~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     "Uncle Thorin!" Kili exclaimed as he jumped on the bed. "Wake up!"

     Thorin groaned and rolled over. "Isn't it a little early to be up?"

     "No. The sun is already awake." Kili said.

     Fili climbed onto the bed and sat by his baby brother. "And when the sun is awake-"

     "I'm awake! And..."

     "When Kili's awake..."

     "Then Fili's awake!"

     Thorin sighed. "Why are you up so early?"

     "You said you'd teach us how to sword fight!" Fili said, holding up a wooden sword.

     "Can you wait just one more hour?"

     "Uncle, you promised!" Kili said. "You said you'd teach us in the morning. Well, it's morning!"

     Thorin sat up. "Alright. You two go on out. I'll be right there."

     Fili and Kili hopped off the bed. "Don't go back to sleep!" They shouted behind them as they left the room and closed the door behind them.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

     "That's good!" Thorin said as he watched his nephews sword fight. "Both hands, Fili, both hands! And Kili, make sure you watch Fili! We'll work on footwork later."

     After about twenty minutes Thorin joined in the sword fight. Kili and Fili were already getting pretty good with a sword, so they had moved on to legwork. They caught on pretty quickly. After two sword fights, the brothers beat their uncle.

     "Well, you know what they say." Fili said. "Third time's a charm."

     "Uncle Thorin, can you teach me how to use a bow sometime?" Kili asked. "I mean, I like sword fighting, but I've always wanted to learn how to use a bow."

     "I don't see why not." Thorin answered.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

     The sun was now beginning to set. Kili aimed his bow at the target, pulled the string back and released. The arrow hit it's target.

     "I did it!" He exclaimed.

     "Good job, Kili!" Thorin said, ruffling his nephew's hair.

     "Where did you learn to use a bow, Uncle?" Fili asked.

     "Well," Thorin began, rubbing the back of his head. "An Elf taught me, actually."

     "An Elf?" Kili asked. "I thought you didn't like Elves."

     "I don't. But everyone in the kingdom liked this Elf. She didn't like it in the Greenwood, so she decided to live among Dwarves."

     "She?" Fili asked with a raised eyebrow. He turned to Kili. "You hear that? Uncle had a lady-Elf friend!"

     "She was two hundred years older than I, and I was only twenty." Thorin said quickly. "I thought of her as a mother; not a lover."

     "Tell us about her." Kili said.

     "What was this girl's name?" Kili asked.

      "Her name was Eruraviel." Thorin replied.

      "Was? What happened?" Kili asked.

      "It's a long story. You'll probably think it boring."

      Kili and Fili sat down at Thorin's feet and looked at him expectantly. Thorin sighed before he sat down in front of them.

      "Alright, I'll tell you the story. A long time ago, when we were still living in Erebor, there was this one Elf named Eruraviel or, for short, Ravi. She didn't like staying with the Mirkwood Elves, as they rarely left their kingdom; especially after the death of Lord Thranduil's wife."

      "Wasn't Thranduil the Elvenking that didn't help you because he didn't want to risk his own people?" Kili asked.

      Thorin nodded. "That would be him. Anyways, Ravi lived with the Dwarves. She was the only Elf to ever live among Dwarves, actually. She fell in love with one of the Dwarves in that kingdom, and King Thror allowed them to marry. They had a child, half-Elf half-Dwarf. Many Dwarves and Elves were displeased with the half-breed, as they called the child, and often ignored him.

      One day, the father of the child died of old age. The child was the only thing that kept Eruraviel from dying of grief. The Elf/Dwarf, however, was unhappy and he just wished he could die. So, he gave up his immortal life and became mortal. He died at the age of four hundred.

      Ravi, being grief-stricken, left. I never saw her after that, but I'd heard that she had remarried to an Elf and had a daughter. But shortly after she'd had her daughter, she and her husband were killed by Orcs."

      "That's such a sad story!" Kili said.

      "Was she one of your best friends?" Fili asked.

      "I loved her dearly, as did Dis. She was like a mother to us." Thorin looked sad for a moment, but quickly put on a blank expression. "Anyways, she was the one who taught me how to use a bow. That bow you're holding right now, Kili, was given to me from her. She'd had it made for me."

     Kili handed the bow back to his uncle. "It's a cool bow."

     "I always thought so." Thorin said with a smile.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

     Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years. It was now Kili's eighth birthday and Fili's thirteenth. They all got together and ate cake, sang and danced, feasted and drank root beer. It was a fun day for the two boys, but what they couldn't wait for was time alone with Uncle Thorin.

     It was finally bedtime. The two boys ran to their room and picked out a book for Thorin to read to them. Fili rubbed his temple and groaned.

     "Are you okay Fili?" Kili asked. "You've been doing that off and on all day."

     "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a headache."

     "Maybe you drank too much root beer." Kili said. "Or ate too much cake."

     "Probably both."

     The boys jumped and whirled around as Thorin walked in.

     "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

     Kili and Fili smiled and ran up to hug Thorin. He hugged them back with one arm behind his back. Kili and Fili glanced curiously at each other.

     "What do you have behind your back, Uncle?" Kili asked.

     "A surprise." Thorin answered. "Kili, close your eyes and hold out your hands."

     Kili squeezed his eyes shut and held his hands out. He felt something curves and wooden placed in his palms.

     "Okay, open them."

     Kili opened his eyes and looked at what was in his hands. He gave a huge grin. It was Uncle Thorin's bow; the one he got from Valadhiel! Kili hugged Thorin tightly. "Thank you Uncle Thorin! This is the best present over!"

     Fili stood behind his brother and examined the bow over his brother's shoulder. "That is a nice bow." He said.

     "Your turn." Thorin said.

     Fili closed his eyes and held out his hands. He also felt something leathery in his hands. After they were placed in his hands he opened his eyes and grinned. He was holding a double-backed scabbard with two knives, which had the seal of the royal line of Durin. Fili hugged his uncle. "Thank you! These are awesome!"

     Thorin walked further into their room and sat cross-legged on the floor. "I'm glad you like them. The knives belonged to my father."

     Kili and Fili put their weapons on a small stone table in their room before climbing into their uncle's lap and handing him a book.

     "They belonged to Grandpa Thrain?" Fili asked.

     "I wish we could have met him." Kili said.

     "As do I. He was a great Dwarf." Thorin said as he stared at the wall, remembering all the good times with his father. He didn't know where his father was, but he was sure he wasn't dead. He really missed him.

     "Uncle?"

     Thorin was snapped back into reality by Kili's voice.

     "Are you alright?" Fili asked.

     "Yes, I'm fine. I was just lost in thought."

     "Tell us about Thrain." Kili and Fili said.

     So Thorin began telling them about Thrain. After about fifteen minutes Dis had joined them and added some things. Fili and Kili looked at each other then at Thorin, then at Dis. They loved it when the both of them told stories together; especially when they shared their memories.

     "Fili." Kili whispered when they were lying in bed after Thorin and Dis had left.

     "Yeah Kili?"

     "One day, we're gonna help Thorin get the Lonely Mountain back."

     "Yes, we are. And we will succeed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~