Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters from Lord of the Rings. Isn't that surprising?
A/N: *NEW AND IMPROVED STUFFIES* This story will be one of those where one person writes one chapter then another writes the next. I, Caliam Baggins Took, will be responsible for the Hobbit's actions until they get to Rivendell with Strider. Wow, I've always wanted to say that. The Hobbits are my slaves! Mwahahaha. They do what I tell them to do. Pippin! Go to my room, you've been a very naughty boy! Okay... It's getting out of hand now.
Rated: PG, well at least this chapter.
Summary: It's the tale of the Fellowship all over again. But this time they have some female influence from Frodo's little sister and an elf.
Author: Caliam Baggins Took and potionsmaster(she's in charge if the next chapter so hold your horses!)
Title: Untitled at the moment
~Chapter 1:Caliam Baggins~
This story is unlike any story you have ever heard. It is about a magical quest to save a ring before it gets into the hands of evil. There is a small fellowship that was made in order to get the ring to Mount Doom in Mordor, the only place where it can be destroyed. The fellowship was made out of some very unlikely people, and we start our story out with just one of many of them.
* * * * * * * * *
Frodo Baggins sits quietly under a tree reading a book. He didn't usually like to read, but he wanted to do something other then run around in the fields acting like a lunatic(He and his friends usually did exactly that. Everyone one said they were too old for it but they never listened.)! So he had chosen a nice book and decided it was time for some peace and quiet. Or so he had hoped.
Before Frodo could even finish the first paragraph, he heard the sounds of his younger sister Caliam "Cali", and his two best friends Peregrin "Pippin" Took and Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck coming his way. By the sound of it they were playing tag.(Not the least childish. Well, in his mind.)
'Tag! You're it Pippin!' Frodo heard his sister yell out. She was a very loud person, and he knew that. You could be standing right next to her, and yet she would still yell. Caliam herself was normal sized for a hobbit her age.
She was 8 years younger then him.
Pippin and Merry insisted she was the prettiest hobbit in all the Shire. Dark blue eyes, long brown curly hair, a small nose with small freckles sprinkled across it were the most noticeable on her.
Sometimes when Merry would look at her all dreamy eyed, Frodo wished he could pound him to a bloody pulp. Guys are supposed to protect their sisters right?
He drops his book and scrambles up the tree, just missing the view of the approaching Merry, Cali, and Pippin. Hiding behind a thick patch of branches, he watches closely as they run toward the tree still playing their game of tag.
They stop suddenly and begin to look around.
'Cali, I thought your brother was supposed to be here?' Pippin asks after barely even surveying the land around him.
'He was . . . He must have gotten bored waiting for us and left.' Cali frowns and sits down under the tree in the exact spot her brother had been in. Frodo's eyes widen when he realizes that he had left his book down there. He was sure to get caught.
'Well, then, we shouldn't stop now! This game can go on for hours if we want it to!' Pippin laughs joyfully and offers his hands to help Cali up. She accepts and hoists her self up with the help of Pippin. He takes the advantage of her standing next to him by tagging her.
'Tag!' Pippin begins to run. Merry follows quickly behind him.
Cali stops for a moment, in shock. 'Hey! Come back here!' She runs after them.
Frodo takes this opportunity to jump down and begin reading again. Once again all was quiet and he was in peace by just reading his book. Until the sounds of a carriage approaching pulled him away.
It was Gandalf for sure! Frodo jumps up and runs toward the sound of the approaching carriage.
* * * * * * * * *
Caliam runs quickly thru the fields of the Shire. The wind was blowing her hair every which way, making it a complete mess, but she did not care. She tried to dodge the holes that came every so often but on most occasions the thick green grass would hide them. Her dress was dirty because of this, but she didn't care about that either.
In this game you had to keep your eye on the prize, or you would lose it quicker then you think. She was not going to let her hair being messed up or her dress being dirty ruin all the fun she was having.
Cali continues to run after Pippin and Merry. Being as they were older then her, they ran faster then her legs could manage. She watched as they dodged holes in the ground, and trees above the ground.
Before she knew it, she found that her thoughts were drifting way from the game she was playing. A bad sign when playing with someone like Merry or Pippin.
She was disappointed that they had not found Frodo. She had wished for him to join in on their little game of tag. It was not like him to not be where someone told him to be. But she thought that he *had* gotten bored and left. But why leave his friends? Maybe he is in one of those moods where he does not want to see anyone. He just wants to be left alone and he will do anything to get out of company's' reach.
Cali stops and frowns. Merry and Pippin were gone! She looked around for a couple moments; spinning is circles to see all the surroundings. Realizing that no one was around she stops.
'Okay, Merry and Pippin! You can come out now!'
She waits a few seconds and when no answer comes she gets angry.
'This isn't funny! Please come out . . .'
Cali found herself getting worried. She knew that the scare of her life was about to come. Usually when Merry and Pippin did something like this it means they would pop up minutes later and scare the living daylights out of her.
She sighs. She didn't feel like being scared at that moment.
Now she had to decide what exactly to do. Stay there, or run away and play a little game of hide-and-go-seek with them. She thought it funny that maybe if she would go and hide, leaving Merry and Pippin alone to scare themselves, that maybe they would panic. She had done it to them before. The results were outstanding. Merry and Pippin had realized that *they* had lost her, so they were forced to go and tell Frodo. Frodo got extremely mad at them and forced them to go and search the Shire up-and-down for her. She showed up back at Bag End an hour later singing and dancing. She did not even get in the least bit of trouble, while poor Merry and Pippin were forced the next day to do the yard work at Bag End.
