So off went Liesel Hayward to explore the great city of Rivendell. The little girl saw most of the sites that Bilbo Baggins had seen himself, but to her, they weren`t interesting as he saw them to be. Of course, the halfling never saw any art more spectacular than the elves`, but she felt a somewhat unknown smothering to the great city. She never thought that only in a matter of a few days she would feel so free from The Shire, to believe that staying in a city would be so odd.

To the girl`s fortune, she found all but two dwarves in their quarters, beginning to tear wood from the elves' furniture, and throw them in the center of the room to make a pit for a fire. Liesel stared at them in great confusion as they threw a lit match into the pile. "Don`t you dwarves have any decency for our hosts?" Her voice piped.

All eyes were on the little child, and she felt as if she wanted to sink into the ground and lie there for ages. After seeing her face, many of the dwarrows laughed at how only a few glances may make a young hobbit vulnerable.

"Miss Liesel, won`t you join us?" Ori asked in attempt to soothe the girl.

Her face pulled back up into a smile. "I might as well, I don`t know of anything else to do."

"Aye, are you feeling alright lassie?" Fili asked, and struck the wall to light his pipe.

"Yes, yes I am. I just feel a bit off around here." She rose onto her toes; it seemed to be a habit she was starting to create.

"Well, there isn't anything better to cure homesickness than actual food!" Bofur said with glee, and grabbed a pack from behind one of the dwarves.

As they were laughing, Liesel`s smile dropped "I-I never said anything about home-."

She was interrupted but none other than Bofur. "Alright lads, take your pick: Chicken, beef, pork, sausages, anything!" The dwarves hooted with laughter as they picked and chose their meat, then poked the food onto sticks, and began roasting them over the open fire. Liesel lightly smiled at how the dwarves were acting like children once they finally had their way.

Soon, the little girl sat down near two of the dwarves (Bifur and Bofur), staring at only the fire, the flames nearly putting her to sleep at how peaceful everything seemed. The only thing to snap her out of her dozing off, was when Bifur practically shoved a bowl of rolls into her side multiple times.

After a good shove in the ribs, the girl finally shot her head up. "Huh?!" She yelped, and turned her head everywhere until it landed on Bifur looking at the girl like it was the first day he met her. "Oh, sorry." She apologized. He shoved to bowl further to her, asking if she would take it.

She shook her head "I`m not hungry."

"I don`t understand how you aren't, lass." Bofur also shook his head, then turned to look up at Bombur sitting on a table, looking as if one more thing was added, it would collapse. Taking the sausage off his stick, and looking back at the dwarf and food, he called.

"Bombur," Bofur threw the sausage to the fat dwarf. He caught it, and creaking was heard right after. In an instant, the table broke into pieces, sending the poor dwarf to fall onto the ground! The entirety of dwarves, and Liesel, ended up laughing until they either fell over, or their mouths felt numb.

As the amusement was slowly dying down, Kili`s voice was heard behind Liesel "You got any stories, Lise?"

She slightly turned her head around to face him. "Why are you asking?"

He shrugged his shoulders "Do you have anything else better to do at this hour?" He blew a smoke ring in her direction.

The halfling bit her lip not to roll her eyes, then smiled "I don`t believe I do. Alright then, what do you have in mind?" She looked around at all of the dwarves, expecting an answer.

"Surprise us, lass." Fili said from across the room.

A wide grin appeared on her face, and she turned to solely look at the fire. "There once was a younger hobbit…."

It happened years ago; perhaps when Liesel was sixteen as a hobbit. The girl and another, Opal Mulligan, were completely inseparable and nearly did everything together; from playing with dolls, to spending entire days exploring the East Farthing Wood. It is entirely a wonder how Opal, Liesel, and another friend (Ermengarde Cotton) were with two boys waiting and watching outside of Mr. Baggins` gate.

"I heard he only comes out at night to eat rats and worms." One of the boys, Polo Littlefoot, whispered to the group.

"No, it`s the witching hour so he can steal little hobbits that sneak out of their room!" His older brother Rufus said to the children melodramatically.

