Yay! I got computer time again AND was able to edit chapter1!! Go back and read the good version, please!! :-D Hehe. Three reviews! Thank you so much to the following peeps for all their advice:

amenity-- Thank you! I appreciate it :-D I was rushed on this chapter (really wanted to get it up) so hopefully my next ones will be much better. :-) And no, Emily is most definitely not a Mary-Sue! Not if I can help it, mwuhahahaha!

In the Depp End-- Teehee! I do plan to keep writing! Thanx for your advice about the separation of sections, I tried to and it wouldn't come out that way the first time...:-( I fixed it now! lol yay I'm learning!

frodomeg-- Thank you!!! So glad you enjoyed it!

And now, without further ado:

Chapter Two: Discovery

Emily's eyes felt as if they were being pressed into her head. She forced them open and found herself staring up at a large crack in the ceiling. How could there be a crack in the ceiling from hitting the floor? She blinked. The crack was moving back and forth. Emily blinked again, and as the world came slowly into focus, she realized she was looking, not at a crack, but a bare tree branch. She was outside?

As the pain in her head and eyes receded, she became aware that she was lying on something soft and wet, and she was freezing. She sat up slowly to agonizing pain and reflexively put her hand behind her head to keep herself from falling. She was outside, and in the snow, but where and when? It had been early May when she'd hit her head, not more than a month into spring.

Confusedly trying to gather her thoughts, she realized to her horror that her towel had fallen off and was lying in a crumpled, nearly frozen heap next to her. Momentarily mortified, she looked around, but there was no sign of life of any kind. Standing up, she wrapped herself tightly in her towel as best she could with her numb hands, and looked around. She was in a forest. Even through her leftover dizziness she noticed the sheer beauty of...wherever she was. Her ideal dream hideout had always been a wood in winter. She shook her head. There would be time for daydreams later. First, she had to find a way out of her sanctuary. She stared around, but there was no road to follow, only ice-covered trees and some drooping weeds. To make matters worse, it started snowing. Great. Frantically, she spun around and looked for shelter, finding only a hole in a hollow tree trunk. Quickly, she dodged into it, pulled her towel over herself, and hid her face in her knees.

:: :: :: :: :: ::

Frodo stumbled through the snow, still laughing about his cousins' drunken antics. He'd told himself time and again not to go drinking with them, to make up any excuse to keep himself out of trouble; yet he never actually listened to himself, which explained why he was presently walking home in the freezing cold of one of those annual Hobbiton blizzards that always came without warning and wreaked havoc everywhere. Although...one couldn't help but enjoy the view. Frodo laughed to himself again. He couldn't really be blamed--he hadn't even tasted a beer this evening.

A sudden icy wind startled him out of his reverie. It had begun snowing again, and he wasn't even halfway home. As he pulled his coat more tightly around himself, he vowed to take his revenge on Merry and Pippin with a brutal snowball fight.

Having stumbled blindly into a clearing, Frodo paused. Looking down, trying to find traces of the road leading to Bag End, he noticed something odd. There were footprints in the middle of the clearing, but they hadn't come from any direction. They were just...there. What was more, they were very small, surely not Hobbit footprints.

"Hello?" Frodo's voice echoed around the clearing, but no answer met his call. "Is there anyone there?"

He stared around, looking for the source of the footprints, but saw only trees. Bemused, he turned to go.

::Sniff::

Frodo turned back around, bewildered. Then he noticed something. Amid the trees, something bright green stood out at the bottom of a trunk. Walking up to it, he did a double take--sitting huddled on the frozen ground, wrapped in a blanket, was a girl.

He placed a hand on her head and she looked up slowly, letting out a barely audible gasp when she saw his face. Frodo could see she'd been out there a long time; her dark hair was covered with ice, her lips were blue, and there were frozen traces of tears on her bright red cheeks. When she reached out to take the hand he offered her, she could hardly stand. Frodo quickly took off his coat and wrapped it gently around her, letting her keep her arms around herself. The girl swayed, and he caught her before she could fall.

"Are you alright?"

The girl, taller than Frodo by a foot, shook her head.

"Come on; let's get you out of here." Frodo knew she needed to be brought inside; the poor girl was nearly frozen. He led her gently out of the clearing and towards Bag End, shushing her gently whenever she shivered. She followed where he led her, never pulling away from him until he guided her inside, where she stood shivering.

"Here...let's get you warm." Frodo led her to a tub in one of his guest bedrooms and sat her down while he filled it with steaming water. She watched him with still-confused brown eyes. "Will you be alright?" The girl nodded.

"Thank you."

Frodo smiled and left her to her privacy. Frodo Baggins, what has gotten into your head, taking half-frozen young girls from the woods? Trying to find an answer, he went into the kitchen to make her some tea.

A/N: Here ya go! Thank you for your patience! Please go back and read chapter 1, it's all fixed and purty now :-) See you all next week!