By: Dana
Summary: Diamond comes to Budgeford.
Characters: Estella, Freddy, Merry, Pippin, Diamond (and other canon characters and original characters mentioned, also)
Pairings: Estella/Diamond, Merry/Pippin
Rating: G
Warnings: Femslash, slash, but rather gennish all the same
Author's Notes: This follows after News of Tolly. In this story, things happen at Budgeford.
I would like to thank sophinisba for the beta on this. ♥
Series Index: Roads Go On and Years Go By.
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.

'Estella, I need to – '

'What you need to do, dearest brother, is stay put in bed and have your luncheon. You're naught but skin and bones, and not nearly enough of that.' Estella regards Freddy sharply, but then the edge of her smile softens. She sets the tray down on the bedside table, and then she turns and throws open the drapes. Outside, the day is clear, the sun is bright. And she knows, standing there and in the gleaming sunlight, that she is very lucky. Freddy's not told her nearly as much as she would like to know, but Estella does know that there have been deaths, that too many hobbits have died. But she has her brother back, and she knows how very lucky she truly is.

She thinks of Diamond, and the letter she sent her – and she hopes that it went through, and that Diamond will come and visit with her, and perhaps ease the other troubles of her heart. At least, she hopes that Diamond will write her back. Estella finds herself hoping against hope, and thinking of Diamond's eldest brother, of Tolly, who went away. If Tolly had died in the Lockholes, then Freddy would have known, but Estella's not had the heart ask him. And anyhow, she thinks, he likely wouldn't know.

'You've been keeping yourself cooped up in the darkness, Freddy. You need to let in a bit of light.' She stands still for a moment, lets loose her hold on the drapes and turns to face her brother. He sits, propped up in his bed, and his face is tired, the lines of it hard and sharp. But he smiles at her, then shakes his head, and she takes up the tray from the bedside, and then advances on him.

'You rotten brat,' he says fondly. 'You are enjoying this entirely too much.'

'Freddy, don't be so harsh. To say such a thing implies that I'm glad you've suffered as you have.' She looks at him, levels her gaze on his, then sets the tray down across his lap, careful not to jostle him or to upset the food or hot drink upon the tray. 'And I'm not. Of course,' and she reaches for his pillow, and he leans forward dutifully, gripping at the tray to keep its contents from spilling over. She fluffs his pillow up nicely, and then he settles back, and his smile is still tired. 'But then, you must be familiar with a certain phrase – about turnabout and fair play. I'm not pleased that you've suffered, but perhaps you'd not have suffered so if you'd not sent me away.'

His smile is more than just tired, worn like dreams and time, and Estella touches his cheek and bends her brow against his. The lean lines of his face, the hollows beneath his eyes. Sometimes, she'll sit watch outside his bedroom at night, and she'll rush to his side when he cries out, when his dreams are too much. She's not asked him about his time in the Lockholes, though she has eyes that see – that he was starved, that he was beaten. That he was... His voice upsets her from her upsetting thoughts.

'Estella. Dearest sister.' His hand reaches for hers, takes hold of it. 'You're hardly playing fair.'

She smiles, and she almost feels the edges of her smile, herself, and they all seem very sharp. 'Trust your sister, Freddy. She's not so little or as foolish anymore, and maybe this time she knows what's best.'

'Estella. Estella, please – '

'You want up from bed, but you've not had your luncheon.' She settles down at the edge of the bed, strokes one hand back through his hair. She knows he doesn't want her making such a fuss. 'I'll sit here a while longer, and I'll eat with you, if you'd like.'

'I'd like that,' he says, looks at his food. 'I'm just not feeling all that hungry, you know.'

Estella nods, though she doesn't fully understand. Two months, and Freddy's looking much better than he did when Merry and Pippin brought him home. Still, Estella feels that Freddy's not been eating enough. He's still looking at the food on its tray, and she picks at one of the scones, pulling it apart with her fingers before putting one half in her mouth. He grins at her, faint shadows beneath his eyes, and she couldn't thank the stars more that he'd been brought home. She picks at one side of the wide plate more, and Freddy starts picking at the other.

