A/N: I totally forgot that I had this fic lying somewhere in my room. Found it, dusted it a bit, and here you go! It’s a sort of continuation from my other fic ‘As the moon-hobbit watches’. You don’t have to read it to understand this though. Enjoy!

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“Pip! Pippin!”

Meriadoc Brandybuck ran through the Old Forest, desperately trying to spot a young hobbit-lad in the midst of the bushes. His lungs burned and his legs were beginning to tire, but he refused to stop. He wouldn’t stop. Not until he had found Pippin.

“Pippin, love! Please come out, I’m sorry!”

As he shouted for his cousin, Merry failed to notice the tree root extending across the trees and tripped over it. Merry stumbled and ended up sprawled on the damp earthy ground. As he laid there, knees bruised and palms scraped, despair washed over him. Sobs racked through Merry’s already exhausted body.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered brokenly, futilely hoping that it would bring Pippin out.

After a while, his sobs were reduced to little sniffles until at last Merry stopped crying entirely. He hastily scrubbed his cheeks, as if trying to erase any evidence that he had been crying. The future Master of Buckland does not cry, he reprimanded himself.

He picked himself up and continued his search. Dusk was approaching and soon night would fall, making it even harder to find Pippin. And he had to find him. Merry had to find Pippin and apologise. He had to make things right.

So he ran.

Merry ran and ran. He ran through the forest to find Pippin. He ran to find his younger cousin. He ran in search for the one who was like a brother to him. And maybe he ran to get away from all the hurtful things he had said. Maybe he ran to escape the memory of that afternoon.

“Go away! I don’t want you here anymore, Pippin! You’re an annoying, troublesome little brat! You always tag along where you’re not wanted! And you whine like a little baby! Go away!”

Pippin’s visit to Brandy Hall, which had usually been a source of happiness and fun for Merry, now came with a feeling of dread. Merry was now 26, a tween and his Da was making it clear that one day he would be the Master of Buckland. His lessons were getting harder, his tutor more demanding. And Merry felt that his days of running around the Shire and creating mischief with Pippin were numbered.

It had pained him to see Pippin, his partner-in-crime, out playing in the fields while he was stuck indoors doing his lessons. It had pained him to not be able to go out and just revel in the beauty of being out. It had pained him to see Pip still so engrossed in his childhood while Merry’s own childhood was fading away.

But that was no excuse.

The look on Pippin’s face was one he would never forget. Hurt and rejection had flashed across his features before he turned and ran into the forest. Merry himself had taken a while to calm down. He had needed to let all that anger wash away before being able to think straight. And only then, only then did it hit him.

Shame had washed over Merry and then fear had gripped him as he realized where Pippin had run to. The Old Forest was not a place for hobbits, especially a hobbit-lad unfamiliar with it. Even Merry, who had grown up around it was not yet comfortable going into the Old Forest.

Merry pumped his legs faster. He was getting desperate now. Everyone back home had to be wondering where they were; two hobbit-lads still out at night without dinner or supper. Merry had had to make up an excuse to his Ma as to why Pippin wasn’t around. And if Frodo found out what had happened …

Merry shuddered. He didn’t even want to think of what his elder cousin would do if he ever found out what Merry had said. Pippin might be Merry’s own lad, but the active Took was still everybody’s darling --- including Frodo.

“Pippin! Pippin!” Merry tried shouting for his cousin, but his voice was already hoarse from all his earlier shouts.

What he saw next stopped him in his tracks. A clearing lay before him, bathed in moonlight. And in the middle of it, laid a little figure, staring at the sky and absently scratching the tummy of an orange cat.

Merry didn’t know what to think. In his imagination, he had expected Pippin to be hurt and crying. He had expected him to be hunched against a tree, hiding in the shadows. Merry had even imagined his cousin to be floating face-down in the river. But never had he imagined him to be so … so … nonchalant! As if he had just woken up that morning and decided to lie down in some random forest --- just for the fun of it.

