Author's Note: Happy New Years Eve from Australia everyone. See, I kept my promise about updating on New Years Eve and I am quite tempted to update again tomorrow, if only because I'm going to be going back to work in a few days and as you will all remember, my updating of this story became almost non-existed for quite sometime during the course of this pass year because I was simply too busy at work. And too tired to write as well, though hopefully because it's January things will still be quiet so I will be able to write a good junk before things get busy late January, early February. So yeah, I will be uploading another chapter tomorrow and if I should go quiet, don't fear, I'm just back at work, so updates, sadly won't be so regular. I might, depending on hope my muse is going update again the night before I go back to work, but we'll see.

Chapter Forty-One

The Cheek of a Youngster

Frodo was practically giddy upon hearing the news that his mother had been found, alive and was now on her way to Erebor with none less than Nori, his uncle Ori's and Dori's middle brother, the only member of the company he had yet to meet.

"I knew it." Ori was exclaiming nearby, looking as if he was fighting very hard not to dance about, "I told you he hadn't gone back to his old ways, I told you." He added to his older brother with a defiant pout.

"Yes, yes, alright." Dori said with a sheepish grin. "You were right."

Other dwarves were happily chatting about his mother's imminent arrival, wondering if she would arrive before Durin's Day. Frodo had tried to ignore and fight down the questions that bubbled within him when the dwarves all glanced in his direction at the mention of the word 'Durin'.

Finding that he couldn't contain his energy anymore and needing an excuse to run, he quickly excused himself from the common room that he and several other dwarves, along with his hobbit uncles had been in upon hearing the news of his mother's rescue and ran to inform his grandfather of the news.

Running, even walking, was still posing to be something of a chore for his still mending feet but he was learning to deal with the odd sensation of pain shooting through his leg whenever he put his feet down upon a hard surface.

"Grandpapa!" Frodo exclaimed as he bounded into the living chambers that were the hobbits' guest rooms for the time being, "Grandpapa," he ran to his grandfather who was dozing by the fire.

"Grandpapa." He gave his grandfather a gentle shake, causing the old hobbit to grumble softly before settling into an even deeper slumber.

Frodo rolled his eyes in irritation before shaking his slumbering grandfather harder.

"Grandpapa! Wake up! C'mon, Grandpapa, I have good news about Mama. C'mon, you need to wake up so that I can tell you. Grandpapa!"

"Lad." Frodo almost jumped out of his skins as the quiet but commanding voice spoke to him from the doorway of the living chambers.

Feeling his heart racing in his chest, Frodo looked over his shoulder to see Thorin standing there, looking as impressive and as imposing as ever.

"Ah… Hello?" he squeaked shrinking as Thorin's brilliant blue eyes bore into him.

"Come," Thorin said or maybe commanded was the better word for it, "leave your grandfather be, he will be told upon his awakening that his daughter has been found." Frodo hesitated for a moment by his grandfather's side before scamping to Thorin's.

"I thought it was agreed that you wouldn't go running off." Thorin said as he ushered Frodo out of the Hobbit's guest rooms and into the corridor outside.

"Running down one corridor is hardly what one would call running off." Frodo grumbled as he stared up at the dwarf king with a pout, his arms crossed against his chest, if only because he was trying to hide how badly he was shaking in the presences of this intimating dwarf.

Thorin crossed his own arms and two of them locked eyes with each other for several second before Frodo finally caved and looked away.

"It was just one corridor." He grumbled, his bottom lip sticking out. "What was the worst that could happen? What could I possibly get up to in just one corridors time?"

Thorin simply raised an eyebrow at him causing him to throw his arms up in defeat even though inwardly he found it to be extremely unfair that the dwarf king could win an argument without even saying a single word.

"I was allowed to run all over the Shire and Mama never called it running off." he added in his defence even though it wasn't exactly, hundred percent true. Hadn't his mother chided him of running off only days before they were captured by Bovin and his dwarves?

"Yes, well, Erebor is quite a bit different from Shire as you may have noticed?"

"You mean, with it being a mountain and there being a huge lake and forest, tha' at way," his arm waved in one direction before completely changing to point in another, "And there also being at least two human settlements a hop, skip and jump away from here. You mean those differences? Well, if you ruled those things out, I might have thought I was back in the Shire?" he was being cheeky, oh very cheeky. He wasn't even this cheeky with his mother and yet here he was pushing his already pushed luck with the King Under the Mountain, whose whole face had become a mask of emptiness.

"I'm sorry." He squeaked, pressing his hands behind his back and lowering his head as his mama had taught him to do whenever he was delivering a sincere and whole-hearted apology.

"Are you always this cheeky?" Was all Thorin asked, causing Frodo to blink up at him.

"Um… no. I mean, well, in the Shire I'm considered very cheeky and I'm almost always being told I don't have enough respect for my elders. But Mama… Mama is cheeky and we are cheeky together, but… but even she would have chided me for that, so… I'm sorry."

He watched as the dwarf king rubbed his temple for a moment before nodding.

"Apology accepted," the king sighed, looked strained and put upon. "Did your mother truly allow you to go running all over the Shire?"

"Hmmm, mostly." Frodo nodded, his head tilted to one side as he looked up at the King curiously.

"She wasn't afraid you would get yourself lost?"

Frodo snorted.

