Part Five: Lorelai and her family attend a mysterious party. Fili finally asks her a question seventy years in the making. (Edited 9/14/21)

Part Six: Fili and Lorelai celebrate their wedding with their family. (Edited 9/14/21)

Part Seven: Thorin returns from Bree with news of a quest from Gandalf the Gray.

Part Eight: Lorelai rushes to invite her brothers on the quest of a lifetime.

Part Nine: Fili, Kili, and Lorelai make their way to the Shire.

Part Ten: An unexpected party at the house of a very flustered Hobbit.

Part Eleven: Thorin and Dis finally make their way to the Shire. The entire company gathers in Bilbo's dining room for a long discussion.

Part Twelve: The company deliberates what to do while their burglar is unconscious.

Part Thirteen: Wages are taken on whether or not a certain Hobbit will show up after all.

Part Fourteen: The company stops on a mountainside and Lorelai finally gets to know Bilbo Baggins.

Part Fifteen: Lorelai wakes up from a horrible nightmare.

Part Sixteen: The company rests for the night only to come face to face with trolls.

Part Seventeen: Gandalf arrives just in time to free the company from being eaten by trolls.

Part Eighteen: Lorelai is entranced by swords from Gondolin and the company meets Radagast The Brown.

Part Nineteen: The Company is found by orcs and chased right into a cave.

Part Twenty: The Company arrives in Rivendell and are invited to dinner by Lord Elrond.

Part Twenty-One: During dinner with Elrond, Lorelai gets overstimulated and Fili helps her find a quiet place.

Part Twenty-Two: The Company decides to leave early in the morning and Lorelai and Bilbo begin to bond.

Part Twenty-Three: Lorelai wakes up from a nightmare and has a very confusing conversation with Lord Elrond.

Part Twenty-Four: Fili tries to help Lorelai find a cure for her nightmares.

Part Twenty-Five: The Company has to cross a mountain during a thunder battle.

Part Twenty-Six: Lorelai tries to talk Bilbo out of leaving before the floor suddenly disappears.

Part Twenty-Seven: The Company is captured by Goblins.

Part Twenty-Eight: The Company must fight for their lives to escape the Goblins.

Part Twenty-Nine: It seems like the end of the journey has come when Orcs corner the Company on a cliff side.

Part Thirty: The eagles drop the Company on a mountainside and Thorin and Bilbo go face-to-face.

Part Thirty-One: The Company is cornered by orcs but Gandalf proposes a "safe" house.

Part Thirty-Two: Lorelai nearly falls over on the run to Beorn's house, and Fili has a possible solution.

Part Thirty-Three: The Company meets Beorn the Skin Changer.

Part Thirty-Four: Beorn decides to help the Company and they lay eyes on Mirkwood for the very first time.

Part Thirty-Five: Lorelai leaves the path and loses the Company.

Part Thirty-Six: Lorelai finds herself captured by the Prince of the Woodland Realm.

Part Thirty-Seven: Lorelai is confronted by The Elven King of The Woodland Realm.

Part Thirty-Eight: Lorelai gets to know Legolas.

Part Thirty-Nine: Lorelai discovers the Ring.

Part Forty: The Company has to escape the elves by riding the river rapids in barrels.

Part Forty-One: The Company finds a taxi to Laketown.

Part Forty-Two: The Company sneaks into Laketown covered in fish.

There he was, coming up to from the left. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she watched the dwarf approach. As he neared, she dropped into her best curtsy, one of the few things she remembered from her mother.

"Your highness," she began, only for him to interrupt her.

"Róa, please. It's always just Fíli with you." His smile was brighter than the gold that glittered in his hair and on his fingers. "I'm so glad you made it. You look..." He struggled for a moment, seeming unable to find the words. Róa took pity on him.

"It's so amazing to be back. Erebor is beautiful. I honestly didn't believe it could look like this, what with how it was before." She turned to look out over the hall once more. "Everyone seems to have settled in well."

"Aye, we have completely rebuilt everything that monster destroyed, and Thorin reopened the mines two years ago." Róa felt the air change as he leaned against the stone railing next to her, and she shifted enough to keep their arms from touching. She wasn't sure she could handle actual contact.

"How is Thorin? And your brother? I know Oin was having leg trouble when I left, has he recovered? What about--" His laughter cut her off, and she gave him a questioning look.

"Have you been worrying about us all this time?" he asked, grinning at her. She had to force herself to focus on something other than his mouth to answer.

"Of course I have. I can't trust you to stay out of trouble, I know better," she replied, trying to tease. He turned to look at her properly, and she thought her heart might very well break when his smile faded to a small frown.

"Then why did you leave?"

Róa was at a loss. It was a simple question, one that she could answer easily whenever she asked herself. To have Fíli ask left her breathless, and she found her voice had vanished. When he did not receive an answer, the expression on his face made Róa wish Smaug would return to swallow her up. She hated being responsible for his poorly-hidden disappointment, but was unsure of what to say to mend the air between them.

“I want to show you something.” He suddenly took her hand, and she found herself being dragged along the balcony. He pressed his hand to the stone wall at the end of the walkway. A blast of cool evening air blew back her loose hair as he led her out onto what he simply called a porch, but what looked to her to be a giant, open room carved into the side of the mountain. Stone pillars lit with torches lined the wall to either side of the door, and the railing that protected visitors from falling to their deaths. He tugged her over to the balustrade, pointing out across the dark landscape.

“You see those mountains there?” Róa squinted, but even with her decent night vision and the light of the moon, she saw nothing. He continued. “Neither can I, really. But I know they exist there, to the west, because we crossed them together once. We crossed the mountains and braved the wilds and fought side by side. You remember that, don’t you?”

“Of course I remember --” She stopped when he gripped her wrist, his face more serious than she had seen it since the battle.

“Why did you come here, Róa?” She frowned at him.

“You invited me for your name-day, you dolt.”

“Yes, but you haven’t come the last four years. Why now?”

“Because,” Róa began, then found herself without words once again. She had been sitting at home in Bree when she received the letter, just as she had four times before. The handwriting was the same, a bit messy, with R’s and K’s that leaned to the left, and M’s that could barely be read. She had told herself she wouldn’t come, only to pack a bag and invite Bilbo along for the trip. “I don’t even have an answer for myself, Fíli, so I don’t have one for you. I’m sorry. I should have just stayed home.” She tried to pull away, and his hold tightened.

“Róa, please, I am glad you came,” he said softly. She made a small noise, and he loosened his grasp, his hand instead moving up her arm. She shivered beneath the soft touch. “I am glad you came...and I would be very glad if you stayed.” Her gaze shot up, and she was reminded of just how close he was standing when she could see nothing but his eyes.

“Fíli?”

“I want you to stay here with me, Róa. I wanted to ask you before, after the battle. But you left so quickly…at first I feared you had fallen, until Bilbo told me you had headed back to the Greenwood with a group of elves.”

“I am sorry to have worried you.” Her mouth was dry, her voice just a whisper. She felt his fingers brush her cheek.

“I was just happy to know that you were safe. But I have missed you. That’s why I invited you, each year, to come for my name-day. I had hoped that we might--”

“Please stop,” she whispered, pulling away from him. She took a breath and closed her eyes, so she would not have to see the blond dwarf’s face. “Prince Fíli, I am nothing but a straggler your uncle’s company picked up along the way. I’m not even a proper dwarf. I just…” Her voice failed and she turned her back to him. She tried to ignore the way her heart ached as she squared her shoulders. “Please forget about me, as I have tried to forget you.”

“Róa.” Strong arms wrapped around her waist and a warm chest pressed against her back. “It matters not to me if your mother was a human. I wouldn’t care if you had no dwarf blood at all. All I care about is you.” He turned her around and cupped her chin in his hand, lifting her face so that their gazes met. He smiled at her, and she marvelled at just how close in height they were. He was only a hair’s breadth taller.

“Fíli, I…” He silenced her with a soft brush of his lips against her own. His next words were barely a whisper.

“Come with me.”

-----

The bedroom of Erebor’s crown prince was not something she had ever thought to see in her life. It was grand, and big enough for her living room and kitchen combined. But it was sparsely decorated, with just a few rugs, a table and chairs, and a large bed. Weapons lined the walls on either side of the hearth. It was so like Fíli.

She was running her finger along the furs on the bed when she heard the door open again. Fíli entered, juggling a wine bottle and two glasses. He set it all down on the table and filled both glasses, offering one to Róa. She accepted with a shy smile and sipped slowly. She did not want to get drunk. Fili knocked back his own glass, and she felt his gaze as it traveled over her form. With her cheeks flushing pink, she sent him a look.

