Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit.

Enjoy ch. 2

It had all began in Marie's garden sixty years ago. Back then she was much younger but a tad pessimistic for a hobbit and very reserved. Her hair was a light chestnut brown mess she could barely keep under control, her youthful beauty had started to harden with the appearance of frown lines in between her eyebrows.

She lived on her own and spent her days much the same as any Baggins would. She shopped in the local market, attendant the necessary gatherings, politely talked when spoken to. She was entirely respectable, despite also being a Took.

She had been weeding along the gate when a shadow fell overhead. She looked up from under her straw hat expecting to see a cloud obscuring the sun, and instead saw an old wizard standing in the middle of the path. She guessed he was a wizard, for who else would wear such a funny hat and carry a wooden staff.

She was surprised to say the least, and even more surprised when it appeared he was waiting for her to speak. "Um ... Good morning."

"What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it to be or not or that you feel good this morning or that it is a morning to be good on?"Said the wizard.

Marie was so befuddled, she had forgotten that her mouth was hanging open. "I guess ... all of them at once.

The wizard continued to just stare at her, calculating from under that bushy beard.

"May I help you with something?" Marie returned her attention to her garden, not liking this amount of attention at all. "That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."

Maire's head snapped up and she stared at the wizard. Adventure? Her? Such a thing hadn't crossed her mind in years. "Well, I can't imagine anyone this far west of Bree would have much interest in such things." She pulled out the last of the weeds and started to pack up her tools. "You're better off back that way than here." She picked up her basket and quickly nodded her head, "Good morning," She said again, ducking her face and made her way to the door. The wizard sighed and shook his head.

"To think that should have lived to be 'Good morning'd by Belladonna Took's daughter like I was selling buttons at the door."

Marie stopped dead in her tracks.

"You've changed, and not for the better I'm afraid Mariellena Baggins."

She turned and looked at him again. "How do you ...? Do we know eachother?"

"Well you do know my, although you don't remember that I belong to it. I'm Gandalf, and Gandalf means ... me." He opened up his arms as though to give the hobbit a better look at him. After a moment of searching, she finally recalled him.

"Midsummer's Eve." She said, pointing at him, "Old Took used to have fireworks made by Gandalf the Wandering Wizard. They were absolutely amazing, best part of the evening besides watching Old Took get drunk." In that moment, Marie's face brightened slightly as she remembered such times, and Gandalf hopes were lifted. But the light faded, and her smile dropped into a sensible line.

He sighed and appraised the matter at hand. "It's seems the spark has dwindled somewhat. Very well then, it's decided then."

Marie glanced from side to side, "What's decided?"

"It'll be very good for you, and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others." Gandalf nodded and gathered up his grey cloak.

"Wait, wait, wait, no." Marie was all flustered and not quite sure what was going on. "No. I do not want any adventures thank you. Not now, not ever." She said, cheeks flushed crimson. Pulling her hat further over her face, she nodded one last time and huffed "Good morning," before disappearing into Bag End, locking the door behind her.

Gandalf cocked his head at her behaviour. This was certainly not the same little girl from all those years ago so full of life and eagerness. He made his way to the door and carved the mark into the wood.

He was certain that this was indeed what Marie Baggins needed.

The rest of Marie's day went without any other strange encounters or happenings, in fact apart from that morning it would have just been another day.

'Perhaps I just imagined it all.' She thought to herself as she cooked her dinner, a nice fresh fish with some new herbs to try.

By why would she imagine Gandalf? She had not thought about him since she was a child. Nor had she thought about adventures. Hey brought to many memories. She decided to just forget about it and move on. But just as she finished cooking, the door bell rang.

"Who on earth?"

She wrapped her cardigan about herself and headed to the door. On the other side however stood a very large and very dangerous looking dwarf. For a moment Maire was filled with the sense that she was about to be robbed, but the dwarf bowed to her, "Dwalin, at your service."

