Frodo was running, almost blindly in the direction of the river. His vision was not only obstructed by the heavy rains, but also by the tears that began swimming in his eyes. He suddenly realized that hearing that a hobbit was stuck in the river was too hard for him to bear. His parent's death was still to real to him and it was not something that he liked to think about. He felt that maybe if he could save this hobbit's life, maybe his own heart would not hurt so much.

When Frodo finally came into view of the river, a hobbit could be seen trying to fight against the angry waters which were ever rising from the rain and rough with heavy currents from the wind.

Frodo wasted no time and made his way down the bank. Oh his way he slipped in the mud. 'No!' Frodo thought, frustrated. He began struggling madly to get back on his feet. Within a matter of seconds he was up and running again, only this time his clothes were caked in mud. Finally, he came to the river's edge and with only a moments hesitation, he jumped in.

"I'm coming!" Frodo shouted to the other hobbit as he began swimming toward the still struggling body.

The current was tougher than he imagined and it took more than a little work to get close to the hobbit. When Frodo finally did though, he could not believe his eyes! The struggling hobbit was none other than his cousin, Lotho Sacksville-Baggins!

The shock of discovering whom the other hobbit was only lasted momentarily for Frodo, when he suddenly noticed that Lotho's head was no longer above the water.

'No, no, no!' Frodo's mind protested. 'This can't be happening. Not again! I would not be able to bear it!' Even though Lotho had been nothing aside from monstrous to Frodo, he could not help but feel the dread of losing his cousin to the angry waters. It wasn't just any hobbit. Lotho was family, no matter how cruel and Frodo was even more determined to never ever lose anyone else, especially someone in his own family, to the river.

With new strength, determination, and courage, Frodo dove under the surface and began searching for the older hobbit. He couldn't seem to find him and soon he had to come up for air. He took a deep breath of air before returning to the murky depths. Finally, Frodo's hand caught hold of the back of Lotho's shirt. Frodo quickly yanked Lotho's head above the water.

Lotho began coughing and sputtering. Then, he grabbed back at Frodo severely in his fear. Both of his arms clenched around the smaller hobbit, crushing him and making it nearly impossible for him to breathe.

"Lotho…Lotho!" Frodo managed to squeak out. "You… you can't… hold on… so tight! I… need… to …breath!"

The sound of Frodo's rasping voice, brought Lotho out of his haze of fear long enough for him to loosen his grip on Frodo a little. Frodo took in a few gasps of air. He had one arm around Lotho as he used the other to swim them back to shore.

The swim back was quickly proving to be harder than the swim out. The current was not letting up and Lotho was in hysterics. Frodo's muscles began to burn in protest and Lotho's nails were digging into Frodo's pale skin. But, Frodo persisted and soon was at the riverbank. Frodo first hoisted himself on the shore and then grabbed both Lotho's hands and helped him up.

Frodo crawled a few paces before he finally collapsed in exhaustion, as the rain started to die away into measly sprinkles. Lotho sat still less than a foot away from his younger cousin. He shook his head in confusion. 'What happened to me?' He thought. The last thing he could remember was finally coming to grips with the hard fact that his life would soon be over. 'Am I dead?' He wondered. 'I guess not.' He thought as he looked around. His clothes were wet and clinging to his skin. He knew now that he definitely was still alive.

Finally, his eyes traveled to Frodo's small from. 'What's this? What is that pretty-boy Brandybuck doing here?' It took a moment, but then it came very quickly to Lotho. This young hobbit had saved his life! Lotho looked at Frodo in wonder. Then, he noticed that the hobbit seemed to be shivering and trembling, but his eyes were shut as if he was asleep.

"Frodo! Frodo!" A voice shouted, breaking Lotho out of his reverie.

Lotho looked up in time to see Bilbo running down the hill with the young Gamgee in his arms.

Now Lotho was nervous. What if the old hobbit thought that Lotho had put Frodo in this situation? He knew he would definitely get it bad if Bilbo had the mind for it.

"Frodo, Frodo! Wake up, you little imp!" Lotho said, while shaking the smaller hobbit by the shoulder. Frodo moaned as Lotho continued to shake him.

Finally, Frodo's eyes began to flutter open. Lotho was shocked at the sheer blue intensity of them. Frodo's eyes focused on Lotho's, but he look terrified. "He's so fragile…" Lotho trailed off quietly to himself in amazement as he took in the paleness of his younger cousin's skin and the elvish features of his finely sculptured face.

