Hello again! This is one of two stories that were inspired by the same concepts. The first was a somewhat lack of stories that explore any musical ability that Bilbo might have. It was also sparked when I reread "The Nightingale" by Hans Christian Andersen, though it was more of an inspiration than any sort of retelling.

This story will be a combination of book and movie events.

You'll notice that in some stories I use "Dwarves" and "Dwarrows" in others. Both are correct as far as I know. I just use whatever makes the most sense to me in the context.

For this story, I decided to genderswap Bilbo as Bella Baggins. I know that the whole genderbending characters can be a issue sometimes as people may have very strong opinions on gender identity or gender roles. I want to be upfront in saying that such ideas had absolutely no bearing on why I switched for this or any other story. If I chose to change a character's gender, it is for the simple reason that I liked it that way, not because I want to make any sort of claim. I have always said that I write first and foremost for myself, to entertain and express myself. If I make such a change, it's because that when I imagined the story, I found I enjoyed it more or it just made more sense that way. If you've read some of my other work, you know that I've also written stories where I leave things like character gender alone and spend more time developing other elements of the story. I just really like exploring different options. I don't want to get preachy here or anything, I simply don't want to deal with rude comments about it. If it really bothers you that I did this, feel free to close this story and ignore me if you want. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Besides... this is a FICTIONAL story. I see no reason to stress over it.

Rant over. If you're still reading, thanks and I do hope you enjoy this either way!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or The Silmarillion. They belong to the incomparable J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm just playing in his universe.

Introduction

The opening section of a piece of music or movement

Bella's jaw dropped as Fili and Kili danced around the fire, their fingers flying across the strings of their fiddles at a furious pace. She'd seen and heard them play before, but never like this. It was like watching one of their many duels, but this time, they were using instruments as their weapons instead of swords or fists. They stared each other down with identical smirks upon their lips, silently challenging the other to keep up as they stomped their feet and played ever faster.

After several minutes, their song came to an abrupt end. They lowered their fiddles and bowed their heads in salute to one another.

Bella set a sewing needle and her trousers aside and applauded with the rest of the dwarves, thoroughly entertained by the impromptu music performance. On either side of her were Dori and Ori, and they likewise ceased working on their own projects in order to praise the Durin princes.

"That was amazing!" Bella cheered.

The boys beamed at her and bent into low, sweeping bows. "Thank you!" they cried in unison.

Fili set his fiddle upon his shoulder. "This is the first clear night we've had in awhile. We thought it best to take advantage of it and have some fun before we hit bad weather again."

Kili mirrored his brother with his own instrument and lifted his brows at Bella. "I'm surprised you liked the song, Miss Boggins. From the way you reacted at your house, I thought maybe you didn't like music."

Bella snorted and shook her head. "I love music, actually. I simply prefer that you leave my dishes out of it, that's all."

Fili and Kili just grinned at her while the rest of the dwarves chuckled. Dori was the only one who seemed to sympathize with her a little.

Across from her in the circle, on the other side of the bonfire, Nori pulled out his flute. "Shall we play something else?" he asked.

"A song and dance," Bofur suggested. He jumped to his feet and came closer to the center of their gathering. He launched into a pleasant tune that seemed to be well known among the dwarves, as a few of them joined with harmonies. Fili, Kili, Nori, Bifur, and Bombur took up their instruments to play the accompaniment while the rest got up to move.

Balin approached Bella and held out a hand. "Would you honor me with a dance, Miss Baggins?" he asked with a kindly smile.

"I'd be delighted, Master Balin," she beamed. She allowed him to pull her up and lead her to the circle.

To her delight, the steps were very easy to pick up. She was a fair dancer anyway, and very good at following, so it only took a verse for her to gain confidence. She stayed with Balin for the duration of that song, and traded off with others for the next few.

It had grown extremely dark by the time everyone was weary and ready to bed down for the night. Bella excused herself for a moment to take care of some personal business before sleep. When she returned, nearly everyone was either curled up in their bedrolls or completing a few final nighttime ablutions. She sat down just in time to hear Kili pose a question to Thorin.

"Will you sing for us before we sleep, Uncle?" he asked. As always, he had set his own blankets and possessions next to his brother's.

Bella perked up with hope, glancing over at Thorin as discretely as possible. He and Gandalf were the only ones that hadn't joined in the merriment, but he had been watching with interest and appeared to be more at ease than usual.

To her great disappointment, Thorin declined. She loved his voice best of all, and the captivating quality of it that stirred her heart to waken after so long of living in stagnation. She almost imagined that there was a magic to it, capable of inspiring loyalty and bravery in even the meekest of creatures.

She really hadn't stood a chance against him. She'd follow him anywhere if only he'd sing for her. That he had the remarkably good looks to match his beautiful voice was entirely unfair.

She supposed that his dour and arrogant personality evened things out.

"How about it, lass?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Bella had become lost in thought and failed to hear Dori speaking to her. She was disconcerted to find that all eyes had turned towards her.

"I suggested that you sing, my dear Bella," Gandalf called over. "It's been far too long since I last heard a song from you."

Bella flushed. "O-oh. I-I couldn't," she stammered.

"Nonsense!" Bofur objected cheerfully. "No need to be shy."

"I'm not shy," she retorted. "I just… don't sing."

Bombur plopped down on his own bedroll near to hers. "Oh come now, Miss Baggins. I've heard you humming along to our music sometimes. You've a perfectly lovely voice." He and his kin were oblivious to her meaning.

"She was the talk of the Shire when she was a tween," the wizard added.

Bella leveled a glare at him. "Not helping, Gandalf," she hissed.

Ori looked at her with pleading eyes. "Oh please, you must! I'd love to hear a hobbit song." He reached for his journal, eager to take notes.

Bella crossed her arms. "I'm terribly sorry, Ori, but the answer is no," she declared, feeling rather cross, mostly at Gandalf for initiating the conversation. "I don't sing, and that's final. Now if you don't mind, I'm very tired and would like to get some sleep." She crawled into her bedroll and turned her body away from the dwarves. She pulled her blanket up over her head and tried, in vain, to ignore the ensuing murmurs in Khuzdul.

To be continued...