Hobbit and Wolf

A merciless gust of wind reminded Allie and Frodo of their circumstances.

She took in his disheveled appearance and numerous scratches and cuts. Some were bleeding, but most had dried. Putting weight on his left leg also seemed painful.

Allie touched her own scalp wound and felt the gooey texture of half coagulated blood amidst her hair.

She pinned a strand of hair behind her ear and looked back at the snowy mountain cap. "The rest of your Company must be wondering whether we are still alive. But your wounds need to be taken care of first."

"Wait. You are going to transform again, aren't you?"

The worry in his eyes was unmistakable. Allie gave him a small smile. "It's an emergency. It will be all right."

Frodo watched in fascination as she transformed into her wolf self once more. When she did, her dizziness and pain faded away as the Blood worked to close up her wounds. She bent over and started licking at the cuts upon his left leg.

Frodo leaned against her strong frame, taking comfort in the warm sensation spreading up his leg from where she worked. Her raspy tongue soothed the pain away.

While Allie proceeded to his other wounds, Informant's displeased voice boomed inside her head. "You scared us. Stop acting so recklessly. You are the Queen of the pack! What if something happens to you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know the importance of staying alive, Informant." She addressed Pippin instead. "How are the others? Aragorn, Gandalf, Sam? Are they all right?"

"Yes. After your fall, the black clouds dispersed. Gandalf has been cursing at Saruman for quite some time now. But he is relieved that you are both alive. Where are you exactly?"

Allie looked around and sniffed at the cold air. "I think we fell to the other side of the Redhorn pass. If I continue straight from here and then down the mountainside, I will be east of the Misty Mountains."

Pippin was silent for a while as he conveyed this information to Gandalf.

"We will be forced to retrace our steps and find another way to cross the mountains," he informed her a few minutes later. "The Redhorn pass is too dangerous, and both Aragorn and Boromir are against crossing it after the way Saruman's dark spells broke the mountain."

There was another silence, and then, "Gimli is now suggesting Moria. That dark place! I shudder at the thought of it."

Allie stopped licking at the wound on Frodo's arm. "Moria? Wolves don't go under the mountains. It is no place for us!"

"I know. They are still deliberating, but at this rate Moria seems the only path left."

Allie eyed Frodo, and then said, "Perhaps Frodo and I were actually lucky to have fallen down from the pass. Be very careful Pippin if you have to cross the mines. Don't lead your unit inside. Tell them to come after me and cross the mountain. They are wolves; they will be fine in the blizzard."

After five more minutes, Pippin's voice resonated inside her once more, "Aragorn and Gandalf have both settled on Moria. This is it. We are going back down the mountain. We will reach the doors of the mines by nightfall." A pause. "Aragorn congratulates you on being alive."

Allie shook her head. Sometimes the Ranger had a pretty wicked sense of humor.

"See you on the other side of the mountain in four days," she replied. "Frodo and I will be waiting for all of you at the eastern doors of Moria. Please… be very careful."

"Don't worry about us, Allie. I will look after Merry and the others. Gandalf says to keep the Ring-bearer safe."

"He does not need to ask that of me. It shall be done."

Allie finished cleaning up Frodo's wounds, and he scratched the back of her ears in gratitude. She bent her legs to offer her back to him. Frodo was confused, before understanding she wanted him to get on her back.

"I'm heavy," he warned.

"Really?" her eyes seemed to say.

Frodo relented with a shake of his head and climbed on her back. He still remembered when she had carried him to Bag End twenty years ago. Her shoulders had grown larger and wider. He barely had time to seize a handful of fur that she dashed forward, leaping over snow. He pressed his legs tight against her flanks, feeling her muscles roll beneath his thighs as she sprinted like the wind, not seeming to mind the burden of him at all.

With one hand he pulled his hood over his head to protect his ears against the cutting wind. He hunched low, afraid he might be ejected due to her bouncing strides. However, Allie seemed to know how to accommodate him and always moved beneath him again whenever he bounced off sideways.