"Ugh ... Marie Baggins at ... yours." She said, awkwardly bowing and curtsying at the same time. The large dwarf entered before she could say another to words. "Is it down her lassie?"

"I'm sorry what ...?"

"Supper."

Despite how utterly confused she was, Marie forfeited her own meal to please the dwarf. She watched helplessly as he devoured the fish. He looked like he could snap her in two so she decided to humour him for as long as she could.

Then the bell rang again.

"That'll be the door." Dwalin said with his mouth full.

"Yes I know, thank you."

It was another dwarf. Shorter and much older though, he did not give off the impression that he would harm her. "Balin, at your service." He bowed. Marie relaxed a little, "Good evening."

"Yes it is, but I think it my rain later. I hope I'm not too late." Balin shook her hand firmly. "Late?"

"Ah, haha, evening Brother." Balin turned his attention to Dwalin, who was trying to steal cookies out of a jar.

'These two are brothers?' Marie thought as she closed the door. They were laughing and looked like they were about to embrace one another, but proceeded to head but eachother, startling the poor hobbit.

"Now umm ... excuse me but I'm not quite sure ..."

The two dwarves ignored her and headed off to the pantry. Marie shook her head in disbelief, "What am I invisible?"

The door bell rang again.

"Oh for goodness sake." Marie threw open the door and saw, to her dismay, more dwarves. "Fili," "And Kili, at your service." They bowed together and grinned at her. They were young and very peppy from the looks of things.

"You must be Miss Boggins."

"Sorry, wrong house." Marie tried to close the door, but couldn't with the pair of them in the doorway. "What? Has it been cancelled?

"No one told us."

'What the hell is going on!?' Marie's patience was growing short, "Nothing's been cancelled, I ..."

The one named Kili pushed though into the hallway and started to remove his weapons. "That's a relief."

"Careful with these love. I just had them sharpened." The other one, Fili, handed an assortment of knives to Marie. "Then why are you giving them to me? Hey, that's my mother's glory box!" She shouted ad Fili who was wiping his dirty shoes on it. She struggled under the weight of so many weapons as the two young dwarves were taken away by Dwalin.

"Come and give us a hand lads."

The four of them had converged in the dining room and had begun to move the chairs and cabinets around. "Let's get this into the hallway otherwise we'll never get everyone in."

"Wait, how many more of you are there?"

Ring Ring.

"Go away!" Marie shouted and dumped the weapons onto a footlocker on her way to the door. "Benjamin Brandybuck, if this is your idea of a joke, I will personally beat you over the head with a frying pan!"

She opened the door and eight dwarves literally fell at her feet. Standing behind them was none other than Gandalf, with a cheery smile on his face.

"Good evening Maire." He said.

"Gandalf." Marie shook her head.

The dwarves stood up and eventually introduced themselves one by one. Maire's head however could not process what was happening. Soon her entire pantry was empty and lay all over the dining room table, her father's best ale had been opened, every piece of silverware and every plate had been used for this sudden feast.

While the thirteen 'guests' ate and made merriment, Marie was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She stared despondent at the bare shelves of the pantry and the mud covering her family's good rugs, barely containing herself.

'It's alright Marie, just breath. Breathing is the key.' She thought, taking each breath very carefully. The belching contest did not help at all.

"That is not a cloth, give it here." Marie snatched back the dolly from Dori. Or was it Nori? Some of the dwarves had spread out into the kitchen and were causing more mess.

"Ya right there lass. Your head looks like an apple." Bofur said, taking another sip of ale. "I am NOT alright." She growled.

"Marie dear, what's the matter" Gandalf ducked under the doorway and joined them.

"Gandalf, a word please?" Marie walked with speed into the vacant hallway with the wizard trailing behind, "Maybe you can explain why my home is now a mad house?"

"Good gracious. You may be over reaction just a little."

"You would be too if twelve strangers came into your home, stole all the food and used your dollies as napkins." Marie rubbed her face roughly, "I just want to know what is going on."

