All's Far in Love and War

Prologue

Bilbo's POV:

As I stood by the bed, looking over the girl I called my everything. She had just given birth to a baby girl. However there were complications during childbirth and there was no way to save her. I held my daughter in my arms once she was cleaned up and a diaper on.

"What will you name her?" one asked.

"Flora Elizabeth Baggins." I smiled as he wrote it down on the birth certificate.

"Beautiful." other hobbits cooed as I brought her out into the sunshine. Others would say she looked just like her mother and that was what broke my heart. She looked so much like her mother that it took my heart and shattered it into a million pieces. However it also took my heart and gave it to this small baby. A baby who will never know a mother's touch, never to tell her mother her crushes, no one to talk boys with. Well I guess she could do all those things with me.

As I watched this little grow up throughout the years she became the best fighter in all of Bag End. Any weapon she could get her little hands on she mastered it. Even if that meant that the weapon was ten times her size. Flora Baggins, some would say, would and will became one who will steal all the boys hearts and smash them with an axe. To which I just smiled and hoped that she would, because I never wanted to lose the one connection I had to her mother.

"Dad?" I remember her asking one day when she was 28 and I was 49.

"Yes my dear." I mumbled.

"If one day a wizard comes to our door and asks us to go on a journey with him, could we go?" she asked.

"No. We are Baggins my dear, and Baggins do not go on adventures." I replied.

"But arent we Tooks too?" she questioned.

"Yes that we are." I sighed.

"And dont Tooks love adventures?" she persisted. I nodded. "So why not go on adventure?" I sighed and gave her a long look.

Third Person POV (Many Years later):

"I should introduce myself. My name is Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey." Gandalf said as he meets Thorin in Bree.

"I know who you are." Thorin spat.

"Well, now, this is a fine chance. What brings Thorin Oakenshield to Bree?" Gandalf asks.

"I received word that my Father had been seen wandering the wilds near Dunland. I went looking, found no sign of him." Thorin explained.

"Ah, Thrain..." Gandalf nodded.

"You're like the others. You think he's dead." Thorin shook his head.

"I was not at the Battle of Moria." Gandalf stated.

"No, but I was." Thorin sighed.

"My grandfather, Thror, was slain." Thorin explained.

"Azog means to kill us all! One by one, he will destroy the line of Durin! But by my life, he shall not take my son! You will stay here!" Thorin remembered his father saying.

"My father led a charge towards the Dimrill Gate... he never returned." Thorin added.

"Thrain is gone, they told me. He is one of the fallen. But at the end of the battle, I searched amongst the slain, down to the last body. My father was not among the dead." Thorin stated.

"Thorin, it's been a long time since anything but rumor was heard of Thrain." Gandalf sighed.

"He still lives, I am sure of it." Thorin snapped.

"The ring your grandfather wore. One of the seven given to the Dwarf Lords many years ago... What became of it?" Gandalf asked.

"He... gave it to my father before they went into battle." Thorin told him.

"So Thrain was wearing it when... when he went missing... That's that, then." Gandalf sighed.

"I know my father came to see you before the Battle of Moria. What did you say to him?" Thoirn asked.

"I urged him to march upon Erebor, to rally the seven armies of the dwarves. To destroy the dragon and take back the Lonely Mountain, and I would say the same to you. Take back your homeland." he explained.

"This is no chance meeting is it, Gandalf?" Thorin questioned.

"No, it is not. The Lonely Mountain troubles me, Thorin. That dragon has sat there long enough, sooner or later darker minds will turn towards Erebor. I ran into some unsavory characters whilst traveling along the Greenway. They mistook me for a vagabond." Gandalf stated.

"I imagine they regretted that." I added with a small laugh.

"One of them was carrying a message." Gandalf spilled as he unrolls the message and slides it across the table to me. "It is Black Speech." I look at Gandalf with unease, "A promise of payment."

"For what?" Thorin ask.

"Your head. Someone wants you dead. Thorin, you can wait no longer. You are the heir to the throne of Durin. Unite the armies of the dwarves, together you have the might and power to retake Erebor. Summon a meeting of the seven dwarf families, demand they stand by their oath." Gandalf explained.

"The seven armies swore that oath to the one who wields the King's jewel, the Arkenstone. It is the only thing that will unite them, and in case you have forgotten, that jewel was stolen by Smaug." Thorin explained. Gandalf notices the two men that had been watching Thorin earlier get up and leave the bar.

"What if I were to help you reclaim it?" Gandalf asked.

"How? The Arkenstone lies half a world away, buried beneath the feet of a fire breathing dragon." Thorin questioned.

"Yes, it does. Which is why we're going to need a burglar." Gandalf nodded. The doors to the Prancing Pony opened and the two men who left earlier dropped to the floor.Everyone grew quiet and stared as a cloaked figure came in.

"And a very talented young fighter." Gandalf added with a smile, as the figure walked to their table. He or she put their weapons on the ground and pulled up a chair.

"My father must not know I meet you here tonight Gandalf. Please." she said, unveiling her face.

"I will not be taking a woman on a dangerous journey." Thorin added, shaking my head.

"You need me. Plus I am your burglar's daughter, and where ever he goes I go. So get over it." she snapped taking the last piece of bread and leaving. Weapons and all.