Song by the Sea

A/N: This story takes place in Shirebound's "Healed" universe, at the time of the Epilogue. Shirebound, thanks so much for giving me this plotbunny and letting me play in the Healed-verse! :)

*

Pippin stood on the shore squishing his toes in the wet sand. Nearby Galadriel and Celebrían sat on a blanket, two large baskets containing a picnic lunch at their feet. Sitting upon a sand dune some distance away were Gandalf and Frodo, speaking so quietly that the sound of the surf overwhelmed their voices. Pippin frowned as he watched them.

"Pippin?" Elrond said, crouching down beside the child and regarding him with concern. "What is wrong?"

"Why isn't Frodo swimming today? Is he sad?" Pippin asked in return, still watching. "Maybe he has a tummy-ache," he wondered half to himself, his tiny face pinched with worry.

Elrond turned his head, and together he and Pippin gazed down the beach, studying the hobbit and wizard sitting together.

"I think Frodo is feeling curious today, and wants to ask Gandalf some questions," Elrond finally said before returning his attention to the young hobbit beside him. With a mischievous grin Elrond tickled Pippin's own rounded belly. "Surely you know what it is like to be curious!"

Squealing with laughter, Pippin scrambled away before returning to grab Elrond's hand, tugging him closer to the sea. "You and Bilbo promised me a swimming lesson," Pippin reminded him.

"We did," Elrond agreed, smiling as they approached the other hobbits frolicking in the water.

Frodo and Bilbo had been anxious to learn how to swim almost from the moment they had stepped off the ship, and Elrond had taught them. They had been eager students who learned quickly, and later proved to be wonderful teachers, instructing Sam and then Merry when they arrived.

The four of them had grown to be talented swimmers, and spent many days racing each other along the coast. But Pippin was afraid of being left alone in the water and yet desperate to learn how to swim. He had struggled from the start, and so his instruction had become a group effort.

With one final splash directed at Merry and Sam, Bilbo bounded out of the water and grabbed Pippin's other hand.

"Are you ready for your lesson?" he asked, brushing his damp, pale curls out of his eyes.

Pippin nodded bravely and waded up to his waist in the water, the waves gently lapping against him. Elrond and Bilbo waited patiently, knowing that Pippin needed some time to prepare himself. A short distance away Merry and Sam watched as they treaded water.

"Ready!" Pippin announced and Elrond lifted him, carefully turning the young hobbit over onto his stomach. Bilbo tightly clasped Pippin's hands and began walking backward as Pippin kicked his feet.

"Very good," Elrond said approvingly as Merry and Sam cheered.

"Swim to us, Pip!" Merry called. Pippin glanced up at Elrond, who smiled and instructed Bilbo to let go of Pippin's hands.

Bilbo complied and for a few moments Pippin managed to keep himself afloat, paddling his arms and kicking his legs. Though Elrond and Bilbo stayed nearby, Pippin grew increasingly aware that he was swimming alone. The familiar fear soon took hold of him, and before long Pippin had forgotten to use his arms and legs and found himself sinking below the surface.

Quickly, Elrond pulled the coughing and sputtering hobbit from the water.

"I'm sorry," Pippin murmured, his eyes filling with tears of frustration and disappointment.

"Ssh, do not cry," Elrond soothed, balancing Pippin on his hip as the small child clung to him. "You will learn in time."

Pippin sniffled loudly but did not answer. Just then the older hobbits shouted in excitement, and Elrond glanced up to see a family of dolphins approaching.

"Look, Pippin," he said, directing the child’s attention to the dolphins. The sound of laughter alerted Elrond to Frodo’s presence, and he watched with a smile as the hobbit raced down the stretch of sand and leapt into the water with a large splash.

Tears forgotten, a smile lit up Pippin's face as well as he watched Frodo swim to Bilbo, Sam and Merry, all of whom were gathering around the dolphins.

"Do you want to see the dolphins, too?" Elrond asked quietly. Pippin nodded, and Elrond carried him to where the other hobbits watched, laughing, as the dolphins jumped high into the air, soaking their small audience each time they returned to the water.

"Come here, Pippin!" Frodo called, waving him over with a grin.

Pippin wriggled a bit in Elrond's arms, anxious to join his friends. Carefully Elrond lowered him to the water, holding Pippin's hands tightly as the young hobbit bobbed above the surface, kicking his legs slowly.

Several of the dolphins hung back shyly but two of them came forward. They seemed to stand upright in the water, balancing on their fins as the hobbits watched in delight. Frodo patted the smaller one on its bottle-shaped nose, and the dolphin whistled shrilly, its call answered by the other.

"They're speaking to us," Sam said in awe, and all five hobbits grew quiet, trying to understand what was being said.

