TITLE: Wherever You Are Is Home 
AUTHOR: Pervinca Took (PervincaTook@yahoo.com) 
PAIRING: Merry/Pippin 
RAITING: G (for now) 
SUMMARY: The day they met.  
DISCLAIMER: These boys are not mine, nor am I making money from 
them. 
WARNING: Pre-slash. 
FEEDBACK: Please. 
ARCHIVE: Please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTE: its 1390 in the Shire Reckoning. Merry is 8, and 
Pimpernel is 10
********************************************************
Chapter 1
 
"Nel?"

Pimpernel gave a start at the sound of her name being shouted down the 
hallway. She glanced down nervously at the sleeping baby as she rose, 
moving towards the door. 

"Nel?" Pimpernel winced. The voice was louder this time, more insistent. 

"Pimpernel!" Pimpernel opened the door and slipped out into the hallway 
and located the source of the voice. The eight year-old hobbit boy jumped 
with delight when he saw her, and dashed down the hall towards her, 
armed with a large net in one hand and a mason jar in the other. 

"Quiet, Merry." She said, making a shushing gesture. "You'll wake the 
baby." 

"Oh. Sorry." He mumbled, looking abashed briefly, then he shrugged. 

"Where is Vinca? I want her to come catch butterflies with me." He said, 
waving the net close to Nel's face. 

"Stop." Nel waved the net away. "Pervinca is sick." 

"Oh." Merry looked at the net and jar and furrowed his little brows in 
frustration. "Well, maybe I can sit with her until she feels better. I know 
my letters now, so I could read to her."

"But she is not here."

"Not home?" Merry's tone was getting whiny. "If she is sick, why is she 
away?"

"Because of the baby, Merry." Pimpernel said. "Da was worried that she 
would get the baby sick, so soon after he was born, so he sent her to Uncle 
Adelard's. 

"Oh." He looked close to pouting. "Do you want to catch butterflies with 
me?" He looked at her only half-hopefully. Sometimes Nel thought she 
was too old to play. 

"No, cousin, I can't. I have to watch the baby." Pimpernel said, a bit proud 
of herself for being given the responsibility. 

"Why you?" Merry said, pouting. "Where is everyone else?" 

"Everyone else is busy." Pimpernel said with a sigh. "Pearl and your 
mother are helping with lunch, and Pervinca is sick. But she is not old 
enough to watch the baby anyhow." 

"What about Aunt Egg?" Merry inquired. "She is the baby's mother, 
anyway."

"My mother is sleeping." Pimpernel said, impatiently. "Having a baby is 
hard work, Meriadoc Brandybuck. And she is not well. She lost a lot of 
blood. The Healer wanted her to get as much sleep as possible."

"Oh." Merry said, wrinkling his nose at the mention of Aunt Egg's blood. 

He looked at Pimpernel again hopefully, but realizing that she was not 
going to be persuaded, his face grew petulant. 

Pimpernel sighed again, feeling sorry of the boy. In all the fuss and 
feathers about the birthing, Merry had been quite forgotten and ignored. 
She gave Merry a warm smile, and ruffled his unruly, sandy curls. 

"I can go when Pearl gets back." She said. 

"When will that be?" Merry asked, bouncing up and down.

"I don't know. Later."

"But I am bored now!" He said, stamping his foot. 

"Meridoc Brandybuck." She said sharply, but it was too late. Soft, 
mewling cries sounded from the other side of the door. She opened her 
mouth to chide him, but let it go, as Merry looked like he was going to cry 
as well. 

"Well, come and see the baby, since you woke him up." She said, taking 
her cousin by the hand. Merry made a grumpy sound, but did not pull his 
hand free. 

Pimpernel scooped the baby up and rocked him, making soothing sounds. 
Again forgotten, Merry abandoned his butterfly-catching gear and climbed 
up into a stuffed armchair. Pimpernel continued to fuss with the baby, 
until she heard a sigh from Merry." 

"Oh, here." She said, handing the baby over to him. 

Merry took the blanket-wrapped bundle and peered at it, looking 
unimpressed. He looked up and Nel, and then looked back down at the 
baby. Suddenly, he expression grew softer. "He is beautiful." He breathed. 

"What?" Pimpernel asked. Young boys were not usually amused by 
babies, thinking them to be ugly, pink, fussy annoyances. Merry had been 
three when Pervinca was born. He had been less than impressed when he 
first saw her, and really did not seem to care much about her until she 
turned three herself and was able to play with him. 

"He is beautiful." Merry repeated. He cradled the baby with one arm, and 
reached up to touch his tiny nose lightly. The baby made soft, contented 
noises. Merry giggled at that, and then staring at the baby, rapt, he touched 
his nose again. "What's his name?"

"Peregrin." Pimpernel said, drawing each syllable out. "Pearl and Da have 
taken to calling him Pippin."

"Pippin." Merry said. He studied the baby, stroking his cheek lightly. "I 
like him." 

"Of course you do, goose, he is your cousin." Nel eyes her younger 
cousin, oddly. This was out of character for him, to want to sit and cuddle 
a baby when he could be out turning the Smials upside down. 

"Pippin." He said again, smiling. The baby made a few more contented 
sounds, and then his eyes began to slide shut. 

"Well, give him here." Pimpernel said, reaching. 

"No." Merry said. "I want to keep him." Merry jerked lightly, pulling 
Pippin closer to him. Pippin's eyes snapped open, but he didn't fuss. 
Pimpernel eyed her cousin, wondering what kind of mad fancy had taken 
him. "He has to sleep, Merry. If he stays up much longer he will get 
hungry, and I will have to wake my Ma."

"Then we will sleep." Merry said. All at once, he laid the baby on the seat 
of the chair and slid himself down to the floor. Pimpernel gasp and the 
young boy's wiggling about with the baby so close. She moved to snatch 
him up before Merry accidentally hurt him, but something stayed her 
hand. Merry's movements were so gentle and intent that she somehow did 
not have the heart to take Pippin away from him, even though she knew 
that she probably should. 

Merry scooped the baby back up, and walked gingerly over to the bed, 
under Pimpernel's watchful eye. He laid the Pippin on the bed, pushed him 
over towards the middle, and climbed up. 

"Merry." Pimpernel began in a warning tone.

"Quiet, Nel." He said, adopting the chiding tone that Pearl used with him 
and Pervinca. "Pippin and I are going to sleep." He laid down, wrapping 
Pippin in the curve of his arm. He pulled the baby close, and wrapped his 
free arm around him. 

Nel stared for a good, long time. Something was quite off about this whole 
thing. With an incredulous snort and a shrug of her shoulders, Pimpernel 
climbed into the now empty armchair and went to sleep herself. 

********

"Pearl?" Esmeralda Brandybuck turned and looked at her niece." How is 
that stew coming.

"I think it is just about done, Aunt Esmy." Pearl said, peering into the 
large pot. "It should simmer a little more." 

"Oh good." Esmeralda said. "I just passed your father in the hall, and he is 
insists that he is close to starving to death." 

"I am sure he is." Pearl said with a laugh. " He only had one helping at 
elevensies." She gave the stew one more stew for good measure, and then 
wiped her hands on her apron. "I should go check on Nel." She said. "She 
is young to be watching the baby for too long by herself." 

"I'll go with you." Esmeralda offered. "I would like to see the little mite 
again. Besides, I need to look for my son. I have not seen him in close to 
an hour, and that worries me." 

"It would worry me, too." Pearl said, giggling. "If he has been out of sight 
this long, he is probably up to no good." 

"Indeed." Esmeralda agreed." 

Pearl paused at the door to the baby's room, listening. "Well, the baby is 
not crying." 

"And neither is Nel, by the sound of things, so everything is probably 
fine." Her aunt said. We just check anyway." 

"You don't fool me, Aunt Esmy. You just want to see the baby." Pearl 
joked. Esmeralda gave her a guilty smile. Pearl pushed the door open, and 
gave a gasp. "Well, I have seen everything." Pearl exclaimed in a whisper.

"What's wrong?" Esmeralda asked. 

"Nothing." Pearl said, shaking with quiet laughter. "However, I have 
found your son."

Esmeralda stepped around Pearl, and gave the same sharp gasp. Her 
whirling dervish of a son was laying complacently on the bed, curled up 
around Pippin. The baby was awake, as was Merry, who was watching 
him with fascination. 

"Son?" Esmeralda ventured. 

"Ma!" Merry sat up on the bed, folding his legs under him. He carefully 
moved Pippin around in front of him. He laid his palm on Pippin's 
stomach, and began rub in light circles. Pearl and Esmeralda looked over 
to Nel, who had apparently been banished to the chair, with questioning 
faces. Nel only shrugged. 

"You like Pippin?" Pearl asked, amused. It had been her experience that 
young boys did not care for babies. 

"Very much. He is a very good baby." Merry said. "Can I take him home, 
Ma?"

"Esmeralda laughed. "No son. Your Aunt would not like that." 

"But I want to take him." Merry said crossly.

"Meriadoc." She warned. 

"But Aunt Egg is sick." He reasoned. "Maybe just until she is feeling 
better?" 

"No." His mother said. "Pippin is not a toy, he is a baby. He can't play 
with you. If we did take him back with us, you would grow bored with 
him within a few hours. Angry too, because babies cry and fuss." 

"No. Never." Merry said, his voice hurt and shocked. He laid a protective 
hand over Pippin, and moved him closer.

Suddenly, Esmeralda remembered a story that her brother had told her 
about own birth. One of their older sisters had become similarly enamored 
with her when right after she was born. She had spent countless hours with 
her, and was loath to give anyone else time with her, even their own 
parents. 

"When he is a bit older, he can come visit at Brandy Hall as often as he 
likes." Esmeralda said, her tone softening. "For as long as he likes." 

"Promise?" Merry bounced with excitement on the bed. The baby made 
protesting sounds. Pimpernel rose from the chair, and Pearl went stiff. 
They both moved to take the baby, but Merry was faster. 

"Shush, Pippin. I am sorry." Merry said, scooping Pippin back up. "I didn't 
mean to upset you." The baby made more contented sounds. "Did you hear 
what your Aunt Esmy said, Pippin?" He asked the baby, as if expecting a 
response. Pippin gurgled. "Yes. She said that when you are older, you can 
come visit as often as you want."

"Now come along, Merry. It is time for lunch. You can visit Pippin later." 

******

Later never came. 

Merry's mother had worked hard to keep him well and fully occupied for 
the rest of the day. After lunch she had made Merry help with the washing 
up. Then she had sent Merry on numerous trips to the Smials' various 
pantries to collect things for tea. She had soon run out of things to send 
him for, lest they have a tea that was a bigger meal than lunch and 
elevensies combined, so she sent him to the Thain's office. 

"Uncle Paladin could use your help, dear one." Esmeralda explained. "He 
has been busy with Aunt Egg and the baby, and is probably behind in his 
work." 

Esmeralda had been sweet-toned and all smiles while she sent him about, 
but her tone was firm, and Merry knew better than to fuss too much. She 
felt bad each time she watched her crestfallen son padding down the 
hallway to complete each task, but she knew it was for the best. Eight 
year-old hobbit boys were carefree and unconcerned about anything. She 
doubted that Merry would harm the infant on purpose, but she worried. He 
could drop him, or roll over on him, or let him fall off the bed. 

Merry returned from the Thain's office only to be recruited to help with 
making supper. She set him at peeling potatoes, which he had done with a 
forlorn determination. 

Supper came and went. Much to Merry's disappointment, Eglantine or 
Pippin did not make an appearance. Esmeralda had been at a loss as to 
what to do with him after dinner, but luck would have it that an 
opportunity had presented itself. Uncle Adelard had dropped by, with a 
smiling and healthy Pervinca. She had handed Merry over to Pervinca, 
who was play-starved after the quarantine at Uncle Adelard's. Pervinca 
kept him busy until afters, to which Esmeralda had packed Merry off to 
bed quickly and efficiently. 

******

Merry was unable to sleep, frustrated tears stinging at his eyes. He had 
known well what his mother had been doing. She did not want him to play 
with the Pippin, and it made him furious. Silly old woman, she thought he 
would hurt the baby. 

Merry would never hurt him. He was so small, and good, and perfect. 

He slipped off his bed, and padded quietly out of his room. All the Smials 
was asleep, and there was no one to be seen. It was dark in the large 
burrow, the hallways lit by only a few torches that were threatening to 
gutter out at this small hour of the night. 

He pushed open the door to Pippin's room quietly. The baby was quiet. 
The only noise in the room was Pearl's soft breathing as she slept near by 
on the bed. He stared in the almost-darkness at the chair to see if Nel was 
still in the room, but she was not. 

Merry pulled a stool over to the cradle, and peered inside. Pippin was 
sleeping peacefully. He smiled down at his baby cousin, and reached into 
the cradle to stroke his face. Pippin sighed in his sleep. Impulsively, Merry 
reached in and picked him up. Pippin made a small noise. Merry froze, 
afraid to breathe. If Pippin started to wail, Pearl would wake up, and he 
would get strapped for sure. 

He watched the baby fearfully for a minute, but when Pippin did not start 
crying, he relaxed. He had only wanted to hug his cousin, but now that he 
had picked him up, he decided that he did not want to put him back. He 
gave half a thought to taking Pippin and slipping into the bed with Pearl, 
but his older cousin was a noisy sleeper, and she was managing to take up 
the whole bed. 

Sticking his tongue out at Pearl's sleeping form, he slipped out the door 
and back to his room, Pippin still in his arms. 

******

"Meriadoc Brandybuck!" 

Merry woke up with a start. His room was full of people. 

Angry people. 

His mother was there, as was Pearl, Uncle Paladin, and Uncle Adelard. 
Pearl was weeping, both is uncles were red-faced and blustering. 
And his mother. He had never seen such a furious look on his mother face 
in all of his short life. All were still dressed in their night clothes, and were 
glaring at Merry with enough ferocity that he wanted to take Pippin and 
hide under the bed. 

He was getting strapped for sure. He picked up the baby before facing 
them, figuring no one would haul off and slap him if he was holding him. 

"Do you have any idea what a fright you gave us?" His mother shouted. 
Pippin flinched at the sound of Esmeralda's shout. Merry patted him, 
keeping an eye on his angry relations. 

"Fool of a Brandybuck!" Uncle Paladin boomed. He got a sharp look from 
Merry's mother for that, she had married a Brandybuck, after all, but it 
was half-hearted. "We thought Peregrin had been stolen!"

"He was right here." Merry said weakly, holding Pippin out as evidence. 

There was no explaining his way out of this strapping, so he did not even 
try. 

"We didn't know that until right now!" Uncle Adelard put in. He scowled 
at Merry. "Pearl woke up and found him gone!" His mother said, cutting 
Adelard off. "What did you expect her to think?"

"I, uh, … I don't know." Merry stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I 
just wanted to see him." 

"That is not the point!" Pearl said, snuffling. "The point is that I woke up 
and he was gone. I was so scared." 

"I am sorry." Merry said, looking sadly the group of people, at Pippin, and 
then back at the others. 

"What ever possessed you?" His mother asked. She was no longer 
shouting, but she her voice was still angry. 

"You said I could see him later." You said!" Merry said, beginning to 
snuffle himself. "You told me I could see him later." Big, fat tears began 
to slide down his reddening cheeks. "You did." 

