Who: Obi-Wan and Merrill When: Shortly after Frodo went missing Where: Baggins’s House What: Merrill needs a friend, Obi feels like he should have been there to help Frodo Rating/Warning: PG, Angst Status: Complete
Obi-Wan hadn’t wasted time changing out of his work clothes and he was quite covered in paint when he arrived at the Baggins’s house. Given his penchant for taking his time while traveling, he’d raced there. He still reeked of sawdust. In fact, scratching his scalp created a dirty cloud that lingered on the doorstep as he waited for Merrill to answer.
Even though he did sense that Frodo was alive, he felt uncomfortably anxious. Obi-Wan couldn’t remember the last time he’d visited their house, or even when they’d spoken on the phone or texted. Had he really drifted so deeply into his own world that he’d become too reclusive to keep in touch with such dear friends? He didn’t understand how Frodo’s plight could have passed unsensed, but it bothered him even more that it had passed unseen. Obi-Wan berated himself in silence.
Each day, Merrill was becoming more panicked, more distraught. She tried not to think about the worst case scenario, but one thought kept creeping up... How could she do this without Frodo? Raise their son, manage their house.. How could she go on?
Carson was the one to answer the door; a relatively unusual occurrence, despite his job description. The man seemed more serious than normal. He nodded soberly to Obi-Wan before leading him inside and to the study where Merrill sat.
Merrill looked up. Her face was ashen, and her hair was messed. "Obi," she said, standing up.
Obi-Wan went right to her, nevermind the paint and the sawdust, or his anxiety surrounding human contact. He wrapped his arms around Merrill and took a deep grounding breath, knowing he had to put his shame aside in order to be the strong one. He could sense how she needed a release.
"Tell me everything," he said, taking a seat on the sofa and guiding her to do the same, while his hand remained on her arms.
Merrill clung to Obi; she hadn't realized how much she needed this. She struggled to hold back tears as she sat down with her friend.
"He'd been sick," she said. "Something to do with the Ring, I think. He said he needed to destroy it in the volcano. He.. He was afraid. Talked about how the ring manipulates him. I wanted to help him, but," Merrill shook her head. "Sam went with him, and he's back now, but without Frodo." It wasn't in Merrill's nature to be angry with Sam, but seeing him hadn't been easy.
“Sick?” Obi-Wan repeated. The idea of Frodo needing to throw the Ring into the volcano sounded like a delusion! But the volcano had magically appeared. It was very possible it had appeared for a special purpose. “How did Sam lose Frodo? How did he get back?”
Merrill shook her head. "They were traveling through some sort of portal, and something happened." Merrill had a troubled history with portals, in her quest to restore the Eluvian. The convenience wasn't worth the risk, not when they had a family. "I don't know."
He moved his hand to her back, rubbing it gently as his troubled stare bored into the wall. There were no Jedi powers that gave him the ability to see through the wood and plaster, but Obi-Wan was silently searching for any sign that Frodo was truly safe. It was a little like a bat sending out signals. He waited for the Force’s echo.
“I knew I shouldn’t have built that safe in the wall at Bag End, just so Frodo could keep that damned Ring close...” he muttered.
Merrill frowned, realizing how much she didn't know about the Ring. There were secret wall safes now? She'd never questioned Frodo about how he handled the Ring before; she trusted him to keep their family safe. She'd given up blood magic once they had a child, and she'd assumed Frodo could quit his "addiction", too. She prayed that wasn't a mistake.
She leaned against Obi, sighing. "Tell me how you've been, Obi."
He didn’t answer right away; in fact, his throat tightened. Obi-Wan didn’t like that he’d been fine, cut-off and complacent while his friends were suffering. And it seemed unfair to talk about happy things, such as the proposal he was preparing for Faiza. “I’ve been… working at the ranch a lot. They want to add a library and update the stables. I delivered a baby eopie...a sort of...space animal. The mother was in my dreams before she appeared in my yard.”
Merrill *wanted* to hear about happy things, though. She wanted to know Obi was well. Even in the dark, she wouldn't wish her misery on someone else, especially one she loved as much as Obi. "Do you have pictures?" Baby animals were always cute. she asked
Another pause. His thoughts were a million miles away. Now, he was trying to figure out if he could take out his ship and search. But… photos? Yes. He had photos. “I do…”
Pulling out his phone, he showed Merrill the one decent picture he had managed to capture, along with a few that were too dark to do the little pink critter justice. The good one showed a proud mother licking her wee one’s head.
Merrill smiled, leaning over the phone to get a good look. "Oh, it's precious," she cooed, feeling her maternal instincts swell. And without even seeing it coming, tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she told Obi, but it was too late; the floodgates had opened.
It shocked him back to present moment. There was a surge in the Force, as well. “Sorry?” Obi-Wan repeated, looking down at the top of her head, while he kept his arm around her. “For what, Merrill?”
Merrill sniffled, wiping at her cheeks. "I didn't mean to get so... I just." she looked down at the picture again, of happy mother and baby space animals. "I was thinking about my family." She wasn't telling him everything, but certainly there was enough for her to cry about now.
No, she wasn't telling him everything. Obi-Wan could sense that. But he also had more control over his powers now and he couldn't bring himself to pry. Instead, he frowned as he stared into the wall, and tried not to suspect more than Merrill was willing, or able, to share.
"All will be well," he said. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner. I feel as though I've fallen behind."
Merrill shook her head, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. "I'm just glad you're here now."
Obi-Wan nodded, finally closing his eyes, thankful for Merrill’s forgiveness, even if she didn’t fully realize she had given it.
As for Frodo, he hoped for his family’s sake that he would return as quickly as possible.