“Can I help you with something, prince?” He chuckled and gave her a cheeky grin. She thought her heart might burst - she was sure he could hear it pounding.

“Nothing at all, lass. It’s just that I don’t believe I have ever seen you in such...fitting clothing.” He set his glass down and stepped closer. “While we were fighting for the mountain, you wore trousers and a coat, like all of us. But this dress…” His fingers slid down her side, tracing the simple embroidery that disguised the stitching. “Where did you get it?”

“I made it.” She was regretting the tight bodice she had sewn. Her breath was coming shorter, and she wished she could loosen the strings binding her chest and stomach.

“It suits you.” He touched her hip. “You are beautiful, Róa.”

Róa took as deep a breath as she could manage and carefully set her glass aside, her hand trembling. She risked a glance at his face, and his expression sent shivers down her back. Heat began to collect in her stomach and spread through her blood like fire.

“Do you truly think so, Fíli?” she asked, reaching up to press a hesitant hand against his cheek. He took her hand and brought it to his mouth instead, his lips caressing her fingertips.

“I do. Would you allow me to prove it?” He placed both hands on her waist, lightly, and she could see the fear of rejection in his eyes. She smiled and leaned her head close to brush her mouth against his ear.

I flipped my knife over in my hand, feeling the wooden hilt roll against my palm. It had to be nearly dawn, or perhaps it was dawn already. It was next to impossible to keep track of time in those closed halls.

I glanced up, my eyes crossing through the wrought iron cell door towards the empty halls. It had been awhile since the elven guards had passed, I presumed they were changing their shifts. The halls were totally empty for barely a moment.

In a blink, a body materialized in front of my cell. He appeared out of seemingly nothing, out of breath, and shaking his head as if trying to rid himself of spiders. I would recognize that red waistcoat and mop of hair anywhere. My hands flew to my mouth as I gasped, “Bilbo!”

The Hobbit in question spun around. As soon as he saw me, his entire being paled. He quickly hid his hands, and everything in them, behind his back, “Uh- Lorelai! I thought- that is- I was under the impression that- well- this hall was empty.”

I was frozen. Every bit of me wanted to jump up and start screaming, but I was frozen in place. All I could do was stare at him with eyes quickly going dry from not blinking. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, “Lorelai?”

“How did you do that?” I whispered.

I managed to get my wits about me enough to pull myself to my feet. Slowly but surely, I stood, never once breaking eye contact with him. Bilbo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, “Do what?”

“Bilbo, you just appeared out of thin air.”

“I don’t- hm- I don’t know what you’re talking about, I did no such thing.”

“You did! I saw it!”

“No, no, you saw me sneaking around. You heard Gandalf, Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet.”

He gave me a grin I could easily tell was fake. I flung my hands up in the air, “I may not have met a Hobbit before you, Bilbo, but I’m pretty sure they don’t appear out of thin air!”

“Shh, keep your voice down,” Bilbo hurriedly looked around for guards, “I’m telling you, you’re mistaken.”

“I know what I saw, Bilbo, why are you lying to me?”

Bilbo stared at me for several uncomfortable seconds. It felt like I was looking at a brand new Hobbit, not the one I had once called friend. Friends don’t lie to each other and they surely do not keep secrets from each other, not ones like this. The Bilbo standing before me wasn’t the Bilbo I had grown to care for, this was someone else.

He pursed his lips tightly before sighing. Glancing around he whispered, “Alright, you’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- I shouldn’t have lied to you, Lorelai, you are my friend and you do not deserve that.”

I crossed my arms, “I’ll only forgive you if you tell me how you did that.”

Bilbo hesitated once again. Something was holding him back, something outside of himself. He kept flicking his eyes to the side as if listening for someone that wasn’t there. He paused for barely a moment before bringing one hand out.

“This is how,” Bilbo held out the ring, “I found it in-in the Goblin tunnels, when I fell.”

The ring itself was nothing special, just a small golden band the perfect size for Hobbit fingers. I reached through the bars to touch the ring, but Bilbo quickly jerked back. He sneered and opened his mouth to say something, but no words left his lips. He took one look at my face and quickly regretted his actions.

Pain quickly took over his face, replacing greed that didn’t seem like his. There was something else happening, something beneath the surface I could not see. I began to worry for my friend despite the fact that he just revealed magical abilities. There was something troubling him, something deep down, something I wanted nothing more than to help him banish.

“So that’s how you escaped the goblins?” I asked.

“And how I snuck into here,” Bilbo responded, “We’ve been looking for you for days, Lorelai, where did you go?”

He was obviously trying to change the subject, and I let him, for the moment. There was no chance I was letting the topic of the ring go without knowing what it was or where it came from. Most of all, I wasn't going to let this go until Bilbo admitted why he never told us. Why he never told me.

“I got lost, in the woods, I mean,” I answered, “I fell down a ledge, and, when I came back, you were all gone. The elves found me and I’ve been here ever since.”

Bilbo frowned, “You’re not the only one, we’ve got to get you all out of here.”

“All? Bilbo, is the rest of the company here?”

“In the East dungeons, just a little ways from here. They were captured after we escaped the spiders and I followed them in.”

“You followed them with the ring.”

“Yes, with- with the ring.”

Bilbo gazed at his feet. I tilted my head, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Tell you what?”

“About the ring, Bilbo, it has not been so long that you have forgotten.”

Bilbo paused. I half expected him not to answer, but he had to know I would not stop pestering until he gave me what I was looking for. If he didn’t want to tell the rest of the company, that was fine, but I deserved to know why he was keeping this secret and why I would keep it with him.

“Because of Thorin,” Bilbo finally answered.

I frowned, “Thorin? What about Thorin?”

“He didn’t like me before I had the ring,” Bilbo explained, “He thought I was a waste of space and wouldn’t do this company any good. I wanted to prove him wrong, to show him Gandalf did choose right. I wanted to earn his respect for me- for Bilbo Baggins- and I couldn’t do that if he knew about the ring.”

He was right. Thorin would give the ring all the credit and see Bilbo just as he did before our encounter with the orcs. It took a lot to earn Thorin Oakenshield’s respect, and I think Bilbo had it a lot longer than any of us realized.

“My friend, you do not need some ring to prove yourself to Thorin,” I smiled, “You have already earned his respect and it is not because of that ring. Was it not you who stood against an army of orcs defending his unconscious body?”

Bilbo refused to meet my eyes, “That isn’t enough to change his mind.”

“Bilbo, I’m beginning to think it’s not Thorin’s mind that needs changing.”

It was easy enough to see how much Thorin respected Bilbo. From the moment we escaped the goblin tunnels on, Thorin had been warming up to Bilbo. I could see it in the way he smiled at the Hobbit or how he always seemed to look for Bilbo’s opinion. At Beorn’s house, when we were all debating about whether or not to escape or meet Beorn, Thorin turned to Bilbo. When we entered Mirkwood, Thorin kept glancing back to make sure Bilbo was still there. It seemed like Thorin’s first thought was always Bilbo.

Bilbo had already earned Thorin’s respect, but it would mean nothing to him until he earned his own. It was one thing to convince others of your worth and another to convince yourself. Bilbo would see, in due time, he was of great value to this quest and this company without some magical ring.

“Lorelai, I need you to promise me something,” Bilbo diverted the subject.

I gripped the door, “Of course, anything.”

“Promise me you won’t tell the others. Of the ring, I mean.”

“Bilbo, you are my friend and you will have my support through anything,” I smiled, “Until you are ready to tell them, your secret will remain safe with me. When you are ready, I will be right behind you.”

Bilbo’s shoulders fell as his face softened, “I knew I could count on you.”

My smile mirrored his soft one. Right then and there, I knew, Bilbo Baggins was always going to mean more to me than just a burglar or a Hobbit. He would always be one of my dearest lifelong friends. I could feel it, even then, when we had only known each other a little while.

Our moment was interrupted by quiet voices murmuring nearby. Bilbo spun around as both of our eyes landed on the two shadows growing by the corner. Quick as a blink, Bilbo slipped on the ring and vanished into the very nothingness he had appeared from. I did my best to casually lean against the door and act like nothing was happening. The guards passed without a problem but Bilbo remained invisible.

“Bilbo?” I whispered, “Lad, are you still there?”

“Right here,” his voice was right in front of me but I saw nothing, “I’m going to find the keys and a way out of here, I’ll be back.”

