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.

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 23

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, Thorin and Billa rode down to the site of the caved-in smials, Dwalin trailing ever-vigilant behind them. The sun had risen a few hours before, for both Thorin and Billa had slept in much later than they usually did. It was a beautiful ride through beautiful country, the far-rolling hills sprinkled with flowers and gardens. Billa spent most of the time explaining landmarks and history to him, chattering pleasantly. He didn't mind letting her fill the silence.

When they came to the site where a mudslide had crushed the roofs of three adjacent smials, they dismounted and tied up the ponies. Billa explained what she knew of the disaster, and then fell silent while the craftsmen talked amongst themselves, gesturing around and walking among the damage. Billa had come prepared, and sat on a rock with a slate covered by parchment in her hand, gripping a quill. Occasionally Thorin would shout out words and numbers and names at her, and though it seemed like a lot of gibberish to her, she wrote it down anyway. After a few hours of poking around, the dwarves were satisfied and they rode back to Bag End.

Then, Thorin availed himself of her notes and her study, while she focused on packing some truly delicious rations for the road. Fili and Kili stayed with her in the kitchen, juggling packs and singing songs and telling jokes. When Billa laughingly sent them off to brush the ponies and ready them for travel, Dis stepped into the kitchen, a pensive expression on her face.

"Lady Billa, good morning," she greeted politely.

"Good morning, Lady Dis!" Billa said cheerfully. "How can I be of service to you?"

"Well," Dis said slowly, "I've been wondering about a few things, and I'd like to ask you something, but I don't mean to cause offense," she said. Her entire posture radiated some strange emotion, and it took Billa a few moments to realize that the dwarrowdam was concerned about hurting her feelings. This caused Billa a moment of trepidation, but she gathered her courage. For all that Dis was named after a gate in Hell, Billa didn't think the discussion could be that bad. She'd faced a dragon after all. Billa took Dis's hands, led her to the drawing room, and took a seat. Dis followed reluctantly.

"Speak freely, Lady Dis," Billa said firmly. "I shall know the words come from your heart and are not meant to wound mine." Dis sighed, sounding relieved.

"Lady Billa, you have treated us like family. I am well aware of the agreements you have made with my brother, and I am not ignorant to the fact that we are the most desperate party. Yet you have not made us beg, nor taken advantage of us. You have made arrangements that are completely agreeable with everyone involved, and gone out of your way to do so. At first I thought you did it to win one of my sons, but I know better now. I must ask you, Lady Billa, what do you hope to gain from all of this?" Dis said.

Billa stared for a moment, and then took a deep breath and looked down into her hands. "I-," she started, and stopped again. "Hobbits are made to have large families, you know," she said, sounding a little small. "Bad things happen, and you turn to family for support, comfort, and renewal when bad things do." She looked up at Dis. "I have no family, not anymore. I haven't had family since the wolves killed them in 2311. I had no siblings, no parents, and soon, no friends either. I became a complete shut in. The only interaction I had were from people coming to convince me to marry their sons or pass on my inheritance. Hobbits crave family, and I've been starving for a long time.

Then," she said, starting to smile, "I had finally had enough, and I went on an adventure hoping to find something bigger than my lonely heart. And then I met Kili, just a lad faced with impossible odds, but he refused to bow down, and I knew I needed to be more like that. I stuck around your Fili and Kili, with their good hearts and their silly jokes, and it felt like they were the brothers I had always wanted, and then one by one I met each of you, and through their eyes, I grew to know and love you.

"Hobbits who lose their family can, according to Shire law and tradition, choose a new family," Billa informed Dis, looking up at her fervently. "Whether you accept it or not, I have come to view your family as my own. I've adopted you into my heart, and because you are in my heart, I will do all I can to ensure your welfare and your happiness." Billa finally fell silent, looking down at her hands, afraid to look up and see scorn or disgust on Dis's face. You miserable descendent of rats echoed through her mind in an angry voice so very like Dis's.

There was a long silence. Dis was fiddling around with her hands and hair, but Billa couldn't bring herself to look. Then Dis was sitting next to her, so much larger and stronger than she was, and Billa felt a moment of fear. Then, Dis's hands were in her hair, gentle, firm, and not threatening at all. No threats, no insults, just her fingers carding through Billa's curls. Billa sighed, relaxing into the moment. Dis combed through her hair for several long moments, and Billa felt her worries fade away.

"Is this what it feels like to have a sister?" she asked, a little drowsily, as Dis continued playing with her hair. Dis chuckled.

"I wouldn't know for sure," she replied, "But if it is, I don't mind at all." Then, Dis was finished, pulling away and bringing Billa's hands up to touch her hair.

"Is that..." Billa asked, "A braid?" There, among her curls, was a tightly woven braid and at the bottom was a familiar silver bead, like Thorin and Fili and Kili and Dis all had braided into their hair.

Dis smiled her. "This bead marks you as belonging to the line of Durin. I accept your claim of sisterhood for myself."

Billa's eyes welled with tears. It was real! They really want me! she thought, almost in disbelief. She flung her arms around Dis and spent several minutes crying into her shoulder while Dis patted her back. When she pulled back, Dis was smiling, and then Fili and Kili were there, pulling her out of Dis's arms and whirling her around in theirs.

"We accept!" Kili cried as he spun her around, and then passed her back to Fili.

"Welcome, sister," Fili agreed, smiling at her. Billa gave them both hugs and pecked their cheeks.

"You are wonderful lads," she told them, grinning at them happily, "And you will grow into admirable dwarves who will change the world for the better. I'm sure of it," she proclaimed, and they blushed at her.

Then Thorin was walking into the door, and gathered the situation with a quick glance at her hair. He smiled, his eyes flitting from person to person before finally resting on her.

