A/N: Once again I took forever to update. Hopefully I'll get back up to speed since I've been kind of neglectful of my fan fictions lately. Please enjoy this chapter and hopefully I'm a little more accurate when it comes to hobbits because I'm now rereading The Fellowship of the Ring so I've learned a little more this time around. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

Ruby couldn't believe her luck. Here she was, on her way to Mr. Baggins' again for tea and she didn't even have to walk there! Of course she wasn't so sure about having the Ancient drive her. For one thing, the poor little pony pulling the small rickety wagon looked about as old as the hobbit driving it. And then because of the fact that the hobbit driving it was so incredibly old he had to be careful not to run into things. He was a kindly old thing but didn't have the best eye-sight at times. At least, not long distances. Luckily the other hobbits could see him coming and cleared out of his way.

"So, Miss Ruby, you're going to see Mr. Baggins up at Bag End?"

The dark-haired hobbit looked up at the healer as he squinted at the road in front of him. Had he gone on any adventures in his time? Looking him up and down, Ruby shook her head. The Ancient, an adventurer? That didn't seem at all possible. It actually sounded rather absurd.

She responded politely and fiddled with the hem of her dress, which was sprigged with little flowers. Thinking of flowers, she wondered what Bilbo had done with his garden since she had smashed a few of his lovely plants. She hoped she hadn't ruined them for good. He had such a nice garden.

"I've heard he's rather rich," commented the Ancient.

Ruby thought about this. Rich? Well he certainly had enough seed cakes to last him a while. Maybe he was rich. Maybe his hobbit hole was full of gold from the Dwarves! Gold won back from that evil dragon he had been talking about. What was his name? Oh yes, Smaug. She pondered the name, thinking that it must've been horrible to be near a dragon. She'd heard they liked riddled words and eloquent speech. Was that true? Did Mr. Baggins talk to the dragon? What did the dragon say? What did Bilbo say?

They were just a few paces away from the doorstep of Bad End, by then. Ruby had spent most of the time pondering her own questions rather than carrying on a conversation with the hobbit who'd brought her. One of the Gamgees was tending to the garden and Ruby felt better knowing that her little rump hadn't done too much damage. The Ancient pulled at the reigns, although it didn't seem too hard to get the pony to stop since it hadn't been going with that much haste in the first place. He smiled at Ruby, making his whole face wrinkle and Ruby thought he was a little like how she would've pictured Gandalf, except without a beard and much, much shorter. But she bet that they were both very old. She hoped Gandalf was as nice as the Ancient. She also hoped to one day meet the wizard who had such famed fireworks.

"I believe I'll have a word with old Bilbo, if you don't mind me coming in with you."

Ruby nodded and attempted to jump down from the wagon. However, the Ancient told her that he would help her out. This proved to take a rather long time but she was eventually "helped out" of the wagon and "escorted" to the doorstep, where the healer knocked on the large, round door. It was a lovely shade of green, Ruby noted. She had noticed it the day before but it was still lovelier when viewed a second time, knowing you were going to be inside of it soon, drinking and eating and telling tales.

"Come in, come in!" was the shout and Ruby eagerly reached for the knob, turning it and hopping inside, hoping to find more stories and adventures waiting for her. However, what she found filled her with more excitement than she could ever have imagined.

Bilbo was occupying his parlor, seated in a comfortable-looking chair, sipping some tea. At first glance Ruby thought he was talking to himself, which seemed a bit odd. But then she noticed that there was someone else in the room, in the chair across from Mr. Baggins. Could it be Gandalf?

"Ah! Good afternoon, Miss Ruby! Right on time!" Bilbo put down his cup and smiled at her. He motioned for her to be seated while he went into the kitchen to make some more tea. Bustling off, he hummed a tune unfamiliar to her and left her with the stranger she had yet to catch a good glimpse of. The Ancient was still hanging up his coat and shuffling his way into the kitchen to talk to Bilbo, taking no notice of the little hobbit and the mysterious visitor.

It didn't take long for him to introduce himself. Ruby was quite surprised at his expressiveness and nearly forgot her manners when he jumped up, bowed low, and offered his services to her. It was then she realized he was not Gandalf at all. He was too short. Indeed, he was a little taller than the average hobbit, wore interesting clothes, a beautiful silver belt, and had a long beard that wasn't the grey she had imagined on a wizard. He was a Dwarf!