'You're lucky I'm a patient one,' she says.

'More than just lucky,' he says in return.

She smiles at him, reaches out and strokes her hand back through his hair fondly. He grins lopsidedly at her, but then settles back, eating slowly and (she can tell, from the furrow of his brow) thinking far too much. She sees that, and she doesn't say a thing. She knows she could, but for all she knows he'd listen to her, it's not her place.

She thinks she knows her own place.

She'll not cry. Oh, but she has. When Merry and Pippin came to Long Cleeve to fetch her, she did not weep until they had brought her once more to Budgeford, and then she wept in broken joy. To see her brother, harmed and broken, but to know that he lived, no matter how terrible it had been. And to know, while she had been in Long Cleeve, long months spent idle and... she'd known just how terrible it was. She'd stayed at Long Cleeve, if only for her promise to her brother – but she might have gone back on her word, just that once.

It would have been for the best.

She's wept a number of times since then, from joy to sorrow to joy again, to the blank darkness in the deep night when she'd wake from her own frustrated, hopeless dreams – but she'll not cry now.

'You sent for them.' Freddy says it so softly, she's not sure he's said it – but then she looks at him, and he's looking at her, and he hasn't even made a proper dent in his meal. Doesn't seem right, that, but she can't force it – and she would, if she could, and she's tried as best she can.

'Whatever do you mean by that?'

'Merry and Pippin. I heard you this morning, you know, when you were speaking with mum and when you both thought I was asleep. When shall they arrive?'

'Soon,' she says, can't lie. 'Today perhaps, if there's any luck. They brought you home, but then they had to hurry off... other wrongs to right, and all that.' Absently, Estella waves her hand. 'They are your friends, Freddy, just as Folco is your friend – and Folco's stuck in the Yale for the time being, so you will just have to put up with Merry and Pippin instead. Mum... mum might have thought it better if they didn't come, but I think I...'

'You think you know what's best,' he said, and his smile was shallow-looking, and almost grim. 'Well, perhaps you do.'

Estella smiles and tells him how very good the stew is, mushroom and chicken and a variety of other vegetables and herbs as well, that he should have a try at it while it's still hot. She'll not say how troubled she's been, if only because he's been troubled as well. It's not been her who's kept him stuck abed, more her mother's wishes that he be taken care of, him having suffered and seen all he had. An end will come, she knows it will, and he'll see there's still light in the world – and that he needn't rush from bed, but that he might stumble out uncertainly instead.

She'll not lose him now, not when he's safe at home.

A light tap at the bedroom door, but Estella startles awake. She looks at Freddy, who's deeply asleep – the lines of his face have softened, but it's far too narrow still. She rises from where she'd slept, leaned against the headboard, and stretched for a moment before she follows through and goes to the door. She opens the door partially, glanced outwards – it was young cousin Rudvar, looking up at her through his dark, disheveled curls. Estella goes out into the hallway, shuts the door behind her. Rudvar steps from one foot to the other, obviously quite excited. So she turns him, and can't help but smile. 'What is it, lad!'

'It's the Captains – they've come!'

Oh. Estella gasps. Merry and Pippin! She thanks Rudvar and sends him off, and he rushes off, just as exited as he'd been when he'd first arrived. She goes back into her brother's bedroom, takes the empty tray from the bedside, and is loud enough that Freddy comes awake.

'Have they come?'

She wonders how he knew. But she smiles at him, and nods. 'They have. I've yet to greet them, though, but I'll send them to you...'

