Chapter Text
In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. This particular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, had partaken in a very unexpected adventure, and did not return to his comfortable life for thirteen months. When he did return, he was not the same, nor was his hole in the ground, as he learned. He walked up to his house to see his belongings being auctioned off, but after proving he was the one who lived there, everything was returned with little fuss, aside from the fuss that came from the Sackville-Bagginses upon his return.
The auctioneer had read the contract Bilbo provided as identification then looked at Bilbo as he walked up the steps to Bag End, “Who is this person you pledged your service to? Thorin Oakenshield?” he asked him. Bilbo froze then turned around to face him, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, as he tried to keep his eyes from watering. The funeral and the journey home from Erebor had not been enough time for him to grieve for the loss of Kili and Fili, and for Thorin, three of the dwarves he had grown to care so much about.
“He… He was my friend,” was all Bilbo said. Then he faced Bag End again and turned the gold knob in the middle of the green door, which still had the mark Gandalf carved onto it over a year prior.
–--
Once Bilbo had gotten his furniture and other belongings in order, he decided to put the important papers in frames, the map to Erebor, the contract he signed. Keepsakes to hang on the wall, or leave on his desk. He stood up from his desk in the study and put his hands in his pockets, this had become a habit of his ever since he found the golden ring in the Goblin Tunnels, though this time, he was more drawn to the acorn he had found in Beorn’s garden.
“Plant your trees, watch them grow.” he remembered Thorin saying before he died. He took the advice given to him, and brought the acorn as well as a spade out to his garden. Once he had found the perfect spot around the back of Bag End, he planted it.
He sat in front of the buried acorn, imagining what it would look like when it was grown.
“It will be strong, formidable, admired by all the other trees” he thought, “Just like the dwarf who told me to plant it.”
As he thought that, the pain in his chest returned. He missed the dwarves already, the friends he made and fought beside. He thought that he could leave it all behind, return to The Shire without thoughts of the Lonely Mountain seeping into his mind, but deep down he knew he couldn’t. Gandalf had taken him home along the same path they took to Erebor, and that didn’t help Bilbo’s attempts keep it together.
~~~
The two had taken horses, well Gandalf took a horse, Bilbo had a pony, for their journey back. They never stayed on the road for long, and they had many friends now to stay with for the nights. Beorn had returned to his cabin around the same time as Gandalf and Bilbo had arrived. He allowed them to sleep there for the night, and provided breakfast for them in the morning. They avoided the Goblin Tunnels, Gandalf figured the goblins wouldn’t be as welcoming as Beorn, though Bilbo remembered another threat that lurked in the caves.
Eventually the two made it to Rivendell, and as usual, Elrond had been very welcoming. He did his best to hide his worry over the return of Sauron when he greeted his friends.
“Welcome Gandalf, Master Baggins,” he said to him as they walked to the courtyard.
“Nice to see you again, Lord Elrond,” Bilbo said with a small bow. Gandalf nodded to Elrond as well, though it hadn’t been as long since he had seen him last.
“You, as well,” he smiled, then turned to Gandalf, “Will the two of you be staying long? You’re welcome to if need be.”
“Not for more than a night, unfortunately,” Gandalf informed him then looked to Bilbo, “There is a hobbit that is longing to get back to The Shire.”
“Yes, an incredibly brave hobbit, so I hear.” Elrond’s smile was replaced with a sympathetic look for Bilbo, “I am deeply sorry to hear of the loss of Thorin and his nephews.”
Bilbo nodded, not wanting to say anything on the topic.
Just like the first night the company had spent there, Elrond and the elves of Rivendell had provided a feast and music for their guests, as well as a soft bed, and warm wash basins, Bilbo took advantage of both, first washing off the remainder of the battle, then sprawling onto the bed.
–--
The following morning, Bilbo and Gandalf had said their goodbyes and continued on their way. They made it to the stone trolls, where Bilbo and the Company nearly got eaten, and where Bilbo got his trusted sword, Sting.
Before long, the two had made it back to the edge of The Shire, and Gandalf had taken his leave of Bilbo.
~~~
Bilbo was inside his house now, sitting in his armchair and drinking a cup of tea. It was nearing four o’clock, and he remembered the invitation he extended to the dwarves. He imagined that they too were busy rebuilding their lives and honouring the dead, but he couldn’t help but expect them to show up at anytime. It had only been days since the battle, but Bilbo took to his writing desk. Sliding a blank page of parchment toward him and dipping his quill in the ink, he decided to write them a letter. He was unsure who to address it to, he would have it addressed to Thorin if he could, but since that wasn’t possible, he settled with:
Company,
Hello! I am writing to you to inform you that I have returned to Bag End in tact. Gandalf went on his way after reaching the outskirts of The Shire.
