CHAPTER 3 - ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE

Challenge 34 - Write about someone taken unawares by something or someone and a beloved doll, an eagle, and a dance.

In the flashback at the Great Smials, Pippin is 22 years old and Diamond is 17 years old (14 and 11 in Man years). In the flashback at the Greenfields, Pippin is 28 years old and Diamond is 23 years old (18 and 14 ½ in Man years).

Thanks to Dreamflower for betaing this chapter (including smacking me over the head with the book to remind me that something was movie!verse rather than canon) and finally getting it through my thick head that one of my sentences meant the opposite of what I had intended, Marigold for her beta on this chapter, and to SlightlyTookish for letting me borrow an element from her universe that will appear in a subsequent chapter.

Pippin followed Bandigard into the sitting room of the warm smial, where he gave Diamond’s mother a quiet embrace, not missing the worried expression in her blue eyes.

“How is she, Holly? May I see her now?” Pippin asked in a trembling voice, biting his lip while he looked toward the door to Diamond’s room.

“Pippin! Thank goodness you are here! Please, take your cloak off and come warm yourself before you catch the Winter Sickness, too,” Holly said as she reached out her hand for Pippin’s snow-covered Elven cloak. She handed it to their maidservant, Myrtle, and then steered Pippin toward the hearth.

Pippin automatically held his hands up before the roaring fire, barely noticing the warmth as it returned to his hands and face. Despite no longer being in the brutal cold outside, a shiver ran down Pippin’s spine as the oppressively still atmosphere he knew only too well as belonging to a place where someone is seriously ill wrapped itself around him. The usually cheerful smial was oddly silent when Diamond’s younger sister, Gemma, who was normally a chatterbox, entered the room.

Before Gemma could shut the door, Pippin heard a rasping cough so horrible that he winced as the aching sound of Diamond’s cough pierced his heart.

“Hello, Pippin.” Gemma’s voice was subdued as she greeted him, her blue eyes flat, as she sat in a chair beside her mother. She looked tired and careworn, much older than her twenty-five years.

“Gemma. How is she?” Pippin asked, searching her eyes for the answer.

“Not very good, I’m afraid. We thought it was only a cold at first. We both had the sniffles and a cough after getting caught out on the moors in the rain for such a long time. Mother sent for Mistress Tulipa straight away, of course, and she gave us some powders and tonics. I was better after a few days, but Diamond … Diamond’s cough got worse, not better, and she began to complain of a powerful ache in her chest. ”

Pippin closed his eyes against her words. “She’s not wheezing … is she?” He dreaded the answer. He’d had the Winter Sickness enough times when he was little that he was quite familiar with all of its symptoms… the cough, the horrible wheezing with each painful breath … He vividly remembered shaking with the chills, even as his chest was wracked with pain as he tried to breathe. The healer had even said it was a miracle that he had survived on two occasions. If anything like that happened to Diamond… it was impossible to imagine life without her.

“Aye, she wheezes, though not all the time,” Helinand confirmed, having just come in from helping to put up the ponies. “Hullo, Pip.”

“And her fever is not as high as it was yesterday,” added Holly. The hope in her voice sounded forced to Pippin.

Pippin’s head turned up sharply in alarm at her words, his voice was weak and pained. “Her fever was very high?”

Bandigard nodded slowly. “She never complained, though, other than when Mistress Tulipa asked her what was paining her. She just kept asking for you whenever she had a spare breath. That’s when I sent Tarry to fetch you.”

Pippin licked his lips nervously. “May I see her now?”

Bandigard opened the door to his daughter’s room and reached up with his arm to put it around Pippin as he led him into the dimly lit, stale room. Pippin stood frozen in the doorway and gasped.

On a bed, propped up on a high mound of pillows lay Diamond. So worried had he been about Diamond having the Winter Sickness that Pippin had completely forgotten about her sprained ankle, which was propped up on another pillow. He only spared a moment to look at her carefully wrapped ankle, though, as all of his attention was focused on how the Sickness was taking its toll on his future bride.