"Dwalin at your service!" he said, catching Ruby completely off guard.

"Ruby at yours and your family's," she stuttered out, knowing it was the proper thing to say for an adult but wondering if a hobbit child was expected to say it also.

However, he smiled at her and asked her how she knew Bilbo Baggins the Burglar. Bilbo Baggins the Burglar! She still wasn't used to that title for him.

"I- I fell in his flowers," she stammered again. She was talking to a Dwarf! Wait until the other hobbit children heard about this!

Bilbo was now making his way out with the Ancient, nodding to the healer's wishes of good health and gently guiding him toward the door. Apparently that day was a day for articulate speech because the Ancient was certainly showing himself to be a well-spoken hobbit, commenting that he was sure Bilbo would take "admirable and appropriate care" of Ruby that afternoon and he would tell the Screecher that Bilbo was a "respectable and commendable hobbit". Bilbo simply waved him off, uttered many thanks to his "remarkable compliments" and politely took leave of him to get back to his guests.

"Now, Dwalin, I assume you have met Ruby," Bilbo said, popping a bit of a scone in his mouth.

The dwarf nodded and said, a little puzzled, "She says she fell in your flowers."

Bilbo laughed at that and said, "Indeed she did!" And he proceeded to tell Dwalin the Dwarf all about his meeting Ruby the day before and her interest in his adventures. Dwalin was very impressed that such a courageous young hobbit girl was living in the Shire and told her that if they ever needed a new burglar, he and his friends would certainly call on her. Ruby was overjoyed. An adventure with dwarves! Just like Bilbo!

"Excuse me, Mr. Dwalin. You were with Bilbo on his adventures, right?" Ruby wanted to be sure he was one of the dwarves from that mountain with the dragon although she had to admit, she was a little timid around him. After all, he was a dwarf. She'd heard strange stories about them like how they cared more about mining and things found in mountains than they did for anything else. She wondered if he cared more about mining for rubies than talking to a hobbit girl named after one. But he had pledged his services to her…although, maybe that was just the polite thing to do…

"Yes, I was and he came in handy, although there were times when we all doubted him! The first time I met him he was looking at me in surprise, (as I was the first to arrive) and I thought, 'How is this little fellow going to help us at all?' But apparently hobbits can surprise you." He paused, glanced at the tray of food, and then said, "Do you have any more jam?"

Bilbo jumped up and hurried out, saying to himself, "Dear me, of course!" This caused Dwalin to chuckle a little. Ruby took this opportunity to ask him more questions.

"Mr. Baggins said that there were thirteen dwarves! Is that true?"

With a firm nod of the head, Dwalin proceeded to tell her that there were indeed thirteen dwarves: Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin. Thorin was the important one Bilbo had told her about, the rightful King Under the Mountain. Apparently he was rather eloquent in his speeches too, or at least so she could tell from the bits and pieces she heard of his address to the group after Bilbo's disastrous tea and interesting dinner, which she also heard about over the course of the afternoon. Thorin's Company they were and heading back to the Lonely Mountain to claim their gold was their mission. And Bilbo was inadvertently carried along with them, whether he wanted to or not.

"Did you get a share of the gold, Mr. Bilbo?" asked Ruby when it was getting around time for her to get home. Hopefully Screecher would understand this time because of the Ancient's helpful comments abut Bilbo being such a "respectable and commendable hobbit". If he didn't forget to tell her…

Bilbo glanced at Dwalin and then said with a smile, "I was given what I deserved for my services, dear child. However, what I believe matters most is what I learned from the whole ordeal."

Ruby squinted at him and then asked, "What's that?"

The hobbit leaned back in his chair and pulled out his pipe, thinking to himself as he put in some pipeweed. "I suppose it's like this. It's rather dangerous business going out your door, my dear Ruby. If you don't watch your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to! I ended up encountering goblins, eagles, spiders, and elves, among other things. But don't let the length of the road or the trials on it keep you from reaching the end." He seemed satisfied with this answer, lit his pipe, and started blowing smoke rings up to the ceiling, a contented but somewhat thoughtful look on his face.

Ruby couldn't quite figure out what all that meant but she was sure it was profound. Even Dwalin seemed struck by this particular comment. Ruby took the last bite of her scone and sighed. The afternoon had turned out quite splendidly.