Tuckburough, June of 1424

Pippin sat upon a grassy knoll at a secluded place, not far from the Great Smials but far enough for him to be able to have his privacy. He wanted to be alone, he had been feeling low all day long and now that evening was drawing near he wasn't feeling any better. He was not used to feeling this way, most of his life he had been happy and he had rarely known depression.

It was in truth far too beautiful a day for anyone to feel gloomy or depressed. The sun had been warm in the sky all day long, some flowers of spring were still in bloom and the whole world was green and sunny and filled with lovely scents. As he sat up on the knoll he was touched by a gentle summer breeze, warm and comforting, but it didn't quite get through to him. Not on this particular day.

XX
XX

Merry arrived at the Great Smials not long before the sun was about to begin to set, and was surprised to be unable to find Pippin. He had expected his cousin to be waiting for him, they had both been visiting their parents over the weekend and made plans to meet at the Smials on Sunday at sunset to go have a half-pint of ale at Pippin's favourite inn before they returned to Crickhollow. Merry would never have thought Pippin to be late to any trip to the inn and he wondered what might have happened.

"Pip?" Merry's Uncle Paladin said when asked. "I think he went out for a walk. He's become mighty fond of exercise since he came back from that journey of yours. Beats me why he had to go out for a walk instead of stay here with his family, we never get to see him as it is."

Merry thanked his uncle for that bit of information and wondered where Pippin might have walked off to. If he was out for a walk when they were supposed to go to the inn that ought to mean something was bothering him, which in return would mean he would want to get away from his three very inquisitive older sisters. With that in mind Merry steered towards a knoll he knew not far from there, where one was as good as guaranteed some privacy. Few people ever went there since it meant having to cross a small river, round some trees and then actually climb the knoll.

As he had expected Merry found Pippin there, sitting on the ground and staring into space. He held his sunhat in his hands, twirling it absentmindedly, and seemed to be completely unaware of the beautiful sunset that had just begun before his eyes and which he had front row seats to. Merry walked over to him and wondered what was troubling him to this degree.

"Had you forgotten we made plans to go to the inn?" he asked, making his presence known.

"Hullo Merry" Pippin said without taking his eyes off whatever it was that he was looking at. "How did you find me here?"

"I have my ways" Merry said and stopped behind him. "Get up you foolish Took, I'm thirsty and I want to get going."

"I'm sorry Merry, I didn't realise it was so late" Pippin said and turned his head to give his cousin an apologetic smile.

"That smile didn't reach the eyes" Merry commented. "What's bugging you, Pip? Care to tell me or must I get you drunk first?"

"I just got this feeling… This really bad feeling, making me really sad and depressed. I don't get that way often, which made me convinced that it was truly bad and then I felt even worse."

"Trust you to react that way, Pip" Merry said with a good-natured chuckle. "Whenever you feel the least bit of heartache your whole soul seems to suffer. What did you feel and why did you feel it?"

"I woke up this morning and I tried to remember Legolas' face. And I couldn't. It hasn't been long since I saw him last, only a few years, but I just couldn't remember. Then I tried to think of a situation where he and I had been together, perhaps that way I would see his face clearly. And it occurred to me that there was something quite funny that happened with Legolas, me and Sam while we were fifteen days out of Rivendell. Something that had always made me smile. However this time I couldn't recall what it was. It was as if it had been too long since I last thought of it, and my brain sorted it out. And I was scared, Merry. I have seen so many things and known so many people, were they really so unimportant to me that I can just forget about them like that?"

"No…" Merry said. "I wouldn't say that. I have forgotten a lot of things too, but there are some things that I will always remember. There is no way one can remember all the things that happened on the journey, we were travelling for a year!"

"I guess it just makes me really sad that some incredible things happened to me and some incredible people came into my life and my memories of them fade. Someday I will be old and weak and I will start to forget more and more things. Our grandfather couldn't remember his own name before he died. How sad is that? It makes me depressed…"

"I don't believe you can truly forget everything" Merry said and got down on his knees next to Pippin. "I know for a fact that I will never forget you. Even if all other things are forgotten."

He placed an arm around Pippin's shoulders and pulled him closer for a hug. Pippin smiled at him, starting to feel a bit better.

"Do you mean that?"

"As much as I've ever meant anything. I could forget the stars, the moon, the sun, my home, my family, my name, but I could never forget you. It's just not possible. You are too deeply rooted in my mind and my soul to be forgotten."

"I hope I'll never forget you either" Pippin said. "And I hope we never forget how much we matter to one another."

"How could we possibly? We were meant to remember each other Pippin, even when all other memories are lost."

Pippin smiled and let his cousin hug him again. He felt much better now, comforted by his cousin's presence and his assurance that some things would never be forgotten. He truly hoped he would never forget him, even if he became as forgetful as his grandfather had been. Forgetting Merry would be forgetting himself.

"There is one other thing I won't forget" Merry said. "And that is that I'm thirsty and we had plans to go to the inn. Come along now Peregrin, stop mulling over questions like these and help me drink Tuckburough dry."

He rose to his feet and offered Pippin a hand, pulling him up to a standing position. With his arm around Pippin's shoulder Merry began walking back to the Great Smials. The sun had almost set entirely behind them and he was filled with happiness over how beautiful the Shire was and what a lovely gift life was to have.