A/N: This is it! The last chapter! This was supposed to be a one-shot, you know? Thank you so, so, so much for your comments, kudos and support. I have enjoyed every minute of writing this and I'm so grateful to all of you. I hope this is the ending you were looking for!

While this is the end of this particular story, I am in the midst of writing another story featuring these two morons. It's for a Big Bang challenge and it's an all human!AU and will hopefully be posted later this summer.

Thank you again and enjoy!

Bag End - three years later

"I believe I'm going to let Drogo Baggins court me."

Bilbo looked up from the papers she was reading at her desk in Bag End to stare at her young cousin, Primula Brandybuck.

"Oh?" Bilbo asked as Primula stood fidgeting by Bilbo's dining table, her hands continuously rearranging the bouquet of flowers she'd brought by.

"Yes," Primula said nodding decisively. "He's kind, but not too soft-hearted and intelligent, but not too clever. He has a lovely garden and is rather canny with wood-working."

"All very good reasons to begin courting," Bilbo said sitting back in her chair. "Drogo's a good lad."

"He is," Primula said. "I… He's very lovely to me and I, well, yes." She hesitated. "My only concern is…"

"Out with it, Prim," Bilbo said starting to smile as she had an idea as to where Prim was heading.

"Is he a Baggins-Baggins or is he a Baggins like you?" Primula said all in a rush. She glanced up at Bilbo who merely arched an eyebrow at her. She had the grace to blush, but Primula continued, "I only mean, is he likely to go off on an adventure without me?"

"Drogo Baggins would take you to the moon and back if you asked him," Bilbo said. "So, no, he's not likely to leave you to go off on an adventure. Nor is he a stuck-up stick in the mud like some of the other Bagginses. He's a decent blend of the two extremes, I should say. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, it is," Primula said finally leaving the poor flowers alone and coming to sit near Bilbo. "It's what I thought, but it's good to hear, all the same."

"I'm glad to help ease your mind, dear," Bilbo said going back to her documents. "Has he already been round for a walk?"

"We've gone on seven walks as of last week," Primula said looking rather like a cat with a lovely bowl of cream.

"Goodness," Bilbo said chuckling. "I would most definitely let him court you then. You don't want too much talk stirred up."

Primula made a face. "People talk too much. And I'm surprised that you'd be worried about talk, after all…" She broke off and looked away.

"After all I'm Mad Mistress Baggins who has been flaunting proper hobbit society since her mysterious disappearance and even stranger reappearance?" Bilbo supplied not looking up from her desk.

"Something like that," Primula murmured.

Bilbo sighed and turned again in her chair. "You're quite right, people talk. But the people I care about don't and that's all that really matters. I know what happened and well, that's another thing that really matters. The rest of the bunch can go take a swim in the Brandywine River for all I care."

Bilbo turned back to her desk and felt Primula staring at her back. "Something to add, Prim?"

"You're so cheerful today," Primula said slowly. "You're happy! Why are you happy?"

"I beg your pardon?" Bilbo asked turning once more.

"When you came back you were this tired, thin thing and you kept to yourself for weeks and weeks," Primula said. "The only time you spoke was when you went round the village reclaiming your furniture and when you gave Aunt Lobelia what for that afternoon-"

"Which she had coming," Bilbo muttered.

"-and since then, you've been quiet," Primula continued. "You only visit certain relatives and you keep yourself very much to yourself and you sometimes get this look on your face that's quite sad to look at, I have to say."

"Do I?" Bilbo asked, her voice softening as she looked at Primula.

"Very sad," Primula said. She shook her head. "It nigh on makes my throat close up when I see you looking like that. And you know I'm not a blubberpot."

"No, you most certainly aren't a blubberpot," Bilbo agreed.

"But lately," Primula said, her eyes wide. "You hummed!"

"I beg your pardon?" Bilbo said.

