The Fellowship of the Rocket
and Their Fu King Adventure
(Based on a true story...sort of)
by Cori Falls
@->->- 
It was a chilly morning in mid-December...the eighteenth of December, to be 
precise. But it was anything but a typical morning for Jessie, James, and Meowth 
of Team Rocket. 
"Just one more day, James!" Jessie squealed excitedly. 
"Yeah! I've been waiting practically my whole life for this, Jessie!" James 
agreed. 
The two of them joined hands and twined their fingers. "Just one more day until 
Lord of the Rings is in theaters!" they said in unison as they began an 
impromptu tango. 
Meowth smirked as he watched his human companions dancing and bouncing around 
like a couple of children. "What am I gonna do with youse two?" he sighed. "For 
the past three months, it's been nothin' but Lord of the Rings dis and Lord of 
the Rings dat! Honestly, guys, what's the big deal?! It's just a movie!" 
The cat's words stopped Jessie and James dead in their tracks. 
"J-j-just a movie?! Just a movie?!" Jessie gasped. 
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that, Meowth!" James shouted. 
"But if you say it again, we'll be left with no choice but to kick your ass 
seven ways to Sunday!" Jessie warned him. 
Meowth put up his paws. "I'm sorry! Jeez! But I really don't see why youse guys 
are gettin' so worked up about dis!" 
Jessie and James exchanged looks. 
"Well, he's never read the books, so he doesn't understand how important this is 
to us," said James. 
"I guess," Jessie conceded. "But ignorance is still no excuse!" 
"Then why don't we enlighten him?" James suggested. 
"Good idea," she replied. 
With that, Jessie and James seated themselves on either side of Meowth. 
"Sorry for yelling at you, but this is a really touchy subject for us," James 
told him. 
"I noticed," Meowth said. 
"You see, Meowth, Lord of the Rings is more than just a movie -- it's one of the 
greatest books ever written!" Jessie explained. 
"It's played a very important part in both of our lives," James chimed in. "And 
it's one hell of an amazing story!" 
Jessie closed her eyes and smiled. "I remember, my momma always read to me when 
I was a little girl. One night every week, she'd stop at the Library on the way 
home from work -- when she wasn't away on missions, that is -- and get a book 
that we could both enjoy. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were always my 
favorites. Hearing about Bilbo and Frodo's adventures always took my mind off my 
empty stomach...getting to visit Middle Earth for awhile let me forget about how 
much my real life sucked. And it was always nice to sit on my momma's lap, feel 
her arms around me, hear her voice in my ear...." 
"That's how it was for me, too," James agreed. "My happiest childhood memories 
are the times when my grand-papa and grand-mama read to me. I loved spending 
time with them, and those books really helped me take my mind off of my 
troubles." 
"Those books are one of the reasons why James and I became such good friends," 
Jessie continued. "Well, we always got along and enjoyed talking to each other, 
but when we found out that this was one of the things we had in common, it took 
our friendship to a whole new level. It was like a bonding experience for 
us...." 
James blushed. "I...never told this to you, Jess, but Lord of the Rings is one 
of the reasons why I'm here now." 
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, James?" she asked. 
"Do you remember when you wanted join Team Rocket by yourself and leave me in 
Sunny Town so that I wouldn't get hurt?" 
She nodded as her eyes grew moist with tears. 
"Well...I'd just finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and it got me to 
thinking," he explained. "Jess, I was awake when you told me who your mom was 
and that you had no choice about joining Team Rocket. Hearing why you were 
leaving reminded me so much of why Frodo left the fellowship and wanted to go to 
Mordor alone...." 
"....But Sam didn't want Frodo to face the darkness alone -- he promised never 
to leave his friend, and he cared about their friendship too much to break that 
promise," she concluded. "That's why you joined Team Rocket with me, isn't it? 
Because you wanted to keep your promise to stay with me no matter what...just 
like Sam did." 
James took Jessie's hand in his own and smiled at her. "Jess, I would've come 
with you whether I'd read those books or not," he told her. "But seeing those 
two little Hobbits going through the same thing that we were just further 
convinced me that I was making the right choice." 
"James...that's so sweet!" Jessie whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. 
"So, I have dose books ta thank for youse guys bein' such a cozy couple!" Meowth 
mused. "Wow! No wonder dey're so important to ya!" 
"Those books are just one of the reasons why Jess and I share such a deep bond 
of friendship and love," James said as he draped an arm around her. "But they 
are a very big reason. There's no doubt about that." 
Jessie smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "One of the things James and 
I always used to talk about was how much we wanted to see a live-action version 
of Lord of the Rings on the big screen," she told Meowth. "We'd spend hours on 
end, talking about how they'd adapt the book into movie format, how we thought 
the scenery was going to look, who we thought should be cast as the 
characters...you get the idea." 
"So you see, Meowth, one of our fondest wishes has finally been granted!" James 
sighed. "Our favorite book is being brought to life -- it's a dream come true!" 
Meowth smiled. "Dis must be one helluva book! Now I'm startin' ta get excited, 
too!" 
"Does this mean you'll stop picking on us and come see the movie?" Jessie 
ventured. 
"Yeah!" the cat exclaimed. "If it's had dat much influence on where we are now, 
den I've GOTTA see it!" 
James grinned and scratched behind Meowth's ears. "Glad you feel that way. This 
is going to be a really special experience for me and Jessie, and we want you to 
be a part of it." 
"Yeah. You're our best friend, Meowth," said Jessie. "It wouldn't be the same if 
you weren't there." 
Meowth sniffled. "Awww! Thanks, guys!" 
As the three friends were about to share a group-hug, the oven timer suddenly 
started beeping. 
"Sounds like the muffins are done!" James said as he jumped off of the couch and 
headed for the kitchen. 
"All right!" Jessie exclaimed. 
"Breakfast is served!" Meowth cheered. 
While James was taking the strawberry muffins out of the oven, Jessie put a 
kettle of water on the stove and added some cocoa mix to three large mugs. Once 
the muffins had cooled a little, James removed them from the tin and placed them 
on plates, and once the water was hot enough, Jessie poured it into the mugs. 
The warm muffins and Irish Creme flavored cocoa were the perfect treat for a 
cold end-of-fall morning. 
"Mmm-mmm! Another stupendous breakfast, Jimmy-boy!" Meowth said as he slathered 
one of his muffins with butter and shoved it into his mouth. 
Once she'd finished one of her muffins and wiped the crumbs from her lips, 
Jessie nodded. "I couldn't agree more!" 
James blew on his cocoa and took a sip. "Thank you," he replied. 
"So, when does dis movie start?" Meowth asked, getting back to the original 
subject. 
"Tomorrow!" Jessie and James said in unison. 
The cat closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Hmmm...are we even gonna be 
near a city with movie theaters tomorrow?" he asked. "We can't watch it here in 
the woods, ya know!" 
"I think there's a town called Cedar Creek nearby," Jessie replied. 
"I know. After breakfast, I'll go online and see where the nearest movie theater 
is...and what times they'll be showing it," James told them. 
"That's a good idea, James," Jessie remarked. 
Meowth nodded. "Yeah. Never hurts ta plan ahead...'specially for somethin' like 
dis!" 
Once they were done eating, James got out his laptop and connected to the 
internet while Jessie and Meowth washed the dishes. After consulting his map and 
locating the town of Cedar Creek, he went to the "movies" option on his ISP's 
home page and entered the town name and movie title so that he could find out 
what theaters would be showing Lord of the Rings and when. 
"Hmmm...that's odd," he muttered. 
Jessie set down the plate she was washing and came to his side. "What is?" she 
asked. 
