A/N SURPRISE. I didn't see a chapter happening today either. But you know what? Inspiration is fickle like that. But I'm not gonna complain about the writing time.
Many different kind of feels in this one and Bilbo FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC time.
A fist pounded at the door of Josephine's quarters, startling her out of the pages of the book she'd hurriedly grabbed from the library the day before. A mist hung over the lower portions of the valley as the moon rose and the fist pounded at the door again.
"Josephine!" Bilbo's voice called sternly. "I know you're in there so open the door this instant!"
Moving to get up and setting the book aside she was making for the door when he pounded on it a third time.
"Josephine! Don't make me come in there after you, because I-"
She pulled the door open and found him standing there with his finger raised to reprimand her.
"-will." He finished, deflating and lowering his arm. "There you are."
She'd been a bit worried something was going wrong, or one of the dwarves was causing more trouble than was expected, but he ended up smiling at her and she nervously smiled back. "Where's the fire?" She asked.
"What?"
"Nothing." She stepped aside and opened the door wider. "Do you want to come in and tell me why you were throwing a fit?"
"No, I will not come in. You, will come, out." He punctuated with pointing towards the ground beside him. "And I was not having a fit, I was trying to interrupt your moping."
"I'm not moping, I'm reading." She argued, motioning to the book laying pages down on the cushion of her chair.
"Reading can be done in places other than your quarters. Places with sunshine and company and…and…gardens."
"My room is quiet. It's perfect for reading." And the valley had at least two people she was too afraid to see.
"Well you've been in here for nearly three days by my count and I've had quite enough of it. Now Lord Elrond told me your wounds were quiet superficial so you should have had plenty of time to rest from them by now-"
"How do you know about that?"
"Are you daft?" He blinked at her and crossed his arms. "The entire Company knows. You think every single one of them isn't constantly looking out for you? One lady surrounded by warriors ordered by their leader to protect her? Or are you so blinded by your grief that you haven't noticed?"
She hadn't, not really. Well, she'd noticed Dwalin and Thorin maybe, but hadn't really taken into account anyone else's actions beyond the usual Middle-Earth chivalry.
With a sigh she admitted, "It's easier to stay here."
"Easier does not mean better." He scolded her gently. "Sitting in there moping certainly won't make you feel better and if I can be so bold to say, I don't think your husband would want you to hide away like this either."
She was hesitant to say too much about Aragorn to Bilbo, the two would become good friends one day, so she didn't say anything. Nothing about how many memories Rivendell carried with it, not a breath about the two members of her family walking its halls.
"So, I hear there is something around called the Hall of Fire and it sounds like just the thing you need to get out of that head of yours." He stepped back to give her space to leave and waved her towards him. "So come on then, we'd best be off."
"You're not taking no for an answer, are you?" She said with a wry smile.
He smiled back. "I'll stand here all night if I have to."
There was a fuller nature to the hall when they entered than she'd seen before. There were more elves and the atmosphere had a much lighter feel to it. Years before the growing darkness really took shape, and before so many of the elves had gone into the west.
Bilbo took the lead and found them a bench that seemed purposefully chosen for its proximity to the musicians and center hearth, the furthest from a corner to mope in he could find.
She sat down and he disappeared, slipping into the crowd that was heavy with flowing robes and gowns. Josephine scanned the room, taking in how unchanged it was. Her eyes glanced over Elrond up on his dais and he nodded welcomingly to her.
Then Bilbo was back, pressing one of two goblets of wine into her hand and setting a small cake in the other. Elves greeted him with familiarity as they saw him and she looked at him as he sat there next to her with his legs swinging.
"You've already been here." He'd 'heard' about the Hall of Fire indeed.
"Yes well, so have you, technically. Now drink up, the dwarves will get here eventually and I have little doubt they plan on trying to cheer you up again."
"And by cheer me up you mean another dance party?" Would that really be so bad? Sure, she felt grumpy enough, but she missed the drinking songs and the dancing she used to do with Merry and Pippin. Maybe Bilbo was right, maybe part of trying to avoid her kin was being used as an excuse to check out completely. And if there was one thing she shouldn't have been doing, it was checking out.
"It worked last time." Bilbo shrugged with a smile.
A glass…or two of wine later, the cupbearer refilled hers and Bilbo's goblets as they laughed and she tried to sing the verse again. "Fi fo fiddle fiddle fi flow fliddle-Dammit! Why is it like this?"
"The tongue twister is half of the fun!" Bilbo explained.
Boisterous laughter broke through the hall, drawing everyone's eyes. The dwarves had arrived in a very, as expected, tipsy fashion.
"There she is!" Fili cried happily, raising the glass he already had in his hand in a toast. "Our lady has returned to us from her long exile!"
"It's been like…two days." She mumbled to Bilbo.
Kili swaggered over to her in a very Jack Sparrow reminiscent sort of way and dropped to his knees at her feet. "My lady! I beg forgiveness on behalf of the Company, for whatever slight we have committed against you that has caused you to forgo our…company."
A laugh crackled in the back of her throat as she took in the slight slur in his words and the rosiness of his cheeks. "You're drunk."
"Very." He said with solemn seriousness. "Will you not forgive us?"