'Just as soon as they've both felt the sharp edge of your tongue,' and he smiles tiredly. He tells her that he'll rise and dress, and ready himself for their visit, though he won't rush. Estella nods once more at him, and smiles, and then takes the tray from the bedroom, and shuts the door behind her. Freddy saying that he'll rise and dress – well, that sounds hopeful, and it's more than she can say he's offered in a long, long while. Estella meets with one of the servant lasses at the corner, and the lass takes the tray from her. Then Estella wipes her hands off, and heads on, down a number of corridors and after a number of turns – to find Merry and Pippin in one of the front parlours, though how she knew they would be in that exact one, only her feet could tell. Pippin sits in one of the large, overstuffed chairs, nearest to the fire – and Merry stands before the fire, and as Estella enters the room, he pulls his gloves off and turns from the mantel, then hurries to greet her.

He tucks his gloves underneath his belt, and his hands are gentle as they grasp her arms. He kisses her cheek, and she kisses his, and she takes that moment to lean in close, breathe in the scent of him, of riding, and the faint, cold snap of late winter air. Then she turns, the brush of his curls against her cheek, and she grins up at him. 'Freddy needs to see you both. Desperately. Folco's stuck in the Yale, for the time being at least, and Freddy might smile more if he were here – but Folco's not.'

Merry's own smile fades, and Estella's does as well – now, she hadn't meant to say that, or at least she hadn't meant to say it as abruptly as she had, but she thinks of her brother's gaunt, haggard face, and knows she could not help herself, not at all. Then she steps away from Merry, turns, and finds Pippin all but looming over her, his gaze somewhat distant, but his face very kind. All Estella can do is look away, saying, 'Freddy's so very...'

'Stel.' Pippin offers her his embrace in greeting, and she falls into it, leans her head against his shoulder. A moment after that, and she laughs and shakes her head, draws away. She looks up at him, hasn't completely accustomed herself to that quite yet, and then she kisses him on the cheek.

'He isn't well.'

'We'd have come sooner...'

'You would have, but you hadn't known it was as serious as it is. Of course, Freddy wouldn't think it serious at all. All I want is...' What she wants is her brother back, to know he's smiling and he's not just doing so because it's what he thinks she wants. 'I want to thank you both for coming.'

'Now, we haven't come just for you alone,' Pippin says, gently, though it's Merry who draws her close. 'We love him as well. We really would have come sooner, Estella, but...'

'But you didn't know, and there were other things for you to deal with, and Freddy doesn't even know I'm the reason you've made this visit. He thinks you're here on your own, you see. I do know he needs to see you.'

'Desperately,' Merry says.

'Yes. Desperately. Freddy – '

'It's good you wrote, and asked for us to come,' Pippin says. 'I can't say I know what we'll do, but it will be good to see Freddy. He...' Pippin looks away, and Estella wonders what he's thinking. The year before had been long and awful, but not as awful as it might have been, and there was joy as well as fear – but there had been fear as well, and death, and she wonders if the Shire will ever feel clean. Merry and Pippin had both fought for the Shire, and she isn't certain of it but she knows it all might not have turned out as well as it did – and well seems like such a relative thing – if they hadn't come back, and Frodo and Samwise as well.

'I'm glad you've both come. I should take you to him myself, but he might think it suspicious if I do – he promised me he wouldn't stay about in bed, so talk him out of his room, if you're able!'

'We'll do our best, Stel,' Merry says. 'I promise you that.'

They might be taller, and look more noble than she they were before they went away, but they still are Merry and Pippin, after all, and Estella's grateful for that. She takes Merry by one hand, and Pippin by the other, and isn't surprised when she finds herself wrapped in their embrace. She breathes out and bends her cheek against Merry's shoulder, and tightens her hold on Pippin's hand. It will be all right, she tells herself, and somehow, she believes. After all, the unbelievable does happen – she hadn't ever thought she'd see Merry again, alive and well, the autumn had brought him back into her life.

