'Wise, Happy!' Thorin walked over to Balin and Bofur, who look back at him with confused expressions. 'I mean...Balin and Bofur. A word.'

Thorin shook his head in amusement, while Balin and Bofur followed him with deep frowns on their faces. The did not trust the peace. Thorin had been in a wonderful mood all day and Dwalin had interrogated the guards of the royal wings wether that was because he had killed his queen again or because of...other things. The young guard had even asked to be transfered to another duty that day.

'How can we be of service, my king?' Balin asked carefully and exchanged a worried look with Bofur.

'I want the royal quarters to be rebuild.' Thorin told them and waited for a reply. It took a while before he got one.

'Is something not to your liking, your majesty?' Bofur asked and hoped that the rooms were still in one piece. Thorin could have terrible temper at times. He also hoped that Thorin did not want to refurnish the rooms to add an additional wall to hide the corpses of his wivess in.

'No.' Thorin shook his head. 'Bofur, you remember how Bag End looked like? Get Ori´s help if you need it, he might be able to draw some scetches.'

'I...' Bofur shook his head to clear his mind. The king´s words made no sense to him. 'Yes, I remember Bag End.'

'Good.' Thorin then looked at Balin. 'I need the best craftsmen of this kingdom and I need them as quickly as possible.'

'May I ask, my king, for what you need their services?' Balin finally asked and Thorin started to smile like a small dwarfling with a plan.

'I want to turn my quarters into a hobbit home like Bag End. I know that I cannot bring Basil´s home to this mountain, but I can try.' Thorin then realised that both Balin and Bofur looked at him with wide eyes and without blinking. 'What? Get cracking, we need a round door!'

#

'I wish Dis was here.' Ori sighed as he made room in his chambers.

'Why, so that she could kill Thorin dead and take his place?' Dwalin grumbled and stood in the middle off the room, unsure where to place the dozen pillows he was holding.

'No.' Ori threw another pillow at him. 'Dis would have invited Basil over for a few days without having to come up with some stupid cover story.'

'You had a nice cover story.' Dwalin told him. 'You told her that you needed to write your journal about the quest and that you needed help. She bought it.'

'Yes, but now I really have to write this journal! Do you even know how much work that is? And she seemed sad about leaving her rooms for so long. And I thought that she would feel like a prisoner confined to her rooms.' Ori mused. 'And you have to move out.'

'Your brothers do not even know that I moved in.' Dwalin grumbled and set the pillows down in the armchair. 'I always have to hide my battle axes, my knives and my comb. Thank goodness for dwarven secret doors.'

'It is only for a week.' Ori smiled at Dwalin and sighed. 'Only one long week.'

#

Basil accepted Ori's invitation, but only very reluctantly. Only after Thorin had told her that he would visit the Iron Hills for a week, Basil agreed to stay away from their chambers. She had been worried that Thorin would fall back into his old behaviour and would spend his days in the treasury without her waiting for him in their chambers. Their kiss had been wonderful and Basil had noticed that Thorin seemed much more like himself with much relief. He was not back to his old self by far, but the mad gleam in his eyes had diminished.

'Will you visit your cousin?' Basil asked Thorin as they packed.

Thorin nodded and tried to control his excitment. He would spend one night in the Iron Hills and then return to Erebor to supervise the rebuilding of his chambers; their chambers. He had never cared about his rooms, he had always lived in a very spartanic way, even before the dragon came. But coming to Bag End had awaken something in him, a wish for a home, a place to recoil to when the harsh reality became overbearing. He could not leave the mountain, his gold, his treasury. Thorin froze and frowned about his thoughts. Did he do this for Basil or for himself?

'Thorin?' Thorin jumped as Basil touched his lower arm. 'You seem to be very far away.'

Thorin was about to tell her about his thoughts and worries, but he did not feel ready. 'Did you meet Dain after...the battle?'

'No.' Basil looked down at her hand on his arm. 'I left...after...'

