A/N: Gah, so sorry it took this long, but I had such a time with this chapter… everything depends on this one. It’s the last one! ;-) At the risk of sounding like an Oscar speech, I just wanted to thank all my reviewers that have stuck so loyally with this ridiculous story I started on a whim… honestly, you guys got me motivated to put some effort into it. ;-) Love you all! *roses, cookies, and hobbits for everyone*

Harry Potter’s Crazed Stalker- Yes, they are, aren’t they? *hugs hobbits* And yes, it CAN get cuter! *points to next chapter*

Trogdor and Smaug- Oh honey, don’t call yourself stupid… it was an understandable question, and I don’t think I was very nice when I answered it. Terribly sorry about that, I’m a nasty teenager, I am. I think he kissed her there because it was a moment of desperation (he thought she was about to die) and he’d finally realized what his hormones are doing to him! ;-) No more hitting. *hugs*

Miana-chan- Yes, it is about time… for this chapter, too. And no, no Elves. Sorry. ^_^

Muses’ Advocate- Har har. No, no Enigma endings this time around. ;-)

szhismine- We are, we are. And in this chappy, we’re really REALLY getting somewhere. ;-)

HonestlyRachel- Yes, it was a sad little angsty kiss. Weee! ^_^

Concetta- Awww, thank you. :-) I had that kiss written ages ago. I just couldn’t wait to show everyone, hehehe. ^_^

Black Jaguar12- Wow, you remember when I told you about it? I’m glad it came out right! ^_^ You’re right… they should make a genre called “a bit silly angsty romance”! Hee hee.

Leo Cole- *gasp* No kidnapping Jack!!! You’re a Platy fan, huh? Then you are gonna like what I have coming next. *cackles* More on that after the chapter. ^_^

The Noble Platypus- Awkward, cute, fluffy… that about sums this one up, too. ^_^ Oh, and damn you and your sheet music! *shakes fist* That being said: *begins chant* DON! DON! DON! ^_^

Hai Took- Yeah, that’d wake me up. ;-)

cryogenie- Muwahaha! Thankee much. I will get around to e-mailing you back soon, sorry about that. :-P Oh, and you get a cookie if you can tell me what episode I yoinked this one from. ;-)

Camellia Gamgee-Took- Warm and fuzzy! Beautiful and tragic! I ought to pay you to make a commercial for me! ;-) Thank you so much, glad you’re enjoying it. Hope you enjoy the conclusion as well! ^_^

Carcilwen Greenleaf- Ohhh, stuff happens all right. In this one. Muwahaha!

Iluvien- Wow, you just raised my review count in a hurry! Thanks for that! ;-) Yes, “A Child’s Christmas In Wales” was read to us before we started rehersing Under Milk Wood. Lovely stuff, that. Thanks for all your nice comments!

Pearl Sparrow- Thank you! And here you are, your patiently-awaited conclusion! ^_^

IsraeliThunder- Hey, man! So great to see you again. Even though, I say for the last time, it’s perfectly okay. ;-) Thank you so much for all the stuff you’ve said. I’d reply more, but I actually just said hello to you in an AIM window, so we can talk there. ;-) Thanks again!

And now, without further ado, the chapter you’ve all been waiting for (and it was hopefully well-worth the wait… this thing is seven pages long, so brace yourselves!)…

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Chapter XIII: Good Finish

Pippin didn’t know what to do, so he focused on staying awake. It was very difficult. His emotions were in turmoil, he hadn’t gotten any sleep the previous night, and Diamond was hardly moving anymore—he had no distraction except his thoughts, and they just annoyed him, so it was all rather hopeless. He was so exhausted and so confused he was sure he’d drift off. And so, without ever really knowing when, he did.

Weary beyond belief, he slid down on the leaves, leaning against the tree behind him. He felt a vague sense of foreboding, but he was so comfortable and relaxed that he simply didn’t care. It felt so good, and he was so tired…

As he slept, the tree behind him began to move slowly. The root twisted around his waist and his arms, beginning to drag him in gradually. He shifted slightly, but he did not wake.

Diamond, however, did. She blinked awake for no reason in particular, winced from the pain she was in, and looked around weakly. All she could move were her eyes, and she scanned the area for Pippin. When she saw him, entwined in the branches of the tree opposite her and being slowly taken in, she felt a jolt of panic run through her. She tried desperately to cry out to him, but it was so hard for her to breathe already that all she could do was watch with horror. The roots continued to wind around him and he continued not to wake.

