For everyone who's been waiting so very patiently, this is the chapter where we find out if Shagrat will be all right.

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Sauron Gorthaur for pointing out my many typos and giving me such great, helpful advice in her reviews. I hope you continue to like the story and are not too disappointed with my Sauron.

And now, back to the story.

- 7. Healing and Explaining -

Isthey and Nia had been discussing the night before as they waited for Shagrat to return. A rush of wings overhead made them look up. First they saw Nyra zip over their heads, followed by...

"What is that?" Nia asked in alarm.

"Let's go find out." Isthey said. "Come on. It went that way."

The two ran after the huge creature as it circled lower and lower until it landed in the center of the village. A large group of orcs was already gathering around the stranger. The huge black creature lowered itself to the ground. A rider clad in silver armor dismounted. He was much taller than any of the Uruk-hai. He began making his way through the crowd with a large black bundle in his arms. A part of the cloth around it fell down to reveal a face. Isthey's blood ran cold.

A horrifed cry echoed across the crowd. Sauron looked in the direction it had come from and saw a particularly large orc shoving his way toward Sauron.

"Shagrat!" the orc yelled. His face grew more worried as he closer.

"Who are you?" Sauron demanded.

"I'm...I'm Isthey. I'm his brother." Isthey said anxiously, "Wh-what happened to him? Is he all right?"

"He's alive, but he needs help fast." Sauron answered, scanning his surroundings for anything that looked like something or someone that could help Shagrat. He wasn't seeing anything.

Does Nyra know where I can take him? Sauron asked Meyrán. There was a moment of silence before she answered.

She says to ask Isthey. He will know. He will help. Sauron nodded and turned back to Isthey, who had been pondering a thought that had just entered his head. He had been wondering just who the stranger that brought Shagrat back was. A description given to him by Shagrat seemed to fit the stranger perfectly. But what was his name? Salmon? Saeran?

"Sauron?" Isthey ventured. The Dark Lord looked down at him.

"Yes." he answered. "I am Sauron."

"Then thank you. For taking care of him in Mordor. For loving him like you did."

"And like I still do." Sauron added. Isthey led him to a large hut with a grass roof. He knocked rapidly on the wooden door. Tinana opened it, took one look at Shagrat, and ushered them inside, Sauron leaning over to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe or the ceiling.

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A while later, they were all gathered in the back room of Tinana's hut. Sauron sat cross-legged on the floor with Shagrat in his lap, the orc's head resting in the crook of his arm. Nia knelt in front of Sauron, Shagrat's hand grasped tightly in hers. Isthey sat beside them, gently stroking Shagrat's forehead.

Tinana had treated and bandaged all of his wounds, but she still wasn't sure if he would live through that night.

"He will make it." Isthey said yet again, "He's got to. He's just got to."

"Don't worry, Isthey. He will be all right." Nia assured him. She only hoped she was right.

"I feel so useless." Sauron muttered, "I wish there was more I could do for him. More I could do for you two." Isthey looked at him.

"You already did. You saved his life from...whatever or whoever did this to him." Isthey clenched his fists, "If I ever find the one who did this, I swear to the Valar I'll kill them!"

"Eheheh. Well, Isthey, you don't need to worry about that. I already killed it." Sauron said nervously. Isthey's wrath dissolved.

"What was it?" Nia asked.

"It was known to everyone as the Mouth of Sauron, But I'm not sure why I brought such a horrible abomination into existence."

"I remember that." Isthey commented, causing Nia to whip her head around to face him. "Shagrat said the Mouth of Sauron was who hurt him when they first found him."

"That sounds like the Mouth." Sauron agreed, nodding.

"How did this...this thing come to be?" Nia asked.

"That will take some time to explain." Sauron looked down at the unconscious orc in his arms. "But I suppose we have time for it. Very well, then, I shall tell you the full story." Isthey and Nia moved closer as he began his tale. None of them, not even Sauron himself, noticed the Dark Lord's hands glowing softly beneath Shagrat.

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Shagrat couldn't make sense of what he was feeling as he merged from the blacknes. It became immediately clear that whatever the Mouth had been doing to him had been stopped. Where he had felt pain and burning before, he now felt softness and warmth. Someone was now being very gentle with him and being careful not to hurt him. He could hear distant sounds that were becoming clearer and clearer. He could now identify them as voices, though he couldn't tell who was speaking. He felt something warm and smooth around his hand and something hard and cool against his side. His eyes opened a bit and he could make out blurry shapes around him. He could also feel a sort of tingling sensation in his back that spread out all over his body. The voices he heard were becoming clearer,Hecould now tell there were three speakers and that one of them was female. Then his ears and eyes refocused and his senses became clear.

"...did you do?" cried the female.

"What do you mean? What DID I do?" asked a male voice that Shagrat thought sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure.

