A/N: Written for Marigold’s Challenge 15. Movie-verse; italicized lines are borrowed from the film except for one, which is credited at the end. Thank you to Pipwise for the beta :)

*

At one time, perhaps, he would have been in awe of his surroundings, but Pippin found no joy in his first glimpse of the Sea. He glanced at Merry and Sam and saw their faces alight with wonder; Frodo, however, appeared uneasy. Pippin wondered how his cousin would cope with Bilbo leaving again, and this time going to a place from which no one returned.

But the moment Pippin was dreading, more so than Bilbo’s departure, was saying farewell to Gandalf. When Gandalf fell years before, there had been no time for goodbyes, and even after that terrible experience it was still impossible for Pippin to imagine a world without Gandalf in it.

Now as they lingered by the Sea, Gandalf took a few steps toward the ship before turning back to face his friends. Already there seemed to be an unseen barrier between him and the hobbits, a high wall separating them as much as their physical distance soon would.

Leaning on his staff, Gandalf smiled at their desperate attempts to hold back tears. “Farewell, my brave hobbits.”

“Do you have to leave, Gandalf?” Pippin could not help but ask, his voice trembling a little. Merry reached for his hand, and Pippin squeezed back just as tightly.

“Yes, Peregrin, I must,” Gandalf said heavily. “My work is now finished. Here at last on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship.”

Sighing shakily, Pippin looked away, finding no solace in that sort of farewell. After a moment he glanced up and met Gandalf’s eyes once more, and was surprised to find the wizard studying him intently.

The terrible distance receded as Gandalf walked back until he stood beside Pippin. “Do you remember the conversation we had in Minas Tirith?”

“I-” Pippin faltered, desperately wishing not to look foolish during their last moments together. “We had so many conversations. I do not know if I remember each and every one.”

Gandalf’s gaze became stern, and at once he seemed transformed into the old and grouchy grey wizard of before. But then he laughed a little, and smiled fondly at Pippin.

“Yes, we did do a great deal of talking, Peregrin Took. I believe I shall miss your questions.”  His expression turned serious once more. “Let me try to recall my exact words. I told you once of a place with white shores, a far green country…”

“Under a swift sunrise,” Pippin finished quietly, the memory bringing him to tears. “I do remember that.”

“I go now to that place,” Gandalf continued. “But I fear that I misled you, my lad, in my attempt to comfort you in the midst of all that horror in Minas Tirith.” He looked at each hobbit in turn, commanding their attention. “This is very important for each of you to understand: The passage over Sea is not Death. The land in the West is merely a place where people go when they cannot continue to make their home here in Middle-earth.”

“You’re just as confusing as ever, Gandalf,” Pippin declared, sniffling loudly. He discovered that he could not stop his tears.

Smiling a little, Gandalf gently patted Pippin’s shoulder. “In the West there is a land as green as your Shire, Pippin. It has never been touched by evil, and so it gives healing and peace to all who enter. Healing that cannot be found on these shores.” Glancing at Frodo, Gandalf appeared to give a nod of encouragement. Pippin’s eyes followed the exchange and he was astonished to discover that Frodo had not yet shed a tear.

“It is a good place,” Gandalf concluded, his attention returning to Pippin. “A place of comfort and healing. Does that ease your mind?”

Thinking of all that Gandalf had said, Pippin found himself smiling a little through his tears. “I suppose it doesn’t sound so bad.”

Gandalf smiled in return. “It isn’t. And remember this, Pippin: just because our fellowship must end, our friendship does not.” Gandalf stooped then and kissed Pippin’s brow, his beard scratchy against the hobbit’s forehead, and Pippin wrapped his arms around Gandalf’s neck in a final hug.

Before Gandalf pulled away, he whispered in Pippin’s ear. “You must be strong now, my lad. For yourself and for your cousin.”

Pippin glanced at Gandalf questioningly, but the wizard’s eyes were unreadable as he straightened up and pulled away.

“I will,” Pippin promised, and hastily wiped at his eyes in a vain attempt to hide his tears.

Gandalf noticed, as he always noticed everything, and smiled at all four hobbits. “I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.”

Turning, Gandalf made his way to the ship once more. At length he paused and looked back at the hobbits. "It is time, Frodo.”

It hardly seemed real, and for one horrible instant Pippin thought it was a joke. But it was not in Gandalf’s nature to jest about something so important, and already Frodo was giving the Red Book to Sam and saying goodbye to Merry.

For the first time in Pippin’s life his voice fled, and he found he could say and do nothing other than hug Frodo for the last time. Frodo rubbed his back a little, a habit from years before when Pippin would come to him with scraped knees, and now this small gesture soothed Pippin enough that he managed to meet Frodo’s gaze with almost-dry eyes.

As he watched Frodo board the ship hand-in-hand with Gandalf, it seemed strange to Pippin that he and Merry and Sam had spent so much time following Frodo only to watch him leave without them at last. But when Frodo looked back from the ship smiling as he once did, Pippin recalled Gandalf’s words from just a few moments before and knew deep in his heart that they were true.

Gandalf had called it a land of healing and peace, Pippin remembered as he managed a smile for Frodo. Healing and peace, it seemed, had already begun.

Lines Used:

Italicized lines come from the ROTK and its EE cast commentary, except for “The passage over Sea is not Death,” which is found in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #181.