Two of the three girls shrieked and clung to each other, shaking at the gossip. Little Liesel Hayward, on the other hand, stood and stared at the two boys, arms crossed.

"I don`t believe that for a second." The four hobbit children turned their eyes from the lonesome porch, to the little girl staring at them, expecting a variety of answers.

"Well if you aren't just the stupidest girl I`ve ever met." Rufus hissed.

"Yeah, you`re so stupid, you don`t even know it." The younger brother joined in.

"My mother said that Mr. Baggins isn't any of those things that people talk about, he`s just closed off." The girl continued to defend him.

"Closed off my foot, what`s he got to be closed off for?" Polo asked.

Ermengarde spoke up, slowly pulling away from Opal "Unless he`s hiding something?"

The two boys grinned. "Exactly, now what else could he be hiding?"

"Nothing, he just doesn't like talking to other hobbits; and it makes sense if he thinks they`re all like you." Liesel snapped.

"Liesel, please." Opal put a shoulder on her friend`s shoulder "Let`s just forget them, and keep walking to the market." The girl took Liesel`s hand in hers, and off went the three ladies down the path to the marketplace.

"Look Polo, the scared babies are running away!" Rufus laughed and pointed to the retreating girls still walking.

"Yeah, what a bunch of scaredy cats!" Polo laughed along with his brother.

Opal felt her hand being squeezed tightly. "Let them be."

But the boys wouldn't stop; even from a few meters away, the two could tell they were slowly getting to the poor girl. With smiles on their faces, the boys walked behind the three girls to catch up with them. "You know, perhaps we should join them. We could buy tomatoes and throw them at his windows, maybe that would make him come out."

That was when Opal felt the pressure off her hand, and heard a series amount of stomping back to the Littlefoot boys. "Liesel!" Erma and Opal called for the girl to come back to them.

"You wouldn't dare to!" Liesel hissed in the eldest`s face when she came back to the two boys, completely ignoring her friends` wishes.

Rufus smirked. "You know Liesel, you are absolutely right. I couldn't simply let the rocks go to waste." He bent down and picked up a stone near his feet, and rushed back to the front of Mr. Bilbo`s house, his little brother quickly trying to follow him.

"Oi, stop it!" She grabbed the boy by his wrist when he raised his arm in a throwing motion. Rufus wasn't wearing a smile filled with mockery anymore, it was a look of scorn. "Well if you bloody care for him so much, why don`t you knock on his door and warn him?"

The girl`s face fell for only a second, before pulling it into a glare. "You know I can`t do that."

"Oh, and why not Liesel Hayward? Are you too scared?" He taunted.

"Don`t be an idiot."

"Liesel Hayward`s a baby chicken! Liesel`s a big baby chicken!" Polo shouted.

"Sh, shut it! Shut your mouth!" She tried to catch the boy as Opal and Erma made it back to the two boys, and one girl.

"You think you`re the bravest one out of the rest of us, but it turns out you`re just a scared little girl!" Rufus laughed and even had the nerve to push Liesel faintly. Instead of instantly landing punches and kicks to the boy, she turned to the gate, and forcefully pulled the latch open.

"Liesel no, you`ll get in trouble!" Erma grabbed the girl`s hand roughly, stopping her.

"I`ll just touch the door, and go away." Liesel said to the two girls begging her not to go. She pulled free from her friend`s grasp, and carefully pulled the gate open. Once there were no creaks, she gently stepped into the garden. She held her breath each step she took, and glancing at her feet to make sure there were no twigs or rocks she would stumble over, giving away her position.

The girl went completely silent when she treaded up the steps to the door. After the final step, Liesel hesitantly released a shaky breath, and continued closer to the round door. Just as she held her hand up and brought it closer, she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Liesel!" Rufus whisper shouted to her.

Cringing, the girl turned around "What?"

"It`s my mother`s birthday tomorrow, can you grab one of those tulips while you`re up there?"

"No, no!" Opal shook her head and also whispered.

