Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or any associated characters or concepts. Quotes in this chapter taken directly from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

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Summary: On the way to the Undying Lands, Billa is eaten by a time-traveling sea monster. The elves on board attack the monster in retaliation, and it escapes by swimming into the past: several decades into the past. Billa wakes up in a sweat, gasping and frightened, only to realize that she is back in her thirty-three-year old body. What on earth is she going to do?


Chapter 17

Billa was grateful for the mechanical alarm clock that woke her early that morning, for it allowed her to get to the stables half an hour before the others. She helped Bill to brush and saddle the ponies before sharing a fond goodbye.

"Thank you for everything, Mister Bill," she said gratefully. "The advice, the lessons, and the conversation are all things I will cherish."

If Bill's eyes were a little misty when she hugged him, he wasn't ashamed. He patted her curly head fondly, and told her to come visit the next time she came to Bree.

Then, the dwarves were arriving. First Thorin and Dwalin, looking fierce as they looked over the ponies, double-checking all the equipment in case of sabotage. Billa rolled her eyes discreetly to Bill, who smiled. Then Oin, and two dwarves she didn't know, followed by Dis who dragged a yawning Kili along with her as Fili stumbled sleepily after her.

"Mount up!" Thorin called after helping Kili into the saddle. He nodded Dwalin towards her, obviously expecting she would need help too. She chose that very moment to pull herself up into the saddle, settling herself expertly amongst her saddle bags, before smiling primly, innocently at Thorin and Dwalin. Dwalin smirked a little, but Thorin glared at her balefully for a moment, before looking away. His hands twitched at Dis and Dwalin, and they led the others away from the stable and out onto the main road out of Bree. Thorin heeled his pony over to her with a sour look on his face.

"Miss Baggins," he said shortly, and she could see his right hand spasming in and out of a fist. "I apologize for any confusion or embarrassment I may have caused you. It was not my intent, and I have made no advances towards you."

Billa stared at him, wide-eyed, before quickly nodding. "I accept your apology of course, Mister Thorin! I'm so terribly sorry for misunderstanding. I hope I have not damaged things irreparably between us?"

Thorin's face twitched into a snarl, before he smoothed it out again. "Not at all , Miss Baggins." He made to ride on again and Billa quickly spurred her pony to follow him. He wouldn't escape her so easily!

"Mister Thorin!" she exclaimed as she came alongside him, "Mister Kili brought the finished pans to my room last night. They are beautiful! Exquisite! Completely beyond what I'd hoped for. I sent a letter to the head of my mother's family, who holds a position of some import in the Shire. I've invited him to tea on Saturday so he may see your work for himself. I'm certain that when he sees them, he will have things of his own to commission, and all his friends will quickly follow suit of course. I am afraid you shall have quite more work than you'll have time in the day, once people see the wonderful things you can do. I'm so pleased, especially since I really thought they would be impossible to fix, and I'm so glad you proved me wrong! These pans will be cherished for generations, I'm sure of it. In face, I wouldn't be surprised if I get proposals just from how lovely they loo-"

"Miss Baggins," Thorin said, his voice cold. "The journey will be quite long and tiring, and I suggest you save your energy. Kili tells me you've never ridden a horse before you came to Bree, and you'll soon find it can be exhausting." Obviously thinking he had silenced her, he made to ride on. Indeed, when she first met him, that tone of voice would have certainly silenced her, but she had since faced far worse things than a grumpy and taciturn dwarf. She pretended he was offering genuine advice and kept up with him.

"Oh, Mister Thorin!" she said cheerfully. "How sweet of you to be concerned for me. Fortunately for us both, as soon as Mister Kili told me we would be riding ponies on the journey back, I took it upon myself to learn how to ride, and to get past the saddle soreness! I'm sure I'll be a little tender tonight, but not nearly so bad as it could have been. I've done my best to prepare, Mister Thorin. I didn't want to be a burden, and I'm so grateful that you're taking me with you! I only hope a few nights in the Shire and some of my home-cooked meals will restore your group, as I've heard that traveling such long distances can leave a body truly exhausted. In fact, who in your group will be cooking? I've been meaning to offer my services. Oh, Mister Thorin? Many of the plants we come across are in fact good for eating. If you like, I can gather along the path to increase our supplies." She paused, and waited for his reply.

After a moment, his voice came through gritted teeth. "Greens are our least favorite foods, Miss Baggins, but by all means, feel free to forage." His tone was biting, and obviously mean to discourage her from doing any such thing, but she took it as permission.

"Wonderful, Mister Thorin! I shall gather as much as I can, just in case. Tell me, sir, are there any among you skilled with a bow, for game is plentiful in these parts, and we are likely to come across a few rabbits at least," she said helpfully.

At this, Thorin perked up. "Kili, Dwalin," he called ahead, spurring his pony ahead of her. She followed quickly. "Make your bows ready. There may be game on the trail." He himself strung a bow and produced a quiver of arrows.

"Boris, Noris," he said, "Take up scouting positions ahead and beside us. Hopefully your noise will scare something onto the path. Everyone else," here, he cast a smug glance at Billa, "be silent or you may scare the game away."

She grinned to herself at the back of the formation, acknowledging his clever escape. They rode in silence for the rest of the day, and shot three rabbits and two squirrels. Billa waited for the hunters to split open their kills and pass around the offal, as was dwarven travelling custom, but Thorin and Kili had a quick finger argument, which Thorin conceded with bad grace, and the animals were simply hung from saddle-bags until they made camp. Billa was relieved, as she had forgotten that custom and was rather out of practice. She resolved to practice discreetly once they made the Shire, so she wouldn't make a fool of herself the next time it came up.

When the sun was going down, Billa rummaged around in her saddle bags and, sitting cross-legged in the saddle, held a bowl in her lap where she carefully mixed flour and other ingredients from her travel rations with water from her water-skin into dough.

Once they made camp, Billa made herself useful at once by skinning and gutting them the creatures, asking Fili and Kili to cut the meat into cubes while she diced the greens and tubers she had found along the road into much smaller pieces. When the fire was ready, she set up a deep stewing pot, a short, wide frying pan, and a sauce pan. She added the greens into the stewing pot with spices and some dried corn from her rations which boiled for several minutes while she cooked the meat in the frying pan. She put the bread dough into the sauce pan, carefully setting it amongst the coals to rise and cook as well. When the meat was cooked through she poured it, grease and all, into the pot of greens and so made a stew. She let it cook a while longer until the bread was done.

When everything was ready, she let out a sharp whistle to let them know the food was ready, and the dwarves eagerly flocked around. Bowls were passed out and bread was roughly hewn from the makeshift loaf, followed by moans of appreciation upon tasting her food. And when there were second and third servings to be had, Thorin sent her a brief glance of respect. She had managed to make a large, filling, tasty meal with just things they had found on the road today. Aside from the bread and the corn in the stew, they hadn't had to dip into their rations at all.

Thorin's belly ached pleasantly. He hadn't eaten such a hearty meal on the road - ever, and despite himself, Thorin was impressed. Maybe having the chattering halfling on the road wouldn't be such a terrible thing, after all, he thought. Then, she sat down next to him and began talking again, and he groaned. Nope, he thought, still a terrible thing.