Cali laughs to herself. It was the most perfect plan. But this time, she would make it look far worse then the happenings of before. She looks down at her dress, almost perfect for what she was thinking. Maybe a little more rips and tears and then perfection would be established.
She begins to run off, calling Merry and Pippin's name the whole way. She wanted to make it look as realistic as possible. Before she could get far, though, someone tackled her from behind. They fell to the ground in a heap. She managed to push the person off her. But when she tried to stand up somehow the person kept her down.
'You're not getting us in trouble this time!' The person says this and laughs. Instantly Cali recognizes the voice. It was Pippin. But this didn't surprise her.
'Pippin! Please let me go!' Cali says, her voice shaky like she was about to cry. She was faking it, though.
'And why should it? So you can go and get yourself lost and then blame it on me and Merry?' Pippin asks her in a more serious tone then usual.
'Of course not!' Cali sticks her nose up in the air after saying the last in a very dignified tone.
'Why should we believe you? You've done it before, what's to say to won't do it again?' Cali hears Merry say. She looks up and sees that he is now standing before her.
She finally gets herself away from Pippin and stands up. 'Fine. Don't believe me. You'll regret one day when I'm right and something horribly wrong happens. Then you will wish that you believed poor little Caliam.' Her voice shakes with real tears this time. She runs off before they could see her cry. This leaves poor Merry and Pippin in shock.
'It was just a joke!' Pippin calls after her. They both sigh heavily when they realize that she wasn't coming back.
'I never thought the girl had it in her!' Merry gets of the ground and stands next to Merry, who is snickering at Pippin's last comment. Pippin narrows his eyes at Merry.
'What?' Pippin asks, sounding confused. Merry shakes his head at him, even though he was watching the running Cali.
'I'm going after her.' Merry mutters. He begins to run away before Pippin can even ask him what he just said.
* * * * * * * * *
Frodo runs up the hill quickly. He had just had a very pleasing conversation with Gandalf. He was glad that Gandalf was back, especially since it meant the party was coming.
That was all that was on his mind at the moment.
So much so that he didn't even see his sister coming right at him at the same speed. The collided and Frodo was knocked to the ground. Cali caught her balance.
'Well there you are!' Frodo looks up at his little sister. He rolls his eyes seeing that his sister has her hands on her hips, as usual.
'What do you mean, Cali?' Frodo asks, even though he knew what his sister's answer would be.
'You were supposed to meet Pippin, Merry, and me a couple of minutes ago. Can't you remember?'
'Actually . . . No.' Frodo laughs to himself.
'Oh! Frodo Baggins you just make me so mad sometimes! Merry and Pip reminded you at least a dozen times this morning before you left to go have second breakfast by yourself.' Cali takes her hands off her hips to help her brother up. Within seconds they are walking side by side down the grassy hill.
'Oh really? I don't recall that either.' Frodo smiles mockingly at Cali.
'You know what Frodo? You're-'
Before Cali could finish her sentence she heard Pippin yelling, 'Cali! Cali!' She turns toward the sound of his voice. He was running towards Frodo and her. She smiles.
'He's such a sweet little thing . . .' She thinks to herself.
Moments later, Pippin stops in front of her. He was out of breath but he managed to clearly get out, 'I'm so sorry, Cali. It was just a joke.'
Cali nods. 'I know, I just love to see the look you and Merry get when you think that I'm really crying.'
Cali laughs and runs off towards the road at the bottom of the hill.
'Why that little. . .' Pippin runs after her leaving Frodo to laugh to himself.
* * * * * * * * *
Tonight was the night! Of the long expected party that is. Half of the Shire was there to eat, drink, and be merry. The decorations were wonderful, the presents Frodo and Bilbo gave out were superb, and the fireworks that Gandalf were setting off were wonderful.
Frodo had his full of girls. All of them wanted to dance with him. He was having the night of his life.
Cali was making mischief with Pippin and Merry as usual. Up until they thought it would be fun to set off the biggest firework in a small tent. Gandalf caught them, and they had dish duty for the night.
When it was time for Bilbo's speech everyone sat quietly hoping the speech wouldn't be long.
Cali, Pippin, and Merry sat next to each other on the ground thankful that their job was done, for now at least. Cali didn't really listen to what Bilbo had to say. She took to staring at the stars in the sky. She only looks up when Pippin elbows her in the ribs.
'Cali! You're supposed to be listening.' He whispers. Cali shrugs and goes back to staring at the sky.
The last thing to catch her attention was Bilbo saying 'Good-bye' then disappearing. Her eyes widen in amazement. She looks to Merry and Pippin who have the same look.
'I wish I could do that!' Pippin says. Merry and Cali laugh, despite many stares from the people around them. Cali stops laughing when she sees Frodo look back at her, an apparent look of 'This-is-not-good' in his eyes.
She jumps up and walks over to him. 'Frodo, are you okay?'
Frodo keeps his eyes on her. She shudders realizing for once how scary that blue gaze really was.
He never answers.
'Frodo, everything is okay! It's probably just a joke.' Cali smiles reassuringly.
Frodo takes his gaze off of her. She lets out a sigh of relief; he pays no mention to it.
'No, something's wrong. Come on we must go.' He makes a grab for her hand, but she pulls it back.
'Frodo, I'm sure you can handle this on your own. Maybe you don't even need to go and see what is wrong! Just stay here and wish everyone a pleasant night.'
Frodo narrows his eyes at her. He turns away and storms off, muttering some not so nice things.
Cali stares after him *Same old Frodo. Always the first to the rescue...*
'Cali! Cali!' Merry's voice breaks through her thoughts.
