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     Valadhiel, now in her winged Elven-form,  walked among some of the wreckage, searching for those of Laketown who had gone missing, praying to Eru that she wouldn't find any corpses. It was now morning, and Bofur, Kili, and Fili were with her. Oin was with those who were wounded so he could be of some assistance.

"So, Smaug was your father?" Kili asked quietly after a moment, looking Valadhiel's way briefly before he moved a fallen beam out of the way.

     "Yes." Valadhiel replied. "I would have told you. I'm sure some of you had your suspicions considering he was the only known dragon until I revealed that I am part dragon." She heaved a sigh. "It was just painful to talk about."

     Fili nodded. "Which is understandable." He replied, then he looked over at Valadhiel, stopping next to her. "Does Thorin know?"

     Valadhiel nodded softly, a couple strands of hair falling from behind her ear and getting in her face. "He knows. The night the eagles rescued us, I decided to tell him, since he had the biggest grudge against Smaug for all he did."

     "I hear something." Bofur said, stopping by a pile of wood. He moved some of the wood aside and noticed a stone fireplace. "It's coming from inside the fire place."

     "Who's there?" Valadhiel asked. She then heard a child start to cry, so she flapped her wings as she jumped, flying up and into the chimney, then she came up, out, and flew down, a young boy in her arms. She gently set him down once she landed, kneeling down to look at him. "Are you okay?"

     The little boy sniffed and nodded his head. "Y-yeah, I-I'm okay. But m-my mom..."

     Valadhiel's heart sank when she heard the boy's words. She got to her feet and flew back down the chimney, moving debris and looking for the boy's mother. Had she been in the building when it was crushed by Smaug? If that was the case... it was unlikely that she survived.

     After a moment of searching she flew back up through the chimney and landed next to Kili, Fili, and Bofur. After noticing that the child was with Oin, she spoke in a low tone. "I didn't see her. Unfortunately, however, I believe she was in there when Smaug crushed the building. It smells of death in there."

"What will we do with the child?" Bofur asked, looking back at the small human before he looked back at Valadhiel.

"Well, we will find out if he has any relatives here, or anywhere else. If not, then..." Valadhiel trailed off as she looked at the boy. "Well, I refuse to leave him without a home. I will find him a home myself if I must."

     "Well, technically you did fulfill your purpose on the journey, so you would be free to collect your reward, then leave." Kili commented, looking down some after he spoke. He hadn't thought about having to part ways with those he had grown close to along the way.

     Valadhiel smiled. "I'm not going anywhere if I can help it. And, if I do end up having to leave, I will be back." Valadhiel assured Kili, placing a hand on Kili's shoulder. "After such an adventure, there's no way I could just leave so easily."

     "Especially since you're in love with our uncle." Fili said with a smirk as he looked at Valadhiel.

     Valadhiel chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "Well, yes, there is that small detail."

"Anyways, we should come up with some plan as to what we will do with the child should he have no nearby family members." Kili said as he looked back at the child, who was sitting on a log right now, remaining still and silent. "How old is this kid, anyways? Six at the most?"

Valadhiel looked at the kid. "I would say. We could ask him ourselves." She sighed softly before she looked away, staring at her feet as she tried to think about where she could take the child.

"John!"

Valadhiel looked behind her when she heard a woman call out, and she watched as the child ran to her.

"Aunt Edith!" The boy called as he ran into her arms.

Valadhiel sighed in relief. The boy at least had some family, then. She talked with the woman briefly before she walked back over to the dwarves. "Are we ready to go to Erebor? I don't believe anything else need be done here." She looked around. The situation, for the moment, was taken care of, especially thanks to Bard.

     "I'm ready to finally go see it with my own eyes." Kili replied with a grin. He was so eager to finally see the kingdom he'd heard about growing up! They had been raised on tales of this place. How he longed to see it with his very own eyes.

Valadhiel smiled. "Then let's set out. I do believe that I can carry three on my back in dragon form." She commented before she began her transformation. Once transformed, she stretched her wings out before lowering herself to the ground. She then lowered her neck so they would be able to climb onto her back. "Feel free to grasp my spines to aid you in climbing up."

     Once the dwarves were aboard and settled in, Valadhiel spread her wings and took to the sky, not landing until she had reached Erebor. She landed, let them down, then shifted into her Elven form before she quietly walked into the Dwarven Kingdom. She looked around and smiled softly, thinking back on the memories she had of this place. "Some things never change, praise Iluvatar." She murmured.

     "You've been here before, Lass?" Oin asked as he looked at her.

     Valadhiel nodded her head. "Yes, though that was many thousands of years ago." She replied as she touched a carving. She smiled when she saw what it was of. Durin himself, and with him was a young, beautiful woman with wings.

     Kili looked at the carving curiously before he furrowed his brow. "Vala, that looks like you. But it can't be..."

     Fili looked at it as well before he furrowed his brow. "Is it an ancestor of yours?" He asked before he looked at Fili.

     Thorin walked over to the group and hugged his nephews. "Thank goodness you are all alright." He said in relief. He let go and looked at Valadhiel in concern. "Smaug?"

     Valadhiel looked down at her feet. "He's gone. He died... moments after his change of heart." She murmured quietly. She then shook her head and looked at the carving. "You really think it looks like me, huh?" She wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"What does?" Thorin asked before he looked at the carving as well. He then stepped closer as if to get a better look. "The woman really does resemble you, but that can't be. The dwarf in this carving is Durin."

