Thank you all for waiting, sorry about that! Thank you to my guest reviewers, and to Loves to Read Books, I'm glad that you liked it! Also, thanks to all the new followers and favourties, they mean a lot :D I have written and rewritten this chapter many times, and I have been far busier than I thought I would be during these holidays. Urgh.
Ah, the promised ageing rates. Well, before I begin let me admit that this is not how I think hobbit or dwarven ageing happens at all, it has been completely manipulated in order to fit the storyline I wanted. Having never expected to get this story past a few chapters, I never really thought that it mattered.
So, in accordance to THIS STORY ALONE:
Hobbits are toddlers up to the age of about five or six, and from there they age slowly, reaching about ten/eleven at the age of seventeen. At about 20 they start to speed up a bit, with the twenties being equivalent to the teen years (thought of by hobbits as 'tween' years) 33 is the equivalent of 21.
Right now in the story the ages of the most important LITTLE hobbits are as follows in age order:
Frodo - 11
Pearl - 10
Nelly - about 9 and a half
Merry - 9
Pervinca - 7
Pippin - 5
Pippin is still a toddler, maybe the equivalent of a three year old, Pervinca would be about four and the rest are around five or sixish due to the slow growth rate of hobbits.
Even more so than hobbit ageing, dwarven ageing is several messed up in this story, I'm sorry, but I never thought it would get this far so I never thought I'd have to worry.
Like hobbits, dwarves are toddlers up to about 5 or 6, but then they slow down even more. By 30 they'd be about seven, and they'd stay at that sort of age growing very slowly physically, though they'd be a fair bit smarter than your average seven year old human. Once they reach 60 they've reached about eleven, and from then they had a relatively speedy growth spurt, having a decade or two of adolescence which makes Fíli and Kíli about 19 and 17 respectively.
I would imagine that both hobbits and dwarves are somewhat more intelligent than their age equivalent humans merely because they've spent more time in the world.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Forgive any mistakes.
Read. Enjoy. Review.
Chapter Fifty Five # Welcome Home #
Winter gradually began to turn to early spring as they passed at last into the gentle rolling hills of the Shire. Elladan and Elrohir had left them at Bree in a parting that had been surprisingly upsetting for everyone involved, though the two elves had promised to send word soon, and for Kíli, that was enough. The once distant call of home grew louder and louder until it seemed to accompany his every heartbeat and his anticipation grew with every mile they travelled. Gandalf left them as they entered the borders of the Shire, claiming that he had to see the head of his order though he said that he would visit in a couple of weeks.
"Given the circumstances, I may also pay a visit to the rangers and ask if they may keep an eye on the Shire for a while." The wizard had added, though the twinkle in his eye eased any tension his words may have caused.
The local hobbits' cautious stares turned to curious optimism as they travelled further into the Shire and into the territories of their distant family and friends, until it got to the point where several times a day the travellers would pause to converse with relieved and curious friends for a short while.
However, despite the attentiveness that had sprung from their rather horrific experiences, not one of the travellers noticed the excited chain of children that passed the news up into the heart of the Shire: Bilbo and Kíli Baggins were home.
After a few short days travelling through the land of the halflings, they finally reached Hobbiton and Kíli looked at Bilbo as they officially crossed into their little village more than a year of being away. The same relief and joy that lifted Kíli's heart was reflected in Bilbo's contented eyes as they breathed simultaneously, and Kíli had to close his own eyes for a moment to stop the pesky prickling of tears.
Home, home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!
The sickening discomfort of homesickness that had settled in his stomach for months had soared away and finally, finally, after everything he had endured; Kíli felt peace settle back into his heart and bones.
"Well, we're back…" Bilbo breathed, smiling happily. "I suppose everyone's at the Market… Oh, I'm so glad that we're home…"
"Me too," Kíli whispered, opening his eyes and grinning widely, staring around at his wonderful, beautiful homeland.
"I forgot how beautiful this place was." Fíli murmured, and Kíli glanced over to see his brother's very real and very contented smile.
The fact that his brother looked so comfortable lifted Kíli's heart further than he thought was possible and the young dwarf was almost certain that he had never been happier in his life.
All of a sudden a chain of desperate screams rang out through the peaceful village.
"Kíli! Kíli! Kíli!"
The first thing to jolt Kíli's heart was panic as he looked up, but the little child screaming frantically at him was not in any danger or pain. Within a second, Kíli's heart had filled with joy and his eyes had filled with tears at the sight of Meriadoc Brandybuck tearing down the road towards him – and despite the tears streaking down Merry's cheeks Kíli did not think he had ever seen such delight on the child's face.
As quickly as he could, Kíli leapt off of the pony and raced the short distance left between himself and the child and scooped Merry up off of the floor and into his arms, holding him tightly in his arms. Merry let out a short, wrenching sob and wrapped his arms around Kíli's neck and his legs around the dwarf's waist, burying his face in his Guardian's hair.
"Kíli, Kíli, Kíli!" the little boy cried over and over again, sobbing out Kíli's name as the young dwarf tried to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Hello, Merry!" Kíli laughed tearfully, rocking slightly as he began to stroke the little boy's curly hair.
