The next day, I waked with Fili and Kili through the Shire. I pulled on the strap of my bag and pulled my cloak around me a bit tighter.

"So, what's his name again?" Kili asks.

"Bilbo Baggins."

"Bilba Boggins. Got it." He says with a nod and a sly grin.

"No. Bilbo Baggins, Kili. Bo and Bag." I say and punch his arm playfully. 

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Freya. I'm messing with you because you seem so tense." He says and nudges my arm. After some time, he asks gently, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Freya, but know I'm here for you no matter what."

"Same here." Fili says. "You're our sister, whether through blood or not, and nothing will change that for me."

I smiled and said, "Thank you. Both of you. It's just...very complicated."

They glanced at one another, then Kili said, "Well, you know us. We make everything complicated."

I snorted. "Yeah, you do."

He pushed on my arm and I laughed, shoving him back. He stumbled a few steps forward then grinned at me.

"What?" I asked when he didn't look away.

"Oh, nothing."

"Kili, I seriously doubt it's nothing when you're involved." I say blandly and Fili laughs.

"Hey, Hey, I was just thinking. Dwalin really likes you. And you seem to like him back." Kili says with a grin.

I sighed heavily and began walking again but he just walked backwards, staying in front of me. "No, no. Hear me out. He's been nothing but a grumpy dwarf his whole life, but when you are around, he's all soft. I think he should give you a braid."

I felt my face flush scarlet. "What? No. We have a job, Kili. We're taking back the mountain- our home. Not arranging a courting braid for me."

Kili shrugged. "I like to multitask."

I lunged at him to try and smack him, but Fili said, "Guys. We're here."

He grabbed Kili's quiver and pulled him away from me and I rolled my eyes at him as he sent me a cheeky grin.

I walked up the steps to Bilbo's door and Fili and Kili stood on either side of me.

"Bow as one." Fili said as he rang the bell.

I could hear Bilbo's huffing behind the door and I felt a little bad.

When the door opened, he's eyes locked on me.

"I am Fili-"

"-Freya-"

"-and Kili."

"At your service." We said and bowed as one. Kili grinned at Bilbo and said,

"You must be Mr. Boggins."

I sent him a demeaning look but he merely winked at me and Fili stepped in and around the startled hobbit.

"F-Freya? You came with Gandalf yesterday! What is this?!" Bilbo spluttered, grabbing my forearm.

Kili looked at Bilbo sharply but I paid my brother no attention as I said,

"Yes. I came with Gandalf. But you'll see soon enough. I promise." I say and pat his hand. "Oh, and a heads-up, there are eleven more coming."

"E-Eleven more?!" Bilbo gasped, looking ready to faint.

"Yup." I say with a nod and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be gone in the morning. Just some business matters to discuss."

He didn't seem reassured but just waved me away and he waddled to the pantry to check on the state of it. I figured it would be partially empty by now.

I headed into the kitchen to find Fili and Kili talking with Balin and Dwalin. I headed inside and they smiled at me.

"Welcome, Freya. It is very good to see you." Balin said as he pulled me into a tight hug, lifting me off my feet.

"It's good to see you too, Balin." I say with a smile and a laugh. When he put me down, I asked. "So what is there to eat? I'm starving."

Fili grabbed my arm and pulled me to the table and said with a wide grin, "We have a lot here. Anything you'd like!"

I was amused by their excitement and let them pile food onto a plate for me.

The next two hours were spent laughing, drinking, and eating. One by one, all fourteen of us were in Bilbo's little hobbit hole, Gandalf arriving with a group of them. All we waited for now was Thorin.

By now, all the dishes were a mess and I had somehow managed to hide some food from the raving dwarves so Thorin could eat when he arrived. Dwalin watched me do this with an amused smirk.

"Thorin has to eat, too." I said seriously.

He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I know that. There would have been enough for him, lass."

"Yeah. Soup. You all were going to leave our king soup for his dinner."

Dwalin chuckled and rested a hand on my back and said, "You're always thinking of others." He rubbed my back and just smiled at me and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"All you fat asses would've eaten Bilbo out of house and home by now if I didn't save some for Thorin." I joked.

He just rolled his eyes at me and took a drink from his cup of ale. "You're annoying." He said simply.

I scoffed and pushed on his face and he coughed on his drink. "Yeah, but you don't mind it." I said with a small laugh.

He looked at me then with a serious expression, those brown eyes staring straight into mine as he said, "No. I don't mind it."

I found myself blushing and sat up and looked around to see the dwarves had started to clank their utensils together.

"No! Could you not do that! You'll blunt them!" Bilbo shrieked from the other room, face stricken with panic.

"Oh, you hear that, lads? He said we'll bling the knives!"

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks!" Kili began.

"Smash the bottles and burn the corks!" Fili joined in.