With time, he learned to let his hips relax and flow with her strides. Once he gave in to her rhythm, his ride became much easier. Allie relaxed as well and increased her speed as they dashed forward as one.

They made their way across the flank of the mountain. To their right, dark rocks buried in the snow loomed from higher grounds while to their left the slope descended in bumps and hollows.

Everywhere Frodo looked, he saw blinding patches of white snow, gleaming like diamonds under the mid-afternoon sun.

They made regular pauses for Frodo to stretch his legs and for Allie to melt some snow in her mouth and swallow the icy cold water.

At nightfall, Frodo dug up a hole in the snow and he and the wolf cuddled inside. The night was cold and the ground was uncomfortable, but Frodo did not complain as he pressed himself against her soft stomach and let her tail wrap around the length of his back, cradling him like a cocoon.

The next morning, they continued their progress and finally started their descent of the mountains. As the sun rose high in the sky with the passing of noon, the snow under Allie's paws became thinner, thus easing the toll of her walk. Her strides smoothed as she shuffled forward with less urgency, allotting them plenty of time to savour the warmth of the sun against their head and back.

Frodo settled more comfortably, playing with patches of soft fur. The wolf glanced up at him and Frodo caressed the side of her muzzle with a grin.

Allie continued her walk until the snow disappeared from the mountainside. Vegetation and other signs of life started to sprout around them as they progressed along the cutting landscape. When they reached the first patch of green grass, she stopped in her tracks and Frodo slid down, stretching his arms and legs with a groan. He didn't remember the last time he had been this sore.

They walked side by side until they reached a region of white rocks at the foot of the mountain. The wolf looked amidst the rocks and found an opening that seemed to lead inside.

Frodo spotted it as well. "Is that the eastern door of Moria?"

Allie nodded.

They had arrived safely. All they had to do now was wait for the rest of the Fellowship to emerge. The roads through the mines were treacherous, so Allie calculated it might take the group another day or two to come out from under the mountains.

She sat on her hindquarters in the grass and Frodo let himself fall beside her with a sigh of content, stretching his legs out in front of him. His stomach grumbled, demanding food. He reached into his bag and fished out some crushed bread. He also found a last piece of dried meat that he offered to Allie. The wolf lapped up the meat from his hand and swallowed it whole without even chewing.

Frodo chuckled at her manners - which were not so different from when she was a hobbit - and munched on his dry bread. Allie licked her muzzle, sniffing his bag for more meat. Frodo shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Allie. That was all I had." He offered her some bread instead, but the wolf turned away with a moody yap and rested her muzzle on her forelegs. Frodo smiled in amusement and finished his meager meal. "I would give anything for a piece of roasted beef right now," he sighed.

Allie groaned in assent.

After he was done eating, Frodo lied down on the grass and lost himself in contemplation of the clear blue skies, thinking of nothing, until the image of the Ring flickered in his mind without warning. He frowned at the thought intrusion. His hand went to his neck and groped for the Ring out of reflex.

"It's a strange fate we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing…" he murmured as he felt its shape beneath his shirt.

The wolf lifted her head and peered up at Frodo through clear eyes. A second later, he felt the air shift beside him as Allie returned to her hobbit form. She was now sitting beside him with an elbow resting on her knee. She snatched a blade of grass off the ground and held it in between her teeth. "It is the smallest things that are the most dangerous," she said after awhile. "The real enemy though, is over there." She pointed eastwards, towards Mordor, though a pile of white boulders hid it from sight.

"The Ring has a mind of its own, or so Gandalf told me."

"It is said that a piece of Sauron's soul is entrapped within."

Frodo's expression darkened. "Sometimes I really wish none of this were happening. I wish I were still in the Shire, living my life. But then I remember it is the Ring that's led me to you again. Isn't it funny?"

Her gaze fell on the Ring in his hand, and her eyes became troubled. "You told me you would have set out to find me anyway, even without the Ring. I don't want to give it the credit for letting us meet again, because I don't think it ever intends for anything good to happen."

