"Breathe, Frodo!" Merry urged. "Breathe. Let it out."

Sam and Pippin watched as Merry urged Frodo to breathe, as Strider had told them that if Frodo doesn't keep his lungs going, the wound could kill him.

They had just come from Weathertop, and Frodo was wounded. He was stabbed by a poisoned Morgul Blade. And he was in a lot of pain.

Severe pain.

Strider had carried Frodo, with the other hobbits following, to where they were now.

"We'll have to carry him somewhere closer to safety," Sam said hastily.

Frodo let out another pained scream as Sam, Pippin and Merry helped him to a sitting position.

"Careful, careful! Don't drop him!" Merry cried. Then they all lifted him gently.

They picked him up and carried him under a tall tree, with Merry and Sam at Frodo's sides, and Pippin supporting his head from behind.

"Oooowww! Ohhh, it's coming again!" Frodo gasped as the other hobbits set him down. "I feel the wound.....Oh, it's tearing through me... Ohhhh... Oh, the wound, oh PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!" He started wailing as the wound pain tore through him like a knife. "Oooow, it's hurting me now..."

"Calm down, Mr. Frodo, You'll be all right," Sam assured, brushing Frodo's damp, dark brown hair behind his pointed ear. "We'll get something to stop the pain..."

"We'll need to wait for Strider," Pippin said to Sam and Merry. "He's gone to look for something that'll slow the poison."

Sam grew irritated. "But did he say anything about stopping the pain?"

Pippin shook his head. "He said that pain will be in it all. He said there's nothing we can do about it."

"So then we'll just have to help him through it as best we can," Merry said, anxiety in his voice over Frodo's cries and wails of severe pain.

"Ohhhh, ohh, I feel it. I feel the wound..." Frodo moaned. He twisted his face in pain and cried, "Ooh, It's coming! The pain's coming!"

Pippin went rummaging through his pack in search of something to put some pressure on the wound so it wouldn't get infected.

Sam ran to Frodo's side and held his hand. Merry came behind and put Frodo's head in his lap.

"All right, Frodo," Sam assured. "We need you to breathe."

"You can do it, Frodo," Merry said, stroking Frodo's forehead gently.

Frodo attempted to take a breath. But as soon as he did, pain shot up throughout his entire body.

"Oooowww!! Ohhh! I can't do it, I really can't!" Frodo started to panic. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to put you through this."

"It's all right, Mr. Frodo. We're here to get you through this."

Frodo started to sob in pain.

Sam hugged Frodo, whispering soothing words.

---

Frodo then started to fade in and out of consciousness, being vaguely aware of Strider, an Elf woman and strange houses, floating by him so fast he would get dizzy trying to keep track of them.

He fell asleep for a long time after that. And when he woke up, he wondered where he was.

"Where am I?" he asked aloud.

"You are in the House of Elrond," A familiar voice said from beside him.

Gandalf!

They chatted on for a bit, until Sam ran in, relieved at seeing Frodo all right.

"Frodo! Frodo!" He ran to Frodo's side and took his hand.

"Sam!" Frodo cried, seeming almost just as relieved.

"Bless you, you're awake!" Sam stroked Frodo's arm. Frodo chuckled.

Gandalf smiled. "Sam has hardly left your side."

Sam glanced at Gandalf. "We were that worried about you, weren't we Mr. Gandalf?"

Frodo blushed and looked at Gandalf, too.

"Under the skills of Lord Elrond," Gandalf told him, "You are beginning to mend."

Just at that moment, Elrond walked in the room and stood over Frodo in his bed.

"Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins." Elrond smiled warmly at Frodo.

Frodo smiled back shyly, still flushed a little. He wasn't accustomed to such attention.

---

Soon after Gandalf and Elrond left the room later on, Frodo and Sam were left alone.

Sam grew aware of Frodo's current demeanor. "Are you all right, Mr. Frodo?"

"Yes, of course, Sam. Why?"

"You're lookin' a little flushed, sir, beggin' your pardon."

"Oh," Frodo giggled. "That must be a side effect of my recovery or something. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Sam smiled warmly at the way Frodo giggled. So high-pitched and so sweet.

Then he did something totally unexpected to Frodo.

He reached out and affectionately touched Frodo's hair. First a curly brown lock on the side of Frodo's forehead, then some curly ringlets on the back of Frodo's neck.

