The Consort of Mordor: a Sauron x Bilbo

Celebrations and Desperations

A few nights, Bilbo was sleeping when he found himself in the real Bag End facing a younger but older-looking version of himself who was icing a cake.

Frodo, no younger than thirteen-years-old, ran by towards the garden door, passing Sauron who was leaning against the counter behind the older of the two hobbits.

"He is going to play in your tomatoes again, my love." Sauron said, amusement in his voice, wrapping his arms around Bilbo's waist and laying his head on his curls

Bilbo watched his past self reach for the pocket he always kept the ring in, caressing it for a second before leaning out the back door and telling Frodo to leave the poor tomato plants alone, unknowingly going back into the Dark Lord's embrace.

Sauron continued to hold the hobbit as he worked on the cake, watching as Bilbo put on the birthday candles and set the cake on the table.

The memory sped up until the party began and relatives were there to celebrate Frodo and Bilbo's birthday.

Memory Bilbo struggled to get the match he held to light when striking the box, and after three attempts Sauron put his fingertips on the match and it lit.

The party then resumed, with the birthday boys being sung to and receiving gifts.

***

The following morning, during breakfast, Bilbo asked for the date.

"It is September twenty-first." Sauron said, "We are halfway through our deal."

"Indeed." The hobbit nodded, folding his hands on his lap, "I had a request, for my birthday tomorrow."

The Dark Lord looked at him, "Which would be?"

"Can the boys be awake tomorrow?" Bilbo requested, "Even if it is just for the day, I know we still have six months left of our arrangement, but I thought Frodo might like to be awake for his birthday."

Sauron let out a brief sigh, "I will admit that I have been avoiding this discussion for a while, but we need to have a major discussion about waking him up before I do so."

"Why? Is something wrong?" He asked, worried for his nephew

The maia nodded, "The ring was not as kind to him as it was to you. With the war effort taking most of my attention during his journey, the ring did not have my direct influence stopping it from acting on its nature. It destroyed him, mentally. He was not in healing sleep when I first brought him here from Orodruin but I put him in it after he kept trying to hurt himself and Samwise. I had hoped, given time, he would heal. I have kept watch through my connection to him, but he is not recovering."

Bilbo's green eyes brimmed with tears as the full realization of what he burdened Frodo with crashed upon him: he damned Frodo to a fate worse than death.

Sauron wiped the tears away before they could shed, "Do not despair, I have a solution."

"What?" The writer asked

"I can reverse what happened to him: by making him younger as I did you, but also de-age his mind so all the traumas are washed away." Mairon explained

Bilbo covered his mouth with his hands, "Do you truly think it that drastic? That the only way to help him is to erase everything he is?"

"Not all the way, just enough to wash away all that the ring did. Most likely just to fourteen years old." Sauron said, "It washes away as much of the damage as possible without sacrificing his personality and early childhood memories, It will be like he just moved in with you all over again."

Bilbo bit his lip, "I would like to talk to him before I agree to this."

"I will not risk your safety needlessly by waking him." The Dark Lord denied, "No, tonight, I will link your dreams with his, so you can see for yourself."

***

When Bilbo closed his eyes to rest that night, it took a few minutes for sleep to claim him, but when it did he felt what he knew to be Sauron's magic -how strange, he thought momentarily, to know the Dark Lord so well that even the sensation of his magic was familiar- and he found himself not in his usual field of flowers, instead in a wasteland of a Hobbiton.

"Frodo?!" The writer called out, beginning to look for his nephew

Naturally, he got no response, so he began to search the ruined town starting with all the places he knew Frodo frequented in reality.

None of those locations yielded any hint of his nephew, so he eventually made his way to Bag End, finding it half-sunken and falling apart, maneuvering through the rubble until he arrived at Frodo's bedroom.

Laying on the bed, curled up tightly in on himself, was the hobbit he was looking for.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Bilbo tentatively put a hand on Frodo's shoulder, whispering the boy's name.

"Uncle?" Frodo asked, softly, looking up at him, "Are we dead?"

Bilbo shook his head, "No, sweet boy, we are alive. This is but a bad dream."

"Then why are you young?" The brunet inquired

"It is a long story, that I will tell in detail soon, but it is because of Sauron." The blond replied, "He made me young again."

"Why would he do that?"

"The ring, he was watching us through it the entire time I had it and he fell in love with me." Bilbo answered, giving a half-serious chuckle before adding, "Almost obsessively in love with me. And that is just the way I would like to keep it."

Frodo shook his head and murmured. "You want it that way because as long as he is enamored with you he won't turn his gaze toward me."

"Yes that was how it was at first, but...I am beginning to feel fond of him as well." The older hobbit admitted, "And now that I have had a chance to talk to you I can convince him to let you wake up."

"No, I can't! I'm turning into Gollum! All I think about is the Ring, it is haunting me, I was too weak to destroy it and now it is corrupting me even more!" The younger frantically denied, tears coming to his blue eyes, "This is the first clarity I have had since arriving in Mordor, please don't let me hurt you or Sam."

"Mairon said-" Bilbo began, before getting cut off

"Mairon?" Frodo interrupted

"Sauron," Bilbo corrected, "said that he can help with that, make all that pain go away for you. Do you want me to agree to it? You would be a faunt again."

"I just want the pain to go away." The brunet begged, his tears slipping freely, "I do not want to think of that ring anymore."

"Okay, I will tell him as much in the morning." Bilbo promised, trying to comfort him by wiping his tears away

But, Frodo promptly bit his hand, his pupils going wide as he accused him of stealing the 'precious'.

Bilbo was pulled from Frodo's dreams and returned to his own field of flowers where Sauron was waiting for him.

"Do you see my point now, my love?" Mairon asked

"Yes." The hobbit nodded, "But what will become of Sam?"

"Samwise was affected by his proximity to the ring, but as he never had any extended contact his thoughts and mental state are unknown to me." The maia answered, "But, knowing his character, I believe he would agree to have his aging reverse so he can accompany Frodo through life once again."