Author's note: Perhaps a bit odd story… I just got the idea into my head late this evening and felt like jotting it down at once. Normally I write and re-write, this is written spontaneously, I let the story write itself. Hope it's enjoyable!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the right to use them.
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A cheer rose from the surrounding Hobbits as Pippin, Merry and Frodo rode up to the Great Smials. The three friends looked at each other and shared a laugh. This was more than they had expected or even been able to imagine. It was something to get used to, the hero's welcome they received wherever they went nowadays.
To be fair, a proper welcome was in order. Peregrin Took was returning to the Great Smials, the first time he set foot there since his return, aside from the incredibly hasty visit he had paid to rally up some troops to throw Sharkey out of the Shire. That time nobody had had time to grasp the fact that it was really young Master Peregrin, live and well, it had all happened so fast. Now he was returning properly, and a welcome was in order.
Just a few days had passed since matters had been settled again in the Shire. Merry and Pippin were returning home now to visit their families and help their fathers out sorting through the great mess the Shire was left in. They both knew they would be of much help right now than their fathers; they had seen and learned a lot over the past year. Frodo had gone with them, eager to see Merry's parents again, the ones who had taken him in when his parents had drowned. He felt he owed them a proper apology for awakening such feelings of friendship in their son that he had left the Shire the year before.
Sam had not gone with them. He had just gotten engaged to Rosie Cotton and wanted to be where she was. The foursome had spent enough time together for a while Sam felt, and he and Rosie had a lot of catching up to do. Although it was a bit new to travel without Sam the three friends enjoyed being just the three of them again. It was how it had all started years ago, with the three of them, friends then and friends forever.
The three friends followed the pebbled path up to Pippin's home and they all felt good being back here. They could remember sharing some good times at this place. They had never expected to see it again, yet now here they were. Tuckburough was marked by the troubles it had seen during the past year, there was no question about it, but it was already beginning to bounce back. Nothing would be able to brand the Shire for long.
The big round door which was the main entrance to the Great Smials opened and Hobbits came pouring out in a surprising rate. Who knew there were even so many Hobbits at the Great Smials to begin with? They began to flock around the three riders on their ponies, paying little heed to how nervous they were making the animals. Pippin's parents and three sisters were among the first who reached the trio and they demanded Pippin's full attention with a dozen questions, well-wishes and light-hearted scolding. Merry got his fair share of the attention from his uncle Paladin, who had never expected his sensible nephew to run off even though Pippin's disappearance had not been a true surprise to him.
Frodo tried to pull his pony back a little and give the others some room, but as he was trying to hide his hand with four fingers at the same time the objective proved too difficult for him. He gave up trying to get away from the herd of Hobbits and politely answered all questions given to him by those who were dying to ask something but unable to get close enough to Pippin.
Merry glanced over at Frodo and shrugged his shoulders with a grin. Not much to do about it. All they could do was let the first commotion set and then they could try to properly greet Pippin's family. If arrival at the Great Smials was this chaotic then Brandy Hall would be nothing short of a siege of their trio. Merry had not yet been back to the Hall since his return and he assumed he was eagerly awaited by now. He was anxious to get home, he had not seen his parents in over a year. He wanted to know that everything was alright with them.
Frodo tried to make his voice heard over the commotion to tell Merry that they ought to retreat before someone managed to get them off the ponies and inside the Smials, but his friend was distracted by a clawfingered Hobbit trying to have a closer look on the Horn of Rohan. Meanwhile Pippin was doing his best to answer all his sister's questions while at the same time fending off a Hobbit who tried to get a hold of his sword. Somehow Frodo felt it suited his two companions to be surrounded by curious Hobbits. It was suiting for all three of them to be back among their own kind again. Funny how just a short while ago Pippin and Merry had been considered unusually short and now they were unusually tall. Some things would never be the way they had been before.
In the middle of all the commotion and chaos something caught Pippin's attention, and at the blink of an eye he had brushed his mother's last question aside, dismounted his pony and began to plough his way through the crowds. Merry quickly stretched out his hand and managed to grab the reins of Pippin's pony, who most of all wanted to turn around and run for the hills. If Pippin had expected people to part and make way for him he was wrong, he was nearly swamped by Hobbits wanting to get his attention, but he shrugged them all off.
