Author's note: Yeah, this is something new I've tried. It's a short fic about the last hours before Merry and Pippin are parted in The Return of the King, using the movie as my basis. It begins with the end of the scene where Pippin has looked into the palantír and ends with the two Hobbits being parted. I used lines from the movie and added things in-between, dug deeper into certain bits and generally tried to flesh it out a bit. So it's got brand new stuff, stuff you saw in the movie and some explorations of things in the movie. I hope you'll enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the places. I also do not own the bits I lifted directly from the movie. Sorry! But at least I make no profit from it…

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"What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?"

Gandalf looked intensely at Pippin who was unable to avert his eyes. Pippin trembled with fear and remorse and shook his head at the wizard.

"Nothing" he said. "I told him nothing."

Gandalf looked at him as if he was trying to see Pippin's soul. The Hobbit seemed frightened but had nowhere to recoil. The other members of their company, Aragorn, Legolas and Merry, watched with confusion and worry. What Pippin had done when he looked into the palantír might have fatal effects for all of them, and their quest. Merry looked away, feeling a blend of anger and embarrassment for his younger cousin's latest achievement and fear for Pippin's safety. Gandalf had quite briskly shoved him aside when he knelt by Pippin's side and he felt wounded somehow. Aragorn had placed a hand on his shoulder but it seemed to be more for show than to actually give any comfort. Aragorn had been affected by the palantír as well when he yanked it away from Pippin, and he was focusing most of his attention right now on Gandalf and the Hobbit, nervous over what the repercussions might be for all of them.

Gandalf continued to stare into Pippin's eyes for the longest time, then he gave a sigh of relief and turned his eyes to Aragorn.

"He told him nothing" he declared.

"Gandalf… I'm so sorry…" Pippin gasped.

"Go back to sleep now" Gandalf said. "You can expect some bad dreams, but I suppose that's no more than you deserve. Keep warm." He looked up at the other people in the room. "All of you, go back to sleep! There is nothing more of interest happening here."

Merry got up and walked over to his blankets. He thought he heard Pippin whispering his name but he didn't acknowledge it. Instead it was Legolas who scooped Pippin up and carried him back to his temporary bed on the floor. The Elf sang something deep down in his throat which seemed to have a soothing effect on Pippin, but it did nothing to help Merry. He was angry, hurt and frightened all at the same time. He saw from the corner of his eye how Legolas pulled Pippin's blankets up to his chin and rested a cool hand on the Hobbit's forehead until the trembling stopped and Pippin seemed to have gone to sleep. Then Legolas got up and joined Aragorn and Gandalf who were mumbling together in a corner of the room. The three of them left the room together and Merry got up and hurried after them.

"Go back to your bed, Meriadoc" Gandalf ordered without turning to look at him.

"And where are you off to?" Merry replied with anger. "Off to have another council? Why can't I come? I'm the only one here who saw what happened, save for Pippin of course, if you are going to debate it then oughtn't I to be there as well?"

"This is of no interest to you" Gandalf said.

"It is of every interest to me!"

"You should go back and keep an eye on Pippin" Aragorn said, a bit more diplomatic than Gandalf. "His sleep might be unruly; it would be wise for someone to keep an eye on him."

"I am not a bloody babysitter" Merry objected.

"Go back to sleep" Gandalf said with anger in his voice and gave Merry a stern look. "We are not going to have a council; you won't be missing out on anything, though I don't think I've ever known you to take interest in such things anyway."

"I believe you mistake me for Pippin" Merry said and crossed his arms. "And if you are going to discuss him, or the battle for that matter, I want to be part of the discussion."

"It is too dark a night to talk of such things" Gandalf said. "Go back to his side now and come get us if anything else happens. And do try and keep an eye on that fool of a cousin of yours."

"I beg your pardon" Merry said with a voice dripping of sarcasm. "Though I do believe he got a hold of that stone under your watchful eye."

Legolas tried to keep in a laugh as Merry turned on his heel and marched back inside. Gandalf simply rolled his eyes and wondered where this obnoxious side of Merry had come from. Aragorn didn't feel like laughing or rolling his eyes, he was too concerned with what had just happened with the palantír. But Gandalf had been right. It would be too risky to debate it when the night was so dark around them. They could wait until morning.