His lovely Diamond was pale with faint purple shadows under her eyes. He could barely see any of the light of her spirit that always seemed to shine around her. And he could sense none of the lyrical sprightliness and curiosity about the world that he had fallen in love with. Only a worn, tired body helpless against such a devastating illness.

As she leant forward in a horrible coughing fit, Pippin saw that Diamond’s beautiful hair was all in a tangle and flattened in the back from many days spent in her sickbed. He watched in horror as she kept coughing and coughing, the pain of it echoing inside him as he felt the sharp tug at his chest of each cough.

When she finally stopped coughing, she wiped her mouth with a blue handkerchief and slumped back onto the mound of pillows, trying to catch her breath. After a couple of minutes, she turned her head toward the door to see who had entered the room during her coughing spell.

“Pippin!” she gasped breathlessly in a faint voice. Despite the excruciatingly sharp pain in her side that it caused, Diamond took a deep breath of relief and exhaled with a smile. It was the first deep breath she had managed to take in many days and it had been worth the price.

Diamond held her arms out to Pippin in invitation. He glanced briefly at Bandigard, still standing just within the room. When Bandigard inclined his head slightly in assent, Pippin was across the room in an instant. Once seated on the edge of her bed, he took her gently in his arms and looked down at her thoughtfully. Pippin moved one of his hands so that it held the side of her face, and then closed his eyes and pressed his lips delicately to her forehead, giving her a kiss filled with all of his love. As he had hoped, he felt a surge of golden energy pass through his lips and into Diamond.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a while,” Bandigard said, clearing his throat. He took one look at the first ray of sunshine he had seen on his daughter’s face since she became ill and felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a satisfied smile. Now that Pippin was here, Diamond had a much better chance of surviving. He closed the door behind him, leaving it slightly ajar for propriety’s sake, and went back out into the sitting room.

Relief swept through Pippin as he held Diamond in his arms. As much as he hated to admit it, Pippin knew that deep down he had been worried that he would arrive too late and Diamond would already be … but he would not think such a dreadful thought now. Diamond was terribly ill, but she was alive and he was holding her, feeling the unnatural warmth of the fever that still plagued her.
She had grown thinner since he last had held her, no doubt caused by the Sickness. Pippin could clearly recall how little he would eat no matter how much his mother or Merry pleaded with him when he had the Sickness. And Pippin could tell that Diamond was weaker; despite embracing him with all of her strength, Pippin knew he could easily break her physical hold on him with the slightest of efforts. But her hold over his heart, that would never be broken.

Pippin reached for the cup of lukewarm tea on the nightstand beside Diamond’s bed and held it to her lips so she could drink some. He’d wager anything that the tea Mistress Tulipa had given her was dandelion.

“Lay back against the pillows, dearest. You must rest if you are to grow strong again,” Pippin urged her tenderly. He brushed the side of her face lightly with his fingers and then guided her shoulders gently back against the pillows. “You have given me such an awful fright, let me just look at you for a while.”

Diamond smiled at him and did her best to look better than she felt. She did not like seeing the worried crease between Pippin’s eyebrows, nor the way his lips were pressed into a thin line as he tried to assess her health, or rather lack of it. And his eyes were filled with a pain that clearly said she had not fooled him for a minute. He knew exactly how miserable she was.

Of course, Diamond had always had a face that made it easy to read precisely how she felt. When she was happy or excited, as when Pippin proposed to her, her eyes were a bright, vivid green that melted into the prettiest shade of blue Pippin had ever seen. When Diamond was calm and content, her eyes were a serene blue-green that always reminded Pippin of how tranquil the Sea looked the time Faramir took him there the last time he served Aragorn down South. But when she was angry, her eyes turned a tempestuous green that reminded Pippin of a violent storm. Fortunately, he had only seen her eyes look like that once in his lifetime. Pippin knew all of the various shades of Diamond’s Tookish-Baggins eyes. But never had he ever seen her eyes look as they did now.

Diamond had once told him that her eyes turned blue when she was ill or extremely tired, but he had never seen it for himself. It had been so long ago that she had told him, in fact, that he had quite forgotten about it and so was taken completely by surprise when he saw her pale blue eyes that held not the slightest trace of Took in them. In fact – and this was horribly frightening - they were exactly the same tired, faded blue that Frodo’s had been after the Quest when he was having his anniversary illness at Weathertop.