Merry sobbed, entwining his fingers in Kíli's hair. "K-K-Kíli, I-I-I thought the m-m-monsters had gotten you! I-I thought you w-w-weren't coming home!"
"Of course I came home, little one." Kíli murmured, grinning as he pulled away slightly to kiss Merry's forehead quickly. "Of course I did! I promised you, remember?"
The little boy's arms tightened around Kíli's neck slightly and he nodded. "I r-remember, Kíli! B-but if monsters g-got you, you wouldn't be a-able to come home!"
"True, but the monsters didn't get me." Kíli mumbled with a small smile, rubbing circles into Merry's back. "I'm alright, and I'm here now…"
Struggling to calm his breathing, Merry pulled back slightly to give Kíli a watery smile and to wave over Kíli's shoulder at Bilbo. "Hello, Bilbo! I'm glad that the monsters didn't get you, either!"
"It's wonderful to see you too, Merry." Bilbo replied warmly as he and the other dwarves dismounted and led their ponies towards Kíli and Merry.
After a long moment, Merry pulled back, putting a hand on Kíli's face. "You're gonna stay now?"
Kíli's smile strengthened. "Yeah, I'll be staying, at least for a while."
"Don't leave me again, Kíli. Don't go away again!" Merry whimpered, and Kíli hugged him even tighter.
"Don't worry, Merry." Kíli comforted the boy warmly. "I'm here…"
Merry leant back in Kíli's arms, glowering at him. "That's avoiding my question."
"Yes, it is." Kíli stuck his tongue out at Merry, and the child's glare only lasted for a moment before he giggled and fell back against the young dwarf's chest.
"I missed you, Kíli." He sniffled in a quiet, meek little voice that seemed very unlike the confident boy Kíli knew so well.
"Oh, I missed you, too." Kíli whispered, hugging Merry as tightly as he dared for a moment, before shifting the child onto his hip into a comfortable, natural position that left Kíli's hands more or less completely free. "Do you remember Fíli?"
"Your brother." Merry nodded with a smile, waving a little shyly. "And that one's Bofur and that one's Nori. I remembered the names of all your dwarves."
"Very impressive, lad." Bofur winked, and Merry blushed with shy pride.
"Thank you…" Merry smiled at Bofur, and then his eyes lit up and he beamed at Kíli. "Oh, you have to come home now, Mama's baking!"
"Really?" Kíli's stomach growled ravenously and Merry nodded enthusiastically, but before anyone could say anything else an array of thrilled squeals filled the air and all of a sudden Kíli was bombarded from below by a dozen elated little hobbits.
"Kíli! Kíli's home, oh, Kíli's home!"
"Mister Bilbo, Kíli!"
"Uncle Bilbo, Kíli!"
"Kíli, Bilbo!"
"Hello, everyone!" Kíli laughed happily, grinning as Pearl, Nelly, Pervinca and Pippin Took, Mosco, Moro and Myrtle Burrows, May, Sam and Marigold Gamgee and Fredegar and Estella Bolger all fought to hug the returned dwarf and his father.
"You're home!" Pearl sang happily, squeezing Kíli's legs tightly. "Oh, I've missed you!"
"I just missed you more!" Little Moro protested, which ignited a furious argument among the youngsters as to who missed Kíli the most.
"You're popular, brother." Fíli grinned as Kíli went about returning hugs and ruffling hair with his free hand without putting Merry down - to the young hobbit's delight.
"You're Kíli's brother?" Mosco frowned, before holding his hand out to Fíli proudly. "I'm Mosco Burrows; it's nice to meet you."
Fíli blinked, obviously surprised at the very different reaction to the one he had initially received from the young hobbit's of Hobbiton, but he shook little Mosco's hand nevertheless. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"His name's Fíli." Pearl explained knowingly, extending her own hand to the blond dwarf and subtly knocking Mosco out of the way. "I am Pearl Took."
"I'm at your service, Mistress Took," Fíli kissed her hand and bowed elaborately, making the gaggle of children giggle happily.
Delighted, Pearl stuck her chin up in a show of fake snootiness, smothering the accent she shared with her parents and siblings and putting on the poshest voice she could muster. "Well you simply must come up for tea, Master Fíli. My mother makes quite quaint sandwiches."
Kíli snorted, ruffling Pearl's hair. "I think we need to make a stop at Bag End before we go to tea anywhere, Pearl."
"Very well," Pearl beamed without dropping her pompous air. "You simply must follow us to that fine establishment."
Kíli grinned, shaking his head and shrugging at his dwarven companions. It appeared that by returning Kíli and Bilbo to the Shire, Fíli, Bofur and Nori were now considered curious and approachable by the children as opposed to the threatening figures they had been before the quest when it had appeared that they were taking the young dwarf away.
"So where are all the grownups?" Kíli asked Merry amicably as they began to walk to Bagshot Row and the little boy shrugged.
"Most of them are in the Market Right now and lots of the others are there too, but Mama and Papa are home." He said cheerfully, explaining the relatively small number of children in their welcome party.
"Good, good…" Kíli smiled.
