Title: Taking Care
Author: ripleynikki
Characters: Frodo, Sam
Slash: No/implied I guess. Maybe.
Rating: PG
Summary: Frodo and Sam have a slight mishap; Frodo begins to
understand a thing or two.

Disclaimer: JRR Tolkien created these wonderful characters and I
love them with all my heart. But that's all, really. I make no money from this. All mistakes are mine.


Taking Care

"Take care, Sam!" Frodo's hissed words echoed off the ragged and
loose volcanic rock of the ravine as he peered down the cliff. Sam
had tied the elven rope to a nearby boulder in order to scale the
distance to the bottom of the ravine. Gollum had sworn on the
Precious that this was the last barrier in Emyn Muil before the dead
marshes. He had then quickly scuttled down the cliff and gully,
saying he would scout the paths ahead and come back before dawn,
leaving the two of them to make it on their own with the aid of "that
nassty, cruel Elf rope". Sam had muttered darkly at Gollum's
announcement and chose to descend first, after lowering the packs to
the ground below. This cliff really wasn't that high, thought Frodo-
at least it didn't seem as high as that awful first one, but it was
still plenty high enough.

His fear of heights came back full force, creating a knot in his
belly and taking his breath away. He had never liked heights much and
when younger, would sometimes freeze in place while climbing trees
with the other hobbit children. He never understood why that
happened: his muscles would simply lock up, unpredictably, stranding
him clutching the tree branches in a death grip, much to his chagrin
and the amusement of the other hobbits who had no such handicap. It
had not happened to him in years and he had almost forgotten about
it, but after the fright he had taken during the last disastrous
cliff climbing session, combined with that dramatic storm and horrid
Nazgul rider, his fear had resurfaced. He did his best to control
himself and continued to watch Sam descend.

It also didn't help his nerves that Sam did not appear to be taking
as much care as Frodo felt this precipice deserved. Sam had looped
the rope around his waist and between his legs in a complicated way
that let him rappel smoothly down the jagged rock face. Frodo
watched with trepidation, but also admiration as Sam worked his way
down the cliff. Sam was exceedingly sturdy and clever. Others
thought him simple and dull, but one thing this journey had taught
Frodo, was that Sam was much, much more than that. "Still waters run
deep" was an old saying that applied to his dearest friend, Samwise
Gamgee.

And when had "dearest friend" replaced "friend"? Frodo sat back from
the edge and took a fond moment to wonder at that. He couldn't
rightly recall and was it really that important? He decided to set
the thought aside to bring out later to examine more thoroughly.
This was not the time or place for woolgathering--not that he could
do much of anything but worry right now.

He looked up at the night sky. The moon was waning-it would be dawn
soon. It had taken much cajoling and argument to convince Gollum that
walking at night with no moon was much too dangerous on this uneven
volcanic terrain. He had only reluctantly agreed to limited travel
under the white face when Sam finally threatened him with Sting.
Gollum had stuck to the shadows and skulked along until they arrived
at this cliff, muttering and hissing under his breath all the way.

"Don't you worry none, Mr. Frodo, I'm doin' just fine." Frodo was
brought out of his musings as Sam spoke. He carefully peeked over
the edge again to see how far Sam had progressed-he didn't have too
much further to go, maybe another dozen feet.

Suddenly Sam lurched sickeningly downwards with a cry. The rope was
slipping! How could that be? It was an Elven rope! Frodo lunged
desperately for the quickly disappearing length, horrified as he
realized what was happening. Heart in his throat, he managed to
catch the rope in his left hand just as it slipped by, not thinking
about how close he was to the edge or Sam's considerable hobbit-
weight. The rope twisted around his left wrist as if it were a live
thing. Sam's plunge was halted momentarily as he twisted in the air
and hit the rock wall with a loud "Oof!" Sharp pain shot up Frodo's
shoulder as it was nearly wrenched out of the socket by the heavy
weight of the sturdy hobbit. Pulled forward, he scraped his hands
and fingers on the rocky ground as he was dragged toward the edge.
Just in time the rope ripped away, causing painful friction burns.
Sam didn't utter another sound as he hit the ground.

