Recovery

Amelia studied Frodo's face, wondering what secrets he hid behind his mask. It was those secrets that interested her. Wait. Was it really Frodo Baggins? How could this be?

"Who are you?" she asked, feeling her mind being pulled out of the trance. No! No, this wasn't right! "Frodo's dead. He's dead! I'LL KILL YOU!" Her hands stretched towards his throat, attempting to kill him. "No. Why won't you die?"

It wasn't obvious to her, but Frodo knew he didn't need air. He was a vampire and already dead, which made no sense to Amelia. How could Frodo be alive? Surely, there something had to be done about this! Maybe she wasn't trying hard enough.

"Why – won't – you – DIE?!" Amelia screamed, doing her best to throttle him.

Frodo struggled to hold her. At last, he couldn't take it anymore. He threw her hands off his throat, pinning her to the green, grassy ground. "Calm down. I am dead. I'm a vampire. It's me. It's Frodo. It's your everything. You're my everything. Don't you remember?"

"No!" Amelia reached for her ears, but she couldn't. Frodo had caught her. How could he do this? No! She mustn't let him in! "No! This is reality and reality means nothing to me!"

"You're right. This is reality." Frodo tried to reason with her. "This is your reality! You're in control. No one else controls your destiny."

"No! No, no, no!" Amelia cried, hotly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This can't be! Reality is fantasy. Fantasy is reality. Nooo!" She cried again, squeezing her ears in the process.

"Amelia," Frodo said, hoping to get her attention. He had to try something, something to calm her down, "you're in control. Shirina doesn't control your thoughts. You make your own decisions. You do what you want. If you want a divorce, we'll sign the papers." Oh Yavanna, I hope not, he thought. He released her, seeing her calm down. "You're in control. It's up to you what you do with your life."

Divorce? No! That's not what she wanted! She calmed down, sensing the world around her. She uncovered her eyes, wincing in pain afterwards. She felt like she'd been through a windstorm. What happened? Nothing made sense. She couldn't tell what was real and what was not.

"Divorce? I would never want that!" Amelia said, timidly. She sagged, groaning in disappointment. "Where's my Frodo?"

"Amelia, my love. My everything!" Frodo said, embracing her an instant later. He smiled, admitting fondly, "I will help you out. Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

Amelia rubbed Frodo's arm, feeling him again. "Are you alive or dead? Your skin is so cold." She felt her hands. "Mine is, too." She closed her mouth, feeling the pain again. Her tongue! It was gone, just a stump now.

Frodo felt her forehead. He remembered the pack filled with fresh food and fresh water. He passed some water to his wife, helping her drink the crystal, clear liquid. He jumped when the water splashed from his wife's mouth. In haste, he helped brush the water off her, trying to get her cleaned up again.

"You're all right. You'll be all right," Frodo said, caressing his wife's shoulders.

"Frodo, what do you know about me?" Amelia asked, curious.

"Well, you're a writer about to publish your book," Frodo said with a smile. "You're smart. You helped me out of the Spirit Realm, brought me back when I needed a guide. You're my wife, who has helped me during my time as a vampire. You love adventures, even the more challenging ones. We've been on two adventures as we speak: this adventure and our first adventure, where we explored a mansion, in the time before I was a vampire." He added, "You're my wife, my love, my everything. I don't know where I'd be without you, helping me along. We also don't want children, not right away, and would rather focus on the adventures, until it's time to settle down."

Amelia nodded. The memories flooded back now. She could see what was real and what parts were made up by Shirina. Amelia loved Frodo. Her heart knew that much, even with her muddled mind starting to remember again.

Now, she didn't need to be confused. She was starting to get the hint.

"Frodo, what was your race before you were a vampire?" Amelia asked the most important question, one she felt might jog her memories fully.

"I'm a hobbit. A gentle-hobbit. It is our customs to be of marrying age when we are thirty-three. I sought to destroy the One Ring and it cost me. It's how I'm able to see the Spirit Realm and foretell the future," Frodo said with a warm smile.

Amelia smiled back, grateful to have her memories restored. She looked at Frodo, telling him something else, something that troubled her, "Frodo, Shirina cut out my tongue. Look!" She opened her mouth, revealing the stump where her tongue had been.

"That awful, awful creature!" Frodo complained. He snarled, before figuring something out, "I've got an idea! Come here." He said, inching closer to her, while placing one hand behind her neck and another on her jawline.

He leaned in, kissing her on the lips, staying like that until he was able to open up her mouth. His tongue went inside her mouth, moving around until his tongue reached her stump. He continued kissing her, allowing his tongue to restore her tongue, feeling her tongue grow in size until it was back to normal, whole again. He was grateful, but stayed like that for a few more moments, kissing her to his delight.

The second they released, Frodo chuckled, enamored by what he did. "That was amazing! I've never done something like that before!"

"It's healed! My tongue is back!" Amelia cried out in joy, grateful to sound normal again. She turned to Frodo, kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you, my love! Thank you!"

"Come on. Let's go eat," Frodo said, helping her with the water bottle again.

.

Amelia tasted the water, feeling some of her strength returning. She couldn't believe how thin she was and how her hands shook violently, as Frodo helped her eat meat chunks, as well as hot soup from a canteen. The moment she felt the need to eat on her own, she found Frodo willing to help her. It was a pleasant experience.

"How's everyone else doing?" Amelia asked, curious. "I trust they must be going through a rough time."

"Hullo," Rosie said, as she and Sam joined them, as well as Merry and Estella, and Pippin and Diamond. Rosie sat down next to Sam, asking them, "So, what's next? Do we defeat Shirina? How do we do that?"

"Well, we brought crossbows," Pippin said, brandishing his crossbows. "We brought four, but we have other weapons, other crossbows that fold up." He said, revealing another set of crossbows from his sack, something he didn't show the others when they were packing their bags for the trip to this realm.

"Oh neat!" Rosie said, examining the folded-up crossbow to her delight.

"And we brought plenty of sticks, sharpened them up to use when we're defeating Shirina," Frodo added, showing them the sharpened sticks.

"Well," Rose shrugged, "if we're ready, then let's go." She said, heading towards the manor.

"I'll follow her," Sam said, chasing his fiancée to the manor.

"By the way, we helped defeat all the dark monsters in that manor," Merry said, adding out of compassion.

"You defeated them all!" Amelia asked, stunned.

"Yes, we did," Merry, Pippin, and Sam said in unison.

Amelia couldn't believe it: all the dark monsters were defeated. That was good. She sighed, staring at Frodo as she finished eating the rest of her food. Her strength was back, even with Frodo kissing her wounds and healing them, too.

Well, there was nothing for it now. It was time to defeat Shirina!