Frodo glanced at her. "Perhaps you are right."

She shrugged. "Don't think about that nasty Ring anymore. Its shadow is not yet long enough to reach this place." She closed her eyes as she tilted her face towards the sun blazing in the blue sky. "The weather is so nice after the coldness of the mountains."

Frodo peaked at her profile, drinking in the sight of her skin aglow with sunlight, filled with such lovely peacefulness. He had always been attracted to that fiery spirit of hers, but now he couldn't stop looking at her. He still couldn't believe after all this time, she was finally his. His gaze lingered on her rosy lips, the sensation of their first kiss flaring up vividly in his heart and mind.

As though sensing his gaze, her eyelids fluttered open. Frodo held his breath in spite of himself. She had the brightest eyes he had ever seen, either reflecting sunlight by day or moonlight by night.

Allie smiled and reached over to brush Frodo's half-moon pendant with a light finger. Frodo beamed back as he closed his hand around hers.

Their first kiss had been passionate and hungry. Now, his lips brushed against hers, slow and gentle, exploring and savoring each light touch. His hand came to rest behind her neck. She leaned in closer, taking support on his shoulders. Her hair rippled down either side of her face, creating golden curtains of intimacy around their heads bent together.

When they pulled away, Frodo leaned back on his hands with a smile in his eyes. Allie rested her head against his shoulder, the way she used to do when they were young. Frodo's thoughts erred to Aragorn and Arwen as he remembered the song Strider had sung that night in the bog-land after they had left Bree. He understood the melancholy in the Ranger's voice he had not been able to understand before.

A more troubling thought crossed his mind, and Allie felt it in the way his body tensed.

"What are you thinking about?"

Frodo pulled away from her, his smile replaced by a concerned frown. "Is the Ring not affecting you when we are this close?"

"I don't feel its presence. I only felt it that day on the tree and I don't know why. It worries me that it's so unpredictable."

Frodo's hand closed around the shape of the Ring.

Allie rested a reassuring hand on top of his. "But I am fine now. I will tell you if I feel it again."

Frodo was about to reply when he spotted a wolf making its way toward them from beyond the white rocks. Allie felt its presence too and stood to have a better view. Thirty or so wolves appeared within sight, scurrying in their direction on silent paws. A big black wolf with yellow eyes detached itself from the rest to stop in front of Allie.

She bumped her forehead against his and looked back at Frodo with a wide grin. "This is Informant. I don't think you two have met face to face yet."

Frodo shivered in spite of himself. Informant's yellow eyes held a ferocity that could stop anyone in their tracks. His gaze was wild and calculating, different from Allie's. Frodo forced his legs to move and joined Allie under the careful eyes of the black wolf. "Nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Allie."

The wolf's eyes hardened, and he sent a reproachful glance Allie's way, but she merely stared back with a shrug. She exchanged a few words with him before turning to Frodo and saying, "It looks like we cannot wait for the rest of the Company here. At nightfall, the mountains will be swarming with Orcs. We need to keep moving."

Frodo was a little concerned at this. "But where to? And how far behind is the Fellowship?"

"Pippin is telling me they are still trudging their way through Moria. Wolves do not normally go into the mountains, and I can feel Pippin's unease, but if they encounter no enemies, they should be out of there by tomorrow."

She refrained from telling him that right this instant Gandalf seemed to have lost his way and was hesitating between three archways, with goblins on their tail. She had to trust the old Wizard to handle the safety of the rest of them.

"Where are we going then?" Frodo asked.

Allie smiled. "The woods of Lothlorien. We will be safe from Orcs there. I have been to those woods once during one of my journeys with Aragorn. The Elves there are different from those of Rivendell, for they are more conservative and ancient. You will see."

Frodo nodded and picked up his travel bag, ready to go. From the corner of his eye, he saw the black wolf glaring at him with a trace of hostility. He hurried after Allie as she started walking again, and whispered in her ear, "What kind of person was Informant before he became a wolf?"

