[Child of the 7th Age]

"Bilbo Baggins, you are a meddlesome fool! Can't you leave well enough alone?"

Gandalf stared at the older hobbit with obvious irritation, while Frodo lowered his head, looked away, and smiled slyly to himself. He had seen Bilbo use these tactics on more than one occasion, and, given the soft spot Gandalf had for the elderly hobbit, they often accomplished exactly what he wanted.

Bilbo responded back without any hesitation, "No, I can't leave well enough alone, when well enough is not good enough for Cami!

"Gandalf, you don't know this girl the way I do. You have made a dreadful miscalculation. There is an old hobbit saying that every youngster in the Shire knows: 'Life is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel'. I don't know what nonsense Cami has told you about how bright she is, or how many tales she's memorized. But I can tell you this. The thing that makes this girl special is not her booklearning. It is her heart, her ability to feel, her loyalty to those she loves."

"And now you have put her in this miserable situation, binding her heart to a hobbit whom she can not be with inside the circles of Arda. And, worse than that, you did not give either of them a chance to repeat their vows publicly, to stand as husband and wife before their own people."

"Bilbo...," Gandalf attempted to interject a word with little success.

Bilbo shamelessly continued, "And don't give me any faddle that she is not really his wife, or that she will go out and find herself a mate among her fellow hobbits. Faddle, pure faddle. This girl is singleminded in certain things. You should have realized that before you placed her in this situation. But now that you have done so, I insist that something be done to help her."

Bilbo hesitated for a minute, but then gained a second wind, and decided to list his other complaints, "And that's not the worst of it! You have led Cami to Greenwood which, in a space of a few years, will become totally uninhabitable save for spiders and Orcs. You have saddled her with a dozen suitors whom she must beat back with a broom and, worst of all, you have burdened her with a burrowful of young hobbit lads who might generously be described as 'difficult.'"

"Bilbo Baggins! you did not listen to anything I said before. First, I did not personally do any of these things to Cami. They were free choices she made on her own. Second, there were reasons why Cami was asked to carry a burden in this matter of the Star. Reasons that go far beyond the woman herself, or even her hobbit kin." Gandalf shot a withering glance towards Bilbo.

Up till now the conversation, for all its heat and volume, had been openly cheerful. But, at this point, there was a definite change in mood. Bilbo glanced briefly over at Frodo and then dropped his eyes. He suddenly looked much older, as his voice trailed off in a whispered sigh. "Yes, I know, there are always good reasons, reasons that go far beyond anything I can understand. But, at the end, someone is still left alone trying to put the pieces back together. I've seen too much of it, Gandalf. Is there nothing you can do to help this girl?"

Gandalf, or Olorin, as he was more commonly known in these lands, put his hand up to his brow and sighed. There was a look of genuine sorrow in his eyes. "This thing is beyond me. But there are others who might be able to help, although perhaps not in the way you are thinking. It is even possible that this gift could bring healing to more than one." His eyes strayed momentarily in Frodo's direction.

Bilbo stood up, and rushed over to embrace the Maia, "Please, help. I know my time is ending, and I must move on. I'm willing. But it's hard leaving behind so much sadness. Is there nothing we can do?"

Gandalf looked down affectionately at the small white head, and slipped his hand though the mass of tangled curls, "We will try Bilbo, we will certainly try."

[ January 30, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]