Bilbo was suddenly at Lotho's side. The gardener's son was not with him. "Frodo!" He yelled.

Frodo slowly turned his head towards his Uncle. A small smile came to Frodo's lips. Bilbo noted with concern that they had the slightest blue tinge to them. Without hesitation, he scooped his young cousin in to his arms. "Are you alright, my boy?"

"Yes, Uncle." Frodo said with chattering teeth.

Bilbo smiled. Then he turned towards Lotho. "Are you alright, Lotho?"

"Aye." He replied, rather nonchalantly. Then, he briskly got up and ran off towards his house.

"That ungrateful wretch!" Bilbo shouted. He was about to say more when Frodo clutched his shirt.

"I'm so cold." He whimpered.

"Oh, my poor dear. Of course you are. Your Uncle is going to take you home right now and get you some dry clothes and some nice warm soup. How does that sound?"

"It's sound lovely." Frodo said quietly.

Bilbo hugged Frodo tightly to his chest and stood up without letting go of his cousin. He was surprised. Frodo couldn't weigh much more than young Samwise! 'I must feed him more.' He thought.

Bilbo soon reached the spot where he had left Sam. As soon as Sam had seen that it was his Mr. Frodo that wasn't moving on the river bank, he had refused to come any closer. He was some 20 feet away from the water's edge. His thumb was stuck in his mouth and tears where streaming down his face. Sam looked much younger than he really was at that moment.

"Come along, Samwise." Bilbo instructed as he continued his way back to Bag End. Sam got up and began following his Master, with his thumb still planted firmly in his mouth. 'My Master can't be dead. Mr. Frodo can't be dead. Frodo can't be dead.' These thoughts kept repeating in his head.

When Bilbo was finally in view of his home, he noticed that Frodo was beginning to nod off. "No, Frodo. I know you're tired, but you cannot sleep until we warm you up."

Frodo sighed, yet opened his eyes nonetheless.

"That's a good lad, Frodo. Come open this door for us, Samwise."

"Sam?" Frodo asked.

"Yes, your Sam is here, Frodo." Bilbo answered for the still mute hobbit who now had the door opened. Frodo smiled tiredly, knowing that his friend was there.

Bilbo hurriedly made his way through the door and down the hall towards Frodo's room. Sam remained close to the door, motionless.

Bilbo quickly began changing Frodo's wet clothes. Frodo was too tired and cold to protest. When Frodo was changed, Bilbo set his nephew on his bed and drew the covers up to his chin. Then, he lit the fire. Frodo slowly, but surely began to warm up.

"How are you feeling, Frodo-lad?"

"Fine, Uncle. I'm beginning to warm up." He smiled widely at his cousin in gratefulness. His eyes just seemed to sparkle and Bilbo couldn't help but smile also.

"I'm going to get you some warm soup, Frodo."

"Thank you, Uncle." Frodo said, as the older hobbit left the room.

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A/N: ???? and Katani Petitedra both guessed correctly about Lotho being the hobbit in the river. Good job guys!

Next Chapter: Why won't Sam talk? How does Frodo feel about what happened? These questions should be answered. Now onto my reviewers!

Obelia medusa: Yay! Another long review from you. You are so right about the retched/wretched thing. I didn't even realize that I had done that! Thanks for pointing out what sections you really liked. I'm trying to improve my writing skills and you have helped me immensely with it so far! Thanks! And also thanks for emphasizing those lovely British, Canadian, Australian spellings of words for me!

????: Thanks for you comments on the way I portray Frodo and Sam's friendship. When I started this story I didn't want it to be the same as everyone else and I'm glad that it seems to be working well. I'm sure someone as pretty as Frodo would probably not always think so highly of his appearance, especially when he seems to look so much different from other hobbits. Of course you should give The Beatles more of a try! They're lovely, especially Paul McCartney! And thanks to you for reviewing!

Bookworm2000: Was this soon enough for you? It would have been earlier, but you know how people can get busy. You like the way I portray Frodo and Sam? Thanks! A lot of people seem to feel that way. I'm very happy about that!

Katani Petitedra: I'm sure socks are a good source of fiber! I just couldn't kill Lotho, sorry. He's just a pretty major part of my whole story line!

Melilot Sandybanks: Thanks for your comments on description! I worked really hard on that and I continue to do so. It's not my strongest writing point. I'm much better with dialogue. And of course those are the exact reasons why we all love Frodo!

Hmsgirl: I'm sorry to hear about all the bad storms in your area. No tornadoes in mine, see? Hope the weather gets better for you soon.

Please review!