She could feel the earth growing beneath her body. Roots and bugs were vibrant as they went along their daily lives. While the rest of the world was unaware of the life that teemed beneath their feet, young Azariela knew all too well.

Small beats against the earth warned her well before it happened. However her body, young as it was, was ill-equipped to react in time. She managed to sit up before a body collided with hers, tackling her back to the ground.

"I won again, my lady."

Her lips curled in a frown, "You cheat."

Lips grazed her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "Tis' not cheating if it comes naturally, my dear."

"That's what all cheaters say, master elf," her eyes opened to peek back at eyes that were equally blue. "And you, master elf, are most definitely cheating."

Azriela was not what anyone would call great, or mighty, or strong, or even that wise. But she was beautiful. Not quite as lovely as the Lady Galadriel, but still beautiful in her own right. She had long brown hair that seemed to be one with the earth; as it held a multitude of leaves in her curls and small vines wove their way through. Her eyes were a blue that seemed to twinkle when she was happy and storm when she was angry.

So when I say that people stared at her as she rode her horse through the Shire, you'll not find it odd. What one would find odd was that she was gripping the neck of the beast as though she was clinging for dear life.

"This is the last time I'll ride on horseback," she thought to herself, her eyes squeezed shut. "You, master horse, are making it bumpy on purpose," she spoke to her beast.

The horse made a noise of contempt and continued trotting down the road.

Finally the horse stopped.

She managed to open one eye and found she had arrived at the appointed place. In a very awkward manner she slid off the horse's back and fell on her rear. Giving a small whine she stood up and rubbed the sore spot like a child who has just been spanked.

The mark was there, just as her master had told her in his letter. She smiled and knocked on the door. The lights were on and the noise inside told her that someone had to be home.

The door flung open and Azriela smiled widely, "Hello." With that she walked in. "Am I late? I swear that blasted creature was making me sick on purpose." The woman rattled on as she found that the roof was far too low for her as she almost walked into a chandelier. "Is Gandalf here?"

"No, milady," a dwarf with a great white beard said. "Not yet."

"Oh, well," she brushed it off and settled into a seat at the table, "he'll come when he comes. In the meantime, have you any wine on hand. I'm absolutely parched. I'm Azriela, by the way, but it is far easier to call me Aza. You must be Mister Baggins."

"Y-yes I am," the Hobbit replied.

The white bearded dwarf smiled, his eyes smiling as well, "Balin, my lady." He extended his hand and Aza took it, giving it a firm shake.

"Dwalin," the other dwarf said gruffly while repeating the same action as the other dwarf.

The Hobbit who answered the door piped up "Uh, excuse me; sorry, I hate to interrupt, but the thing is, I'm not entirely sure you're in the right house."

"Have you eaten?" Dalwin asked.

Aza shook her head, "No. Was in quite a hurry I'm afraid."

Dalwin smiled, "We'll fix you something to eat."

With that the two dwarves moved to the pantry with the Hobbit close behind him. Aza smiled, dwarves had always been fun to meet with. Some of them were gruff and rough on the outside, but once you got to know them, they told some of the best stories.

The poor Hobbit seemed to be politely trying to be rid of his guests, and failing miserably at it. Aza laughed as the conversation progressed in the backroom. She had a horrible habit of listening when she shouldn't and oftentimes had received a swift smack on the head from her master for it.

The doorbell rang once again and this time two dwarfs stood in the opening. Aza could practically hear the Hobbit's heart break at the sight of them.

"Fili."

"And Kili."

Together they finished with, "At your service." It sounded like they had rehearsed this on the way there, like they were rehearsing their manners.

"You must be Mr. Boggins," said the second one, Kili.

"Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house," with that he tried to close the door on the trio, but it was stopped by someone's foot.

"What? Has it been cancelled?" –Kili.

"No one told us." –Fili.

"Can-? Nothing's been cancelled," said Bilbo

"Well, that's a relief," said Kili and with that the two pushed their way into the hole. As they did so they handed their things to Bilbo.

"Careful with these, we just had them sharpened."

