(Just to give everyone the go ahead, this fic is from the actual book series, however, I have added a few details from the movie that would be nice touches.)

Introduction

Hobbits are mysterious creatures. No one really knows where the name "hobbit" came from, but it is suspected that it is derived from the elfish word "holbytla" which when translated means "hole dwellers"
Also, it should be known that I have changed the timeline a bit. Whereas in Tolkien's works, Pippin was 11 when Bilbo's party and disappearance took place; I have taken the liberty to change his age. Please do not let this influence the ages that Tolkien pre-established. ^_^

The soft breeze blew down into Hobbiton. It was calming, yet mysterious. As it rustled through the leaves and branches of an old willow tree, one would think it normal for breezes to be blowing through the trees on a soft spring day, and it was perfectly normal. But it was the day that she arrived. Some say that she was brought to Hobbiton by the strange breeze. Some said that the two hobbitmaids she held in each hand were not her children, but her slaves that she used to perform her bidding. Some said that she held certain powers, both evil and good. Others even then said that she had a bit of elf in her. es, it was quite a gossip stirring event. She was not brought into Hobbiton by the strange breeze, the two hobbitmaids that stood by her were her own children, she did not have any powers to her name, and she did not have any elf in her. She was a complete hobbit, named Sorrel. Some recalled the day when she appeared walking the dusty road leading into the small village, her two daughters on either side of her, clasping both of her hands and sometimes running ahead playfully. As soon as one of her hands were free, she would immediately support her back with it until it was quickly scooped up again by one hand smaller. As the party trotted into Hobbiton, anyone could see with their prying eyes that she was with child. Most people turned up their noses at the trio, thinking them too destitute to stay long in Hobbiton. However, this young hobbitess was far from destitute but actually carrying quite a large amount of money. With this money, Sorrel was able to buy a small home and live there with her two daughters. The place was named "Long Cleeve" because of the large cleft in the hill nearby. Hobbiton eventually accepted them into society, but they were always considered a bit odd. Only a few months after she arrived, Sorrel gave birth to another daughter. She named her Diamond, after the glittering stars that she loved so much. However, this birth seemed to "remind" Hobbiton of the mysteriousness of who this child's father was. Many approached Sorrel and would ask her who her husband was before his supposed death. "Supposed" meaning that since Sorrel never talked about her husband, everyone assumed he was dead. And this reaction was the same to the question as to who he was. Sorrel would simply turn and walk away or perhaps whisper something sadly under her breath. Yes, many considered her odd and aloof. Some said to have witnessed her walking in the forest under a full moon, occasionally with her older daughters but not often. On these nightly treks into the woods, she would always have small Diamond in her arms, whispering things to her and sometimes singing to her. But she was not singing the regular lullabies that all the hobbit mothers sang...she would sing the songs of old. The songs of the Vanyar and about Iluvatar. Sometimes the songs were in Elven tongue, or in Quenya. Her two other daughters, Delaney and Della, would often be at home asleep every night as their mother would walk out to the forest with their tiny sister. It was at times like these that they knew that there was something different and special about her sister, that their mother would slightly favor her so. Delaney and Della didn't know either who Diamond's father was. Their mother never spoke of it. They only know and remember to this day that one day their mother came home one night from walking in the woods around Crickhollow, where they used to live, and said that they were leaving and not coming back. She also told them briefly that they were going to have another sister. The girls were confused by this, but never asked any questions.

Years passed.

Young Diamond grew in grace and beauty and wisdom, as did her sisters. Eventually, though slowly, the family was accepted into Hobbiton society and they were no longer gossiped about. It was one fateful day that the three young girls, at the ages of 5,. 13, and 16 when they were introduced to the immediate Took family, who by that time was high in social rank, having both money and power at the time. It all started as Eglatine Banks-Took became fast friends with Sorrel, seeing that Eglatine was one of the first few hobbits to become associated with her. Now it was, that it was a tradition in the great Took family to keep it large and to have many heirs to your name. Keeping on with this strong tradition, Eglatine had four children, three girls and one boy, Pearl, who was 24 and already had a fiance, Pimpernel, who was 21 and being courted, Pervinca, who was 15, and lastly, Peregrin, who was merely 10 years old and quite a menace at that age. Appropriately, the phrase "at the age" is not correct. Peregrin had always been a menace. As was obvious, Sorrel introduced her children to Eglatine's and Eglatine did the same. Pervinca, Della, and Delaney immediately took a liking to each other, which is understandable. Young Pervinca was also a beautiful, polite and proper girl with whom one would easily get along with. Her parents were very proud of her, since she was successful in her studies and among her peers. Now, we get to young Peregrin. He was most often called "Pippin" and for one thing, he was quite a disappointment to the family. Having been poked and prod and pinched into politeness and manners your whole life, one cannot help but go a wee bit mad about it all and simply rebel. This was Pippin's case. He was quite a disgrace to his mother and an embarrassment to his father. When one spoke about the "delightful Took children" the conversation would often be along the lines of: "My, how incredibly wonderful Eglatine's children are! So polite and honest! All of them except for that dreadful boy. What a disgrace he must be! One wonders how he could have turned out like that being raised by such superb parents...*tsk*" this would be followed by much shaking of heads and clicking of tongues. Yes, the poor boy was talked about, almost as much as Sorrel was. This day was no different. He was going around, pulling on Pervinca's braids and giggling. Of course, after Pervinca and Delaney and Della had gone off, he was introduced to Diamond. Diamond was a very smart young hobbit, even at her young age, and she knew from first glance at Peregrin, that this boy was trouble itself. Peregrin, however, was smart too, and he knew from first glance at Diamond, that she would be a wonderful specimen to pester, seeing that his own sisters had grown out of being bothered by his behavior. And so, this strange, twisting relationship began. Pippin and Diamond saw each other almost every day after that. Pippin would annoy Diamond, and Diamond would show it. However, there was a bond of mutual warmth that seemed always present when they were around each other. Every hobbit in Hobbiton seemed amazed at how quickly Diamond and Pippin became close friends. Sorrel and Eglatine could only guess that, since the both of them were the youngest child, they must surely have some sort of common level on understanding. This was true, many a time would one of them seek out the other when there was a problem with an older sibling. The rest of Hobbiton simply stood back and watched the two grow up together, all the while whispering of affiacement....