"I know, but--" His mother began."

"Ma, you said I could, but then you kept me busy all day. You made me 
do all this stuff, and I never got to go back to see him." Merry curved one 
arm around Pippin, and used the other to wipe his nose on the sleeve of his 
nightshirt. "You did it on purpose. I know it." He snuffled again. "Not 
fair."

Esmeralda sighed, realizing that this mess was, in truth, her own doing. 
She had hoped if she kept him busy enough, he would forget about the 
Pippin. Not only had he not forgotten, but he had figured out her 
intentions. 

"What is all this fuss?" Asked Eglantine Took from the doorway. "You've 
made enough noise to wake people sleeping soundly in Michel Delving." 

"Wife, you should not be up." Paladin Took said in a concerned, loving 
tone. He moved towards her, but she patted him away gently. "I would not 
be up, husband, if people were not shouting a few yards from my room." 

She responded lightly. 

Eglantine studied her young nephew, who sat on the bed, seemingly 
holding her new son hostage, then turned to eye her irate family members 
questioningly.

"Merry stole the baby!" Pearl said, eager to snitch. Merry glared at her, 
and Pearl stuck his tongue out at him. 

"I didn't steal him, honest, Aunt Egg. I just borrowed him." 

A smile passed over Eglantine's pale face. She moved slowly past the 
others, walking with care, and sat gingerly in the edge of the bed. 

"What happened, Merry?" 

"Ma told me I could see Pippin later, but then she kept me so busy that I 
didn't get too. I just wanted to see him." Merry started crying again. In his 
arms, Pippin fussed. He patted him reassuringly, even as he cried himself. 

"Everyone thinks I am going to hurt him." He said, narrowing his eyes at 
his mother, uncles, and Pearl. "I wouldn't do that." He insisted. 

"Pippin?" Was all that his aunt said, with a wry smile. She turned and 
raised an eyebrow at her husband, who looked guilty. 

"I didn't mean to scare Pearl. I meant to bring him back before she woke 
up." He offered, when his aunt remained quiet. His mother raised an 
eyebrow, and he realized he had not made his case any better. 

"I know that you didn't, sweetheart." She said gently, smoothing Merry's 
curls. "But you need to think things through." She said, tapping the center 
of his forehead lightly. "Pearl had no way of knowing that you had the 
baby."

"Yes, Merry." His mother said, joining them on the bed. "You really gave 
us an awful fright." 

"I am sorry, Aunt Egg." Merry said softly. "I am sorry Ma." His mother 
gave him a prodding look. He looked over at the remainder of his abashed 
family members, and mumbled. "I am sorry, everybody. I am, really. I 
didn’t mean to scare anyone."

"Very well, Meriadoc." His aunt said. "You are forgiven." Merry smiled 
widely, thinking that he had escaped the strapping. 

"However, you are going to go and tell your father what you did, Before 
breakfast." His mother said. Merry's smile slipped again. 

"Breakfast sounds like a wonderful idea." Eglantine said, taking her son 
from Merry's arms. Merry surrendered him reluctantly. "And I am feeling 
a bit better, so perhaps we will join you." She rose carefully, cradling 
Pippin close. 

Pippin began to fuss, making sucking motions with his mouth. Merry sat 
upright in the bed, looking worriedly at his cousin. "He is just hungry, 
nephew." Eglantine said. Saying that, she realized that she had not fed 
Pippin during the night. Pearl had insisted on keeping the baby so that 
Eglantine could sleep, promising that she would bring him to her in the 
night when he got hungry."

"He did not wake last night?" She asked Pearl.

"No." Pearl and Merry said at the same time. 

"When did you take the baby, Merry?" Is aunt asked, rocking the fussing 
baby. "When you woke up this morning?" 

"No." He said, shaking his head. "I went and got him right after everyone 
went to bed."

"He was here with you all night?" Eglantine asked. "And he didn't cry 
once?" She looked at her son, and then at Merry, thinking he was lying. A 
newborn sleeping through the night was unheard of. "Not once." She said 
again, in disbelief. 

"I guess he wasn't hungry." Merry said, shrugging. 

"You are a wonder." Eglantine said softly, looking at the three-day old 
baby that had slept peacefully through the night, and then at his stalwart, 
eight year-old sworn protector. 

She was not sure which one she had been talking to. 

******

"What stinks?" Merry asked. Eglantine looked at Merry, but did not say 
anything. "Aunt Egg?" He questioned. "Something smells."

Eglantine Took smiled at her nephew from where she had been dozing in a 
chair. After breakfast had soothed the indignity he had suffered from the 
strapping; which she was sure consisted of two or three half-hearted 
swipes with a rolled up paper, if she new Saradoc Brandybuck, she had 
rescued Merry from the toil and tribulation of helping his mother with the 
washing up. 

"Pearl and Pimpernel have been very helpful to me." Eglantine had said, 
to no one in particular, when she had passed through the kitchen with 
Pippin. "I would very much like them to be able to spend the day enjoying 
their young lives, and not worrying about the baby." She glanced at 
Merry, who was despondently drying dishes. "Or me, for that matter." 
She waited for Merry to volunteer. He opened his mouth, looked at his 
mother, and snapped it shut again. "Merry, would you like to spend the 
day with me and Peregrin?" 

Esmeralda had raised an eyebrow at her sister-in-law, but had kept her 
tongue when Eglantine had given her a knowing wink. Esmeralda 
immediately figured out what her brother's wife was on about. 

"I would." Merry had said, glancing at his mother.

"Aunt Egg?" He tried again. He glanced at the baby who was sitting in his 
lap, leaned back against his chest. Merry bent his neck and sniffed at the 
top of Pippin's head, wrinkling his nose at the smell and the light brown 
fuzz tickling his nose. He bent over further, sniffing closer to his lap. 

"It’s Pippin." He exclaimed. He turned the baby around, and looked at 
him. "You smell, baby." He said with mock-sternness. 

"We will have to change his cloth." His aunt said, smiling to herself. 

She was playing a game that many hobbit parents played with their young 
daughters, when the girl had gotten it into her brain that she wanted to get 
married and start a family before she had even entered her tweens. They 
would saddle the girl with some infant relative; a sibling, a cousin, it didn't 
matter, and leave the girl to care for the child at all hours for a few days. 
Usually, after a day or two the girl would think the better of it. 

Saradoc and Esmeralda were not planning to leave for two more days, and 
she intended to keep Merry with her and Pippin until the moment that 
Saradoc bellowed for the boy to meet him at the front door of the Smials. 
She was gambling, though, and she knew it. Sometimes, the game 
backfired, and only served to make the girl, usually the more stubborn 
kind, more determined. Meriadoc was as stubborn as they come, and 
would not back down from anything. 

Either Merry would leave the Smials not wanting to lay eyes on Pippin 
again or he would leave hoping no one had noticed that he had tucked 
Pippin into his pack. 

"How?" Merry asked, wrinkling his nose again. It was a ferocious smell 
for such a small hobbit. 

"Bring him here, and I will show you." She said. She grabbed a few things 
from a nearby table and moved to the bed. She laid a large cloth over the 
coverlet, patting it. "Put him here, and wet this rag in the washbasin." 
Carefully, she unpinned her son's cloth. The unpleasant smell enveloped 
the room. Merry put his hand over his nose, and handed his aunt the damp 
cloth. 

"You wanted to help," She said, with a laugh, "so help." She captured 
most of the mess in the soiled cloth, and set it aside. Merry gave his aunt a 
suspicious face, but did not argue. 

Taking Eglantine's careful instructions, Merry used the wet cloth to clean 
his cousin up. He slowly folded a clean cloth, the way that his aunt told 
him to, chewing at his bottom lip in concentration. He put the thing on 
Pippin, looking proud of himself when he was done. 

"Well done." Eglantine said, as she pinned the cloth that Merry had 
wrapped him in. "Now that you have done it once, it will go faster next 
time."

"Next time?" Merry looking at Pippin questioningly. Pippin made soft 
cooing sounds. He bent over the baby and touched his nose against 
Pippin's, giggling. 

"Oh yes." Eglantine said lightly. "He will do that another ten times today." 

She said. Merry narrowed his eyes at his cousin fleetingly, before 
scooping him back up into his arms. "Well, I suppose it is not his fault." 
Merry replied. 

"Can you take this down to the laundry?" She asked Merry, pointing to the 
wad of soiled cloth. 

Merry considered the soiled cloth for a minute. "Can I take Pippin with 
me?" He asked, gingerly picking up the mess by the clean corners between 
two fingertips. "Would you like that, Pippin? To go for a walk?" He 
looked at Pippin like the baby would answer. 

"Of course, sweetheart." She said with a sigh. 

******

Merry left the laundry with light-hearted steps. Everyone was so fussy. 

Except Aunt Egg. Aunt Egg understood. Aunt Egg knew that Merry 
wouldn't hurt Pippin, ever. 

Merry hugged Pippin close. Putting a hand up behind Pippin's head to 
support it, he shifted him up so that he was peeping out above his 
shoulder. 

"You don't cry much, for a baby." He said to Pippin, pulling him back 
from his shoulder to brush a quick kiss on his cheek. He didn't remember 
much about Pervinca when she was a baby, he had still been half a baby 
himself, but he did remember that Pervinca made a fearsome amount of 
noise, morning, noon and night. 

"Merry! Did you steal the baby again?" He heard behind him. He turned 
carefully, not wanting to jostle Pippin. Pearl, flanked by Nel and Vinca, 
was staring at him with disbelieving eyes. 

"No." He said sullenly. "I did not steal him. Aunt Egg said I could take 
him for a walk." 

"I don't believe it!" Pearl said. She tried to take Pippin back, but Merry 
kept him close. Afraid to hurt the infant, she settled for snatching Merry's 
ear and hauling him back to her mother's room. 

"Mother." She said, opening the door." Merry stole Pippin again." She 
declared in a satisfied sing-song. 

"I didn't." Merry said, stamping his foot. Pippin made a protesting noise, 
and Merry soothed him quickly. "Tell her, Aunt Egg. Tell her I didn't."

"He didn't." Eglantine said. "I asked him to go to the laundry for me, and I 
said he could take Pippin with him." Pearl blushed with embarrassment, 
pointedly not looking at Merry. She mumbled something at the floor that 
could have been an apology before herding her sisters out the door. 

"Merry?" Pervinca stopped in the doorway and turned. "I am gonna play 
outside with Nel. Did you wanna come?" 

"Nah." Merry said, not even taking the time to consider, settling in the 
armchair with the baby. "I think I'll stay here with Pippin." 

Sighing, Eglantine made a mental note to check Merry's pack before he 
left for Brandy Hall, lest she find herself lacking a son. It was plain that 
her plan was not working at all. 

Meriadoc Brandybuck was stubborn enough for a Took. 

******

Saradoc Brandybuck paced outside the front door of the Smials 
impatiently. He had wanted to leave a half hour past, but the womenfolk 
were no where near done with the good-byes. He sighed at the sight of the 
women, yammering to each other like they would never see each other 
again. 

He stood in the half-light of early morning, with the Thain, who looked as 
impatient as he did. The sooner the women said goodbye, the sooner that 
he would be on the road, and the sooner the Thain could return to his 
warm bed. 

Unnecessary, really. Brandy Hall was only on the other side of the Shire 
from Great Smials, not all the way off in Gondor. He shook his head, and 
muttered, gently, on the silliness of women. When the time finally came to 
leave, he would turn to the Thain and say Farewell, Master Took. I am 
sure we will see you soon, to which the Thain would say Quite right, 
Master Brandybuck, I am sure we will be out that way in a couple of 
weeks or so. 

He glared at the doorway to discover that the hold-up was not the women, 
as he originally thought, but his son. Meriadoc was hugging his baby 
cousin, and wore an expression that said he was wondering if the infant 
would fit in his pack. 

Fool of a Took, he thought to himself. Merry was half a Took, after all. 

"Come along, son." He bellowed. "The road waits for no hobbit." 

"You sound like Bilbo, Master Brandybuck." The Thain chuckled. 

"At this rate, I'll be as old as Bilbo before we get back to Brandy Hall." 

Saradoc retorted with a grin. "And probably at least half as mad." The pair 
laughed, and grew relieved that the women were stirring from the 
doorway. 

"Goodbye, Pippin." Merry said sadly. He hugged the baby one more time 
before reluctantly handing him back to Aunt Eglantine. "You be a good 
boy for Aunt Egg."

"By the Shire!" Saradoc chortled. "I do believe I have heard everything. 
My son telling someone to behave himself. Now that beats all!"

"Indeed it does." The Thain said with a yawn. 

Saradoc turned to the Thain as his wife and Merry finally too their leave of 
the Smials' doorstep. "Farewell, Master Took. I am sure we will see you 
soon." 

"Quite right, Master Brandybuck." The Thain replied. "I am sure we will 
be out that way in a couple of weeks or so."

***TBC***


TITLE: Wherever You Are Is Home 
AUTHOR: Pervinca Took (PervincaTook@yahoo.com) 
PAIRING: Merry/Pippin 
RAITING: G (for now) 
SUMMARY: Best Friends, headed for love eventually. Good friend, good 
times, and a little bonding.  
DISCLAIMER: These boys are not mine, nor am I making money from 
them. 
WARNING: Pre-slash. 
FEEDBACK: Please. 
ARCHIVE: Please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTE: its 1393 in the Shire Reckoning. Merry is 11, and 
Frodo is 25

********************************************************

Chapter 2

[Pippin is 3, Merry is 11, Frodo is 25]

Brandy Hall was in a festive mood. It was Saradoc Brandybuck's fifty-
third birthday, and all of Buckland was abuzz. Plenty of food was needed, 
and plenty of wine, and the Master of Brandy Hall had many presents to 
hand out. 

"The Thain is here." Somebody shouted. Esmeralda abandoned the tarts 
she had been making to greet her brother and his family at the door. She 
pushed open the door just as a cart pulled up, driven by the Thain himself. 
The family piled out of the cart just as someone came to take it to the 
stables. 

"Brother." Esmeralda said fondly, kissing her brother on both cheeks. "It is 
good to see you." 

"I am sure you were pining, " The Thain joked fondly, "as it has been 
nearly a whole month since you last saw me." 

"Nevermind you, Master Took and Thain." She quipped, snapping him 
with the kitchen towel that was still in her hands. "How are my children?" 
She said, beaming as Eglantine walked up with them. 

"Your children?" Paladin Took smiled. "I believe that they are my 
children. Mine and my wife's." He added sheepishly, as Eglantine drew 
near, with Pippin on her hip and the girls close behind her. 

"Merry?" Pippin asked. 

"Except this one." Eglantine said, ruffling Pippin's unruly hair. "I don’t 
think he is mine or yours."

"Oh no?" The Thain wondered. 

"No. This one stopped being ours the day he laid eyes on Merry." 

Eglantine said, with a smile that was both sweet and sad. 

****** 

In short order, the Thain and his wife were closeted in a small dining 
room, eating a small meal. A light meal, mushrooms and buttered bread, 
as they did not want to spoil their appetite for lunch. Esmeralda joined 
them, eager to be away from the hustle and bustle of the impending party, 
even if for a short while. They sent the children off to play, hoping for 
peace and quiet. The girls scampered off, but Pippin lingered. 