I do hope that you are all settling back into Erebor quite nicely, and working on rebuilding your lives and your walls. As I returned to Bag End, all of my things were being auctioned off! It seems in my absence, they had all believed I was dead. My neighbours hardly recognized me. Bilbo laughed to himself, then continued.
I await the day where I can see you all again, should you decide to come back to Bag End. I have fully restocked my pantry, and have begun gardening for the Autumn harvest.
Perhaps when you get this message, you will write back. I hope to hear from you all soon.
– B.B.
Bilbo sent for a messenger whom he paid to deliver the message to Erebor, truly hoping it would arrive, and that he would hear back from at least one of the dwarves. Of course he knew it would take long for the letter to get to Erebor, a dwarf to reply, and for that letter to come back, but he was willing to wait.
–--
Waiting was what he did. A lot of it, actually. The summer was ending, it was the beginning of September and you could feel it in the air. Many of Bilbo’s crops were ready for harvesting, and the acorn in the backyard had become a small sprout, which Bilbo still sat beside at least once a week, talking to it and hoping it would survive the winter.
He was tending to the garden around half past three when a messenger came by Bag End.
“Priority letter for Bilbo Baggins,” he called out. Bilbo stood up and wiped the dirt off his hands to meet the messenger at the gate.
“Thank you very much!” Bilbo exclaimed, then took the letter inside to read.
He pulled the wax seal apart and unfolded the parchment.
Master Baggins
It is lovely to hear from you, we are all glad to know you made it home safe and sound. We are also relieved that Gandalf made the journey back with you, if you see him again, send our regards, and we’ll do the same if we see him first.
We are settling back in quite nicely, it is very nice to be home once again.
Amazing they didn’t recognize you, or perhaps they’d hope you wouldn’t return so they could make off with your mother’s dishes and your crocheted doilies.
It will likely be past Summer by the time you get this letter, and we are delighted to know of the Autumn harvest and your restocked pantry.
You should know we plan to arrive at Bag End for the fourth of September, it has been too long since we’ve seen our burglar.
See you for tea!
Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur.
Bilbo looked at the ten unique signatures at the bottom and smiled, then frowned at the realization that there would only be ten signatures, never more. Then he recalled that they said they’d be arriving on the fourth for afternoon tea.
“Why, that’s today!” Bilbo said in an expression that was as equally worried as it was excited.
He ran to the kitchen and put the kettle on and stack eleven plates on the table, then decided to add a twelfth in case Gandalf joined their party.
Just as he did that, he heard the front door open. He practically flew to the front hallway to greet who opened it, and there he saw line of dwarves waiting to get into Bag End.
The first was a dwarf with tattoos on his head, and a look that used to terrify Bilbo,
“Dwalin!” He rejoiced.
Dwalin nodded and held Bilbo’s shoulders, “Great to see you, Master Baggins.”
He made his way inside, and hung his robe on the coat hooks by the door then an older dwarf, Balin, came to the door. Bilbo greeted him as well, and he joined Dwalin inside.
Bilbo almost expected the next two to be Fili and Kili as that’s how it was when they first came to Bag End, but instead Oin and Gloin walked up to the door.
Soon enough, all ten dwarves were in Bilbo’s dining room, sitting around the table with tea and cakes, which would soon be replaced with a feast for dinner.
Bilbo smiled at the robes hung next to him, there were few times where he had been glad to see dwarves, and even fewer times he was glad to have dwarves in his house, and before long he joined them in the dining room.
Sitting on the table was a green box, and all the dwarves looked at Bilbo smiling.
“What’s this?” Bilbo asked, addressing the box.
“It’s a gift!” Ori said smiling.
“A gift? What for? It’s not my birthday for a few weeks.” Bilbo attempted to protest.
“Go on and open it, lad,” Bofur instructed him.
Bilbo walked up to it, and put his hand on the lid, then took it away (he did this a few times). Eventually, curiosity mixed with the dwarves shouting “open it!” and he obliged.
Inside the box, there were 14 small wooden statues. Bilbo picked the smallest of them up, it was carved to resemble himself.
