Everything Bright

Everything is very bright when Pippin wakes; the sun that is warming his face is also shining in his eyes. But he squints and struggles to see because even though he knows he has slept for far too long he still feels tired and hurt, too tired and hurt to move anything but his eyes. These he casts about the tent; Gandalf’s robes are so white they nearly blind him, and the sunlight glittering off Gimli’s mail is no better. It is not until he settles on Merry that his eyes adjust and he can see.

Merry is peering at him closely, his brow furrowed they way it always does when he is worried or weary, and now he is both. It pains Pippin to see his cousin that way, and he wonders how long Merry has waited there, watching him. But Pippin does not mention it, he just smiles softly and squeezes Merry’s hand.

Merry grins, his cares falling from his face. Pippin’s smile grows stronger. He thinks he has never seen anything better.