A few weeks later, Sméagol found Lea on her front porch swing, giggling and playing with her favorite sweater blanket. He grinned at her as he sat next to her, gently rubbing her shoulder.
"What's it doing, silly?" Sméagol teased.
Lea smiled at Sméagol. "Just stimming."
"Why is it stimming, Precious?"
"Because, I'm happy, and life's fluffy sweater is tickling me." She rubbed her sweater blanket against her face and cooed happily.
Sméagol giggled. "Awww, it's so cute," he said as he hugged her.
Lea giggled like an innocent child as she tickled her face and neck with her blanket.
Sméagol took hold of the blanket, and tickled Lea's neck with it.
Lea giggled even more. "Sweeeaaaterrr!" she squealed softly.
Sméagol couldn't stop smiling and laughing as he continued tickling and caressing her. His heart melted at the sound of her laughter and soft squealing. He wrapped the blanket around her, and then, threw his arms around her. "Awwww," he swooned as he kissed her. "Lea's the cutest little thing we've ever seen," he said in a cutesy voice as he kissed her again. "And, we loves her so much."
"I love you more," Lea flirted.
"No, we loves you more, Precious."
"No, I love you more."
"No, beautiful Lea," Gollum said in a cutesy voice, "we loves you more."
"No, you," Lea flirted.
"No, you."
Lea and Sméagol giggled as they kissed.
"You make me so happy," said Lea. "That's why I was stimming with my fluffy sweater blanket. I was thinking about you."
"Awwww." Sméagol held Lea tightly. "Our precious."
Lea smiled brightly. "So, are you enjoying the Bible studies?"
"Oh, yes, very much," said Gollum.
"Yes, we loves it," Sméagol agreed.
"That's awesome," said Lea. "I'm enjoying it, too. Plus, it's helping me get closer to God."
"Us, too."
"I mean, I've always believed in him, always, but... I don't know. I never really felt close to him. I felt too insecure about myself and the person I am. I felt like I wasn't good enough for him, especially when people would use religion to criticize me."
"What's it saying?" asked Gollum.
"Like, when someone would say stuff like, 'You shouldn't do that, because God doesn't like that' or stuff like that. People who are righteous, but in the wrong way. Like, they think they're better, because they're devout Christians."
"Oh, I understand what it means."
"Yeah, but what they forget is, God doesn't want us to judge each other unfairly, and that's exactly what they do to people who don't think the way they do. Val was like that sometimes. She criticized me for having sex with Ivan, because we weren't married. Or, if I got pissed off about something, she used Bible verses to call me out. So, I still believed, but I thought that I wasn't good enough. And, all the bad stuff that happened to me, I felt like it was God punishing me for all my sins, like I deserved all the heartache and pain I went through. Now, I know that God doesn't do that. He forgives us, no matter how bad the sin is. Then, he forgets the sin, and gives us a clean slate again."
Sméagol looked to the sky and smiled. "He gave us a clean slate when he sent Aini to rescue us. Our sins were the worst kind, yet he gave us another chance."
"That's the other thing. In his eyes, no sin is better or worse. A sin is a sin, and it can be forgiven no matter what it is. Maybe to other people, your sins are way worse than others, but in God's eyes, all sins are equal. We're all sinners, but he forgives and loves us all equally." She sighed reflectively as she looked up at the sky. "Right now, I can really feel His love." Then, she looked at Sméagol. "Like I said before, I always believed in him, but... when I look at you, I know for sure he exists."
Sméagol's eyes filled with tears.
Lea continued. "Before I met you, I was never good enough, not in the eyes of the guys I dated or the friends that turned on me. Then, you came along, and you accepted me exactly the way I was. You've seen my darkest side, and you never blinked once, never even thought about giving up on me. You stayed by my side. Like, the first time I had an explosive meltdown in fromt of you, you didn't run off. You stayed through it all. You helped me come out of it, and you were there long after it was over. Or, the time I tried to kill myself when I was getting bullied online. We hadn't even known each other for a week, yet we were already best friends. That never happens with me. I never open up to people that fast. I never trust people that quickly. A lot of times, it takes forever for me to get close to someone, if I even do. The only other time I got close to someone super fast was when I met Bri."
"What made you trust us so fast, Precious?" asked Gollum.
"The first night I met you at the group, when you sang your song, I could feel your pain. I could relate to everything you were saying, and I could hear it in your voice that you were hurting even worse than I was. Then, when you came over to comfort me, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and I knew I met a real-life angel."
Sméagol began to tear up again. "An angel?" he inquired breathlessly.
"It thinks we're an angel?" Gollum added.
"No," said Lea. "I know you are, because you saved me. Every time I see your face, every time I hear your voice, every time I feel your touch, every time you put your arms around me, no matter how bad things get, I know everything will be okay again."
"Nobody has ever said that to us before," Gollum sniffled, "never."
"That's because they didn't know the real you."
"No, it's because we hurt them, and what we did, it could never be forgiven. They hates us."
"You think that was who you really wore at the time, but I see it differently. You were sucked in by a powerful, dark force of magic, and it consumed you for so long that you didn't know how to live without it. All you could think of was how to get it back, and because of it's power, you would do anything, anything, just to get it back again."
"Even kill the hobbitses who tried to help us," Gollum sobbed.
"But, you didn't. Something stopped you."
"We bit the Master's finger off."
"But, think of it this way. If the situation were reversed, and you had to carry the ring to Mordor to destroy it, and Frodo was the one sucked in for centuries, trying to get it back, do you think he would've done the same thing to get it back from you?"
Gollum thought for a moment. "Yes."
"See what I mean? It wouldn't have been his fault, just like it's not yours. The ring's power was so strong and screwed up that it sucked you in. Even after Bilbo took it, you were still sucked in for years after, because you had it for so long. And, you felt like you didn't have purpose without the ring, no reason to live if it didn't exist anymore, because nobody was there to help you and love you."
"The Master was."
"Yeah, but because he was carrying the ring, you were very easily sucked in by its power. If you had met him under a different circumstance, like maybe if he didn't have the ring, but he still wanted to help you, what would you have done then? Do you think things would've been different then?"
Gollum thought again. "I don't know."
"I think they would be, because, well, I don't have the ring, and look at us."
"But, we didn't know what love and friendship was. Sméagol did, but I never listened to him."
"But, Frodo seems like the kind of person who could've taught you about it."
"It makes a point, Precious," Sméagol said to Gollum.
Gollum thought about what Lea said. "Maybe we could have been friends with the hobbitses if not for the Precious."
"See? Gollum, I know you never experienced love and friendship before, but I still believe that you were never truly evil. If you were, you would've treated me like shit, but you are just as sweet and wonderful and loving and kind to me as Sméagol is. Let's not forget you kicked Ivan's ass for me. If you were an evil person, you wouldn't have done that for me. Gollum, you are a beautiful person, and you have a big heart, you and Sméagol both. I truly believe with all my heart that this is who you really are."
Gollum looked into Lea's eyes, and smiled so brightly as he kissed her lips. "I love you, my precious, so much."
Lea smiled back. "I love you, too." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Hey, you wanna go to the beach?"