"SAM!" The frantic cry echoed and boomed through the ravine and back
at Frodo, confusing him. He hardly felt the pain of the shoulder and
hands as, realizing his precarious position, he pushed back away from
the edge of the cliff. Frodo panted in terror but immediately
reversed course and scrabbled forward on his belly to look over
again. He could barely see-- Sam had landed on his back, but the
shape of the rock formation hid his head and shoulders. A very limp
left arm was visible, tangled up with the rope. "Sam!? Are you all
right? Say something, talk to me, please!!" There was no answer.
The only sound was the soft sighing of the wind as it rushed through
the rocks and hills. "Gollum! Where is he?" Frodo's' thoughts raced
frenetically. He was already down there somewhere! Maybe he would
help by throwing the rope back up so Frodo could get down. But there
was no sign of him anywhere. Frodo was afraid to call out again for
fear the echoes might bring something even worse than Gollum. He
realized suddenly that, even if he were present, the creature would
not touch the rope let alone toss it up to him.

Despair hit him. Frodo began to tremble with reaction and
adrenalin. His mind seemed to go blank-what was he to do? "I must
get to Sam-he could be hurt badly-even dead--and then what would I
do? How can I possibly go on without him?"

His stomach clenched with dread and he felt sick. The fears and
doubts created by his burden and the uncertain fate of Middle Earth
suddenly seemed small and insignificant compared to his concern for
the life of this one small, simple hobbit, his friend. He had to get
to Sam. "I will do it. I have to get down this cliff face somehow."

Quickly as he could, he looked for hand and toe holds. Thankfully
there were plenty still visible in the fading moonlight. He hitched
over the edge, feeling for the toeholds, finding them. He looked
down for more. A sharp stab of fear pulsed through his
body. "Breathe," he thought. "Don't be an ass. Sam needs you. Keep
going."

He found more holds and began to descend. The rock wall bulged
outward about halfway down-he needed to work his way around. Looking
down he realized he could now see Sam's face--was that a shadow
beneath his head-or was it blood? His breath caught in his throat
and his left arm, wrenched by the rope and already weaker than the
right from the Morgul blade wound, began to tremble. His peripheral
vision vanished and all he could see was Sam-lying in what looked
like a pool of blood. He tried to continue his climb down but
suddenly his muscles froze-"Oh no!" he wailed to himself. "I can't
move! Not now!" He closed his eyes and a small whimper escaped his
lips.

The instant he shut his eyes, a sharp, vivid memory bloomed in
Frodo's' mind. He was high in Hobbiton's tallest oak tree-higher than
he had ever climbed before. Frodo had wanted to go to the tree house
built at the top of the oak. He was relatively new at Bag End and was
trying hard to fit in with the others. A group of children were
standing below looking up; others were in the tree house looking
down. He was blocking everyone from either descending or climbing
because he had frozen in fear. He couldn't move, no matter how hard
he tried. The other children mocked and laughed, which made it worse.
His eyes began to smart with tears of frustration and humiliation.
Unexpectedly, there was a hand on his shoulder. Young Samwise was on
the branch behind him. Voice trembling, Frodo managed to
speak. "Hullo, Sam-lad. I seem to be in a bit of a fix here." Sam
smiled kindly, talking to him softly and slowly. "Mr. Frodo,
there 'aint nothin' to be afraid of in this here tree. Which way do
you want to go, up or down?"

"Up, Sam, I want to see the tree house."

"All right, then, just let go of the branch. Here, that's good, just
give me your hand. Your Sam will take care of you. One step at a
time, Mr. Frodo. We'll get there. And then we'll get you back down,
one step at a time."

Trembling, hanging tight onto the rocks, the answer to his
woolgathering question occurred to him all at once- Sam had always
been Frodo's dearest friend. He was only now beginning to understand
the total depth of that friendship. "What an inconvenient place for
an epiphany," Frodo thought, "but I'll take what I can get."
Forcing his eyes open, he took a deep, determined breath.
Deliberately, one step at a time, Frodo made it down the rest of the
rock wall to Sam.

