Now, THIS story was devised at five in the morning LOL. It's sort of a retrospective of Merry and Pippin's experiences together, and the hopeless feeling that Merry has when they're seperated. Please read and review! These reviews make me really happy!

I’m watching you ride off, keeping my eyes on the spot of white that Gandalf makes against the fields. My hands are gripping the edge of the railing so tight that I feel the skin break. Aragorn is beside me, but I hardly notice him. I’m to busy imagining that I’m with you, that somehow we’re together, that nothing has changed.

But it has. Everything’s changed.

The fact that you and I would always be together was a given. It was the one constant fact throughout all…this. It was what kept me going. Frodo had Sam, I had you. I’ve always had you, Pippin.

But not now.

Aragorn’s saying something. I can’t hear him, either that or I won’t. I’m vaguely aware of him prying my hands off the railing. Some corner of my conscious notes that the railing is stained bright red. But my mind isn’t looking at my blood. It isn’t even in Rohan. It’s back in the Shire, nearly thirty years ago. And the color that fills my eyes isn’t red.

It’s green.

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Merry leaned back against the door and sighed heavily. He’d been waiting forever and STILL no-one had come out of the room. He was beginning to wonder if there really was any baby at all. He slid down to the floor and rested his curly head against the smooth wood, straining his ears for any noise at all. The thought occurred to him that he was the only one left, that everyone else had secretly gone off and left him waiting for a baby that was NEVER going to come!

Of course, he’d only been waiting about two hours, but to the eight year old mind, an hour can seem like days. Merry was especially anxious because his cousin was the baby being born. Not that Merry didn’t have dozens and dozens of cousins, but this was the son (Merry didn’t even consider that it might be a girl) of his dear aunt Eglantine. She was one of his favorite aunts, but she had three girls, and everyone knows that girls are no fun at all. It was high time for a boy.

The door opened behind Merry and he fell back onto the floor with a thud.

“Shh!” Pervinca hissed.

Merry sat up and glared at the lass. She was the youngest girl of Eglantine’s, and the most annoying girl Merry had ever met. “You could’ve warned me.” he grumbled as he scrambled to his feet. He brushed himself off with an air of offended dignity, awaiting Pervinca’s usual sarcastic reply. It didn’t come.

Merry looked up and met Pervinca’s tear-stained face. A shiver of fear ran up his spine as she sniffled a couple times and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Merry had the faint notion that he should offer her a handkerchief, but he didn’t have one on him. Instead he swallowed hard and asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Pervinca merely sniffled again and sat down with her back against the wall. Merry went over and sat beside her, face drawn with concern. “What is it, Vinca?” he asked again.

Pervinca gave another sniffle and said in a choked voice, “I don’t know. I just know that something’s wrong. It’s taking too long, everyone says, Mama’s too weak, the baby’s too weak, something bad is gonna happen….” she trailed off and stared into space. Then she continued. “I was there to help. But they sent me out. I guess they didn’t want me to see…” This time Pervinca remained silent, big fat tears rolling down her face. She didn’t make a sound.

Merry, unsure of what to do, put his arm around her. The two sat silently, their animosity forgotten in the fear of that moment. Merry decided he had never spent a longer hour.

A little while later (though it felt like forever for the two) the door opened and Celandine, the midwife stepped out. “Merry, Pervinca?” she said gently, startling the two out of a light doze.

The pair stood as one and immediately peppered Celandine with questions. “What happened?” “Where’s Mama?” “Is she all right?” “Is the baby all right?” “Did they die?” “Did anyone die?”

Celandine held up her hands in a silencing gesture. “No, no-one died. I’m sorry we didn’t inform you more but this...” Celandine paused and ran her hands through her curls, which, Merry noticed, were soaked with sweat. “This was one of the hardest births I’ve ever helped with.” she concluded with a heavy sigh. She smiled at the little hobbits and said gently. “You may go in now.”

Merry darted past her and paused. Aunt Eglantine was resting on the bed, her bright red hair dark with sweat. Pervinca went immediately to her mother, but Merry was more interested in the little cradle in the corner. He went over to it, but stopped about three feet from it, nervous. Celandine, sensing his nervousness, glided past (Celandine always glided, she never walked) and scooped up a tiny bundle. “Sit.” she instructed Merry.

Merry sat obediently and Celandine set the bundle in his arms. “Careful.” she said softly, turning to attend to Eglantine, while still keeping an eye on Merry.

Merry froze as a tiny red hand reached out and a pair of small furry feet stretched and kicked. Merry noticed that the fur on the feet was fine and soft and light, not at all like the coarse hair of a grown-up hobbit. He gently touched the hand and the little fingers instantly wrapped around his bigger one. Everything else seemed to fade away as Merry peered at the little wrinkled face, so much smaller than his, so innocent, half-asleep. A little shock of cinnamon-colored hair, curling slightly at the tips, crowned the little ones head. Merry smiled slightly and stroked the baby’s velvety-soft hand. He was certain that nothing could make this child more irresistible.

