Last Day of Summer - Skillet

Inspired by an LOTR skin and Skillet's song. It made sense.

(I also added Plumb's Surfer Girl Replies at the beach. Yeah, there probably weren't surf boards, but it fit, if only to me)

Disclaimer: I don't own Skillet(sniff), LOTR, or anything else copyrighted.

PART I

Frodo was sitting in the branches of a large tree. For a hobbit, it had been quite a climb. It was the last day before hobbit classes started again. For Frodo was only 20 by the Shire's calendar, which meant he had twelve more years before he became an adult. His uncle Bilbo had taken him into Bag-End, but Frodo was still a young hobbit, and young hobbits had to go to class.

Frodo let the book fall close, and his eyes had the same idea. How long he sat up there he did not know.


"Frodo Baggins, are you going to sleep in that tree all day?"

Frodo's eyes snapped open. Bilbo stood there smiling at him. "Sleep all day? I've barely closed my eyes, uncle."

"As you say, but this is your last day of freedom."

"I know."

"No grand adventures planned?"

"None I can think of."

"Well?"

"What adventures can I have? There's no dragons, dwarves, or magicians in the Shire, and haven't been for years."

"Frodo, you know that Gandalf comes and goes as he pleases."

"Yes, but I wish he'd come and send me on an adventure."

"He may yet. I had passed my learning days when he came to me."

"I know, Bilbo. I know."


Bilbo had a strange look in his eyes. "The day will come, Frodo. Much sooner than you will want."


Frodo waited until Bilbo had gone back inside. He tucked his book into the hollow above his feet, and quickly climbed down the tree.


"Frodo Baggins! You must come with me!"

Frodo turned, startled to hear Meriadoc Brandybuck's voice.

"Why?"

"Because I've found a way to the ocean that Gandalf tells tales about! And it only breaks a few rules. I know how strict Bilbo is with you."

Frodo laughed. "Not Bilbo. My aunt."

Merry shrugged. "Whatever."



After following Merry for an hour, he found that the tunnel they crawled through was starting to make his head pound.

""What is that crashing noise I hear?"

"Well, I don't rightly know, but I would bet you a lesson tomorrow morning that it's a wave-the water in the ocean."


Frodo said no more. Ahead of Merry's head was a massive blue, churning and moving, never resting.

Frodo did what any youth would. He tore off his shirt, and ran after Merry, yelling with him. The water was shiveringly cold, and it was not as calm as the ponds and streams he was used to.

Neither saw the storm clouds close in. They heard the crashes, but couldn't distinguish it from the water.

When the rain began to pound on their heads, they realized it was running. Humans were using boards of wood, and swimming out with them, their ankles connected to the board with cord. A tall girl got out a fair distance, and suddenly stood on the board, riding the wave of white foam into the shore line.


Laughing, and tossing her black curls, she approached Frodo. "Hobbits, here? Didn't take you for the adventurous type. Care to try my board?"

Frodo took the board, and nearly collapsed with the weight of it She laughed. "My name's Tiffany. What's yours?"

Frodo nodded his head. "Frodo Baggins. Pleased to meet you."

Tiffany laughed again, the sound musical. "I prefer singing, but a storm? The surf's dangerous now! Not the best time to learn, but," Tiffany shrugged, smiling sweetly. "More fun when you don't know if you'll make it to the beach without falling."


Merry had attached the cord to his foot already, and when another hobbit appeared, taking his board, and running, Merry was carried along, shouting at the hobbit, who he apparently knew.

"Pippin! I'll have your head for this!"

Frodo laughed with Tiffany. "THAT's Pippin? His skin's so brown!"

Tiffany continued to laugh. "Of course! He's spent the summer out here, so he's tan."

Frodo blushed. "I didn't think of that. Hobbits usually aren't this adventurous."

Tiffany tossed her hair, sending beads of water down on Frodo's head.

"Can you swim?"

"In calm water."

"Have you swam in the sea before?"

"No."

"Then I'll go out with you. We'll take Tim's board."


Before Frodo knew what was happening, he was running after Tiffany, trying to keep up with her. When she reached the water's edge, she waited for him. She swung him over her back, and ran into the surf.

Frodo yelled and laughed, and she continued to laugh, both choking on the water, but not wanting to stop.

They got up to Tiffany's stomach, and she threw him over her head, as hard as she could. He landed several feet out, past the large waves. The currents tried to pull him back.

He watched Tiffany take off her scarves to reveal a yellow suit covering her body. She swam easier, and quickly reached him.

"Whew! Waterlogged is not good in this water. Ready?"


"Tiff! Who's this?"

Introductions went around, and Tim carefully adjusted the band on his board to match Frodo's foot, and attached it. "Follow him, Tiff. No telling what the undertow would do to one so small."


She pushed Frodo down on his board, and pulled the board out to the first waves. "Ready?"

Frodo took a deep breath and nodded. "Stand up then." He did so, and all of a sudden, a wave came, and he waved his arms back and forth, trying to keep his balance. He bent his knees the way he'd seen the others, and suddenly he was at the shore, tripping as the board caught at the sand.


"Fun?"

Frodo nodded. "You'll have to come out again. Class starts for us tomorrow though."

They sat drying in the sun, talking about the village she'd come from, and the shire, realizing the similarities.


All of a sudden, two figures came running towards them. One moved slowly, his grey robes floating in the wind, and the other a boy not much older than Tiffany.

"Hey! Catch some waves?"

Tiffany jumped, and embraced him. He kissed her, and Frodo felt like standing up to fight.

Tiffany turned to him. "Frodo, I'd like you to meet John, my boyfriend."

Frodo was crushed. She was just a very friendly human. She obviously had feelings for this man, and he for her.

His welcome was stiff.


"Well, Frodo Baggins, you have the shire in an uproar. I see Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck out in the water, turning brown. Even you are turning a slight tan color. Your teacher will be mortified tomorrow morning. What secret magician's cave did Merry find and burrow through?"

Frodo smiled. "I don't know, but this has been the best day I've had the summer, even if it is the last."


Tiffany had snuck up behind him, and picked him up. She kissed his cheek. "Farewell, fair hobbit. You learn quickly. We will have to try this again."

It was plain that Gandalf would ensure it would not, and the parting was formal.

*~*

Back at Bag End, Frodo told Bilbo his adventures. "Well! You've now seen the see, and ridden upon a wood slab in the water. Surprised you didn't break your neck!"

Frodo hung his head.

Bilbo's hand came down on his shoulder. "Can't wait to tell the relatives I've trained you well."

Frodo laughed with his uncle, imagining their faces.

___
A/N: A one shot. Inspired by, well, I've already said that. Hope you enjoyed it. If you don't know those two songs, I'm sorry. The pic I got started with is on my winamp skin, Frodo looking miserable reading a large book, in a tree. Goodbye now!
Aya Eliya