"Kíli, Kíli, pick me up!" Pippin begged, tugging on Kíli's sleeve and batting his big green eyes up at the dwarf. "Please, oh please, pick me up, Kíli!"
"I'm very impressed by your speaking, Pippin, it's gotten much better." Kíli praised with a smile as he leant down and scooped the toddler off of the floor, manoeuvring the two hobbit children in his arms until they were both comfortably situated on his hips. Then he turned to the younger child and grinned, dropping his head onto Pippin's forehead briefly. "You've grown a lot, perhaps more even than Merry has!"
"Hey!" Merry cried playfully as Pippin stuck his tongue out.
"Kíli?" a little voice asked hopefully, and he looked down at Pervinca, who was holding her arms up.
"How many arms do you think I have, little one?" Kíli raised his eyebrows.
"You've been holding Merry for ages!" the little girl protested.
Instantly Merry's arms and legs tightened around Kíli and he scowled at his cousin. "Don't even think about it, Pervinca!"
"Hey, hey calm down!" Kíli called over the brewing argument. "I've only just got back – calm down!"
Reluctantly, the squabbles died down and the children began to settle, allowing the travellers to actually make some progress towards back end.
"Kíli, Kíli, we have a baby brother!" Mosco bounced up and down on the spot as he delivered the news. "His name's Minto and he's brilliant!"
"He's awful!" Myrtle protested vehemently, and Kíli had to laugh at the toddler.
"What's so bad about him?" Bilbo asked Myrtle, who pouted.
"He's annoying! He cries, all the time and he hates me and he gets all the attention!"
"He only hates you because you dropped him." Mosco argued.
"Well 'hate' is a strong word for a baby." Kíli reasoned as they walked up the hill.
Moro shrugged. "He cries when she comes close to him – it seems like hate to me."
Kíli smiled wryly. He had seen hate – he had seen hate in the eyes of orcs and hate in the eyes of dwarves and hate in the eyes of elves…
Children as young as his little friends did not know hate.
The party of travellers made their way up Bagshot Row happily, surrounded by happy little hobbits, until they reached Bag End where they tethered their ponies in the back garden for the time being.
As Bilbo opened the door, Kíli turned to all of the children. "If I promise to come and play with you tomorrow, will you give us a while to unpack and settle down, please?"
"We'll go and tell everyone you're home!" Sam Gamgee said sweetly over the top of the others' arguments, tugging on the sleeves of his sisters, adding thoughtfully. "But that you don't want any visitors quite yet because you need to get settled."
"Could you?" Kíli smiled gratefully. "That would be wonderful."
After they each squeezed Kíli's legs, the Gamgees, the Burrows and the Bolgers all reluctantly left, but each of Paladin's daughters folded their arms and stared at Kíli with all the obstinacy of their Auntie Esme.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, I didn't expect you to go." The young dwarf scoffed, and instantly the little Tooks relaxed. Kíli turned to his dwarven friends. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not," Bofur scoffed, grinning at the girls. "
Rolling his eyes, Bilbo walked into the house and Kíli followed, breathing deeply.
"Oh, it's good to be home!" he sighed, and both Merry and Pippin hugged him a little tighter, though nobody said anything.
Lowering the two boys to the floor, Kíli clapped his hands together. "Right, we'll figure out which room everyone will be in, and then we'll go and see your parents, shall we?"
"Sounds like a plan." Merry nodded eagerly.
"Our Mama's at the Market, but Papa's at Merry's house." Pearl explained matter-of-factly. "So we'll have to go there first."
"Bofur, Nori, this way." Bilbo laughed. "I'll show you to your rooms."
"You'd make a good inn keeper's wife, Bilbo." Bofur teased, and Bilbo rolled his eyes and thwacked the dwarf on the arm, causing the eyes of the little hobbits to widen in synchronisation.
"This way, Fee." Kíli grinned, walking down the oh-so-familiar hall and sticking his head into his bedroom just to check that everything was the way he left it. Then he opened the door of the guest bedroom across the hall and Fíli nodded, carrying most of his luggage into the room.
It took less than five minutes to take the rest of the luggage from the ponies into the house, and then Bilbo quickly led the ponies down to a nearby common paddock while the others straightened up a little. When the hobbit returned, Kíli grinned widely at him and enveloped Bilbo in a huge hug.
"I'm so happy we're home!"
"Oh, me too!" Bilbo beamed, hugging Kíli back for a moment. "Now, you run down and get your trio of 'adult' hobbits and bring them back here for tea. It would be awfully rude to invite ourselves over to their house now, wouldn't it?"
"Of course," Kíli rolled his eyes and clamped a hand on Bilbo's shoulder before striding off to the door. "I'll be back in a little while-"
Before he could even finish speaking, five little hobbits blocked his way with folded arms and faces of stone.
"What, am I under house arrest, now?" Kíli raised an eyebrow.
"Just where do you think you're going, Master Baggins?" Nelly retorted fiercely.
"To Merry's house, to bring his parents and your father back here for tea. And your mother too, if she's there." Kíli explained with a wry smile, crouching down to look the little ones in the eye. "Now, I need you to stay here for me and do a very important job."
