He didn't look a day older since she'd last seen him. Nor did he look any less confused than when she first met him here at his home. He did look a lot less angry.
"Wh...I...Lin!" He choked, his expression going from shocked and confused to ecstatic in the several seconds she stood there.
Now that she saw his eyes as he composed himself and stepped closer to her, she could see the change and age in his eyes.
She opened her arms, kneeled and they stepped into each other's embrace.
"I didn't dare hope to see you again." He murmured into her shoulder.
Her arms tightened around his shoulders. "I have missed you terribly, my friend."
Finally Bilbo pulled away, beaming at her. "What brings you to the Shire?"
Linshara shrugged, "it was time to face the past. If I could make peace with the loss of my home, my family and friends before, I could do no less now."
He nodded solemnly, then perked up, "won't you come in? I am preparing food."
The blonde jedi grinned at him. "I would love to. A peaceful meal, a good time with a good friend. Sounds like a fine day."
The Hobbit positively beamed at her as he ushered her in. As she entered and looked around she had to admit that whilst her last memory of this place was extremely fond, she did prefer this clean, homely and peaceful version of it.
She could feel his gentle presence in the Force near by. Linshara looked over at Bilbo, catching the expression on his face, myriad of emotions echoing her own. He too was remembering.
"So, what are we making for lunch? I am helping!" She chuckled as he started to protest. "It is the least I could do for my impromptu visit."
He seemed confused at the word impromptu.
"Unscheduled and unexpected." Linshara supplied kindly.
Bilbo nodded his understanding and helped her out of her coat and scabbard then ushered her into the small kitchen.
She was hit by a memory of Master Yoda's personal room, the one time she'd visited with him back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Everything was so small, compact and indelibly Yoda. Part of her almost wanted to cry at the power of the memory but his brisk, somewhat irritable instructions brought her out of her thoughts.
He patiently instructed her how to skin, debone and fillet the chicken, how to prepare the breadcrumb and herb stuffing and how to bake the crispiest, tastiest potatoes. Her experience in cooking from before had been limited, so she took this opportunity for what it was and enjoyed the process.
"How have you been these past years, Bilbo?" She asked as she caroused his cupboards and shelves for cuttlery and crockery.
The noise in the kitchen stopped for a moment, "I…" then a soft sigh, "trying to get used to the quiet life again, the absence of adventure and excitement."
Two plates in hand, Linshara stepped back into the kitchen. The emotion rolling off of him was palpable to her. He missed them, all of them, more than he was able to express.
"It's never quite the same, once you've had a taste of it." She spoke softly as she settled the plates next to him so he could distribute the food.
He seemed to snap out of his thoughts, nodding, "no, you can never go back to your old self."
A small, bitter smile crept into her features for the briefest moment before she forced it away. "I've learned, that you are not supposed to. We change with times and circumstances and that's quite alright."
Bilbo couldn't help a chuckle as he plated some herby chicken and potatoes on each plate. "Unless your turn into the Red One, that...that would be bad."
She found herself chuckling along, surprised that she could laugh about the subject. Bitterness and anger were what she'd expected, yet none came. It was a liberating feeling.
"Well there is that, yes." Linshara grinned, taking the plates over to one of the more spatious dining rooms while Bilbo picked up the cuttlery.
As they sat and began eating, she could feel he was trying to tell her something, but he wasn't sure how to go about broaching the subject.
"Speak your thoughts, my friend." She urged gently as she took another bite of the chicken.
He looked up at her from across the small table, opening his mouth to speak. No words came however. Then he tried again, still no words would come.
She placed one of her hands on his, closing her eyes for a moment and reaching through the Force to calm him down. Slowly, his Force signature slowed from erratic to calm and he took a deep breath.
"I am writing a book." He managed finally through a half-chuckle.
The Jedi smiled. "That is a noble goal, Bilbo. Why was that so difficult to say?"
He cut up a potato and took a bite, "It is about our adventure." His voice choked a little and he forced himself to shrug it off.
Linshara nodded, "ah, I understand."
"I wanted to include you in it." He ventured slowly, observing her.
So that was the hesitation, she realised. Truth be told, she was hesitant to answer it as well. Should she be included in what would eventually be a piece of this world's history? Should future generations know of the lone Jedi lost in time and space? Training and wisdom told her that she did not belong on those pages. Desire to pass on her own lessons told her she may belong on them. But pass on to whom? There were no other Jedi or Force users of her sort on this world, she had noone to pass on her knowledge and skills to.
Taking another bite, she smiled at his increasing nervousness. "I am but a whisper in the wind, Bilbo. I do not belong on the pages of a book of valiant heroes."
"You are just as valiant as any of us, Linshara Thannis." He spoke with surprising authority and wisdom.
This she couldn't help but chuckle at. He sounded so much like Gandalf in that moment.
"Let the world remember the valiant Hobbit, the courageous Dwarves, the wise Wizard, the mysterious Skin Changer, the Eagles, the descendants of the Kings of Men, the finicky elves and the evil of the Necromancer. A Jedi and a Sith belong to a different story, to a different time." She placed her hand over his again.
He covered their hands with his, "you will always live in the hearts of those who lived on. In mine, in Gandalf's."
Her eyes stung a bit as she smiled, "and you in mine, my friend. Always."
Recovering from the mood, Bilbo threw her another of his cheeky smiles. "So, how long can you stay? There is so much I want to show you."
"I've no set time to stay nor leave. I'm exploring the lands, revisiting. I want to see the Mirkwood visit with the Elves there…" Her green eyes drifted a little, to a distant memory.
"See the Mountain?"