"You hummed! In the market last week while you were inspecting the cheese," Primula said. "You hummed!"

"Oh my, well, yes, humming," Bilbo said nodding. "Most certainly an omen of some sort."

"Oh, be serious," Primula said stamping her heel lightly. "You're not the hobbit you were when you came back."

"Ah, but the question is," Bilbo said holding up her finger. "Am I the hobbit I was before I left?"

Primula opened her mouth, then closed it and looked thoughtful. "Not…exactly? You're…sort of something new?"

Bilbo smiled. "That's what I thought."

Primula looked confused. "Bilbo, what's going on?"

"Nothing, dear," Bilbo said shaking her head. "I just feel better than I used to. And it was exceptionally good cheese that I found that day in the market, so you'll have to forgive me for humming about it."

"You're acting very odd," Primula said getting to her feet. "But I don't have time to try to figure out why because Drogo Baggins is coming to ask me for a walk soon and I don't want to be late."

"No, you don't," Bilbo said standing and walking with Primula to the door. "Have a lovely walk, and thank you for the bouquet. Have a wonderful time."

"I plan to," Primula said smiling prettily. She pecked Bilbo on the cheek and said, "I'm glad you're not like you were when you came back. Mad Mistress Baggins is miles better than Sad Mistress Baggins."

"I quite agree," Bilbo said. "Run along now. Don't keep dear Drogo waiting."

"It's good for him," Primula said as she headed down the lane.

Bilbo shook her head and went back inside. She took a moment to lean against her closed door and stared down her hall. Then, as she'd done a number of times since she'd returned, she walked through the rooms of Bag End. She trailed her fingers over the spines of her books in the study and through the linens in her linen cupboard. She even went so far as to stick her head in her wardrobe and breathe in the scent of cedar.

Then she returned to her desk and continued to read over her notes.

Her dinner later that evening consisted of a tasty salad of wild greens and some smoked fish.

After dinner, she read for a while, and then as she did every night, she curled up in bed and fell asleep thinking of blue eyes and towering mountains.

The next day, Bilbo headed off to the village to drop something off with her solicitors as well as pick up a few things at the market.

Whilst looking at some punnets of berries, she had the wild urge to start singing to them, if only to see what kind of a reaction she'd get. She, however, restrained herself and simply hummed a little.

As she headed home, she took in all the familiar sights of the Shire, the rolling green hills, the light laughter coming from the children playing around the party tree, the smell of the fresh breezes blowing through the fields. She had a smile on her face when she reached Bag End.

The rest of her day was spent in peace and quiet whilst writing and reading.

When her little clock chimed at half past three, she got up to fix her tea. She'd already decided on some of the cheese that she'd hummed at the previous week and some lovely oat biscuits and perhaps she'd try those new tea leaves that she'd picked up.

She was just setting everything down on her kitchen table when the door to Bag End flew open. Bilbo jumped up and reached for a sword that wasn't on her waist (it was in her trunk in the hall), then grabbed the teapot, ready to throw at the intruder.

"Four o'clock on the nose," a cheerful voice called from her hallway. "What's for tea?"

Bilbo burst out laughing as no one other than Bofur popped his head around the wall and grinned at her.

"You did say not to knock," he said with a wink.

"Of all the cheek!" Bilbo said laughing. "I can't…. What are you doing here?"

"Having tea," he said taking a seat and helping himself to a scone.

"Oh, yes. You've come all the way from Erebor to have tea, have you?" she said still grinning. "You didn't think to write?"

"You know us dwarves," Bofur said with his mouth full. "We like to rush in. Element of surprise and all that."

"Well, you've certainly surprised me," she said. She glanced at the hall. "Is it just you?"

"Not exactly," he said. He yelled something in Khuzdul and the door flew open again, and Bifur came into the room. He smiled broadly and said something to Bilbo.

"The same to you, I'm sure," Bilbo said laughing. "Oh, it is lovely to see the pair of you. Are you on your way to Ered Luin?"

