Chapter 7

Gandalf and the various other members of the group awoke to an interesting sight. Aragorn, with Pippin cradled in his lap, leaning against a tree, obviously resting. Merry was sitting close beside him, humming a soft song. Gandalf was familiar enough with hobbits that this was not a cheerful song that a hobbit would usually hum, but a soft, quiet song that was often sung by a hobbit whose close kin was in ailing health, in other words, it was a quite appropriate song for Merry to be humming. They watched as Merry gently brushed some of his cousin's hair from his face, the protective instinct that Merry had always possessed over his baby cousin stronger than ever as Pippin lay, near death. Aragorn stirred as Merry moved to cover Pippin with a blanket and smiled to himself, unable to believe that he was able to doze off. He smiled at Merry, who was strait faced as he stoked up the fire again. Aragorn had never seen the hobbit so serious, and it showed him how much the war, and their time in captivity, had changed the two hobbits. Aragorn moved to check Pippin's pulse, and was surprised to notice how much it had improved. Shifting slightly, he noticed he was being watched, or rather, Merry was being watched by the other members of the little group. Clearing his throat slightly, Aragorn got Merry's attention.

"Merry, Can you watch Pippin for a bit. I need to talk to Gandalf for a moment" Aragorn asked. Merry nodded, and helped Aragorn shift Pippin onto the blanket covered ground. Pippin whimpered slightly, but was otherwise still. Aragorn rose and crossed the clearing to where Gandalf and the others were standing.

"How is Pippin?" Legolas asked; his voice hopeful. Aragorn let a wan smile show through.

"He seems to be better, but it is difficult to say. Merry will take good care of him. What should we do today?"

"It depends on your friend's health. If you think it is unsafe to move him, we will linger, but if he is able to be moved, we should return to the Golden Hall." Théoden told them, Gandalf nodded his agreement. Aragorn bowed his head.

"Pippin is capable to be moved, but I am strongly against this. However time is pressing and we should not linger any longer than we have to."

"We shall stay for another day then, until the master holbytla is well enough to travel" Théoden concluded, settling himself on a log. Legolas and Gimli went over to Merry and Pippin spent the majority of the morning their, helping Merry and Aragorn care for Pippin as much as they could, and also trying to lighten the mood, although they both confessed that Pippin himself was much better at it then they were.

All in all, it was a fairly uneventful day, with Pippin occasionally returning to consciousness, only to drift off again after a brief period of time. As time wore on, his condition slowly improved, heightening the hopes of those around him, especially Merry. By nightfall Aragorn declared Pippin well enough to travel, so it was decided that they would set out a dawn the next day. Treebeard offered to show the company the quickest way to Edoras, but Gandalf politely refused. The old Ent was not fussed, and settled himself with interrogating Merry and Pippin, who was awake at the time, about the Shire, and if they had, along their travels, seen any Entwives. Both hobbits were sorry to admit to the Ent, who they both liked extremely, that they had indeed not seen any Entwives, but they would watch for them. As Treebeard strode off into the forest, Pippin settled down again, and Merry assumed he'd dosed off again, and Merry asked Gandalf about the possibility of their being Entwives in the Old Forest. Aragorn chuckled at Merry's eagerness to please the Ent, and was reminded of Sam, who would've, most probably, been completely overawed by the entire lot of Ents. He glanced across at were Merry sat.

"If I didn't know any better, Merry, I would've thought you were Sam, what with you going on about plants and all." He joked. Merry laughed, seeing the funny side of the joke.

"Ahh, Strider. I have always cared about how things grow, and about plants. Every self respecting Hobbit does. Every hobbit has a strong love for the growth of particular plants"

"He means pipe weed when he says that" Pippin chimed in, causing the entire company to start laughing. Merry laughed the hardest.

"Oh, Pippin, you haven't said something like that since, well, since you told Saruman that Gandalf looked better in White." Merry burst into gales of laughter again, and was quickly joined by the others. Pippin blushed.

"I'm assuming that the comment didn't go down all that well?" asked Legolas, his eyes shining with tears of laughter.

"Well, no, it didn't, but you should've heard it. He sounded like Sam, you know, all nervous and polite 'No offence, Mr. Saruman, but Gandalf looks so much better in white than you do" Merry broke into chuckles again, and Pippin smiled.

"When you say it like that, it does sound rather like something Sam would say" he admitted, "gosh, I miss him, and Frodo too" he finished sadly, before snuggling down into his blankets and falling asleep again. The company fell into silence again, each member occupied with their own thoughts.

A.N. A slight reprieve from all the angst and torture, which I hope you like. Please Review