“Good luck, my friend,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if he was there to hear me.

***

It was hours until Bilbo returned. No sooner had he vanished than I began to worry about him, and it only seemed to grow worse with time. I was just about ready to rip the door off its hinges in order to find my friend when he materialized in front of me.

Yet again, Bilbo appeared out of nothing, causing me to jump. I had to quickly cover my mouth with my hands in order to stop myself from shouting. Bilbo brought his fingers to his lips, “Quiet, there’s guards about.”

“Sorry, sorry,” I muttered as Bilbo brought out a ring of keys, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

“You and me both.”

He quickly and quietly undid the lock to my cell. I swore, the clicking lock echoed through the entire kingdom, but I think it was just my nerves. The click itself was silent but it felt loud echoing in my mind. Bilbo swung the door open, allowing me to step out for the first time in what felt like forever.

“How’d you get those?” I kept my voice low and soft.

“The keeper of the keys had a bit too much to drink,” Bilbo chuckled, “He’s passed out downstairs with a few other elves, I was able to slip these off of him without them being any the wiser.”

“A mighty fine burglar indeed!”

Bilbo shot me a smile over his shoulder. He began to lead me across the sloping staircases and through the twisting halls. I kept close behind him, my eyes and ears open for danger. While Bilbo might be able to escape with that ring, I was no better than a sitting duck.

“Bilbo,” I muttered as we approached our second descending staircase, “Shouldn’t we be going up not down?”

Bilbo shook his head, “They locked the doors and doubled the guards as soon as they captured the rest of the company. There’s no getting out of there. Our only option is down here.”

“A back door?”

“Well- no- not exactly.”

“What do you mean not exactly?”

“Hush! Or you’ll wake them!”

Bilbo led me down the final flight of stairs and into what I assumed was the basement. Barrels lined the walls, several were piled in the middle of the floor, held together with loosely tied ropes. On the opposite side of the room, shelves were filled top to bottom with bottles. I could smell the wine before I could see it, causing me to wrinkle my nose.

At a table behind the shelves were four elves passed out. Empty wine bottles and plates of half eaten cheese surrounded them. One elf had his hand wrapped around a knife, but he had a better chance of stabbing himself with it than anyone else.

“I don’t see a door,,” I whispered.

Bilbo smiled at me, “You’re standing on it.”

I glanced down. Underneath the two of us and the pyramid of barrels was a thin outline. I could follow the trapdoor all around the barrels and straight to a nearby lever. Bilbo nervously glanced at the very stairs we had just come from, “This trapdoor leads straight to the river.”

“The river?” I turned to him, “Dwarves aren’t very good swimmers, Bilbo, we sink like rocks.”

“That’s why we’ll use the barrels.”

He gestured to the pyramid of barrels. I counted seventeen all together, just enough to fit our company and leave one barrel still empty. My mouth fell open as I stared at the barrels, “You, my friend, are a genius.”

“Hardly,” Bilbo sighed, “Here, look, you wait here and stay out of sight. I’ll be back with the others as quick as a wink.”

He pulled me further into the room. We ended up behind a tower of barrels. I could hear the liquid still dripping in them and the smell of wine only got stronger. From there, I could press myself against the wall and neither the sleeping elves nor anyone coming from the stairs could see me. I did just that and nodded at my friend, “You go, I’ll be alright.”

Bilbo pursed his lips before nodding. Slipping his finger into his pocket, he vanished into thin air once again. I had no idea when he left, only that he did.

Our small window of time was growing thin, the only problem was none of us could tell just how thin. The drunken elves could wake up at any moment, or one of the constantly patrolling guards could pass by and see my cell empty. Any great number of things could go wrong, it was imperative that we got out and we got out right then. Bilbo was running out of time.

“Shouldn’t we be going up not going down?” a voice I recognized as Bofur’s caught my ears.

I tilted my head to the side, straining to hear them through my mess of hair. My heart began to soar as their voices got closer. They were whispering, so I couldn’t quite tell how far away they were, but it didn’t matter. They were getting closer and that’s all I could focus on.

“Wherever Bilbo is leading us is surely the way out,” Dis’ voice closely followed Bofur’s, “I trust him with my life.”

“As do I, it just seems a little odd to me that we’d be going down and not up.”

“The doors are guarded, Bofur, we have to take the back way,” Bilbo answered.

Kili’s voice came next, “Since when did elves have backdoors?”

“Since they had backyards, I presume,” Fili responded.

That one sentence was enough to make my heart soar straight out of my chest. I had no idea whether they made it to the bottom of the stairs yet or not, but I didn’t care. At that moment, all I could think about was how we had found each other again.

Without even thinking, I lurched off the wall and jumped around the barrels. I could see the entire company following Bilbo down the very same stairs he led me down earlier. Standing just a few dwarves behind Bilbo was the very one I was looking for.

“Fili!” it was difficult to keep my voice down.

His head snapped up, his eyes landing on me, “Lorelai!”

He jumped off the last few stairs in order to meet me halfway. We collided in the middle of the room, with my arms going around his neck and his going around my waist. He had my feet fully off the ground as he held me close. I buried my face in his hair and held him like I would never see him again.

“I thought you were still in the forest,” Fili held the back of my head with one hand, “What are you doing here?”

I squeezed him even tighter, “They got me too. Mahal, Fili, I was so scared.”

“I know, Gimlelul, I was too.”

Fili set me on my feet but we never once let go of each other. I pulled back just enough to look at his face, cupping his cheek and laughing despite myself, “I knew we’d find each other again.”

“I don’t break my promises,” Fili pulled the braid containing my courting bead around my shoulder, “Not to you.”

I buried my face in his chest once again. We held each other so tightly, our arms might have fallen off. For a moment, just a moment, I forgot about the elves. I forgot we had just narrowly escaped our cells, I even forgot about our disappearing Hobbit. All I could think was that we had found each other and I was determined not to lose him again. Thorin stepped off the stairs, “Enough, we need to get moving.”

All of us turned to Bilbo expectantly. He shifted on his feet and gestured to the pyramid, “Get in!”

A few eyes turned to the barrels. It was Gloin who said, “You’ve got to be joking.”

“I will not be getting in any barrel,” Dwalin stepped up to Bilbo menacingly.

“Please, just trust me,” Bilbo retorted, “We don’t have a choice and we are quickly running out of time, you must get in the barrels!”

“There has to be another way,” Dori stated.

“There isn’t, trust me, I checked.”

“Everybody, listen to Master Baggins,” Dis interrupted before an argument could even begin, “I said I trust him with my life and I stand by that. If Bilbo says get into the barrels, we shall get into the barrels.”

She did not leave anyone any time to argue. Pushing her coat behind her, she quickly moved towards the barrels and climbed into one at the bottom. Sticking her head out, she turned to glare at her brother.

“Do as they say,” Thorin ordered.

The word of two royal siblings was enough to get the company moving. All at once, we began to climb in the barrels. Fili helped me get into one at the very top while he and Kili climbed in the two beneath me. Once we were all in the barrels, Bofur stuck his head out, “Now what?”

“You have plenty of scars,” Lorelai chuckled, “Why does this one have to be your favorite?”

The two of us met eyes for barely a second and a warm smile crossed my lips, “Perhaps I just like embarrassing you.”

Lorelai gave me a playful push, causing me to stumble and both of us to laugh. I would never tell her, but she was the reason that was my favorite scar. It really wasn’t much of a scar, just a small white line going from my wrist up my forearm. The story behind it was bland and the scar itself faded more with every year. I had more scars with exciting backstories behind it. Everything from arrow wounds to animal bites, but, to me, none of them compared to that scar.

I loved that scar, not because of the story, but because of her. It felt like I was carrying a piece of her with me wherever I went, and she, in turn, was carrying a piece of me. Wherever we went, whatever happened to us, however long we were apart, we would always have those scars. Those scars would always remind us of home. That scar would always remind me of Lorelai.

Lorelai and I rounded a corner, our laughter still echoing through the empty halls of The Blue Mountains. Our surroundings suddenly changed from stone walls to the mossy exterior of the mountains. Carved ceilings gave way to the open sky and it seemed as if the entire universe was opening just for us. The dim light of the mountain lanterns had gone leaving only the brilliance of the stars.

As soon as we stepped out onto the ramparts, Lorelai paused. She flung her head up, her eyes glued to the stars, as a wistful smile grew across her lips. Whenever she looked at the stars, she got this far off look in her eyes as if she were seeing each and every one of them up close.

