Finding Love in the Lord of the Rings

°°°°Chapter Nineteen°°°°

Chapter Nineteen

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The morning sun rose to early for Cody but she was aroused by the constant, but gentle, shakes from Frodo.

"Cody, it's time to get up. We're leaving soon, the elves are giving us parting gifts." he breathed in her ear.

"Why can't we stay here a bit? We're safe, we have food and we can rest for a while." she grumbled.

"Yes but we need to go."

"I know." she whispered.

Hesitantly she got up and began to pack up her few supplies. Draped over her pack was a cloak that was covered in a fine layer of dew. It was a simple piece of clothe being the color grey and had no designs on it. The part of it that caught Cody's eye was the pin on it's front. It seemed delicate, as it was made out of silver, and was in the shape of a leaf. The crafter of this pin had a steady hand for they added every detail onto the leaf, right down to the veins that swirled through it. The cloak itself was light to the touch and felt as if she were holding down from a small chick. When she put it on, however, it was warm as if the sun had warmed each fiber into it.

She pulled her father's cloak off and slipped the elven one on over her shoulders. She fastened the pin in place so it would not fall off and stuffed her red cloak in her pack. When she stood back up to admire her new clothing she heard someone grumble a small curse and looked up to see Frodo struggling with his pin.

"Do you need help?" she laughed lightly.

"I pricked my finger trying to pin it on." he whined.

"I don't think that's a good enough reason to curse though." she teased, walking up to him. "Let me help."

Frodo put his hands up in the surrender position and watched her pin the leaf on his grey cloak. When she was finished she looked up into his blue eyes. They were the same color as the morning sky, not a cloud was in sight. She had never relized that he was almost a head taller than her. A small breeze blew his black curls around his face and revealed a scar that ran from his hair line down to his ear.

She traced it with her finger tips and murmured, "Where did you get this from?" She looked back to his face and waited for an answer, her fingers remained on the white scar.

"Lets just say I wasn't as good at climbing trees as well as others." he smiled. He gently pulled her hand away from him and pulled her into a hug.

She didn't say anything but Cody knew he was hiding something. All to soon he pulled away and walked off to pack his things. She watched him walk away and continued to think about his scar. It was to straight and to thin to be from a tree branch.

'In time," she told herself, 'He'll tell me where he got his scar.'

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Every member of the Fellowship wore a new cloak and they all looked the same, grey with a leaf pin. Celeborn led them through a small, winding path through the mallorn trees until they reached the bank of a wide river. Three canoes rested on the powdery sand and the water licked the ends of the small boats, threatening to pull them into the water.

Cody stopped dead in her tracks and stood there with wide eyes. She had always had a fear of water since she was very little. She had been in a small canoe in the middle of a lake during the summer. She had been enjoying the weather when something bumped her raft. She peered over the side and saw a ripple skim the top of the water. It turned around and came back to her boat, bumping it more forcefully this time. It knocked her over and she didn't see it coming back for the last time.

Her boat flipped and she was dumped into the cold water. She didn't know how to swim and she sputtered and slapped the water trying to stay afloat. Luckily, another canoe was drifting along and the oarsmen saw her go under. The hobbit dove into the water and swam her over to her over turned boat. He flipped it back over and tossed her in. Shortly after he crawled in with her and the two sat there panting.

When she had finally stopped shivering she looked up and was surprised to see a hobbit boy her own age sopping wet in her canoe. He had dark brown eyes and light brown, almost blond, hair that hung in clumps over his eyes.

"Th- th- thank y- you." she stuttered. Her teeth clattered together causing her to chop up her words.

"Don't mention it." he told her.

"I'm C-Cody Proudfoot." she introduced herself.

"Meriadoc Brandybuck, at your service." he stuck his arm straight out in front of him. His shirt was rolled up to his elbow and she could see right through for it clung to his arm and the material wasn't very thick. She took his hand and said, "Nice to meet you Meriadoc."

"You can call me Merry if you want. That's what everyone else calls me."

Ever since that day she had been afraid of water, especially large bodies of it. She stood frozen in terror until someone came up beside her.

"What's the matter?" he asked. Frodo rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her trying to see what she was staring at.

"The water." was all she was able to force out of her mouth.

"What about the water? There's no Watcher in it if that's what you're afraid of."

"I've been afraid of water for more that twenty years." she turned to face him and fear glistened in her eyes.

At first he thought it was a joke and smiled when she told him she had been afraid of it for twenty years. His smile soon faded when he saw that true fear shone on her face.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." he said comforting her, "These are elven boats, magic has been placed on them so they cannot sink."

When she didn't say anything he took her hand saying, "Come on" and led her over to the canoes.