Gandalf rode off over the Barrow Downs, leaving the four hobbits to finish the journey alone, just as they had started out. It grew dark as they headed homeward along the East Road; if they rode on, they might cross the Brandywine River and enter the borders of Buckland in the early hours of the morning, but they had already spent a long day traveling. When Frodo suggested that they stop one last night before they reached home, the others agreed.
"After all," said Merry, "what's the good of getting there when no one's awake to welcome us? I want a big celebration! Everyone has to hear about where we've been and what we've been up to."
"Do you think they'll have the least idea why we were gone?" Sam won-dered. "They might not've heard about the war, nor Sauron, nor that there's a King at Gondor. They'd scarcely heard of it in Bree. How odd to think we've had a part in the greatest happenings in all of Middle Earth in hundreds--even thousands!--of years, and none of the Shire knows of it. It hasn't touched 'em at all."
"And we won't be heroes," added Pippin, "only oddly dressed travelers." He was still wearing the livery of a squire of Gondor. "Will they believe us when we tell them?"
"It's hard for me to believe it all," Merry said. "Everything's already starting to seem like a slowly fading dream."
"Not to me," said Frodo. "To me, it feels more like falling asleep again."
The Downs and dark edge of the Old Forest lay to the south of the road; the hobbits made their camp in a cluster of trees to the north. They ate the last of the food in their packs, leaving just enough for break-fast. While the others joked and talked of the adventures they would tell their friends and family tomorrow, Frodo said little and seemed thoughtful. After dinner, he took Sam by the hand and met his eyes; without a word, they rose to leave the fire.
"Where're you going?" asked Pippin.
"For a walk in the woods."
"Why?"
"Because," Frodo explained, "we have been on the road with you and Gandalf for more than a week, and we all shared one room at the inn at Bree. Sam and I have not had a minute alone together since we left Rivendell, and we would like a little privacy." He smiled as com-prehension dawned in Pippin's eyes and his mouth fell open in an O. "Don't the two of you?"
Merry grinned. "Yes," he answered, "we would. Go on, and take your time. Don't worry about us. We'll find some way to amuse ourselves `til you get back."
Hand in hand, Sam and Frodo walked away. It was a clear autumn night, with a touch of crispness in the air, and a nearly full moon had risen to give them enough light to make their way through the trees. As they went over the crest of the hill, they heard yelps behind them:
"Merry-! Merry, stop! That tickles!"
"Oh, you know you like it, Pip."
Frodo laughed and slipped an arm around Sam to lean on him. "I don't suppose it matters as much to them. They carried on like this before we left the Shire, and they'll go on just the same once we're home." On the far side of the hill was a grassy dip; they were out of sight of the other pair, but could still see the red glow of the fire flicker-ing on the trees and hear the rising shrieks of laughter.
"'Least we don't make so much noise," said Sam.
"They're having fun," Frodo answered. "I envy them that easy joy. They can be happy together, and never have to think about it one way or the other. It's never been so simple for us, has it? There are things we must consider now we are about to return home."
"I guessed that was why you wanted to stop tonight." Sam took off his cloak to spread it over the dry grass and leaves. Frodo sat down.
"We might not have another chance. If this is to be our last night, I mean to enjoy it." When Sam sat beside him on the cloak, Frodo reached up to touch his face; it was too dark to see very well, and he lay his fingertips gently on one cheek to guide himself into a kiss. "Is that selfish of me? You must be eager to see your family after being away for so long. The Gaffer, Marigold--they will have missed you terribly." And Rosie Cotton too? he wondered. Sam hadn't mentioned her in weeks, not since they had become lovers, but she had been much on his mind lately.
Sam shrugged. "It makes no difference. Even if we'd pushed on to Buckland tonight, we wouldn't be to Hobbiton `til the next day at the soonest." He gathered Frodo into his arms and, after a few more kisses, tugged open his shirt collar to nuzzle his throat. "I can wait one more night."
