By: Dana
By: Dana
Summary: Where young Pippin asks that certain question.
Characters: Pippin, Merry, Esmeralda Brandybuck, Eglantine Took, mention of Frodo
Pairings: None
Rating: G
Warnings: Light angst
Author's Notes: Written for the alternative 7th challenge on ringprov - the characters talk about a lost loved one.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or New Line Cinema. Any and all characters and situations that have been borrowed are for the author's personal use only, and for the entertainment of others.

Pippin had always associated Brandy Hall with happy visits and fond memories - so, to see Frodo so distant and forlorn, with shadows in his eyes, when he should have instead been smiling, filled with cheer, confused the young Took to no end. It was after tea one sunny day, when Frodo had excused himself early, and Pippin watch him go before leaning close to Merry; who, being seventeen, and knowing the answer to Everything, would certainly have the answer to this to this small query.

Pippin reached out and tugged on Merry's sleeve. "Merry?"

Merry turned his gaze to Pippin. "Aye, Pip?"

Pippin frowned a grown-up frown. "Something is the matter, Merry."

Merry's eyes widened. "Oh. Would you like another teacake, then?"

Pippin contemplated telling Merry that this wasn't the sort of problem that could be solved with sugar, but decided against; he was a growing hobbit, after all. "Yes, please, I'd like that. But it doesn't solve the problem, Merry."

Merry nodded slowly, handing the lad one of the small cakes. "Well, then, tell me what's the matter, Pippin, and I'll do what I can to make it right."

"It's Frodo," Pippin replied, sighing deeply before taking a bite out of his cake. "There's something wrong, haven't you noticed? He doesn't seem..." Pippin frowned again, shaking his head. He took another bite of the cake, in hopes that it would help him find the right word. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "He just doesn't seem right, if you know what I mean, he feels so sad..."

Merry frowned. "Well..."

He looked over the crown of Pippin's curly head, toward where his Mum and Pippin's sat on the opposite sofa. Esmeralda looked up at the feel of her son's gaze, and frowned at the look that she saw there on her face. "Is there something the matter, son?" she asked.

Merry squeezed Pippin's hand, not sure how to put it into words. Pippin, for the moment, was simply finishing his cake. "Well, Pip was wondering why Frodo's so sad."

"O," she replied, her mouth taking on the shape of that letter. She looked to Eglantine and leaned close, her sister-in-love wearing a worried look on her face, and said something to her in an undertone. Eglantine sighed and nodded, her dark eyes fretting, then reached for her handkerchief to dab at the corner of her eyes. She felt that her son was just too young to be learning of death, and the day just didn't seem right at all; but it would happen in time, and her son had a good head on his shoulder, was quick for his age.

"He's old enough, Eglantine," Esmeralda replied, with a sad smile. She set her hand on Eglantine's shoulder and Eglantine nodded slowly. "It's better that he learns from someone who loves him."

Eglantine nodded again, knowing that Esmeralda was right.

Pippin listened to this all with wide eyes, gazing first at his cousin, and then his aunt, and last his mother. He was very curious, and he squeezed Merry's hand, his eyes on his mother. "Mum?"

"Oh, sweetness, come and sit close." She patted her lap and Pippin, all of nine years and much to old for that, thank you very much, could tell that this was one of those Important talks, and he should listen to her at least for now.

Merry gave his hand one last squeeze and Pippin smiled at him, and then the lad rose up and let go of him, padded over to his mother, who pulled him up to sit on her lap. It was then that Esmeralda rose and beckoned to her son, who looked at his cousin and aunt for a moment, one that seemed too long, before following his mother from the room.

Pippin watched where his cousin had been, confused; what was so terrible, that Merry couldn't be there to face it by his side?

In the silence, after, Eglantine spoke softly. "So, Frodo..."

"Yes, Frodo."

"Well, you know that he has no Mum or Dad of his own."

Pippin nodded. "He lives with cousin Bilbo."

"Aye, that's right, my little one. And do you know why Frodo lives with cousin Bilbo?"

"Well..." Pippin frowned. "Doderic said once that if I didn't play fair, then They would come and take me and from you and Da. And I didn't want that, so I let him have his turn again, even though he had clearly been out."

"That's a good lad," she said, kissing his brow. "But you see, sweetness, They come for us all, one day, no matter or how good or bad we've been."

"What about the Elves in cousin Bilbo's story?" Pippin replied.

"Oh, well Elves are much more than us hobbits. It's like comparing peas and roses, my little one."

Pippin frowned. "Does this mean that I've been good all of these years, and it's all been a waste?"

Eglantine sighed and hugged her son tight. "It's not that simple, sweetness. You see, it happens to the good, and it happens to the bad, and it happens to the great, and it happens to the small. And Frodo's Mum and Da were two of the best. And sometimes he gets sad, my little love, because he'll never ever see them again."

"That must be terrible for poor Frodo," Pippin sighed and frowned. Then, in a whisper, he continued. "What was it, Mum, why did they have to go away?"

Eglantine closed her eyes and steadied her breath. "Well, they died, sweetness. It was a terrible accident, but it was their time - and there's nothing we can do, when it's come to be our time. And Frodo was left alone, then, but there were so many people here to love him. And you know, he lived for a while at Brandy Hall, before he went off to live at Bag End."

Pippin nodded, and the light in his eyes was terribly sad. "And he'll never see his parents again?"

"Never ever, sweetness, not until the end of time."

"But that's not forever, then," Pippin replied, then sighed and shook his head. "But it sounds too long too wait. It must be dreadful for him, poor Frodo, to be so alone."

"That's why little hobbits come into the world," she smiled, ruffling his hair. "You bring us love, and with you around, why, we never ever have to feel alone."

Pippin looked curious. "So I can help Frodo, even though I'm very small?"

Eglantine nodded, tears in her eyes.

Pippin smiled and hugged his mother tight. "Oh, I like the sound of that, Mum," he said. "I'd like to be here for cousin Frodo, for ever and ever. At least until he goes off to see his Mum and Da again." He sat back, and there was new sorrow in his eyes. "I'll miss him, though."

"We all will, sweetness," she replied.

Pippin nodded slowly. "I could do it, you know. He's such a good hobbit, and I don't think he's queer at all for having gone off to live with cousin Bilbo. I mean," and he finished in a conspirator's whisper, "Hobbiton is only a stone's throw from home."

Eglantin laughed, dashed away the tears in her eyes, and hugged her son tight. "You're right, my little love, you're very, very right."

"Mum?" Pippin asked, snuggling close.

"Yes, sweetness?"

"It'll be a long time, won't it, before They come to take you away?"

"Aye, sweetness," she replied, closing her eyes, holding the world snug in her arms. "I'll be with you until you're old and grey."

"Good," Pippin replied, closing his eyes.

And it would be years until Pippin could prove, really prove, that he really could and always would be there for cousin Frodo, and that path would take him through shadow, into the dark of night, and back into the light of day. And it would be an Adventure unlike anything before, and in the end nothing would quite be the same.

And Pippin would come to know that Brandy Hall, for Frodo, was dead flowers in the water, and childhood's end.