To Southern Gaelic: For goodness' sake, check the book! If you do, you'll find that hobbits do in fact call their sheriffs "shirriffs", thank you very much. And Frodo was in fact Deputy Mayor for a while after the war with Sharkey, when Whil Whitfoot, the real mayor, was indisposed. I can change Crystal's age if you like, but it's just to say that I got her name off of the Barrow-downs name generator, and I rather liked it. Anyway, Crystal and Opal were the only gem names I could think of that weren't taken already. Also, can you explain what you mean by events moving too fast? Anyhow, thanks for your input.

Chapter 2: Reminiscing

Frodo was silent on the way home. If Pippin noticed, he did not show it, only went over Olo's money issues with him. It was a few days away from December, and the red-gold leaves that had scattered the ground were turning a dull brown. Bright green lawns steadily turned yellow, and the trees, while still stretching their arms toward the grey, late November sky, were stripped bare of their adornments.

The two hobbits soon went their separate ways, Pippin to the Great Smials and Frodo to his current residence with the Cottons. Upon entering the cozy farm house, he went to the kitchen, where a fire was burning in the hearth. He hung his cloak on a chair and searched the counters for a kettle. Sam came in.

"Hullo, Mr. Frodo! How was your meeting with Olo Bracegirdle?"

"Fairly well. After a little chat, Pip had a private discussion with him. Apparently, he's agreed to go back to work, and Pip made arrangements with him to look for his wife. I still don't trust him, though. Definitely not after I talked to his little girl." Frodo filled the kettle in the sink and put on the stove. He then rummaged through a cupboard for a mug.

"You talked with the child? Crystal?"

Frodo put a brown mug on the little wooden table. "Yes. I saw her peeking at me from behind a cloak, and convinced her to come closer so I could take a look at her. Queer, pretty little thing. Quite clever, too. She knew that she could trust me. From the state of the place, I think Olo has some friends that come home with him often from the nearby inn. Whew! The stench there, and the mess!"

"How old was the girl?"

"I'd say about eight or nine years old."

Sam shook his head. "So young and what a childhood she has."

There was a pause, in which both hobbits were lost in their thoughts. At length, Frodo spoke.

"I promised her that I'd bring another doll to her next time I came."

Sam turned in surprise. "Why?"

"The only thing she had was a stuffed sock with no face. Is there anything wrong about that?" Frodo noticed Sam laughing to himself. "What?"

"No." Sam chuckled. "But in the time I've known you, it never occurred to me that you would bring dolls to little girls! Most of the time, you fetched the lads' balls when they lost them!"

His smile faded a little when he saw Frodo's grave face. "If you could see her, Sam," said Frodo sorrowfully. "If you were there to see how pitiful she was, you would understand. Now that Eos is gone, the poor thing has no mother to give her what she wants."

Sam's eyes softened. He put an arm on his master's shoulder. "I understand. You're acting like you always have, doing good service for others."

Frodo climbed into bed that night with a book on elvish philosophy as light reading. "Don't all that reading hurt your eyes, Mr. Baggins?" Farmer Cotton had teased him. Frodo smiled. He was with good people, he thought. He was lucky to be staying with some of them.

Now that he was with a book, however, he couldn't concentrate on the Tengwar characters. No matter how he forced his eyes to stay on the pages, they always jerked back up to the wall opposite. Finally, he gave up, shut the book, and lay it on the bed. He leaned against the pillows.

He had been thinking of the little girl, Crystal, and her mother. They looked so much alike, Eos and her daughter. They had the same deep brown eyes that seemed to know your soul when they lay on you. Crystal's gestures were identical to Eos's, the way they both held their fingers to the corners of their mouths when in thought. Frodo had seen that gesture when he saw Crystal peeking at him, as if she were wondering, Who is this new man Father has brought in?

From what he could see, the child was not one bit like her drunkard of a father.

Frodo closed his eyes and thought of Eos. Eos had been the youngest daughter of Adelard Took, and also the most dynamic of the Took girls. She was gentle and fiery, moody and cheerful, ladylike with the touch of a tomboy. She had started out by following Pippin and his cousins around and nagging to join their sports. That was how Frodo had met her.

He could still remember that day, when he was twenty and she was twelve.

"Reginard!" Little Eos's high pitched voice pierced the hot summer air. "Are you going to the swim hole now?"

"That's none of your business, little squirt," replied her big brother. "Run along into the house and do something with Celandine and Berylla for a change."