Basil bit her togue, but Thorin nodded in understanding. He had last seen Basil over the gates of Erebor, he had followed her hurried steps as she had run towards Gandalf, who had saved her from the mad king's grasp. He had been told that Basil had lingered throughout the battle and had fought for him, but had disappeared a few days after the battle. Balin had told him that she only left after they had told her that Thorin would survive and that she had cried bitter tears for Fili and Kili.

'Maybe, one day, you will tell me a story. About your family? Our family.' Basil asked timidly.

'I am no good story teller.' Thorin sighed, although Basil's words warmed his heart. 'Have you finished packing?'

'Yes.' Basil took her small pack. It was the same bag she had taken for the quest.

'Then we should leave.' Thorin tried a smile and took her arm. He looked back into his dark rooms and hoped that they would return to new ones which would be the start of a new home.

#

Dain had been surprised to see his cousin, especially since Thorin seemed better than last time they had met. Thorin had been crowned king that day and had not taken his eyes from the arkenstone above the throne. The mad gleam in his eyes had scared Dain more than the army of orcs and goblins had. Now, Thorin was standing before him and was babbling about some alterations of his rooms. At the same time, the new queen of Erebor, Thorin's hobbit, had sent him a raven, asking him to keep Thorin safe and away from anything golden. Plus, she politely asked him to send a raven to Erebor, should Thorin come back.

Dain shook his head about the hobbit queen. She had to be more brave than any dwarf, to walk into the lion's den like she had. And now, she even tried to save her husband. He would be damned if he would not help her with that. Dain was a warrior and he hated himself for the fact that he feared his cousin too much to intervene himself. But he would support the queen, if it was the last thing he did.

Meanwhile, in Erebor, Basil helped Ori write the journal. Ori took Basil's suggestion for a title, „There and Back again". They wrote, talked and laughed alot and Basil felt relaxed and happy. Only the worry for Thorin soured her mood.

During the second day, Basil leaned back against the bed as Ori was writing about the trolls. Her hands moved over the floor until they brushed over something metallic. Curiously, Basil pulled it out from under the bed and looked down at the object in her hand. It was one of Dwalin's knucklebands.

'Ori?' Basil had to fight to hold back her grin. 'What is this?'

'What is whaaaaa...?' Ori gasped as he saw what Basil was holding. 'That is - ehmmmm...a knuckleband...ehmmm...mine.'

'Yours?' now Basil was grinning. 'Ori, this would fit over two of your hands. I have seen this one on Dwalin during our quest.'

Ori's face had turned bright red and he had problems breathing. Basil took his arm and squeezed it reassuringly.

'Ori, do not panic.' she smiled warmly. 'I will not tell Dori and Nori.'

'What will yo not tell them? Ah,screw it - you promise?' Ori looked at her with big eyes. 'Dwalin is the most fierce warrior under the mountain, but if Dori finds out about us...he will cut off Dwalin's ...uhm, you know.'

'But, you will have to tell them one day.' Basil could understand Ori's fear. Dori could be terrifying when one threatened his sibblings.

'Nope. We will just hide until Dori and Nori die of old age.' Ori shook his head.

'Ori – Dwalin is older than Dori.' Basil grinned as Ori sighed and nodded. 'Are you sure that your brothers would not be happy for you and Dwalin?'

'Yes.' Ori stated immediately and made Basil laugh.

The merry evening was disturbed by a guard who brought Basil a letter.

'Your majesty. A raven from the Iron Hills brought this.' after a short bow, the guard gave Basil the letter and disappeared again.

'What is it?' Ori asked and paled as Basil jumped up and ran out of the room. 'Where are you going? Wait!'

Ori let go of his precious journal and followed Basil down the hall. As she ran towards the royal chambers, Ori started to sweat.

'Basil! Please, wait! Do not go there!' Ori shouted after Basil, who was very fast for such a tiny female.

