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Frodo dropped his hand, alarmed. Sam had never been hit before, or at least not that hard, and he certainly did not expect Frodo, out of anyone, to do it. Now, Sam truly felt like a servant to a master. He'd seen it before, when they'd been at Bree. A Man with a whip beating a Hobbit, while the Hobbit cried, 'Yes, master, I am sorry, master." Sam didn't want to think about it anymore. His face stung, and Frodo, perhaps, didn't care about him anymore. Perhaps he never had cared.

"Sam, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, honestly. You're alright, aren't you?" Frodo looked at Sam's face. Where his hand had struck, a red mark was fading. Frodo reached his hand out, but Sam shrunk back.

"Don't touch me!" Sam cried, panicky. "It stings, and you'll make it worse!"

"Sam, I think...I think you should give me the Ring. Give it to me."

"NO!"

"What?"

"That's what's the matter with you! I can't let you have it back right now. It's gone and taken you over, and you're acting upset."

"I'm going to be VERY upset, Sam, if you don't give me the Ring. If you put it on, you'll be found. And besides, Gandalf entrusted it to ME. It's MY task. I am the one who must cast it into Mt. Doom. I don't know why you or the others bothered coming. Doesn't do much to help, does it?"

"Please, Mr. Frodo. I'm going with you. If you kill me, my ghost'll follow you and haunt you for ages, and when you get back home, the Gaffer'll have your head for killing me, because I'd get back to the Shire and go and tell him what you done. And I'd--"

"Sam!" Frodo shouted. His voice echoed off the rocks and through the canyon. They both paused for a moment, but then Frodo turned back to Sam.

"I'll tie you up with your rope, Sam. The one that the elves gave you. I'll leave you here. If the Orcs find you, they'll kill you. Or Strider or someone else finds you, that's all well and good. I just don't need your help anymore."

"I think you do, Mr. Frodo. I think you need my help. You'll never make it alone. I care about your safety, Mr. Frodo, and you know it. You--" Sam stopped. He opened his fist and looked at the Ring, shimmering in his hand. It seemed to be calling to him. Frodo was watching Sam, too. He was turning slowly, preparing to jump on Sam, but Sam tipped his hand and dropped the Ring into the sand.

"Keep it. But I'm still going to follow you." Sam said. He began to put the things back into his pack. Frodo got up and took the Ring, looking it over, making sure it was alright. It was fine. Frodo pocketed it.

What does Sam know? He acts like he's some sort of hero, or something. Or else he thinks he's my bodyguard. Frodo thought. He looked up at Sam, who was standing still with his pack around his shoulders, watching Frodo.

"Sam, you're not going to Mordor with me." Frodo said.

"Who said I was? I'm going to Mordor by myself, and I just happen to be following you because you know how to get there and I don't."

"I don't know either, I'm just following the signs. You ought to stay with Merry and Pippin. Go back. You've got no reason to stay with me. Aragorn wanted me to go alone, and so I must. Stay here."

"No, just because you don't want me going with you, doesn't mean I can't follow you. You're going on your own quest, to destroy that Ring. I'm going on my own quest to protect you. It's simple. I'm not interfering with your quest, and you aren't interfering with mine." Sam said. Frodo had to admit, (although he never did say it out loud to anyone, especially not to Sam), that the younger Hobbit made sense. Sam WAS there to protect him, and to help him. Gandalf had appointed that task to Sam, just as the task of destroying the Ring had been appointed to him, Frodo Baggins.

"Fine, Sam. If you want to be thickheaded and stubborn about it, you go ahead and follow me. But I'm not leaving yet. I still have to think about things." Frodo went back to his rock and sat down. Sam came over to sit by him, although cautiously, and always on guard. Sam removed his bag from his shoulders, and watched Frodo intently.

"It's a burden, carrying this Ring. I hate it sometimes, but then I think about the Mirror and--"

"Mirror, Mr. Frodo? What mirror?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you about that. Remember when we were in Lothlorien? The first night we were there, Lady Galadriel showed me her Mirror. I asked what I would see if I looked it in, and she told me that there are many things that can be seen. 'Things are are, things that were, and some thing that have not yet come to pass.' That's how she put it. So I looked, and...."

"What did you see?" Sam asked.

