The One
by Ariel

_{First presented on the hobbit_het LJ group. Thank you to Aratlithiel and her community for providing the starter for this challenge.}

He was going to kiss her.

He'd been looking all day and she'd been looking back with an expression that made shivers of anticipation run down his spine. He would get a kiss out of her if it was the last thing he ever did. Though, he mused, it might be a good idea to get her name first. Lasses tended to appreciate it if you took an interest in other things besides their looks. But those looks! Incredible sea-glass eyes, hair that shimmered like a copper shower over nape and shoulders and lips as red and plump as cherries. When she bent just right, reaching down with the dipper, he could see her lean, tanned calf, tapering down to a fine-boned ankle beneath the sway of her skirts and the downy copper fur on her feet…

Stars, when she finally got 'round to him with that water, he was going to need it doused down his trousers, rather than his throat. He smiled and eyed her steadily as she made her way over, bucket in-hand.

"Thirsty?" she asked him, as she'd done four times already that day.

And, as in each instance before, he nodded, smiled and promised himself he would actually speak this time, but, as he jammed the pitchfork into the dirt and took the dipper, he realized he was again just nodding and grinning like an idiot.

It was cold, straight from the well and clear and sharp on his tongue. He drank until there was only a mouthful or two left and splashed the remainder on his face. It was sweltering and the air was thick and heavy, but the crop had been unprecedented and every able hobbit was needed to bring it in before the rains came. It was a worthy cause, but he would pay for this unaccustomed time beneath the sun with red skin and blistered hands, though if he could just get that kiss he would think himself fairly compensated indeed.

"Like what you see, then?" she asked and he started, realizing he'd been openly staring. He flushed, dropped his eyes then flicked them back up again, looking more boldly into hers.

"I do, in fact," he answered, surprised that he had managed to keep his voice steady. "I thought perhaps I might steal a kiss, but then you spied me and spoilt my nefarious scheme."

He hadn't meant to say those words out loud and braced himself for the possibility of a swift kick in the shins, but she only grinned, dipped her head and peered at him through long, auburn lashes.

"Awfully bold, aren't you, then?"

"I am many things," he answered, his own grin matching hers for impudence. Her eyes sparkled bright with mirth and afternoon sun.

She took the dipper from his hand, refilled it, and handed it back. Her grin turned sly and coy.

"What sorts of things?" she wanted to know.

"Well," he answered slowly, first taking a swig from the dipper. He planted a foot in the curve of the tines of the pitchfork and leaned closer, murmuring conspiratorially, "I don't go about telling all and sundry, you know, because I am quite humble…" He paused, nodding with a not-terribly-sincere smirk. "But the fact is I am quite a wealthy fellow."

"Aye, I can tell," she replied, her sincerity matching his tone-for-tone. "The way you swing that pitchfork just screams money."

His grin grew broader and his green eyes sparkled mischievously. "I'll have to watch that," he acknowledged, then peered about, ostensibly checking for eavesdroppers. "Wouldn't want word of my riches getting about, else I'll have streams of lasses knocking down my door." He leaned yet closer and said, "You should maybe agree to that kiss now, before word gets 'round and then I won't be able to find you in the hordes."

She raised a perfectly arched brow.

"You might have been away for the past year, Peregrin Took," she scoffed, "and gained yourself a few inches and some fancy clothes, but I've not forgotten you, though, sadly," she looked pointedly behind him, "it appears the hordes of ladies have."

His color deepened, but so did his smile. "Ah, well. Perhaps they have the right of it," he laughed. "My cousin Merry says I am much more trouble than I am worth in the end. And he should certainly know!" He bowed to her in greeting. "You have the advantage of me, lass. Have we met before?"

She took the dipper from him and again refilled it, stepping closer this time. She looked up, for he fairly towered above her. "Yes," she said, "though it seems you don't remember." She shrugged. "I suppose it can be excused, I was hardly memorable when I was young."

He could smell her soft musk, like sun warmed flowers and new mown hay. Heat radiated off her body; from sun-touched cheeks to burnished hair, she was a summery furnace, but her eyes were like the waters of a deep mountain spring. Pippin's heart fluttered then began to pound in his chest so hard he felt she could surely hear it.

"You are certainly memorable now!" he breathed.

Pippin saw her cheek color at the compliment and wondered if her excellent breast wasn't rising and falling just a bit more quickly than it had been. "You've learned to flatter on your travels, I see," she said.

"I learned many things on my adventures," he answered, his voice touched with a hint of seriousness. "But I hope I already knew how to compliment a beautiful lady."

