"Tomorrow Never Knows"
by s1ncer1ty
Chapter: 1/4
Warnings: Fluffy and sweet in this chapter, angsty in future chapters. Het-fic, potential liberties taken with dates of certain occurrences (such as when Merry and Estella were married, which I never have been able to figure).
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
~*~ 1: Merry Mine ~*~
By the year 1430 of the Shire-Reckoning, Peregrin Took had been married nearly three years to Diamond, one of the North-Tooks of Long Cleeve; and yet any who looked upon their lifestyle might still consider them newlyweds. They were still terrifically affectionate in public, even going so far as to kiss each other openly. They continued to call each other "my Diamond" and "my Pippin" in company outside their closest companions, and still possessed the ability to dance until dawn during the spring cotillions. They were truly a magnificent pair to behold, even if they managed to put myself and my own wife Estella to shame in their enthusiasm for life.
Their marriage could almost be considered a faery tale, for Diamond in spite of her fair beauty was always something of a shy lass, a wallflower asked last to dance at the cotillions. She would shun the flowers brought to her by her suitors, leading many -- myself, to my embarrassment, included -- to perceive her as aloof and self-centred. Yet Pippin could see something special within her, beyond the closed-off exterior and politely cold rebuffs. Even though he could easily have had almost any woman in Buckland -- and indeed, he had for a time cut quite a dash through the village courting the lasses -- it was Diamond whom he had set his heart upon.
I still recall fondly the first time I'd spoken at length with Diamond, during the spring cotillion of 1426 and Pippin had again set out to woo the coy lass of Long Cleeve. After spending much of the evening seeking a dance with her, he'd finally convinced her to join him in a vigourous reel, leaving her breathless and begging for a rest at the end of it all. Leading her back from the dance floor, with barely a pause, Pippin had spun Diamond towards our table and pulled out a chair, which she'd collapsed into immediately.
"Shall I get you something to drink? You look worn," Pippin remarked, not yet sitting down himself.
"I just need a rest," Diamond stated, twisting her fingertips together as she clasped her hands upon the top of the table. "I'll be fine."
"Cider it is," returned Pippin with a grin. His mischievous green eyes flicked towards myself and Estella, who'd accompanied me that evening as my date. "And for the two of you? Merry? Stelly?"
"I've my own drink already," I said, indicating the large stein (pint-sized, after the fashion of Bree) before me.
"Well, I could use a drink," Estella remarked, narrowing her eyes somewhat at Pippin. She still found it irritating that he would call her "Stelly," as he had when he was a ruthlessly teasing slip of a tweenager. "Since you're like as not to spill mine, I'll come with you to help you carry it."
"You're all heart, Stelly Bolger," stated Pippin as he pulled out the edge of her chair, even as she stared at him with suspicion. To Diamond, whose knuckles had turned slightly white, he added, "Don't go anywhere. Berliac Brandybuck makes the best cider this side of the Brandywine River, which Merry here can certainly attest to. It'd be a shame if you were to dash off and miss out."
Pippin was still smiling almost euphorically as he offered Estella his arm, and the two disappeared in search of drinks, leaving me to look over the fidgeting hobbit lass who refused to meet my eye.
"So tell me, lass, are you having a good time?" I asked as I took a drink of cider, expecting little more than a word or two from the uncomfortable Diamond.
Yet Diamond was flushed still from seeking to keep up with the seemingly neverending energy of my cousin, and it was in a startled euphoria that she turned to me and exclaimed, "Oh, Merry, it's amazing that one such as Pippin could find interest in a simple hobbit as myself."
Having never heard more than three words from the quiet lass at one time, I nearly choked behind the stein raised to my lips. As I wiped away the stray drops of cider, I laughed amiably and returned, "Simple pleasures for simple minds, that's what I always say."
For a moment, Diamond blushed to the delicately pretty tips of her hobbit ears; and I found myself in even greater shock when she replied, "Then I had better allow him to court me without hesitation. Or else I may find myself at the mercy of your own affection."
I could do nothing more than stare at her for a moment in startled silence, until she allowed herself to be consumed by thin giggling hidden behind a handkerchief. At that moment, the mood broke, and I was unable to contain the well of laughter within my heart. The ice had been broken, and I knew at that moment that I was indeed fond of Diamond of Long Cleeve and her subtle wit. Conversation came infinitely easier between us after that, and we discussed topics ranging from family (of which hers was indeed large) to the state of cousin Berliac's cider (undisputedly the best in all Buckland). And while coaxing words from Diamond proved to be a strenuous task, it was certainly a rewarding one when she did bring herself to speak, for she was indeed more congenial and well-spoken than I'd ever thought possible.
Pippin and Estella had returned carrying three large mugs of cider by the time the next dance had started up, and at that point Diamond and I had cemented the beginnings of what was to be a long friendship between us. Pippin's eyes glittered with impish curiosity as he looked between myself and his date, chatting like we'd known each other for months, and Diamond and I happily recounted our previous exchange. Estella appeared scandalized, particularly at the thought that I might cast aside my affections for her, but Pippin had himself a hearty laugh at our tale.
