"Here, brother." Kili slid into the bench next to Fili and handed him a tankard. Fili looked sideways at his brother with a grin, and lifted the tankard towards him.

"Well done, Kili, and thanks. That was fun."

Kili grinned back and clinked his tankard against Fili's. "Knew it."

They drank, and looked around the West Hall. Fili had been expecting his groom's night to follow the predictable, fairly boring pattern of a meal and drinks at the tavern, perhaps with a "kill-it-yourself" twist, but Kili had had other plans. For weeks he had been crafting pint-sized bows, and arrows tipped with wads of padding, soaked in a juice mixture to make a mark when they hit, and he had staged a mock battle for the company amongst the bushes in the paddocks beyond the stables. As the two best archers, Kili and Bard had led the two teams, with Thorin and Fili as their seconds and Balin acting as referee, and despite Kili's having cribbed a raft of elvish archery techniques from Tauriel, it was Bard and Fili's team that had taken the victory. They had come back to the West Hall after the battle, laughing, famished and thirsty, and typically for the company, their meal had degenerated into a food fight, complete with Bofur leading some bawdy songs with his odd dancing. Like much of the room, including the dwarves and men starting to doze off around the tables in front of them, the two brothers were strewn with food, odd bits of cake and pie on their clothes and in their hair, and coupled with an assortment of red juice stains from arrow hits, they looked a proper mess.

Kili sipped his ale. "Still say I would have had you if I hadn't tripped."

"You're dreaming," Fili laughed. "Bard had you covered. Did you see his shot on Bombur? He was incredible."

"You weren't too bad yourself, brother. You should have been on my team."

Fili shrugged, considering it. "We've fought so much together, it would hardly have been fair to the others."

"And then again, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of firing arrows at your head, so you know, silver lining and all that."

"That last move? The two arrows? Let me guess – Tauriel?"

Kili winked. "One of the many, many benefits of having an elven Captain of the Guard as a partner."

Fili raised an eyebrow. "I'll tell her you said that."

"She knows," Kili grinned. "I tell her all the time." He raised his tankard in a few different directions. "To you, my sweet weapon of an elf lass, wherever you are."

Fili reached out a finger and pushed Kili's tankard slowly towards the door. "She's with Sigrid in Mother's chambers. That way."

"Right, yes. And here's to your lovely Sigrid. Less of a weapon, but just as sweet." Kili raised his tankard again, and drained it. He turned to Fili and clapped his shoulder. "In all seriousness, I am so happy for you, brother. To a long and happy marriage…" He lifted his tankard yet again, realised it was empty, and looked inside it forlornly before placing it back down on the table.

Fili pulled in a huge breath, and let it out slowly, looking into his own tankard. "Happy, at any rate."

Kili's face fell, and he looked at his brother and lowered his voice. "Ah, Fili, I'm such an arse."

"No, brother. I know you meant nothing by it." Fili sipped his ale. "I don't know why I'm letting it get to me now. It's not like I haven't known all along." He straightened up and shook his head with a scornful laugh at himself. "It's the oldest tale in the book, isn't it, 'railing at the unfairness of fate'? Idiot." His eyes fell back down to his tankard. "But damn, Kili. Damn."

Kili gripped his brother's shoulder. "Do I need to fire some more arrows at your head? You haven't lost her yet, you great clod." Fili grinned, despite himself. "Fili, listen to me. That future's still a long way off. Don't let it ruin the present. And whatever happens, know that you won't be facing it alone, as long as there's breath in my body. Now stop being so bloody mawkish." Kili glanced around the hall. "I tell you what. No-one's looking. We've had the best groom's night in the history of groom's nights, but why don't you go home to your young, beautiful wife, and remind yourself why it's worth it." He grinned at his brother. "Unless you want me to do it?"

Fili grinned back at him, and clapped him on the arm. "I think I've told you this before, brother. I've got this."

Something was touching her head. A fly? She waved a hand to brush it away. It hit something pointy.

"Ow!"

"Beloved, sorry!" She heard her husband's low voice. She loved his voice. She opened one eye unfocusedly.

"Fili? You're not a fly." He was kneeling on the floor next to the bed, holding her tiara. She opened both eyes to look at him and he swam into focus, but oh, he had no business looking so attractive. She reached out and pulled him towards her. "Aren't you somewhere else? Mmm… I don't care. Come to bed."

He chuckled, and she'd never heard a sweeter sound. "Sigrid. Are you drunk?"