Sam was breathing rather heavily when Frodo reached him-his left arm,
tangled in the rope, rose and flopped toward his face. Almost
fainting with relief, Frodo quickly grabbed both packs and set them
to either side of Sam's head to prevent him from moving. He knelt at
the top of his head and held it steady until Sam's eyes focused. It
was hard to be sure, but both pupils looked equal. He could see
there were no unnatural twists to the arms and legs but he would make
certain later. Sam seemed to be breathing well, just a bit
raggedly. Probably just knocked the wind out of him, and hopefully
there were no ribs broken. Frodo had learned something about treating
injuries from Bilbo and from his readings about Elvish medicine-he
had always enjoyed those books almost as much as the poetry. Aragorn
and Elrond had taught him much more and he knew with dread that Sam
could have injured his spine. He need to make sure before he let him
move.

Sam took a deep breath as Frodo looked anxiously into his face.

"Hullo, Mr. Frodo. What are you doing? Why are you holding my
head?" With that, Sam tried to get up.

"No you don't Sam, you stay put! I need to make sure you're not
hurt."

"Nonsense, Mr. Frodo, I'm fine. Just hit me head, I'll be right as
rain in a moment." Indeed there was a knot and some blood on the
left side of Sam's head, just behind the ear, but no blood on the
ground. Frodo damned his fertile imagination but was grateful it was
wrong this time. He felt the bruised area gently and it seemed intact
if a bit swollen. Sam tried again to sit up.

"I mean it, you hold still Samwise Gamgee-if you try to move your
head again or get up before I tell you, I will pluck each and every
hair from both feet and all your toes, one by one!" Frodo growled
fiercely.

Sam's eyes opened wide and his eyebrows arched up in surprise. "Yes
sir, Mr. Frodo, no disrespect intended sir."

"Fine. Now squeeze my hand-ouch! Not so hard! Now, your other hand.
Good! Can you move your legs and feet? Wiggle your toes. Does
your neck hurt when I do this? For pity's sake don't shake your
head, just say yes or no! Does it hurt to breath? No? Good. Let me
check your back. How about when I press here? Or here? Well and good,
everything seems to be fine. You can sit up now but go slowly or I
will start plucking!"

Frodo helped Sam sit up and made him lean back against his chest,
ignoring the stiffening and protesting muscles in his left arm and
shoulder. He rummaged in the packs beside him and pulled out a scrap
of cloth. Wetting the cloth with cold, clean water, he began to wash
the clotted blood away from the knot forming at the back of Sam's
head.

"Well it's a good thing that you only hit your head, Sam, and not
injured something important," Frodo said crossly. "Still I was rather
worried that you lost consciousness for so long... How long was it?
Hmmm." Frodo looked up at the sky, thinking hours must have gone by
while he wrestled with his fears on the rock face. However, it
seemed that the moon was in the same position-how could it have been
only minutes? But it was. He drew a deep breath and relaxed for the
first time in what seemed like years, tension running out of him like
water. He felt like crying.

"To tell you the truth, my Gaffer always did say my head was the
thickest, densest part of me." Sam sounded chagrined and Frodo
laughed.

"For once, I am extremely glad to not to have to contradict your
Gaffer." Frodo held the cool cloth to Sam's head and wrapped his
right arm around Sam's chest to hold him closer. Sam sighed and
finally spoke up. "Beggin' yer pardon, but what exactly happened and
how in the world did you get down that cliff?"

Frodo laid his cheek against the top of Sam's head and felt his heart
clench with remembered terror. He fought it down and tightened his
arm around Sam's chest. "The rope slipped or broke somehow and you
fell, Sam. I had to climb down without it."

"Oh. But, I checked that knot at least twice!"

"Then it must have broken, Sam."

Sam picked up the Elven rope and took a look at it in the dimming
light. The knot tied by Sam was intact. "This part near the knot
looks strange", he said as he peered closely at it. "The threads look
like somethin' ate 'em!" Sam handed the rope to Frodo who also
examined it.

"Well, my word-the rope looks corroded! Hmmm, you know, maybe it's
where Gollum bit the rope after you tied his ankle!"