"It's nice, this place. Did you do it yourself?"

As the two walked in Aza got a good look at them. They were young, for dwarves. One was dark haired and had little to no beard in sight. The other was lighter haired and had much more of a beard to speak of.

The dark haired one started to scrape his boots off on the chest.

"No, it's been in the family for years. That's my mother's glory box, can you please not do that!" Bilbo cried.

Dalwin called and pulled the dark haired one further in, "Fili, Kili, come on, give us a hand."

"Ha! Mister Dwalin," said the dwarf when he spied Aza sitting at the table, watching everything that was happening around her with great interest. The young dwarf gave a grin.

Balin walked out with a mug of something warm and filled with alcohol for Aza, "Let's shove this into the hall, otherwise we'll never get everyone in." He turned to Aza and asked, "If you wouldn't mind."

Aza stood up quickly and moved out of the way for them to move the table.

"Everyone? How many more are there?" Bilbo asked.

The doorbell rang once again and he went to answer it.

"My lady," said the dark haired one, taking her hand. "Kili, at your service." He then kissed her knuckles in, what he was sure to think, was a great attempt at being gentlemanly.

"Fili, at yours," said Fili, taking her other hand and repeating the gesture.

"Nice to meet you," Aza said, when she looked up there were a great group of dwarves falling in through the door. However, that wasn't what she was interested in. It was the taller man behind them, who was walking in, grey beard almost reaching the floor. "Master Gandalf! Excuse me." She ran to the man and embraced him.

The older wizard smiled down at Aza, "Good evening, miss Aza. Did the horse find it alright?"

Aza made a face, "Yes, he did. Please don't send me an animal to ride, ever."

Gandalf broke into a great laugh at this.

That evening Aza never felt sorrier for an uptight person than she ever had before this night. The dwarves raided Bilbo's, quite impressive, pantry. Everyone made themselves at home. It was only when Aza was on her ninth mug of ale that the food was served.

"They are quite messy," Aza noticed, but said nothing. Instead she smiled and laughed as the food was eaten. She even managed to eat a plate of it herself.

Fili then paraded down the table, mugs of ale in hand. "Who wants an ale? Here you go." He then handed Aza another mug before sitting down next to her, "For you my lady."

"Thank you," Aza said and downed the mug quite fast. It was so impressive that several dwarves cheered her on. She took a big breath, inhaling sharply, once the mug left her lips. "Anymore?"

The dwarves laughed at this.

Aza smiled, she wasn't even feeling tipsy yet.

"Let her have another drink!" Dalwin called.

"Ah, Master Baggins, you're dressed," Aza smiled when she saw the Hobbit, this time in proper clothes, "Do you have anymore?" She waved her mug.

The dwarves roared in laughter.

After the meal was over, Aza made her way to the kitchen to help wash up the dishes. "Need any help…?" she asked the dwarf, trailing off to tell him she didn't quite know his name yet.

"Bifur, and yes," he grunted.

Soon a few plates came whizzing through the air and Bifur caught them without any trouble.

"Impressive," Aza said and took to washing the dishes.

"Excuse me, that's my mother's West Farthing crockery, it's over a hundred years old!" Bilbo called, trying to make the dwarves stop throwing his dishes through the air. "Can-Can you not do that? You'll blunt them!"

One of the dwarves at the table, Bofur, said in a quite sarcastic way, "Ooh, you hear that, lads? He says we'll blunt the knives."

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks," Kili sang.

"Smash the bottles and burn the corks," Fili finished as the rest of the dwarves joined in.

"Chip the glasses and crack the plates

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Cut the cloth and tread on the fat

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat

Pour the milk on the pantry floor

Splash the wine on every door

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl

Pound them up with a thumping pole

And when you've finished, if they are whole

Send them down the hall to roll

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"

Once they finished all the dishes were done and Aza was placing the last of them in a pile. Bilbo walked in to find all of his dishes stacked neatly and cleanly. They all laughed when there were three loud knocks at the door. Everyone became silent.

Only Gandalf dared to break the silence. "He's here."