Allie had told him about Hunter's past as a Haradrim, and Councillor's identity as an Elf of Mirkwood.

"All I know is that he used to be a Man," she replied in the same low tone. "He vaguely alluded to living south of Gondor, but he said he is not from Harad. So I suspect he was one of the Corsairs from Umbar. In any case, he hates to talk about his past."

"He cares about the pack though, doesn't he?"

"I wouldn't call it caring. He simply wishes to stay in his position for as long as possible. For that to happen, he needs a pack."

She was thoughtful for a second. "Even after knowing him for so many years, I still don't know what drives his actions sometimes. Something must have happened in his previous life to make him grow so cold-hearted."

Informant did not care for love or friendship, even though Allie had often tried offering both to him over the years.

As they walked, a forest with golden leaves revealed itself beyond the last rocky hill. The hobbits and wolves stood in wonder, looking at the mass of majestic trees with their giant boughs saying in the wind and golden leaves singing in the late afternoon light.

From the east side of the forest appeared a series of dark dots crawling upon the rocks, making their way toward them. Informant stepped forward and gave a long and excited howl. Several howls answered back.

Frodo could only stare in wonder, for the dark dots were more wolves sprinting toward them faster than the eye could follow.

"It's Councillor and his wolves! And I spot Hunter as well!" Allie exclaimed with a happy smile, for she hadn't seen them in many months.

"Your pack is huge!" Frodo's disbelieving eyes took in the now assembled wolves, easily amounting to three hundred. They covered almost every inch of rock and terrain around them, forming a sea of gleaming eyes and rough fur.

"We are three hundred and twenty two," Allie declared, not without pride.

Councillor and Hunter both detached themselves from the rest and marched toward their Queen. Allie brushed foreheads with them, a greeting among wolves, Frodo guessed. Allie introduced them both to Frodo. Contrary to Informant, Hunter and Councillor both nodded in greeting, their eyes wild but welcoming.

Hunter came close and sniffed him, and Frodo tried his best to remain still even though all his instincts screamed at him to flee. Allie let out a laugh at his stiff stance. "Give him some space, Hunter," she told the grey wolf.

Hunter gave Frodo one last sniff and trod to Allie. "This is the little one we saved from the North pack."

Allie's eyes brightened. "You remember?"

"I never forget a scent. We fought those wolves for him, knowing we might all die. But that fight led to where we stand today. In a way, he's the reason for our present numbers and strength."

Allie had never thought of it this way, but she could see how that fateful fight in the Shire had been the trigger to all the decisions she'd made, the pebble at the origin of all ripples.

"He made you a conqueror, Queen. For that alone, I shall forever be thankful for his existence." Hunter gave Frodo a pleasant grin, which only made the hobbit back away. Allie did not think being a conqueror was anything to be proud of, but the wolves held a different morality.

Frodo was definitely intimidated by the grey wolf's threatening size and missing eye, but he found his gaze wandering to Councillor's coat of ever-changing shades of chestnut and brown. His body was like an illusion, for depending on the angle and luminosity, he never looked the same.

He had heard much about the core of the pack from Allie, but had never seen them in the flesh. Watching Allie evolve around them with such ease, a feeling of estrangement overwhelmed him. Sometimes, she seemed an Elf or a Wizard instead of a hobbit.

Allie turned to Councillor and brushed her fingers through the silky fur of his head with affection. "What news, Councillor?" she asked in common tongue.

"The Elves of Lorien have learned of your arrival and are now expecting you," Councillor replied inside her mind. "The borders of Lothlorien are not safe upon nightfall, so you and your friend might need to hurry." His brown eyes browsed the scenery around him. "Where is Protector?"

"In Moria. There was no other path to cross over to this side of the mountains."

Councillor did not reply, but his posture stiffened.

"Moria!" Hunter snarled. "What foolishness! Those damn Dwarves awoke foul things with their greedy excavations."