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Merry marched back into the sleeping quarters and cast an angry look at his sleeping cousin. Just like Pippin to do something so stupid! He knew he was too riled up to go to sleep and continued into the Golden Hall where the party had been held earlier in the night. The room was empty now, except for a woman sleeping on a divan in the middle of the room. Merry cast only a glance at her, he recognised her as one of the nobles of Rohan but she was uninteresting to him. She was fast asleep; the commotion from the sleeping quarters had not reached her out in the Hall. Her presence disturbed Merry a bit, he was still filled with anger and worry and he wanted to be alone. He had gotten used to more solitude than this, he missed being out with only his eight companions. Now wherever he went there were strangers, it was impossible to find a moment for oneself.

He sat down by the fireplace and angrily gave a log a kick. Soot and ember went flying with the log and he kept in a cough. He hated feeling this way. He hated knowing that Gandalf and Strider probably had all the information that would help calm him down but they wouldn't allow him in. He hated how they sometimes treated him like a child because of his short height. He longed back for the days when Frodo had still been in the company, before they had reached Rivendell when it was only the Hobbits and Strider. Back then Aragorn had taken him seriously and talked to him and listened when he had something to say. Now he was only brushed aside.

He gave another log a kick and it flew into the iron stand with a small bang. The woman on the divan moaned in her sleep and then opened one of her eyes. Merry silently cursed himself for having made enough noise to wake her up and got up on his feet to excuse himself and leave. The woman gave him a look of surprise and seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Is it dawn yet?" she asked.

"No" he told her. "It's still the middle of the night. I beg your pardon; I didn't mean to wake you. I will leave you alone."

"You needn't leave on my account" she said and closed her eyes with a yawn. "I will be back asleep any minute."

Merry hesitated for a moment. He felt like he should leave, but if she was going back to sleep anyways then what did it matter? Apparently she was aware that he hadn't moved, neither to sit down again nor to leave, and she seemed a bit curious.

"You are one of the Halflings, are you not?" she asked with her eyes closed.

"Yes" Merry said and gave a thought to Pippin. "The smart one."

The woman chuckled slightly and opened her eyes. She seemed kind and friendly, but Merry only felt awkward and wanted to be anywhere in the world but right here. He was never very good with strangers, unless he was in the company of Frodo or Pippin he tended to close up and be less friendly. The truth was he could be rather shy when he didn't have his friends with him.

"What is a Halfling doing awake at this hour?" the woman wanted to know.

Merry couldn't resist answering her. Her tone was kind and she didn't seem to think it was inappropriate for him to be there even though he had found her asleep.

"I was woken up earlier" he said and sat back down. "Now I'm too… filled with thoughts to go back to sleep." He sighed for a moment. "I was pretty frightened earlier, and nobody will take the time to acknowledge me and take my concerns seriously. They just brushed me aside. That's how it always is. They always try to keep me away from the serious conversations, the things that matter, as if they think they are protecting me by doing so. I don't need them to protect me from things like that, I am nearly forty years old, I can determine for myself whether or not something is too frightening. And a lot of times it can be more frightening to be left out of the loop than to know everything that goes on." He looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I am telling you all of this. It must be the most trivial problem in the world for a noblewoman like yourself."

"I know all about people trying to protect you against your will" the woman said. "I know what it is like to be treated like a child just because you are not a man who wears armour and can grow a beard. I do not think that it's trivial."

Merry looked up at her and their eyes met. There was some form of understanding between them, he could feel it. They had something in common but he was not yet quite sure what it was. He knew though that he felt a bit better and that he should leave her to sleep again. He rose and thanked her for their brief talk and went back to his sleeping quarters. He cast a quick glance at Pippin who was sweating and mumbling in his sleep but he didn't stop to make sure he was okay. He crawled under his blankets and hoped sleep would come to him.