She turns towards his voice, realizing at that point he was right behind her. 'What's wrong, Merry?'
'It's Pippin! He won't stop crying.'
'Crying? But only a moment ago he was happy as ever, even despite the whole firework incident.' Cali's brow furrows together in concern.
'Yes, he *was* happy. But after you left to talk to Frodo I made a comment about the party being over... He just started balling. I have tried everything to quiet him.' Merry's shoulders slump with acknowledgement that his efforts to make his younger cousin happy again were useless.
'Don't fret now Merry, I'm sure I can do something to make him happy again.'
Cali smiles reassuringly and gives Merry a friendly punch in the arm, 'You can sit here while I try and make Pippin feel better.' She gestures towards a seat with her hand.
'Fine, I will. Just don't do anything too drastic...'
* * * * * * * * *
Cali was more then ready to do anything to make Pippin happy once more. She couldn't stand to see the tears running down his face... It was almost like she was his mother.
But, the only problem was actually coming up with an idea that would make the 11-year-old hobbit happy once again.
All she could do now was sit and hold him, and that's exactly what she was doing. She held him as you would a baby. His head rested on one of her arms and with the other she stroked his cheek. (He wasn't that big, after all)
Pippin was the first one to say anything, although it was barely audible Cali could hear it and it struck her somewhat oddly. 'I don't want to go home...'
'Is that all?'
He nods and opens his eyes to look at her.
'My parents will kill me for what I did tonight...' His eyes filled with a fresh batch of tears.
Cali frowns and bites her lip trying to think of some solution for this.
'I have an idea. How would you like to sleep over at Bag End tonight?' It was a reasonable idea, yet Cali knew that Pippin would have to go home sometime.
Pippin smiles broadly. 'I would love too! Can Merry come too?'
'Sure! Now let's get going we don't want to be stuck with cleaning up!'
* * * * * * * * *
The trio got to Bag End without trouble. Cali carried Pippin, and Merry tagged along beside them.
Pippin asks Cali to put him down when they reached the steps and she did after a small fight with her own sub-conscious.
She couldn't be doing this... No. She just couldn't.
She wanted Pippin for her own.
She had always acted like a mother to him... But now she felt that she wanted it more then ever. Holding him and making him go from a sad state to a happy state had ignited something in her. She wasn't sure how she would be able to let him go home tomorrow...
Cali watched silently as Pippin and Merry race up the steps to the door or Bag End. Merry had let Pippin win, for once. Pippin was the first to notice Caliam's absence. He looked down the steps and frowned when he saw her standing at the bottom, not moving.
'Come on, Cali!' He yelled down to her.
Cali looks up and smiles.
?
'I'll get you my little Pippin!' She yells. She runs up the stairs as quick as she could. Merry ran in and held the doorknob so no one could get in. Pippin tried to get inside, but through Merry holding it and a fit of giggles he was having, he couldn't.
She comes up behind him and picks him up by the waist, spinning around in circles. In a few seconds she found herself getting dizzy so she put Pippin back on the ground.
Pippin turns around and looks at Cali. 'That was fun! Can we do it again?' He asked, grinning up at her.
'Maybe later. For now lets go inside and get washed and changed for bedtime.' She extends her hand for Pippin to take. He takes it without hesitation. They walk towards the door hand-in-hand. Cali opens it and they walk in, only to be stopped by Frodo.
'Bilbo is gone.'
'What?' Cali lets go of Pippin's hand unconsciously.
'He left. We knew this was coming Caliam...' Frodo sighs.
'I guess we did. But what now?'
'We've been left everything. Even his-' Frodo cuts himself off remembering what Gandalf said about the ring.
'Even his what?'
'Never mind. You should get him bed. It's getting late. I'll send word out to their parents that they are here.' Cali watches as Frodo turns and walks into the living room. She stands there thinking about the current situation.
Someone pulling on her dress is the thing that brought her out of this reverie.
She looks down at the 'someone' and smiles.
'Aw, Pip, you look tired.'
'I am... Cali.'
'Well, come then. You can sleep in one of Frodo's old shirts.' She takes his hand and leads him to Frodo's room. They walk over to the armoire and Caliam starts going through it, tossing clothes all over the room.
'At last! I've found you.' Cali pulls out a shirt and hands it to Pippin.
'It may be a little too big, but I'm sure you can manage.'
To give Pippin some privacy as he changes, Cali starts folding Frodo's clothes again. She didn't feel like being yelled at for going through his things...
After a minute or so, she heard Pippin say, 'I'm done.'
She turns around and smiles warmly at him. 'You look as handsome as ever.'
'Thank-you!' He hugs Cali's legs. She laughs to herself. She really didn't know how she would be able to let him go tomorrow. She pries Pippin off her legs and lifts him up to be able to hold him. She walks out of Frodo's room and down the hall to her own. She saw that it was lit by a few candles, and one Meriadoc Brandybuck lay sprawled out on the bed, already asleep. She smiles at the sight of him. It was a quite funny sight at that!
Cali makes her way to the corner of the room, where she has a small rocking chair, that she usually sat in to read at night. But now it would be useful. She sits down slowly, careful not to drop the precious little hobbit in her arms.
Once fully seated she once again holds him like she did earlier at the party, and begins to hum a simple lullaby to him.
Pippin closes his eyes and in no time the gentle rocking and the sound of Caliam humming put him to sleep.
Caliam acknowledged the fact that he was asleep by stopping her humming. Instead she once again took to stroking Pippin's cheek.
