Harbor

Maggie sat cold in her chair before the Lord Elrond. Gandalf paced swiftly behind her and she could catch the scent of his pipe-weed. She inhaled deeply and sighed heavily through a tight mouth. Her eyes felt heated from within her skull and she wasn't sure if it was the onset of tears that was the cause. A thick hand came up to her brow and she absently rubbed at her hairline. The silence was starting to buzz in her ears. She spared a quick glance up to Lord Elrond and the Elf looked at her over his folded hands.

"I know it is strange." Maggie tried for a second time into the silence. The first time, Gandalf had scoffed at her and took to a window behind her, where he paced now. "But you must believe me. Why would I say these things if they… I know I am not mad."

"I am inclined to believe you." Elrond said at last, his voice coupled with a weariness that roughened his words. "I have heard many strange tales over my lifetime, but none quite as strange as this."

"Another world." Gandalf grumbled. "It is a whole other world aside from ours and so vastly different."

"Perhaps not," Elrond interrupted as he stood from his desk. Maggie vaguely noted that their dinners had been forgotten, on the edge of Elrond's desk, the food gray and wilted. The low sun doused the room in a soft fire and she watched as the Elf moved along the edge of his desk toward her, his dark eyes intense and searching. Maggie swallowed.

"It may have been many centuries ago, Ages now, that it has happened… but there were once foreigners to this world, as well." Elrond stated calmly, his gaze shifted from Maggie up to Gandalf and she felt her body melt with relief. "What is to say this could not have happened to her?"

She could hear Gandalf's robe whisper as he stopped, but she wouldn't turn to look at him. There was a vomit-inducing turbulence in her stomach from the swirl of emotions that crowded her organ. Gandalf had been her companion now for a handful of months, while they traveled and as she stayed with the Hobbits, to have him treat her like a stranger now…

She shifted in her seat again and sat up a bit straighter.

"I should have brought her to you sooner, Lord Elrond." Gandalf lamented. There was a sigh from behind her and Maggie's spine stiffened. The Elf spared her a brief, warm look and Maggie attempted a small smile. 'He's trying to help. Give him credit for that, at least.'

"Sooner or later is now no longer the point. She is here now and we must help her." Lord Elrond folded his hands into his sleeves and took a few careful steps behind Maggie toward Gandalf. The young woman (dwarf, she must remind herself) slumped in her chair again. Her hands came up to her forehead and she roughly pressed them up over her hairline.

"We may yet take her to Ered Luin. If she is to stay here as I suspect, she must learn to be a part of her culture." Gandalf's words cut through Maggie with a heat that crippled her. She released her hair from her grip and turned in her seat, face aflame from embarrassment.

"And what if I don't want to go?" Maggie snapped. Gandalf jerked, startled at her outburst, but Elrond only turned to her smoothly with a brow furrowed with concern. Maggie continued as she stood from her seat and briefly tipped it on its hind legs before she caught it with a quick hand. "What if I want to stay with Bella and Bungo?"

"You cannot." Gandalf countered with a step forward. "The world of the Shirelings is far too different than what your world should be now. You are a dwarf, my dear, and whatever you were before does not change that fact."

"I was human before," Maggie spat. Elrond shifted subtly as if to intercept her and Maggie stopped in her tracks, seething. "I was human before and I never asked for this! I never asked to be brought here, I never asked to be dropped naked into – I was never asked if any of this was what I wanted!"

"It was for your own – " Gandalf tried again, the foot of his staff bouncing against the stone floor.

"Gandalf, my hand to God if you say 'it was for your own good!'" Maggie roared in English. She could feel the heat rupture from its place in her stomach and up to her chest; her anger flooded her cheeks and scorched her ears. The gentle shift of Elrond's robes snapped Maggie from her fury and she brought her gaze up to the Elf, ashamed.

"You are correct." Elrond soothed with a face that spoke of endless understanding. Maggie's guilt tripled and weighted her ribs like stones. "You were never asked. You have survived here in whatever way you could. You adapted, you overcame your obstacles and we must not ignore that."

"You cannot go home." Gandalf returned. His voice was gentler now in the wake of Elrond's interruption. "We must find you a place here and for you, Margaret, that is with the dwarves. You do not wish to be an outcast among them; they are a hard and secretive people."

"I found a place." Maggie muttered with a scratchy throat. She cleared it and brought her gaze up to Gandalf. "It is with Bella and Bungo. I do not care about the dwarves. If – I want to stay with my Hobbits. I did not even wish to be here," Maggie shot a quick look at Elrond, "… with all due respect."

Elrond smirked at her and Maggie's heart fluttered strangely. "I understand. Perhaps our circumstances are not as we wish them to be, and we will make the best of what has become of the situation."

"Lord Elrond?" Gandalf questioned. The wizard's fuzzy brows lifted over his eyes and the Elf cast him a sideways glance.

