[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami nestled into her seat and took a little sip of miruvor to give her strength. It slid down her throat with such sweetness, yet it burned hot against her lips and mouth. Not too different from the rest of life, she thought.

"Pio, I'm glad that Mith will be coming. I know you'll be happy, and I'll be very glad to see him. I also have news. But my news carries a little sadness and a great deal of joy. I scarcely know how to explain this. And I am afraid the tale will not be short."

She stopped a minute and thought, then started speaking again in a softer voice. "You probably know more about this than I do. I have never been to the West as you have." She looked curiously up at her friend, not wishing to cause her any pain, but she saw no hurt or regret, only curiousity and concern reflected in the depths of Pio's eyes.

"Bilbo's time has come to leave Tol Eressea and go forward on his final journey." Cami spoke the words slowly, wishing that she could will them away. But truth was truth, and it was better not to deny it.

"For the most part, he's ready to go. He believes that Frodo is healed enough to continue on his own. That's a tale that bears telling another day. I do know that Bilbo purposely waited until Frodo sorted out a lot of things that were left over from the dark times."

"But Frodo wasn't the only hobbit whom Bilbo befriended. All through the years, Bilbo reached out to some of the younger hobbits in the Shire, inviting them into Bag-end to listen to stories or share his love of Elves and adventure. Most were distant kin like Angelica Baggins, or Merri, or Pippin. A few were neighbors like Sam and myself. He's always felt a little responsible for us, and, to the extent that he was able, tried to keep an eye on how we were doing."

"He spoke with Gandalf in Tol Eressea, and, to be truthful, I'm not totally sure what happened. It sounds as if he may have dug in his heels and refused to go anywhere until he was sure all the youngsters he'd known in Hobbiton were comfortable with the choices and lives they had made."

"Gandalf answered many of his questions, and Bilbo was relieved, since all his friends had managed to resolve things on their own and were quite happy with how their lives had turned out. That is, all except one." Cami's voice sounded wistful and just a bit embarassed.

She sighed and went on. "Gandalf told Bilbo about the Star, and how the book he gave me as his farewell gift led us on a chase for lost sea hobbits and hobbit history. Pio, Gandalf told him everything,....everything, including what happened to Maura and I. Even some unpleasant things that have happened in Greenwood that you and I haven't had time to discuss. I think Bilbo felt responsible for some of those things, even though he really wasn't."

"Pio, you don't know Bilbo well, but I will say this. He can be an amazingly stubborn hobbit! And, to tell the truth, Gandalf has always had a soft spot for him. I take it there was a considerable amount of squabbling and disagreement in a minor hobbity sort of way, but in the end the three of them--Gandalf, Bilbo, and even Frodo--came up with a plan to set some things right."

Pio looked over at her and smiled, "Go on! You've captivated me with a long and mysterious prologue. Now I'd like to learn the rest."

"I'll try, but there are parts I don't understand myself. It has to do with dreams and special places, and how sometimes you have choices, and sometimes things happen that aren't really supposed to happen. So then there may be ways to help straighten things out." She sighed and went on, "I don't even understand how I got here. I went to sleep one night after speaking wth Gandalf, and I woke up in this bed! Anyways, I don't think hobbits were meant to untangle such difficult knots."

Pio looked over and laughed. Cami was being unusually cryptic. The Elf took her hand and said with some emphasis, "Forget the confusing part. Tell me what's happening now."

Cami blushed, and looked Pio in the eye. "You have to promise to tell no one this, absolutely no one. Not Mithadan, not Bird, not a single person. Not now and not later. Gandalf will come. He has a letter for me, a letter in which Maura will ask for my hand. And, if I accept, we will be allowed to marry and spend a few brief weeks together to seal our vows. And then that time will end, and we will part again, each of us returning to our own age." Cami said it very calmly and quietly as if she were describing the most natural arrangement in the world.

"I'm not sure how or why, but that's what's being offered to me. I think Bilbo understood something even I have been reluctant to admit. Maura and I were intended to marry. Now we have a chance to fix that mistake."

"Cami," Pio's voice was very gentle, but with an underlying tone of urgency. "Are you sure you want to do this? That hurt has healed a little. If you see Maura again only to lose him, will you be able to go on?"

Cami shook her head, "I don't think of it like that. Not at all. Whatever I do or say, Maura and I can not be together in this life. Nothing is going to change that basic fact. But I do have a choice. I can be apart and be Cami Goodchild, or I can be apart and be Camelia Took. I want to be Camelia Took, I want to spend what time with Maura I can. We have parted before and I have learned to live with that. That won't change. Even Gandalf can see that, or he would never have agreed to this idea."

"I'm not interested in anyone else, not now and not later. At least not in that way. I have spent the last two months in Greenwood, beating off every eligible hobbit bachelor who would like a piece of me. At least if I was a bride or a widow, I would have a good excuse to chase them all away!"

"I have made up my mind on this. I don't need advice from anyone. But I would very much like it if you could help me prepare for my wedding, and stand up for me."

[ January 24, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]