Homeward Bound Part One: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Nine

She didn't know what to expect.

On the one hand, she thought it possible she wouldn't remember anything. It had been years and, in all that time, she hadn't had so much as a single memory, not even a nightmare. It could end up the memories were so deeply buried she might never reach them.

On the other hand, it was possible they'd come flooding back all at once as soon as she left Bree.

The one scenario she never expected was for them to simply return one by one as though they'd never left.

The first came as her pony stepped out the gates of Bree.

Belladonna laughed, throwing her arms open wide as she stepped over the threshold.

"Isn't this wonderful?"

Behind her, Bilba had to agree. The landscape opened before them, devoid of all civilization. Here it was pure nature, flowers and trees and singing birds.

Bungo scampered past her, free to run as far as he could wish.

Ahead her mother had grabbed her father by the hands and was twirling with him right on the path, her father wearing an expression that was a mix of exasperation and affection.

Bilba grinned, and hoisted her pack higher on her shoulders. It felt as though endless possibilities had opened up before her. She stepped forward, anything could happen, and she could only imagine the wonders and sights she would see, the amazing tales she would return with.

Her father's face faded, and Bungo vanished, lost from her mind's eye.

"Bilba? Are you all right?"

Kili rode beside her, his face concerned.

"I'm fine." Bilba said, forcing a smile.

He didn't look convinced.

Bilba purposefully looked ahead, to where one of the Ri brothers rode ahead of her. The group was gathered in a relatively straight line, Thorin rode at the head and Gandalf, who'd reappeared without comment as they left, next to him.

Bilba was at the back with Fili and Kili on either side of her.

"I'm sorry," Fili said suddenly, speaking from her other side. He spoke with hesitation, as most did when they were about to touch upon something painful. "About your family I mean."

Bilba nodded. "Me too."

The brothers continued to watch her. Fili looked like he was about to speak again, then thought better of it. Instead he did one of those wordless communication things with Kili they were both so fond of, and the two slowly dropped behind her, where they promptly started up a whispered conversation.

"Do you think she's remembering?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Should we do anything?"

"She said she was fine. We can't make her talk."

"I know. I'm just worried!"

Bilba felt a small smile form, though she made sure to face forward and hide it from them. They were, after all speaking in Khuzdul, a language outsiders weren't supposed to know. Where her mother had learned it Bilba never found out, but it numbered among the languages she spoke. Her mother had taught her more from novelty than anything else, and warned her to never use it around Dwarves for fear of how they would react to a Hobbit knowing their secret language.

Her mother's laugh sounded in her ears and, for a second, Bilba saw her once more, along with her father and brother. The three of them ran on ahead of her, vanishing deep into a grove of trees, gone some place she could not follow.

Her smile faded.

Behind her Fili and Kili stopped talking and moved back to take position on either side of her again.

They rode on in silence.