Chapter 10 - Cookies, Pipes, And Good Friendship...

A few days later, Pippin and Merry sat outside the Smial and waited for the coach. There was plenty of silence as they waited, but that's the best thing about good friendship; nothing really has to be said, so it was a "comfortable silence". Eglantine had given Merry a large sack of cookies for the trip home to Buckland, but little did she know her own son would help Merry along; it didn't seem like the cookies would survive to see Buckland. Merry noticed a substantial amount of crumbs on his cousin's face and lightly brushed them off, "You're a mess! Can't take you anywhere!" Pippin grinned as he munched more cookies. Merry drank from the water flask he carried with him and offered Pippin some as well. He then took out his pipe, some leaf, and a tinderbox from his pack and went through the process of lighting his pipe, though with some difficulty. "Where's your pipe?", Merry asked, as Pippin lit the pipe for him.

Pippin had cookie in his mouth and tried to finish chewing it, "Inside my room, and hidden, thank you!" Pippin grinned, "Did you expect me to sit out here and smoke on my father's doorstep?"

Merry smirked, "I do it all the time!" He blew out huge plumes of smoke.

"You're considered old enough to smoke!"

"Yes, it is nice being a Tween!" Merry smiled and held his pipe between his teeth.

More silence. Finally the coach turned up the Smials' lane. Merry placed the now empty pipe and the sack of cookies inside his pack and tied it up. Merry took Pippin's good arm, and helped him to stand up; Pippin reciprocated in helping Merry shoulder his pack. In the last couple days, he and Merry had devised a system that was used to help the other--and it worked! They were truly becoming two halves of a whole; the way true friends are.

As the coachman waited for Merry to board, the two hobbits stood facing each other. Merry squinted in the mid-morning sun, "Well, Pip...I'll see you in a couple months."

Pippin nodded. I hate this--why does he always have to go away?

Merry stared at his friend, looking for some sort of closure to this visit, but nothing seemed to be forthcoming, and it saddened him. He adjusted the pack on his shoulder and sighed, "Goodbye, Pip."

"Goodbye, Mer."

Merry turned and boarded the coach. The driver started to turn the horses around and head back down the lane when Pippin had a change of heart. Heedless of his injured arm, he ran after the coach as it slowly made it's way to the road below, "Wait!", he ran as fast as he could. "Wait!! Merry!", He yelled. He almost caught up to it, but he was out of breath and his legs could no longer carry him. He stopped running as he nearly toppled over and tried to catch his breath. He watched as the coach continued to roll forward down the lane. Pippin crouched down on his knees to rest his legs, holding his head in his hand, and angry with himself for not telling Merry goodbye properly. I told him he was my best friend!--and this is how I treat him? But why does he have to live so far away? I want him to live here! Pippin realized how childish and selfish his anger was. Then he noticed a pair of dusty, hairy feet on the ground step in front of him. He looked up and saw Merry, smiling down at him; the coach was stopped farther down in the lane. Merry once again helped Pippin to his feet, and this time, Pippin wrapped his good arm around his best friend, "Come back soon! I'll miss you!"

Merry held onto his friend for a few moments, "I will! But you must also come out to visit me in Brandy Hall, all right?" Merry looked at Pippin; both had tears in their eyes, and he laughed, "Silly ass!", he said, "You know I'll be back!"

Pippin gave Merry one last squeeze and released him. Merry put his arm around Pippin's shoulder as the two hobbits walked back to the waiting coach. The coachman got down and put a wooden box under the door for Merry to step on. He surveyed the two wounded characters, "No more injuries while I'm on duty, if ye please!"

Merry laughed, "We each sort of had our own...adventures!" Before he stepped all the way into the coach, Merry smiled as he turned to Pippin, "Stay out of trouble!"

"The same can be said of you, too!" Pippin had a big grin on his face. Merry stepped inside the coach and stuck his head out of a window, "See you soon!", and he waved at Pippin until he was just a speck in the distant green hills.

~~The End~~