Frodo Baggins was a lot like Bilbo when she was younger. She was a smart girl, young as she was, and she had an adventurous streak to her. And just like Bilbo, she was certainly mischievous, though still a good child by heart. Like all good children, she was kind to whomever she came along by. To her, dwarves were not big, scary people. No, they were the kind of people that you invited over to dinner, especially when they already knew your aunt Bilbo.
Which was ridiculous, because Bilbo hadn't met a single dwarf in years. They'd stopped coming through the Hobbiton, only going to the edge of the Shire to trade. Some could be seen in Bree, but over the years Bilbo went less and less. The price had been more than just Hobbiton never having a decent smith, but no one discussed that. There were more important things to worry about as the years passed.
And despite what they said, Bilbo Baggins did not know these dwarves. Frodo seemed to think that she did, but never once had Bilbo met them. They were young, and most of the dwarves, save one, had all been rather old looking. In fact, she would almost consider them still to be children.
Still, she let them in, if only not to break Frodo's heart. She seemed so excited to see these three dwarves, even if they were slightly older than her.
"Don't wipe your dirty boots on my mother's glory box!" she said to the dark haired one.
They turned red and quickly apologized. "Sorry, Mrs. Boggins."
"It's Baggins," she said. She didn't even bother to clarify the Mrs. part and decided they could believe as they wished.
"Can I show them my room, Mommy?" Frodo asked.
"Yes," Bilbo said.
"I have lots of things to show you!" She hopped from one hairy foot to the other. "Ori, I have lots of books!"
The youngest dwarf of them all beamed.
Together, they walked towards Frodo's room, muddy boots off, along with their socks. This surprised Bilbo. All the dwarves, save one, that she had ever invited over to Bag End had never removed their boots when they came inside. They'd had the decency to wipe their boots off on the welcoming mat, yes, but never had they actually removed their boots.
Bilbo's stomach tightened, but she went back to the kitchen. There was still dinner to be made.
Rather than thinking of the past, she thought of what was currently going on. Why were three dwarves at her home? Why did they know of her? Did word about her really spread that fast around Ered Lindon? Did word ever get to her?
Bilbo shook her head. Really, she was going to worry herself to death one day.
Her mind wandered to the dwarves' genders. After she met her, she had learned that dwarven women too had beards. Bilbo was not rude, so she decided she wouldn't bring up the subject. Some part of her feared that Frodo wouldn't do the same.
Well, only time would tell.
She went back to one of her storage rooms, the one she used the least, and grabbed the blue book. Despite not being in the room for years, she knew exactly where it was. It was covered in dust, but luckily neither water nor bug had gotten to it. When she opened the book, it was like something changed. Suddenly she wasn't raising her cousin and pretending to be her mother. She wasn't living all alone in a far too large hobbit hole.
No, she was back to the way it was all those years ago.
Bilbo Baggins was an odd girl. Some blamed her mother, and others simply blamed the fact that she was always off in the woods, near the edge of the Shire. A few even made whispers that she really had discovered elves. Either way, she wasn't like most of the other hobbit lasses. She didn't even do it on purpose like some of the older hobbits believed; that was just how she worked.
Bungo was used to it and Belladonna didn't mind in the slightest. Her cousins, especially the Took ones, were used to it, and some would even accompany her on her adventures, small as they were.
Really, it was no surprise to anyone that Bilbo was the first to meet the new smith in the Shire. The truth was, however, that Bilbo hadn't planned on that. Her mother had just had some things that needed to be fixed, so Bilbo had taken them. And, when her mother wasn't looking, she took Bungo's favorite pans as well. It would be good to actually use them.
The smith, a dwarf woman, had set up in an abandoned store. Like almost all hobbit buildings, it was in a hole in the ground. Later on she would come to joke about it, saying both races loved to live underground, though some a bit deeper than others. It was rare to get a decent smith in the Shire. It just wasn't a popular line of trade. If anyone really needed something to be fixed then they took it to Bree. If not, a new one could just as easily be bought.
A few whispers were made of the dwarf woman's gender, but it was ultimately chalked up that she was a dwarf, and dwarves just weren't like hobbits.
Bilbo had knocked, barely able to keep the pans in her hands from falling to the ground. The fact that she also had a basket on her arms wasn't helping.
A woman had answered. She'd had a gruff exterior, but no beard to speak of. Later on she'd said she had shaved it to fit in better at the Shire. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore simple clothes.
"Thank you," Bilbo said.
The woman nodded.
The room had been small. There was another door. It had currently been shut, but she could sense a heat coming from it. There was a large table set out, but it had currently been empty.
Once Bilbo had set everything down, she stared at it.
"You're my first customer," the woman said. "I have only recently opened." Bilbo didn't mention that she obviously knew this.
