Special thanks to monkeepeanut for the review and Saphirabrightscale for adding this to her favorite stories!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tolkien's creations, they're just fun to write about.
The entire road up to Bag End is in an uproar. There's no way I'm going to make my way up to the house and get Frodo. He's going to fight his own way out. Today is the day of Bilbo's 111th birthday party, a very curious number, and every hobbit and their second cousin is desperate for an invite. How they think that disturbing Bilbo will win his favor is beyond me, but they're there.
I decide to trek over to the orchard alone and wait for him there. Sitting down, I begin to unpack the food that I brought for us. First I lay down the blanket, and then take out the loaf of bread. Next comes the jar of butter and tub of marmalade. After that is the tea kettle, already full of water, and the box full of tea leaves. I find my piece of steel and flint stone along with the straw that I usually carry in my bag in case I need to start a fire.
Striking rock against steel, I manage to get a decent sized fire going with the straw and a few fallen branches. I place the kettle next to the flames, so close it's practically engulfed by them and wait for it to boil. I sing softly, "The road goes ever, ever on…"
Where is Frodo? Right as I think this, an arm wraps itself around my neck, not tightly, but it's effective enough to trap me. "Hey, Frodo. You win this one." I say calmly. We have a little game we like to play where we try to see how close we can get to the other without them noticing. Frodo always was good at walking around unheard, whereas I burst out laughing when I get within 10 feet of my friends whenever I try to sneak up on them.
"That brings the total up to… what now?" He laughs, gloating.
"73 wins for you, 3 for me." I sigh, "I meant to go up to Bag End and get you but the road was"
"Blocked up, I know," he says, finishing my sentence for me, "And even if you had managed to reach the house, I wouldn't have been there. I've been here since five this morning." I give him a look. Five? He never wakes up early. "You didn't think I had no clue what was coming, did you? Honestly, the throngs of hobbits for Bilbo's 100th birthday were bad enough. I knew that I'd have to leave early or there'd be no way I was getting away later."
"What have you been doing since then?" I ask.
"Well, I was waiting to see if I could catch you off guard." He flashes me a mischievous smile.
"Took you long enough, I got here ages ago."
"You can be very quiet when you're not trying, you know. You didn't make any sound at all until you started singing." At this I blush a little. I like singing well enough, but I'm only comfortable doing it when I'm alone. "I'd never heard you sing before, you're quite good."
"Thanks," the kettle sings now.
"Oh good, you made tea!" he exclaims, just now noticing the food and fire. "I skipped first breakfast because I was sneaking out, and I forgot food so I didn't have second breakfast, either."
"Well, help yourself to anything. Actually, you can have it all if you want."
His face lights up, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah. I've had both breakfasts, so as long as I have some tea, I'll be fine." I assure him. At this, he attacks the bread, dunking it in the butter, then the marmalade. He proceeds to shove it in his mouth. Hobbits are used to 7 meals a day, so skipping two tends to be a big deal.
He gets halfway done with the loaf before he slows down. "So what do you want to do today?" I ask him.
Frodo sighs and leans back against a tree. "I was thinking, at least for now, that we could just relax. After all, there's the party tonight and we wouldn't want to be tired." I nod. Good, it's been too long since I've had a lazy day. He pulls out a book from underneath his shirt and I amuse myself by drawing on a tree with the burnt end of a stick from the fire. The charred tip is great for sketching with. Out of the blue, Frodo says, "Sing some more, Ella."
"Oh no, I couldn't. Pippin's the singer, not me. Just because I enjoy it, doesn't mean I'm good at it." His request surprises me.
"But you are good at it. Please? You know I won't judge. If it makes you feel any better, pretend I'm not here."
I close my eyes. Fine, but only because it's Frodo and I trust him. Breathing in deeply, I begin to sing a song that Bilbo would sing all of the time whenever you got him on the topic of his adventure.
"The road goes ever, ever on and on
Down from the door where it began
Now far ahead the Road has gone
And I must follow, if I can
Pursuing it with weary feet
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And whither then? I cannot say"
He smiles and applauds me as I open my eyes. "I'd forgotten he was there for a moment, I was too focused on the song. "More" he says.
This time I am actually eager to and don't even have to close my eyes. I feel fine singing in front of him. Almost immediately, I start another Bilbo song. "All that is gold does not glitter," I start, but am interrupted by the sounds of a horse whinnying and the creaking of a wooden cart. I look at Frodo, my eyebrow raised. Most hobbits in the Shire walk everywhere, so there's only a few people this could be. Is this who I'm thinking it is? A voice singing the first song I sang can be heard now… "Gandalf!" we cry at the same time, beaming.
