Nori is released from the healing halls of Rivendell four days after she wakes up. She suspects that the healers are relieved that they do not have to keep her any longer given her people are notoriously difficult patients and Nori is no different. It also saves them from the uncomfortable verbal sparring between Nori and Glorfindel as the elf continues to try and probe deeper into her reason for being 'reborn'. He only comes when she is alone, and ultimately Nori resorts to asking that one of the lads sit with her if Dwalin is not. Glorfindel is finally chased out by the healers on the third day as disruptive and detrimental to her healing. Nori cannot say that she is sorry to see the tall elf go, but then she is not unhappy with being released either. She is not ready to travel just yet, but the healers are happy to release her to the tender mercies of the other dwarves who have been housed in what Nori thinks might be the same guest quarters that the Company will inhabit during their stay in six years.
While there she assesses what was retrieved from the caravan; Sela's strongbox, inventory and accounts are intact as well as much of the cargo and Nori breathes a sigh of relief at that. The survivors can be paid, with some extra since most of them will be unable to join return caravans this autumn before the poor weather sets in, and Hela will have everything that she needs to handle what she can of her father's affairs before her siblings reach Ered Luin. Nori's understanding is that a letter had already been sent to Labamgarel Zarrakh before she woke but all three of Hela's siblings are either on caravans of their own or will be unable to travel for some time. Dealing with the paperwork, something she has become sadly accustomed to since taking on the role of Wolf, keeps her from trying to do more than she ought and while it is frustrating and incredibly dull it is a small price to pay for not being dead.
It also allows her to work in a place where she can keep an eye on Fíli, Kíli and Hela without seeming too obvious about it.
Hela is, naturally, grieving and unhappy that the two lads obeyed Nori and Dwalin's orders to get her away from the fighting even though she understands the reasons for it. Fortunately she seems to hold that more against Nori and Dwalin, who she knows have some authority over the two lads when it comes to their safety, than she does over Fíli who has been raised to do as Dwalin tells him to in an emergency. Fíli splits his time between his brother and Hela, although the three are as often found together as apart anyway. Both of the boys know what it is like to lose a parent, and although they still have Dís they are capable of providing what comfort they can as well. It is a side of them that is rarely seen outside of their home, where they are mostly known for their occasional mutual mischief, Fíli's dedication to his duty and Kíli's flightiness.
Kíli seems to have found a Mannish child somewhere, probably no more than three or four though Nori is not good at judging the ages of children of the other races at a glance, and much like the children in the Shire this one follows him around Rivendell in apparent fascination. Kíli enjoys the attention, playing with the boy in much the same way as he does the hobbit children when they visit Briar. He is good with children, patient, kind and forgiving of the little things that young ones do without intending to or realising. He lets the boy chase him around the garden as he waves his little wooden sword above his head roaring unintelligible childlike battle cries, which are really little more than screams, and accepts the slap and sting of wood on skin with humour and laughter.
And the occasional yelp.
Watching Kíli like this makes Nori acutely aware of all that he will miss out on should he pass in the future battle for Erebor. He would be a good father, she muses, although she rather suspects that there is a difference between playing with someone else's child and raising your own. She would not know and will not for at least another decade yet. That is a conversation that she and Dwalin will need to have at some point in the future, probably sooner than she would really like, but the topic of children has never really come up between them. She would like children, although she is sure that she would be as terrible a mother now as she would have been ten or twenty or thirty years ago, but with luck that will be tempered by Dwalin, who she has also seen playing with the little lad that follows Kíli. He will chase the child while letting out air splitting bellows, scooping the boy into his arms and spinning him until the child is red faced from laughter, giggles filling the small garden. Once he is done chasing the boy, he will lift him onto his shoulders and trot after Kíli in an effort to help the little Mannish boy catch the dark haired prince. It is a side of Dwalin, and of dwarves in general, that she knows very few have ever had the privilege of seeing. She knows that Dwalin had a hand in raising the two boys after their father passed, though he is younger than their mother, and he must have done a good job of it since both of the boys treat him with a greater level of respect and fondness than they do anyone else aside from their uncle and mother.
She wants a child. Having children sort of comes with the territory when one gets married, but not only is this not the time, she still fears that she is not the sort of person to be any sort of mother at all and certainly not a good one.
"You don't have to do that," Dwalin says as he comes up behind her. "Balin will be happy enough to help Hela get it all straightened out when she gets to Thorinuldum. That's why he's Guild Master."
The Merchant's Guild is unique in that their Guild Master is usually a better administrator than they are a merchant. As it is, Balin was never even a merchant at all, he simply had the administrative skills and diplomatic head to bring the Guild together again after the last Guild Master died unexpectedly.
"We won't be back until late spring," Nori points out. "I won't be good to travel for at least another week, maybe two, and I need to stop in with Briar. It'll be her first winter without her mother, those are always the hardest, and I want to make sure the more mercenary lot don't come crawling out of the woodwork looking to make a grab on her inheritance."