"There is nothing much we can do now except hope he will come out safely," Councillor said. "But Queen, you and your mate should go into Lothlorien before the moon rises."

Allie's cheeks flushed red at the word 'mate'. "He's not a mate, Councillor."

If Councillor had eyebrows, he would have arched them. "My apologies. Would you prefer the word 'lover'?"

"How about just Frodo?" Allie cleared her throat and hurried away. The wolves scurried aside to let her pass, but their shiny eyes did not leave Frodo when he ran after her. One of the younger recruits bore his fangs in his direction and snarled. Allie shot him a severe glance, and the wolf bowed his head and retreated with a whimper.

"Some of them are not yet used to the scent of humans," Allie told Frodo apologetically.

Frodo's hand hovered above the hilt of Sting. He was starting to get frightened by so many pairs of eyes fixed upon him. He knew he had nothing to fear from Allie's pack, but his survival instincts were kicking in in spite of himself. Allie sensed his discomfort, and let her voice resonate in every wolf's mind, clear as bell chimes, "This hobbit is not an enemy. Remember his scent, for from this day on, I command you to protect him as you would protect me!"

When her command died down, all the wolves stood to attention and sniffed the air with glossy eyes. Frodo sensed something must have happened, for the hostile atmosphere dissipated, as though a thick cloud had passed.

Informant growled, "You do such unnecessary things."

Allie shot him a glare. "It was necessary, especially for you."

Councillor said nothing, but his expression turned grave. Allie's command now bound all of them to the Ring-bearer. Were he to be in danger, the wolves would be compelled to protect him at the cost of their lives.

When they arrived at the edge of the woods, the wolves of the pack fell back and scattered away like shadows. They did not like the woods, for the Elves were wary of them and did not welcome them their presence.

Frodo and Allie took in the sight of the towering white trees with their golden foliage. The air inside the woods seemed mysterious and old, its breath rippling on their skin as though it were alive, carrying the scent of wild flowers and something else they could not identify.

Allie whispered, "Many people fear these woods, for they think there is an enchantress here with mystical powers. But that is only the Lady of Lorien, and if you don't carry evil in your heart, then you have nothing to fear from her."

Frodo nodded, feeling nervous.

They entered the woods, walking upon soft grass and fallen twigs. They soon heard the sound of cascading waters and came upon the Nimrodel stream. Allie eagerly bathed her feet in the cool water and Frodo joined her, his eyes widening in amazement when the water washed away his weariness.

Allie sat upon a rock by the side of the river and sighed in content as she swung her feet in the stream. Frodo sat down beside her, still amazed. "I like these woods so far. It feels like I've stepped into a forgotten world. The air itself feels ancient, as though coming from a place that no longer exists."

"Yes, I know what you mean. This place is one of the few sanctuaries of Middle-earth where the arm of evil has not yet reached."

Frodo turned toward her. "This Lady of Lorien, have you ever seen her?"

"Only once, but from afar. Aragorn was passing through the woods and she came out to greet him. She was all clad in white and her hair was like sunlight. Her face was hidden from me by a veil of light, so I did not get to see what she looks like. But she is the fairest of all the Elves, or so I've heard."

"And you have heard right," a voice spoke up from above.

Allie jumped up so fast that her feet sent splatters of water in a circle around her. The ferocious expression faded from her face when she spotted an Elf all clad in grey sitting on the top branch of a tree, looking down at them in amusement.

Frodo went to stand beside Allie and looked up curiously.

"You have good reflexes, I must say," the Elf conceded upon landing next to them. "But not good enough."

Following his gaze, Frodo and Allie saw several other Elves hidden behind the leaves, pointing arrows at them. Allie lifted one hand in a sign of peace. "We are not enemies."

The amusement grew on the Elf's features. "I know. Word was sent from Rivendell of your imminent arrival. I thought you would be in bigger company. Where are the others?"

"Still traversing Moria. Frodo and I crossed over the snowy slopes of Caradhras instead."

