Tol Eressa

Frodo rose earlier here than he ever had in the Shire. He watched the dawn every morning and remembered the sunlight streaming through the windows of Bag End and the sound of Sam whistling in the gardens. Time passed differently here but it had been a long time and he was growing anxious.

       "Has he forgotten me, Gandalf? Does he still remember what I told him all those years ago?"

        "Silly hobbit, of course he does! If I know Sam Gamgee he has held your words in his heart all his life. Do you doubt Sam's love for you? Do not fret so - he will come soon."

       Frodo continued to watch. Bilbo had finally slipped away four years before, ready at last to leave Arda and go wherever hobbits went. No doubt the old hobbit was eager for new adventures. The Undying Lands held no disease and death could be delayed for mortals, but it was the fate of all but the Elves to die at some point. The Elves looked after him and spent much time with him, and he was free to join them whenever he wished, but he longed for the company of one of his own. More specifically he longed for Sam, the only one who had shared his journey. He would never have left Sam if he thought he could have remained in the Shire but he knew that, had he stayed, he would have been dead before the next summer. Leaving had been the only way but it had almost killed him to part from Sam. He had been too numb to weep at the time, but when the tears did come he had wept for days, weeks, months. Had Sam done the same?

        One morning he sat, as usual, on the grassy mound near the harbour, watching the sun begin its climb. Pale gold beams rippled across the water, and the towers at the harbour entrance gleamed white. Would Sam feel able to face such a journey - to leave the world and take the Straight Path from the globe of the world, flying through the sky until the seas of Valinor were reached? It was a journey which could not be reversed. There could be no going back, and Sam would be leaving children and grand-children. How could he even think Sam would contemplate such a thing? He was being selfish. A sob bubbled up in his throat and Frodo began to weep. He would never see Sam again. Perhaps he should just prepare himself for death, because the beauties of Valinor held no delight for him now.

       Gandalf hastened to his friend's side, sensing the dimming of his light. He knelt and enfolded the little hobbit in his gleaming white robes.

        "What's all this, Frodo Baggins? Don't you dare give up now - what will Sam say when he arrives and finds you've gone without him?" Gandalf saw with concern that Frodo had paled, and his breathing was shallow. No! he thought. Please, no, not now, not here!

       "He won't come! How can I expect him to abandon the Shire and his family for me? I'm being utterly selfish." He sobbed into Gandalf's chest.

       "Do you think so little of Samwise? He crossed all of Middle-earth for you, and he will leave the world for you. I come to tell you that a ship has left Middle-earth - one of the last. Your Sam is on his way."

       Frodo looked up, almost afraid that Gandalf was trying to cheer him with false hope.

       "Lord Elrond has seen it - Rose died a few months ago, and Sam is more than ready now. Have patience for a little longer, Frodo."

       "It seems a lifetime......"

       "It is many lifetimes, for Sam and Rosie have been busy and their children and grand-children have had a good deal of their lifetimes. Elanor the Fair is now over 60 and a grandmother herself. You have waited long, my dear friend, and now your wait is almost over. Do not allow that light of yours to dim, my boy. Sam will want to see you in all your glory."

                                                                ************

        Another morning, another dawn. Frodo scanned the horizon anxiously, watching for a sign. When the sail first appeared he did not believe it, and rubbed his eyes. There it was, the swan-shaped boat hovering between the worlds, gliding effortlessly through the rippling waves towards the harbour. Frodo leaped to his feet and ran towards the dock, wriggling through the small group of Elves who had gathered on the quay. The gangway was lowered and several Elves made their stately way down. A joyous cry to his left made Frodo glance up. The Lady Galadriel had seen the one for whom she longed. With the dignity of an Elf Queen and the joy of a young girl she moved to Celeborn's side and embraced him, stroking his face and kissing him with unashamed passion.

        "My love........" he whispered, and cradled her face in his hands as though she were made of glass.

       Frodo felt tears sting his eyes. How beautiful they were. He scanned the ship again, thinking Elrond must have been mistaken. Then a small figure topped with straw coloured curls made his way nervously down, awkward in the presence of so many of the fair folk.

        Sam had wondered if Frodo was still alive, and if he would remember his Sam. Lord Celeborn had assured him that this was indeed so, and that Frodo fretted just as much as Sam. He wondered how Frodo could ever doubt - had he not said he would follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond? He looked at the small dark-haired figure waiting on the quay, clad in simple Shire garb although it had been made in Elven silk. Frodo looked little older than he had when they first left the Shire on their way to Bree, but that delicate inner light was gleaming fully now, like the Elves themselves What would he think of Sam's looks now? The gardener was 102, although he had kept all his hair and his face was almost unlined, his eyes still bright. Rosie had often teased him that he was not growing any older.

      "I think, Master Samwise, that you yourself have changed little," said a voice in his ear, and he turned to see Gandalf leaning over him. "Are you going to stand here all day, lad, or will you go to him before he collapses?"

        Sam needed no further bidding. He ran down the gangplank and stood before his master at last. His legs shook suddenly. This was the moment he had waited for for so long.

      "Sam?" Frodo said tentatively. "Sam? My Sam?"

