What Happened Thereafter {A LotR Fanfiction}

Daffodil

[I dedicate this chapter to stingray306 because she encouraged me to continue writing the novel I am currently working on and even offered to draw me a map of my world. And I hope she knows this, but her work is some of the best I've ever read. Thanks for being so great, stingray306!]

It was a gorgeous morning in Hobbiton; the birds were singing happily to one another and there was not a cloud in the sky. Walking along the path alone, Daffodil Havenruft was pleased to see a chipmunk scurry along the way in front of her. Daffodil smiled when she thought of how her good friend, Nettle Appleberry would have loved seeing the little animals go by that morning. Nettle was very fond of animals.

But Daffodil found herself alone that morning, though it hardly bothered her, for she found that being alone was nearly as much fun as being with friends. And sometimes, it was even better. Besides, today was one of those days when her father, From, had started getting on her case about finding a husband and moving out of his house. She knew that if her mother was around, things would be different, but she wasn't, so they weren't.

Her father wasn't normally so irritated with her, but on this particular morning he had suddenly felt the need to tell his daughter his thoughts about her future. And while Daffodil always listened to From, she didn't always see the point of his advice and ideas, because most of them, needless to say, were pointless. Especially his latest suggestion of building and using a box to keep music in. It made absolutely no sense to Daffodil, and was neither sensible nor logical. Who needed a musical box when you had real-life instruments to play, dance, and listen to?

As she was thinking all of this, Daffodil couldn't have realized that she was no longer alone as she would have liked. Because though her thoughts weren't as deep this morning as they sometimes were, they were so distracting to her she didn't see her friend, Thorn Tumalow hiding in the bushes until it was too late. With a shout, the light, auburn-haired hobbit jumped from the bushes and tackled Daffodil to the ground. Grunting underneath Thorn's weight, Daffodil wondered where her quiet morning had gone.

"Thorn! I told you to jump out in front of her, not on top of her!" an amused voice exclaimed. Pippin.

Before even fully regaining balance, Daffodil was already rolling her eyes and glaring angrily at Pippin. She knew he must be the one behind Thorn's misbehavior, because Thorn had found ways to misbehave even before she had met Pippin. Putting the two together plus Merry had been such a bad idea, but then, Thorn was the one who met Pippin first, not Daffodil. In fact, Thorn was the one who introduced Daffodil, Nettle, and Ivy to Peregrin Took and Merriadoc Brandybuck who in turn, introduced them to Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

"What exactly do you two think you're doing?" Daffodil demanded rather harshly. Thorn immediately twisted her hairy feet around one another and looked down at the ground; something she did only when she was embarrassed or ashamed. Pippin, on the other hand, was smiling brightly with a hint of pride glittering in his eyes. Daffodil shook her finger at him and stepped forward like a scolding mother.

"This was all your idea, wasn't it, Peregrin Took!"

"No. Thorn came up with the idea, I just gave her a push in the right direction."

"In the wrong direction, you mean! I'm going to tell Frodo about this."

At the mention of Frodo's name, Pippin scrunched up his face and his giddy smile disappeared.

"Frodo? What is he going to do about it? He doesn't even really talk to me anymore."

This surprised Daffodil, because she knew that not only was Pippin Frodo's cousin, but he was one of his closest friends as well. She frowned and was about to ask for elaboration on the subject when who should appear at that moment, but Frodo Baggins himself! He had been taking a quiet morning stroll as Daffodil had been doing only moments before, and was doing a lot of thinking, especially about the adventure with the ring.