Author's Note: Here is the Epilouge. Sorry for the late upload but I had other obligations. Hope you like it!
Drumming on the table, a now 25-year-old Kili sat that evening as Balin read to him. He tried not to pay attention to how little was left of his last book. It had taken him five years to finish what should have taken him two, but he was almost done. Other dwarves made fun of him sometimes, but he had learned to blow it off.
He had also been learning weapons these past five years. Traditionally, you learned all of them and then picked one to master. Fili had already done this, (it takes a year or two) and so had Kili. The boys had chosen twin blades (and a million throwing knives) and the bow and arrow respectively. Though they didn't admit it to anyone, they were much farther along that other dwarrows of that age had been. Any of Kili's struggles in the classroom were irrelevant on the fighting field. Thorin could barely mask his pride of the two boys, but for the sake of preserving his reputation, he pretended to be less impressed than he really was. Fili and Kili could see past the facade and never worried they weren't doing enough. That fateful weekend was near forgotten by now, only remembered during the toughest blizzards.
Kili was so drawn up in his thoughts he almost missed Balin talking. "You're not listening are you laddie?" the older dwarf inquired.
"Yes I am!" Kili exclaimed, feigning innocence. A wide mischievous grin spread across his face.
Raising one eyebrow, Balin went on. Kili paid better attention to what the dwarf was saying. Suddenly, he stopped. "And that draws us to present day now laddie. I believe you have finally finished school."
Kili couldn't disguise his excitement. "Woohoo! I'm finally done! No more school for me!" (This was all a rather childish way for him to act, but he was too elated to care.) He dashed out of the room and down the hall. Speing his mother, he ran over to tell the good news.
"You finished school. How nice." Dis read his thoughts. (In all honesty, she had heard his revelation in the classroom.)
Had Kili thought about it a little more he would've noticed that Balin gave him his lessons that morning instead of the evenings like he had done for years. Kili didn't stop to think about it until years later. Once he would make this revelation in the future his family would stop to give him an incredulous look before shaking their heads and going back to their work.
Grabbing his bow and arrow he dashed out the front door, running to the woods where he trained with his Uncle. He could not move fast enough. Stopping every so often to greet people that wished to talk to him, the anticipation of a full day's training welled up in him more and more. Once he reached the edge of the town he dashed into the woods.
"I wonder where he's at." Fili asked.
Thorin chuckled. "Do you think we'll hear him first or see him."
Scrunching his face, Fili thought for a minute. "He'll probably yell and come crashing through the woods."
As if on cue, Kili let out a whoop and trampled some brush. "I'm finally done!"
Fili and Thorin looked at each other with a grin on their faces. "REally?" Thorin asked, "He didn't tell you about the new book we decided to give kids?"
Kili's eyes widened as Thorin and Fili chortled. Leaning over to his oldest nephew, Thorin whispered, "Let him believe that for a while. I wonder what Dis'll do."
A/N: ...and done! Hope you liked it. Leave a review and tell me what you think!
Thanks to jaymzNshed, LavendarCrystalOfRoses, an Celebrisilweth for the reviews!
