Chapter Text
Bilbo's hands fidgeted restlessly in the folds of her gown as she waited with Frodo – who was looking very smart in his royal blue tunic and dark trousers – and her cousins – who looked just as smart themselves, though they were instead dressed in warmer, earthy colours of yellow, green and brown – to meet up with rest of the company to go down into the grand feast hall.
She wished she had managed to sneak a book with her, but she had been caught by Dis at the last moment, who with an amused huff had confiscated it before they left her bedchamber. If her cousins hadn't been so taken aback by her appearance they most likely would have laughed. But instead they had stared at her in a somewhat gob-smacked fashion, until Paladin, the cheeky bugger, let out a long, low whistle.
"Oh hush." Bilbo had hissed at him, blushing brightly in embarrassment.
"Mama so pretty." Frodo had gushed as he had flown to her side.
"Yes, she is, very." Dis beamed proudly at her handiwork, for it was all Dis who had made Bilbo look the way she currently did.
Bilbo blushed only the more hotly when Dis winked at her knowingly as she left the Hobbit's apartments.
That had been some ten or so minutes ago and Bilbo could feel her nervousness building inside her belly again.
She had tried to read from one of the books from the bookshelf in the parlor, but none had been able to hold her attention. So now, instead, she found herself twisting her still bandaged hands in the fabric of her dress, only half listening to the conversation being shared between her cousins and her father – who would not be attending the feast that evening. He was quite tired and would be heading for his bed as soon as they left.
There was loud knock on the apartment door and before anyone had a chance to answer it, the door was flying open as Kili and Fili bounded into the room. Well, Kili bounded, Fili followed at a much more sedate pace. Both had of course stopped short when they saw her and the colour that had finally left her face returned with a vengeance.
"Stop it!" She growled not at all likely the bright grins that were now decorating both boys' faces.
"Doesn't Mama look pretty?" Frodo commented again, his face bright and chest puff out proudly as he looked up at her.
"Indeed she does." Fili agreed still grinning widely.
"Uncle is going to be useless tonight." Kili chortled in agreement which had her cousins laughing just as hard. Well, except for Lotho who simply let out a loud huff. He had been in a particularly foul mood since she had left her bedchamber. Or maybe he had been in a foul mood before then, but her other two cousins had seemed surprised by the darkening of Lotho's expression when she had entered the room with Dis.
"Oh, please." Bilbo replied with an air of annoyance, "Stop spouting such nonsense. And besides," she said her blush burning her whole face, "he has seen me in a dress before. In Lake Town, all those years ago. And in Rivendell."
"Aye, true that." Fili grinned, "But that was an old gown that had belonged to a human girl. And Rivendell," He shrugged, dismissively, "This however," he waved a hand at her and her beautiful blue gown, "is quite something else."
Bilbo shook her head at the madness and wishing not for the first time that she could have worn something a little less… striking. She still felt rather like a girl child playing dress-up with her mother's best frocks.
"Come." Fili said, taking a hold of her arm gently, "it's is time for the feast to begin and there are folk who have to be met with before the evening can fully get underway."
Bilbo tried to hide her grimace at the thought of the folk she would have to meet in the next few hours.
"It'll fine." Kili said having seen her face as he took ahold of Frodo's hand as they left the apartment after saying goodbye to her father who had comfortably settled himself into the armchair by the fire with a book and a cup of tea.
"More than fine," Fili agreed with a fond smile down at her, "you'll see, there is nothing for you to worry about. And if someone does try to give you any trouble, well, just let us know and we'll take care of them." Bilbo rolled her eyes at the evil looks being shared between the two brothers.
"Honestly, you two!"
Both boys simply beamed back at her while she muttered hotly beneath her breath and tried to ignore the butterflies that were circling her belly as they drew closer and closer to the sounds of loud voices and music.
They passed by the noise that seemed to be coming from within huge feast hall, and instead continued on a little further; only coming to a stop in something of an entrance hall that Bilbo was sure was just outside of the great feast hall. In the entrance hall, the rest of the company stood, along with Dis, Dain and his son.
Dis beamed widely at her as they entered the hall, nudging her brother with smug look in her bright blue eyes.
Bilbo's heart stopped when Thorin's head turned in her direction and watched as his eyes widen at the sight of her.
She squirmed a little as the rest of the company rushed forward to greet them, all looking at her as she was something impressive instead of a hobbit lass playing dress-up in the clothes that surely had been made for a queen or royalty at the very least.
"You look lovely lass." She was told by the company as they beamed fondly at her. She murmured a shy thank you in return.
She heard amused sniggers from nearby and when she looked she saw that Thorin was being quietly teased by his sister and Dain.
But before anything more could be said, a herald was announcing the arrival of the King of Dale and his family.
Oh…
Bilbo's heart started to race once more at the thought of meeting Bard.
