Chapter One

Revelations

Ruby Pool

The sun had not even begun to rise when a loud knocking sound came at the Gamgee door. "Coming!" Sam called as loudly as he dared, as he rushed to answer it (luckily, he was already dressed and ready for the big day ahead) wondering why any of his friends would be here quite so early. Sure, Gandalf had said they were leaving at dawn but that was at least a half hour away.

"Good morning Samwise Gamgee, there is something I must discuss with you. Could you please awake your parents? This concerns them too." Gandalf told him, sounding completely self-assured as he pushed his way past Sam and into their quaint little Hobbit hole.

"Um… of course." He agreed somewhat reluctantly, rushing to his knock at his parent's bedroom door feeling extremely guilty as he did so. "Ma, Gaffer! Gandalf's here! He'd like to speak with us."

"Gandalf? The Wizard? What would he like to speak to us for?" The old Gaffer asked as he groggily came out of the room, his wife right behind him both still dressed in their night clothes.

"I'm not sure," Sam admitted sheepishly as he led the way back to the front hall where the old Wizard was waiting. "But he seems to think it's important."

"It is important." He insisted sounding slightly offended that Sam would even insinuate it wasn't. "Especially if you want to be truly prepared for our upcoming adventure."

"You mean our journey to Earth?" Sam asked thoroughly confused, though his parents seemed to instantly stiffen at the mention of the place. "What could you have to tell me that you won't need to tell the others?"

"Perhaps if you could remain quiet for a moment, I would explain." He snapped, startling Sam into silence. "That's better. You see my dear Hobbit, one of those three girls that I sent to another world, was your sister."

"My sister!" Sam gasped in surprise, his parents wincing as he did so. "But that's impossible! I have only three sisters, Daisy, May, and Marigold. And I know for a fact that they are all here safe and sound."

"Those are the only sisters that you know of." Gandalf corrected him. "There was another, ask your parents if you don't believe me."

"He's telling you the truth Sam." Bell Gamgee whimpered, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she raised her head to meet her sons bewildered gaze.

"But how is that even possible? You said that they were born around the same time as us. Surely my mother couldn't have had two children so close together unless…." He trailed off, eyes widening as the truth suddenly hit him with a horribly painful blow.

"Yes Sam." The Old Gaffer confirmed what was rapidly becoming Sam's worst nightmare, as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "She was your twin."

"I'm a…. twin." Sam breathed, blinking slowly as the daze that had settled over him began to evaporate under a hot anger. "How could you keep this from me?!"

"We're sorry Sam; we always wanted to tell you but it was just too painful." His mother apologized, her tears falling freely now as she thought of the child she had lost, but his own pain was too fierce for him to pity her.

"That's no excuse. She was my twin, mother! My other half! The least you could have done was tell me about her!" He exclaimed angrily, doing his best to control his temper and not wake up any of his siblings but it was difficult. "Why would you give her away in the first place?"

"We didn't give her away, Sam." His father insisted, instantly defensive of their actions. "We sent her with Gandalf for her own protection."

"Her protection?"

"Yes. One of the girl's parents were killed by evil folk, servants of Sauron we now believe, and her life was barely spared. Gandalf told us he was taking her away from the Shire, from all of Middle-Earth really, to a world where she would be safe. He insisted on taking your sister along as well."

"But why?"

"Because I sensed something special about her from almost the day the two of you were born." Gandalf cut in, sighing that such a thing was even necessary. In his opinion his advice should always be enough. "Bilbo did as well. In fact, we were actually quite intrigued by both of you, but she was the one who had a truly peculiar air about her. I knew I had to get her out of the Shire before Sauron could take notice, and besides I sensed even at that time that you would serve a greater purpose right here; and I was right."

"What's her name?" Sam finally asked, his voice slightly more controlled once it had all sunk in.

"We can't tell you." Gandalf quickly replied before either parent could respond. "You must find her on your own. Your bond as twins will be one of your greatest strengths on this adventure, and it is vital that you use it to discover her, or it won't mean nearly as much and thus be severely weakened."

"Can you at least tell me what she looks like then?"

"We're not sure. You were only babies when she left." His mother recalled wistfully. "I can only imagine what she looks like now."

"Beautiful I'm sure." The Old Gaffer murmured, a single tear escaping his own eye.

"A word of advice Samwise Gamgee," Gandalf cut in looking the young hobbit right in the eye as he continued. "You'll have an easier time discovering her if you search with your heart, rather than your eyes."