“Pippin!”

Said hobbit slowly turned his head around and grinned at the sight of his counter-part. “Hullo Merry. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Pip…”

“Yes, well, meet Orange here. He’s my new friend. Say hello to Mer, Orange.” Strangely the cat meowed.

“Pip…”

“Come on, Merry. Sit with me. It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?

“Pip, you’re alright!”

Pippin looked up at Merry quizzically, as if surprised at his words. “Yes, I am alright.”

Merry lay down next to Pippin, just enjoying the feel of his cousin next to him. It was a beautiful night and the atmosphere was just right for lazing around. He didn’t want to ruin the night but Merry knew that the incident would continue to hang over their heads until he brought it up. So he gathered his courage and said it as fast as he could.

“I’m sorry.”

Merry’s words hung in the air until a little voice replied.

“I know.”

Silence followed Pip’s words. Merry felt lighter and more at ease with those two words as if it had removed all his guilt. For a few moments, he just contented himself by reveling in the cool air. Again Pip’s sweet voice broke through the silence.

“Frodo warned me about this, you know. He said that you were growing up and having more responsibilities now. He said that in a couple of years, you wont be able to play with me anymore --- that you would have to be Master.” Pippin turned his face towards Merry. “Is that true?”

Merry nodded silently. “It’s not like I want to, Pip. I would much rather be out running about with you than indoors doing lessons. But I have to grow up soon. And so do you. You’re going to be Thain someday! Soon, you wont have any time for me either.”

“Never!” his little cousin replied, with as much conviction an eighteen-year-old hobbit could muster. “I will always have time for you, Mer. But … it’s never going to be the same again, is it?”

Pippin was lost in his little world of doom and gloom without Merry and so was surprised when Merry started laughing. “Don’t be so gloomy, Pip. It’s not the end of the world.”

“But, you have to grow up! You wont be able to get into trouble anymore!”

“Pip, with you around, I don’t have to find trouble, it will find me.” Merry said in between fits of laughter. “Growing up’s not so bad. Look at Frodo. He’s all grown up, but he’s still fun. And Cousin Bilbo? He still goes on adventures. Anyway, there’s still some time to go before I become of age.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Stars littered the sky and the moon shone brightly. The pair of cousin comfortably settled down next to each other and stared up at the night sky; each lost in their own thoughts. Pippin was just happy that Merry wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and was soon dreaming of all the delicious food back home.

Merry was suddenly struck by the irony of his words. All these months, he had been stressing himself out with all his responsibilities and duties but as he himself had said, he still had some ways to go. He was still a tween, albeit an old one. There was no use in him getting all worried over the future --- let it stay there.

Peace settled over the forest and the only things that could be heard were the animals. Pippin was just about to drop off to sleep when Merry spoke up again.

“Weren’t you scared?”

Pippin just looked back at him blankly.

“You were alone and lost in the forest at night. Weren’t you scared?” Merry repeated.

“No.”

Merry arched his eyebrows. Pippin was adventurous and brave; brazenly so. But if there was something he was terrified of, it was the Old Forest.

“All right, all right…I was scared. But then I saw the moon and it reminded me of it. Of course, then Orange came along,” he admitted, distractedly stroking the cat’s fur. “My first memory was of you telling me about the hobbit on the moon and how he watches over us. I’ve always sort of wondered what he eats up there. You don’t think they grow mushrooms on the moon, do you Mer?”

Merry laughed. “No. I don’t think they do, Pip. But if I ever go there, I’ll make sure they have some.”

“You do that, Merry. And I’ll come along. It’ll just be us two hobbits on the moon munching on mushrooms.”

Merry’s laughter rang out in the forest and this time he was joined by Pippin. Yes, he thought, one day when we’re both older Pip, it’ll just be us two somewhere new munching on mushrooms. And maybe we’ll meet Cousin Frodo and ask him along on our adventures. That’ll be nice, wont it, Pip?