Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me, and no money is being made from it.

A/N: Based on two Shirebound plot bunnies:

Frodo has heard tales of the palantiri -- Sauron’s, Saruman’s, and Denethor’s -- but has never seen one. In a private meeting with Aragorn, Frodo finally looks upon one of the legendary "seven stones".

Before the hobbits leave Minas Tirith, Aragorn helps Pippin to have one more look into the palantir -- so the young hobbit can have one experience with a seeing stone that isn’t a frightening one.

***

A Passing Dream

Frodo half-woke when he felt his cousins disentangle themselves from limbs and quilts and shift their weight off the bed, hearing muttered curses as they fumbled for their uniforms, pale faces and bleary eyes reminding him of the difficult night they had just been through. Watching through half-closed eyes, he saw Merry fuss over Pippin’s sleep-rumpled curls, Pippin twisting out of his grasp and clicking his tongue impatiently, full of restless energy as always, even after so little sleep.

As they left for duty, Frodo mumbled an inarticulate "goodbye, lads" into his pillow, lifting up his hand weakly and letting it fall back to his side, and then shifted closer to the familiar and comforting warmth of Sam still asleep beside him. His eyes drifted shut again and he sighed and settled more deeply into Pippin’s bed, sparing a last sympathetic thought for his cousins before letting himself slide back into dimly remembered dreams.

***

Some while later, Frodo sat beside the sapling in the courtyard of the fountain, thinking about the night before, and the terrifying dream Pippin had had of the palantir. Afterwards, Pippin had told them haltingly about what he saw in the stone, still trembling in Merry’s arms as though reliving the aftermath of it all over again. Winged wraiths… a dead tree… a city of stone in flames. Frodo knew what had happened, had heard it from both cousins and Gandalf too, but his own absence that dreadful night still upset him, and he and Sam had curled up beside his cousins on Pippin’s bed, hoping to offer comfort by simply being there, when before they had been so far away.

Lost in thought, Frodo was only half-aware of people coming and going, stopping for a moment to gaze at the tree and acknowledging him with respectful bows or shy smiles. Pippin had been eager to explain to him how much it meant to the people of Gondor that the tree now blossomed, a sign of peace and renewal where despair had once lain so heavily. Thinking of the number of times he’d found his cousin sitting here, Frodo knew how much it also meant to Gondor’s young knight. It was the only place Frodo had seen him so still and quiet, except for at the king’s side, and he smiled fondly at the thought.

Someone sat down on the bench next to him at that moment and Frodo turned around, surprised to find that he himself was now at the king’s side.

"Aragorn," he exclaimed gladly.

"Hullo, Frodo," Aragorn smiled. "I hope I’m not disturbing you."

Frodo shook his head, "Not at all. I was just thinking about you, actually. Well… Pippin, really. How is he?"

"Pippin is why I came to find you," Aragorn replied with a wry smile, resting his elbows on his knees and looking down for a moment. "He fell asleep on his feet and then protested so fiercely about being sent back to your rooms to rest for the day that I thought it best to take him to my chambers and give him a sleeping draught. I understand he has been suffering some nightmares lately."

"Yes. Well, we all have," Frodo admitted. "Not that you’ll get the others to talk about it. It doesn’t happen often," he added hastily, seeing the king’s look of disapproval. "But Pippin’s have been the worst lately." He looked down, remembering again how Pippin had wept in his sleep and called out for Merry, crying out how sorry he was. When the lad was mostly awake and safely wrapped up in warm embraces, Merry had told him quietly that it was all over, that he had long been forgiven. But Merry wept too, tears that Pippin couldn’t see, but they told Frodo that Merry’s memories of that night were still fresh in his mind, and still hurt.

"Merry takes it very badly," Frodo added, "and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to help." He sighed. "Everything they dream about happened when I was so far away from them. Sometimes when they wake up I feel as though I hardly know them." Frodo surprised himself with this admission. He hadn’t realised he felt that way until he said it.

"That is quite understandable," Aragorn said gently. "Merry has said similar things to me before of his guilt at letting both you and Pippin go, and I know it grieves them both that they couldn’t follow you and Sam into Mordor. You have all overcome so much, Frodo. Knowing that you are all together now is perhaps Pippin’s and Merry’s best comfort when they were separated from you two, and from each other, for so long."

"Perhaps," Frodo nodded, his heart aching for them both. "Pippin’s dreams are so dreadful though, Aragorn. Is there nothing we can do to ease his memories of the palantir?"

Aragorn’s brows knitted together in a worried frown as he looked away, gazing pensively at the tree’s slender branches waving in the summer breeze. "I had considered asking him if he would look in the Orthanc-stone again. I don’t know if it would prevent his nightmares, but I did wish him to have a gentler experience with a seeing stone before you leave for home."

"Why?" Frodo asked quickly, surprised. "Would it be safe now?"

Aragorn nodded. "It would be safe, but since only the heirs of Isildur can direct what they see in the stone, the visions would appear to him by chance. He might see things that he would rather not see, things that will upset him, and that is why I’ve been reluctant to tell him of it before. But he could not possibly be hurt again, now that Sauron is gone. And I would be there with him, of course."