        "Always your Sam, sir......Frodo. Always." They fell into each other's arms, both weeping. Neither could say any more for some minutes as they simply held each other. Around them the Elves fell silent and stole quietly away. The Lady Galadriel smiled as she allowed her husband to lead her, his arm about her waist. Gandalf chuckled softly, and retired, keeping a fond eye on his little hobbits. He had worried about Frodo for some time, and was relieved that Sam had finally arrived.

         Neither knew how long they stood, arms tight around each other, tears running down their faces, exactly as they had stood on another quay 60 years before. This time though, the tears were joyful ones, and there would be no parting, not ever. When their spirits tired of Arda they would go together.

         At last Sam pulled back a little, his hands still round Frodo's waist. "Let me look at you. Still so......... perfect," he breathed, scanning his master's features. Here was Frodo as he had been before that terrible journey, a journey from which so little of him had returned. The delicate features were ageless, dominated by those uncanny blue eyes. Sam had never forgotten those, the colour of a Shire summer sky. "Are you healed, m'dear?"

        "I am now," Frodo replied shakily. "I thought you wouldn't come - I thought it was selfish of me to expect you to, to ask you to leave your family and take such a drastic step. I shouldn't have asked it of you......."

        "Yes, you should, and if my arrival means you're finally healed, then I wish I'd come sooner, but I couldn't leave my Rose. I came as soon as I could."

        "What about you, dear Sam? Were you one and whole?"

        "In some ways, yes, but I could never be truly whole without you, master of my heart. 'My treasure' as Ellie always called you, and you were - and you are still!" He pulled the slender hobbit into his arms and held him as tightly as he could.

       Gandalf walked towards them, holding out his hands. "Is that pack all you have, Sam?"

        "Yes, Mr Gandalf, sir." Sam gazed up at the wizard, who looked both ancient and youthful and full of light. He was awestruck by all this other-worldlyness.

         "I think you can dispense with the 'Mr' and 'sir', my dear Samwise. Gandalf will do nicely."

        "I just brought my little box from the Lady, and the mithril circlets we wore on the Field of Cormallen, and portraits of the family and friends. Oh! and some clothes. This pack has been ready for years - Rose kept the shirts clean, and replaced 'em with bigger ones when I put on weight, and smaller ones when I lost it again. She knew I'd need it one day, I reckon. I'm here with her blessing, and Ellie's. Young Frodo knew it too, although he tried not to think about it. There's a Frodo at Bag End again - Frodo Gardner he is. I changed the family name - people asked me to, in honour of the work I did."

         "What of your part in the story, Sam? I'm sure there are lots of tales and songs about you now?" Frodo steered his friend towards the little hobbit hole where he lived.

       "Well, I was Mayor. Seven times, if you can believe it! And the King asked me to be one of the Counsellors of the Northern Kingdom! Can you imagine it? Me, Sam Gamgee one of King Elessar's counsellors, together with Merry and Pippin - the Master and Thain I should say!"

       "It is no more than you deserve, dearest Sam. Though I can scarcely imagine Merry and Pip as sober guardians of Shire affairs." He went into peals of laughter and Sam and Gandalf joined in. "What of your children? Was I right in the numbers?"

       "Erm.....actually we had thirteen in the end," muttered Sam, blushing somewhat.

       "Thirteen! My word, you were busy! That was what Bag End needed, a family to fill those empty rooms and passageways."

       "And every night we went into the study and said good-night to your portrait. Ellie started it when she was tiny and it became a tradition. Frodo-lad's young ones do it still, and their children will too."

       Frodo was deeply touched. "You all remembered me," he whispered.

       "Of course we remembered you. We never forgot you. You were the main topic of our conversations when we all got together, Merry, Pippin, Legolas and Gimli and the King."

        "How are they all?"

       "Well and thriving. We went to Gondor, Rose, Ellie and me, and stayed for a year. Ellie became one of Queen Arwen's ladies-in-waiting. Our little Tolman was conceived and born in Minas Tirith. He's the youngest. Then when they visited Arnor we all went to Annuminas and stayed there - all the children came that time." Sam stopped and gazed at Frodo as if he still could not believe he was finally with his beloved master again. "Legolas will stay till Aragorn passes, then he says he'll build his own ship. You'll never believe this - he says Gimli will come with him! Says Gimli wants to see the Lady again, and she's interceded for him. Do you reckon we'll still be here when he arrives, Frodo?"

        "Well, even here the Valar cannot stop death for us, but we only go when we have wearied of Arda, and I do not imagine wearying of it now you are here, my Sam." Frodo pulled Sam into another hug. "If you had not come I was ready to go. I could not endure so many ages of the world without you."

       "The Queen says she will go when Aragorn does, for she has no wish to live where he is not, and I feel the same. I could not have endured the last sixty years if I hadn't known I'd see you again one day." Sam drew Frodo to him and gently kissed his forehead, as Frodo had kissed his on parting.

       "Here we are. This is Little Bag End." Frodo gestured to the green front door and Sam gasped.

       "Bless me! Who'd have thought we'd have a hobbit-hole here? Did you not want to live with the Elves?"

       "No, Sam, I wanted a little bit of home while I waited for you. It isn't as big as Bag End but it is homely and comfortable. And I won't have to get up so early now, because I don't need to watch the sunrise. You brought the sun with you, Sam."

         "No, master mine. It was here all the time."

                                          *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*