Sense of Reality, One-Shot

The full moon shone its silvery light across the vast countryside of the region Rhovanion. Baldur, his wife Cordula, and their children Bettina and Edwin had been tracking Lydia's scent for the past three years, but not once did they manage to catch her. This was the first time the family of werewolves was not sure where Lydia had run off. As Edwin and Bettina sniffed the animal tracks near the Mirkwood Forest, Cordula approached her husband, as he howled at the silver moon, crying in such a way that only werewolves could hear. Though the family had been frustrated that Lydia chose war against them, in their hearts they knew she would come out from hiding and admit she was a full-bred werewolf, not one fully bred from the Halflings. After sniffing a few more tracks, Bettina managed to pick up a few set of tracks, more recent and elvish-looking. The scent, however, seemed familiar to Bettina, as she howled for her family to follow, straight into the deep, darkened forest.

Lydia stayed at Bag End for the rest of June. While she was treated as a guest by Sam and Rosie Gamgee, who right away became suspicious of her and always thought they could smell a dog somewhere near the hobbit woman, Lydia found herself exploring Bag End's hallways and rooms whenever she was alone. However, this seemed to be on most days, since she discovered Frodo spent most of his time in the study. Towards the weekend of the last week in June, Lydia found herself in the pantry, which was filled with extra staple food and an assortment of canned vegetables that took up most of the space on the sturdy, wooden shelves.

As Lydia examined the sealed glass jar on a shelf, she heard a familiar voice ask her, "Are you looking for something?" Lydia whirled around as she saw Frodo leaning against the doorframe. "Lydia?"

Lydia peered again at the sealed jar in deep thought. She eventually told Frodo, as he entered the pantry, "I was merely… wandering." She admitted, "My parents would force me to leave Bag End, if they knew you were here." She paused. "Maybe I shouldn't have come…"

Frodo interrupted, "No." Before Lydia could protest, Frodo told her, "Lydia, I'm sure it'll be fine." He paused for a moment. "You still haven't said what happened between your parents and you." In confusion, he asked her, "What is it?"

Lydia remained silent for another few seconds. Then she explained, "The night my family and I fled from the West Farthing – you remember, the night I kissed you – we were attacked by the same Orcs we saw earlier that day. My sister was the first to be attacked and she bit back, hard. My parents and brother thought Bettina had transformed the Orc, but we saw the blood moon had passed. The Orc died in seconds. As for my sister, my parents saw fit to tempt her further and so Bettina killed one of the Rangers of the North, who was protecting the borders of the Shire and Eriador. My brother Edwin was the next werewolf to attack another innocent person, this time a hobbit that went missing two years ago… my guess is during your quest to destroy the One Ring."

"How do you know?" asked Frodo in confusion.

Lydia immediately told him in reply, "My parents found out you're the Ring-bearer who destroyed Sauron's One Ring. They even made me confess…" Suspicious now, Lydia asked him, "Unless you have some reason for inviting me to stay at Bag End for the past two weeks?"

Frodo became hesitant at first, but then he explained, "On the night you left, and the years that followed, I've been having these strange dreams about you and a forest. I'm not sure why, but I know…"

Sam interrupted this time, from across the hallway, "Mr. Frodo, I think you should come out to the parlour! Gandalf's here!"

Facing Lydia, Frodo told her, calmly, "We will speak later." He gave her one last look before leaving the pantry.

o-o-o

When Frodo entered the parlour, he found a wizard in white robes and with flowing, silvery-white hair seated on a wooden chair, near a curved, rectangular window. In the wizard's arms rested a long white staff, yet he held onto the staff in such a way as to prove he knew how to wield it properly. Frodo knew this wizard, before his fall off of the dwarven bridge called Khazad-dûm, as Gandalf the Grey, but since the wizard's return he was known by the name Gandalf the White. Frodo sat down on a chair, on the other end of the table, moments before Gandalf turned to him with a grim look across his face.

Gandalf said, "Before we start, I must bring up something that has troubled me, since my arrival in the Shire."

"Go on," said Frodo, nervously.

"Word has reached me recently, about you letting a strange hobbit woman inside Bag End. From what I have been told, you have only met this woman once before, when you were tweens," explained Gandalf, gravely.

Confused, Frodo asked him, "How do you know about her?"