Gloin stepped up and hauled Kili back to his feet. "Quite y'er grovelin'! If the lass was angry with you she'd damn well tell you so."
"Now," Bofur said, looking at least a little more sober than Kili. "Has Bilbo been teachin' you those songs like we asked?"
She narrowed her eyes at Bilbo who shrugged innocently. "I keep stumbling over the ending."
"Good enough!" Bofur yelled and grabbed her by the hand, dragging her towards the nearest table.
Like he had back during the feast the day they arrived in Rivendell, he broke into the first line of the song, stepping first onto the bench and then shoving things aside with the toe of his boot to get onto the tabletop. Hand still clasped around hers he pulled her up beside him while the elves hurriedly cleared away the dishes around them.
This time the dwarves had brought their instruments and fell in as Bofur sang, waving his hand in a circle to goad her into joining him, which she did. From their bench Bilbo clapped along as she and Bofur bounced off each other, drank from their goblets, and broke for a dance while Fili and Kili took over with their fiddles.
"Upsides go west. Hey! Broadsides went boom! With a batter and a clatter you can shatter every platter but the moon slept till Sterrenday!"
They drew out the last word, holding hands between them with their goblets in their free hands while the dwarves cheered. Josephine looked around, a grin having found a way to stick on her face making her feel more like herself than she had in weeks. From her spot higher up she was able to look out around the room, happy to see that at least in the Hall of Fire, the dwarves and their entertainment was a lot more welcome than during dinner.
As she turned she felt eyes on her and it wasn't from the crowd around them. Light eyes met hers across the room and she came to the sudden and uncomfortable realization that the woman who was watching her wasn't one of the elves. Her dark hair was drawn back and set with a circlet of silver leaves and she smiled at Josephine warmly. The smile of someone who had just found one of their kin in a foreign place.
Josephine looked away nervously, landing on Elrond who was watching the interaction closely and with a great deal of interest. But she couldn't help herself and she looked back, swallowing a hard lump in her throat as she took in that she was seeing Gilraen for the first time.
Something swelled in her chest, not quite grief and not quite fear. Josephine didn't know what to make of it but it caught her and held her still just long enough for the others to notice.
"Lass, is everything alright?" Bofur asked quietly.
"I think…um…" Finally she tore her gaze away and turned her back to Gilraen. "Maybe I've had enough wine for the night. I think I'll just…go to bed."
"Right." Bofur said, brows knit with concern and maybe a little worry that she was about to hurl. "Why don't ya let Fili here see you back to y'er room. And I'll take this." He plucked the goblet from her hand and nodded towards Fili who was at the foot of the table with his hand out for her to take.
Josephine knew it wasn't the wine making her head swim, she'd had enough for a good time but also enough for a long time. She waved off the three other sets of hands that reached out to help her off the table, masking as much of stress shooting through her body as she could as her feet hit the stone floor.
Fili followed on her heels as she hurriedly made for the door and the cool fresh air outside. She didn't pause until she rounded the corner out of sight of the doors and the flight hadn't made her feel much better. She braced her arm against the archway she'd stopped under and leaned her forehead against it, breathing slowly and deeply.
Fili touched her shoulder lightly. "Just take it slow now, the wine these elves serve could knock a troll on its ass."
She'd let them all keep thinking it was the wine, that made things easier. Though maybe if she'd been fully sober, the shock of it wouldn't have hit her so hard, everything was spinning and she just wanted it to stop.
"No kidding." She croaked.
"Let's get you back to your room so you can sleep it off, come on." He wrapped a heavy arm around her waist and drew her down the path. "We really did miss you, you know."
Josephine couldn't get Gilraen's face out of her head, the gentleness of a smile and a presence she'd never known but somehow missed now that she'd seen even just that small glimpse of it. A part of her new family she'd never thought she'd see beyond a stone statue marking a grave that Josephine had stumbled on one day a long time ago.
"You missed grumpy old me?" She replied distantly.
"Don't be so surprised, you're not the only grumpy one around here. Have you met my uncle? He's certainly more grumpy than you are and we miss him when he's away."
Had she been in the hall the entire time, hidden by the crowd until Josephine was on the table? Had the two of them been that close to each other without her noticing? Had Elrond been waiting to see her reaction when she did?
She stumbled over a dip in the path. Whether it was her preoccupation or the wine she wasn't sure.
"Easy there." Fili tightened his grip on her and took her hand in his, slowing his pace. "Don't rush, I've got you."
"Thanks." She said, patting his hand. "Helluva wine."
"Ah! I wouldn't worry Lady Josephine. You battle trolls, a little elven wine won't keep you down for long."
He got her back to her room and she let go of him at the door. In typical, elven fashion, her needs were already accounted for and a tray of steaming tea sat on her side table with a few slices of toast. Fili closed her door and presumably went back to the party while she sipped at the tea and nibbled at the toast, sitting on the edge of her bed limply.
In the quiet of her room her head started to clear and she managed to change into her shift and step out onto her balcony to see the moon dipped towards the horizon. She pulled her legs up onto the bench and laid her arms and cheek on the balcony railing. The wind blew across her face, bringing the scent of the trees.
"I saw your mom today." She said in almost a whisper, feeling kind of foolish to be talking to Aragorn when he was so far away. "And I miss you."