The Journey Alone: Chapter 1 The Proposal
September 22, 3001 (T.A.) 1401 (S.R.)
Pearl's POV
"Come on, Pearl!" Pippin yelled to me. "I want to get some food before it's all gone!"
"I'm coming!" I said, annoyed. My two younger sisters had forced me to watch Pippin, troublesome tween that he was. They could not be bothered with watching "darling (yet annoying) little Pippin." And what were they doing? Dancing, eating, and flirting with every young gentlehobbit at the party. There were a lot of them, since it was Bilbo's biggest birthday party ever. He deserved it, whatever those more "respectable" hobbits said. Tooks can appreciate the adventuresome.
I finally caught up to Pippin. It wasn't hard at all, considering that he wasn't going anywhere at the moment—he was at a table stuffing his face with food. And he wasn't the only one. The table was surrounded by Brandybucks doing what only hobbits do best: eat.
Just then, I noticed a particular Brandybuck that I was not too happy to see. Simultaneously, I groaned, while Pippin squealed in delight.
"Merry!" he screamed, jumping up from the table. He ran around to where the infamous Brandybuck sat.
"Pippin!" Merry yelled in surprise. They hugged and started jabbering about the excellent food.
"Really, Pippin? It's as if you hadn't seen each other in years! You saw each other yesterday!" I said, completely exasperated. Of course, though, they ignored me.
One of the Brandybucks at the table was watching the proceedings. He chuckled and looked at me.
"Those two are like peas in a pod!" he told me. I smiled, agreeing. Unfortunately, in the short moment that I was speaking to the Brandybuck, the two tweens had bolted. I grimaced; nodded to the hobbit I had been speaking to and ran after them. He laughed again and took another sip of ale. Only later did I realize that I had been speaking to Merry's father, the Master of Buckland.
I followed the tweens as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast because of all the hobbits, tables, chairs, tents, and other party paraphernalia scattered around. The two hobbits seemed to have no particular goal in mind. Unless you count grabbing as much food as possible, knocking into the most hobbits as possible, and causing as much mischief as possible as a goal! I must've looked like a fool, and I knew it. I had begun chasing them by yelling at them to stop, but I quickly abandoned that idea as the yelling had absolutely no effect on them.
I didn't notice much as I was chasing them, (I had to keep my eye on them or I'd lose them) but I did notice Frodo Baggins watching me. He was leaning against a pole that was holding up a banner, drinking ale and smirking at me. I noticed him and immediately stopped running. Then he blushed and looked away, taking another sip of ale.
I looked back to where Merry and Pippin had been. They were gone, and I couldn't see them anywhere from where I was standing. So I sank into the nearest chair and watched the dancing for awhile.
Frodo's POV
"Pleased to see you, Uncle Paladin, Aunt Eglantine," I said.
"And you as well," Uncle Paladin's deep voice said. They moved on to greet Bilbo. I sighed. Greeting guests is boring, especially when you have to do it for over an hour when you could be having fun. But I plastered a smile on my face for the next few guests arriving. And of course the next few guests were Pervinca and Pimpernel Took: the most insufferable hobbit girls in the entire Shire. They batted their eyelashes at me and were giggling constantly. I groaned inwardly, but I tried to be polite, for Bilbo's sake if not my own. Hobbit girls were always unashamedly flirting with me.
"Hello Frodo!" Pimperenel said flirtatiously. She batted her eyelashes again and flashed a sickly sweet smile across her face.
"Do you have a dancing partner tonight?" Pervinca asked coyly.
"As a matter of fact, I do," I said, improvising quickly. "I promised Lobelia Sackville-Baggins that I would dance with her all night."
The two Tooks looked horrified and moved onto Bilbo quickly. As soon as they had passed into the party, Bilbo leaned in to whisper to me.
"You didn't actually promise Lobelia that you'd dance with her, did you?" he asked, horrified. I shook my head, barely containing a laugh.
"In that case, good save," Bilbo said, chuckling a bit.
The next two guests were Pearl and Pippin Took. I was quite happy to see Pippin as I hadn't seen him in a while. I greeted him heartily and dreaded when he moved on to greet Bilbo. I assumed Pearl would act similarly to her sisters. But she didn't, to my surprise. She greeted me politely and gave me a quick hug, as many of my other relatives had.
This time, however, I felt my face go pink. She looked at me as she pulled away, and I saw her blush as well. And I noticed for the first time how green her eyes were. Exactly like Pippin's. She moved to Bilbo quite quickly after that. Bilbo leaned in to whisper to me again.
