Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit.

So it has come to this. Just one more chapter and this story will reach its end. It was be a long process, draining for some and thank you to all who have stuck with me from the early days.

This chapter was hard to write on a personal level but I feel it is what was always meant to happen. Please read and enjoy.

"Miss Baggins. Miss Baggins!"

The sound of her name tugged Marie out of her reverence. At her shoulder was Pri gently shaking her shoulder with a concerned look that made her young face pinch.

"Oh dear. I did it again?"

"You did." Pri nodded and hooked her hands under Marie's elbow and around her shoulders to help her stand. "I sometimes fear that one day that you'll be so far form us that your mind will wonder off to the stars themselves."

She was such a sweet thing. One of Bombur's many children and possibly one of the eldest. On her arrival Marie's health declined further and Bomber's wife insist at that Pri be around to keep her company, and to be the quick feet Marie once had should an emergency rose. Marie enjoyed her company very much, a gentle respite from the loud and rambunctious nature of the rest of her family who had welcomed Marie with open arms along with what remained of the Company of Oakensheild. Bombur, Bofur and Bifur were much the same except the silver that filled their beards and the spots on their noses while Dori's beard had doubled in size with more braids twisted around one another. Nori had grown as gruff as Dwalin on the outside but there was still a glint in his eye from time to time. Oin had long since passed and young Ori had gone with Balin to Moria as a scribe for the colony.

The hobbit used both the young dwarf and her cane as she pushed up from stone bench she had claimed as her own during her time in Erebor. She liked it for the view it offered from above the massive gates, the vast open horizon with the great Woodland Realm across the glistening lake and the tall sandy toned towers of Dale with their red rooftops. But best of all was the sky, stretching over head and beyond. Marie could find herself comfortably sitting for hours until she was deep in her own thoughts. But lately Pri was quite vigilant on not letting her stay out for too long, under instruction no doubt.

"Ma has supper ready if you're interested Miss Baggins." Pri said.

"Oh I'm not terribly hungry my dear. I would like to return to my room if that's …"

Pri understood and raised a hand. "Say no more. I'll let Ma know and have her save some for when you're ready." She went on to gossip about how a lad she was keen on gave her the most beautiful cloak pin he had made, but Marie was no fool. She knew that her new friend was trying to distract her.

Marie's arrival was a happy rush of air in what Marie perceived as an anxious held breath in the midst of a storm. War was brewing in the lands on the South, if rumors from Rohan and Gondor were to be believed, and in the far East the Men of Rhun had been spotted slowly edging in on the territories of both Dale and the Iron Hills. The whole of the mountain was on edge, waiting for the horns of battle to blow, but until then no one openly spoke of it and did their best to carry on. Should war summon, Dwalin, Nori and Bombur would most likely answer it's call. Marie could see the strain in her dwarves' eyes but said nothing.

After all, what could an old withering hobbit do now?

The guest apartment Marie had been gifted with was far too large for her. It was modest enough, spanning to the size of her front living room, kitchen and dining room at Bag End and what little she had brought with her fit into a single drawer of the largely empty wardrobe. The hearth alone took up most of the far wall. Had Marie still the same vigor she possessed the previous year she would have utilized the space well and would have given the black oak desk a decent go.

Pri held open the thick door for Marie and was very patient with the hobbit's plodding steps into the apartment. Someone must have rekindled the hearth while she was out for the room was deliciously warm when they arrived and Marie felt the urge to set herself up in front of the blazing fire and never leave.

She did feel terribly cold.

"Would you like a new scroll tomorrow Miss Baggins?" Pri was moving the pile of papers and tomes on the dining table. Every three days one of her brothers Bilr who working in the Archives would bring new materiel for Maire. She had barely read through half of the last batch.

"No. I'm perfectly happy with my current one Pri. To think, fifty odd years and I still struggle with your language. Still easier to learn that dwarven cooking."

Pri gave a tiny snort. "Well then. Is there anything you need?"

"I should be alright Pri. You go on and get some dinner before your father claims it all." Marie shucked off her shawl and folded it neatly.

"Are you sure?"

"Most certainly. Don't make me chase you out." Marie winked and the young dwarf giggled all the way out the door.

"I will see you in the morning then Miss Baggins." Pri gave her a bright smile as she closed the door behind her. All Marie could do was smile back sadly.

She would not see her in the morning.

The room's temperature went up with the heavy door closed once more and the walls reflected the fire light like one of Gandalf's fireworks that danced in the sky. They were shaped little butterflies and were so much fun to chase.

Marie had to laugh. Of course she would remember such childhood memories now.