*I want you for my own... My little Pippin.*
Tears started running down Caliam's cheeks. She didn't seem to notice. Until, of course Frodo poked his head in the door to make sure everything was alright and to say 'G'night.'
Cali stood up slowly and made it to the bed without waking Pippin up. Merry had moved over at one point so she was able to lay Pippin down without pushing Merry off.
Caliam got on the bed herself, and picked a spot right in the middle of the three. As soon as she closed her eyes to go sleep, Pippin woke up crying...
She could already tell it was going to be a *long* night.
* * * * * * * * *
'Wake up, Cali! Wake up!' Cali opens her eyes to see Pippin sitting on his knees next to her. He was shaking her arm. She moans and rolls over.
'It's too early...'
'You have to get up! Frodo made breakfast.'
*Frodo made breakfast? Scary thought there...*
Cali sits up and smiles at Pippin. 'You are lucky that you will eat anything.' She laughs and hugs Pippin.
'Come on, we don't want it to get cold.' Cali hops of the bed and walks down the hall to the kitchen, with Pippin right behind her.
Frodo looks up, 'Good morning, Caliam! I see Pip was successful in getting you up!'
Caliam mumbles something and takes a seat across from him.
Before the breakfast could be eaten though, they heard a loud knock on the front door. No one budged or made any acknowledgement that it actually happened. Caliam sits with Pippin in her lap, tickling his stomach. Merry sits next to them laughing at Pippin's misfortune.
Frodo takes the liberty of getting it since the other three seemed quite busy at the moment. He walks thru the living room and into the hall where the big round door into Bag End is located. After unlatching a lock on the door he swings it open to reveal Paladin Took and Saradoc Brandybuck standing there, looking angry.
'Hullo, Frodo. We're sorry to disturb you at this hour, but we heard that our boys stayed here last night. We've come to collect them.' Paladin says.
'Oh, right... Hold on a moment. We were just about to have breakfast. I will go fetch them.' Frodo gives them a friendly smile before darting off towards the kitchen.
'Who was it Frodo?' Cali asks.
Frodo frowns noticing that she was still cuddling Pippin. 'It's Paladin and Saradoc. They've come for Merry and Pippin.'
'What?!' Cali bursts out.
'You heard me. It's time for these two to go home.'
Cali hugs Pippin to her, 'No... I can't let him go.'
'Cali, you must. He isn't yours to keep!' Frodo walks over to Cali and, somehow, manages to pry Pippin from her arms.
Pippin's immediate reaction was to scream for Cali... and scream he did.
Merry watched as the first little scene unfolded, but then he quickly got up, hugged a now crying Cali, and ran to the door where his father was waiting.
He turns to his uncle Paladin and speaks, 'Cali doesn't want to give Pippin to you. He is her own now.'
'What?' Paladin looks at his nephew. Merry clearly couldn't say what he just thought he did.
'You heard me, Uncle Paladin. Pippin is Cali's now.'
'No one ever informed me of this...'
* * * * * * * *
'Cali... Cali! Listen to me. Pippin isn't yours. You didn't conceive him, give birth to him, or raise him.' Frodo says to Cali, trying to get some sense into her.
'But Frodo... You don't understand. He has a bond with me that is even stronger than the one he has with his mother. He wants me for his mother Frodo. Me...' Cali sobs. She had acquired Pippin back from Frodo and was now holding him in her arms and rocking back and forth, as if to protect him from some evil.
'You should be listening to your brother, Caliam Baggins. Peregrin is not yours, and never shall he be yours.'
Cali looks up to see Paladin standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
'He's right. It's time to give Pippin back now.' Frodo calmly relates to Cali.
'No!' Cali stands up and runs down the hall and into her room, still clutching Pippin in her arms. She slams her door behind her. Once she made sure she was inside, she goes to her bed and places Pippin on it. She kisses him on the forehead. He hugs her tightly.
'I don't want to go back home Cali...' Pippin says, and begins to sob.
'I know you don't. I don't want you to go back either...'
Cali's sentence was cut off by her door opening.
'Caliam, I assure you I will press charges if you do not give my son back.'
'But Father... I don't want to go back. I want Cali to be my Mother.'
'I will hear no such nonsense Peregrin. Now, hand him over.'
Caliam takes Pippin in her arms and gets off the bed, slowly making her way to Paladin. She places Pippin in his arms and backs away.
'Now, that's a good lass. I'm sure by tomorrow you two will forget about this.'
Cali watches as Paladin turns around and walks down the hall to the door. She gets up and follows.
Frodo is already standing at the door, talking to Merry and Saradoc. He wanted Pippin to go home... Less trouble around the house. But the sight of Cali threw that train of thought right of it's course.
*She wasn't kidding.*
* * * * * * * * *
Cali leans on the doorway watching Pippin until she couldn't see him anymore. After the fathers of the two had bid their goodbyes Pippin had once more tried to escape into the safety of Cali's arms, but had not been so successful. It made the situation even worse. But now, he was gone and Cali wasn't sure when she would see him again...
'It's not fair...' She mutters.
'What's not fair?' Frodo asks, since he was standing next to her.
'How my wishes never come true.' Cali wipes the tears off her face with the back of her hand.
'But that was a silly wish. You knew it wouldn't ever come true, but you made it anyway.' Frodo crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks at his sister wearily.
'You don't understand Frodo... You never will. It's just an everlasting love between me and him.'
'Everlasting love?' Frodo's expression turns to one of confusion.
'You heard right.' Cali turns to him. 'So, what about this *breakfast* you made?'
Frodo laughs and takes his sister's hand, pulling her with him into the kitchen. He knew it would take a while for Cali to get back to her normal self, but he couldn't wait.
