"I don't think I'll ever be able to accept that we actually did it, Mr. Frodo." Sam sighed, placing his right arm cheerfully around Frodo.
It wasn't a particularly cold evening, but the two Hobbits sat close nevertheless. They shared a pipe between them, looking down on the Shire from the small grassy hill upon which they sat. Their minds wandered in and out of different adventures, painless yet painful, hopeless yet hopeful.
"I remember the first thing me old Gaffer said to me was 'Where you been, Samwise Gamgee? The hedge is overgrown and has curled right 'round the neighbour's roses." Sam chattered to himself, smiling.
He looked over at Frodo, who he knew loved hearing about his Gaffer.
But Frodo wasn't smiling. A tear was rolling down his cheek.
Sam squeezed his shoulder, wondering how he could possibly cheer him up. Frodo had been like this since a week after their return to the Shire. Nothing Sam seemed to do could cheer him, not even this impromptu picnic he had suggested for just the two of them. He had even managed to persuade Merry and Pippin to stay home on their own, something they had not managed to do since their return from Gondor – they insisted that the four Hobbits stayed together living under the one roof at Buckland.
"Do you every wish -"
"Sam," Frodo interrupted, placing his hand gently on Sam's knee in a friendly attempt to shush him. "Sam, I think I'm going to move back to Bag End." He said.
For the first time in a long while, Sam was genuinely surprised.
"But why, Mr. Frodo? And how? I don't think either Merry or Pippin will be very pleased to see you leave, if you get my meaning."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Frodo chuckled, nodding. "Buckland and Bag End aren't too far apart. I'm sure I'll see them just as often as I see them nowadays."
"But why?" Sam asked again. He was more shocked than he perhaps should have been, criticising himself for not predicting that this was what Frodo wanted sooner.
"We need to move on, Sam. I don't intend to devalue Merry and Pippin's own adventure; I doubt I could have survived their perils as they did. But the ring. The pain and the exhaustion of the ring…" Frodo trailed off. "No one will ever understand." He muttered, instantly regretting it, for he knew that Sam would understand, or would at least try to. He himself had worn the ring for a time, so he knew better than anyone of its destructive power.
He had no need to regret it, however, for Sam had not heard. Sam was lost in his own thoughts, staring out towards the West, squinting his eyes, almost as if he was trying to look all the way out to Gondor.
Frodo offered him a puff on the pipe, but Sam merely waved his hand as a refusal. Frodo hung his head, picking a small daisy on his right out of the ground and staring at it sadly, wondering what to say.
"Bag End's a lot smaller than Buckland." Sam said finally. "I was trying to think where I'll sleep. I need somewhere to keep my gardening tools, too, you understand."
Frodo looked up in surprise.
"No, Sam, I'm not asking you to move with me!" he said incredulously.
"Well you're not going on your own." Sam replied stubbornly.
"Really, Sam, it's not that far -"
"No, Mr. Frodo." Sam said, standing up suddenly and turning around so that he was face to face with Frodo. His face was solemn and determined, as though someone had challenged him to a battle. Yet when he spoke, his voice was choked as though he was ready to cry.
"'Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.' I don't mean to, and I never will. I'll go wherever you will go."
Frodo let out a great sigh, standing up now also. He hugged Sam tightly, far less than willing to let him go.
"Alright." He said quietly, picking up the basket of apples which Sam had brought with him, and began walking back to the Shire.
Sam trotted after him, refusing to hide his content in the slightest, a broad smile sweeping right across his face, triumphant.
"Now I wonder where Mr. Pippin and Mr. Merry have got to. At the Green Dragon, no doubt. I've said it before and I'll always say it, they drink much too much…"
Frodo smiled, for the moment contented to be listening to the simple chatter of Sam behind him. Yet his heart was heavy, for though the dawn was still a way off, what was to follow was slowly becoming clearer to him.