"Well, there's five movie theaters in Cedar Creek, but only the Poke-Plex 16 is 
showing Lord of the Rings," came his reply. 
"That is odd," she agreed. "You'd think a big movie like this would be in more 
theaters." 
"Apparently not," Meowth commented. 
"On the bright side, they're showing it on two screens, so that means we have 
ten different show times to choose from," James continued. 
Jessie smiled and perused the menu for a moment. "Then why don't we shoot for 
the 7:00 show?" she suggested. "That way, we'll have plenty of time to get 
there, and it won't be too late when the movie lets out." 
"Sounds like a plan to me!" James told her. As he clicked on the Buy Tickets Now 
option, however, the page wouldn't load, and he lost his internet connection. 
"Stupid piece of crap ISP!" he grumbled. 
"Oh, well," Jessie sighed as she leaned down and massaged his shoulders. "I 
don't mind standing in line for tickets at the theater...not for a movie like 
this!" 
James placed his hand over one of Jessie's and smiled up at her. "Me either." 
Jessie's smile grew even wider as she gazed into her lover's emerald eyes. 
"James, I just got an idea!" 
"What is it?" James asked. 
"I want to make costumes for us!" she exclaimed. "I think it'd be so cool...and 
fun to go to the movie dressed as some of the characters!" 
James's smile became a grin. "Now that's a great idea!" 
Jessie's sapphire eyes began to sparkle. "I've always wanted to dress up like an 
Elven princess!" she sighed. "And you'd make such a gorgeous Ranger!" 
"Yeah! We could go as Aragorn and Arwen!" 
"Exactly!" 
"Heaven help me! I'm surrounded by geeks!" Meowth laughed. 
"And wouldn't Meowth make the most adorable little Hobbit?" James asked. 
"He sure would!" Jessie agreed. "He's even got the furry little feet!" 
Meowth sweatdropped. 
"He'd be purr-fect as Pippin or Merry," James quipped. "They sort of remind me 
of him...especially in terms of appetite, attitude, and penchant for making 
mischief!" 
"Then that settles it! I'm making costumes!" Jessie cried as she brought out her 
sewing kit and some fabric. 
@->->- 
After making patterns from some Lord of the Rings screen-shots that she and 
James had downloaded over the past couple of months, Jessie got to work on the 
costumes. She spent the remainder of that day and most of the next day sewing 
and embroidering, but it paid off -- by the afternoon of the nineteenth, she'd 
made three exquisite outfits for them to wear to the movie. 
"This is great!" James remarked as he tried on his black leather pants and dark 
gray shirt. "It kind of feels like we're living one of our old Dungeons & 
Dragons adventures!" 
Jessie smiled as she helped James with his brown leather tunic and fastened his 
dark green cloak with a leaf-shaped brooch. "I was right -- you do make a 
gorgeous Ranger! Of course, you look gorgeous no matter what you wear, James!" 
she told him, tousling his long, blue-violet hair and playing with the loose 
wisp that always hung in his handsome face. 
James returned her smile and pulled on his boots. "Thanks, Jess." 
After admiring him for a few more minutes, Jessie picked up the gown she'd made 
for herself. "I guess I should try mine on now." 
James blushed. "Yeah!" 
His cheeks grew even redder as he watched Jessie take off her clothes and put on 
her gown of shimmering blue-violet silk. After adjusting the flowing skirt and 
flared sleeves, she tied a purple sash embroidered with Elven runes around her 
slim waist. Then, she swept her hair (which she'd left down that day) back and 
crowned it with a jeweled tiara. A little pair of pointy ears added the 
finishing touch. 
"How do I look, James?" Jessie asked as she twirled around and modeled the 
outfit for him. 
"The brightest stars in the sky and the fairest of Elven princesses pale before 
thy beauty," he replied as he knealt in front of Jessie and took her hand in his 
own. 
Jessie blushed too as James kissed her hand. "And I would renounce my Elven 
immortality to live one life with a man as wonderful as thee," she told him. 
As the two of them began to laugh, they suddenly heard a knock at the bedroom 
door. "Hey! Are youse guys ready yet?" Meowth called to them. 
"Yeah, we're ready!" James answered. 
"Den hurry up and get yer asses out here!" he said. "I wanna see how youse guys 
look!" 
Jessie and James exchanged smiles. 
"I guess we should humor him, huh?" James ventured. 
"Guess so," Jessie replied. "We can always pick up where we left off later...and 
I'd like to see how his costume turned out!" 
He nodded. "Yeah. And if we dally too much longer, we'll miss the movie!" 
"Then what are we waiting for?" she said. 
With that, Jessie and James opened the bedroom door and struck dramatic poses as 
they stepped into the living room. 
"Jessie's getting dressy!" Jessie announced. 
"And does James look hot, or what?" James chimed in. 
Meowth grinned as he examined their costumes. "Not bad! Not bad at all!" he 
said. "And mine turned out alright, too!" 
Jessie and James nodded as the cat showed off his gold-colored vest, his brown 
pants and coat, and his hobbit-sized cloak. Except for his feline face, he bore 
a striking resemblance to Merry! 
"It certainly did, Master Brandybuck!" James told him. 
"Some of my better work, if I do say so myself!" said Jessie. 
"Alright, enuffa dis!" Meowth said, changing the subject. "We need ta get goin' 
-- it's a long drive ta town, and we need enough time ta find dis theater." 
Jessie nodded. "You're right." 
"And the lines will definitely be long on opening night," James added. 
"Den let's go!" the cat exclaimed. "Ya been jazzed up about dis movie for 
months, and now ya got me jazzed up, too! I'm gonna be real pissed if we miss 
it!" 
"That makes three of us!" Jessie and James said in unison as they left the cabin 
and got into the Jeep. 
@->->- 
The three friends arrived in Cedar Creek after only twenty-five minutes, but 
when they pulled into the shopping plaza where the theater was supposed to be, 
they were more than a little surprised to find that there was no theater! 
"James, are you sure you know where this place is?" Jessie asked. 
"The web page said it was at 3463 Bayberry Road -- this is the right address," 
came his reply. 
"Heh. I'm lookin', but I sure as hell don't see no theater!" Meowth said. 
James pulled into a parking space and got out the map that he'd printed from the 
web site. "I don't get it," he muttered. "There should be a movie theater here!" 

"Maybe there was a typo, and the theater is at 3643?" Jessie suggested. 
"Maybe. Let's go look," he sighed. 
"Well, whatever ya do, hurry it up!" Meowth told him. "We only got thirty 
minutes til the movie starts!" 
Quickly, James pulled out of the parking lot and drove up the road for a couple 
of blocks, but they still didn't see any movie theaters. 
"What the hell?!" Jessie, who was starting to get annoyed, grumbled. "Where did 
they hide this goddamned theater anyway?!" 
"I'd like to know the answer to that one myself!" James grumbled back. 
"Ya prolly passed it," Meowth remarked. "We're at the 5000 block now." 
James scowled as he pulled into the next turn lane and made a u-turn. "It'd help 
if these damn places would put their numbers where you can actually read them 
from the road. How the hell am I supposed to keep my eye on traffic and find an 
address at the same time?!" 
"Well, ya don't hafta yell at me!" Meowth said defensively. "I was just 
sayin'...." 
"I WASN'T yelling at you!" James yelled. 
"Both of you quit yelling!" Jessie snapped. "Don't worry about the addresses, 
James. Just watch the road. Meowth and I will look for this place." 
"Thank you," he said. 
After driving back the way they'd come and still not finding the movie theater 
by the 1000 block, James turned the Jeep around again. 