"You think that'll happen?" Dwalin asks.
"It has before," Nori replies, "after her da died. The Hobbits are more like Men in their customs around marriage and inheritance. I need to check up on her and it would be worth Fíli knowing where to go in the event he needs a safe bolthole too."
"You think he will?" Dwalin sounds surprised.
"Everyone needs a bolthole, Dwalin," Nori tells him, "it's just a practicality in our line of work and in his position." She leans back with a wince.
"Walk with me a bit," he holds out a hand to help her up. "You're getting all stiff bending over like that."
Nori lets him pull her to her feet and the pair of them spend a few hours wandering the paths in Rivendell slowly as Nori works out the stiffness and kinks that come with healing muscles and hours over books that she does not entirely understand.
They stay in Rivendell for a little over two weeks once Nori is released from the healing wing. Elrond comes to see them all off, although he has avoided interacting with the dwarves as much as they have avoided interacting with him in the course of their stay, and with him is a Woman and the boy who has become so fond of Kíli and Dwalin. The Woman has greying hair and she wears grief about her like a shroud. Her clothing is similar to that of the elves she is surrounded by, though it is in the mourning colours of Men, and she holds the lad in her arms as he winds his fingers through her hair, waving to the departing dwarves. Kíli lingers behind for a moment, talking softly to the lad's mother before pressing something into her free hand. She inclines her head briefly, a ghost of a smile passing over her lips, and Kíli bows before trotting to catch up with the rest of them.
It is curious to find a Woman and her child in an elven settlement, and had Nori been feeling better she would have looked into it a little bit more. Her injury, however, and the fact that she does not want to upset Elrond knowing that they will need him in six years keeps her from sticking her nose in too much. Besides, Kíli has probably been able to find out more just by playing with the boy than she would by snooping. The boy and his mother are clearly well established residents in Rivendell, any gossip about their arrival will have long since passed.
Much to her irritation, Nori ends up riding in the cart for the first few weeks of the trip and she ends up doing so under the watchful eyes of Lord Elrond's twin sons. They see a remarkable amount, for all they seem mostly interested in conversing with the youngest three members of the party. To be fair to them, they are not too bad for elves. They know how to laugh and joke, although Nori finds herself arching an eyebrow and the impromptu song they seem to come up with about dwarves, apparently having attempted to take the viewpoint of one of her people. Unfortunately, it is a catchy tune with catchy lyrics and more than once Nori finds herself humming it as they travel.
She has a terrible vision of this song making its way through the various dwarf settlements throughout Arda and she sends a mental apology out to all her people and even their Maker for aiding in its spread.
Nori is glad to start walking again once the elf twins have decided that they have come far enough with the remains of the caravan, their departure removing the watchful healing eyes from her and making it easier for her to move at a pace that works better for her. The cart seemed to find every rut in the road, jolting her around far more than she would have been on foot or pony back, although the only ponies that they have are the few pulling the carts. Walking also gets her away from her 'trophy', and the sooner she can conveniently get rid of the thing the happier she will be. Her 'trophy' is Azog's metal arm prosthesis and it had been retrieved as proof that Azog had been slain, his head being too disgusting a prospect to drag back to Ered Luin with them. She will present it to Thorin when they finally return, and with luck, she will then be rid of the thing permanently. She would just as well fade into obscurity rather than be remembered as the one who finally put an end to Azog. Let their people continue to believe that the white orc fell at Azanulbizar to the injury he sustained at Thorin's hand. She has no desire for fame or a name beyond those that she has.
And she has plenty of those.
Their pace is slow, necessitated by both Nori's healing injury and their low numbers. With the number of surviving carts it takes longer for them to stop and start each day and by the time they reach Bree, and Nori's side is completely healed aside from some lingering soreness in the muscle and tightness in the scar, winter is beginning to press in and it is decided by the remaining caravan members that they would rather take their pay and hole up in Bree for the winter. They will rejoin Nori, Dwalin and the youngsters in the spring when the weather clears so that they can finish the job and Nori breathes a sigh of relief at that. She has never liked being the centre of attention, and they pay her a great deal of attention that they had not bothered with before the attack on the camp. It will be nice to winter with Briar and given that she has gone through the inventory of the caravan she knows that she can sell some of the stuff in the Shire to bring in a little more gold.
Sounds like the perfect holiday.
A.N: So, couple of little notes. Any weirdness is because I've changed my desk set up and I'm still getting used to being slightly further away from my screen, because I painted a bureau and repaired all the falling apartness of said furniture piece so that I can finally use the damn thing and have some actual storage in my office so that stuff isn't just thrown everywhere. I think most of us can guess who the kid Kili was playing with was, since by book canon Aragorn was only about 10 when the quest rolled around.
And finally, the song that the twins were singing would be a slightly more Middle Earth version of Diggy Diggy Hole by Windrose. Because I love the song, but sometimes it just sounds like an elf was trying to sing a song that a dwarf would write and clinging to stereotypes.