She giggled. "Maybe. Just a little bit. But I feel fine. I feel great." She saw the tiara in his hand. "That's mine. I love it. I'm keeping it."

He held it on top of her head. "I just wanted to see what it looked like on you. I didn't mean to wake you."

"And you think I'm drunk. Let me check you." She pulled him to her for a kiss. His lips were soft, and tasted of ale. "Mmm, not sure. Let me check again." She kissed him again, deeply, and sank her fingers into his hair. His hand cupped her head and he kissed her back, and without releasing her lips, he rose and tried to climb over her body onto the bed.

"Ow. Ow!"

"Sorry!"

"That's my hair."

"Ow! That's mine."

He finally managed to settle into the bed next to her, and gently gathered her into his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. She could hear his heart beating, and his golden voice murmured to her. "Go back to sleep now, love." His hand reached up to stroke her hair, and she snuggled more closely into his side. There was no better feeling.

The last thing she heard was his soft murmur. "I've got you."

This was not good. The room was slowly rotating. Her mouth was parched, her tongue fuzzy and sticking to the roof of her mouth, and her body felt like she'd been squashed by a troll. She groaned.

"Here, love, drink something."

An arm slid underneath her shoulders and lifted her up, sending the room spinning again, and a cup was placed on her lips. She took a sip. Water. She drank a bit more, wetting her parched mouth, then stopped, feeling nauseous. The arm lowered her back to the bed.

"Go back to sleep, love."

"Can't. Dying," she mumbled.

When she woke again, the room had thankfully stopped spinning, and the nausea had lessened, and all she felt was headachy and washed out. She rubbed her forehead. The feeling brought back memories she'd rather forget, of that bleak year she had spent feeling exhausted all the time, and she closed her eyes and wondered whether it had been worth it. Then she thought about her family and friends, those hilarious, generous, amazing women who had gone out of their way to make sure she'd had a fun night, and she remembered laughing until she cried, until she had no breath left and thought her sides would seize up, at their jokes and their secrets and their stories, and she grinned. She'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Fili was flat on his back, snoring loudly, in the bed beside her. She pushed his shoulder up until he rolled over, and he stopped snoring. Wasn't he supposed to be off with Kili somewhere? He'd turned up sometime in the night, she didn't know what time or where from, but whatever it was, she wasn't complaining. She sat up gingerly, swung her legs out of bed, and wandered to the bathroom.

When she returned, he was awake, and he was looking at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes soft.

"Better." She climbed back into bed beside him. "The room's not spinning, anyway." He held up his arm and she nestled into his side. "Don't think me ungrateful, but are you supposed to be here? Aren't you breaking some sacred groom's night decree or something?"

"Kili gave me an exemption." He nuzzled his nose into her hair. "Mmm, you smell incredible."

"I'm all lotioned and potioned for tonight. You, on the other hand," she said, picking at a blob of cake stuck to his arm, and nibbling at it, "look like you need a tub."

"Food fight. You know what the company's like," he shrugged, grinning. "How was bride's night? Any pillow fights?"

Sigrid laughed, then moaned. "Ow, don't make me laugh, I still have a headache. No, sorry to disappoint you, no pillow fights, but Bennon and his boys came and pampered us, and we played games, and drank far too much of Tauriel's bubbly wine. It was great. I've never laughed so much in my life."

"So, worth the hangover?"

"Definitely."

Fili stretched underneath her. "Well I didn't drink that much, in the end. Kili had us shooting padded arrows at each other all night long, then we came back to the West Hall for food. We even ate some of it." He smiled at the recollection, and nodded. "It was a good night." He looked up, judging the light slanting into the room from the overhead shaft, and stretched again. "We've slept the morning away, and I'm starving. I'd go get us some food, but I'm already covered with it. Bath first." He sat up, and saw the look that had appeared on Sigrid's face at the mention of food. "And then maybe some willow bark tea for you, love."

"I'm going to head down. How do I look?"

Sigrid tilted her head to the side and looked her husband over. "Devastatingly handsome. The half of the Mountain that isn't already in love with you, will be, after tonight." She stepped in and put her arms around him. "Although I miss the cake and pie. It was a nice touch, like my own walking buffet table. In braids."

Fili shook his head at her, grinning. "I'm glad your sense of humour is back, beloved, because you're going to need it tonight. Let me apologise in advance, and I promise, I will make it up to you afterwards."

She pulled him in for a kiss, laughing at his pessimistic tone. "It's just one night. How bad can it be?"