“Pip…” she whispered, too soft to be heard. “Pippin…”

There was no response. He winced slightly in his sleep.

She drew all the energy she had left, and she called again, louder: “Pippin!”

At last he snapped awake. She collapsed back against the tree holding her, gasping for breath. Pippin’s eyes flew open and he screamed in sudden panic, struggling wildly to escape. Immediately the roots tightened, drawing him in slowly but forcefully. He cried out in fear and pain, trying with all his will to pull away as the tree started to close around him. Desperately he reached out with his free hand, trying to grab hold of something, and it closed around the nearest water flask. He jerked his arm back in reflex as the tree pulled him back further, and by pure chance some of the water spilled from the flask and onto the roots. Almost instantly the tree stopped moving, and Pippin was able to wriggle free. He rolled away and stared with considerable incredulity as the tree roots settled back into the ground calmly as if nothing had happened at all. He raised an eyebrow, looked dazedly at the flask in his hand, and suddenly he realized.

He grinned triumphantly, leaping to his feet and turning. He yelped in horror as he saw her disappear under the branches, being drawn into the tree itself. “No!” he cried, diving forward. Biting his lip repeatedly, his heart pounding in desperation, he tipped the flask over on the branches, spilling all the water left in it onto the wood. As he’d hoped, they parted, pulling away from Diamond at last, moving back into place like any normal tree. She emerged beneath them, gasping for breath, trying to pull free. Pippin grabbed the other flask, but there still wasn’t enough to pacify the tree entirely.

Diamond blinked and shook her head vigorously, waking from her daze as water splashed on her. She looked at him in bewilderment. “What are you doing?” she asked, more flustered than anything else at the moment.

“It’s the water!” he returned excitedly, shaking out the last drops. “The water in the river! The stories talk about how the water here makes the trees move and such, but I never thought it would have the opposite affect! You’re free, Diamond!” He had to restrain himself from grabbing her shoulders in his relief—she was still too weak for that.

She was much less excited at first, eyeing him with more even incredulity than he moments ago. “You mean we went through all that,” she said slowly, “I went through all that… and all you had to do was pour a little water on it?!”

“I didn’t know!” said Pippin defensively. “Anyway, wait here… I have to get more. I’ll be right back, don’t move!”

“No problem there,” she said dryly, still unable to move her arms or the rest of her body, but despite herself she grinned at him, relieved beyond words.

He darted down the hill to the river, almost laughing over the sheer ridiculousness of the abrupt solution to their troubles, filling both flasks hurriedly and running back. He emptied both the flasks over the branches, and they pulled away, and Diamond broke free at long last. Her legs were so weak she could hardly stand on them, and she pitched forward in her exhaustion. Pippin caught her gently and fell back, allowing her to lie against him as she focused on breathing, running his hand through her hair. They were both so absorbed in their relief, in each other, in the moment, that they were completely unaware of what they were doing. It was just the two of them, and he held her gently, frozen in time.

It was then, called from a distance in a voice that was most certainly not Diamond’s, that Pippin heard his name.

“I am going to kill him,” said Merry irritably, stumbling carefully through the Old Forest with a few other hobbits from Buckland tailing him, “if he’s not here.”

“Where else would they be? We’ve looked everywhere,” said one of his comrades.

Merry grunted. “Well, in either case, I really don’t much relish the idea of walking through this old place again,” he muttered. “So let’s just say they’d better be here.” He drew a breath and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Aye!” he yelled ahead into the deeper parts of the woods. “Pippin!”

A few moments of silence passed, and he chewed his lip, glancing over his shoulder as he trudged and very much hoping his cousin at the back of the line was keeping track of the path they were taking.

Then, a short distance away: “Merry? Is that you?”

“Pippin?” Merry stiffened alertly, grinning in relief despite all the complaining he had just been doing. “Where are you?”

“Over here!” said Pippin unhelpfully. “Er… by the river, up a hill or something. I’m—”

“Save it, just keep yelling,” called Merry, running forward. This was not actually necessary, as he was much close than he’d anticipated, and within moments he came to his cousin, crouched on the ground and…

“Oh my,” said Merry in a dry sort of startled way, raising an eyebrow. Pippin looked up at him sheepishly, as though he had been caught doing something very naughty. Merry would have laughed if he weren’t so shocked. Somehow the sight of Pippin with the one lass he despised more than any other, embracing her in an almost loving way… it served as one of the very few things in any of their lifetimes that managed to shut Merry up for all of twenty seconds.