"Simple pleasures indeed," he chuckled, turning at once to Diamond. "You're right, you had better allow me to court you before Merry gets it in his mind to take my place, for there is no mind simpler than his. What shall it be, Diamond? Will you permit me to be your one and only?"
"Only if you will permit me the next dance," she responded in a soft, almost hesitant voice. Estella and I looked at each other with brows raised in surprise -- hobbit lasses were never so forward as to ask the lads to dance.
But Pippin, in all his good nature, appeared to care little for her breach of hobbit etiquette, and he stated, "I would dance with you across heaven and earth if you asked."
And when the next dance was struck upon the strings of the lute, a mightily blushing Diamond extended her hand to Pippin, who took it with gentle eagerness and led her to the floor. I turned, then, to my own date and offered her my arm and a warm smile.
"If you think I'm dancing with you after that, Merry Brandybuck, then you're sadly mistaken!" Estella sniffed, her chin raised defiantly in the air.
"Come now, Estella, it was but a joke. There will be no losing me to Diamond." I knew that she was not truly angry and was instead putting up an offended front, as she often did when confronted by my humour. "I know that you enjoy this song, so there's no sense in being stubborn. Dance with me."
Despite the disapproving narrowing of her eyes, she took my hand regardless and allowed me to lead her towards the dance floor. The music was slow, and I gathered her close within my arms. From over her shoulder, I could see Pippin stroking the waist-length plait that hung down Diamond's back as the two danced almost intertwined -- the lad was head over heels, for certain.
"What do you think of them?" Estella asked finally, lifting serious brown eyes to me.
"What do I think of them?" I repeated as I gazed down at her in confusion. "You know full well that Pippin is my best mate. As for Diamond, I've not known her long, but she seems a pleasant lass once you get to know her."
"No, I mean, what do you think of them together? They're both Tooks," she added with a slight edge of distaste in her tone.
"That they are indeed, two fine Tookish specimens if I may say so myself. Must I remind you, my dear," I stated, gently tapping the end of her snub nose with a fingertip, "that I myself am half-Took?"
"I mean no offense by it," my Estella stated, coloring slightly at the cheeks. "I merely wonder what a union of two Tooks might imply. Something queer, for certain." She smirked faintly before adding, "Besides, you are more Brandybuck than Took, and not merely in name alone."
"You've a fancy for Brandybucks then, do you?" I remarked, smiling just as mischievously at her.
"No. Just one." The gleam in her eye was irresistible, and I could not help the impetuous words that emerged from my mouth of their own accord, pushing past the suddenly wild thudding of my heart.
"Maybe I should ask you to marry me, then, so you'll think no more of this rogue Brandybuck and his wild ways."
Estella, however, appeared troubled despite the easy and reassuring grin that had settled upon my lips. "Now, Merry, we've discussed this before. I'm in no shape to be marrying the likes of you."
"Oh, Estella, it matters not to me. As I've told you before."
"But the heir to the Master of Buckland--" she protested.
"Loves you with all his heart, regardless of your condition. For me, there can be no other." I placed my fingertips at her chin as she sought to look away. "Haven't you learned that by now?"
"But... What will everyone say?"
"They will say, 'There go two fine hobbits of Buckland, just married. Isn't young love a glorious thing?'"
"No, Merry! When they find out... What will they say when they find out?" Estella returned hotly.
"Who is to say that they'll find out?" I inquired, desperately gazing down into her eyes -- eyes that I had grown to love dearly, ones I would follow to doom and back. "We'll never have to tell them. And if they begin to suspect, then we shall cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, I have every intention of living in the moment, and I wish to share every moment with you."
"Then, Merry, you don't care?" she murmured, her fine brow wrinkled in concern.
"What have I been saying this whole time, you silly lass? Now, will you have my hand or not? You've only one chance now." Priding myself on overcoming nearly impossible odds, I held my breath against the decided gamble.
Though rarely one to cry, a loose tear dripped from Estella eye, and she hastily pushed it away. "I shall, then, Merry mine."
I laughed aloud and wound my arms tightly around her, she who would be my one wife. "Estella," I said between kisses upon her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her chin. Elated, too close to tears myself, I could say little more. "My Estella. My Estella."
That night, Pippin bought us more drinks than we'd ever seen in our lives, and he and I had a smoke of the finest Old Toby pipe weed while Estella and Diamond breathlessly talked of weddings and flowers and dresses -- hesitantly at first; yet before the evening was over, they were linked arm-in-arm like sisters. The other hobbit lasses at the cotillion looked upon our dates with envy, and the lads breathed a sigh of relief that they would again have a chance with those we hadn't chosen to court.
Several months down the line, Estella and I were properly married in a lavish Buckland ceremony, and although Pippin vocally lamented the loss of another bachelor, he walked down the aisle a short time later with Diamond. Despite our parents' wishes, we all agreed to make our home in Crickhollow on the north end of Buckland. From there, we had designs to build a complex that would rival Brandy Hall or the Great Smials, youthful dreams that have yet to be realized.
It was in Crickhollow that we resided to the very present. And, three years after the cotillion that brought us all together, my Estella and I waited with decided anxiousness for any news that Pippin and Diamond might finally start a family.
...tbc...
