A/N: Sorry about the long wait a lot of things happened after easter so I
kinda didn't have any me time which is bad for the people that have to see
me every day cuz I can get very very terrible to live with heh. But I'm
back and I gotta say WOW for all those reviews! So many you guys are soo
great! I can really count on you ::tear:: thank you this would be a
terrible story without you.
2nd A/N: The date mentioned in here is very significant. ::cough:: ::cough:: might wanna look it up ::cough:: ::cough::
~~~
"Envin son of Erian I beg you leave and take rest among your kin. Even your brother Emáten took rest when his part in the battle was over," said Arwn still chafing Frodo's cheeks with a feather light touch.
"It is over, isn't it?" Envin's voice shook with despair. "I have failed him."
"No, sir Envin, I do not see it that way. When your brother was struck in battle, and fell, his strength was gone and he fought to the last. If he went on any longer he would have died, so the battle was indeed over for him, but it was not lost. He did his part as you have done yours and none was in vain. The battle is not over yet, and hope may come unlooked for."
Aragorn looked down lovingly at his wife, "It seems to be so, that hope is found in the darkest places, but I should have known that well. It was Bilbo, himself who said it in verse so many years ago and the wise hobbit's words prove true today!
From the ashes a fire shall be woken
From darkness a light shall spring
"Still if there is hope for Frodo," he looked down at the sleeping hobbit and his eyes saddened, "I do not see it."
Envin sighed, "You are kind to me fair lady, and in you heart there is great mercy and forgiveness."
"There is nothing to forgive," she answered softly. "You have done no wrong. In my eyes your work has indeed saved Frodo."
"How, my lady! I see no result!" cried Envin despairingly.
"You do not have my foresight."
"What do you see, love!" cried Aragorn just learning this for himself.
"Little. I see very little in Frodo's future, neither long nor healthy life."
Envin wept.
"But..." said the lady holding up a slender hand that seemed to glimmer with starlight. Envin felt his heart lighten as if the grief had lessened and his eyes saw before them a vision of the hobbits he had been caring for standing in a dim room, small with a low roof and a round door. Frodo and Sam seemed to be standing there in the midst of such a great crowd of hobbits Envin could never have guessed existed. There was a heavy tention, some grave standstill as if a moment in time had been preserved, frozen. The vision seemed fleeting and clouded with a heavy mist but Envin still saw it. A great white man standing before Sam and Frodo, terrible and filled with malice. His hands lost in a great array of dirtied white robes. Sam was stone still, glaring at the horrible man with a stout hearted fierceness as if he were thrice the size of the man. There was poison and mock laughter in the evil man's eyes and Envin feared for Sam. Envin then saw Frodo, standing by Sam's side but not looking at Sam, nor into the burning eyes of that man but all of his attention seemed to focussed on something else... The mist gathered and there was a flash of light as many shrill cries of high hobbit voices and Envin found himself lost in darkness. When he opened his eyes he was back in the tent blinking wearily.
"What was that?" he looked at the lady Arwen, confused.
"It is what I have seen."
"Who was that man! What has he done to Frodo and Sam!"
"He hasn't done it yet."
"Is this what will happen if Frodo stays like this? Is this both of their doom? Will Sam fall as well!"
Sam's eyes grew wide as hearing this exchange. Aragorn put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Envin's eyes fell on Sam and they seemed full of fear and uncertainty. "Don't go, Samwise. You have to stay here, you're safe here. If you go back... I'm afraid that... something...."
Sam slowly slipped off the bed and steaded himself on his feet. "Envin, whatever you saw was meant for you to see, not me. I seen things afore too, once, very long ago. I was in Lorien and the Lady asked if I wished to look into her mirror. In it I saw terrible things, my home burned, my Gaffer homeless... and I was a frightened for them. I wanted to go back to stop any of that from happening.... but..."
~~~
Then suddently Sam gave a cry and sprang away. 'I can't stay here,' he said wildly. 'I must go home. They've dug up Bagshot Row, and there's the poor old gaffer going down the Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home!'