"Something like that," Bofur said as he tossed Bifur a wedge of cheese.

"Oh, well, I have more food in the pantry," Bilbo said, her cheeks starting to hurt from all the grinning she was doing. "Let me just-"

The door slammed open again and Bilbo jumped. "Bombur?" she suggested to Bofur.

He shook his head. "His family's turned up in Erebor, you'll not get him away from his kids anytime soon."

"Nor out of the palace kitchens," Kili said as he walked in. Bilbo's jaw dropped open with surprise and delight. He grinned and swept her up into a hug. "Hello, Mistress Boggins!"

"Kili, you silly, dear thing," Bilbo said hugging him back. He sat her down and she framed his face with her hands. "Oh, look at you. You have a beard!"

"Rather respectable, isn't it?" he said rubbing his hand over his chin. "Ladies seem to like it."

"Ladies?" Bilbo repeated.

"Well, the one lady, I suppose," he said winking.

"Really? You're-? Oh, is Tauriel here?" she said excitedly looking towards the hall.

"Sadly, no," Kili said, making a face. "But that's another story and I'm starving."

"Sit, sit!" Bilbo said shoving him towards the table. "I'll just nip to the pantry-"

"Already done," a gruff voice said from the end of the table.

Bilbo whirled around to see Dwalin sitting down at her table with two armfuls of food. He set them all down on the table with a grunt. "Good to see you, lass."

"Good to see you, too, Mr Dwalin," Bilbo said laughing. "I'm afraid I don't have any fish this time."

"This'll do," he said before taking a large bite of some smoked ham.

"Well, it better," Bilbo said putting her hands on her hips. "And I swear, if any of my knives are blunted, there will be consequences."

The four dwarves seated at her table just beamed and grinned.

"Oh, dear, I've missed you all," she said, her voice catching. "I've missed you so very much."

"Missed you, too, lass," Bofur said smiling.

Bilbo swiped at her eyes and said, "None of that. You're here. I don't know why, but you are and I'm delighted to have you. I have so much to tell you and I'm sure you've got a million stories to tell me. Oh! Ale! I have ale. Stay here."

Bilbo rushed to her pantry and tried to pull her thoughts together. She had meant it when she'd said that she had much to tell them. In fact, their arrival was something of a blessing. She could hear the gentle rumble of their voices and she hugged the bottles of ale to her chest and closed her eyes.

Oh, she'd missed those ridiculous dwarves so much.

She headed back into the dining room, announcing, "Ale, gentlemen!"

A happy roar sounded from the table and she laughed as she started to pour into decorative mugs they'd just pulled off the mantelpiece. She had a moment of worry that they were using collector's items, but decided to just go along with it.

She'd just finished pouring some into Kili's mug when there was a sharp knock on the door. Bilbo paused and looked at the suddenly silent table. Four dwarves stared back at her.

"That'd be –" Dwalin began.

"The door, yes. Who- What's going on?" she asked, her heart started to flutter and her chest began to ache.

"You didn't exactly tell everyone not to bother knocking, lass," Bofur said smirking.

"Oh," Bilbo said straightening, her hands trembled where they held the ale and she looked at the hall. "Do you know I don't think I can move? How funny."

Bifur got up and quickly went over to the door. She heard him rumble something and someone entered Bag End. She heard the door close and then, oh and then.

Thorin Oakenshield stood in her parlour.

She stared at him.

He stared back at her.

The silence was broken by Bofur whispering, "Best grab that bottle, lad."

Bilbo was distantly aware when Kili took the bottle from her hands, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, she just stared and drank in the sight of Thorin, alive and well and in her parlour.

There was considerably more grey in his hair than before and his beard was fuller. His eyes remained a startlingly bright blue and he wore simple travelling garb, not armour.

She wanted to say something, but she just couldn't seem to make her voice work.

