DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Lord of the Rings; all rights to J.R.R. Tolkien!

Aragorn struck his flint and steel, watching the torch catch the sparks and burst into flames. Taking it from his best friend, he held it aloft for a moment, staring at the stack of dry wood before him.

Enceladus' body was in there. He knew it was. He'd been the one to put it there. His brothers had helped him stack a pillar of wood around it, in preparation of his "burial". This is what Aragorn had wanted. He wanted to watch Enceladus and his poison go up in flames.

They'd searched the little house Enceladus' had been in, which was surprisingly not burned to the ground. The Ranger guessed this was because the wicked man would have had to be a fool to burn his own dwelling down, especially with a few of his things still inside.

He, his two brothers, and Legolas had found a small stash of herbs and vile-looking liquids in the desk Enceladus had been seated at when Aragorn had managed to get inside the building the other day. It sickened the Ranger to find that these were more poisons. He refused to touch them, so Elladan took them and they were placed alongside the criminal's body among the firewood.

The man's orc cronies had been dispatched with the aid of a few villagers who had hidden in the woods as their village went up in smoke. That had brought the odds down to three to one. Though Elladan and Aragorn had both sustained a few injuries, they were minor and nothing to worry about. Aragorn was just thankful they'd made it out alive.

Now the Ranger took a solemn step forward, his eyes fixed upon Enceladus' burial ground. He sensed his family's comforting presence behind him, and he knew Legolas was there as well.

He felt no regrets about burning the man's body. He felt no inner battle, no voice telling him not to. Enceladus was well and truly dead. All thoughts of revenge were gone, as well. As much as he hated all the death and destruction this man had caused, he simply couldn't find it within himself to do anything out of hate. He was tired of it all. Tired of the anger. The pain. He wanted it all to be over.

He lowered the tip of the torch slowly, letting it rest momentarily on a log before pulling it back again as the wood caught fire. He stepped back, letting the still afire torch hang loosely from his hands. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he didn't turn to see who it was. He wanted to watch Enceladus burn.

Someone took the burning torch from him, and he let them. He could hear it being put out. He still didn't tear his eyes from the flames.

He had no idea how long he'd stood there. But by the time he was finally ready to leave, all that was left was a few smoldering logs and a pile of ashes. He knew his best friend was still there. He could feel him there.

Elrond and his two brothers had been called away again back to help a few of the wounded that had unfortunately taken a turn for the worse. He didn't mind. If any lives could be spared from this mess, he wanted his family to help with it.

When he turned to go back inside, he caught Legolas' gaze. The elf offered him a small smile, and Aragorn couldn't help but return it with a weak little one of his own. He felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

And he liked it.

Suddenly, one of the healers burst from the Last Homely House, looking around excitedly for a minute before his eyes landed on the Ranger and his friend.

"Lord Aragorn!" He called happily, jogging forward to meet him.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" Aragorn asked, a little worm of doubt creeping into his heart.

But the elf shook his head emphatically. "Nay, my lord. It is the girl. She is awake."

A small smile permeated Aragorn's face.

"She has requested to see you, my lord." The elf finished.

Aragorn cast a pleasured glance towards Legolas, then started forward after the healer.

When they reached the little girl's room, Aragorn suddenly slowed his pace, forcing himself to walk calmly into the room. He cracked the door open, peering in and knocking softly at the same time.
"Ranger!" The little girl on the bed crowed happily.

Aragorn entered, a grin on his face, and he perched on the edge of the bed.

The girl's tawny hair that had once been coated in mud was now brushed clean and pulled back in a pretty little braid. She had obviously bathed, seeing as her face did not hold all the dirt it had when he'd found her in the rubbish. Now he could see she had hundreds of tiny freckles dotting her face, trailing up her nose and onto her rosy cheeks.

"I am glad to see you well again." He said.

The girl nodded. "So am I." She giggled. There was a momentary pause, then she continued. "Thank you." Her voice suddenly seemed small, as if she were afraid someone else would hear.

Aragorn's expression turned to a confused one. "Thank you? For what?"