She swallowed hard but nodded. "See the Mountain."
Taking another bit of potato in her mouth she leaned back. Rubbing a hand at the back of her neck, she gave a nervous chuckle.
~It still makes me nervous…~ She caught his curious expression before continuing. "I am afraid, yet I know that I must go back there. To close that chapter and leave it where it belongs, in a fond memory."
He resumed eating and smiled encouragingly at her. "You will, one day, I will go back too. I still miss him, every day. He was a good man, despite the sickness."
"Remember that time when…?" They lapsed into fond memories of the Company, the antics of the Dwarves, the sheer wonder at the world of the both of them and Gandalf's amused scolding of them when they got out of hand.
He took her throughout the Shire in the next few weeks, showing her the ins, the outs, the nooks and crannies. They tasted the many wonderful foodstuffs and the many ales and brews specialized to the Hobbits. The one thing she could never get into was pipeweed smoke. Never having smoked before, it bothered her and she resisted his continuous gentle efforts to get her to taste the best weed of the Southfarthing.
They would read books together in the evening and he would tell her of the history of the Hobbits, something which she found herself enthralled in on a wholly different way than elven history. The Hobbits really had nothing but their own hands, feet and wit to fend in the world, especially the Hobbits of Bree and Enedwaith.
She found herself envying the joy the Hobbits had for life. Part of her wished she could just let go of all of her pain and memories. But only part of her. It had made her who she was, her life and she was surprisingly at peace and satisfied with herself.
~If only the Jedi could see me now.~
One evening as she was performing yet another telekinetic trick for Bilbo, making the fruit in the pantry dance through the hobbithole.
"So, what is next for you? Much as I have loved having you here the last few weeks, my dear, I keep feeling you will soon be moving on." He asked from the sofa he'd been lounging in, watching her twirl around the room with the dancing fruit.
Slowly, she set the fruit back into the pantry, contemplating her answer. "I plan to make it to Beorn's by winter, then come spring again, I shall make for the Mountain."
"Are you really going to visit with those Elves? They are so different from the Rivendell ones." Bilbo admitted with a fond smile.
Linshara grinned brightly at him, "exactly. It's the differences that are beautiful, Bilbo. The differences that make life rich, interesting, worth telling stories over. You've had a taste of it. Yes, they behaved poorly, but they saw the light in the end. That's what matters. Same could have been said for Thorin. Many will always view him as a jealous, selfish, arrogant bastard. But he saw light in the end and redeemed himself."
Bilbo nodded, "because of you."
Linshara shrugged, "I just helped nudge him back. He would have climbed out of the gold sickness eventually."
He smiled fondly at her and she returned it, their night slowing down slowly. As Bilbo turned in for the night, Linshara would go meditate outside under the stars, enjoying the fresh night air and the light of the stars, something she'd come to appreciate during her time with the elves.
Their parting was sweet and sorrowful at the same time, but with a promise to visit each other more often than once every five or six years. As much as she'd enjoyed her time with Bilbo she loved being out on the road again, exploring at her own leisure. Often times, she didn't even use the Force to hide from the curious people, or to just pass by unnoticed. It was her accumulated skill. Something she'd often found the Jedi were missing in their teachings. Just relying on their skills as flesh and blood beings. No lightsabers, no Force, no clone troopers or fellow Jedi. Just themselves and their wit.
Her trek through the Lonelands was interesting in itself, she camped atop of Amon Sul and explored the old ruins. The occasional run in with local wildlife and those strange goblins didn't faze her much. She dispatched them easily and moved on, eventually entering the Trollshaws and visiting the site of the Stone Trolls before spending a week in Rivendell and moving into the Misty Mountains up and down a safer path than the Company took.
She reached the Carrock in late autumn and was welcomed by Beorn as family. Linshara stayed with him throughout winter, learning what she could from the skin changer about the nature aspect of Arda and the history of his people. Such connection to nature, unlike any she'd witnessed so far, so primal and powerful, it reminded her of the bond the Witches of Dathomir possessed with the planet.
He told her of the recent seclusion of the Elven king when she mentioned visiting the woodland kingdom. She wondered then if it was time then to visit with Thranduil and his kind. Force visions were never quite accurate when it came to when, but they were very accurate with how. They had been so far at the very least, as she hadn't had many Force visions before.
So with that in mind, come spring, Beorn guided her to the entrance of the darkened wood. He wished her a safe journey, hoping that she found what she was looking for.
"Closure," she had said. "That is not all though." He had had a knowing look in his features, as odd as that looked on his hairy face.
Now as she trekked through the woods, she could feel the presence of the spiders, though the aura of darkness that permeated the flora and fauna on her path to the Long Lake, was different. It was dark, yes, but almost as if only half strength.
~Possibly due to the banishment of the necromancer.~ She thought, her mind subconsciously looking for the white stag she had seen last time she was going through the woods.
She saw no white stag nor feel any of the elves present around her. Linshara knew that if she truly wanted, she could have found the gates to the elven kingdom with a little assistance from her Force senses. Would she be let in was another matter. So, she decided to visit with Thranduil when the time was right.
Instead, her heart leapt as she exited the woods later that day, felt the lake air. In the distance she could see what could only be the newly built and relocated Lake Town. Closer, towards the mountain where once there lay ruins of a city atop of which she had her fateful duel with Darth Kallus Ruun, lay a beautiful, bustling City of Dale. She felt a strong pull inside her to make for the new-old city. To see the streets she'd last seen littered with dead bodies and blood, to see them clean and bustling with life. To see Bard and his family, to see the Dwarves.
~Yes, this was the right decision.~