'Why? I have to find Thorin! He left the Iron Hills!' Basil shouted without looking back.

'Should you not look for him in the treasury, then?' Ori hated himself for this, but he had to stop her from rushing right into Thorin's surprise.

His words did reach Basil and the hobbit stopped in her tracks. Panting, Ori bend over and had to lean onto his knees. Thank Mahal he had stopped her. Ori paled as he heard Thorin's and Bofur's voice from the royal chambers.

'We need a breakthrough to the garden.' Basil froze as she heard Thorin's voice. 'And this window needs to be round. Yes, I know how much work that is! Round, now!'

Ori closed his eyes in defeat as Basil continued to run towards the royal chambers and cursed. He should have told Dwalin that he loved him, for he would die today. Thorin would kill him for not keeping Basil away from his surprise.

#

Thorin had rushed back to Erebor after only one day in the Iron Hills. He wanted to supervise the rebuilding of the royal chambers himself and he also needed to do some of the alterations himself. Bofur and his miners broke through the massive wall and worked on a huge balcony which would be Basil's garden. From Bombur, he knew that the garden needed enough sun and fresh earth for vegetables and flowers to grow. Thorin had also told Bofur to install a pipe which pumped up water from the deepths of Erebor. The small window next to the door would be round, like the one in Bag End. Thorin himself build the fireplace and Balin turned his study to a library. Turning to Dori, Thorin rubbed his hands.

'We need rugs. Nice ones. And enough of them to lay out a path from one room to the other. Basil wears no boots and the stone floor is cold.'

Dori nodded and rushed out, passing Basil without noticing her.

Basil looked at the scene around her with surprise. Her mouth opened in astonishment as Thorin himself began to build a fireplace which looked like an exact replica of her fireplace in the Shire. The one he had stood at while he had been singing the song of the Misty Mountains.

Basil blinked as the sun broke through the whole in the wall and held up her hand to shield her face. This movement made Thorin notice the small hobbit standing in the door. The king paled and stood up rapidly, hitting his head on the top row of stone of the fireplace.

Basil jumped as she heard skull connect with stone and winced as she saw Thorin's expression. It was a mixture of anger, disappointment and...sadness.

At first, Basil wanted to step back, but Thorin had already seen her, so it was too late to hide.

'What are you doing here?' Thorin whispered, his voice thick with disappointment. He had wanted to surprise Basil and now, everything was ruined. 'Where is Ori?'

'I am here, your majesty.' Ori came forth behind Basil. 'I am so sorry, king Thorin. I tried to...'

'Ori is not to blame, Thorin.' Basil had needed a while to focus. 'Dain informed me that you had returned. I wanted to know why you came back so early...'

'Dain ruined this?' Thorin snarled and clenched his fists. 'That bastard.'

'Thorin.' Basil walked towards him, her gaze on the rooms. 'What are you doing here?'

'It was supposed to be a surprise.' Thorin muttered and looked a bit like a small dwarfling, whose toy had been broken.

'No, not like that!' Bofur yelled outside, he had not noticed Basil yet. 'That is not what Bag End looks like!'

Basil jerked out of her stupor by these words. Bag End – she noticed more and more similarities to her old home. Round archs, creamy white walls, light wood and much more light. Basil looked at Thorin, who was still standing in the middle of the room with slumped shoulders. Slowly, but determinately, Basil walked over to Thorin and stopped right in front of him. She ignored all the dwarves in the room as she stood on tip toes and cupped Thorin's face to pull him into a deep kiss.

Thorin's eyes widened almost comically as Basil kissed him, but it did not take long for him to wrap his arms around his queen and kiss her back. The dwarves around them did their best to ignore the kissing royal couple, but Ori leaned against the doorframe and smiled dreamily.

'This is the most sweetest thing...' Basil whispered against Thorin's lips, after they had broken the kiss for air. 'Was it your idea?'

Thorin, whose knees were still weak after their kiss, nodded wordlessly.