Chapter 3: Getting to know the place

A/N: Hi again! In this chapter we're really starting to introduce more of the modern world to the Fellowship and...

Matthew: We're gonna introduce Andrew more too, he barely got any screen time last chapter.

Me: He doesn't *get* screen time. This isn't a movie, yet...

Anyways enjoy the chapter! And as always please review :) (Pippin's P.O.V.)

I wasn't sure if we should be doing this, last time we did it we we're attack by the Nazgul, campfires in the middle of the night... Maybe not the best idea but the potatoes are worth it.

Me, Merry, Sam and Frodo couldn't sleep so we made a campfire behind the human's house and found some potatoes in the white food box Diana got food from earlier.

Suddenly the boy Andrew appeared at the door. He said something to us in his language, English it was called, he held up a finger and disappeared back into the house. He came back out with a bag of something white. He ran to the tree and broke a stick from its branches. At this point I was very confused, what on Middle Earth was he doing?

He opened the bag and put one of the white things on the stick, and then held it over the fire. Oh that made sense, he was cooking it. But was it some kind of fruit or meat of some kind?

Andrew handed the stick to me, and I thought, what the heck? Might as well. I started eating the thing and it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten, almost better than bacon.

"Merry! Merry! You have to try one of these! I have no idea what they are but its the most amazing thing ever!"

"What is it like?!" Merry said excitedly.

"It's indescribable, it's sweet and delicious that all I can say, Sam, Frodo, you guys have to try these too!"

Andrew smiled and handed over the bag of the delicious things and showed us how to cook them, he pointed to the bag and said a word that must be the name of these things.

"Marshmallows," Andrew said.

"Marshmallows?" Sam said trying to pronounce the word.

Andrew nodded, "Marshmallows."

We all tried them and before long the whole bag was gone. There was a noise at the door and we saw Diana crossing her arms and laughing. Andrew tried sneaking away, hiding from his sister but she pointed at him and said something in her language to him. He started laughing and she joined us around the campfire. We stayed out there for at least an hour eating potatoes and another bag of marshmallows and then we all went back to bed.

In the morning we all got up and realized that we slept much longer than we usually do, the Fellowship, we always got up early in the morning, to cover as much ground as we could. Today we slept till the sun was at the top of the sky. Diana was already awake and she poked her head down the stairs to see if anyone was awake, she called our names, it's still a mystery how she knew them, and only Merry and I were really awake and ready to get up, Diana waved us upstairs and we quickly pulled on clothes and followed her up the stairs.

"Merry do you think she knows about about second breakfast? Elevensies? Luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper?! It's not like we can tell her about these things Merry."

"Pippin." Merry said with a look in his eye, "well actually, you're right, maybe she already knows though, she said that she knew everything..."

Merry trailed off and a looked at him, worried that there was something wrong. He was watching Diana intently, and I recognized the look on his face, I'd seen it before. Diana was preparing what must be breakfast and she was twirling around, singing quietly, and wearing a dress for once, we'd only ever saw her in pants which was unlike women in general. The dress was white with black designs and flowers covering it, it only went to her knees, but it was a nice dress I suppose.

But Merry was spellbound, his eyes wouldn't leave her.

"Pip..."

"Merry I know exactly what you're thinking and.."

"Pip she's beautiful, perfect. I only ever noticed now. I mean look at her. Her hair is beautiful, falling down her back in waves, her eyes the most wonderful colour of brown, and the dress... She dances and sings, she's wonderful," Merry whispered to me.

"Well what are you going to do about it? You can't very well court her if you can't speak to her."

"I'll learn English," Merry said as he walked into the kitchen to meet her.

I shook my head and followed him into the kitchen. He always noticed the pretty hobbits of the Shire, but he never seemed that serious about them before, maybe this time is different.

Diana handed us both plates with what looked like eggs, and bread with jam, she gestured to the plates and said, "Breakfast, first breakfast."

Merry whispered excitedly to me, "That must be the word for breakfast Pip, see this won't be hard!"

I rolled my eyes but smiled because I had never seen him this joyful, I wasn't sure how to feel about his crush on Diana but if it made him happy (internal shrug) why not right?

Frodo and Sam came into the kitchen and Diana gave them plates of food and taught them the word for breakfast.

I don't know about everyone else but I was wondering about the lights. Obviously they weren't candles, or fire of any kind, but all Diana needed to do to turn them on was press a thing on the wall and suddenly there was light. Maybe it was some form of magic? When I learn enough English perhaps I'll ask her about it, but until then it remains a mystery.

The rest of the Fellowship comes upstairs and Diana gives them breakfast, then she says,

"Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam, follow me."

All we understood was our names, and then she walked out the door so I guess she wanted us to follow her. We went outside and she climbed onto some sort of contraption. It was round, with netting around it, and it had poles keeping it above the ground, the circular part was black, and when she stood up in the centre, she jumped up and down and the black part was stretchy, it made her go higher, she laughed and jumped again and then flipped over. It was a little shocking at first but it looked like fun. She gestured to the thing and said, "Trampoline!" she jumped again and said "Jump!"

Trampoline. Jump. Breakfast. English wasn't too hard. She called our names one by one and helped us climb on, which was difficult because we were shorter than she was, but eventually Merry, Frodo, Sam and I were jumping (new English word!) on the trampoline (this was easy!). It was the most fun I'd had in a long time. Merry was certainly enjoying himself, him being in very close proximity of Diana of course. Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli came outside and watched, yelling that we looked ridiculous but laughing the entire time.

Diana jumped off and ran in the house, but came back with a black box and said, "Speakers" and then she placed a pink rectangle in front of the 'speakers'. She looked at it for a minute, and then she said something which we didn't quite understand: "Music time!"

A/N: I can't wait to see how the Fellowship reacts to loud, modern day music! This should be fun (evil smile) Ha ha ha! Ignore the evil laugh.

Matthew: But you are evil.

Me: Shush

Anyways... as you can see the romance has begun! Merry and Diana, I can't wait to see how it turns out :) So please review, tell me how you like it, or don't like it. I'm working non-stop to write and post these chapters so I should probably have another chapter up by the end of the day.