"We're here. We've made it to the Shire." She said as the Brandywine bridge came into view in the distance as the sun dipped lower in the sky, meaning they had only about three more hours of daylight.

"And it is here I must leave you." Gandalf dismounted his horse, and the other two did the same. Bilbo looked rather sad.

"That's a shame." The hobbit said. "I quite liked having a wizard around."

"As did I." Agarwaen looked at the wizard, a sad smile on her face.

"It seems they bring good luck." The hobbit stepped closer to the wizard.

"You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by just mere luck?" Agarwaen looked at Gandalf, wondering where this was going. "Magic rings should not be used lightly, Bilbo." Bilbo's eyes widened and an expression similar to that of a child that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar spread across his face. "Don't take me for a fool. I know you found one in the goblin tunnels." The wizard continued as Bilbo tried to get a word out. "And I've kept my eye on you ever since."

"Did you tell him?" Bilbo asked Agarwaen, still slightly shocked.

"I most certainly did not. In fact, I do believe he knew long before I ever did." Agarwaen replied.

"You know about it?" Gandalf asked.

"On accident. When you see someone disappear before your very eyes, you tend to want answers." She smiled at Bilbo, and a moment of silence passed between them.

"Well...I suppose this is goodbye then." Bilbo spoke up. "Farewell, Gandalf." He stuck out his hand.

"Farewell." Gandalf shook his hand.

"Galo Anor erin râd lîn." Agarwaen bowed. "Until we meet again."

"I will try and make it soon, my dear." Gandalf nodded with a smile. Agarwaen then began to follow Bilbo away, towards the bridge.

"You, uh, you needn't worry about that ring." Bilbo turned back towards Gandalf. "It fell out of my pocket during the battle." Agarwaen narrowed her eyes with a smile. "I lost it."

"You're a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I'm very fond of you. But you're only quite a little fellow in a wide world, after all." Gandalf replied before turning back to the horses.

"You're a terrible liar." Agarwaen whispered.

"Was it that bad?" He asked, slightly offended.

"Painfully bad." She smiled down at him. "Keep it safe and don't let anyone find out about it, Bilbo."

"I know. I won't." Agarwaen nodded, and they continued on still.

"This trip just gets lonelier and lonelier." Bilbo sighed. The sun was setting now as they trekked through what Bilbo said was East Farthing. They'd passed Whitfurrows a little while ago, where every hobbit they passed just stared at the pair, unbelieving of what they saw. An elf in the Shire was indeed a rare sight.

"That it does, Bilbo. But know that I will stay for however long you wish."

"Thank you, Agar. For everything." He said. "You...you're a wonderful person and I am honored to have been able to travel with you."

"Oh, enough of that." She waved him off. "I'm just me." Silence fell between them again for but a moment. "You're a very brave hobbit. One who I will never forget. I don't think I could find another even similar to you in a million years, Bilbo. Thank you for being my friend."

"Don't tell me to stop with the heartfelt moment and then go and give one yourself. That's not fair." He complained, earning a laugh from the elf.

"Then how about we both settle it with a thanks for our friendship?"

"That sounds fair." He smiled up at her. "Thank you."

"Thank you." She smiled back down to him. "Now, she turned back to the road. "It's getting dark. How far are we from your home?"

"Oh, about another seven hours or so I should guess." He said, looking around.

"Perhaps we should stop for the night." She suggested.

"Oh, but we're so close." Bilbo protested.

"You've been carrying all your things since Gandalf left with the horses, don't lie to me by saying you're not tired."

"There's an inn at Frogmorton just up ahead." He sighed, unable to deny that he'd considered just dropping all his souvenirs where he stood on several occasions.

"Perfect. And then we shall continue on in the morning." She smiled, and he nodded.

After spending the night on the floor of the room she had rented, as the bed was much too small for her, she met up with Bilbo downstairs where they paid for breakfast before heading back out on the road again.

