Red String

The Strands Weave

 Frodo lifted his eyes from the Red Book, and the sound of writing stopped. He looked over his shoulder, noticing the certain silence that had formed in the last few minutes. It was hard to grasp the fact that any hobbit hole would be silent with Merry and Pippin around. He dropped the quill back into the ink and stood, stretching. He waited for a moment until he heard a crash and gasping, and yelling. He shook his head and continued out of the small den, finding Pippin on his bottom in the hallway.

 "Peregrin!" Miranda shrieked from inside the kitchen. She came out, her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to stand on a broken stool? You numbskull."

 "He never listened to his mother." Merry said from behind Miranda. Pippin shrugged innocently. "Although, he should have some kind of hobbit sense….then again, maybe all the fancy things of Gondor have rubbed off on him."

 "Oh yes." Pippin stood, brushing himself. "And the great Meriadoc, ridding out to battle with the Riders of Rohan…..on a pony." Miranda glanced at Merry then let out a small giggle before going into the kitchen. Frodo shook his head. "Well look Merry! Our cousin is alive, you being locked up like that Frodo, and we thought you'd wrinkled up."

 "Don't be ridiculous Pip." Frodo sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder how you two have matured so much over the last year and am still acting like ridiculous tweens."

 "It's not that hard, Frodo." Pippin reassured. Frodo looked at Pippin evenly, no emotion in his eyes. Pippin felt himself fear at this, almost as if the hobbit he was looking at was dead. It passed quickly and Frodo entered the kitchen. Pippin looked at Merry, who returned the fearful look. Something was there in their cousin that they didn't know….did Miranda?

  Miranda looked over her shoulder as Frodo placed his hands on her arms, squeezing them affectionately. She smiled and went back to cleaning the dishes after their luncheon meal. Frodo stood behind her for a moment, watching her hands as they went in and out of the soapy water as they scrubbed. Miranda glanced back at him in question, but he only smiled in return. She shook her head and continued on with what she was doing.

 "We should go and get ready." Merry piped up. Frodo glanced at them. "The party is this evening, isn't it? We should head off to get ready, especially since it will take dear Mira all day to finish herself off for the party."

 "I don't have anything nice enough to wear to the party, Merry." Miranda said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Merry just smiled, as did Pippin. She sighed, continuing to scrub the dirty plate in the water. Frodo's maimed hand came into the water and grabbed her hand softly. She looked up at him and he gave a small smile, taking her hand out of the water and holding it. Merry rolled his eyes and Pippin shook his head.

 "I have something for you." Frodo said in Miranda's ear. Miranda looked at him oddly and he led her out of the kitchen and down the hall into her room. Merry and Pippin followed close behind, determined to see the reaction that she'd have. Frodo stopped her in front of the full length mirror, standing behind her, looking at her reflection for a long moment. She was wearing one of those black skirts and chemises again, the ones that made her look so pale and dead. He moved her hair back behind her shoulders. Miranda watched him in the mirror with curiosity. "Close your eyes." He said softly, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

 Miranda was unsure at first but closed her eyes, feeling her stomach do turns and flip flops. Merry and Pippin her rustling about like squirrels, but Frodo stayed where he was. She moved a little, uncomfortable with the whole situation. The rustling had stopped, and silence had come. Miranda wondered what had happened. Frodo's hands moved back down to her arms and he squeezed them softly.

 "Open your eyes." He said.

 Miranda slowly opened her eyes, staring at the mirror. She gasped and covered her mouth with her small hands, seeing a dress hanging on the mirror. It was full length, dark rich green material with golden embroidery stitched into it. A baize shirt was also with it, having ruffles at the end of the sleeves. Miranda reached her hand out to touch it, as if it weren't real. Merry and Pippin chuckled, and Frodo watched with a still face. Miranda took the dress and blouse into her hands and looked at Frodo in surprise.

 Frodo smiled softly and nodded. Miranda jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. He was taken off by surprise and held her close, resting his head against hers and closed her eyes. Merry felt himself smile proudly as if Frodo were his own son. Pippin smiled as well, seeing how happy the two were together. She wasn't happy because of the gift itself, but the fact that Frodo cared about her enough to even consider having her look her best in public.

 "Alright love birds." Pippin called, pulling Miranda off Frodo. "We all have to get ready, including Frodo." He waved to Miranda and pushed his cousin out of the door, and down the hall. Merry stopped before he left the room, his hand on the door.

 "Thank you, Miranda." Merry said. She smiled. "You've done a good thing." He closed the door, and headed after his cousins.

 Miranda smiled and looked down at the dress. She turned to the mirror and began undressing herself.

~*~

 "I'd told you she'd take all afternoon." Pippin mumbled. He sat in the chair next to the fireplace in the sitting room. He had on the same outfit he wore to Bilbo's party, the dark blue breeches with the olvie green vest. Merry leaned against the wall, hitting Pippin over the head with his hand. "What?!"

 "I'm sure she's trying to make herself look her best for Frodo." Merry said calmly. Frodo glanced over his shoulder from the window. Merry smirked and Frodo shook his head, returning his gaze out to the snowy world beyond the window. Merry looked at the hallway as Miranda came into the room, smiling brightly. Merry had to nearly claim his jaw from the floor; Miranda looked beautiful in this outfit. Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid, and had small red poinsettias in her hair. He glanced at Pippin, seeing his cousin was also in shock at how well the outfit matched her. Merry cleared his throat. "Cousin, your princess has arrived."

 Frodo turned, gazing at Mira. His face showed no signs of amazement, save his eyes. He came over to her, taking her hands in his, as if to see she were real. Miranda smiled back warmly and removed her hands, giving them a slight twirl. The skirt swayed with her perfectly as she stopped. Pippin and Merry clapped, and Frodo smiled at her. He looked out the window, seeing their carriage had arrived to take them to the mayor's home. He took Miranda's hand and led her to the door, wrapping her coat around her. Miranda smiled, and Pippin rolled his eyes. The four left Bag End, and Frodo helped Miranda into the carriage.

-*-

A/n: Much longer ^_^ Im sorry to you all that it wasn't a wedding ring….but when you think about it, they've only known each other for a couple of months! We don't want to be too hasty, do we? If the updates on this story come later than they normally do, its because I'm pushing through a writers block. I'm getting closer to the part I really want to write, but I have to plan some things out better.