“I’m so glad you came, Pippin, dearest,” Diamond sighed with a slight cough. “Seeing your face again is better than any powder or tonic Mistress Tulipa could ever give me.”

“How could I stay away once I knew you were so ill?” Pippin asked, brushing Diamond’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Besides, Bandigard North-Took is not someone to be taken lightly, and I would prefer to stay in his good graces since I intend to marry his daughter,” he added lightly with a slight chuckle.

“It won’t be easy. You shall have to work very hard over the next year and a half to stay in his good graces then,” Diamond replied teasingly.

“Hmmm… being good has never been easy for me, but I shall do it if I must,” Pippin sighed dramatically. “Even though a year and a half is a very long time.” Although Pippin grinned at her to try and keep her spirits up, on the inside he was frowning. Seeing Diamond so dangerously ill had made him realise just how much he wanted to marry her and make her his right now. He did not want to have to wait a year and a half until she came of age. “Rest, Diamond. Rest so you can grow strong again and come back to me.”

Diamond nodded in reply as she tried hard to steady her breath.

Pippin continued to brush his hand soothingly against Diamond’s warm cheek until her eyes slipped closed and her laboured breathing grew softer, more rhythmic as she began drifting off to sleep.

“Stay with me,” Diamond uttered in a voice heavy with sleep.

“Always,” Pippin purred softly into her ear with velvety softness. “My heart and my love shall never leave you, though my body may be called to Gondor in service of the King. And even then, you shall accompany me to Gondor if you’d like so we will not be parted. But if I must leave you here in the Shire while I go serve the King, I shall always come home to you, my dearest.” He gently stroked the dark brown ringlets that framed her face. “However, I am going to stay right here by your side until you are all better and have regained your strength. Now sleep and dream of the wonderful life we will have together.”

Pippin began to softly sing “A Hush Upon the Moors” to help lull her to sleep. It was a favourite lullaby in the Northfarthing that Diamond had taught him years ago. Diamond smiled a sleepy smile and then drifted off into slumber, her thoughts filled with Pippin and the life together that awaited them.

Once Diamond was asleep, Pippin edged off the bed and sat in a chair next to Diamond’s bedside. It was a hard, wooden chair that was uncomfortable after so many days of riding a pony in icy cold winds, but he ignored the ache in his back and his leg as he watched Diamond sleep. Now that she was asleep, he listened to the steady rumble of her breathing as her body struggled to rid itself of the fluids that had built up in her lungs.

Diamond looked so peaceful and vulnerable in her sleep, like a small child. And even though he’d heard it said that Diamond was rather plain, to Pippin, she was the most incredibly beautiful creature he had ever seen. There was something magical and otherworldly about her; she had the charm and the silvery laugh of the faerie blood carried on a soothing breeze that made him smile every time he was in her presence. Even now when she was fraught with illness, Pippin still felt happier and more complete in her presence. He could see past her sickbed and feel Diamond’s magic pulling at his heart and mingling with his as they gambolled together in a world without sickness, where every day was a day for exploring the trees and the rivers and the grass which tickled the bottoms of their feet as they laughed and danced and made clear, sweet music together. Diamond’s magic was not the sort of magic Gandalf had; it was better.

There was a slight knock at the door. Pippin shook himself out of his fanciful thoughts and answered.

“Come in.”

Diamond’s mother pushed the door open the rest of the way with her foot and entered, carrying a large tray that she placed on the chest of drawers. “I thought perhaps now that you had seen her, you would be ready for some nice hot soup and sandwiches and some tea.” She poured a cup of tea and handed it to Pippin.

“Thank you, Holly. Something hot would be most welcome.” Pippin agreed, sipping at his tea and eating while Holly went over to look at her daughter.

“She’s sleeping peacefully now,” Holly noted with satisfaction, tucking the covers more firmly around Diamond’s shoulders before sitting in a chair on the other side of Diamond’s bed.