" 'scuse me?" Ori appeared out of the dinning, holding out an empty plate, "I hate to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?"

Marie calmed a little, At least this one had some manners. "Just pop into the kitchen please."

"I'll take it Ori." Fili snatched up the plate the threw it sharply at Kili, how tossed it into the kitchen. Marie's temperature went up again. "Don't. That pottery is over a ..." She ducked as more plates and bowels came flying out of the dining room, " ... a hundred years old!"

Bofur, Gloin, Nori and Dori started mucking around with the silverware, large grins on all their faces. "Don't do that. You'll blunt them."

"Ya hear that lads? She says we'll blunt the knives." Bofur teased.

"Blunt the knives and bend the forks!" Kili started to sing, and his brother joined him, knocking bowels with his elbows. "Smash the bottles and burn the corks!"

"Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
That's what Marie Baggins hates!"

"Cut the cloth and tread the fat!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Splash the wine on every door!"

All twelve dwarves joined in with the song and tossed the plates all around the room. Marie tired to catch some, but Kili beat her to it every time. Amazingly as he did, he grabbed Marie's hand and twirled her about, like it was nothing more than a dance.

"Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl,
Pound them up with a thumping pole,
And when you've finished, if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!"

The dwarves were having a grand old laugh, some bring out instruments to accompany their singing. Marie was getting dizzy and clutched the wall to steady herself. She braced herself to see the damage done in the kitchen, now with everyone crammed into it.

"That's what Marie Baggins hates!"

Marie's jaw dropped. All the plates and bowels had been washed and stacked perfectly on the clean table with the dwarves and Gandalf standing around it, laughing at her expression, Kili the most vocal about it. "Just look at that face!" He and Balin were leaning eachother laughing away.

"If you find the face of one who's just about to have a bleeding heart attack you have a very sick sense of ...

Bang Bang Bang!

" ... humor ..."

All the dwarves went silent, and turned their heads to the door. They knew who it was.

"He is here." Gandalf broke the silence.

Marie groaned and cupped her face in her hands, "I can't deal with another one." Ori patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"I shall answer the door Marie, take your time." Gandalf said and mover to the front door. Perhaps he worn her out a little too early, but dwarves were ease to get used to.

He opened the wrong door to reveal the long awaited king himself, Thorin Oakensheild. "Gandalf." He acknowledged the wizard, "You told me this place would be easy to find. I lost my way twice." Everyone clamored to get a glimpse of their leader, all except Maire how struggled to squeezed through.

"Wouldn't have found it at all hadn't it been for that mark on the door." As Thorin removed his traveling cloak and passed it to Kili, Marie finally got past the barricade in the doorway.

"Mark?" She tried to inspect it, but Gandalf quickly closed, "Yes, I hope you don't mind. I left it there this morning." He smiled, trying to defuses the hobbit's flaring anger.

"Mariellena Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakensheild."

Marie got her first glance at the newest arrived and completely froze up. He was tall and broad, covered in think fur coat and an armoured tunic. He did not sport elaborate braids or beards like many of the others, but had long black hair streaked with lines of silver to match the his close cut beard. His eyes were intense as the bore down on her, assessing her.

Dwalin may have startled her on first appearance, but this man absolutely frightened her ... and she didn't know why.

"So ... this is the hobbit." He said in a deep voice, making Marie wrapped her arms about herself to protect herself.

"Tell me Miss Baggins, have you done much fighting?" Thorin circled her.

"What?"

"Axe or sword? Which is your weapon?"

Marie finally regained some confidence and answered boldly, "I have never used either in my life I'll have you know."

"Thought as much. She looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

The dwarves all chuckled and headed into the living room. Thorin cast one last glace at her before brushing her aside completely. Marie on the other hand felt quite stumped and glanced up at Gandalf.

"I feel like I should be insulted ... I just don't know how. And what did he mean by 'Burglar'?"