Upon Returning

Pearl's Prologue

She ran with tears streaming down her face. She knew he loved her, but why did she run? The question hung in the small hobbit's mind forever.

"Where will I go? I can't go back to Imladris, Elrond will just sneer at me as if to say, 'I told you so,' Pearl said to herself as a single tear dripped from the corner of her eye.

The young hobbit-lass had seen much, but she was losing the only one in her life who had mattered the most. He loved her for who she was, he protected her, he was gentle and kind, but she took his heart and discarded it, out of fear.

"Wait.I know where to go, no one will find me there ever. Now where did Frodo say it was? Ah.Yes, I remember, Esgaroth, The town by the lake. Frodo told the story of his uncle Bilbo and how he escaped the wood-elves by hiding in a barrel and ending up there."

Pearl took a deep breath, wiped her tear-stained face and pondered out the direction to take.

Before she set off she heaved a heavy sob and whispered, "I love You Pippin." But her words fell on the wind and were heard by none, except the one who was watching.