In the mysterious and majestic realm of Middle-earth.
The Shire lay quietly upon the vast, green plains, resembling an isolated utopia.
The summer sun spilled down gently. The golden rays and the emerald fields wove together into a refreshing, breathtaking canvas.
The air was filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers and grass. In the distance, rolling hills covered in lush trees looked like nature's most exquisite green carpet.
A crystal-clear stream babbled as it flowed by. The sound of water and the chirping of birds blended into a melodious pastoral poem.
The villages of the Shire were scattered picturesquely across the fields. Each little cottage appeared warm and rustic. Smoke curling up from the chimneys contrasted with the blue sky and white clouds, painting a picture of a peaceful, harmonious life.
At dusk, the setting sun dyed the horizon a golden red, bathing the entire Shire in a dreamlike glow.
Having finished their day's work, the Hobbits stepped out of their homes. As was their custom, they gathered in the village square to enjoy this rare leisure time.
Young children chased each other and played on the grass, their cheerful laughter filling the air. The adults sat together in circles, sharing stories and merriment.
Today, however, the main topic of conversation was the long-sealed Bag End, the residence of the legendary Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.
"The lights are on again. Even the lights next door."
"A full thirty years..."
The elderly Hobbits reminisced about the past, while the younger ones listened quietly. For them, hearing their elders tell stories was one of the few opportunities to broaden their horizons.
After all, many Hobbits never left the Shire in their entire lives.
---
Directly opposite Bag End.
Stood a two-story wooden cabin. This was the house Ino had once built for Aunt Julia.
Although it had been uninhabited for many years, if one were fortunate enough to step inside, they would find everything as pristine as the day it was built.
Inside the cabin, a tall, slender woman sat quietly in a high-backed oak chair.
With her exquisite features and snow-white skin, were it not for her bright, expressive eyes, one could easily mistake her for a beautiful porcelain doll.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The dead silence of the room formed a stark contrast with the lively square outside.
After a long while.
"Sigh..." A faint sigh, its emotion difficult to read, echoed softly in the room.
As the sound faded, a flash of silver-white light illuminated the space. The light landed squarely on the smooth, mirror-like wooden table.
On the table, a stack of unopened letters instantly transformed into pure white snowflakes as the light washed over them.
Lina watched silently as the snowflakes drifted through the air.
These were the letters she had left behind over the years, yet not a single one had ever been opened.
Perhaps they remained unread due to the different flows of time, or perhaps for some other reason.
But with the disappearance of that unseen bond holding her, Lina actually knew the answer in her heart.
Especially after the elderly Hobbit across the way returned, frequently vanishing and reappearing out of nowhere. That only solidified her inner conviction.
---
From inside the room, Lina peered through the windowpane and saw that aged figure across the path.
Compared to his previous frailty, she could clearly sense a latent vitality within his body. It seemed somewhat more abundant than before he had vanished the last time.
Yet, this realization only brought her a trace of disappointment.
Sitting in her chair, Lina quietly reflected on her past. She realized that she had seemingly never found a true sense of belonging.
Narnia was not her home. Despite living there for a very long time, she had always been an absolute outsider.
Now, this world called Middle-earth did not belong to her either.
Gradually, a narrow, ice-sealed path, merely six feet wide, surfaced in her mind.
Even with the binding restraints deep within her soul, the memory of that small path simply refused to fade.
Escaping from Narnia, being reborn as a frost flower, and then accidentally possessing an Acromantula...
The scenes of her past played out before her eyes once more, like a grand stage play.
What she had once considered a burden seemed to have become the only connection left between them.
---
After a long moment.
Lina slowly stood up. Her tall, slender figure looked somewhat out of place in the low-ceilinged room.
This time, she did not use magic to depart as she normally would. Instead, she walked forward on her own two feet, heading straight for the wooden door that had not been pushed open in decades.
The moment the door opened, the cool summer night breeze and the cheerful sounds from the square drifted in as expected, seemingly injecting a breath of life into the dusty, sealed room.
