Wow, over 3,000 views? Amazing! :D

The song used later in this chapter as well as the title of it is "Once You Had Gold" by Enya. I absolutely love her voice and all the work she did with some of the music in "Lord of the Rings". This song is one of my favorites of hers and it's one that I thought would fit perfectly in this story. I may use another one of her songs later, too...if you want to hear what it sounds like, just search "once you had gold enya" on YouTube and the first video should work just fine! ^^

.

A shrill roar suddenly sounded in the air, making Kili, Aira and Fili jump in surprise. Kili's hands gripped Aira's shoulders protectively.

Bilbo, who had gotten up only moments before and was with his pony, turned around, pointed outward and asked, "What was that?"

Kili gave a one word answer in a serious tone: "Orcs."

"Orcs?" Bilbo repeated, evidently a little scared, as he crept back in their direction.

Aira heard movement behind her and looked to see Thorin jolting awake at the mention of the word "Orcs" and looking around. She tensed up herself, thinking that those foul creatures could be anywhere.

"Throat cutters, there'll be dozens of them out there," Fili answered Bilbo. "The lowlands are crawling with them."

"Really? Is it everyone's goal to scare the living daylights out of poor Bilbo?" Aira wondered as she saw his uncomfortable-looking face in the firelight.

Kili continued in a hushed, suspenseful voice, "They strike in the wee, small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood…!"

Bilbo looked down at Aira, now more frightened at what Fili and Kili were saying. She was unsure of what to do or say to comfort him.

But then she heard the brothers snickering quietly behind them. She noticed that they were messing with Bilbo and thought it was something to laugh about. Aira smacked Kili in the shoulder, threw a small stone at Fili and scolded them in a hushed voice, "You idiots!"

She went to say more, but Thorin's deep, stern voice cut her off. "You think that's funny?"

Fili and Kili's chuckling stopped immediately.

"You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"

Kili hung his head low, looking sorry and pitiful. "We didn't mean anything by it."

Thorin walked past Bilbo, making his way to the edge of the cliff. "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world!" he said with a dark voice.

Only on rare occasion had Aira seen Thorin in such a brooding mood. Yes, Fili and Kili shouldn't have been teasing Bilbo about such a thing, but Thorin didn't need to be so cross with them. She glanced at Kili who really looked regretful at upsetting his uncle. She took his hand in hers and grasped it tight. When their eyes met, she gave him a look of reassurance.

"Don't mind him, laddie," said the voice of Balin near them. He approached the rock wall they were sitting by and glanced down at the three of them. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."

The three young ones looked up to Balin and then turned their inquiring gazes to Thorin, who stood with his back to them at the cliff's edge, his hands clasped behind his back and gazing out in the distance.

"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain," Balin began, "King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria…but our enemy had got there first."

Aira got herself comfortable, thinking she knew already of the story Balin was going to tell them, but wanted to listen anyway.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Balin's voice turned grimmer as he went on. "He began…by beheading the king."

Aira began to remember hearing this story before from Thorin, but it had only been a small summation of it. All he had ever told her concerning his grandfather was simply that he had been killed in this battle of which Balin spoke. Now she knew exactly how King Thror had died and it made her stomach twist. She had known of the pale Orc before, but never knew the entirety of his involvement in the battle, which she recalled Thorin saying was called the Battle of Azanulbizar.

Her eyes wandered over to where he stood, unable to envision the horror he must have experienced then. As she thought about it, she could almost hear the triumphant roar of the pale monster and Thorin's heart-wrenching scream that must have escaped his throat at the death of his mighty grandfather.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief," Balin continued. "He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us." It was almost too terrible to imagine, Aira thought, as she got drawn more and more into Balin's story. But then a smile appeared underneath his white beard that brought relief as he said, "That is when I saw him: a young Dwarf Prince facing down the pale Orc! He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield."

"And thus the name 'Oakenshield' was born unto Thorin, son of Thrain," Aira said in her mind.