“Is this me?” Bilbo inquired.
Bifur nodded, “Aye, it is. Bofur and I carved them for ye. It’s a gift from everyone.”
Bilbo flinched at first when Bifur spoke, he had been so used to hearing the dwarf speak in Khuzdul, but then he looked at the two toymakers then back at the box. He recognized all of them as they were now, instead of as wooden statues. He set the one of him back in the box and took out that which he recognized as Thorin. He stared at it, and his smile turned into one laced with sadness. Bilbo was the only one there with a sad look on his face, the dwarves had been able to grieve properly, and accept that Thorin, Kili, and Fili had been honoured, and died as warriors, and focus on the happy memories they had with them.
Thorin’s death still hit Bilbo hard, he couldn’t doubt the love he felt for the dwarf, and this made it harder. Even when Thorin threatened him in his dragon-sick state, and doubted him at the beginning of their journey, Bilbo could never dislike him.
Bilbo chuckled when he felt his eyes water, “Look at me, getting teary at a happy reunion.”
The dwarves laughed along with him, and Bilbo put the statue back in the box, “Thank you all, very much.”
“We’re glad ye like them, Bilbo.” Bofur said with a compassionate smile on his face.
Just then the door opened again, Bilbo turned around and all the dwarves’ heads turned as well.
“Hope you haven’t broken out the wine without me,” called out a voice belonging to an older man.
“Gandalf!” Bilbo cheered, “Somehow I knew you’d show up.”
“We saw him when we were on our way,” Dwalin stated.
“Yes, I had some business to attend to before I came by though. But I am here, I arrived just when I planned to.” Gandalf snickered and joined the others in the dining room.
–--
The dinner feast had begun not too long after Gandalf showed up and it was very similar to the first time Bilbo met the dwarves, only this time he joined in the fun as opposed to protesting it.
Bilbo’s newly harvested vegetables were a hit with all the dwarves, despite not everyone liking green food. There was enough bread, cheese wheels, eggs, bacon, chicken, sausages, fish, and of course ale and wine to go around to everyone. (Even if a great deal of it was being thrown from opposite sides of the tale)
Needless to say, Bilbo was upset to see the food on the table start to disappear, he wasn’t upset he’d have to replace it, just upset that his friends would soon be on their way back to the mountain.
With this in mind, Bilbo stood up at the head of the table opposite and the dwarves looked to him, “I would just like to say now, thank you all for coming. It has been a pleasure seeing you all again. You are all welcome to stay for as long as you want before returning to Erebor, it is no trouble at all.”
He sat back down and the dwarves and Gandalf smiled at him, then continued to eat.
“Thank you, laddie, we’ll likely be leaving tomorrow however,” Balin told him.
Bilbo knew he shouldn’t be disappointed, so he just smiled and nodded at Balin.
When the food throwing subsided and bellies were full, the dwarves did their part and cleaned up, ignoring Bilbo’s protests saying “You’re the guests, you don’t need to clean,” to any dwarf who would be standing still long enough for Bilbo to rant.
But once the dishes were done, the twelve of them went to Bilbo’s sitting room and smoked their pipes. They told stories, some were more reminiscing over the past year, and some were new stories.
“I told my boy about the whole journey,” Gloin told the group, “He loved it, loved the story of the war. Didn’t seem to like the elves very much though. Says he hopes he never has to fight alongside one. True Dwarf, my Gimli.” He had a proud smile behind his beard.
A lot of the stories were similar, reuniting with friends, families, dwarves from the Lonely Mountain were able to come home.
Bilbo looked around the sitting room, he smiled to himself. He was glad to be home, but he was thankful he stayed to help these dwarves get their home back.
“Would you all excuse me for a moment,” Bilbo said as he stood up, “Just going to get some fresh air.”
He walked outside and looked at his garden. Nothing had been too overgrown when he returned, which he was happy about, less work to do, and now the cold was setting in, there wouldn’t be much to do for his garden until spring. He blew a ring of smoke, then headed toward the back of his house to look at the sprout.
“Mind if I join you?” He heard a cheerful voice ask from behind him. He turned around, and there was Bofur, smiling at him.
“Oh, please do.” Bilbo said, and the two walked together. “I planted this when I got home. It’s going to be an oak tree. Found the acorn at Beorn’s.”
Bofur smiled and nodded as Bilbo spoke, “It’s for Thorin, then? An oak tree.”
