I Will Return

Out of the Lockholes and into Waiting Arms

Peony waited. Faithfully she waited. Everyday she would look out the window in hopes of seeing the brown curly hair of the hobbit that, she discovered, she loved.

Much time past and mean men began to overtake the Shire under the command of a man known as Sharky. The stores of "Old Toby" were being depleted and it was farmed by force and not by will. Peony just hoped and prayed that Frodo was faring far better.

Peony soon was forced to help pick the grubs off the Old Toby plants. As time went on, her tolerance grew thin.

One day Peony put her foot down. "That's enough!" she shouted. "No more!" The overseer came over to her. "Hey, there, what'dya stop working for?" "I refuse to do anymore! We are not your slaves!" "You get back to work!" "No!" Silence reigned as the other hobbits watched this tableau with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Peony fixed the ruffian with a cold stare. "Right," the man said after a moment of thought. "Off to the Lockholes with ye." And with that, Peony was dragged off by other ruffians who were standing by. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Peony was awakened by the sound of people shouting outside her confinement. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins was startled out of her sleep and immediately grabbed her umbrella.

"What in the name of the Shire is going on, child?" she yelled.

"I don't know! I can't see enough thorough hole in the door to be able to tell you."

Suddenly, the door to their prison was being beaten against. In fear Peony ran to the back of the tunnel and stood protectively in front of Lobelia. Although she wasn't known to be a nice sort, her confinement in Michel Delving's storage tunnels a lot of the fight, which had got her in there in the first place, was taken out of her. Peony took care of her during their time locked together as best she could, as if she were her own mother.

The door finally gave way and in the dim light that poured in, Peony felt a strong arm encircle her shoulders. Another hobbit took Lobelia by the hand and led her out. Peony blinked in the sunlight she had so missed seeing. She turned to see who had lead her out.

"Why, Mr. Merry you are back!" she cried weakly. "If I hadn't known you before, I would've sworn you were a human and not a hobbit! My you have grown!" she then managed a grin.

Merry smiled back gently. "There's someone else who has also returned." Merry nodded over to the brown, curly haired hobbit, who, amid the cheers for the very touched Lobelia and himself, was helping Lobelia into the front of the cart that would take her home.

"Frodo!"

Frodo turned and his face broke into a smile that expressed his sheer joy at seeing her. Peony summoned all her strength and ran into Frodo's waiting arms. Frodo was almost knocked over by the impact.

"Frodo, I thought I would never see you again!"

Frodo wrapped his arms around her in an embrace.

"Well, I'm here now, s-h-h-h-h . . ." he said as Peony began to sob and he soothingly rubbed her back.

Peony raised her head from his chest, which she had been crying into, and raised herself a bit on her tiptoes. She then pressed her mouth to his.

Frodo, though startled, happily returned the kiss. Peony's fingers entwined themselves in Frodo's curls and Frodo's hand rested on the back of her neck, gently pulling her in to deepen the kiss.

When they parted Frodo smiled down at the hobbit lass, his gaze intense.

"I love you Peony Turnbuckle."

"And I love you, Frodo Baggins," she quietly replied. Then with a happy sigh, she rested her head on his shoulder.

Frodo, sensing her tired state, scooped her up in his arms.

"Let's get you home."