A/N: *NEW AND IMPROVED STUFFIES* This story will be one of those where one person writes one chapter then another writes the next. I, Caliam Baggins Took, will be responsible for the Hobbit's actions until they get to Rivendell with Strider. Wow, I've always wanted to say that. The Hobbits are my slaves! Mwahahaha. They do what I tell them to do. Pippin! Go to my room, you've been a very naughty boy! Okay... It's getting out of hand now.
Rated: PG, well at least this chapter.
Summary: It's the tale of the Fellowship all over again. But this time they have some female influence from Frodo's little sister and an elf.
Author: Caliam Baggins Took and potionsmaster(she's in charge if the next chapter so hold your horses!)
Title: Untitled at the moment
~Chapter 1:Caliam Baggins~
This story is unlike any story you have ever heard. It is about a magical quest to save a ring before it gets into the hands of evil. There is a small fellowship that was made in order to get the ring to Mount Doom in Mordor, the only place where it can be destroyed. The fellowship was made out of some very unlikely people, and we start our story out with just one of many of them.
* * * * * * * * *
Frodo Baggins sits quietly under a tree reading a book. He didn't usually like to read, but he wanted to do something other then run around in the fields acting like a lunatic(He and his friends usually did exactly that. Everyone one said they were too old for it but they never listened.)! So he had chosen a nice book and decided it was time for some peace and quiet. Or so he had hoped.
Before Frodo could even finish the first paragraph, he heard the sounds of his younger sister Caliam "Cali", and his two best friends Peregrin "Pippin" Took and Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck coming his way. By the sound of it they were playing tag.(Not the least childish. Well, in his mind.)
'Tag! You're it Pippin!' Frodo heard his sister yell out. She was a very loud person, and he knew that. You could be standing right next to her, and yet she would still yell. Caliam herself was normal sized for a hobbit her age.
She was 8 years younger then him.
Pippin and Merry insisted she was the prettiest hobbit in all the Shire. Dark blue eyes, long brown curly hair, a small nose with small freckles sprinkled across it were the most noticeable on her.
Sometimes when Merry would look at her all dreamy eyed, Frodo wished he could pound him to a bloody pulp. Guys are supposed to protect their sisters right?
He drops his book and scrambles up the tree, just missing the view of the approaching Merry, Cali, and Pippin. Hiding behind a thick patch of branches, he watches closely as they run toward the tree still playing their game of tag.
They stop suddenly and begin to look around.
'Cali, I thought your brother was supposed to be here?' Pippin asks after barely even surveying the land around him.
'He was . . . He must have gotten bored waiting for us and left.' Cali frowns and sits down under the tree in the exact spot her brother had been in. Frodo's eyes widen when he realizes that he had left his book down there. He was sure to get caught.
'Well, then, we shouldn't stop now! This game can go on for hours if we want it to!' Pippin laughs joyfully and offers his hands to help Cali up. She accepts and hoists her self up with the help of Pippin. He takes the advantage of her standing next to him by tagging her.
'Tag!' Pippin begins to run. Merry follows quickly behind him.
Cali stops for a moment, in shock. 'Hey! Come back here!' She runs after them.
Frodo takes this opportunity to jump down and begin reading again. Once again all was quiet and he was in peace by just reading his book. Until the sounds of a carriage approaching pulled him away.
It was Gandalf for sure! Frodo jumps up and runs toward the sound of the approaching carriage.
* * * * * * * * *
Caliam runs quickly thru the fields of the Shire. The wind was blowing her hair every which way, making it a complete mess, but she did not care. She tried to dodge the holes that came every so often but on most occasions the thick green grass would hide them. Her dress was dirty because of this, but she didn't care about that either.
In this game you had to keep your eye on the prize, or you would lose it quicker then you think. She was not going to let her hair being messed up or her dress being dirty ruin all the fun she was having.
Cali continues to run after Pippin and Merry. Being as they were older then her, they ran faster then her legs could manage. She watched as they dodged holes in the ground, and trees above the ground.
Before she knew it, she found that her thoughts were drifting way from the game she was playing. A bad sign when playing with someone like Merry or Pippin.
She was disappointed that they had not found Frodo. She had wished for him to join in on their little game of tag. It was not like him to not be where someone told him to be. But she thought that he *had* gotten bored and left. But why leave his friends? Maybe he is in one of those moods where he does not want to see anyone. He just wants to be left alone and he will do anything to get out of company's' reach.
Cali stops and frowns. Merry and Pippin were gone! She looked around for a couple moments; spinning is circles to see all the surroundings. Realizing that no one was around she stops.
'Okay, Merry and Pippin! You can come out now!'
She waits a few seconds and when no answer comes she gets angry.
'This isn't funny! Please come out . . .'
Cali found herself getting worried. She knew that the scare of her life was about to come. Usually when Merry and Pippin did something like this it means they would pop up minutes later and scare the living daylights out of her.
She sighs. She didn't feel like being scared at that moment.
Now she had to decide what exactly to do. Stay there, or run away and play a little game of hide-and-go-seek with them. She thought it funny that maybe if she would go and hide, leaving Merry and Pippin alone to scare themselves, that maybe they would panic. She had done it to them before. The results were outstanding. Merry and Pippin had realized that *they* had lost her, so they were forced to go and tell Frodo. Frodo got extremely mad at them and forced them to go and search the Shire up-and-down for her. She showed up back at Bag End an hour later singing and dancing. She did not even get in the least bit of trouble, while poor Merry and Pippin were forced the next day to do the yard work at Bag End.