Even with the reassurance from Thorin that Bard had been sadden to think she had died during the battle of the five armies, Bilbo couldn't help but wonder if maybe, upon hearing that she was in face alive, his feelings towards her might have drastically change, given the whole setting a fire-breathing dragon down upon his hometown and all.
So she was pleasantly surprised that upon entering the hall, King Bard and his family seemed to be nothing but delighted to see her.
Bilbo, however, though delighted to see them too, also found herself to be rather taken aback by how old and grey Bard now appeared and the fact that all three of his children were now adults, including the youngest girl who had grown into a fine young woman on her way to being married. It was a little unnerving to see how just eleven years had effected them all so, but it did nothing to diminish her delighted smile over meeting them all again.
Bilbo would have happily spent the whole night chatting with the Dragon's Slayers family, proudly introducing them to Frodo (who had been a little shy at first, but had quickly lost that with the mention of dragon slaying and it wasn't too long before he was trying to get the whole tale out of a very amused Bain) and listening to how well the rebuilding of Dale and Laketown was coming along in the last eleven years. Bard even promised to show her something, though he would not say what, but that she, in particular, might find heartwarming in Dale.
She had stared up at the human king in confusion.
She could not think of a single thing in Dale, asides from seeing it returned to its former glory that would mean something particular just to her.
But, when pressed further, he refused to say anything more on the matter, simply smiled and promised to show her around his city.
She was just starting to feel comfortable when the announcement of the arrival of the Elves of Woodland Realm sounded.
Bilbo immediately felt her stomach drop at the thought of seeing Thranduil again.
Even though she had been reassured that the Elf king rarely attended the celebrations of Durin's Day, a high lord or ambassador was always sent in his place, she still felt the stir of unease and panic roll inside her gut.
Even Kili's excited vibration by her side did nothing to calm her racing heart, though when the red headed elf maiden appeared at the entrance of the grand hall, Bilbo's amusement, for a moment, greatly outweighed her panicking state at his reaction.
The elf maiden walked alongside the elf that Bilbo only knew by chance as Thranduil's son, Legolas. The only times she had seen him, was when he was fighting orcs as she and her company were spinning down a rapidly following river in barrels, and so his appearance did nothing to ease her panic as she was not sure if he shared the same views of her and her company as his father.
It was hard to tell what any of the elves thought, as all their expressions were carefully neutral as they came to stand in front of the Durin's line and Bard's family – but Bilbo did notice a flash of a shy smile shared between Kili and the elf maiden. Well, shy was how one might describe the elf maiden's smile, ecstatically happy and utterly besotted would surely a better description of Kili's expression.
She quickly covered her smile with her hand when she noticed the fond, but truly exasperated looks the second youngest Durin boy was receiving from his mother and brother.
She felt Frodo press closer to her side, his bright blue eyes wide with wonder as he stared up at the elves before them. He had seen elves before, Lord Elrond's twin sons in fact, but they had always portrayed a warmer, more welcoming side to elven nature, rather than the cold, aloof features being shown now by the woodland elves.
Bilbo was pulled from her thoughts and worries by the Thranduil's tall blonde son turning his sky blue eyes down upon her (her! Why was he speaking to her for?) and speaking words that she would never in a million years expect from him.
"My father sends his apologies on not being able to attend this feast honoring Durin and the reclaiming of Erebor," The elf prince started slowly and formerly, his eyes sweeping over them all – Thorin gave a royal nod of both acceptance and relief – before his startling blue eyes once more came to rest upon Bilbo, which caused her to feel rather awkward, the worry that maybe she was the reason Thranduil had not come, which was ridiculous, she was only a little hobbit and he could not still be upset over… well, the stealing of the keys and of her dwarves from his dungeons. She gave the keys back, had she not!
She almost missed the mischief twinkled that had entered the elf prince's eyes as he continued, still speaking formally and like the high elf lord he was.
"And as pleased and relieved as he was to hear that Mistress Baggins is alive and well," Bilbo fought back a snort only for it to quickly turn into something close to choking when the elf prince added, almost off-hand, "but he feared that his appearance would warrant a hard smack across the head with her grandmother's umbrella."
As the whole hall fell silent, though every member of Bard's family was grinning as if this was some kind of hilarious joke, and even the elf maiden was turning her head away to keep from showing she was smiling herself while her elf lord remain serene, though his eyes twinkled with a friendly mischief light. Bilbo rather felt as if she would like the ground beneath her to open up and swallow her whole.
"I-I beg your pardon?" Dis was the first of the company to pull herself together, looking between the elf prince and Bilbo with a questioning expression.
Questioning our sanity most likely Bilbo thought doing her best to fight back the hysterical giggle that was building painfully in her chest as she pressed her face into her hands.
How had she forgotten that she had threaten Thranduil with her Grandmother's umbrella during their secret meeting with handing over the Arkenstone?
She could hear Bard quiet laugh and realized that this must be of his doing because there was no way Thranduil would have told his son of such an insult.
She shot him a betrayed look to which he only beamed wider in response. Clearly smiling came to him easier these days, for which she was truly glad of, but must it be at her expense?
