Burning it Down: Smaug/Reader

Part 22

The moment you first saw him start to stir, uncontrollable tears of joy began streaming down your face.

"Frodo? Can you hear me? Please answer me."

He opened those piercing blue eyes you knew so well and smiled faintly up at you before replying, "Just couldn't let me sleep in peace, could you? Is this payback for all those mornings I came in jumping on the bed at daybreak?"

You snatched him up into a hug and squeezed him much harder than you probably should have, given his weak condition.

Behind you, Gandalf chuckled before saying, "If you keep that up the healers will have to come repair a broken rib."

You pulled back and watched the look of shock on Frodo's face when he saw that Gandalf was indeed alive. That is when you remembered that the last Frodo had seen of him was when he fell fighting the beast in Moria.

One by one, the remaining members of the fellowship entered the room to be reunited with their friend. Merry and Pippin quickly launched into telling Frodo all of the grand, exciting things they had seen and done in his absence.

The happy moment, however, was interrupted when Gimli said, "Y/n, you know that fire-breathing boyfriend of yours is-Ow!"

Gimli had been cut short by Legolas elbowing him hard in the shoulder and giving him a harsh enough look to silence even the boldest of dwarves.

"Boyfriend?" Frodo asked, clearly confused.

The laughter and joyful conversation was replaced with a heavy silence that seemed to lay on everyone in the room. All around you, you became aware of the awkward shuffling of feet and darting glances of your companions.

"Come," Gandalf said, his voice suddenly cutting through the painstaking quietness. "They have much to discuss."

As Gandalf walked by you, he placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder and whispered, "Do not forget what I told you that first night in Gondor."

Then you watched as your friends left the room as quickly as they had entered it.

Turning your attention to Frodo and taking a deep breath, you said "Where do I begin?"

You proceeded to tell him everything that had transpired since he left the company, glossing over some of the more private details. He did not need to know exactly what had been said between you and Smaug. By the end of your tale, you sat, head down, looking much like a child waiting for her punishment.

Frodo reached over and took both of your hands in his before saying, "If there is one thing I have learned through this ordeal, it is that life does not always turn out the way we would wish it to. The years the three of us had together in the Shire had to have been some of the happiest anyone has ever experienced. But in a great many ways, that life has already ended, for all of us."

His eyes took on a distant, pained expression that confirmed what you had already suspected in your heart: he would never be the same as he once was.

"I have always loved you like you were my own mother," he continued. "And I know better than anyone how much you mean to Uncle. But your part in this story is obviously far from being over, and neither of us would want you to spend those years alone."

With fresh tears forming in your eyes, you leaned forward and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. Then you stood up and made your way over to open the door. Stepping out into the hallway, you saw your ever loyal guardian keeping watch, just as you had expected to find him.

"Smaug," you began, "there is someone I would like for you to meet."