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/A Promise Lives Within You Now/

A pounding could be heard as five pairs of feet bounded down the stone hewn hall, laughter echoing from the mouths of four young dwarrows and one young woman as they ran ahead of their family, their elders shaking their heads and smiling at their merriment as their own foot falls created a quieter, though no less strong, and steady, beat that echoed off the walls, mirroring those of the young ones.

Sam dashed close behind Kili, his blue royal garment streaming out behind him just begging Sam to catch them, as, though the prince was no longer faster than her (they were rather evenly matched at this point, Sam's longer legs and more lithe frame allowing her to speed along, matching the strength of Kili's legs in propelling herself forward), he actually had a clue where they were going (apparently Thorin had a gift for Sam, and it was not something that could be wrapped and put in a box, as he had insisted, as soon as everyone was finished eating and they had had more of a chance to talk, that he giver her the gift he had apparently been waiting months to show her, everyone else excited by the chance to finally see the finished work), with Fili, Gimli, and Ori close behind. They had gone up and down stairs, down crowded and deserted hallways that ranged from warm and inviting with a low hum of voices, to deserted and cold.

Sam knew that her prince (when had he become her prince? Sam blushed and shook her head to rid herself of the thought, quite convinced, at this junction, that he would never wish to court her) was leading her down unnecessary passageways just for the sake of the chase and some fun, a tactic made obvious by the fact they were not followed by the rest of the Company, save for Fili, Ori, and Gimli, but she enjoyed herself nonetheless, the exercise welcome after the feast that Bombur had made to celebrate her adoption.

And then they came to a door (for this was the door to the hall that was unique to the Royal Family and the King's Company, connecting to the most direct route from the Royal Wing) that, unlike most of those in the Mountain, was made of wood, of the most richly dark brown wood available. The metal holding the door together, the hinges, and the door knob were all decorated with swirling vines and berries, tree leaves and fruit, the artisans who had decorated the door sticking to their traditional mediums of stone and metal, leaving the wood of the door bare of any embellishment but it's own beauty. The stone arch around the door was decorated with scenes that could only have been inspired by the Shire, for they were full of rolling hills and vast fields of food and flowers, with little people (who conspicuously had no shoes) going about their lives, celebrating and dancing and eating, and smoking with long pipes that had tall trails of smoke going into the heavens. The lintels of the arch (the straight parts below the rounded top) held trees.

On the left was a willow, with a wooden house set behind it (Sam smiled at the familiar scene, missing the tranquility of Beorn's home), the details of the trunk and leaves exacting in their detail, more than visible in the torch light of the hallway. On the right was a tall, strong tree, the likes of which Mirkwood was famous for, with intertwining vines and tree limbs behind it, some butterflies and moths hidden within the leaves.

It was a beautiful door to an even more beautiful place.

Kili took Sam's hand as she came up beside him and opened the door, closely followed by the other three and their elders, leading her into a hallway of shimmering stone, lit by the light of the mid-morning sun coming from an opening to their right.

Sam looked around in wonder, curious about just what it was that Thorin was gifting her that would require so magnificent a door and hall.

And then Thorin caught up to them, a twinkle in his eyes and a bit of tightness in his chest as he saw Sam and Kili together, hand in hand, a sight he could easily get use to, the smiles he saw on Fili and Ori's faces as they stood behind the two, who were silhouetted against the sun, telling the king they agreed, even as Gimli was hopping around like the kid he was, too eager to show Sam her gift to notice what was going on.

The king then put his hand at the small of Sam's back, a nod prompting Kili to drop her hand as Thorin took Sam's other hand, the young prince allowing his uncle to lead Sam as he gently pushed her toward the light that was streaming through the open arch to somewhere outside. They approached the light until it almost blinded Sam as they went through the arch, and then she gasped.

For there was the memorial garden that had been constructed in Sam's honor, though it was no longer as it was, no longer a place to come and mourn someone long lost, but a place to celebrate life and beauty, and to relax.

In front of Sam and Thorin was an enclosed garden, with the walls, which were beautifully carved and opened up to let in light and wind, were sitting on tracks so they could be moved to accommodate the vegetation and people who used the garden, to protect them from the elements as necessary and according to the seasons. The enclosed garden had various flowers, such as lilies, roses, irises and more, with shrubs around the edges, and a large, majestic willow tree near one of the corners, the grass a verdant green. There was a stream running through the garden with lily pads floating in it, the bed made of cobbled stone and fed by a small waterfall, with a small cave behind the falls, coming out of the Mountain from a spot covered in different kinds of lichen, mushrooms, and moss, a small bridge going across the small stream near the center of the garden. There were also benches around the edges of the garden, made from white marble with little, royal blue cushions on them.

It was their own personal eden.

"This, my dear Sam," Thorin grinned at Sam's reaction, proud of the way the garden had turned out after months of renovating it to celebrate Sam's survival rather than her death," is my gift to you, a garden where you, where all of us, may find refuge on our most stressful of days, a place where you may," he walked Sam over to another corner of the garden, the one opposite the waterfall, and gestured to the plot of ground that sat on a terrace, accessible by stairs hidden by the walls of the garden," if you so choose, grow things, whatever you like, whether it be food or more flowers, or medicinal herbs, you may do with it as you wish," Thorin shrugged, blushing slightly as Sam hugged him, squealing a little in delight (Oin, Burb, and Bombur all perked up a bit at knowing they had their own little plot of land to grow things on, plans for growing various herbs going through all of their heads)," given your tales of growing things with your father, I thought you might enjoy it," Sam hugged Thorin again, touched by Thorin's efforts to make the Mountain home, though she had a sneaking suspicion that pleasing their hobbit was also part of it," I thought you also might enjoy being able to train."