"For saving me."

The Ranger didn't feel like he had quite saved her, seeing as he had only caused her to be buried in a pile of roofing tiles and ceiling beams. He smiled quietly.

"You're welcome." He murmured. "But I did little to save you. I am the one who put you in danger." As much as the words tugged at his heart, he didn't want the girl to believe something that wasn't true.

But she shook her head, her brows furrowed. "No, no. Of course you did. You're the one who freed my and my family from the orcs. You're the one who found me in the ruins and brought me here."

Aragorn let out a short breath of laughter, but it was suddenly cut short as a thought occurred to him.

"Your family?"

A smile lit up her face and she nodded. "Yes—well, at least one of them." Her gaze traveled to the other side of the bed, where an older woman sat dozing quietly in a chair.

"You saved my auntie Marilee, too."

Aragorn, though slightly startled that he hadn't seen her there before, was relieved that the girl still had family living. Then a thought occurred to him.

"You never told me your name?" He smiled thinly as he echoed the words he had spoken when he'd first met the little girl who'd saved his life.

Her brown eyes sparkled with remembrance, not with fear, as they had last time. "Rita." She said. "My name is Rita Hallas."

~finished~

"And while he [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him;…
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
But the father said, '…Let's have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."

~Luke 15:20 & 24

Well, there you go everybody. The nightmare is over. :D Was the ending satisfying enough for ya'll or should I make some adjustments? Please let me know 'cause I can always go back and revise. Okay, before I go on to review replies, I wanted to give special shout-outs to a few of my reviewers, which might well end up being all of them since you guys have all influenced me so much. First off, thanks to Silenthunder for being so cool and always talking with me about RA and all the other loves of my life :D
Thanks to Thalion Estel for always answering my questions; I love talking with you its so fun! Thanks to Horseyyay for just being so awesome! Your reviews always make me laugh and your encouragement means so much to me. :D
Thanks to Lady of Anfalas for giving me some good pointers and for giving me all that encouragement :D
Thanks to EvenstarWarrior, whose never-ending enthusiasm for this story always got me laughing. Your encouragement and pointers mean so much to me. :D
Thanks to SaphiralovesTolkien for always encouraging me and giving me the honest truth. And thank you for listening to the songs of the day and sharing in my love for them! :D
Thanks to Sparky's Girl who, even though she started when it was almost over, has not ceased to encourage me and answer my questions for the chapters. :D
Thanks to Greenleaf (Sonicscrewdriversinmiddleearth) for being so generally amazing. You totally encourage me so much and I love reading your reviews, which almost always have me laughing. Thanks to Shadow Leaf for egging poor Enceladus on and for encouraging me so much.
Thanks to ThurinRanger for always reviewing and for chatting with me about all the weird, various things I like to talk about. :D
Thanks to Ranger Turien for always being there for me, even if the story stinks. You have no idea how much you encourage me to keep writing. :D
Thanks to equestrian18 for flattering me with encouragement and praise even though I don't deserve it. Even though you joined right at the end, I still totally love reading your reviews and I wanna thank you for reading and reviewing! :D
Thanks to inkpen112 for always being totally blunt and honest with me. You have no idea how much I love that.
Last but certainly not least, thanks to Firedragon99 for giving me great advice and for encouraging me so much.
Wow. *takes deep breath* That was a mouthful. :D Now, there were so many of you guys who have reviewed/favorited/followed that I couldn't fit you all here. These are just the people who have been really consistent with their reviews. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate everyone else as well! If you didn't review/favorite/follow or maybe you did and I haven't mentioned you, that's still great! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO E.V.E.R.Y.B.O.D.Y. FOR READING AND REVIEWING AND FOR GIVING ME ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND LAUGHTER YOU HAVE GIVEN ME! :D You guys really help me further my writing abilities and I am so honored to have had you guys as readers and reviewers. Thank you all! :D And Merry Christmas to you all and Merry whatever else you guys might celebrate! :D

