Pippin's Tree
In Tuckborough, on the grounds of Great Smials, right beside the kitchen window, stood the tree of one Peregrin Took. It was the place where he did his best thinking. Where he did his scheming and planning and, though he wouldn't be the first to admit it, crying. It was where he'd sat the day before being whisked off by a certain cousin and gardener to parts unknown. It was where he sat the day after he returned from that journey. And it was where he sat now, pondering the nightmares that still plagued him.
Still he could see Gondor burning. The nazgul flying. The wives and children weeping. Pippin reached out a hand and pulled a soft leave from the branch, twirling it in his fingers, as if staring into the light green depths could put him into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
Meriadoc Brandybuck was familiar with Pippin's tree. As a child he'd fallen from it on several occasions thankfully never causing serious injury. Only Pippin seems to have a handle on the old tree. He would watch as his cousin scrambled up the bark but he could never duplicate the climb without help.
"Pippin?" Merry called softly from the ground.
"Merry?" Pippin echoed, looking down at his cousin. "What are you doing up?"
"I went to the kitchen for a midnight snack and saw you… are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Pippin sighed, leaning back. "Go back to sleep. We're leaving for Crickhollow in the morning."
"Since when are you the responsible one?" Merry laughed.
"Since when has either of us been the responsible one?"
Merry reached up and silently asked his cousin for help into the tree. Pippin obliged and Merry settled down on the branch across from his cousin. The tree groaned in protest, making both hobbits freeze.
"Guess we've grown too big for this." Merry laughed. "What are you thinking about?"
"The same as always; the war. Why did we go Merry? Why didn't we leave Frodo and Sam on the ferry and run home?" Pippin asked, ashamed at how desperate his voice sounded.
"There wouldn't be a home without us, Pip. Sauroman wouldn't have been defeated if we hadn't rallied the Ents." Merry countered. He looked over his world weary cousin. Pippin was too young for these troubles. But if he hadn't faced what he had, they would have even more troubles. Or worse…
"Would you do it again?" Pippin asked, jolting the elder hobbit out of his reverie. "If we could turn back time and have the chance to do it again… would you?"
"Of course." Merry said immediately. "For the Shire. For Bag-End and Great Smials. For… the apple orchards!"
"For second breakfast!" Pippin joined in excited. "And my armchair!"
"And our families." Merry chimed in. "And-"
"And the Green Dragon!" They said in unison.
"For my tree!" Pippin concluded, leaning back. "Yes, cousin, I'd do it again as well."
Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took sat in the tree until the first threads of light broke the horizon, and they fancied that the light was shining from Gondor, the city they'd saved. And in fact, just this once, it was.
But that, my dearios, is another story.