"Merry?" Pippin asked hopefully. 

His aunt put him in her lap. "He'll be back soon, sweetheart." She handed 
him a fork. "Have some of mine, Pip." 

"Mine?" Pippin asked. Esmeralda shook her head. "No, you can share with 
me."

"Want my own." Pippin whined. Eglantine leaned around her sister-in-law 
to give Pippin a stiff look. He ceased to whine, but did not look happy.

"These mushrooms are wonderful." The Thain complimented. 

"Thank you, brother." Esmeralda said. She glanced at her young nephew 
in her lap, who was stabbing at the mushrooms experimentally. Then he 
dropped his fork, and stuck a hand into the food, giggling. 

"Use your fork, Pip." She said, trying to wipe his hand with a napkin. He 
snatched his hand away, grinned widely at her, and then stuck his hand 
back into the mushrooms. "Honey." She said, pulling at his hand again. 

"No." Pippin said, his tiny features in a moue of displeasure. Esmeralda 
put the fork back in his hand, but he put it back down. His aunt fussed 
with his hair, and he batted her hand away. He made another move for the 
mushrooms, but pulled his hand back when his father cleared his throat at 
him. 

"Where is Merry?" Eglantine asked. "I figured he would be waiting 
outside when we arrived." Pippin brightened at the mention of his cousin's 
name, and momentarily forgot that he was making a mess with Aunt 
Esmy's food. 

"He was, until I began to worry that he would wear a trench in my path 
with his pacing." Esmeralda replied. Pippin slid out of her lap. She 
reached for him, but he fussed, so let him climb up on the chair next to 
her. 

"However did you distracted him?" The Thain asked around a mouthful of 
mushrooms. He eyed his son, who was standing on the chair, leaning 
precariously towards the table. "Sit down Pip, and use your fork." 

"Luckily, the answer provided itself." Esmeralda replied. She glanced at 
Pippin briefly, making sure he was not about to tumble to his death. "Bilbo 
arrived today, with young Frodo." She continued, gesturing with her fork. 

"Bilbo fancied a look at the Brandywine, and Frodo managed to talk 
Merry into joining them."

"A mercy." The Thain said. He turned to his son, who was standing on the 
chair again. "Pip. You are going to fall. Sit down." 

"Can't reach if I sit." Pippin explained. 

"Then sit in my lap." Esmeralda said, patting her leg. 

"No." Pippin said. "I'm a big boy." He said, resulting in good chuckle from 
the adults. Suddenly, he jumped of the chair, and toddled over to the low 
couch in the side of the room. 

"Dear, sweet child." Esmeralda said, loving but exasperated. Pippin sat 
primly on the edge of the couch, and looked innocent.

"He is a trial on an hourly basis." The Thain said, stabbing at his 
mushrooms. "Don't know where he gets it. At least your son can blame his 
Brandybuck blood." He said, grinning. 

"You know, when Merry does something odd, Saradoc usually blames his 
Took blood." Esmeralda said, winking. The Thain gave a snort, and began 
tearing at his roll. 

"Pippin!" Eglantine exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. Pippin had 
climbed onto the back of the couch and had seated himself on the sill of 
the low window behind it. The window was open, and Pippin was leaning 
out of it. Seeing his mother approach, he slipped of the sill, back onto the 
couch, and darted across the room to hide himself under a small table. 

"Peregrin Took" His father called. "Come back over here and sit down. 
Have some of these wonderful mushrooms." 

"No. No 'shrooms." Pippin said unhappily. Eglantine tried unsuccessfully 
to get him out from under the table. Esmeralda joined to aid her. Faced 
with a double assault he fled from under the table and ran to the other side 
of the room. "No 'shrooms." He said again, keeping a wary eye on his 
mother. 

The Thain stood, meaning to retrieve his son and tell him what was what, 
when the door flew open. Merry came inside in a rush, looking about the 
room. He grinned widely when he caught sight of his cousin, his curly 
mop peeking out from behind a chair. 

"Merry!" Pippin shouted, running across the room with his uneven toddler 
steps. Merry swooped his young cousin up, spun him over his head, and 
rested him on his hip.

"Hullo, Uncle Paladin. Hullo, Aunt Egg." He said, walking over to the 
table with Pippin. He shifted Pippin on his hip, making space to kiss his 
mother, and eyed the table for leftovers. 

"Merry, Merry, Merry." Pippin said, clapping his small hands on either 
side of Merry's face. He leaned in and gave his cousin a sloppy kiss on the 
nose before resting his head on his shoulder. 

"Are you hungry, Pip?" Merry asked. He put Pippin on the floor and toyed 
at his reddish-brown curls. 

"Uh huh." Pippin answered, nuzzling his head against Merry's hand. The 
Thain raised an eyebrow at his small son, and his wife eyed the boy 
curiously. Her son had gotten fussy about people touching his hair, lately, 
but here he stood, bumping his head against Merry's hand, encouraging the 
behavior like a kitten. 

"You said you weren't hungry." Eglantine said. 

"'Shrooms." Pippin said, looking up at Merry." 

"Do you want some of mine, or do you want your own plate?" Merry 
asked his cousin. 

"Yours' fine." Pippin said. The Thain made a choking sound, and 
Esmeralda stared at her son in wonder, unable to figure out how Merry 
was able to put such a spell on the little imp. Merry had been in the room 
for one minute, and he was a totally different child. 

Merry pulled a chair close to the table, and patted the seat. "You can reach 
if you stand." Merry watched patiently as Pippin climbed into the chair 
and stood. "Careful, baby." He said as the boy tottered. Pippin stood in the 
chair for a moment, considering, then climbed over the arm and slipped 
into Merry's lap. 

Merry took a bite of mushrooms, uncomfortable by the way that everyone 
had stopped talking to watch him and Pippin eat. He took another bite, 
trying not to look at the adults. They were staring enough to bore a hole in 
him. He glanced down at his cousin, and noticed that he wasn't eating. 

"What's the matter, Pip? I thought you were hungry."

"I am. "Pippin said solemnly.

"Well, then?" Merry asked. 

"Don’t have a fork." Pippin said. The three adults at the table stared 
harder. Ignoring them, Merry reached across the table and handed Pippin a 
fork. Pippin took it in his small hand, stabbed at the mushrooms. He even 
managed to get a few in his mouth. 

Esmeralda and Eglantine giggled. The Thain looked at Merry and Pippin 
in disbelief. He threw up his hands, and turned his attention back to his 
mushrooms. 

******

"Where we going?" Pippin asked in his tiny, childlike voice.

"To the river." Merry said. He walked slowly, holding Pippin's hand. The 
tiny hand inside his own made gave him a warm feeling, like he was 
strong and protective. And oddly, responsible. Responsibility was not 
something that usually worried an eleven-year old hobbit, but for some 
reason he wanted to be responsible where Pippin was concerned. 

"Is it far?" Pippin asked. Merry stopped walking, remembering that 
Pippin's legs were much shorter than his own. Merry thought that the river 
was close, but to Pippin if probably felt like miles and miles. 

"Are you tired?" Merry asked, concern on his face. Pippin shook his head, 
reddish-brown curls flying everywhere. Merry eyed the child, wondering 
if he was telling the truth. With a laugh, he swung the boy onto his hip, 
and continued walking. 

"Oi, you have gotten heavy, Pip." Merry remarked. It was not necessarily 
true, but Pippin liked to be reminded that he was growing. 

"I'm a big boy." Pippin squeaked. 

"Yes, you are, honey." Merry said. "See there?" He asked, pointing. "That 
is the river."

"It is far." Pippin said, his eyes wide. Merry laughed. "Not on my legs." 

He said, quickening his pace. Without having to wait for Pippin's little 
legs, they reached the River quickly. 

Merry set Pippin down when they reached the bank. Pippin made to run 
for the water, but Merry set him down firmly on the ground. "Stay here." 
He instructed. Pippin looked at the water again, but did not move. 
Merry stripped off his pants, dropping them in a heap next to Pippin. The 
breeze was chilly against his legs as he stood on the riverbank in his 
under-shorts, but it was not unpleasant. He bent, tugging Pippin's pants 
off. He noticed that his cousin was still wearing a cloth instead of under-
shorts, and clicked his tongue in dismay. 

"Pip, are you troubling your mother about using the privy?" He asked. The 
boy shook his head. "Pip?" He coaxed. "Tell me the truth."

"No." Pippin said, adamant. "I been using the privy," He said. "When I 
'member."

"Then why the cloths?" Merry asked. 

"'Cause I forget sometimes." Pippin said. He looked sad and embarrassed, 
and looked up at Merry. Merry looked down at him quietly. The boy's face 
reddened, and then he told the truth. "I forget a lot." He said. He looked up 
at Merry with large, wet eyes. 

"No, no, sweetie. Don’t cry." He said, picking the child up and kissing 
him. "I am not mad, sweetie. Just promise me you will try not to forget." 

The boy nodded, and buried his head in Merry's shoulder. 

The water was cooler than the breeze. Holding Pippin by both hands in 
front of him, he waded into the water until it hit Pippin just below the 
knees. Pippin giggled at the water, and squirmed, wanting to play in it. 
Merry held his hands tight, fearful that Pippin would get away from him. 
Eventually the child coaxed Merry into holding him by one hand, so he 
could splash at the water with the other. 

When Pippin grew tired of the water, they walked back up to the bank. 

Merry chased Pippin through the grass in circles. Pippin screamed 
gleefully, running and running until he collapsed on the grass in a fit of 
giggles. 

He heard a soft, whistled tune as he was dressing Pippin. The whistle, 
along with a few rustles in the bushes proved to be Frodo. The slight, 
elvish-looking hobbit was walking around, completely oblivious to his 
surroundings, a book clutched in one hand. 

"Frodo." Merry called as she tugged his pants back on.

"Meriadoc." Frodo said with a start. He walked over to the towards them, 
and sat down next to Pippin, who was laying in the grass on his belly. 

Frodo pulled the child upright, and studied him. 

"Is this tall young man your little Pippin?" Frodo asked, winking at Merry. 

"Last I saw him, he was just this high." Frodo held his hand a few inches 
of the ground. "My, he has grown." Pippin beamed, but then grew bashful, 
and looked at the grass. "So what kind of trouble are you at this 
afternoon?" Frodo asked, turning back to Merry. 

"No trouble." Merry said. Frodo gave him an incredulous look. "We went 
for a wade, and now I think we shall have a nap. Would you like a nap, 
Pippin?" Pippin looked up and Merry and nodded, then looking at Frodo, 
he blushed and looked at the grass again. 

"Mind if I join you?" Frodo asked. "I was thinking of a smoke, and a bit of 
a read." He said, hefting the book. "Of course a nap is always good. 

"Of course not, cousin." Merry said. "You read, and we will sleep." He 
glanced at the book, and shook his head. Frodo was an odd one 
sometimes, and Merry was sure it was Bilbo's fault. 

Frodo scooted up against a tree stump, opening the book in his lap. He 
fished his pipe out of his pocket and began the improbable task of reading 
and filling his pipe at the same time. 

"Come on Pip." Merry said, patting at the grass next to him. "Let's have 
that nap. Come lay down here with me."

Pippin walked over to Merry, but in stead of laying down on the grass, he 
crawled on top of Merry and pressed a wet, baby-kiss on his cheek. Merry 
gave a snort and wiped his cheek, and wiped his wet hand on Pippin's 
pants. Pippin giggled with his silly, baby laugh, causing Frodo to look up 
from his book and chuckle. 

Abruptly, Pippin laid down on Merry's chest. He wrapped his little arms 
around Merry's neck, worked his head up under Merry's chin, and 
promptly went to sleep. 

Merry lay there, stroking Pippin's back softly. Silly Took, he thought. How 
does he expect me to sleep with him hanging on me like this? Merry 
shifted uncomfortably, trying to get Pippin's chin out of his collarbone. 
Once that immediate concern was dealt with, Merry felt surprisingly 
comfortable. Pippin napping on him gave him the same warm feeling that 
holding his hand did, like he was strong and responsible. Between the 
warm sun and Pippin weight on him, he felt extremely content. And very 
tired. With a sleepy sigh, he fell asleep.

******

Sound stirred Merry to wakefulness. He was, at first, confused about the 
weight on his chest. As he woke fully, he realized it was Pippin. He 
smiled, and twisted his head down to press a kiss into Pippin's sweaty 
curls. He rubbed his cousin's back soothingly as he sat up, not wanting to 
wake the child. 

He heard the sounds again, and looked around. He thought it was Frodo, 
but he saw that his older cousin was gone. He heard the sound again. It 
was voices. Shortly, three hobbit children of an age with Merry appeared 
out of the bushes, just like Frodo had. 

It was his cousin Berilac, and two of his friends, Boffin relations whose 
names Merry could not remember. Berilac, who was two years older than 
him, was alright, but his friends were pains. 

"What'ya got there, Meriadoc?" One of the Boffins asked. 

Pippin stirred from the noise, and from Merry's movements as he stood. 
Pippin looked over at the newcomers, blushed, and buried his head into 
Merry's shoulder. 

"This is my cousin." Merry said. He did not like the Boffin's tone. 

"Oh, the Took brat." The other Boffin said. 

"My Pippin is not a brat!" Merry snapped, hugging Pippin to him. Pippin 
was not sure what was going on, but sensed Merry's distress. He was 
growing uneasy, pulling at Merry's tunic and burrowing his head. 

"Your Pippin?" The first Boffin snorted. "You're a mite young to be his 
father." 

"Idiot." Merry said. "Actually, the Took and Thain is his father, so mind 
your tongue." The Boffin gave another snort, to show what he thought 
about the Thain, but did not reply. 

"We are going up to the treehouse, Merry." Berilac said, looking a bit 
embarrassed about his friends. Not nearly embarrassed enough, in Merry's 
mind. "Do you want to go?" 

"Nah, Berilac. We don't want that silly baby with us." One of the Boffins 
said. Merry stiffened visibly, but did not respond. He was in no position to 
fight while he was holding Pippin. 

You could take Peregrin back to Brandy Hall, and meet us." Berilac 
offered. 

"No thank you, Berilac." Merry said, as pleasantly as he could muster. 

Then, ignoring them, he looked up at Pippin. "Pip, do you want to walk, or 
do you want me to carry you?" Pip did not answer, but started wiggling, so 
Merry put him down. 

"I told you, Berilac." One of the Boffins said as they walked away. "I told 
you Meriadoc is weird." 

"He never wants to play." The other said. "He spends all his time fussing 
over that baby. You'd think he was a girl, the way he acts." 

"Stupid baby." 

Something in Merry snapped. He let go of Pippin's hand, and ran. He 
heard Pippin scream when he barreled into the first Boffin, knocking him 
to the ground. He lifted himself up enough to roll him over, and punched 
him in the mouth. The Boffin kicked, sending Merry onto his back. The 
Boffin punched wildly, missing his face, but landing a hard blow to 
Merry's shoulder.

"Merry!" Pippin screamed. "Merry!" 

Wrestling with the Boffin, Merry managed to get back on top, and 
punched again. He felt a heavy weight as the other Boffin jumped on his 
back, trying to help his brother. Merry turned his head, avoiding a flying 
fist, to see Pippin toddling towards him. 

