Okay, so now important things actually begin to take place. I can't sit around and write about silly things all day, now can I?
Sooooo... A new story's going to be coming out soon. Hopefully. It involves three people from different points in history, and it's just kind of a new spin on things. It's gonna be great, no matter how bad I am at summaries! The ending popped into my head the other day and it was EPIC! :) So I'll let you all know when it's out, and I hope you'll all read it. It's still in the works. As in... I've got the ending down, but the beginning and middle haven't exactly made it, yet. They died somewhere along the way, and it's rather hard rising the dead. So I am BEGGING you to throw some ideas out at me. Chances are, they'll make it into this story. This is Home will still be the main priority, but I am absolutely DYING to get this one out.
Dying.
Anyways, please. :)
I'm also taking story requests/challenges. I've got a lot more time to write these days. :)
And for those of you who love Collin, I'm just thrilled. :) Writing things with him comes so easily, because he's sort of born from this guy who changed my life, but he unfortunately died recently. So I'm thrilled that you guys love him, because I absolutely adore him. :)
So, sorry for the long author's note. We'll get to Collin, now.
I don't own Lord of the Rings, and I never, ever will.
(Sophie)
"GOALLL!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, fortunate enough to be the official referee for all of Collin's sports.
So, we were playing soccer, now! A lovely sport, full of shin-kicking and side-tackling. I'm in awe of it.
Teams are the same as last time. Team Dragon, and Team Those-Who-Refuse-Team-Names. It was just as bloody as football, and we quickly gained a horde of admirers to our odd human sport.
By now, all of the guests of Rivendell had left for home, and all was back to normal. Well, semi-normal. Collin has found new friends within the Fellowship, and he seemed quite determined to get them all killed before leaving Mordor.
I bet him that he couldn't do it, and he politely refused. Evidently, it wasn't challenging enough for him.
It was December the twelfth, and tomorrow would be a very special day, for me. If those bloody friends of mine remembered, of course.
TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY! How exciting? I will be turning twenty-five. Huzzah and hurray?
No, all important birthdays were pretty much shot to hell when I met someone who was five-thousand years old. Yeah, they make sweet sixteen seem silly. I didn't even have a party on my twenty-first birthday! Elves drink every night! They didn't need me for that! It was a normal day, for them.
But this year, I was determined to suck every last bit of enjoyment out of it. This could very well be the last time that I have all of my friends together on my birthday, especially if something went wrong while out on the quest to destroy the ugly ring.
How does that ring even fit on Frodo's finger? It's freaking huge!
The one ring to fit them all...
Sounds much better.
Anyhoo, I should probably pay attention to this game. Sam looks like he's throwing a fit.
"That's not fair!" He shouted. "They have Gandalf!"
The wizard stood laughing at the goal line, clearly enjoying crushing the other team. Although Gandalf was ridiculously stressed with all of this evil ring business, Collin somehow managed to get him out of his poop shell. He decided that these modern sports were good workouts, and so the Fellowship was allowed to enjoy themselves with recreational activities far more often than before.
Still, there was something off about the wizard. I think that he's been cheating with his super Gandalf powers...
"Gandalf!" I apporached the old wizard, who was playing goalie for his team. "Your staff, please."
Gandalf gave me a look that must be the Middle-earth equivalent of America's, 'OH NO SHE DIDN'T!' look.
"My dear Sophie, I believe that I heard you wrong. What did you say?"
"Your staff, Gandalf." I held my hand out, like I actually had an ounce of authority over this man.
He laughed and shook his head. "Oh, dear girl. You have quite the sense of humor. Now, let's move on with the game."
My stubbornness was screaming to get out, but my internal will to live was much stronger. So, I casually made it back to my place in the middle of the field, and acted like I had expected this turnout. "Proceed!"
Countless elves stood or sat at the sidelines, enjoying this relatively heated game. Where else can you see hobbits yelling at wizards, and elves tackling rangers?
Yeah, that's right. We allow tackling in this game. Everything goes.
Except for ear-biting, by special request of the elves. Oh, and no eye-gouging. Heck, let's just call it soccer with occasional tackling.
Glorfindel stood to the side, wielding Collin's video-camera. Yeah, we still had that camera, and dear Glorfindel was our official photographer. The elf actually had quite a lot of talent!
Ten seconds left, and Team Dragon was down by one point at 3-2. Aragorn had the ball, Merry had a strong hold on Boromir's leg, and Gimli was putting up a strong defense against the elf. Collin was being held down by Frodo and Pippin, so it all came down to Aragorn and Sam vs. Gandalf.