"Chip the glasses and smash the plates.... THAT'S WHAT BILBO BAGGINS HATES!" All the dwarves were singing now and I laughed as they began to toss dishes through the air, catching them and sending them into the kitchen to be washed and dried.

They were flung back into the dining room and stacked up as they were cleaned and the dwarves continued to sing. I just caught the dishes that were flung back into the dining room and began to pile them up on the table nearby.

"Cut the cloth, tread on the fat,
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat,
Poor the milk on the pantry floor,
Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in boiling bowls
Thump them up with a thumping pole,
And when you're finished if they are whole,
Send them down the hall to role!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"

The song finished with thunderous laughter and the dishes stacked up high on the table neatly. The cups were washed, and the silverware were all placed inside cups to keep them safe, organized by utensil. I made sure of this to keep poor Bilbo at least a little sane.

All the dwarves were gathered around a stunned Bilbo, laughing and pulling out their pipes to have a smoke.

The whole room went silent as three loud knocks sounded on the door.

"He is here." Gandalf said ominously and it made me shift uncomfortably.

Bilbo looked at the others, then made his way to the front door. But I couldn't pay attention on what was said next. There was a strange buzzing in my ears. It didn't matter how many times I rubbed my ears, the buzzing remained. A tingle went down my spine and I suddenly heard a voice in my head.

Gotta get out! Gotta get out!

I frowned. The voice didn't come from anyone in here and I didn't know who the voice belonged to, either.

I stood up and disappeared into a separate room that had a desk and chair in it. I untied the scarf I had around my forehead that covered the tips of my pointed ears and looked around, a frown on my face.

Almost got it! I'm so close!...ouch!

There was a thump in the wall. I realized it was coming from outside...

I peered out the window, but there was nothing there. I could hear the dwarves laughing a little and Thorin's voice. I clenched my jaw and ducked outside, trying to find the source of the sound.

I ended up walking a good distance away from the hobbit hole and found myself in a small grove of trees. The voice was louder now.

C'mon! I need to come out now!

I stopped suddenly, the voice coming from a bush on my left. I kneeled down and asked, "Hello? Is someone in here?"

There was a cracking sound, then a creak and something sounded like it fell. A thump sounded and I parted the branches and looked inside to see there were large chunks of blue shell littered all over the ground.

And in the center of the shell was the tiniest blue dragon I had ever seen, covered in a wet sheen of mucus, squeaking indignantly and sneezing once.

It was sitting like a dog and was turned and licking at the tiny wings on its back.

Yuck yuck yuck! Sticky! Stupid shell! I got out of you, so take that! I heard the voice in my head say and I sucked in a sharp breath. The little dragon looked up at me and tilted its head to the side curiously.

Are you my mamma? The voice asked in my head.

"I...I heard you. In my head." I said quietly.

The dragon tilted it's head to the side and it's tongue flicked out to lick the sticky membrane off of its face.

You not a dragon. You is a dwarf...or elf...? You must be Dracari, then. All dragons know those with the Blood! So you can be my mamma!

"How do you already know so much? You just hatched." I found myself asking it, still in shock that there was a baby dragon before my eyes. It was adorable.

The little dragon crawled out of the bush and shook itself like a dog would, flicking the mucus everywhere and I flinched as some landed on me. The little dragon crawled up onto my lap, it's tiny claws digging into my legs a little to find purchase.

Dragons don't actually age like mortals. We are different. We are magical. We just know things. We hatch knowing things.

"Do you have a name?" I asked finally.

The dragon shook its head. No. No I do not have a name. Dragons give each other names. I see and sense no other dragon, so you choose!

I blinked once, trying to register that there was an actual dragon, who hatched in the Shire of all places, sitting on my lap, convinced I was it's mother now. "How can I hear you in my head? Are you a boy or girl?"

I am male. And you can hear me because you are Dracari. He ruffled his wings as if he was shrugging. It is in your Blood. You hear the dragon tongue and hear the dragon thoughts. We speak all languages. We know all of them. Our minds are connected now. And do not ask how that all works. I am only a few minutes old. I have limitations.

I paused. I couldn't leave him here. I also couldn't bring him inside. I clenched my jaw then looked at him and said, "Alright. Listen. The people I'm traveling with, they don't like dragons. In fact, a big bad dragon came and took over the mountain they lived in and killed a lot of their people. So you can stay with me, you just have to stay hidden."

His forked tongue flicked out and he peered into my jacket then climbed inside. I froze as he did so and moved around against my stomach to get comfortable and secure, letting claws holding onto the fur and leather, then poked his head out of the top of the jacket. Is this hidden?

I smiled and scratched his little head with a finger. "It'll have to do for now."

I stood up and made my way back to Bilbo's hobbit hole, wondering what on earth I was going to do now, and what I was going to name him.