"Merry!" Pippin shrieked. He was sobbing furiously. 

"No, Pippin!" He said. Hurled himself backward, falling onto his back 
with the second Boffin under him. "No Pippin. You will get hurt!" Merry 
shouted. He saw the other Boffin hovering over him, and kicked at him. 
He began to cry as he saw Pippin toddling closer to the fight. He was 
going to get hurt. Badly. "Berilac." He shouted, noticing his cousin. "Get 
the baby out of here!" 

Berilac hesitated, not wanting to look like a silly, baby-loving girl like 
Merry in front of his friends, but took a step towards Pippin. Pippin cried 
out, and took a step away from him. 

Then Pippin did something unbelievable. 

Pippin toddled over to the upright Boffin, balled up his little fist, and 
socked him as hard as he could in the knee. 

"You leave my Merry 'lone" Pippin said. And then he hit him again. 

Terror shot through Merry. The offended Boffin had taken a step back, 
and looked like he intended to kick Pippin. Merry screamed, rolling 
through the grass, but was held back by the other one. 

Suddenly, quick hands scooped Pippin up. 

"What is the meaning of this?" A familiar voice boomed. 
Frodo. 

Merry thanked Eru from the bottom of his heart. The sight of Frodo, a 
hand planted firmly on one hip and Pippin planted on the other was the 
most blessed thing he had seen in all of his short life. The Boffins froze 
where they were, scared, and Merry smiled despite himself. Frodo had that 
effect on people who did not know him well. 

Frodo narrowed his eyes at the Boffins, waiting for a response to his 
question, but he got none. He gave Pippin a reassuring pat, and turned to 
Merry. 

"Meriadoc, would you care to explain, since these two fine gentlehobbits 
seem to have lost the capability of speech?" Frodo's tone was scathing, and 
he fixed them with a look that let them know exactly what he meant by 
'gentlehobbits'. 

"They called Pippin stupid." Merry said. He tried to keep his voice even, 
not wanting to sound whiny. Merry reached to take Pippin, but Frodo 
stopped him with a level look and a firm arm around the baby's waist.

"That shows a rare stroke of intelligence," Frodo said distastefully, "to call 
a three-year old child stupid."

"Especially since my Pippin is smarter than the both of them put together." 
Merry snapped. 

"Merry." Frodo raised an eyebrow at his younger cousin, though Merry, 
who knew Frodo well, knew that he was struggling not to laugh. "What 
else?" 

"They said I was like a girl, because I like to take care of Pippin." Merry 
said. 

"You're a girl?" Frodo exclaimed. "Fancy that. And here I was, thinking 
that you were a boy, for all these years." 

"And they said that I am weird because I would rather play with Pippin 
than them." 

"Does Merry speak true, gentlehobbits? Did you say these things to him?" 
Neither Boffin spoke, but they nodded their heads. 

After a pause, Frodo spoke again. "I don’t think that they really think you 
are weird." Another pause. Merry was starting to thing Frodo was 
enjoying the Boffins' discomfort. "I think they are jealous." 

"Oh?" Merry asked. The Boffins looked extremely uncomfortable. 

"Yes." Frodo said. "Because unlike them, you have a family member that 
wants to be around you." 

With that, Frodo finally relinquished Pippin back to Merry. Pippin half 
jumped out of Frodo's arms, wrapping his legs around Merry's waist and 
buried his head into Merry's shoulder. 

"Master Berilac." Frodo said. "I could be persuaded not to mention this 
incident to Meridoc's father, or the Thain, if you would be so good as to 
gather your friends, clean them up an bit, and find a way to keep them in 
line." Berilac blushed, grimaced at his friends, and herded them away 
from the scene. 

"Let's get you cleaned up." Frodo said to Merry, leading him to the river to 
get water. 

"You really are not going to tell my father?" Merry asked. 

"I don’t see a need to upset Master Saradoc on his birthday." Frodo said 
lightly. Merry was very relived. He doubted that his father would side with 
those Boffin rascals, but it might give him cause to start in about how he 
spends to much time with Pippin. 

"Thank you." Merry said, stretching up to kiss Frodo lightly on the cheek.

"No trouble at all. Those two needed a good scare anyway." Frodo said, 
fishing in his pocket for a handkerchief. He paused, eyeing Pippin. Tired 
from the ordeal, he was dozing lightly against Merry's shoulder. Frodo 
ruffled his hair. "Besides, the sight of that little sprout fighting for your 
honor warmed my heart." 

"I love you Pippin." He said, pressing his lips into damp curls. It had 
warmed his heart, too. 

******

His mother was humming happily to herself when Merry walked into 
Brandy Hall's kitchen, little Pippin still sleeping soundly against his chest. 
Her back was turned, tending to a large pot of stew. Gripping Pippin 
tightly with one arm, he made a tentative reach towards a tray of apple 
tarts. 

"Meriadoc Brandybuck." His mother said lightly, her back still turned. She 
gave the stew another stir before turning towards her red-faced son. 

"How--"

"I have eyes in the back of my head, dearheart." She said, ruffling his 
sandy curls. 

"No you don't." He said, peering at his mother. 

"I sure do." Esmeralda said, trying not to laugh at her son's befuddlement. 

"Where did you get them?" He asked, almost believing.

"They were a gift from Gammer Proudfoot," She said flawlessly. Merry 
snorted. Gammer Proudfoot was blind as a bat. His mother had turned 
back to the stew. He reached for the tarts again, but she whirled around, 
waving the spoon menacingly. 

"She gave them to me on your fourth birthday." She said, her lips twisting 
slightly. "She said that since her sons were grown, she did not need her 
eyes anymore, so she gave them to me, since tending you would require 
two pair." She abandoned the stew to press a kiss on Merry's forehead. 
Merry gave another snort. "Did Gammer Proudfoot have two pair to start 
with?" He asked. 

"She did." His mother quipped. 

"What did she do with the other pair?" Pippin was getting heavy. He 
moved to rest Pippin's rump on the table. Pippin whimpered in his sleep, 
and wiggled closer to Merry, grabbing fistfuls of his tunic with both 
hands. Resigned, Merry dropped onto the bench, leaving Pippin to sleep 
against his chest. 

Esmeralda studied Pippin for a moment. "She gave them to Eglantine 
Took." 

Merry laughed, and his mother joined him. "Are you truly hungry?" She 
asked him. Merry nodded, eyeing the tarts eagerly. She handed him a roll. 

He looked dismayed. "You are not hungry." She observed. "You just want 
a tart."

"I have a tart." He said, patting Pippin's back fondly. Pippin released one 
hand from Merry's tunic and brought his thumb to his mouth. 

"Aye, and a sweeter one that those on that tray." His mother said. She 
stroked Pippin's back lightly, but stopped, catching sight of a scratch on 
Merry's face. 

"What is this?" His mother asked. Merry sighed. Frodo had done a 
wonderful job of cleaning him up, and luckily, none of the Boffins' blows 
had made it to his face. He bore no visible bruises, but he had acquired a 
few scratches from all the rolling around on the ground. 

"I fell down." He said lamely. His mother narrowed her eyes, and captured 
her son's face in her hands. She lifted his chin, studying his face, and made 
a clucking sound with her tongue. 

"You have been fighting." 

"No." Merry said. His mother's eyebrows drew close together. "No." He 
said again. His mother coughed. "Yes." He said finally. "Don't tell Da." 
He whispered, begging. 

"Tell me why, and I will decide if I have to tell Da." She said. "I don't 
approve, mind, especially since you were obviously fighting in front of 
your little tart." 

Merry's hands, that had been soothing Pippin's back, paused, and be pulled 
the boy close. She eyed the sleeping toddler, sighing. Something told her 
that Merry had been fighting in front of Pippin because he had been 
fighting about Pippin. 

"Pippin and I went wading, and then had a nap. When I woke up, Berilac 
was there, with two Boffin boys." 

"And?" His mother asked impatiently. 

"They called Pippin a stupid baby." He finished hotly. "I got mad." 

"So you hit them first." It was not a question. 

"But they started it!" He said. A bit loudly. Pippin stirred. Merry shushed 
him with a pat. "They were making fun of him."

Esmeralda sighed, her heart breaking. As angry as she was that Merry had 
been fighting, part of her understood. "So you fought two boys." Oddly, 
part of her was proud, that he had been unafraid. Merry nodded. "And how 
did it end."

"Frodo happened along." Merry said, and for the second time today, 
Esmeralda thanked the Lady for Frodo Baggins. 

Then she gave a start, not being able to picture Frodo Baggins in a fight. 

"No, mother." Merry said, reading his mother's shock. "He picked up 
Pippin because…" Merry stopped, cursing at himself. "He picked up 
Pippin.." He began again." 

"Because Pippin was doing what?" His mother broke in. 

"Pippin hit one of the Boffins." He said, shamed. He waited for his mother 
to snatch Pippin away, because he had set a bad example. So much for 
being responsible. He closed his eyes, waiting. 

But she didn't. She made a noise. After a pause, he opened one eye, and 
then the other eye. His mother was standing before him, head down, her 
shoulders shaking. You made her cry, you ass, he thought to himself. Then 
he heard that noise again, like his mother was trying desperately to suck 
air through her nose but couldn't. 

"Oh, Lady." His mother said. She looked up and Merry and Pippin, and 
burst out laughing. 

"Ma?" He asked, extremely confused. 

"That is just… an…amusing picture." His mother choked out, trying to 
gain control of herself. "This little mite, acting the brave warrior." 

"I am sorry." He said. "He wouldn't have done it if he had not been so 
scared, and if he had not seen me fighting." He said. 

"No." She said. "He would not have." 

"Are you going to tell Da?" He asked. 

"No." She said, and Merry was visibly relieved. "If you listen to me." 

Merry nodded. Esmeralda paused, eyeing her scapegrace son and her 
sweet little nephew. 

"He loves you fiercely." She said at last. 

"I know." Merry said. 

"No, you don't fully understand." Esmeralda said. "Somehow, you have 
wiggled your way into his heart, and have uprooted the place that was 
meant for his parents." 

"But--"

"Nay. Listen." His mother scolded. "You have taken a grave responsibility 
on yourself. Anything you say or do will always mean more to him than 
anything said or done by others. Promise me that you will remember that, 
and I will not tell your father." 

"Yes, Mother." He rose from the bench, still holding Pippin, and kissed 
her. 

"Now go. Out of my kitchen." He mother picked up the spoon and waved 
it. "I have much to do." She turned back to the stew. 

"Oh, and Merry." She said, back turned. "Get your hands off of those tarts. 

Merry sighed, and dropped the tart back on the tray. 

******

"Son, where are you going?" Eglantine asked. Pippin had inexplicably 
stopped playing and started toddling across the room. 

"Privy." Pippin explained. 

Eglantine gave a start. Training Pippin to use the privy had proved to be a 
frustrating experience. Part of her had begun to worry that Pippin would 
be wearing cloths until he was a tween. 

"The privy." She repeated, dumbfounded. 

"Merry said." 

"Excuse me?" 

"Merry said." Pippin repeated. "Merry said I had to 'member to use the 
privy."

******

Frodo looked up from his book at a knock on the door. He closed the book 
and padded to the door, wondering absently it was Bilbo. He had left 
Bilbo only a few minutes ago, and he had been intent on a nap. He 
couldn't imagine why the old hobbit would be back at his door. 

"Mistress Brandybuck." He said with surprise. "I must say I was not 
expecting you."

"Frodo." Esmeralda said warmly. "I won't keep you. I only wanted to 
bring you something." 

"What's that?" Frodo asked. Esmeralda handed him a cloth covered plate. 

He stood in the doorway, holding the plate, looking at Esmeralda 
questioningly. "Thank you." He said slowly, unsure what she was on 
about. 

"No, Mister Baggins. Thank you." She said, and kissed him lightly on the 
cheek. 

"For what?" He asked her, as she left. 

"Just for being you." She said over her shoulder as she walked down the 
hall. 

Frodo lifted the cloth, studied the apple tarts, and wondered if Esmeralda 
Brandybuck had lost her mind. 

******

Eglantine pushed open the door to the room that Pearl was sharing with 
Pippin. Pearl sat on the edge of the bed, trying desperately to put the boy 
to sleep. He fussed, and cried, and wiggled fitfully, looking as if he had no 
intention to go to sleep between now and the Fourth Age. 

"Pearl?" She asked. "Is he well?" 

"Well enough, for a brat." Pearl spat. 

"Pearl." Her mother admonished. 

"He refuses to sleep." Pearl said, frustrated. "I rocked him, I sang, I told 
him a story." Pearl looked on the verge of tears herself. "He just will not." 

Eglantine moved to the bed, and sat down on the edge. She caressed her 
son's brow lightly, murmuring soft words. He soothed, slightly. She pulled 
the boy into her arms, rocking, but he continued to fuss. 

"What's the matter, baby boy?" She asked him. "Are you not tired?"

"Tired." He said. He stopped fussing to yawn, but began again. 

"Then sleep." She said. 

"Don't wanna." He said stubbornly. Eglantine sighed, and Pearl threw up 
her hands. 

"Try." Eglantine said to her son, laying him back on the bed. 

"No." He said stubbornly. His green eyes began to leak fresh tears, and 
Eglantine sighed. 

"Pearl?" 

"Yes, Ma?" 

"Go get Merry." 

******

"What's the matter, Pip?" Merry moved to the bed, pausing to kiss his 
aunt. 

"Don't want to sleep." Pippin said stubbornly.

"I told you he was a brat." Pearl said. 

"Shut up, Pearl." Merry shouted. "My Pippin is not a brat!." 

"Please." Eglantine urged. "It is too late for this. If you two start fighting, I 
will never get him to sleep." 

"Here, Pippin." Merry said, climbing onto the bed. "Come lay down with 
me." 

He pulled Pippin to him to tuck him in the crook of his arm, but the boy 
climbed on top of him instead, and laid down on his chest like he had at 
the river. 

"Go to sleep, silly tart." Merry said, soothing Pippin's back. Pippin 
burrowed his head in Merry's chest, and made contented noises. Merry 
murmured to him soothingly, and kissed his curls. 

"Unbelievable" Pearl muttered. "I don’t understand."

"Neither do I." Eglantine said, pulling her daughter towards the door. "All 
I know is that Merry is a blessing." 

"That miserable pain?" Pearl asked. "How is he a blessing."

"Because of him, we may get some sleep tonight." Eglantine said with a 
laugh. 

***TBC***

TITLE: Wherever You Are Is Home 
AUTHOR: Pervinca Took (PervincaTook@yahoo.com) 
PAIRING: Merry/Pippin 
RAITING: G (for now) 
SUMMARY: Best Friends, headed for love eventually. Good friend, good 
times, and a little bonding.  
DISCLAIMER: These boys are not mine, nor am I making money from 
them. 
WARNING: Pre-slash. 
FEEDBACK: Please. 
ARCHIVE: Please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTE: its 1396 in the Shire Reckoning. Pippin is 6, Merry is 
14, and Frodo is 25

********************************************************

Chapter 3

It was a warm summer day in Buckland, the sun-kissed breeze blowing 
lightly across the fields where the children played. Merry sat on the 
ground, very close to the place where he had fought with the Boffin boys, 
chatting with a few of his friends. 

