realized where the Nazgûl was. Almost at the place where she had last seen Fíli. What if he still was here and was being attacked? She swallowed and sped up and then her suspicion got confirmed; he was fighting the ring wraith with only his daggers. He'd throw them at him and then get a new one, sometimes needing to parry an attack with much effort. Suddenly, she was glad that he had so many daggers. Desperation was visible on his face as well as a large wound and it seemed like he seemed to notice he was running out of options and chances. And she hoped he wouldn't give up and continue fighting until help came. The only advantage that the enemy was so fixated on her husband was that she could run towards them unseen. Then suddenly Fíli had thrown his last dagger and she started running even more, while he was palpating his body in disbelief. With a hit to his face, the Nazgûl managed to make him fall down and again she sped up even more. At least the ring wraith was in no hurry to kill Fíli now that he seemed defeated.

"Give up, Dwarf, your time is over. You have no chance and are only a means to an end"

"Maybe he doesn't have a chance but I do. You stupid ring wraiths should learn not to underestimate women; not all of them flee from a fight. And your friend over there is dead, by the way if you didn't know" she teased and he suddenly turned around. When she saw his front she couldn't help but laughing because his cloak was littered with Fíli's daggers, almost making him look like a hedgehog. And where his face should be was her husband's sword. "Oh you've got something on your face there" she continued. Growling words in Black Speech he came towards her "And just that you know, I don't like it when someone tries to hurt someone close to me. Especially my husband. That makes me angry and I kill whoever is responsible" she only wanted to rile him up further so he would be distracted. She gave a smile at her husband and then aimed for his neck or at least where it would be if he was alive and as she had imagined she didn't manage to behead him. However, she did manage to wound him so much that he was defeated and fell down, folding himself together like his colleague. Even before he was fully gone, she was already next to her husband and helped him back to his feet "Well, now I understand the many daggers" she smiled

"You see now that it was not a stupid idea to have carried them here all the way"

"Mh yeah" she giggled "and you to have to admit something"

"What are you talking about?"

"That you weren't right about thinking it was better if I stayed behind on the ship. Because I have once again saved your ass"

"Fine. I admit that it may not have been the best idea to try and stop you" he pulled her closer, giving her a quick kiss.

"What did he even want from you? I mean he seemed to have toyed with you; he could have just killed you easily"

"I suppose he wanted to kill me because I am the leader of my people. He even told me that I had no chance because no man could kill him and multiple times tried to make me give up but I would never. I just didn't think that help would come in the right time" she pulled him closer, as if to assure him she was with him and there for him

-oOo-

Thanks to the ghost army they could win the battle quite soon after. And they were a bit disappointed they had to let the army go because they really were useful and could do great harm and suffer no losses.

"Release us" he demanded and Gimli again repeated his idea to keep them around because they were useful "You gave us your word"

"And you didn't keep yours either back then" Gimli retorted. Obviously provoking them was not a good idea because the ging grabbed her and put his blade to her neck. Everyone around gasped in shock and demanded she was released

"Let us go or she will come with us. Forever"

"No panic, no panic" she shouted "You have fulfilled your oath. Find your peace now" and Aragorn gave a nod. Finally, they let go of her and the Undead turned formless once more and finally were gone completely. A small whisper of 'thank you' was the last to be heard. After the shock of the situation was digested, Gimli had to announce how many Orcs he had killed; surprisingly even more than the Elf.

"Well that still doesn't make you the best Dwarf" Kíli said and proudly said that that he had killed three Orcs more. Shaking his head, Aragorn left to help the wounded and the others soon joined them.

While death and injuries were not something uncommon in battle and she had seen her share of it, she was really worried about Éowyn because according to her brother, she was hit by the Black Breath of the Nazgûl. Not sure what to say or ask what exactly that meant she silently sat next to her brother while he took care of the woman, every now and then glancing at Éomer who sat with them; it had been him who brought his sister to the healing rooms. Theoden had died on the battlefield and somehow she could almost imagine how the siblings must feel. They had lost their uncle and Éomer now was heir to the throne of Edoras. So finally, she looked for Fíli to ask him to talk to the man and comfort him since no one else knew better how he must be feeling.

The following days were really quiet and dedicated to tidying up, organizing funerals and tending to the wounded. Then, they organized another meeting since they had to help Frodo so that he could get to Mount Doom as easily as he could. They planned to go to the Black Gate to distract Sauron.

"We cannot achieve victory through strength of arms." Éomer protested

"It is not about victory but distraction. He has to focus on us and not Frodo" Kíli explained and Aragorn nodded.

"Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?" she almost smiled at Gimli's words even though they scared her

"Sauron will suspect a trap. He will not take the bait." Gandalf voiced his concern. Aragorn almost smiled too now

"Oh, I think he will." He ordered everyone to get ready because they would do it tomorrow. Once the meeting was declared over, Aragorn and her husband stopped her "This time you cannot come. It is too dangerous" she stared at him in disbelief

"You can't forbid me to come"

"He can" Fíli agreed "It is a fight that we most likely cannot win. You have to stay here. I cannot lose you" Aragorn continued, saying that if something happened to him, Gondor would need her as its queen.

"But I can't lose you either. How is it fair that you can risk your lives and I can't?" with that she walked away and sat down on a stone near the palace. Soon she noticed Kíli next to her "If they sent you to convince me to stay you can just as well leave"

"No, I'm here because I want to. No one sent me" he let out a sigh "And you know, I think you should come. But" he looked at her "I too don't want anything happening to you. Of course you fight very well and improved a lot even since we started this quest but this battle cannot end well. One of has to survive, just like your brother said. You could handle both matters for Erebor and Gondor if something was to happen"

"It's not that I want to come by all means. I just can't lose any of you. I couldn't…" she took a deep breath "You can't go. It is a certain death. And you can't forbid me not to come just because you're scared something happens to me while I could lose all three of you" her brother-in-law remained silent and stared off to the distance where Mordor was "In fact, I don't even want to go. I just want to know you're safe… if you would just stay…." She looked at him pleadingly

"You know why we can't do this" he put his arm around her shoulders carefully.