She awoke in a dark room. She sat up, her dark hair whipping around as she looked from side to side. Her pale skin glowed.

"Where am I?"

She didn't bother to hide the fear from her voice. Louder, now, she screamed: "Where am I?" Fog seeped through the walls and surrounded her. She heard a low, male voice singing.

Home is behind,
The world ahead

She blotted out the song she already knew. And she curled up into a ball and wept.

()()()()

Aragorn awoke in the throne room. No one had bothered to take him to the infirmary. He saw two masses of curly hair. Hobbit hair. Six eager little hobbit faces.

"He's alive!"

"Told ya so, Haddy."

He sat up and instantly sat back down. Every part of him ached. Sam eased him back down. "Don't try to sit up, Your Majesty." he said. "You took quite a beating."

As soon as the hobbits left, he sat up. What else would he do?

The throne room was in ruins. Rubble trashed the floor. People rushed about, helping others and some, the majority, were weeping. Aragorn knew these were his people. He sat up. He walked to a woman who was crying. She saw him, and didn't bother too bow. Aragorn did not care. "Why are you crying?" he asked her. She sniffed. "My son." Aragorn's heart broke. She moved aside, and he saw a boy, no older than twelve, dead. A fatal stomach wound.

A stomach wound...

Dawn!

He owed her his life again. And she was dead. How could he repay the elf now. He owed her twice. His son had killed Dawn. That was all he could think.

Eldarion killed Dawn.

He moved on, stumbling. He ran across Legolas and Gimli. They saw him and waved him over. He sat down, and neither one spoke. "What? What happened?" he asked. Legolas sighed. "Better to show you." Gimli said. Aragorn followed the two through the halls.

It was a room of the dead that greeted him. In the back of the room stood Galadriel, Elrond, Celeborn and Gandalf. They had all fought, and even Galadriel looked tired.

Aragorn looked over the dead beside them. He saw two elves, dead, holding hands. It was Astrida and Ledolorn. They both were dead, together.

He had never known them well, but he still felt grief. A love unloved was the worst death.

From the corner there was a sob that ripped through the air. "No!"

Tauriel's hair flew behind her as she ran to her brother. He was dying. "Sil, hold on Sil." she wept silently. Legolas stopped in his tracks. He tentatively walked towards her. She looked at him, her face bleeding and broken. Sildion smiled at Legolas.

"Just the three of us again." he said weakly. Legolas and Tauriel smiled. "I'll miss your stupid face." Sildion said to Legolas. Tauriel gripped his hand like a lifeline, like she was the one dying. In a way, she was. "Don't talk that way." She sounded fierce when she said it.

"I'm fine, Tauriel." said Sildion. "Remember that day in the woods?" she asked him. He nodded. "You screamed to Eru and beyond. It was just a caterpillar."

"A big one!"

"Alright, fine."

They all laughed.

Sildion's eyes gained a new light. He grabbed Legolas' hand. "Sing for me, mellon nin. I know you can."

Legolas froze. "I will sing, Sildion."

Home is behind,
The world ahead
And there are many paths to tread

Through shadow
To the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight

Mist and shadow
Cloud and shade
All shall fade

All shall

Fade

As the last note of the song floated through the air, the room had gone silent. Sildion smiled, one last time, and closed his eyes.

"That was always your favorite song, wasn't it?" Legolas asked Sildion. Tauriel began to cry. And as Legolas held her, he let a single tear fall down his face, when he thought no one could see.

()()()()

Haddy and Fifi sat with Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. They were glum. Merry kept fussing over Fifi.

"You could've died! Those orcs had you at their mercy!"

Fifi groaned. "You were an orc hostage too, if I recall Sam's stories correctly." Pippin smiled as Merry's face turned red.

Frodo lay on the ground, nursing his Nazgul wound. It had begun to hurt during the battle. It still ached. The two young hobbits would never forget his screams of pain.

"They're too young." said Merry, pointing to Fifi and Haddy. Pippin nodded. "So were we."

Beside them now, stood Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. The four hobbits stood up. The Fellowship of the Ring, broken but united, still stood.

Legolas looked at Aragorn. "Where is Dawn?" Aragorn froze. "Legolas, Dawn was killed. By Eldarion."

Now it was Legolas' turn to freeze. His eyes swelled with emotion, then he picked up a piece of rubble, and hurled it at the wall, screaming curses at the Valar. Tauriel tried to hold him back, but failed. Legolas crumpled to a heap and lay there for a very long time.

()()()()

Faramir and Eowyn looked upon the damage. Eowyn knew that Dawn was dead, and she felt no sorrow. Faramir was just trying to help people who needed it.

Tauriel and Legolas sat outside the palace, by the overhang. Tauriel was not crying, could not cry. Some pain was too deep for tears or words. She hugged Legolas, knowing he was all she had left. They both had lost someone today, but, together, they could make sure they never lost themselves.

And maybe it was pain, maybe it was sorrow, maybe it was love that made Tauriel kiss Legolas in that moment. "I'm never going to leave you." Legolas whispered to her. "Neither will I." she said back. Their fingers were interlaced, and neither one could bring themselves to let go.

()()()()

She listened to the song. The mist was thick, almost suffocating.

Out of the mist, he stepped. She took a step back from him. He was emotionless as usual.

As he came out of the shadow, she realized who was singing.

"Welcome to the Palace of Mordor." he said.

It was Legolas singing in her mind.

All shall fade
All shall fade