He sighed, curling his toes in the warm grass, and tried to ignore the way 
that Marigold Bracegirddle was looking sideways at him and twirling her 
hair in her fingers. Stupid girl. Did she not think he could see her looking?
Girls were a trial, and an annoyance. He liked Pimpernel and Pervinca. 

And Pearl, sometimes, but that was different. His father had told him that 
he would grow out of his 'girls are icky' phase. He had, to a point. He no 
longer thought they were icky, but he was still unamused with them for the 
most part. 

At least, a year or two ago, while they were still icky, they would play. 
The would kick balls, and climb trees, or go swim. Now, all they wanted 
to do was sit around and talk, and were always worried about getting dirty 
or ripping their dresses or mussing their hair. 

And they stared. 

Marigold had given over looking at him to eyeball his cousin Berilac. He 
had not fully forgiven Berilac for the fight, but they had come to an 
understanding. They were pleasant to each other in public, even joking 
sometimes, and Berilac had ceased to spend time with the Boffin yobbos 
on a regular basis. He was polite to Pippin, calling him Master Took, and 
even made attempts to play with him, even though he knew Pippin would 
refuse. 

"What about a swim?" Berilac offered to the group. 

"You just want to see us in our underclothes." Marigold's friend Daisy 
said, giggling. 

"I certainly do not." Merimas Brandybuck said. Merry eyed him 
suspiciously, and was quite sure he was lying. 

Impulsively, Merry reached out and pulled the clip out of Marigold's hair. 
She gave a yelp, and swatted at him. 

"Give it back." 

Merry shrugged, and held it out. She reached for it, but as soon as her 
hand touched it he snatched it back. 

"Meriadoc Brandybuck." She said, sternly. "That was not nice. 

"I know." He said, holding the clip up over his head. Berilac, Merimas and 
Daisy were laughing. Marigold blushed, made a few futile swipes at the 
clip from where she was sitting, and then she leapt at him. 

Marigold jumped at Merry, knocking him to the ground. Merry had 
managed to twist his arm behind his back, so that he was laying on the 
clip. Marigold was laying on top of him, struggling to pry his arm out 
from under him. 

"Merry." She whined. 

"Marigold." He said flatly. He moved abruptly, rolling and putting 
Marigold under him. She had shifted up in an attempt to get away, so 
when she landed on her back their faces were even with each other. The 
group gave a gasp, and Merimas whistled threw his teeth.

She shifted again, and he almost lost his balance. He drove the hand with 
the clip with it to the ground, right above her head to keep from falling on 
her and crushing her. 

The result put their faces very close together, and he could feel the 
Marigold's breath against his lips. He shivered. It felt kind of nice. Now 
that he thought about it, having her under him did not feel to bad, either. 
He looked up quickly, noticing that the other Hobbits had discreetly began 
moving towards the river. 

"Merry?" Marigold asked, in a weird, breathy tone. He looked down at the 
girl under him. Her breath was hitched and shallow as it brushed his lips, 
and her eyes were wide. He decided that Marigold was not exactly icky, 
either. Not as not-icky as Nel and Vinca, but still, not totally icky. 

Suddenly his mouth was very close to Marigold's, although he did not 
remember putting it there. Marigold sucked a sharp breath, and her eyes 
slid half-closed. Then he noticed a movement from Marigold. She was 
moving to close the distance between them. Unsure of what else to do, he 
closed his eyes. 

"Merry?"

A familiar voice made his spine snap taut like a fishing line. 

"Pippin." He whispered. Marigold's eyes snapped open. Merry jumped up 
off her in a fluid motion, leaving the clip in the grass next to her sprawled 
frame. Marigold began to make unhappy noises as she sat up and 
straightened herself, but he ignored her. 

He looked around, beginning to think that the voice was in his head, when 
he was attacked by a flurry of cinnamon curls. He was bowled over, 
falling into the grass, the owner of the cinnamon curls on top of him. He 
heard giggles, and then his face was covered in kisses. 

"Merry." Pippin said, smiling. He scooted down Merry's body to wedge 
his head in its usual place, right under his chin.

"Pippin?" Merry said, hugging the boy and reaching up to twist his fingers 
in Pippin's hair. "I did not know you were here."

"I just got here." Pippin said eagerly. "My Dad felt like taking a ride, so he 
put me on his pony, and the next thing I knew, we were in Brandy Hall."

"Oh, Pip." Merry said. "That is wonderful." He had not seen Pippin in 
close to a month and a half, and had been missing him horribly. 

"Were you out here by yourself?" Pippin asked. Merry looked over, 
finding that Marigold had made herself scarce. He smiled. Sweet girl. He 
would have to thank her later. 

"No. Merimas and Berilac were here. And some girls." Merry said. Pippin 
wrinkled his nose He was just entering the 'girls are icky' phase. "I think 
they decided on a swim."

"Do you want to swim." Pippin asked.

"Not particularly, unless you do." 

"I don’t know." Pippin said thoughtfully. "I could eat." 

"You could always eat." Merry gave back. Pippin made a protesting 
sound, and then giggled. "How long are you here for?" 

"I don’t know, really." He said. Probably depends on when my Da decides 
to go back to the Smials." Pippin wiggled, moving up to look at Merry. 

"You want to go to the river, then?" 

Merry made a noise, as Pippin's elbow dug into his shoulder. He moved 
his head, and felt Pippin breath across his lips, just like Marigold's had 
done earlier. It was a nice feeling. He would have to see if he could get 
Marigold to do it again. 

"Let's go." He said, pushing Pippin off of him. 

******

The group at the river was larger that he had thought. The four that he had 
been sitting with were there, as well as about five hobbit lads closer to 
Pippin's age. 

He sat under a tree with Merimas, dividing his time between watching 
Pippin, who was play in the river, eyeing and Marigold and Daisy, who 
were chatting softly under another tree. Eventually, Daisy joined them, 
though Merry thought she really wanted to talk to Merimas alone. Merry 
made polite conversation for a minute, and then went over to join 
Marigold. 

"Are you mad?" Merry asked her as he sat down. 

"Yes." Marigold said. "I didn’t say you could kiss me."

"I didn't kiss you." Merry said, confused. 

"You meant to," Marigold said, "If that meddling Took had not happened 
about, you would have." 

"He is not meddling. He is just young." Merry said defensively. 

"He follows you everywhere." Marigold gave back. "And you never want 
to do anything when he is around." She was quiet for a minute. "You were 
going to kiss me." She said petulantly. 

"I might have." He said. "But I didn’t. You can’t be mad at me for kissing 
you if I didn't."

"Maybe I am mad because you didn't." Marigold said, scooting a little 
closer to him. Merry sighed loudly, and decided that girls were a bother. 

"Thank you." Merry said softly. 

"For what?" Marigold asked, inching closer.

"For not sticking around when Pip showed up. If he had seen us like that 
he would have asked questions." Merry lied. Pippin probably wouldn’t 
have asked questions, but he would have been angry. Lately, he got pouty 
if Merry was affectionate with anyone but him. 

"What do you care if he asks questions?" She asked. 

"He is young." Merry said lamely, and left it at that. 

He turned his attention to where Pippin was playing in the river. He was 
splashing and kicking water everywhere. He sent a wave at one young lad, 
who began chasing him as soon as he had sputtered all the water out of his 
mouth. Pippin began to shriek, and tried to run away from him, nevermind 
that he was in water past his knees. 

"I should teach Pip to swim." He thought. 

"What?" Marigold asked.

"Huh?" He hadn't realized that he had spoken out loud. "Oh, I was saying 
that I should teach Pippin to swim."

"Oh." Was she said. 

Dimly, Merry became aware of something soft brushing against the hand 
he had resting in the grass. He ignored it at first, thinking that he was 
imagining things, but it grew more insistent. He glanced down out of the 
corner of his eye to see that it was Marigold. She was trailing her fingers 
along the back of his hand in a lazy manner. 
A loud splash turned Merry's attention back to the river. He saw Pippin 
emerging out of a large spray of water. Pippin walked up the bank, 
shaking water from his body as he walked. He spied Merry, and ran over 
to him. Merry snatched his hand away from Marigold's wandering fingers 
as Pippin drew close. 

Lifting a leg over Merry, he sat on Merry's knees and slid down his legs 
until he landed in Merry's lap with a thud. Merry gave a groan as a sharp 
pain spread through his crotch. Pippin leaned in against Merry's chest, 
laying his damp head on Merry's shoulder. 

"Oi, Pip!" He sputtered. "Your too heavy to do that now. It hurts me." 

Merry felt water seeping into the cloth of his tunic. "And you are wet, 
Pippin."

"I love you , Merry." Was Pippin's defense. He kissed Merry on the nose, 
and laid his head back down. 

Marigold reached out to touch Merry's hand again, but touched grass. She 
looked for the missing hand, and discovered that it was rubbing Pippin's 
back in circles. 

"Meddling Took." She muttered as she walked away. 

******

Pippin reached to snatch a bean off of Merry's plate, but Merry swatted his 
hand away. "Here. Sit down and I'll make you a plate." 

"But I want to sit in your lap." Pippin whined. He stood next to Merry's 
chair, stamping his foot. 

"Not at dinner." Merry explained, as he lifted Pippin into the empty chair 
next to him. "You are too big for that."

"I am not to big to sit in your lap." Pippin said, pouting. "I sat in your lap 
at the river."

"No, Pip." Merry said, putting down his fork. "I mean, you are too old. It 
is past time that you sit in your own chair and eat off your own plate at 
dinner. You are almost seven."

"I want to sit in your lap and eat off your plate." Pippin said, tears sliding 
down his cheeks. 

"Pip, do you sit in your own chair and eat off your own plate when you are 
at home?" Merry asked. 

"Yes." Pippin snuffled. "Unless you are there. Then I sit in your lap." 
Merry sighed. "Pippin, I am not going to argue. You are too old to sit in 
my lap for dinner." With that, he picked Pippin up under the arms and sat 
him in the chair. 

"Fine." Pippin gave a mighty snuffle. He sat quietly for a minute, staring 
at the plate Merry had set out for him despondently. Then he tried to climb 
over the arm of the chair and slip into Merry's lap. 

"Peregrin Took." Merry said sternly. Pippin looked at him through his 
lashes, eyes wide, and stuck his bottom lip out. Merry gave him a level 
look, shook his head, and gestured for Pippin to sit down. 

"I love you, Merry." Pippin said. He threw his arms around Merry quickly 
before settling back into his own chair. 

"Did you see that, sister?" Paladin Took said, waving his fork in the 
direction of Merry and Pippin. 

"Aye, brother." Esmeralda said, and shook her head. 

"I do not understand." The Thain complained. "The boy is an unruly pain, 
and there is nothing that your sister or I can to do calm him." The Thain 
took a bite of potatoes, murmuring appreciatively. "But one word from 
your son," he continued around a mouthful of potatoes, "and suddenly he 
is most well-behaved child in the Shire." 

"I don't rightly understand it myself." Esmeralda said. She did understand, 
but did not want to discuss it. How was she to tell him that Merry had 
usurped the place in Pippin's heart that should have belonged to him and 
his wife. 

"A wonder." The Thain mumbled into is ale mug. He took a deep draught, 
and peered at his son and nephew over the rim. 

Esmeralda followed his glance. The other hobbits Merry's age ate 
hurriedly, chatting amiably while the chewed. There was the occasional 
roll tossed between them, and every once and awhile one hobbit would 
snatch a bite off of another's plate. A mug was knocked over, resulting in a 
loud buzz from the hobbits. It was a scene of youthful mirth; cheerful, 
loud, and a bit messy. 

Through it all, Merry said quietly. He smiled at the antics of his friends, 
but did not participate. He ate calmly, chatting with Pippin. He broke the 
conversation occasionally to admonish Pippin for using his hands, or to 
instruct him on how to hold his fork properly, or on how to butter his roll 
without making a mess. 

"Look." The Thain said, pointing with a forkful of beans. Merry leaned 
over his chair. Reaching around Pippin, he took the boy's hands in his, and 
showed Pippin how to cut his beef in neat chunks that would fit on his 
fork. After making a few slices, he released Pippin to let the boy do it for 
himself, protective hands hovering in case Pippin looked like he was going 
to cut himself. 

"The wonder works both ways." Esmeralda said. "Yesterday, Merry was 
braying louder than any of the asses at the table, and after dropping his 
knife, he had ripped at his ham with both hands." The Thain looked 
choked on his ale at his sister's bluntness, and Esmeralda winked. "Today, 
he is more concerned about how Pippin holds his fork than stealing turnips 
off of Daisy Bracegirddle's plate. 

The Thain watched on, thoughtfully, watching Merry lean and brush a kiss 
against his son's forehead when he had finished cutting his meat. He 
laughed to himself, and muttered something that Esmeralda did not catch. 

"You still have not told me what prompted this visit, brother." Esmeralda 
said playfully. 

"Does the Took and Thain need a reason to visit his sister?" 

"The Took and Thain rarely comes to visit his sister without bringing half 
his household." That was the truth. In all the years since she had married 
Saradoc Brandybuck, she could count the number of time that her brother 
had shown up on a whim on one hand. 

"No reason." The Thain said. He looked uncomfortable, and was studying 
the contents of his plate. 

"Paddy?" Esmeralda prodded. 

"The boy was insufferable today." Paladin Took sighed. "He has been for 
weeks, but today he was a menace out of one of Bilbo's stories. I was 
hoping a ride would calm him." 

"A short jaunt to Buckland?" Esmeralda quipped. The Thain rolled his 
eyes at her. "Will you and Pip be returning to the Smials in the morning, 
then?" 

"I will be returning to the Smials tonight." 

Here it comes. Esmeralda thought. "You?"

"Yes, me. My intent was to ask Saradoc about leaving Pippin here for a 
few weeks." The Thain said. "But I arrived to find that Saradoc left for 
Michel Delving this morning."

"If he was here, Saradoc would say yes." She replied. "He loves Pippin 
like he is his own." 

"Pervinca's birthday is in a few weeks, you could bring him back when 
you venture to the Smials for the party." 

"Wonderful idea." Esmeralda said, glancing down the table. 

"Are you finished, Pip?" Merry asked when he noticed that Pippin was 
playing with the remainders on his plate.

"Yes." Pippin said. He reached over the table and grabbed his mug of 
water. He tipped it too fast, and more water poured down his chin than 
went in his mouth. 

"Silly tart." Merry said. Making room on the table, he lifted Pippin off the 
chair and sat him in front of him. Dipping his napkin in the Pippin's water 
mug, he began patiently wiping his cousin's face. 

"You are sure Saradoc won't mind?" The Thain asked. 

"Brother," She said, nodding in the direction of Merry cleaning Pippin's 
face, "I don't think Saradoc was the one you needed to ask."

******

"You be a good boy for Uncle Saradoc and Aunt Esmeralda, son." The 
Thain said to his small son. "If you give them any trouble, I will have 
them send you back to the Smials immediately." 

"Yes, Da. I will be good." Pippin said innocently. 

"Your mother packed you a bag." He said. "It has clothes enough until you 
come back home. It is the guestroom across the hall from Merry's room." 