Intense...
And that's when it started raining, and our men turned into a bunch of pansies.
"Well, I guess that's it for today!" Gandalf declared, and immediately the whole group agreed. "Let us move inside for lunch!"
"LUNCH?" I couldn't believe it! "HOW CAN YOU EAT AT A TIME LIKE THIS?"
"Don't stress it, Soph." Collin smiled and ruffled my hair. "It's just a game."
Sigh...
No one love soccer like me.
Well... Now what?
"Hey, Kris?" I turned to my friend, who was sitting quietly by my side. "Wanna go bug Erestor?"
"No." She shrugged. "I've got other things to do."
There's other things to do in Rivendell? Like what? Smell some flowers, bake a cake?
Hmmm... Well, it is my birthday tomorrow...
"Ohhh... Other things." I winked at her and gave her the *nudge nudge.* "Gotcha..."
Kristy raised an eyebrow at me and slowly moved away. "What are you trying to say?"
"Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" She's totally planning me a birthday party. "You go off and have your fun, yes?"
"Okay?" She stood and felt my head. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Great! Just great!" I smiled and smacked her away. "Now, go!"
Kristy shook her head and swiftly ran away.
Yeah, I'm totally getting a surprise party.
(Kristy)
"Milady?" A tap on my shoulder woke me from my dozing as I sat in the library.
Boromir stood in front of me, a small smile on his face.
"Uh... Yes?" I rubbed my eyes and tried to shake the dream I was having out of my head. The image of me marrying Gimli wasn't too pleasing, even though he was a kind fellow.
"Might I ask you a favor?"
Although he was a major figure in my best friend's current life, I had hardly had the time to get to know him on a deep level. We were friends, but far from good friends. Still, I wasn't going to go back to my dwarf-loving dream, so I decided that I might as well see what I could do. "Go for it."
"Yes, well..." Boromir rubbed his head anxiously, like a child asking their parent for a puppy. "I was wondering if you could bake me a cake?"
Excuse me? "Why do you want a cake?"
"If I'm guessing correctly, tomorrow's Sophie's birthday, and I hear it is a tradition in your world to prepare cakes for one another?"
"That's not a tradition here?" I could have sworn that we had cake in Hobbiton... Then again, hobbits have cake nearly every day.
Wait.
It's Sophie's birthday, tomorrow?
"What day is it?"
Boromir raised an eyebrow at me. "December the twelfth."
Crapsky! It is her birthday, tomorrow!
Play it cool, Kris. What kind of best friend would I be if people knew that I forgot Sophie's birthday?
"Of course it is!" I smiled. "I'd be happy to help you bake a cake."
"Help?" Boromir's smile faltered. "Actually, I was hoping that you could do it."
Haha! Oh, men. "Why would I bake a cake and let you take credit for it?" Seriously? It's not like it's rocket science, or anything. The man's perfectly capable of baking a cake.
"Well, milady, I've never baked in my life..."
"Then you'll learn!" I declared, and slammed my un-read book shut.
Collin and James swaggered up, then, munching on apples.
"What's up, guys?" Collin smiled, as he bobbed up and down excitedly. What he was excited for, we'll never know. His mind is like a theme park. He's always excited.
"Oh, we were just going to bake a cake." I shrugged. "It's Sophie's birthday tomorrow." No doubt Collin's already aware of this; he never forgets her birthday.
"Oh, I know." He sighed. "She's been leaving terrible hints all day. Poor soul, she's really trying, too. The dear couldn't leave a subtle hint to save her life."
So that's why she was acting so strange today after the soccer game!
"Do you guys want to help?" The man makes some mean waffles; I'm sure that he'd make a decent birthday cake.
"Oh, heavens, no!" Collin laughed. "Gimli, Aragorn, James, and I have some other ideas. Can you imagine three men and a dwarf baking cakes? No, no. That'd never work."
No, that wouldn't work. They'd be more likely to burn down Rivendell before they produced a cake worthy of Sophie's picky tastebuds.
"Our present is going to be way better than cake." James boasted proudly, earning a swift elbow to the gut.
"Shh!" Collin gave James a glare that would frighten Gandalf. "It's a secret, you prick!"
When it came to surprises, Collin was the king. Mostly because he threatened party-pooper surprise ruiners with death by bruised ribs.
James winced as he rubbed his poor bruise. "I mean... We've got nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Collin's eye twitched and he shook his head in disappointment. "James, I don't know why I included you."
