Sesa Fic - Trust - rubynye, Frodo/Sam, PG

[laricina.livejournal.com]

Title: Trust
Pairing: Frodo/Sam
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Disclaimers: The Lord of the Rings and all characters within belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, etc. I don't belong a thing. Not even the plot - the muses claim that.

LotR Sesa Fic for rubynye. Happy Holidays, and I hope you enjoy it!



Trust
by duathkaimelar


Frodo wasn’t sure who he could trust.

It was a strange feeling for him. He had not distrusted many hobbits back in the Shire. There wasn’t any reason to, truthfully. He considered himself friendly, and generally the Hobbits of the Shire looked out for each other.

The Quest had changed much of what he had believed about people. Carrying around a ring which held the power to destroy all life would without a doubt hold devastating after-effects, but Frodo wished one of them wasn’t distrust.

He wanted to trust the Fellowship, he truly did. He had known Gandalf for years. From the beginning of this journey Aragorn had shown nothing but respect and a desire to protect him. Legolas didn’t seem the type who would do anything they didn’t want to, and that included aid the dark side in any way. Boromir was a different story, but either way, he trusted Elrond, and Elrond trusted them.

The bottom line was he felt safer at that point when weary of them, especially after Lothlórien. Even though he felt safer, keeping himself at a distance was the hardest thing he had done on this journey.

He may have gone crazy if it wasn’t for Pippin, Merry, and Sam.

Even with the certain distrust he held for the others, he wouldn’t have been able to life with himself if he distrusted them. It was the sort of thing that would only happen if the Ring ever told control of him entirely. When you grow up with someone, the bonds that remain throughout life are strong enough to withstand even this.

Wasn’t that love? Frodo was sure it was. And it made sense to him, that he felt love for them. They were best friends, the four of them. Besides, outside of the obvious bonds they shared after so many years together, Frodo held something with Merry, Pippin, and Sam that none of the others felt.

For various reasons, the other members of the Fellowship were used to war. Used to danger. They were aware of the dangers in this quest, and yet regarded some challenges and just another challenge among the many they had faced before, and those they would soon.

Frodo, though it was hard sometimes, remembered life before the disruption. He remembered how it had felt to wake up the Shire on a warm spring day and lay for hours in the sun, or to sit under a tree and read a book. More than anything else, the memory of those days guided him permanently, and he knew it was the same for the other Hobbits.

He knew they remembered what it was like to live in a world that did not know war. And because of this, they could keep him in line. On the days when the responsibility of bearing the Ring became too much for him to the point where he began to lose sight of the positive days, they were there to guide him.

Merry and Pippin, through their arguments and their jokes, brought a light-hearted aura to the Fellowship. If no one else appreciated it, Frodo did, even when he did not react to it. Sometimes he was too caught up in the Ring, and sometimes he was simply too depressed, but it always cheered him up on the inside. They reminded him so much of home.

And Sam. Sam was someone special. He was not joking, nor funny, nor always particularly brave, but at least he was someone Frodo knew he could count on. Always.

No one had ever shown him as much pure, unbridled devotion as same had.

It was because of this that on this night in particular, Frodo chose to talk to Sam. On their way through the Anduin, the Fellowship had been taking more stops to rest than any of them would have liked – besides Merry, Pippin, and Gimli, of course. Which was why they were stopping, actually. Aragorn had learned quickly that it was much better to endure a few hours worth of lost time than listen to them complain about being tired.

When on these rests, Merry and Pippin would eat and make jokes before falling asleep, Gimli right behind them in every act. Boromir would sleep sometimes, but normally he sat by himself at a considerable distance. Aragorn kept watch on land and Legolas through the trees.

Frodo was never able to sleep. He didn’t like the Anduin – the river and the forests both made him more than uneasy.

He liked to sit alone, usually. Today he decided he could go to someone, just this once, with what ailed him. The logical option at that moment was Sam, for more than one obvious reason. So he sat down beside his Hobbit friend, who was sitting on a log, rearranging the few belongings still left in his sack. Frodo remained silent, knowing that Sam would acknowledge him soon enough.

Never one to let him down, Sam noticed Frodo’s presence immediately.

‘Mr. Frodo, are you alright?’

Sam always asked the same question, and therefore, he already knew the answer he would receive. Regardless, he asked every time, perhaps in hopes that one day he would receive a response close to, ‘I’m doing wonderful, Sam.’

In the meantime, however, he nodded to himself at Frodo’s usual response. ‘I’m alright, Sam. I’ve just been tired.’

‘Mr. Frodo, you’ve been “just tired” for months.’

‘It’s been a long journey. You know that.’

‘Yes. I know.’

Cocking his head in such a way that encouraged Frodo to go on, Sam turned his attentions from his pack completely towards his friend.

‘I’m worried, Sam.’

‘About what?’

‘What will happen. Everything. I think I’m afraid.’

Frodo’s voice had quivered at the last part of his sentence. Sam shifted his body in order to face Frodo easier. ‘It’s not wrong to be afraid of this quest,’ he replied gently. ‘There’s a lot riding on your shoulders.’

Frodo smiled weakly. ‘I’m not just afraid of the quest, Sam. I’m afraid of being afraid.’

Sam shook his head. ‘I don’t understand.’

Frodo smiled, more genuinely this time. ‘That’s alright. You don’t need to. I don’t understand myself.’

Sam was confused, and more than anything, he wanted to help Frodo. He wanted to help him feel better, and help him on the quest. He just wanted to be there. ‘Then, tell me what I do need to do for you. Tell me what I can do.’

Frodo was silent for a long while, before he finally placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. ‘Tell me it’s going to be alright, Sam.’

Sam reached up to Frodo’s hand and enclosed it with his own, meeting Frodo’s gaze with even more intensity. ‘It’s going to be alright, Mr. Frodo. I promise.’

Frodo believed him. He truly did. He considered himself to be in the perfect moment just then, safe and almost warm on a log with the one person he trusted with his life. If he was thinking normally then, the fact that he was in a perfect moment would scare him – he would believe it meant darker times ahead. But for now, he allowed himself to trust. He laid his head on Sam’s shoulder, allowed Sam to wrap a protective arm around him, and soon fell asleep, his last thought being that Sam had never once broken a promise.

End

Comments

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

Awwwww!

Oh, this is warm and cuddly and lovely. Thank you!