“Oh, Fili, look! The night is so clear you can see every star!” she grabbed onto the ramparts, her eyes never once leaving the sky.

While her eyes were on the sky, mine were on her. I had known Lorelai for seventy-eight years at that point, and I had seen her countless times. Yet, that night, as her eyes were on the sky with her feet firmly rooted to the ground, it felt like I was seeing her for the very first time.

She gazed up with her eyes filled with enough love to fill the halls of the Blue Mountains ten times over. Her entire being seemed to inflate, making her cheeks turn as red as her hair and the tips of her ears go bright pink. Looking at her, I could have sworn she was glowing with a warm sort of light from within. It wasn’t a bright light, but it didn’t need to be. That sort of light didn’t exist to provide illumination, it existed to show how bright genuine love really was.

I looked her up and down and it felt like it was the first time. From the top of her tousled ginger braids to the bottom of her dirty black boots, she was someone I knew very well yet someone I was seeing for the first time. I watched her, my own cheeks going bright red as all the blood rushed to my head. It felt like my ears were going to burn off while my heart soared straight through my head. I half expected to fall over, for a moment I couldn’t even breathe. I swear, I stopped existing right then and there, it was as if I were in a dream.

I had seen Lorelai thousands of times before, I don’t know what made that night so special. Perhaps it was the pure love in her eyes whenever she looked at the stars, or maybe it was the way she got on her tiptoes to bring herself just the tiniest bit closer to the lights she loved so much. I had seen her do that very thing thousands of times before but, that night, I felt like I was going to melt right then and there.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they, Fili?” Lorelai’s voice sounded far off and wistful.

I could barely find it in myself to nod in response. She finally tore her eyes from the stars and brought them to me. I was glad to be hidden in the shadows of the mountain sides, or else she might have seen just how red my face had gotten. It was a miracle my entire body hadn’t burst into flames right then and there.

“You alright, Fee?” Lorelai tilted her head, “You look a little sick.”

I cleared my throat and shook my head, doing my best to bring all my wits about me, “Fine- fine, just drank a little too much is all.”

“Nonsense, you have the tolerance of a giant.”

She laughed, but I could barely manage a chuckle in response. I knew, if I didn’t do something soon, I could easily stay out there all night watching her gaze at the stars. Quickly, I cleared my throat and looked away, “Perhaps we better be getting back, I do not want Bofur or Bombur to chew me out again.”

“My brothers don’t mean anything by it,” Lorelai waved me off, “They do it just to spite me.”

“Can’t say I blame them, what with you as their sister.”

Once again, Lorelai playfully pushed my shoulder. She was the only one to laugh genuinely, mine was more forced. As much as I truly loved laughing with her, it took everything in me to keep myself standing.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was feeling. My entire body had suddenly become made of air as my heart abandoned me all together. All I wanted to do was stay on those ramparts all night with Lorelai. She could tell me the story of every constellation, something which I had heard thousands of times, and I would love every second. I didn’t know what I was feeling, but I had a vague sense it had been there much longer than I realized.

Lorelai’s home came into view much quicker than I liked. All of our homes were carved into the mountains just as most dwarven kingdoms were. Hers was the only one in sight with a welcome mat well worn through.

The two of us paused under the light of her porch lantern for barely a second. For a moment, just a cherished moment, we simply stood there and stared at each other. I felt like there was much to be said but I couldn’t find the words to say it, all I could do was stare at her. From the way her eyes latched onto mine and she bit her lip, I could guess there was plenty she wanted to say as well but there weren’t enough words to say it.

“Goodnight, Fili,” Lorelai finally broke the silence.

I gave her a smile, “Goodnight, Lore.”

She turned to the door. Her hand had barely touched the knob when she paused. All at once, as if worried she would lose the courage, she spun around and got on her tip toes, planting a single kiss on my cheek. It was a gentle kiss, I could barely feel it through the fire running through my entire body. She gave me one last smile before vanishing into her house.

All I could do was stand there, my eyes going dry from staying unblinking. I could still feel her gentle kiss on my cheek, and I found myself longing for her to come back. My hand slowly went to my cheek as I turned away from the door.

I was in a daze all the way home. All I could think about was her, and all I could feel was the kiss still lingering on my cheek. As I walked down the street, stumbling as if drunk, the realization hit me like a brick wall. I nearly fell flat on my face as all the color left my body.

I had known Lorelai since she was born. We were raised side-by-side, best friends since the first moment we met. Lorelai, Kili, and I were the terrific trio. We had done everything together, had so many adventures together, and nothing had changed.

Lorelai was my best friend, we had plenty of memories together. All the times we went swimming, where I always went out of my way to dunk her or she would slap mud onto my head. I remembered the times in the library where we would write secret notes to each other when we were supposed to be reading. To my dying day, I would always remember the times we spent exploring the woods around the mountain. I would remember how we would hold tightly to each other whenever it became dark and the owls would begin their cries.

In that moment, as I stood in the middle of the abandoned halls of the Blue Mountains, I realized more than I ever had before. I remembered the times in the woods where I found any excuse to hold her hand. I remembered drawing pictures for her and telling her stories whenever she was sad. Memories of all the times I did everything I could to make her laugh flashed through my mind.

When I first started working in the forges with Uncle Thorin, the very first thing I made was a dagger. It wasn’t much of a dagger, the blade was much too thin and it was difficult to sharpen. The hilt was nothing more than wood, and it didn’t even hold tightly to the blade. Compared to most, it was a very poor dagger, but it was the first one I had ever made. It was the first weapon I had made with my own two hands, and I had made it for Lorelai. I still remembered her face lighting up when I gave it to her, and I could still feel her hug around my waist.

I finally started getting out and making weapons as dwarves do, and my first thought was Lorelai. My first thought was to make something she could hold close to her heart forever. It was right then I realized, she was always my first thought.

Whenever any adventure, no matter how mundane, presented itself, Lorelai and Kili were the first people I thought of to bring with me. At any dinner party or even a small outing. Lorelai was the first I wanted to invite. She was my first thought and it was only then that I realized she always had been.

How long has this been going on? I had known Lorelai for years and only now was I realizing how I saw her. Seventy-eight years of friendship and only know was I realizing there was a reason I had never wanted to court any of the eligible ladies of The Blue Mountains. There was a reason I was always helping Kili flirt with other dwarf girls without ever going out for myself.

“Brother, I thought you had gotten lost,” Kili was sitting in the sitting room whenever I arrived home, “Have a few extra drinks, did you?”

I barely managed to shut the door behind me, let alone look him in the face. He gazed over the back of the couch, watching me as I took a single step into the hall and paused. My gaze was fixated on a single spot on the floor, but I never saw it.

“Fee? What’s the matter?” Kili abandoned his book on the couch and hurried to stand in front of me.

I blinked slowly, “How could I have been so blind?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think I’m in love with Lorelai.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. It felt like I was releasing tension I had been holding my entire life. Those words belonged together, they belonged right there with me. When I said them, I felt right, like I had been meant to say them for a very long time.

I glanced up at Kili, only to see him smiling back. Crossing his arms across his chest, he said, “It’s about time.”

“What? You knew?!”

“The whole of the Blue Mountains knows, Fee.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Would you have listened?”

I hesitated, giving Kili exactly the answer he wanted. He laughed, tilting his head in order to meet my eyes, “If it’s any consolation, the whole of the Blue Mountains knows she’s in love with you too.”

“They do?”

“Oh, yeah, Amaad and I made bets.”

“Kili!”

“What?”

I ran my hands down my face and sighed. Kili leaned against the wall, smirking the entire way, “So?”

“So? What?”

“Are you going to court her?”

I met his eyes and instantly looked away. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t know how to do it. How could I tell Lorelai I had been in love with her this entire time and only just now realized?

“How?” I muttered, “What if I do it wrong?”

Kili grabbed my shoulders, “Fee, you and Lorelai know each other better than anyone. Better than me, even. If anyone knows exactly what she’ll like, it’s you.”

My mind flashed back to watching Lorelai gaze at the stars. I could still see her wistful smile, and, instantly, I knew what to do. My arms fell as a smile crossed my lips, “I have a plan.”

The entire room laughed, even Kili. All of us were riding the high of the past celebration, Lorelai and I most of all. I could not stop beaming and neither could she, I swore the room was lit up by us and us alone. A new marriage can do that to you, I suppose. That was the happiest moment of my life up to then, and I knew every moment after that was only going to get better.