"You'll be pleased to know that I only got lost the once this time," he said, his voice gentle and soft.

Bilbo swallowed hard, oh, his voice. The sound of it did things to her that she thought she must have dreamed. If only she could find her own voice and say something.

"The journey is much easier when you don't have a pack of orcs dogging your every move," he continued. "It was…almost enjoyable."

Bilbo just kept staring.

"I never got the chance to thank you," he said staring into her eyes. "For saving my life on the mountain. You gave me back my advantage and I do not know how I can repay you for it."

He broke off and looked away. Bilbo felt tears gather behind her eyes as he walked over to the hearth. He rested a hand on the mantelpiece and it was as if time had spun backwards and she was back on that night when her life changed.

"You once told me that you gave me your heart when I sang here in your parlour," he said staring down at the empty hearth. He looked at her. "I never told you when I gave you mine." He dropped his hand from the mantel and faced her. "I gave you my heart when you left with us from Rivendell."

Bilbo's eyes widened. Rivendell?

He smiled. "You came with us. You believed in our quest enough to leave a place that you held in high esteem, and that filled you with wonder, in order to aid us in our journey. And I lost my heart to you when you turned your back once more on comfort and ease to travel with a company of dwarves on a quest that had no hope of succeeding."

Holding back tears was an exercise in futility, and they spilled down her cheeks. Thorin's face hardened and his voice was harsh and jagged when he spoke.

"But while you took care of my heart and treated it with kindness and love," he said, "I treated yours with cruelty and violence. I was mad and mistrustful and everything everyone said I would be. I was callous and I threw you away and I am sorry. More sorry than I can say. And I cannot ever forgive myself and though it is the one thing, the only thing I wish for in this world, I cannot bring myself to ask for your forgiveness, for I do not deserve it."

"Oh, stop, just stop," Bilbo said, her voice cracking.

Thorin stopped abruptly and stared at her helplessly. Bilbo knew that there were other people in the room, but she didn't care.

She walked straight to him and cupped his face, his dear, ridiculous face, in her hands.

"Firstly, you are never, ever, ever to speak to me like you did," she said firmly. "You are never to speak to your company the way you did. And you are never to manhandle me like you did."

"Never," he said hoarsely, staring down at her. "I swear it."

"And there is to be no talking of you not deserving my forgiveness," she said. "For I'm giving it to you willingly. I forgive you, Thorin. I forgive you, because I know that you will never let that madness overtake you again."

He shook his head. "The Arkenstone has been buried back in the mines where it came from and I've abdicated."

"And furthermore-you what?" Bilbo froze.

"I've abdicated," he said as simply as one might ask for another pint of ale.

"I don't- What?" she said. "How?"

"Bilbo, how could I rule over a people that I disgraced so totally?" he asked, shaking his head. "I set out to do what I aimed to do. And that was to provide a home for my people and my family. I've done that. I've no need to do anything further."

"Not to mention that devil bashed your lung and your foot and you'll not be likely to win too many battles in the future," Dwalin grumbled.

"I'll win enough," Thorin said, raising his voice but keeping his gaze fixed on Bilbo. "But I'm not the dwarf I was and I don't want to return to him in any case."

Bilbo stared at him and bounced on her feet slightly. "Oh, Thorin."

"No," he said gently, grasping her wrists and pulling her hands from his face. He kissed her knuckles. "Don't pity me, mistress. I'm well enough and Fili is and will be a fine ruler."

"Better him than me, eh?" Kili called out.

Thorin rolled his eyes. "Your words, nephew, not mine."

"Thorin-" Bilbo said, but she stopped. For what was there to say?

"I'm not here to ask anything of you, Bilbo Baggins," he said bowing his head over her hands. "I only…wished to see you again. You left without saying good-bye."

"Because I knew if I saw you, I'd stay," she said sniffling. "And I needed to leave. You said that you aren't the dwarf you were when you started? Well, I'm not the same hobbit. But I needed to come home to know that. And I have no wish to return to her, as you've no wish to return to him."