And she thanks them both, kisses Pippin once more on the cheek and Merry, briefly, on the mouth, grinning once she has. She lets them go, and she goes looking for her mother, will endure her silence and her smiles and the small amount of chatter that she'll make, and she'll endure the embroidery as well. She tells her mother how Merry and Pippin have come, and her mother doesn't respond right away – no wonder she wouldn't, and Estella knows her mother still must blame them both for what happened, no matter Estella knows it isn't as black and white as that, that there are shades in between.

But she endures that as well, as some sacrifices must be made – and some sacrifices aren't as terrible as others, or nearly as trying.

They take tea with her father, Estella and her parents sitting together at the fine old oak-wood table in the little sun-room that faces south (one of the newer rooms, and the table one of the oldest, brought from Great Smials when her mother married her father, years and years ago – it's twice as old as Estella is, at least). They are all very lucky, she knows, listening to her father as he talks to her mother – the winter has been long but not nearly as hard as it might have been, and the last great joy of the year before had been finding out the men, the Ruffians, had not sent all their stolen stores away from the Shire – indeed, it had been a very fine Yule, a proper ending for a new beginning.

The year has turned, and the winter's not been as hard as it might have been, and even the weather has seemed very minor. She listens to her father talking, and he says it promises to be a very grand spring.

There is a polite knock upon the already open door. 'Miss Estella – '

Estella looks up. It's Edvar, the door-hobbit. She excuses herself, and follows Edvar into the hall. 'You've visitors, Miss Estella, waiting for you in the summer parlour.'

She nods, thanking Edvar, then thanks her parents and excuses herself once more, and goes off to the summer parlour, wondering who it might be.

'Diamond,' Estella gasps, surprised. Diamond turns, looks at her, mouth wide as she smiles, eyes bright and sad and clear. She's not alone, her brother (one of them, anyhow, the middle of the three) Berigrand is there with her, but Estella all but finds her gaze locked onto Diamond, unable to turn away.

'Oh, Ella,' she says, walking forward, throwing her arms wide and then catching Estella in her embrace. Estella blinks, three times in a row, and then folds arms that had been numb with surprise around Diamond, holding her close. She feels Diamond's breath, warm against her neck, and she draws back just as Diamond turns her head, looks up at her. She thinks of the letter she sent Diamond, and how she had trusted on luck and Sancho Proudfoot, as well, who had coincidentally been heading to Long Cleeve, though he hadn't been with the Post. 'It really is good to see you, my dear. I'm very glad I decided to come.'

'You – ' Estella begins, but then she falls from her surprise, smiles softly. 'You received my letter, I see. I'd thought you might write me back, hadn't thought to find you here in the flesh.'

Berigrand clears his throat. Diamond looks back at him, laughing. 'Oh, I'm glad you came as well. I suppose you ought to...'

'How long will you be staying?'

Berigrand answers her: 'Well, I'll be going on to Buckland – '

'But it's too late for that now. You'll need a room for the night.' Estella smiles at him, and then kisses Diamond on the cheek, breathing in the scent of her, warm spice, and cold winter air. 'Well then, I'll see to that myself – now, if you'll wait here just a moment or three, I'll see you to your room.'

So she leaves them, speaks with two of the lasses who see to the cleaning in the guest quarters that run along the eastern wall of Budge Hall – they aren't so grand as Brandy Hall, but they're grand enough, she thinks (and this, of course, after speaking with one of the serving lasses, and bidding her take her guests tea). It's Diamond's brother, so Estella will offer him the best they have. When she meets with them once more in the parlour, they're sitting and having their tea, and Estella stops and stares at Diamond for a moment, and smiles to herself.

'Now, as soon as we're finished here...' she begins, but Berigrand waves his hand and then bids her sit. She does, at Diamond's side, and Diamond smiles at her and offers her one of the tea-cakes from the little platter. Estella accepts, of course, nibbling on one corner.

'I am finished up,' Berigrand says, 'but I feel I've been too much of a bother already. So, I won't bother you any more than I already have. Just tell me where I'm to go, and I shall find my way.' He grins, and Estella smiles, nods and even laughs.

