Pippin awoke, his head aching terribly from the vivid dream he had dreamt that night. He tossed and turned, trying to rid his mind of the terrible images. The dragon smoke, the pain, and the battle; it was all so frighteningly real. What was this? He got up and looked about the room. His small bedroom in his Hobbit hole was empty but for his brother, sleeping soundly in the corner by the open window. By the looks of it, the sun had barely woken above the horizon.

It was Bilbo's birthday today. Bilbo of Bag End and his nephew, Frodo had been long friends of Merry and Pippin. They had played and fought and been schooled together as young dwarves, and had grown very fond of each other. It was a day for merriness, yet the two brothers were anything but. Pippin sat at breakfast, a small cup of tea in one hand and the other resting on his aching head. Merry sat across from him in much the same spirits. He had dreamt too of battles and dragons and the endless smoke.

"What do you think's the matter?" Pippin muttered, looking up at his brother. Merry only shook his head. He had not the slightest clue. But suddenly, recalling a certain name from his dream, he jolted upright and his eyes lit up with inkling.

"Bilbo Boggins," he whispered. He remembered the name being spoken in his dream.

"Boggins? Dear Merry, you've gone mad. It's Baggins," Pippin snickered despite his sore head. He was the type to find the humor in all things. Merry looked at him, the anticipation of comprehension pasted onto his expression.

"Exactly."

Pippin and Merry raced each other to the Hobbit hole at the top of the Shire, just beneath the grand old tree on top of the hill. Merry rapped urgently on the door, and soon it opened to reveal a very surprised Frodo. He smiled in his usual childish and cheerful way and ushered them in.

"What brings you to Bag End so early?" Frodo asked pleasantly as he took them into the kitchen and poured each a hot cup of chamomile tea. It was Bilbo's favorite, and the pantries were stocked full of it, so much so that the entire Hobbit hole stank of it.

"Is Bilbo home?" Pippin replied in question, and Frodo looked at him quite oddly. Pippin sipped at his tea awkwardly under the stare of his friend. Frodo's eyes were the most piercing shade of blue, and not at all unpleasant to look at, but when he stared, it was rather unsettling.

"He is. Have you come for him, then?"

Merry nodded, and Frodo sighed, He had thought they had come to see him. He told them to wait whilst he retrieved Bilbo, and soon all four of them sat merrily in the kitchen drinking tea.

"Bilbo," Pippin began, an heir of uncertainty in his voice. "Merry and I dreamt a dream last night. The very same dream of dragon's smoke and battles. You were in it, we think, only you were called Boggins."

Bilbo sat and listened to the young Hobbit, his expression warping from jollity to uneasy comprehension, and then to a small mischievous smile. So it was time that they had woken, he thought, and it was time for him to tell his story.

"There was only one man who ever called me Boggins," he mused nostalgically. He had long since removed it from his mind, but such an experience could never go away. He had loved each and every one of the dwarves that had taken him to the Lonely Mountain, and he regretted their deaths terribly. He felt the familiar ache in his heart return after so many years of absence. "His name was Kili, the dwarf, and his brother, Fili, were the heirs of Durin and Erebor. They were so much like you," he said.

"Fili and Kili?" Merry questioned. He had heard Bilbo talk of them once long ago in his famous tales of adventure. But he had never surmised them to be real. Suddenly, Pippin's demeanor changed, and Bilbo knew they had returned.

"Hello, Mr Boggins," said Pippin, but his voice was low and husky. He wore an expression of mischief, not unlike his usual, but it was darker. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?"

Bilbo smiled gleefully. So what he had assumed all these years had been true. Merry and Pippin were indeed the reincarnations of Kili and Fili. He turned to Merry to see his face changed too.

"Have you got any beer?" Merry asked suddenly, leaning forward to smile at Bilbo. Yes, Bilbo had missed these two. But they would not stay for long. Gandalf had told him of reincarnation. The spirits of their former selves manifested only once on the day preceding a full moon. Bilbo chuckled, feeling young once more, as Frodo stared in anxious confusion.

"Aye," replied Bilbo, "but I'm not giving it to you two!"

Tada! This is an idea inspired by the lovely VanessaAndEllietheVamps. What do you think? This story will probably consist of short snippets of events throughout the LotR...please review and let me know what you think!