Aralas Oneshots

Yule at Bag's End

Sam opened the door with a wide smile on his face. His brown curly hair danced merrily on his head and his hands balanced a tray full of small delicate pies that smelt deliciously. Behind him his wife Rosie ushered the children out of the hall to make space for the new guests.

"Strider! Legolas!", Sam exclaimed, while letting the two old friends in. Behind them two children put their heads in, curious as to what they were facing here. "Mattei of course. You've grown a lot since I last saw you, but I must say my Frodo has shot up too, he's now almost my height. And little Merry, you haven't met him yet, I suppose?"

Mattei* smiled politely, but he was too overwhelmed to answer. A little head stuck out from behind his back. It belonged to a little girl, who anxiously hid behind her older brother.

"And who are you?", Sam wanted to know. Legolas, who had just hung his winter tunic on the hook of Sam's hall, turned around and told Sam: "That's our daughter, Nibeneth*. I'm sure we mentioned her a lot in our last letters, master Sam. It seems you have forgotten!"

Legolas laughed, while Sam's cheeks turned a lively shade of pink. 

"Dear me, I guess my head's a bit full right now", he replied. "Of course I've heard much of you, my sweet girl. Come, follow me, I have a little daughter too, just in your age."

Nibeneth let herself get dragged into another room, where already a lot of guests were waiting around the dinner table. A bunch of children played in a corner, and at the sight of them, five-year-old Nibi joined them happily. There were Frodo, Rose and Elanor, all Sam's children, and little Merry was in his mother's arms. Gimli had brought his nephew Grumli and Aragorn and Legolas had taken their children with them too, of course. And even Merry and Pippin had children, Merry's were twin boys with lots of curly hair and Pippin had a little daughter he adored. 

Around the table was a merry company. Although it was Sam's home, if looked more like he was rather shoved out of it, due to the huge amount of guests there were. Even though Bag's End was enourmous, today it looked small. All the hobbits were there of course, Pippin, Merry, Sam and Rosie and some friends from the neighbourhood. Then Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas, Glorfindel from Rivendell, king Éomer and his sister Éowyn with her husband Faramir. Said lady was in a blessed condition, and she was seated in a comfortable chair with cushions all around her to steady her big belly. Shining with absence was Gandalf, who of course had been invited, but: "a wizard arrives precisely when he means to", so there was sure enough a good reason for him being late. The only really missing person was Frodo Baggins, and it was also whom Sam missed the most. It would be his first Yule celebration without his best friend, and the thought of it darkened his mood.

But only for a bit, because now Rosie had decided it was time to have dinner, and everyone was invited to choose their meal from the richly supplied table. When the plates were filled, Sam arose and tapped his glass three times, so as to get everyone's attention.

"Dear friends!", he started his speech. "I am so very happy that you all have come to celebrate Yule with us. Some of you I haven't seen in a very long time and I hope you still recognize your dear old Sam, even though I'm not as young and not as athletic as I was just a few years ago."

Laughter was heard from around the table and Gimli erupted in loud cheers.

"However, I am still as cheerful as before and I still love food, so let's toast for this wonderful company I have today and start the celebration!"

After a few minutes, every one was talking and eating happily and stories were exchanged, news spread, and rumours about happenings in Middle-Earth were discussed. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. At first, nobody heard it, but the knocking continued and the conversations died down as the people wondered, who this disturber could be.

"I'm coming!", Sam called into the silent hall and stood up to open the door. What met him outside let his face shine up in a huge grin. "It's the tomte (Santa Claus), everyone. And he arrived precisely when he meant to!"

Into the room strode Gandalf, his usual grey cape draped around himself, but on his head he had a red hat and over his shoulder he carried a huge sack with unknown contents.

"Ho, ho, ho!" he exclaimed and put his sack on the floor with a loud thud. "Are there any good children here?"

The children in the room gathered around Gandalf with their eyes wide open and anticipation written across their faces. Tomte Gandalf opened his sack and conjured forth a huge package wrapped in red and gold paper. Suddenly he stopped and looked at two children who stuck out from the rest.

"Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck! You haven't changed a bit. Back to your places now, hurry up, you don't want to be the ones stealing presents from young children, do you?"

With red faces Merry and Pippin returned to their places. They had so looked forward to some presents. To their surprise, when Gandalf had delivered presents to all children, he came up to them and put two small packages in front of them.

"You didn't believe I would've forgotten you, did you?", he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Thank you, Ga... tomten!", Pippin cried happily, while tearing away the paper from his present. But what he found quenched his happiness a bit. "What's that?"

"That, my dear Pippin, is a napkin. I advise you to make use of it, because your wife complained about the endless stains on your clothes!"

Merry laughed, but then he found, that he also had gotten a napkin. 

Gandalf gave presents to everyone around the table. Gimli got nice beads for his beard, Glorfindel received a new sheath for his dagger, Sam and Rosie found flower seeds inside their present and Éowyn got a cute blanket for her baby. Legolas let Aragorn open their package. With careful fingers the king opened the present and they looked inside. What they found was a red notebook and a letter. The red book turned out to be the notes of Bilbo and Frodo of both of their adventures, and it had wonderful maps in it, that Aragorn found better than the ones in Gondor. And the letter was adressed: To Aragorn and Legolas, from your Frodo Baggins. Even though they didn't open the letter, they both knew what it contained. It was a farewell letter. 

"I am glad I found these Hobbits that rainy day before the war", Aragorn said quietly to his husband. "They are the bravest creatures I have ever met."

Legolas smiled. 

"You are right", he replied. "They are marvelous."

Then he placed a small kiss on Aragorn's cheek. 

"I love you Aragorn, merry christmas!"

"I love you too!"

"Daddy, come look what I got!", Nibi called just then from the children's corner. With a big smile on their faces, the daddies stood up from the bench.

*Both Mattei and Nibeneth appear in my other stories of Aralas, if you want to know more about them, I suggest reading the epilogue of "The way to Gondor", and in "The way to the North" the children are already a bit older.

Merry christmas everyone! I hope I could brighten your day with this story!