In an old book, in the library of Elrond lay information that everyone across Adra knew. The information on finding your other half, the one who would understand you like you understood them.

All races of middle earth are different.

Eldar, the first-borns, are tall and wise, immortal unless slain in battle. They can fade though, and that is the reason many take the trip west to the Undying Lands.

Dwarrow, short mountain dwellers, whose love for precious metals and gems is legendary.

Men, mortal and hard working.

The Ents, old as legend themselves.

The Shirelings, or hobbits as they called themselves, almost a myth, but real. Short with hairy feet, they swell in tunnels of earth and love nothing more than food and comforts of home.

All of them different.

Some short, some tall.

Some mortal, some not.

And yet, all the same.

Not everyone on Adra had the gift of having a soul mate. No, and sometimes it seemed a blessing to be spared, when you saw the pain, almost madness, that one having lost their other half endured. A soul-mate may not necessarily mean, a lover, they are someone who understands you, the other half of your soul. It can be a sibling, a parent, a friend, a sword-brother and so much more and yet, most of the time, the two fall in love, finding a deeper intimacy.

Dwarrow called it "ones", and platonic soul mates were unheard of in their race.

The Eldar gave it no name, as did the Ents and the Men. They simply knew. Men, too like the dwarrow had never seen platonic soul mates in their race, not because it hadn't happened but because they forbade it. It was law in many kingdoms of men, to marry none other than the one chosen for you. Siblings or relatives who were soul mates were shunned and often silenced forever.

The Ents, of them, no one knew.

The hobbits, merry as they were, often married their soul mates and some did not, some fell in love with another. A hue scandalous gossip but not so unusual that they had never heard of it.

How does one recognize their soul mate you ask? It was simple; they smelled unique to you. Some said the smell would remind you of home, others said your soul mate smelled like the things you loved most in the world. Many, when faced with soul mates they didn't particularly like or a soul mate that was not approved of, tried to deny this but it was undeniable. The smell would follow you around, there was no mistaking it and you would hear the person's voice in your dreams, till the bond was accepted.

And should your bonded one be in pain, you would be able to feel that pain, not wholly or such that it will forbid you from helping them but such that you would always know of their state, like a thought in the back of your mind from the moment you have met.

Till date only a few bonds have been found between members of two different species, and none have been found between dwarrow and elves or hobbit and elves or dwarrow and hobbit or men and dwarrow.

Little did Elrond know that the book's words were about to change, but change the words did, and the first change began when an ill-tempered dwarf king entered the home of a Bella Baggins of the Shire.