Pippin nodded, his mouth full of a bite from the sandwich, and gazed around Diamond’s room as he continued to eat. It was an ordinary room, much like his sisters’ rooms in the Great Smials. The walls were painted a cheery yellow and the windows and door were trimmed in white. There was a small writing desk in one corner of the room, and on it were a flute, a tambourine, and a bullroarer*. It looked like the chair Pippin was sitting in belonged in front of the writing desk. Above the desk was a shelf with some of Diamond’s treasures, including, as Pippin noted with a small grin, a small stuffed sheep with bluish-green eyes that could only have been made by his mother.** Against the desk, Diamond’s bow and quiver of arrows were propped, as well as her golf club. Pippin continued looking around the room and was surprised to see an old rag doll that had obviously been well loved sitting on top of the chest of drawers.

“I never thought of Diamond as the sort to play with dolls,” he commented, gesturing toward the chest of drawers. “In all those years growing up, I never once saw Diamond with a doll. She was always out and about playing in a garden or by a stream or climbing a tree, not playing with dolls.”

Holly knit her brows together in puzzlement and then looked in the direction Pippin had indicated.

“Ah!” Holly’s blue eyes lit up as she laughed quietly, so as not to disturb Diamond. “That was my doll when I was a little lass! She was given to me by my father, Dudo Baggins, when we went to the fair at Michel Delving one year. I loved that doll and used to carry her all around. I gave Sweet Pea - that’s what I named the doll - to Diamond for her fifth birthday, but she would not play with her. As you said, Diamond much preferred playing outdoors, even when the other lasses were playing with their dolls. But she kept Sweet Pea on her chest of drawers so she could look at her fondly. She said she fancied she’d give Sweet Pea to her own daughter one day.”

Pippin’s cheeks reddened a little at that comment, but he was fascinated by the story. Even though Diamond did not play with dolls, she still knew a treasure when she saw one.

They talked a little more while Pippin ate, but always their thoughts were of Diamond.

“I have never seen Diamond ill before, though she has seen me when I was ill once, at Overlithe,” Pippin commented.

“I remember. That was the year there was an outbreak of Spotted Fever at the Great Smials.”

Pippin nodded. “I must have been about twenty-two at the time. It was very lonely, since so many were ill. About the only ones I got to see were Mother and our healer. I did not even get to see Merry; Father had sent a Quick-Post messenger to Buckland to tell Uncle Saradoc and Aunt Esme not to come for the holiday, since Merry had never had Spotted Fever and all of the Great Smials was under quarantine.”

It had been a terrible outbreak of Spotted Fever and everyone who had been at the Great Smials when the first case was discovered was quarantined and forced to stay there since they had been exposed to it and the last thing anybody needed was for there to be another outbreak somewhere else in the Shire. While Bandigard and Holly North-Took along with their four children had already arrived for the Overlithe celebrations, Saradoc Brandybuck had fortunately been detained on some business at Brandy Hall.

“Frodo did not come either as I recall,” added Holly. “I was quite disappointed, although it was for the best, of course.”

“Yes. Frodo had never had Spotted Fever either, growing up in Buckland as he did,” replied Pippin. “I was ever so grateful for Diamond’s company.”

A look of confusion crossed Holly’s face.

“But how could you have seen Diamond then? She had not caught the Spotted Fever and was kept away from those with it while we were there.”

A sudden thought struck Pippin and he reddened. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to tell you. You see, although my parents and the healer had kept everyone else from entering my room to see me, including Diamond, she found a way around it. She would sit outside the window of my bedchamber, which was kept open to help purify the air, and she kept me company from there. That way, she was not exposed to the contagion, but we could still talk.”

“I see,” said Holly, her mouth pressed into a thin line for a moment before smiling once again. “Well, I suppose no harm came from it, and I’m glad she was able to relieve you of some of the boredom of being confined to a sickbed.”

Pippin reflected back upon that time, easily recalling how miserably bored he had been until Diamond surprised him by showing up outside his window. They had talked about so many things, about how they wanted to go on adventures, just like some of their ancestors had done, and how much they both enjoyed exploring outdoors and climbing trees. Diamond had made fun of his spots, standing on her tiptoes with her fingertips on the windowsill trying to count them all, which had made Pippin laugh as he cracked one joke after another in an effort to make her lose count (she did). They had compared musical instruments, too, seeing who knew how to play more of them (Pippin did, though Diamond had said that was not fair since he was five years older) and singing all of their favourite songs while Diamond danced outside Pippin’s window. Pippin had taught Diamond a few songs from Tookland and Diamond had taught Pippin a few songs from the Northfarthing. And they discussed their plans for the future.