Pippin's sister Pervinca made a comment on her little brother's manners sure not having improved over the year and then turned to Merry and Frodo along with her sisters to try and get some form of answer from them as to why Pippin had ventured into the crowds without so much as a hug for any of them. Pippin's two companions shrugged their shoulders. Who knew why Pippin did anything anyways?
Pippin reached the end of the crowd and hurried across what was left of the yard to a smaller group of Hobbits who had just come around the corner. He went straight up to one of the lasses, and with complete determination pulled her close to him for a deep kiss. Frodo and Merry glanced at each other and grinned. Frodo mouthed a question and Merry mouthed the answer that he had no idea what had gotten into his younger cousin.
Pippin paid no heed to the hubbub he was causing. He pulled the girl closer, what did he care what anyone thought, he would kiss her for as long as he liked.
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"My dear Pippin, why so gloomy?" Merry asked and reached a tankard of ale over to his cousin sitting across the table. "There's a party here tonight! You've never been one to put on a sullen face when the spirits are high around you."
"I'm not gloomy!" Pippin objected and took a huge sip from the tankard to prove it. "And you'll never catch me with a sullen face at a party!"
"What is it then?" Merry asked.
"Nothing" Pippin grumbled and took another sip. "I'm just composed that's all!"
"Alright… My dear Pippin, why so composed?"
"Quit bugging me or I'll find some better company" Pippin said.
"Fine, have it your way" Merry said. "I just think it's a terrible waste if you should sit here all night and miss out on this wonderful party. You won't get another chance for a party before we leave, you know that right? September 22nd is just around the corner."
"Is it? I hadn't noticed" Pippin said and hid his face in the tankard.
"Liar." Merry couldn't keep in a chuckle. "Do I dare assume that Peregrin Took is anxious? That an adventurous Took is having doubting thoughts over a journey where his Brandybuck cousin is not? I may have some Took in me but you're supposed to be a lot more excited about this trip than I am."
"There's nothing to be excited about and we both know it" Pippin said.
"You're right, you're right… But won't you tell me what is eating at your mind?"
"Actually it's the knowledge of this being our last party" Pippin said. "The last one before we leave you say… But what if it's our last party all in all? We haven't talked about this but what if we don't return? We know nothing of the future now, not even where we will be ten days from today."
"Halfway through the OldForest" Merry said.
"Well golly for you, too bad we can't all have everything mapped out" Pippin snarled. "Can't you see that I'm… not scared, but…"
"You're having a case of the doubts, it's no big deal" Merry said and placed his hand reassuringly over his cousin's. "I've had those thoughts myself. Will we return? What will the future have in store? There is no goal but for reaching the end of Frodo's assigned quest. What happens after we've reached Rivendell? I've battled those thoughts myself, dear cousin."
"And what did you come to in the end?" Pippin asked. "How did you find this peace of mind that you're showing?"
"I set up a goal after our goal" Merry said. "Something that I will do once I return to the Shire. That way, I will have something that I need to accomplish at my return, something that will always lie ahead of me no matter where our journey may lead us."
"What is your goal?"
"I'm going to dive into the BrandywineRiver and fish out my mother's favourite cooking pot. Remember, the one I accidentally dropped into the river that time Folco thought it would be a fun idea to have a picnic on the BrandywineBridge. I know she misses it, so when I get back I will retrieve it for her."
"That sounds like a plan" Pippin said. "Aunt Esmeralda was furious when you lost that pot."
"Perhaps you need something to set your sights on at our return" Merry said and got up from his seat. "And we will return, cousin. It doesn't have to be giving back something you've lost, it can be anything at all. Just something waiting for you, something you will always have ahead of you when we travel."
Pippin nodded and followed his cousin with his eyes as Merry walked off into the crowds. Merry seemed so sure that everything would work out in the end, that thought made Pippin feel a lot better. He finished the last of his ale and decided to go out and have some fun. The night was young and after all, it was his last chance to have a good time with other Hobbits for perhaps a long while.