"Your original intention was to have her brought here to be examined. She is sound of mind, if not of body. The spring months are upon us, it is a good of a time as ever for learning." Elrond turned toward her with a genial smile, "Margaret, would you like to stay with us for the spring? Here, we can teach you in comfort, with whatever knowledge we have of the Dwarves."

'At least he's asking.'

Maggie considered it, heavily. She had already missed her birthday with Bilbo, but if she stayed here, it would get Gandalf to relent and maybe have her home in time by – 'Next winter. Oh God, it took us forever to get out here, and then traveling back through the snow and ice?'

"You are free to go back to The Shire, Margaret." The Elf was at her side and he bent at the knee to be level with her gaze. "You are not a prisoner here, and though like-minds would prefer if you learned of your new life, it is your life, ultimately, and you shall decide what to do with it."

"May I think on it?" Maggie asked quietly. She had to stop being childish. As much as she wanted to rebel against Gandalf's heavy-handed dealing and interfering, she couldn't hold off on whatever this was, forever. She was stuck in this world and though the idea chilled her lungs and brought tears to eyes, she had to face it.

"Of course," Elrond nodded his head. He stood to his full height and shared a look with the wizard. The old man looked incredibly put off, but Margaret could see he would bow to the Elf's reasoning. She sighed and tension flowed out from her shoulders.

"Now." Elrond spoke into the quiet between the three of them. "Our dinner has grown cold. I shall have new plates brought in and –"

"If you would not mind," Maggie winced, "… I would like to go back to my room."

"Margaret." Gandalf scolded her. His pale face had begun to turn red from her insolence, but Maggie couldn't bring herself to care. The old man had already gone behind her back throughout all of this and she wasn't completely ready to give up all of her rebelliousness.

"You may be excused, Margaret." Elrond held a hand out toward Gandalf, as if his presence alone would withhold against the wizard. Maggie could only bow her head and fix the chair back against Elrond's desk before hurrying out of the room. She passed Lindir through the adjoining room and the Elf blinked at her trotting form, but did not stop her.

It wasn't until Maggie made it to her room that she burst into hot tears.

0 o 0

When Enelya entered the room, she could spy the young dwarf nestled in a corner of a balcony, a cover from the bed thrown over her head. She had been informed by Lord Elrond that the dwarrowdam would be distressed, but what Enelya could feel rolling through the open door was more than just distress, it was the caved feeling of sorrow.

The redheaded Elf placed the tray she held down on the stand near the bed and glided over to where the dwarf sat. There was a space of silence between them before Margaret turned her gaze upward and blinked misty dark eyes at Enelya.

"Yes, ma'am?" The dam murmured. It was peculiar thing to Enelya the mannerisms that this creature possessed. The other inhabitants of Imladris had expected hostility, they had expected that the young dam would turn her nose up at them and strut or skitter as her kind were wont to do in the presence of Elves. This little creature did no such thing, and walked among them like equals. Her curiosity was brightly infectious and made most of them wonder.

The single fact that the dwarrowdam willingly ate their greens with little to no complaint was also a surprise.

"What is the matter?" Enelya hesitated for a moment. Most dwarves were opposed to Elfish company, but Margaret took most of their preconceptions and tossed them to the wind. Enelya gently lowered herself to the ground and folded her legs up under so that she allowed the dwarf as much space as possible.

Margaret laughed bitterly and wiped at the corner of her eyes. "I… I do not want to be a burden." This, Enelya understood, was a common feeling among the dwarves. Since smoked from their mountain, the feeling of independence had become powerful and overbearing.

Enelya smiled politely and recited, "No one is a burden on the Last Homely House."

"I am." Margaret whispered back. "I do not belong here or anywhere, Miss Enelya. Do you know? Did the wizard tell you? I have no family. No friends. No… nothing. The only things I have are two little Hobbits, far away in The Shire." Enelya paused and brought her blue gaze to Margaret's hunched form. Now, Enelya thought to herself, now she understood the sorrow.

"If I may so bold, Margaret… what happened to your family?" Enelya ventured. It was a rare thing to have a dwarf in a conversational mood, even a sad one.

Margaret adjusted under her blanket. "I do not have one. Not… not of dwarves. Only Hobbits."

"You do not have one?" Enelya parroted, surprised. "Did they abandon you? Is that why you are left in the care of Hobbits?"

"I had one; b-but I do not remember them. They are long forgotten." Margaret muttered in the low pitch of her voice. Enelya's eyes fluttered and a hand came to rest over her rapidly beating heart. Was this why the dwarf was so strange? She had no memory of her people, of whom she was or where she had come from? Enelya felt her heart climb up her throat, for now the young dam was so much more than just another dwarf.

She was a child without a proper home. Enelya nearly opened her mouth to bestow her sympathies to the young thing, but remembered with alacrity that dwarves could only taste the bitterness of pity, not sincerity. Though she could see that Margaret was different from her kin, she was not about to test it. Instead, she said; "I see. You believe yourself a burden on those who now must care for you."