”Do you want to be the Thain and the Took?” Diamond had asked Pippin.

He shrugged his shoulders, although she could not see that. “Nobody’s ever asked me that before. It’s not as though I have a choice in the matter.”

“Mayhap you don’t have a choice, but you might have your preferences,” she commented.

The question caught Pippin by surprise, and so he had to think about it a moment. He had not even discussed how he felt about becoming the Thain and Took with Frodo. Other than his father, he had only discussed it with Merry, as they were in much the same position, since Merry would one day become the Master of Buckland. And so he was amazed when he heard himself begin to explain.

“Well, I can’t say that I really know what all of being the Thain and the Took entails, but from what Father tells me of it, it does not seem as bad as we had thought, although we still miss living on the farm in Whitwell,” Pippin sighed. “But I think I would feel the same way Father does, I’m happy to help the other Tooks and hobbits out as long as nobody starts treating me differently. I don’t want any special privileges; I just hope everyone will start seeing that I can do more than just play games and sing songs. ‘Fool of a Took’ – that’s what Gandalf, the Wizard, calls me. I want to earn their respect.”

“Oh. That’s important. But I have never seen you as a fool. You like to laugh and find the fun in life, just like I do, but you have got your more serious side, too, Peregrin Took,” Diamond said. They were silent for a few moments while Diamond thought about what Pippin had said. “I won’t treat you any differently, Pippin. You’ll always just be Pippin to me.”

“Thanks.” Pippin grinned sheepishly. It was so easy to talk with Diamond, even though she was only seventeen years old. Perhaps it was because she was so much like him, though she usually was more constant than he was and did not make herself appear a fool.

Holly could see that Pippin was deep in thought, and so she took the empty tray and left the room quietly, leaving the door open behind her.

Diamond’s condition changed little over the next few days. She would wake, coughing and struggling to breathe, and once the coughing fit was over and she had regained her breath, then she and Pippin would hold hands and talk together. Mistress Tulipa came every day to check on her and leave more tonics and powders.

Sometimes, Bandigard, Holly, or one of Diamond’s siblings would force Pippin to go lie down and get some sleep in the guest room he was staying in while they watched over Diamond. Pippin hoped that Merry would arrive soon. Of course, with Sam and Rosie coming for a visit for the anniversary of the Battle of Bywater, Merry would not have been able to leave immediately after the ceremony, but surely he would arrive soon.

After several days, Diamond’s fever finally broke and she was able to rest a little more comfortably, although the pains in her chest and side were worse than ever. She turned restlessly and coughed often, even in her sleep. Her breathing was still laboured and Pippin could still hear her wheezing.

Pippin did not leave her room often, and sometimes even took his meals in there. But he stopped taking his meals in Diamond’s room rather abruptly, after an accident. One day, when Pippin had finished eating the beef stew and rosemary bread that Gemma had brought to him, he rose to put the tray on the desk to get it out of his way. Unfortunately, he knocked into the golf club, which fell painfully right on top of his foot. Somehow, he managed to save the empty tray and put it on top of the desk. Hopping up and down while holding his injured foot, Pippin swore quietly under his breath so he would not wake Diamond, who miraculously was still sleeping.

Stupid golf club.

Why did the Bullroarer have to go and invent such an idiotic game with such heavy clubs that could land on an unsuspecting hobbit’s foot? Pippin was very glad that he had never taken up the sport, which was much more popular here in the Northfarthing than it was in Tookland.

He looked at Diamond again and smiled. Leave it to Diamond to grow up playing golf and learning archery rather than playing with dolls. And she was quite good at both sports, although he was better at archery, as he proudly pointed out to her whenever they took out their bows and arrows for a contest. But in golf, she was much better.

