Finding Love in the Lord of the Rings

****Chapter Two****

Chapter Two

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She watched him scramble up through the branches until he was at the same height as her.

"I believe this is yours." he said reaching into his pocket.

What he pulled out surprised her for she had not seen it in twenty-three years. It was the picture that she had drawn that day in the courtyard when Frodo came to talk to her.

"I lost that when I was ten." she said looking up at him, "You've had it all these years?"

"Yes. I was going to give it to you the next day but you never came back. I was always looking for you since then and then I heard you were coming to the party." he trailed off looking up at the moon.

"Well, I guess I best be off." he said after a while handing her the drawing.

He clambered down the tree and walked off looking back only once before he disappeared into the night.

Cody sighed and looked down at the picture, it was folded into a perfect square and when she opened it she could see that he had opened it up several times over the years for the creases were worn and fuzzy looking. The color had turned a shade darker than when she had first drawn on it. The longer she looked at it the more she remembered of that day. The more she thought about it the happier she was that she had dropped it on that fateful day. If she hadn't have dropped it Frodo never would have come to find her. He came to her! He did care enough about her to come and find her and giver her the paper himself.

Before she could rejoice in her discovery she felt a tremor go through her body, then, excruciating pain seared through her. Suddenly she couldn't move as this dark force passed through her. She felt it work its way up her body until it finally came to rest in her head. She tried to block it out but it slowly pried through her defences and scavanged through each of her memories. It felt as if a thorny vine was making its way through her inching along making sure it scratched her as much as possible.

She tried to cry out but was muted by fear as it painfully soured each happy memory into something that she was afraid of. The last memory was of her talking to Frodo that night. When it reached it she mentally tried to defend that last good memory but all her efforts were in vain. It simply flicked her aside as if she was an annoying fly buzzing around. All she could was cry as the creature inside her slowly twisted the beautiful memory into something completely horrible. Instead of him talking to her he rejected her not wanting to see her ever again, but he did it in the cruelest of ways. Cody couldn't remember what the real memory was, just the new awful one and she wanted revenge on Frodo for doing something so horrible to her.

There was, however, a small part of her that the evil did not see. She hid the memory in the back of her mind the best she could, hoping that it would not see it. As it took control of her she hoped that she would be able to regain full control over herself. But for now she laid low and would wait until the right moment to spring.

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As Frodo walked away his heart was still beating hard against his chest. He was pretty sure every creature from there to the Brandywine River could hear the pounding in his chest. He looked back once more to the girl in the tree and smiled up at her. He wished he had stayed longer but it was his birthday too and should be back at the party celebrating.

When he made it back Bilbo was finishing up his speech so he sat down and listened.

"Thirdly and finally I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT." he spoke loud enough that everyone looked at him and fell silent. "I regret to announce that- though, as I'v said, eleventy-one years is far to short a time to spend among you- this is the end. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOODBYE!"

Then before everyone's eyes he vanished in a cloud of smoke. Everyone was startled by his sudden disappearance and started to talk amongst themselves about what had just happened.

Frodo knew better than to think that he had actually vanished into thin air. He knew who had taken a part in the disappearing act. So, he strolled over to Gandalf, who was laughing quietly to himself, and asked "Did you have a part in that?"

"A wizard can not tell others about his private business." he said sternly.

Frodo just stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for Gandalf's real answer.

Finally he said chuckling "Okay. Maybe I helped just a little bit." He then pulled out his pipe and started blowing smoke rings, making them float in different directions.

Frodo knew he would say no more so he went looking for Samwise. He finally saw him sitting with Merry and Pippin talking with each other cheerfully.

"Ah! There's the birthday boy!" called out Merry. His words were slurred like he had too much wine.

"So how does it feel to be thirty-three?" asked Pippin.

"The same as always." replied Frodo looking around to see if Cody had come back.

"Who're you looking for lad?" Pippin asked.

"Why, cant you tell Pip. He's looking a girl. A very special girl!" Merry said all to loudly. Both him and Pippin burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh leave 'em alone you two. It's his birthday." Sam scolded.

"Its fine Sam, they're just having fun like they always do." Frodo said laughing at the two.

"Ya Sam lighten up." Pippin and Merry said in unison.

The overall atmosphere was cheery and happy as the hobbits got over the shock of Bilbo's speech. With each passing hour the party got smaller and smaller until the only hobbits there were Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. As the last guest left the cleanup began and the group was forced to leave.

Frodo said his goodbyes to his friends and headed up towards BagEnd.

Bilbo's Speech: http://www.henneth-annun.net/resources/events_view.cfm?evid=1279