"Welp, we'd better be off, now!" I smiled and began to pull Boromir away from the two, trying to save my brother from further bruising. "Have fun, you two!"
Poor James, he's never been good at keeping secrets.
.
"Are you sure we won't be caught?" Boromir tried to act like a tough macho-man, but you could tell that he was nervous. After all, what warrior in his right mind would want to be caught baking cakes?
"Yes, Boromir, I'm absolutely positive. Sophie gave up on baking years ago." Unfortunately, she burnt about fifty toaster waffles in the process.
She'd better be hoping that this thing with Boromir works out. She'd never last as a domestic mother, a woman's expected job here in Middle-earth.
Speaking of Boromir, I'd never seen anyone look so out of place in my life. The massive bear of a man eyed the kitchen uncomfortably, looking every bit the perfect stereotype of a man that has never stepped foot in a kitchen in his life. The kind half of me almost considered letting him go.
I did say almost.
Hey, maybe this could be a good opportunity for me to figure out
"What are you going to do when your friends leave, milady?"
"I'm staying here in Rivendell, as far as I know." Where else would I go? "I've got no one. Plus, Bilbo's here, and I want to spend as much time with him as possible. Old age has finally caught up to the poor hobbit."
Boromir nodded, and did his best to focus on putting cake ingredients together.
Poor soul, he was trying his best.
"Are you afraid of the upcoming journey?" I asked casually, kindly taking the cake batter away from the manly warrior. He was going to ruin the cake, the way he was attacking it.
"I am not afraid." He shrugged. "Gandalf will lead us well."
Yes, but it's not Gandalf I'm worried about.
"The ring is quite a danger, unfortunately. It's a shame that poor Frodo has to carry it." I looked up and searched his eyes for any hint of temptation for the small piece of gold.
A slight flicker of confusion sparked his features, but he did a good job at quickly subduing it.
"Yes, it's quite a burden, I imagine."
Hmmm... I'll let him slide, this time. After all, that confusion makes sense. Who brings up evil gold rings while baking cakes?
Collin.
And Sophie.
But Sophie doesn't bake, she just watches and eats the batter.
James is usually in there, too, but he doesn't talk about the ring. He just wants food.
But that's not the point.
"I don't know if you've heard this, but Sophie fully intends on tagging along with the Fellowship."
Boromir's eyes shot open wide, and his jaw dropped. "What?"
Crap, Sophie and Collin are going to kill me.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. But don't worry; she doesn't intend on going to Mordor."
Boromir's panic mode still didn't turn off. "Does she have any idea how dangerous this is going to be?"
"I thought you just said that you weren't afraid?" Protective, much? "Besides, Collin will take good care of her."
He looked torn. Like he wanted to rip a kitten's head off, but at the same time, he wanted to snuggle it to the end of time.
"Are they in love?"
Say what?
"Who?"
Boromir sighed and leaned against the table. "Sophie and Collin. Do they love each other?"
Wow. I did not see that coming. How can I answer that one?
The truth is, I think that they're both hardcore in love with each other. Like, the real deal. When you read the Bible and it talks about love, that's them.
But they never had any relationships. Sure, freshman year in high school Sophie was 'talking' to a guy, but neither of them had any boyfriends or girlfriends.
Yeah, a shocker, because both of them are amazing people.
The point is, they'd been a close-knit pair since the very beginning, and because neither of them ever dated around, they didn't understand a huge emotion in human life.
Jealousy.
Here's my old theory: they love each other, but they haven't noticed, yet, because they've never gone without one another.
But things are changing, now. Collin's almost 27, and tomorrow, Sophie's turning 25. Both of them are quite mortal, and their youth won't last forever. If one of them was going to make a move, it would have happened by now, don't you think?
Or maybe I'm completely wrong. I don't know. But I'm not going to ruin Boromir for Soph, just because Collin might be in love with her. That's her heart's life, not mine.
Call me crazy and say that I'm a bad friend, but hey. Sophie's never had a boyfriend. I'm not quite sure what to do in this situation.
"Boromir, they've been best friends for their entire lives. Don't you think that we'd know by now?"
The warrior thought long and hard on this, but in the end, his heart beat his brain by a longshot.
"I suppose you are right..." He sighed and relaxed a bit.
"If it makes you feel better, Sophie was talking about going to Gondor." That's got to count for something, right?
Boromir smiled and looked down at his hands.
I guess it does count for something.
Goodness.
Men.
.
.
