The Movie that Changed Our Lives (Elijah Wood/LOTR FanFic)

Liliana's Death Scene

Mandy burst into the makeup trailer just when my Hobbit feet were secured. She was beaming, pink in the face, with news that was ready to explode out of her body. "Hey Mandy," Dominic smiled, "what's all the fuss 'bout?"

Mandy absentmindingly waved her hand at Dominic, her attention focused on me. "You have to take a break for filming," she jumped, "we have some important work to do!"

I chuckled and pushed my hair out of my face. "What, was there some sort of costume change?"

By the expression on Mandy's face, I knew that she was really trying not to reveal everything at once in front of everyone. "You're filming an important scene with Elijah tomorrow, so I have to do extra preparation for you!"

We were all dumbstruck, even the hair and makeup artists. Nobody had any idea what she was saying. Mandy was beaming with excitement, and when I was finally free to go, she grabbed my arm and pulled us out the trailer and into the building where the costumes were. "So," I panted once we stopped moving, "what scene are you talking about?"

"Peter wants to do your death scene tomorrow," she grinned at me, "so I have to get your pregnant belly ready!"

Oh no, I had almost forgotten about that super important and emotional moment between Liliana and Frodo. Poor Liliana had to die from childbirth, and cause Frodo to roll down a hill of depression and involve their three kids (including the newborn) and Samwise. That was part of the reason why Frodo went along to the Grey Havens and gave his children to Samwise; his journey was over and he couldn't live without Liliana at his side. It was so sweet to read and imagine, but to actually put it in action frightened me a bit. I didn't think I was a decent enough actress to pull off such a complicated scene.

Mandy snapped my train of thought by a simple wave of her hand. I blinked at her and followed her instructions, spending two hours with her getting this costume to work out. Having that weird plastic, rubbery thing attached under my dress reminded me of those childhood playdates, the ones where me or Maryam would shove a huge rubber ball or pillow under our shirts and pretend we were pregnant. Elijah would always laugh and run around the yard calling us fatties, and then I would grab whatever was under my shirt and throw it at his head. Something told me that now he would have a different response than what he did in the past.

When we finally finished, Mandy squealed and turned me around in the mirror so I could have a full view. She said that I'm going to be using this belly for the rest of the week, since there were a couple of scenes that involved me being pregnant. I don't know if I would enjoy spending an extra hour or so getting this fit under my original costume, but I had to do it no matter what.

I jumped when someone gently knocked on the door. Inside strode in all the Hobbits, who looked at my now burgeoning belly in shock. "Oh hey guys," I suddenly grinned at them. It was time to have a little fun with poor Elijah. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you, Elijah, but I guess it's too late to tell you that you knocked me up."

"Ha, ha." I could detect a hint of uneasiness in his tone, and the other Hobbits could too.

Dominic laughed. "Relax, Elijah! She's only teasing!"

"I know." I scoffed and let Mandy remove my fake pregnant belly off me. The others went to go change into their costumes for the day. Elijah was the only one who kept put, giving me a small look before sprinting off to change. Me and Mandy exchanged small glances and continued working, both doing our best to ignore him.

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The next day came a lot quicker than I expected. In no time I was in the hair and makeup trailer going over my many lines of the day and blocking during my many shots. Elijah noticed my unusual focus, and decided not to say anything to disrupt it. When changing for costumes Mandy payed extra attention to mine, making sure I looked as overly pregnant as ever.