Cali laughs to herself. It was the most perfect plan. But this time, she would make it look far worse then the happenings of before. She looks down at her dress, almost perfect for what she was thinking. Maybe a little more rips and tears and then perfection would be established.
She begins to run off, calling Merry and Pippin's name the whole way. She wanted to make it look as realistic as possible. Before she could get far, though, someone tackled her from behind. They fell to the ground in a heap. She managed to push the person off her. But when she tried to stand up somehow the person kept her down.
'You're not getting us in trouble this time!' The person says this and laughs. Instantly Cali recognizes the voice. It was Pippin. But this didn't surprise her.
'Pippin! Please let me go!' Cali says, her voice shaky like she was about to cry. She was faking it, though.
'And why should it? So you can go and get yourself lost and then blame it on me and Merry?' Pippin asks her in a more serious tone then usual.
'Of course not!' Cali sticks her nose up in the air after saying the last in a very dignified tone.
'Why should we believe you? You've done it before, what's to say to won't do it again?' Cali hears Merry say. She looks up and sees that he is now standing before her.
She finally gets herself away from Pippin and stands up. 'Fine. Don't believe me. You'll regret one day when I'm right and something horribly wrong happens. Then you will wish that you believed poor little Caliam.' Her voice shakes with real tears this time. She runs off before they could see her cry. This leaves poor Merry and Pippin in shock.
'It was just a joke!' Pippin calls after her. They both sigh heavily when they realize that she wasn't coming back.
'I never thought the girl had it in her!' Merry gets of the ground and stands next to Merry, who is snickering at Pippin's last comment. Pippin narrows his eyes at Merry.
'What?' Pippin asks, sounding confused. Merry shakes his head at him, even though he was watching the running Cali.
'I'm going after her.' Merry mutters. He begins to run away before Pippin can even ask him what he just said.
* * * * * * * * *
Frodo runs up the hill quickly. He had just had a very pleasing conversation with Gandalf. He was glad that Gandalf was back, especially since it meant the party was coming.
That was all that was on his mind at the moment.
So much so that he didn't even see his sister coming right at him at the same speed. The collided and Frodo was knocked to the ground. Cali caught her balance.
'Well there you are!' Frodo looks up at his little sister. He rolls his eyes seeing that his sister has her hands on her hips, as usual.
'What do you mean, Cali?' Frodo asks, even though he knew what his sister's answer would be.
'You were supposed to meet Pippin, Merry, and me a couple of minutes ago. Can't you remember?'
'Actually . . . No.' Frodo laughs to himself.
'Oh! Frodo Baggins you just make me so mad sometimes! Merry and Pip reminded you at least a dozen times this morning before you left to go have second breakfast by yourself.' Cali takes her hands off her hips to help her brother up. Within seconds they are walking side by side down the grassy hill.
'Oh really? I don't recall that either.' Frodo smiles mockingly at Cali.
'You know what Frodo? You're-'
Before Cali could finish her sentence she heard Pippin yelling, 'Cali! Cali!' She turns toward the sound of his voice. He was running towards Frodo and her. She smiles.
'He's such a sweet little thing . . .' She thinks to herself.
Moments later, Pippin stops in front of her. He was out of breath but he managed to clearly get out, 'I'm so sorry, Cali. It was just a joke.'
Cali nods. 'I know, I just love to see the look you and Merry get when you think that I'm really crying.'
Cali laughs and runs off towards the road at the bottom of the hill.
'Why that little. . .' Pippin runs after her leaving Frodo to laugh to himself.
* * * * * * * * *
Tonight was the night! Of the long expected party that is. Half of the Shire was there to eat, drink, and be merry. The decorations were wonderful, the presents Frodo and Bilbo gave out were superb, and the fireworks that Gandalf were setting off were wonderful.
Frodo had his full of girls. All of them wanted to dance with him. He was having the night of his life.
Cali was making mischief with Pippin and Merry as usual. Up until they thought it would be fun to set off the biggest firework in a small tent. Gandalf caught them, and they had dish duty for the night.
When it was time for Bilbo's speech everyone sat quietly hoping the speech wouldn't be long.
Cali, Pippin, and Merry sat next to each other on the ground thankful that their job was done, for now at least. Cali didn't really listen to what Bilbo had to say. She took to staring at the stars in the sky. She only looks up when Pippin elbows her in the ribs.
'Cali! You're supposed to be listening.' He whispers. Cali shrugs and goes back to staring at the sky.
The last thing to catch her attention was Bilbo saying 'Good-bye' then disappearing. Her eyes widen in amazement. She looks to Merry and Pippin who have the same look.
'I wish I could do that!' Pippin says. Merry and Cali laugh, despite many stares from the people around them. Cali stops laughing when she sees Frodo look back at her, an apparent look of 'This-is-not-good' in his eyes.
She jumps up and walks over to him. 'Frodo, are you okay?'
Frodo keeps his eyes on her. She shudders realizing for once how scary that blue gaze really was.
He never answers.
'Frodo, everything is okay! It's probably just a joke.' Cali smiles reassuringly.
Frodo takes his gaze off of her. She lets out a sigh of relief; he pays no mention to it.
'No, something's wrong. Come on we must go.' He makes a grab for her hand, but she pulls it back.
'Frodo, I'm sure you can handle this on your own. Maybe you don't even need to go and see what is wrong! Just stay here and wish everyone a pleasant night.'
Frodo narrows his eyes at her. He turns away and storms off, muttering some not so nice things.
Cali stares after him *Same old Frodo. Always the first to the rescue...*
'Cali! Cali!' Merry's voice breaks through her thoughts.