After another hour and a half, the cake was baked, and Boromir was off.
Finally. Peace and quiet...
And Legolas?
The elf walked into view as I sat myself down in the gardens, a small smile on his lips.
"Good afternoon, milady." He bowed.
That never gets old! After nearly twenty years of jerk guys back home, bowing was a real treat to see. It's kind of a slap in the face to all of those guys who never held the door open for me, but they still thought that they could tempt me into a date by buying me a drink.
I was underage. It wouldn't have worked, anyways.
"Hello, Legolas."
He still didn't know that I was aware of his being a prince, even though I'd known for quite some time. I just wanted to see how long it'd take him to tell me, and by the looks of it, that wasn't going to be for quite some time.
Only Arwen knew of my feelings for him.
"Beautiful day, is it not?" Legolas smiled and looked up into the bright blue sky.
"Why haven't you told me that you're a prince?"
Oops. That wasn't supposed to come out.
It is a lovely day, though.
His blue eyes shot open and he nealry lost his perfect elf composure.
Almost.
"Because..." He sighed. "I did not want you to judge me based on my status."
Honesty... I find that admirable.
"Well, I wish that you had. I feel as though I do not know you at all."
Legolas and I spent quite a lot of time together, actually. We always spent our time together alone, laughing and talking together. Some days, I would be reading, and he would sit there silently, perfectly content. It was so easy to forget the world when I'm around him, as silly as that sounds. Still, he was a prince, and that's a huge factor to be left out when getting to know someone.
Legolas frowned, and all was silent for a moment.
"I may be a prince..." He began slowly, unsure. "But titles do not define who I am."
With blushing cheeks, I swiftly looked back down to the book that I had intended to read. Desperately, I tried to focus on the neatly written words, but elvish just wasn't coming to me, now. With a sigh, I shook my head and carefully lifted my eyes back to the handsome elf in front of me.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to judge you." I guess that's exactly what he was afraid of.
Legolas smiled and sat down next to me. We fell into a comfortable silence, as I finally began to comprehend the book in my hands.
"I am sorry that I'll have to leave you." Legolas broke the silence. "Especially considering that I may never come back."
I looked up from my book, eyebrow raised. "Why are you sorry?"
"Is it not obvious?" He smiled and looked to the ground nervously. "Kristy... I feel as though it is time for me to tell you that... I have feelings for you." My eyes opened wide, and my heart jumped, but I remained silent.
He continued. "You are beautiflul, and kind. I find myself drawn to you more and more each day..."
"Have you considered your immortality?" I cut him off before he could utter another word.
His smile fell, and confusion shone in his eyes. He looked down to the ground, silent.
I didn't think so.
"Perhaps it would be wise for you to do so, then, before we continue this further."
I am friends with countless elves, and I would never dream of asking a single one of them to give up their immortality for me. I especially could never ask Legolas.
Without another word, I closed my book and stood. I turned to the silent Legolas and gave him a small curtsey.
"Good day, milord."
Quickly, I turned, not wanting him to see the pain I was hiding.
(Sophie)
"Scoot over!" I pushed against Collin's side, but the terd wouldn't budge.
"No!"
"Come on!" I complained. "It's my birthday!"
"Not yet, it's not!"
Ughh... "How do you know?" I don't see a clock anywhere!
Collin smiled and whipped out his camera. Little did I know, there was a built-in clock.
Fancy.
"How much did you pay for that?"
He laughed and set the camera down by his side. "I never finnished paying it off... Suckers!"
My friend and I were outside under the stars, covered in mounds of blankets, and resting on a big fluffy mattress. Collin was my hero of the day, when he knocked on my door and dragged me outside to count down the final moments of my twenty-fourth year. He'd dragged Aragorn's mattress (poor guy still doesn't know where it went) outside to the gardens, just so we could welcome in my new year.
Lovely man. There's a reason he's my best friend.
"How much longer?" I complained.
"Five... Four... Three... Two..." He trailed off, leaving me hanging.
I was silent for a moment while I waited for him to continue the countdown, but he never did.
"Collin?"
"Huh?"
"Is it my birthday, yet?"
He looked at the clock again, and laughed. "Oh, my bad. It's been your birthday for thirty seconds, now."
"Collin!" I slapped him, and he chuckled.
"I don't know what happened!"
"Oh, whatever." I rolled over and closed my eyes.
"Happy birthday, Soph."
Author's Note...
One last thing! Any questions? Let me know! I'm gonna try to reply to comments, more, so go for it. :)