Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 21

A couple hours later, Lea woke up, still in Sméagol's arms. She opened her eyes, and looked at his face. He was smiling sweetly at her. She normally couldn't see people's facial expressions, but she could see his smile.

"Are you alright, Precious?" Sméagol asked sweetly.

"Yeah," Lea groaned, still trying to wake up. "Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yes. We wanted to make sure you were alright, so we stayed here."

"And, you held me the whole time?"

"Yes, my precious."

"Your arms didn't fall asleep?"

"No."

"Wow."

"What is it, Precious?"

"No one's ever done that for me before. It's one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me."

"We worries about you. We doesn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Truth is... I probably would have if it wasn't for you. I'm so freaking glad you came by when you did."

"Sméagol stay as long as you wants."

"You don't have to be anywhere?"

"No. Sméagol knows you needs a friend." He played with her hair. "Precious. We do anything for you."

"Thank you, Sméagol."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, how did you know what to do when I had that meltdown?"

"Aini told us."

"How did she know? How does she know so much about me?"

"She's an angel."

Lea smiled. "I knew there was something really special about her."

"Yes, she's wonderful. She's a good friend to Sméagol."

"She's a good friend to all of us."

"Yes, she looks after us all."

"Yeah, she does."

"Like Sméagol looks after Lea."

Lea grinned. "You're amazing, Sméagol."

Sméagol smiled warmly. "So are you, Precious."

"Do you wanna listen to some music?"

"Oh, yes! We loves music!"

"Okay. Hold on. I'll be right back." Lea hurried upstairs, and came back down with her laptop. She grabbed her TV tray, and placed her laptop on it. She went on YouTube, and typed in the search box. She clicked on a video, and it began to play a beautiful song, a breath-taking rendition of "You Raise Me Up."

"What's this?" Sméagol asked.

"This is Celtic Woman."

Sméagol watched and listened in complete awe. "Bless us and splash us, it's so beautiful!" he said breathlessly.

Lea smiled brightly. "Yeah, it is."

"We loves their dresses, too."

"Oh, me, too. I wish I had a dress like that."

"Lea would look so lovely in it, but Lea looks beautiful no matter what she wears."

Lea blushed. "Thank you."

When the song finished, she played another one—"Granuaile's Dance."

"This is their violinist, Máiréad Nesbitt," she said. "Well, she used to be their violinist, until she left a few years ago. But, watch what she can do."

Sméagol stared at the screen, and his jaw dropped in complete and utter amazement as he watched Máiréad glide, dance, and fly across the stage as she played her fiddle. "Wow!" he exhaled, totally speechless. "How does she do it?"

Lea laughed. "I know, right? I wonder the same thing all the time. She's amazing, isn't she?"

"Yes!"

After that song finished, Lea found another video. "This is their new violinist, Tara McNeill."

Once again, Sméagol's eyes were glued to the screen, and he was left completely speechless, watching Tara glide and spin as she played. "Wow!"

"Yeah," Lea agreed. "It's really hard to match what Máiréad can do, but Tara does it really well. I mean, she's not exactly like Máiréad. She brings her own special flavor to the group, but she's just as awesome as Máiréad."

"Why did Máiréad leave Celtic Woman?"

"She wanted to do her own solo work, and she wanted to work with other artists as well. It's like that a lot with Celtic Woman. The lineup changes a lot, because someone wants to leave and pursue a solo career or something different. Then, they bring in a new girl to fill their spot. I think it's really cool how they do that, actually. I mean, it's sad when one of the girls leaves, but it's also exciting. You get to see what she does on her own, and you also get to discover new talent. Plus, it means the Celtic Woman family just gets bigger."

"Yes, Sméagol likes that, too. Who's in Celtic Woman now?"

"The current lineup is Tara McNeil, Megan Walsh, Meiréad Carlin, and Éabha McMahon."

"Ohh."

Lea searched for a video of the current lineup, and clicked on their rendition of "Long Journey Home," originally by Elvis Costello. She pointed out every member as they appeared, so Sméagol would know who's who.

He watched in listened yet again in awe. His eyes filled with tears. "It's so beautiful," he sniffled.

Lea grinned. "You're not the only one who's been reduced to tears by their music. They've had me bawling my eyes out many times."

"Awwww, Precious." Sméagol patted Lea's back.

Lea's smile grew bigger. "You're so sweet, Sméagol. I'm really glad I met you. I'm so glad Aini brought you here."

Sméagol hugged Lea. "We are, too, Precious Lea."

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon together, watching Celtic Woman videos and bonding over their love for music. Sméagol hadn't experienced the joy of music, laughter, and friendship, not for a long time, and certainly never anything like this before. Gollum, however, had never, ever had the pleasure of sharing such magical moments with anybody before, nor had he ever felt true and pure joy before. It was overwhelming to him, but in a good way. It meant everything to him. It meant everything to both of them.