"I am aware of that, I carved it." Valadhiel commented, almost whispering.

Oin looked wide eyed at the elleth. "You knew Durin himself?" He asked.

Kili thought back to when they first met Valadhiel. They had asked her to go with them for a celebration and such among the rest of their kin, and she had known exactly where she was going.

     "Have you been here before, Miss Valadhiel?" Kili had asked curiously.

     Valadhiel had looked over at Kili, hesitated, then given a small smile. "I have been here before, though that was one hundred and thirty nine years ago."

     Kili then remembered the conversation that had taken place after she had said that. The dwarves were talking about Valadhiel in Khuzdul before she had replied in their own tongue, and this was what was said after:

     "I was taught Khuzdul long ago." Valadhiel had said upon seeing their confused and curious expressions. "By one of your own kin, though I will not speak his name."

     Ori, who had been listening to her with Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, and Bofur, stepped closer to the elven female. "A dwarf taught you? He must have been fond of you. Very few outsiders know it."

     Valadhiel smiled at Ori before she nodded. "We were pretty good friends, indeed."

    "Why won't you say who taught you?" Dis had asked the elf when she reached her sons, looking up at her curiously, though slight suspicion shone in her eyes.

    "I don't feel it's the right time to reveal who he was just yet." Valadhiel had said.

     "Why wouldn't it be the right time?" Bifur had questioned.

    "Because this dwarf happens to be a very well-known dwarf. I won't speak his name for fear of you all thinking I make things up to earn favor among you."

     "I doubt that would happen." Dwalin had muttered before he'd laughed. "Unless you knew Durin The Deathless himself."

     Kili snapped out of his daze before he looked at the shape shifting elf. "You knew Durin himself, didn't you?"

     "Kili, don't be ridiculous." Fili said. "She couldn't have met him..." But he, too, thought back to that conversation.

     Ori had come over and been listening, and he remembered when she'd had a slip of the tongue. She'd brushed it off as a mispronunciation, but it sounded like she'd about said Durin's name when she was talking about something she'd remembered. "You did know Durin himself!"

     Thorin thought back to the instance when Ori had caught her slip up. He had been too focused on the hidden door at the time to notice it. He also remembered the conversation she'd had with the other dwarves before they had even left. "You really did, didn't you? You learned Khuzdul from him, even..."

     Balin, who was listening, spoke up. "Legend has it there was an elven friend who had such a special place in Durin's heart that he made her an honorary dwarf." He commented as he looked at the dragoness.

     Valadhiel chuckled. "I was wondering how long it would take for it to click." She commented, then she saw Bilbo and smiled at him before she looked around at the dwarves again.

     "Wait, they— they didn't know?" Bilbo asked as he looked around at them all. "I thought they knew."

     "You knew?" Bofur asked. "How did you know?"

     "Because she literally mentioned it once." Bilbo replied. "Well, almost did. She had clearly said half his name before she said something else to try and cover up the fact." He shrugged. "I didn't realize you hadn't caught on to it."

     Valadhiel chuckled. "Ah well, the secret is out now." She then grimaced. "Oh heavens, so is my age... let's not even talk about my age, aye?"

     "Thorin is in love with an old lady." Fili said with a laugh.

     "Oh yeah, a very old lady." Kili said, also laughing.

     "Speaking of, have they kissed yet?" Bofur asked.

     Valadhiel's face turned beet red and she coughed, choking on her saliva because she was so shocked by what she was hearing. They hadn't so boldly said these things right in front of them yet— not without one of them being asleep or not present! "What— wh— I— we—" She couldn't;t even finish her sentence, because next thing she knew, Thorin was face to face with her, and his lips were on hers. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss, then opened them again, still blushing, heart racing, but she couldn't help the smile that graced her lips.

     "Now we have." Thorin said in amusement. Whether he was amused by the dwarves, Valadhiel, or both, Bilbo couldn't quite tell.

     Bofur smirked at Kili, Fili, and Balin. "Bilbo and I won the bet."

     Fili and Kili's jaws dropped, and Balin laughed in the corner he was standing in. "Well I'll be!" The white-haired dwarf said as he laughed. "Kili, Fili, it does appear we have indeed lost the bet."

     Thorin quirked an eyebrow. "You made a bet?"

     "On who would kiss who first?" Valadhiel added as she looked at them. She then blinked. "Bilbo! Even you were in on it?"

     "Hey, why weren't we in on this?" Dwalin questioned. "Then again, I would have lost, so I guess I shouldn't feel so betrayed."

     Bifur, Dori, Nori, and Bombur were laughing their beards off at all that was happening in front of them, and Ori was chuckling himself before he said, "On the bright side, we have all this gold now. It isn't like you're losing too much."

     Thorin shook his head at his kin before he looked at Valadhiel. "After all that's happened, I couldn't hold back any longer. I needed you to know how I feel before anything else. I love you, Vala."

     Valadhiel's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she smiled, looking Thorin in the eye. "I love you, too, Thorin." She replied softly before she kissed his cheek. She never would have thought she could ever fall in love with this stubborn, prideful dwarf, but she truly, deeply, loved him.