She turns towards his voice, realizing at that point he was right behind her. 'What's wrong, Merry?'
'It's Pippin! He won't stop crying.'
'Crying? But only a moment ago he was happy as ever, even despite the whole firework incident.' Cali's brow furrows together in concern.
'Yes, he *was* happy. But after you left to talk to Frodo I made a comment about the party being over... He just started balling. I have tried everything to quiet him.' Merry's shoulders slump with acknowledgement that his efforts to make his younger cousin happy again were useless.
'Don't fret now Merry, I'm sure I can do something to make him happy again.'
Cali smiles reassuringly and gives Merry a friendly punch in the arm, 'You can sit here while I try and make Pippin feel better.' She gestures towards a seat with her hand.
'Fine, I will. Just don't do anything too drastic...'
* * * * * * * * *
Cali was more then ready to do anything to make Pippin happy once more. She couldn't stand to see the tears running down his face... It was almost like she was his mother.
But, the only problem was actually coming up with an idea that would make the 11-year-old hobbit happy once again.
All she could do now was sit and hold him, and that's exactly what she was doing. She held him as you would a baby. His head rested on one of her arms and with the other she stroked his cheek. (He wasn't that big, after all)
Pippin was the first one to say anything, although it was barely audible Cali could hear it and it struck her somewhat oddly. 'I don't want to go home...'
'Is that all?'
He nods and opens his eyes to look at her.
'My parents will kill me for what I did tonight...' His eyes filled with a fresh batch of tears.
Cali frowns and bites her lip trying to think of some solution for this.
'I have an idea. How would you like to sleep over at Bag End tonight?' It was a reasonable idea, yet Cali knew that Pippin would have to go home sometime.
Pippin smiles broadly. 'I would love too! Can Merry come too?'
'Sure! Now let's get going we don't want to be stuck with cleaning up!'
* * * * * * * * *
The trio got to Bag End without trouble. Cali carried Pippin, and Merry tagged along beside them.
Pippin asks Cali to put him down when they reached the steps and she did after a small fight with her own sub-conscious.
She couldn't be doing this... No. She just couldn't.
She wanted Pippin for her own.
She had always acted like a mother to him... But now she felt that she wanted it more then ever. Holding him and making him go from a sad state to a happy state had ignited something in her. She wasn't sure how she would be able to let him go home tomorrow...
Cali watched silently as Pippin and Merry race up the steps to the door or Bag End. Merry had let Pippin win, for once. Pippin was the first to notice Caliam's absence. He looked down the steps and frowned when he saw her standing at the bottom, not moving.
'Come on, Cali!' He yelled down to her.
Cali looks up and smiles.
?
'I'll get you my little Pippin!' She yells. She runs up the stairs as quick as she could. Merry ran in and held the doorknob so no one could get in. Pippin tried to get inside, but through Merry holding it and a fit of giggles he was having, he couldn't.
She comes up behind him and picks him up by the waist, spinning around in circles. In a few seconds she found herself getting dizzy so she put Pippin back on the ground.
Pippin turns around and looks at Cali. 'That was fun! Can we do it again?' He asked, grinning up at her.
'Maybe later. For now lets go inside and get washed and changed for bedtime.' She extends her hand for Pippin to take. He takes it without hesitation. They walk towards the door hand-in-hand. Cali opens it and they walk in, only to be stopped by Frodo.
'Bilbo is gone.'
'What?' Cali lets go of Pippin's hand unconsciously.
'He left. We knew this was coming Caliam...' Frodo sighs.
'I guess we did. But what now?'
'We've been left everything. Even his-' Frodo cuts himself off remembering what Gandalf said about the ring.
'Even his what?'
'Never mind. You should get him bed. It's getting late. I'll send word out to their parents that they are here.' Cali watches as Frodo turns and walks into the living room. She stands there thinking about the current situation.
Someone pulling on her dress is the thing that brought her out of this reverie.
She looks down at the 'someone' and smiles.
'Aw, Pip, you look tired.'
'I am... Cali.'
'Well, come then. You can sleep in one of Frodo's old shirts.' She takes his hand and leads him to Frodo's room. They walk over to the armoire and Caliam starts going through it, tossing clothes all over the room.
'At last! I've found you.' Cali pulls out a shirt and hands it to Pippin.
'It may be a little too big, but I'm sure you can manage.'
To give Pippin some privacy as he changes, Cali starts folding Frodo's clothes again. She didn't feel like being yelled at for going through his things...
After a minute or so, she heard Pippin say, 'I'm done.'
She turns around and smiles warmly at him. 'You look as handsome as ever.'
'Thank-you!' He hugs Cali's legs. She laughs to herself. She really didn't know how she would be able to let him go tomorrow. She pries Pippin off her legs and lifts him up to be able to hold him. She walks out of Frodo's room and down the hall to her own. She saw that it was lit by a few candles, and one Meriadoc Brandybuck lay sprawled out on the bed, already asleep. She smiles at the sight of him. It was a quite funny sight at that!
Cali makes her way to the corner of the room, where she has a small rocking chair, that she usually sat in to read at night. But now it would be useful. She sits down slowly, careful not to drop the precious little hobbit in her arms.
Once fully seated she once again holds him like she did earlier at the party, and begins to hum a simple lullaby to him.
Pippin closes his eyes and in no time the gentle rocking and the sound of Caliam humming put him to sleep.
Caliam acknowledged the fact that he was asleep by stopping her humming. Instead she once again took to stroking Pippin's cheek.
*I want you for my own... My little Pippin.*
Tears started running down Caliam's cheeks. She didn't seem to notice. Until, of course Frodo poked his head in the door to make sure everything was alright and to say 'G'night.'