Liesel furrowed her eyes at Rufus. "No, how foolish do you think I am?" She turned back around and came closer to the door.

"Well, if your mother knew you touched Mr. Baggins` door without permission, wouldn't it mean you couldn't play with us anymore?" He smirked.

Internally cursing, Liesel sighed and nodded her head. She turned back to the door, and took another step in hesitation. The girl rose her arm up for the final time, and closed her eyes as she leaned in to touch the door ever so slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief when she lightly took her hand off the door, and no movement came.

Still being quieter than any field mouse, she turned her body back to the halflings her age; the two girls also holding their breaths, and the boys smirking faces. She only took one step down the stairs, before she heard Polo.

"Ah, ah, ah, remember?" He points to a bush behind her, filled with pink tulips.

She pursed her lips, and turned hastily around to the bush. The little child was so angry, it seemed that she could have cared less if the whole Shire heard her sudden outburst when she stomped up the last step. She stood in front of the bush, and yanked one of the tulips out without hesitation. "Happy?" She spoke normally, but slightly louder. Every single one of the children`s faces fell, yes, even the Littlefoot boys.

"What are you doing you moron?!" Rufus whispered.

"He`s going to take you, get back down from there!" Polo said.

"Liesel, run, run for your life!" Erma begged, tears seeming to form.

"If you don`t get down for there now, I will drag you from there!" It was a surprise that no one turned to Opal with mouths agape.

This only seemed to encourage Liesel more. "Huh? It sounds like you`re awfully scared of a little flower. Oh Rufus, I thought you`d be braver than to be scared of something so dainty. You know, since I`m already here." A large grin was on her face as she pulled on another tulip.

"No, don`t!" "What are you doing?!" "Liesel, stop please!" "Liesel Hayward, I swear to-!"

The sound of a door opening silenced the five children.

Before Bilbo Baggins could open his mouth, the children ran off screaming. The four from the outside escaped with no mistakes, but poor Liesel tripped on the steps when she was nearly halfway down. She quickly crawled towards the gate, thinking he was chasing her.

"I`m sorry, I`m sorry!" She apologized rapidly and threw the gate open before sprinting out of the garden, away from the hobbit hole. She ran as far away she believed she was, but none of her companions were in sight. Still panting from the adrenaline and the run, Liesel fell onto the path, and leaned her head against a neighbor`s fence.

She brought her hand up to her face to feel for any cuts; she had a few on her cheek and forehead, but only slight bruises after that. She sighed, got up from her spot, and walked back to her home, praying that her mother wasn't back from being a maid for extra money.

Her prayers were unanswered when she opened the door to the smell of cookies and other food goods; if the family her mother was attending to had no money on hand, they would pay her with food, or handed down clothes for Liesel.

Liesel stepped inside, and slowly closed the front door. She then attempted to sneak across the sitting room, and into her bedroom, but she was unsuccessful.

"Liesel?" Her mother asked her while washing the dishes, not even turning her head.

The girl swallowed, and stopped in her tracks. "Yes?"

"Did you hear screaming a while ago?"

Silence.

"N-no, ma`am."

A plate dropping into the sink made the younger hobbit nearly jump a foot in the air. Her mother turned around, hands on her hips with a rag in one hand.

"I have a feeling you`re lying to me, Liesel."

The girl was trembling, and shook her head.

Briar sighed and stared down at her daughter "If you tell me right now what happened, you won`t be punished, no matter what you did. This is your last chance."

Liesel continued to stare up at her mother, not making a sound.

"And there it went." Briar said, then turned back to the sink and continued to wash the dishes.

The younger hobbit stared at her mother`s back for a few more minutes, deciding whether or not to confess. For a while, this would have been the only time she ever admitted a fault.

She whispered "I plucked two tulips from Mr. Bilbo`s garden."

Her mother sighed, and turned around to face her again. She didn't smile, but she picked up the plate of cookies from off the counter, and placed them on the small dining table. "Sit." She said simply, but not as if she was in distress.

