Author's Note: I own nothing.

27 The Secret of the Door

The next morning they headed south out of Dale and around the mountain. They reached the south face just as the sun set. Tomorrow was Durin's day. They camped at the base of the mountain but Bella wasn't sure any of them got a wink of sleep that night. The promise of the hidden door hung over them all night. Bella was going over the riddle the Moon Runes had spelled out in her mind.

"Stand by the grey stone where the thrush knocks and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." She muttered and nearly jumped as someone sat next to her. She looked up and found Kili sitting next to her. He pulled her into an embrace and she smiled returning it. When he pulled back she frowned.

"Not that I don't love a good hug but what was that for?" She asked. He smiled.

"I never thought Nadad would accept me, would accept my One." He said and Bella shook her head.

"I think Thorin would have accepted you, no matter what." She said with a grin. He smiled back at her. "What does Nadad mean?" She knew Kili was talking about Thorin but the term was unfamiliar.

"Uncle. I guess I may have to call you Namad soon huh?" He teased, Bella rolled her eyes. "He's always needed a voice of reason, I just never expected us to find one on this quest." Kili said with a grin. Bella shrugged.

"I do what I can." She teased back. Kili's grin grew wider.

"Amad will be so happy it's not her job anymore." Kili laughed. Bella shook her head at him.

"What is your mother like?" Bella asked and Kili grinned.

"Oh you're going to love her, she's never been one to put up with nonsense. Until we met you she was the only one I knew who had any kind of ability to reason with Nadad. She's going to adore you." Kili said laying back in the grass looking up at the mountain. There was excitement in his dark eyes, as if part of him had never expected to get this far. They were still there when the sun rose, no one had really moved. The anticipation in the air was palpable. Today was Durin's day. At the first sight of dawn they were already moving to the south face of the mountain. Bella shook her head looking forward at the massive statue carved into the mountainside.

"There are four of these?" She asked a bit amazed. She'd never seen a work of art crafted so large. Thorin smiled lightly.

"Three outside the mountain Ghivashel. Each is made in the image of a great dwarf lord." Thorin looked up at the statue with something in his bright blue eyes that Bella couldn't identify, envy maybe. "This is Durin, I suppose it makes sense that the door would be around here somewhere. Keep a sharp lookout!" He called to the others as they began to search . It was nearing midday when Bella spotted something in the statue of Durin towering over them.

"Thorin!" She called out and he turned from his search. "What does that look like?" She asked pointing at the detailing on Durin's coat. "Not unlike stairs." She said stepping right up to the statue and looking up. "Look you can see light through his hand! There's a gap where the stairs open onto the top of the statue!" She called as the others gathered around them. Thorin grabbed her face and planted a quick kiss to her lips.

"You have keen eyes Ghivashel. We need to get started climbing." And so they began the trek up the mountain, frequently glancing at the setting sun. Bella was between Kili and Thorin. About halfway up the mountain Kili seemed to grow bored.

"So Hobbits don't celebrate Durin's day." He said, more as a statement than a question. Bella nodded panting slightly.

"No but we do have a holiday today now it comes to mind." She said taking Thorin's offered hand to help her around the corner where the stairs built into the detailing on Durin's coat met his hand and arm. She'd been right, there were stairs here, more clearly carved though very weather worn than the ones in the statue's coat.

"Oh what holiday is that?" Kili asked. He frowned as Thorin moved Bella in front of him. That was a bit unusual, his uncle wasn't really the possessive type. But he shrugged letting it slide.

"It's called the Winter festival. A celebration of the year passed and the year to come. It's essentially one big party. It can last from dawn till the moon sets if you're celebrating in the right company." She said with a grin remembering when she her mother and father had visited her mother's Took relatives on this day years ago. "The Shire is a sight to see on nights like tonight." She said a bit wistful. Thorin paused. Bella paused with him.

"Can it give you views like this?" He asked pointing out across the land. Bella gasped. From up here she could see clear across the Mirkwood, she swore in the distance she could see the edge of the Misty Mountains clouding the horizon. She took Thorin's hand and smiled at him.

"No it can't."

"We found the end of the stairs!" Nori called to them and they turned back to the task at hand. Thorin's free hand came up to the key where he wore it around his neck. Bella had given it back to him at the house in Lake Town. When they reached the end of the stairs they were encountered with what was by all appearances a dead end. As best Bella could describe it this place was an alcove carved into the rock. It would be invisible from below, but above them was only the sky. Even now though the light was beginning to wane as their search began. There must be a keyhole here somewhere, they all knew it yet as the light began to fail them no one had found anything. Dwalin had broken his axe, acquired in Lake Town, against the stone of the mountain. Despair hung over them like a cloud as the sun finally dipped down below the the opening above them.

"Thorin we've lost the light, there's nothing we can do." Balin said his voice choked with tears. Thorin shook his head, disbelief warring with defeat on his face.

"We've come so far. We can't fail now." He said his voice cracking. "We can't." But even as he spoke the last light of the sun dipped out of sight, from the slight glow back the way they had come it was only just still up but the way the alcove was designed it had fled from them. Dori shook his head and began to leave the alcove, back down the stairs. As the others followed him Thorin pulled the key off and stared at it for a moment before letting it fall from his fingers. Bella shook her head as Fili and Kili left the alcove both looking to be in pain.

"You can't give up now! We didn't come all this way for nothing!" She called as Thorin, the last dwarf left in the alcove stepped back onto the stairs. "What happened to the stubbornness of dwarves!" She was about to continue when a sharp knock sounded behind her. She jumped, whirling to find a small bird standing on a rock. In its beak it held a snail, still in its shell, it was tapping the shell on the rock. The riddle again came into her mind and Bella stepped carefully over to the rock where the thrush stood attempting to break its dinner out of the shell. Just as she moved the first light of the moon shone through the stones above her striking the wall. In the sudden silver light she spotted it.

"Thorin!" She screamed down the stairwell. "It's moonlight! Not the last light of day, the first light of night! Moonlight!" She shouted, not at that moment even caring if the dragon somewhere below her could hear her. She scrambled for the key Thorin had dropped but another hand beat her to it. Thorin looked up at her and spotted the wall behind her, still illuminated by the light of the moon. His eyes locked on the keyhole and widened.

As though in a trace he stepped up to the hidden door. He didn't even seem to hear the others barreling back into the rocky alcove as he slid the key home into the keyhole. It took a bit of effort to turn but a click sounded through the silence. Bella wasn't sure if in that moment any of them were even breathing. The outline of a door cracked into the stone at the turning of the key and Thorin placed both hands on the inside of the outline and pushed hard. With a near silent creak the door opened inward and stale air escaped the underground fortress of Erebor. Thorin hesitated for no more than a moment before taking his first steps into his home in sixty years. He touched the stone wall and Bella saw a tear slip down his cheek. In a choked voice he spoke, though it was barely above a whisper.

"Welcome my sisters sons, my One, to Erebor."