piplover | Hobbit ficlet for Shirebound!

This is for Shirebound. I know it's a day late, but it takes my creative juices a bit longer to flow these days. Enjoy, and I'm glad you had a great birthday!

Aragorn had faced many horrible, terrifying sights in his life. Orcs, Uruk-hai, Ring-Wraiths and Mordor just a few that came to mind. However, none of those awful things had quite sent such a jolt of shocked horror through him as what he was seeing now.

"What -?" he managed to whisper, gazing around the Great Hall of the White City in disbelieving silence.

"Happy Birthday, Aragorn!" the hobbits yelled, throwing their arms out to display the ruin that had made their King speechless.

Garland hung everywhere. From the great rafters above to the tables that had appeared from seeming nowhere. Flowers, many of them dried, decorated the garland and hung from little clumps off the torch sconces. Even the guards, the famed Knights of the Citadel, had wreaths around their helmets. Many wore an expression he had seen on the faces of warriors come back from a battle too terrible to speak of.

"Are you surprised?" Frodo asked excitedly, actually wiggling like an overexcited puppy where he stood, pale face beaming happily. "It was all our idea, but Sam thought the flowers would be a nice touch, and Pippin and Merry made the cake!"

"Cake?" Aragorn repeated stupidly, his eyes wandering to where Frodo gestured.

And there, sitting on the largest table in the room, was what had to be the largest, most lopsided cake that the King had ever seen. White icing hung off the five layers in differing amounts of globs and smears, and on the very top -

"Is that - is that my crown?" Aragorn asked weakly.

"Oh, no, of course not!"

Pippin piped up, grinning from ear to ear, with Merry right beside him, puffing his chest out happily. It was, perhaps, the first time Aragorn had seen the hobbits grin so brightly since he had taken his crown.

"It's the crown from the statue right outside the hall!" Sam added, cheeks flushed red with merriment and perhaps a little drink. "We just brushed the cobwebs off and made certain there were no spiders and it was ready to go!"

"I see." Aragorn felt his lips tremble.

"Oh, and Gandalf wanted us to tell you not to eat the top half of the cake. He thinks we mixed the salt with the sugar, though Merry and I did no such thing! I think he just wants that part for himself," Pippin added, a scowl marring his boyish face at the thought of anyone thinking he would be able to ruin such a construction as the one before them by making such a mistake.

"But, lads, it is not my birthday!" the King managed to squeak out, though he would deny to his death that he had done something so unmanly as "squeak."

"We know," Frodo answered earnestly, blue eyes wide with glee. "But since we missed your birthday this past year, as well as Pippin's and Merry's and Sam's, we thought, wouldn't it be lovely to have one large celebration for all of us?"

The answering nods brought to mind driftwood floating along a stream, meandering and carefree as it made its way through the world.

"Do you like it, Aragorn?" Merry asked suddenly, his smile beginning to falter at the Ranger's continued silence.

And Aragorn, who always knew what to say, even in times of deepest fear and horror, replied, "My dearest friends, I am speechless."

The answering smiles before him were the only gift he would ever need or desire.

Fin.

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From:

shirebound

Even the guards, the famed Knights of the Citadel, had wreaths around their helmets. Many wore an expression he had seen on the faces of warriors come back from a battle too terrible to speak of.

"My dearest friends, I am speechless."

The answering smiles before him were the only gift he would ever need or desire.

Awwww!! This is so adorable. Bless Aragorn for not dampening the joy of his hobbits. Thank you so much, dear Pip!

*hugs you and gets in line for cake*