17 years later

Diamond squinted in the broken sunlight coming through the thick trees as she looked up to the sky. Sighing, she went back to writing in the blank book that she held in her lap and leaned back against the tree trunk. She was a very quiet girl, as many had found, and she liked to read by herself, secluded and silent. At twenty four, many were surprised that she was so shy. Both of her older sisters were outgoing and sociable. And, she was a tween after all. Tweens were the irresponsible ages between twenty and the coming of age of 33. Diamond tore herself away from her writing again and looked out among the trees and into the dense woods beyond. Suddenly, a pair of hands came up from behind her and covered her eyes, making her start. The owner of the hands was silent, waiting for Diamond to say something.

"Pippin, get your grubby hands off my face or so help me...."

Pippin quickly withdrew his hands from her face.

"Alright, alright! Take it easy!" he said, putting an innocent face on. Diamond only gave him a look. For as long as she could remember, Pippin had greeted her in this way. He knew it annoyed her like the dickens, so he enjoyed doing it.

"I'm assuming you are going to the coming of age party?" Pippin asked. Diamond's sister, Della, had just turned 33 a few weeks ago. Instead of a normal birthday party, Sorrel thought that a coming out party would be much more interesting. Personally, Diamond would have been sooner hung by the neck than go to a fancy party, but it was her sister after all....

"Yes....I guess so...."she muttered.

Pippin shifted and sat down cross-legged, leaning against the opposite side of the tree.

"Yeah. Fun. Get to go talk to stuffy people I don't even know and act all polite and have manners and...."Pippin shuddered.

Diamond rolled her eyes and shut her book.

"You know, it's not all that hard to get along with people," she pointed out rhetorically.

"I know that, its just..."Pippin seemed to be fighting for the words, "well, I mean, my whole life I've been expected to behave and when I finally get some freedom to go and bash around with you and Merry and maybe even Frodo, I feel like I'm constricted by these manners that have been forced into my head my whole life. I want to be able to live every day of my life without worrying what people think of me or my actions."

As he spoke, he got up from the tree and walked over to her side, pacing back and forth. Diamond listened patiently, however she had listened to this speech before, and she quietly, though not necessarily politely, went back to writing. Pippin eventually started repeating himself, so he plopped down on the ground in front of her and began muttering to himself. Diamond tried to ignore his mutterings but she caught phrases of "rude whelp of a lass..." and "scribblin away all day without a moments care of listenin..."

She looked up at him, witholding a grin. However, the grin quickly faded as she found, when she looked down into her lap, that her book was gone! Looking back to Pippin, she realized that he had grabbed it faster than she could blink and was now opening it. She lunged after the book, but he swiped it out of her reach.

"Pippin, give that back!" She shouted.

Really, shouting was the wrong thing to do, because Pippin merely realized that the book was important to her so, all the better that he now had it in his grasp. She lunged again, away from the tree and Pippin ducked the book out of the way just in time. She fell, face first onto the grass, causing Pippin to burst out into laughter. She pushed herself up.

"Pippin, don't read it!"
Pippin got the awful boyish grin that Diamond dreaded. Opening the book to the page she was writing in, he began to read. His brow furrowed. Diamond sighed heavily and hung her head.
"It-It's a story I'm writing," she explained.

A few silent moments passed as Pippin read more. Finally, he set the book down.
"Writing about dragons and elves and having adventures are we? And I thought that you were one of the more down-to-earth people that I knew," he said quietly, one eyebrow slowly rising. She grabbed the book out of his lap and set to wiping off the grass and dirt on its cover.

"You aren't the only one who wants to get out and have adventures, Pippin. Since I probably will never leave Hobbiton, I free myself by imagining it in my writing," then, a bit callously, she added, "As a Took, I should think you would be sympathetic instead of contradicting others that do the same things you do."

Pippin's countenance fell. He got up angrily.

"You are a hopeless hobbitmaid who does nothing but dream, I'd like to see where that gets you in life," he said, then turned and began to stalk off. Diamond stood up.

"And you, Peregrin Took, are a spoiled brat and a fool of a hobbit," she called after him. Pippin stopped short for a while, but didn't turn around. He just kept angrily walking.

Diamond sighed, frustrated. She sat down with her book and began to write. Trying to re submerse herself in the world she was making, she read her last line.

And, as the stars twinkled in there dark haven above, Arkanon felt the cold stab of

She thought. The cold stab of what? She was introducing a new character and didn't have context.

....of fear. She wrote, then crossed it out.

jealousy. No, no. She crossed it out again. She sighed again. Now, she couldn't even write since Pippin had upset her. Quickly, she stood up again, and, adjusting her skirt, began to trod home to get ready for the party.