'You cannot go home alone,' said the Lady. 'You did not wish to go home without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and yet you knew that evil things might well be happening in the Shire. Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.'
Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. 'I wish I had never come here, and I don't want to see no more magic,' he said and fell silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. 'No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said. 'But I hope I do get back some day. If what I've seen turns out true, somebody's going to catch it hot!'
~~~
"You wanted me to go back to the Shire before Lady Arwen showed you what she saw. You knew it was what was right for me and in my heart I know it is too. Never listen to your head, Sam Gamgee, it ain't the best part a you. Maybe, like the images in Galadriel's Mirror, they are not what will be but what may be, if you catch my meanin'.
"I didn't turn away from my master, I don't regret it. I can't turn away from my decision this time either. We will both return home, Frodo and me, and whatever happens happens." Sam sighed heavily.
"Come Envin we will seek your family and find you rest then you may return to say farewell to Samwise and Frodo tomorrow," Aragorn helped Envin out of the tent. When they were gone Sam let himself stumble backward and lean against the bed running a hand over his eyes. "I don't think I can take another moment a this Mr. Frodo. Please..." he murmured, "where are you?"
Sam felt cool hands on his shoulders, straighten him out and sit him back on the bed. "Lady Arwen. I'm sorry, I forgot-"
"Shh, Samwise there is something I wish to speak to you about." Her eyes fell on the white stone hanging around Sam's neck. He grasped it gently and nodded.
"I been meanin' to mention something about this too. I reckon it's really meant for Mr. Frodo and it should help him now. He's not in that dark place any more. Lord Elrond went in and found him, don't think I've forgotten or none. He was a deal worse off. I reckon I can cope now, if you follow."
"Samwise this has guided you through the darkness of these past weeks and now you must leave all of this protection. You will be off home soon and you must find your own strength, you will need it for there are still trials before you." Arwen's fair hands traveled into a silken pouch about her robes and she presented Sam with a beautifully carved wooden box with delicate vines etched in its sides. She opened it to reveal a silk embroidered pillow for the stone to rest upon. Sam saw that the top of the box was painted with tiny stars and flowers and silver elven script. Frodo had taught Sam to read Westron but not Quenya and he could not decipher the gentle flowing script.
"You may keep the stone in here and when the master you once knew returns give it to him," instructed the Lady. Sam slipped off the stone and placed it upon the pillow. She closed the box delicately.
"B-but what if-"
"If, Samwise, that you believe he will never return to you then it is yours on the date of September the twenty first in 1421 of the Shire Reckoning."
"Why then?"
"I cannot say. Trust me, Sam."
"I trust you, Lady Arwen."
She smiled and her countenance became so very fair and alight with beauty that Sam gasped again and she laughed like that of the shiverring of stars on a warm Spring evening. She set aside the wooden box and held out her arms gathering the hobbit and pressing him close. She lay a gentle kiss upon his crown and took a deep breath. "You'll be alright, Sam. You'll be alright."
The little gardener blushed as he submitted to the warm embrace of the graceful queen. He felt the kiss upon his head and warmth filled him as his heart grew light. He laughed lightly and smiled up at the Lady eyes sparkling.
There came a little sigh as Frodo stired to waking. Sam and Arwen looked down as they saw his eyes fluttered open in a bright flash of blue. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to the two figures sitting on the edge of the bed. His face brightened with recognition as he looked at Sam but then turned with confusion to Arwen.
"It's alright, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, reaching out a hand.
"He knows it is, Sam," Arwen held out one as well. Frodo looked at it and smiled, his eyes shimerring with wonder as he gently laid his small, fragile hand into the Lady's. Her slender fingers enclosed around his tiny hand covering the small gap that his finger left. She pulled him toward her and held him close like Sam. She looked at both hobbits and smiled. "You'll be alright."