"Thank you, Da." He ran up to his father and hugged him around the legs. 
The Thain ruffled Pippin's hair, and mounted his pony. 

"Remember." He said with an admonishing finger. "You be good for your 
aunt and uncle. The Thain looked over to the figure of Merry waiting at 
the front door to Brandy Hall, and revised his request." 

"You be a good boy for Meriadoc." 

******

"Merry?" 

Merry opened his eyes to near blackness. Glancing at the window, he saw 
the moon in the black sky. It was the middle of the night. 

"Merry?" The voice was louder this time.

"What, Pip. It is the middle of the night." 

"Its dark in my room." Pippin said. It probably was. The room Pippin had 
been assigned faced the hill, and had no windows. 

"Get in, then." Merry said, pulling the covers back and making room. He 
heard the sound of little feet padding across the floor, and then the 
mattress shifted as Pippin climbed in. 

Pippin laid down on his side with his back to Merry, and scooted back 
until he was leaning against him. He wedged himself in the crook of 
Merry's arm, and fiddled around with the bedding for a few minutes. 

"What were you scared of, sweetheart?" Merry asked him when Pippin 
had settled himself. 

"I wasn't scared, I was just lonely." 

With a sigh, Merry wrapped his arms around his cousin and went to sleep. 

***TBC***

TITLE: Wherever You Are Is Home 
AUTHOR: Pervinca Took (PervincaTook@yahoo.com) 
PAIRING: Merry/Pippin 
RAITING: PG 
SUMMARY: Pippin doesn't want to go to Pearl's birthday, and he has a 
good reason.  
DISCLAIMER: These boys are not mine, nor am I making money from 
them. 
WARNING: Pre-slash. 
FEEDBACK: Please. 
ARCHIVE: Please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTE: its 1399 in the Shire Reckoning. Pippin is 9, Merry is 
17, Sam and Pimpernel and 19, and Frodo is 31
********************************************************

Chapter 4

"I don't want to go to the stupid party." 

"Pippin." Merry said in a flat, weary tone. It was not the first time he and 
Pippin had had this conversation. 

"Well, I don’t want to." Pippin drug his furry feet, kicking up a cloud of 
dirt as he moved down the road. 

"You have to go." Merry said, frowning. He couldn't understand why 
Pippin was so against going to this party; he rarely passed up an excuse to 
eat all day and play as much as he wanted. Even if it meant he had to 
comb his hair and wear his fancy waistcoat. 

He realized that Pippin had stopped walking and paused to turn back to 
him, tapping his foot impatiently. "And hurry up." 

"Why?" Pippin. 

"Because." Merry said, looking down at him. He didn't have to look as far 
down as he used to. Pippin had grown a bit in the last summer. "It is 
Pearl's birthday."

"But I don’t want to!"

"She is your sister." Merry said. 

"So?" Pippin was so furious that Merry could almost smell it.

"Peregrin Took!" Merry snapped. "You are going, and that is the end of 
it." 

He winced as he said it, knowing full well that it was not the end of it. 
They would have this conversation at least twice more before they reached 
Bag End tonight, and probably three more times tomorrow on the way to 
the Smials. 

"But I don’t want to." Pippin said again. 

Merry sighed. He had known that Pippin would start this conversation 
again, but he had not thought that Pippin would start it again so soon. At 
least last time he had waited an hour. 

"You are going." Merry said sharply. "Because I am going, and I certainly 
cannot show up without you." It was a lame excuse, but at least it was a 
new one. His original excuse had only succeeded in the conversation 
happening again. And again. 

"Then don’t go." Pippin replied. He brightened, thinking that he had found 
a hole in Merry's reasoning. "If you don’t go, then I don't have to go."

"But I am going." Merry said. He smiled to himself, amused by Pippin's 
circular logic. 

"Why?" Pippin whined. He eyed Merry sideways, and frowned at him like 
is was his fault that Pearl was having a birthday.

"Because Pearl is your sister, and it is her birthday." 

"But I don't like Pearl." 

"Pippin!" Merry said, reaching out and pinching his arm. Merry knew 
Pippin was telling the truth, and he hated to chide him for being honest, 
but it would not do for Pippin to go around saying he didn't like his sister. 
If someone heard Pippin saying that, the boy would get a switching for it. 
However, because Merry was the older, responsible one, he would take the 
blame for it in the end. 

"I don't know why you care." Pippin said. "You don’t like Pearl, either."

"That is not true." Merry said, glad that Pippin was walking along side 
him, unable to look directly into his face and see the lie. He didn't really 
dislike Pearl, but she was older, and nosy, and meddling, and it made her 
difficult to like sometimes. 

"But--" Pippin started, but he stopped when he saw the look on Merry's 
face. Merry looked like he was about to stuff his handkerchief into 
Pippin's mouth so he could walk the rest of the way to Bag End in peace. 

"The party will be fun." Merry said. "Besides, Pearl will be so busy that 
you probably won’t even have to talk to her for more than ten minutes." 
Pippin grumbled, but didn’t argue. He had been arguing all morning, and 
it had not gotten him anywhere. He didn't really care about Pearl's 
birthday; he just did not want Merry going to the Smials. But he could not 
just tell Merry that, because he would have to explain. 

And he didn't want to explain. 

"I love you, Merry." Pippin said, randomly. 

"I love you, too." Merry sounded a bit suspicious. Pippin said he loved 
him constantly, but random declarations usually meant that he was up to 
something. 

Resigned, Pippin did not resume the argument. He wasn't going to win, 
and if he continued to harangue Merry he was going to get upset and 
shout, and if Merry shouted, he would cry. He always cried when Merry 
shouted at him. 

Pippin smiled widely at his cousin. Merry made a show of ignoring him, 
but Pippin could see the corners of his mouth twitch as he fought a smile. 
Pippin grabbed his cousin's hand and squeezed it, and held it tight until the 
reached Bag End. 

******

"You must be hungry after a long days walkin'." 

Merry leaned back on the couch in Bag End's sitting room, and smiled at 
Samwise Gammgee. He smiled so widely that Sam blushed a deep red and 
scurried into the kitchen, muttering to himself. 

Sam returned shortly with a teakettle and two cups, which he set on the 
table in front of Merry. Merry smiled at him in amusement, and Sam 
frowned back at him with obvious unease. Concerned that Sam would give 
himself fits, Merry poured himself a cup. Sam nodded to himself, and 
returned to the kitchen. 

"Are you sure I can't bring you anything?" Sam asked from the doorway. 

Merry and Pippin had arrived at an inopportune time for poor Sam. Frodo 
was in the bath and Bilbo was napping, leaving Sam to entertain the two 
younger hobbits. At a loss as to what to do with Merry and Pippin, Sam 
had tried to feed them no less that six times in the last half hour. 

"I have some bread, just baked this morning." 

Seven. 

"No, no Sam. We are quite alright." Merry replied, stroking Pippin's hair 
absently. Pippin was asleep, stretched out on the couch with his head in 
Merry's lap. 

"Are you sure, Mister Merry?" 

"Why don’t you come sit down." He asked, gesturing at Sam with the cup 
of tea that the he had pressed upon him.

"Beggin' your pardon, Mister Merry, but I have so much to do, and it 
won’t wait on me sippin' tea, if you take my meaning." Sam replied. Sam 
sounded earnest, but he made no move to get on with whatever 
desperately needed his attention. 

"I have seen more and more of you on our last visits." Merry said 
conversationally. He didn't know Sam well, but as Sam was starting to be 
a permanent fixture at Bag End, now was as good a time as any to get to 
know him. "Are you and your father both working for Bilbo, now?" 

"Yes and no." Sam said, nervously. "I mostly help my Gaffer, but as he is 
getting' on in years, I have been doing more and more for Mister Bilbo so 
my Gaffer doesn’t have to." 

"That must be nice for Frodo, to have someone nearer his age around." 
Merry said. 

Sam blushed furiously and looked extremely uncomfortable at the mention 
of Frodo's name, and Merry wondered if Frodo and Sam disliked each 
other. It didn't seem possible; Frodo was odd sometimes, but was never 
hard to get along with. It also seemed impossible that Frodo would not 
take to someone as honest and well-meaning as Samwise Gammgee. 

"Mister Frodo is a joy." Sam said eventually, but looked very embarrassed 
for saying it. 

"Are you sure you won't join me?" Merry asked, twirling one of Pippin's 
curls around his finger. He caught Sam looking at him, and made a point 
to sip the tea. 

"Honestly, Mister Merry, my work ain't doin' itself." Sam waved a hand 
through the kitchen door. "I should be getting back to it, or my Gaffer will 
be havin' to do more than he is fit for." 

Pippin shifted on the couch and made a series of fitful, uncomfortable 
noises. Lifting Pippin gently, Merry turned and leaned his back against the 
arm of the couch, tucking one leg under him and letting the other hang 
over the cushions. Then he carefully pulled Pippin up and laid him against 
his chest. Still sleeping, Pippin wrapped his arms around Merry and 
nestled his head under his chin. 

"Brat." Merry whispered to him fondly. "All you ever do is sleep. Or eat." 
He kissed Pippin's curls, and stroked his back. 

"Mister Merry." Sam said from the kitchen door. "Are you sure I can't 
bring you a bite? That bread is already baked, Mister Merry, it wouldn’t 
be any trouble. Or I could fry up some bacon." He looked at Merry 
hopefully. "Wouldn’t take more than a minute." 

Merry was going to refuse, but Sam looked quite miserable. "Alright, 
Sam, you win." 

"What would you like, Mister Merry?" Sam asked excitedly. 

"Whatever you have handy." Merry replied. "Please, don’t go to any 
bother." 

Merry was quite sure, however, that telling Samwise Gammgee not to go 
to any bother was like telling the sun not to rise. 

******

"You shouldn't tease Sam." Frodo said randomly, chewing on the end of 
his pipe. 

"What?" Merry asked, truly confused. He had no recollection of poking 
fun at the Sam. He frowned at Pippin, who was once again sleeping in his 
lap, and wondered if the lad had said something unpolite to the gardener. 

"Not the imp," Frodo said, following Merry's gaze. "You." 

"Did Sam tell you I teased him?" Merry asked. He frowned at Pippin's 
sleeping face again for good measure. 

Frodo laughed at Merry's honest befuddlement. "No." Frodo said, a wisp 
of smoke escaping his lips. "But you nearly drove him to distraction when 
you wouldn't let him feed you." 

"But he did feed me!" Merry exclaimed. "I really didn't want him to go to 
any bother, but I didn't think he was going to leave off me unless I ate 
something." 

Frodo chuckled. "He has gotten some definite ideas about propriety from 
his Gaffer."

"I noticed." Merry said wryly. 

"Oh, he means well." Frodo said. "Like I said, he has definite ideas. If Bag 
End has guests, then they are to be fed, and that is that as far as Sam is 
concerned."

"Did he really think I was teasing him?" Merry asked.

"He did." Frodo said. "But not about the food. He thought you were 
teasing when you asked him to sit with you." 

"I really was not." Merry said. "He seems like a nice lad, and since is 
working here, I thought I would get to know him." 

"He is a nice lad." Frodo said. Merry thought his tone grew warmer. "I 
would very much like for Sam and I to be friends, but he is set in his ways. 

He gets quite flustered when I ask him to join me for a meal." 

"Has he ever?" 

"He will, now and then." Frodo said. "He wouldn't at first, and would get 
all fussy about how it wasn't fitting. I finally coaxed him into it a few 
months past. Now, every once and awhile he will humor me when I ask." 

"Don’t worry." Merry said. "I remember Bilbo telling me that his Gaffer 
was fussy when he started working here, but they managed to become dear 
friends over the years. Sam will come around." 

"I hope so." Frodo said.

It might have been the way the firelight was playing across Frodo's face, 
but Merry was quite sure that Frodo was blushing. 

******

"Come on, Pip." Merry said, prodding the lump under the blanket. "We 
have to get going." 

"I don’t feel good." Pippin said. He made a pitiful face, and groaned. 

"What?" Merry asked. He sat on the edge of the bed, and studied his 
younger cousin. "You look fine." 

"But I don’t feel fine." Pippin whined. 

"What doesn't feel fine?" Merry asked. "Your stomach? Your head?" 

"Both." Pippin said. He gave another moan, and clutched his stomach 
under the blankets.

"Pippin, are you playing with me?" 

"No, Merry. Honest. I don't feel good." 

"Mister Merry?" Merry turned to see Sam in the doorway. "I was 
wondering what you and Mister Pippin wanted for second breakfast 
before--" He paused when his glance fell on Pippin, who looked piteous. 

"Is the lad alright?" 

"Pippin says he is not feeling well." Merry said. 

"Well, what is the matter, Mister Pippin?" Sam asked, taking a few steps 
into the room.

"My tummy hurts, and my head." 

Sam leaned over Pippin, and laid his hand on his forehead. "Well, you 
aren't havin' a fever, I don't think." Sam considered Pippin for a moment. 

"How is your stomach hurtin'? Is it pained, or does it feel like your first 
breakfast is comin' back up?"

"Both." Pippin said. 

Sam clucked his tongue thoughtfully. Then he pulled the blanket back and 
pressed Pippin's stomach in a few places. Pippin groaned fitfully each time 
Sam poked, and the gardener made sympathetic noises. Then Sam opened 
each of Pippin's eyes wide, and felt up and down each side of Pippin's 
throat. 

"Interesting." Sam said. Then he caught Merry's eyes, and made a slight 
nod towards the doorway with his head. Sam got up and walked out the 
door, and Merry followed him.

"Is he alright?" Merry asked nervously. 

Sam shifted about uncomfortably, not wanting to speak. Merry gave him a 
reassuring look. Sam was about to speak, when Frodo poked his head bout 
of his room.

"What is going on?" Frodo asked. 

"Pippin is sick." Merry said. 

"Samwise should take a look at him." Frodo said. "He knows what he is 
about. He has fixed me up when I was under the weather a few times." 
Sam blushed furiously at the praise, and looked even more uncomfortable. 
"Sam already had a look at him, but he won't tell me what he thinks." 

Merry replied. 

"Beggin' your pardon, Mister Merry." Sam whispered. "Is not really my 
place to be sayin' anything." 

"But?" Merry asked. 

"But, I am not findin' anything wrong with the lad." 

"What?" Merry asked incredulously. Sam gave a jump, and looked very 
apologetic. "You are saying that he is making it up?" 

"Well," Sam began, but trailed off. 

"Go on, Sam." Frodo encouraged. "Merry wouldn't have asked if he didn't 
want to know your mind." 

"Well, if he was my lad, and I know that he is not, mind, but if he was, I 
would be tellin' him to quit being a lay-about, and I'd be givin' him a good 
thump for tellin' tales." 

"Truly?" Merry looked at Sam's honest face, and knew that the gardener 
was telling the truth. 

"My gammer is a bit of a healer, Mister Merry, if you want me to get her." 
Sam offered. 

"Oh no, Sam, I believe you. If you say he is well, then he is well." 

"But why would be act sick if he isn't?" Frodo wondered. 

Merry slapped his forehead, and called himself three kinds of idiot. 

"Pearl's birthday." He announced. 

"What?" Frodo and Sam both asked. 

