sxndays
There were not meant to be five hobbits on the road, but no one ever asks Frodo's adopted sister to stay behind.
She is something the Shire does not quite understand too still, too watchful, carrying an old wordless magic that answers to seasons and sorrow rather than spells. She goes with Frodo because she always has, and because some things cannot be left to face the dark alone. Pippin Took does not notice her all at once.
At first she is only a presence at the edge of the fire, a quiet smile when he is loud enough for two. Somewhere between laughter and loss, he begins to see the cost of her gifts, the way she fades a little each time the world grows crueler.
Their love grows slowly, in the spaces between danger and rest, in things never quite said. It is gentle, and it does not make either of them braver only more honest.
Set alongside the events of the films, this is a story about small magic, growing up too fast, and loving someone who was never meant to walk the whole road.