"What did you do when your hands started glowing? What did that do to my brother?" demanded a second male voice. This one Shagrat was certain he knew.

"I...I don't know. I didn't even know my hands were glowing." the first male answered. Shagrat mustred up his strength to speak.

"I...Isth-they." Shagrat gasped. Within seconds, he saw his brother's face hovering over his.

"Shagrat! Oh, thank the Valar, you're all right!" He lifted his head and shot a glance to someone Shagrat couldn't see. Nia appeared beside him and gave Shagrat a soft peck on his cheek.

"You will be well soon, ma Shagrat." she said gently. Her black hair fell down over her shoulders, forming a sort of curtain around their faces. For the first time, he was able to look into her deep blue eyes. Eyes that were so full of kindness and love, all for him, all for the one she loved, whom she would not easily let Death take. Eyes that could comfort him and bring him peace, no matter how great his pain or fear.

Shagrat now understood what Isthey had explained to him that morning about finding "the one". The person he wanted to spend forever with, the person he cared for more than anything, the person he would give his own life to protect. And he knew in his heart that she felt the same way for him.

Shagrat now knew Isthey and Nia were beside him, but there was someone else there, too. Shagrat could smell them. It was a different smell, yet it seemed familiar. Like sweat, and metal, and...sulfur.

Shagrat slowly tilted his head back to look up. He didn't believe what he saw.

"Sauron?" he gasped. The Dark Lord nodded slowly and lifted Shagrat into a sitting position with his back against Sauron's chest.

"What happened? Where is the Mouth?" Shagrat asked.

"The Mouth is dead by my mace. It was I who brought you here, under the guidance of a fell beast named Nyra." Sauron answered. "I met your brother upon my arrival and he brought me to the healer whose home we are now in."

"So...you are truly Restored? I did not fail you?" Sauron shook his head.

"No, Shagrat. You did just as I asked. The Ring was cast into the Fires, and the Pure Evil's hold on me destroyed."

"The Ring wasn't thrown into any fires!" Isthey exclaimed. "It's right there on Sauron's finger!"

"Right you are, Isthey. But I only said it was cast in. I never said it was destroyed." Now it was Shagrat's turn to be puzzled.

'It was the Lord of the Void's work that was destroyed. The Ring was merely a vessel to carry that to where it could be safely destroyed. The bond was broken in the Fires. But the Ring itself was my own creation. It was my blood that mixed with the gold used to forge it. Therefore, since the Ring was a part of me and not him, it survived and returned to its place of origin, which is my hand."

Isthey and Nia shuddered. Even they knew who the Pure Evil, the Lord of the Void was

Shagrat fidgeted with one of his bandages, which covered a particularly bad wound, until he accidentally tore it open and it fell off. The room fell suddenly quiet.

"Not...possible." Isthey gasped. Shagrat looked down at his stomach, where he knew the wound to be and saw...

Nothing. His skin was as clear and smooth as if he'd never been hurt. He eagrly removed his other bandages and found the sam had happened with the other wounds. They had all somehow disappeared.

"How?" Nia asked. Sauron slapped his face with his palm.

"Of COURSE! Why didn't I think of it before? Sauron, you fool of a Maia."

"You know what healed his wounds?" Isthey asked.

"I did." Sauron answered. "I forgot that I had healing abilities. I am so terribly sorry. If I had remembered, I would have healed him much sooner. I'm so sorry."

"It's all right." Shagrat put a hand on the Dark Lord's shoulder. "You healed me now, and I'm unhurt. So let's go to mine and Isthey's home for dinner. I'm sure you're starving, my lord." Sauron was about to object, but his stomach chose that moment to betray him with a growl. So, after explaining Shagrat's sudden recovery to Tinana and thanking her for her help, the four of them departed for Isthey's house. Sauron crawled inside and sat beside Shagrat and Nia while Isthey prepared some fresh squirrels he'd caught earlier.

When had finished their meal and said good-bye to Nia, the two orcs set about arranging blankets into an area near their pallets where Sauron could sleep. The Maia thanked them and laid down beside Shagrat, using his cape as a blanket. Shagrat was still amazed by how Sauron could sleep anywhere without the spikes of his armor tearing the blankets and pillows. He supposed it was some other bit of Sauron's magic.

At last, it seemed everything would be all right now. He was back with his brother, he had a home, he had fallen in love with someone, and now he had the Dark Lord back. Everyone who loved him, except for Nia and his mother, was here. With him. To stay.

"Sauron." he said, "I...I love you, Dark Lord." A large arm wrapped around him and pulled him close.

"And I love you, my little Shagrat."

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Aaaawwwwwwww, Shagrat's okay and he's back with Sauron. Ain't that SWEET? Shoot me a review and tell me what you think.