A few days later, Frodo found Gandalf amid the dusty tomes in the back of the much neglected archives. "Gandalf?" he asked, peeking around the corner.

The old wizard straightened in his pointy hat so quickly that he knocked several ancient scrolls to the ground. His face softened when he saw which particular hobbit had startled him. "Why Frodo!" he exclaimed kindly. "What brings you here?"

Frodo glanced toward the door, the beginnings of a shy smile on his face. "Can I ask you something, Gandalf? If it won't take too long?"

"Why, of course," said the wizard. He sat the manuscripts back down on the shelf and tried to lean over to be eye level with the hobbit. Then Gandalf shook his head and stiffly dropped to one knee, leaning on his staff as he did so. "I think it might rain tonight," he said and his eyes merry. "Now, what did you want to tell me?"

"Well," said the hobbit and scuffed his toe on the hard stone floor, "After I wrote that letter encouraging kindness in our fandom, I kept thinking about what you said. About how people should be kind to each other, even though they're from different places or maybe even write different kinds of stories."

"Yes, that's true," intoned the wizard. "The people in our fandom hail from many distant lands."

"So after I thought about it a bit, and it all made me a little sad, I went down to the tavern with Merry and Pippin, and Gimli and Legolas," Frodo brightened at the mention of his friends' names, and he remembered the fun they'd had that night, drinking and laughing. "And that's when I realized how we could really solve this problem!"

"Oh?" asked the wizard, peering curiously at the hobbit before him.

"The fandom needs more than just a letter," he declared, his eyes lighting up. "They need a fellowship—a fellowship who can stick together when the journey is difficult, a fellowship who can make you smile, even when you want to cry…" Frodo paused and met Gandalf's eyes. "They shouldn't ever have to feel alone."

Gandalf nodded solemnly and stood up, and it seemed for a second to Frodo that the old wizard might have dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve, but he couldn't be sure from where he stood.

"It's the dust in the room," explained Gandalf, and he blotted one more time at the corner of his eye.

The corners of Frodo's mouth curved into a grin. "It is very dusty," he agreed and then he offered his friend his hand. "How about we go find some fresh air?"

The old wizard took the hobbit's hand, his much larger one engulfing it. "A stroll would suit me just fine."

Together the pair quit the archives, and to many, they might have seemed a funny sight. One was so small, and still a little too thin, and the other, with his curious hat and walking stick seemed almost grandfatherly. Frodo and Gandalf took the winding turn up the city streets, and a little while later, Gimli and Legolas joined them, having just returned from some target practice and friendly wagering. Now there were four, all different shapes and sizes, from the fairly young to the almost ancient, although Legolas would argue that he never looked a day past nine hundred years old. As they passed the sixth gate, Merry and Pippin bounded up from their latest quest to find an acceptable blend of pipe tobacco. Apparently they had sampled the shop's wares quite extensively and chortled together after linking arms with Frodo. Together, what a sight the six odd figures made! They were all talking at once, and laughing, with Gimli stroking his beard thoughtfully as he pretended to feign disapproval at the elf's latest joke.

Finally the group reached the seventh gate and came upon the stone courtyard with its white tree, still laden with blossoms in early summer. A man stood by the tree, with one foot resting up on the wide stone border around its bed; beside him a much smaller figure leaned over, picked up a handful of dirt and then showed it to his companion. It was, of course, King Elessar and Sam, the last two remaining members of the Fellowship.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam cried, dirt samples forgotten at once. "I see you found Gandalf. Did you tell him your idea?"

Gandalf now smiled broadly, as he thought of what Frodo said earlier in the archives. He only had to look at the assortment of people around him to know the value of the hobbit's words.

"Yes, Sam," answered the wizard, his eyes twinkling. "A fellowship! How very wise indeed. The power of friendship is not to be underestimated."

Behind Gandalf, Pippin whispered, "It was my idea too…"

Merry rolled his eyes. "Hush, Pippin!"

The End.

Author's note: Frodo is right. A fellowship is just what our fandom needs. We created a new Forum for friendships to grow and flourish and for kindness and appreciation to be shared. The Name of the New Forum is 'Writer's Guild" and we hope that you all will visit!

Credit to Mirkwood Warrior for creating and doing ALL the heavy lifting for putting the forum together! Thank you!

If you're not sure how to find the forum, you can click the search bar at the top of the website and change the search from 'Story' to 'Forum.' Then type in 'Writer's Guild' and search! Coincidentally, there are a couple of forums called Writer's Guild, so look for the one with a brown book avatar that says Writer's Guild in white cursive letters.

#DoItForFrodo