Finally he spoke again: “I should come here more often,” he said, casting a wary glance around at the trees.

“Hush,” muttered Pippin (who, Merry noted with mischievous delight, was blushing furiously). He separated himself from Diamond clumsily, standing. She didn’t look at him or move. “Er… Diamond… she could use a cloak or something,” he said awkwardly.

“Of course,” said Merry, unfastening his own cloak and handing it down to Diamond, who took it wordlessly but with a nod of thanks in his direction. Deciding briefly to abandon the curious relationship that seemed to have developed between the two, Merry turned back to his companions that had come up behind him. “Let’s get out of here, lads. Someone get a waggon so we can get back towards Brandy Hall faster.” He held out a hand, helping Diamond to her feet. “Everyone’s been worried sick about you two,” he said. “Sam and Rosie even came down to stay at Brandy Hall while we looked for you, and Diamond’s parents did as well. Frodo would have, but he’s been terribly busy of late… he gave Sam strict orders to write immediately if anyone found you. What even happened? You both just disappeared.”

“Well…” said Pippin slowly.

“Um,” added Diamond.

“Never mind… explain it on the trip,” laughed Merry. “But I want to know every detail.” He shot Pippin a meaningful glance; in response, Pippin looked dazed, then disgusted, then shook his head in wry amusement.

Fortunately, Merry’s cousin had indeed been keeping good track of their route, and they were out of the forest in a matter of moments. Pippin and Diamond both kept a very uneasy silence, which only interested Merry further. Naturally, the moment they were on the waggon and heading toward Brandy Hall, he turned to his cousin and picked up on the conversation that had been so abruptly halted in the woods.

“So now,” he said in a business-like manner, “let’s have it.”

Pippin sighed and, with occasional additions from Diamond, told Merry an approximation of the story. When he’d finished, Merry was silent for a few moments, looking ahead and frowning thoughtfully.

“So… you and I went through that entire ordeal,” he said slowly, “and all we had to do was pour water on the tree?”

“That’s what I said,” said Diamond softly.

Pippin shrugged. “Well, look at it this way,” he said. “We’d have never met Tom Bombadil otherwise.”

“Oh, we probably would’ve anyway,” said Merry dismissively. “Remember he happened along our way by chance.” He shrugged. “But anyway,” he said, giving Pippin a skeptical look, “I believe I asked specifically for details?”

“I gave you as many details as you need to understand…” said Pippin, looking uncomfortable.

“To understand, maybe,” said Merry. “But…”

“If you don’t mind,” interrupted Diamond, much to both her and Pippin’s relief, “I’d really like to get off here and walk a bit. I think it would do my legs good, they’ve been out of use for long enough.”

“All right,” said Merry, directing the ponies to the side of the road. “We’re close enough to walk anyway.” He and the others he’d been with got down, followed by the more hesitant Pippin and Diamond. Merry waved his companions on ahead and turned to Pippin and Diamond.

“If you think you two can handle it from here, I’ll go on ahead of you,” he said. “I ought to let your parents know you’re here, Diamond.”

“Thank you,” said Diamond, nodding. “I think we’ll be all right.” She said this with no inflection and no indication at all to Pippin on what she thought of being left alone with him again.

Merry bowed slightly in respect, tossed Pippin a small wink, and hurried off ahead of them. Pippin and Diamond walked after him slowly, a small distance maintained between them, each looking at the ground, not unlike their first walk together along the Brandywine (only quieter).

Pippin, however, grew increasingly uncomfortable with the silence, and began shooting brief and subtle glances at Diamond, wondering if she would speak.

“What?” she said crossly after a few moments of this, giving him a testy sidelong glance.

“Nothing,” he said, quickly turning away. Shaking his head, he muttered, “You really are hopeless.”

“I beg your pardon?” She turned to glare at him as they neared the busier part of Buckland.

Pippin shrugged. “It just seems a bit odd to me that here I’ve saved your life, and you still haven’t so much as spoken, much less thanked me.”

She stared at him incredulously. “Thank you,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh, that helps.”

“Well, what do you want?” she snapped. “I’d sort of thought my thanks was non-verbal.”

“I see,” he said, unconvinced.

“What, do you want me to worship you or something?”

“What?”

“Well, that’s what you’re acting like,” she said. “You expect me to just succumb to your greatness, is that right?”