REVIEW REPLIES

Silenthunder: Yeah I haven't seen BoFA yet, either. *sighs dramatically* You're not alone. Yeah, the cover artwork is pretty awesome, isn't it? Oh I like that song too! It would be really cool to see a LoTR musical. That would be so fun. :D I was really disappointed when they didn't have Frodo sing and dance at the Prancing Pony. That was one of my favorite parts, and not to mention songs. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Thalion Estel: Actually I don't know much about sparring. All I know is the few basic things I've picked up from reading Ranger's Apprentice. I'm glad you agree with me about him sparing Enceladus. For some reason, I just couldn't see Aragorn killing him. Yeah, I guess that's fair since Thalion Estel is elvish. I really like that name. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

SaphiralovesTolkien: Yay! Did you like the song? I really like Everfound. They are SO good. :D I like Silma and Evenstar. Those are both really pretty. Have you seen BoFA yet? I haven't, unfortunately. I'm planning on seeing it first thing after Christmas, though. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

EvenstarWarrior: *blushes* Honestly, Gil. You're gonna give me a big head with all that flattery. :P Glad you liked it. You should really listen to She Said. It's such a cool song and it's got a nice beat. :D So…what's elvish for your real name? Sorry. I forgot. Wait…no…yes! Oh…no…yes! No…nevermind. I think I remember it. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

ThurinRanger: Yeah, I wouldn't mind having Elladan as my older brother. That would be so fun! :D You're welcome. Do you like her name? I had it in the back of my mind ever since I introduced her and I've been waiting for the perfect moment to reveal her name. Have you seen BoFA yet? Unfortunately, I haven't. But I'm planning on seeing it straight away after Christmas, though. I was tempted to do NaNo, but I didn't. I know a lot of people who did, though. Did you meet the 50,000 words? Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukkah! Or whatever you celebrate too! :D Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Ranger Turien: Reforming your writing style? Why? I like your writing style! *sighs dramatically* Too bad I haven't been able to READ any of your writing since you haven't updated…HINT HINT. :P Ooohhh! That's a cool name! I like it. :D Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Sparky's Girl: Yeah, I guess Tauriel is an okay name. I really hate her character though…ugh. Oh! I like those names! I know my real name in elvish, but I don't know what I would pick for myself. I'll have to think about it. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

horseyyay: Sorry. But he had to go. *hands tissue* Glad you liked the battle scene. I think it was one of my best. :) Hahaha! I like how you refer to yourself as "demented hobbit Éowyn". That's awesome. :P Which one of your fics is it? I'll try it out. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Greenleaf: Yeah I wish Elladan were MY big brother. :P Your welcome for saving the girl. I just couldn't find it in myself to kill her. :P Hahahah! I like your Gandalf scene. I LOVED that part of the movie. Bilbo just looked kinda like, "…uh…what?" I was laughing so hard. :P Yes, you do need to write some fanfics. I would love to read them! I really like the name Serethiel. I wouldn't mind having that as my own name! :D Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Green Leaf: Okay I don't know if this is Greenleaf or Shadow Leaf so I'll just do this one separate from the one above. :P. It's okay. *pats back and hands tissue* You still have BoFA to live for! Speaking of the Hobbit, have you seen it yet? I haven't, but I'm going to right after Christmas. :D I'm glad you like the review replies. It's more fun when we get to talk one-on-one, not just someone reviewing and never getting a response. I think so, anyway. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

equestrian18: *dramatic gasp* YOU HAVE HORSES!? All of my friends have horses and I'm the only one without one. *sobs* You are so lucky. I haven't seen BoFA yet, but I already knew Kili and Fili died. I hope Tauriel dies. Does she? Wait! No don't tell me! :P Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Lady of Anfalas: Glad you liked the duel. :D I wanted Aragorn to kill Enceladus, but for some reason I just couldn't see him killing him. So…yeah. Elladan did. :P Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

SONG OF THE DAY

Average Girl
Artist: Barlowgirl

QUESTION OF THE DAY

If you had the choice of either going with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli after Merry and Pippin or joining Sam and Frodo on their trek to Mordor, who would you join and why?

Arrow :D