Cali stood up slowly and made it to the bed without waking Pippin up. Merry had moved over at one point so she was able to lay Pippin down without pushing Merry off.
Caliam got on the bed herself, and picked a spot right in the middle of the three. As soon as she closed her eyes to go sleep, Pippin woke up crying...
She could already tell it was going to be a *long* night.
* * * * * * * * *
'Wake up, Cali! Wake up!' Cali opens her eyes to see Pippin sitting on his knees next to her. He was shaking her arm. She moans and rolls over.
'It's too early...'
'You have to get up! Frodo made breakfast.'
*Frodo made breakfast? Scary thought there...*
Cali sits up and smiles at Pippin. 'You are lucky that you will eat anything.' She laughs and hugs Pippin.
'Come on, we don't want it to get cold.' Cali hops of the bed and walks down the hall to the kitchen, with Pippin right behind her.
Frodo looks up, 'Good morning, Caliam! I see Pip was successful in getting you up!'
Caliam mumbles something and takes a seat across from him.
Before the breakfast could be eaten though, they heard a loud knock on the front door. No one budged or made any acknowledgement that it actually happened. Caliam sits with Pippin in her lap, tickling his stomach. Merry sits next to them laughing at Pippin's misfortune.
Frodo takes the liberty of getting it since the other three seemed quite busy at the moment. He walks thru the living room and into the hall where the big round door into Bag End is located. After unlatching a lock on the door he swings it open to reveal Paladin Took and Saradoc Brandybuck standing there, looking angry.
'Hullo, Frodo. We're sorry to disturb you at this hour, but we heard that our boys stayed here last night. We've come to collect them.' Paladin says.
'Oh, right... Hold on a moment. We were just about to have breakfast. I will go fetch them.' Frodo gives them a friendly smile before darting off towards the kitchen.
'Who was it Frodo?' Cali asks.
Frodo frowns noticing that she was still cuddling Pippin. 'It's Paladin and Saradoc. They've come for Merry and Pippin.'
'What?!' Cali bursts out.
'You heard me. It's time for these two to go home.'
Cali hugs Pippin to her, 'No... I can't let him go.'
'Cali, you must. He isn't yours to keep!' Frodo walks over to Cali and, somehow, manages to pry Pippin from her arms.
Pippin's immediate reaction was to scream for Cali... and scream he did.
Merry watched as the first little scene unfolded, but then he quickly got up, hugged a now crying Cali, and ran to the door where his father was waiting.
He turns to his uncle Paladin and speaks, 'Cali doesn't want to give Pippin to you. He is her own now.'
'What?' Paladin looks at his nephew. Merry clearly couldn't say what he just thought he did.
'You heard me, Uncle Paladin. Pippin is Cali's now.'
'No one ever informed me of this...'
* * * * * * * *
'Cali... Cali! Listen to me. Pippin isn't yours. You didn't conceive him, give birth to him, or raise him.' Frodo says to Cali, trying to get some sense into her.
'But Frodo... You don't understand. He has a bond with me that is even stronger than the one he has with his mother. He wants me for his mother Frodo. Me...' Cali sobs. She had acquired Pippin back from Frodo and was now holding him in her arms and rocking back and forth, as if to protect him from some evil.
'You should be listening to your brother, Caliam Baggins. Peregrin is not yours, and never shall he be yours.'
Cali looks up to see Paladin standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
'He's right. It's time to give Pippin back now.' Frodo calmly relates to Cali.
'No!' Cali stands up and runs down the hall and into her room, still clutching Pippin in her arms. She slams her door behind her. Once she made sure she was inside, she goes to her bed and places Pippin on it. She kisses him on the forehead. He hugs her tightly.
'I don't want to go back home Cali...' Pippin says, and begins to sob.
'I know you don't. I don't want you to go back either...'
Cali's sentence was cut off by her door opening.
'Caliam, I assure you I will press charges if you do not give my son back.'
'But Father... I don't want to go back. I want Cali to be my Mother.'
'I will hear no such nonsense Peregrin. Now, hand him over.'
Caliam takes Pippin in her arms and gets off the bed, slowly making her way to Paladin. She places Pippin in his arms and backs away.
'Now, that's a good lass. I'm sure by tomorrow you two will forget about this.'
Cali watches as Paladin turns around and walks down the hall to the door. She gets up and follows.
Frodo is already standing at the door, talking to Merry and Saradoc. He wanted Pippin to go home... Less trouble around the house. But the sight of Cali threw that train of thought right of it's course.
*She wasn't kidding.*
* * * * * * * * *
Cali leans on the doorway watching Pippin until she couldn't see him anymore. After the fathers of the two had bid their goodbyes Pippin had once more tried to escape into the safety of Cali's arms, but had not been so successful. It made the situation even worse. But now, he was gone and Cali wasn't sure when she would see him again...
'It's not fair...' She mutters.
'What's not fair?' Frodo asks, since he was standing next to her.
'How my wishes never come true.' Cali wipes the tears off her face with the back of her hand.
'But that was a silly wish. You knew it wouldn't ever come true, but you made it anyway.' Frodo crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks at his sister wearily.
'You don't understand Frodo... You never will. It's just an everlasting love between me and him.'
'Everlasting love?' Frodo's expression turns to one of confusion.
'You heard right.' Cali turns to him. 'So, what about this *breakfast* you made?'
Frodo laughs and takes his sister's hand, pulling her with him into the kitchen. He knew it would take a while for Cali to get back to her normal self, but he couldn't wait.