"Bilbo?" Dis pressed when she saw she would be getting no answer from the elf prince or human king.
"Well I," Bilbo squeaked turning back to her company who were all staring at her with looks ranging from surprise, horror and genuine delight. Thorin was simply gaping at her while Dis looked as if she would like nothing better than a strong drink, though there was a slight hint of smile gracing her mouth.
"You see…" She waved a hand vaguely at her head, hoping beyond hope that the excuse of her head injury might be enough to drag her out of this embarrassing situation and the re-telling of that particularly harrowing night in Thranduil's tent, trying to bargain for the lives of her thirteen dwarves against an army of elves and humans. "I took a blow to the head during the battle and my memory is not what it once was, so I'm not entirely sure I said such a thing in so many words…"
"You did." Bard interrupted, his smile somehow growing all the wider, "I was there. It was glorious."
Bilbo's face went back to being pressed into her hands.
"I was quite upset at the time, if you do recall." She grumbled from behind her hands
"I do," Bard expression somber before his expression lighten again, "but even so, amusement can be found in a three foot tall hobbit threatening an elf king."
"I would have done it too!" Bilbo retorted hotly, rather forgetting her embarrassment at the thought that Bard might think that she would not have followed through on her threat, "if I had only had my grandmother's umbrella with me."
"I have no doubt that you would have," Bard barked with laugh.
"Hence my father living in mortal terror of you." The elf prince added with a wide smile that made him far more likeable than even his serene face.
"He does not." Bilbo snorted, "I am nothing more than tiny irritation to him at best! And at worse, a reminder that he needs better security on his dungeons."
"Security has most certainly tighten since your stealing of keys and dwarves, Mistress Baggins." The elf maiden assured her with a bemused smile, with a look torn between being impressed and somewhat insulted that a tiny woman had gotten around the Woodland Realm undetected and taking thirteen dwarves with her.
And with that, whatever tension had remained in the large hall had dissipated into nothingness and Bilbo quickly found herself being canjoled into telling, yet again the story of her meeting with Thranduil and Bard to trade over the Arkenstone. Only this time, she was told quite firmly by several of her dwarves, she was not to leave out any of the funny stuff.
Truthfully, she had never thought anything that had occurred during that meeting was in the least bit funny (it had been a meeting of life or death afterall, at least to her. The bargaining of a great treasure for the lives of her dwarves) but in the re-telling of it again, with the occasional comment from Bard, when he believed she had left out something he believed to be amusing, such as her reaction to Thranduil identifying her as the thief of his dungeon keys – She, of course didn't know how she looked at that moment, but she did remember feeling more than a little sheepish, and rather like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar when the elf king called her out about that. – she guessed that she could start to see the humor in amongst the gut-wrenching fear, the desperation and bargaining.
Her dwarves certainly could and it wasn't long before they were howling loudly at the high table in the feast table over her threatening Thranduil with her Grandmother's umbrella, which truly seemed to tickle their fancy.
In fact, well before the celebrations were over, the story was known to almost all present and someone (and Bilbo had a strong feeling that Kili was in some way involved) had manage to scrounge up some umbrellas and good-natured, if not somewhat drunken duels broke out amongst some young dwarves, with umbrellas being the only weapon allowed.
Bilbo sat back in her chair at Thorin's left side, her mouth hanging slightly open in disbelief over the chaos (cheerful chaos, for clearly such chaos did indeed exist in Dwarven Halls) that had erupted around the hall – she was also fighting back the desire to laugh, laugh long and hard in pure joy because all was well! – when she felt the lightest of touches against her hand.
With a bright grin, she swung around to face Thorin, who for a moment, simply sat there, staring at her, his dark blue eyes roving her bright and smiling face. For a moment she worried she might have something on it, for why else would he be looking at her as intently as he was, when a slow, warm smile (the smile that had always set her heart pattering the few times it showed upon his face and she had desperately, desperately wished for it to be directed at her… like it was now) etched its way across his handsome face.
"Do you believe me now?" He asked softly after another moment or two of himself looking at her fondly with his slow, wonderful smile.
"Believe you?" She asked a little breathless. Her mind it seemed had gone quite blank in the glow of that beautiful smile.
"I said this morning that you had nothing to fear; not from the elves, or the collective people of Dale and Laketown. And certainly not from my dwarves. You have endeared yourself to all manner of folk, for simply being who you are." His smile soften as he reached out and gently touched her cheek fondly, "Live in fear no more. All is well for you are safe, and you are loved."
Fighting back tears, she beamed at him in returned, feeling light of heart and as if she truly belonged as she chattered with elves and dwarves and men-folk alike well into the night.
All worries over any residual resentment or grievances still being held towards her were well and truly gone by the time she and her cousins happily stumbled their way back to their apartment.
When her head hit her pillow, she dreamed not of death or pain, but of a future that might not be so foolish to hope.