Disclaimer: JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson own everything except my OC and characters they wouldn't recognize.

"Kee! Give it back!" A shout jolts Nora out of a sound sleep, and she bangs her head on the underside of the low table. Thankfully, canine creatures have high pain tolerance, and it doesn't bother her in the slightest. However, it does get attention for two reasons: a) the dwarflings remember she's there and excitedly peek under the table, and b) being now fully conscious, she becomes aware of a familiar - and urgent - sensation. Uh oh. She tries to figure out how to tell the children that she needs to go outside before she ruin's the rug. Think, think, think, think...think...think...oh! Right! How could she have missed something so obvious? Back in Britain, before Social Services found her, her best friend was her dog, Maisley. Whenever Maisley had to go relieve herself, she would lightly scratch at the door.

Plan in mind, Nora carefully crawls out from under the table and limps toward the door.

"What's wrong, Girl?" Fíli asks. She lightly paws at the door in response. When he and Kíli don't seem to get the message, she paws the door again and adds a whimper.

"Is she okay, Fee?" Kíli asks his brother. Fíli just shrugs his shoulders. It's right then that Thorin comes down the stairs and asks what's going on. Kíli runs up to him and grabs his pant leg as he steps onto the floor.

"Uncle! Is she okay?" he asks while pointing at Nora. Seeing that neither of the boys are taking the hint, she paws the door again and whimpers. Seeing the blank expression, she huffs and lifts one leg to imitate a male dog relieving himself. Thorin's brow furrows for a moment before realization crosses his features. His mouth twists into an amused smile.

"She's fine, don't worry," he tells the boys, "she simply hears nature's call." It takes a moment, but the dwarflings eventually catch on. Their eyes widen and their mouths drop to form little oh's. Fíli moves first, going to open the door. Nora manages to move out of the way before the door can accidentally hit her, and she speed-limps outside. She sees the widely populated street and her canine instincts can't override her instinct for privacy. She heads to the side of the building and turns the corner. Deciding it's as secluded as it's gonna get, she's about to squat, but then she hears two sets of small feet. She turns and sees the dwarflings following her. Oh, for heaven's sake! Seriously? Do you mind? She huffs in annoyance and glares at them. It takes a few minutes of charades and glaring for them to get the message and go back to the front of the building.

After finishing her business, she limps back to the front and follows the boys inside. The unmistakable smell of sausage in a pan wafts up her nose and her stomach softly growls, which produced a train of thought that confuses her. Dogs only eat once a day, and wolves usually eat even more sparsely. She had a big meal just last night. She shouldn't be hungry. Maybe it's just the delicious smell of the cooking meat? No. Even that wouldn't be enough to make her stomach growl. She is very big for a puppy of her apparent age...maybe that has something to do with it. Either way, she's hungry, and the sausage smells heavenly. The boys return to their chase and she follows her nose to the kitchen, where Dis is cooking and talking to her brother simultaneously.

"...don't know. He's still so young, Thorin-"

"He'll be thirty next month. Dis-"

"I know, I know. It's just that...well, Firon was supposed to teach him." Both adults become quiet. Dis removes the finished sausage from the pan and leans on the counter for support. "When Fíli was born," Dis continues in a soft, shaky voice, "he talked of almost nothing but the time we would spend with him. More than anything, he spoke of teaching Fíli his way around the forges." Her voice becomes a whisper toward the end, and her shoulders tremble. Thorin's face softens and he walks towards his younger sister. He puts his hands on her shoulders and gently turns her around to face him. Dis's eyes are filled with tears, and one is already running down her left cheek. Her next words are spoken with sobs. "Oh, I'm sorry. Y-you'd think th-that it gets easier af-after twenty-four years." Thorin says nothing, but pulls his sister into his arms, and she folds herself into his chest and sobs quietly into his shirt.

Not quite knowing whether it's her human or canine instincts driving her or both, Nora quietly limps into the kitchen and sits beside Dis's feet, leaning on her leg in a comforting gesture. Firon must be Fíli and Kíli's father. If what she knows about Dwarves and how strongly they're bonded to their mates is correct...it makes sense that Dis is still mourning her husband.

-linebreak-

After a while, Dis pulls herself together, pets Nora on the head, and she and Thorin continue their conversation about whether Thorin should begin teaching Fíli to work in a forge. Apparently, the reason the silver beads in Fíli and Kíli's hair are plain is that Dwarves are expected to create their own family beads, and the dwarflings simply aren't old enough for that, yet. By a dwarfling's fortieth birthday, he's expected to have learned enough blacksmithing to imprint his own design on his family bead. Fíli, evidently, is just over ten years away from that day. Not much time to gain enough skill to do a good job. The result of the discussion is the decision that both of Dis's sons will begin learning from Thorin at the beginning of next week.