'I hardly think you've been a bother. Just exit here on the right, and take the main hall all the way back – you'll turn right once more, and go down as far as is possible, and then you'll find yourself in the guest quarters. Now, the room in question is the third on the left...'

He nods and thanks her (and his eyes are very distant, and his smile almost sad, though he doesn't say a thing – Estella wonders at that, but not nearly as much as she might have), and then he leaves her and Diamond alone. What a busy day it's been, Estella thinks, and it's almost difficult to keep her thoughts as straight as she has. She hadn't realised how she'd missed Diamond, not until she found Diamond there sitting at her side.

'I missed you,' Diamond says, easily, as if it's the simplest thing in the world. 'Though I'd not realised just how much I missed you. But here I am now, here with you. This seems a very good place to be.' Diamond's hand settles over hers. Estella turns, looks at her and smiles.

'I was just thinking that myself. And I am very glad you're here.' She gives Diamond's hand a squeeze, feels her heart flip dizzily in her chest, and then she leans forward and kisses Diamond, hard. Tea and sweet cake, and Estella finds that she's clutching at Diamond, that Diamond is clutching at her. Oh, and Estella feels light, could possibly float up from off the sofa. But Diamond holds onto her, keeps her grounded, but there are tears falling down Diamond's cheek, even as she laughs. Estella of course worries, 'Oh, Diamond, whatever...?'

'Oh, Ella!' Diamond wraps her arms around Estella once more, and weeps against her shoulder. Estella, startled, holds Diamond close, not knowing what to do at first – but then whispering against her ear, running one hand back through Diamond's hair, wanting to give her some comfort, even though she doesn't know the cause of Diamond's pain. Doesn't know, but can guess at it – at Tolly, and Estella wonders if it's Tolly she's lost. She'd rather it not be that, and the darkness of that thought feels cold against her heart.

'You're here with me, Diamond, you're here with me and you're safe. I love you, and I shall keep you safe as long as I am able – as long as I draw breath. Now, my dear, look at me and tell me...'

Diamond looks up, tears on her cheeks and her nose somewhat runny, and her eyes are red. 'Oh, I must look like a mess,' she says, and laughs, and Estella offers Diamond her own handkerchief, wordlessly (you never know when you might need one, and it is habit now, carrying one about), and Diamond takes it, weeping over it and then using it to dry her eyes, clean up her face.

'I hadn't thought that I would... that I would fall apart, in such a magnificent fashion.' Then she smiles, her cheeks still pink and her eyes still red, her curls somewhat mussed. 'You say you love me. I think I love you too.'

Estella's heart does another dizzy flip, and then she gathers Diamond up once more, holding her close. She'll thank her brother, one day, for having made this all possible – if he hadn't sent her away to Long Cleeve, if she hadn't promised that she'd stay, if Freddy hadn't played posthobbit for Diamond and for Tolly, who had gone away... Tolly, who went away and never came back, and that realisation hits Estella suddenly. She feels the breath knocked from her lungs.

Lightly, Estella touches Diamond's cheek. 'News of Tolly – it came?'

Diamond nods, and she does not fall apart once more, and for the moment, at least, she needn't say a thing, not with her broken heart there for Estella to see. The news might have come, but Tolly hadn't come home. And Estella thinks, she should have known, Freddy should have known as well, and Freddy should have told her. But would he have? He speaks so little of all he suffered. Would she have forced it from him, then?

Perhaps Sancho's going to Long Cleeve hadn't been as coincidental as Estella had thought.

Words feel too heavy, and breath as well, so Estella gathers Diamond into her embrace, and they sit together like that, in silence, for a while.

Sometime after that, with a late lunch that really is more of an early supper tucked neatly in, Diamond looks at Estella, in wonder, and says, 'Well, are they here?'

'Who?' Estella laughs.