"Grrr! I can't believe this!" Jessie shouted. "That map you printed is useless, 
James! There's no movie theater here!" 
"Well, that's not my fault!" he shot back. 
"Why don't we just stop somewhere and ask for directions?" she said. "We've been 
driving around in circles for ten minutes and haven't found shit! We're going to 
miss the movie if we keep this up!" 
James ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You're right. We're not getting 
anywhere." With that, he turned into the parking lot of a Taco Grande and ran 
inside. A few minutes later, he emerged with a paper bag in his hand and a 
nonplussed expression on his face. 
"Well?" Jessie asked. 
"You were right, Jess -- our map is a piece of shit," he said as he got back 
into the Jeep and revved it up again. "Turns out the theater is over by the mall 
on the opposite side of the road at 6334." 
Jessie facefaulted. "Great." 
"Hey. What's with the bag, Jimbo?" Meowth queried. 
James frowned. "They wouldn't give me directions unless I bought something. So, 
I bought nachos since they were the cheapest thing on the menu." 
"Ya gonna eat dose nachos?" he ventured. 
"You can have them," James sighed, tossing the bag into the back seat. 
"All right!" Meowth cheered as he ripped the bag open and pulled out the box of 
nachos. 
"Let's just hurry," said Jessie. "We've only got fifteen minutes left!" 
When they reached the mall parking lot a few minutes later, Jessie, James, and 
Meowth were met with another unpleasant surprise -- there was, indeed, a movie 
theater at 6334 Bayberry Road, but it wasn't showing Lord of the Rings! 
"Ohhhhkay," James said as he looked up at the marquee. "This isn't the Poke-Plex 
16 -- it's the Maplewood 8! I'm officially confused." 
"Yeah, well I'm officially PISSED!!!" Jessie shouted. "This is serious bullshit! 
Somebody's going to get their ass kicked if we don't get some answers NOW!!!" 
"Think we should go with her?" James asked as Jessie got out of the Jeep and 
stormed up to the ticket window. 
Meowth polished off the last of his nachos and wiped his mouth with a napkin. 
"Yeah. Dis could get ugly." 
When James and Meowth reached the ticket window, they found Jessie talking to 
the theater manager. Surprisingly, she was making an effort to keep her temper 
in check. 
"Look, we just want to know where the theater that's showing Lord of the Rings 
is," she said calmly. "The map said 3463 Bayberry Road, but we couldn't find 
anything there, and when we asked for directions, we were sent here...." 
"Yeah! Is there some other theater on Bayberry Road, or are we looking in the 
wrong place entirely?" James asked as he came to Jessie's side. 
"Oh, you must mean the Poke-Plex 16," said the manager. "Yeah, they used to be 
down at 3463, but they moved a few months ago. They're up the road a couple of 
miles yet. Great big multi-plex at the 13th Street intersection on the left 
side. Can't miss it." 
"Would've been nice if the damn map site had actually UPDATED that little bit of 
information!" Jessie huffed. 
James nodded and took her by the hand. "It certainly would have, but we don't 
have time to worry about that now!" he said as they raced back to the Jeep. 
Then, looking over his shoulder at the manager, "Thank you, sir!" 
"You're welcome!" he called after them. 
Once the three of them were back in the Jeep, James pulled out of the parking 
lot and floored the gas pedal. After what seemed like an eternity (but was 
actually more like five minutes), they finally arrived at the Poke-Plex 16 at 
the 13th Street intersection and saw Lord of the Rings in big, black letters on 
the marquee. 
"Whew! We made it!" Jessie sighed. 
"And it doesn't look like there's a long line at the ticket window!" James 
commented as he found an empty parking space. 
"Dat's good, considerin' we got less den five minutes til the movie begins!" 
said Meowth. 
"I guess we're going to have to wait until after the movie to get something to 
eat," Jessie remarked as the three of them jumped out of the Jeep and made a mad 
dash for the ticket window. 
"Yeah! There's no way in hell I'm going to go to the snack bar...or anywhere 
else while the movie is on!" James agreed. "I don't want to pay their outrageous 
concession prices anyway." 
"Well, I'm good! I had nachos!" Meowth said happily. 
When Jessie, James, and Meowth got to the ticket window, they didn't even pause 
to catch their breath. 
"Th-three...for...Lord of the Rings...please...." James gasped. 
"Sorry! We're all sold out!" the clerk said a little too cheerfully. 
"S-s-sold out?!" Jessie stammered. 
"Well...what about a later show?!" Meowth asked. "We can wait!" 
The clerk shook her head. "Every single show for the night is sold out," she 
told them. "The tickets for all of today's showings went on sale yesterday 
morning at six, and they were all gone within an hour." 
Jessie sighed. "At that time yesterday morning...." 
"....We were still in bed!" James groaned, finishing the sentence for her. 
"So, we drove over twenty miles ta get here, got lost twice, and got ourselves 
all worked up...for nothin'?!" Meowth cried. 
"Sorry. I can't help you," said the clerk. 
Jessie, James, and Meowth fell over, anime-style. 
"However," she continued, "we still have plenty of tickets for all of tomorrow's 
shows. If you'd like to buy some advance tickets, it won't cost any extra." 
"Okay...that's what we'll do, then," James muttered as he got back to his feet 
and took out his wallet. "Three for tomorrow night's 7:00 showing of Lord of the 
Rings, please." 
"That'll be $24." 
James handed his money to the clerk, and she handed him three tickets. He tucked 
them into his wallet for safekeeping. "Well, looks like we're going to be 
waiting another day to see the movie," he said sadly as he turned to face Jessie 
and Meowth again. 
Jessie hung her head. "But I wanted to see it tonight, goddammit!" she grumbled. 
"We hardly ever go to the movies anyway, and we've been waiting forever for this 
one! It's not fair!" 
"I know," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. 
"Why does this always happen?!" she cried, shrugging his hand away. "Why is it 
that no matter what we do, we always end up getting screwed-over?! Somebody's 
going to pay for this!" 
"Who?" James asked, grabbing her by the shoulders again. "Who's fault is this?" 
Jessie bit her lip and fell silent. 
"It's not the people who bought the tickets before we did -- they can't be 
blamed for wanting to see the movie, too," he told her. "It's not the theater's 
fault -- they can't help it they sold out of tickets so quickly! Hell! It's not 
even that damn map site's fault! Even if we didn't get lost and got here with 
plenty of time to spare, it wouldn't have helped because there weren't any 
tickets left anyway! Sometimes it's not anybody's fault, Jess. Sometimes shit 
just happens, and there's nobody to blame." 
"I know. But why does it always have to happen to us?" she whispered as her eyes 
filled with tears. "I thought things were supposed to start getting better for 
us!" 
James put his arms around her. "It's not so bad, honey," he whispered back. 
"It's not like we're getting blasted off, or going hungry, or anything like that 
anymore -- we just have to wait one more day to see a movie. In the big scheme 
of things, that's not an emergency." 
"Yeah, but it's still a royal pain in the ass dat we went ta all dis trouble and 
ain't got nothin' ta show for it," said Meowth. 
"It wasn't a total loss," James reassured them. "We're definitely getting in to 
see it tomorrow night. And at least now we know where this damn place is and 
won't get lost again! Everything will be okay, guys. You'll see." 
Jessie looked up at him. "Is this another maple syrup moment, James?" 
"Yes, it is," he whispered, brushing her tears away. "It's just like running out 
of maple syrup." 
"I guess you're right," she sighed. "It could've been worse...but it's still 
frustrating." 
James hugged her again. "Yeah. I'm disappointed, too...but I know something 
that'll cheer us up." 
"And what might dat be?" Meowth asked. 