Then the baby’s eyes opened.

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From the moment I gazed at your emerald green eyes, I was utterly enchanted. Oh sure, you annoyed me sometimes, but I must tell you, it was a battle to say no to those eyes. You only had to bat your eyes ONCE and I was a puddle. I remember you batting them as you pleaded for me to come and raid Farmer Maggot’s field with you that day. The day our lives changed. We were so… innocent back then. The greatest trial was the hour wait between elevenses and lunch. I remember you back then. Back before you were changed with hardship and death- and pain. Back then, I was always able to protect you from anything.

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Merry sat up straight, awoken from a deep slumber as lightning flashed outside his window. He sat for a moment, panting, and tried to get his bearings. He looked around at the unfamiliar bedroom, heart racing, and gradually remembered. He wasn’t at home; he was staying at Aunt Eglantine and Uncle Paladin’s. That was all.

Thunder boomed outside, but Merry paid it no attention. He was twelve now, and thunderstorms didn’t scare him that much anymore. The lightning crackled again, but Merry was calmer now. He lay back down and snuggled underneath the blankets.

Merry remembered yesterday, his arrival at his relatives, and how glad four-year-old Pippin had been to see him. It had been quite a trial to convince the lad that “Mer” would still be there in the morning. Finally, after much coaxing and several nearly-lost tempers, Pippin had submitted to going to sleep. Merry giggled as he remembered the reluctance with which Pippin had trudged off to bed, throwing pleading glances over his shoulder at his mother. Merry had stared at Eglantine in awe, wondering how she could resist that pitiful green gaze.

An especially loud blast of thunder boomed suddenly. Merry ignored it, but a second later the door to his room flew open and a small form flew into the room, onto the bed, and darted underneath the covers. Without looking, Merry knew it was Pippin. The four-year-old was trembling and with each blast of lightning, he inched closer to Merry. Merry marveled at how close he got without actually touching him. Obviously the lad didn’t want to awake his beloved older cousin. Merry feigned sleep for a while, but was unable to pretend any longer when Pippin began to whimper slightly with fear. Merry started to roll over to reassure him, when suddenly lightning crashed particularly close to the window and Pippin lunged forward, putting his icy cold feet right on Merry’s legs.

Merry yelped and sat straight up, propelling Pippin backwards and onto the floor. Merry was instantly out of bed and making sure that Pippin had suffered no injuries during his flight through the air. The little hobbit was fine, just startled. “What are you doing in here?” Merry asked with mock reproach.

Pippin opened his mouth to answer, just as the wind blew the rain against the window with a jolting pattering noise. Instead of explaining, Pippin threw himself at his cousin, wrapped his arms around him and held on for dear life.

Merry stifled a smile and he gently disentangled himself. “All right, you can sleep in here during the storm. But, DON’T make noise.” he instructed, climbing back into bed. He curled up with his back facing Pippin and waited.

Pippin paused for a moment, then slowly slipped under the covers, careful to keep his furry little feet far away from Merry and snuggled up against his back. Merry felt the faint tickling of Pippin’s cinnamon curls and gave a soft laugh. Pippin, taking this as a good sign, rubbed his curls up against Merry’s neck, tickling the older lad so badly that he burst out laughing.

Merry rolled over and began tickling Pippin in revenge. The two were shrieking so loud that Eglantine woke up and both boys were given a firm talking-to. They promised to be quiet, if Pippin was allowed to stay, and soon everyone was settled down. Merry was just drifting off, when Pippin curled up against his back and, just once, tickled Merry’s neck with his hair. Merry smiled and the two drifted off to sleep…..

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Pippin shifted slightly, trying to find some relief from the tight ropes around his wrists. No use. They were tied so tight that every time he moved they cut into his skin. Pippin sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the Orcs. They were clustered around a fire of some sort. At least they were ignoring the hobbits, and not torturing them. At this point Pippin would take what he could get.

Pippin sighed and glanced over at Merry. His back was towards Pippin and eh wasn’t moving or making a sound. His friend was obviously in pain, but he was trying to hide it from Pippin. Trying to protect me. Pippin thought ruefully. Obviously Merry thought that Pippin wasn’t paying any attention, because his back was heaving with silent sobs.

You can’t protect me forever, Mer. It’s my turn now. Pippin carefully and slowly scooted over behind Merry. One of the Orcs turned towards him and Pippin froze, hoping desperately that his actions would go unnoticed. He didn’t even allow himself a sigh of relief when the Orc returned to whatever is was doing. Pippin inched forward until he was right against Merry’s back. His friend was pretending to be asleep, but Pippin wasn’t fooled. He lay down and relaxed. Ever so carefully he nuzzled his head against Merry’s neck, like he used to when they were children.

Merry froze at the first tickle then smiled. “Thanks Pip.” he whispered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~