He stared at her, but she noticed that his breathing had increased as he said, "Bilbo. What are you- What would you ask of me?"

She squeezed his hands. "The only thing I wish for…is to know you again. To be near you again. To hear you laugh and to hear you sing and to simply…learn you again. May we do that?"

"Yes," he said and now his voice was the one to crack. "I'm yours, Bilbo Baggins, to do with as you please."

"Then it would please me very much if you were to come and sit down and have tea with us," she said. "And it would please me if you were to stay awhile, if you can."

"I have no fixed plans," he said the corners of his mouth curved up. "And I would be honoured to join you for tea."

"I have a lovely batch of scones, freshly baked this morning," she said.

"To be perfectly honest," he said. "I prefer toast."

She snickered. "Of course you do. Well, then it's a good thing I have two loaves of some lovely granary."

"A very good thing, indeed," he said.

"There's only one last thing to do," she said seriously.

"Which is?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

She rose up on her toes and kissed him firmly on the mouth. She meant it to be a quick kiss. A kiss to seal an understanding, if you will. But Thorin had other ideas and well, so did her own mouth, apparently.

It was some time before Bilbo found herself back on her feet and staring up at Thorin, her lips tingling and the hair around his ears thoroughly mussed. Oh, had that been her hands tangled in his braids? And had she heard clapping?

She looked over at the table of grinning dwarves and cleared her throat.

"More ale, gentlemen?"

She took the cheerful roar as an affirmative, and her hand firmly in Thorin's, she led him to the table.

The next several hours were spent eating and listening as they shared their tales of Erebor and Dale. Bilbo listened with wide eyes and a smile on her face as they told of all the settlement's accomplishments.

"Trade?" she said at one point. "With the elves? Truly?"

"It was impressed upon me that it would be a lucrative venture," Thorin said. "And so far, it has been."

Kili snorted but didn't say anything, even when Thorin glared at him.

"Am I missing something?" Bilbo asked looking between the two.

"More like someone," Kili said under his breath.

"For Mahal's sake, the lady urged you to go herself," Thorin said rolling his eyes, but his voice was light and amused.

"I could have talked her round," Kili said, thunking his mug on the table. "Bloody elves and their challenges of the heart."

"If it was easy, it wouldn't be a challenge," Thorin said grinning. "And it wouldn't be pursuing. She wouldn't be pursuing."

"You're only saying that because the love of your life is sitting next to you with her hand firmly affixed to your knee," Kili retorted.

Bilbo jerked her hand off of Thorin's hand (and when had she placed it there in the first place?) so quickly, her hand hit the bottom of the table and the entire group erupted with laughter. Bilbo included.

Thorin took her now-aching hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "I'm still in the midst of my pursuing my love, Kili, just as you are. I have no doubts there will be many challenges I'll need to face. I've already faced distance and longing. You've only just begun."

"Then would you like me to top up your ale?" Kili asked. "So we can progress swiftly into the dwarvish tradition of singing odes to our ladies' accomplishments from atop the nearest table?"

"Don't you dare stand on this table, Kili, son of Vili!" Bilbo announced. "It was only polished day before yesterday and I'll not have those absurd dwarvish boots marking it up!"

The table roared with laughter again and Bilbo squeezed Thorin's hand and smiled up at him. He smiled back more broadly than she could ever recall him doing so.

The laughter and the stories continued well into the night and if Bilbo's nearest neighbours hadn't been scandalised from her disappearance and reappearance three years ago, they most likely were now at the raucous shouts and thumps that came from her dining room.

When even Dwalin began to show signs of fatigue, Bilbo directed them to her spare rooms and loaded them all down with quilts and pillows.

Bofur flopped face first onto one bed, his feet dangled over the edge, only moving over when Bifur shoved him to the side.

