"Sam?" the tone of Frodo's voice was enough to make anyone come running.

"Yes Mr. Frodo?"

"Where are you Sam?"

"Right here Mr. Frodo, right where you last saw me when we said good night."

"Why is it so dark?"

"Well, it's not all that dark, there's them stars up there, but the moon is stuck behind a cloud, and I don't rightly think it'll show it's face again tonight."

"Where is the rest of the Fellowship?"

"They're all sleeping like you ought to be, now hush an' get some sleep, you're running yourself awful thin on both sleep and food an' I don't think you'll last much longer at the rate you're going." Sam shifted in the dark, carefully finding Frodo's blanket and tucking it securely around the other hobbit.

"I saw their faces Sam."

"What faces? Don't you be worryin' now, we're safe here with the others."

"The wraiths Sam, they had faces, oh, they were awful."

"Now don't you be thinkin' about things like that, there weren't no helpin' for that and its over now and I don't bear on thinkin' about it much more." Sam reached under the blankets and took Frodo's hand, trying to offer his friend some comfort.

"I'm sorry Sam, I know that it must have been hard for you to stand by and be helpless while your friend was sick."

"Darned right, it was," he broke off into a mumble that sounded like, "You have no idea just how hard Mr. Frodo."

"I'm sorry Sam, this all my fault."

"All your fault?" Sam sat up, his stout frame was a dark outline against the sky. "Is it your fault that it rains or doesn't rain?"

"No, Sam I-"

"Then this certainly isn't your fault."

"I meant you being here, Merry and Pippin being here."

"Well I can't rightly speak for them, but if you take my meaning it's my own fault that I'm here." Sam ran a hand lightly through Frodo's hair, "Just stop worrying and get some sleep, please." The last word had a pleading tone to it.

"I can't."

Sam crawled over to Frodo, who lay not a foot away and leaned over him, "Why not?"

Frodo sighed and rolled over onto his side, his back now faced Sam, "Don't listen to me Sam, half the time I don't know what I'm saying anymore."

Sam put a hand on Frodo's shoulder, "Now you've gone and invited me to stay right here for the rest of the night until you tell me what's wrong."

"Everything."

"Start with one thing, try the beginning, it's always a good place to start."

"Samwise Gamgee, voice of reason. It's not that simple, but it shouldn't be that hard I suppose."

"Mr. Frodo what is? You've got me worried more'n a old mother hen."

"That's just it, you have to stop Sam, I know that no good will come to me whether or not I am successful in this Quest, but you my friend deserve much better than this, they all do."

"Nonsense, we all know the consequences."

"No," Frodo sighed, "I don't think so." He rolled back to his former position to meet Sam's eyes with his own. Even in the dim light the eyes of Frodo conveyed more to Sam than his words ever could. At that moment, on the banks of the Great River he made a vow to himself never to let Frodo out of his sight, never to let the other hobbit suffer needlessly and to never let him have the feeling that he was entirely alone. On impulse he lifted Frodo into his arms and cradled the ringbearer to his chest, lying down and curling himself protectively around his friend, trying to offer the other some form of comfort.

"There now, we know a bit more than you might think."

"I'm sorry I woke you Sam, I didn't mean to."

"Stop apologizing Mr. Frodo, you can't make up for all the wrongs of Middle Earth, and you can't take that burden onto yourself either. And I won't let you."

"Thank you Sam, I'm not sure what I would do without you."

"That's nonsense and you know it." said Sam softly, but inside it filled his heart with a sort of warmth that he had never felt before. Imagine his Mr. Frodo saying something like that about him, it nearly filled him happiness til he was near bursting. Then a thought struck him and he realized he had referred to Frodo in his mind as 'his', certainly he shouldn't have done that, even if it was only in his head, it wasn't proper. As he began to dwell on it, some of his former happiness turned into a knot in his stomach.

"Sam, don't let it affect you Sam, perhaps I should go back to my own groundsheet."

Somehow Frodo had sensed Sam's sudden unease, "Now there Mr. Frodo, only if you want to, but if you wake up again in such a state, wouldn't it be handier to have me right here?"

"Yes it would. Faithful Samwise, never leave the Shire without one."

"Now there Mr. Frodo, there's only one of me, and I'm not up to sharing myself with all the Shire, especially when I hardly have enough for you."

Frodo didn't answer, but snuggled closer to the warmth that Sam provided, he himself was never quite warm enough. For the rest of the night he slept only in snatches, lulled back into sleep by the steady rhythm of Sam's breathing and awoken yet again by his own fell dreams. In between he pondered all that Sam had said to him, and began to wonder more and more about the complexities of his simple hearted friend.

"You were going to leave me." the tone was more sad than angry.

"I was going to leave you all, not just you Sam, I couldn't have asked you all to share in my fate."

"But we were right ready an' willin' all along, you know that Mr. Frodo."

"No, not all of you." Frodo's eyes clouded over and he looked away from Sam. The two were sitting between boulders for their evening's shelter.

"I think I follow your line of thought there, an' it don't bear for you to be thinkin' 'bout it now, what's done is done. None of this was easy on you I'm sure."

"The decision wasn't hard, decisions never seem to be, in Lothlorien I knew what I must do, it was just doing it that was hard."

"Ain't that the way of it though? Decisions kind of just make themselves and then announce themselves to you kind of sudden like."

"Sam, you should go back."

"I'll hear none of that, I'm lucky that I caught you in time."

"Lucky? I'd hardly call going to Mordor luck."

"Nor do I Mr. Frodo, I meant catching you before you went off all by yourself."

"You know Sam, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Aye, but you're not as good at it as I am." The two hobbits glared at one another for a moment as if to back up their statements. It only lasted a moment before Frodo's face softened, and Sam's took on a look of relief.