'Your Merry and his Pippin,' Diamond says, her grin sharp and her eyes somewhat dull. Estella hesitates, though not from any fear. Diamond continues, 'Somehow, I figured that they must have been around... if only because you've not mentioned Merry yet.' Merry and his Pippin – Estella wonders how Diamond could had known. But then, she is not surprised as she might have been – Diamond's gaze is keen, and her wit is very sharp, and her smile very dear. Estella reaches for her hand.

'Yes, they are here – looking in on Freddy still, I suppose, or perhaps he's sent them away... Pippin possesses a rather relentless amount of cheer.' Then, she hesitates, and they walk on. 'They're both very dear, Merry and Pippin,' she says. 'And both very dear to me as well. However, if you were to mention that to either of them, I would of course deny it until my last breath!'

'Now, I wouldn't go so far as that,' Diamond says. 'Though, I do know just what you mean,' and she laughs as well, bright and clear as summer, though not so high or sharp as bells. 'The men in our lives are never quite aware of how very dear they are to us. Though, I suppose that's something of a blessing as well, given how very full of themselves they might become if they knew the full truth of the matter. And if they are dear to you, well, I would not mind seeing them again.'

'Good – very good. They might still be with Freddy, though, and maybe...'

'Maybe I'd like to tell your dear brother hello,' and Diamond smiles, takes her hand, gives it a slight squeeze. Estella smiles back at her, heart flipping somewhat giddily – wishing that Diamond didn't seem as sad as she does, and Estella almost wishes she didn't have such joy in her life. Oh, for a moment at least, it doesn't seem fair.

But they go to Freddy's room, in the family quarters – Budge Hall is the family home, after all, and it is all her father's, and will be Freddy's one day. Estella raps on the door, waits for Freddy to invite her in – and when there is no sign she goes in anyhow, uninvited, and with Merry and Pippin there as well, the room is a tight squeeze.

'Freddy, I think you might recall Diamond of Long Cleeve – you left me in her capable hands, and then you ran off once more into danger.'

And Diamond smiles at Freddy, and Freddy smiles back at her, and Diamond leaves Estella's side and then goes to Freddy's, sitting in the chair at the right side – Merry and Pippin are both on the left. Freddy looks at Diamond, and Diamond takes his hands, almost without thought – but then, he had offered them, and that without words. Freddy, worn out already, but Estella knows her brother, and knows he'll only do his best.

'Oh, but it's good to see you.' Diamond says.

'It's better to see you,' Freddy answers, and Estella moves, as if to take her place at Diamond's side – she looks up and then across the bed, at Merry and Pippin. She realises the point of having brought Diamond here, and then she laughs. Four sets of eyes, all quizzical, turn on her.

'Yes, this is Diamond of Long Cleeve – you've both met her as well, though I can't say it was as thorough as her meeting with Freddy.'

'Yes, that is true,' Diamond says, standing – she leans forward, and sets a kiss on Freddy's cheek. 'Freddy, dear Freddy – I would like to know how very glad you've made me, reintroducing me to your sister, and in the way you did. I really hope you don't mind it if I...' but that last is lost, a whisper for Freddy alone.

Oh, and his eyes light, and he smiles, and he takes Diamond's hand once more, and gives it a firm squeeze. 'Oh, not at all.'

'Thank you,' she says, and sets one more kiss on his cheek.

Of course, Estella knows that Freddy is tired out, and that he needs his rest, and she has no trouble sounding as stern as she needs to, getting them all to bid him farewell and good rest, and have them all exit his room. Outside, in the hall, Diamond smiles, but then she dashes the tears from her eyes. Estella reaches for her hand, the one that Freddy had gripped with such fervor, and Merry and Pippin, it seems, don't know what to say.

Well, Estella knows that supper will be soon enough, but there's too much silence and she leans against Diamond, and kisses her cheek. 'Now, let's all have ourselves a bit of afters – Merry, goodness, you look positively famished! Pippin, don't you keep him well fed?'