Dwalin, Kili and Thorin took the largest of the spare rooms and Dwalin and Kili good-naturedly bantered as they fought over the bed next to the window.

Thorin lingered in the hallway and Bilbo smiled.

"You should probably know that while I'm delighted beyond all measure that you're here and I'm devoted to knowing you without the threat of imminent danger and orcs and skinchangers and goblins and rushing rivers," Bilbo said. "I'm not going to make this easy on you. You were terribly cruel, you know."

"I know," he said nodding solemnly. "I'll face anything you ask of me and should you decide that you no longer wish for my company, I'll go."

"I doubt it will come to that," she said smiling. "But thank you, all the same. Toast and a walk in the morning, then?"

"If you have any spare fishing tackle, I had considered going fishing and asking you to join me," he said starting to smile. "Unless that's too forward of me to ask?"

"Just the right amount of forward, I should think," she said. She took a step back. "I think I'll forgo kissing you just now. It appears my mind doesn't have much control over my lips at present."

The look Thorin gave her warmed her head to toe and she could only grin and then dart down the hall to her own room.

"Miss Baggins," he called when she reached her door.

She looked at him.

"Good night," he said, inclining his head formally.

"Good night, Thorin," she said.

Then she slipped into her room and threw herself on her bed, hands pressed to her mouth to hold in her laughter.

Oh, she wasn't going to sleep a wink.

"Really?" Bilbo asked the following morning as she watched Thorin carefully construct a new hook for his fishing line.

"The old ones were rusted," he said delicately curving a piece of thin metal into a perfect hook. "I doubt the fish would have been attracted by such sub-standard metal."

"Well, I told you it had been a while since I'd done this," Bilbo said smiling. "At least the poles are still in working order."

"Very good craftsmanship," Thorin said. "Your father's hand?"

Bilbo nodded. "He was very talented. There are some pieces in the house that he and his father made that I cherish."

"You have a lovely home," he said attaching the new hook to his line and gesturing for her pole. "I don't think I told you that before, but you do. It's everything that is comfortable and warm."

"Thank you," she said, her face flushed and she ducked her head to hide how pleased his words made her. Naturally, he saw and reached out a hand to touch her chin. She lifted her eyes.

"I mean it," he said. "You have a beautiful home, Bilbo Baggins."

"It's no Erebor," she said.

"Few things are," he said chuckling. "But that doesn't make them any less worthy or special."

She tilted her head to the side. "You have changed, haven't you?"

"Only some," he said shrugging. "I still find elvish design to be overly dramatic and far too fixated on leaves."

Bilbo snickered. "Well, you're not wrong about the leaves."

He grinned slyly and she bumped her shoulder against his. They then spent the next hour fishing and talking of everything and nothing in particular; which set the tone for the rest of the week.

Mornings were spent on either longs walks through the fields or quiet hours fishing. As the dwarves couldn't stand to be idle, afternoons consisted of Bilbo directing them as they repaired certain parts of Bag End that Bilbo had been meaning to get done for ages. Her bathroom was completely redone and she now had a cunning little stone terrace in her back garden.

During the evening, Bilbo could almost imagine they were back on the journey as they sat around her hearth trading stories and drinking ale and eating as much as they could stand.

One week turned into two weeks and then into three.

Thorin had been everything that was thoughtful and quiet and yet, Bilbo could see that while he had found some contentment in the Shire, he would sometimes stare off into the distance in the direction of where the Misty Mountains ranged.

One morning, Bilbo took his hand and asked, "Walk?"

"Of course," he replied.

His hand was large and warm and comforting around her smaller hand and she swung their joined hands a little as they walked. Thorin chuckled and let her pull him into the woods behind her house.

"Have I said that I'm glad you're here?" she asked.

"Not as such, no," he said. "Are you glad?"

"Very," she said firmly.

"Good," he said just as firmly.

They continued to walk deeper into the woods, their path slowly started to slope down.

