A Collection of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Stories.

Ghost No More (Bard x reader)

What was it like to be dead? The best you could describe it was a sort of calming darkness. You had only spent mere seconds dead before your soul transformed into a ghost. You remembered rising up, seeing your lifeless body on your bed, your husband, Bard, and your three children weeping beside it. They couldn't see you as your misty form floated above them, and only Tilda, the littlest one, had shivered slightly as you passed close by her.

You hadn't been very sure what to do as a ghost, but somewhere inside you felt as if you had a purpose, something that you had to do that was greater than just floating aimlessly around, haunting the people you loved. Now you could describe it as a burning fire of love, but at that moment you weren't in the right mind to place a name to the feeling.

Maybe it was just by luck, or guided by some greater force, but by chance you met the wizard Gandalf the Grey. You had been floating along a road when you passed by a man in grey and he had stopped and looked at you so intently that you had to stop and look back at him. He had approached you and had spoken to you. The elation you felt when you realized that at least someone could see you and interact with you was so great that you felt your whole form shimmer. 

"It is not often that I see ghosts," he had told you. "My eye is better trained than others and yet I can only see certain ones. Those burning with a specific purpose, a bright fire that allows me to see them. It is those ghosts that can be made stronger, be given a form, a life. However, until now I have never chosen to help any of those ghosts, despite the fact that it is in my ability. Do you know why?". 

"No," you had replied. "Though it seems not nice of you not to help them if you can. It is difficult being a ghost".

"Ah, but you see, none of the ghosts before had a pure purpose, a purpose so divine that it was worth helping them. A burning longing for revenge was a very common one I encountered. Yet you are the first, the very first ghost I have ever met, who was burning with a purpose of love, a longing to return to her loved ones and make them happy again. This is why I choose to help you, for it is not in my place to stand between you and true love".

"Thank you," you had replied joyfully, and your form had shimmered again as for the first time since your death you recognized your purpose and realized that it could be fulfilled. 

However becoming strong was not as easy as you had thought it would be, and the year you spent with Gandalf was absolutely grueling, both mentally and physically.

He made you float in one place for hours upon hours, focusing on the burn inside you, letting it consume you. After that it was summoning the shimmer that came to your form when you felt happiness and controlling it, keeping it alive for long periods of time. It was a big strain, but it was worth it for love and that was what kept you going.

And then one day it had become easier. Your shimmer easily stayed and you knew exactly where to find the burn within you. The next step was to form a body for yourself, a true form as Gandalf called it. This involved focusing on what you had looked like in your living life and combining it with the burn within you to make it real. It was a long and tiresome process, but little by little small features of you started to appear on your ghostly form. Hints of your waist line, your hair, your facial features, the beginnings of clothing... 

You practiced touching objects, holding them, walking instead of floating, and bringing some color to your features. Gandalf would frighten you to test if you could keep your form even through fear, and taught you how to control the bright shimmer that sometimes bounced off you. 

Naturally, there were still some things you couldn't do. You couldn't eat and you didn't need sleep. Temperature was hard to feel, and it took effort to bring out emotions. However the burn inside you guided you and made you even stronger. It was all you needed to keep you going, to help you give up and remember that you would get to see your loved ones soon.