The Fall
Two stories using the same opener...the first features Smeagol and Deagol, in the days before the Ring. In the second, little Samwise gains another reason to look up to his Mr Frodo... Originally written for Marigold's Challenge #2.
Author: lindelea
Rating: G
Category: Canon-Angst/Drama

Part 1:  Two cousins out for an afternoon of swimming...

Smeagol lay where he had fallen crumpled in a little heap. For a moment Deagol just stared in disbelief. He waited for his younger cousin to jump to his feet, shouting in glee, 'Fooled you!' After which, of course, Deagol would tackle him and they'd wrestle until both were breathless with laughter.

But no. Smeagol had not moved since he'd hurtled from the low tree-branch into the shallows of the Great River. He'd crawled out to fetch the end of the rope, tangled in branches when last he'd swung out over the water and let go, to splash in the deep eddy where the young ones swam of a hot summer's day. By rights it was his task, for it was his jump that had tangled the rope.

 'Be careful!' Deagol yelled. Smeagol really was a bit young to be inching along the branch, smoothed as it was by generations of sliding young lads.

Smeagol merely flashed an irritating grin and lifted both hands from the branch. 'Look!' he crowed. 'I can do it with no hands at--' He slipped, grabbing frantically at the branch only to fall with a squeal and a splash.

 'Smeagol!' Deagol shouted, running down the bank and splashing into the water. His little cousin lay face-down in the shallows. Deagol reached him and picked him up with the desperate strength born of fear though Deagol was only a dozen years his senior. He half-dragged, half-carried the limp form to the bank and sank down on the grass. 'Smeagol!' he sobbed, giving his cousin a little shake. He called Smeagol's name over and over, alternately shaking him and holding him close.

Suddenly the young one gave a choking cough and began to splutter.

 'That's it!' Deagol encouraged, pounding him on the back. 'That's right, Smeagol-my-love,' he added, for these two were closer than brothers. 'That's right, my precious, just cough out the water and breathe.'

Gasping Smeagol nodded and complied. When he was able to breathe again without coughing, he lay back in his older cousin's embrace, completely spent. 'What happened?' he gasped at last.

 'You fell from the tree, knocked yourself into a dream, and nearly drowned, dear one,' Deagol told his little cousin.

 'You saved me!' little Smeagol said in wonder. He threw his arms about his older cousin and hugged him tight. 'Oh Deagol-my-love, you saved my life! I'll never forget it!'

Deagol returned the hug fiercely. 'See that you don't,' he murmured into the wet curls.

 'I won't,' the beloved small voice lisped in reply. 'I'll remember it for the rest of my life.'