"Do I hear water?" he asked. "We didn't bring any tackle."

"It's not very deep and runs too fast to fish in," she said. "It's just a nice spot. Did you bring your pipe?"

"Naturally," he said squeezing her hand. "Although, I'm not trying that leaf of yours again."

She laughed. "Old Toby isn't for everyone, it's true."

"Never felt so light-headed in my life," he said. "Apart from the first time we kissed."

"Stop that," she said, glancing up at him. "I'm quite immune to your charms, Thorin Oakenshield."

"I dearly hope that's not true," he said. "You haven't seen the best of them yet."

"I think I have. And in any case, I liked you in spite of your charms," she said quietly. "I liked you for your honour and your passion. I liked you for you."

Thorin was silent for a few moments, before he said, "Thank you."

Bilbo squeezed his hand.

"You're going to have to duck I'm afraid," she said as she led him towards a dense copse of small oak trees.

She pulled him into the trees and he leaned forward to avoid the lower branches.

They emerged in a small alcove where a clear stream ran over mossy rocks and weeping willows dangled their thin branches into the water.

"This looks oddly familiar," Thorin said sounding amused.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're referring to," Bilbo said lightly before sitting down against a sturdy cedar and pulling out her pipe.

Thorin merely chuckled and sat down beside her. They set about the usual business of preparing their respective pipes and then settled against the tree in quiet.

Bilbo sighed and leaned fully against Thorin. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders and turned his head so that his lips pressed against her hair.

"You still smell of sunshine and green fields," he murmured.

She turned her own face into his arm and breathed in. "So do you."

He pulled her closer and said fiercely, "Bilbo, why are we here? This is where your father proposed, is it not?"

"Yes, it is and it was my mum, if you'll recall," she said. She raised her head. "We're here because I wanted to tell you that I no longer wish to be courted by you."

He froze and went rather pale. "I…see. I…" He swallowed. "I quite understand. I'll depart in the morning."

"Oh, no," Bilbo said smiling. "Delay the departure for another week, if you're able. I should have the appropriate wagon by then. I had no idea how difficult it would be to procure a suitable caravan."

Thorin stared at her, and then just said, "What?"

"I've spent the last few months thinking about my parents," Bilbo said. "Wondering what they'd think of me, of everything that I'd been through and what they'd want for me." She traced the edge of his tunic with her finger. "And even what they'd think of you."

"And what conclusion have you come to?" he asked, his voice faint but steady.

"Well, my mother would have loved you," Bilbo said. "She would have thought you were the grandest adventure that a hobbit could embark upon."

"And your father?" he asked.

Bilbo frowned. "He would have been a bit more circumspect, I think. He would've said something like, 'Well, poppet, is he your choice or merely an interesting one? Will he be good and true to you? Will you be able to see yourselves through hardship together and enjoy the quiet, too?'"

She tapped out the remnants her pipe ash and said, "I would have replied, "Well, we've already been through terrible hardship and it appears that we can still have a peaceful morning together. He's promised to be good and true to me and is following up on his promise. And yes, he most definitely is my choice."

Thorin threw his pipe down and swiftly curled his arm more fully around Bilbo's shoulder to stare into her eyes.

"Bilbo Baggins, what are you saying to me?" he asked.

"I'm asking you to marry me, you clot," she said poking him in the chest. "Was I not clear on the matter?"

He stared at her in stunned silence before crushing his mouth to hers. Bilbo laughed into his mouth as they kissed and she quickly found herself pulling him down to her as she fell back onto the grass.

"You've been teasing me this whole time?" he asked in between kisses.

"Not the whole time," she said arching her throat to allow him better access to her skin. "I already knew that I wanted to go to you even before you arrived. I couldn't have planned that better, to be honest. Now I'll have help packing."

"I never received a single letter," he said sliding his hands down her side and up under her skirts. "You haven't said a thing."