I start shoving the empty dishes and blanket in my bag, along with the rock and steel as Frodo dumps the kettle and tea cups before dropping them in as well.
Once we're done hurriedly packing, we bolt out of the orchard towards the road as fast as our legs will carry us. A cart loaded with thousands of explosives, Gandalf's (in)famous fireworks, comes into view, pulled by a little tan pony. In the driver's seat is none other than the great wizard himself.
"Gandalf!" Frodo repeats, his face bright and his excitement obvious as he jumps into the cart, hugging the sorcerer. I follow.
The old man laughs and says, "Frodo, my boy, you seem happy to see me." Looking over to me over his shoulder, "Ahh, and you brought Ella."
"Hello, Gandalf." I grin. I always love when he comes to visit, he's traveled everywhere and has the most exciting news of the outside world.
"Hello, Ella," he smiles back, and I join the hug.
We all break apart as Frodo says, "What news of the outside world? Tell me everything!" I've really rubbed off on him these past few years.
"Everything?" Gandalf chuckles. "You two are far too curious for hobbits, most unnatural…" We're almost to Bag End now, everyone parting to let us through so they don't get run over. He tells us that life goes on in the world and that practically no one knows about hobbits. A few children follow us, they know all about this man's talent with pyrotechnics. At first they are disappointed, but Gandalf smirks and nods his head. A second later, all kinds of sparklers go off and the kids jump up and down, happy and excited.
We finally get to the house and Gandalf steps out, "I must attend to party business with your uncle." He says to Frodo, "You two run along. I'll see you tonight."
We go over and visit with Sam, only an hour before the party starts now. We're talking about tonight when Frodo says, "Bilbo's up to something." Sam and I look at each other, then at Frodo. I think I get what he means, Bilbo's seemed… off lately, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's planning anything, right?
"What do you think he's up to?" Sam asks. Frodo looks at me, and I know he means it has something to do with Bilbo's ring.
I've known about Bilbo's ring as long as Frodo has, however I have no clue what makes it so special. "I have no idea," he says.
"Oh well, I guess we'll figure out what it is tonight." I say. I look outside, the sun's sinking quickly, and it won't be long until we leave for Bag End.
Sam looks out as well and says, "We should probably head out to the house now, guys. I'd rather not get stuck in the mob that's sure to arrive when it's time." Frodo nods and stands, and I hop up as well. We start walking and just as we enter the gate, a throng of hobbits come marching up the road. "We just missed it," Sam said, relieved.
The party begins within a half hour, and after everyone charges to the food table, the dancing begins. Sam, Frodo, and I all sit together at a table, drinking ale. Sam keeps eyeing this one girl, Rosie, and whenever she spots him, his face turns tomato red. Frodo voices exactly what I'm thinking when he says, "Why don't you ask Rosie for a dance, eh?" I nod as he shakes his head, and Frodo gets up to drag him out of his chair and into the group of dancers. Once Sam's out there, Rosie finds him and they start dancing. Frodo smirks and sits down again, triumphant. Taking a swig of Sam's ale, he asks, "Do you want to dance?"
"Sure," I say, and we take off. For the next three songs, we swing and laugh, twirling around until we can't see straight. "I need a break!" I say, my head still spinning. I walk over to where Gandalf is unloading his fireworks and see Merry and Pippin emerge from behind a tent once the wizard leaves. This can't be good.
Merry hoists himself into the cart and grabs a firework, showing it to Pippin so he can approve. "No, no! Get the big one!" he whispers urgently, "Quickly, Quickly!" Merry picks a mammoth, red firecracker and they run inside the tent. A few seconds later, there's a big BOOM! And a giant red dragon flies up, taking the tent with it. I know it's just the firework, but everyone else doesn't, and they start to panic. Drinks fly as hobbits throw or drop them in their haste to run away from the flaming beast. It swoops over our heads, then turns into a bunch of magnificent regular fireworks, to the delight and relief of everyone.
After the uproar dies down, Bilbo makes his big speech while Merry and Pippin wash the dishes under the watchful eye of Gandalf. Bilbo greets every guest by last name, and then mentions how he wishes he knew everyone more, but that it was time for him to go. He looks right at Frodo and me before he vanishes before our eyes.
I hope you enjoyed, and please review!