But beauty, it seemed, was always fleeting.
A moment later, as the door clicked shut once more, silence returned to rule the room.
Even the snowflakes that were once her letters had settled onto the floor, visibly melting away into nothingness.
---
Stepping out of the cabin.
Lina did not spare a second glance at her surroundings. Instead, she walked straight toward the apple orchard she had once cultivated.
Time had flown by. The apple trees, once only as thick as a person's arm, had now grown sturdy and vibrantly green.
Looking at the orchard she had planted with her own hands, a faint smile appeared on Lina's face.
Perhaps, in this entire world, this was the only place that still held a trace of connection to her.
Since there was a connection, she intended to take it with her.
At this thought, a faint blue light began to emanate from Lina's body. The glow slowly expanded, acting as if it had a life of its own.
Soon, the rippling light completely enveloped the one-acre apple orchard. Under the glow, the verdant trees suddenly turned somewhat ethereal.
In a mere instant, or perhaps even less.
The entire orchard looked as if a giant, invisible hand had simply erased its existence with a rubber eraser.
But that was not the end. As the apple trees vanished, the Shire's specialty sprouted from the bare soil: healthy, flourishing tobacco plants.
"What you originally cultivated has now been returned to you."
Standing amidst the former orchard, Lina turned her gaze toward the elderly Hobbit's home.
Under the night sky, Bag End looked remarkably cozy in the distance.
In contrast, the plot of land where she stood felt undeniably lonely.
---
A moment passed.
Lina withdrew her gaze and looked up at the boundless night sky, as if silently communicating with something.
Suddenly, the faint blue light surrounding her intensified blindingly. It transformed into a beam of light three feet in diameter, shooting upward and vanishing into the vast cosmos.
Miraculously, despite the dazzling spectacle, the Hobbits in the distant square remained completely oblivious. It was as if absolutely nothing had changed. They continued to clink their mugs, chat, and laugh with one another.
---
"Goodbye!"
Within the beam of light, Lina's figure slowly began to float upward.
Her past bindings had vanished, and the only thing here that truly belonged to her, the apple orchard, had been packed away. It was time to leave.
As a legendary witch, she possessed the power to leave on her own once her restraints were lifted, just as she had originally fled from the world of Charn to the world of Narnia.
The only reason she had stayed was to wait for a proper farewell.
However, those unopened letters seemed to be an answer in themselves.
She did not believe he was unaware of her presence. After all, ever since that elderly Hobbit had returned, she always made sure to light the oil lamp in her cabin.
If a farewell was not coming, then there would simply be no farewell.
---
High up in the night sky.
Lina's silhouette flew higher and higher. In a trance, she felt she could already see the other end of the light beam.
On a land blanketed in pristine white snow, stood a young girl in a blue dress.
Right before the girl, on what was once empty ground, a majestic castle abruptly rose. A castle forged entirely of ice and snow, gleaming with crystalline brilliance.
Seeing this, Lina suddenly broke into a smile.
While she was capable of traveling between different worlds, she could not lock onto a precise destination.
To arrive at a world of ice and snow like this was clearly someone's deliberate arrangement.
Just as she was on the verge of fully departing, an azure blue camellia suddenly materialized right before her eyes.
The flower, exquisite as a masterfully crafted work of art, bloomed and withered in the span of a single heartbeat.
Yet, that fleeting, momentary appearance deepened the smile on Lina's face.
---
Her farewell had seemingly been delivered in a different manner altogether.
As the ice flower withered away, Lina's figure completely vanished into the night sky of Middle-earth.
In the Shire's square, the cheerful noises continued unabated, as if everything had merely been a dream.
No one knew that anyone had arrived tonight, just as no one knew that anyone had left.
The only change was inside that sealed wooden cabin, where the brightly burning oil lamp suddenly extinguished.
Perhaps tomorrow, this would become another topic of post-dinner gossip for the Hobbits, told to others as just another amusing little tale.