The woman looked away from her. Bilbo couldn't help but notice her muscular build. Something fluttered in her chest, though she didn't know why. By Shire standards, she was quite ugly. Being muscular, tall (by hobbit standards), straight haired, and lean (again by hobbit standards) was far from desirable by hobbit standards. And she wore boots of all things! But really, Bilbo didn't care right then.
The woman gave her a quick look, and Bilbo quickly snapped back to normal.
"So you need these repaired?"
"Yes!" Bilbo looked out the window. Of course she had to be late! "But you can't do it now."
"Why?"
"Well just look outside!" She pulled the basket off of her shoulder and placed it on the ground. "We're both late for elevensies. I should've known that this would happen. There's no use trying to run back now. Mother will just have to do without me."
"Really," the woman said, "I need to get to work."
"Ridiculous!" Bilbo said. "You'll just let these biscuits get cold? I baked them right before I came here." She picked the basket up and handed one to her. "Go on, try one."
The woman gave her a strange look. Really, what was so wrong with offering to share elevensies? She took the biscuit from her hand and brought it to her lips. For a moment she just held it there, and Bilbo feared that she wouldn't bother to eat it all. But she took a bite, a rather large one at that. Bilbo couldn't help but smile when she finished off the entire thing and weakly asked if she could have more.
"Of course," she said. She handed her a few more. As she ate, Bilbo spoke. "I haven't properly introduced myself, and I must apologize for that. My name is Bilbo Baggins."
"Thorin," the woman replied. She gave no last name.
"It's nice to meet you," Bilbo said. "So, what do you think?"
She frowned. "They're good."
"Would you like another?"
Thorin gave her a weary look. "Really..."
"Oh hush," she said. "Someone is going to have to eat these besides me." She handed her a few more, and then bit into one herself. "Are they really good?" She had made far better before. There was far too little jelly inside of these, and the exterior wasn't as well baked as Bilbo thought they would be.
"Of course," she said. Bilbo didn't question her again. For what seemed like the longest time they stood eating until they had finished off every single one of Bilbo's jelly biscuits.
When it finished, Thorin said a quick word of thanks. She wrung her hands on her apron. "Do you need these to be done quickly? If not, it should take about a day to get them finished."
"No, that will be perfectly fine," Bilbo replied. For a moment they stood in silence, unsure of what to say. The basket's handle was firmly in Bilbo's hand, much lighter now that it was empty.
Thorin nodded. "You can pay me tomorrow."
Two hours later, Bilbo was back. She had a late lunch and extra coins with her. It took Thorin a few minutes to get to the door, and when she came Bilbo could see why. No longer did she feel attracted to Thorin. Dirt and sweat didn't exactly compliment her features.
Before Thorin could say anything, Bilbo spoke. "I understand that they aren't ready yet!"
Thorin let her inside wordlessly. "Do you have more to bring?"
"If you mean food, then yes. I realized that I must have made you late for lunch." Her eyes wandered to the collection of items that she'd brought in earlier. Nothing new had been added/ Luckily, none of her father's pots had been touched yet. She took a sandwich from her basket and handed it to Thorin. "I hope you don't mind me coming to tell you something at such a sudden time. You look busy. But those pots over there, in that pile? They're family heirlooms, quite precious. If you could please be very careful with them then I will pay you extra." To prove her point, she pulled the small sack of coins from her pocket and threw it to her. "I'll pay the rest tomorrow like you said."
Thorin nodded. "Alright." She looked down at her sandwich, looking unsure of if to eat it or not. "Is there anything else that you need?" She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite out of it.
"Is it good?" She had certainly made it quickly. When she'd realized that she had forgotten to give Thorin such important information, she'd rushed over with barely enough time to make a proper meal.
"Yes," Thorin said. With another bite, she finished the entire thing. She could easily beat a hobbit at wolfing down meals. "I need to get back to work."
Bilbo quickly removed the rest of her lunch from the inside of the basket and placed it on the table. "But you need to finish this."
The woman looked strangely at her. "I am quite full from earlier." She sighed. "I will eat the rest later. Thank you. I just wish I knew why you were doing this."
"Because you're doing this for me," she said. "Especially since you agreed to be careful with the pans. They are very precious." She smiled. "And it would be wrong to deprive you of lunch. It is quite kind of you to do this for me. Please enjoy it. I only hope that you'll take a break at tea."
It took Thorin longer to fix the pots due to Bilbo's request, but when she got them back she received even more coins and both elevensies and lunch. She seemed taken aback by Bilbo, but Bilbo hardly noticed. The pots looked good as new, and finally some work could be put into them.
"You don't mind if I take trips taking these back home? I don't want to risk dropping them."
"No, go on." Thorin looked away from her. "I have other business to do here..."
Thorin still appeared to not have any other customers.
"Would you like help me out then? We can come eat at my home if you'd like. Then things could get done faster. Or you could eat now."
"I'll eat," Thorin said.
Bilbo gave Thorin her basket.
Bilbo noticed that a few old looking chairs had been set out, so she sat down. "Your work is wonderful. I'd heard of the skill of dwarven smiths before, but never had I actually seen it."