Frodo sighed contentedly and snuggled close as a child to his mother. Sam resisted a similar urge to cuddle into the protection of a mother's embrace, after all he was a grown hobbit. He shook his head fiercely. So! Frodo was too! Sam tried to remind himself of that as he put a hand on his master and gently pulled him away. Frodo groaned, displeased with the change of his position, curled safely in the arms of another protector. Sam smiled weakly at him.
"No, Sam," said Arwen, pulling them both tight. "There is no shame in taking comfort in the safety of a friend's arms. You are strong but you will need to draw strength from others as well. Frodo is right."
Sam blushed but complied settling against the crook in the Lady's arm. He pictured his mother cradling him after he was sick for a long spell, feverish with an aching tummy. After a moment Frodo pulled away as if he had drawn a good deal of strength and healing from the Lady. His bright eyes fell on Sam and he leaned over watching him closely. Sam peeked one eye open, then another and gave Frodo a watery smile.
"Come, let us go for a walk on our last day for comfort. Tomorrow we begin a long journey to Rohan and there will be little rest for you long after."
"How long will it be before we reach Rohan?" asked Sam as he climbed down and helped his master to his feet.
"It is a fifteen day journey but then we will depart and I will return here with my husband and you will begin a long journey home."
"I reckon it will be a deal more pleasant than the journey gettin' here," said Sam as he took the Lady's right hand and Frodo took the left.
When they stepped out of the tent the sun was high and the morning was warm as it came nigh noon. The birds sang in a high tone that made the air feel light with music. Sam breathed in the fresh sent of blossoming flowers and growing grass. He could not say that the Lady gave him hope, he found little within himself as he watched Frodo stare, mouth agape with wonder at the birds, the trees, the flowers. Frodo squinted his eyes and stared up at the sky, he blinked several times and rubbed his eyes at the assualt by the bright sun. Sam sighed, no he could find no more strength in him to hope but the Lady Arwen seemed so sure of it. He sighed and looked down at his feet. "No, I reckon nothin' will ever be the same again," he thought quietly.
Arwen laughed and shook her head as if she read Sam's thoughts and he blushed.
2nd A/N: The date mentioned in here is very significant. ::cough:: ::cough:: might wanna look it up ::cough:: ::cough::
~~~
"Envin son of Erian I beg you leave and take rest among your kin. Even your brother Emáten took rest when his part in the battle was over," said Arwn still chafing Frodo's cheeks with a feather light touch.
"It is over, isn't it?" Envin's voice shook with despair. "I have failed him."
"No, sir Envin, I do not see it that way. When your brother was struck in battle, and fell, his strength was gone and he fought to the last. If he went on any longer he would have died, so the battle was indeed over for him, but it was not lost. He did his part as you have done yours and none was in vain. The battle is not over yet, and hope may come unlooked for."
Aragorn looked down lovingly at his wife, "It seems to be so, that hope is found in the darkest places, but I should have known that well. It was Bilbo, himself who said it in verse so many years ago and the wise hobbit's words prove true today!
From the ashes a fire shall be woken
From darkness a light shall spring
"Still if there is hope for Frodo," he looked down at the sleeping hobbit and his eyes saddened, "I do not see it."
Envin sighed, "You are kind to me fair lady, and in you heart there is great mercy and forgiveness."
"There is nothing to forgive," she answered softly. "You have done no wrong. In my eyes your work has indeed saved Frodo."
"How, my lady! I see no result!" cried Envin despairingly.
"You do not have my foresight."
"What do you see, love!" cried Aragorn just learning this for himself.
"Little. I see very little in Frodo's future, neither long nor healthy life."
Envin wept.
