Yay, new fanfic! This is a pretty strange idea that I have, but I haven't seen anyone use it (possibly because it's so strange) so I wanted to see if I could actually pull it off.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the rights to Lord of the Rings. I don't even know who owns them, but kudos to them. I, however, do "own" the original characters I have created. So be nice and create your own characters instead of stealing mine.

Chapter 1 : Introducing Adrianna
Apart from her family and friends, no one would say that Adrianna was particularly special. She did all right in school, kept herself out of trouble, and went about her day like any other typical, average student. She could not be described as beautiful, but was reasonably good-looking. She was rather tall, with wavy dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes. It was a look that was common enough. Some said that she was even a forgettable person. Perhaps it was because she didn't like to do things that drew attention to herself. She saw no point in making her presence known to people if it wasn't absolutely necessary, and that was just how it was.

She had one best friend, Ryan, who had occasionally been described as a nerd, a geek and even a dweeb, but had been there for her for years and years. No one really remembered when the two of them had started being best friends, but it didn't matter. The two were inseparable, and would have a chocolate milkshake each in a little café next to the school every day before going home.

I suppose that it would be on one such trip where this story really begins.

They were sitting outside on this particular day. Usually they preferred to be indoors, where there was either the air-conditioning (on the hot days) or the heater (on the cold days), but today the interior had been full when they got there. Such incidences were rare, and there had been some good-natured groaning, moaning, whining and complaining from the two of them as they got their milkshakes and trooped outside to sit and breathe in the chilly autumn air.

"We've got to think through this routine a little more carefully. A cold chocolate milkshake outdoors in this environment?" Ryan remarked, cleaning his black wire-rimmed glasses and putting them on again. "It's crazy."

"But I know you enjoy it," Adrianna replied. "You do, right?"

"Of course I do, but I'm just saying that perhaps we shouldn't do it if we have to sit outside in the cold. I mean, we'd like to have our fun and lovely routine, yes, but do we really want to freeze to death?"

"Don't be such a drama king, Ryan, we're not going to freeze to death."

"Fine… fine…"

"Excuse me, but is this seat taken?"

Adrianna and Ryan both jumped. Before them stood an elderly lady with silver hair and a friendly smile. She was dressed in a long black skirt that just brushed the tops of her thick black shoes and a thick grey sweater. She was rather small in stature, but that could not explain why she had seemed to suddenly appear before them out of nowhere.

Adrianna turned and looked around. Strangely, the other outdoor seats were taken too. She had never see the café so busy before, not in all the years she had come here. And she and Ryan had not even noticed all the people that had come to sit around them. They, like the old lady, had just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Were we that engrossed in our conversation?

"I'm sorry if I startled the two of you," the lady said kindly. "But I've been walking for quite a bit and I was just wondering if I could just stop for a little coffee and rest my tired legs."

Ryan stood up. "Of course, please, take a seat!" Like a real gentleman, he returned her smile and said, "Let me get your coffee for you. How would you like it?"

"Oh, how nice of you, thank you, young man! I'd like my coffee black, please."

As Ryan went inside to get the coffee, the lady smiled at Adrianna. "What a nice polite boyfriend you have!" she said. "Such well-mannered youths are really difficult to find these days."

Adrianna shook her head. "Oh, Ryan's not my boyfriend," she said. "We've been best friends for the longest time. My name is Adrianna, by the way."

"Gwendolyn." The old lady stuck out her hand and Adrianna shook it.

"That's a pretty name," Adrianna said.

"Why, thank you!" Gwendolyn replied, looking genuinely pleased. When Ryan came back with her coffee, she smiled again and said, "This is just lovely. If all the people in this town were as polite and friendly as the people I've met so far, I think I'll be very happy here."

"You're new to this town?"

Gwendolyn nodded. "Yes. I just moved here. The movers are shifting all my furniture now, and my new neighbour agreed to watch them for me while I came out here for coffee and a break from all the stress of moving. What a nice lady she was."

"Where did you move into?" Adrianna asked.

"30 Grange Drive."

"Hey!" Adrianna exclaimed. "That's right next door! I live in 28 Grange Drive. And Ryan doesn't live too far away; he lives in 23."

Gwendolyn beamed. "Oh, how wonderful! Then I suppose that lovely lady must be your mother! Oh, this is a very nice surprise indeed!"

Adrianna and Ryan exchanged grins. They had only just met her, but there was something about Gwendolyn that just drew them to her, and they felt as if she was already one of them, a good friend they could count on. "We could all walk home together later," Ryan suggested.

Gwendolyn was of course delighted at the offer. After they were done with their drinks, they got up and began the stroll home, Gwendolyn between the two friends. "Where did you move here from?" Adrianna asked.

"Oh, here and there," was the casual reply. "I've really been living in so many places that it's getting a little hard to keep track! I love travelling around, you see."

"That must be exciting," Ryan commented.

"It most certainly is. You get to meet so many different people and it's nice to think that even after you've moved on and said goodbye to them you've changed their lives, even if it's just a little."

Before they knew it, they were standing outside Ryan's house. "Well, here we are at my place. It's been nice chatting to you, Gwendolyn," Ryan said as he unlatched the gate. "See you tomorrow, Adrianna."

"See you!" Waving goodbye to him, Adrianna and Gwendolyn continued on their way.

"So how old are you?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Eighteen."

Gwendolyn sighed. "I was eighteen too, once. It seems so long ago now. It's a beautiful time of your life, though. Friends and love… everything was rosy and pink, I suppose."

"It doesn't seem all that rosy and pink when you're eighteen, though. There's always homework, and projects and exams…"

"Is that just how it is for you? Just homework, projects and exams? What about friendship and love?"

Adrianna smiled wistfully. "Ryan always says that I'm a hopeless romantic. He always says that the type of love I daydream about doesn't exist; that I'd do better to stop living on a cloud. No, I can't say I've found the love that I want yet."

"Sometimes it's right where we don't see it."

"Excuse me?"

Gwendolyn shook her head, smiling. "No, nothing. I was just thinking aloud. Oh, here we are. I'd invite you in, but I'm sure it's a big mess. Maybe next time, all right?"

"All right."