Laughter – broken silence – and Estella grins, ear to ear. 'Now, that's much better,' she says, feeling a little better at least, if not actually happy.

'Isn't it though? It always is better to laugh, than to mope about – ' and Merry, grinning as well, kisses Estella on the cheek. Then, grinning still, he takes Diamond's free hand, and kisses it.

Diamond laughs. 'How very gallant,' she says.

'It has been known to happen,' Pippin says, laughing. 'Merry, dear Merry – you're causing her to blush. It is very nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Diamond – ' and, just as Merry had, he takes Diamond's hand (from Merry, in fact), and then he bends his head and kisses it, very sweetly.

And Diamond flusters, and Estella's certain she's never seen Diamond so very out of sorts. 'Oh, a lass couldn't resist it, the both of you,' she says, softly, and her hand falls away from Pippin. And Pippin straightens, to his full height – funny, Estella thinks, for all that Diamond is younger than she is, she is just slightly taller than Estella is herself. She hadn't ever thought of it before, or at least, it hadn't mattered. But now, she feels very small, and it doesn't just seem like it's Merry and Pippin who are very tall.

'Afters,' she says, 'and tea and brandy, I think – how does that all sound?'

'And pipes, and gossip, and you shall tell us how you are fairing, the both of you, and we will tell you stories of your own, if that's what you desire.'

'Oh, perhaps it is.'

Merry at Diamond's side, and Pippin at Estella's – and Estella and Pippin in between, hand in hand – exit down the hallway, beyond Estella's bedroom, to the little parlour at the side that her mother had, years before, set aside for Estella alone.

Once the serving lass has been called on, and sent off, they all sit in the little parlour, the window thrown open, with Pippin picking at the bowl of sweet treats. 'Funny,' Merry says thoughtfully. 'Estella goes on about how I'm the one who hasn't been fed properly, when you're the one who's skin and bones.'

Pippin grumbles pleasantly in response, and Merry isn't the only one who smiles. Diamond, though, who had seemed open enough in the hall, is sitting close at Estella's side, and is sitting very... close, about herself. She's not said a thing, seems too far off, thinking too hard or at least too much.

Estella looks at Pippin. Pippin, whom she's known for years and years, nods and offers her the bowl of sweets. 'Here,' she says, and picks out one of them. 'I think you might like this.'

He takes it, and thanks her – and he does seem to enjoy it, quite a lot, even – he shuts his eyes and savours the moment. And then Estella offers the bowl of little treats to Diamond, in turn. She takes one, grinning as she does, and almost thoughtlessly pops it into her mouth. On tasting it, of course, she hesitates. 'Oh, but that's good.'

And Estella's grinning. 'Isn't it, though?'

They make small talk until the serving lass comes back, with another lass as well – their afters, and their tea, and their brandy. Once they are all served, and settled, Estella thanks the lasses but then they both depart. And Estella feels more comfortable, now, with three very dear hobbits sitting close at hand. And they are all very dear.

Sometime later, with other small talk in between, it's Diamond who speaks up – Diamond, who'd seemed no more impressed with Merry and Pippin than Estella, who's more used to them already, having spent more time with them both back at their homecoming, their new beginning. 'You did take your time,' Diamond says, 'coming home.'

That takes Estella by surprise, at the very least. She looks at Diamond, and Diamond is smiling – a very tender, and almost uncertain one. She's twisted the edge of one of her long sleeves about her thumb and forefinger, and then she lets out her breath: a soft sigh.

'Well, we would have come back sooner – but we found ourselves unable.'

And there's nothing there that's hard or broken, or would have Estella wonder overmuch at the sorrow in Diamond's grey eyes. 'One day,' Diamond says slowly. She loosens her twisted grip on her sleeve. Then she reaches for her small cup. She holds it carefully, as well, and lets out her breath. 'One day, I think, you should tell me more.'

