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FIC: "Pop-Corn and Perspectives" (1/1, G) by Febobe
I am open to title suggestions; I'm not thrilled with what I came up with, but it'll do. This is a little angsty, but I think it's still a G.
You know how sometimes you start a fic light and fluffy and then it goes all sad and angsty on you? Yeah, this was one of those. Don't worry, dear readers like Shirebound and others who aren't big on dark fics - it's not THAT dark. No deaths, and a definitely sweet and warm and loving ending. This one is just chock full o'Frodo love. It's set in post-Quest Minas Tirith.
Hope y'all enjoy it. I'll go finish wiping my tears now!
-Febobe
25_foods - 6.18 Pop Corn
"I am glad to see you feeling well enough for company, Frodo," Aragorn said. "But I admit that I am curious as to why you wished all of us here this evening, and a fire in the hearth. Are you feeling chilled?"
Frodo shook his head, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Not at all," he said evenly. "I am quite well. But I wanted to show you something, and I wanted everyone here for it."
Merry and Pippin exchanged a look and a grin. Aragorn swallowed, not sure what that meant, but sure it could not mean anything but mischief. Even Sam was smiling, and Gandalf. But Legolas, Gimli, Faramir, and he clearly had no idea whatsoever what was planned. The hobbits had seated them around the room, all within fairly close range of the hearth, where a merry fire had been laid at Frodo's request.
"Merry, would you help me with the pans?" asked Frodo, rising from his chair. Merry nodded, and brought two covered pans with long handles, apparently stashed on a table in a corner. Frodo took one; Merry held the other, and both hobbits approached the hearth.
"Watch and listen!" said Frodo. "And do not stir, no matter what you may hear!"
Legolas tensed. Gimli watched wide-eyed. Faramir and Aragorn looked at each other, but neither seemed less than completely confused. So they watched.
A few minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
POP!
Aragorn and Faramir jumped. Gimli gave a cry, and Legolas went wide-eyed. Pippin snickered, and Sam looked as if he were trying very hard not to laugh.
POP! POP! POP!
Merry and Frodo broke into peals of laughter as the popping sounds exploded throughout the room...and the tops of their pans pushed open, raised by fluffy white kernels. Sam began to laugh, and Pippin fell over on his side, red with giggling. Gandalf chuckled, his eyes crinkling in a grin.
"What is it?" asked Aragorn.
"It is a Shire treat!" said Frodo. "Pop-corn! I must say, I thought we would never find any here in Gondor. Fetch the salt, Sam, please. Sometimes Bilbo and I would add butter, too - I have a little pan of it we can melt if you wish. I like it that way."
"Pop-corn?" asked Faramir. "I have heard of it. But I have never seen any. I heard Father mention once that he was permitting merchants to sell such a thing. I thought it very strange. And you have it in the Shire?"
"Of course!" said Merry. "Frodo and I grew up eating it often. It was a common treat at Brandy Hall, and in Hobbiton too - when Bilbo found out Frodo liked it, he often bought from the Brandybucks, just to get the best kind."
"But we disagree on which variety is best," Pippin pointed out. "Some of us think that Tuckborough pop-corn is the best. *I* certainly do."
"You *would*," said Merry with a snort. "Frodo and I know better."
"Mr. Bilbo brought us a little bag one year," said Sam. "He brought it down to the house and showed Mam and us little'uns how to fix it. Like to scared us half to death, it did. Mr. Frodo laughed and laughed. We hadn't seen him laugh like that since he came to Hobbiton."
"It was so funny," said Frodo. "You nearly jumped through the roof! Daisy started shrieking, and your mother - I thought Mrs. Gamgee was going to drop the pan. It was the funniest thing I had seen in so long."
Merry began easing the pop-corn out of the hot pans into bowls as Frodo set the little pan of butter to melt, retrieving it quickly. Sam walked around, offering dashes of salt as Pippin handed out bowls (and occasionally stealing a kernel or two).
"Watch out - it's hot," said Frodo.
"It's delicious," said Legolas, smiling.
"A rare treat!" Gimli decided.
"My dear friends," said Aragorn, looking at Frodo, "this is indeed special. Hobbits do bring a touch of home with them wherever they may wander. Of all folk in Middle-earth, I do believe you are the most welcoming, the most open-hearted, and the most generous of spirit."
The hobbits all blushed.
