The Elfling || A Frodo Baggins Love Story

The King Has Got His Crown Again

We’d found ourselves taking a rest in one of the fallen statue heads in the Gondor realm, sleeping peacefully. My sleep was interrupted when I felt someone roughly shaking my shoulder, their nails digging sharply into my skin. I jolted awake and stared at the person who was shaking my shoulder with squinted eyes. 

It was Gollum. And boy, was I not pleased to see him. At all. 

“Wake up! Wake up, sleepies! Yes, we must go! We must go at once!”

He crawled away to wake Sam up, waking him just as aggressively as he’d done to me. I got my eye sight adjusted and glanced over at Frodo. My heart broke for him when I saw the dark circles under his eyes. He clearly hadn’t had any sleep yet. And I was starting to worry. The Ring was starting to destroy his innocent soul with is evil powers. The sooner we get this Ring destroyed, the better our lives will be.  

“Haven’t you gotten any sleep, Frodo?” I asked, trying to stifle a yawn. He shook his head in confirmation. I grumbled to myself and got to my feet, getting a look of our surroundings. I noticed that there was a dark sky overhead. “I’ve gone and had too much of a good thing. It must be getting late.” 

“No, it isn’t,” Frodo answered in a weak voice, making my heart break any more for him. ”It isn’t midday yet. The days seem to grow darker and darker.”

On cue, Mount Doom erupted, shaking the ground, even from how far away we were. I had to hold on to the edges of the hideout. Gollum crawled back over towards us with a look of panic in his eyes.

“We must go! We must go! No time!”

“Not until Mr. Frodo’s had something to eat, first!" I objected stubbornly.

“No time to lose, silly!” Gollum insisted. 

I ignored him and went to the pack of food that we had. I'd made sure that there was enough for the there-and-back again journey, rationing the Lembas bread into tiny pieces. I managed to find the biggest piece and gave it to Frodo, having no regrets on giving him the biggest piece, whatsoever. His health worried me a lot. And I could tell that it worried Sam, too. 

“Here,” I said softly as I handed him the large wafer.

Frodo took it gratefully and began to unwrap the leaf wrapper eagerly. He noticed that I wasn't eating anything either. 

“What about you?”

“I — I'm not hungry. Least-ways, not for Lembas bread,” I lied hastily.

“Eira,” Frodo pressured. I had no choice but to tell him the truth. But it wasn’t like I was starving myself. We had to ration everything to save as much as we can during the journey. 

“Alright. Fine. We don’t have much left. I’ve rationed everything. There should be enough left.”

Frodo looked confused.

“Enough left for what?”

I gave him a heartbroken look and inhaled deeply through my nose, trying not to let the tears flow. I missed home. But at the same time, I was proud to accompany my best friend on this perilous quest and to carry out the promise that Gandalf, Galadriel, and Faramir had given me. 

“The journey home,” I answered softly. Frodo had stopped eating, a look of longing and regret in his eyes at the thought of the Shire. I smiled sadly and motioned for him to keep eating. “Y-You go ahead and eat that, Mr. Frodo. Don’t worry about me.”

He hungrily began to munch on the bread and I watched with much sympathy. The Ring had changed him so much, I hardly recognized the Hobbit I fell in love with in the beginning. Its power is beginning to destroy him. And that’s heartbreaking for me. 

“Come along, Hobbitses. We’ve go to go,” said Gollum impatiently. 

I shook my head, unimpressed by Gollum pressuring us into hurrying us. He should learn by now that the Ring was taking a big toll on Frodo's health, slowing him down more than it did in the beginning. I helped pull him up and we climbed out of the statue’s head we’d taken as refuge for a while. 

“We’re very close to the border of Mordor, now,” said Gollum quietly. “Nowhere is safe. Come quickly.”

As we walked, Frodo began to notice the great statues that must have been a part of Gondor at one point. 

“These look like they might have been a part of Gondor — a long time ago.”

The sun suddenly shone brightly. Something shining caught my eye. I whipped my head around to see that the sun’s rays had landed on the fallen statue's head that had a wreath of flowers growing around its head, almost like a crown. I was so shocked that I grabbed Frodo’s arm, stopping him.

“Look, Mr. Frodo! The king has got his crown again!”

We both stared in awe and amazement at the sight. But soon enough, the clouds covering the sky moved over the sun, and the rays vanished, leaving the statue's head cold and empty. I glanced over at Frodo and saw the hopeless look. We continued to take our trek but I noticed that Frodo had stopped in his tracks once again, a look of realization and discomfort on his face. 

“Mr. Frodo? What is it?” I asked anxiously as I walked back over towards him again.

“I — I just realized something,” he answered in a quiet voice, “there might not be a return journey to the Shire for me.”

I shook my head fiercely, smiling reassuringly at him. I grabbed both of his hands and he stared into my eyes.

“Yes, you will. Of course, you will,” I reassured firmly. I squeezed his hands gently in reassurance. “You’ll have your there-and-back again journey. Just like Mr. Bilbo did as well.” I gently pressed my forehead against his, and our noses touched lightly. “You’ll see,” I murmured softly.