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Lily decided that there was nothing going on of interest to her inside the Inn right now, so the logical place to look for something to do would be outside. She headed for the door, and once outside she could see why everyone was busy out there: it was the perfect sort of day to be outdoors. The sun was shining down from a blue sky on the lush land of the Shire. Everyone she could see was busy at work. She decided to walk around and see what was going on.
One hobbit that she saw was working in the garden; Lily thought that if she found nought else to do she might offer to help. As she began to walk down to the stables, it occured to her that she might be able to find the flower wreath she had dropped the previous night. If she was correct in her reasoning, it had fallen out when she had been climbing the tree. As she neared the stable, she saw that the people inside were busy (most of them Big Folk) so she passed up the opportunity to check on her pony. He was probably all right anyway.
She turned the corner of the barn and her gaze immediately swept to the ground near the tree. Sure enough, there it was. She took a few steps toward it before she realized she was not alone. It was just a feeling she had, and she looked up - there was Posco. The flowers were forgotten.
"You... you came back," she whispered. He was far enough away that she knew he could not have heard her. The corners of her mouth turned upwards in a hopeful smile and her heart sped faster. Could it be that he had come back for her?
"Good morning to you, Posco!" she called out. To herself, her voice sounded too loud.
"Good morning, Lily," he replied, walking toward her.
"It is," she agreed, "but why are you spending it back here?" As soon as the question left her mouth, she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Oh why did her tongue and heart have to go aflutter at the sight of him? "I mean... you could have gone up to the Inn - I would have seen you there..." And her voice trailed off because she felt that she was just making it worse. What if he hadn't come back because of her after all? This wasn't going well at all, and unable to think of something to say to correct her thoughts, she fell silent.
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