"I just thought you might like a treat from the Shire," said Frodo. "You all have done so much for us. The elves, everywhere we went, and Faramir - the aid of Gondor - " His eyes suddenly went moist. "I have not forgotten the food we were given," he said hoarsely, "and the hospitality shown to us. I have not forgotten the meat and cheese and bread and wine we enjoyed together, in Ithilien. I have not forgotten the kindness of the White City."
Faramir stood up and came to Frodo, embracing him.
"Frodo," he said, "it was a greater honor than any I have ever had. Whatever small part I was able to play in the journey you and Sam faced, it was my proudest deed. I only wish that I could have done more for the two of you, and not sent you alone into those dark places unaided. I too would have given my life to protect you, as would everyone in this room."
"You nearly did," said Frodo, looking up into Faramir's face. "I know what happened when you came to your father. Pippin told me everything. And Gandalf too."
Faramir knelt, bringing his face closer to Frodo's level.
"It would have been worth it," he said. "Worth *everything*, to know that the world would be set right again by the hand of a hobbit."
Frodo swallowed tightly. "The hand of a hobbit nearly lost everything," he said, lifting his injured hand, with its stump of a finger. "This hand nearly cost all the good that we know in the world. Forgive me."
For a moment the room was silent, but there was not a dry eye. Frodo wept.
But a moment was all it took.
Pop-corn bowls abandoned, the friends gathered around Frodo, embracing him as best they could from every side, hands reaching out to stroke his arms, grasp his hands, rest against his shoulders.
"You did *not* fail," said Aragorn. "You must not berate yourself, little one, for you did all that you promised, and more than you could. All the good that has come to us has come because of *you*, and your faithfulness, and Sam, who did what we could not for you."
Kneeling, he held Frodo's hand to his lips, and kissed the maimed stump of a finger.
"This hand is dearer to me than any other," he said, "even that of my lady, for I know how truly my gain has been from your loss. My happiness for yours. I would trade our lots in a breath, if I could, for you deserve far more joy than you have had, and far more than any of us can give you."
He met Frodo's eyes, tilting the hobbit's chin up as tears streamed down the small face.
"But know this: that so long as you live, the pleasure of Gondor and Arnor shall be to do all that can be done for your happiness and health. And you shall pass the rest of your days in peace and security, as much as we can offer."
-the end-
You know how sometimes you start a fic light and fluffy and then it goes all sad and angsty on you? Yeah, this was one of those. Don't worry, dear readers like Shirebound and others who aren't big on dark fics - it's not THAT dark. No deaths, and a definitely sweet and warm and loving ending. This one is just chock full o'Frodo love. It's set in post-Quest Minas Tirith.
Hope y'all enjoy it. I'll go finish wiping my tears now!
-Febobe
25_foods - 6.18 Pop Corn
"I am glad to see you feeling well enough for company, Frodo," Aragorn said. "But I admit that I am curious as to why you wished all of us here this evening, and a fire in the hearth. Are you feeling chilled?"
Frodo shook his head, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Not at all," he said evenly. "I am quite well. But I wanted to show you something, and I wanted everyone here for it."
Merry and Pippin exchanged a look and a grin. Aragorn swallowed, not sure what that meant, but sure it could not mean anything but mischief. Even Sam was smiling, and Gandalf. But Legolas, Gimli, Faramir, and he clearly had no idea whatsoever what was planned. The hobbits had seated them around the room, all within fairly close range of the hearth, where a merry fire had been laid at Frodo's request.
"Merry, would you help me with the pans?" asked Frodo, rising from his chair. Merry nodded, and brought two covered pans with long handles, apparently stashed on a table in a corner. Frodo took one; Merry held the other, and both hobbits approached the hearth.
"Watch and listen!" said Frodo. "And do not stir, no matter what you may hear!"
Legolas tensed. Gimli watched wide-eyed. Faramir and Aragorn looked at each other, but neither seemed less than completely confused. So they watched.
A few minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
POP!
Aragorn and Faramir jumped. Gimli gave a cry, and Legolas went wide-eyed. Pippin snickered, and Sam looked as if he were trying very hard not to laugh.
POP! POP! POP!
Merry and Frodo broke into peals of laughter as the popping sounds exploded throughout the room...and the tops of their pans pushed open, raised by fluffy white kernels. Sam began to laugh, and Pippin fell over on his side, red with giggling. Gandalf chuckled, his eyes crinkling in a grin.
"What is it?" asked Aragorn.