The last terrace of the gardens, all built into the Mountainside and decorated with beautiful carvings (though Thorin had made it clear to the designers and workers responsible for making it that it would not be visible from any point outside of the Mountain, providing a vantage point from which to see the shimmering roofs of the building of Dala and the sun shine off the water off the Long Lake, but never a target), was a training field, complete with archery targets and training dummies, a few weapons racks also along the sides.

The rest of the Company spread out and took seats around the garden, beginning to relax as Sam tackled Thorin again, pulling back with happy tears in her eyes to say," Oh Thorin, thank you, thank you so much."

Words could not begin to describe her wonder, awe, and the happiness in her heart at seeing the garden, at seeing her own little sanctuary, nor could she hope to convey her gratitude for Thorin's gift.

Sam and her family spent the rest of the day relaxing and talking in the garden, until Fili, Kili, Gimli, and Ori (predictably) started a game of tag and they all ended up running up and down the stairs and around the garden, making all of their elders, even Burb, who was basking in the sun and being outside for the first time in an age (despite being raised in a cave and living underground for the majority of his life, he had developed a taste for the outside world, not to mention he and Oin knew it was good for Sam, both mentally and physically, to be able to regularly go outside, especially without being harassed, because humans could get diseases like rickets if they didn't get enough sunlight, and they were not about to risk Sam's health) laugh at their antics, perfectly content to watch them.

Insanity ensued with the shenanigans of the young dwarves, but everyone was happy and together and a family, and that was all they had ever wanted.

/A Promise Lives Within You Now/

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Sam lay face down on a cushioned table, bare from the waist up, her trousers pulled down to expose the tops of her hips, with Dala and Dis both poking her with needles dipped in dye, giving her a tattoo on her back, and, needless to say, it was painful, her face twitching every damn time she got poked," ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...My god, why did I think getting a tattoo wouldn't be so bad?"

"Oh, I know it hurts Sam, but it will hurt less once we get done with all of your scars," Dis dipped her tool, essentially a wooden stick with little needles on the end, back into the black dye she was using to put Sam's tattoo on her back, carefully sticking it into her skin repeatedly to create shading," and it really isn't so bad, dwarven women have endured this pain for ages for this tattoo, and I dare say, my girl, you are a sight tougher than many dwarven women I know, for all that you are human."

"I know it doesn't actually hurt that much compared to other things," it went unspoken that the pain of getting the tattoo was minor compared to other pains she had suffered," regardless of whether I am human or not, but it still hurts, and it's sort of annoying because of the constant pokeyness, so I feel obligated to at least say ow and mumble a few curses, just for effect if nothing else."

The women all chuckled, Dis and Dala stopping their work for a moment to prevent themselves from sticking Sam in a way they shouldn't as Sam's back twitched as she chuckled at her own words and Dis and Dala shook with laughter, Dala shaking her head after a few moments, continuing her work as she said,"Besides, your ow's are much better than the litany of curses and wailing that some women make when they get this tattoo, their ridiculousness is just embarrassing," Dala shook her head as she dipped her own tool, a smaller stick with even smaller needles, into black dye, making the runes that belonged on Sam's tattoo as Dis did the bigger imagery.

Sam perked up a little from the compliments, her head proudly perched on her folded arms, given her by Dala and Dis (though she still muttered her ow's and mumbled curses as the needles struck, just for appearances of course) as she continued to endure getting the large tattoo, the large tattoo she had not planned on getting until Dis and Dala informed her of the tradition, and insisted, as a member of their family and someone utterly deserving of the honor, she get it.

The tradition was that every dwarven woman had a tattoo of her family tree on her back, usually in columns of runes with relatives being tied together with little swirls of black ink, a large mural at the top representing their line and far removed ancestors, any new family members being added to the tattoo in the same fashion, precise in it's starkness. Every family, however, did have their own traditions on how to do the tattoo.

The Royal Family tended to have their tattoos done in royal blue with black accents, where as Dala's family, one known for their craftsmanship and creativity, was done in a more decorative fashion, with greens and reds and golden yellow being the colors that made up the runes.

However, the women had decided to start a new tradition for the tattoo in honor of their new family members and their unique status as the only human and orc under the Mountain.

Which was how Sam had ended up on the table she now laid on, Dis and Dala doing the base, black, layer of her tattoo in preparation for the more colorful bits they would be adding later, in another session, because they thought a colorful tattoo was more appropriate for one such as Sam, and the imagery they were using in her tattoo was utterly unique to Sam.

Sam's tattoo would consist of a green scene, a willow tree with it's roots visible and the sea in the background. The trunk and roots of the tree, outlined in the actual shape of the tree, would consist of the names of Sam's human family, for they were from whence she had come, the letters of their names done in brown ink, while the hanging fronds of the willow would be decorated with the runes of the names of Sam's dwarven family, as well as Burb. More people would likely be added later, for Sam considered many people family even if no ceremony had been performed (Bilbo, Gandalf, Estel, Legolas, Tauriel, and Elrond to name a few), but they would be added later because Sam wanted the names of those of different races to be written in their own script, and Dis and Dala would need to practice writing in elvish, at the very least, to get it right.

Sam also wouldn't tell them how she wanted Nim's name done, which led them to believe he may be of mixed heritage, because Sam wanted to ask him how he wanted his name done.

So the women continued to ink Sam and talk, this occasions turning into one of the many bonding experiences the women would share.

/With A Sigh You Turn Away/

Alright, hope y'all enjoyed that!

I'm glad I was able to get out a longer chapter this week, but next week I might just publish another shorter one or just more chapter to my other story set in this universe because I have a lot of stuff to do next week.

Reviews are always appreciated!