Frodo and Sam were up bright and early the next morning. Rosie was too, even though Sam was fussing constantly about her taking things easy with the baby coming, but she insisted on making them a farewell breakfast. The two made quick work of the delicious meal and, after a long, loving farewell between Sam and Rosie, they were off.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Sam broke it with, "Do you really think something followed us home, Mr. Frodo?"

Frodo pursed his lips as his forehead wrinkled with concern. "I hope not, Sam. I hope that it is just one of the mysteries of the Old Forest creeping upon us and it merely needs to be pushed back. I guess we shall find out for sure."

Sam sighed. "Yes, I suppose so. But I really hope not, yet the more I think about it, the more I think something did. Those old stories about the Old Forest have been living there for years now, why pick now to disturb things? No, Mr. Frodo, I'm beginning to suspect something did follow us."

Frodo sighed. "Whatever you say, Sam."

"It's not our fault! How should we have known something would follow us? It's better than having Sauron come in and destroy the Shire searching for his Ring."

Frodo nodded. "Yes, that would have indeed been worse."

They fell into silence again for the rest of the walk. The two rounded the corner and were at Fatty's house in a minute. Sam gasped. "Why is your sister coming with us?"

Estella gripped her bag tighter. "Because someone has to keep cleaning the house while you five are figuring out what's going on. We still have a deadline, and I'd like to keep it, if possible."

Sam glanced at Frodo, who sighed. "Very well, but if we tell you to leave, you will leave, no questions asked, understand?"

Estella nodded and gulped. "I will."

Frodo nodded. "Good, then let's go."

Fatty let out a breath. "Right." Taking the lead with his sister next to him, he led Frodo and Sam away from Hobbiton.

Frodo and Sam fell back a bit, keeping a few feet between them and the Bolger siblings. The siblings began chatting away about things they still had to do at their grandfather's house; finish sorting what the family wanted to keep, selling what they didn't want, clearing out the cellar, things like that. Sam nodded along to their conversation, but gave no comment. Frodo, on the other hand, was taking a look around the countryside. The little flowers that bloom every spring were coming back, as usual, but this year, as last year, they seemed different to Frodo, somehow. They seemed to reveal their true beauty to him. Every detail became larger, every petal that unfurled, every leaf that fluttered in the breeze, they seemed to be waving to him. They seemed to want him to stop and look at them, like they were saying, "look at me! How pretty I am!"

A soft smile appeared on his face. Did they understand what he went through for them? He glanced at the backs of the Bolgers, still chatting away. No other Hobbit in the Shire even cared about what he went through. Many, like Ted Sandyman, thought him even crazier than Bilbo, and they all thought no one could be crazier than Bilbo. Who knows, maybe he was crazy, crazy for wanting to save the Shire from a dreadful fate at the hands of Sauron. He pursed his lips and glanced down. Maybe all the praise that men, elves, and dwarves heaped on him before returning to the Shire went to his head. After all, what did he expect his fellow Hobbits to think? They were at home, living out their lives, while he, Sam, Merry, and Pippin went on the most perilous journey of their lives. What more did he expect?

You could have ruled over them, like a great lord, had you just claimed the Ring. Frodo squeezed his eyes shut, right as the memory of a fiery Eye flashed through his mind.

"Mr. Frodo?"

Frodo's head snapped back as he shook the thoughts from his mind. Good ole Sam.

"Are you alright?" Sam eyed him worriedly.

Frodo gave him a smile. "I am now." Sam looked at him for a bit, searching for any lie it seemed, but then he patted Frodo's shoulder and turned back to listen in on Fatty's and Estella's conversation.

Frodo listened in for a bit before his thoughts wandered right back to the Eye. Why was he still seeing It? It was gone, over, Sauron was officially destroyed now. So why then did he keep seeing it pop into his head? He did know it was nothing but a memory, seeing the Eye didn't feel the same now as it was on the road to Mordor, where it was clear the Ring was sapping his mind away from him, preying on him slowly. The memory of it sent a repulsive shudder down his spine. Why? Why was it still on his mind? Why could it not leave him? His hand moved up his right arm and gently massaged his shoulder, the wound tingling a tiny bit. It was never as bad as the anniversary of that night, when the wound would flare up something fierce and make him ill, but it did seem odd that it would tingle twice now in one week.

"No no no no!" Fatty's loud exclamation jostled Frodo out of his thoughts. "Grandpa said the armoire should go to Brandy Hall, nowhere else!"

"But Mama said Mrs. Proudfoot offered to buy it …"

"I know, I know, she's been eyeing it like Lobelia Sacksville-Baggins eyes the whole of Bag End, but his will states quite clearly that it's to go to Brandy Hall."

Sam snickered. Frodo even had to grin as he shot Sam a knowing look. She was particularly perturbed now that Sam and Rosie had moved in.

"Well it's not like we could sell it now that we have so many guests over."

Fatty shot a glance over his shoulder at Frodo and Sam. "Well, we can put them to work."

Sam smirked. "Consider us at your service. We'll help Merry and Pippin get through that cellar of Longbottom."

Fatty let out a squawk. "You will do no such thing! I thought I only had to deal with Merry and Pippin! But now you too? Oh, that is low, Samwise Gamgee!" That got a chuckle out of Frodo. "Half of that has got to come home with us! I have half a mind to send Estella back with as much as she can carry!"

Estella huffed. "Well I am not going to traverse all over the Shire by myself!"

"We will do our best to make sure you won't have to, " remarked Frodo with a smile.

"In other words, it would be either Frodo or I as Sam, Merry, and Pippin will no doubt smoke it all up on the way back!" Fatty blurted.

"Yes, but you might have to keep a sharp eye on it, as I would be sorely tempted to smoke it myself!"

Fatty came to a complete stop and stared at Frodo in shock, bringing the whole group to a dead still. "Wh-what? Even you?"

Frodo smirked as an unusual strain of mischief reared its head, like something thought lost emerging to the surface. "It's Longbottom, what did you expect?"

Fatty crossed his arms and huffed before turning to his sister. "Don't trust any of them."

"As if I would," quipped Estella with a flip of her hair. "Certainly can't trust any of you to keep walking!"

Frodo and Sam laughed then walked quickly past the Bolgers. The siblings gave a shout and quickly caught up. Sam shot a relieved smile at Frodo, though. But while Frodo kept a soft smile on his face, he could sense that piece of him had disappeared again. Would it ever come back? He already knew things would never be the same, but would he ever fit into the Shire again? Or had the wounds gone too deep, cutting into his very core?

The walk was mostly uneventful, they did have to stop a couple more times than Frodo wanted so Estella could use some farmer's restroom, but otherwise, it was just another pleasant day in the Shire. Despite the intrusive thoughts, Frodo was enjoying it. It felt like ages since he last walked through the Shire, even though he had done it a number of times in the past few months to visit Merry and Pippin. Perhaps it was due to the company, preventing him from dwelling too long on his dark thoughts as they got him to laugh time and again. And when they did, the sunlight seemed brighter, the wind seemed to laugh with them, and the very flowers seemed to jump for joy. But when they paused, even just for a few minutes, the sun seemed to hide behind clouds, though there were none. Then they would be back on their way, and everything was alright. But the bouncing back and forth made Frodo weary. It took all his strength to keep from just sitting down and sleeping at the first chance he got. Somehow Sam did not notice, and Frodo kind of wanted it that way, at least, for today.

The sun was beginning to set when they arrived in Frogmorton and checked into the Floating Log. They had a quick dinner and an early bedtime as Frodo was eager to get to the house as early as possible. Fatty was in agreement, naturally, so as to keep Merry and Pippin from depleting the Longbottom stock. They arose early, had breakfast, and were back on their way towards Buckland.

When they left, Fatty and Estella were chatting away just as they had the day before, with Sam adding more to the conversation this time. Around midday, Frodo noticed a shift in the Bolger siblings. They got quieter, and their eyes darted around the landscape. When they stopped for lunch, the siblings just went about eating their meal without so much a word. Frodo and Sam shared a knowing look.

"How do you do it?" Fatty whispered after several minutes of silence. "How do you go about your day, knowing that something just dreadful is waiting for you?"

"If I can keep the Shire safe, then that is all I need to know to keep about my day," Frodo said. Though he said that, a voice within him said "A better question is, how can I go back to the way things were?"

Sam quickly bobbed his head. "Rosie is waiting for me at home. All I want is to go back to her, so the faster we get this over with, the better."

Estella smiled. "Yes, and congratulations on the little one! I'm sure the child shall grow up to be as brave as you!"

Sam blushed. "Oh, uh, thank you."

Fatty turned to Frodo. "That's good and all, but what if you all came back and something had happened to Shire? You know, if Sauron had sent some of his orcs to destroy the Shire? What would you do then?"

Frodo pursed his lips as images from Galadriel's mirror flashed through his head. "I, uh, I … depending on what was done and what we could do, we would fight to bring the Shire back, I'm sure." He glanced at Fatty. "What would you have done?"

Fatty's eyes widened and glanced at the dying fire to think. After a moment, he replied with, "Fight, lead some sort of resistance, I suppose. Hold out hope until you get back."

Frodo patted his shoulder. "Then you'll do just fine in this situation, Fatty Bolger. Let's be grateful it did not come to that."

Fatty shot him a nervous smile. "Yes, I suppose we should be grateful." His smile turned into a frown. "That doesn't help with this feeling of impending dread, though, nor the fact that I do not like this at all."

"And any wonder? You're a Hobbit through and through, Fatty, this isn't the type of thing you should like."

"Quite right about that." He stood up and stretched. "And if my Hobbit ways have anything to say about it, I think we should get going. I think a pipe of Longbottom by the fire this evening will do us all good."

Sam stood up. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

Frodo chuckled and shot a glance at Estella. "And what do you say?"

She too stood up. "I won't be joining you in the smoking part, but a good fire in a personal fireplace sounds amazing right now." Her face fell as she glanced at the three guys. "Though, I would much rather have some lasses joining us. It will be rather odd with all of you lads and just me."

"Doesn't Pippin have a few sisters?" Fatty asked, rubbing his chin.

Frodo glanced to the side. "He has three, all older than him." He glanced back at the group and saw questions in Sam's eyes. He merely looked at Fatty.

"Yes, yes, that is right. Maybe we can ask Pippin to have one of them come down to keep you company. If I have to go with them into the Old Forest, I would feel better knowing someone was with you," Fatty added, looking at Estella.

"I would too, but then we might need to request more swords. While we might not know how to use them, knowing we have at least some way of protecting ourselves puts my mind somewhat at ease," remarked Estella.

"Oh, we can show you how to use the swords a bit," remarked Sam as he began cleaning up the picnic. "At least to where you do have a better chance of defending yourself."

Frodo stood up as he nodded. "That's a good idea"

Estella frowned. "But would we be good enough in a short time?"

Sam shook his head. "No, but it would be better than not having any training at all."

Fatty huffed. "I guess I had better learn then too."

Frodo clapped Fatty's shoulder. "Oh, we would have trained you anyways, but yes, you too." Fatty merely grunted as he began to help clean up. In a matter of minutes, the picnic was cleared and they were on their way again. There was a bit of talk again, but this time it was Fatty and Estella asking Frodo and Sam about their adventures. Frodo let Sam do all the talking, adding only a bit here and there, especially when he thought Sam downplayed his heroics and over exaggerated his own. By and by, they came across some familiar farmland. A soft smile flickered across Frodo's face as they neared the spot where Merry and Pippin had run into him and Sam before they left the Shire. But then the memory of what happened only minutes later wiped it from his face.

"The, the Black Rider?" Fatty asked softly as the group slowed down. Frodo gave a simple nod. A shiver passed through him as the memory flashed through his head again. Sam gave his shoulder a soft squeeze. Frodo shot him a soft smile before everyone just about jumped out of their skins at the sound of dogs barking. Two dogs came barreling down the road.

"Grip! Fang! Hold!" The dogs came to a grinding halt, but were showing their teeth in snarls. A Hobbit farmer came around the corner.

"Farmer Maggot!" Fatty raised his hand in greeting.

"Why, bless me, Fatty Bolger! Good to see you, lad! And your sister Estella is here too! Wonderful to see you!" Then Farmer Maggot glanced at Frodo and Sam and his countenance seemed to darken. "Mr. Frodo Baggins and Mr. Sam Gamgee, I presume?"

"Hello, Mr. Maggot," began Frodo. The farmer interrupted him.

"I have a mind to speak with you right now but," his eyes darted around, "I think it better that we get to walking back to my place. The sun is setting and, well, I'm glad you brought them, Fatty, things have not been … right."

"Have you heard something too?" Fatty asked.

Farmer Maggot glanced at Fatty then turned to Frodo and Sam. "Mr. Frodo, Mr. Sam, something has made off with one of my dogs and I want you to bring him back!"