"What job?" Merry asked suspiciously and Kíli beckoned them closer, whispering to them all before looking pointedly at Fíli, who glanced at Bilbo almost nervously.
Pearl, Nelly and Pervinca all smiled sweetly, speaking in almost eerie union. "We can do that, Kíli."
"Do what, Kíli?" Fíli asked suspiciously. "Kíli Baggins, what are they talking-"
"Come on, Mister Fíli!" Pippin sang, scampering over to Kíli's brother and taking his hand. "We go this way now."
The littlest of Kíli's wonderful hobbit children was still but a toddler and it was both adorable and comical to see him leading the relatively tall dwarf away even as his older sisters and cousin ran over to help him.
"What are they doing?" Nori asked curiously, watching the little ones usher a confused Fíli away.
Kíli grinned. "What baby hobbits do best. I'll be back in less than an hour."
Nodding, Bilbo waved him away. "We didn't leave anything in the pantry, so we'll have to go to the market before it closes or they'll be nothing for us to eat tonight, so don't take too long."
"I won't!" Kíli called back, already out of the door.
The weather was milder in Hobbiton; both due to the Shire's location and the oncoming spring, but Kíli did not see anyone as he walked down Bagshot Row, though that was not particularly surprising since it was nearly noon – the busiest time at the market.
Soon enough, Kíli was standing before a familiar door and he took a deep breath, knocking quickly on the wooden door. For a long moment, he waited hopefully, and then the door opened.
Esmeralda Brandybuck, nee Took, stared in shock at the dwarf standing outside of her door, her heart freezing in her chest.
"Kíli?" she whispered disbelievingly, unable to bring herself to hope that her brother was home.
He did not look like her brother.
For a start, his clothes were all wrong – the heavy dwarven leathers emphasised the differences in their races in a way that she had never seen before and they made him appear older and fiercer, as did the faint scars on his face and neck. There was a difference in the way he held himself, it was minute, true, but it was there – his chin was held a little higher and his shoulders a little further back. The dwarf's hair was neither loose around his shoulders nor scraped back into a ponytail as she remembered it - instead it was held back away from his face in far more sophisticated manner. The dark brown eyes were darker than she remembered, and heavy with the weight of things he had seen that could never be unseen.
But in the end of that infinite moment of disbelief, it was the eyes that convinced her that the strong, handsome young dwarf before her ways her dwarf. They were heavier and darker, it was true, but still they danced as his familiar face split into a brilliant (if slightly sheepish) smile.
"Hello, Esme." The multitude of emotions expressed in the tone of his voice was so familiar that she almost burst into tears right there. She could hear his joy and his relief alongside his shame and his worry and every other thing that he happened to be feeling at that particular moment, and though it was Kíli's nature to be open and expressive, she knew that she recognised more than most.
In that single fraction of a moment all of her fears that the distance could have weakened their bond were vanquished and she gasped again.
"Kíli!"
He laughed, that familiar, comforting, brilliant laugh of his, as she flung herself into his arms, propriety be damned. As his warm arms wrapped around her, Esme could feel a difference in his embrace – he had grown stronger during his travels – but she could not have cared less and her arms locked around his neck as she held him close. Breathing in deeply, she shuddered, her fingers entwining in his hair as she rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I thought you were dead…" she whispered into his ear, her emotion roughening her voice. "Kíli, I thought you were dead…"
"I'm sorry," he murmured back, tightening his arms around her and rocking slightly as true sincerity poured from his voice. "I'm so sorry, Esme, I truly am, but I'm home now."
She smiled slightly. "You took your time…"
He laughed again without loosening his embrace. "I know, oh believe me, I know…"
Closing her eyes, Esme absently begged herself not to cry as she hugged her brother tightly. "I missed you, Kíli."
"I missed you, too!" Kíli's meek voice was almost a whimper and he held her a little tighter.
"Esme, who was it?"
Kíli and Esme both looked up at Saradoc's voice and they grinned at each other.
She paused for a moment, before calling back to her husband. "An excellent tree climber and a brilliant babysitter."
Esme looked over her shoulder in time to see Saradoc appear from the direction of the kitchen and she and Kíli laughed in harmony as her husband's jaw dropped open. With a wordless cry of joy, Saradoc sprang forward and Esme danced out of the way just in time to avoid the almighty clash of dwarf and hobbit as two brothers collided.
"Kíli Baggins, you son of a…" Saradoc laughed weakly, hugging Kíli tightly. "You ass, you absolute ass!"
"I missed you too, Saradoc!" Kíli laughed back, lifting the hobbit off the floor and spinning him around, and Esme laughed as her husband yelled out in protest.
"Put me down!" he complained, and despite his words there was a brilliant smile on his face. "You stupid, stupid dwarf, put me down right now!"
Paladin ran around the corner, his eyes widening with a joy that Esme had not seen for over a year. "Kíli? Is that you?"
"Who else would it be whirling me around like a babe?" Saradoc laughed, smacking Kíli's shoulder. "Put me down, now!"
