By: Dana
Summary: Pervinca takes traditions very seriously.
Characters: Pervinca Took, mention of Melilot Brandybuck, Merry, Pippin
Pairings: Pervinca/Melilot
Rating: G
Warnings: Light femslash
Author's Notes: Written in attempt to chip away at writer's block.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or New Line Cinema. Any and all characters and situations that have been borrowed are for the author's personal use only, and for the entertainment of others.

There were certain Yuletide traditions that Pervinca Took had always taken to heart, ever since she'd only been a bit of a thing sitting on her Da's knee. Warm spice cake and mint tea, staying up late listening to stories of years gone by, of playing in the snow and jingle bells that seemed to dance, sleigh rides in the bright cold, ice skating, sled rides, and snow ball fights, too.

Spending time at Brandy Hall was another of those traditions - after all, Mum was Uncle Doc's sister, and Uncle Doc was the Master of Buckland. And if Uncle Doc, the Master, wanted Paladin Took and his family to come for a visit, then that was what was done.

And Pervinca loved the time she spent there, because Buckland was a lot like Tookland, but the hobbits were different and everything felt fresh and new. But that didn't mean that there was a hobbit that she liked more than any other - and that would be Melilot Brandybuck, who was a girl with good sense, and what mattered more than that, that they were the same age, and they shared the same birthday.

She'd only been seven the first time they'd met, but they were fast friends. And Pervinca liked to think of Melilot as another tradition - after all, she didn't see her unless it was Yule, and in Pervinca's mind, Melilot was the best tradition that there'd ever been.

Even after Peregrin came along, they spent their Yule at Brandy Hall - and that had been a worry first handful of years, because Pippin had been so small and Buckland was such a long ways away. And there'd been a year once when Pippin took ill, and Pervinca felt her life had been ruined, because they said that he was dying, and if Pippin died, then she might never see Melilot again.

She didn't like feeling like that, but she'd been young (only twelve), and she didn't know how else to think about the big wide world; and at the time, her world was very small, and Melilot was a big part of it. Best friends didn't just stop being friends, after all.

But Pippin found Merry, and Pervinca couldn't remember a pair that grew so close - and he found whatever excuse he could to spend time with his most favourite cousin. And Pervinca lived and learned, and she found her own excuses, too.

It was a silly thing, to learn something from her little brother, a something that she should have known all along. And she spent more time at Buckland, and she spent more time with Melilot, and these visits showed Pervinca a side of Melilot that she couldn't help but learn to love.

And she even worried a bit that seeing Melilot more often than tradition dictated would cheapen the effect of their visits -- and Pervinca was surprised to find that those childish thoughts were wrong, and if anything, it was only better. Nor did Melilot complain, and Pervinca guessed that traditions could be expanded.

And seeing more only led to seeing different sides, and Melilot was layered and Pervinca couldn't help but love each new thing that she learned of her friend. And the lines blurred and she loved her so much -- and one day, she'd marry, and Melilot would, too, and Pervinca couldn't think of a more perfect thought than that of her and Melilot, living together, loving, til the end of their days.

She wondered if she was strange for having such thoughts, and she wondered too if Melilot felt the same way. But worries have a way of weighing down shoulders like the burdens that they are. And Melilot has a way with words that sends those worries melting like an early flurry of snow.

And maybe there will come a day and Melilot will take Pervinca's hands, and Pervinca will realise just how warm and soft they are, and Melilot will smile and she'll say that there are some traditions that are better turned aside. And there will be music and laughter and Melilot will kiss her, softly, and Pervinca will think that her lips are smooth like a flower petal, and the mistletoe won't even be hanging overhead.