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Kevin stepped out of the shower. He had just reached for his towel when the stranger suddenly appeared before him. Kevin was naturally startled.
"Do not be alarmed," said the stranger. "I am here to bring you home. It is now safe for you to return."
"What?! Who are you? How did you get in here? What the hell are you talking about?!" Kevin dropped the towel in surprise.
"It will help if I restore your memory. There. It is done," said the stranger snapping his fingers.
Kevin stared at the stranger. Then he slowly sank down until he was sitting on the floor, a stunned look on his face. A flood of memories filled his mind and overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands and began to weep.
The stranger softly said, "It is time to return home now, dear prince."
Kevin looked up, his eyes moist with tears.
"But what about my life here? What about Jason? I can't just leave now without a word. He'll wonder what happened to me."
And wouldn't you know it? The front door of Kevin's studio apartment opened just then and in walked Jason. Kevin had given Jason a key to his home to use in case of emergencies. Jason had decided to pay his beloved Kevin a surprise visit.
"Kevin?" said Jason loudly as he looked around. He must in the bathroom, thought Jason. He placed his carry-on luggage on the floor and walked toward the bathroom.
"Quiet," whispered the stranger. "We must leave quickly. But first allow me now to remove your disguise by reversing the spell that altered your appearance." The stranger again snapped his fingers. Kevin's fine blond hair instantly grew longer until it was halfway down his back. His ears became pointy.
There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Kevin? Are you in there?" said Jason. The doorknob turned and the door opened.
Jason's mouth dropped open when he saw Kevin in his au natural elven splendor. And who was this stranger in Kevin's bathroom?
"Jason, I wish you had called first before coming over," said Kevin.
"Kevin?! What's going on here? Why are your ears pointy? And who's this?" asked Jason pointing at the stranger.
"I'm sorry, but there is no time to answer your questions," said the stranger. "We must leave now, for the prince has a very important meeting to attend. The fate of Middle Earth hangs in the balance."
"What?! Now, just hold on right there. Middle Earth? Oh, I get it. Come on, guys. I saw 'The Two Towers' the other night. This must be some kind of Tolkien practical joke you're playing on me, right? Kevin, talk to me! You're not leaving like this until I get some answers!"
"I'm sorry, Jason. I love you, and I'll never forget you. But I must leave now. Good-bye."
The stranger snapped his fingers. Kevin was instantly clothed in his elven garments.
Holy shit, thought Jason. He looks exactly like that elf Legolas in that movie I saw last night! What the hell is going on here?
"Come, Legolas," said the stranger. He snapped his fingers and a large powerful vortex opened. He took hold of Kevin's hand and pulled him through the vortex.
"Oh, no you don't! You're not taking my Kevin away from me!" shouted Jason.
"Jason, don't!" cried Kevin. But it was too late. Jason had jumped into the vortex with Kevin and grabbed hold of Kevin by the waist. All three of them vanished into the vortex. The bathroom was now quiet and empty.
They emerged on the other side of the vortex which then closed. Jason looked around his new surroundings in complete confusion.
He stared at the person he knew as Kevin but who was now an Elf Prince. Legolas?! It can't be?! Jason felt his sense of reality shattering into a thousand pieces. Kevin's actually a Tolkien being from another world?! Holy shit!
But then it did explain a couple of things, thought Jason. He thought about the time he and Kevin went to an amusement park. They had a stopped at a booth where you could win prizes by shooting at a target with a bow and arrow. Kevin had easily won a dozen stuffed teddy bears at that booth. He had happily donated the teddy bears to the local orphanage, as he did not like to own a lot of material things. That was so like Kevin, thought Jason.
And there was the time he took Kevin to a ski resort. He remembered how easily Kevin ran upon snow without leaving any footprints of any kind. He never could figure out how he did that. When he had asked Kevin, the blond beauty simply shrugged and said he was going back to the lodge for some hot chocolate.
"Your horse is ready, Legolas," said the stranger. "We must ride now to the Secret Council meeting in Rivendell. Lord Elrond is waiting, as are the others. Hurry."
"NOW HANG ON JUST ONE FRICKIN' MOMENT!" shouted Jason. "This practical joke is totally amazing, I'll give you that. I don't know how you're doing all this, but enough is enough. Kevin, let's end all this and go back home. PLEASE?! I don't know how much, if any, of my sanity I have left!"