Kíli did as he was told with a smile and lowered Saradoc to the ground, hugging him tightly for a moment before turning and embracing Paladin just as fiercely. Smiling as her two brothers laughed in relief and joy, Esme wiped her eyes and swallowed.
She would not cry – she was a Took and a Brandybuck and she was stronger than that. Still, her throat caught as hot tears pricked in her eyes and Saradoc reached out and took her hand, entwining his fingers in hers with a wordless smile.
After a long moment, Paladin and Kíli broke apart and Esme remembered her manners. "Come in and sit down, Kíli."
"Gladly, thank you." Kíli beamed, reaching out and squeezing the hand that her husband did not hold.
Without letting go of the hands of either her husband or her best friend, Esme led the way into the living room and sat down on the middle of the sofa, pulling Kíli and Saradoc down on either side of her as Paladin spoke.
"It's been too long, Kíli…" her brother insisted, and almost immediately she remembered her anger at her incommunicado friend. "Why didn't you write to us?"
"Yes, why didn't you write to us?" Saradoc frowned, leaning around Esme to glare at Kíli even as her own anger grew. Yes indeed, was there really any excuse for his not writing? Esme had spent weeks, months – a year fretting and worrying and fearing like an old woman, absolutely terrified that Kíli, her Kíli, could be dead, so why had he not written? "I had to go to Bree to find out from a stranger that you were probably alive!"
"I'm sorry," Kíli's words were soft and genuine and Esme stared at him, watching his eyes flicker towards the floor. "I am, truly I am – I wanted to write to you, so many times…"
Esme's eyebrows drew together in a frown as deep sense of foreboding crept up on her. Something was very wrong – Kíli was uncomfortable, he was not supposed to be uncomfortable here, not when they had just got him back. He was not supposed to look like he was trying not to be afraid; he was not supposed to look haunted.
Her anger dissipated as her worry grew and she paused, touching Kíli's hand. "Kíli, what happened?"
He looked up at her and smiled, though she could see hesitance and old fear in his eyes. "Lots of things…"
Evidently, Paladin was also picking up on Kíli's discomfort. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, mainly." Kíli nodded slowly.
Esme's eyes narrowed. "Mainly?"
Slowly, Saradoc caught on. "And just what do you mean by 'mainly'?"
"I mean that there are some things that have happened that I'd rather forget, but I can't." Kíli admitted weakly. "They're things that I wanted to write but I couldn't, because I don't have the words for them."
"You don't have the words? Kíli, you're skirting around the edges of riddles!" Saradoc protested and Esme swatted his leg with a slight glare.
"Patience, husband." She ordered, making all three men suddenly cough, covering up sniggers. Secretly pleased that she had eased the tension a little, she looked at Kíli. "Were you hurt?"
Kíli paused and looked down at the floor. "Uh, yes, a few times…"
Esme swallowed, her eyes drawn to the particularly nasty scar marring Kíli's neck. "It was bad, wasn't it?"
Meeting her eyes slowly, Kíli nodded. "Yes, it was. I'm alright now, truly, but… Well, let's just say that I've always been prone to nightmares. I'm handling it, though, better than I ever have before, I just… I can't lie to you. Not to you three."
"I'm glad to hear it." Saradoc's easy voice may have sounded uncaring and overly casual to anyone else, but those in the room knew full well that the Brandybuck's calm tones were only a way of keeping everyone comfortable. Saradoc always, always, sounded calm – it was one of the things Esme loved about him.
Kíli looked up and met Saradoc's eyes gratefully and he grinned slightly. "I didn't write to you because there was so much to say – Durin's beard, I would've needed a whole book to tell you half of it! By the time I got time to actually sit down and write, I was already preparing to return home and I decided that it would be easier just to explain it all in person."
"We're listening." Paladin raised his eyebrows.
"I can't tell you everything now," Kíli began, holding his hands up as Esme, Saradoc and Paladin opened their mouths. "I will, I swear to you, but it is a very long story and I would rather tell it with the others. Obviously Bilbo came back with me and Fíli, Bofur and Nori came too."
"How is Bilbo?" Esme asked hopefully, relieved when Kíli smiled.
"Well, but expecting us to come back for tea very soon." The young dwarf grinned. "He is also completely surrounded by your children."
"Oh, of course you would see our children before you see us." Esme rolled her eyes.
"They attacked me on the road!" Kíli protested with a grin. "It wasn't my fault!"
"That I can believe." Paladin rolled his eyes.
"If you say you're handling it, I'll believe you," Esme began, "But will you tell us what you're handling?"
"Later, I swear." Kíli nodded, "But first tell me how you've all been!"
"Fretting," Esme complained, leaning into Kíli slightly. "And worrying, but more or less well…"
"Good," Kíli smiled happily, looking relieved. "Good, I'm glad."
Esme paused. "So let me get this completely straight, the sooner we return to Bag End, the sooner we get to hear your story?"
When Kíli nodded, Esme stood up and brushed herself down. "What are we waiting for then?"
All three men grinned wolfishly at her and spoke in unison. "Patience."
Rolling her eyes, Esme simply stood with her hands on her hips until they all stood up and joined her. As they began to leave the house, Paladin cleared his throat.
