The Matchmaker

"Oh, my Lady Dru, you're here again!" The tall, finely dressed Dwarrowdam turned to Dru with a sweet smile and crinkled eyes. Dru liked her. She was always genuine when it came to how happy she was.

"And you're here, Inga," Dru held her hands behind her back and casually commented, "more toys for your sister's sons and daughters?"

Inga nodded, her braids swinging against her head as she did so. Dru had spotted Inga outside Bofur and Bifur's toyshop about a month ago and she'd been watching her closely in the next couple of weeks.

She'd made small, simple purchases for her own nieces and nephews and each time she did, Dru would watch with great interest the quiet communications between the two. Had she not been watching, she may have missed the signs as others had done.

But it was the simple smiles, the polite words and the teeny, tiny touches as their hands would exchange items and money.

Dru had seen these signs before and knew instantly that Bifur was smitten. And from what she could gather from Inga, the lady did seem to have some interest in him.

But then, Dru thought, that may be genuine respect for the toys he made. So, she decided to do some sneaking around and asked (quietly) about Inga. She was a seamstress, unmarried and had arrived in the Mountain with the first caravan of people that had returned to Erebor.

She had lost her father in the same battle that had claimed the lives of Thorin's Grandfather and brother, her mother used to be a baker and her sisters and brothers were all married with children of their own. Inga apparently doted on them, bringing small gifts with her whenever she could afford them.

Dru felt she was a great judge of character and from all this, she'd learnt from the neighbours and acquaintances, PLUS her own first impressions, she felt Inga was a very trustworthy and kind individual. It wasn't hard to see why Bifur was in love with her.

When Dru had first approached Bifur and told him this, he'd tried to deny it at first, but Dru had pointed out that it wasn't hard to tell he was in love. She'd pointed out to him the way he looked at Inga when she was turned away or distracted, the way he'd listen intently whenever she spoke to him and all the care and detail he would put into the wonderful toys he made.

When he finally admitted his feelings, he reasoned that 'the better the toy, the greater the chance she'd return for another'.

And she always did.

But no matter how Dru pushed him to ask Inga to go for a walk or have a meal with him, Bifur would not budge. He doubted in himself and thought she could not possibly care for him the way he did for her.

So Dru had decided to play matchmaker.

She'd made sure to pay visits to Bifur's shop on particular days and at particular times, helping out where she could.

She'd clean the floors or organise the toy stock on the shelves, all the while looking over her shoulder for Inga to arrive.

When the elder woman DID arrive, Dru would engage her in polite conversation, but always manage to slip in a little bit of information about Bifur here and there.

Today, it was, "Oh, you must be here to pick up that lovely little windmill for Halden? I watched Bifur put the finishing touches on it earlier! Such a clever man, you know he can make such a creation in just a day?! Amazing!"

Inga nodded politely with everything Dru was saying, but her eyes would glance to the back of the shop where the curtain blocked off where Bifur worked. Dru also noticed the faint little blush in the woman's cheeks, even though she was naturally rosy.

'Tried to talk about his sense of humour? His Kind Nature? His creativity? Nothing!'

Dru was a little frustrated. Inga had shown an only slight interest in these aspects of Bifur's personality, but surely there had to be something the woman would go for?!

A topic of conversation that would enthral Inga and send her hurtling towards Bifur with great interest.

Dru had yet to discover what that could be...

She was pulled out of her rambling when Bifur came from the back and produced a small, neatly wrapped box for Inga.

"Oh...Bifur," Inga looked between his face and the box, a large, happy smile spreading across her face, "I didn't know if I was early or if you hadn't finished it yet."

Bifur shook his head and nervously chuckled.

"No, I finished it earlier, I was wrapping it in that ribbon you and the children are so fond of," he fiddled nervously with the ribbon itself, "I remember you telling me how little Inge likes to use it to wrap her dolls hair in."

Inga's eyes lit up with delight.

"Oh...you have a great memory, she'll be so pleased!" Inga took a step towards him and gratefully smiled, "as am I."

Dru was glad she was standing back for this.

Whilst she wasn't overly fond of public affection, she still got a little giddy seeing people who were obviously in love. What she didn't like was watching them faff around one another as if they would never be open about their feelings.

'Considering how I feel about Fili, that's rich.'

Bifur smiled at Inga and happily held out the box for her. When Inga took the box, their fingers touched ever so slightly and Dru could practically see the lightning bolts shooting between the two. The flushed cheeks, the wide smiles and the open, unblinking eye contact.

And then, it was gone.

As usual, one or the other broke it by turning away and this time it was Inga as she hurriedly held the box in one hand and fumbled around with a pouch full of coins in the other.