"Let's go out to dinner! My treat!" came his reply. 
This made Jessie and Meowth smile. 
"There's plenty of restaurants around, and it wouldn't make any sense to drive 
all this way and not even do anything while we're here," he continued. "So, 
let's make the most of it!" 
Jessie nodded. "Sounds great to me, James!" 
"There anything in particular you're hungry for?" he asked. 
"Anything's fine by me," Meowth said as he began heading back to the Jeep. 
"Well...'cept for Mexican. I just had dose nachos." 
"I'll be happy no matter where we go," Jessie replied. "Though I am kind of 
partial to Chinese or Japanese." 
James took Jessie by the hand, and the two of them followed Meowth. "Chinese or 
Japanese it is, then!" he said. 
@->->- 
After changing out of their costumes and putting on some jeans and sweaters, 
Jessie and James surveyed the local restaurants, deciding which one they wanted 
to eat at. As they drove down 13th Street, a sign in front of one of the 
restaurants suddenly caught Meowth's attention. 
"Hey, lookit dis one -- the Fu King Chinese Buffet!" he piped up. 
"Watch your language, Meowth!" James scolded him. 
"Yeah! There's no need to be so vulgar!" Jessie chimed in. 
"I wasn't cussin'!" the cat said defensively. "Not dis time, anyway -- dat's the 
name of the restaurant!" With that, he pointed to the sign. 
"Hey, he's right!" said James. "That's a rather...interesting name for a 
restaurant." 
"Heh. Dat's one way a puttin' it," Meowth snickered. 
Jessie grinned. "With a name like that, they're just asking for a bunch of Fu 
King trouble!" 
Taking her cue, James grinned, too. "And we're about to make it Fu King double!" 

Meowth began to laugh. "Dis is gonna be so much Fu King fun!" 
@->->- 
"May I help you?" the host asked as Jessie, James, and Meowth entered the 
restaurant. 
"Yes," James replied. "We'd like a Fu King table for three, please." 
The host sweatdropped. "Uhhh...okay. Smoking or non-smoking?" 
"We want to sit in the Fu King non-smoking section," Jessie told him. 
"And make it Fu King snappy!" said Meowth. 
"Y-yeah. Right this way," the now visibly agitated host told them. 
Once the three of them were seated at their table, Jessie, James, and Meowth 
exchanged smiles. 
"Did you see the look on that guy's face?" Jessie giggled. 
"We must be the only ones who get the Fu King joke," said James. "Either that, 
or we're the only ones who actually had the guts to say it out loud." 
"Yeah. Somethin' tells me we woulda been met with more indifference or sarcasm 
if it'd been done ta death," Meowth remarked. He leaned back in his chair and 
put his paws behind his head as a smile made its way across his mouth. "It's 
good ta know our material is fresh...dat way, we can milk it for all it's 
worth!" 
"Hmmm...I wonder where the Fu King waiter is," Jessie said. 
"Yeah! I'm ready for my Fu King dinner!" James agreed. 
"I didn't know dis place had such slow Fu King service!" Meowth chuckled. 
After a couple of minutes, a waiter with a nervous expression on his face came 
to their table and handed a menu to each of them. "Can I get you anything to 
start?" he asked. 
"Give us a minute to look at the Fu King menu, please," James told him. 
"Wow! Looks like they've got a big Fu King selection!" Jessie remarked. 
"I think we'll start with three Fu King green teas," Meowth replied after 
perusing the beverage list. 
The waiter nodded and hastily took his leave. 
"We're ready to place our Fu King order now," Jessie announced when the waiter 
returned a few minutes later with a pitcher of tea and three cups. 
"And...what have you decided on?" 
"We're going to have the Fu King all-you-can-eat buffet!" said James. 
"And can we get some Fu King chopsticks with dat, please?" Meowth asked. 
The waiter, finally starting to appreciate the humor, smirked. "Would you like 
some Fu King napkins, too?" 
Jessie, James, and Meowth grinned. "Of course!" 
"Alrighty, then," he said. "The Fu King buffet tables are on your right! Enjoy 
your Fu King meal!" 
This made them laugh. 
When the three friends returned from their first trip to the buffet table, they 
all looked at each other's selections. 
"I got the Fu King beef and broccoli and the Fu King shrimp in lobster sauce!" 
Meowth announced. 
"I got the Fu King sweet and sour chicken and some Fu King fried rice!" said 
Jessie. 
"And I got the Fu King tangerine chicken and some Fu King spring rolls!" James 
told them. 
After they'd each had three plates from the dinner buffet and sampled some of 
the ginger cookies, bananas in strawberry sauce, fried breads, and ice cream 
from the dessert buffet, Jessie, James, and Meowth were thouroughly stuffed and 
thouroughly satisfied. 
"Now that was some great Fu King food!" James said, patting his stomach. 
"This is the best Fu King restaurant we've been to in a long time!" Jessie 
sighed. 
Meowth grinned and picked his teeth with one of his chopsticks. "Ya got dat 
right!" 
"Is everything okay?" the waiter asked when he returned to their table and took 
the empty plates. 
James nodded. "Give our compliments to the Fu King chef!" 
"We're ready for our Fu King check now," Jessie told him. 
"And don't forget the Fu King fortune cookies!" Meowth chimed in. 
The waiter laughed. "Coming right up!" He came back a few minutes later with the 
bill and three fortune cookies. 
James got out his wallet. "Thanks for being such a good sport and putting up 
with our twisted sense of humor," he said. "You're getting a big Fu King tip!" 
"I've got no Fu King complaints about that!" he chuckled. 
"I know! Let's open our Fu King cookies and see what our Fu King fortunes say!" 
Jessie suggested after the waiter left. 
"Now dat's a Fu King great idea!" Meowth replied. 
With that, the three of them cracked open their cookies and pulled out the 
fortunes. 
"That which seems bad now is really for the best," Jessie said, reading her 
fortune aloud. 
James smiled at her and read his fortune, too. "Your patience will reap great 
rewards." 
"Your path will cross with dat of an old friend," Meowth said as he munched on 
his cookie. "Now dose are some Fu King sweet fortunes!" 
"Yeah," Jessie agreed. 
"Hey. Why don't the three of us go for a walk?" James suggested once he'd 
finished his cookie. "That way, we can digest our Fu King dinner." 
"That sounds like a Fu King great idea, too!" Jessie told him. 
As Jessie, James, and Meowth got up from their table and headed for the door, 
continuing their Fu King conversation all the while, the manager facefaulted. 
"That does it -- we're changing the name of this Fu King restaurant," he 
grumbled. 
@->->- 
After leaving the restaurant, the three friends got back into their Jeep and 
drove to the Cedar Creek Town Park, where they took a walk along the bank of a 
small pond. And now, they were sitting together on a wrought iron bench 
surrounded by fragrant evergreen trees. The light of the moon reflected on the 
surface of the water, giving them a feeling of tranquility, and the fresh, sweet 
scent of douglas fir, blue spruce, and the trees the town was named for perfumed 
the air, serving as a reminder that Christmas was coming. 
"You were right, James," Jessie sighed as she draped an arm around his 
shoulders. "Going out to dinner really did cheer me up!" 
"Yeah! Dat was a Fu King blast!" said Meowth. 
James nodded and put his arm around Jessie's waist. "It's always nice to have a 
blast instead of a blast-off," he agreed. "And we probably wouldn't have gone 
out to dinner at all...or gone on this lovely walk if we hadn't missed the 
movie." 
Jessie smiled. "Yeah! This is such a beautiful night, James -- I don't ever want 
it to end!" 