"Oh, it may interest you to know that the Sackville-Bagginses paid a little visit to Bag End last week."
Instantly Kíli stiffened. "Why?"
"They claimed that you'd been gone so long that you were probably dead and they were going to 'claim their inheritance'." Saradoc scoffed.
"What happened?" Kíli blinked as Esme started whistling innocently.
"I don't think I've ever seen Esmeralda quite so furious." Paladin's low voice gave away his lack of exaggeration, despite the amused smile on his face. "Oh, did she yell…"
"When that dreadful Lobelia declared that the dead cannot own property I thought Esme would break her nose." Saradoc added, and Kíli looked in surprise at his friend.
Esme simply shrugged. "I would have done just that, but Pippin was on my hip at the time and I wouldn't want to teach my nieces and nephews bad manners."
"Well thank you for defending our home anyhow," Kíli grinned, jostling Esme gently. "I appreciate it."
"I don't believe it!" A harsh voice spat out and Esme's heart filled with irritation.
"Speak of the devil," she hissed, turning around and plastering a sweet smile on her face. "Lobelia, it's so lovely to see you…"
"Save the small talk, Ms Brandybuck," Lobelia snapped, her furious eyes fixed on Kíli. "How dare you show your face here, dwarf?"
Kíli widened his eyes into a look of innocent surprise, but Esme could see the hardening of his eyes. "I live here, Lobelia, and that is not a particularly courteous welcome home. What on earth does that mean?"
"Do not say you live here as if you belong!" Lobelia spat, looking at Kíli with the sheer disdain that would send him running to Bilbo when he was a child. Kíli did not even flinch. "You should never have been taken in in the first place. Bilbo was a fool! It's not proper to go and disappear into the blue and I guarantee it's all your fault!"
"I don't need your approval to live in my own home, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. I have had a long journey and I'm in no state to put up with your pointless, misdirected hatred. Please leave me alone." Kíli said simply, turning around and continuing towards Bag End.
Lobelia gasped. "How dare you speak to me like that, you insolent boy?"
Esme held back a laugh as Kíli rolled his eyes, shook his head slightly and continued walking.
"I suppose you faced far worse enemies than Lobelia SB?" Saradoc glanced at Kíli and the young dwarf laughed.
"Let's just say I thought of her upon meeting someone and then felt awful for categorising her in so bad a category."
Saradoc froze dramatically. "Perish the thought!"
"Oh, aye, it was quite horrible." Kíli grinned, though something flickered in his eyes.
Fear? Esme's heart fluttered. He's serious…
"Was it a dwarf, this someone? Or a man?" Esme supposed, and Kíli shook his head.
"No, it was the Goblin King of the Misty Mountains." His tone was completely serious and Esme's mouth dropped open.
"You mean there is such a person?" she stammered. "I thought the Goblin King was merely a figure created for childhood games – I thought they'd all gone since Bullroarer's time!"
Kíli laughed, but there was a cold edge to it. "I sincerely wish that were true, though I wouldn't call him a 'person', he was more of a creature and he's dead now."
"Kíli?" Paladin asked slowly.
"Yes?" Kíli returned in the same voice.
"Race you to Bag End?"
Even as Kíli's eyes lit up and his lips parted to announce his agreement, Esme darted forward with a wild laugh. "Done!"
"Hey!" Saradoc was the only one to bother voicing his protest as they all burst into a fierce race.
Tossing her curls over her shoulder, Esme laughed again and urged her limbs to run faster. Paladin and Saradoc could not dream of catching her at a sprint, though they could easily run for further and longer. Kíli however, had grown stronger in his time away and soon he was running by her side, flashing a cheeky grin at her.
"I don't think so!" she growled playfully, shoving him and speeding up.
Laughing, Kíli shoved her back gently and accelerated with her until neither hobbit nor dwarf could go any faster. Bilbo's little white gate was in sight and the pair rocketed towards it as fast as they could.
They burst through the gate at the same time, struggling through in a flurry of limbs and curses (Esme did not miss the many dwarven phrases littered amongst Kíli's vocabulary) until Esme shoved him sideways and Kíli stumbled into the cabbage patch. Laughing brightly, Esme lunged for the door but Kíli grabbed her hand and dragged her into the dirt with him.
"Oh no you don't, Esmeralda, what would your mother say if she saw you playing dirty?" Kíli laughed as Paladin smashed into the door with a grin.
"I win!" he smirked, before frowning. "Is that screaming?"
"Probably." Kíli shrugged, listening to the squeals coming from inside Bag End.
Saradoc offered his hands to his wife and friend with a fond grin. "Idiots."
Grinning, the now dirty pair took the hobbit's hands and he hauled them to their feet. Ignoring Paladin's knock, Kíli strode into the door.
"We're back!"
"No, Pippin, don't move!" Nelly's voice shrieked in distress. "You'll die!"
Esme frowned slightly as Pippin screamed, though the sound was cut off by a low laugh. "I've got him!"
"Is that your brother's voice?" Esme tried to remember – it did sound a little like Kíli, after all.
"It is." Kíli grinned, leading the way into the living room.