He stared back at her, now suspicious at her tone. “What are you on about?”

“You know full well what I’m ‘on about.’”

“Enlighten me.” At her silence he persisted: “Is there something you want?”

“Yes!” she practically spat, moving hurriedly on ahead, trying in vain to get away from him. “I want… I want to know why you did what you did.”

He bit his lip. “I don’t know,” he said. “I especially don’t know now.”

“Because you could?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he demanded, ignoring all the strange looks they were now getting.

“Oh trust me, I know exactly what went on in your head,” she said bitingly. “You think you can just take advantage of me because I can’t move or resist you in any way, yes? You think you can just go around kissing me whenever you feel like it because I’m helpless?”

Pippin could barely talk. “That wasn’t—”

“Save it,” she said harshly, turning away from him. “I didn’t appreciate that, Peregrin Took. I’d thought you were different, but you weren’t.”

“Diamond, I assure you, you are severely mistaken,” he said fiercely. “I have no idea why I would do something as daft as kiss you, and I’m very sorry I did, for both our sakes.”

“Why should you be? It’s natural,” she mocked. “Isn’t that the way knights function? They expect all lasses to just be swept away by their charm or whatever they think they have. It wasn’t just me, you think all lasses are just naturally helpless, right, Pippin?”

“Exactly,” he sneered, no longer in the mood for his own defense.

“So by that logic, you could just go around kissing them wherever you please, don’t you think? You could really just kiss me right here, couldn’t you?”

“Why not?”

“And you Tooks can’t even kiss properly. Why don’t you try it here?”

“You really want me to? You want me to kiss you right here in front of everyone?”

“Be my guest,” she said curtly. “See how you do with an audience!”

“As you wish,” he replied, equally curt.

“Fine, then do it!”

“Fine, I’ll do it!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!” With this, surrounded by dozens of shocked hobbits staring at them as if they were both either mad or married (or both), Pippin heedlessly turned to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her forward, and kissed her. In that instant all their contempt and dislike for each other was extinguished, and they let all their pent-up and denied affection erupt. Slowly, he put his arms around her, holding her close, and she moved her hands up around his back as the kiss grew steadily more passionate. Merry chose that particular instant to emerge from the crowd of silent onlookers, and just as he was about to call to them, he froze and simply stared, his mouth hanging open slightly, a look of amusement coming into his eyes. They were as surprised as he was, but they didn’t care. It was a much-needed release, and they were going to bloody well finish it before bothering about anything else.

He broke away from her, looking down at her with a newfound tenderness and relief. She gazed back at him, smiling now as he’d never seen—it filled his heart with a warmth he hadn’t known ever before. She laughed a little, tracing her fingers along his chest.

“Well, that was certainly better,” she said softly. “But then, you didn’t give me much of a chance, did you, I mean, jumping me like that?”

“Oh, heavens no,” said Pippin, equally soft. “It wasn’t very fair at all.”

“Maybe we should try again.”

He leaned down gently to kiss her again, moving his hands up to cup her face, both continuing to ignore everyone around them who stared and giggled and whispered to each other. Merry stared for a while, then turned to glance over his shoulder. Catching sight of someone, he made a great gesture beckoning them forward.

“Aye!” he called softly. “Rosie, come here!”

Rosie emerged from the crowd, Sam in tow, and immediately stopped and stared much like Merry had been. She and Merry exchanged an amused ‘I-told-you-so’ glance. Sam just looked generally bewildered. Merry looked closer at the pair, peering intently for details, when Rosie slapped the back of his head and gave him a scolding look.

Pippin and Diamond parted again at long last, gazing at each other with looks neither could properly identify—they were best described as crosses of incredulity, relief, amusement, and unspeakable contentedness. Only when a few onlookers applauded in good humor of the situation did they become aware of their surroundings. Diamond blushed furiously, but Pippin laughed good-naturedly, and she too smiled, unable to really care.

Merry grinned with pleasure and turned to the crowd, waving them away. “All right, all right, nothing to see here,” he said authoritatively. “Run along, my naughty friends.”

Rosie approached Pippin and Diamond, who at the moment were looking a little lost. “Do you two need a room?” she asked as seriously as she could, but her smile betrayed her.

Diamond and Pippin both relapsed and gave Rosie a look of horror, then Diamond came back to herself and shrugged. “Sure,” she said.

Rosie led the two into her guest room in Brandy Hall, leaving them with very direct orders of exactly what they were and were not to do, and departing to let them sit together on the bed, alone with each other once again and both more than mildly embarrassed.