"But..." said the lady holding up a slender hand that seemed to glimmer with starlight. Envin felt his heart lighten as if the grief had lessened and his eyes saw before them a vision of the hobbits he had been caring for standing in a dim room, small with a low roof and a round door. Frodo and Sam seemed to be standing there in the midst of such a great crowd of hobbits Envin could never have guessed existed. There was a heavy tention, some grave standstill as if a moment in time had been preserved, frozen. The vision seemed fleeting and clouded with a heavy mist but Envin still saw it. A great white man standing before Sam and Frodo, terrible and filled with malice. His hands lost in a great array of dirtied white robes. Sam was stone still, glaring at the horrible man with a stout hearted fierceness as if he were thrice the size of the man. There was poison and mock laughter in the evil man's eyes and Envin feared for Sam. Envin then saw Frodo, standing by Sam's side but not looking at Sam, nor into the burning eyes of that man but all of his attention seemed to focussed on something else... The mist gathered and there was a flash of light as many shrill cries of high hobbit voices and Envin found himself lost in darkness. When he opened his eyes he was back in the tent blinking wearily.
"What was that?" he looked at the lady Arwen, confused.
"It is what I have seen."
"Who was that man! What has he done to Frodo and Sam!"
"He hasn't done it yet."
"Is this what will happen if Frodo stays like this? Is this both of their doom? Will Sam fall as well!"
Sam's eyes grew wide as hearing this exchange. Aragorn put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Envin's eyes fell on Sam and they seemed full of fear and uncertainty. "Don't go, Samwise. You have to stay here, you're safe here. If you go back... I'm afraid that... something...."
Sam slowly slipped off the bed and steaded himself on his feet. "Envin, whatever you saw was meant for you to see, not me. I seen things afore too, once, very long ago. I was in Lorien and the Lady asked if I wished to look into her mirror. In it I saw terrible things, my home burned, my Gaffer homeless... and I was a frightened for them. I wanted to go back to stop any of that from happening.... but..."
~~~
Then suddently Sam gave a cry and sprang away. 'I can't stay here,' he said wildly. 'I must go home. They've dug up Bagshot Row, and there's the poor old gaffer going down the Hill with his bits of things on a barrow. I must go home!'
'You cannot go home alone,' said the Lady. 'You did not wish to go home without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and yet you knew that evil things might well be happening in the Shire. Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds.'
Sam sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. 'I wish I had never come here, and I don't want to see no more magic,' he said and fell silent. After a moment he spoke again thickly, as if struggling with tears. 'No, I'll go home by the long road with Mr. Frodo, or not at all,' he said. 'But I hope I do get back some day. If what I've seen turns out true, somebody's going to catch it hot!'
~~~
"You wanted me to go back to the Shire before Lady Arwen showed you what she saw. You knew it was what was right for me and in my heart I know it is too. Never listen to your head, Sam Gamgee, it ain't the best part a you. Maybe, like the images in Galadriel's Mirror, they are not what will be but what may be, if you catch my meanin'.
"I didn't turn away from my master, I don't regret it. I can't turn away from my decision this time either. We will both return home, Frodo and me, and whatever happens happens." Sam sighed heavily.
"Come Envin we will seek your family and find you rest then you may return to say farewell to Samwise and Frodo tomorrow," Aragorn helped Envin out of the tent. When they were gone Sam let himself stumble backward and lean against the bed running a hand over his eyes. "I don't think I can take another moment a this Mr. Frodo. Please..." he murmured, "where are you?"
Sam felt cool hands on his shoulders, straighten him out and sit him back on the bed. "Lady Arwen. I'm sorry, I forgot-"
"Shh, Samwise there is something I wish to speak to you about." Her eyes fell on the white stone hanging around Sam's neck. He grasped it gently and nodded.
"I been meanin' to mention something about this too. I reckon it's really meant for Mr. Frodo and it should help him now. He's not in that dark place any more. Lord Elrond went in and found him, don't think I've forgotten or none. He was a deal worse off. I reckon I can cope now, if you follow."
"Samwise this has guided you through the darkness of these past weeks and now you must leave all of this protection. You will be off home soon and you must find your own strength, you will need it for there are still trials before you." Arwen's fair hands traveled into a silken pouch about her robes and she presented Sam with a beautifully carved wooden box with delicate vines etched in its sides. She opened it to reveal a silk embroidered pillow for the stone to rest upon. Sam saw that the top of the box was painted with tiny stars and flowers and silver elven script. Frodo had taught Sam to read Westron but not Quenya and he could not decipher the gentle flowing script.