Gandalf replied, "Well, I figured you would tell me eventually about this Lydia Maether." Aloud, he called, "Do not think I do not you are eavesdropping! You may be a hobbit by day, but at night you bring grave peril with you. Come out, or I will force you to do so!"

Lydia, at once, fled from her hiding place behind the wall in the entrance hall. She advanced towards Frodo swiftly, as she barked, "Did you tell him anything?"

"No," said Frodo, truthfully. "Why would I tell him about your secret? I'm not that dishonest, Lydia."

"Then how?" asked Lydia, bewildered and confused.

Gandalf explained to the two hobbits, "I didn't, but rumors and word reached my ears throughout my travels, concerning you and your family of werewolves. I can assure you both, Sam and Rosie wouldn't eavesdrop unless you told them the truth."

"I haven't killed any person. I have killed animals in the past, only to survive," said Lydia, speaking the truth. "I am not like my parents or siblings."

Gandalf nodded. "Yes, but the Elves do not trust your family or you. They believe all werewolves, even their descendants, are cursed throughout their lives."

"It's true. However, I thought there would be…"

Gandalf interrupted her. "Lydia, unless you died in a battle against your own kind and died in that battle, I am afraid you will not be allowed to enter the Undying Lands."

Lydia asked in confusion, "Wait. What do you mean?"

Turning to Frodo, Gandalf asked him, "You haven't told her or your friends?"

Frodo explained in a firm voice, "I was planning on waiting until after dinner to tell Lydia…"

"Tell me what?" asked Lydia, growing suspicious. "I want to know."

Peering up at her, Frodo told Lydia, "Wait until after we eat dinner, then I will explain what Gandalf has spoken to me a few months ago, and my decision."

Lydia nodded, while speaking firmly, "All right, I'll wait." She left Frodo and Gandalf alone to their conversation.

Four Hours Later…

As the sun set across the afternoon horizon, Gandalf was the first to finish eating dinner. After grabbing his staff, he bid Frodo, Sam, Rosie, and Elanor farewell, before he whispered a few words in Lydia's ear. Once the white wizard left Bag End, returning to his white horse or Mearas called Shadowfax, Lydia left the entrance hall in a flurry. She looked back once as Frodo grabbed her arm and dragged her inside his study, where he closed the door after them. A heavy silence fell in the study, only to be broken by the crackling sounds coming from the flames inside the rounded, stone fireplace.

Once another brief silence passed between them, Frodo broke the silence by admitting to Lydia, "I suppose you have a right to know my decision."

Lydia started to question him, with a confused look across her face, "About…"

Frodo sighed behind his teeth. "I will be leaving Middle-earth in September."

Lydia asked, further confused, "Leaving?"

"I won't be returning to the Shire," admitted Frodo. He added, "The One Ring affected me more than my companions, wounding me both in mind and body. I was also stabbed by a Ringwraith's Morgul Blade, and poisoned by the spider Shelob on my journey."

Lydia, pitying him, said in reply, "Oh, I see. You weren't attacked by a werewolf…"

"No, not yet," said Frodo. He paused, briefly, "I have to leave Middle-earth and travel to the Undying Lands to heal." He then spoke in disbelief, "I knew you wouldn't understand."

Confused, Lydia told him, "Because you make this sound as if I should leave you… like this. Why do you think I came back to the Shire?"

"I don't know," said Frodo, in a serious tone. "Ever since you returned, Sam cannot trust you or Rosie." He added, "You said once that if I ever spoke of your family's secret, the hobbits would think I betrayed them…"

"For running away with a werewolf, which wasn't at all a hobbit," said Lydia, finishing his sentence. "I am still considering that choice. That's why I have returned, against my family's wishes." She admitted, "This has been my decision to return, not theirs. I just need to know if there is still something between us."

Stunned, Frodo told her, "A lot of time has passed since we were tweens, Lydia." He paused. "Yes, I have thought of you during that time. I may have some feelings for you, but… it's not the same."

Lydia moved closer to him. She asked, softly, "Why shouldn't it be?"

Frodo told her, "Lydia," seconds before Lydia leaned in and kissed him. Before the moment grew intense, Frodo stopped Lydia as he broke away from the kiss.

Lydia asked him, softly, as he held onto her for another few moments, "Nothing's there?"

Frodo shook his head, as he released his grip on her, "No. I'm sorry." He then left his bedroom, while leaving the door wide open. He looked back as he watched Lydia flee from the bedroom, showing only a few tears across her firm expression.