"Exactly," James told her. "It's like your fortune cookie said -- even though 
things seemed bad at first, it was all for the best." 
"Good point," she said. "And your fortune cookie probably means that if we're 
just patient and wait for tomorrow, the movie will be even better than we 
expected!" 
"Wow! Yer fortunes make a lotta sense, now dat ya mention it!" Meowth remarked. 
"I wonder if my fortune about meetin' an old friend is gonna be right, too." 
As if on cue, the three of them heard footsteps approaching...and then they 
heard a familiar voice. "Jessie? James? Meowth? Is that you?" 
Turning around, they saw Gary Oak standing behind them. 
Meowth grinned. "Look, guys! It's Gary!" 
"Hey, Gary!" Jessie exclaimed. 
James folded his arms across his chest and smiled. "Well, what do you know, 
Meowth? All three of our fortunes were right!" 
Gary smiled back at his three friends. "It's nice to see you guys again. How 
have you been?" 
"Heh. You will NOT believe the night we just had!" came Meowth's reply. 
"What happened?" he asked. 
"We came to town to see Lord of the Rings, but when we got to the theater, we 
found out that all of tonight's shows have been sold out since yesterday 
morning," James explained. 
Gary closed his eyes and shook his head. "Man, that's rough!" 
"Looks like you're in town to see it, too," Jessie said, taking note of the 
brown pants, burgundy overcoat, and dark green cloak that Gary was wearing. "Why 
else would you be dressed as Frodo Baggins?" 
"Guilty as charged," Gary chuckled. "I was running an errand for grandpa here in 
Cedar Creek when the Poke-Plex announced that their Lord of the Rings tickets 
were going on sale a day in advance, so I was one of the first in line. I caught 
the 5:00 show this afternoon, but if you ask me, you didn't miss out on too 
much...." 
Jessie and James gasped and threw their arms around each other. "Y-y-y-you mean 
the m-m-movie w-wasn't g-g-good?!" they stammered. 
"No! I didn't mean it that way!" he quickly replied. "The movie was awesome! I 
just mean the crowds were so huge that it was hard to enjoy the full 
experience." 
Jessie, James, and Meowth breathed a collective sigh of relief. 
"Practically everybody was there in costume," Gary continued. "There were a 
bunch of guys wearing big, pointy wizard hats, and wouldn't you know it, they 
all had to sit in the front row! I was in one of the upper tiers, and I STILL 
couldn't see over them -- the whole bottom part of the screen was blocked out! I 
tell you, I had a devil of a time reading the subtitles during the parts that 
were spoken in Elvish. If I hadn't already read the books, I probably would've 
been lost!" 
"Sheesh! Ya think dey woulda taken dere hats off while the damn movie was on," 
Meowth grumbled. 
"No such luck," Gary sighed. "And the noise! It was bad enough that I couldn't 
see the whole screen, but there were so many crying babies, people yakking on 
cell-phones, and hard-core fans nit-picking the movie to death that I could 
barely hear either!" 
Jessie buried her face in her hands. "Why can't people turn off their damn 
cell-phones while they're at the movies?" she groaned. "And a PG-13 movie is no 
place for a baby! Jeez!" 
"And talking during the movie? Talk about rude!" James chimed in. 
"They changed some things to make the story more big screen friendly," Gary told 
them. "They omitted a few scenes that didn't completely advance the plot, like 
the stop at Merry's house in Buckland, the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, and the 
Barrow Downs -- the Hobbits just went straight to The Prancing Pony after 
leaving the Shire instead. And they did actual cut-scenes of things like Gollum 
being tortured by Sauron's minions and Gandalf's confrontation with Saruman 
instead of having the characters just describe the events later on. And they 
changed a few minor details, like having Frodo be rescued from the Ring-Wraiths 
by Arwen instead of Glorfindel. You should've heard the people whining about all 
of that -- it about drove me nuts! Quite frankly, I didn't think the differences 
between the book and the movie were that big a deal!" 
"Yeah! You have to expect a few things to be left out in the movie adaptation, 
considering the scope of the book," said James. "And I heard it's a three hour 
movie -- sounds to me like they were making every effort they could to stay true 
to the book and leave in as much as possible!" 
"And the changes they did make sound like good ones!" Jessie added. "Maybe this 
is just me, but I like that Arwen has a bigger role in the movie than she does 
in the book. The female characters are just as important as the male ones, you 
know." 
Gary nodded. "Precisely. It's not like they butchered the story -- I was amazed 
by what I saw! The little things they did change shouldn't matter. And if people 
did have to nit-pick or complain about all of the things that were wrong, I wish 
they'd have at least waited til after the movie." He shook his head and smiled 
again. "Anyway, from what I did manage to see and hear, it was one of the best 
movies ever...and definitely the best adaptation of a book I've ever seen! I'm 
gonna see it again tomorrow night -- hopefully the crowds won't be as big, and 
I'll actually be able to concentrate on the movie!" 
"Hey! We're goin' tomorrow night, too!" Meowth exclaimed. 
"Really? Which show?" Gary asked. 
"The one at 7:00," he replied. "Dat's the one we tried ta see tonight...until 
our plans fell through, dat is." 
"Whoa! That's the one I'm going to!" he said. "Small world!" 
"It sure is," James agreed. 
"Maybe we could all go together!" Jessie suggested. 
Gary raised an eyebrow. "You mean I wouldn't be in the way, or anything?" 
James shook his head. "Jessie and I weren't planning it as a date -- this is the 
kind of thing we want to share with our friends." 
"Yeah! Dat's why I'm here!" said Meowth. 
"And the more friends we have with us, the better it'll be!" Jessie told him. 
"Kind of like our own fellowship!" James said. 
Gary smiled again. "I never thought of it that way, but you're right!" 
James wrapped his arms around Jessie's waist and rested his forehead against her 
own. The tips of their noses brushed together. "Besides, Jess and I can always 
do something romantic later," he muttered, more to her than to Gary. 
As Jessie and James's lips met in a passionate kiss, Meowth and Gary turned 
around to give them a bit of privacy. "We was in costume, too," Meowth told him, 
changing the subject. "Yer Frodo outfit would look perfect with what we was 
wearin'." 
"Really? Which characters were you?" he queried. 
"I was a Hobbit. Merry, I think," the cat replied. "Jess was dat Elf princess, 
Arwen, and James was someone named Aragorn. I've never read the books, so I'm 
not too sure who everybody is, but...." 
Gary's smile grew even wider as he looked over his shoulder and saw that Jessie 
and James were still kissing. "Well, I don't want to spoil anything for you, but 
I will say that Aragorn and Arwen are a couple, too." 
Meowth grinned. "Heh. No wonder dey picked dose characters!" 
Suddenly, Gary began to chuckle. "Oh, man, that reminds me...speaking of 
costumes, I'm so glad I was wearing one tonight!" 
"Why's dat?" Meowth asked. 
"This is another reason you should be glad you weren't at the movies," he 
continued. 
Now Jessie and James were intrigued. "What happened?" they asked in unison as 
they broke from their kiss. 
"Well, since I already had my tickets and I got to the theater a little early 
anyway, I was just hanging out in the lobby, waiting for the movie to begin," he 
told them. "And you'll never guess who I saw...." 
"Lemme guess. The twerps," Meowth interjected. 
"You got it!" Gary laughed. 
"Why am I not surprised?" Jessie groaned. 
"I guess they couldn't agree on which movie they should go to -- they were all 
standing around and arguing," he said. 
"That sounds like the twerps, all right," James remarked. 