"Celandine and Berylla are at the Burrows' for the day. Anyway, Ma told me that you were supposed watch me today. That means I'm going where you are."

Reginard and his friends, Frodo and Pippin among them, had been planning to take a trip to the swim hole nearby – without a clinging little girl.

"Eos, just get back in the smial and stay out of trouble, will you?" pleaded Reginard.

"I ain't going back in there!"

"Fine, just stay put right there, then."

"Alright, go to the swim hole. And I'll tell Ma that you left me here in the dirt all alone, and she'll tan you!"

Frodo tapped his cousin's shoulder. "Just let her watch, Reggy. She may not be that much trouble." Other lads joined in.

"Yea, Reg, she can keep a distance..."

"We can swim and keep an eye on her at the same time, can't we?"

"Maybe we can make her keep quiet, bribe her, or something."

"If she gets run over by a horse and cart, it'll be your fault…"

Overcome by his peers' urges, Reginard relented. At the swim hole, Eos sat near the bank while the lads raced across the water.

Suddenly, they all heard a loud splash. They all looked behind them to see ripples in the water near the bank. But before any of them could work up a shout, Eos was already trudging out of the water and returning to her grassy spot.

Reginard's friends had started laughing hysterically, initially to his great dissatisfaction, but he eventually laughed along with his friends about the antics of his baby sister.

That had been the first time Frodo had ever paid attention to the youngest Took girl.

They had met a month later, on one of Frodo and Bilbo's visits to the Smials. They were at a party, where Frodo noticed Eos standing to the side, watching the dancers.

"Are any of your friends here?" he asked, walking over to her.

"Yes, but they all want to dance with them boys from Buckland," she replied, pointing.

"Why aren't you dancing?"

"I would if Ma would let me. She says I ain't old enough for dancing."

"Twelve is rather young, wouldn't you say?"

"I suppose." The girl sighed. "But I guess even if I were old enough no one will dance with me."

"Why's that?"

"I follow older boys around and I like to swim. And my dresses are always all messy and I like to use 'ain't'. I also read anything in sight."

Frodo had to laugh at this statement. In the back of his mind he was delighted to find someone who read.

"You like to read anything, you say?"

"Yes."

"I'll promise you something. When you're old enough to dance, I'll dance with you for sure. In the meantime, come up and read as long as you like."

The deal was too good to pass up.

Frodo grinned to himself. They had both been young and silly then, despite their difference in age. He had kept his promise, though.

Frodo did dance with her, when she was eighteen. They danced often after that. Eos came up to Bag End almost once a fortnight to read in his library. The two became friends, and had much to talk about on these visits. Frodo even had time to teach her runes and some of the elvish tongue.

Frodo supposed he had begun to love her as time went by. But Frodo seemed to always have difficulty grasping what love of a female was during his youth. Just as he took hold of what he felt, Eos was engaged to the son of a Bracegirdle who worked with her father. She was already pregnant by the time Frodo even thought of the possibility that he could have married her instead.

He had gone on the Quest partly to forget about her, the love he had been too asinine to recognize. He had intended to forget so that he would not have to look back and regret. But had his travels helped anything? He came back with haunting memories and ever-lasting wounds. He knew not what seeing Eos's child would bring.

Mind worn from memory, Frodo blew out the candle on his bedside, turned over, and had a night of fitful sleep. He only dreamed of one.

"Frodo!" exclaimed Eos. "Come in! What is it?" she asked, noticing his anxious face.

"Is Olo here?" Frodo asked.

"No, he's out…" Eos furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"I need to talk to you…" Frodo's movements were strangely urgent and jittery as he hung up his cloak.

"Do you need anything? Tea?"

"No. I shan't stay long." Frodo took Eos's hands in his. There was a pause.

"When are you due?"

"In June. Frodo, you said you wanted to talk."

"Yes. Eos – " Frodo held her hands to his breast. He laughed nervously. "I guess we've been friends a while."

"Yes…?"

"I just needed to tell you…" He took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, sorrowfully.

They both stepped back when the kiss ended. They stared at each other.

"I loved you all along, Eos. I was too foolish to see that until you married."

Tears glittered in Eos's eyes. When his vision began to blur, Frodo decided to leave before he wept fully in front of her.

"I just wanted to apologize for not telling you earlier." He reached for his cloak. "I suppose I shan't see you for a long time, Eos love." Turning to look back at her with deep sorrow in his eyes, he left. He did not see Eos blow a kiss after him and whisper, "Goodbye, Frodo."