"Pearl's birthday party. He doesn’t want to go. He near drove me insane on 
the way here, arguing about it. I should have known he was up to 
something when he let the subject drop so abruptly." 

Suddenly, Merry's eyes flashed, and he got a mischievous look oh his face. 
Frodo groaned, remembering that face from when Merry had been a young 
boy at Brandy Hall. 

"What are you planning, Meriadoc?" Frodo asked. 

"Samwise?" Merry asked sweetly. "Do you think you mother would mind 
coming and having a look at the lad?" 

******

"Is this the poor, sick lad?" 

Bell Gammgee was sweet old lass, with a friendly smile and a kind word 
for everyone. Sam had told his mother that they were having a joke on 
Pippin, but Merry never would have guessed, the way she coddled the 
lying brat and fussed over him like he was the sickest little boy she had 
ever laid eyes on.

"Dear, sweet child." She fussed, stroking his cheek. "I am just needin' a 
quick peek under the covers." Pippin looked plagued as she peeled the 
blankets back and poked at his stomach, just like her son had. 

"Oh, dearheart." She said, giving Pippin the widest, sympathetic eyes 
Merry had ever seen. "It must be hurtin' you something awful." 

Merry glanced at Frodo, who was almost crying from the strain of not 
laughing. Sam brought a hand to his mouth and looked everywhere but 
Pippin, trying desperately to keep a straight face. 

"Now, let me get a look at your precious face." Bell Gammgee said. She 
did the same bit that Sam had done, pulling open his eyes and feeling on 
his throat. She also peered up his nostrils and looked down his throat. She 
murmured to Pippin as she worked, assuring him that he was just the best 
little boy in the Shire. 

Merry was quite sure he was going to die. The need to laugh was growing 
painful, and every time he looked at Frodo or Sam and saw their 
discomfort, it got worse. 

"There, child." She said, patting Pippin's auburn curls. "You just rest easy, 
for a bit. I need to be havin' a word with the older lads." Bell Gammgee 
favored Pippin with another sappy smile, and herded the other hobbits into 
the hallway. 

Once in the hallway, Merry, Frodo and Sam nearly collapsed with silent 
giggles. Bell snickered a bit herself, and then patted at the lads until they 
were fit to speak.

"The lad's as healthy as they come." Bell said, once the other three had 
composed themselves. Then she turned and raised an eyebrow at Merry. 

"Have you been ignorin' the lad, that he needs to be playin' sick to get 
attention?" 

Frodo gave a snort, and Sam choked so hard Merry thought he was going 
to die. "Ignored?" Then Frodo laughed. "I assure you, Mistress Gammgee, 
there is not a more spoiled lad in the Shire." 

"Well, I wouldn't know what he is on about then." Bell said. "But is not a 
bit wrong with him." She eyed Merry again. He smiled winningly, and she 
softened.

Then Bell handed him a small bottle that she had produced from one of 
her apron pockets. "You give him a dose or two of this." 

"Medicine?" Merry asked. "But I thought he was fine." 

"Oh, he is fine." She assured. "Its not medicine, but the lad isn't knowin' 
that." 

"What is it?" 

It was Sam who answered. "Black tea brewed too strong, with some 
pepper, a bit of pickle juice, and some vinegar." He made a face. "Won't 
heal a thing, but it won't be hurtin' him. Might make him think twice about 
playin' at sick again, if you are takin' my meaning." 

"How did you know?" Frodo asked him. 

And Bell Gammgee snorted. "Oh he knows." She said fondly. "Me boy 
was a lyin' brat once or twice, when he was the lads age." 

******

"Take your medicine, Pip." Merry said, trying to sound gentle. 

"What's the matter with me?" Pippin asked weakly. Merry had to admit, 
the boy did a fair job of acting sick. 

"Gammer Gammgee says you have a stomach flux." He said. 

"Oh." Pippin said. 

"So have a drink of this." Merry poured a swallow into a cup, and handed 
it to Pippin. Pippin eyed the stuff warily, and brought the cup halfway to 
his lips twice. 

"Go on." Merry coaxed. 

Pippin drank. His eyes bulged and watered, and his face turned bright red. 
He looked like he was going to spit it back into the cup, but Merry reached 
out and pinched his lips shut. Pippin fussed and kicked. Then, squeezing 

his eyes shut tight, he swallowed. 

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart." Merry soothed. 

******

"Wake up, Pip." Merry prodded him. "You need to take your medicine 
again." 

"No." Pippin said. "It tastes horrible." 

"I am sure it does." Merry said, trying not to smile. "But you need to take 
it, or you won’t get better." He offered Pippin the cup, which he eyed with 
disdain. 

"No." Pippin said again, shaking his head in with a flurry of auburn curls. 

"Peregrin Took." Merry warned. "You drink that, now." 

Pippin started to cry. Merry sat on the edge of the bed, unmoved. Pippin 
sobbed fitfully for a few moments. When Merry didn’t comfort him he 
stopped, snuffling. 

"Are you ready?" Merry asked, holding the cup out again. 

"I am not sick." Pippin said quietly. 

"What?" Merry asked, trying to appear shocked. 

"I said, I am not sick." 

Merry eyed the boy for a moment, allowing him to grow uncomfortable. "I 
know." 

"What?" Pippin's eyes widened. 

"I said, I know." 

"But--" 

"Sam knew there was nothing wrong with you." Merry explained. 

"What about the healer?" Pippin asked. 

"Sam's mother." Merry said. He could not help but be amused at the 
confusion on Pippin's face. 

"She is not a healer?" Pippin asked. 

"Oh, she is." Merry said. "But she knew there was naught wrong with you 
before she got here." 

Tears welled up in Pippin's green eyes as he realized that he had been 
tricked. He furrowed his brow, and stuck out his lower lip. He made a 
furious face, and then pointedly looked away from Merry.

"Oh don’t you dare." Merry snapped, infuriated by Pippin's indignant 
expression. "Don’t you dare get mad, after you lied first." 

"You tricked me." Pippin shouted. 

"And you lied." Merry gave back. "So we are even." Pippin narrowed his 
eyes, but then dropped his gaze onto the blankets. 

"So why don’t you tell me why you don’t want to go to Pearl's party." 
Merry asked. "And don’t tell me that you just don’t want to, or that you 
don’t like her. I want the real reason." 

"I just don’t." Pippin said stubbornly to the blankets. 

"Fine, then." Merry said. "Get dressed. We are leaving for the Smials 
within the hour." 

"No!" Pippin yelled, looking back up at Merry. He balled his fists and beat 
at the bed. 

"Pip." Merry said. "Tell me." He scooted closer to Pippin, and patted his 
leg over the blanket. "Something is wrong, or you would not be so against 
going. Just tell me." Merry waited, but Pippin said nothing. Sighing, 
Merry got up, and tossed Pippin his tunic. "Get dressed." He said as he 
headed for the door. 

"I don’t want you to go to the Smials." Pippin said finally, when Merry 
was almost at the door. 

"Why?" Merry asked, hurt. "Are you mad at me?" 

"No." Pippin said. "I love you." 

"Then why?" Merry asked. 

"Because." Pippin said. He screwed his face up, searching for the right 
words. "I got a letter from Pervinca right before we left Brandy Hall." 

"Really?" Merry asked, surprised. 

He was not surprised that he had gotten a letter, Pervinca wrote Pippin 
regularly when he was away from the Smials. He was surprised that 
Pippin had not told him. When Pervinca had first started writing, Merry 
had used the missives to help Pippin learn his letters. Once Pippin could 
read by himself, he would bring them to Merry, and read them aloud 
proudly, wanting to show Merry how smart he was. 

"What did it say?" Merry asked gently. If he had not mentioned this one, 
something in it must have upset him. "You can tell me." 

"Pervinca over heard my Da talking." Pippin said. Tears welled up in his 
eyes again. He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his nightshirt, and took a 
steadying breath before continuing. "Da was talking to Ma about you." 

"Me?" Merry asked, stunned. A roiling, nervous feeling gnawed at his 
belly. If it was about him, and had upset Pippin, it must be horrid. 

"My Da wants you to marry Nel." Pippin said. Then he burst into tears. 

"What?" Merry choked, jumping up from the bed, and taking a few steps 
back. Married? That was the craziest thing he had ever heard. He wasn't 
old enough to get married. And to Pimpernel? "What?" He asked again. 

"Here." Pippin fished through the tunic that Merry had tossed at him. He 
dug through the pockets, and produced a folded piece of parchment. "You 
read it." 

Merry eyed the letter like it was a poisonous snake. He took it gingerly 
when Pippin shoved it at him, and got a sinking feeling in his stomach 
when he unfolded it. 


Dear Pip, 

How have you been? I wish you would come home more often. We miss 
you. Pearl does, too. Even if she won’t admit it. She is excited about her 
birthday. I don't know why, because she is going to be old. 

I know I wrote you last week, but I have to tell you something and I just 
couldn't wait. Da and Ma were talking the other day, when they didn't 
think I could hear them. Da was telling Ma that he wants Pimpernel to 
marry Merry. Ma got fussy about it, and said that people would think 
Merry and Nel are too closely related, but Da told her she was being silly. 
He said that he is the Thain, and Uncle Saradoc is the Master of Brandy 
Hall, and they can do what they want. I guess he wrote to Uncle Saradoc 
about it, because he told Ma that Uncle Saradoc thought it was a good 
idea to, but they aren’t going to say anything to Merry or Nel until they 
get older. 

Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Merry would be like real family, not just 
cousins. He would be our brother! Pearl might be mad though. I heard her 
telling Peony Hornblower once that she wanted to marry Merry, because 
he was going to be the Master of Brandy Hall one day. That is just stupid, 
though, because she is too old for him. 

Hurry up and come home!

Love, 

Vinca


The sinking feeling in Merry's belly grew, and swallowed him whole. His 
knees buckled, and he sat down on the floor with a thud. 

"Is that why you didn't want to go to Pearl's party?" Merry asked softly. 

"Because of you Da wants me to marry your sister?" 

"Uh-huh." Pippin sniffed. He looked at Merry sadly, and then burst into 
tears again. The sobs were strong, making his whole body shake, and he 
began to wail. 

"Please don’t cry, Pip." Merry said. He forced his useless legs to work, 
and pulled himself up onto the bed. Shaking, he crawled over to lay next 
to Pippin. 

"But it hurts so much." Pippin choked out between the sobs. "It just hurts. 
I can't bear the thought of it." He looked over at Merry, and the sobs 
started anew. 

Merry sat up, and pulled Pippin into his lap. "Please, Pip. Don’t cry." He 
begged, unable to bear his cousin being so distraught. He rocked Pippin 
gently, and covered his face with kisses. 

"I won't see you ever again." Pippin sobbed. 

"Pippin--" Merry trailed off, unable to think. 

"No." Pippin said. He wrapped his arms around Merry so tightly that 
Merry found it difficult to breathe. "You and Nel will get rooms in Brandy 
Hall and I won't get to live with you anymore and you won't have time to 
play with me because you and Nel will have babies and you wont think 
about me anymore and I will miss you so bad it would kill me." Pippin 
sagged against Merry's chest, trying to catch his breath from the long 
string of words. 

"Stop, Pip. Please." Merry said, tears streaming down his face. Pippin's 
misery was so fierce that it was breaking Merry's heart, and his words 
were scaring him. 

"But it is true." Pippin said despondently. "It would kill me, because you 
wouldn’t be there anymore. I wouldn't get to play with you anymore, or 
take a nap on your chest. You wouldn’t be there to pull my hair or yell at 
me when I have been bad or tickle me or kiss my nose." He sobbed again, 
the force of it shaking Merry as well. "You wouldn't be there to tell me 
you love me." 

He tried to imagine his life without Pippin in it everyday. If he got 
married, Pippin would go back to living in the Smials. If Merry was tied 
down with a family, visits would be few, and it would never again be just 
the two of them. There would be no more picnics together, or swims in the 
river. They would never get to take naps together, or sit up all night 
talking. 

He tried to picture not seeing Pippin's sweet, smiling face everyday, and it 
made his chest hurt. 

"Listen, Pippin." Merry said, desperately. "You are getting upset for 
nothing." 

"Nothing?" Pippin pulled away from him, his face screwed up in anger. "I 
am never going to see you again, and you are saying that it is nothing." 

"That is not what I am saying, goose." Merry said, pulling Pippin back to 
him. "You will see me everyday until you die, if I have anything to do 
with it, because I love you."

"I love you, too." Pippin squeezed him again. "But how are you going to 
see me everyday?" 

"Easy." Merry said with a wink. "I just won't marry her. It is not like they 
can make me."

******

Merry sighed as he watched Pippin play, leaning against the bole of a tree. 
Pippin and a few other boys from the party were kicking a ball around in 
the grass. Pippin had wanted Merry to play, but Merry had had more too 
much ale for all that running around. 

A shadow fell over his field of view, and he looked up to see a girl 
standing over him. He eyed the girl in the poor light, and jumped to his 
feet, ale or no, when he saw who it was.

"Pimpernel." He said pleasantly. He hoped he did not look as nervous as 
he felt. He had seen Nel numerous times since he and Pippin and the Bag 
End folk arrived, but he had been studiously avoiding being alone with 
her. 

"Meriadoc." She said, just as pleasantly. Merry did not note any 
nervousness in her tone, and she looked very calm and collected. They 
stayed silent for a long while, staring at each other and avoiding each 
other's eyes by turns. Finally, Pimpernel spoke. 

"Pervinca told me that she wrote Pippin." She said, almost sounding 
casual. 

"She did." Merry replied. 

"She is a damn fool." Nel said. "When she told me, I asked her not to 
mention it too him." She watched Pippin play for a few minutes, pursing 
her lips thoughtfully. "Is he upset?"

"Yes." Merry said. 

"I knew he would be." Nel said. "It would break my heart to hurt him like 
that." 

"They can't make us get married if we don’t want to, can they?" Merry 
regretted the words as soon as they were out, and when Pimpernel's eyes 
flashed, he cursed himself, and the ale. 

"Do you not want to?" She asked. 

"It is not that." Merry said, trying to get his ale-muddled brain to choose 
the words carefully. "I was concerned that you would not want to." 

Nel eyed him suspiciously, and looked like she thought Merry was the 
biggest liar west of the Brandywine. 

"I would want to, if I did not know better." She said. 

"What?" 

"Oh, Meriadoc. You are my cousin, and I love you dearly" Nel said. She 
reached up and touched his face lightly. "You are more than pretty 
enough, and you are very sweet. And you will be the Master of Brandy 
Hall one day. I would have nothing to lose." 

"But?" Merry asked. 

"Pippin stole your heart the day he was born." She said. "There is no room 
in there for me." 


***TBC***

TITLE: Wherever You Are Is Home 
AUTHOR: Pervinca Took (PervincaTook@yahoo.com) 
PAIRING: Merry/Pippin with a heavy dash of Frodo/Sam 
RAITING: PG/PG-13 
SUMMARY: A bit of fun before and during the Long-Expected Party. 
Merry tries to ignore the obvious, Pippin is a brat, and Merry is awfully 
suspicious of Frodo and Sam.  
DISCLAIMER: These boys are not mine, nor am I making money from 
them. Portions of Bilbo's speech, from The Fellowship of the Ring, belong 
solely to J.R.R Tolkien and his Estate (©1954, 1965, and 1982) 
WARNING: almost-slash. They are not there yet, but they are getting 
close. 
FEEDBACK: Please. 
ARCHIVE: Please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTE: its 1401 in the Shire Reckoning. Pippin is 11, Merry 
is 19, Sam is 21, and Frodo is 32/33

********************************************************

Chapter 5

"Bilbo is up to something." Frodo said quietly. 

