Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings sadly; J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of this trilogy.
Author's Note: I got some inspiration for this while watching The Sound of Music. Reviews are welcome. Enjoy!
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First Dance
The huge bonfire throw yellow sparks up into the air. Couples dance a safe distance away within a circle of lanterns. Young lads and lasses watch with wide eyes the tweenagers and adults. Some of the boys point and wonder how the hobbits can stand dancing with the girls – which they think is totally disgusting. Many of the lasses simply watch in fascination, and some talk of how they cannot wait until they are old enough to join in the dancing.
Rosie Cotton watches the spinning couples with twinkling eyes. A smile of delight and admiration is on her pretty face. Unconsciously her feet tap along with the music.
Rosie has always loved to dance. Almost from as soon as she learned to walk, her feet and body moved gracefully. In the fields, in the house, on the way to market, everywhere, she danced. To music or the sound of nature she hardly stayed still. Even here at parties she will dance, though she is not allowed to take part officially. "You will find yourself to be the object of many lads desiring a dance," her older brother Tom often teases. Rosie only raises her chin a little higher and retorts, "What do I care of dancing with lads? At last I would be able to dance to the music and not on the sidelines!"
"Where is the one in whose honor this party is for?" Daisy murmurs next to Rosie, scanning the crowd.
"He shall now help his father tend the gardens up at Bag End, I heard. Now that he is twenty and just become a tweenager! He will work for Mr. Baggins!" May breathes in awe on Rosie's other side.
Rosie's smile now turns to one of great pride. Oh, how happy she had been for Sam when he excitedly told her the wonderful news the other day! It did not matter that now he is a tweenager. What matters is that he will now work in the gardens of the Bilbo and Frodo Baggins! The look on Sam's face when he told her was that of a young lad who had received an extraordinary gift for Yule. And Sam deserves this honor. He has carefully taken care of the Gamgee family's little yard and garden, and Rosie is completely amazed by what he has done. There is no doubt that he will grow up to become a wonderful garden just like his father, Mr. Gamgee.
Rosie scans the dancers but cannot find Sam in their midst. Daisy and May drag her away, and they join some of their other friends at a nearby table. Rosie listens in silence to the conversations which fly back and forth across the table. She smiles dreamily at her friends as they start to discuss who they hope they will share their first dance with when they become tweenagers.
"What about you, Rosie?" one girl asks. "Surely you have thought at least once about who you wish will dance with you."
Rosie laughs and shakes her head. "You sound just like Tom. He claims there shall be lads fighting over me when I am allowed to join the dancing with the other tweenagers and adults."
"So there's…no one?" another one of her friends presses, curious.
"I cannot say so," Rosie says simply.
The other lasses trade glances with one another in mild disbelief. Their ears perk up as a new dance starts to play. One by one, they softly start to hum along with the melody. Rosie taps her foot in time with the music. This dance she has started to learn from watching couples perform it. It is a fairly new dance to her, though. She gets up from a bench and starts to dance, a little uncertain of the steps. Her friends watch her with interest and impressiveness. Slowly Rosie becomes more sure as she goes on and dances with her pretend partner – for this is a dance which requires two hobbits. But she dances beautifully on her own, nonetheless. Secretly all her friends agree with Tom.
Rosie watches her feet and so does not look at the other lasses. She, thus, does not see them look behind her and their eyes widen. Nor does she see the strange exchange of glances among them. Or see them start to blush but say nothing in warning. Indeed, poor Rosie is aware of nothing until the light tap on her shoulder comes.
Rosie is jerked from her small world and quickly turns to find herself gaping at Sam Gamgee. She blinks at him in complete surprise, speechless.
"Hello, Rosie," Sam says, gentle amusement in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitch.
"Hello, Sam," Rosie responds coming to herself. She feels her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Had he been watching her? And if so, how long? "Happy birthday," she adds quickly.
"Thank you." He smiles. "I believe you would do better if you had a partner," he says, confirming her silent wonderings.
This time Rosie blinks in shock. A chorus of gasps comes from the table. Rosie glances at her friends and sees similar expressions of amazement on their faces; they stare at the two. Rosie swallows, her throat suddenly dry. She watches as her hand comes up, moves forward, and lands in Sam's outstretched one. What is she doing?
"As the new tweenager," Sam winks, "I insist on having a dance with my good friend."
His comment makes her feel suddenly very young. "I shall be sixteen in only a couple of weeks!" she exclaims in defense.
Sam laughs. But Rosie is suddenly aware of the great age difference between them, for it will be over four years until she, too, will be a tweenager. But she is not permitted to continue these wonderings, for Sam takes her other hand, and they start to dance.
They move in silence while the music drifts to their hearing. Rosie looks down at her feet, not daring to look up at Sam. She is suddenly terribly nervous for a reason she does not know. She feels her hands becoming wet with sweat. She feels heat coming into her cheeks. She cannot fully concentrate on the dancing and stumbles slightly. Sam quietly provides some instruction. Rosie feels her heartbeat start to race and her ears begin to pound. She stares with growing intensity at the ground. She can feel Sam's unwavering gaze on her, which unnerves her completely.
Rosie does not understand why she is acting or feeling this way tonight. She has never been so shy around Sam; usually it is he who is sometimes shy around her. Never has her heart beat so fast before. She must calm down and get a hold of herself. She is truly acting like the young lass that she is.
She watches as she steps on Sam's foot. It takes her a full two seconds to realize what she had done – what she did not even try to stop. Rosie knows she is as red as an apple. She lifts her head and looks at Sam for the first time during their dance to apologize. The words catch in her throat. Sam is gazing at her in a way she has never seen him gaze at anything before. And somehow she feels he is not looking at her as though as a friend. What it is, she does not know. She stares at him; everything around them becoming dim and far away. She is floating. She becomes lost in his never-ending blue pools.
Slowly Rosie returns to earth. She hears the voices about her. She feels the grass under her feet. She realizes the dance is over, for another dance has started. But she and Sam stand still, their hands clasped in the final pose, gazing at each other. Rosie breaks the spell cast around them.
She backs slowly away, for she feels slightly unsteady on her legs – she might just fall to the ground. Finally, Sam releases her hands, but not her eyes. Rosie puts her hands over her cheeks and feels the warmth from them.
"That was lovely," Daisy says softly, staring back and forth between the two. The other lasses voice their agreement. "What a beautiful couple you two made."
Couple?! Rosie stares at Daisy and then at Sam, who watches her closely, his hands hanging at his sides. Without a word, and only dropping a half-curtsy, she spins on the ball of her feet and hurries away. Away from her friends. And away from Sam… She needs to find someplace quiet, where she can be alone and try to think. Figure out what is happening to her.
She pauses in her brisk walking and looks back. The table is buzzing with animated conversation – no doubt about what the lasses have just witnessed. But Sam has not moved from where she left him. She looks at him to see he obviously has not taken his eyes from her for a moment. Still, she does not understand the look on his face. She gives him a small forced smile and continues on her way.
Rosie is not even aware yet that she has left her heart with Sam.
THE END