"The Hobbits," Margaret agreed, "And now… perhaps Lord Elrond. I do not know what to do."

"What has the Master of the House offered you, Margaret?" Enelya quietly questioned. The Elf's chest tightened at the sight of the dwarrowdam, bundled in her blanket and seeking refuge from the world around her. Oh, how strange the world must have been to her, a wandering soul left to float between the cares of those who found the time for her.

"He said that I could stay here… to learn my… to learn my words. For dwarves, my k-kin." Margaret's voice stuttered violently and Enelya was alarmed to hear the sob that echoed up from within the dwarf's arms. The dwarrowdam curled into herself and her sobs shook her body.

Enelya shifted forward on her knees and placed her hands softly along the dwarf's shoulders. The dam did not still at her touch as Enelya expected her to, and instead turned and fell into Enelya's hold. Startled, but not to be caught cold-hearted, Enelya held her steadily against her breast and ran a soothing hand down the dam's coarse hair.

"I want to go home," Margaret cried lowly, "I want m-my family back. I do not kn-know what to do or wh-where to go – how am I to belong anywhere?"

"Shh, Margaret." Enelya continued to brush down the dam's unruly hair. The small creature continued to cry and Enelya felt her heart go out to the young thing. She could feel the fright and loneliness that plagued Margaret, a distant and heavy darkness that consumed her heart.

"How old are you, my dear?" Enelya asked gently against the dwarf's head. Margaret wiped her face into the fabric of her cover and inhaled shakily. She did not answer at first, and Enelya tried again with a pat to Margaret's head.

"Twenty one years." Margaret finally replied.

"Oh, Margaret!" Enelya gasped. Though much may not have been known about dwarves, it was well understood that dwarves under the age of seventy years were still considered children. Enelya closed her eyes and dropped her chin gently over Margaret's head. A young dwarrowdam with no home or family, with no lineage or culture to stand on, and here she was traveling to and fro under the care of a wizard instead of a mother.

"The Lord Elrond is kind and wise, Margaret. You would do well under his tutelage. We have other scholars here as well who could assist you." Enelya felt Margaret shudder in her arms and the Elf instinctively held on tighter. Enelya rested her cheek against Margaret's hair and sighed, "You would have a place here, my dear child, or with your Hobbits. None would dare turn you away."

Many in the world would, Enelya knew, but she would not crush the soul of one so young, so soon. She stayed with the young creature until her sobs quietened and slowed, her breathing drew evenly, and her weight slumped against Enelya fully. The Elf sighed briefly and stood with care; the dwarf held up in her arms and carried to the bed. She untangled the cover to tuck it in around the small frame. Enelya stood back and crossed her arms loosely under her bosom.

"We shall find a place for you, little one." In all her years, Enelya would not have fathomed saying such words to a dwarf, but there was an exception for everything. She picked up the tray that had been left forgotten on the stand and swiftly exited the room silently.

0 o 0

It was a week or so before Elrond had the young dwarf in his presence again. She approached with caution, his sons were in the room and from what he had heard of their first meeting, and it had not gone smoothly. Elrond stood away from his sons and gestured to a chair as Margaret entered, but she shook her head and stayed closer to the door, her hands behind her back.

"I would like to stay." She said unceremoniously. He could see her nervousness rattle her shoulders as his sons circled around behind him. "I… you are right. I am a part of this world and I cannot ignore it. I would like to stay a-and learn." She spied his sons behind him and shuffled uneasily on her feet. She had taken well to the presence of Elves, Enelya and Lindir being favorites, but it seemed not all Elves would be favored as highly.

"We would be honored to have you stay with us, Margaret." Elrond dipped his head toward her.

"B-but, may I ask for something?" Margaret's voice was low and shy, but it held no fear in her tone. Elrond smiled and nodded for her to continue. "In the winter… may I go home? I-I can come back in spring again… I just… I want to see Bilbo. A-and Bella and Bungo, of course."

"Of course." Elrond smiled faintly. It was a small request, and one that could easily be fulfilled if they traveled before the full onslaught of winter. "And you would like to come back in the spring? There is a lot to learn, Margaret. Will this be a yearly thing?"

The dwarrowdam nodded her head. "I would like it to be. I-I… I do not want to be seen as ignorant. I want to learn. Belladonna would – it would be best." The young creature stuttered the closer his sons came to his desk and near her, but she kept her chin level and her eyes wide.

"Then so shall it be. We will inform Gandalf tonight when he returns, and if you would like, I may assist you in writing to your family?" Elrond offered kindly. He knew better than to insult a dwarf, but he like many of his kindred in Imladris, had come to realize that Margaret was of a different sort. True to her previous, humanly nature, she smiled.

"I would like that, very much."

Note: Thank you all for staying with me! I really appreciate all your patience and reviews!