Amethyst

A story based on my favourite semiprecious rock.

Set after the scourging the shire, this is an alternative ending to RoTK. I love these types of stories, and I had written one a bit like this, but it wasn't very good. If you like this please say.

Basically a child is found and Frodo decides to stay in the shire instead of leaving. He adopts the child as his own and this is about what happened, and why this child is special to more than Frodo, Sam and Rose. AND, no, SHE DID NOT FIND ANOTHER RING! He, hem. I just needed to get that clear.

Authors note: There are two Frodo's in my story. Sam's son, Frodo and MR Frodo, the Frodo we all know and love. I think you'll be able to tell the difference between the two. I hope so….

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By the inspection of the lockholes they came apon an old hole that had been burned out badly by sharkey's men. Merry and Pippin were the first to walk in, Merry carefully lifting a piece of burned out wood out of the way. Pippin stepped in and made a stomach turning crush as he stepped on the mass of burned clothes, furniture and other things beyond recognition.

Sam stepped into the hole next, trying not to feel the ash beneath his feet, or at least think about it. Frodo walked in after them.

Merry breathed in through a gap in his teeth. 'This place got burned out badly. I wonder why?'

'There doesn't have to be a reason when you deal with Sauroman,' said Frodo bitterly,' I suppose these hobbits were just unlucky enough to beak one of his "rules"'

'There were enough of them Mr Frodo.' Said Sam, 'Anyway, they say's it was only burned out two day ago. Maybe some one survived the fire.'

'I doubt it,' said Merry, 'It must have been hotter than smag's breath in here.'

'We're there's life there's hope Merry,' said Pippin hitting him over the back.

'Maybe we should spilt up?' suggested Frodo,' That way we can find any survivors faster.' Merry and Pippin nodded and walked in the left together while Sam walked to the right. Frodo walked on straight. The various ashes under his feet cracked and make uncomfortable noises as he walked down the corridor.

He saw the upturned tables and chairs, the blackened metal heart in the kitchen, the half-burned toy on the floor next to his foot. The wooden supports had fallen over the kitchen floor. Frodo looked in a cupboard hoping vainly to find some life, or at least some sign of… of what had happened or….

He looked at the halt burned toy next to his foot again. It was a rag doll. The legs had been burned away, the face blackened with soot and singled, but the horribly perverse smile on its face…It grinned nervously at him. He threw it on the floor again. There must have been a family living here at some point, before the fire.

Frodo looked at a door hanging off its hinges. It led to a pantry of some kind. Frodo pushed the door gently. It let out an ear-piercing squeak, before it crashed to the ground in a clutter. Then some of the plaster fell off the wall in a powdery snowfall. Frodo stepped back in surprise.

He stepped through the doorframe and looked down to where, if the stairs had still been there, they would have led. Frodo saw that there was a person in a rocking chair, still rocking. Frodo didn't think. He lowered himself down and ran over to the rocking chair. He grabbed their shoulder and said, 'Hello? Are you hurt?'

Then he turned the chair around. What he saw disturbed him enough for him to let out a little yelp. There was some one in the chair all right, but it was Lotho.

The body of his least favourite cousin sat, his brown eyes wide open in fear, and a knife wound in his chest. There had been rigor mortis, and it had set in a long time ago. The body horribly slumped forward and fell to the floor with a splat. Frodo screamed and backed away from the chair. It rocked still, but it slowed down immensely. Frodo breathed heavily and fast and tried to breathe properly again.

'Mr Frodo, what is it?' Frodo turned around in a panic. Sam stood at the top of where the stair wasn't. He unrolled a rope and shimmed down.

'Sam….' Said Frodo, unable to say, * I've just found a body*

'Mr Frodo, what is…' he saw what Frodo had seen. He gulped himself, but he didn't say anything. 'Mr Frodo, maybe we better get him out of the house to bury him.'

Frodo seemed to return to his senses. 'All right Sam. It just gave me a shock that's all.'

Sam wisely didn't make an issue of it. He Gerry rigged a plank of wood and the rope to make a sort of stretcher and helped Frodo to climb back up as they both lifted the body out of the pantry. Neither of them dared to meet the others eyes.

They lay the body out in the kitchen and looked around some more. Then, after a few minutes Sam pulled up a chair and sat down to rest. Frodo couldn't rest, even though his age had been catching up on him slowly. He sat on the floor, trying to think of where to look next.

Then, for some reason he though of the rag doll he had seen earlier. He was sitting next to it again. He picked it up. One of the bead eyes had fallen off the face, leaving nothing but a short trail of thread. To be honest, that was the only sign of a child having lived here.

Frodo had a sudden urge to dig through the rubble on the other side of the kitchen, where it had piled up to it's highest. He crawled over to it on his knees and started to dig with his hands.

'Mr Frodo, Mr Frodo sir, what're doing?' asked Sam, getting up.

'Sam! Don't ask questions! Help me dig!' Sam helped him get through the rubble until they saw…

'A child? How could A child survive this?' asked Sam

Frodo looked the child itself. It had long red coloured hair, not red as in ginger, and not red as in brown, but pure red, a bit like a darker blood. It sat under a perfect cave of rafters and rubble in a white unstained dress. It seemed to have hardly noticed them, but continued to play with the ash. AS the grey sand ran through the child's fingers, it looked at Sam and Frodo.

The child had purple eyes.