The dolphins continued to whistle for a few moments, their voices blending like a song, when suddenly another voice joined them, nearly as high as their own.

It was Pippin, mimicking the dolphins' call. He successfully imitated its pitch and cadence as the dolphins quieted, gazing at him with interest. The larger one whistled softly.

"Do it again, Pippin," Frodo whispered, and Pippin did, calling to the dolphins in a series of whistles.

Suddenly the dolphins swam forward and tugged Pippin from Elrond's grasp with their fins, carrying him away between them.

"Pippin!" Merry cried, starting to swim after them.

"Wait, Merry, it's all right," Frodo said, grabbing the younger child and holding him still.

"They might hurt him," Merry protested, still trying to break free.

"No, they won't," Frodo replied, watching with a gentle smile. "They mean only to teach him."

Merry calmed, looking up at Frodo curiously before turning his gaze to where the dolphins swam nearby, still holding Pippin between them.

Pippin was strangely unafraid. He remained nestled between the dolphins, so enchanted by their pleasant whistles that he unconsciously began kicking his feet and stroking the water with his arms. Only when the dolphins slowly drifted away did Pippin realize that he was swimming alone.

"Pippin, you're doing it! You're swimming!" Merry exclaimed happily.

Growing pale, Pippin looked down at the deep sea beneath him and felt the familiar panic rising in his chest. He started to sink, but found himself lifted by the strong fin of a dolphin, keeping him above the water. Both dolphins continued to swim alongside him, whistling quietly, and their voices encouraged him, causing Pippin to kick his legs and paddle his arms in earnest.

"Go, Pippin! Come on!" his friends shouted, cheering loudly as he slowly swam toward them, relying on his own strength to propel himself through the water. Finally Pippin reached his friends and stopped beside them, treading the water with ease.

"That wasn't so bad," Pippin admitted with a laugh. He glanced back at the two dolphins and whistled at them, wishing to thank them in some way.

The dolphins seemed to understand, and whistled in return before swimming forward, followed by the rest of their kin. Soon the hobbits and Elrond were surrounded by nearly a dozen dolphins, each one whistling and chirping in contentment as the hobbits patted their sleek skin and playfully splashed them with water.

Two of the largest dolphins broke from the group and swam a short distance away, whistling loudly.

"They want us to follow," Frodo said, and he and the hobbits swam after them, with Elrond close behind. Though Pippin's movements were at times slow and awkward, he managed to swim without any help from his friends.

Frodo and Bilbo reached the dolphins first and were hoisted up and carried away, clinging to the dolphins' backs as they shrieked with joy. Three more dolphins swam up and allowed Sam, Merry and Pippin to ride on them as well.

The dolphins skimmed along the water for some time, doing a few short jumps that thrilled the children riding upon them. Finally they returned the hobbits to Elrond and bid them goodbye with a series of loud whistles.

For a long while the hobbits and Elrond remained, watching the dolphins swim toward the horizon. When they could see their new friends no longer they turned and headed back to the shore where Gandalf, Galadriel and Celebrían stood ankle-deep in the water, smiling as they waited for the swimmers to return.

The hobbits clambered out of the sea, shaking water droplets from their curls and talking excitedly about the dolphins before the loud rumbling of a stomach or two interrupted their chatter.

"Is it lunchtime yet, Bri?" Frodo asked eagerly.

"Yes," Celebrían replied, laughing as the hobbits cheered and took off running for the picnic baskets. Only Pippin lagged behind, facing the sea, and when Frodo noticed his absence he quickly ran back.

"Don't worry, Pippin," he said, taking the smaller hobbit's hand. "The dolphins will come back tomorrow."

"Should we bring them a picnic lunch?" Pippin asked, smiling up at Frodo.

"I think they would rather have some fish," Frodo replied with a laugh. "But now we have our own picnic waiting. We had better hurry or else the others will eat everything first!" Hand in hand they ran ahead, kicking up the white sand beneath their feet.

Elrond, Celebrían, Galadriel and Gandalf followed at a more leisurely pace, watching as Frodo and Pippin leapt upon the blankets, out of breath and laughing, and began to help their friends sort through the food.

"Each day they seem more remarkable to me," Celebrían said softly, smiling as the hobbits' laughter carried across the otherwise quiet beach.

"Their Songs are powerful," Elrond replied, remembering how the dolphins had reacted to the hobbits. "All the living things respond to them, wishing to please and love them almost immediately."

"How could they not?" Celebrían wondered aloud. The others smiled in agreement as they joined the hobbits on the blanket for lunch, and for the rest of the afternoon the air was filled with the sounds of laughter and singing, and in the distance, the high-pitched whistle of the dolphins' song.