Moon (Legolas Love Story and Lord of the Rings Movies Fanfiction)

Afraid

We traveled for hours, or possibly days, struggling up and down old crumbling staircases, crossing unsteady bridges as we moved deeper into Moria.

After a long stretch of silence, Gandalf finally broke it when we were on a narrow path at the edge of a dark abyss. There were various mining equipment everywhere and pulleys that vanished into the darkness below.
"The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels but Mithril." Gandalf said, letting his staff shine brighter as he leaned over the edge of the gorge.

Everyone gasped and leaned over to look. There were pulleys everywhere going every which way and there were various levels of paths below and above us.
But what shocked everyone was the silver rock throughout. Mithril was a silver, hard substance that was very rare.

Gandalf continued on, dimming his staff again but still talking.
"Bilbo had a shirt of mithril rings that Thorin gave to him."
Bilbo was Frodo's uncle who had found the Ring. Somehow, he knew Thorin from 60 years ago well enough for Thorin to give him such a rare gift.
Gimli agreed to my thoughts without him knowing it.
"Oh, that was a kingly gift."
Gandalf kept chatting.
"Yes. I never told Bilbo, but the shirt's worth was greater than the value of the Shire."

What? Bilbo had a shirt that could BUY a section of Middle Earth and, I might add, a big section at that? Wow, that's unbelievable.
I saw Frodo's head go down. He was hiding something.
If we were to be a team, we all had to share and tell the truth, and so far, Frodo had only spoken to Gandalf. And now he was hiding something.
I narrowed my eyes, but I continued on.

We traveled some more until after about what seemed like days of traveling, Gandalf stopped at an intersection. There were three paths that led down dark tunnels and Gandalf murmured, "I have no memory of this place."

A couple hours later, we were all camped out on the rocks around Gandalf as he sat, wondering where to go. He was the only one to have traveled through Moria before.
Frodo went over and sat with him, but I sat against the wall, still coughing a bit.
The coughing was a bit more mental than physical. I was coughing because I was still scared, not because I had to.

Sam walked over and sat next to me. We sat in silence for awhile until he said, "I'm afraid."
I turned my head and looked at his pudgy, childish face. "What?"
"I'm afraid." He repeated. "But you seem to not be afraid of anything."
I chuckled deep in my throat to think of how I might look to him.
He thought I was laughing at him, so he continued.
"What are you afraid of?"
I stopped laughing. "What are you afraid of?" I asked him right back.
He smiled. "I asked first."

I sighed. If I was to be on this team, or fellowship, I had to not only listen, but also share.
"I'm afraid....of water."
"What? What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

I closed my eyes and told him the story.
"One day, a year or two ago, I was riding in the woods when I came across a river. It looked deep. My horse could have easily swam across, but I wanted to see if I could swim. I always thought I could if I tried, that it would come easily to me, like walking. I went into the water and kicked my feet behind me and tried to swim, but my body just froze. I couldn't move and I breathed in water. Then the current carried me away until I somehow made it to shore about a mile away from where I had went in. I....I can't swim or be in the water for fun because of it. And there you go. You now know my only fear." I let out a deep breath, glad to get that off my chest.

I blushed, embarrassed to reveal my true self in what seemed like years.

He looked at me for awhile, then spoke, "I can't swim either. I was going to say that swimming was my fear, but it isn't. I'm afraid of not seeing my family and friends again, of never seeing home again."

He paused. "Are you sure that water is what you're REALLY afraid of?" He stood and walked away, leaving me with my thoughts.

He was right.
What was my REAL fear?
What was I really afraid of?