New Year`s ficlet for March 25.

Characters: Merry and Pippin

Timeline: Crickhollow, March 25, SR 1420

Note: I`m dedicating this to my regular beta, Marigold.Thanks to Ariel for super-quick and excellent beta!

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“Happy New Year Merry!” Pippin said, coming into the kitchen at Crickhollow. He sat down across from Merry and poured himself a cup of tea.

What? Merry looked up from his own cup of strong, hot tea. New Year? It was spring as far as he knew; they`d celebrated New Year at Yule. Unless…. How come time flew so fast? Was it already a year ago? He remembered that day as if it was yesterday

*****

As everyone else confined to the Houses of Healing and well enough to stay awake and think did, he waited. Waited and longed. For news and his friends. At first, when Pippin had left with Aragorn and the others to try to divert the Dark Lord`s gaze from Frodo and his perilous quest, he`d been crushed with fear for Pippin and a renewed fear for Sam and Frodo. Mostly he waited for the world to end. He tried to keep up hope. He talked to Èowyn and Faramir, trying to bring hope and encouragement to them at least. But in the dead of the night, when the world was silent and he lay awake in fear of falling asleep just to wake up to the news of the death of his friends or to the end of the world, his thoughts spun in circles, always winding down to three little words that named the world to him. Pippin, Frodo and Sam. How was Pippin managing among the Men and the soldiers with no other hobbit around to look out for him and see to that he had what he needed, that he didn`t eat too many sweets or that he got his rest? How were Frodo and Sam faring? Merry`s heart had leapt with joy when Pippin told him Faramir had seen them together a few days earlier and it leapt with joy again when Faramir told him about it himself. But how were they faring now? Where were they? Merry tried to remember the maps he had learned by heart in Rivendell, but either his thoughts were too muddled to think straight or he hadn`t found any maps with details of Mordor because he couldn`t remember reading the names of the places Faramir had said they were going to. And that wretched Gollum was with them! That could not mean anything good, now, could it?

Finally, the healers had started to give him sleeping draughts with his supper. He fell into an exhausted sleep one morning after breakfast as he sat in the garden surrounding the Houses, and slept the sleep of the oblivious until he awoke to a late breakfast the day after.

March 25^th. Ten days after he was wounded. Seven days after Pippin and the others left. His days had become a routine. After breakfast he would take a walk in the gardens, alone or with Èowyn or Faramir. Sharing fate and fears, they had fast become friends. Merry felt himself striving harder and harder to keep hope up as the days went by, but for the sake of his friends he tried. On the morning of the 25^th, he had woken to an uneasiness and an apprehension he couldn`t quite place. Something was about to happen, but he couldn`t figure out what it was. The sleeping draughts left him sluggish and groggy for a good while after waking, but this new feeling had nothing to do with the despair and fear he had felt earlier. As was his wont, he went to the garden, but found it empty.

Suddenly the earth began to shake and Merry fell more than sat down on a bench. The ground rumbled and for an instant he wondered if the City would fall, clinging to the peak of a mountain as it was. When nothing so dire happened, Merry shot to his feet, looking about wildly for a moment to see if any damage was done, but everything looked to be like it had just a moment ago. He ran [BoF1] over to the wall and tried to see over it, the need to know winning over his numbing fear of heights. He wasn't quite tall enough so he scrambled up on a bench and looked down on the buildings and streets below, but it didn`t look like any houses had fallen in or any people come to harm. He could see some of the people on the fifth and sixth level though, all of them looking to the east and so he followed their gaze. Smoke seemed to be rising from afar and a shadow that had been lying over the City seemed to be drawing back to reveal clear daylight and an unveiled sun.

A cheer rose up from the City and Merry wondered if Frodo had succeeded. Was the Ring destroyed? A surge of joy and hope suddenly rose up like bubbles inside him and Merry felt himself smile – a genuine, wide smile. He felt the last week`s despair and fears lift off of him and he felt like singing. Calming a little, Merry sat down on the bench to think and take stock. He felt fine, well, his arm still ached and some bruises he had gained during the battle weren't completely healed and he was a mite groggy from the last night`s sleeping draught still, but he wasn`t delirious and he wasn`t dreaming. He needed to confirm his thoughts and find out what was happening so he went inside to search for Faramir and Èowyn.

*****

Now, sitting in the house at Crickhollow, he knew it had been true. Frodo had indeed succeeded and the world was saved.

“Merry?” Pippin said, reaching over to take Merry`s right hand in his.

“Hm… Oh, yes. Happy New Year, Pippin!” Merry said, clasping Pippin`s hand over his and squeezing a little, smiling. “Happy New Year indeed!” He rose his cup and looked Pippin in the eye.

“To Frodo!”

END