In a way, it was just as it always had been. Lorelai and I had always faced everything together, and this would be no different. The two of us would face the world and our futures together, only now, we would do it as partners. As husband and wife. Two people, united by love and by life, who would face everything from the everyday to the grandest and most perilous adventures. The future seemed so much brighter now that I knew I was going to be spending it with Lorelai.

“I will have you know, I will be as graceful as ever at my wedding,” Kili nearly spilled his ale as he pointed at us with his mug.

I laughed, “So not at all, then?”

A roar of laughter fell over the room. Kili rolled his eyes at me, and I knew, had our mother not been sitting right next to him, he would have spared me a few choice words. I wrinkled my nose as I taunted him.

“Does this mean we should be looking forward to your wedding next, Kili?” Bofur teased my younger brother.

Kili went bright red in the face as both Bofur and Bombur bust out in laughter. I couldn’t help but laugh as my brother tried to hide his face behind his mug.

When I looked back down again, I saw Lorelai had turned her attention from the room to me. She gazed up at me with a soft smile and her hand laid gently across my chest. Rolling one of her braids between my fingers, I whispered just loud enough for her to hear, “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” she traced the lines of my shirt, “Just enjoying the moment, husband of mine.”

Both of our smiles got even wider when she called me her husband. I squeezed her shoulder, “A moment I’ll never forget, wife of mine.”

The clock on the wall, a wedding gift from Bombur, chimed loudly, interrupting the joyous conversation. Mother flung her head up and gasped, “Is that the time? We best to be going. Kili, Thorin, come on.”

“But, Amaad, we just got here,” Kili groaned.

“And we’re just leaving. Come on, no buts.”

Bombur was the one to take one glance at my mother and understand exactly what she was saying. He stood and turned to his brother, “Come on, Bofur, we best be going too.”

“I’m not done with my ale yet, Bombur,” Bofur took a generous sip.

“We’ve got more at home, come on, let’s let the new couple be alone.”

He glanced at the two of us and wiggled his eyebrows. Lorelai went bright red as I did my best to hide my reaction under a cough. Kili took one glance at Bombur and understood instantly. He sucked in a sharp breath, meeting my eye and winking jokingly. If my face wasn’t red before, it was red now.

“Allow us to walk you out,” Lorelai jumped to her feet, pulling me behind her.

We followed our guests all the way to the porch. Whenever it was time to say goodbye, Lorelai and I split, each of us going to one half of our family. She went to bid my mother, brother, and uncle goodnight as I turned to Bombur and Bofur.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this day, lad,” Bofur clapped my shoulder, “You did not disappoint.”

I crossed my arms and laughed, “Really? I thought it could’ve done with a little more wine myself.”

The three of us laughed together. When I looked back at the two brothers, I saw them sharing the same somber expression. Bombur glanced behind me, his eyes landing on Lorelai, as his expression fell even more, “You know, they would have loved it.”

“Who’re you talking about, Bombur?” I asked.

“Her parents as well as ours.”

My smile instantly fell. I had known Lorelai’s mother well, as she was best friends with my mother. By extent, I knew Bofur and Bombur’s mother as well. Both met the same fate much too early for their children’s liking. I glanced over my shoulder at my wife and sighed, “I know she felt the empty space.”

“I know she was not the only one,” Bofur, in one of his rare moments of total seriousness, grabbed my shoulder and squeezed, “Your father was a great dwarf, I know he would be proud of you.”

A small smile crept across my lips as I grabbed his arm and squeezed. My father had died in battle not even a year after Kili was born. I was the only one of the two of us who had any memories of him, and those were vague at best. The most I could remember was his smile, and how he used to sing to me. Just the thought of those memories made me tear up. I quickly had to shake them out of my head to avoid bawling in front of my brothers-in-law.

“We can’t speak for parents long gone,” Bofur finally released my shoulder, “But Bombur and I are proud to call you brother.”

Bombur nodded enthusiastically as I smiled, “And I you, brothers.”

The three of us exchanged hugs, smiling the entire way. I could never quite express to those two what their words meant to me. They had always been like family to me, hearing them call me their brother just cemented that fact.

I met Lorelai at the door as both of us watched our families vanish down the halls. Smiling down at each other, we linked hands and stepped inside of our own home.

It wasn’t much, especially compared to the other homes in The Blue Mountains. All we had was one room, as that was all we could manage. The bedroom was sectioned off by a curtain and the kitchen consisted of one counter pushed against the wall. The couches and chairs were much too close for comfort, but it was home. The breadth of our belongings and size of our halls meant nothing when it came to those who lived within.

A house was not a home by sheer size alone. A house became a home because of the life inside. My home was with Lorelai, and it would go wherever she went. Whether that was in grand halls or tiny shacks, hillsides or mountaintops, my home was with her wherever that may be.

“I swear, I am going to smash that clock,” Lorelai shot a piercing death glare at the clock in question as it chimed for the millionth time.

I smirked, “Come off it, Lore, you’ll hurt Bombur’s feelings.”

“What he doesn’t know, won’t hurt him. That thing is worse than the dragon, I swear.”

“You know, he only got that for us because you’re always late.”

“Me?” Lorelai glanced over her shoulder at me, “I seem to remember always waiting for you.”

“Yes, but with me, it’s charming.”

“And what does that make me?”

“I don’t think I should answer that question.”

She threw a pillow at me, causing both of us to laugh. I leaned against the wall as Lorelai slipped on her nightgown. Our bed creaked and moaned when she climbed in next to me, but neither of us were really paying attention.

I laid down on my back as Lorelai pulled the covers up to her shoulders. She wasted no time in curling into my side, and I wasted even less pulling her closer. Both of my arms went around her shoulders as she rested her head on my chest.

I couldn’t help but release a sigh of contentment. In moments like that, I felt like I finally knew where I belonged. There were no expectations from dwarves or royal lineage. There was just us, and that was all that mattered. Just the two of us, where there were no expectations because we knew the others’ most genuine self. This was where I finally felt relaxed, like I could close my eyes and get the first real sleep of my life. One where I didn’t have to worry about anything other than the comfort I felt curling up with my wife.

“This is my favorite part,” Lorelai whispered.

I opened one eye to look at her, “I thought the wedding was your favorite part?”

“It’s a moment I’ll treasure for the rest of my life, but it isn’t my favorite,” she shifted so she could look up at me and gently cup my cheek, “I care not for fancy gifts or lavish parties, I only care about you, Kurdel. Moments like these, the ones that are ours and ours alone, are my favorite of them all.” Heart of hearts.

She smiled up at me, but I barely had a chance to see it. Without even thinking, I tilted her chin up and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She quickly fell into it, pulling me further in by my cheeks.

“Menu tessu,” I muttered, “You are my heart and my love, and I will cherish the moments that are ours to my dying day.” You mean everything to me.

She held my cheeks even tighter, “Amrâlimê.”

“I suppose. Still, it’s all so mysterious! Perhaps it’s another one of the brothers’ grand pranks.”

Even as I said it, I knew this wasn’t a prank. Fili had been much too excited for it to be a prank. I had never seen him smile so widely before. As soon as the door opened, his entire being seemed to light up, he could barely get a word out through his short breaths. It was a wonder he was able to invite us at all through his jumbled words and body that wouldn’t quite stay still.

Bifur flung his hands in front of his chest, grunting and groaning in ways none of us could understand. When he finished, he gazed at all of us just waiting for a response. Bombur and I simply stared on with blank expressions while Bofur clapped his shoulder, “He’s got a point. Not everything is a prank, Lore.”

None of us were sure that was even what Bifur said. Our cousin had sustained an injury a long time ago, part of the axe was still embedded between his eyes. While he could still function normally, he couldn’t quite speak. Behind his eyes, in his mind, it was still good old Bifur. He was still the same dwarf, his thoughts just didn’t quite translate into words anymore.

“Great, you’re in on it too,” I grumbled as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Bombur and Bofur exchanged glances before laughing heartily. There was something they were hiding from me, there was something everyone was hiding from me, I just knew it. I could feel it and it was killing me.

It was a bit peculiar to have an impromptu dinner party. While our families would often have dinner together, it came with being so close, it was never a dinner party. Those were saved for special occasions, like holidays and birthdays.

It was especially peculiar for Fili to host a dinner party. I knew better than anyone how much he loathed dinner parties. He preferred to have a night at the pub, or one spent in the company of the few he holds dear. Fili never enjoyed dinner parties. While they were just as rambunctious as any dwarf gathering, there was still an expectation for everybody, especially the hosts. He never enjoyed expectations, and it confused me as to why he was setting himself up for one now.