The Elf stared at them. "Both dangerous paths, no doubt. But Moria must be the fouler of the two. If you are set to wait for the rest to arrive, you can do so at one of our talans. I'm afraid you won't be allowed passage into the heart of the woods until I speak with either Mithrandir or Aragorn."

Allie yielded to his request well enough. The Elf's eyes traveled to Frodo and to the chain around his neck, and the lightness faded from his traits. Frodo sustained his gaze, fighting the urge to shield the Ring with his hand.

The Elf spoke gravely, "The times are troubled as I feared. You bring great evil here, Ring-bearer."

"I wish I did not. But as you said, these are troubled times indeed, and I am only doing what I must."

"Follow me now."

"What is your name?" Frodo asked.

"Pardon my discourtesy. I no longer have the habit of introducing myself to those who are not my kin. My name is Haldir, one of the sentinels of Lorien."

Frodo nodded. "I am Frodo. And this is Allie."

"Glor Bereth," Haldir said upon throwing a glance back at her. "I have heard you are Elrond's protégé."

"Elrond did raise me in Rivendell for a time."

"Then you must be accustomed to the ways of the Elves, Elf-friend. Though the laws here are much different. Soon you will see."

Frodo and Allie exchanged a glance, and followed after Haldir in silence.

Evening was already falling, and grey shadows danced in the meadows. The Elf led them beside a thick tree and told them to wait while he went to fetch a rope ladder for them. When the Elf disappeared into the foliage, Frodo turned toward Allie with a look that reminded her of his trouble-making days as a lad.

"Do we really need a ladder?" he asked her with an impish smile.

Allie's eyes widened in delight at what he implied. "Something tells me we will manage without."

"I hope you have not lost your skills," Frodo taunted before grabbing onto the tree branches and easily hoisting himself up the bark.

"Never," Allie replied to his back before following after him.

They continued climbing higher and higher, taking support on the diverging boughs until Frodo passed his head through a circular aperture in the wood of a platform installed high amidst the branches.

Haldir was in the middle of unrolling a ladder, but froze when he saw Frodo and Allie climbing up to his level.

"Well, this is a surprise! I did not know Shirefolk were as agile as Elves at climbing trees."

Frodo's eyes crinkled with pride. "Only us, as far as I know."

Amusement returned to Haldir's face as he brought over some blankets and told them they could spend the night here. He then left to join his brothers keeping watch on a nearby tree, leaving the hobbits to themselves.

Frodo and Allie spread out the blankets and lied down on the talan side by side. They rested in silence, looking up at the last rays of sunlight piercing through the leaves, letting place to dusk.

"This reminds me so much of my childhood," Allie said, full of nostalgia. "The Shire… the countryside… my platform on the tree. I remember those summer days listening to the cicadas sing, and the summer nights being rocked to sleep by the whispers of the leaves overhead…"

She turned to lie on her side with her cheek resting upon the crook of her elbow. "Is the platform still there?"

Frodo turned on his side, mirroring her gesture. "Yes. The old one rot because of the rain and the passing of time, but I replaced it with a new one. It took me a couple of days and a near fall to my death, but I did it."

She gazed at his face in the growing darkness, her gaze travelling from his blue eyes down the bridge of his nose, to his fine lips. The night conferred soft edges to his features. As though still struggling to believe he was truly here, she reached over to caress his face.

Frodo smiled and turned to plant a kiss on her palm. "Allie, promise me there will not no more secrets between us. If anything troubles you, if you have a difficult decision to make, you must talk to me about it. Isn't it much better now that you have told me about your transformation?"

She gave him a single nod of assent as her eyes gleamed with a soft light. "I promise."

Frodo patted her head. "That's my Allie."

They stayed like that, just looking at each other, as night fell around them and the forest grew silent. Stars started twinkling above their heads, beyond the dark swaying boughs of their tree. Frodo turned to lie on his back to allow some circulation to return to his arm, and Allie did likewise.