"Misty wanted to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Brock wanted to see 
Vanilla Sky, and Ash kept whining that he wanted to see Jimmy Neutron: Boy 
Genius," Gary told them. "Poor Brock and Misty had to explain to him at least 
five times that Jimmy Neutron isn't gonna be in theaters until next week, and 
when he finally did get it, he just started whining even more, like that was 
gonna make the movie magically appear, or something." 
"Poor Brock and Misty, indeed," James sighed. "I don't know how they put up with 
that kid!" 
"I know! What a spoiled brat!" Jessie grumbled. 
"And whatta dumbass!" Meowth added. "How dense is he anyway, dat dey had ta 
explain somethin' dat simple ta him five times before he understood?!" 
"And that's why I'm glad I was in costume," Gary snickered. "I was standing just 
a few feet away, and Ash looked right at me a couple of times, but he had no 
idea who I was...just because I'm wearing this burgundy overcoat and green 
cloak. I guarantee you, if I'd been in my everyday clothes, he would've started 
screaming my name like it's some kind of obscenity and challenging me to a 
battle." 
"Ugh! No kiddin'!" said Meowth. "Obnoxious don't even begin ta describe dat 
kid!" 
James winced. "Yeah! That whole name-screaming and picking a fight every time he 
sees you, even when you're just minding your own business thing he does gets 
real old real fast! I swear, if we had a nickel for every time he's pulled that 
shit with us, we'd be millionaires!" 
"I heard that," Gary sighed. 
"And he never recognizes us when we're in costume either," Jessie added. "We can 
walk right up to him, have a whole conversation with him...even take Pikachu 
right out of his hands, and he won't know it's us if we're not wearing our Team 
Rocket uniforms!" 
Gary buried his face in his hands. "I know you've mentioned that before, but I 
STILL can't get over how dumb Ash is! Man, that's dense!" 
"He probably wouldn't have recognized us if he did see us tonight, but you're 
right -- at least we didn't have to hear him bitching and whining about that 
movie," she continued. 
"Exactly," Gary said. "I think they all finally decided on Harry Potter -- 
though Ash kept complaining about wanting to see the other movie, and Brock was 
upset about having to wait and see Cameron Diaz on the big screen some other 
time -- so that means they would've been leaving the theater at the same time 
you were arriving. Chances are pretty good you would've run into them, too...." 
Meowth breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we didn't!" 
James hugged Jessie again. "See, honey? If we'd gone tonight, the theater 
would've been too crowded for us to really enjoy the movie, we might've run into 
the brats, we wouldn't have had that fun dinner, and we wouldn't have met Gary! 
Didn't I tell you everything would work out for the best?" 
"You sure did, James!" she replied. 
"So, Gary, why don't we meet here at about 5:00 tomorrow afternoon?" Meowth 
suggested as Jessie and James started kissing again. "Dat way, we can grab 
somethin' ta eat, and we'll still have plenty a time ta get to the theater!" 
Gary nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me!" 
"Den dat's what we'll do!" 
"Cool!" he said. "It was great seeing you guys again, and I'd love to stay and 
chat awhile longer, but I've gotta get going -- now that you mention eating, I 
haven't had anything since lunch, and I'm starving!" 
"Well, if it's dinner yer lookin' for, dere's a great Fu King Chinese restaurant 
just down the road a couple blocks!" Meowth told him. 
Gary gave him a quizzical look. 
"You'll see what I mean," Meowth said, giving him a sly wink. 
"Okay. I guess I'll go check it out, then. I'm kinda hungry for Chinese anyway," 
he replied. "Bye, Meowth! I'll see you tomorrow! When Jessie and James get done, 
let them know I said bye, too!" 
Meowth waved as Gary took his leave. "No problem!" 
When Jessie and James finished kissing a few minutes later, they looked around 
and noticed that Gary was gone. 
"He left while youse guys was busy tongue-wrestlin'," Meowth explained before 
they could ask. "He sez he'll see us tomorrow, though -- we made plans ta meet 
here at 5:00 in the afternoon. We're gonna have an early dinner and go catch the 
7:00 show tagedda." 
"Good plan," said James. "But right now, I think we should head back to our 
cabin -- it's starting to get late, and I'm starting to get cold!" 
Jessie shivered. "Yeah! So am I." 
"So...tell me more about dis story," Meowth said as the three of them began 
walking back to the Jeep. "A lotta the stuff you and Gary was talkin' about went 
over my head. I don't wanna be lost when we see the movie." 
James picked the cat up and let him climb onto his shoulder. "Don't worry, 
Meowth -- I'm sure people who haven't read the books will still be able to 
follow the story." 
"But if you really want to know, it all begins on old Bilbo Baggins's 
eleventy-first birthday...." Jessie began. 
@->->- 
As planned, Jessie, James, and Meowth met Gary in the park at 5:00 the next day, 
and they all went to Mario's Pizza Palace for dinner. (While deciding on a 
restaurant, they'd noticed that the Fu King Chinese Buffet had mysteriously 
changed its name to the Gold Star China Buffet overnight.) After dinner, they 
headed to the Poke-Plex 16 and arrived a good hour before the movie began, which 
gave them plenty of time to admire each other's costumes and discuss the finer 
points of Tolkien's masterpiece. 
And once the movie began, the experience was nothing short of amazing for the 
four friends. Since the crowds were smaller than on opening night, Gary was able 
to fully enjoy his second viewing...and he was even able to steal a few glances 
at Jessie, James, and Meowth's reaction to seeing Lord of the Rings on the big 
screen for the first time! 
"Wow! Dis is intense!" Meowth whispered as he watched the four terrified Hobbits 
huddling under the roots of a tree and hiding from the Ring-Wraiths that were 
tracking them. 
Jessie and James wrapped their arms around each other and nodded in agreement. 
When the Ring-Wraiths found the Hobbits and gave chase, Jessie and James 
shuddered and tightened their hold on each other, and Meowth began jumping up 
and down in his seat. "Run, Hobbits!!! Run!!!!!" the cat screamed, his voice 
barely above a whisper. 
Gary couldn't help but smile. 
When the Hobbits arrived safely in Rivendell, thanks to the help of Strider and 
Arwen, Jessie, James, and Meowth were finally able to breathe a sigh of 
relief...and then they were able to admire the scenery. 
"Oh, James! Rivendell is so beautiful!" Jessie whispered. 
"It's just like I imagined, Jessie!" James whispered back. 
But the tranquility of the Elven lands didn't last long -- once the Fellowship 
of Nine set out to destroy the Ring, the drama began anew. There was more 
fear-hugging when Saruman attacked them from his stronghold in Isengard and when 
the tentacled creature attacked the intrepid heroes at the gates of Moria. And 
the drums of the deep, echoing through the silence of Moria and signaling the 
approach of an army of Goblins, Orcs, Cave-Trolls...and something far worse made 
their blood run cold. 
"Holy shit!" Meowth whispered as he chewed nervously on his claws. "What'd dose 
Dwarves wake up when dey dug too deep?!" 
Jessie and James held each other closer than ever. "Y-you'll see," they replied, 
in a voice as fearful as his own. 
Gary's eyes widened with fear, too. "Yeah. I knew what was coming, and it still 
scared the bejeezus outta me!" 
"Oh, man!" the cat whimpered. 
The four friends remained on the edge of their seats as the armies of the deep 
chased after the heroes and suddenly retreated when the dark halls of Moria lit 
up with flames. 
Meowth began chewing his claws again. "Oh, god, here it comes!" 
As Frodo and his companions ran for the Bridge of Khazad-Dum -- the only way out 
of Moria -- they were beset by Goblins and Orcs again, and the long, narrow 
stairway that led to the bridge started to collapse! And when they reached the 
bridge and began to cross, the unseen enemy finally revealed itself -- a 
Balrog...a demon of the deep! 