"So it is no longer evil in itself," Frodo murmured. Sauron may be gone, but Frodo knew well that evil memories still had the power to hurt, like wounds that had not truly healed yet. He wasn’t sure whether such a thing could help his cousin or make things worse, but he was grateful to Aragorn for being so clear with him.

"It never was," Aragorn replied. "Sauron used it to deceive and impose his will on others. Since Barad-dur fell and the Stone of Minas Tirith is now unusable, the Orthanc-stone alone remains of the seven. It cannot be used for communication anymore; only for seeing things from afar, or things that happened in the past."

"Well, Pippin will be wary of looking in it again. It cost him so much the first time," Frodo replied, taking a deep breath. "But curiosity does have a way of overcoming fear when it comes to Tooks." He grinned suddenly at Aragorn, who smiled back, nodding firmly in agreement.

"I must say," Frodo ventured after a long pause, "I’ve heard so much about it, I’m quite curious to see it myself." Pippin shouldn’t have to confront anything that frightened him ever again, at least not on his own, and if he agreed to look, Frodo wanted to be there too.

But Aragorn surprised him with his next words. "You may look in it too, if you wish," he replied quietly.

Frodo’s eyes widened and he looked up into Aragorn’s compassionate gaze, unsure what to say. "I-I don’t know about that. I suppose I’ll see what happens," he finished lamely, but he felt a peculiar mixture of excitement and dread at the thought.

"Very well," Aragorn smiled knowingly. He sighed, and then made to stand. "I should see to Pippin; he will be in need of something to do when he wakes, and I plan to release him from duty for the day."

"Oh dear. Do you think that’s wise?"

***

Frodo smiled as he heard the sound of light voices drifting from the gardens and he turned a corner to find a peaceful sight – his cousins lying about on the grass, Pippin’s head pillowed on Merry’s chest as he casually picked the petals off a daisy, listening carefully to something Merry was telling him, a wide grin on his face.

"—and Aelred thought it was all ridiculous, of course; but then, he--" Merry was saying, but he stopped as they caught sight of Frodo coming towards them, both heads raising up to greet him.

"Hullo, Frodo! Come to join us?" Pippin piped up. "Aragorn and Eomer have put us on garden duty this afternoon, and we’re to guard it with our lives. But our most honoured Ringbearers are free to enter here, of course."

Frodo laughed and fondly brushed blades of grass from Pippin’s dishevelled curls as he sat down. "Now, I know very well that Aragorn gave you the afternoon off. I didn’t know Eomer let you go as well, Merry, but I’m glad. I hope you didn’t have to fall over before you realised you needed a break."

Pippin waved dismissively. "I don’t know what Aragorn was so worried about. I thought I did a grand job this morning."

Merry snorted and ruffled Pippin’s curls again. "It’s a very good thing our king is so vigilant over you. A bundle of energy one minute and out like a light the next, apparently. He knew you’d be underfoot again as soon as you woke up and that’s why he asked Eomer to let me go as well," he added, winking at Frodo before he glanced more seriously down at Pippin again. "That tea he’s made for you should do the trick. I expect we’ll all be wanting some tonight."

A look passed between his cousins, so brief they were probably unaware of it, but it made Frodo smile every time he saw that natural, unconscious expression of how much closer they were now; more sensitive to each other’s feelings, even though they were as light-hearted as they had ever been.

"I’ve been talking to him too," Frodo said after a moment, not knowing how to say it and reluctant to break the carefree mood. "He suggested another remedy for your nightmares, Pip."

Pippin nodded, his eyes downcast. "He told us about it too, Frodo. I didn’t know what to say. I don’t much like the thought of it, but then I was curious enough once, and I never did get a proper look." He glanced up with a troubled frown. "I thought it would upset you both if I looked in it again, Frodo. What do you think?"

Frodo took his hand and laced Pippin’s fingers through his own. "It’s really up to you, dearest." I wasn’t there, he almost said, but stopped himself. "But whatever you decide, we’d never be upset with you, Pip."

Merry nodded, his eyes dark, and planted a kiss on Pippin’s curls, offering his own reassurance. "It might not help, Pip," he said quietly, "and I never wanted to look at another stone again, let alone let you near one, but if Strider’s sure nothing else could hurt you…"

Pippin nodded, not making a decision yet, and paused, apparently wanting to speak but not sure what to say.

"We’ll come with you, if you like," Frodo offered, and Pippin looked up, his eyes lit with relief.

"Really? I wasn’t sure if you would," he said gratefully. "I didn’t want you to be upset," he said again, "but I didn’t want to do it on my own, even if Strider’s there." He looked up hesitantly at Merry and then glanced at Frodo.

Merry let out his breath in a rush, but nodded and said, "Of course we’ll come, dearest."

Frodo squeezed Pippin’s hand. "Neither of us want you to look in that thing again without us, Pip." He shared a wry glance with Merry and then Pippin smiled and tugged Frodo down to sprawl in the grass with them.

Soon, Sam came to join them, and for the rest of the afternoon the gardens echoed with the hobbits’ chatter and laughter.