Ever since entering the Shire, Agarwaen found herself constantly admiring the quaint atmosphere and little simplicities all around. Children ran around playing games, a great deal of the land was used for farming, and hobbits sat outside their little colorful round doors smoking long pipes or doing some gardening. Everyone looked so content and laid back, perfectly happy with their lives and the begonias that grew beside their front door. It was endearing, almost, and Agarwaen thought it to be quite adorable how the hobbits lived. Moriel would love this place.

"We're almost there!" Bilbo exclaimed excitedly, and Agarwaen couldn't help but smile as she had to pick up the pace to keep up with the hobbit. "Right down this road!" He smiled back, waiting for her to catch up, only to grab her hand and pull her along. Hobbits milled around them, going about their daily business, stopping to stare for only a few moments before deeming Agarwaen's presence none of their business. Of course there would be gossip about it later, but that was only during tea at four.

Bilbo slowed when he saw two hobbits carrying a piece of furniture down the road.

"Wait a minute, that's my mother's glory box..." He muttered confusedly. "And that's my dining chair..." He looked to another hobbit that carried said chair.

"Oh dear." Agarwaen murmured as Bilbo dropped her hand and he started to move faster.

"Put that poof down!" He yelled to another hobbit.

"Oh dear." The elf said again, now realizing exactly what was going on.

"What is going on?"

"Hello, Mr. Bilbo!" Yet another hobbit said as he set down a wheelbarrow full of belongings, no doubt belonging to Bilbo. The hobbit's face fell. "You're not supposed to be here." He looked confusedly up at Agarwaen.

"What do you mean?" Bilbo asked, still confused.

"On account of you being presumed dead and all."

"I am not dead, presumed or otherwise." Bilbo grumbled, now visibly angry as he readjusted his grip on his things and started to jog toward the gathering of hobbits before his house.

"And who might you be?" The hobbit with the wheelbarrow asked.

"I am a friend of Mr. Baggins'" She responded curtly before running after Bilbo.

"Stop!" Bilbo shouted as they approached the auction. "Stop, there's been a mistake!"

"Who are you?" Asked a female hobbit dressed in an ugly green.

"What do you mean, who am I? You know perfectly well who I am, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins!" Bilbo shot back. So that was the Sackville-Baggins that wanted Bilbo's house. "This is my home, and those are my spoons, thank you very much." He reached over and grabbed a handful of silverware from a basket Lobelia was carrying.

Upon noticing the elf that entered the crowd as well, it seemed the hobbits tried to shy away from the big person in their midst. She glared at Lobelia for good measure, and instantly, the woman's sour expression turned to one of fear as she backed away from the elf.

"It's been more than thirteen months since the disappearance." She heard the auctioneer say above the chatter of the hobbits who all muttered things about both Bilbo and herself, along with a few comments about wasted time and not being able to bet on the set of dishes. "If you are, in fact, Bilbo Baggins, and undeceased," Bilbo's face contorted in outrage at this. "Can you prove it?" Agarwaen's eyebrows shot up as she began trying to shoo some of the hobbits away so the place wasn't so crowded, and also to prevent theft as some hobbits in particular seemed rather fond of slowly inching toward Bilbo's belongings that had been laid out.

"What?" Bilbo exclaimed.

"Well, something official with your name on it would suffice." The auctioneer suggested, causing Bilbo to huff in frustration as he began setting things down so that he could pull out a piece of parchment from under his cloak.

"Contract of employment as a...never mind as what." He unfolded the paper as Agarwaen walked up behind another hobbit and took a very nice looking picture frame from the bundle of items she held without being noticed. No one was going to walk off with Bilbo's things if Agarwaen had anything to say about it. "There. My signature!" He handed the document to the auctioneer and started for his front door. Agarwaen was quick to follow, picking up what she could carry as she went.

"Well it certainly seems to be in order. Yes, it seems there can be no doubt. Who is this person you pledged your service to? Thorin Oakenshield?" Bilbo stopped.

"He is my friend." He said softly before finally reaching to open up the door.