The moon was full that night, and soon its silver rays reached them from several holes in the foliage, creating dancing shadows on their clothes and faces.

Frodo took out his pendant and tried superimposing it to the moon out of habit. The other half of the pendant came to rest against his, as Allie also took out hers from under her leather suit. The stone of the half moons were old and chipped, but the two pieces still fit together as though they had never been apart.

"The moon is full again," Frodo whispered in a voice charged with emotion.

Allie knew he was not talking about the one in the sky.

"Frodo."

Something in her voice made his heart flutter, and he turned to face her. She sat and peered down at him with a kind smile. Her long wild curls tickled his cheeks when she leaned over him.

"What?" he managed to ask.

"The day I left the Shire with Gandalf, there was something you wanted to say. I asked you to tell me the next time we meet. Do you remember?"

He nodded.

"Well, what did you want to tell me then?"

A small smile played on his lips. "It's been so long now. I don't remember."

She frowned. "Really? But it seemed important!"

Frodo crossed his arms under his head. "Well, whatever it was, you should have let me say it back then. It's too late now."

Allie frowned, disappointed. "I bet it was nothing important. You probably just wanted to find an excuse to delay my departure."

Frodo shrugged. "Perhaps you can help me remember."

She arched an eyebrow. "How?"

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Just do as I say."

She narrowed her eyes at him before relenting and shutting her eyes closed.

"No peaking," he warned her.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I am not."

She waited as the leaves sang all around her in the night breeze. When nothing happened after several seconds, she was tempted to crack one eye open to see what Frodo was up to.

She felt him lean his forehead against her shoulder. She almost opened her eyes, if not for him reminding her to keep them closed. "Let's see, we were in this position when you told me you had to leave with Gandalf."

She could only marvel that he even remembered these small details. She uncrossed her arms and rested her hands on his shoulders as the scene from that day played behind her closed eyelids. A sadness she thought she'd forgotten came back to haunt her.

Frodo placed a kiss on her cheek. "You kissed me on the cheek as you told me goodbye."

She started breathing faster, trying hard not to open her eyes.

"Then, at that moment," Frodo's voice resounded near her ear, "what I wanted to tell you was…"

She waited with her heart pounding in her chest. What did he want to say?

His lips softly grazed hers. It was a mere brush, so tender, so transient, like the batting of butterfly wings, yet it left her shaken because it had been so unexpected.

She snapped her eyes open and met those, amused, of Frodo.

"What?" she exclaimed. "You wanted to kiss me then? But you said you had something to say!"

He shrugged with an unrepentant smile. "I'm sorry you fell for it."

Her chest puffed out in indignation and she raised a fist, intending to punch him in the chest. "You teasing rascal! Sometimes I wonder why I even waste my time speaking to you!"

He seized her wrist and drew her close with a wicked smile before she could land a well-placed punch.

"Let go," she warned with one eyebrow raised.

"I was not done yet. I do have something to say. Kissing you helped me remember."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop lying. You forgot."

He pulled her toward him. "I wanted to say, I love you."

She detected his seriousness beneath his playful tone. She knew how he felt about her, yet hearing him say those words out loud still left her rattled. She ceased her struggle.

Frodo smiled and released his grip on her arm. "Although, back then it was more like: "I like you, please don't go." But now the words have been upgraded, of course."

She gave him a joyous smile from the bottom of her heart. "You truly are a rascal, Frodo. My favorite rascal in all of Middle-earth."

Frodo lied back down on the talan with his arms under his head. "What an honor! And you, will you always be my little brat?"

"I wouldn't desire to be anything else." She lied down against him, resting her head on his chest.

Frodo wrapped an arm around her. "Yet back on the mountain you said you wouldn't mind being friends."

She pouted in the dark. "You know I didn't mean that."

"You would have missed out on all this, just saying."

"All right, stop rubbing it in."

"You would still be waiting for your first kiss. Have you truly not kissed anyone before?"