"Here is the payment," Inga tried to avoid eye contact with him when she held up the pouch, "plus, an extra ten for your hard work. It's the least I could do for all the happiness you give the little ones."

Bifur seemed reluctant to take the pouch at first until he realised it meant holding her hand for a little bit longer. He held the cloth between his fingers and talked to her as he held on.

"Thank you, Ms.-

"Inga. Please," Inga looked a little breathless just staring at him, "we've become well-well close enough frie-acquaintances! Wouldn't you agree?"

Bifur nodded at her and took a step closer, surprising everyone with his boldness.

"Inga...thank you. I," Bifur took a moment to pause and Dru was on the tips of her toes, waiting for him to ask Inga to go somewhere with him, but, "I look forward to hearing how they like this one."

Dru felt like clawing at her own face in frustration. As normal, they parted politely and Inga hurriedly walked by with a little nod at Dru and out of the shop, scurrying away through the crowds. Bifur would always have his back turned to Dru and his hands out either side of the wall and-

"Don't. Say. Anything"

Dru just rolled her eyes and folded her arms at him, even though she knew he wouldn't see.

"Bifur, you've got to actually ASK her to go somewhere!"

A loud, pained groan before he turned around to her and lent back against the wall behind him.

"I'm too old for this nonsense," Bifur shook his head and looked sadly at her, "I don't know what to do anymore."

"Bifur, you are not too old and it's not nonsense. You just," Dru took a couple of steps towards the high table and lifted herself up to sit on it, "you need to be yourself. If you ask her to go to have a picnic, the worst thing she can say is no. But she won't, so go for it!"

"It's no use, lass. What would she want with someone like me?"

"Bifur, she LIKES YOU!"

"How are you so sure, lass?"

"Women's Intuition! And really, anyone can tell just by the way she looks at you," Dru swung her legs where she sat on the table and smiled at him, "it's the same when you look at her. You two have that little spark. That little cinder in the fire that cracks!"

Bifur looked at her with an amused expression and pushed himself away from the wall. He came to stand next to her and lent against the table, his arms folded as he looked at her.

"A cinder, you say? Ya' think...Ya' think she cares?"

"Bifur. If I didn't know for a fact she had nieces and nephews, I would say she comes in here JUST to see you. It's obvious!"

Bifur's expression softened and he shook his head.

"I just...I wish there was an easier way to do this," he chuckled to himself when he remembered something, "I haven't courted a maid for a good thirty years. Last time I did, I asked her if she wanted to fight with me and she kicked my arse. She said she could never love a man she could defeat in training."

Dru scrunched her nose.

"What a cow! You're a-...wait," Dru's eyes lit up as she recalled his words, "Bifur. I have an idea."

Dru eagerly hopped off the table and turned back to him, her fingers pointed at him as she thought.

"The quickest way to a girls heart is never flowers or candies or trinkets," Dru waited for Bifur to catch up, but he had yet to get to where she was, "it's always fighting, Bifur! That's how we get her!"

He squinted at her and shook his head.

"Inga? No, she's not a fighter at all," he looked down at Dru's feet as he lost hope, "no, she wouldn't fight me and I couldn't even lift a wooden sword to her."

"Aha! You won't have to!" Dru made her way towards the door, but turned back to cast one last triumphant look at him, "Bifur...meet me at the training grounds tomorrow just before lunch! We're going to show Inga how good a fighter you are! It'll be bloody brilliant!"

She didn't listen to his protests as she left his shop, picking up her skirts as she began to quickly walk through the crowds of people. Of course, those that recognised her moved aside instantly, but Dru was in a hurry and had no time to stop and bow or curtsy to everyone. No, a mere shout of 'thank you!' as she went would do, especially when she was trying to catch up with-

"Inga!" Dru called out, spotting the woman a little ways ahead, picking out some honeyed doughballs from a stall. Dru's mouth watered and if she hadn't been thinking of her plan, she would have stopped and bought some straight away. As it was, as soon as the elder woman turned to her, Dru focused her attention.

"I'm so glad I caught you, I completely forgot!" Dru laid a friendly hand on the other's arm, "We've got some light training practice tomorrow and I'm a little nervous."

"Oh?" Inga asked, a little confused as to why the Princess was stopping her to tell her about training.

"Aye', Bifur's got all his friends coming to watch and well," Dru leant closer and whispered, "I'd like some female friends on my side. Would you like to come and support me?"

Inga blushed and bowed her head.

"Oh-oh My Lady Dru, I'd be honoured," Dru fought her grimace at being addressed as such, "did you say Bifur was going to be there?"

Dru was relieved when Inga looked back at her and nodded.

"Oh yes, he's my sparring partner. I'd like some support because, well," Dru pretended to look nervously about, checking no one was listening, "Bifur is one of the best."

Inga leaned towards Dru, eyes wide and inquisitive as she asked, "Oh...is he really one of the best fighters?"

"Oh yes...one of the best warriors. Saved me life countless of times," Dru knew that was a stretch, but Inga wouldn't find out, "So, you'll definitely come?"

Inga nodded her head and Dru gave her the time and training ring. They parted as normal and Dru watched her leave, giving the air a small punch of victory.

A chuckle reminded her she wasn't alone and she turned back to the stall, where a familiar balding Dwarf looked at her with one eyebrow arched.

"Hello, Henrik.

"Lady Dru," he nodded at her and couldn't seem to stop smirking, "Something good happen?"

"Very good. I think this deserves a celebration," Dru reached inside her skirt pocket and pulled out her pouch of coins. Henrik just shook his head playfully, knowing it better than to argue with her overpaying.

The Royals technically didn't need to pay for anything, but Dru had asked Thorin's permission to get rid of some of the gold. He'd happily obliged her, especially when he knew she bought nothing but candies with it.

"How many today?" Henrik enquired, lifting out on a tray for her look at.

"Hmmm...I'm feeling brave and I WILL be training tomorrow, so...fifteen."

"Fifteen?!" He laughed, nearly dropping the tray.

"Aye'. I'm a growing lass."

Henrik chuckled but begin to wrap them all the special bags that never seemed to leak. Which was lucky, because now she had so many to carry, she had a feeling her dress would be saturated if she tried to carry them in a basket.

"All right. Now tell me, shall I make it seventeen and you can give one to each of your brothers?"

Dru thought about this for a bit and scowled at the thought of sharing, but then, she wouldn't mind so much if she had extra.

"Fine...better make it twenty, Thorin likes these."

Henrik couldn't help but flush, delighted at the unexpected compliment.

"The King? Well then, I'll let him have the biggest one."

Dru couldn't help but glare and pout as he fished out the largest one.

"You never let me have the biggest one?"

"That's because you're not the King," something mischievous danced in Henrik's eyes and Dru was suddenly reminded of Fili's teasing. She couldn't escape it, anywhere she went.

He offered her the large bag and she dropped the entire pouch into his hand. She knew there was probably more in there than he would have taken if she'd opened it for him, but it didn't matter to her. She had her contraband.

"Thank you, Henrik," she made to turn away, but the small metal tweezers he used to pick them up was suddenly snapped at her and she turned back to him.

"Lady Dru, that big one there is for your Uncle, remember. I'll know if you eat it and you won't have any extra next time."

Dru could only pull a long face and turned away, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"I'll give you bloody extra next time," she grumbled to herself and fished the first ball out form the top. Yes, tomorrow was going to need all her energy, so she'd better start now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dru was just finishing her stretching when she caught sight of a familiar brunette amongst the small group of watchers. Since the training grounds had become a popular spot for those to come and watch, Dru wasn't at all surprised by the number of people.

She was also pleased by the number of people that had come to see her and Bifur fight. For a while, when the grounds had first been opened, no one had wanted to come and see the 'Princess' fight and truthfully, no one would fight with her at first. And then, Fili and Kili had both challenged her and the interest grew.

So amongst the normal faces she saw, she was also pleased to note that Bifur seemed to have his own enthusiastic audience. And despite having invited Inga to come and support her, she could see the women's eyes were wandering over to the warrior as he stretched and tested out his weapon.

Dru had chosen a mere wooden pole today, just a little taller than her. She didn't want any wooden swords and since this was just for fun, blades and any real weapons were disallowed. Bifur also still had a slight aversion to axes, so no one ever fought him with one.

"Bifur," Dru called over to him and smirked, "ya' ready?"

Bifur took one casual look behind him and having obviously spotted Inga, puffed out his chest and nodded at her.

"Fight is starting, you lot watch out!" She called out to the crowd and readied herself, "Remember, anyone that is standing too close and gets hurt...it's your own bloody fault!"

A small murmur of laughter went up, but Dru had said that about fifty times by now. She'd have to think up something else funny to say next time she got up to fight.

Bifur readied himself and Dwalin (acting as arbitrator) gave the shout to start. Usually, Dru would have stayed very still and waited for Bifur to come at her, but this was a show and she was playing her part.

So slowly, she started circling him, her stick held in one hand and balanced over one shoulder.

She did not smile as she usually would, but both her and Bifur's eyes betrayed one another. They were taking this seriously, but not TOO seriously.

And then, for the first time in her life, Dru moved forward quickly and made the first swipe with her pole.

Bifur dodged and defended himself easily. They led one another around the small circle, eyes occasionally darting to Inga. She was watching intently and whilst she did look worried at some points (when Bifur was attacked) she did look interested.

Dru took one of Bifur's missed lunges to use her pole to balance and threw out her legs. Unfortunately, she did catch Bifur in the face with her boot, but he didn't even seem that bothered by it.

Ducking in close and locking the pole around his shoulders, she bent him over and held him down, their faces close so no one could hear them.

"Sorry about that," she whispered and then made a stage grunt as Bifur struggled against her.

"It's all right, don't hold back," he whispered back, before letting out a grunt of his own.

Dru took that moment to make it appear he had thrown her off of him with great strength and she and her pole fell backwards. She tucked and rolled on the ground, pushing herself quickly to her feet as Bifur came at her again.

She blocked his attack easily and the thud of their weapons became a rhythmic beat as they attacked and defended multiple times. The crowd became rowdy and the cheers grew as they eagerly waited for the victor to pull the winning move. They didn't have to wait long.

When Bifur came forward, Dru took the moment to 'miss' with her pole and seeing his opening, tangled her feet, threw her off balance and pushed her onto her back.

Dru's pole fell from her hand as she landed awkwardly on the sandy floor and whilst she had meant to let out a rather theatrical groan, she couldn't actually stop the real groan of pain as her back twisted at the wrong time.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times and refocused back on Bifur, his weapon pointed directly at her. The shouts from the crowd around them and Dwalin calling the fight made Dru smile: Bifur was the winner.

The weapon came away to be replaced by his hand and he lent over her with a smirk.

"I saw that, lass."

Dru let him help her up and despite the twinge in her back, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't know what you mean. Nice hit, Bifur."

Dru moved away from him, allowing everyone to congratulate him on his excellent form and technique. Dru received more consolation remarks and pats on the back, though she had a feeling most knew she hadn't fought her best today.

As the crowd began to thin away and converse amongst themselves, Dru looked about. She couldn't find Inga anywhere. Had she gone? Had the fight been too much for her to handle? Was Dru wrong and appealing to-

"Oh, Bifur! You're hurt!"

Dru smirked and turned back around to find Inga standing in front of Bifur, a worried expression on her face.

She was staring directly at the place, Dru's boot had landed on Bifur's cheek and Dru couldn't help but grin as Inga gingerly took his face in her hands and examined the mark.

"Oh, it looks sore...would you let me treat that for you?"

Bifur agreed and Inga took him off to the side where the seating was. From her basket, she produced a bottle of ointment and a small, clean bandage, which she insisted she had in there 'by chance'.

Carefully, she dabbed some of the ointment onto the bandage and then onto Bifur's cheek. He didn't even wince, but just smiled at her.

"Thank you, but don't worry yourself too much. I've had worse," he lent bravely towards her and winked, "did I ever tell you how I lost my axe? It's a grand story."

Inga smiled at him and still dabbing at his cheek said, "Oh, that would be lovely! I've always heard about it from the other's, but I'd love to hear about it from you."

Bifur's gaze briefly licked to Dru's and she mouthed, 'NOW' at him. He licked his lips nervously and turned back to Inga.

"Well...if you have time for supper later, I'd happily tell you about it?"

Inga didn't seem that surprised by his request. She, in fact, looked utterly delighted.

"I would love that."

Dru looked on as they seemed to stare at one another happily and turned away, stepping off towards Dwalin, giving the happy couple the space they needed.

Dwalin leant against the back wall, puffing away at his pipe and staring at her critically.

When she was close enough, he removed the pipe from his mouth and said, "That was the worst fight I've ever witnessed."

Dru gasped in mock horror.

"I thought me and Bifur handled that very well. We didn't even practice it beforehand."

Dwalin puffed at his pipe, but she could see the sparkle of amusement in his eyes. He wasn't impressed by her fighting, but he had been entertained. Dru stretched out in front of him and grimaced as her back gave a protesting 'creak'.

"Did your back in?"

Dru nodded at him and found the spot where she'd landed awkwardly.

"Oh...going to need some comfrey on that later," Dru turned sweet eyes on Dwalin and said as politely as she could, "give us a piggyback, Uncle Dwa'?"

Dwalin's reply to that was a short, quick chuckle before he turned away and walked off into the crowd.

Dru just pouted and mumbled, "So cruel."

But despite her sore back and slightly soured mood, as she left the training grounds, she couldn't help but glance back one last time at Inga and Bifur.

It warmed her heart to see Inga talking to Bifur excitedly and him smiling at her every word. They both seemed oblivious to the fact that their hands were joined together with the forgotten bandage rested on Bifur's knee.