A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update—writers' block :(

Chapter Ten

One Week Later

Diamond stood outside Pippin's door and took a few deep breaths.

"Pippin?" she called, knocking expectantly on the door. They had left Rohan and were now visiting in Ithilien, and though she was beyond her indecision, she had not yet given him her answer. "Pippin?" she called again, gently pushing the door open.

He was sitting, his face turned to the window, looking blankly outside. The sky was saturated with dampness and gloom, and seemed to match his mood.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was unusually icy. Diamond shivered.

"Don't you...want to marry me?"

"How could I marry you now?" he shouted, turning around in his seat. His face and hair showed visible neglect; dark circles had formed under his eyes. Diamond was shocked by his haggard appearance.

"Oh Pippin," she managed to squeak. A tear formed in her eye and slid silently down her cheek. "Pippin please..."

"Diamond, I know this might be difficult for you to understand, but our journey wasn't all happy. Before I met you, I had nightmares every night, about- about what happened. And then you came and I- the nightmare's stopped. Then, when- where have you been? You've been gone and they came back." She gazed at him in shock and fear. "They came back!" he yelled, getting to his feet and shaking her, before collapsing on the floor in despair.

"Pippin, Pippin, listen to me...I'm not going to leave. I'm going to stay here with you and I'll make sure your nightmares don't come back. I want to marry you and I want be your wife. Will you marry me, Pippin?"

"Diamond?" he breathed. Diamond didn't care about the grime. They embraced and she rocked him to sleep, their tears mingling.

Estella climbed the stairs- with some amount of nervousness, but her excitement drove out her fear of heights. She had been too involved with Merry for the past week or so to pay much attention to anyone or anything else, but now, she had to tell Diamond the good news! She grinned, practically skipping down the hall.

Diamond awoke with no sense of the time- only the realization that she was alone and on the cold hard floor of Pippin's room. She stood, rubbing her neck, still sore from sleeping on the floor without a mattress or even a blanket.

"Diamond, I'm sorry." Pippin stood in doorway, looking somewhat weary, but at least cleaned up. He seemed to have run a comb through his hair (both on his head and feet) and was wearing a clean set of clothes.

"So you'll still marry me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I'll still marry you, Dimesy...where's the necklace I gave you?" She drew the necklace from a fold in her bodice and handed it to him. He spun her around in one fluid motion and hooked the necklace around her neck. Then he twirled her back around and kissed her. For a long while, they just stood in their embrace.

"Diamond, I..." Right, thought Estella, I'll just leave them alone. She backed away from the room and down the hall to her quarters to start packing up her things for the next leg of the journey. Home, she thought. Papa, Fatty...she hiccupped and sobbed. She hadn't thought about home in a long time and had no idea how much she had missed it. As much as she had loved adventuring with Merry, she was glad to be going home.

Thrimidge, 1426

Back at Brandy Hall, Esmeralda paced up and down the length of the hall in the Master's apartments—still no word from Merry…or even Pippin or Diamond. She brought her hand to face, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Excuse me, Mistress Esmeralda?" She turned around suddenly, trying to compose herself.

"Yes Lavender?" She made it a point to remember the names of her servants.

"A courier, brought this today, uh, just now, Mistress."

"Thank you, Lavender," she said, taking the letter. The young servant bowed out of the room and she heard the soft thud of the door closing.

She took the letter into the parlor and looked at it at last- she saw who it was from, but dared not believe that her son had sent word. She opened the letter and started to read:

My Dear Mother,

I am sorry if my sudden leaving has caused you pain. I am alright and staying in Rohan- in Edoras. Remember when I told you about Edoras? Where the Lady Éowyn hails from? Pippin and Diamond are fine as well- I can't believe you sent my younger cousin to find me! We should be home in a couple of months...it's Astron now, so we should be back by late Thrimidge. Please do not worry about us, we will be visiting Prince Faramir (and Lady Éowyn) in Ithilien, and then the King and Queen of Gondor in Minas Tirith. We will be home soon.
Your son,

Meriadoc Brandybuck

She clutched the letter to her chest- he was alright, her son was coming home! And- it was Thrimidge already! Her mind felt like it was about to burst with plans. She could stop worrying—and start working…there would be much to do now she knew Merry was coming. And she knew just where to start…

A/N: Sorry I took so long to get this done; I've been extremely busy—and I've had major writer's block on this piece. But here it is...I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review!

-Estella