Seeing Gandalf

Frodo awoke to the voices of Sam, Pippin and Merry. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked very pale. His friends were worried.

'What the-- What happened?' He asked quietly. The others could barely hear him. They all had an expression of great relief on their faces when they finally heard Frodo's voice.

'Well, Mr. Frodo, I came in this morning because you weren't answering your door and I found you on the floor so I thought that I should put you back in bed and wait for you to come round. Pippin and Merry are here because they hadn't seen you all day and were worried. How are you feeling?'

'I'm fine. I just want to know why I fainted.'

'No one really knows.' Said Merry. 'But we do know that according to Samwise, you need "lots of rest" so to speak.'

'So you would rather he be exhausted all the time would you Merry?' Sam asked Frustrated and not picking up on Merry's point.

'No, as a matter of fact I would not.'

'Excuse me! Please stop fighting'. Frodo said. He was heaving for breathe as he said it and he soon lay back down with his hands over his eyes.

'Sorry Mr. Frodo. We best leave you to peace so you can have some rest.' Sam said quietly

'Nice to know your back with us, Frodo.' Pippin said as he walked out the door.

Later that day Frodo felt better and he decided to go outside Bag End as it was starting to get a bit stuffy. Sam was attending to his gardens as usual when he came in the door as soon as he saw Frodo was up.

'Are you feeling better Mr. Frodo?' Sam asked looking up at his master

'Yes, thank you, Sam. I need to talk to you.' He gestured to the table and chairs inside and made some tea as Sam sat down.

'Sam I think I have figured out why I fainted.'

'Why is that Mr Frodo?'

'Well I think I fainted because of the pain in my shoulder. It's starting to hurt again and after everything I went through… Sam and I don't know how much more I can take.' Frodo said with solemn eyes. He was looking at the floor now. Tears were in his eyes and they were threatening to burst.

'Don't say that Mr Frodo, you can't die. Gandalf will be back the day after next.

Just hold on until then and then we can sort it out.' There was a tear coming down his right cheek. His voice choked a few times while he spoke. He never thought of Frodo dying.

'Oh, Sam, did I ever say I was going to die any time soon?' Frodo said almost as a joke, though it was very quiet. Sam gave a small smile and sipped his tea.

The following day there was a knock on the green door of Bag End in the early hours of the morning. The sun hadn't even risen and Frodo gave all his might to get out of bed so early. "Who could be here at this hour?" He wondered to himself.

'Good morning Mr. Frodo. Sleep well?' Sam said happily.

'Morning? Sam the sun hasn't even risen yet. Please stop worrying about me. Go back home and to sleep you ninnyhammer!' Frodo chuckled slightly. He closed the door and went back to bed. Later on there came another knock, Sam again, though the sin had risen this time.

'Hello again, Sam.' Frodo said tiredly.

'Hello Mr Frodo. Sorry to bother you so early before. I had a dream that you were dying so I though I had better go check. Sorry for waking you. Do you want to go to the green Dragon for some bacon and eggs? I think Rosie might be on one of her shifts right now.'

'Yes, all right Sam. That sounds like a good idea. Just let me get my cloak.' Frodo walked back inside Bag End, when he realized something; Sam had never openly spoken to him about Rosie before. He wasn't sure but he had a feeling that Sam felt as if Frodo had become almost a brother or something. This made Frodo quite happy.

They walked down the road and to The Green Dragon to get some breakfast when they found Merry alone talking to Esmerta.

'Merry, what are you doing here so early? And where's Pippin?' Frodo and Sam said in unison.

'Look, to stop him getting angry at me whenever I talk to this lovely lady I decided to come in here early so that Pippin thinks I'm not talking to her. Give the poor hobbit a break. So I have told him to go for it instead of me.'

'So you're lying to your best friend?' Sam asked. Frodo looked dumb founded.

'No, Samwise, not lying, saving him from humiliation.'

'Yes well we ran into him in the street on the way here, he is on his way so if I were you I would leave Miss Esmerta alone'. Sam said

'Ah, thank you' and with that Merry sat down at a table with Frodo and Sam. Pippin walked in and spotted them straight away and sat with them

'Morning, lads, how are you, Frodo?'

'I'm much better thanks, Pip.' Frodo said as he tucked into his bacon and eggs, though all of a sudden he wasn't really that hungry but he thought it best to force down as much as he could so that his companions didn't think he was in trouble or anything.

Merry got up and got what everyone wanted for breakfast but he was taking an unusually long time. Sam and Frodo looked at each other. Pippin was looking at them suspiciously.

'What are you two looking at?' He asked warily

'Er nothing, Pippin.' Frodo said quietly. Merry came back with their breakfast in hand.

'You were gone a while, Merry'. Sam said smartly.

'Well the cook was taking a while to cook everything because he is making a ton of food for when Gandalf comes back today; cakes, all sorts of different foods.' Merry smiled broadly. Pippin absentmindedly licked his lips and thought of all the different foods they could be preparing.

'Sounds like fun.' Pippin said happily while helping himself to some food.

Later that day Merry, Frodo, Sam and Pippin waited at the gate of Hobbiton for Gandalf. After about half an hour Frodo finally spotted a horse and cart in the distance slowly coming closer and closer. 'Hey! Look! It's Gandalf!'

Gandalf arrived right in front of the hobbits and stopped.

'Well, it's lovely to see you four little hobbits again. How are you all? Frodo, Sam told me that you have something to ask me. But let us deal with that later. I must have a rest. I'm not as young as I used to be.' He said with a chuckle. He road on to Bag End when the hobbits had clambered into his wagon.

Later that night Gandalf went over to Frodo's to discuss Frodo's problem.

'Now, Frodo, what seems to the problem?' He asked sternly.