Kevin/Legolas looked at Jason who was now on the verge of tears.
"You must return to your world," the stranger calmly and firmly said to Jason. "Your very presence could upset the balance of events here and result in the destruction of Middle Earth."
Kevin/Legolas embraced Jason one last time and kissed him.
"Good-bye, Jason," he said.
The stranger snapped his fingers. The vortex reopened. He pushed Jason into it.
"KEVIN!!!!" he cried as he was pulled into the vortex. Kevin disappeared from his sight, as did that other dimension. Jason plummeted through the vortex until he finally reached the other side of it. He fell with a thud onto Kevin's bathroom floor. Then the vortex closed.
Jason shook his head, then looked around. Kevin's bathroom was quiet except for the sound of his own breathing.
Suddenly the vortex reopened, but only for a few seconds, long enough for a scroll to emerge and fall on the floor. Then the vortex closed shut.
Jason picked up the scroll and opened it. It was a message from Kevin. He walked out of the bathroom, sat down on the couch and read the scroll.
"Dear Jason: I have asked the wizard to send you the following story which may answer the many questions you no doubt have about what happened. It may seem like only seconds have passed since you last saw me, but where I am, many days have passed. I am on an important quest to help save Middle Earth from destruction. I doubt we will ever see each other again. Remember me always, as I shall always remember you. Love, Kevin/Legolas.
"Once upon a time a king learned of a plot to assassinate his beloved son, the prince. He consulted with his trusted friend and advisor, a great wizard. The wizard advised the king that those who plotted to kill the prince would surely succeed unless the prince could be safely hidden from them in a place where they could not possibly find him. The king followed the advice of the wizard. While the prince was kept safely hidden, it gave the king and the wizard time to find and stop those who would dare plot to kill the beloved prince. And so they did. Now five years later it was time to bring back the beloved prince from his hiding place so he could take his rightful place in the kingdom.
"This would not be a simple task, for the prince had been sent far away into another dimension to live a life under an assumed identity. His appearance had been altered slightly to disguise himself. His memory of his life as a prince had been wiped clean and replaced with new memories, false ones. The wizard had used his magic to make others in that other dimension to have false memories so that the prince in his assumed identity could blend in with the others without arousing questions about his origin."
Jason stared at the scroll after he finished reading. He sat on the floor and pinched his arm very hard, hoping he'd wake up and everything would be back to normal. Nope, still no Kevin to be seen or heard anywhere in the studio.
Jason wept. How could he go on with his life without his beloved Kevin? He could not bear the thought of never again being able to gaze upon those beautiful delicate features of Kevin's face, or feel his lithe, wiry, slender body close against himself.
He looked at Kevin's bed which was still unmade. Jason walked over to it, sat down, kicked off his shoes and got underneath the covers. He closed his eyes and sniffed the sheets and pillowcases. He could smell Kevin's sweet aroma. Jason sobbed. He didn't know how he could bear the pain of losing his beloved Kevin. He cried himself to sleep.
Jason didn't know how long he slept. He felt someone gently shaking his arm and speaking his name.
"Jason? Jason? Wake up."
Jason reluctantly awakened from his slumber. He didn't want to awaken because he was having a most delicious dream about Kevin and the time they spent in London as Jeeves and Wooster.
He opened his eyes in amazement. There was Kevin. Just Kevin. No long hair. No pointy ears. No Elven garments. Jason looked around. No stranger to whisk Kevin away in some weird powerful vortex.
"KEVIN!" he cried. He grabbed Kevin in a powerful embrace and was afraid to let go for fear his beloved Kevin would vanish from his sight.
"Jason, are you okay?" Kevin softly said.
"I am now," said Jason. It must have been a dream, he thought.
If it was indeed a dream, it was one that made Jason realize just how much he loved Kevin and how much it would tear himself up inside if Kevin were ever taken from him.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the Tolkien characters/items mentioned in this story. In fact, I wasn't even going to write a chapter 4 until after I saw The Lord of the Rings and became a big fan of it.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Do you think it was only a dream? Or did Kevin/Legolas finish what he had to do in the quest and return to be with Jason? Click on 'Your Comments RR4' to submit your comment or read other posted comments.