I could already hear joyous laughter from the opposite side of the front door. My family and I had barely stepped onto their welcome mat, and we already felt like a part of the party. We exchanged glances before Bofur gave a single, sturdy, knock.

“Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Lorelai,” Thorin smiled whenever he opened the door, “I’m glad you could make it.”

Bombur smiled as Bofur reached out to squeeze Thorin’s shoulder, a gesture that was returned. Thorin Oakenshield, Son of Thrain, Son of Thror, King Under The Mountain was everything his name made him out to be. He was majestic, regal, as poised as a true king. He was a king without a throne, but you would never know it. His royal blood betrayed him, keeping his chin high and his smiles thin.

He had always been a melancholy sort of person. I think it came from losing his home and his birthright all in one day. He carried that burden with him, as well as the burden of the loss of his people. Every pain his people felt, he felt it too, whether he liked it or not. Contrary to popular belief, Thorin Oakenshield did have a heart, he just did a great job at hiding it.

“Nothing could make us miss this,” Bofur snorted, sparing a cautious glance at me.

Thorin and I exchanged a welcoming nod as I spoke, “Care to clue us into this mysterious dinner party?”

“What is there to say?” there was a glimmer in Thorin’s eye that hadn’t been there before, “It is nothing more than a dinner party.”

“If you didn’t have such a good poker face, Thorin Oakenshield, I’d say you were hiding something.”

He offered one of his rare chuckles, but he wouldn’t say anything more. I already knew I wouldn’t get anything else out of him. If Thorin Oakenshield was one thing, it was stubborn. I had already lost before I even asked.

Thorin stepped aside to let the four of us enter the house. We were met with a home filled with joyous laughter and conversation. There had to be at least ten conversations going all at once, not to mention three different songs. For such a small crowd, they made a huge noise.

“Lore!” a familiar voice called.

Kili had collided with my side before I even had the chance to turn around. He practically smothered me with his arms, crossing them over my face and making the buckles on his sleeves get tangled in my braids. I pulled his arms down ever so slightly to stick my face out.

“Kili, you’re killing me,” my voice was muffled.

He let go and allowed me to spin around, “The night’s barely even begun!”

“Perhaps I could agree if I knew what all of this was about.”

Bofur came up behind me, “She’s sure this is some sort of prank.”

“I am not sure this is a prank, but I’m sure there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Come on, Lore,” Kili rolled his eyes, but his playful smile betrayed him, “Can’t we just have a dinner party?”

“No! That’s what I’ve been saying all night!”

“Saying what?” Ori stepped into the hall and knit his eyebrows.

Kili smiled at the younger dwarf, “Lorelai is certain this is some sort of prank.”

“Prank? I thought it was-”

He was quickly interrupted by Kili loudly shouting, “I just remembered! Amaad wanted to see you, Lore.”

I didn’t miss the fact that he dragged me out of the room as quickly as he could, nor did I miss how Bofur whacked Ori upside the head. My eyebrows knitted as I gazed back at them, but they were quickly pulled out of sight when Kili dragged me into the living room. I nearly tripped on the rug as he did.

He grabbed my elbow and practically dragged me into the living room. The rest of the party was there making conversation and singing songs. I saw Ori and Nori in the corner with Oin and Gloin, all four of them in a deep conversation. Balin sat on the couch with his brother Dwalin, both of them raised their ales and laughed whenever they saw us.

Everyone I saw was either distantly related, a dear friend, or all of the above. Most were distant relations of Fili, Kili, Thorin, and Dis, and they were dear friends just the same. It occurred to me that their entire family was there, everyone who had Durin blood in them just like the family I so adored was in that room.

Their entire family weren’t the only attendees, mine were there as well. Most of my family had gone, but what I had left strode into the living room just behind us. Some of my best friends were there as well, such as Ori and Balin.

In any other circumstance, that wouldn’t be suspicious. It wasn’t odd for everyone and their dog to be invited to a party such as this. Dwarves would traditionally invite all of their kin, including close friends with no blood relations. Had it not been for the heavy air of secrecy, I would not have been suspicious that everyone Fili and I held dear were in that room.

“Amaad!” Kili exclaimed as he dragged me into the kitchen, “Lore’s here!”

A woman spun around, her grin widening whenever she saw me. Lady Dis had been my mother’s best friend before she died, that’s how I became such great friends with her sons. She had always been a warm, steady figure in my life, even more so when my parents could not be. After my mother died, Dis was the one to escort me to my aunt and uncle’s. She was the one who always checked up on me, even years later. She was the motherly sort, but only to a select few. I feel lucky enough to be one of those few. She opened her arms to me the day my mother died and she hasn’t closed them since.

Dis was everything that Thorin was not. Where he was grave and brutish, she was warm and always laughing. She always had one eye looking behind and one ahead, noticing both what we have left behind and what we have coming. Sometimes, I wondered if she could see the future, as she always seemed to know exactly what was going to happen before it ever did.

Her cheeks were rosy beneath her thick beard, and her nose was like that of a cherry. She had her roots firmly placed in the Earth, and they had spread far and wide. There was nobody Dis didn’t know, and nobody disliked her. She was as kind as she was beautiful, something which I looked up to the most.

“Lorelai! Wonderful, now the party truly can begin!” she opened her arms, which I fell into quickly.

I peered over her fuzzy coat, “And exactly what is this party for?”

“She’s absolutely certain this is some kind of prank,” Kili rolled his eyes.

“Maybe not a prank, but I know you lot are hiding something.”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Thorin,” Dis cupped my cheeks and looked me in the eyes, “He always thinks we’re up to something too.”

“Maybe not you, but your sons always are.”

Dis laughed as Kili flung up his hands. I had to spare him a playful grin. Perhaps this was just a dinner party and not some elaborate joke. I couldn’t say I wasn’t happy to have everyone I cared about in one place. It wasn’t often we were all together, and I cherished every second.

“Say, Kee,” I followed Kili out to the sitting room, “Where’s your brother?”

Kili smiled into his mug, “He’s around here somewhere, I’m sure.”

“He better show up soon, I’m sure he will tell me what’s going on.”

Kili wiggled his eyebrows at me, but quickly tried to hide it. I tilted my head. This wasn’t the first time Kili acted like this. The last time this happened, I ended up being dunked in the lake with a fish in my britches. The stranger Kili began to act, the more alert I was. I wasn’t going to let them pull the wool over my eyes this time.

Thorin called Kili from the kitchen, and he vanished to help his mother and uncle set the table. I watched him go for just a moment before turning back to the sitting room full of joyous faces. My eyes scanned over each and every one until they landed on the exact face I was looking for.

Fili stood in the entryway from the front hall. He stood across the room from me, but it felt like he was closer than ever. His eyes met mine and I could feel my cheeks begin to heat up. My grip tightened on my mug as I had to swallow the lump in my throat preventing me from breathing.

The first thing I noticed was how clean he was. Fili usually had some sort of dirt about him, whether it was from the forges or from running around the town. There was always something. Now, he was as clean as a plate just before dinner. I swore, his very skin seemed to shine. His clothes didn’t have a wrinkle let alone a rip, even his jacket seemed brand new. Most of his clothing had been patched repeatedly by Dis, but these had barely seen the light of day.

Even his hair was kept. It was obvious he had brushed it, his braids were done so neatly it was impossible for him not to have brushed it. I looked at him and I couldn’t help but think how I had never seen him like that. In all our times together, never once had he been that clean. His willingness to get dirty was one of the things I loved most about him, it seemed unnatural for him to be so clean.

“Since when could you be so clean?” I commented as he approached me.

His eyes never once left my face as his smile got wider with every step, “I can clean up when I want to.”

“And why did you want to?”

“Special occasion.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

Fili only smiled. I flung up my hands, nearly spilling my ale in the process, “Honestly, Fili, you’re just as bad as everybody else!”

“I thought I was your favorite,” Fili fake pouted.

I glanced up at him and my fake anger melted away. Releasing a resigned, and a tad bit annoyed, sigh I shook my head. I reached up and cupped his cheek, allowing one of his mustache braids to wind itself around my fingers, “You’ll always be my favorite, Fili, even if you won’t tell me what this dinner party is all about.”

“I think it adds to my charm, don’t you?” Fili winked.

“Don’t push your luck.”

Both of us laughed. It was a real, genuine laugh, the sort that was hard to come by. In my experience, if you can find someone that makes you laugh like that, keep them.

“I’m glad you could come,” Fili’s smile was gentle and warm.

