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A Healer's Tale by Lindelea	8 Review(s)
Anso the Hobbit	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/28/2005
Poor Merry! You draw a beautiful picture of what looks to be their last moment togheter but still isn`t. Poor Woodruff too. She`s having a rough time of it too. I just adore how you picture the little ones - Ruby and Merry. They`re so cute. :) Author Reply: Aw, thank you. (I think they are cute, too... sigh little hobbit tots...) And I'm so glad it is not M & P's last moment together. (Glad I'm not tempted at all to write AU pieces.)

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/19/2005
Ah, yes, this is right, the two at last left alone to rest and recuperate, Pippin sleeping properly, for his end is not yet, but will come in time, after Diamond has gone before. We need his bed there to lie in honor beside the King he loved and served so long. Beautiful, and love the way you alternate between Woodruff's youthful encounters with Pippin to the pain of awaiting the end that mercifully did not come when expected. Author Reply: So true. I keep that fact ever before me (trying to stay "in canon" as much as possible except for oversights, and trying to fix those as well as may be). Thank you! It is a challenge to weave the two stories together, but they are supposed to complement each other. Hopefully things are working so far, and the tie between the two (besides the obvious one) will become evident before the end.

Mysterious Jedi	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
Excellent piece of writing, as always :) <>< Saved from sin through Christ, MJ (Glad you like that, thanks :) ) Author Reply: Ah, thank you.

Pearl Took	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
Dear Merry. And dear Ferdi wanting so badly to be rid of that signet ring. It's so hard to think of a thin, wasted Pippin sigh. And next we get to go back to the Teapot Incident :) You've so much going on there!! All wonderful :) Author Reply: Thanks! There is a slight plot detour before we get back to the Teapot incident (yes, we'll keep Pippin in bed for a day or two, to get over the bump on his head, and meanwhile a little more of Woodruff's story will unfold). But we will get back to Pippin and his schemes within a few chapters. Thanks!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
Did I really miss the last Woodruff chapter? How could that happen? Anyway, here's my review for the last two chapters: Well, sometimes people arrive just at the wrong moment ;-) Poor Ted, what will he think of the scene, he saw? And little Pippin, trying to glue the teapot pieces together, ending up with most of the glue on himself was very funny - until the accident happened. He should be really lucky to have such an attentive cousin around. And I think, when he apologized it was not only for his fall, but also for breaking the teapot. I wonder what he's up to... And the "Interlude" - just wonderful. Woodruff seems to know a lot about both Merry and Pippin. If Pippin had died, Merry would not have had the strenght to carry on alone. But he lives, and he will make it to the morrow, I'm sure! "I turn back for a last look, and Diamond’s smile continues to shine in the semi-darkness. ‘We’ll be fine here,’ she murmurs, and somehow, I am sure that they will be." Author Reply: The chapter was accidently published a few days early while editing, and quickly hidden again (it was not yet fit to be seen), and so when it was officially published there was no notice sent out, and it did not move to the top of SoA's "front page". Put a note to that effect in the summary of another story published the same day, but you might not have noticed it. You're right, Pippin was apologising for both falling and breaking the teapot. Woodruff understood, and didn't give him away. No use shutting the barn door when the cows have already escaped. Woodruff has known Pippin and Merry for a long time, indeed! Thanks!

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
Well, if Merry didn't love Sam before, he certainly will take him firmly into his heart now. The complete death-bed scene - missing only one thing: the death. And, in a way, such an anticlimax for those waiting outside with the funeral meats. They're giddy with relief and confusion and not-quite-sureness. I'm not surprised that Farry is reluctant to leave - he doesn't know what he'll meet tomorrow. Nice bit of cynicism from Isum. That ubiquitous 'resting comfortably' - I'm glad that he made Woodruff replace it with 'sleeping peacefully'. Nice Interlude. Author Reply: Thanks! Ah, such fun to write, a death-bed scene without the trauma of the actual death. A real challenge, and difficult to pull off very many times. (Not for want of trying) Thanks!

Connie B.	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
Oh, that image of Merry and Pippin following each other in death that Woodruff saw was so poiniant. Few of their family and friends understant the true depth of the their bond, but she does. It will be amazing if half the Thain's family doesn't fall ill. The stress they've been going through has got to be taking quite a toll on them. If I'm remembering correctly, don't we have one more crisis to get through? Thanks. Connie B. Author Reply: You remember correctly! The interludes in this story are showing a lot of "behind the scenes" background that wasn't written into the original story. But we'll get to the crisis sometime between midnight and dawn. Thanks!

Ariel	Reviewed Chapter: 20 on 5/18/2005
I have to wonder about Pippin's apparent potency while on death's door. Either he's not been as sick as we think or that old Ent draught gave special consideration to the reproductive organs. LOL! Most men show a marked drop in sperm count while sick or run down. Pippin's been remarkable in this respect. Still reading and enjoying, but that little factoid has given me pause from the beginning. Not sure if its even something to bother considering now, but it might be something to look into for future stories. Author Reply: Pippin is incredibly virile and Diamond is quite fertile (cf her predisposition to having twins)... g Actually, I took this into consideration when building the snork "Grand Timeline" after "Jewels", which contains so many of the stories. You'd think, from reading, that Pippin was at death's door the whole time, but just as anyone with a chronic illness such as asthma, he had his good times and his bad times. Farry was conceived during a time when Pippin was relatively strong and well, under Merry's family's watchful collective eyes. The twins, likewise--they were born the day of the coach accident, and Pippin was near the top of his (post-pneumonia) form at the time. And then there are clues in "Rope" as to his gains and losses--the new babe (to become Jonquil) was conceived in "Rope" on a day when he'd been making small-but-steady gains in health, and felt better than he had in months. This latest crisis, that led nearly to his demise, was precipitated upon choking on a bite of sandwich and breaking a rib with the subsequent coughing fit, and the pain wore him down quickly. (Hard to rest when you can't take a breath without stabbing pain. Believe me. BTDT) I have known (and still know some) chronically ill individuals who keep their health through determined regimin of diet, exercise, and rest. You'd never know they were ill, really, except when stress pulls them down and they have a "bad" spell and have to fight their way back again. Iliitis (I'm sure I didn't spell that right, it's like colitis), MS, diabetes, and asthma are a few that come to mind. My cousin, whose iliitus took him in the end, was muscular and vibrant and energetic, in between "bad spells" that landed him in the hospital with a needle in his arm and yet another operation, and another, and another... Oh, and all these have had children, even in the midst of chronic illness, except that cousin I mentioned, who died shortly before his wedding day. So I hope that eases your sense of incredibility... Hate to have a reader chewing my little stew and being bothered by a piece of gristle. g Thanks!

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