Pippin justified this in his own mind by thinking that it was only natural for Diamond to be better at golf. After all, the game of golf was invented by the Bullroarer himself, and so naturally all North-Tooks learnt how to play the game. There was even a golf tournament held each year at the annual celebration held in honour of the Bullroarer and the defeat of the Goblins at the Battle of the Greenfields in Shire Reckoning 1147 when Goblins from the Misty Mountains invaded the Northfarthing. During the battle, the Bullroarer had charged at their leader, Golfimbul, and knocked off his head with a club. The Goblin’s head flew through the air for one hundred yards and went down a rabbit hole, which is how the game of golf was invented.

Ever since they had moved to the Great Smials, Paladin and Pippin, on behalf of the Thain and the Took, had attended the annual celebration. Not only did they go to the celebration in order to show the support of the Thain and the Took, but also because the day before the celebration was the eagerly anticipated one day of the year when the Thain (or his representative) trained the hobbits of the Northfarthing as part of his duty to keep the Muster ready for battle. Now that Paladin himself was the Thain and the Took, it was more important than ever for Pippin, as next in line to inherit the titles, to attend.

Of course, Pippin had always been anxious to attend anyway, since it had provided him with a splendid opportunity to visit with Hale and Helinand. But more and more each year, Pippin had found himself looking forward to seeing their younger sister, Diamond, again. Why, if memory served, she had even scored an eagle and won the golf tournament for her age bracket when she was only twenty-three and won a ribbon! Pippin had not even bothered to enter the golf tournament that year, instead entering the archery tournament where he won first place.

Ah, yes… how could he ever forget? That had been an especially hard year for Pippin, as it had been the year the Quest began. It had been rather difficult not to tell Diamond that he was going to be going away and did not know if or when he would be returning, especially while they danced together at the festivities after the tournaments were over…

As much as Pippin enjoyed playing musical instruments, he would have been perfectly content this time to let others play while he danced with Diamond. As it happened though, when the musicians heard that Pippin was there, they asked him to honour them by playing a couple of tunes with them, to which he consented. While Pippin played his violin with the other musicians during the Bullroarer’s Wheel, a lively circle dance that was a favourite in these parts, he watched the dancers whirling about before him, especially one dancer in particular. Pippin was fascinated as he watched Diamond dance with her brother, Helinand.

Diamond was once again wearing a vivid blue dress with a light blue bodice trimmed with white lace. Her dark brown curls entwined with wild flowers danced in the air to the same rhythm that Diamond herself was keeping. And her brilliant eyes sparkled with joy and pleasure as she threw her head back in silvery laughter at the merriment and joy of the dance. She was so light on her feet that it seemed as if she were dancing on air. None of the other hobitesses could hold a candle to her, especially when it came to dancing.

Pippin did not think it possible, but being here with Diamond today had almost allowed him to forget the serious task ahead of him. For Merry had heard from Sam – Frodo was making plans to leave the Shire on The Birthday. That only gave them not quite three months to prepare everything for their plan. And none of them could tell anyone about their conspiracy, lest it be foiled and thus put Frodo in even more danger.

These last few years had been wonderful, as he learnt just how special it could be to not only enjoy the company of his best friends, Merry and Frodo, but also to enjoy the company of a young lass, even one as young as Diamond. For although Diamond was five years younger than he, they had felt themselves growing closer and closer as they got older. Pippin could tell Diamond anything, and oft times, he did not even need to speak in order for her to understand how he felt.

As agreed, when the dance ended, Pippin hopped off the bandstand and joined the dancers for the next song, the Rose and Briar, which was a slow four-step traditionally played in honour of the Thain and the Took. Pippin immediately went to Diamond and looked at her questioningly; her shining eyes gave her answer for her. They locked their hands into the proper dancing position and gazed at each other for a moment. Pippin sighed deeply at the feel of Diamond’s hand in his; waiting for the proper beat of music, and then began to move in time to the rhythm. Diamond followed him gracefully, a vision floating in front of him that made him forget about all of the other hobbits dancing around them. Everything was happening so fast, and they were so young, especially Diamond. Why, she was not even old enough for Pippin to be able to hold her properly by her waist as they danced.