Bilbo moaned at the rasp of his hands on her sensitive skin. "I wanted to get everything in place and then just go. If I had to wait for a reply, you might have tried to talk me out of it."

"Never," he said through gritted teeth while she tugged at his tunic. "I need you with me. I want you with me."

"You told me to go once," she reminded him once she got his tunic off of him and started to work on getting his shirt off. "I couldn't take the chance that you'd try to be noble in a letter. After all, the surprise arrival has proved to be fruitful in the past." He whipped his shirt off and Bilbo just stared at the breadth of his chest and tentatively reached out to place her hands on his pectorals. "Oh, my. All mine. How lovely."

He grinned and then started the process of taking her shirt off. "All yours. All of me, all of what is mine, is yours. All of it."

"And I plan to make expedient use of it directly," she said struggling to get her arms out of her sleeves and shimmy out of her underpinnings.

The next few minutes were spent frantically disrobing and pressing kisses to every single inch of skin that emerged and then… Oh. Well.

Well, then things got particularly breathless and energetic and all together rather lovely.

It was firmly well past elevenses and, quite possibly, lunch by the time activities settled down and approached respectable once more beside the stream. Bilbo was clad only in her shift and skirt and Thorin couldn't be bothered to put his tunic on or tuck in his shirt, and they dozed together against the tree.

"Just to be clear," Thorin said, gently running his hand up and down Bilbo's arm. "You are coming home to Erebor with me, you wish for me to be your husband and you've been planning this for some time?"

"Correct," she said leaning up to press a kiss to the underside of his chin. "If you'll still have me, that is."

"I think I may as well," he said. "You still have possession of my heart, you know."

"Likewise," she said quietly. "You always have."

He took her hand in his and pressed a slow kiss to her palm. "My burglar."

"My former King Under the Mountain," she whispered.

Thorin looked at her with those blue eyes that she'd spent the last however many years dreaming of and said, "You do realise that your scheme of just arriving on my doorstep was positively dwarvish in nature and veered upon impractical?"

"Heaven help me," she said grinning up at him. "And I shouldn't worry. I'll be sure to once again inject practically into your life."

"Good," he said rubbing his nose alongside hers. "We dwarves could use a little bit of practicality."

"Truer words have never been spoken," she said.

"Hush, Mistress Burglar," he said. "I'm being charming and romantic."

"Very well," she said arching into his arms. "Carry on."

He did.

Quite enthusiastically.

It was a week later that saw the final departure of Bilbo Baggins from the Shire. Not wanting a fuss, Thorin and Bilbo were married in a quiet ceremony at her uncle, the Thain's house with only a select audience. Bag End was left to her nephew Drogo Baggins and in a finer pair of hands it could not have rested.

The small company of dwarves and one female hobbit made their way to catch up with a group of dwarves departing Ered Luin for Erebor. Bilbo was introduced to Thorin's sister, Dis, something that he and Kili both came to regret slightly as the two women got on famously and were nigh on unstoppable when they put their heads together.

In fact, it was mostly assuredly the result of Bilbo and Dis' planning that saw the caravans reach Erebor a full two weeks ahead of schedule.

Bilbo received a hearty welcome from the other members of the company at Erebor and spent a long, happy day in Dale with the ladies of Laketown. She would come to spend at least one day a week in Laketown learning all she could from them and teaching them all she could about gardening.

Life in Erebor was busy and full and life with Thorin was filled with a wonderful combination of quiet moments and the occasional loud argument. While it was true that he'd officially abdicated, he was still called upon for the majority of state matters and was still completely devoted to his people. Bilbo assisted where she could and where she couldn't she supported him fully and provided a most welcome pair of listening ears.

Throughout the years, Bilbo laughed and cried and laughed some more. She learned and she taught and she loved.

And not once, did she ever regret flying out of her door without a single handkerchief to her name in pursuit of an adventure.

~The End~