A/N - Shirebound and Ailsa Joy - you are so fantastic!! Thank you for constantly reviewing my work and brightening up my days! I am honoured to have such talented people enjoying my writing!
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I often wondered what it would be like to get home - you know, whether things would be normal like again. I always thought that we'd get to the Shire, an' we'd enter, an' we'd get to Hobbiton an' Bag End, an' we'd go to Bagshot Row, an' my old Gaffer would be there greetin' us. An' 'e'd come up to me an' Mr Frodo an' say "Master Samwise, you've been a long time away now - you nearly missed second breakfast!"
But things weren't like that at all.
To tell the truth, we'd never really expected to wake up after the day on the mountain. Don't get me wrong, I never lost hope that we would succeed, but after seein' Mr Frodo lookin' so weak an' the world crumblin' around us, I thought that it was the end. Us both, lyin' there, lookin' like scrawny vagabonds in our rags - we were finished.
An' then we woke up an' everythin' was right. We were heroes, an' our rags, instead of bein' burnt, were treasured an' celebrated. It was a wonderful feelin', bein' alive an' knowin' that no one could hurt us now. There were feasts and great parties an' ceremonies - an' many stories were told, but part of me jus' wanted to get home. To live as things were before.
We hadn't even reached the Shire when we learned things were amiss. Everything in Bree was unfriendly like - more so than before, an' they all said we were troublemakers.
But it was when we reached Buckland that we knew somethin' was wrong. Gatehouses an' big folk guards, spittin' at us an' telling us where to go. Well, when they told Mr Frodo he was nothin' more than a piece of dirt I could have taken them all an' shown 'em what dirt looks like. I never got the chance to though - we had more important things to do. Shame really, but I've been through too much to just up and start on a coulple of worthless louts.
Everywhere there were signs of change. No inns, no laughter, a sudden load of wood buildings. Houses of men. What had 'appened to everything we tried to save? We were supposed to come home and see everything fine - not like this. Not with talk of chiefs and rules.
They destroyed Hobbiton. Bagshot Row - my HOME - just dug up and ruined. My old Gaffer - gone. An' they wrecked Bag End too.
That was when I couldn't take anymore.
I sat down an' wept, an' I don't care who made fun of me for it. The party tree where Mr Bilbo celebrated all that time ago had been hacked down. It was jus' lyin' there on the ground, chopped down for the sake of bein' chopped down.
This was what we had all fought to save. When I left Mr Frodo for dead, somethin' I will never forgive myself for, it was so people could live like normal. It was for all the hobbits back home who'd never done anything to anybody. But it all meant nothin'.
We should've known who was behind it straight away. But we didn't, an' so when we went inside what was Bag End we got a big surprise. Saruman. He couldn't become a great evil power, so he contented himself with hurtin' those who wouldn't hurt him back.
Well he was wrong.
Everything's back to how it was now. Back to how it should be. Not the same, but nothin' could ever be the same after what we've been through. An' I think I'm glad that things aren't the same. That way, we're not disappointed with what we have now. In fact, everything's worked itself out for the best. I got married, see, to little Rosie Cotton, and we've got a little one. We called her Elanor after those beautiful flowers in Lothlorien - the Golden Wood. We live in Bag End with Mr Frodo, an' I don't think we could hope for a better life.
See. I wasn't wrong in hopin'. Mr Frodo's light didn't go out.
Good always wins in the end - even if we have to fight for it.
A/N - The end! Yep - I think that Sam's story is now finished........ for now. It's open to suggestion or sudden inspiration.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story - I hope you will continue to read, review and - hopefully - enjoy my writing! :)