"He's a great dwarven king to the east, that's what." Agarwaen told the auctioneer sharply after Bilbo had gone inside. She then snatched the contract back. "Thank you very much. Now shoo, all of you. This is all the property of Mr. Bilbo Baggins. If he reports anything missing, I will hunt it down myself." Multiple gasps erupted from the group of hobbits, and several of them dropped everything they held and took off down the road. Agarwaen nodded, and stepped inside the house after Bilbo, having to duck her head to get inside.

"I'm so sorry, Bilbo. Had I known, I would've let us walk through the night." She gently set down everything she took from outside down beside the door.

"N-no, don't apologize. Neither of us could have predicted this." He ran a hand through his hair. "No, if anyone should be sorry it's me. I can't very well let my guest sleep on the floor. I-I don't even have any tea to offer you!"

"Bilbo, please. This is nothing to be sorry about. I'll help you get back what you can, and we'll move everything back in and make this place look wonderful once more." She put a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't ask that of you."

"I know, that's why I'm offering rather than waiting around for you to ask." She smiled. "Please? I can't just leave you to this mess all by yourself." Bilbo looked up at her before reluctantly agreeing.

Agarwaen soon convinced him to go to the market to get some food while she tidied up the little things strewn about the floor and started lugging the big pieces of furniture back inside. By the time he arrived back, there was only a few more big things to move, which he helped with before they reassembled the kitchen and he cooked them some dinner upon her insistence while she continued to bring things back inside. Only a few hobbits felt bad for buying Bilbo's things and came to return them, but it was definitely a minority of the number of hobbit's she'd seen happily walking away with Bilbo's belongings. This just made her scowl.

After nearly six days of constant work, Bilbo's home was nearly restored to its former glory, only missing a few items that Bilbo had to spend a few minutes convincing Agarwaen not to steal back. He did have quite a bit of gold from the chest he'd brought home, so he would have no trouble buying more of some of the things that were missing.

Besides recovering from the auction, Agarwaen spent yet another week in Bag End, still not quite used to the idea of seven meals a day, but couldn't really complain as Bilbo was quite the cook. And then came the fateful day that she decided that she'd encroached on his space enough, and that it was time to hit the road once again.

"I really don't mind!" Bilbo tried for the millionth time to get her to stay for just one more night. Agarwaen shook her head.

"I promise I will visit, Bilbo." She smiled, bringing him in for a hug. "I will miss you, though." She ruffled his hair as she pulled away.

"I'll miss you too." The hobbit smiled back up at her again. "And if you ever get lonely..."

"Perhaps I will take you to the Gulf of Lune and the Gray Havens one day. You might like that." She suggested.

"I'm sure I would." Bilbo smiled sadly as they walked toward the front door, Agarwaen being careful to mind her head. She was sure she'd gotten several lumps on her skull by now, having hit her head at least twenty times since arriving in Bag End. "Do you have everything?" Bilbo asked, and Agarwaen did a mental check of everything she was carrying, the most important of which was her beads, Thorin's ring, her necklace, her provisions, and her coin purse.

"Yes, I do believe so." She nodded, kneeling down to become eye-height with the halfling.

"Farewell, Bilbo. I hope to see you again soon." She said, and he hugged her one last time.

"Go back to Erebor." He said quietly. "Thorin needs you." Agarwaen sighed as she pulled back to look Bilbo in the eyes. "I'm sure." He said before she could get a word out.

"I don't know, Bilbo."

"A very distinct difference between hobbits and dwarves, Agarwaen, is that dwarves are easily blinded to what's right under their noses. You may have kept your feelings hidden from the rest of the company, but I can see it plain as daylight. Go back to the mountain and tell him that you love him before it is too late." By now Agarwaen's face was bright red, and she was at a loss for words. "And tell them all I said hello." He added. Agarwaen slowly stood again, and sighed with an embarrassed smile.

"I will try."

Galo Anor erin râd lîn- May the sun shine down upon your path