Sunlight shone brightly high above the beechen boughs of an evergreen wood as a soft wind carried the sweet scent of blossoms within the air. Young leaves of green and gold swayed gently with the passing breeze as Frodo slowly opened his eyes smelling a familiar scent of lavender. He brought his arm to his face holding back the brilliant sunlight piercing through the canopy above. It was then that he remembered the scent, the glorious trees… he was in Ithilien.

"How long have I been asleep?" Frodo whispered softly to himself as he drew his hand away from his eyes. A dull pain ached from his head as he slowly closed his eyes once more.

"What a horrible dream." Frodo thought as a gentle breeze fell across his face. A soft bed rested beneath him and he nestled himself deeper into the coverings. He could feel a smile coming over his face but then a pain seemed to draw his attention to his right hand. With care he pulled it from beneath the covers rubbing it with his left. Frodo soon felt the area of discomfort and he sat up quickly his eyes opening abruptly growing large.

"It was not a dream at all." Frodo muttered quietly. "It was real… all of it real." He said his words fading away into a soft whisper. A tender touch then fell upon his leg and he turned to look beside him where he found Sam sleeping soundly, tightly wound between the coverlets. His face was tired and worn. A thinner image of what it once was before they left the Shire. Frodo could feel his eyes grow wet with tears while he reached out to Sam longing to erase the lines new etched into his dear friends face. The innocence and youthful glow had faded, replaced by hardships far beyond Sam's young years. For a moment Frodo held his hand out before him, his eyes struggling with the empty space where a finger once lay. Slowly tears fell along Frodo's cheeks as he placed his hand lightly upon Sam's brow turning away a few stay curls.

"Oh Sam, what have I done?" Frodo replied quietly while Sam still slept under his trembling hand. A deep sigh passed over Frodo's lips as he took his hand away, his eyes growing more saddened as Sam's eyes tightened in his slumber, seemingly remembering their journey past.

"Will you ever forgive me Samwise?" Frodo whispered softly. Stillness seemed to surround them both almost as if time had come to a silent pause. It was at that very moment when a brilliant light shone through the trees causing Frodo to flail his arm quickly across his eyes to stay the overpowering glow. His heart began to pound hard within his chest for he could feel the light growing ever closer until at last when the warmth that surrounded him passed and he drew his hands away from his face. There before him stood a being shrouded in robes of glistening white holding a staff that shone with the radiance of the sun. A familiar smile then fell upon their face with eyes bright and full of joy.

"This can not be…" Frodo stammered in disbelief as he tried to find more words to say. "Gandalf, is it really you?"

"Aye." Gandalf replied his smile growing larger still. "Your eyes, they do not lie."

"Oh Gandalf!" Frodo cried as Gandalf came closer grasping him tightly within his warm embrace. Frodo then drew himself away holding firm to Gandalf's arms as tears streamed down his face.

"But how?" Frodo exclaimed. "I saw you fall… how can this be?"

"Time will come later for such matters Frodo." Gandalf replied softly drying away Frodo's tears that had fallen upon his hands. "You are safe now, as is Sam… that is all that really matters."

"What of everyone else?" Frodo questioned without haste. "Where are they?"

"They are all here Frodo." Gandalf said quietly. "They have been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?"

"Yes." Gandalf said with a smile. "You've been resting here for nearly two weeks Frodo with Sam at your side. It is now the eighth day of April in the Shire reckoning. It was thirteen days past when Sauron fell and when you were brought out of the fire and to the King."

"The fire…" Frodo replied almost whispering to himself. A flood of emotion and memory then came back to him as he remembered the horrid fumes and the searing heat as the land shook around him on that mountain of despair at the moment when he closed his eyes hiding away from death.

"I thought I had died." Frodo said through tears. "I felt as though I had been lifted away, Sam and I together leaving the world behind."

"You were carried away…" Gandalf began. "By the eagles, Gwaihir and Meneldor. They carried you and Sam here where you were tended to by the King. His hands have touched you and healed the wounds that could be mended with his care, yet again there are some wounds that shall never fully heal." Frodo then touched his hand to his left shoulder feeling a chill come over him as he ran his fingers along the rough scar that showed through the opening of his tunic.

"The King?" Frodo quietly replied. "What King may that be?"

"The King of Gondor and Lord of the Western Lands." Gandalf said brightly. "He has taken back his ancient realm and now he awaits the moment when he can see you Frodo. You have saved the free peoples of Middle Earth. You and Sam are heroes in the eyes of many." Frodo's eyes fell dim and he brought his hands together rubbing them as he looked down to his fingers that lay scratched and marred from the jagged rocks of Mordor.

"I am no hero." Frodo said sharply under his breath. "If it had not been for Gollum the ring would still rest upon my hand. No true hero would have failed as did I in the bitter end." A deep sigh then fell from Gandalf's lips as he brought his hands to Frodo's taking them into his own.

"It was you Frodo who stayed your own hand when you took pity on the poor creature allowing him to live. Had it not been for you he would not have been there at the cracks of Mount Doom when the ring took control over you." Gandalf softly replied as Frodo's eyes met with his. "The ring took control over you… you did not take control of the ring dear Frodo. No one other than yourself could have been so strong and made it so far. Yes my dear hobbit, in my eyes you are a true hero." Slowly a single tear fell along Frodo's cheek as he turned away to look at Sam lost in peaceful rest at his side.

"I could not have gone so far without Sam." Frodo said taking in a deep breath. "As the black smoke and ash of the mountain rose into the air while its molten core seeped forth from the deep hallows beneath the mountainside, he stayed, lying beside me when neither of us could continue on whilst we awaited our end."

"Just as he lies at your side now…" Gandalf whispered softly. "A friend with you from what you thought was the end, only to wake and find it is a new beginning." No words were spoken for all was silent. Frodo's eyes fell to Sam watching contently as his chest rose and fell with each breath that passed over his dry lips.

"He showed me what was left fighting for when at times I fell into despair, ready to end the bitter quest." Frodo replied quietly resting his hand over Sam's brow. Still he did not stir, peaceful in the rest that he so long deserved. "He too was a ring bearer, if only for a little while. We both have shared the lonesome weight of the ring as it hung from our weary necks. I could not have done it on my own Gandalf. Not in a thousand years."

"Nor will you be asked to bear such a burden once again." Gandalf said with a gentle smile as he took Frodo's maimed hand between his own lined with many fine creases from travels long passed. "All the wrong has now been made right and the day will soon be at hand when we all shall return home."

"Home?" Frodo whispered. Not once in all the days he had been within the lands of Mordor did he ever imagine seeing the Shire again.

"Yes." Gandalf said as Frodo drew his hand away from his. "We shall make leave for Rivendell first and then return you to the rightful place you belong. I know your Uncle Bilbo is longing to see you again."

"Bilbo…" Frodo muttered to himself. A voice then called out from afar and Gandalf turned away looking through the trees at shadows lingering about.

"I must leave you now but I shall return momentarily." Gandalf replied making way for the opening within the wood leading towards the dark figures that walked before him highlighted in the rays of the morning sun. Frodo sighed deeply and looked to Sam once again as he fell back down into the covers slowly drawing them up over his chest. A smile was upon his lips and he placed his left hand behind his head resting the other upon the coverlet while closing his eyes taking in the unforgettable fragrance of Ithilien.