Gary wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered. "Damn! This part is still 
scary!" 
Jessie and James let out a short squeal of terror. 
Meowth's fur stood on end. "Scary?! Dat's puttin' it mildly!" As Gandalf stood 
his ground against the monster so that his eight companions could make it to 
safety, the cat's eyes filled with tears. "No, Gandalf! Ya ain't got a chance 
against dat thing! Run!!! Run!!!" 
Jessie and James exchanged sad looks. They knew what was coming. 
As the wizard cast the demon back into the abyss, it lashed out with its fiery 
whip and ensnared him. Meowth covered his mouth with his paws and gasped as he 
watched Gandalf plummet to his doom. "Oh, no...no...." he whispered. The tears 
in his eyes began to fall. 
Jessie and James rested their foreheads together and began to cry, too. They 
knew something that Meowth didn't, but it was still a heartbreaking scene...and 
it was touching to see how much the cat cared. 
Not even the relative tranquility of Lothlorien and the beauty of Galadriel 
could take Meowth's mind off the Fellowship's loss of Gandalf -- he spent the 
rest of the movie crying. And by the end, Jessie and James were in tears again, 
too. 
Jessie's lip quivered as she watched Frodo holding the ring in his hand and 
making the decision to leave the Fellowship. "To be a ring-bearer is to be 
alone," she muttered, repeating the words that Galadriel had spoken. "For the 
longest time, I thought so, too...but I was wrong, and so are you, Frodo." 
James twined his fingers with Jessie's as Frodo took Sam by the hand and pulled 
him into the boat. "I made a promise -- Don't leave him, Samwise Gamgee! And I 
always keep my promises!" he whispered, speaking the lines along with Sam. Then, 
he gazed into Jessie's sapphire eyes and brushed her tears away. "I made a 
promise, too -- Don't leave her, James...." 
"....And you always keep your promises," Jessie said, reaching up and brushing 
away the tears that were falling from James's emerald eyes. 
The two young lovers turned their attention back to the movie and felt their 
spirits rekindled as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli vowed to track down the 
Uruk-Hai and rescue Pippin and Merry...and Frodo and Sam set out on their own, 
hoping to return from the darkness of Mordor someday. 
As the scene faded to black, and the closing credits began to roll, they all 
burst into tears again. 
"Wow!" Gary said, dabbing his moist eyes with a kleenex. "It was even better the 
second time...and not just because I was actually able to see and hear 
everything!" 
Jessie smiled and put her arms around James again. "I saw it, James! I saw what 
you were talking about...when you said that we made the same choices as Frodo 
and Sam." 
James smiled back and returned Jessie's embrace. "Now aren't you glad you didn't 
leave me behind?" 
"Of course I am!" came her reply. "I love you, James...and I'll always be 
thankful that you made the choice you did." 
"How could I do any less?" he asked. "I love you too, Jessie." 
As the two of them leaned closer for a kiss, they suddenly heard the sound of 
sniffling. Looking down, they saw that Meowth was still crying. 
James seated himself next to the cat and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! 
What's wrong, Meowth?" 
Jessie seated herself on Meowth's other side and gently scratched behind his 
ears. "Yeah! Didn't you like the movie?" 
As Meowth continued to cry, Gary handed him some kleenex. "I...I loved the 
movie! It was beautiful!" he replied once he'd dried his tears and brought his 
sobs under control. "But it was so sad! Poor Gandalf and Boromir died! And...and 
what about Pippin and Merry?! Are Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli gonna be able ta 
save 'em from dose Orcs?! And what's gonna happen ta Frodo and Sam?!" 
"Well, Meowth, there's two ways to find out," Gary told him. 
Jessie nodded. "You can either wait and see part two a year from now and part 
three two years from now...." 
"GAH!!! Two years?!" he cried. "I can't wait dat long -- I wanna know what 
happens NOW!!!" 
"Join the club!" Gary chuckled. "I'm gonna have a hard time waiting for the next 
two installments, myself!" 
"We all are," said James. "Which brings us to your other option." 
Meowth looked up at him. 
"If you really can't wait for the next two movies, then you can read the books 
to find out what happens to everybody," James told him. 
"Read the books?" 
James nodded. "I have a copy of Lord of the Rings that Jessie gave to me as a 
Christmas present a few years back," he explained. "If you want, I'd be happy to 
loan it to you, Meowth." 
His eyes filled with tears again. "Y-you'd do dat for me?" 
"Of course!" James replied. 
"We're so glad that you enjoyed the movie, Meowth," Jessie said. "That you saw 
for yourself why this is such an important story to us and that you appreciate 
it as much as we do. I promise, if you read the books, then seeing the next two 
movies will be an even more rewarding experience." 
Meowth smiled again and brushed his tears away. "Den whadda we waitin' for?!" he 
cried. "Let's get back to the cabin, sos you can loan me dose books, Jimmy!!!" 
James laughed and let Meowth climb onto his shoulder again. "Oh, and just so you 
know, you don't have anything to worry about," he said reassuringly. 
"Everybody's going to be okay -- Frodo and Sam, Pippin and Merry, Aragorn, 
Legolas, and Gimli...and even Gandalf." 
"Y-ya mean he's still alive?!" Meowth gasped. 
Jessie, James, and Gary nodded. 
"But...but how could he have survived dat Balrog attack?!" 
Jessie smirked and gave Meowth a playful nudge. "You'll just have to read the 
book and see for yourself!" 
"Yeah! We're not gonna spoil all the surprises!" Gary told him. 
Meowth began to bounce up and down on James's shoulders. "Alright, now I REALLY 
wanna read dese books! Come on! Let's go!" 
"Well, it looks like we should start heading back to the cabin," Jessie 
chuckled. 
"Yeah. Don't want to keep Meowth from his reading," James agreed. 
"I guess I'll let you go, then," said Gary. "It was great seeing you guys again, 
though. I'm glad we got to see the movie together." 
"I'm glad we did, too," Jessie replied. 
"That's right. It's not every day we meet somebody who's as enthusiastic about 
Tolkien as Jess and I are," James agreed. 
Gary nodded. "And it's not every day I get to talk to people about Tolkien. Most 
people just don't get it." 
"Really! And I bet when you was a kid, it was impossible ta have any kinda 
intelligent conversation with ol' Ashy Neutron: Boy Moron!" Meowth snickered. 
Jessie and James covered their mouths with their hands to stifle their fits of 
laughter. 
Gary laughed too, but quickly became serious again. "Yeah, Fun With Dick and 
Jane was...and probably still is the extent of Ash's literary knowledge," he 
sighed. "And kids my own age aren't much better. I was always my school's 
resident nerd, just because I like to read." 
"Join the club," Jessie and James said in unison. 
"We always got ripped on and beat up for reading sci-fi and fantasy, playing D & 
D, and stuff," James sighed. 
"Kids can be so mean to people that are different," Jessie grumbled. "Just look 
at those twerps and how nasty they are!" 
Gary smiled again. "Exactly. But that's why I enjoy talking to you guys so 
much," he continued. "We actually have common interests, and we can be ourselves 
around each other. You were right -- seeing this movie with friends made it a 
whole lot better." It was then that he noticed Meowth getting fidgety again. 
"Well, I guess you need to get going now. Don't wanna keep Meowth from his 
reading." 
"Dat's right!" the cat exclaimed. 
"Yeah, we probably should," Jessie agreed. "It's a long drive back, and it's 
getting late." 
"But maybe we could see the movie again sometime?" Gary suggested. 