He danced a few dances as the hour grew later. It seemed like such a short time before the band began to play slower songs, songs for those who had found someone they cared for during the evening, or those who already had someone special to their heart. Or just for those who liked to dance a slow dance, after a long evening of partying a good slow dance could be just what you needed to round off the evening. Pippin found a dance partner and enjoyed the feel of her curly hair touching his hands as they held her around her back. He wouldn't get to feel the nice sensation of holding a lass in his arms for a long while yet to come. But right now who cared about that, what mattered right now was this moment.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her hair, he thought it smelled like apple blossoms but he must be imagining things. He opened his eyes again and saw his cousin. The sight caught him a little off guard, Merry was dancing with a lass not far from Pippin, although dancing was perhaps an incorrect description. Not that they weren't trying to uphold the image of a dance, but Merry and his partner were more concerned with each other at the time being, kissing deeply and from the looks of it with passion.
"How are her tonsils, Merry?" Pippin couldn't help but think. He was not used to seeing his cousin go at it like that, Merry rarely kissed someone he wasn't going with for the time being. None of his romances ever lasted very long, but whatever happened between him and the lass tonight this fling was doomed to be the shortest one Merry had had yet..
"Is there something wrong?" the lass in Pippin's arms asked and tilted her head to look at him. "I can feel you tensing up."
"It's nothing" Pippin said. "I just got one of those cold flushes that go through your body for no reason, have you ever gotten one of those? I'm sorry, please let's just keep dancing…"
He gently turned them around so that he couldn't see his cousin anymore. The sight of Merry locked in such a kiss with a stranger scared him. Good old sensible Merry obviously felt this might be his last shot at enjoying a kiss, and he was holding no bars. Pippin realised that this meant Merry was not at all so sure they would return. He saw maybe his last chance ever at sharing that special thing with a girl and he took it. Where did that leave Pippin? Whatever happened to the assurance that they would return someday?
"Isn't that your cousin over there?" the girl Pippin was dancing with asked and nodded towards Merry.
"Indeed it is. Good old cousin Merry."
"He does know that she is in love with Taro Boffin, I hope. Not that he returns her affection, but I don't think your cousin will be able to capture her heart so easily."
In the middle of his worries Pippin couldn't help but admire his cousin. Of course Merry knew his partner was in love with Taro Boffin. Trust old Merry to find himself a lass who wouldn't get attached to him so soon before he had to leave.
"Are you sure you want to dance?" Pippin's dance partner asked. "You seem a hundred miles away."
"You're right" Pippin said. "Can we just sit down and talk perhaps? My feet are hurting…"
It was a lie, but it worked fine. The two of them went over to a bench at a more secluded area by some rosebushes and sat down. The girl smiled at him and then looked down on her hands. She glanced up at him again and her flirtatious eyes made Pippin's heart feel lighter. Perhaps his cousin was on the right track. Why not take this last opportunity to hold a lass close and exchange meaningless words which were only leading to a kiss they both desired, and not to a romance neither wanted?
"Tell me what's on your mind, young Took" the girl said.
"Do you ever think of how much we take for granted?" Pippin asked, not knowing why he didn't give her a more flirtatious answer. "I was just thinking… there is so much we love in life which we expect to see again tomorrow, or next week, or next month."
"Yes..?"
"What if there was no tomorrow? Or no next week? Or next month?"
"We're young!" the girl said. "We have our whole lives ahead of us! What could possibly change the fact that there is a next month?" She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. "Nothing that can't change that there is a next minute. And the next minute I don't want to be talking anymore…"
He smiled at her and put a hand on her waist, ready to pull her closer and kiss her. But something held him back. He couldn't let go of the uneasy feeling that he might never get a chance to return to this bench, and that next year would not arrive for him. This lass would still be here a year from now but he may not. Though through the fear of the insight he could hear his cousin's words echoing in his head.
"Something to do once we return to the Shire" Merry had said." Something that will always lie ahead of you no matter where our journey may lead us."
