Chapter 1: Flowers
Bilbo hadn't seen Thorin for three days after their encounter. He was alone in his bedchambers when there was a soft knock at the door on the morning of the fourth day. Cautiously, he rose from where he lay and made his way to the door. Before he opened it, Bilbo took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Slowly pulling on the large handle, the hobbit saw a short serving dwarf, young and quite pretty. She stood there with a bouquet of flowers in her small hands. Her face was soft and round, eyes bright as she looked at him with fanciful delight.
"These are for you, mister Bilbo, sir!" She nearly shouted at him in her hurry. The flowers were thrust into his face. As they were, pollen from the flowers flew into his nose causing a large sneeze to erupt from Bilbo.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" swiftly pulling them out of his face. "I had no idea you were allergic when I was told to bring them to you!"
Bilbo waved her off, "It's fine – Achooo! – you didn't know."
"I thought King Thorin would know what his One would like but-"
"Thorin sent me these?" Bilbo quickly interrupted her rambling. "Why would he send me flowers?"
She smiled softly, "Why else mister Bilbo? Because he loves you."
"If he thinks to win my affections back so easily, he will be sadly mistaken. And you can tell him that yourself."
He went to close the door, but she stopped him. "His majesty sent me with a message, will you allow me to relay it?"
The hobbit opened the door a bit further and nodded. She took a deep breath and looked up as if to remember what she was told, "King Thorin wanted me to tell you this exactly: My dearest Bilbo, it would be my utmost honor if you would join me in the place where these flowers were picked. I have left you with one clue, these flowers. There are several more, every day someone will bring you something that will tell you more about this place. Every day I will wait for you there. If you have decided that you no longer wish to have my messages, if you no longer wish to be with me, tell the person who is sent to you that day. I will stop. I will stop sending you notes, and flowers, but I will never stop loving you. I forgot what it was to love you once, I will never forget again. I hope to see you soon, my love.
"And that's all there is." She nodded her head in finality. After a moment of silence she spoke again, "….mister Bilbo? Did you hear everything I said?"
He blinked, as if taken out of trance, and nodded quickly, "Yes! Yes, thank you very much. Um, that was quite a bit to memorize." The dwarf just stared for a second before bursting into laughter.
"I like you, mister Bilbo, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive our king. He has longed for you to return for nearly four years."
"That cannot be true," Bilbo said, shaking his head in disbelief, "He can't have recovered so quickly from the gold sickness as to want me back for as long as I have been gone."
"He did! I swear, he cried out for you in the night. Lady Dis watched over him for many late evenings as his body shook from the withdrawal of being away from you. He has not roamed the treasury since before you left. He has not seen the Arkenstone in longer. He does not have the gold sickness and refuses to even tempt himself."
"How can that be possible?" His skepticism was harsh.
"He gave the key away. After we rebuilt the vaults, he gave the key to Balin. Only he is able to enter and for official business only." She nodded, as if to prove her point, "If you have no further questions, I do have other duties to attend to."
"Of course! Yes, I think I'm done for now." Then he looked at the flowers, "Just one last thing, what are these flowers called?"
She turned back, smiling softly, "They're called Moon Dwellers, because they only blossom during the first full moon of spring. They are very rare."
Bilbo looked down at the flowers, noting the intricacies of the petals. Purple flowed out from the center onto white tips, the stem was almost glowing a soft white. They were magnificent.
"Thank you." Bilbo said softly. The dwarf woman bowed slightly and left him staring at the flowers in wonder. After a moment Bilbo realized that he was just standing in his doorway with flowers in his hands and swiftly shut the door. He noticed an empty vase on his dresser and filled it with some water before placing the flowers inside.
How could he still want me? After I made such a fool of myself, running away like a child. I am not some sort of skittish rabbit, afraid of being rejected. Bilbo sighed. Rubbing his eyes, he went back to lay on the bed. "This is not what I expected when I decided to return to Erebor."