She returned his gaze thoughtfully. "Aye, you have grown quite a bit since I saw you last. And not just in height."

The studious expression she bore struck a swift chord of his memory. A slim, green-eyed girl in a white dress, clutching a book nearly as big as she was. He blinked in surprise. She had been impossible to pry from the Great Smials library, for her northern home had no such resource though, she had haughtily said, it had no lack of uncouth lads and she had had quite her fill of that sort.

"I could say the same of you, cousin Diamond," he said, smiling with uncontained delight. "But I beg to differ. You say you were not memorable in your youth? You most certainly were, but even the promise you showed then could not have anticipated how nicely you've…" His eyes sparkled. "Filled out…" he finished, not seeming the least embarrassed by his own candor.

A smile crept up her resisting cheek. "You are good, Master Took. Wherever you learned your sweet tongue, I will give you full marks for it."

"I would rather that kiss for it." He grinned. "You must believe me when I tell you that in all my travels, I've seen nothing so inspiring as you were today. Truly! You've grown fair, little cousin, why, I think you've sustained me this day as much with inspiration as with drink! You've fairly captured my heart! But I fear it's at terrible risk in your keeping."

"At risk?" she asked.

"Of breaking."

"All for want of a kiss?"

He smiled sadly. "Hearts are more fragile than most folk realize," he said.

She stood very still, studying him. Her pupils had widened, darkening her luminous eyes and, as she looked into his, Pippin felt a piercing flutter strike his heart. It surprised and electrified almost as much as it unsettled him and he had to clench the handle of his pitchfork to keep steady.

"Well," she said, "we can't have you dying of a broken heart after you have survived the Old Forest, can we?" She bit her lip, hesitated and then closed the space remaining between them.

Pippin had kissed a lass or two before, but he knew that this would be no clumsy, adolescent rush. She gazed at him boldly, but he could see her confidence was not absolute, as if she had just scented the trap but pride would not let her turn away. Her hands hung straight by her sides and she clenched her fists as if steeling herself, but did not flinch when Pippin bent to take his eagerly awaited prize.

At their first touch, an unexpected charge, like lightning, coursed through him. It thrilled and terrified him at the same time. Her lips moved against his, sliding and caressing in a way that felt shockingly familiar, like a beloved song heard again after many silent years. She felt so good! He had never known anything so absolutely perfect, so precious and right in all his short life. A soul deep need, like desperate thirst, took hold and consumed him and he slid his arms around her, trapping the pitchfork handle tight between their bodies.

She fit in his embrace as if she was born to it and Pippin, stirred by a feeling that was as intense as pain, crushed her even harder against him. With a hungry moan, she submitted to his fervor and he dove deep into her widening mouth.

She tasted like fire and cool green waters.

Did she feel it? Was his desire burning her like her sultry pyre was consuming him? He knew that he should break off and soon, but he clung desperately to the moment, as if afraid she would vanish if she let her go. But she was as real as he was. Her arms circled his waist as if to hold on tighter and her tongue stroked his and ran boldly along the inside of his cheek. Pippin shivered deep in his bones and moaned, almost completely overcome.

Suddenly her bright eyes opened wide in surprise. She froze but did not pull away. His hands ran wonderingly up her back and into her coppery hair. She did feel it!

With profound tenderness and soft, butterfly strokes, he caressed her lips. He could not let her go yet, could not bear it. She was almost nerveless in his embrace, as if stunned to a stupor by his kiss and he surmised the pitchfork jammed into the ground between them was the only thing keeping either on their feet. Another shiver, much like his, ran through her; he could feel it under his lips, and at last she seemed to come to herself.

Breathing as heavily as he was, she pulled away and looked up at him in utter awe. The image of her; flushed and astonished, burned into his brain and Pippin suddenly knew…

This is her. This is the one…

Diamond's breaths grew shallower and more rapid, but her eyes never left his face. She knew it too. She shook as if in terror but did not let go of him and suddenly he understood her mettle. Another lass might have run away just then, dismissed what they'd felt with a nervous laugh, but not her. Not this one. She had seen her own heart and read it truly, and that had taken courage, perhaps as much as it had for him to face a troll.

Her mouth fell open, but no words would come. She swallowed and Pippin noticed the sheen of sweat on her paling face.

"Diamond?" he asked softly.

"You," she panted, "you are right."

A smile spread across his face like the rising of the sun. "How so, Diamond-bright?"

She was still clearly overwhelmed, but the hint of an answering smile touched her reddened lips.

"You are many, many more things than I ever imagined."