"Definitely!" James replied. "It's only been over for a few minutes, but I 
already want to see it again!" 
"You and me both!" said Jessie. "But it'll have to wait a couple of days -- 
we're starting to run low on cash, and we don't get paid until tomorrow." 
"Ah, it's just as well. I need a chance ta do some readin' and get up ta speed 
anyway," said Meowth. 
Gary nodded. "Well, you guys know my e-mail address. Drop me a line so we can 
make plans." 
"You know we will!" Jessie told him. 
"Bye, Gary!" said James. 
Meowth waved to him. "See ya later!" 
Gary waved back and took his leave. 
@->->- 
Once Jessie, James, and Meowth returned to their cabin, James wasted no time in 
getting out his leather-bound copy of Lord of the Rings. 
"Here it is. Take good care of it," he said as he handed the book to Meowth. 
Meowth held the book in his paws and gazed at it as if it were made of gold. 
"Don't worry. I will," he solemnly replied. "Thank you." 
James nodded. "You're welcome." 
He and Jessie exchanged smiles as they watched Meowth take the book to his room. 

"Well, James, it looks like we made a die-hard Tolkien fan out of our little 
friend," Jessie remarked. 
"We certainly did, Jess," James agreed. "Of course, the movie had a lot to do 
with it, too. I still can't get over how amazing it was!" 
"That makes two of us!" she said. "I have to admit, when I first heard they were 
making a live-action movie of Lord of the Rings, I was worried that they'd ruin 
the story, or do a bad job with the casting, the scenery, and such. But there 
was nothing to worry about, after all -- it was better than I ever could've 
expected!" 
"Yeah! The story adaptation, the acting, the scenery, the special effects -- 
everything about it was wonderful!" James exclaimed. "It's uncanny how so much 
of it was just like I'd pictured in my mind's eye whenever I read the books." 
Jessie chuckled. "And it was so cute to see Meowth getting into the story the 
way he did -- it kind of reminded me of myself! When I was a little girl, and 
momma was reading Lord of the Rings to me for the first time, I remember 
bouncing up and down in her lap, screaming for the Hobbits to run whenever there 
was danger, crying my eyes out when Gandalf fell into the abyss with that 
Balrog...." 
"When I was a young lad, I was like that, too!" James laughed. "Sometimes 
grand-papa would have to stop reading and get me to calm down because I'd get so 
worried about those little Hobbits. He and grand-mama even had to tell me, 
without ruining the surprise, that Gandalf was still alive and that he'd return 
in part two so that I'd stop crying. Seeing Meowth acting the same way we did 
sure brought back memories!" 
Jessie nodded. "Happy memories. We don't have too many of those from our 
childhoods...but I guess that makes the ones we do have that much sweeter." 
James smiled again and rested his chin on Jessie's shoulder. "Do you think this 
is what it'll be like when we read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to our 
children and make Tolkien fans out of them?" he whispered into her ear as he 
wrapped his arms around her waist. 
Jessie placed her hands over James's and turned her face towards his. "I'm sure 
it will," she whispered back. "We'll give our kids more happy memories than 
they'll know what to do with!" 
"Sounds great to me!" 
Jessie turned completely around and placed her hands on James's cheeks. "This 
was definitely a night to remember." 
James tightened his hold on Jessie and ran his fingers through her crimson hair. 
"Yes, it was," he agreed. 
"I still can't get over how much of an impact that one story has had on our 
lives," Jessie remarked. "It's kind of amazing when you think about it!" 
"It is, isn't it?" James replied. "Not only how the books helped bring us 
together, but how we've all grown. Just like the movie gave the story a whole 
new dimension, our love for each other and our plans to spend the rest of our 
lives together gave our friendship a whole new dimension." 
Jessie's smile grew even wider. "You're right! Our lives have more in common 
with that story than I thought!" 
"But there are still some important differences," James reminded her. 
"Yeah!" she chuckled. "As much love, tenderness, and devotion as there was in 
Frodo and Sam's friendship, that's all it was -- friendship. But ours became 
romance, too." 
James nodded. "And even though Frodo and Sam and everybody else had a happy 
ending, it was still kind of sad in a way," he sighed. "The burden of being the 
ring-bearer left scars on poor Frodo's soul...scars that never healed. I know 
that you've carried some heavy burdens yourself, Jess. I just hope they haven't 
scarred you like that...." His eyes began to fill with tears again. 
"They haven't," Jessie assured him as she brushed his tears away. "The burdens 
I've carried can't compare to the Ring of Doom. And ever since the day I met 
you, you've given me more happines than I ever dared to hope for! I'll be 
okay...and I have you to thank for that, James!" 
The smile returned to James's lips. "I love you," he said. 
Jessie leaned closer and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I love you too, sweetie. 
You make me feel like the brightest star in the sky!" 
"You are the brightest star in the sky, Jess!" he told her. "You're my 
beautiful, radiant Evening Star!" 
Hearing James call her by Arwen Undomiel's human name made Jessie blush. "And 
you're my handsome king among men, James," she replied. 
As their lips met, James scooped Jessie into his arms and began carrying her 
towards their bedroom. 
"What do you say we make this night one to remember for another reason?" he 
suggested. 
Jessie smiled. "I'd say you've read my mind!" 
"Well, great minds do think alike!" James said. 
The two of them laughed, and their lips met in another loving kiss. A kiss that 
didn't end until James laid Jessie down on their bed and closed the door. 
The End
Author's Notes
Well, I said at the beginning that this fic was based on a true story, and it 
is. All of the stuff that our heroes went through -- getting bad directions, 
getting lost twice, and getting to the theater scant minutes before the movie 
began...only to find out that every single show had been sold out since the 
previous day -- really happened to me when I tried to see Lord of the Rings on 
opening night. X__x It was aggravating, to be sure...especially since I'm a huge 
Tolkien fan, and seeing LOTR on the big screen has always been a dream of mine, 
but I made the best of my misadventure and let it inspire me to write this 
story! (And I also bought advance tickets, so I got to see Lord of the Rings the 
next day! It was definitely worth the wait! ^_^) 
The dinner scene, as odd as it may seem, was also based on real events. There 
used to be a Chinese restaurant called Fu King near where I live, but they 
changed their name to the Gold Coast Buffet after a little vandalism incident 
where somebody added a "c" to their sign. When my brother explained why they 
changed their name, it incited a conversation where the two of us came up with 
as many ways as possible to use "Fu King" in a sentence. It really sounded like 
something our heroes would do, too, so I added it to this story for a bit of 
comic relief...and to give Jessie, James, and Meowth a way to vent after the run 
of bad luck they'd just had. 
Also, Gary made an appearance in this story for a reason. My friend, 
Shigeru1313, and I are working together to make the timelines and events of our 
fanfic arcs compatible. She wrote a story called More Than Allies, which 
chronicles how Gary becomes friends with Jessie, James, and Meowth, and since 
this story takes place after hers, Gary is their friend now. We also think Gary 
is a Tolkien fan, so it makes sense that he'd want to see the Lord of the Rings 
movie, too. I put him in my story because I thought it'd be cool for him to see 
the movie with Jessie, James, and Meowth...and so that they could have a friend 
to discuss the books and movie with. ^_^ 
And once again, I'd like to give a very special thanks to Shigeru1313 for the 
gorgeous illustrations of Jessie and James dressed as Arwen and Aragorn, Meowth 
dressed as Merry, Gary dressed as Frodo, and Meowth reading James's copy of Lord 
of the Rings! ^_^ Special thanks also goes to Jupiter for the hilarious picture 
of Gary's flashback about seeing the twerps at the movies! XD 
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Back to the Library 
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