Third and last drabble for the day… My favorite hobbit in the entire story is Merry btw, and just in case you couldn't tell this is from his point of view.

Disclaimer: Even after three drabbles I don't own LOTR. Am just having fun in my spare time…

Now he's gone, just like Frodo… And Sam

He forces his mind to try and think of the good times, to try and remember his smiling face and mischievous eyes. The way they would light up when he knew he was about to do something wrong. Something they were not supposed to.

He has always known that his younger cousin would follow him into anything. Like the time when they had stolen the fireworks from Gandalf. Like the time they stole from the fields. Like any other time they had done something they were not supposed to do. Just because he wanted to.

So when he wanted to help Frodo cross the river into Bree, Pippin had of course followed him without question. Followed him through all the peril to Rivendell. And after the council meet he had followed him on the road when he had wanted to go with Frodo. And the time when they had run in front of orcs to buy Frodo some time.

The day he realized his younger cousin was not just a follower, not just someone who tagged along just because he was following an older friend was when he tricked Treebeard into helping them.

That was the day he realized that Pippin for all his childishness was smart. And that just maybe he would be all right and that he could stop worrying for dragging him along. Stop feeling guilty.

But all that changed the night Pippin looked into the Palantir. When he saw Pippin fighting for his life, he swore his heart stopped. Even as he called for help he realized that he might have ended up leading his cousin to his death. That just maybe Pippin had been right when he had said 'this' was too big for them.

Gandalf though had managed to avert disaster and Pippin survived. His heart started beating again, at least until Pippin claimed to have seen Sauron. He thought his heart had stopped a second time that night when he realized what this meant. Sauron would by now thanks to Saruman know that it was a Halfling who had the ring. And the dark lord would think it was Pippin who had it. Pippin though was oblivious to it all.

At least until he had to explain it to him. The shock in the younger one's eyes was something he would remember his entire life. However short or long it was.

And as he stands beside Aragorn and watches Pippin ride away he realizes that he hadn't been lying to him when he said he didn't know if they would ever see each other again. That it was quite possible that he would not survive 'this'. That quite possibly for once in his life Pippin was right. "It was too big for them"