Frodo tilted his head, savoring the feel of it, but at the same time he was surprised.

He never would have thought that Sam, being the tough, fat hobbit, would do something unexpected without showing at least one sign, like a catch in the way he spoke or acted. But there was nothing to prepare him for this.

"Frodo, you're so lovely," Sam gushed. " Can you get up because you need to dress, sir."

Frodo tried to get up, but he groaned. " I haven't fully, well, recovered yet, Sam, I don't think."

"Then I'll carry you, Mr. Frodo."

"Huh?" Frodo gaped at Sam. Now that coming from Sam was not expected at all.

Totally not expected.

Especially from him.

But Frodo nodded. "I'd like that very much, dear Sam."

Sam scooped up Frodo, being careful of the unhealed wound on Frodo's shoulder.

Then Sam carried Frodo to where the fresh clothes were, on the other side of the room.

Sam deposited Frodo's thin body on a chair. "Do you need help getting your clothes on, Mr. Frodo?"

Frodo blushed. "Oh, no thank you, Sam."

Sam walked out of the room while Frodo dressed.

---

They explored Rivendell for a while. They looked all over the fortress until they'd seen everything.

Until Frodo went to the Council of Elrond. He was the only hobbit that was valuable enough to be allowed to attend the Council.

There it was decided that Frodo, along with eight companions, would go to Mordor to destroy the Ring.

They included Gandalf the Wizard, Legolas, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn "Strider", Boromir and all the four hobbits.

Luckily Sam was one of them. He loved his Mr. Frodo more than he could ever love anyone.

Which was why he'd go anywhere in Middle-Earth, as long as he was with him.

Always.

---

So the Fellowship journeyed out of Rivendell, through Caradhras, and Moria. It was there that they lost Gandalf.

They continued through to Lothlorien where they met Galadriel and each recieved gifts from her.

Then they sailed the River Anduin and arrived at Amon Hen. It was there that Boromir was slain by a mob of orcs.

And it was there that the Fellowship was forced to divide into three groups.

One of the groups was Frodo and Sam, and another was Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.

And the other was Merry and Pippin, who were captured by Saruman's orcs.

---

Frodo and Sam had met Gollum, whom they could tell was still after the Ring after once posessing it. He was the ugliest creature Sam and Frodo had ever seen. He tried to take the Ring from Frodo as the hobbits were sleeping. And the three of them fought, two against one, Frodo and Sam against the filthy Gollum. Sam was a little shocked at Frodo's actions during the fight. He was thinking, My Mr. Frodo is surprisingly good at fighting and defending himself. And I thought he was only a pretty little lady-like lad, incapable of defending himself. But I was wrong. My dear Frodo is a true lad.

They travelled through the Emyn Muil hills, and through the Dead Marshes, where Frodo almost joined the dead people in the water.

What Happened Was: Gollum led the hobbits into a "swamp", and it was huge. It looked like it would take a very long time to get through.

They reached the Black Gate just like Gollum promised, but it closed, and Gollum said there was another way into Mordor.

But little did Frodo and Sam know that Gollum was leading them into a trap.

Soon afterwards they met Faramir, who was the brother of the slain Boromir. At first he was sceptical of which side they were on, so he brought them to Henneth Annun.

When they got there, Faramir interrogated them. But Frodo did most of the talking, as usual. Usually when it came to being interrogated by anyone, especially Big People, Frodo was the one to do all the talking, question answering, problem solving and figuring out mysteries. Mainly because since, unlike most hobbits, he knew very much about the outside world and Elves and Men, he could get along a lot like them in many ways.

He finds out about the Ring and the quest's purpose, and eventually lets them continue on their quest.

---

Soon after they were let go, Sam was pondering as they were walking.

"I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales," Sam said to Frodo as they walked.

"What?" Frodo found it hard to imagine.

"I wonder if people will ever say, 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring!'"

Frodo grinned and shook his head, flattered.

Sam continued. "And they'll say 'Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?'"

Frodo giggled and twirled the ends of his brown hair.

Sam went on. "'Yes, my boy, the most famousest of the hobbits. And that's saying a lot.'"

Frodo was flattered about this. "You left out one of the chief characters. Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam."

Frodo turns to look at Sam, as he looked, love was showing brightly in Frodo's blue eyes.

"Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam."

"Now Mr. Frodo, you shouldn't make fun. I was being serious."

"So was I."

Frodo turned to walk on.