OOC: The following text is based on the actual IC conversation between Augir and Hanfrere.
Translation of the Khuzdul used:
ibinê my gem
abanith my rock (lit stone that is young)
musmasum little jewel
Mahal Aulë
---
A long awaited reunion!
It was only a few days ago that Augir rode past Needlehole in a great hurry to get home. Little did he know at the time, that the reason for his hurry was here all along. Coming down the road from the old bridge he couldn’t help but take in the scenery. In the background was the Rushock Bog with its familiar odour. The noon sun reflected in the numerous shallow green ponds, thus made the bog glisten like an emerald. Huddling on the brinks lay the hobbit burrows and further up, closer to the old bridge lay the dwarven halls. The market was bustling with activity, dwarves harking their gods and hobbits going about their daily tasks. As Augir rode past the large halls he wondered which one belonged to Norgi and Zhigi, his cousins of which the later by marriage. Augir tended to his horse and gave instructions to the ten dwarrows he had brought as guards. As he walked towards the market area he heard a voice that made his heart jump of joy.
He saw Hanfrere carrying baskets with vegetables she obviously wanted to sell at today’s market. Giving the old dwarf a stern look Hanfrere continued “I should belt you for that Borir! And this time I'm not paying for my spot either, the nerve!”
Augir couldn't resist the urge to sneak up on her “Always trying to make the best deal eh? Hello Hanfrere, Ibinê!”
She swiftly spun around, and pale as a ghost rubbed her eyes “Aug... wa... you...”
Quickly Augir rushed to Hanfrere's aid, as her legs gave away and she fainted. Sitting beside her, he kept whispering her name until she finally opened her eyes. “Heh...what?”
“Are you fine?...I didn’t mean to scare you” said Augir with a worried expression.
She got up holding Augir's arm firmly, testing to see if he was real. Augir couldn't help but open his arms in an attempt to hug his wife. But in return she slaps him on the nose. Hanfrere looked at Augir in anger but then the anger quickly faded and she embraced her husband “Oh, Augir! Mahal be praised!”
“If you have another slap in you, better have it done with.”
She giggled “Oh you silly dwarrow!” Hanfrere embraced her husband again “But how? You were dead... but I never lost hope, NEVER! They all said you were... dead, but I didn't believe them. I felt it”.
While landing a kiss on her nose Augir answered “Your love made Mahal send me back.”
Hanfrere blushed and with a chuckle he continued “Not quite, I just came home after all.”
Only now did Hanfrere notice Augir was carrying a flower in his hand “Is that for me?”
With a redish glow on the cheeks he replied “Yes, I picked it in the Vale for you.”
Looking at the flower a smile spread across her face “Oh, you silly dwarrow, you know I don't care for flowers...but its pretty”
Augir's merry laugh was infectious “Yes, today I am silly”
Hand in hand they walked to Norgi and Zhigi's hall. When they reached the hall, Augir noticed the banner of a mountain fluttering in the wind. The hall was large, several rooms from what he could gather...garden was well tended too. The owners of the hall was not at home so Augir decided to wait outside while his wife gathered her things, and their daughter.
Once outside Hanfrere started to explain “We now live with Zhigi and Norgi, but as kind as they are...my dreams have been to live together, the three of us in our home. Now my dream comes true.”
Augir looked at his daughter. It was the first time he laid eyes on her. Yet the news of her birth had reached him a few days before when Master Bob came to visit the Hammerfist hall.
“It is also my dream. I have thought long and hard while on my journey, of what to do when I returned” he replied.
“You should see her first my abanith...she has your eyes you know... and your colour beard. Fortunately she does have my nose.”
Augir chuckled “Aye, fortunately!”
“Zhidili she is called.” Looking down at her daughter, laying snug in her arms, she continued “Your adad is here little Zhidili”
Augir repeated her name as he reached out to receive his daughter. She seemed smaller now, resting in his big arms and hands. Hanfrere noticed a smile across Zhidili's face.
“She knows who you are my abanith... she feels it.”
Augir looked down at his little beardling with wonder. He couldn’t resist making a funny face that made Zhidili giggle. When she started to pull on his beard he looked over at Hanfrere who suddenly seemed worried “Let us take her to our halls quickly, I don't want her out in the open!”