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The next morning Gandalf woke them up and demanded that Pippin attended a council in the Golden Hall. Pippin looked nervous and scared and cast a glance at Merry, who declared to Gandalf that he was coming too. Gandalf muttered something under his breath but didn't object and Merry quickly found his coat and herded Pippin into the Golden Hall.

The woman who had slept there was gone, but the Hall was far from empty. Théoden King was there together with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, and a number of people went about their business in silence, keeping in the background. Gandalf gave Pippin a brief but reassuring smile and told him to sit down on a chair and not worry. Merry stopped beside Pippin but didn't look at him as Gandalf began to retell the events of the previous night to Gimli and Théoden. Pippin was horribly ashamed and didn't dare to look up very often, even though Gandalf's tone was not reprimanding. The wizard seemed oddly calm and whatever anger and concern he had felt the night before he showed nothing of it now. Merry on the other hand was still as sullen as the night before, and even though he could feel Pippin's pleading eyes on him every once in a while he kept his own eyes on the wizard.

Gandalf pointed out that Pippin's misadventure with the palantír had been strangely fortunate for them. He turned his attention mainly to Théoden and Aragorn and told them what the enemy was planning. Pippin knew this was good news, that they knew of this planned attack, yet he could not relax or feel better. He was deeply ashamed of what he had done, and Merry's behaviour made him feel like he was a child who had done something bad and was being reprimanded by his parent.

Merry paid little attention to Pippin at the moment. He was busy listening to the taller folk discuss the problem at hand. Minas Tirith being raised to the ground did not seem like a comforting thought at all, even though Merry had never seen the city. And the thought of Rohan going to war again did not seem very encouraging either. The taller folk debated on whether or not Rohan should answer a call for help from Gondor and Merry knew to stay in the background even though he would like to participate in the council. He was aware that he was mainly there to support his unruly cousin and feared that if he said anything he would be told to leave. The king and the wizard seemed in no mood to take the advice of a Hobbit. Not that he had any good advice to give them, but he would have liked to at least be part of the discussion.

Then the discussion changed direction when Aragorn declared that he would go to Minas Tirith and warn them. Gandalf protested and Merry felt certain he knew what the wizard had in mind. He had feared that it would come to this, in the back of his mind he had known it since the night before. It was part of the reason why he had been so upset.

"Understand this" Gandalf said. "Things are now in motion which cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith…" He turned and looked at Pippin. "And I won't be going alone."

Pippin looked confused and turned to Merry who refused to look at him. Gandalf exchanged a few words with the others in low voices and then headed for the door. Merry followed him and Gandalf called for Pippin to do the same. They stepped out into the sunlight and walked towards the stables in a fast pace.

"Out of all the inquisitive Hobbits, Peregrin Took, you are the worst!" Gandalf declared as they hurried down the steps, but he didn't seem quite as annoyed as one might have thought. "Hurry! Hurry!"

Merry strode after him, still angry, and Pippin followed, more intent on getting back on Merry's good side than paying attention to what the wizard was saying. He was used to Gandalf's scolding by now, but Merry's anger was something he wasn't quite as adjusted to. He ran up alongside Merry and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Where are we going?" he asked. As usual he had not been paying attention.

"Why did you look?" Merry asked with frustration. "Why do you always have to look?"

He quickened his pace so that he wouldn't be alongside Pippin and the younger Hobbit looked quite ashamed.

"I don't know" he said. "I can't help it."

"You never can" Merry said with a glare over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry alright?" Pippin said and stopped, frustrated with his friend's anger.

Merry stopped and gave him a glare.

"I won't do it again!" Pippin assured him.

"Don't you understand?" Merry snarled and walked up to him. He lowered his voice. "The enemy thinks you have the Ring! He's going to be looking for you, Pip. They have to get you out of here."

Pippin looked frightened. He hadn't realised before what danger he had put himself in. The last thing he wanted was for the enemy to come after him. He wasn't too keen on leaving Edoras this way either. He looked at Merry hesitantly.

"And you… you're coming with me" he said, almost as a question. His cousin seemed so angry with him.