Fíli was lying on his back on a long pillow on the floor, holding a giggling Pippin up in the air over his face. Merry and Pearl were leaning precariously out of one of Bilbo's armchairs while Pervinca was perched in the other. Nelly was holding her arms out like a scarecrow, her legs sliding further and further apart as the pillows her feet were standing on inched further across the fall.
The dwarf began to sit up at the sight of the others, but the sudden (and uncomfortably piercing) outcry of the little ones stopped him.
"What is this?" Paladin put his hands on his hips.
"Kíli said Fíli had never even played 'The Floor is Quicksand' before." Nelly looked scandalised at the very thought. "So we had to teach him."
Lowering Pippin gently down onto a nearby pillow, Fíli stood up and walked towards them (ignoring the protests of the children) raising his eyebrows at his brother. "I played a variation of the game. We used to do it over the lake."
Esme shuddered at the thought. She loathed swimming, or even paddling, though Saradoc and Merry loved it. Her eyes flickered to Kíli and she subconsciously assessed the way he looked at his brother – so, it appeared that Fíli had been good to her dwarf.
With a bright smile, Fíli held his hand out to Esme. "It's nice to see you again, Mrs Brandybuck."
Shaking Fíli's hand warmly, Esme smiled. "It's nice to see you too, but please, call me Esme."
"Of course, Esme." Fíli gave a little bow and offered his hand to Paladin and Esme smiled, slipping around to hug her cousin.
"I'm so happy that you're home, Bilbo!" she insisted as he hugged her back for a long moment.
"Me too, Esme, me too." Bilbo laughed, before introducing his other companions. "I don't know if you remember Bofur and Nori?"
"Of course I do." Esme shook their hands in turn. "It's wonderful to see you again."
"Pleasure to see you too, lass." The hatted dwarf, Bofur, replied cheerily as they both bowed.
Introductions and greetings did not take particularly long, but before they could move into the living room to all sit down there was a quiet knock on the door.
"Ellie!" Kíli greeted happily, hugging the hobbit woman on the other side of the door warmly before stepping aside to let her into the house.
"Good afternoon, Kíli, I'm so glad you're home safely. A group of very excitable children a big fuss in the market." Paladin's wife smiled happily, balancing two large baskets of groceries on her arm. "I've bought you some essentials to tide you over for the evening, save you having to venture into that madness now. I expect you're plenty tired as it is."
"You're an angel, Ellie…" Kíli breathed, helping Eglantine with the baskets and she laughed.
"Well, I try…"
As her sister-in-law was introduced to everyone, Esme smiled and organised the children into helping to unpack the groceries. She loved Ellie to pieces – the lass was everything a good hobbit wife should be, but she had a fun streak a mile wide hidden beneath her calm exterior, making her perfect for Esme's brother. Furthermore, Eglantine was more thoughtful than anyone Esme knew – as evidenced by the baskets.
In true hobbit fashion, they all sat around the dinner table for a light meal before they began to hear what was undoubtedly a very long story, and Esme was amused to see Bilbo warning Bofur and Nori to be on their best behaviour.
The conversation was cheerfully trivial until Bilbo asked a perfectly innocent question.
"So, I didn't see Frodo with the others today, have his parents finally discovered how to keep him in the market with them?"
The sudden silence was deafening, until Nelly's fork slipped from her fingers and clattered onto her plate nosily. Esme felt a little hand tugging her sleeve and she put an arm around Merry sadly, staring down at the table.
"They, uh…" Paladin cleared his throat and glanced at his wife.
Bilbo and Kíli exchanged a fearful and looked around at the others. "What, what happened?"
"Frodo lives at Brandy Hall now." To Esme's surprise it was little Pippin, the youngest of them all, that answered sadly. "His parents wented away."
No one bothered to correct the toddler's grammar.
"What happened?" Bilbo repeated in a quiet, trembling voice.
"There was an accident, just after Yule… Drogo, Prim and Frodo were crossing back across the Brandywine on the Bucklebury Ferry with about four others and an argument broke out. Apparently it wasn't serious, just a couple bickering. A Mr and Mrs Banks, no relation to Eglantine. He'd been drinking, she wasn't happy about it. They were arguing and Drogo tried to get them to calm down. Everyone stood up at once and the boat started to rock. No one was fighting but Mrs Banks got a bit dramatic and her arms were flailing everywhere and… Prim was knocked overboard. Frodo screamed and went for her and Drogo dived in after the both of them. They threw Frodo back onto the ferry but it was dark and the river was fast…" Paladin's voice trailed off to nothing and his eyes flickered down to the table.
"But… but they could swim…" Kíli protested weakly, his voice reflecting the heartache on his face.
"They were found three miles downstream." Esme murmured, looking at Kíli sadly. "Together to the last."
Kíli stared down at the table and for a long moment there was complete silence.
"Why…" Bilbo coughed, as he wiped at the corners of his eyes. "Why is Frodo in Buckland?"
"You're the executor of Drogo's will and you weren't here, so by tradition Frodo was sent to live with his mother's family." Saradoc explained mournfully.
"I'm so sorry." Bofur was the first to speak.
The hobbits all inclined their heads and after an intolerably long moment, Merry spoke up.