"You are a really sweet lass" Pippin said to the girl. "Will you do something for me? Something very special?"
"Yes" she said.
"Save that kiss you're willing to give to me now. If I am still here a year from now, if you and I ever meet again, we kiss then. Not now, tonight here on this bench… But whenever we meet again."
"You are one queer Hobbit" the girl said and stroke his cheek. "But very well. I just hope that our next meeting will be sometime soon."
"Thank you" Pippin said and gently placed a kiss on her left hand.
She smiled at him and rose from the bench. She left him there that night, thinking that they would see each other soon, never suspecting he would be long gone by the next party. She walked away that night never knowing he had given him hope, something to await him when he came back from his journey.
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Their lips parted, Pippin pressed his softly against hers for a few seconds more. Then he gently released his mild grip and with a small smile on his lips turned and walked back to his friends. He turned his head and let his eyes meet hers for a few short seconds as she tried to catch her breath and fully understand what had just happened. She had not forgotten the promise she had made to the Took lad that night more than a year ago, but she had never known the lad had been Peregrin Took. Now he was back. They had met again and the deal was fulfilled.
Pippin mounted his pony again and without a word made way for Buckland. The Hobbits around made way this time. As the three riders continued down the path they could hear the voices still trying to reach them from behind. None of the three spoke however, not until they were far away from hear sight. Pippin had a content smile on his face unlike anything his friends had ever seen before, and Frodo had a hard time making sense of what not even Merry could seem to understand. They asked him, but Pippin didn't offer any explanation. It had been far too sweet a moment to ruin it with words; words would never make them understand anyhow. Frodo knew nothing of the suggestion to keep a goal for when they returned and Merry might have forgotten all about his own plan. No, Pippin had no intention of filling them in on what they had just witnessed.
"Still the queerest of them all" Frodo said. "It's good that nothing's changed."
"We're almost at Brandy Hall" Merry noted. "What do you want to do once we've shaken off the welcome crowd?"
"I want to visit Farmer Maggot" Frodo said.
"Very well then" Merry nodded.
"No" Pippin said. "We're going to the Brandywine Bridge. Merry has some diving to do."
Frodo opened his mouth to ask what that was supposed to mean but Merry looked very serious and nodded to the suggestion.
"Absolutely" he said. "The Brandywine Bridge."
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"You will get yourself a pneumonia" Frodo predicted as Merry came back to the surface. "The water is far too cold!"
"I've survived worse obstacles than a little cold water" Merry said and reached something up to his friend. "Here, take this."
"You fished out a cooking pot?" Frodo said and put the pot aside to help his cousin back up on the bridge. "Don't you have cooking gear at Brandy Hall anymore?"
"It's Aunt Esmeralda's" Pippin informed Frodo.
"I dropped it in the River. Mother was very upset" Merry said. "But now, I can give it back to her! Here, let me take a better look at it, I hope it's not ruined."
"It's rusty, what is she going to do with it?" Frodo asked.
"It's not the usage of the pot, it's that she gets it back" Merry tried to explain. "And it does appear to be in rather good shape considering it's been in the river for two and a half years."
He lifted the lid off the pot and turned it upside down, letting the water in it wash over his hand. Suddenly he felt something.
"Oh my goodness…" he said. "Look at this, lads!"
Pippin and Frodo stared in wonder as Merry held up a diamond, small but large enough for anyone to see what kind of rock it was. The three friends looked at each other. Who ever knew a diamond could make its way into a pot at the bottom of the Brandywine River?
"It makes perfect sense" Pippin said. "Our paths are entwined, cousin. And there was a diamond waiting for us both at the end of the last distance."
At first neither Merry nor Frodo understood what he meant, then a smile crept across Merry's face.
"So that was her name? Diamond?"
Pippin just smiled in response. Merry laughed and gave his cousin a hug, against Pippin's protests that he didn't want to get wet. Frodo looked at them and wondered if there would ever be two Hobbits as queer as these two.
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Any comments would be appreciated, whether they be good, bad or constructive!