"You may keep the stone in here and when the master you once knew returns give it to him," instructed the Lady. Sam slipped off the stone and placed it upon the pillow. She closed the box delicately.
"B-but what if-"
"If, Samwise, that you believe he will never return to you then it is yours on the date of September the twenty first in 1421 of the Shire Reckoning."
"Why then?"
"I cannot say. Trust me, Sam."
"I trust you, Lady Arwen."
She smiled and her countenance became so very fair and alight with beauty that Sam gasped again and she laughed like that of the shiverring of stars on a warm Spring evening. She set aside the wooden box and held out her arms gathering the hobbit and pressing him close. She lay a gentle kiss upon his crown and took a deep breath. "You'll be alright, Sam. You'll be alright."
The little gardener blushed as he submitted to the warm embrace of the graceful queen. He felt the kiss upon his head and warmth filled him as his heart grew light. He laughed lightly and smiled up at the Lady eyes sparkling.
There came a little sigh as Frodo stired to waking. Sam and Arwen looked down as they saw his eyes fluttered open in a bright flash of blue. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to the two figures sitting on the edge of the bed. His face brightened with recognition as he looked at Sam but then turned with confusion to Arwen.
"It's alright, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, reaching out a hand.
"He knows it is, Sam," Arwen held out one as well. Frodo looked at it and smiled, his eyes shimerring with wonder as he gently laid his small, fragile hand into the Lady's. Her slender fingers enclosed around his tiny hand covering the small gap that his finger left. She pulled him toward her and held him close like Sam. She looked at both hobbits and smiled. "You'll be alright."
Frodo sighed contentedly and snuggled close as a child to his mother. Sam resisted a similar urge to cuddle into the protection of a mother's embrace, after all he was a grown hobbit. He shook his head fiercely. So! Frodo was too! Sam tried to remind himself of that as he put a hand on his master and gently pulled him away. Frodo groaned, displeased with the change of his position, curled safely in the arms of another protector. Sam smiled weakly at him.
"No, Sam," said Arwen, pulling them both tight. "There is no shame in taking comfort in the safety of a friend's arms. You are strong but you will need to draw strength from others as well. Frodo is right."
Sam blushed but complied settling against the crook in the Lady's arm. He pictured his mother cradling him after he was sick for a long spell, feverish with an aching tummy. After a moment Frodo pulled away as if he had drawn a good deal of strength and healing from the Lady. His bright eyes fell on Sam and he leaned over watching him closely. Sam peeked one eye open, then another and gave Frodo a watery smile.
"Come, let us go for a walk on our last day for comfort. Tomorrow we begin a long journey to Rohan and there will be little rest for you long after."
"How long will it be before we reach Rohan?" asked Sam as he climbed down and helped his master to his feet.
"It is a fifteen day journey but then we will depart and I will return here with my husband and you will begin a long journey home."
"I reckon it will be a deal more pleasant than the journey gettin' here," said Sam as he took the Lady's right hand and Frodo took the left.
When they stepped out of the tent the sun was high and the morning was warm as it came nigh noon. The birds sang in a high tone that made the air feel light with music. Sam breathed in the fresh sent of blossoming flowers and growing grass. He could not say that the Lady gave him hope, he found little within himself as he watched Frodo stare, mouth agape with wonder at the birds, the trees, the flowers. Frodo squinted his eyes and stared up at the sky, he blinked several times and rubbed his eyes at the assualt by the bright sun. Sam sighed, no he could find no more strength in him to hope but the Lady Arwen seemed so sure of it. He sighed and looked down at his feet. "No, I reckon nothin' will ever be the same again," he thought quietly.
Arwen laughed and shook her head as if she read Sam's thoughts and he blushed.