The girl sat in the chair, and followed her mother`s every move, waiting for a severe punishment. Instead, Briar sat across from her daughter, and took a cookie from the plate. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?" She calmly asked. Liesel`s eyes would drop to the plate of cookies in front of her for a split second a few times.

"Oh, help yourself." Her mother said. Liesel looked up at her, asking for sure permission.

"It`s alright, go ahead."

For another hour, Liesel told (almost) the entire story of how and why of what happened, while eating the plate of cookies until there was no more.

"Liesel, what you did wasn't right, and I hope you know that." Briar spoke in a serious tone.

The girl nodded, and stared at the empty plate, avoiding eye contact.

"We are going to go to his home, and you are going to apologize for what you had done."

Liesel nodded again.

"Finally, you will have to tend to his garden for a week."

The child snapped her head up to look her mother I the eye. She wanted to shake her head, but she knew it would most likely end in tears if she did one more thing to set her off. Briar gave the girl a slight, reassuring smile, then led her out of the hobbit hole.

They arrived shortly after to find Bilbo Baggins on his porch seat, reading a book, completely oblivious to the world; and not noticing when Briar and Liesel Hayward were at his gate until Liesel`s mother used her elbow to tell her child to start talking to him.

"M-Mr. Bilbo?" She slightly stammered.

The voice took Bilbo out of his own little world, and looked up from his book to see the same child that ran away from him only half an hour ago.

He nodded to her, and attempted a smile "Hello,"

She clasped her hands together, and pursed her lips in nervousness. "I-I, I just wanted to apologize for stepping onto your property, a-and attempting to steal your tulips." Bilbo might not have been the best at keeping conversations, but he could tell a rehearsed one from a real one.

Still, he gave her a small grin. "That`s quite alright, it`s in the past now, I suppose."

There was little amount of silence, before Briar elbowed her daughter`s arm to remind her of what else to say. "O-oh, and I-I would be more than happy to help you with your garden." She rushed.

Right after the young hobbit spoke, was when Bilbo shook his head almost rapidly. "N-no, no, I don`t think that would be entirely necessary-."

"Please sir," Her mother cut him off "I believe my daughter should be able to learn from her mistakes, and I consider this to be the best option; it will only be for a week, mind you."

Blinking rapidly, Bilbo sighed. Ever since he was living all by himself, he did not know the best way to say 'No' to certain things; most of the reasons were because of never stepping foot out of Bag End on a regular basis. "Alright, alright, fine." He muttered.

Briar smiled at him. "Would around eight o`clock work?"

Liesel snapped her head to her mother with her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "This woman is trying to kill me," She thought.

Bilbo shook his head. "Oh, oh no, I don`t need help that early; perhaps noon?"

Briar nodded, then turned. "Well, thank you kindly for your business, Mr. Baggins, have a good evening." And with that, the two female hobbits walked on.

"Mother?" Liesel`s little voice spoke.

Briar turned her head as they continued walk to their home.

"I-I know what I did was wrong, but the Littlefoot boys forced me to."

"Oh, I suppose you couldn't have walked away if you wanted to?"

"No!" She quite herself down "I-I tried to, but." She stopped.

"But what, Liesel? You know you can tell me anything, I won`t let them know you said it." Her mother placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They said things about him."

"What kind of things, Liesel?"

There was a small pause between the two as they entered their own garden, but stood outside the door.

"Bad things. Very bad things. I tried to tell them to stop, but they wouldn't listen."

A smile cracked onto Briar`s lips, but faded when she began to speak, and turned Liesel to her. "Liesel, what you did wasn't right; I know I told you that many times, but I want to make sure you know. I will kindly and civilly speak to their mother on the matter." She pulled her lips into a smile; Liesel returned it, and the two embraced before going back inside.

For seven days, beginning at noon and ending around two in the afternoon, Liesel Hayward tended to Mr. Bilbo`s garden; and, on occasion, swept the floors of Bag End. It was quite a rocky start for the poor girl, falling unconscious onto the grass after working herself to near death after an hour in the hot sun. Gratefully, Bilbo arrived home from a day at the market, and though having trouble, pulled her body under a tree for shade. The girl woke up in a daze of having no painful sunburns on any place of her body.