"I will not claim you as my sister," he said, his voice grave but the smile still on his lips. "But I will acknowledge you as the sister of my sister, and the sister of her sons," he said kindly. "Welcome to the line of Durin, Billa Baggins of the Shire."

Billa couldn't help herself. She flung herself into his arms, wrapping her arms tight around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder. He surprised her by gripping her tight, wrapping his arms around her back and lifting her into the air. She laughed out loud as he whirled them around in circles, and he laughed with her.

As the room spun around, she caught glimpses of Fili and Kili's incredulous expressions, and Dis's knowing little smile. Then Thorin put her down, and she clung to him for a moment until the room stopped spinning around her. Then she looked up into his eyes, and grinned at him.

"Welcome to the House of Baggins, Thorin, Fili, Kili and Dis of the line of Durin," she said, turning to curtsy at each one in turn.

Then, with flushed cheeks and shining eyes, she went back to finish packing the rations in the kitchen. And if she frequently burst into laughter or grabbed a dwarf to hug happily, no one minded at all.


After a hearty lunch, Thorin, Dwalin and Billa waved goodbye to the others. Well, Billa waved while Thorin and Dwalin stood stoically and watched the others shrink in the distance.

Then Dwalin was leering at her, and Billa was backing away cautiously and Thorin was laughing at them both.

"Mister Dwalin," Billa said cajolingly, "I've changed my mind about the fighting lessons. I've decided what I really need is lessons in baking, or in taste-testing, doesn't that sound more fun?" Dwalin snorted at her weak attempts to sway him.

"Go on, lass," he said gruffly, but not unkindly. "Go fetch your walking stick, the one you saved one of my idiot students with," he said.

Billa stood for a moment. "I thought you were gonna teach me how to use a sword...?" she asked cautiously. Dwalin took a threatening step forward.

"The walking stick! Right. I'll be right back!" she called as she danced away from him on quick feet. Then she quickly stopped as a thought came to her.

"Mister Dwalin, I need to make weapons training look very popular and desirable in order to get more hobbits to join," she explained quickly. "Hobbits really value dancing. If I can make it look like weapons training has made me a better dancer, it will go a long way in getting others to join," she said.

Dwalin stared at her. "Go fetch your stick, lass," he said sharply. "Thorin and I'll think on it while you run there and back."

She recognized the command in that voice and obeyed.

When she came back, panting, Thorin and Dwalin had her dance several popular hobbit jigs to see what the movements and pacing were like. It was odd, doing such cheerful dances while two fearsome warriors glared dourly at her, but she prevailed. They muttered to each other back and forth, and had her do the dances over and over. When her cheeks were red and she was gasping for air, Dwalin finally called for a rest.

"Lass, your endurance is terrible," he told her frankly. Billa sagged, but knew it was true. Dwalin then instructed her on an exercise regimen that she was to practice religiously.

Before she started making first and second breakfast, she had to dance 7 dances in a row, with Thorin or Dwalin keeping pace so she didn't slow. Before elevensies and luncheon, she was to run around her entire smial, twice. Before dinner, she had to do pushups until her arms gave out. Before supper, Dwalin used her for a chew toy and then spat her back out.

At the end of the first day, Dwalin left her crumpled on the ground behind her house, Thorin sitting nearby and writing as he watched her complete humiliation. After Dwalin left, Billa dragged herself over to Thorin on aching limbs and collapsed next to him. He ignored her, focusing on his writing, which only made her feel more pitiful, so she pressed her head against his leg. He kept writing, paying her no heed. She crawled a little closer. He still ignored her. Finally, she had her head resting entirely on his leg, just above the knee, her eyes on his face. With a sardonic huff, he finished writing and looked at her. She made the saddest, most pitiful expression she could, and he laughed, patting her head.

"Are all the hobbits going to be as weak and slow as you?" he asked. She mewed in protest, but then he started petting her head again, and she subsided under his hand.

"Some will be worse," she admitted, enjoying his attention, "And some will be better. Not all of us can be blacksmiths who wield hammers like they weigh as much a fork," she said, sassing him tiredly. He smirked at her.

"You like that, don't you?" he asked, teasing her. A light blush came to her cheeks, but she decided to be honest. It was just Thorin, after all.

"Yeah," she admitted, "It's really impressive." Then her voice turned sad, and her lips made a pout. "It's a pity you're not strong enough to carry me to the house," she said, hoping he would take the bait and prove his strength.

He didn't. He laughed at her instead. "I see what you're doing, now," he said, shaking a finger at her before he went back to stroking her hair. "You think you can goad me into things by questioning my ability to do them. Your tricks don't work on me."

She scoffed tiredly. "They did. All I had to do to get you to listen to me in the forge was suggest my job was beyond your skill. You were burning to prove me wrong, then," she pointed out, grinning at the memory.

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm wising up to your strategy, princess," he grumbled at her. She laughed, and he reluctantly joined her. Then he hauled himself to his feet, and when she looked up at him pitiably, he raised a mocking eyebrow, but helped her up too.

She stumbled back to the house, clutching his arm and feeling sorry for herself while he just looked at her and smirked. She could tell he was amusing himself at her expense, but couldn't really bring herself to care. He walked her to her room, telling her to take a cold bath or the muscles would hurt even worse tomorrow. She groaned in dismay and he laughed at her.

"Go take your bath, princess," he said with an unrepentant grin on his face. "I'll save some supper for you." She stumbled away from the door and into his personal space, resting her head on his chest.

"I really, really want to make snarky comments at you," she informed one of the buttons on his shirt, "but I'm too tired to think of any." He snorted and pushed her towards the door. She went.