"I don't like this story!" A little boy whose name was Madoc Grubb called out.

"The story from the beginning till now was amazing Mr. Bilbo!" Another little voice belonging to a young hobbit lad by the name of Merimas Oldbuck called out. "But I thought that it was going to be a happy ending!"

"Does Belle really die? And her nephews?" An innocent girl's voice cried out, Salvia Smallburrow, sounding on the brink of tears. "What about Thorin...does he not have a Queen standing by his side? Where's his happy ending?"

It's been 10 years since Bilbo had returned to the Shire, and 10 years since Bilbo had seen his friends...had seen the company. His return had been quite unpleasant for when he returned all of his belongings in Bag End were being auctioned off. He had to go around the Shire, after proving that he was indeed the real Bilbo Baggins, paying for his things to be returned...the absolute NERVE he would think.

When Bilbo returned though...he was not the same hobbit he once was. He was not as respected as he used to be when he left the Shire and the other hobbits thought of him as an oddity.

This particular day was his birthday, and he was planning to spend it just smoking his pipe on the bench outside of his house...not expecting very much visitors. But for some reason a bunch of hobbit children, deciding not to listen to their parents, came to him and eagerly asked him to tell them the story of his adventures.

So he retold the story, sitting on his bench beside his garden. And in his garden standing tall and proud was a fully grown white oak tree, and every so often...when Bilbo was alone he would be seen sitting beneath the tree, lost in thought and peacefully breathing out smoke rings.

"You did ask for me to tell of my adventures." Bilbo sighed a bit.

"So what happened?" A little girl asked, Pimpernel Diggle, the group of children now crowded closely around him. "To Belle and her nephews?"

"According to Fili and Kili..."

(With Fili)

Fili was in Azog's grasp...he was caught and dangling over the edge of the lookout...completely helpless. At that moment...he knew, he accepted he was going to die, and in the last minute he looked to his uncle who looked back at him with worry. Fili wanted him to run and he was just about to yell out when he heard some sort of commotion going on behind him.

Fili felt himself being jostled from side to side slightly and he suddenly heard the sound of an arrow being fired and flying past a bit above him...he could feel Azog's grip loosen greatly soon after.

Fili was confused on what was going on before he suddenly felt something solid collide with his body from behind and they started to fall. Fili was expecting pain...he thought he had been impaled and was thrown over, but he felt something enclose around his body.

"Brace yourself!" A male's voice called to Fili, their voice being carried around by the wind.

Fili took a glance behind him and saw Balamaethor holding onto Fili which shocked him greatly, he had saved him.

Balamaethor tightened his hold around Fili, his body completely covering the dwarf as they continued to fall, and as their body was getting closer to the ground on their way down they hit their heads on a piece of stone that was jutting out from the side rendering the two unconscious.

Their body hit the ground hard...though they did not know their body was cushioned by Beriohtarion.

Probably a few hours later, possibly after Thorin's victory, Fili awoke to find himself inside the watchtower. His body was dragged from outside the watchtower to being cleverly camouflaged...but Balamaethor was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that indicated that Fili had not been alone at one point was the footprints in the snow.

(With Kili)

Bolg had Kili in his grasp, preparing to plunge his staffed weapon straight through his heart. Kili turned to look to Tauriel who was lying not too far away from him. She looked up at him in fear and Kili closed his eyes, preparing himself for the pain as a tear escaped the corner of his eye.

But...the pain didn't come to Kili. Instead he felt his body being flung to the side and his back colliding with the staircase.

Tauriel came to Kili's side and helped him up. Kili was still in shock, confused on what had happened and he turned around to see Beriohtarion riding on Bolg's back, Beriohtarion holding Bolg in a head lock, attempting to choke and suffocate the beast.

Bolg was attempting to reach behind him to get a hold of the elf, but Beriohtarion was dodging the creatures failed attempts until Bolg got angry. Bolg flailed his weapon behind and Kili saw the end of the mace come into contact with Beriohtarion's head, dazing him just a bit, causing Bolg to take advantage of Beriohtarion's lowered defenses.

Bolg reached behind, took a hold of Beriohtarion's leg and flung him to the side. His body colliding with the wall and before Beriohtarion could recover Bolg ran up to him and took him by his throat and lifted him up, tightening his grip on the wounded elf.

"We must help him!" Kili yelled, straining himself to get up.

But before Tauriel and Kili could get to Beriohtarion, another body came jumping over the edge and colliding hard with Bolg causing the orc to instantly release Beriohtarion who collapsed and took in a deep breath, clutching his throat.

The newcomer was Balamaethor and while he was keeping Bolg occupied, Beriohtarion carefully got to his feet and inched his way to Tauriel and Kili.

"You two need to get out of here..." Beriohtarion said his voice strained and hoarse.

"We can't leave you here!" Tauriel argued as she stuck to Kili's side.

"You have to!" Beriohtarion said, coughing just a bit. "If Bolg gets his hands on you, he will kill you. Go to somewhere safe, away from Bolg and Azog."

