Getting home, it seemed, was longer and much less bearable than the entire journey had been. Home seemed so far away, but with no obstacles or obligations blocking it. Anticipation hung at the edges of their throats like a fat red strawberry at the skinny end of the stem. If only a couple mountains and valleys didn't have to be a thousand miles…
The stale feeling of wait was mitigated by small stories of childhood, old songs, or sentences often beginning with "First thing I'm goin'ta do once I get home…" Often words were sweeter when one spoke of a girl that they could only hope waited long enough for their return.
Through all this, Pippin was being quieter than usual. It was known to the other three that Pippin has his quiet, pensive days, and then he had his loud, obnoxious days. Be it from lack of sleep, excess of exercise or homesickness, today was one of those quiet days. As the Shire grew nearer and nearer the excitement grew in the hearts of the others, he became more and more solemn. Rather than irritate Pippin, Merry decided to wait this mood out.
Something was more bothersome than being tired and sore from days of travel. Though even only a month ago Pippin had been more impatient than any other to be home, so recently he began to see it from a different perspective. Home wasn't just seeing the his sisters again, it wasn't just the parties and the friends and… Diamond. It wasn't just all that. It was adjusting to the fact that he had been gone for a long, long time. He had left his sisters and mother completely alone with his father.
It was so soon that he would have to step back inside the home where he left so readily so long ago.