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.

This is a new chapter, but the previous chapters have been re-written and updated. If you last read this fic before Thanksgiving 2018, you're gonna want to backtrack and re-read.

On the way to the Undying Lands, Billa Baggins is eaten by a time-traveling sea monster. She wakes up in her 33-year-old body and realizes she has a chance to change everything. Unfortunately, Thorin has a tendency to run around shirtless and Dis thinks she has improper designs on Fili and Kili, but if she can convince the Shire that Dwalin is a dance teacher, things might be okay.


Chapter 51

Isumbras, Thain of the Shire, was in his study smoking a pipe, and pondering the recent changes in the Shire.

He was not a young hobbit, not by any means. His 86th year was coming fast, and while he suspected he had a decade or two left in him, he knew his time was passing and he wondered what sort of world he was leaving for Fortinbras to watch over.

After Rangers came to relieve their suffering after the Fell Winter 12 years ago, he'd retreated to this exact same study, fallen to his knees, and wept. Names and faces of poor dead Hobbits had flashed through his mind. He'd been haunted by relentless images of homes with smashed windows and broken doors, and clawmarks gouging the outside of the house. Even worse was the inside of those ruined homes, because dark stains of blood and gnawed-on skeletons were the only remains of the once fat, cheerful, and happy folk who lived there. He'd heard the howls of wolves, the hoarse shouts of orcs, and the helpless screams of the hobbits he'd been sworn to protect.

He'd knelt on the floor, clutching his head in his hands, and he'd wept until snot had dripped down his face, until his collar was soaked with tears, until his head ached from crying. Then, when his tears had run out, he'd stared at his hands and wondered if his failure to protect the hobbits he'd been sworn to serve meant that their blood was on his hands.

Those memories and the thought of the blood on his hands had haunted him. Some nights, the memories were too much and he could barely sleep. Other nights, he'd wake from a vivid nightmare and hear wolves howling in the wind.

12 years ago he'd been overwhelmed with grief and guilt. Today, he was feeling a much different emotion.

Hope.

Billa was making changes. And he thought those changes were mostly for the better.

As bitter and cruel as the Fell Winter had been, there had been little change in the behavior of the hobbits before and after it. Some built extra pantries, expanded their gardens, and stored more food, or moved further inland, but that was the only difference he'd noted. The sameness - as if the brutal lessons of the Fell Winter had been ignored or forgotten - had at first been a relief. As the years passed, though, it only made him worry at their continued vulnerability.

That was one reason he'd been so supportive when Billa had first began making her changes. Any protection for his people would be welcome.

The other reason was because he was getting old, dammit, and seeing these young folk scurrying around, causing chaos, made him laugh.

Sitting here, now, in a comfortable chair, with a comfortable cushion, in a comfortable room with a comfortable pipe, Isumbras thought that perhaps the Shire had had a little too much comfort, and Billa's recent changes had been met with such widespread support not just because of her masterful plotting, but also because people were just as bored (or even haunted) as he'd been, and were ready for a little shaking up.

Hobbits were a little bit like milk and butter, he supposed. You only got really good hobbits after they'd been shaken up a bit. And once hobbits are shaken up, they're turned into something new and wonderful, and there's no going back.

Isumbras eyed the plate of home-baked bread and home-churned butter on his desk. Perhaps he'd indulged a little too much in that metaphor.

Leaving the butter aside, it was Isumbras's fervent opinion that there had been more change in the last year than in the whole decade preceding it - and if you set aside the Fell Winter, then there had been more change in this last year than there had been in the last century. And what's more - it had been positive change that would protect and strengthen their community, and it had begun from one of their very own - a hobbit of the Shire.

It was almost impossible to believe. When you added it up, it just didn't make sense. Billa Baggins had never been outside of the Shire in her entire life and had had a remarkably Bagginsish upbringing. Then, one day out of the blue, she's up and travelling to Bree where, instead of seeing the sights, getting a walk out of her system, and coming home to stay in the Shire for the rest of her days, she takes up with a band of dwarves (royal dwarves, no less), brings them home with her, and starts making waves to shake the roots of Hobbit culture forever. New types of dances, new types of stories, new types of clothes, and new types of food.

If Isumbras hadn't seen the same bewilderment he felt reflected in the eyes of the dwarves whenever they met, he would have wondered who was really creating this change. As it was, there really couldn't be any doubt. It was all Billa.

And now, there was an even bigger change coming, that could threaten what they'd been building, or cement their alliance forever.

He studied the parchment on his desk, the runes written thick and squarer than Westron typically was. It read,

Isumbras, Kin of Lady Billa, Thain of the Shire,

(And how Fortinbras had snickered when Isumbras had shown him the letter. It appeared being of relation to 'Lady Billa' was even more important than his actual office.)

The shields and swords you requested have been completed in full. They shall arrive in the Shire some days after this letter. These wagons will also bring a gift of 1,000 iron arrow-heads of the highest quality. Our first business arrangement is complete.

Upon my return to the Shire, I intend to discover Lady Billa's intentions. If they match my own, she will want your blessing.

Thorin, son of Thrain, of Ered Luin

Isumbras had never received a letter as short, concise, or very near to impolite. If he hadn't met the dwarf and experienced his taciturn nature firsthand, Isumbras likely would have been insulted! But, he knew better.

This brief blunt missive was a far cry from the flowery and often flattering missives he received from Billa, but Isumbras did not make the mistake of thinking it less sincere. He was rather touched that the dwarf had considered writing to him at all.

And as for the last bit of news - Isumbras had burst into laughter when he read of Thorin's intentions. Not that he disapproved (quite the opposite!). The manner of writing was simply so shocking and different from how a Hobbit would write. Isumbras had been tickled pink. Even more amusing was the way Thorin had made known that his blessing was desired, without appearing to ask for anything.

He'd managed to convey love, marriage, feelings, and courtship without saying a single romantic word. The more Isumbras got to know these dwarves, the more wildly amusing he found them. But - not all hobbits would share his sentiment.

He considered the likely reactions Billa and Thorin would face. As he often did to help himself think, Isumbras wrote things down.

Reasons This Will Go Badly, he wrote slowly, considering.

1. It's change, and we are hobbits. He thought that summed it up quite nicely. After a few moments, he couldn't think of anything else to add.

When he considered the other point of view, there was rather a lot more to add.

Reasons This Will Go Well, he scribbled on the parchment.

1. Billa's hobbit-dwarf patrols saved dozens of lives this winter, and any hobbit who fought in the patrols or had family or friends there will be fiercely loyal to her decision, and great trust to their dwarf comrades.

2. Thorin's warriors worked to rescue three hobbit faunts from slavers, and his dwarves have been teaching the strategies that other faunts can use to stay safe from such dangers.

3. Dwalin. Isumbras didn't think he had to explain any more on that one.

4. Dwarf teachers have taken apprentices, and their apprentices (and the apprentice's family and friends) will be more trusting and open to the marriage.

5. It's spring - there will be dozens and dozens of other marriages, and this one might be lost in the shuffle.

6. There have been other marriages, to elves or Men.

He tapped the feather of his quill on his chin for a few minutes, considering.

7. Billa's such an oddity that, while she's admired, no Hobbit lads are lining up to court her.

Isumbras nodded decisively. He was sure he had the right of it.