"Brandy Hall's nice, though. Frodo's not going to be too sad there, is he Mama?"
Having already shed tears in the dark for her lost friends, Esme did not find it too difficult to swallow down her emotion to smile sadly at her son. "Of course not, Merry. He'll be well looked after."
Looking a little more content, Merry reached for another cake.
"Is anyone else… gone?" Kíli asked roughly, and Esme shook her head.
"Not since you left, no."
"Good, good…" Kíli murmured absently, but when his eyes lifted from the table, it was Fíli they fell upon first, and it was Fíli that he seemed to draw comfort from.
"Let's talk about something nice now!" Pervinca blurted out suddenly, blinking away tears. "Please, I don't like talking about sad things, not when everyone was so happy, please!"
Esme floundered, but Kíli managed to paint a smile onto his face. "Certainly, ma'am. In fact, I know just the thing to cheer you up!"
With that, the young dwarf excused himself from the table and returned with a small bag.
"Now, I made a certain little promise, do you remember?"
"Presents!" Pervinca and Pippin squealed in unison and Kíli winked.
"Exactly."
As Kíli began to search around in the bag, Bilbo murmured quietly to Paladin, Saradoc, Esme and Ellie. "He's had plenty of practise distracting himself, and others, like this since… well, you'll see…"
"Alright, first we have a necklace for Pearl," Kíli passed a little leather bag across the table and the little girl opened it eagerly, her eyes widening at the flower shaped pearls hanging from the silver chain. "And a bracelet for Pervinca," When Esme's youngest niece opened her own little leather bag, Esme herself was stunned by the gorgeous golden bracelet. It was not too flashy, but the patterns on it were gorgeous and intricate – it was perfect for the little hobbit lass, though Esme had no doubt that Ellie would be confiscating it until Pervinca was a tween, at least. "Finally, since Nelly really dislikes jewellery, I have this for you."
Nelly took the box gingerly from Kíli's hands, but when she opened it to reveal fine dwarven paintbrushes, quills and inkwells, she squeal in pure joy and leapt over the table into Kíli's arms, ignoring the startled reprimands of her parents.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squeezed Kíli tightly and he laughed, messing up her curly hair.
"You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome!" Kíli replied, before reaching into his bag and passing something to Pippin. "For you, little one."
Pippin opened his own box and his eyes widened. "Oh!"
"What is it, Pip?" Nelly asked impatiently from where she was standing in Kíli's lap, and the little boy held up a silver flute reverently.
"Your house will be lovely and quiet, Pal." Saradoc commented with a grin, and Pippin blew on the flute as if to prove his point.
"And last but not least, this is for you, Merry." Kíli passed over one last box and Merry opened it slowly.
Esme watched as her son picked up the book inside the box, his face screwing up as he tried to read the letters emblazoned on the front cover. "Fairy-tales of Arda…"
"Oh wow, Merry…" Esme breathed, looking up at Kíli in amazement.
The young dwarf simply smiled serenely and leant forward. "It's got stories from men, elves, dwarves and hobbits. There are even one or two in there about ents."
"Thank you, Kíli!" Merry breathed, his eyes alight with wonder. "Will you tell us your story now?"
Kíli glanced at his companions and nodded. "Very well then, let's move into the living room and get comfortable."
It did not take very long for them all to settle, and when they did Bilbo began to tell the tale of their journey. The hobbit, Kíli and Bofur were the main narrators, though Fíli interrupted relatively often to add details he viewed important and Nori occasionally commented on some embellishment of theirs. Esme listened in wonder and concern to the story they wove, and though she had enough dignity not to show it, she was just as enraptured as the children.
The little ones gasped in horror when Bilbo described his capture by the trolls, but they cheered in delight when Kíli told of how he had distracted the stupid creatures by singing "The Green Dragon." Even the adult hobbits had laughed aloud at that. When Kíli and Bilbo described Rivendell, Esme yearned to see the beautiful place, and she could see it in her mind as they spoke, the peace in their voices reflecting the wonder of the place.
She listened, enchanted, until Kíli began to speak of moving mountains – a thought that she wanted to dismiss incredulously, though there was naught but the truth in the faces of her companions. When Bilbo described how they settled for the night, Kíli cleared his throat.
"And I think that is enough for tonight, it's getting rather late."
Esme was about to protest, but then she saw the way Kíli's eyes flickered towards the children and she understood. As ever, Ellie understood quicker.
"I'll take the little ones back to ours. Merry, how about a sleepover?" the woman asked calmly, mollifying the children's distraught protests. "You can hear the rest of the story tomorrow, as I'm sure you will."
After a long and dramatic goodbye from the little ones, Kíli took a deep breath and looked at his friends.
"Well… here's where the tale gets interesting."
Phew, that was a monster of a chapter!
As a note, when Saradoc called Kíli an "ass" he would have been using it in the context of an animal, calling Kíli a donkey, as opposed to "ass" being the Americanised spelling of the word "arse", just to clarify, since that's a far more hobbity thing to say, I think.
I hope it was emotional enough for you and lived up to your expectations :D Let me know what you think!
