Never Let Me Go~Bagginshield

Never Let Me Go.

Life in Bag End returned to normal. Normal routines, pipeweed, hiding away in my hobbit hole and writing my book. I had planted an acorn I had brought back with me. It would grow into a strong oak tree, to watch over me as Thorin had.

Every time the bell rang, my heart leapt. And then I remembered that I had left it all behind, and the adventure was over, and history would not repeat itself.

One day, I was sitting in my armchair, reading a book, when I heard a knock at the door. My heart fell into my stomach and I set the book down. Was I imagining things? Was I wanting Thorin back so bad that I was driving myself insane?

Another knock came, and I got up and went to the door. I braced myself, preparing for disappointment. When the door was opened wide enough, I gasped. I had to pinch myself to believe it was real.

On my doorstep stood Thorin Oakenshield.

"Th-thorin?" My heart was pounding so fiercely, I feared it would leap out of my chest.

"Bilbo." He smiled. "I thought a lot in Erebor about what you told me. And I thought, what good is all this wealth if you have no love in life? So I left, to find the only treasure that truly mattered to me."

I flung myself into his arms. I kissed him fiercely. This was all I had wanted. All of my wildest thoughts and dreams had come to surface. This had to be a dream. It had to be.

"Did I not promise that one day we would come and share a mug of Dwarven ale in your home? I have come to fulfill that promise." He picked me up again and spun me around, kissing me over and over.

I had never been happier. I could never be happier. This was everything I had ever hoped for.

"Never let me go, Thorin Oakenshield. Never let me go." I said it into his shoulder.

"I never will again. Never, ever again."

***************
EPILOGUE
And so, we married there, under the midday sun. Gandalf appeared to host the wedding, and many of the other Hobbits looked confused. But they went along with it, happy to have a reason to drink themselves into a stupor.

Frodo became our son after my sister passed on. We raised him as best we could. Time passed in Bag End, and Thorin would leave every so often to check on Fili and affairs at Erebor. We got older, and so did Frodo, and I began to teach him all I knew about life and love.

"Love, Frodo, will conquer everything. It will conquer evil, and hatred, and even death. And it may come to you in the most unexpected way. Love will always return even when you push it away. Love will cry for you when you rebuke it. Love will fight for you even when you do it wrong. Love will never leave your side. Love will never abandon you in the face of danger. Love will be with you until the very end. And remember, my dear boy, not everyone is so open about their admissions of love using words. They use their eyes, or their actions...and when you find a love like that, fight for it."

I knew Frodo would one day shape the fate of this world. Thorin and I discussed it many nights, wondering if we should tell him. We decided to let him discover it on his own.

But that is a story for another time.