And so it came to be that Hanfrere, daughter of Hani, Gem of the Broadbeams returned to Thorin's Hall and the hall of her husband. With the ten beard escort the journey was swift and uneventful. Augir's uncle Skaril was not far behind with another set of dwarves for escort, and a cart full of pigs. Walking up the stairs to their home, Hanfrere couldn’t help the tears from welling up. It looked just like she remembered. The crack in the cave ceiling made it possible for the mountain snow to cover the yard in a thin layer of white. The silent stone guardians hailed her as usual. The cackling in the chicken coop made her aware of her beloved pets:
“Oh, the chickens are already here! Maybe Skaril is faster then you think, my abanith.
Augir highly doubted Skaril would have made it here before they did “No pigs just yet! Maybe the chickens did fly here?”
Hanfrere was to busy to reply, petting her favourites ones; Thorin, Balin and Dwalin. When she was done she turned to Augir “Let us head inside, before our Musmasum gets too cold!”
Inside the hall things looked pretty much the same with one exception. The cooking area had been moved into the main Hall. Where it used to be, Augir and Skaril had made a room for little Zhidili. Her little crib Augir had crafted himself. Once Hanfrere had put the little one to rest she began to cook, filling the hall with a homely scent of cave-claw stew and newly baked bread. Augir then began to tell the tale of how he was captured in the Vale of Thrain:
“It was on the very first leg of the journey to Khazad Dûm, which the mithril key had prompted. I was standing guard when orcs captured me. They were bigger that the usual local rabble, and from their erratic behaviour it seemed to me they were lost in the blizzard. At first chance I escaped but I couldn’t find the company, so I tried to track them but I never found them. I went all the way to Khazad Dûm in hope of finding them, as I gave my word to master Kandral.”
Hanfrere added more spice to the stew. “That was brave of you my abanith, but maybe you should have come home...”
Augir sighed “Aye, I should have..why they reported me missing I guess. One thing led to another and suddenly I was on my way to Erebor and the king...to plea for more dwarves being sent to Moria.”
Her yaw dropped as he mentioned the king. “You met the King? The King of the Longbeards? I say!”
Augir's belly rumbled as he continued “"He was very gracious and listed to my plea. Yet he could not grant it, and sent me home with dispatches for Lord Dwalin.”
A spoon full of stew was put before Augir's lips: ”Here have a taste my abanith. Needs more spice?" With a nod from her husband she continued: “I'm happy to hear the Orcs learned the strong arm of my husband first hand!”
Augir replied with a grin “You know what your father Hani said when I paid him a visit?" He tried his best to sound like his father in law: “Lad, why ye need to go halfway across Middle Earth to slay orcs when we have our own ones right at our doorstep is beyond me!”
“Yes its true! But I don't want of you to slay orcs. I want you right here with Zhidili and me, my abanith. What if one of those orcs...“
Hanfrere paused and turned to her cooking once more. “... I couldn't bare it!”
“Don’t worry Ibinê, I have arranged for a position with the garrison. I will work in their armoury.”
“You have?”
Augir nodded “And I will craft tools and weapons for trade.”
Hanfrere sighed in relief, as if a burden was just lifted. “That is wonderful!”
“I have made a promise to Mahal, I will not depart on journey such as this one again!”
Hanfrere gazed into Augir's eyes “I cannot tell you how happy you make me by saying that!”
With eager appetite Augir ate two bowls of the delicious stew. He had lost several pounds during his journey and Hanfrere thought he looked skinny. So she offered him some bread with pig fat to go with the stew.
“My abanith...while you were away, cousin Norgi helped me and the little one greatly. I sold carrots and salad to help, but they wouldn't accept my coin.”
Augir nodded slowly “I know, and I must thank him heartily for his help.”
Augir scooped up the last of the bowl content with the bread and looked up at Hanfrere. He suddenly found himself lost in her big blue ocean eyes, full of warmth.
“I have missed you love, so much!” she said with a lowered voice.
Augir pushed the the bowl to the side, and ran his fingers through her hair. She smiled back with her eyes lit up...
Thus ended the day of Hanfrere's and Augir's reunion and this account.
