A day or two after she had been asked to train the children of the village, Halien had moved into the spare room that Bofur had in his home and had become part of the family. She began to grow close to him and his brother, Bombur, and their cousin, Bifur, over the next year or two had passed. At one point, Bofur had asked if she could take a look at the ax embedded in his skull. Halien looked at his injury, using her magik to analyze the damage. Halien spoke to Bifur in ancient dwarvish. Bifur seemed to enjoy hearing the dwarvish language spoken to him and he responded with great enthusiasm. She talked with him about how he got the injury, how it felt and if it was bothering him, and she told him that since it had been embedded in his skull for so long, there was no way that she could remove it without hurting him further, even killing him. Bifur understood and Halien turned to his cousins.

"The ax has been in his head for far too long for me to safely remove it and not risk damaging his mind further or killing him. He is perfectly healthy otherwise, and as long as he can remain able to speak the ancient dwarvish language, he should be fine." She explained.

Bofur and Bombur nodded, thanking her for at least taking a look. Halien smiled and gasped as she was tackled by all of Bombur's children. They screamed and laughed as they grabbed her and pinned her to the floor, tickling her. The dwarves laughed as Halien tickled the children right back. Halien sat up when the children went to go wash up for dinner and she began to wonder if she had finally found a home that she could call her own. She had been in this village of the Blue Mountain for nearly six years and she was beginning to feel as much at home as she had once felt in Mirkwood with her people. Sighing, Halien knew that only time would tell her if she should stay or if she should move on to the next village.

"Halien, I can't do it!" the child said.

Halien smiled, gave a final instruction to some of the older children as they sparred with each other, and came over to help. "You have to raise your arm like this," she explained, gently lifting the boy's arms into the correct position. "Now, relax your shoulders."

The boy nodded and relaxed.

"Very good, Dorin. Now, aim for the red dot. Outstretch your finger," she said, lightly tapping his pointer finger, "then line it up with the center of the dot."

Dorin did as he was instructed.

Off to the side, Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin were coming around the corner, discussing the topics of their council meeting and Thorin stopped when he saw the training session going on. Thorin walked over to the fence and crossed his arms, trying to see what would happen. He had yet to recognize the instructor.

"Good, Dorin, now take a deep breath, keep your shoulders relaxed and gently pull back on the bowstring," Halien instructed. "Very good, now I want you to anchor your thumb to the base of your ear and when you are ready, release the arrow."

Dorin did as was instructed as Halien stood and stepped back. Thorin watched as the boy took a deep breath and let the arrow fly and laugh when the arrow struck the very center of the target.

"I did it, Halien! I did it!" the boy said, running to the elf.

"Excellent work, Dorin. You may yet become a far better archer than I," she said with a smile, ruffling the boy's hair.

Thorin felt a smile creep at his lips, but he realized the name the boy had spoken and looked at the instructor. He could see she was tall, like an elf, and the name sounded so familiar. Then, when she lowered her shawl to wipe her brow, Thorin's eyes widened. Beside him, Balin spoke her name in surprise.

"Halien!"

Halien looked up, her eyes wide at the sight of the older dwarves. Dorin turned and bowed to Thorin before he walked up to him.

"Look, sire." He said to Thorin, pointing to the arrow he shot. "Halien taught me how to shoot an arrow. I hit the middle and it was my first try!"

Thorin smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "I saw, young one. You are an excellent shot. Be sure to practice, we may have used for your natural skills in the future."

"I will. But I have a good teacher, too!" Dorin said with a smile. He turned and hurried over to Halien, grabbing her by the hand.

Halien was still in a bit of shock seeing Thorin and the other two there, but she let Dorin lead her over to them. As she bowed to Thorin, she fought the urge to run and embrace him. She had not seen him since the day Smaug came and she saw his figure in the distance, fleeing the main gate of Erebor.

"It has been a long time, my lord. I am glad to see you in one piece after what happened at Erebor." She said.

"I am surprised to see you here, Halien, daughter of Thranduil," Thorin said, noticing Halien wince as he spoke her father's name like it was poison. "I would ask what business you have here, but I see that you are working with the children."

Thorin saw the other children stop their practice and turn to look at what was going on. Everyone knew that Thorin hated elves, but this was the first time since Halien had come to their village that she had interacted with the dwarf prince. They all seemed to be worried and had gathered around her.

"Lady Halien, is everything alright?" one of the younger children asked. She knew who Halien was and had often asked her to tell her tales of Greenwood.

"Yes, Moira. I am fine. Our dear king here was just saying hello."

The children bowed to Thorin and clustered around the elf maiden.

Thorin had never before seen such a sight and was surprised at how protective of Halien they seemed to be. Behind them, Bofur came out to meet them and stood next to her as he bowed to Thorin and said hello to Balin and Dwalin.

"How have you fared of late, Halien?" Balin asked.

Halien smiled, a sort of sadness hidden behind it. "I have fared as well as one might expect under the circumstances."

Balin smiled and nodded while his brother stood there with his arms crossed, in a guarded stance. "It is good to see you, lass, even with what happened. I am glad that you have been well. Thorin," he said, looking to his prince. "We should hurry or we will be late."

Thorin nodded and Halien bowed one last time to him. "It was a pleasure to see you once more, sire. I wish you well." Though she tried, Halien couldn't resist anymore and pulled the dwarf king into her arms. "I have missed you so, Thorin Oakenshield. I am so glad to see that you are alright." She said, then she hugged Balin and bowed her head in respect for Dwalin, knowing he did not like hugs. She bid them a farewell and turned to walk back towards the schoolhouse, Bofur close behind with the children still clustered about her.

Thorin watched as Halien laughed with the children and glanced back to see him still standing there.

'What is she thinking? How can she embrace me like that after what her father did? How could she think that everything would be the same?' he thought to himself.

Halien left Bofur and the children and went across the street to the open stable stalls and pressed her forehead against her mare's.

"I finally found him, Torwen…" she said to the mare. "Things may not be the same as before, but Thorin is safe and well. I can sleep easy now."

The mare whinnied and Halien turned to glance back at Thorin and saw in his eyes something peeking through, trying to resurface. Halien felt her chest tighten as she realized that it was hope.