An Even Fifteen (Fili x reader)

(27) A Proper Goodnight

The day after Thorin blessed your courtship, Fili announced it during the mountain-wide dinner in the long hall. Dinner quickly turned into a rowdy celebration as the dwarves drank heartily to your health and happiness. While the attention was a bit much, you couldn't keep the smile off your face. The only thing that would have made the night better was if Gandalf and Radagast had been there. You resolved to send messages to both of them, informing them of your courtship with Fili and requesting a visit from them. Roäc was more than happy to send two of his kin with the messages.

The next day, Fili had many duties to attend to, as things had accumulated over the past few days while he focused on spending his time with you. So at first you did not mind when Balin knocked on your door and announced that you were to begin lessons with him, learning more of their customs and policies.

He was enthusiastic, and was careful to keep your interest. But as the hours wore on, you found your thoughts wandering. Even a short break for lunch was not enough to refocus you. Poor Balin continued doggedly in his instruction until dinnertime. He said you would grow used to the long hours of learning, but you had your doubts. You were used to the life of the forest, wandering below their sunlit limbs and playing with the wild creatures in the dappled shadows. This endless sitting was already wearing on you.

So when Balin released you for dinner, you did not waste a moment, dashing out the door of the study with the old dwarf's merry laughter on your heels. Your feet did not take you to dinner, though. They clipped up stairs and through winding halls to the Rhosgobels' new room. The rabbits greeted you with wiggling noses before allowing you to hitch them to their sled.

You pulled Fili's old cloak around your shoulders-- you supposed it was your cloak now, though it still smelled of him-- and set out. It took some work to get the sled out of Erebor, some shouted "excuse me"s and quite a few apologies to dwarves that were surprised by the curious rabbits, but you made it. Not even the endless stairs and disapproving glares from the guards could stop you as you sent the Rhosgobels dashing out of the mountain with a sharp whistle.

You had forgotten the relief of the wind in your hair, the joy of racing over the countryside behind a team of giant rabbits. You went back and forth in front of the Lonely Mountain for a while, waving at the dwarves and men that travel the road between Erebor and Dale. The guards on the ramparts watched you with palpable distaste until you took the rabbits out of their sight, over a nearby hill until Ravenhill was in sight.

It was both eerily familiar and comfortingly foreign. You knew the place as where you had almost died at the hands of the orcs, recognized the precipice you'd been dangled over, and where Azog met his end by Fili's sword. But the blood stains were covered by a thick layer of snow. The fog and mist that had covered the mountainside that fateful day was gone, replaced by clear, frosty-blue skies and pale sunlight.

The sight of it made your shoulder and left leg ache. You wondered if you would ever forget the sound of your own bones shattering, or the shock of feeling your skin split by a deadly blade. Shuddering, you decided you likely wouldn't. But you could remember that you were still alive, and thank those that had saved you.

This led your thoughts to Fili, and you turned the sled around as you hoped he was done for the day. The sun was setting, so you headed back to Erebor and away from the haunting hill. Roäc found you just before you were in view of the mountain, cawing that "Lionheart searched for you, that Lionheart was worried." You smiled to yourself as the raven led the way back to Erebor. Sure enough, when the mountain came into view you could see a familiar figure with wind-tousled locks standing at the wall, arms crossed. He saw you and moved back into Erebor before meeting you at the entrance. The disapproving guards looked on as you stepped off the sled and let Fili pull you into a fierce embrace.