She placed her shawl on the table next to her books and scrolls and made her way to the bed, unbuttoning her clothes along the way. That was the handy thing about Hobbit clothes, simply made, practical and un-cumbersome. Much like everything they were as a race.

Once her clothes were folded and tucked away Marie re-dressed in a thick nightgown. The white cloth hung off her frail shoulders causing the sleeves to droop passed her fingertips. Marie just shook her head at such a thing and sat gingerly at the head of her bed which faced the hearth. On the bedside table Marie kept a bouquet of flowers next to her, an odd custom to dwarves but Marie had always set them by her bed back home and wouldn't break habit now. Besides, this bouquet was special. It had started to wither weeks ago and the green and yellow had turned to bronze and yet Marie could not bring herself to part with it.

It was Urzudul Abanul. Sun Pebble.

Marie made bouquets for Thorin, Kili and Fili's tombs and laid them before the tombs in silence once a week.

The flowers that were left over Marie kept for herself.

She smiled and dance her fingers over the sharp edges that would crumble with her touch.

"I come from under the hill. And under the hill and over the hill my path has taken me." Her voice was a soft sigh in the silence. "Through the air I am she who walks unseen and is the guest of eagles. I am the Luck Wearer."

Marie set the flowers back on the side table and brought her hands together "Riddle Maker and Web Cutter." Thorin's ring was around heavy around her feeble finger, something solid and reliable while the rest of her withered. She twisted it round and round and brought it to her lips to kissed the rune on its surface.

"I am the Barrel Rider. Elf Friend. The one 'round the bend and cracked. Weaver of stories and mother to a parent less child."

Her hands dropped.

"I am ... So very, very tired."

Xxxxx

In the morning when Pri came for her, Marie was gone.

She was tucked into the soft quilts of her bed, the image of peace dressed in white with her hands folded across her still breast and a lifetimes worth of worry lifted from her serene face.

They buried her in a tomb of grey marble, next to Thorin's deep in the cavern of the Fallen. An action that had raised more than a few bushy eyebrows but the Company would not have it any other way and went ahead with the unorthodox decision. Dwalin said that if any one deserved the spend their eternal rest in the resting place of Kings it should be the King's Burglar. There were only a few who were present to farewell the hobbit, Gloin openly wept for her and Nori had to hold him up by the shoulders. Bofur and Dwalin were silent and still while Dori and Nori spoke softly about their fondest memories of Marie. Bifur could only sniff loudly and wipe his nose. Bombur and his family were present, with Bombur's wife holding one hand and his youngest son holding the other. Pri scattered Sun Pebbles around the stone slab that covered the tomb. It was not adorned with a great long epitaph or carvings dedicated to past deeds and honours like Kili and Fili's, for the Company knew Marie would have rolled her eyes and told them how silly that seemed to her. Her tomb was marked with simply 'Mariellena Baggins. Friend to All. Beloved.'

There was one adornment, sent from Mirkwood when word had spread. A beautiful pale emerald no bigger than an acorn wrapped in fine twists of silver at resembled antlers that was placed at the top of her epitaph.

Three cloaked figures from Dale also came to pay their respects. The old man, once a boy who hid a Black Arrow, wore no crown or title before Marie's tomb and simply comforted his sisters as any other man.

One by one the remnants of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield filed past the tomb, each leaving a candle and quiet goodbyes to their strange little friend.

Pri was the last to leave the cavern of the Fallen, holding the last few bloom of Sun Pebble tightly to her heart. She promised she would make sure that there would always be flowers by Marie's tomb as she walked away slowly.

Pri couldn't help it and gave one last look back at the tomb before she reached the doorway. The candle light ebbed into the darkness and cast strange images that gave Pri cause to look again. She was sure it was a trick of the light but there looked to be someone still standing by Marie's tomb. That was impossible, Pri was sure she was the last one and looked closer. It was a woman in a summer dress of red with dark curls that twisted into a thick braid to reveal large point hobbit ears, but Pri could not see her face. She was about to speak, to call out and see if this was just a spectre but there was another person stepped out from the shadows and Pri silenced herself. This one was a dwarf no doubt, his coat that of Ered Luin make with a thick fur trim and boots capped with metal.

There was something familiar about him.

He took the strange woman's hand in his and pulled her close to his side, his head tilted as though to kiss her chestnut curls.

"Pri!"

The young dwarf gasped and spun around.

It was just Bofur. He took one look at her startled expression and immediately went to her side. "What is it lass? You look as though you've seen a ghost." He said, rubbing a hand up and down her arm.

Pri blinked and looked back at the tomb.

There was no one there.

"I ... I'm fine uncle." Pri took a deep breath. "Just a trick of the light."

Bofur wrapped his arm around her and together they left the cavern, and its inhabitants to their eternal peace.