"Maybe you should ask her to dance. She has grown up prettily since I last saw her," Bilbo said. He looked at me mischievously. He had probably noticed our awkward interaction and our blushes. Bilbo never missed a thing, no matter how old he was. He winked, and we went back to greeting more guests.
Later, I sat at a table with Sam, our gardener and my friend. We were drinking ale and watching the dancing. I soon noticed that Sam was watching someone in particular.
"Sam, who are you watching?" I asked.
"No one," he answered quickly, looking sheepish.
"It's Rosie Cotton, isn't it? She is looking quite pretty tonight," I said, teasing him. Sam muttered something about me watching Pearl, and I promptly blushed.
"I think I'll have another ale," Sam said, getting up and hoping to avoid me. I was too quick for him though.
"Go on, ask Rosie for a dance!" I said, laughing. I shoved him toward Rosie as she passed, and laughed as he grabbed her hands and smiled brightly.
The hobbit next to me, some Bolger or Boffin or someone was getting quite a bit drunk, however, and was getting louder and more annoying by the minute. I moved to where I could see the dancing and the rest of the party.
That's when I noticed Pearl again. She was chasing both Merry and Pippin all around the party. I turned my attention to her and laughed at her attempts to catch the two tweens. Everybody who knows those two hobbits knows that the only way to get Merry and Pippin to listen is to give them food!
Those two hobbits managed to make several laps around the entire party before Pearl noticed me. She stopped chasing Merry and Pippin and stared at me looking confused and slightly embarrassed. I was mortified that she had caught me looking at her and I blushed and looked away.
Something made me think of what Bilbo said about dancing with Pearl. So I got up m nerve and went over to where Pearl was sitting. I held up my hand and bowed.
"Would you like to have this dance with me, Pearl?" I asked. I was probably blushing, but I smiled anyway.
Pearl's POV
"Would you like to dance with me, Pearl?" he asked me, blushing. He smiled, and his smile went all the way to his bright blue eyes. I was not expecting him to abruptly ask me to dance right then, and I was so surprised that I only sat and stared into his eyes for what seemed like hours.
Finally, I said yes and he grabbed my hand and we went straight into dancing. Then he suddenly started laughing. I was appalled: I thought he was laughing at my dancing.
"Frodo Baggins! If you're going to laugh at me, I'm not going to dance with you!" I said indignantly. He continued laughing.
"No! No! It's just…" he could barely speak, he was laughing so much. "It's just… you chasing Merry and Pippin…" He started laughing even more, and still continued to dance.
Then I finally broke down and started laughing, too. We danced for a bit more, and then I noticed that Pippin was playing the bagpipes in the band that was playing the music we were dancing to.
"I think I've found Pippin," I said slyly to Frodo. We both started laughing again. And we danced and talked until Bilbo went up to give his speech.
I left Frodo to watch Bilbo give his speech while I went to find Pippin and give him a scolding. I found him talking to the other musicians.
"Peregrin Took! What do you think you've been doing? You made me look like a fool in front of everybody!" I scolded him.
"But..." Pippin started, but that was all he got out before Bilbo started to speak and we all had to be quiet.
Frodo's POV
I couldn't believe it. Bilbo had vanished before our eyes. I hoped that he was just playing a trick on all of the annoying relatives, but I think I knew in my heart that he was gone for good.
I went to go find Pearl. She was standing with Pippin looking as shocked as I was.
"Pearl, could I borrow you for a moment?" I asked, determined to do what I was going to do.
"Yes, of course, Frodo. Pervinca! Mind Pippin for a moment!" she yelled over to her sister. "Well, what is it?" she asked. Suddenly I was nervous.
"Come walk with me," I said. As we walked, our hands joined, though I did not notice it at the time. I took her to the top of the hill, which was, and is, one of my favorite spots in the Shire, especially because you can see so far over the Shire.
Once we got there, we sat on a bench Bilbo had put there for me because I spent so much time there. We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the magnificent sight of the stars and the party still going on below us. Finally, Pearl spoke softly.
"What is it Frodo? You are nervous," she said.
"You know me well," I said. I had thought that I had hidden my nervousness, but she saw right through it.
"Pearl, will you marry me?" I asked, totally sincere. Her mouth dropped open.
"Are you drunk?" she asked, aghast.
"No! I love you, Pearl. We've known each other for our entire lives. And I don't think your father or Bilbo would have any objection," I explained. Pearl seemed to be in shock.
"Oh my stars! Yes!" she said. And I kissed her.
TBC