“Yes, I suppose. He reminded me to plant it before he… Well. Anyway, it’s planted now.”
“It’s okay to miss him, lad. We all know how the two of you felt about each other.” Bofur put his hand on Bilbo’s shoulder, and Bilbo turned to look at him.
“I know, I do miss him. A lot, actually. Though, before I wrote to you all, I was hoping I could just forget about all of this. Turns out it’s hard to forget you dwarves.” Bilbo chuckled.
Bofur had a sincere kindness in his eyes, “You’re fairly unforgettable too, Master Baggins.” Bilbo had found a lot of comfort in Bofur on their journey to Erebor. No matter what, he always had a smile on his face, even when Bilbo tried to leave and said hurtful things to him, which he regretted of course.
The two exchanged looks for what seemed to be a long time before Bofur looked away, he walked to the fence and looked toward the other houses, and the scenery in The Shire before looking up at the night sky, “I can see why ye missed this place so much. The Shire really is somethin’, just wish I could see more of it.”
Bilbo walked up beside him and put his hands on the fence, “Well as I said inside, you’re all welcome to stay for longer. I’d be glad to have the company, if you’d like to stay, that is.”
Bofur looked at him and smiled, “I’m glad ye mentioned it, y’see, I was going to ask if you’d mind me stayin’ for longer than the rest of ‘em.”
“Of course I don’t mind. In fact I could even give you a tour of The Shire some time.”
Bofur put his hand over Bilbo’s, causing his cheeks to redden slightly, “I’d love that. We should probably get back inside for now though,” he said before turning to go in the house. Bilbo smiled toward him, wondering, perhaps too much, if Bofur had meant anything by putting his hand on his, then he joined him and the rest inside.
–––
The next morning, Bilbo stood at the gate while the dwarves (aside from Bofur, who stayed near the door to Bag End) left, they each pulled him in for a hug, then mounted their pony and headed down the path that would lead them out of The Shire. The last to leave was Bifur, when it was him at the gate, he hugged Bilbo, then whispered something in his ear that made him look to Bofur. He turned back to Bifur quickly, then smiled as he left to join the other dwarves.
“What’d my cousin say to ye?” Bofur asked when Bilbo walked back to the door.
“Oh, he just said something about the statues,” Bilbo simply said then shrugged, “I’m glad I can understand what he says now, must be nice for him to, you know to not have an axe in his head.”
“What did ‘e say about the statues?”
“Oh, just that it was only you who made them.” Bilbo smirked and walked inside, followed by Bofur, whose face had become slightly more red.
Bilbo laughed when he noticed Bofur becoming more flustered as he tried to speak, “Why is it such a big deal for you to have made them?”
“Well, it’s not a big deal really, we just weren’t sure if you’d be okay with one person puttin’ all this effort into a gift for ye.” Bofur said, hiding his embarrassment.
“Alright then, well thank you for putting all that effort into a gift for me,” Bilbo smiled and sat down in his favourite armchair.
Bofur had walked over to a chest near Bilbo’s desk in the study. He saw Sting and the holster laying on top of it, as well as the smaller chest full of his share of the gold which was sitting on some books. He smiled, then continued to wander through Bilbo’s study. On his desk, he found the framed map to Erebor and held it up, to look at it, smiling more. When he went to set it down, he noticed Bilbo’s contract also framed.
“Later this afternoon I could show you The Shire if you’d like,” Bilbo called to him, “I’m sure walking around with a dwarf will certainly help my reputation.” The last part was said sarcastically, ever since he stepped out the door to go on this adventure, his built up reputation as a Baggins had been squandered, but he didn’t mind it as much as he used to, as it meant that he had made better friends than he ever could have at home.
Bofur called back, “Sounds like a plan. I’m sure yer neighbours won’t be too surprised that a dwarf is here with ye,” he joked.
He then walked into the sitting room with the framed map, “You’ve said you wanted to forget all about this, but somethin’ tells me ye didn’t really want to.” Bofur was grinning at the hobbit.
Bilbo smiled back, “No, perhaps you’re right.”
He was happy to have Bofur here with him, and he didn’t know why but he felt like he could have nothing and still be happy as long as this dwarf was here. He was comforting and warm, and always had been. Of course, Bilbo loved Thorin and nothing could ever change that, but he was beginning to wonder if along the way, he began caring for Bofur as well. He figured that only time would tell, and maybe he’d know within the time Bofur was staying with him if these thoughts were merely that of a friend, or something more.