Still a Jewel by Antane

A/N: This was inspired by Elanor's question in Larner's "What Might Have Been" drabble from "Only A Second or Two". The first sentence is from that and used with her permission. Hantanyel! Sam's answer is almost a direct quote from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen who spoke of how Jesus viewed sinners.

“Sam-dad, when you saw Uncle Frodo claim the Ring--what did he look like?”

Sam looked down at his daughter's fair face and curious eyes and held her a little tighter in his arms as she sat in his lap. He didn't answer right away for he did not know exactly what to say. How could he describe such a terrible thing, especially to one who nearly loved her Uncle as much as she did? For a long while, he didn't know how long, he lost himself in memories of the bond his beloved master had formed with the only child of Sam's he truly knew, though Sam knew when Frodo had left, his master actually knew more about the family to come than Sam himself did and that caused a bittersweet smile. I wish you could have seen them all, me dear.

Elanor, though, Frodo did see and they took to each other from the very first, even before she was born. "Like a duck to water," Merry said once with a chuckle as he watched the two. "Just like we did." Sam had smiled as he watched his two beloveds, for it was one of the few times since they had returned home that he saw his master truly happy. Frodo loved holding his niece, counting her fingers and toes, twirling her around, listening to her squeal with delight. He talked to her, not as one would to a babe, but as to an adult and most of his words were in praise of what a wonderful father she had. He would laugh with her and such a lovely sound in halls that had grown too somber did right good to Sam's heart. Frodo took her out into the garden every day and told her what a marvelous gardener her father was and not just a nurturer of plants and flowers but of hobbits too! It was enough to make Sam blush from curly crown to furry foot, but he loved listening to his master talk to Elanor for Frodo was happy when he did so; especially, and this embarrassed Sam even more, when Frodo was talking about him. He loved also to listen to his treasure sing to their beloved because it was always in Sindarin and there was nothing like that to soothe all of them. When Elanor was fussy during the night, it was more often Frodo than anyone who took her after she had been fed, and walked her up and down the hallways, murmuring soothing, loving noises. The babe was soon asleep again and more often than not, Sam would wake in the morning to see Frodo still holding her, asleep in the rocking chair that was the elder hobbit's wedding present to his heart's brother. The gardener knew his master didn't sleep well at night, but he always could if held or beside someone. When he held Elanor, the two rested comfortably, her against his heart, his heart wrapped completely around her. Once before she was born, Sam came in from an afternoon of gardening and found both his brother and wife, side by side, peacefully asleep on the master bed with Elanor between them. He curled up with them, sleeping on his Rose's other side. That was the life he had always wanted, to beside both his treasures, and for a short while his dreams had come true.

"Sam-dad?"

Sam looked back at his lass and smiled. "Sorry, my little flower, I was just remembering how much he loved you and you loved him."

Elanor looked into her father's eyes. "Can I remember with you?"

Sam nodded, his eyes misting with tears. He didn't trust his voice.

There was so much to remember too, for Elanor's love for her Uncle had only grown, even after they parted. She had been an early reader and had already parts of the Red Book that she could recite by heart. She had helped Frodo-lad learn to read by reading him parts of the book. Her young heart ached for her Uncle's pain and she could barely get out the words sometimes, especially when she was reading about the tower or the torturous road to the Mountain. She had gotten so upset at times that Frodo had been there in his prison all alone, tormented by orcs and fearful for his life, that she had made up stories and she put herself in them and came to him there to hold and comfort him. If she felt it was safe enough to leave him, she sometimes hunted in that terrible tower for her father to bring him sooner to the one they both loved. Sam was touched and that proud of his eldest for such loving care, for she always spoke her stories out loud, as though she was speaking to Frodo directly and she sang to him like Sam had, but in her own loving words. When Sam asked her that wouldn't she have been that scared to have been in the dreadful tower, she responded most solemnly, "Yes, but I would have felt just like you, Sam-dad, and my love for Uncle Frodo would have conquered all the fear I had." Sam was moved nearly to tears when she had said that.

Frodo and Sam-dad were Elanor and Frodo-lad's greatest heroes, as they were becoming for the other bairns, and they loved Uncles Merry and Pippin almost as much. Frodo-lad always clamored to hear more about their father's brave fight against the orcs and the giant spider, but Elanor had always been drawn to her uncle's exploits more. She remembered his loving but sad eyes and knew his battles were just as impressive and hard-won as their Sam-dad's were.

"But he never fought like Sam-dad!" Frodo-lad objected when she told him that.

"No, his fight was inside him," Elanor had told her uncomprehending brother and Sam was surprised and proud when he had heard that, that she had understood that.

Sometimes he thought she had more Elvishness in her than just her name, for she seemed at times, like her uncle, a most delightful combination of both worlds. "My little Elven hobbit," he called her as he had called his master and she was delighted to have something in common with her Uncle. Though she had never seen an Elf, she thought she could imagine them because her Sam-dad regaled her with many a tale about them. She had seen Frodo's light as well, so she could see in her mind's eye, how an Elf looked. That she had actual memories of Frodo that she could draw on, not just her father's or mothers, or what was in the book, was another reason Sam thought she had been blessed with some Elvish gift of memory.

With those memories so steeped in them both, he wondered how he could ever tell his lass what her beloved Uncle had looked like after the Ring took him, but she continued to look up at him and trusted she would receive an answer. Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It had been years since it had happened, but the memory was suddenly intense enough that he felt that he was really with his Frodo again, and that was a piercing thrust to his heart as much pain as it was joy. He steadied himself with another breath before he continued.

"I saw a jewel, dearest, a jewel which had fallen into the mud and had been encrusted with foulness, but it was still a jewel."

Text (c) Antane