The old Dwarf gazed down with sincere eyes. "Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken," he said to them, letting the heirs of Durin know that they were of a strong, noble line that would not be destroyed; a fact that Thorin had ultimately proven. Even though Aira was not a direct descendant like Thorin, Fili and Kili, she was still thought of and looked upon as like an heiress of Durin anyway. She had strength, courage and honor enough to be like those of his noble blood.

"Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back." As Balin spoke these confident words, Aira could distantly hear in the back of her mind the young Prince Thorin, bold and daring, courageously sounding the battle cry to rally the Dwarven forces to his command. "Our enemy had been defeated." Then Balin's face saddened briefly. "But there was no feast nor song that night…for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived." His eyes turned and looked to the direction of Thorin, who had been silent the entire time, lost in his thoughts and memories. Aira, Fili and Kili followed Balin's gaze as he said, at last, "And I thought to myself then: there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Thorin turned around and looked to his companions, his expression burdened heavily with the sorrow he had borne for many years from the memory of that horrific day. The rest of the company had awakened during the telling of Balin's tale and all were now looking to their leader in wonder. He, this King-in-exile; the rightful King Under the Mountain, merely stood tall and proud as his rueful look changed to one full of calmness and strength and he began to walk back from the cliff's edge towards his company.

"And the pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked Balin.

Thorin was the one to answer him while he made his way back to the rock he had been sleeping on moments ago. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," he answered spitefully as if talking about the pale Orc left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Aira, out of the corner of her eye, noticed Gandalf and Balin exchange glances that seemed to disagree with what Thorin had just said. That made her a bit curious.

Before she could think anything of it, she heard Thorin say, "Everyone, get some sleep. Fili, Kili, you both can rest now."

"I don't know if I'll be able to get back to sleep after all that," Bilbo said.

"Well, try your best, Bilbo," Aira said to him politely.

"I have an idea!" Ori cried out. "I know Aira has a good voice; why doesn't she sing us a song to help us all get to sleep?"

Aira's head whipped around to look at Ori. "What?" she said. "No, no, no, I can't do that," she protested.

"And why not?" asked Balin. "I think it's a splendid idea! We could use something to lift our spirits a little and to help us rest."

The other Dwarves all gave cries of agreement, despite Aira shaking her head and protesting. She didn't always feel comfortable singing, even in front of people she knew well.

"I don't know…," she said anxiously.

"Please, Aira?" she heard Fili ask nicely behind her. "It's been a long time since any of us have heard your lovely voice."

Aira sighed and decided to give in. "All right," she huffed. "I think I know something that will work. It worked for me. All of you get yourselves comfortable because, before I do this, I have to preface it with an explanation. A brief one, at that, since we just spent some time listening to another tale." She watched as everyone laid down on their bedrolls and curled up under their blankets.

She cleared her throat and began. "While I was away, my travels eventually took me to Rohan, one of the great kingdoms of Men. There, I came across a woman named Maori, who was actually half-Dwarf. She was very kind to me and we became fast friends. I told her of my travels and she insisted I stay in her home for a little while instead of in an inn and I accepted. There were a few nights where I had trouble getting to sleep and she would sing me a lullaby that her mother sang to her as a child. It was one that came from Maori's grandmother, whose back-story is actually rather similar to the Dwarves of Erebor. She had lived in a wealthy village in Rohan that had been taken and overrun by Wargs and Wild Men and those in the village were driven from their homes. This lullaby was conceived from that terrible tragedy…and I believe most of you can relate to it." Aira's eyes looked over to Thorin as she said that.

She took a deep breath and began to sing a slow and lovely melody in a high, sweet voice,

Once you had gold, once you had silver,

Then came the rains out of the blue.

Ever and always, always and ever,

Time gave both darkness and dreams to you.

Now you can see spring becomes autumn,

Leaves become gold, falling from view.

Ever and always, always and ever,

No one can promise a dream come true.

Time gave both darkness and dreams to you.

What is the dark shadow around you?

Why not take heart in the new day?

Ever and always, always and ever,

No one can promise a dream for you.

Time gave both darkness and dreams to you.

