DISCLAIMER: I do not in any way claim ownership of „The Lord of the Rings", „The Hobbit" or anything else that come from the brilliant mind of J.R.R. Tolkien. I do not make any profits from writing this work of (fan-)fiction and have no intention of doing so. No copyright infringement is intended. I do claim characters, places and anything else that is not originally a part of J.R.R. Tolkien's work as my own.
AN: First of all I am not a writer - I am a musician. Music has been and will always be my first and only love and I think it's quite save to say that after 25 years of loving, learning, living, and breathing music.
Many years ago when I was first introduced to the genius of J.R.R. Tolkien I immediately fell in love with Frodo Baggins and Hobbits in general. If I were to live in Middle Earth, you might find me living in the Shire with hairy oversized feet and curly hair enjoying the simplicity and peace of life there. And as much as I appreciated Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" it lacked a proper ending for that one very special Hobbit that I had grown so very fond of. And that was the reason I suppose why I got the idea for this story so many years ago. When I recently read it, I found that it lacked a lot of proper character development and had other flaws that I could not overlook. So I took it down. This story is one of my first ones and in a way has always been my baby - so to speak. It has a special place in my heart and I want it to be perfect (which it will never be of course, but at least I want it to be perfect enough for me). So I decided to take it down, (though it was quite painful to lose the reviews in the process) rewrite it and post it once more. Even though there are many more stories out there that are so much better than this one and I doubt that there's anyone out there who's been waiting for a story like this to appear, I want it to be out there and there's still some hope left that it will be received well by those who take the time to read it.
It is quite a thrill for me to post it yet again and it still makes me nervous like hell to press that publish new chapter button. I am not very confident about my writing but there are people out there who told me, that my writing is not all too terrible and so here I am.
With all that said I ask you to keep in mind, that English is quite unfortunately not my first language, so there most certainly will be errors in my grammar. I do apologize for that in advance. Also this story is AU, as Frodo does not arrive at Tol Eressea but on a different island.
Although this story may be considered movie-verse, I've tried to stay true to the Frodo of the books, who appears to be so much wiser, stronger, and braver. That's just my opinion, though. If you can find it within you, I should very much like to know your thoughts on my little piece of writing here.
As reviews are the only kind of 'payment' I am (hopefully) to receive for my work, they'd be greatly appreciated.
A TIME TO HEAL
Prologue
It is said, that Hobbits in general have never left the Shire. Well, we all do know that this is not quite true, especially when the fact is given, that they have Tookish blood running through their veins. Also, it is a well known fact, that Hobbits don't like adventures. And again we all do know, that this is not quite true, especially if there's again Tookish blood involved.
So we've first seen Bilbo Baggins traveling through half of Middle Earth (at least those who've had the definite pleasure to read "There and back again – A Hobbit's Tale" by Bilbo Baggins).
And then, well, and then there was Frodo.
Frodo Baggins had always been quite different from any other Hobbit living in the Shire. That began with his physical appearance and ended with his extraordinary un-hobbity mind. Hobbits of old tell that he looked more like an Elf and if it hadn't been for his tiny size of body and his hairy feet, he could have easily been mistaken for one. And even if he was certainly not as much into adventures as good old Bilbo had been, Frodo used to be part of an adventure that was so enormously huge and breathtaking, that even dear old Bilbo would have faltered somewhere along its long and winding paths.
Our father went through many a danger and many an unpleasant task and it is needless to say, that all of it gave him times of hardship after the actual adventure, that indeed had turned out to be a war of such pure evil as all of Middle Earth had never seen before throughout the ages. After his ordeal the days in the Shire had lost their calm and joy and thus the mostly unsung hero of the great Ring War could no longer find peace within himself. It pained the few friends that had remained to see him like this and they were hoping against all odds that something or someone would come to save the once strong Hobbit from his torments. Their prayers were answered when Gandalf the White joined by the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn came to take the fallen hero to a promised land, a land somewhere across the sea that promised healing and peace to any troubled soul that would set foot onto its shores.
It is a fact, that healing old wounds is a hard thing to do and takes a lot of time. Therefore, the sick and wounded need help and special wounds can only be healed by special people. One of these, you'll get to meet in this story. Taken away from her homeland as a small child she is the one predestined to bring back a meaning to his life – a meaning that goes beyond anything the former Ringbearer still dared to hope for. "Healer of the soul" was the name the elves had given her.
This is their story told as we – their children – remember it. It is my privilege as the eldest of their offspring to write it all down and I hope that with the help of my siblings and some of Adar's and Naneth's closest friends' help we can stay true to how things back then really happened.
Thus, I want to invite you to join me on a trip into lands afar, lands we know not of and into a time of healing. Meet my beloved father once again and find out what happened to him after he left the Shire from Mithlond – the Grey Havens.