"How do you know that?" Merry asked, eyeing Frodo over the rim of his 
teacup.

"I just do." Frodo said simply. He sipped his tea, and picked half-heartedly 
at the edge of his scone. "He has been talking about seeing mountains 
again, in a way that makes me think he means too." 

Frodo looked up at the sound of Samwise coming through the kitchen, and 
watched him as he set a bag of potatoes on the floor. He pursed his lips 
thoughtfully at Sam, his fingers still fiddling with the scone. 

"Are the scones not to your liking, Mister Frodo?" Samwise asked, 
looking like he would lay down and die if Frodo said they were not.

"Hmm?" Frodo said. "Oh, no Samwise, the scones are delicious." Merry 
noted that Frodo had yet to take a bite of his. Sam noted this too, by his 
expression, but was not about to contradict Frodo. "I am just…" 

"Beggin' your pardon, Mister Frodo." Sam said when Frodo trailed off. "I 
could help hearing you and Mister Merry speaking." He shifted 
uncomfortably, looking like he expected reproach for eavesdropping. "But 
you shouldn't take on so, Mister Frodo. You really shouldn't."

"No, Sam?" Frodo asked. Merry noted a hint of amusement in Frodo's 
voice. 

"Not that I am knowing anythin', Mister Frodo." Sam said. "But no. Mister 
Bilbo is a mite old to be taking off anywhere or traipsing up mountains. 
And he will be even older in a week, if you are takin' my meaning. I know 
that Mister Bilbo has been acting a bit queer and all, but I think that all 
this fuss about the party has gotten him wound up." 

"You are probably right, Sam." Frodo said absently. Sam beamed at the 
praise, and then patted Frodo's shoulder lightly. Frodo reached up and 
squeezed Sam's hand, and then turned his attention back to the scone. 
"Sam is probably right." Merry put it. Something about Sam patting Frodo 
struck him as odd, but Merry didn't get a chance to ponder it.

Merry's chair rocked violently, and the air was knocked out of him as 
Pippin vaulted into his lap. It had been a tight squeeze. Pippin's back had 
jostled the table into Frodo, making Frodo's chair tip backwards 
dangerously. Frodo had not landed on the floor because Sam had been 
quick. 

"Master Peregrin!" Sam exclaimed loudly, holding the back of Frodo's 
chair with white knuckles. "You are too big for all that flying about. You 
upset the table, and you nearly put Mister Frodo here on the floor." He 
stayed next to Frodo's chair, as if he expected Pippin to send it flying 
again. 

"I am sorry." Pippin said excitedly, bouncing in Merry's lap. "I was just 
happy to see Merry." He touched his nose to Merry's, and wrinkled it. 

"You have been seein' Mister Merry all day, everyday, for near a week 
now." Sam said crossly. "Were you thinkin' that he disappeared while you 
were out tramplin' though Mister Bilbo's garden?"

"Pip." Merry said, with an exasperate sigh. "I told to stay out of the 
garden." 

"I didn't." Pippin said. His tone was a bit too defensive for his innocent 
expression. 

"Pippin, Sam would not have saiyou were in the garden if you'd not been." 

"Just one time. I was chasing a duck." Pippin explained. "It wasn't my 
fault that it ran through the garden." 

"But it is your fault that you continued to chase it though the garden, when 
I told you to stay out of the garden. There will be nothing to eat if you rip 
up all of Bilbo's vegetables."

"Sorry, Merry." Pippin said, and hugged Merry around the neck. 

Merry leaned around Pippin to ask Frodo something, but his words caught 
in his mouth. Sam had snatched his hand up and stuffed it in his pocket. It 
looked like Sam had been holding Frodo's hand. Merry studied the pair, 
btu they were both wearing unreadable expressions. They were also 
pointedly not looking at Merry. 

Abruptly, Merry forgot about Sam and Frodo, as a familiar tingling started 
growing low in his belly.

Pippin, who had wanted to know what Merry was looking at, had twisted 
around in his lap to look behind him. Merry growled quietly as Pippin 
wiggled, and shifted uncomfortably, cursing the stirring in his pants. 
Recently, the thing had grown a mind of its own, and often sprang to life 
with little to no provocation. And Pippin, who was always crawling all 
over him, was constantly bumping the thing and waking it up. 

"Pippin." He said gently. "Why don’t you go play?" He needed Pippin off 
his lap, and quickly. If is cousin kept bouncing around on his crotch, 

Merry was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and he was not entirely 
sure he could explain it himself. 

"Will you play with me?" Pippin asked. 

"I have to help Frodo and Sam with the party." Merry said, shifting again. 
Pippin started to slide out of his lap, and he grabbed Merry's shoulders and 
started to inch himself back up Merry's legs. Merry groaned inwardly, and 
put his hands on Pippin's legs to stop him before his rump landed on 
something that he didn't need to know about. 

"But there is no one to play with." Pippin pouted. "I don’t like playing 
alone."

"Pippin." Merry said, warning. 

"Can I stay in here with you? I will be good." Pippin looked at him 
through his lashes. Merry sighed, but forced himself not to go soft. 

"No, Pippin." He said. "Go on. I will come out a play with you in a 
minute." 

Pippin stared at Merry for a minute thoughtfully, trying to decide it Merry 
was sending him away because he was angry with him. Merry kissed 
Pippin's forehead reassuringly, then looked over at Frodo again, trying to 
see if he had been crazy about that hand-holding business, but the moment 
was gone. Sam was in the corner of the kitchen, peeling the potatoes, and 
Frodo poking at his scone like was actually thinking about eating it. 

"Promise? You will come outside?" Pippin asked. 

"Yes, dearheart." Merry said. "If you promise to stay out of the garden." 

"No garden." Pippin said, turning quickly to give Sam's back a sour look. 

Merry turned Pippin's face back towards him, and gave him a stern look, 
holing Pippin's chin so that he had to look him in the eye. Pippin blushed a 
deep red. "I promise." 

"Alright. Be good." Merry said as Pippin slid off his lap. 

Pippin reached up and tugged at one of Merry's sandy curls. "You won't 
forget?" He asked. Merry shook his head. Pippin reached up and hugged 
Merry around the neck. He pulled back and gave Merry a quick kiss on the 
lips before bounding out the kitchen door. 

Merry was silent as he watched Pippin leave, and touched his lips with his 
fingers. 

******

"What did you do?" Merry asked angrily. He put his hands on his hips, 
and glared at his young cousin. 

"Nothing." Pippin said, shifting back and forth on his feet nervously. He 
kept shooting glances over his shoulder, like he expected the whole 
household to come barreling through the door. Merry was sure they would 
be at the door shortly.

"Bilbo wouldn't be mad if you didn't do anything."

"It was an accident, Merry. Honest." Pippin's eyes got big, and his bottom 
lip quivered. He ran full force into Merry, and squeezed him. 

"Pippin Took." Merry began, but stopped short when he heard footsteps 
down the hall. He motioned for Pippin to get under the bed. He climbed on 
top of the bed, and opened a book. 

"I love you." Pippin whispered from under the bed. 

"Shhh!" Merry hissed. 

The door opened without a knock, producing Bilbo, who was as near to 
being in a lather as Merry had ever seen. He eyed Merry suspiciously, and 
glanced about the room. 

"Bilbo." Merry said pleasantly, looking up from the book. He saw that he 
had opened the book upside down, and hoped Bilbo wouldn't notice.

"Don’t you 'Bilbo' me." The old hobbit said shortly. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Merry asked.

"That fool of a Took cousin of yours." Bilbo rapped soundly on the door 
of the stand-up wardrobe. He yanked the door open and batted at the 
clothes before turning back to Merry and fixing him with a level look. "I 
know he is in here."

"In here?" 

"Well, where else would he be?" Bilbo asked. "Frodo wouldn't hide him 
from me, and young Samwise is as furious at him as I am."

"Honestly, Bilbo. I haven't seen him." 

"Nonsense. Whenever he needs protecting, you are the one he goes to." 

Merry had to laugh, as Bilbo was speaking the truth. "What did he do this 
time?" He asked.

"He went tearing through the party grounds like a dragon was after him. 
He knocked over two party tables, cart of apples and upset the riggings for 
one of the pavilions." 

"I am sorry, Bilbo." Merry was. "When I see him, I will speak to him." 
That was the truth. As soon as Bilbo left, he was going to pull Pippin out 
from under the bed by his curly hair. 

Bilbo narrowed his eyes at Merry. Then he snorted. Loudly. "When you 
see him, you will kiss him, and tell him that he is your favorite cousin, and 
maybe, maybe, if you are feeling particularly cross, you will yank on one 
of his curls." Bilbo snorted again. 

"Bilbo--" Merry began, but was cut off by a silencing gesture from the old 
hobbit. 

"You are too soft on him Meriadoc." 

"I know, Bilbo." Merry said. "I can’t help it sometimes." 

"You need to help it." Bilbo said with an exasperated sigh. "You took over 
raising him the day he was born. No one else can tame him, Meriadoc, so 
you had better start taming him yourself." 

"Yes, Bilbo." Merry said quietly. "I will. And, I will go help with the mess 
he made on the party grounds." 

"No need." Bilbo said. "Young Samwise did it already. Which is why he is 
fit to switch Pippin's bottom himself." Merry nodded at Bilbo, but a surge 
of anger passed through him. Sam was fit to switch Pippin's bottom, was 
he? Merry would tan Sam's hide himself if he did. 

Of course, Frodo might have a better idea on what to do with Sam's hide, 
by the way things were looking.

"Fine, then." Bilbo said. "I will leave him to you, if I can trust that you 
give him more of a punishment than hugging him to death." Bilbo kicked 
the cedar chest at the foot of the bed, and cocked his head as if expecting 
to hear a squeak from inside. Then he narrowed his eyes at Merry, and 
walked out of the room. 

Pippin crawled out from under the bed as soon as Bilbo left. He stood at 
the side of the bed, watching Merry with wide, wet eyes. Merry stared 
back at him with a blank face, making Pippin uncomfortable. 

"I love you." Pippin said quietly, kicking one foot back and forth 
sheepishly. He looked at Merry's angry face, and dropped his eyes to the 
floor. 

"You always love me right after you have set the kitchen on fire." Merry 
said. He swung his legs over the bed and sat on the edge, right in front of 
Pippin. 

"But Merry." He took a step closer to Merry and looked up at him, smiling 
prettily.

"No." Merry grabbed Pippin by the shoulders, and held him at arms' 
length. "You listen." Merry said, carefully not looking directly in to those 
big green eyes so he could remain firm. "If you don’t start behaving 
yourself, you are leaving." 

"No!" Pippin screamed, yanking away from Merry's grasp violently. He 
searched Merry's face to see if he was making his usual type of half-
hearted threats, but saw a sternness in Merry's face that he had not seen 
before. 

"Don’t send me away, Merry. Please." Pippin started to cry. He threw 
himself on the bed next to Merry, and wrapped his arms around Merry's 
thigh. 

"Then behave!" Merry said. "Otherwise, I am sending you home." 

"But I am home."

"What?" Merry asked, thinking he had not heard him rightly. 

"Home is wherever you are." Pippin said, before releasing Merry's leg and 
burying his face in the coverlet, sobbing. 

Merry choked, and thought his heart was going to burst. He reached over 
and stroked Pippin's hair. "Don’t cry, Pip. Please don't cry." He knew he 
was going soft on him just like Bilbo had told him he would, but he 
couldn't help it. Pippin words had hit so deeply that he was shaking. 
"You don't love me." Pippin said into the coverlet. 

"Of course I love you." Merry said, trying to pull him in his lap. Pippin 
shrugged him off. "Why would you think that I don't?" He asked shakily. 
When Pippin had pulled away from him it had felt like someone had 
stabbed him in the heart. 

"Because you want to send me away."

"I don’t want to, but I am going to have to if you don’t start behaving 
yourself." Merry said. 

"No, you just don’t love me." Pippin looked up from the coverlet briefly, 
only to drop his head back down on the wet spot he had made with his 
tears. 

"Come here." Merry said, pulling at him again. Grudgingly, Pippin 
crawled up on top of Merry and laid on his chest. "I love you, Pippin. 
Always." He hugged Pippin close, but in the back of his mind he hoped 
that Pippin did not start squirming and wiggling, and wake something up 
like he had early. 

"Then why do you want to send me away from you." Pippin asked. He 
looked up, digging his chin into Merry's chest. 

"Because." Merry said. "Bilbo was right. I did take over raising you. But 
sometimes I love you so much it is hard for me to raise you right. So either 
you behave so I can raise you, or I will have to send you back home." 

"But I am home." Pippin said again, laying his head back down. 
It was Merry's turn to cry. Shaking, he stroked Pippin's back, and let the 
tears flow freely. What had he done to make Pippin love him so much? 

"Why are you crying, my Merry?" Pippin asked, when the force of Merry's 
sobs had been too strong to ignore. "Are you crying because I was bad?" 
He reached up and touched Merry's face, wiping away his tears. He moved 
up and laid his head on Merry's shoulder. 

"No, honey." Merry said, squeezing his cousin. Pippin was breathing on 
his neck. His breath was warm, but it made Merry shiver. "I just love you. 
That's all." 

"I love you, too." Pippin said. 

******

Frodo peeked into the guestroom that Merry had taken, and shook his 
head. He closed the door and walked back down the hallway, shaking his 
head again. 

"Is he in there?" Bilbo asked as Frodo passed him. 

"He is." Frodo said, chuckling. 

"I knew Merry was hiding him." Bilbo said. "I don’t know why he protects 
him that fool of a Took like he does." 

Frodo decided not to point out that Bilbo was half a Took himself, nor did 
he reply to the old Hobbit's comment. He thought he knew why Merry was 
so protective if the boy, but he wasn't sure yet. 

Frodo wasn't sure if Merry understood it himself, yet. 

"He will understand when Pippin grows up a bit, if he lets himself." Frodo 
muttered. 

"What was that, my boy?" Bilbo asked. 

"Oh, nothing, Bilbo." Frodo replied. "I didn’t say anything." 

"So what was his punishment?" Bilbo wondered. "Did Merry hug him to 
death, like I said he would?" 

"Oh no. Much more serious." Frodo said with a smile. Bilbo raised an 
eyebrow, and Frodo winked. "They are taking a nap together."

******

Merry ventured into the kitchen, yawning. Pippin had bounded out the 
door after their nap, eager to find new mischief. Merry had promised 
Pippin that he would join him, but he decided that he wanted a cup of tea 
before he went. 

He needed a cup of tea. Badly. 

He filled the teakettle and paced as it warmed. He needed to relax, and he 
needed to think. The tea will help, he thought. And maybe a scone. He 
made a perfunctory search of the kitchen for a leftover scone, but he knew 
that he didn't really want a one. 

He scowled