The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 65

Epilogue

After Fili's funeral, Thorin appointed Balin ruler of Khazadûm and Ori as the head scribe.  It was very sad having to say goodbye to both of them but they were both eager to begin new chapters in their lives. 

Years passed quickly and the triplets grew from tiny infants into sensible, young adults.  Tyssa was the most level-headed, Jyssa was the best fighter, and Thrain had a knack for memorization, all of which served them well.  After Moria, there was no crisis anywhere in Middle Earth for sixty years, which had to be a record of some sort.  Lord Elrond, Arwen, and Lady Galadriel visited every year for a week around their birthday but Gandalf was a little less consistent.  Sometimes he came by multiple times a year, other times it was years between his visits and lately, he came for five minutes, said hello to Tyssa, and left quickly after.  He was up to something, Thorin and I were sure of it, but of what we could not say.  His plans did not include us this time.  Bilbo was the only one who had not paid us a visit since the triplets were born.  We would send ravens from time to time but Bilbo made it clear that he was spending much of his time raising Frodo.  Although, recently he'd been talking about leaving his home to Frodo and journeying Middle Earth again before he passed.  Since Thorin and I did not age, it was always a shock when we realized just how much time had passed.  My parents had passed forty years ago, and Dori, Oin, and Bard hadn't made it long after that either.  Balin was still holding on by the sound of it, and Moria was thriving.  The rest of the Company members, aside from poor Fili, were still alive.  Kili and Tauriel had had two children before Fenriel, who had delivered both of them, decided to tell them enough.  Gloin was the only member to have only one son, Gimli, who had been born before we set out to reclaim the mountain.  Legolas stopped in from time to time but always without the knowledge of his father.  Strider was with him a couple times but he always kept to himself.  Bifur, Dis, and Tunvan were recent losses, within the last ten years, but the others were still holding on.  Eleanor had retired recently and Bane, who had taken over leadership of Dale after Bard passed, had recently given up the position himself to his son.  I think the most prominent time when Thorin and I felt the passage of time was when Jyssa got married and we still looked the same as we had when she was born.  Jyssa got married, ironically, to Elrohir.  The very elf who had flirted with me early in my visit to Rivendell.  According to Jyssa, she would've settled for either one but Elladan was married so that made her choice easy.  Within two years of being married, the two of them had a son together.

Life was good until all of a sudden, we got a letter from Lord Elrond requesting our presence at a council, the subject of which he would not say.  So, naturally, we showed up.  Thorin, Gimli, Gloin, Dwalin, the triplets, and I all came along but only Gimli accompanied the Fellowship on their quest to destroy the Ring.  I had been shell-shocked to learn that Strider–no, Aragorn–was of royal blood.  It was then that Jyssa decided to remain in Rivendell with Elrohir, much to our sadness, but we understood that it was time to let her go.

After we returned to the mountain, we did not hear from Lord Elrond for another year or so.  He came to us personally, along with Arwen, Jyssa, Elrohir, and their son.  Elladan and his wife had made the journey to the Grey Havens with the rest of Rivendell's population but they would be sticking around for awhile.  Thorin and I were there for the crowning of Aragorn and his marriage to Arwen not long after.  It was sad to hear that she had given up her immortality but she was pleased with her choice so I was too.  It had been a terrible blow to Thorin and Dwalin to hear of the fate Balin and Ori had shared.  Especially Thorin, because it made it seem like Fili's sacrifice meant nothing.  It was incredible to see Frodo again, although he hardly remembered me.  Bilbo still wasn't there, sadly.

After the crowning, things went back to normal.  Visits to or from the godparents for four years.  During those four years, we lost Singuid and Bombur and Thrain married a dwarf he had known from a young age.  Finally, sixty five years to the day since Thorin and I had met, we were visited for the last time by Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel.