Chapter 24

On the Doorstep

It was almost three weeks after their turbulent arrival in Laketown before the company decided it was well and truly time for them to take their leave the floating town. They had all recovered from their time spent within the prison cells of the Woodland Realm and the desire to continue their quest grew too strong to ignore.

So with new weapons, supplies and clothes better suited to the steady approaching winter cold, the company departed Laketown on a crisp October morning, to far too much fanfare and celebration, in Bilbo's humble opinion.

It was not that she did not want for the people of Laketown to wish them well upon the final stages of their question, it was just… it rather felt as if they were tempting fate, acting as if the company were already victorious in their quest to reclaim Erebor.

Or maybe Bilbo was as much of a pessimist as the company teasingly accused her of being, and if she kept thinking in such a fashion, maybe it would be she who was tempting fate.

Taking this into consideration, Bilbo kept her mouth shut about the celebrations, staying silent until Laketown was well behind them all and they were disembarking the boats the town had so kindly provided them with to see them across the rest of the way of the lake.

Bilbo standing upon the shore of the lake and staring at the landscape before her with a sick heart, for she saw no signs of life; no grass, no trees, no animals moving in the distance.

Even if they were steadily moving towards winter, there should be some signs of life. But there was none. Everything was dead, the ground still covered by a layer of black ash, trees still burnt out shells.

It had been sixty years since Smaug's desolation and yet, the earth still bore the scars as if the disaster of his coming had happened a month or so ago.

Was there some kind of spell, a curse that lay upon lands surrounding Erebor? One so strong that it could keep the land from healing, even after sixty long years?

Arms wrapped tightly around her middle, Bilbo fell in step with the company, their heads facing Erebor, standing tall and proud against the miserable grey sky.

They walked in silence. Whatever cheer they had all felt while in Laketown over being so close to their goal seemed to have been snuffed out upon now actually walking the barren lands that fell beneath Erebor's great shadow.

When they finally stopped, at the crest of a hill, the last hill that overlooked the great plains that lay before Erebor's ruined grand entrance and…

"Is that… is that Dale?" Bilbo asked in a small voice as she stared at the blacken, burnt out corpse of what once must have been a grand human city.

"Yes," Balin said softly, as he lay a hand upon Bilbo's shoulder, "that is Dale. It was a great city of man, now in ruins. The desolation of Smaug."

Bilbo bit down upon her lip.

"Do we… do we have to go though it?"

"It is growing late and…" Balin looked all around them at the barren landscape, "best we be getting somewhere out of sight before nightfall."

"Our pursuers?" Bilbo guessed, glancing nervously around them too.

"Aye, just because we have not seen them for many weeks, does not mean they aren't somewhere near. We will not be able to reach Erebor before night. Dale can offer us shelter from the night's cold and from any unfriendly eyes."

"But…" Bilbo looked around them quickly, "is this not the overlook that Gandalf spoke of? Should we not, tomorrow, come back here to wait for Gandalf? Gandalf said to meet him here. That on no account should we…"

"We only have so many days to wait for him." Thorin said from where he stood nearby, eyes transfixed upon Erebor. "And as Balin said, our pursuers may not be so far behind as we might hope. We make for Dale tonight and Erebor tomorrow. But, while we look for the entrance to the secret door, two or three of us, will come back here and wait for the wizard."

There was a murmur of agreement shared around the company and Bilbo let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't a bad idea to try and figure out where the secret door was before Durin's Day, and they would still be following Gandalf's instruction, in a manner of speaking, they were waiting for him and they were not entering the mountain.

Nerves soothed by this thought, Bilbo followed after the others as they started their trek to Dale.

8 8 8

Dale was a terribly sad place.

Bilbo had known it would be from the first moment she heard of the city and what had become of it, but knowing and seeing were two very different things, and walking through the burnt out shell of a once bustling city, near broke poor little Bilbo's heart.

But what was even worse, was the bodies.

Hundreds upon hundreds of bodies, just lying about the streets, lying where they fell as dragon's fire engulfed them.

Young, old, men, woman, children, it didn't matter, Smaug's fire burnt the life right out of their bodies, their faces – what was left of them – twisted forever in looks of terror and terrible pain.

"left 'em…" Tears burned as they rolled down her cold cheeks, "no one, why did no one…"

"Because of the strength of their grief, guilt and fear, no one has ever returned to care and honour their dead." Thorin muttered, catching her arm and pulling her away from where she stood in front of the corpse of woman, cradling her children to her breast, the only comfort she could give them in their final moments as Dragon fire reign down from above

"But they're just left here, forever trapped in the horrors of their death. How could-how could they move on?"

"Once Smaug is gone, and Erebor is reclaimed, the people of Laketown will return here, and then, their dead will be honoured and put to rest." Thorin gently brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "the fallen of Dale will find peace before the next year is out." He promised.

"As will the fallen of Erebor." Bilbo added softly.

Thorin's eyes fluttered closed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, not speaking, but the tremble of his hand against her cheek spoke volumes of his emotions.

The company did their best to find a spot within the city that was structurally sound, with a good view from all directions so no one could sneak upon them and where the fewest bodies lay.

No one slept particularly well. Bilbo woke several times during the night, certain she had heard screams or running feet somewhere nearby.

She curled herself against Thorin's side – he could not sleep at all, simply taking to stare at Erebor all night long – comforted by his warmth and the steady beat of his heart.

8 8 8

Days past steadily with no sign of Gandalf or of the secret door.

While one group waited upon the Overlook for Gandalf (and an eye out for their orc pursuers), the other group started their search of the secret door that would gain their entrance into the mountain – they did do the obvious thing of looking at Erebor grand front gate, but it was well and truly sealed by rumble that not even Bilbo, the smallest member of the company, would be able to squeeze past all the rumble and rocks.

And after several days, neither group could say they were particularly successful with their respective task and overall, making them all rather anxious.

They were running out of time.

Durin's day was almost upon them and it looked as if they were no closer to finding the secret door as they were to having Gandalf suddenly arriving to aide them.

So even though they were at the end of their journey, it felt that they were as far away from the end of their quest as they had been, all those months ago, back in Bilbo's warm and cozy hobbit hole, having themselves a very fine feast and being in very high spirits.

Their spirits here however, at the roots of Erebor, were very, very low.

Bilbo, it might be strange to say, was not in as low of spirits as one might think.

Oh, she wasn't feeling particularly chirpy over their current circumstances, but while her dwarves were starting to wallow in self-pity, Bilbo was often looking at Thorin's map – which he had handed to her almost as soon as she had asked for it, even going so far as letting her keep it on her person, like she had in Mirkwood before she had returned it and the key to Thorin upon their arrival in Laketown, because she was looking it over more often than he was – consulting both it and her notebook where she had written out the moon ruins Lord Elrond had dictated as being written upon the map, and spending hours pondering their meaning.

It was she who suggested that dwarves begin their search of the secret door on the western slopes of Erebor. Bilbo's logic for this was that there were fewer signs Smaug's desolation, with grass poking upon amongst the rocks, and some small shrubs bearing late season berries, berries that she had seen birds fly down and eat. She had not yet seen a thrush, but she took it as sign, and as her dwarves had no better plan, they followed their hobbit, whose cleverness and luck they had begun to trust in far more than their own, concluding privately to themselves, that if any one of them were to find the Secret Door, it would most likely be her, hobbit though she was.

And as it happened, this was very much the case.

After many days of wandering about the slopes of Erebor, it just so happened, on Durin's Day itself, that Bilbo had been craning her head at just an angle that she thought… no, she was certain that she could make out what looked like roughly carved steps, hidden in a somewhat intricate design of the proud statue of Thror.

"Are those stairs, do you think?" She asked Bifur who had been standing by her side, pointing out her "stairs", more than half expecting a light rap of his knuckles upon the side of her head, telling her not to be silly.

However, upon seeing the 'stairs' Bilbo was referring to, Bifur let out a great shout in Khuzdul, summoning the company to their side and feeling a little foolish – because honestly, she wasn't even certain if what she was seeing was indeed 'stairs' and not instead some very intricate design carved into stone – she pointed out what she thought might be the stairs they were possibly looking for.

"You have keen eyes Master Baggins." Thorin said causing Bilbo to grin even if she was still privately thinking her 'stairs' were going to be absolutely awful to try and climb.

And it was, with Bilbo quickly losing count of just how many times she slipped and stumbled her way up them, barely keeping from falling because someone from the company caught a hold of her arm or backpack.

Finally they came to the top of the 'stairs', pulling themselves up upon a small ledge, where they faced wall of rock, no cave nor crevice to be seen. There was no sign that a door might open out upon this ledge, no hint of bar or bolt or key-hole, and yet, as Bilbo looked at the excited faces of her friends, it seemed, to them at least, no doubt that they had found secret door at last.

Holding the key aloof, Thorin turned to them all, smiling a smile wider than Bilbo had ever seen grace his face before.

"Let all who doubted us rue this day." Bilbo grinned and cheered with the rest of company, easily pushing down her own doubts, concluding that just because she could not see any sign of a door, did not mean her dwarves could not.

"Right." Dwalin said, cracking his knuckles, "We have our key, which means that somewhere, there is a keyhole."

Bilbo sat back while the dwarves talked excitedly to one another as they ran their hands upon the mountain rock, searching for any hint of an outline of a door or key hold.

And while they searched, Bilbo watched the sky, watched as the sun started to sink lower and lower, in time with her nerves continually to rising within her throat.

Hands twisting in her lap, she couldn't help but keep glancing from the darkening sun and at her dwarves still feeling the rock wall before them.

Have I, she thought as her throat grew tighter, have I lead them astray? Were those not the right 'stairs'? Is this not the right place?

But she had been so sure, so very, very sure.

"The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." Thorin said from her side, his brow creased and his smile long gone.

Bilbo nodded, turning over, as she had done so many times before, the message written in Moon-Runes upon the map;

Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole

"There's no thrush." She couldn't help but mutter out loud, only to be told to hush by several dwarves, the thrush was hardly important.

If it was hardly important than why was it mentioned? Was on the tip of Bilbo's tongue, but she swallowed her words when she saw just how anxious her dwarves were becoming.

Shouting and swearing at each other and at their predicament, the dwarves started attacking the stone wall before them with their weapons, sending chips of rocks and steel flying through the air. Dwalin had thrown down his weapons entirely and was simply started ramping his shoulder against the stone.

Hands pressed over her mouth, Bilbo watched in horror as the sun sunk beneath the horizon.

No… no, this could not be it, this could not be how this all ended!

"It's no good." Balin voice was broken as he caught hold of the shoulders of dwarves still vainly trying to break the mountain down, "the door is sealed. It can't be opened by force. Powerful magic is upon it."

"No." If Balin sounded broken, Thorin… Thorin looked simply destroyed.

Stumbling towards the rock face, Thorin lay one hand upon the rock while holding his father's map out with the other.

"The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole. That's what it says." He looked around at them all, at their anger, grief and disappointment. "What did we miss?" His gaze finally settled upon Balin, looking as lost and grief-stricken as he had the day Smaug took their home from them. "Balin, what did we miss?"

Balin stared at his devastated king and feared that he might not survive this latest heartbreak.

With a hand resting upon Thorin's shoulder – this is not your fault, you did all you could. This is not your fault – Balin turned the rest of their company; to Dwalin and Gloin, their fury shared, the Ri brother's grief and acceptance; Nori's grim acceptance and Dori holding a quietly weeping Ori, the Broadbeams who Balin knew would be the ones who would have the strength to get the company back to Blue Mountains, and at Fili, who was holding back his younger brother, who was vehemently shaking his head, mouthing 'no' over and over again, while Fili met Balin's gaze with calm, steady blue eyes that reminded him so of his mother Dis.

Fili and the Broadbeams, Balin knew, would see them home.

"We've lost the light. There's no more to be done. We had but one chance." Hand still gripping Thorin's shoulder tightly – this is not your fault – Balin gently, but firmly pulled him away, "Come away. It… it is over."

"Wait a minute." Balin turned, as did the rest of the company, as they made back for the stairs, to their hobbit, who had been so quiet up until this point, her bright brown eyes wide with distress.

"Where are you going?"

Oh, how far she had come, Balin thought fondly, from the little hobbit who had trembled at the very thought of sleeping outdoors in the rain.

"You can't give up now!"

How was it that their little hobbit, even now, had so much more faith in this quest than they did? Maybe because she was so young and this quest was still so new to her that disappointment of failure was a concept her mind could not yet wrap its head around.

But Balin needed her to, for Thorin's sake as well as her own.

"Lass…" He started slowly, but Bilbo shook her head stubbornly.

"Thorin…" She stared beseechingly at Thorin, who met her gaze steadily but it seemed as if he wasn't truly seeing her at all, "you can't give up now."

Without a word, Thorin handed their hobbit the map and the key and after pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, he made for the stairs.

"Thorin?" Balin hesitated for a moment, as did the others as they stood at the top of the stairs and looked back to their hobbit who was frantically pacing the ledge, map and key clenched in a death-grip, her lips clearly mouthing the supposed riddle for finding the secret door.

"We'll give her a moment, she will soon see it is useless." Thorin muttered before turning away and together they started the long trek down the stairs.

Their hobbit would be a long in a moment, she simply needed sometime alone to accept this shattering disappointment and heartbreak.

8 8 8

But Bilbo refused to accept that this was the end of their tale.

They had come too far, sacrificed too much, for this to be the end!

To be standing upon the doorstep but unable to discover the door, no, no, she refused to accept this! There… there had to be more to the riddle, there had to be! Something that they were missing!

"Stand-stand by the grey stone." She whispered as she stood beside the stone wall, one hand pressed firmly against it.

"When the-the Thrush knocks…" again, she desperately looked around her for any sign of the bird spoken of, for any bird at all truly. Only to see none in the evening light.

"The setting sun and the last light of Durin's Day will shine." Tapping the map and key to her lip, Bilbo turned to stare at the night sky, shrouded by clouds, making it feel as if the world was closing in around her, "Hmmm. Last light. Last light."

Oh Bilbo, dear girl, what are you doing? The sun has set, the last light the riddle spoke of. Go back to the others and…

Her thought was broken by a shiver of cold, as a gust of chilly wind blew past her, causing her to briefly glance up towards the darkening sky, at how the wind that had chilled her to her bones had caused a large break in the thick clouds above, blowing them gently away to reveal a bright and full moon.

The m-moon?

Bilbo's heart caught in her throat, barely daring to hope as an idea started to form inside of her head.

Tap…tap tap…

"No…" Bilbo breathed as she stared down at her feet, to where a small bird, a Thrush, was tapping a snail against the grey stone of the rock wall behind her. The rock wall that was now illuminated by moonlight. No…

"The last light!" Bilbo shrieked, causing the Thrush to squawk and flutter away but Bilbo did not care, for after a moment of running her finger over the rock, her fingers found a hole that had certainly not been there before.

With a squeal, Bilbo set down the map and key and ran for the edge of the ledge

"The-the keyhole!" Bilbo shouted, hands cupped around her mouth as she shouted. "Come back! It's the light of the moon! Not the sun! The last light of the MOON! The last light of autumn's MOON!"

She looked back up at the sky, at the moon, that was once more starting to be covered by clouds.

"Come back! Oh, do come back! Or we're really are going to miss… Oh!" Pressing her hands briefly to her face, feeling the full weight of fear that the dwarves couldn't hear her, that this chance was well and truly going to be missed and..

"The key!" She would… she would just open the door, and then run for the dwarves… and hope the damn magical thing didn't close on its own while she was gone. "The key!"

Where was… she could see the map, and she was certain she had placed the key upon it… or near it or…

With sinking horror, in her frantic search for the key, said key was found by her foot and kicked it towards the edge of the ledge.

"NO!" Bilbo made to lunge for even though she knew it was too late, oh far too late for her to grab it before it fell to the ground far below.

But even so, she still had to try for it, throwing herself forward towards the key just as a large boot caught the cord of the key just seconds before it fell over the ledge into oblivion below.

"Tho-thorin?" she choked and for a moment, she allowed herself to be filled with relief before she was jumping to her feet, catching a hold of Thorin's arm and dragging him back to the stone wall, excitedly babbling about the moon being the last light and about the sudden appearance of the Thrush as she pointed to the small, key size hole in the rock.

Her babbling fell silent when Thorin slowly inserted the key, holding her breath as he turned it. And for a moment, nothing happened until there was heard the ever so faintest click.

Thorin stepped back for a moment, seemingly holding his breath as he pushed against the wall. One push, then another before the wall gave way to reveal a small door shaped opening.

"Erebor." Thorin breathed as he stare into the long dark corridor the doorway had opened into.

Bilbo burst into tears when all around her the dwarves cheered, clapping each other – and her – hard upon the backs.

And together, they moved as one over the threshold of the secret door.

"I know these walls… these walls, this stone. You remember it Balin." Thorin turned back to his oldest friend with a wide smile, a watery version sent back from Balin whose hand lay against his heart, "chambers filled with golden light."

"I remember."

Thorin search the company, his eyes resting fondly upon his nephews who were looking around the tunnel, marvelling quietly over the green stone that were the very bones of Erebor.

"Welcome, my sister's sons, to the Kingdom of Erebor!"

Both boys beamed widely at their uncle.

Nori nudge Ori who looked up with an excited squeak at the carving that was engraved above the opening of the secret door.

Bilbo tilted her head in interest even if she didn't quite understand the carving meaning. Oh, she could make out what looked like a throne, but…a shining star above it? – the Arkenstone, she wondered – but the inscription below it the throne…

But she did not need to ask for the inscription to be translated for Gloin, with a voice thick with unshed tears of joy, read it out in his booming voice.

"Herein lies the seventh kingdom of Durin's Folk. May the heart of the mountain unite all dwarves in defence of this home."

Bilbo looked once more at the shining star above the throne and nodded.

"That's the Arkenstone, isn't it? Above the throne?"

The company nodded and with great cheer they exited in the tunnel, feeling that they well deserved a feast with the provisions provided to them from Laketown. So with great enthusiasm they pulled out rations, waterskins filled with wine and lit a small campfire upon the ledge.

Bilbo however could not be tempted by food, not with the door now open.

While the others ate and excitedly chattered and toasted her for her stubbornness on not giving up, Bilbo kept glancing back down the tunnel.

"Should I go now? Or do you think I should wait?" Bilbo asked, unable to bear sitting there looking down into the tunnel any longer and had actually gotten up and was once more standing at its threshold.

"Lass?"

Bilbo looked back the company and struggled to fight back the rather strong desire to giggle at their looks of confusion, as if they had no idea what she was talking about, as if they had forgot the very reason behind why she had been dragged along on this venture.

"To find the Arkenstone." She tried again, and with an ever so small smile as she watched as the realization dawn upon her dear dwarves faces, like a match of understanding had been struck within their eyes. "Do you think I should go and start looking for it now or wait a bit?"

"Lass, no!" Her smile slipped as she blinked at her dwarves, at their fear and desperation, at Thorin stepping quickly to her side and grasping a hold of her wrist in a gentle but firm grip, as if he fears she would simply take off running into the darkness of the tunnel if she had nothing to hold her back.

"Oh no." She wiggled her finger at them all with her free hand, "Oh no, you all don't! This is why I am here! This is the very reason for all of you dragging me half-way across Middle-Earth, like a particularly useless piece of equipment that serves only one purpose and one purpose only. You cannot, not after everything that we have all been through to get here, suddenly decide that I am not going down into that mountain to find your bloody rock!"

"You were never useless." Thorin argued back looking greatly aggrieved by her words. Which bless him and his forgiveness of her first few weeks, months of being an absolute deadweight and getting them all caught by trolls.

"Then let me go." She says to him, to all of them, "Let me go and get your precious stone and…"

"This is a terrible plan." Thorin groused, the hand not holding hers coming to press against his forehead, his face twisted into a truly agonised scowl.

"Well, unfortunately, it is the only one we've got. So unless one of you can think up something better, right this very moment, I'd like to get going and get this over and done with, thank you very much." Bilbo said, rather impatiently.

Honestly, these dwarves!

"I will come with you…" Thorin decided much to Bilbo's and the rest of the company's horror.

"No you can't!" Oh, that would be a disaster!

"She's right laddie." Balin spoke over the din of the worrying company, his eyes sad but resolute. "Smaug knows your scent better than any of ours. You would only be putting her into further danger."

Thorin swore long and deeply in Khuzdul, but otherwise he had become almost stone like, expressionless and stiff, but Bilbo could feel the tremble of his fingers against the skin of her wrist.

"I'll be fine." She soothed, smiling up at him and then, around at the rest of the company. "I have come to trust my luck more than I used to in days long gone by." And how long ago those days did seem, feeling more like they were centuries ago, instead of a few short months, "so before my luck and my hard-earn courage desert me completely, I think I will go now and have a peep to see what's what and get it over done with."

"I'll come with you, lassie." Balin offered with a small smile, "For a little way at least. For as I know these halls, Smaug is sure to know my scent, though not quite so well as Thorin's."

Bilbo shot Balin a grateful smile before she gently extracted her wrist from Thorin's unwilling grasp.

"Come on now." She tutted at him, "You're not helping in the slightest. I'm quite enough frighten as it is without you acting all worried and protective."

"Then the solution is simple." Thorin retorted grumpily, "Don't go."

Bilbo's eyes rolled so far back inside of her, she was surprised she didn't see the inside of her skull.

"Then what?" She asked, feeling both exasperated by this infuriating dwarf, and falling just that bit more in love with him. "We'd have come all this way for nothing and we'd have to wait another year – if that is how the secret door works – before we can try again with another plan. This plan is all we have. And Gandalf approved of it. And so did all of you. Nothing has changed since then." Expect that everything, of course, had. Gandalf was not with them for one – and oh, how that made her sick to her gut when she thought about it – and well, she was certain when this plan was originally conceived, none of the dwarves had imagined growing quite so attached to her as they had over the course of their adventure.

"I don't like it." Thorin ground out unhappily.

"And you don't have to." Bilbo replied as she rested a comforting hand upon his arm, forcing herself to smile bravely even when inside of her chest her heart felt it might strangle itself in terror over what she was about to do. "In fact, I like it very much that you don't like the plan. But that fact does not change anything. I was contracted to be your burglar, and your burglar I shall be. I will find your Arkenstone for you and…"

"And return to us immediately and we will all go to the Iron Hills, to Dain and figure out just how we kill the great worm." Thorin interrupted her, his eyes fierce as he stared at each member of the company, as if daring for one of them to try and contradict him. No one, of course, did.

Bilbo simply shrugged.

"If that is what you wish. I'm just here to steal a rock, the whole killing the dragon business, that wasn't part of my contract and I'm quite fine to leave that to all of you."

"Cheers Lass." Bofur snorted as he gave her a mock salute.

"Oh, you are most welcome." Bilbo replied with her best wicked grin that had several dwarves chuckling despite the ever present fear in their eyes.

"Anyway," She continued as she took several steps to put some distance between her and Thorin, because honestly he was making it impossibly hard to stand by her decision to go down into that dark tunnel to try and see if she could find his bloody Kingly rock when he was not so quietly panicking about her life.

She loved him – despite her head telling her heart that this was a very foolish thing – by the high heaven's she loved him, but his over-protective nature was going to cause them issues. She was meant to be the worry-wart in… whatever this was, not him! He was meant to be the confident (over-confident) one, the strong one who believe that with sheer will-power and bravery alone they could do anything.

Having him worry and panic because of her, made the knots in her gut tighten and roll. She needed him to be strong, for him to be confident that she could do this even when she herself was terrified that would fail him in this all important task.

Forcing another brave smile, she took another step away from the company and into the tunnel.

"Anyway, I am off now. Try and stay quiet and not to worry so." She shot Thorin a look, "and I shall be back as soon as I can."

She finished with an incredibly bright smile that every single dwarf could tell was fake but they all knew that nothing they said would dissuade her from her decision, so instead they clapped her shoulders or back, wishing her the best of luck, to stay hidden and to run the moment she felt that she was in danger.

When it came Thorin's turn, he did not speak a word to her. But no words were needed, not when he lightly touched his fingers against her cheek. A single touch and a single look were more than any words he could have spoken.

With a small smile, she lay her own hand over his fingers on her cheek, before she pulled away and forced herself to turn and face the dark tunnel.

With a lantern each clutched in shaking hands, she and Balin started their trek down the tunnel and into the mountain proper. Bilbo made a point to not look back at the threshold, not even once.

Side by side, they moved in silence down the tunnel that soon morphed into a series of corridors. Bilbo's natural curiosity raised its head when it appeared that they had reached what looked like the outskirts of the great dwarven city but she forced herself to curb her tongue. There would be plenty of time for her questions later – and there would certainly be a later, there would be! – now was time to focus on…

"You want me to find a jewel." Her voice echoed in an almost unearthly fashion as Balin led them threw the outskirts of the city on sure feet.

"A large white jewel, yes." Balin nodded, his eyes never looking away from the direction that they were headed.

"That's it?" Bilbo asked a little incredulously, cursing herself for not asking earlier for more details about this particularly kingly stone. "Only, I imagine there's quite a few down there." She didn't know very much about jewels or gems, but she was aware that there were more than one type of 'white jewel' that existed in the world.

The fond, fatherly look Balin gave her only went to exasperate her further.

"There is only one Arkenstone. You'll know it when your see it."

"That's… not helpful at all. Balin! Describe it to someone who has not grown up surrounded by jewels" She cried, before immediately slapping her hand over her mouth, eyes wide and horrified for being so loud.

Balin had the decency to look at least mildly shamed-faced.

"It…" The dwarf seemed to be struggling to find the right words, "it is… an earth bound star." He finally said, his eyes bright, "it glows by a light produced purely by its own magnificence. There is no other jewel like it in all the world."

Except for maybe the Silmarils, and their story was not a happy one, Bilbo thought before brushing the thought away.

The Arkenstone was a rock – a kingly rock, yes, but a rock nonetheless – that came from the earth, not a gem created from the essence of the Two Trees of Valinor. The Arkenstone's story would be different from the Silmarils. This story was going to have a happy ending.

She hoped…

They walked a little longer in silence before Balin let out a slow sigh, his face twisted with worry.

"In truth, lass, I do not know what you will find down there." He stopped to look at her, his eyes filled with almost fatherly worry that made Bilbo's heart surge with warmth.

"You needn't go if you don't want to," He offered softly, almost as if he hoped she would agree with him, but at the same time, knowing that she would not, "there's no dishonour in turning back. Thorin…"

"No, Balin," She shook her head firmly, "I promised I would do this, and I think I must try."

Balin looked at her for a long moment before quite unexpectedly, he started to chuckle. Bilbo felt her mouth drop in surprise.

"It never ceases to amaze me." He chuckled a low, warm chuckle.

"What's that?" Bilbo choked, still quite taken aback by his chuckled. This was hardly a situation that called for laughter and yet, she had seen stranger things, like the dwarves laughing and whooping in the face of danger. Maybe it was a calming mechanism or helped them think straight during the heat of battle.

"The courage of Hobbits." He replied with a small, warm smile as he knocked his forehead against her own, a gesture she had only ever seen him do with Dwalin and she felt quite overwhelmed by the magnitude of the gesture. "Go now with as much luck and courage as you can muster."

"Is this where we say goodbye?" Bilbo asked as she stared down the corridor to where a staircase led further down in the mountain.

"Aye," the regret and worry was heavy in his voice, "I think it would be unwise to come with you any further."

Bilbo nodded her head.

"Goodbye then. I will see you all very soon." She promised and Balin gave her a heart-sick smile.

"See that you do lass." Balin replied before adding with an almost cheeky smile, "I do not know how long we'll be able to hold Thorin back from charging down here after you."

"He wouldn't…" Bilbo trailed off while Balin snorted incredulity.

"He would lass," Balin's eye twinkled in a knowing fashion that had Bilbo blushing, "he would do that and much, much more… for you."

"I don't…" she trailed off again, her face hot and her eyes downcast.

"I know lass. We all do." He reassured her with a squeeze of her shoulder, "come back safe lass, for him and for the rest of us too. I fear that Thorin would not be able to take your loss."

Bilbo found she was quite without words, her throat choked with emotion, so simply nodded her head again and made to for the stairs.

"Oh, and Bilbo," Balin called after her once she had reached the stairs. She turned back to him and saw the worry was once more etched upon his features, "if there is, in fact, a live dragon," her body immediately tensed up at the word, "down there, don't" he pleaded, "waken it."

Bilbo opened and closed her mouth several times before finally settling for simply nodding and like when she first entered the tunnel, as she made her way down the stairs, she did not look back, not even once.

8 8 8

"How was she?" Thorin asked the moment Balin exited the tunnel entrance, his expression weary.

"Nervous," Balin admitted with a heavy sigh and Thorin found himself itching for possibly the hundredth time to simply chase after his burglar into the belly of the beast. He was pulled from his thoughts when Balin continued, "But she was determined. There was no dissuading her, and," and Balin gave him an unapologetic look, "I did try to. She is determined to see if she can find the Arkenstone."

Thorin buried his face into his hands.

He needed the Arkenstone to rally the seven dwarf kingdoms to his side to claim back Erebor but the price… the price to do that was… her risking her life. Against a dragon who had already stolen so much from Thorin and his kin.

"Eh, she'll be fine." Bofur said loudly, clearly trying to convince himself along with the rest of the company, "she a clever lass, think on how well she handled them spiders!"

"And the trolls!" Kili added in brightly, though worry was still dancing in his dark eyes.

"She stole the keys to our cells right out from under the nose of Kili's captain's too!" Nori commented his eyes sparkling with mischief while Kili sent him a fierce death glare with Fili simply shaking his head from where he stood by his little brother's side.

"She's not my anything!" Kili retorted hotly, and he might have been believable if it weren't for the heavy blush decorating his face.

Thorin simply sighed and chose, at this moment, not to comment on his nephew's apparent fondness for elves

Maybe it is a family trait that we were never aware of until this quest, he thought still staring into the dark tunnel, to fall in love with one from an entirely different race.

He found himself immediately regretting not telling Bilbo the true depths of his feeling and resolved to remedy that the moment she returned.

"Her idea with the barrels wasn't half bad either." He heard Dwalin rumple dryly from nearby, "Could've done with a better execution though." Thorin shot Dwalin an annoyed looked and in turned a teasing smirk in reply.

"That is neither here or there," Balin remarked softly, "in the end, we have a clever lass, a brave lass and we must trust in her that she will keep herself safe."

"What if she can't find the stone?" Ori whispered from where he sat, hands clasped tightly in front of him, eyes wide and worried.

"She won't come back until she does." Thorin muttered heavily, because that was nothing short of the truth.

Their burglar was incredibly stubborn and quite driven when she put her mind to it, he just prayed that these character trait would not be the death of her.

You have nothing to prove, he thought to the dark tunnel. If you cannot find the stone, then simply come back, do not risk your life for it. It is not worth your life.

Something deep and dark within him twisted with that thought, twisted so very tightly that it startled him, stopping his heart right in his chest before it returned to its usual beat.

Frowning, he rubbed the spot the dark, twisting feeling had been. It was gone as quickly as it had come, but still he worried, for this was not the first time such a feeling had occurred within his chest.

Maybe this adventure is catching up to me, he thought without much conviction, I am not as young as I once was.

He swallowed nervously and turned unwillingly away from the tunnel entrance and went to stand with his fellow dwarves to wait for their burglar to return.

Return to me, he thought to his hobbit, return to me safe and sound. For I think I will be needing you in days to come far more than you have ever needed me

09/01/2022 Author's Note: Slowly but surely we are nearing the end of DOS (and towards actually my favourite part/s of DOS - while I'll be forever sadden by how DOS handled Beorn's section (or really just the handling of the dwarves meeting Beorn which one of my absolutely favourite parts of the book) I really, really loved everything from Bilbo's meeting Smuag to the dwarves using Erebor's furnaces to fight against him. I just loved all of it. So it's been fun and exciting to write those scenes for this fic and when I wrote them in The Crownless King Shall Reclaim His Throne.

Which, speaking of The Crownless King Shall Reclaim His Throne ( s/12956956/1/The-Crownless-King-Shall-Reclaim-His-Throne?_cf_chl_jschl_tk_=gmAhTNF1FVOxt8Fvkr9MX3Eq04M5P8KAUtTrFuCTc_E-1641724584-0-gaNycGzNCaU) is my Alternate Reality of this alternate reality 'What-if' story.

If you haven't read it before (or if you have already, please feel free to read it again :) ), it is basically a 'What-if' story of what might have happened in Smaug had truly been asleep when Bilbo snuck into his bedroom and found the Arkenstone without issue and returned it to Thorin. And you could probably go and jump into it after reading this chapter. If you wanted, entirely up to you.

The Crownless King Shall Reclaim His Throne is not yet finished (another story project that I am determined to finish this year) but there are 22 chapters up and ready to be read.

Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed. I will try and post Chapter 25 very soon, hopefully next weekend. Hopefully I will have finished writing DOS portion of this story - this story is over 300 pages and still not close to finished! Why do I keep doing this to myself?!

Anyway, I wish you all a very happy week ahead. Thanks again :)