"Frodo…" she started in warning. "You are pushing it. Don't make me regret saying yes."

He chuckled. "I am sincerely curious. You said you can't be with one of your own wolves, but what about a wolf from a different pack?"

"Are you for real? Having romantic feelings for another wolf never even crossed my mind. Must I remind you I stayed mostly in my hobbit form? So, no, I did not have many opportunities to cultivate relationships. Unlike you."

That managed to quiet him down.

Allie bit her lip to stifle a laugh. It was her turn to counterattack. "What are you going to do about Marigold?"

He squirmed and evaded her gaze.

"Well?" she pressed when he didn't answer.

"All right, I get you now. I'm stopping with the annoying questions."

She jerked up. "But I sincerely want to know!"

Frodo turned away. "Good night."

She tried to pull him back, but he resisted her. "Frodo!" She arched an eyebrow and tugged on his arm. Frodo pretended to snore.

So he was going to play the evasion game? Fine by her. Allie fell on him with all her weight and locked him in a tight hug with a wicked smile. "Fine, then I will sleep on you. The platform is too hard for me."

Frodo turned over, laughing, and circled his arms around her. "I'm afraid I'm not a very good bed." He winked before ejecting her to the side with both arms. Allie landed on her side and brushed hair out of her face with a grumpy frown. "You know you will have to address the issue once you go back to the Shire."

Frodo's smile dimmed, but keeping his tone light, he said, "I'm not sure I will ever go back to the Shire, Allie."

His features seemed to turn sad under the moonlight. Allie dropped the playful smile and shuffled close. "Don't be silly, Frodo. Of course you will return. I will make sure of it, even if it's the last thing I do." Her eyes brimmed with absolute certainty when she added, "It will be there and back again, just like Uncle Bilbo."

Frodo's mouth twisted with emotion, then he smiled again. "Then I suppose I shall just incur Marigold's wrath upon my return. I have done a foolish thing. It is only appropriate that I suffer the consequences."

He lied down again. Allie pulled his arm over and used it as a pillow. "You won't regret your choice?"

Frodo turned to face her, his eyes very blue under the moonlight. "Never."

"Even with Marigold's wrath awaiting you?"

"Even so."

Her grey eyes glowed softly. "You must really love me then. I remember Marigold to be a gentle soul, but I have seen her angry once, when one of the ladies at the market refused to give her the right change for something she'd bought. It was like she morphed into a different person."

Frodo cringed. He knew exactly what Allie was talking about. "I'm having second thoughts."

Allie laughed. "Too late now."

They fell silent, simply enjoying each other's company. Frodo's eyelids began to feel heavy, but he forced his eyes open. He didn't want to fall asleep just yet. He wanted to savor every second of being able to hold her like this, for who knew what may happen tomorrow.

"Frodo?" she murmured.

"Mmm?"

"What if this is all a dream? What if I wake up tomorrow and you will be gone? And none of this ever happened?"

He turned his head and deposited a kiss on her temple. "Don't say that, Allie. How can this not be real? I have never felt more real in my entire life."

She snuggled more comfortably against him, reassured.

"I wonder what Uncle Bilbo would think of all this," she muttered again after a moment, half-asleep.

"He'd be happy for us," he answered as his eyes fluttered closed.

"He might write the story of our adventures in his red book," her voice seemed to reach him from afar as he drifted off.

He wanted to answer her more thoroughly, but only a sleepy "mmm" escaped his lips.

"Good night, Frodo," she said as she laced her hand in his.

That night, Frodo dreamed he was back in Bag End. He was reading a story from a red covered book to a young hobbit lass who would clap in delight at the end of each sentence. As he flipped the pages one after the other, she would look up at him with her wide and curious eyes and ask, "And then? And then what happened?"

He would not recall this dream the next morning, but later, much later, traces of it would come back to him like frayed wisps of white smoke. The detail he would remember most vividly would be the sunlight in the hobbit girl's golden head and the clear skies in her eyes.

Only a dream.