Proper Places

By Songspinner

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Disclaimer: The usual…these characters don’t belong to me but to J.R.R. Tolkien and to New Line, Peter, Fran, and Philippa. I make no profit from this story except useful reviews and constructive criticism.

A/N: This one’s bookverse. Just felt like these two strong pairs of friends had some uncertainties to work out, and that they were the ones to help one other do so.

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Part One: Eowyn and Merry

By the end of the second day after the Armies of the West had departed, Merry could not bear to stay in bed any longer. Worrying about Pippin and their friends kept him sleepless until the healers gave him his nighttime draughts, and he didn’t like the lack of control those noxious potions gave him.

So after a fairly long time of tossing and turning, the hobbit crept out of his bed before the healers return. He managed to pull on a pair of breeches and a loose shirt, but gave up on anything more complicated than that. Still wobbly and dizzy for a few moments, Merry leaned on furniture and the walls until he reached the door. Stretching up to reach the latch, he slipped into the hallway and paused to try and remember where Eowyn’s chamber was in the Houses of Healing.

There was a rather unsteady bit of sneaking that seemed to produce more noise than stealth, and then he found the door and knocked softly.

"Yes?" Eowyn’s voice came muffled through the door.

"’Tis me, Merry. May I come in?" He waited for a reply, leaning on the doorframe.

"Of course, if you are alone."

He opened the door and even that small action seemed too much as the room spun around him in a blur of muted color.

"Oh, Merry, here…" Eowyn was bending over him then and using her good arm to support him over to the low couch. She knelt anxiously in front of him, chafing his cold hand in hers. "What possessed you to get out of bed on your own, then?"

Merry raised one eyebrow at her with a tired ghost of a smile. "They’ve been gone for two days, Eowyn. I cannot bear to stay in bed any longer, no matter what the healers say about remaining still. And no, they’ve no knowledge of my escape. You do not look entirely well yourself, yet, my lady." Indeed, her face was still pale and showed lines of pain around her eyes and mouth.

She reached over for a blanket and pillow at the other end of the couch and tucked the pillow behind his head. As she spread the blanket over him as well, he noticed the warmth remaining in the pillow and realized that she must have been resting when he knocked. "You were resting here. I am sorry, Eowyn. I shouldn’t…"

"No, it is no imposition, Merry, not you. The healers, perhaps, but not you." She patted his hand and leant her head against the arm of the couch. "I’ve been restless today, as have you, apparently. And I have snapped enough at Ioreth that she finally left me alone for the afternoon. I wish," she added softly, "to be given no more medicines. I’ve no intention of being asleep in the darkness again when it’s not by my choice."

Merry lowered his eyes to stare at the blanket, picking at a loose thread absently. "I don’t particularly like the darkness anymore, either, actually."

He glanced over at the window, where dim light that ends the sunset had begun to fade.

"Wait but a moment, then." She rose awkwardly and lit a series of candles on the table by the window. Returning, she sat on the cushion next to him, taking his hand in hers again. "Merry?" she said, sounding uncertain.

"What’s wrong?" Merry asked, turning to her as quickly as he could move.

"What shall…if we survive this, and your cousin and the others can somehow defeat this darkness…I shall be the Lady of Rohan until my brother marries, I suppose. And what then? He will be Eomer King…"

Merry pressed her hand gently. "He shall do Theoden King honor, I know it, my dear."

"But what of me?" Eowyn’s voice dropped to a mere whisper, a single tear sliding down her face. "What shall I be then? He will be my only family if he returns. I’ve lost my uncle, my cousin…you would go home to your Shire and I would go back to Meduseld to emptiness."

"But you will be a hero for what you did, Eowyn. Surely your people will see that, and I know that your brother will make sure they know it." Merry tried in vain to reassure her.

Her golden hair falling forward to hide her face, Eowyn pulled her hand away to cover her mouth for a long moment. Merry thought to himself that she looked as though she were muffling a scream.

"Eowyn? Please, don’t cry. We can look after each other, can’t we?" He pulled her down so that her head rested on his shoulder, suddenly aware of being her elder by thirteen years. "If all else fails, we’ll have to be strong…"

If Frodo failed, then that would mean Sam and Pippin would be dead as well, and himself left alone in this still-strange place. It did not bear thinking about just now, when he was searching so desperately for hope. Merry cocked his head to one side, stroking Eowyn’s hair with a hand rapidly growing colder again. Suddenly, he did not feel so much older and wiser, but rather small again.

And he must have made some small sound of distress, for Eowyn raised her head to look at him, worried for him even through her own despair. "Merry?"

"I was just thinking." He faltered, clearing his throat for a moment. "I miss home so dreadfully. Tea with my parents, tramping through the Shire with Frodo and Pippin, and a pint of two at the green Dragon…but I have seen battle now, Eowyn. Killed. Hobbits, as a rule, do not kill. We’ve seen no battle for generations, and here I’ve left the Shire and taken up the sword. I shall not be able to put it aside until I know that my family is safe, and my home. I haven’t let Pippin know of it, but with all that we’ve seen, I wonder if the Shire has been taken…taken into darkness, too…"

Eowyn leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "You’ve fought in battle, Merry, but I don’t think that it changed you for the worse. You fought to save my life, did you not? And that of your friends? I am sure that the Shire will need protecting, but from what you told me of your home, your people are strong. They will have a place for you.’

Moving back a little, she laid her head on the pillows behind her. "And Merry? If nowhere else, you’ll have a home with me." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "My shield-brother."

Merry curled up, exhaustion and herbs finally catching up with him. As he rested his head on her uninjured shoulder, he managed to answer her before the world slid away in the flickering candlelight. "My shield-sister. I shan’t let you be alone in the dark either, I promise."