An awkward and somewhat familiar silence persisted for a long time. Finally, Pippin cleared his throat and leaned forward, staring at the floor.

“Well,” he said, “in light of this… eh… ‘turn of events’ would, I suppose, suit the situation… I ought to tell you something.”

Diamond looked at him patiently. “Yes?”

He tilted his head slightly, meeting her sharp blue eyes. “I meant everything I said to you in the woods, Diamond North-took,” he told her soberly. “I think you are a brash, foolish, unspeakably rude and arrogant lass, and I think it was two and a half days of cruel and unusual torture to be lost in the woods with the likes of you.” He smiled slightly. “But there was something I didn’t ever mention,” he added with a lighter tone, “and that was that I love you anyway.”

She didn’t reply for a moment or two, thinking this over. “In that case, Peregrin Took,” she said at length, “I suppose I ought to tell you that I meant my words truthfully as well… I believe I have not met anyone so self-satisfied, stuck-up, and egotistical as yourself.” She too smiled. “And yes, I love it all too.”

He nodded a little. “All right,” he said.

Nothing was said for a moment, then she leaned forward and kissed him again, and he put his arm around her and fell back on the bed so she wound up on top of him. She pulled away and laughed, shoving him playfully.

“Now, now,” she chided. “I don’t think Rosie would be too impressed with that behavior, hmm?”

“Diamond,” said Pippin quietly, drawing her from her merriment.

“Yes?”

“Does… this… make any sense to you?” he asked, genuinely curious.

She thought about it, then sat up, bringing him up with her. “Does it have to?”

“Well, it’s just odd,” he said. “I’ve hated you almost all my life, and here we are on a bed together.”

She shrugged. “I think we were forced to get along,” she said, “to this point.”

“That’s probably it,” he said. “I’m so tired of you right now. I don’t ever want to see you again, at least not for a while.” He smirked wryly. “We’d better just get married and get it out of the way.”

She laughed aloud, pushing him back again. “One thing at a time, Pippin,” she said. She lay down beside him, running her fingers across his chest. “But it doesn’t sound too bad an idea. For later.”

“All right.” He laughed softly. “Have it your way.”

There was another lengthy pause. After a moment she kissed his cheek.

“Does all this work for a ‘thank you?’” she asked in a quiet, sly voice.

“Well enough,” he said. “Oh… and I should probably apologize to you about that time I lied to you at Curdim’s party. I was even worse then than I am now.”

She looked at him with a great level of surprise. “You remember that?”

“Of course.” He hesitated. “Sorry.”

She laughed. “It’s quite all right, Pippin. This serves the apology well enough.”

There was yet another lengthy pause. “We really must stop ending our conversations before we’re done,” said Pippin, laughing a little at the awkwardness that never seemed to leave them alone.

“What else is there to say?”

“I’m sure we can think of something.” He considered it for a moment or two, then said, “Oh, here’s one. Remember all that talk we had about how this is all Merry’s fault?”

“Of course,” she said, grinning at the memory. “What about it?”

“Well… it still is.”

“Sort of.”

“No, it is. On several accounts. He persisted that we were madly in love and just didn’t know it all throughout my youth. As we earlier determined, we met because of him… sort of. He woke me up that morning this whole ridiculous thing started. Now I don’t know whether to slap him or kiss him.” He pondered it for just a moment, looking sober. “I think I would rather slap him,” he decided.

“I think I’d rather kiss him.”

“Oh would you?”

“Oh, hush.”

“As you wish.”

They both laughed and then let it fade once again into silence. Pippin looked into the blue eyes he had grown to love so much.

“Oh dear,” he said suddenly.

She blinked, surprised. “What?”

“Since I tend to try and avoid deaths of shock on my account… how are we going to break this to our parents?”

“One thing at a time, Pippin. One thing at a time.”

He shrugged. “I’ll let you do it.”

“Or, since everything’s already his fault…”

At the same time they said, “Merry,” and at the same time they laughed.

-Fin-

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Parting Note- Well, that’s that then! Hope you all enjoyed it. Again, Echoes readers, please be patient… I now have some added time to focus on the next chapter, so hopefully that’ll be up sometime this week. As for any new projects, expect a little something entitled “Dead Of Night” to be appearing tomorrow… a small and highly entertaining project co-written by myself and the illustrious Noble Platypus. ;-) Thanks again… it’s been fun! - Minty