"I'd have an easier time discovering her if you'd just tell me her name!" He shouted in response before storming out of the Hobbit hole, to frustrated and overwhelmed to remain in the same room with these people who had kept this important truth from him his entire life. He, Samwise Gamgee, was a twin.

"Sam!" He heard a voice call out to him before he had gotten very far, and he turned to see none other than Rosie Cotton running to catch up with him. "Sam! What's wrong?"

"Oh, hello Rosie," Sam began blushing to think he'd been caught in such a horrible mood by the one Hobbit lass who truly held his heart in her hands. "Nothing's wrong. Gandalf's just got another adventure for us and…"

"Another adventure?!" Rosie cried looking shocked and hurt all at once. "You're leaving me again, Samwise?"

"I'm sorry Rosie, but I must. It seems Sauron's spirit was not completely demolished when Frodo destroyed the ring, but he simply fled to another world. But that's not all. Apparently, Gandalf sent three Hobbit girls there when they were born. So not only do we have to destroy Sauron once and for all, but we must save them as well. And…." He explained, but Rosie cut him off before he could continue.

"I'm coming with you then."

"What?"

"You heard me. I can see that your mission is of the greatest importance, but I refuse to be parted from you ever again. Not like last time. Besides, perhaps I could help."

"You make a good argument my dear Rosie." Gandalf mused as he came up behind the two startled Hobbits. "Very well. Hurry and pack your things, we meet at Bag-End in twenty minutes. Be quick now." With that Rosie raced off back in the direction of her home, the sun's light just beginning to peak over the mountains, though the moon still clearly ruled the sky.

"What? Why would you do that? This could be dangerous!" Sam protested glaring at Gandalf.

"No more dangerous than if she tried to follow us on her own, which I do not doubt she would do." He reasoned, and Sam had to concede he was right. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"No, I didn't get a chance."

"Good. You must tell no one Sam. This is your task and your task alone."

"But how can I keep such a secret from her? She's practically my fiancée!"

"Rosie's a smart girl, I'm sure she'll figure it out on her own. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she discovered who your twin is before you do."

"I wouldn't either." Sam agreed sighing, still feeling frustrated but at least slightly more uplifted than before, as he and turned back into the house to grab the things he had gathered for the journey ahead.

~jb~

The journey to Rivendell went quite smooth, at least compared to their first visit there, though they still met with a delay or two (which is only to be expected when traveling in the wild). When they finally arrived, it was the day of the full moon and Gandalf saw to it that they all washed up and were able to have a marvelous meal before their adventure truly began. Once that was finished, he led them to a small balcony, where a large blue stone lay underneath the light of the equally blue moon. The hobbits gazed at its beautiful reflecting gleam for what felt like a long moment before Gandalf finally broke the silence.

"Now before we travel to this new world, there are a few things you must know." He told them with the most serious tone he could manage. "For one, hobbits do not exist there at all and never have. They once had dwarves and elves among them, but they have all disappeared and most do not believe that they ever existed. It is completely run by humans, although they do have many animals as well."

"How shall we ever fit in then?" Merry asked perplexed. "If there are no hobbits, and how did the girls last as long as they have?"

"Because I disguised them as humans as I sent them through the Stone, just as I will do to all of you." He explained a bit impatiently. "Anyway, as I was saying, their children all go to a place they call school from five years old to eighteen. Here they learn more about their world, its history, languages, and so forth. This is where you will be going, to the girls' high school."

"You mean they're not even in their tweens?" Sam exclaimed completely taken aback by this revelation for obvious reasons. "But I thought they were supposed to be the same age as us!"

"They are. Time simply goes slower there then it does here. Technically, when they return to Middle-Earth they will be the same age, just as you will be theirs on our adventure. Don't worry Samwise, I'm sure their maturity level is the same."

"What about food? What kind of food do they have?" Pippin asked, getting to what he felt was the real heart of the matter.

"Oh, lots of different things, many of which you have never dreamed of. However, you'll be surprised to learn my young Peregrin Took, that they only have meals three times." Gandalf replied waiting for the unavoidable outburst. They didn't disappoint him.

"Only three meals a day!" Each of the hobbits cried out in horror.

"How do they survive?" Pippin asked alarmed. "How shall we survive?"

"The same way they do, by controlling your appetites." Gandalf snapped. "Now one last word of advice before we depart, in this world they have invented many wonderful machines the likes of which I cannot describe. Just…. Please try not to be alarmed upon your arrival." At that he reached out his hand to the glowing blue stone, each of the hobbits quickly following suit, and with a sudden burst of light they disappeared into the night.

Author's note: Yay! They're finally going!