"I'll be...you're right, Mr. Frodo. Looks like the Elf rope didn't
like that sneak Gollum anymore than he liked it! Just dissolved away
from his spit! Bless me, I never heard of no such thing!"

"I guess we're learning all sorts of new things on this journey, Sam.
I know I've learned a thing or two..." As his voice trailed off,
Frodo frowned and thought deeply.

"What do you mean, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked quietly, sounding perplexed.

Frodo raised his head and gazed into the pre-dawn darkness. Gollum
would be finding a place to hole up out of the daylight soon, if he
didn't show within the next hour. Frodo took a deep breath and spoke
softly in response to Sam's question. "I've learned many lessons
over the last few months and I've been thinking long and hard about
them. I've faced horrors and dreadful things; the likes of which I
never imagined could have existed. We've both overcome terrors, pain
and hardship, incredible loss and grief. We are doing this to save
all of Middle Earth from a ghastly, dark fate, and our journey is
only just beginning. I don't know what the future holds for us, but
I suspect things will not get easier, only more difficult and awful
as we continue. I realized that I do have a choice about this-and I
have chosen to go on and learn to face my fears, real and imagined,
in order to reach my goal. I think this is a lesson everyone must
learn, regardless of their quests in life."

Frodo was silent for a time, and then smiled wryly. "Bilbo used to
tell me that you can't choose the family you're born into. I think
he was referring specifically to Loebelia and Otho, by the way." Sam
chuckled, knowing full well how Bilbo felt about the infamous
Sackville-Baggins clan. "But you can certainly choose your friends.
Choose wisely, he'd say. Tonight I had the most important lesson of
all. I just discovered in my heart what it is that has helped me face
these fears and continue on in spite of so much despair. Over the
course of this journey I have slowly learned, to my surprise, the
depths of my love for my friends, my chosen family. I have decided
that I must be sure to tell my friends how much I love and care for
them when I can and not to put it off, because life can be snatched
away in a heartbeat. I never told Gandalf how dear he was to me and
now it's too late. I didn't get the chance to tell Pippin and Merry
that I love them before I left, or the others how much they meant to
me. I may never get that chance." He sighed sadly.

"Now I've nearly lost you twice within a few days. This journey may
be the death of you-maybe the both of us. The guilt of that tears me
apart sometimes. I'm ashamed that I haven't told you before this how
very important you are to me, how much I love you. I know for a fact
that I have often taken you for granted and it shames me even more.
Your devotion, honesty, courage and determination have carried me
through so much and I suspect you will continue to care for and
protect me as long as you have breath in your body. You amaze me. I
often wonder why you look out for me, serve me, take care of me...and
what do I do for you? I can't honestly think of a thing." Frodo
sighed again, bowing his head and resting his cheek in Sam's hair,
rocking him slightly.

Sam sat quietly listening while Frodo spoke. Only the side of his
face was visible to Frodo in the dim light. Suddenly he turned in
Frodo's arms, catching him unaware, and hugged him fiercely around
the neck.

"You have always given me your respect, love and friendship, Mr.
Frodo. That's the best, truest thing any person can give another,"
Sam whispered into Frodo's ear. "You're not the only one who made
choices. I take care of things and do things for you because I choose
to. I chose to make a promise never to leave you and to come with
you. Friends-family-just do things for each other and there's no
keepin' score, if you follow me. That's what real love is. You
didn't have to tell me that you love me, I always knew. But it's
nice to hear, so I'll tell you too. I love you, Mr. Frodo.
There 'aint no place else I'd rather be than with you."

Frodo held Sam tightly, tears falling silently down his cheeks as he
pressed his face into Sam's hair and kissed his cheek. The sky was
beginning to brighten and a knot in his chest that he didn't even
know was there began to loosen. Frodo's' thoughts had a clarity and
serenity he had not known for a long time as he thought to
himself, "Still waters certainly do run deep in this one. I am glad
you are with me because you give me the strength to go on. Please
take care Sam. I hope you know I'll do my poor best to take care of
you, too."