"It is a Shire treat!" said Frodo. "Pop-corn! I must say, I thought we would never find any here in Gondor. Fetch the salt, Sam, please. Sometimes Bilbo and I would add butter, too - I have a little pan of it we can melt if you wish. I like it that way."
"Pop-corn?" asked Faramir. "I have heard of it. But I have never seen any. I heard Father mention once that he was permitting merchants to sell such a thing. I thought it very strange. And you have it in the Shire?"
"Of course!" said Merry. "Frodo and I grew up eating it often. It was a common treat at Brandy Hall, and in Hobbiton too - when Bilbo found out Frodo liked it, he often bought from the Brandybucks, just to get the best kind."
"But we disagree on which variety is best," Pippin pointed out. "Some of us think that Tuckborough pop-corn is the best. *I* certainly do."
"You *would*," said Merry with a snort. "Frodo and I know better."
"Mr. Bilbo brought us a little bag one year," said Sam. "He brought it down to the house and showed Mam and us little'uns how to fix it. Like to scared us half to death, it did. Mr. Frodo laughed and laughed. We hadn't seen him laugh like that since he came to Hobbiton."
"It was so funny," said Frodo. "You nearly jumped through the roof! Daisy started shrieking, and your mother - I thought Mrs. Gamgee was going to drop the pan. It was the funniest thing I had seen in so long."
Merry began easing the pop-corn out of the hot pans into bowls as Frodo set the little pan of butter to melt, retrieving it quickly. Sam walked around, offering dashes of salt as Pippin handed out bowls (and occasionally stealing a kernel or two).
"Watch out - it's hot," said Frodo.
"It's delicious," said Legolas, smiling.
"A rare treat!" Gimli decided.
"My dear friends," said Aragorn, looking at Frodo, "this is indeed special. Hobbits do bring a touch of home with them wherever they may wander. Of all folk in Middle-earth, I do believe you are the most welcoming, the most open-hearted, and the most generous of spirit."
The hobbits all blushed.
"I just thought you might like a treat from the Shire," said Frodo. "You all have done so much for us. The elves, everywhere we went, and Faramir - the aid of Gondor - " His eyes suddenly went moist. "I have not forgotten the food we were given," he said hoarsely, "and the hospitality shown to us. I have not forgotten the meat and cheese and bread and wine we enjoyed together, in Ithilien. I have not forgotten the kindness of the White City."
Faramir stood up and came to Frodo, embracing him.
"Frodo," he said, "it was a greater honor than any I have ever had. Whatever small part I was able to play in the journey you and Sam faced, it was my proudest deed. I only wish that I could have done more for the two of you, and not sent you alone into those dark places unaided. I too would have given my life to protect you, as would everyone in this room."
"You nearly did," said Frodo, looking up into Faramir's face. "I know what happened when you came to your father. Pippin told me everything. And Gandalf too."
Faramir knelt, bringing his face closer to Frodo's level.
"It would have been worth it," he said. "Worth *everything*, to know that the world would be set right again by the hand of a hobbit."
Frodo swallowed tightly. "The hand of a hobbit nearly lost everything," he said, lifting his injured hand, with its stump of a finger. "This hand nearly cost all the good that we know in the world. Forgive me."
For a moment the room was silent, but there was not a dry eye. Frodo wept.
But a moment was all it took.
Pop-corn bowls abandoned, the friends gathered around Frodo, embracing him as best they could from every side, hands reaching out to stroke his arms, grasp his hands, rest against his shoulders.
"You did *not* fail," said Aragorn. "You must not berate yourself, little one, for you did all that you promised, and more than you could. All the good that has come to us has come because of *you*, and your faithfulness, and Sam, who did what we could not for you."
Kneeling, he held Frodo's hand to his lips, and kissed the maimed stump of a finger.
"This hand is dearer to me than any other," he said, "even that of my lady, for I know how truly my gain has been from your loss. My happiness for yours. I would trade our lots in a breath, if I could, for you deserve far more joy than you have had, and far more than any of us can give you."
He met Frodo's eyes, tilting the hobbit's chin up as tears streamed down the small face.
"But know this: that so long as you live, the pleasure of Gondor and Arnor shall be to do all that can be done for your happiness and health. And you shall pass the rest of your days in peace and security, as much as we can offer."
-the end-
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the friends gathered around Frodo, embracing him as best they could from every side, hands reaching out to stroke his arms, grasp his hands, rest against his shoulders.
*happy sigh*
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And really, not all that angsty! Just enough angst to give it flavor-- like salt on the popcorn!
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