Holly poked her head out of the pod. "Yep, we're in the right place this time."

"Good," Artemis followed her outside; adjusting the tunic he had pulled on over his LEP suit.

"So where, no, when are we?" Holly asked.

"If my calculations are correct, our captors should just now be leaving to search for Frodo," Artemis replied. "Look, there's one of them there!" Artemis and Holly ducked behind a patch of shrubs as one of the hobbits walked past calling "Frodo? Frodo? Where are you?"

Artemis turned to Holly. "We need to plan how we're going to fix the future. I know fairies hate the idea of killing another living creature. Do you have a different plan?"

"I've thought it over," Holly answered. "What if we wait until after I yell duck and save him, and then shoot him with an arrow to injure him, enough that an orc catches him?"

Artemis thought for a moment. "That could work. We will need to make sure they kill him, though."

Holly took a deep breath. "I know." Artemis could see the idea pained her.

"We need to move if we're going to get between them and the river." Artemis looked around cautiously before leaving their hiding place and heading down the hill. Holly followed him.

They slipped quietly through the trees. Or at least Holly went quietly. Artemis stepped on every dry twig and his feet crackled through every dead leaf on the ground. Despite all this, they had nearly reached the river when they heard the cry above them: "Orcs!"

Almost immediately, the air was filled with the sounds of battle: banging and yelling and roaring and the clashing of metal. Artemis and Holly each hid behind a tree and waited while the orcs drew closer. Holly strung an arrow on her bow and peered around the tree.

Within seconds, Holly could see Boromir fighting his way through the orcs. He bellowed, "Run, Frodo! Head for the river!" then returned to the battle. As an orc rushed up behind him, Holly heard a shrill voice call out "duck!"

Is my voice really that high pitched? She though distractedly. She and Artemis both moved farther around the tree to avoid being seen as their past selves rushed past.

Boromir stumbled past, still battling several orcs. The other warriors were no where to be seen. It was now or never.

Holly took a deep breath and raised her bow. She struggled to focus on aiming at Boromir's thick legs.

"Holly, hurry!" The urgency in Artemis' voice distracted Holly. He knew better than to distract her while she was aiming. She glanced over her cocked shoulder to see Legolas heading in their direction, still firing arrows.

"We don't want him to see us shoot Boromir," Artemis continued. "That could make our exit more difficult."

"Right," said Holly. She took aim briefly, then fired.

Boromir gasped in pain and surprise and lurched to the left. A small wound, and certainly not fatal, but it was enough to make Boromir drop his guard for a second. The orc fighting him swung its battle axe in a single, deadly chop.

Holly turned and buried her face in Artemis' chest. "I killed him," she sobbed. "I killed him!"

Artemis wrapped his arms around Holly and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Holly, we need to move." Orcs were still swarming down the hill.

Holly nodded and tried to pull herself together. She looked up to see Legolas staring at them from several feet away. He was livid.

"Traitors!" he howled. He began to string an arrow, but was distracted by an orc charging him.

Holly and Artemis sprinted down the hill. Legolas' cries followed them as he yelled to Aragorn "After them! They killed Boromir!" He obviously thought they were the same Artemis and Holly whom he had spoken to earlier.

Once again Artemis found himself running for his life. I should write a book about Déjà vu, he thought abstractedly. Then he reminded himself to focus on running and not tripping. The sight of Holly tearing off her tunic helped.

"Use your LEP suit to shield!" she called to him. Artemis immediately followed her example. He ripped the Velcro cover from his sleeve and pushed the coded buttons to make his suit fade into near-invisibility. Of course, he understood the science of this and the fact that his surroundings were being projected onto his clothing, but this is an action scene and we're not going to go into all that.

Holly and Artemis were now disembodied floating heads, which was a little odd but also much harder to aim at. Several arrows whizzed past them as they continued racing down the hill, but none found their mark.

Holly was the first to reach the river. She immediately turned upstream and began working through the trees. The pod was still on the hill above them.

"Wait, Holly!" Artemis panted. "Don't you have the remote?"

Holly searched her pockets. "D'arvit!" she swore. "I must have lost it!" They continued hashing their way through the underbrush. "I think we're getting close to where we left the pod the first time," Holly commented.

Sure enough, they soon heard familiar voices. A moment later they heard the pod door slam shut. As they emerged from the bushes, the pod disappeared in a flash of light.

"Look!" Holly cried. She ran over to where the pod had vanished and picked up a small white object. It was the remote for the pod.

Holly pushed the button, boop boop, and the pod materialized in front of them.

"Good timing," Artemis remarked with a glance over his shoulder. It sounded like Legolas was following them.

Holly opened the door and they quickly stepped inside. As Artemis swung the door shut, he saw Legolas' emerge from the underbrush. The expression on his face changed quickly from angry to surprise and yes, fear.

"Time to go home?" Holly asked.

"I think so," Artemis answered as he selected their starting time, and hit go.

The sound of the pod wound down from a hum to silence. The tiny light above the door winked green, but neither Holly nor Artemis reached to open it.

"It's going to be normal this time, right?" Holly asked hesitantly.

Artemis smiled. "Normal? We have a normal?" Then he leaned over and kissed Holly.

For a moment, Holly couldn't think. Artemis was kissing her. How was she supposed to react? The mudboy who had kidnapped her and held her for ransom and was now her best friend? But then she realized she didn't have to react. It just felt right.

Together, Artemis and Holly faced the pod door and opened it to a room full of opportunity.

Good ending? Please R&R, I love comments. I'm thinking of continuing to write them into different stories, just as short drabbles because it's so much fun. The only thing is that I need new ideas! Please let me know what you think and THANK YOU for reading!