They whirled around the dance floor as the music continued. Pippin saw his father pass by, a knowing smile on his face as he danced with the elderly Widow Thistle Goodbody.

It was hard for Pippin to believe that in just a little while, he would be hurting his father and mother so much, leaving the Shire without so much as a note as to where he was going or when or if he would return. He sighed deeply again, but this time with heavy thoughts rather than with pleasure.

“Pippin, what is it?” Diamond asked.

“Hmm?”

“What troubles you?”

“Oh. It is nothing. I was just thinking of some plans Merry and I are making.” It was best to lie as little as possible. That way, there was less chance of slipping up. Hopefully, she would leave it alone now instead of asking another question.

“What plans?”

Like that one.

“Er… we’re just trying to plan something for Frodo’s birthday,” Pippin said as matter-of-factly as he could. Something special like how to make him let us get him safely out of the Shire to wherever it is he’s going.

Pippin forced a smile onto his face and tried to concentrate on Diamond and the music to which they were dancing.

Diamond looked sceptically at Pippin, but did not ask any more questions of him as she lowered her voice. “It is not like you to fret so quietly over something like that. Usually, you want to tell me all about it and see if I have any ideas. So I take it that this is something more serious, and not a normal birthday surprise, although it is a surprise for Cousin Frodo.”

Pippin focused on schooling his face, carefully steadying his voice before he spoke. It was not easy to do when he knew he would be leaving her soon without knowing if or when he would return. He wanted so desperately to be able to share this with her, but it was imperative that he did not, for her own safety as much as Frodo’s. “Diamond …”

“No, Pippin,” she interrupted. “Tell me no more of your explanations. I can feel your hands tightening around mine. Whatever this secret is, I think it is not your own to tell, and it is clearly very important, or it would not pain you so much. So let it remain a secret. I trust you thoroughly and know you will do what is right, no matter how difficult it is.”

Pippin gave a silent gasp, his hands tightening around Diamond’s once more as he led her from the dance floor. She followed behind him without question, willing to go to wherever he would lead her.

He did not stop walking until they stood alone by the rippling stream next to the archery range where Pippin had competed earlier in the day. Diamond turned to face Pippin and waited patiently.

Pippin opened his mouth and took a deep breath, as if about to speak, and then turned toward the stream and closed his eyes again as he slowly exhaled. There was so much he wanted to tell her, not only about their plans to protect Frodo; but also about how much he cared for her and did not want to leave her.

As far as they knew, Gandalf was going to meet Frodo and Sam and go with them as they left the Shire. But what dangers lurked that had his cousin so frightened that he refused to speak of it to anyone? And why was he so intent upon winding up all of his affairs and lying about it if he thought he would be coming back? That made no sense if he was indeed planning on returning. And not only did Merry and Pippin have to worry about whether Frodo would allow them to go with him, but also whether Gandalf would allow them to do so. And that was a real concern, for Gandalf was not a sentimental wizard known for falling for Pippin’s or Merry’s charms. If not, then of course they would follow through on their contingency plans to follow along behind, all alone, which would be horribly frightening. Just how far was Gandalf taking Frodo anyway? Would he be going as far as Rivendell, as Sam had hinted to them? That would be a worry, since it was so far away and none of them knew how to get there except for Gandalf. What if something happened to him? Who would guide them on their journey in the unknown land then? What perils awaited them? Pippin did not know, but he was certain that whatever they were, he, Merry, and Sam would be there, ready and willing to face them in order to protect Frodo and bring him safely back to the Shire where he belonged. Yet, what if something unforeseen happened along the way and Pippin were not able to return and see Diamond again?

A single tear glistened on Pippin’s cheek, his voice too choked up to respond to her. Would it be right to tell her how he felt, when he would soon be leaving and possibly would never return? Should he share such a thing with her when it might hurt her, just because it might make him feel a little better? Especially when she was so young? He wanted to make her happy, not sad.

Her hand gently closed around his arm, “Please, Pippin, do not tell me anything,” she whispered, rubbing his back soothingly with her other hand. “I understand all that I need to know.”