"But-" Kili was about to argue, only to be silenced by Beriohtarion glaring dangerously down at the brunette dwarf.

"Our order comes directly from our Nana, we were meant to protect you and Fili!" Beriohtarion said, turning back when he heard his brother yelp. "If Balamaethor is here, then I'm sure your brother is fine as well...head back to where Fili was."

"Beriohtarion!"

The strained cry for help bought all their attention back to the fight, and Bolg was holding Balamaethor over the side by his throat, ready to drop the elf over the edge.

Beriohtarion looked back to Tauriel and Kili, placing a hand on the red head's shoulder.

"Go! Now!" Beriohtarion growled out before running to where Bolg and his brother was, his body colliding with Bolg and the three careening over the side.

(Back to Bilbo)

"But what exactly happened to Beriohtarion and Balamaethor!" Erling Brandybuck demanded. "The Eagles found them, but where?"

"If you would let me finish my story I would have gotten to it." Bilbo sighed as he smiled down at the children.

"I don't want you to finish though..." Marigold said sadly. "the hero dies..."

"I..." Bilbo said, looking down sadly before whispering sadly to himself. "I honestly don't know what to say to that..."

"What?" Madoc questioned.

"Nothing." Bilbo said, shaking his head. "What was I going to say?"

"Where did the Eagles find Beriohtarion and Balamaethor?" Hilda asked shyly.

"Tirananniel, if you remember I had said she was their...future seer, said they were found on a ledge over the waterfall." Bilbo said quietly. "Apparently even after they fell over on the lookout, Bolg had recovered and they were still fighting. Balamaethor fell unconscious due to having hit his head hard on the fall down to the ledge, and Beriohtarion got a fatal injury from Bolg's weapon."

"Did they survive?" Marigold asked.

"I'm sorry...I can't say...when I had left the great kingdom, they were still unconscious." Bilbo answered sadly

"Then...what about Belle?" Angelica Oldbuck asked. "Why did she fall unconscious?"

(On Ravenhill)

Thorin lay helpless, staring up at his enemy, preparing himself to be run through with Azog's sword. Thorin was defenseless; his weapon was out of his reach.

As Azog reared back his arm, preparing to pierce Thorin through his heart, Thorin reacted by averting his eyes away. He tensed and prepared himself for the inevitable.

But it didn't come...

Thorin opened his eyes and looked back to Azog only to see a tall person clad in black armor standing right in front of him.

Bellethiel had stepped in the way and from where Thorin was laying it looked as if Bellethiel was holding Azog in place for Azog was desperately trying to get his arms out of her grasp.

Thorin snapped out of his shock and quickly crawled to grab his sword. He jumped to his feet and came up from behind Bellethiel, and through the gap in her arms Thorin shoved his sword through and pierced Azog straight through the chest and straight into his heart.

The crunching sound of the sword piercing through armor caused Bellethiel to step away as Thorin pushed forward; the two falling to the ice with Thorin on top and in one final push, Thorin shoved the sword through the orc and straight through the ice. His enemy, the threat to his family...was dead as he watched the life from the orcs eyes vanish.

But what Thorin had assumed was not true for Bellethiel was not holding Azog in place. When Bellethiel had forced herself to her feet, she raced to Thorin with no weapon, she had placed herself in front of Thorin just as Azog was about to run Thorin through. In the process, instead of striking Thorin, Bellethiel had taken the hit and was run through. That gave Bellethiel the advantage as she took a hold of Azog's arm and held him in place, and when Azog went to strike her with his other arm she went to grab it and held firmly in place giving Thorin the chance to kill Azog once and for all.

(Back to Bilbo)

"What befell them...I don't know..." Bilbo said quietly. "I wanted to stay, and I did stay for a couple weeks, but Thenidiel said they wouldn't know when she would wake...or if she would even wake up."

"So you came back to the Shire?" Marimas asked.

"Tirananniel urged that I return for she saw that my belongings were being sold and they would inform me what happens while I was away..." Bilbo looked away sadly. "Letters were written and delivered to me...but they stopped coming...and I feared the worse..."

Bilbo looked behind him to the white oak tree, the tree being a constant reminder of the good and bad times he's had...along with those that survived that faithful day, and those that did not.

"I didn't want to leave..." Bilbo mumbled quietly, more to himself and forgetting for a second that there were children sitting around him.

"Mr. Bilbo!" A woman's voice called out.

Bilbo snapped out of his memories and looked to where the pathway was and saw Donnamira Oldbuck.

"Good morning Mr. Bilbo!" Donnamira said with a smile as she waved at both Bilbo then to her son and daughter, Merimas and Angelica Oldbuck.

Bilbo gave a cheeky smile before he placed the pipe to his mouth, breathing in, and blowing out a large smoke ring.