"I saw...I saw things. At first, I saw nothing, but then I leaned in. I saw your faces. Yours and Merry and Pippin's. I saw Legolas and Gimli. Aragorn and Boromir, too. All of you, just looking at me sadly. It showed each of you alone, except it showed Merry and Pippin together. But you just kept looking at me when your faces flashed. Then...then I saw....I saw the Shire. I saw it in the snow, with the children running about playing, and then the snow was gone, and the Shire was burning."

"Burning? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Burning. And all the Hobbits were enslaved. You, I saw. You, and Merry and Pippin. And all the others. Everyone. They Ocrs had done it, and then....then, the fire grew around the scene, and it turned into a giant eye. I'd seen it before at Bree, and again when Gilmi tried to destroy the Ring at Rivendell. The Eye of Sauron, Gandalf told me." Frodo stopped. Sam was clearly shaking.

"What did she say?"

"Who?"

"Lady Galadriel."

"Oh. She said that if our quest did not succeed, that would be the fate of the Shire. She showed me HER Ring. Nenya, I think it was. She said that to be a Ringbearer was I was prepared to offer her the Ring, but then she went into a sort of trance. When she broke free, I told her that I could not do it alone. I wanted to give her the Ring, but she would not take it. She told me to bear a Ring of Power is to be alone. I still feel alone, Sam. Even when the others were with us. They don't understand what my burden means. Strider and Boromir, they'll be alright, and Legolas and Gimli, they're fine too, but what of us? Merry and Pippin and you and I. We're just little Hobbits. What can we do?"

"We can go on. Together. If you still wish, Mr. Frodo, for me to go with you."

There was no answer from Frodo. Sam look to the ground.

"I didn't steal the Ring, Mr. Frodo. If you don't believe me, it's alright. But I didn't. I wouldn't ever."

"Oh, Sam. I am sorry. You've been a great friend to me. I should have never accused you. Gandalf said the Ring has a mind of it's own. It left Gollum's cave on its own. So I think it may have put itself in your pocket. The Ring doesn't know the bonds of friendship. Ours are eternal, Sam. Don't forget it."

"I won't, Mr. Frodo! Not at all!"

"Then come on. We had better head off. We've wasted too much time."

For the next ten minutes, Frodo and Sam worked together to clear the area they had slept in. Sam swept their footprints away, and Frodo buried the ashes and sticks from their fire the previous night. Finally, they were ready. Sam put his pack around his shoulders. Frodo smiled, and they headed off.

The two young Hobbits traveled in silence for an hour or so, before Frodo spoke:

"Sam, I'm sorry about hitting you. I supposed I just got--"

"Carried away?" Sam finished. Frodo smiled weakly.

"Yes, I did. And you're right. The Ring is trying to seperate us, I think. Trying to turn us on each other. If I ever see to be acting strange, I want you to hit me. Can you promise me that? I know you'll keep it. You've kept yours to Gandalf this far."

"H-hit you? Oh, no, Mr. Frodo, I wouldn't do that!"

"You'd tell me politely that I was acting funny, then? I'm afraid it wouldn't work. Just club me over the head or something. Not too hard, but so I know that I'm being stupid. Can you?"

"I couldn't, really, Mr. Frodo. I'd feel awfully bad about doing it."

"Sam, I'm giving you permission. You're not my servant anymore. In fact, you really never were."

"Just your gardener, right Mr. Frodo?"

"No, Sam. You're not either. You're a true friend. Can you promsie me something? If I die on this quest, will you take up the Ring and go on?"

"I will, Mr. Frodo. I will go on and take the Ring, and I won't let anything stop me. I promise. But you're not going to die."

"Oh? How can you be sure?" Frodo asked, smiling.

"You're not going to die on this quest as long as Samwise Gamgee has anything to do with it! You're going to get back to the Shire, and you'll go back and live in Bag End and die an old, old, Hobbit."

"An old, old Hobbit, just like you'll be. And you'll have a nice marriage and have lovely children."

"Well, won't you, too, Mr. Frodo?"

"Sam, I think I'd rather not."

"You know, Frodo, I think you're afraid of hobbit lasses! You make me embarrased by having to dance with Rosie all the time. I DO like Rosie, but how is it that you never dance?"

"THAT is a different story, Sam. One that I'll tell you about some other day."

And the two friends walked off in the direction of Mt. Doom, laughing together, joking. Frodo was glad Sam had come with him, and Sam was happy he'd come. As they walked, neither heard the sound of a stalker. "Where's the precious? Taken the precious! We finds them and takes the Precious, we will."

END