The two often had small chats with one another when Bilbo would sit in his chair to read or smoke on his pipe. Many moments, he would read aloud to Liesel, or sing a small song, not noticing the little girl simply staring and listening.

On the final day, and after Liesel was done with all the outside and inside work, Bilbo handed her a wrapped-up box, and told her not to open it until she was at her home. When she finally arrived home, she placed the box onto the dining table, and pulled the bow open; it revealed to be a frosted cake, and a note carefully placed on top. The note read: "I am indeed grateful for all of your help, and yes, you may have a flower once in a while; just please ask for them the next time."

When she talked with her friends after that day, they would almost always ask questions like: "What was the inside of his house like?" "Was it damping?" "Was he absolutely horrible?" But, Liesel would always respond with a smile, and say "You would have to steal a tulip to find your answer."

Present Liesel stared around the room with a smile plastered on her face. She never told a story to anyone before, even when she helped a mother take care of her children for an hour; the girl hoped and prayed that they could make out what she was saying.

"You pulled a snout in the first hour?" Oin asked, holding his hearing horn up to his ear.

Liesel stared at him with a puzzled face. "Wh-what? No!"

"She passed out in the first hour, I can`t imagine why." Gloin corrected him.

"Oi, I was tiny." Liesel made an excuse.

"Was?" Fili chuckled.

"Don`t even start." Liesel sassed.

Leave it to Ori to break up a supposed starting fight. "What was the song?"

She turned to the younger dwarf from behind her. "Pardon?"

"T-the song, the one that you said Mr. Bilbo sang?"

She nodded. "Oh, I can`t quite remember the title, but I think I know the words."

The young dwarf nodded, and sat down right next to her, still staring. The whole room was, unexpectedly, silent. The little girl looked around, and soon saw nearly all of the dwarrow`s eyes on her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The song, lass, you said you knew the words." Dwalin spoke.

"Oh," They expected her to sing?! "A-Alright," She took a deep breath, awaiting for her certain failure.

When the cold of Winter comes

Starless night will cover day

In the veiling of the sun

We will walk in bitter rain

But in dreams,

I can hear your name.

And in dreams,

We will meet again.

When the seas and mountains fall,

And we come to end of days,

In the dark I hear a call,

Calling me there,

I will go There,

and Back Again.

It was a song that she learned from Bilbo long ago, but Liesel could not help herself to think of her mother. The moment when she hit her, all she could think was that her mother must have been the worst person in the world, even worse than her father when angry. But, the song simply reminded her of the countless sacrifices her mother must have made only for her, and how she would never be able to repay her; even if she came home, alive.

Though it was short, and though she might have been just a bit off of the key, it touched nearly ever being in the room, one way or another. Even then, one outside of the room was affected.

Bilbo Baggins had just finished a small meeting with Thorin, Balin, Gandalf the Grey, and Lord Elrond. Needless to say, the poor hobbit was exhausted from running as fast as his little legs could carry him, and from staying awake past the time he would turn out his lights. As he was making his way to a room the elves also gave him separately, he managed eavesdrop on the middle of the girl`s story, and the entire song he used to sing often about the earlier days.

Whether she denied it or not, he knew for a fact Liesel must have been, at the least, slightly homesick. If she would only outright tell him that she wanted to leave for home, it would have been easier for the two hobbits to leave right then and there. But no, the stubborn girl took too much pride in not wanting to quit, even when she was afraid.

The hobbit over watching the child shook his head. He never made a promise to anyone that he would care for her, or protect her, or be overall responsible for her. But, he could not just leave her all alone with no one familiar to talk to. He would have to plaster a smile on his face every day; because he could not leave her.

The song that Liesel sang near the very end was "In Dreams", or a part of "The Breaking of the Fellowship." From The Fellowship of the Ring. By the way, if you didn't notice, I do not own any of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit trilogies, nor am I related to J.R.R. Tolkien.