A New Precious

Chapter 1

After a dreadful battle with poor Master, Gollum finally seized the One Ring. So happy he was; he danced so gleefully, but did not pay attention to where he was. We tumbles off the edge of Mount Doom, cradling the Precious close to our heart. As we lands in the scalding, fiery chasmses, I looked up at Master as he hung over the edge, nearly falling to his death. Poor Master, I thought. Sméagol wish he could helps him, but too late it was, Precious. Too late to do anything, to change anything. We were dying. The Precious leads us to our death. As the fire incinerated our body, I said one last silent prayer. Eru, Eru, please save nice hobbitses. Don't lets them suffer another moment, please. Then, everything went black for what only felt like a moment.

We woke up in a bed of soft grass, bathed in the light of the moon and stars. We opened our eyes, and looked around. "Where are we?" I asks.

No reply.

"Gollum?"

He did not answer. It was only me.

I sat up in the grass, and rested my head on my knee. "He got what he wanted, Precious," I lamented. "He has the Precious now... but what about poor Sméagol?" Tears began to fall from my eyes as I thought about my life. "What does Sméagol get? I never wanted any of this. Eating poor Bagginses, hurting nice hobbitses... killing Déagol," I wept, "I never wanted any of it... but I... I couldn't do anything, Precious. I couldn't stops it." I hid my face, and sobbed my broken heart out.

"Sméagol..." a gentle voice whispered.

I looked up to see who was speaking to me, but I couldn't see anyone there. "Who is it?" I sniffled. "Who said that?"

Then, suddenly, a white ball of light appeared before me. I watched as the light grew larger and larger, until it disappeared, revealing a bright, beautiful silhouette. I looked closer at the silhouette as it approached me. It was a beautiful lady in a white gown, covered in white flowers. She had chestnut blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sweet smile.

"Who are you?" I asked breathlessly.

"I'm an angel," she replied. "My name is Aaliyah." She knelt down in front of me. I was in awe. Never had I seen an angel before. Oh, she was beautiful! She extended her hand to me. I hesitated. "It's okay," she said so warmly as she smiled at me. "You're not in danger. I won't hurt you." Her voice was kind, just like her eyes and her face.

I felt so guilty. Why was this beautiful, blessed being talking to me? After all I've done, what did I do to deserve such goodness and light? "Sméagol is sorry," I wept.

Aaliyah wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly. "It's okay," she said. "It's okay, Sméagol."

"Sméagol does not understand. Why is it being so kind to me? After everything I've done, I don't deserves it."

"But, you do." She looked me in the eye as she spoke. "You didn't do anything wrong, Sméagol."

"But... I killsed Déagol. I tries to eats poor Bagginses, and I tries to kills nice hobbitses to get the Precious."

"No, Sméagol, you didn't do any of that. It was all the One Ring. It made you do all those things. It took you against your will. You had no control, no say in what you did. Sméagol, you are not a bad guy, not in the slightest."

"But, how does it know?"

"I know all about you. When you become an angel, you gain all knowledge. You can see into everyone's hearts and souls."

"Does it see into my heart?"

"I do."

"What does it see, Precious?"

"I see an ocean of pain and torment and solitude and sorrow, all things you never deserved. I see someone who wanted so desperately to mean something to someone else, someone who longed to love and be loved in return. Even before the Ring, you were lonely. Your family never truly accepted you, because you were different. Everyone around you judged you so harshly. Déagol was your only true friend. Then, when the Ring took him away from you... you lost everything that meant anything to you. From then on, it was hard to know who to trust, who was real, and who was fake... who really cared, and who wanted to hurt you."

"Yes," I said sorrowfully.

"That's why you thought Frodo betrayed you... and Sam and Bilbo. The Ring lied to you."

I brushed back a few more tears.

"Sméagol, you endured so much torment and abuse, so much more than most people face in a normal lifespan, and you deserved none of it. You know what else I see when I look into your heart and soul?"

"What is it, Precious?"

"I see so much strength. Most people couldn't handle everything you went through, but you survived it all. You never gave up. You kept fighting. You kept going, because you still believed something good would come out of it all. You still saw a light at the end of the tunnel."

"But, very wrong I was," I wept.

"No. No, you weren't."

"But—"

"The Ring has been destroyed. Sauron is gone. Middle Earth is safe again."

"But... Sméagol wanted to help nice hobbitses."

"You did. Sméagol, they were lost. They didn't know where they were going, until you showed them the way."

"To Shelob's Lair."

"There wasn't any other way, though, was there?"

I shook my head.

"And, now, because of you, Middle Earth is at peace again. I know you can't see all the good that came out of your actions, because your guilt is still tormenting you, but I promise you have nothing to feel guilty about." She held me close again. "I know you never wanted any of this awful stuff to happen. You never wanted the Ring to find you. You only wanted love."

I nodded tearfully. "Yes... and now, it's too late, Precious."

Aaliyah smiled. "No, it's not."

"But—"

"I was sent to you for a reason, to give you a second chance."

What? "A second chance?"

"At life."

I could not believes what I was hearing. A second chance at life, Precious?! What?!

"Close your eyes," Aaliyah whispered.