As Aira's lullaby ended, she realized that her eyes had closed in the middle of it. She opened them to find that all of the Dwarves were sound asleep and snoring softly. It had worked. Her eyes found Thorin, who was also deep in slumber. She noticed how calm he appeared and smiled. He looked more at peace than ever.

"That was beautiful."

Aira turned and saw Kili lying on his side, staring at her with wide, amazed puppy eyes.

Her head tilted slightly. "Was it not good enough to lull you to sleep, Prince?" she asked, pretending to be offended that he was not slumbering.

Kili shook his head. "Believe me, I started to," he said, "but then I forced myself to stay awake because I wanted to hear the entire song. I didn't want to miss a thing. I wanted to hear your angelic voice all the way through."

His sweet words made Aira's cheeks grow warm and she felt a slight flutter in her chest. She knew him to be charming, but he was never this charming to her! Surprisingly, Aira found it rather nice and refreshing. "That's so kind of you, Kili. Thank you," she said with a smile.

"Bring your things by me and come sleep over here," Kili said, not quite as a suggestion but more as a request.

Aira agreed, got up and gathered her belongings and then laid them and her bedroll right next to Kili, who inched over a little to give her some room. She situated herself down on her makeshift bed and covered herself with her blanket. Then she moved to her side to face Kili, their faces only inches away.

"Quite a story we heard tonight, wasn't it?" he asked her in a whisper.

"Aye, that it was," Aira answered the same way. "I've only ever heard bits and pieces of it before, but hearing the entire truth…I cannot even imagine what that must have been like."

"Especially for Uncle Thorin."

"Oh, by Mahal, I don't know how he did it! It's unbelievable to me to think how he handled everything with Thror's murder and facing the Defiler head on…!"

"He was strong-willed and always has been. He did what needed to be done. More importantly, he showed that pale Orc who was truly greater and who would come out of that battle alive and triumphant!"

"The line of Durin would not be so easily broken," said Aira, quoting Balin's words.

Kili grinned proudly. "And it never will be."

The two young Dwarves then just stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what more to say to that. "I think we should get some sleep now," Aira suggested.

Kili nodded in agreement.

"May I?" Aira asked, motioning with her eyes to his shoulder.

He recognized what she was asking and gave her a smile and another nod. Kili then turned himself so he was lying flat on his back and gladly opened up his arm to her. Aira moved right up next to him and nestled her head comfortably on his shoulder, taking in the soothing warmth of his body. His arm wrapped gently around her back and shoulders and he pulled her close.

At first, Aira was screaming at herself inside her head, "What in the name of Durin made me do this?!" But when she felt Kili's arm around her, holding her closer to him, she suddenly didn't regret anything. He was affectionate and inviting, something she had never really noticed before. She welcomed his gestures and let herself relax in his hold.

Kili was a bit startled at Aira's request, but seeing an almost earnest look in her eyes, he found he couldn't resist. As she had placed herself against his side and her head on his shoulder, he had felt his heart jump to his throat. "This can't really be happening!" he thought in disbelief. Naturally, he let his arm position itself around her and grasp her tightly and, in that moment, it all just felt…right. And it was a feeling he figured he could get used to.

"Goodnight, Kili," Aira whispered to him.

Kili was silent for a moment and then whispered back, "Sleep well, Airaním."

As she felt Kili's chest lower and rise from his slow, calm breathing, Aira closed her eyes to let slumber come to her. Shortly, however, her mind thought back to something Kili had said minutes ago: "He showed that pale Orc who was truly greater and who would come out of that battle alive and triumphant!" Then she remembered the looks Balin and Gandalf had exchanged earlier after Thorin had said Azog had died of his wounds long ago. She hated to admit that she knew what they were thinking.

Almost without realizing it, she lifted a hand slowly and subtly up to her stomach and felt over an indent in her skin through her shirt; something that had been acquired during her thirty-year absence.

To make matters worse: she was thinking the same thing.

.

Oooh...suspicious yet...? ;P

As always, reviews are welcome! :)

Will update as soon as I can!