Friendship in Mordor

Disclaimer: Tolkien owns Lord of the Rings, and New Line Cinema owns the movies, I don't.

Two exhausted hobbits were sitting on the dusty ground in Mordor. Sam had rescued Frodo two days ago from the tower. They were very hungry and thirsty because they were almost out of food and water. Sam gave Frodo a small piece of lembas and a few sips of water, and ate nothing. He gave Frodo his own share of food because he knew that Frodo was so weak that he would not last without it. After he had finished feeding Frodo, he laid Frodo on the ground, folded the elven cloak and laid Frodo's head on it. Frodo closed his eyes.

Sam walked a few feet away from him, sat down, bent his knees, and sobbed in his arms. Hardly any tears were coming out of his eyes because he was so dehydrated. He saw how much Frodo was suffering on the quest. Frodo became very thin and exhausted because of the long journey, lack of food and water, and the weight of the ring. In addition to that, he suffered at the hands of his enemies and the ring was poisoning his mind with its lies. Sam was angry with himself because he was unable to protect him from harm.

"I'm nothing but a useless failure," he said to himself.

Frodo did not fall asleep immediately although he was exhausted. When he heard Sam sobbing, he felt bad for him. He wanted to find out what was troubling Sam and help him because he cared about him.

He got up and walked over to Sam, sat down next to him, and shook his shoulder lightly. Sam lifted his head out of his arms and looked at him with his slightly wet eyes.

"Sam, what is wrong?" asked Frodo.

"You are suffering from this quest, and it is all my fault," sobbed Sam.

"No, it is not," said Frodo, you helped me a lot on this trip. If it weren't for you, I would not have made it this far."

"If it weren't for me, you would not have suffered so much. I promised Gandalf that I would protect you, and I have failed."

"No you haven't," said Frodo.

"Yes, I have," said Sam. "I was stupid enough to think that you were killed by Shelob and left you on the ground. The orcs would never have carried you to their tower and whipped you if I hadn't left you there. My gaffer was right; I am a ninny hammer."

"You are not a ninny hammer, Sam," said Frodo. "You left me there because you had to take the ring to mount doom to destroy it. When you found out that I was alive you risked your life to save me from the tower."

"I hate the ring," said Sam. "It is poisoning your mind, and I can't stop it."

"There is no way that you can do that, but you can help me to resist it, and that is what you have been doing throughout the quest."

"I did not stop Shelob from stinging you," said Sam.

"You could not have done so because Smeagol held you, and prevented you from helping me. It was his fault that I was attacked by Shelob not yours; he lead us to her."

"That stinker!" growled Sam. "I wanted to get my hands on him for doing that."

"I hope we won't have to see him again," said Frodo.

"And I hope we will never have to see that spider again either," Sam said angrily. "I hate her!"

"You fought her and saved me from being eaten by her."

"I didn't fight the orc chief and prevented him from throwing his pike at your chest."

"You couldn't have because you were fighting orcs with your pan. They prevented you from helping me," said Frodo.

"It was my fault that you were wounded by the nazgul, and that you almost faded into the shadow world."

"You could not have protected me from them because they were too powerful."

"Strider was able to drive them away," Sam said bitterly. "If I was like Strider, I would have been able to protect you from them better."

"You might have also claimed the ring if you were like him because he came very close to doing that which was why he did not follow us here. Strider is a dunadain and knows how to fight the nazgul, but even he couldn't stop them from harming me. I like Strider a lot, but I would rather have you here with me than him, because you love me more than he does and I love you too as a brother."

"But I'm useless," Sam lamented. "It's tearing me apart that you are suffering so much and I can't prevent it. I promised Gandalf that I would protect you from harm and I have failed."

Sam couldn't say anything else because he began to sob again. Frodo looked at him with sympathy, and took Sam in his arms. He rocked him back and forth while Sam wept in his arms.

"No Sam, you could not have prevented me from suffering on this quest. I knew the minute I volunteered to take the ring to mordor that I would suffer greatly, and that no one can prevent it not even you, but you have been giving me your support and love throughout the quest and that has helped me a lot. If it weren't for you I would not have made it this far; I would have given up on the quest a long time ago. I would have also been killed by Gollum, Shelob, or the orcs."

Frodo continued to comfort Sam until Sam calmed down; then he let go of Sam.

"Do you feel better, Sam?"

"I feel a little better. Thank you Mr. Frodo."

"Go to sleep now Sam; you need more rest than I do right now," said Frodo.

"Yes, master."

He laid Sam's head on his lap, and Sam closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately. Frodo stroked his hair lightly while he watched Sam sleep.

The End.