"Perhaps not." was Frodo's answer, "But you still shouldn't be here."

"And by rights neither should you. Now look Mr. Frodo we can sit here arguin' out the inevitable until all of Middle Earth is run over by orcs, or we can talk about more worthwhile things."

"There you go again, the voice of reason in all this madness." Frodo gave Sam a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, before leaning his head against Sam's shoulder. Sam shared his cloak with his friend and they sat like that for quite some time.

"Don't you think we ought to be gettin' some sleep now Mr. Frodo?"

"Yes Sam, that would be wise."

"Should we be settin' a watch?"

"No, there's little we could do on our own."

Sam moved to spread his groundsheet on the ground, but Frodo dug his fingers into his shirt sleeve, preventing Sam from moving away. "Don't leave Sam."

"I ain't leavin' Mr. Frodo, I just want to set our camp up proper like."

"There's no need, we're only leaving tomorrow."

"Well that's true," Sam caressed Frodo's face lightly, in a protective gesture. Frodo fixed Sam with his eyes for a moment before Sam had to turn away. "Now then, we'll sleep right here I suppose."

"There's not exactly an inn around the corner." said Frodo, trying to add a touch of humor in his voice, but failing horribly.

"That's all right sir, I don't mind, as long as you're here and you're all right, I don't care where I'm sleeping."

"My goodness Samwise, what in Middle Earth did you mean by that?"

"Frodo!" Sam's voice was filled with worry. In the dark his hands searched frantically for his master.

A smaller hand took hold of Sam's and encircled it, "I'm right here Sam." said Frodo, sounding small and distant. "It was just a dream."

"I don't mind telling you that I wish this were all some horrible nightmare, Mr Frodo and that we could wake up at home and find out that it weren't true."

"I thought you liked spending all this time with me."

"Oh, that's right and fine, but this damn fool's errand and that damn ring are taking more of a toll on you than I like."

"I see," Frodo peered through the gloom of Mordor at his friend. "There was little helping for it I suppose, but I'm glad that it's you seeing me to the end, I would have preferred no one else." "I wouldn't have it any other way and you know it."

"Aye, it seem I'm destined to have Sam Gamgee hover around me for the rest of my life." mused Frodo quietly. Sam remained in a stunned silence, "Not that it is a bad thing, I'm growing rather accustomed to your constant attention, rather fond of it you might say."

"Well it certainly don't do you no harm having me watch over you."

"No, not at all. In fact you might say that it does me quite a bit of good, though I doubt it will matter in the end."

"Only if you go on talking like that, you can't go giving up before the end."

"That wouldn't help much would it? No, I suppose I must do this, on my own."

"No, not on your own, sir, as long as I'm here you'll never be entirely alone, no matter how far apart it seems that we are."

"No one deserves a friend as good as you Sam, it's a wonder that you've come this far."

"As I see it Mr Frodo, I never really had a choice."

"How's that?"

"I couldn't leave you behind and you were bent on this, so here I've come."

"What inspires such devotion I wonder?"

"Gondor, there's a place I'd never thought our road would take us. I never thought I would want to see it before the Company broke and after I never thought we could survive."

"But we did, and don't you think that's saying something for us Mr Frodo?"

Frodo smiled, taking Sam's hand, "No, it says something for you Samwise Gamgee, I know, and you know that I would never have come this far without you."

"Well I couldn't let you go and give up on yourself now could I? Where would that leave me?"

"Indeed, where would it? I am curious to know. That is not the first time that you have made an ambiguous statement about me, I never had the strength or interest to be overly curious about it before, but now I don't believe I'll let you be until you explain more to me."

Sam coloured, Frodo smiled and sat in the nearest chair, still not feeling entirely stable on his own yet. Sam came and sat on the floor with Frodo's feet lightly grazing the top of his head.

"Well, I suppose I don't rightly know why I said those things, they just sort of come out an' I only realized after what I said, and what it could be thought to mean."

"Hmm, yes, but what did they mean to you?"

"Exactly what they said. I never meant no disrespect an' I never meant to confuse you, I was only trying to help by showing you how much you are needed by someone and that you were not a lost cause."

"Samwise Gamgee I think I will always be a lost cause."

"Not if I'm here to guide you."

"Surely you don't want to be following after me for the rest of your life."

"Nothing would make me happier," whispered Sam, looking up into Frodo's eyes. A look of understanding was shared, and they remained in that position for quite some time, as if reading the contents of the other's soul through the windows of their eyes.

"Where does that leave us now Sam?"

"I don't know."

Frodo slid down off the chair, landing slightly on Sam. "What have we started?"

"Nothin' we didn't want to start."

"Why do things like this happen?"

"I suppose to show us that we can't figure out how things are going to go at all, even though we think we can."

Frodo laid his head on Sam's chest and wrapped his arms around the other hobbit.

"Why didn't you leave when I told you to? I was only trying to save you."

"Because you were trying to save us all and I knew that you needed an anchor so's to speak to keep you grounded, remind you that you had to keep going."

"To come home to you?"

Sam was silent for a moment, "Yes, I suppose I was too selfish to let you go."

Frodo raised his head to peer into Sam's face, "What do we do now."

"Go home, back to the Shire....." Sam broke off, to nuzzle his head against Frodo's. "You know, try to start over again."

"Not without my Sam, that's for sure."

"Is this really so, or have I fallen into dreams again?"

"No, I hope not, I'd hate to wake up into a nightmare again. Would you like to test this?"

Their eyes met, Sam encircled Frodo with his arms, their noses brushed. Frodo tightened his hold on Sam and they let their lips touched lightly.

"What would I do without my Sam?" he whispered against Sam's mouth before he took it into his own.

"I don't rightly know." was the last thing that was said for awhile.