Merry didn't respond. He turned and walked towards the stables where Gandalf had gone. Pippin felt unsure, this was not how he had thought he was going to leave. For a brief second a doubting feeling came over him, but it vanished as soon as it had appeared. He would not be going anywhere without Merry. Merry was his one secure thing in the midst of all the chaos, the one thing person who would be there to the end and not leave or be killed. Even when he was this annoyed. But Pippin didn't like the way Merry's brisk way of walking off made him feel.

"Merry?"

"Come on!" Merry snarled.

Pippin hurried after him into the stables, where Gandalf was standing with Shadowfaxe. Earlier on Pippin had wished he could get to ride the grand horse, but now he was unwilling to. Merry had drawn back into a corner and said something in a low voice to Gandalf as Pippin came up to them. His cousin didn't look quite so angry now, but it was obvious that things were not as they should between them. But they would have plenty of time during the ride to talk. He wondered how Gandalf would be able to fit two Hobbits on the horse but no doubt the wizard had it all figured out.

Gandalf grabbed him and hauled him up to the horse's back. Pippin turned to Gandalf and started to get nervous.

"How far is Minas Tirith?" he asked.

"Three days ride, as the nazgûl flies" Gandalf said. "And you'd better hope we don't have one of those on our tail."

Pippin looked dejected and felt like he had gotten a reprimand of some sort. Gandalf turned to give them some space while Merry stepped up from his corner and handed something to Pippin. He didn't look angry anymore, just sad or concerned, Pippin couldn't quite tell which. Neither option seemed very good. Why wasn't he up on the horse as well?

"Here" Merry said and nodded to him to take the pouch in his hand. "Something for the road."

"The last of the longbottom leaf" Pippin said, stung by a sense of fear. Why was Merry giving this to him? He looked at his cousin and wished he knew what the look in his eyes meant. One thing he did realise. Merry was not going to come with him.

"I know you've run out" Merry said and his voice confirmed that he was concerned now and not angry. "You smoke too much, Pip."

"But… But we'll see each other soon" Pippin said.

Merry looked over at Gandalf and knew that the wizard understood him. Right now he wasn't being treated like a child, he appreciated that the wizard took his concerns seriously. He felt like there was a new understanding between them now. Merry pleaded Gandalf with his eyes to leave now, to ride off with Pippin before this moment got anymore difficult. Merry knew that Pippin was riding to great danger, but that Merry himself would be in great danger as well. They were not likely to ever see each other again and he wanted Pippin gone before it dawned on his younger cousin. The two had been in each other's company for so long that it was a frightening realisation that they might not meet the end together. Gandalf saw his plead and hurried up to the horse.

"Won't we?" Pippin insisted.

For a split second Merry contemplated lying to Pippin but he didn't want them to part with a lie. It was bad enough that he had let his anger and fear out on Pippin earlier in the day; he didn't want to make things worse. His parting gift had also been a plead for forgiveness; he didn't want to have anything else to be forgiven for before they left.

"I don't know" he said to Pippin and backed away as Gandalf sat up. He felt his voice trembling. "I don't know what's going to happen."

"Merry…" Pippin said and shook his head slightly.

Gandalf leaned over to speak to his horse, eager to part the two Hobbits before things got any worse. The realisation Merry had been dealing with since the previous night was just beginning to dawn for Pippin and Gandalf did not want to see what would happen if Pippin figured it all out before they had left. The crazy Took might just decide to jump off Shadowfaxe's back and stay with his cousin. Gandalf took a firm grip of Pippin and spoke to his horse.

"Run Shadowfaxe. Show us the meaning of haste."

"Merry!" Pippin cried as the horse set off in a gallop.

Shadowfaxe stormed off towards Minas Tirith with a devastated Pippin on his back but Gandalf didn't slow the pace down to allow the Hobbit one last look over his shoulder. The sooner they got far away from Edoras the better.

Merry ran out from the stables and towards one of the watchtowers. He pushed a soldier aside as he hurried up the stairs and didn't hear Aragorn calling his name. He found a spot where the fence did not go so high and looked on as the wizard rode off with his cousin. He had lost Frodo already and now Pippin was gone as well. Aragorn came up to him and placed his hand on Merry's shoulder. This time it felt comforting.