Tell her more – and Estella wonders at the roads that Merry and Pippin have travelled down, and the stories that they have brought back. How the years have gone by – no, it's not yet been that long. Not yet. One year and a scattering of months.

And then Pippin is speaking. 'Have you ever been beyond the Bounds?'

There's an edge to Diamond's reply. 'Just once.'

'Somehow, I thought you might have.'

Estella finds herself thinking of Diamond's dreams: and how that sort of strange thing does seem to run in her blood. Estella wonders if it is a family thing. Estella nearly opens her mouth to reply, but she sits there, holding onto her cup.

Diamond's hands are shaking. Her cup shakes as well, but then she presses her hands more carefully about it – the line of her jaw is very hard. 'What did you see, when you went away...?'

Perhaps she wants to know it all – but she does want to know more. News of the Battle of Bywater has gone throughout the Shire, and Diamond too knows that Merry and Pippin are two of its Heroes. But theirs had been like an unexpected ending, and that thrust upon them unwittingly. And yet they had been strong. And one could not say that the blood that had fallen had been worth it: it was still hobbits who were dead.

It's Merry who speaks. 'Great Men who aren't anything at all like the ones who took up residence here while we were gone. Elves and Dwarves. Wizards and Kings. A fair lady, as strong as steel and as beautiful as day, or as your given name. And...' And Merry hesitates. Pippin touches his hand. It is a simple thing. She will talk to them, at some later point, Estella thinks. But for now, Merry goes on. 'Death. And darkness. And other such unpleasant things.'

'And what of the City?'

'Minas Tirith?'

'Well,' Diamond laughs, but that seems hard, just as her given name, 'I can't say I know the name.'

'Minas Tirith,' and Pippin smiles. He goes on to speak.

Diamond smiles and laughs, but then her face falls. Her hands are shaking once more and, regardless of what she might spill, she hastily sets her cup down. 'Stars and glory,' she exclaims. 'I've dreamt of so much, and I've dreamt of white towers – ever since my childhood, you know. And you, the both of you, you spent months and months away, facing your own trials and your own horrors, only to come back home and find out that your Shire wasn't yours any longer. And you, from the Wilds to your City of stone, and all the darkness that you saw in between – and all the while, what you left behind was all but torn apart. My Tolly wasn't the only one who died, and I know there are those the Big Men tortured to their end... And my brother,' a shaky breath. 'My brother is dead.'

'Diamond – '

'He's dead – there's no denying that.' Then, louder. 'You came back, you did come back, but you might have come back sooner – and maybe it wouldn't have all turned as foul as it did, by the end.'

Merry and Pippin both seem uneasy – Estella wonders, how often have they thought of that themselves? Did they think of it when they spoke with Freddy? And would that guilt ever fade away?

Hastily, Diamond stands.

'This has been one. One terrible mistake. Pardon me – I need to find... Berry... and...' And she hiccups, but doesn't sob, and she brushes past Estella as she hastens from the room. And then, once the door has been slammed shut, silence falls. They all sit there, and Estella feels so very awkward, she feels how her stomach twists in knots.

'I'll go after her,' Pippin says, out of that unpleasant quiet. Estella nods, feeling somewhat numb. As Pippin passes by, his hand brushes against hers. But then he goes out the door, and Estella is left alone with Merry.

'Goodness,' she says, and then she laughs. 'That was rather unexpected.'

'But it was meant to happen. At least, I've learned that things don't often happen unless they were meant to – no matter how unexpected they might be. No matter how they might hurt.'

She doesn't want to think that he's right – but she knows that he is right – and she would rather not think of Diamond hurting, not now. But she doesn't see an end to it, not when the pain is sharp and new. She thinks of her own scars. Oh, she knows the pain will fade, but she loves Diamond, and she wishes she might take the pain away from her, and sooner than it will take her heart to scar.

But all Estella says is, 'You're right.'