"Thank you," Thorin said. She took some of the vegetables out of the basket and bit into them.
"I gardened them myself," Bilbo said.
"They're good," Thorin said weakly.
"Is something wrong?"
"No!" She clutched her food tightly. "I'm just not used to eating green things. But they are good..."
"If you'd like, you can eat more over at my house."
"No, I'm sure all of this will be fine."
"I won't mind."
Thorin said nothing, just kept eating. Bilbo feared that she had offended her in some way.
However, soon enough she was questioning Bilbo on the food. It wasn't that she didn't like it, it was that she didn't know what it was. Bilbo was more than happy to help explain it to her, and she spoke with enthusiasm. It was a nice conversation. She seemed even more curious about food than some hobbits were, and that said a lot.
Once they finished, they took everything home. Thankfully, Belladonna was gone and didn't see Bilbo return her father's pots back to where they belonged. It was only by luck that she hadn't noticed them yesterday.
Or, Bilbo thought, she didn't point it out.
Her stomach twisted.
When everything was back where it belonged, Bilbo offered Thorin some cake. For a moment she hesitated, and Bilbo reassured her that it would be just fine. For years she would promise to Yavanna that she had no idea how the two ended up eating the entire thing and nearly polishing off all of her mother's cookies as well.
Memories rushed through Bilbo. She was back in her kitchen, making Thorin dinner after her long day at work. She was dirty, but was currently taking a bath at Bilbo's request. At first she had been surprised that Bilbo didn't like her dirty, but consented to her wishes and began to regularly bathe herself.
And then Frodo yelled something and everything came back to Bilbo. She was in her kitchen, looking at the blue book, and Frodo was off in her room playing with dwarves. Frodo seemed happy, and for a moment she smiled. Then, she frowned.
She continued making the dwarven meal, glad that she had stocked up on ingredients at the market the day before. It had always surprised her that dwarf food could be made with the same things as hobbit meals. To her, no matter how many times she made them, they were a strange dish.
As she kept working, more and more memories came back to her. Some of them she'd completely forgotten about, but they were suddenly back and with a vengeance. For a moment all she could do was cry.
But, like any proper Baggins, she put herself back together and continued cooking. She had guests that needed to be fed.
By the time she'd put it in the oven, there was another knock on the door.
Belladonna Took came home to find her daughter and the new dwarven smith that she'd heard word in the market of inside of her kitchen. Bilbo stared at her with wide eyes and wondered what to say to her.
"I just made that cake earlier," she said. "I wanted a slice." But she smiled. It was strange on her face. Though she had started to do it more and more often, she was still unused to it. For years, Bilbo had watched her mother's smile fade away. But there it was, and strange or not, she loved it. That smile was just like her mother: Odd, but wonderful. "Now tell me," she said, putting a hand on her hip. "Who is that?"
"Thorin," Thorin said. "I am the new smith. I apologize, mistress Baggins."
Bilbo had to suppress a laugh. No one called her mother that.
Belladonna smirked. "Oh, there's nothing to be sorry for. I'm sure that Bilbo can make me another."
And Bilbo did, and she didn't mind in the slightest.
Bilbo's wife was back from the dead with a beard to show for it.
That, and eight other dwarves came with her.
Before she could say anything, two warm arms wrapped around her waist, "I've missed you so much! Finally, I've proven my worth of you!" When she finished the hug, Bilbo could only stand speechless, mind heavy with shock, as she had one of the dwarves carry over a large chest. She opened it, and inside was more gold than she thought was in the entire Shire.
When she next woke up, Frodo was lying in Thorin's lap asleep. Her mind faintly recalled what happened. She was in her bedroom, with her somehow still alive wife and a chest of gold in one corner. Thorin sat on a chair, boots off of her feet. The fur coat that Thorin had been wearing earlier was covering Frodo. She wasn't very hesitant with strangers, and seemed perfectly fine with Thorin.
"You're awake," Thorin said softly.
"What happened?" Her voice was weak.
"I showed you some of your gold and you passed out." She looked down at Frodo, and a small smile spread across her face. "We brought you inside, and I met our little one. I do apologize for the struggle you had with her."
Bilbo didn't know exactly what she meant. In fact, she didn't know what any of this meant. "You're back." Saying that she thought she was dead would probably make her sound loony.
Thorin smiled. "I'm sorry, but I had other matters to attend to. But that doesn't matter now. We have to get back to Erebor."
"Erebor?" She'd heard stories of it when she was a child from her mother. It had been one of the most prosperous of all dwarf cities. Thorin had even spoken some of it before, though she mentioned little and didn't appreciate Bilbo asking questions.
"Yes, Erebor," she said. "You are the new queen of it."
Surprisingly, Bilbo didn't pass out again.
From what I can tell, this is going to be a long fic. I promise that it will have a happy ending.
Reviews are appreciated. This is the first time that I've planned on making such a long fic.