The conspiracy to protect Frodo, leaving the Shire, not knowing if he would ever return, his feelings for Diamond… it was all too much and he was overcome by the surge of his own emotions. In that moment, Pippin checked all of his resolve and allowed his frustrations at the situation to spill forth freely down his cheeks. Hesitantly, he pulled Diamond to him and embraced her awkwardly, unsure how she would react to this rather uncousinly embrace. When she returned the embrace, the warm music of her soul trilled through him. Pippin tightened his hold on Diamond, releasing all of the tension and fear that had been mounting inside of him as he held onto her like a solid rock that would steady and protect him from the winds of change.

“We are so young, Diamond,” Pippin choked out at last. “I am young. I have not even come of age yet. And this…” He shook his head, unable to continue; his eyes tightly shut as he rested his head on top of her shoulder and tried to breathe. He would not jeopardise her or Frodo by telling her anything, no matter how much it hurt.

Diamond embraced him more tightly with one arm while she reached her other hand up to softly soothe the back of his head. She ran her hand tenderly through his curls that looked almost golden in the light of the setting sun.

“Peregrin Took,” Diamond began, gazing far off into the distance at a hidden vision, “you must say nothing. You must believe in yourself, for you are not as impulsive as you think. You would not do whatever it is you must do unless you had thought it out carefully. I do not know what dark thoughts haunt you, but when the time comes, you will do what is right.”

Pippin raised his head up from her shoulder to look at her, his green eyes bloodshot and glistening with tears, his mouth pulled into a frown as he drank in all of the faith she had in him. He needed her.

“Diamond, please forgive me,” Pippin said in the barest of whispers. Pippin raised one hand behind Diamond’s head until he was holding it steady, lowered his lips to hers, and then hesitated, searching her eyes. Finding what he needed in them, he kissed her tenderly, feeling a warm golden energy pass between their lips.

Despite knowing what was about to happen, Diamond’s eyes opened wide in shock at first at the sensation, but then she pulled Pippin’s head down closer to her, and gave him what strength she could. The calming reassurance of her embrace spread through him. It was as if there was a shining golden light surrounding them, cloaking them from the world’s troubles.

Suddenly, Pippin recovered himself and pulled away from her.

“I’m sorry, Diamond! I’m so sorry! I should never have done that!” he cried out in anguish.

Diamond looked at him in confusion.

“I had no right to take such liberties with you, especially at your age!”

“Peregrin Took! That is the first time that I have ever heard you act like the ‘Fool of a Took’ that you claim to be!” she exclaimed, her hands on her hips. “Are you daft? That was not the kiss of some wild hobbit trying to take liberties from an unsuspecting lass!” Diamond put a finger gently under his chin and raised his head up so that their eyes met. She continued in a warm, gentle voice. “ You needed that kiss, and I was glad to give it. Young I may be, but not so young that I do not know I love you.”

Pippin’s eyes widened as the meaning of her words hit him. It was more than he could bear to remain silent any longer. “Diamond, lass, I did not mean to say anything to you yet, but I love you as well. Your spell over me will never be broken. Although I am older than you, I have never loved a lass before and find the sensation quite overwhelming, especially now when … dearest Diamond, I love you with all of my heart and I fear... Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive, Pippin. You must do whatever it is that must be done. Do not fret about me. Your strength and courage is needed elsewhere right now and I would not keep you from this secret you must fulfil, no matter what happens. My love for you will never falter.” Pippin could see in Diamond’s expression that she saw something beyond his sight.

“Thank you,” he whispered, a sense of relief flooding through him, his conscience much clearer about leaving the Shire and her behind to protect Frodo.

No other words were spoken as Pippin and Diamond walked back to the festivities where the other hobbits were still dancing. Paladin and Pippin returned to Tuckborough early the next morning, and Pippin did not see Diamond again until after his return from the South after the Quest.

As Diamond lay in her sickbed sleeping, it still amazed Pippin that she had been so wise and understanding back then, when she had barely entered her tweens. Diamond truly was magnificent and he could not wait to make her his wife.

*A bullroarer is a musical instrument made of a small flat slip of wood tied to a string that makes a booming, humming noise when twirled rapidly.

**See Chapter Four of “Testaments of the Past,” at = http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=4747&cid=19446.

- To be continued -