Written for the 2007 birthday of Lilybaggins

FEELING SAFE

A few days after Strider started traveling with the hobbits, Merry and Pippin began to feel that they could trust him. Out of Frodo's hearing, they pulled the Ranger aside to explain what was happening at night. The reason the hobbits all slept with Frodo between them, they said, wasn't just to protect him -- as Strider had first assumed -- it was to ensure that one of them would wake up whenever Frodo started... sleep-walking. It didn't happen every night, but often enough, since leaving the Shire, to have begun to alarm them. They believed that when Frodo's dreams were disquieting, full of dark, vague shapes watching and hunting for him, he would unconsciously seek safety.

After that, Strider would watch with interest as, in the dark of night, Frodo would occasionally get up and wander about the camp -- to all appearances wide awake and alert. At least one of the other hobbits almost always awoke fairly quickly, and gently guided him back to his bedroll. When the others were too worn out to wake, and he found Frodo asleep next to Bill or under a bush, Strider would gently carry him back to the nest of blankets and hobbits, and Frodo would settle down again, never waking.

So Strider wasn't surprised when, one cold night on watch, he heard a rustle and stir from where the hobbits lay asleep. Frodo sat up and appeared to look around, then got to his feet. He walked about for a few minutes, then for the first time, came over to where Strider sat. If he hadn't seen this behavior before, Strider would have sworn an oath that the hobbit was awake -- but Frodo's eyes were a bit unfocussed as he stood silently before him.

Finally seeming to come to a decision, Frodo knelt on top of Strider's long legs and settled against his chest, as if on a bed. He then curled up in a ball, and seemed to be reaching for a blanket. Strider shifted position slightly to wrap his cloak warmly around the little one. Frodo sighed, and soon lay quietly. A few minutes later, Sam suddenly sat up and looked about. Strider smiled and indicated Frodo, who was sleeping soundly in his arms. Sam lay down again, and Aragorn regarded Frodo, smiling. It was clear to him that he had become one of those whom Frodo trusted to keep him safe and secure. It was a trust which Aragorn would strive to prove himself worthy of keeping.