Disclaimer: I don't own anything cept my love for Mr. Frodo. NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME YOU HEAR!??!! I wanted to say thank you to Chiara, who had the idea of doing a song fiction for "In the End" by Linkin Park. I asked her politely if I could use it, and she never e mailed me back, and well, it was just too damn hard not to post this. I'm quite proud of it, so please please please don't be mad! And, if there are any errors, I apologize=)
Sam's Promise
"Can't you remember anything Mr. Frodo?" Sam sighed as he looked upon the forlorn face of his master who was desperately trying to remember the simple warmth of light.
"No Sam, no I can't."
It starts with one thing
I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try, keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time
Sam was about to say something, but stopped, because Frodo had curled himself into a ball and was shivering silently in the Mordor dark. It was not night, or at least to Sam it wasn't. All track of time had been lost since he left the stairway. He knew not what day it was or the hour. Nothing seemed to be organized. But Frodo was tired, and needed his rest. I hope the war is going better. If only Gandalf were here. He said to himself. He did not bother to put on his cloak, but rather threw the soft gray cloth around Frodo's small body. He seemed to calm instantly, and that made Sam smile, something that he had not done since the wizard fell. His master would sleep, and now so would he.
All I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
Sam awoke to find his master sitting on the dusty ground, staring straight ahead. He did not dare to disturb his thought, so he sat, in the same fashion, straight ahead, trying to remember the happier times of life that seemed ages ago. The hope of getting back to these was what kept the gardener going. He remembered the elves, and Rivendell. The feasts, the dancing and the singing that overflowed the homes from dawn till dusk. He pictured his gaffer, scolding him when he was younger. "Now Samwise, that is no way to tend a simple tomato! I have told you so many times..." Sam tried to laugh, but it was hoarse and dry, from lack of moisture and simple strength. Frodo turned around and gave an attempt at smiling. "Common Sam."
It's so unreal
Didn't look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on, but didn't even know
Wasted it all
It's been days...I think, Sam sighed. Each of his footfalls seemed to echo in the crag filled pits that he and his master slowly passed. The lembas was almost gone, and what was left was broken and sandy. The landscape around them was crumbling, and the soft red light that had once been the mountain erupted in flame.
I'm never going home. He had known it for a while now, but it was hard to accept that he would never see Rosie Cotton, or the Gaffer, or even Bagshot Row ever again. His job was to lead Frodo to the mountain, to bring the happiness of peace, but to die watching evil collapse around itself. He looked to the West, to Gondor, and he knew far beyond that was the meads of Rohan, and even beyond that, the rolling hills of his little Hobbition.
Just to watch you go
I kept everything inside and even though I tried,
It all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
Be a memory....
I have to be strong...for Frodo. He needs me. Sam could not have been more right. The hobbit seemed limp as Sam carried him on his back up the slopes of the mountain. Frodo had called out in desperation, "I'll crawl," when Sam decided to transport him on the last gasp of the journey. Sam didn't mind. His master seemed so light, half starved almost, that carrying him pig-a-back was the only reasonable option.
Hours later his joints were aching, and his calves felt as though they would snap, but they were almost there. Sam had noticed a road about a half hour earlier that led up to a huge crevasse in Oroduin, that seemed to be the "door" of doom. He aimed for that spot, trying to breath through his mouth and avoid the air that seemed to whisper pain and judgement.
He put Frodo down a few feet outside the door. He then went to his knees and caught his breath. Frodo seemed to be acting, strange, if that was how Sam could describe it. Unlike himself. There was a gleam in his eye as he clutched the trinket that lay on his chest. They both walked into the heart of the mountain and were hit by a blast of hot air. Molten rock bubbled near the surface of their feet and filled the pits that were on either side of them. They seemed to be on a bridge of piping obsidian, except not as sharp. And less shiny. Sam thought. Nothing mattered except one thing. Get the ring into the fire.
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
The next thing Sam knew he was on his back, and a deep red blood that matched the stones where he fell was oozing through is fingers. Stinker, Smeagol, Gollum, the bane of his very existence it seemed, was there now. He was fighting violently with the air, struggling to overpower an invisible might. Now he remembered, Frodo had put on the ring. His heart ached with shame and loss, the corruption had consumed his master. He tried to steady himself, but the world seemed to be disintegrating underneath him. He heard a crack, and wheeled around just in time to see Frodo scream and fall to the floor. Gollum was dancing, if you could call it that, around near the edge of the pit and cuddling his precious, Frodo's finger still thrust into it. Then, and it seemed to be in slow motion, Gollum stepped a tad too far and tumbled off the edge screaming "Precioussss!" Sam shuddered. Reality cam back suddenly and he ran to his master.
"Oh Sam," Frodo was breathing heavily, and clutching his hand, which was bleeding continually. Sam bent down and surveyed his friend's appearance. His clothes were torn and tattered, his knees badly scraped and bleeding, but a light and peace that had he had not seen in months was there; his master was back. Frodo looked up at Sam, his blue eyes no longer possessing the red fire that had burned just a few minutes before. He ran his fingers over the gash that was caused when Sam slammed to the ground.
"Oh, I did this to you, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything" Tears welled in his eyes. To cause Sam any more pain was too much guilt for Frodo to bear. He had sacrificed so much already. A scar would not do.
"Don't you mind it Mr. Frodo. Oh dear, I have nothing for your poor hand." He clutched Frodo's right hand, and tried to stop the bleeding. He took off the girdle that he had made out of orc cloth for him and bound it round the bleeding fingers. It seemed to be sufficient enough, and Frodo didn't care, to him all was complete.
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
"I'm glad you're with me Sam, here at the end of all things."
"Sir, can we please at least get out of this wretched place? I know the end of the world is coming and all, but it just isn't like me to pass away...here." Sam waved a hand at the lava that was sputtering closer to the place where they lay. And at that Frodo laughed, laughed with pure love for the first time in what felt like a full age. Silently he smiled and nodded his head. With that Sam gingerly picked up the injured hobbit, and stumbled out of the entrance. The entire mountain seemed to be falling around them. Rivers of ash and spurts of flame shot up everywhere. They both lay down again, preferring to be calm and relaxed when they die. And to die together, that's what was important. Sam remembered what Gandalf had told him that Autumn night back in the Shire. I kept my promise Mr. Gandalf. I kept my promise.
But it all comes back to me (in the end)
You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually
be a memory of a time when I...
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I know I didn't add all of the lyrics, but some of them didn't work quite as well. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it, I'm really proud of it. It is my first song fiction! -melanie