Frodo had to do a double take. The child had PURPLE eyes! Not purple all they way, she had the white of the eyes and the pupil, but the iris was purple. Purple as the stone the child wore around her neck. Yes, that had attracted attention away from the sullen face. On a necklace made from a piece of string it had a purple stone hanging from it. It wasn't dreadfully interesting, or, Valor forbid, magical to the eye, it was just very…unexpected.

The both stared at the child. Then Sam picked it up in his arms. The child didn't seem to mind. Frodo looked at it. She was definitely a hobbit child. It was far to small to be anything else, but something wasn't quiet right. No hobbit child had purple eyes for one thing, the feet seemed a little too small, the hair seemed to long, and she was far too thin to be a hobbit child.

The child reached out a small hand to Frodo and said, 'Dada?'

Frodo looked at her with surprise. Then the child seemed to struggled and shouted again, 'Dada! Dada! Dada!' she reached of for him as she kicked and squealed.

'Sam?' he said wearily.

'I think Mr Frodo,' said Sam with a little too much conviction, 'That you better take her.'

He handed the child over to him and Frodo held her like a bomb liable to explode.

'Sam? I have no idea what to do!' he said, unable to move his arms, 'I don't know much about children.'

'Mr Frodo,' said Samwise with a little laugh, 'It's quiet easy. Just hold her like I was.'

Frodo slowly raised her to his shoulder, as she seemed to quieten. Then she threw her arms around his neck and Frodo held her. She seemed to like being held by him, and rest her head on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, 'Dada, dada.'

Frodo stood there with the tiny child on his shoulder. Sam noticed that he seemed completely at peace for once, not in some way disturbed. Then Frodo laughed. 'I have no idea what to call her!'

Sam smiled. 'Well Mr Frodo, begging your pardon, maybe we should try to find her parents.'

Frodo looked a little worried for a second. Then he sighed. 'Maybe you're right Samwise. '

The child didn't seem to understand what was going on. Then she stirred a little, but nothing else.

'Sam, Frodo, we didn't find anything but ash and…' Merry walked in through the doorframe. Then they noticed that Frodo was holding a child.

'Frodo?' asked Merry in a calm voice, 'where did you find that child?'

'Under some rubble. Why?'

'Nothing.' He said, 'But where are her parents? She doesn't look like she's been there very long. Her dress has hardly any dirt on it. '

Pippin walked in. They he saw the child in Frodo's arms. 'Ahh, isn't she cute.' He cooed when he saw the child. The child turned its head to look at him. He let out a short scream and stepped back.

'What on middle earth is wrong with that child's eyes?' He exclaimed.

'I don't know.' Said Frodo, 'But I don't think she's dangerous.'

'Not dangerous? She had purple eyes! You cannot take it for granted that she is not dangerous!'

'Pippin,' said Frodo, 'I know about real danger. I know she isn't dangerous, but we need to find her parents.'

Pippin did not want to argue, but from that moment he held a conviction that something was very, very wrong with her and it would somehow affect all of them.

They crunched out of the burned hole, squinting in the bright sunlight. The child held her hand up to the sunlight as her pupils contracted in the light. Suddenly Rose ran up to Sam and said to him, 'What on earth are you doin' in their Sam! You've got work to do!'

'Rose, ' he said,' We were jus' searchin' that burned out hole! We thought there might be people inside, and there was. Lotho was in there…'

'Sam, that might 'ave jus' been Wormtongue at work, but that hole hasn't had people in there since you was a child. No one when in there during Sharkey's time either, didn't you know?'

Sam suddenly felt uncomfortable, 'Not even a Family…'

Rose rolled her eyes, 'Samwise Gamgee! Not even a mouse 'as been in there since We was three! There is work to do!'

Rose,' said Frodo,' If that is so, then how do you explain this?' He turned around with the child in his arms.

Rose looked at the child. 'You foun' her in there?' she said after a few seconds.

'Yes. She was under the rubble, do you know her?'

'No, I never even heard of a hobbit with red hair and…. Violet eyes?' Rose seemed confused.

'That's what I said.' Interrupted Pippin into the silence that followed, 'No child should have violet eyes.'

'Hush, Mr Peregrine.' She said, 'I'm jus' trying to think. No one has lost a child like that, and there have been many a child lost in these dark times. ' Rose looked so sad when she said that.

Sam put his arm around her and she let a tear drop before she looked into Sam's eyes. Then she smiled and put on a brave face. 'Shall I take her for a while Mr Frodo? Jus' while you finish off today's work? '

Frodo smiled and said, 'All right Rose. ' Then, to the child her said,' Go with Rose now, she'll keep an eye on you.' The child seemed to under stand as he said, 'I'll be back for you.' The child seemed extremely relieved to hear this.

'What's she called Mr Frodo?' Rose asked as she arranged the child in her arms.

'I don't know, but she wears a necklace with a purple stone on it.' He took the stone and had a closer look at it. He studied it for a little while and said,' It's an Amethyst stone.'

'Well, that sound's a nice enough name for you,' she said, looking at the child, 'Doesn't it Amethyst?'

The child smiled at her. She smiled back and walked off, leaving the four male hobbits feeling a little uncertain. Then they walked off to the next job.

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Frodo never found the child's parents, and everyone seemed to refuse any knowledge of her, but he had fallen in love with her and her beautiful eyes. Sam and Rose moved in with him and Amethyst. Merry and Pippin kept in close contact with all of them and nothing particularly interesting happen to any of them, except Frodo decided to stay with them, and not go to the havens and Sam and Rose did have thirteen kids, not including Amethyst.

Nothing at all interesting happened, until the Amethyst was fifteen. This is the story of what happened.

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Thank you for reading. I must really get around to doing something good.