For a moment, it was just the two of us. We stood practically in the middle of the room, but that didn’t matter. The rest of the party melted away. It was just Fili and me, with my hand still cupping his cheek and one of his hands on my waist. Both of us pretended not to notice how we had subtly gotten closer.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I returned his smile.

He reached up and pulled one of my braids from behind my shoulder, twirling it around his fingers and laying it gently on my chest. Right then and there, I swore I was going to melt. My knees threatened to buckle as my heart ran away with me. All of my blood turned to air, but all I could do was smile at him.

His eyes flickered behind me. I turned to follow his gaze, but he gently caught my chin with his fingers, turning my gaze back to him. My eyes met his and he said, “Come, I want to show you something.”

“What is it?” I asked as he led me out.

He glanced over his shoulder, his hand still intertwined with mine, “You’re about to find out.”

I didn’t even have it in me to give him a sarcastic groan. I was too focused on the warmth spreading from where Fili’s hand was in mine all the way up my body. Our hands so naturally fit together, they were like two pieces of a puzzle.

Fili led me out of his mother’s house and into the empty halls of The Blue Mountains. It was abandoned that night, which was for the better. At that moment, I just wanted it to be Fili and me.

I followed him all the way to the ramparts, the very same ones where we had stopped to gaze at the stars so many times before. The second we stepped out of the mountain, my eyes turned to the sky and I stopped in my tracks.

Thousands of stars glittered in the sky. They lit up the entire world better than the sun ever could. Their gentle light was kind, easy, and calming. It was the sort you could easily curl up in and fall asleep.

“I know how much you adore the stars,” Fili’s voice was gentle and quiet, “I didn’t want you to miss them.”

I leaned my elbows on the railing, my wrists practically digging into my cheek as I sighed, “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at them.”

As soon as I had said that, I looked away. My gaze moved from the stars to Fili. He was standing just a few inches away, close enough to where I could feel his warm breath on my face.

When he looked at me, his entire being softened. Fili was always the Heir of Durin, next in line for the nonexistent Throne of Erebor, the prince of a country that no longer existed. He was always tough, always working hard to show a strong prince. He would always puff his chest and roll his shoulders back, making himself look bigger than he was. His eyes were always set forward with his chin out.

When he looked at me, all of that went away. There was no more prince of a kingdom that belonged to a dragon. There was only Fili. There was the dwarf with more kindness in his little finger than most people had in their whole bodies. This was the dwarf who had spent countless nights with me watching the stars and listening to my stories of the constellations no matter how many times he had heard them.

When it was just the two of us, I saw the real Fili. The genuine person he was underneath all the layers of expectations others put on him. That moment on the ramparts, I think I saw more of him than I ever had before.

He took a swift step forward, closing the gap between us. I barely had time to turn and face him before he was taking my hands in his. Our calluses rubbed together, but that wasn’t what created the sparks. We did that all on our own.

“Lorelai-” Fili started but trailed off.

I tilted my head, doing my best to ignore the rapid beating of my heart, “Fili?”

Another moment of silence. He could barely look me in the eye, but that didn’t phase me. If anything, it made my smile grow wider and my heart beat faster. Finally, he glanced up and met my eyes.

“Lorelai, you and I have been through everything together,” Fili squeezed my hands as he spoke, tracing small circles on the back with his thumbs, “From the big to the small, every grand adventure and every mediocre one. You and I- we’ve been at each other’s sides through it all and life has been all the much better because of it. We’ve been together for so long, been friends for so long, I-”

He paused. I waited patiently, giving him the space to continue. He sucked in a deep breath and squeezed my hands tighter, “We’ve been together for so long, it took me seventy years to realize I don’t want there to be a time when we’re not.”

My heart practically stopped right then and there. Against my own will, my breath hitched in my throat and my hands clasped tightly around his. I forgot how to blink as I stared up at him, “Fili?”

“Lorelai,” Fili’s voice was soft as he met my eyes, “Amrâlimê. You are my heart and my love. All this time I’ve spent looking for my One, and you’ve been right here all along.”

Tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. With them came all of the love and tenderness in my heart. I pulled his hands to my heart, squeezing them tightly and choking out the only word I could remember how to say, “F-Fili.”

I knew countless languages, but at that moment, all I could remember was his name. Fili smiled at me and I could see the tears in the corners of his eyes as well. Gently, he took one hand from mine and reached into his pocket.

When he brought his hand back, he slowly opened his fist right between us. The moonlight glinted against the courting bead laid gently in his hand. As soon as I saw it, my hands flew to my mouth as I did my best to withhold a gasp.

“Lorelai, will you do me the honor of allowing me to court you?” Fili never once looked away from me as he spoke.

I didn’t even hesitate. In one swift move, I began sobbing as I ran straight into his chest. He stumbled back, barely keeping both of us from falling. I squeezed his middle with all the love in my heart, my tears making damp patches on his shirt. I could barely feel him wrap his arms around me through how tightly I was squeezing him.

“Is that a yes?” Fili asked whenever I pulled away.

I reached up to cup his cheeks with both of my hands, doing my best to speak through the tears still leaking down my face, “Fili, amrâlimê, you’ve always meant more to me than all the treasure in this world. You are my heart of hearts and I will love you to my dying day and straight into the Halls of Mahal.”

Fili’s entire face brightened, “Is that a yes?”

“Of course it’s a yes!”

It was his turn to pull me into an embrace. I was practically buried in all of his coats and shirts. For a moment, just a moment, the two of us became one. In all of our adventures and our life, we would always be our own person. We lived as equals in life and in love from the moment he presented the courting bead to me on those ramparts. We were our own person, but we did it together.

When we separated, Fili placed the bead in my hand. I gently held it up, the moonlight glinting over the runes crossing the silver, “A promise.”

“This is my promise to you,” he gripped my hands gently yet tightly, “I love you with all my heart, and with this bead I promise you that nothing will ever take us away from each other. Not even death.”

He gently pushed my hair behind my ear as I started sobbing again. I gripped the bead tightly as my entire being melted. Fili smiled as I held the bead close to my chest and spoke with a choked up voice, “I promise too.”

“May I braid your hair?” Fili took the bead from my palm.

I gave a short nod and spun around. Traditionally, the courting bead goes into the beard of the courtee. My beard was still coming in and wasn’t at its full potential yet. It covered the lower part of my jaw and circled my mouth, but the hair wasn’t long enough to braid. Instead, the bead had to go in the piece of hair always draped over my shoulder.

Fili’s hands were gentle as he wove the bead into my hair. When he finished, he dropped the braid over my shoulder so I could see the bead glint in the moonlight. I fingered it, allowing a few more tears to fall from my eyes.

When I spun around, he pulled me into another hug. I buried my face in his chest as he kissed my forehead.

“Is this what you’ve all been hiding from me?” I muttered into his coat.

He chuckled, “You’re still on that?”

“Only vaguely, yes, I will admit my mind is more focused on other things at the moment.”

The two of us laughed together. When we separated, we kept our hands clasped together. Fili smiled, “Shall we go celebrate with the others?”

“You read my mind.”

He draped his arm across my shoulders as we sauntered back to his house. Our walk was practically a dance as we both moved like the wind. Several giggles escaped both of us, and I couldn’t stop running my fingers over the courting bead.

We opened the hallway door to total silence. Everybody was surrounding the dinner table, all leaning forward with eager anticipation. When we rounded the corner, all unblinking eyes were upon us. The whole room held their breath as they waited for our announcement.

I flung my hands into the air as Fili lifted my braid with the bead in it to show the crowd. All at once, the entire room was in an uproar. There were cheers, shouts, screams, and even songs echoing through the halls. Kili, Dis, and Bofur were on top of us in a heartbeat. The three of them nearly tackled us as they screamed, all of them backed by a chorus of congratulations.

I had worked an entire night and a day in the forges crafting that bead. My entire heart went into that bead, and it ended up being such a simple thing really. It was no bigger than the tip of my thumb, and it was made out of a shined iron. I had no glittering jewels nor mighty gold. All I had was a promise, written in runes across the entire bead. A promise that nothing, not even death, could get in between Lorelai and I.

The bead was simple, but I knew it was perfect. After all Lorelai and I had been through together, I knew it was perfect. She would care not for extravagant carvings or glittering jewels, what she would care about is the person behind it. All she would care about was the love that went into creating that bead and the promise that came with it.

Half of Durin’s Folk courting traditions was the bead, the other half was getting a blessing from the parents. Under other circumstances, I would go to Lorelai’s mother and father for their blessing, but there was nobody to go to. She had lost her parents just as I had lost my father, something which we had grieved together.