"It isn't that I don't want to go home. I've looked so forward it," Frodo said as he snuggled closer. When Sam unfastened two of his shirt buttons to slip a hand inside, he let his head fall back onto his friend's shoulder and shut his eyes, comforted by the touch. "I used to dream of going on adventures, but there hasn't been a day since we left the Shire that I haven't longed to be safely back in it. And yet..." he sighed. "What are we going to do? Are we to return to our old lives as if this had never happened-" But he knew that that was impossible. They couldn't go back; too much had changed. The most they could do was pretend that they were the same innocent hobbits who had left the Shire a year ago--and that would indeed be like going back to sleep! "Or shall we go on?"
Sam stopped nuzzling. "That's for you to say, Frodo. I'll do what-ever you like."
"You have no- ah- other plans for when we are home again?"
"What d'you mean?"
"Well... marriage."
"To Rosie?" Sam was quiet for a moment. "There's no reason to think she's waited for me. It's been over a year since I saw her last, and we never made promises to each other. For all I know, she's married already."
"And if she isn't?"
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Sam admitted. "I can't give no better answer. I've been torn up thinking about it, and the only thing I can say for sure is that I wouldn't leave you, Frodo, not in any case. Rosie'll just have to understand that."
It wasn't quite what he had hoped to hear, but as long as he could have Sam himself, with or without Rosie, Frodo was willing to be generous and broad-minded. "Do you mean that? You'll stay with me?"
"Of course! I'll always look after you."
"But I want something more." He sat up, leaving Sam's arms and turning to face him. He had given this matter a great deal of thought on the long journey home, and knew what he planned to ask Sam if it looked like things between them were not about to end. "If you live with me, I know you'll look after me--I couldn't stop you from doing that--but it's not why I want you to come. I don't want you to serve me, but be beside me. Love me. Share all that I have." It was an audacious offer, in defiance of all Shire proprieties, but one he had to make. "Will you, Sam?"
He waited for an answer, but there was none right away. Sam only re-garded him silently; a glimmer was visible in the moonlight as his eyes misted. "That's what you want, Frodo?"
"More than anything. I can't abide the prospect of living without having you near me." He wasn't the sort of hobbit to give his heart lightly; just as he wouldn't have asked Sam into his bed if he had not grown to love him so fully that nothing else would complete it, so he would not invite Sam to share his home if he didn't intend to spend the rest of his life with him. "Please, say you will." Taking Sam's hand, he squeezed the fingertips. "Say 'yes'."
"There'll be talk..."
"Oh, bother the talk! I won't mind it if you don't."
The glimmer of mist in Sam's eyes grew brighter--and when he blinked, teardrops sparkled down his cheeks. "All right then," the answer came softly, "yes."
"Dear Sam!" Frodo flung both arms around him to bestow a delighted kiss. "It'll be wonderful! Wait and see." This wasn't to be their last night, but he would enjoy it all the more now that there was a promise for the future.
He kissed away Sam's tears, and as the kisses fell more quickly and eagerly with his increasing happiness, he pressed Sam back onto the cloak. Normally, he would have let Sam subdue him--Sam knew well by now that that was how he liked it best--but tonight, Frodo kept on with quick, eager kisses until Sam lay flat on his back beneath him. With the palms of both hands on his waiting lover's chest, he leaned down to give Sam another, longer and more passionate kiss, and began to unfasten the buttons of his waistcoat, then shirt. As he wriggled back little by little, he tugged the garments open and brought his mouth to the bared skin. Sam yelped out loud.
Frodo came up, laughing. "You make more noise than Pip!"
"He's right! That tickles!"
"And you know you like it." Frodo returned to what he'd been doing, tickling sensitive skin with his tongue and lips until Sam, unable to endure this tease another second, took him by the shoulders and threw him off. They went tumbling off the cloak and onto the grass, shouting with joyous laughter; by the time Sam finally pinned him, Frodo was quite ready to surrender.
Afterwards, they lay awake watching the moon rise through the branches of the trees and made plans for what they would do when they arrived home.
The other pair of hobbits, who never made plans for their own happi-ness, were quiet; they had finished their games and gone to sleep by the fire some time ago.
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One Last Night by Kathryn Ramage
Story notes: Disclaimer: The characters and overall storyline aren't mine. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien's estate, and I'm just playing with them to entertain myself and anyone else who likes this kind of thing. A couple of lines are taken from the ROTK chapter, "Homeward Bound," but little otherwise refers specifically to either the book or film version of events (I've left it open as to whether or not the Shire will need scouring when the boys get there).
February 2004
