The Lord and Lady of the Rings

HEAL ME

The flames of Eregion licked the night sky, staining the horizon in streaks of orange and black. Screams echoed through the distant city, swallowed by the relentless roar of destruction. The wind carried ash, scattering it like snow upon the forest that stood on the city's edge, an oasis of green amidst the carnage. And there, in the heart of the woods, two figures faced each other.

Galadriel's sword gleamed coldly in the dim light, her silver armor tarnished with soot and blood. Across from her stood Sauron—or rather, the one who had masqueraded as Halbrand. His dark armor pulsed with malevolent energy, a dark reflection of the man he had pretended to be.

Their eyes locked, two forces entwined by fate and betrayal. Neither moved, each waiting for the other to strike.

"I searched for you," Galadriel said, her voice low but edged with grief. "I fought beside you. Believed in you."

Sauron—Halbrand—smiled, a flicker of something almost human shadowing his features. "You saw what you wanted to see."

She clenched her jaw, the weight of that truth sinking into her heart. Every shared moment between them—their battles, their conversations, their dreams of healing Middle-earth—now felt like a poisoned memory. Yet, looking into his face, she couldn't see only the Dark Lord. She still saw the man she had once dared to love.

And it broke her.

Her sword trembled in her hand, wavering as she tried to steady herself. But in that moment of hesitation, Sauron moved. He was upon her in an instant, faster than she could react. His hand closed around her throat and slammed her into the rough bark of a tree, pinning her there. The cold bite of steel grazed her ribs as he pressed against her, his breath warm and ragged, his eyes ablaze—not with malice, but something far more dangerous, 'Love'.

"Do you think I never cared?" he whispered, his voice low and desperate. "I love you, Galadriel."

Her breath hitched.

For a moment, the night seemed to stand still. Galadriel searched his face, her heart betraying her reason. There, beneath the storm of deceit and darkness, she saw it—tears pooling in his eyes. A flicker of pain. Love, twisted and buried beneath centuries of manipulation and ambition, but love nonetheless.

And for a fleeting moment, she almost believed him, how could she not? He was halbrand....her halbrand. 

Her lips parted, but no words came. Her body ached from the tension between what she knew and what she felt. She could see the broken man beneath the Dark Lord's mask. And yet, he was the very thing she had hunted for so long, the source of all the darkness she had fought to banish, the one who killed her brother.

In a sudden burst of movement, she broke free from his grip, spinning away with an agility born of countless battles. Sauron staggered, his hand grasping at the empty air where she had been. She stepped back toward the edge of the cliff, the city of Eregion burning behind her, its flames flickering like dying stars.

Galadriel's hands found the delicate ring on her finger—the Ring of Power that had connected her to a dream of salvation. Slowly, she slid it off, holding it in her palm, the weight of it like a farewell.

"If you truly wish to heal this world," she whispered, "you must first heal yourself."

Sauron's eyes widened, his breath catching as he saw her take another step back.

"Galadriel—"

But before he could stop her, she leapt from the cliff's edge, her form vanishing into the abyss below. But this time he jumped with her, he tried to grip her hand just like a mad man tries to grip his sanity, she was his sanity.