In this case, there were no blessings to get, but I was still going to tell her brothers. Bofur and Bombur were the closest family Lorelai had left, they would want to know. She would want me to tell them. Even if this wasn’t theirs to bless, I still wanted them to know.

I wasn’t searching for a blessing, but I was still nervous. My breath quaked as I sucked in, doing my best to put on an air of confidence. All I was doing was telling her brothers of my plan, and yet, I was so nervous my knees were one step away from knocking. I half expected myself to lose my courage and leave at the last second.

I found myself in front of the door before I even realized I was moving. Lorelai’s front door had become as familiar to me as my own, I saw it just as much. There had been many times that Kili and I arrived on her doorstep for another one of our mundane adventures. When it came to us, even going for a walk around the mountain was an adventure.

My swift knock echoed through the house. I could hear talking on the other side, though distantly. One voice got closer until the door swung open, “Fili, you just missed Lorelai.”

Bofur smiled whenever he saw me, and it was a smile he never dropped. I swallowed hard, “I came to see you and your brother.”

“See us? What for?”

“I’d like a word.”

Bofur looked concerned, but quickly shrugged it off. Stepping to the side, he said, “You’ll have to talk to us in the kitchen, Bombur’s making stew.”

“Of course.”

Bofur gave me a peculiar look before shrugging once again and making his way down the hall. I followed him, my stepps getting shorter and shorter the closer I came to the kitchen. By the time I made it, my feet had become lead and I was dragging them across the wooden floors.

“Fili, always a welcome sight,” Bombur glanced over his shoulder at me, “Not one I expected.”

Bofur grabbed his mallet to tenderize the meat laid out in front of him, “Says he wants to have a word with us.”

“About what?”

“About-” I hesitated, “About Lorelai.”

Bombur spun around, “Is something wrong with her? Is she sick?”

“Don’t be daft, Bombur,” Bofur hit him upside the head, “Don’t you think we’d know if she was sick?”

“She’s not sick,” I interrupted, raising my hands in order to reassure them, “Lorelai is fine.”

Bombur grinned, “That’s a relief.”

He turned back to his stew as Bofur continued to tenderize the meat. Through the bubbling broth and slamming of the mallet, my anxiety grew stronger. It felt like the noise itself was out to get me. I cleared my throat, “I wanted- I wanted to talk about Lorelai and me. About us.”

“What about you two?” Bofur didn’t even look at me.

For a moment, all my words left me. I fell silent as I tried to think of an answer to his question. There was much I could say, but very little words to say it with. There could be a million answers to that question but I only needed one.

“Lorelai is my best friend, but she’s-she’s more than that,” I paused, “When I think of the future, I think of us. Lorelai and me, growing old together. Having a family together. Going on adventures together. It took me a long time, but I realized I can’t imagine a future without her. Or I don’t want to imagine a future without her.”

All at once, Bofur and Bombur stopped what they were doing. They froze in place, staying still for just long enough to make sweat begin to pool at my brow. Slowly, they turned to look at each other as Bofur spoke, “What are you saying?”

His voice was much lower than it usually was, much more serious. Even his usual carefree look had turned into a stoic sort of sincerity. Staring straight at him was Bombur, boasting a look with more severity in it than I thought he could have. Neither of them looked at me for several seconds too long.

“What I’m saying is- Lorelai means more to me than I can express. We’ve gone through everything together, I know who she is and how she got there and she knows the same about me. I know Lorelai better than I know my own brother, and I trust her with all of my being,” I paused, looking at my hands, “It took me seventy-eight years, but now- I know. Lorelai she-she’s my One. I know she is. I can’t imagine life without her. I came to tell you about my plans to court your sister.”

The air became even colder in that second alone. The two brothers stared at each other before slowly turning to me. Bofur kept his mallet held tightly in his hand, raising it to his shoulder in a way that shouldn’t be intimidating but was. Even Bombur repeatedly slammed his wooden spoon into his hand. That was the first, and hopefully last, time in my life where I was scared of a wooden spoon.

“What was that, lad?” Bofur’s voice had dropped several octaves, “You’re telling us you’re going to court our sister?”

Bombur narrowed his eyes as I swallowed hard, “Ye-yes.”

“What about a blessing?” Bombur demanded.

“If I could, that is where I would be, not here.”

That may have been the wrong thing to say. They stared at me for several seconds too long, each one feeling more agitating than the last. My very skin began to crawl with spiders that weren’t there and I began to feel like I might explode if they didn’t say something soon. Bofur took a step forward, tightening both of his hands around his mallet, “There may be no parents to give their blessing, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get this past us. Nobody just tells us they’re going to court our little sister.”

“You have to prove you deserve her,” Bombur added, “If you two were to be married, what would you do for her?”

I didn’t even miss a beat, “I would love and cherish her to my dying day.”

“All of us know Lorelai, Son of Vili,” Bofur stated, “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

For a moment, I simply stared at the brothers. My mind went blank before it rapidly became filled again. The answer became crystal clear, coming straight from my heart, “I will be her biggest ally and her strongest supporter. Any battle we may face, we shall face it together, as equals in life and love. She will always be my best friend, and I promise to always be hers. To marry Lorelai will be to make her a promise- a promise that I will love her for eternity and always walk beside her through it all.”

Yet again, Bofur and Bombur simply stared at me. For several seconds, they stared, only stopping when they turned to face each other. Whenever they met eyes, Bofur was the first to snort as Bombur broke out in full belly-laughter.

“Oh, the look on your face,” Bofur slapped the counter as he laughed.

I blinked rapidly, “Wha-what?”

“Relax, Fili, take a breath, it was just a joke.”

“A-a joke?”

“Of course it was,” Bombur went back to stirring his stew, “You didn’t really think we’d be that cruel, did you?”

“I was beginning to wonder.”

“We’ve been waiting years for this!” Bofur clapped my shoulder.

“You have?”

It felt like I had more questions than answers. The two brothers laughed heartily as I simply sat there, completely dumbfounded. Bofur squeezed my shoulder and smiled, “Lad, we’ve known you two have been smitten with each other since you were kids.”

“We even took bets,” Bombur added, “Kili owes me a sack of coins.”

“Not you too!”

Both of them laughed even harder. I ran a hand down my face and tried to groan, but my smile betrayed me. The pure relief I felt was unparalleled.

“It’s not our place to give our blessing, but, if it was, you would have it,” Bofur smiled, “Couldn’t think of anyone better for Lorelai.”

Bombur chuckled, “Or anyone better for Fili.”

“Got me there, brother.”

All of the anxiety I had just moments before was gone, replaced with pure joy. My entire body relaxed as a genuine smile spread across my face. I could have easily fallen with how relaxed my body became.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to do it?” Bombur asked curiously.

I nodded, “Two nights from now, I’m going to host a dinner party at my mother’s house. All of our closest friends and family will be there to celebrate with us.”

“You’re going to ask her in front of everybody?”

“No- no, not in front of everybody,” I shook my head, “I do not wish to put that kind of pressure on her. The moment I ask her is ours and ours alone. I’ll take her out onto the ramparts and ask her beneath the stars she loves so much.”

“And then everyone you and her care about will be there to celebrate with you,” Bofur completed my thought, “I think it’s a brilliant plan, lad.”

“She will want to celebrate with those she holds dear- as will I. This way, everybody will be right there as soon as I give her the bead.”

Bombur grinned, “Well, let’s see it.”

“See what?”

“The bead! You’re courting our little sister, we’d at least like to see what you’re working with.”

“We need to judge if it's up to our standards,” Bofur joked.

He gave a hearty laugh as I dug the bead out of my inner coat pocket. I held it up, pinching it delicately between my fingers. Both Bofur and Bombur abandoned their posts to inspect it closely. They leaned in as Bofur whistled, “Oh, that’s a beauty, a fine piece of craftsmanship.”

“I worked a night and a day on this,” I rolled the bead between my fingers, “It comes with a promise, a promise that nothing can get in between us.”

Bombur was smiling at me warmly whenever I looked up. Gently, he reached forward and clasped my shoulder, “Welcome to the family.”

“She hasn’t said yes yet, Bombur.”

“Trust us, Fili, we know Lorelai,” Bofur winked, “We don’t have to worry about that, I’d say.”

The three of us sat in silence for a moment, all of our smiles were unparalleled. Mine was, perhaps, the brightest of them all. As I sat there, holding that bead, I knew I had finally done it.