~*~DISCLAIMER~*~
I don't own any of the original fellowship, Rosie Cotton, Sam's children, Diamond or Faramir Took. Any other characters that aren't mentioned in the books are mine!
A/N: I know this idea of a saga about the descendants of the original fellowship have been done before, but I like the idea!
Those Who Were Not Born To Die
The Finding
Frodo Baggins sat in his garden at Bag End, watching his eldest son Merabo play in the street with his three best friends – Goldilocks Gamgee, Faramir Took and Droigo Brandybuck. Frodo had returned to the Shire from the Elf Havens nearly 15 years ago, having decided that he would rather be among his friends. Gandalf had come with him, but had then gone back to Rohan and Gondor.
Soon after returning to the Shire, he had met and fallen in love with a female Proudfoot, called Larka. Even though neither of them were young any more, they eventually married and had two sons – Merabo, who was now 13 and beginning his teens, and Sigrin, who was 4.
Sam, Merry and Pippin had also found wives and had children. Sam had married his childhood sweetheart Rose Cotton, and they had 13 children. Their eldest child daughter, Elanor, was now in her tweens at 24, while their youngest child and son, Tolman, was only 3. Goldilocks, the sixth eldest, was at present 14.
Merry had married Rolla Took, one of Pippin's relations. They had three sons – Sidoc, aged 23, Droigo, aged 15 and their new baby Bigo, who had had his first birthday last week. They had moved away from Brandy Hall, and now lived in Hobbiton, just up the road from Bag End.
Pippin had married Diamond of Long Cleeve. They lived together in Tuckborough with their 13-year-old son, Faramir. Pippin wanted to move to Hobbiton like Merry, but couldn't as he was the present Thain of the Shire (A/N: Help! Pippin – Thain! The Shire will be chaos!) Faramir often came to stay with Merabo, Goldilocks or Droigo, however.
Frodo leant back in his chair and closed his eyes, glad of a bit of peace for once. He had barely closed his eyes when he heard Merabo call him. 'Dad!' He shouted over the fence.
'Yeah?' Frodo replied, opening his eyes again.
'Can we go down to the lake?'
'If you're careful. Water can be a dangerous thing.' Frodo said.
'That's what you say every time.' Merabo said. 'And nothing bad's happened yet!'
'Go on then.' Frodo said, and watched his son go off down the road with his friends as Sam came out of Bag End and sat next to him.
'Where are they off to?' Sam asked.
'Your daughter obviously hasn't got your fear of water.' Frodo replied.
'I keep telling her that water's dangerous.'
'So do I, but they won't listen. We were that age once, Sam, and I know I didn't listen to Bilbo when I was like them.'
Sam said nothing else to Frodo, but muttered under his breath something about 'children these days'.
***
Goldilocks and Merabo sat at the edge of the lake, watching Faramir and Droigo in the water. Brandybucks and Tooks had no fear of water, unlike the Gamgees. Merabo wasn't scared of the water, and could swim if he needed to, but he, like his father, thought it a pointless activity.
'Ow!' Faramir said suddenly as he felt something sharp pierce the bottom of his foot.
'What?' Merabo asked from the bank.
Faramir hopped out the water and sat on the bank, before showing Goldilocks and Merabo a small brooch in his hand.
'It was on the bottom of the lake, and I stepped on it.' Faramir said, putting his hand on his foot to try and stop it bleeding.
Goldilocks took the brooch from Faramir, and looked at it. She put the end of the pin back in the clasp before she hurt herself like Faramir, before studying it. It was amazingly clean considering it had been lying on the bed of the lake. It was circular in shape, and seemed to be made out of gold. There were engravings on the surface that looked to be some form of Elvish.
'We should show it to dad.' Merabo said. 'He can speak Elvish, and read it. He can tell us what it means.'
Droigo had now got out of the lake, and was standing by his friends. 'We better be getting back, it'll get dark soon.'
'What about my foot?' Faramir pouted.
'You're not going to die.' Goldilocks said, and pulled Faramir to his feet.
'Thanks for the sympathy.' Faramir muttered, limping slightly as they set off home.
They arrived back at Bag End, where they waved goodbye to Droigo, who carried on down the road to his own house. The other three entered Bag End and were immediately greeting by the smell of cooking.
'Mum! Dad!' Merabo called through the house. Larka Baggins appeared immediately, and Frodo appeared from his study a minute or two later.
'Faramir's hurt.' Merabo told his mother.
'What have you done, dear?' Larka asked Faramir, leading the limping hobbit to one of the bathrooms.
'We found this.' Merabo said to Frodo, showing him the brooch they had found at the lake. 'Faramir stepped on it.' Frodo took the brooch and went into the lounge, where a fire was blazing in the fireplace. He sat by the fire, and Goldilocks and Merabo stood by him.
Frodo looked at the carvings in the brooch. 'What does it say dad?' Merabo asked.
'I can hardly read it, the writing's so small. My eyesight's not like it used to be.' Frodo studied the brooch for quite a while longer, until eventually Goldilocks broke the silence.
'I think I'd better be getting back home.' She said. Merabo walked as far as the door with Goldilocks before waving goodbye. Sam, Rosie and their children used to live in Bag End with Frodo and Larka, but as both families got larger, Sam decided that he and Rosie had better get their own home. In the end, they had only moved next door, but both families had more space now.
Merabo came back into the lounge to see Frodo putting the brooch in an envelope and sealing it with a wax seal. 'I don't know what this is, my boy.' Frodo said. 'But the writing isn't Elvish, and I know better than to trust pieces of jewellery with strange inscriptions.'
'Do you think it's like that ring you got?'
'I don't know, I had thought all the dark forces of Mordor had been destroyed, but they may not have been totally. There are other evils in this world apart from Sauron. If only Gandalf were here.' Frodo said, just as there was a loud knock on the door…