"It's near impossible to get lost in the Shire. Or maybe that's because we're hobbits – well, I'm dwobbit but same difference – I also have a fairly good sense of direction, so Mama's rarely ever worried about me… Why?" Frodo watched as Thorin sighed heavily as he pressed a hand to his face.

"So you have a good sense of direction?"

"According to Mama, I do. But like I said, it's pretty hard to get lost in the Shire if you know where you're going."

"And do you always know where you're going?"

"Yes. I mean," Frodo glanced quickly up into the mirror image of his own eyes before looking away, "I did. Before…"

"Before you came here?"

"But I will. Just you watch, give me time and I'll know my way around this mountain as well as I know my way around the Shire, only…" he snuck a glance back at Thorin, a small cheeky grin playing on his lips as he added, "I might need to do some running off to know my way truly well."

His grin grew a little wider when, much to his delight, Thorin chuckled.

"Ah, is that how it is, is it?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I don't think your mother would approve of my allowing you to run off on your own. This mountain I think you will find holds many dangers your mother's peaceful green land does not. If you promise to not go off on your own, I might see about allowing Kili to show you all his favourite places." Thorin offered and Frodo felt as if his face might split from grinning so much.

"Really?" he beamed, "so, so, he can show me Smaug's bedroom and-and the Secret Door and Tunnel and-and…"

"Your mother truly did not leave much out did she?" Thorin mused more to himself than to Frodo.

"Actually," Frodo said, "I learnt most of that from Bofur, Ori and Kili. Mama doesn't like talking about the last bit of the journey. We get to Laketown and then usually Kili or Ori or Bofur take over." Frodo shrugged, curious as to why Thorin looked so pained.

"But… But," Frodo started, wanting to free Thorin's face of pain, "she talked a lot about you. Did you really go up against the Pale Orc all by yourself with only an oak branch to protect you?"

"I did." Thorin replied with a bemused sort of look on his face.

"That's really brave. I wish I was that brave." Frodo sighed. "I tried defending Mama from Bovin and his man with some firewood, but it didn't work… obviously."

"There are different types of bravery little one." Thorin said quietly, his eyes looking off into the distance, "and the bravery your mother and yourself possess is far more powerful than the kind that I have within me."

Frodo snorted. He highly doubted that.

"Come," Thorin said, "your uncles will be worried about you."

"Oh right," Frodo gushed grinning widely, bouncing a little. Without thinking he caught Thorin's hand in his and started dragging back towards the common room that he knew his family, both hobbit and dwarves alike were still in and soon, very soon, his mama would be here as well.

He felt giddy all over again at thought of see his mother in short while. He wondered if she would agree to staying awhile in Erebor so that he could properly explore it and learn all of its secrets.

He would have to ask Thorin if they would be allowed to stay a little longer, not now of course because as soon as Frodo reached the common room where the rest of his family was, Thorin excused himself, saying that there were things that he needed to do. Frodo was dying to ask what things, but felt that this might be pushing his luck and he knew that he had probably pushed his luck to the maximum already with Thorin today, so with a bright grin he waved as Thorin left him for his kingly duties and entered the common room alone to immediately be swamped by uncles, hobbit and dwarf alike.

It didn't really matter if Thorin was a little distant with him still, not when he had all of his uncles fussing over him, and Lady Dis who was truly lovely once you got around how intimidating she could look when you first met her.

No he still had plenty of time to get close to Thorin and it would probably be easier once Mama got here too, so he simply had to be patient and wait. He had already waited basically ten years to know the truth about himself, honestly what was another week or so?

So with a smile he allowed himself to be lightly chided for wandering off without telling them properly as to where he was going and thought serenely about the family he was going to have once Mama arrived.

Author's Note: Yes another short-ish chapter, but at least we had some Frodo/Thorin interaction. Isn't Frodo a cheeky little fauntling? But I think Thorin secretly enjoys Frodo's cheek and he's slowly getting his head around being a Dad. Not, lol, that he won't still be stumbling through, losing his way and causing many a facepalm from Bilbo, Dis, Balin and even Kili and Fili. But our majestic dwarf king will get there... in the end.
Now, on a personal note, and it is a bit of an ask, but I would really, truly love it if I could finish this year and start year with a Thousand reviews. I mean, we're almost there - which by the way, has left me gobsmacked so many times over when I see just how many reviews and favourite this funny little idea in my head has gained. It's truly astounding. I never, not once expected to receive the love and support that I have had with this fic. So I would like to thank you all, from the very bottom of my heart, so, so very much for putting the time and effort into writing your lovely, sweet, insightful, beautiful reviews. They inspire to keep writing even when I go through my down-periods and I think that this whole story is ridiculous and I can understand why anyone would read, let alone leave wonderful reviews for it. It makes my heart swell and I even get a bit teary reading some of your lovely reviews. Honestly, this fic would have stopped probably around the tenth chapter if it weren't for all of you, so from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
So yeah, if we could just get to a Thousand reviews, my gods that would be an awesome and breathtaking way to end 2013 and start 2014.
Alright, enough with my rambling, I hope that you all have a safe, happy and fantastic New Years Eve, where ever you maybe in the world - which by the way, out of curiosity, where do you all hail? I know I have a number of people from the USA and Canada and the UK and I think I have a couple of Australian's reading this also. I'm honestly curious to know where you all come from or reading this fic from, lol.
Anyway, bye for now, see you all tomorrow, NEW YEARS DAY.