"What do you mean Ms. Donnamira? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not?" Bilbo questioned, raising an eyebrow in her direction. "Or, perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"

Instead of confusion gracing Donnamira's face, the female hobbit let out a chuckle.

"All of them at once Mr. Bilbo." Donnamira said with a wink.

This was a little inside joke passed between them whenever Bilbo had a chance. Donnamira most of the time would forget that Bilbo would reply with that, but sometimes Donnamira would say it just to cheer Bilbo up.

When Bilbo returned, Donnamira showed up and said that she knew Bellethiel when she came to the Shire to meet with Bilbo and she wanted to know how the lovely elf was doing. From that point on Bilbo had told of his adventures with the elf, her heroics, and their friendship, how wonderful she was...and the fate that befell upon her.

Donnamira was upset when she heard the news, but being the optimistic that she was, she told Bilbo that there's no proof that she passed on...that she could very well be alive. With what Donnamira said, Bilbo was grateful...but he didn't want to give himself false hope that his friend was alive when she could very well be...gone.

"I do hope the children weren't bothering you too much on this particular morning." Donnamira said, looking to Bilbo from his front gate.

"Not at all, I was just finishing telling the young ones of my adventure to Erebor." Bilbo said smiling sadly to Donnamira.

"That's not a good way to spend today." Donnamira said, smiling cheerfully up at Bilbo as she opened the front gate. "Come along children, time to leave alone so he can enjoy a day of peace."

The children around Bilbo all let out small complaints, but did what Donnamira said. Her daughter, Angelica got up quickly and ran to her mother, clinging to her mother's dress.

The rest of the children dispersed, but not before waving goodbye to Bilbo. The Oldbuck family stayed behind and that caused Bilbo to become a bit suspicious.

"Is there something I can do for you Ms. Donnamira?" Bilbo questioned.

"I actually came for two reasons, both I think will make today very special." Donnamira said with a smile. "First, I came to give you these."

Donnamira took something from behind her back, producing a large wicker basket full of what looked to be buttered scones.

"Happy Birthday Mr. Bilbo Baggins!" Donnamira said, walking through the gate and setting the basket besides Bilbo on his bench.

"Is it my birthday today?" Bilbo questioned in shock, clearly forgetting it was his birthday for a while. Bilbo looked down to the basket beside him before smiling up in appreciation to the female hobbit. "Thank you very much Ms. Donnamira."

When Donnamira did not move away, Bilbo looked at her in confusion and saw that she held a knowing smile on her face, clearly waiting for Bilbo to ask her something else.

"What was the second thing?" Bilbo asked.

"Something very interesting happened at the Green Dragon Inn today, actually at night we had some interesting guests passing through." Donnamira said her smile getting bigger if that was at all possible.

"What does that have to do with me?" Bilbo questioned a bit playfully.

"I can't say!" Donnamira said suddenly, taking Bilbo back a bit. "But it's something that you will really enjoy! The guests left me this to give to you though."

Donnamira reached into the basket and bought out a small folded up piece of paper, forcing it into Bilbo's hands.

Bilbo looked at the piece of paper a bit warily, before slowly unfolding the paper.

There wasn't much on the piece of paper, just something that confused Bilbo a bit more. The writing...Bilbo had seen it before, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen it from. It was beautifully written and the words on the paper were vague, but no signature to indicate who the person was:

Happy Birthday Mr. Bilbo!

Tea at four?

Hope pantry is full.

Bilbo was pondering over the note, and he must have been lost in thought for a while for when he looked up Donnamira and her children were nowhere to be found.

"Curious..." Bilbo thought out loud as he got up from his seat, taking the basket of Buttered Scones and bringing it into his house. "I suppose...I should go to the markets and restock."

When Bilbo went into the market, he did not know what to expect when tea time came around...he was still pondering on who the note came from. He wasn't sure what to get either, so he figured that restocking everything wouldn't hurt and that's exactly what he did.

Once he was home he put everything he had bought into the pantry, organizing everything on the shelves. There was still time before his mystery guest was to arrive for tea so Bilbo decided to tidy his hole up just a bit.

To say Bilbo was anxious was an understatement...he couldn't sit still even after he cleaned up his home. And at some point Bilbo had to force himself to sit down and quietly read a book, but even with a book in his lap he could not take his mind off what was to come. His leg would shake and his fingers were thumping against the cover of his book, before he sighed in frustration and placed the book back on the table beside his chair. Bilbo decided to just sit and stare at the door in anticipation, waiting for the mysterious person to knock on his door.

When tea time came around, Bilbo was now pacing in front of his door; he was huffing and puffing in irritation because he could not figure out who the note could have come from...not to mention his mystery guest was late. When finally, his door bell began to ring signaling that his guest had arrived and Bilbo tried to compose himself before he reached for the door handle and pulled it open.

The person on the other side caught him by surprise; because it wasn't just one person...it was two familiar faces that put a smile on Bilbo's face.

"Greetings Mr. Bilbo." One of them greeted.

"It's good to see you again lad." The other said.