Nimera groaned as a twinge of pain raced through her head. she opened her eyes, blinking as the light greeted her.

"Good morning." Balin's voice called softly from beside her

She turned her head to look at him, wincing as the pain shot through her forehead again. She pressed a hand to her head feeling the bandaged encircling it.

"Morning." She sighed, grimacing slightly as the pain began to pass.

"Oin said you would be having some headaches when you woke." Balin handed her a small glass vial "He left this for you to take."

Nimera sat up slowly, tipping the vial's contents into her mouth, blanching as the bitter liquid trickled down her throat.

"How are the others?" She asked passing the empty vial back to him "Is Bofur alright?"

Balin chuckled "Oh aye he is around here somewhere I am sure. It has been all we could do to keep him and the lads at bay while you slept."

"And the other miners?" She pressed "Did they make it out in time?"

He sighed. "There were five who did not."

Nimera looked down at her hands, a heavy feeling settling over her "I should have noticed it sooner, maybe I could have given them more time to…"

Balin placed a hand on her shoulder. "You cannot place blame on yourself Nimera." He shook his head "You did all you could. If you had not acted as you did, the cost could have been much higher."

She patted his hand tiredly "Thank you Balin."

They both looked over as loud footsteps echoed in the empty hall as Dawlin strolled in examining a small bottle in between his fingers "Balin, Oin made up another one of his concoctions for…." He paused as he glanced up from the container "Nimera!"

She smiled as he passed the bottle off to Balin, hastily pulling a stool over to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked his eyes flicking from her bandages to the empty vial beside her.

"Better." she assured him

Dwalin's shoulders relaxed slightly as he ran a hand over his face "Mahal that is a relief."

"Is that the wee lass I hear?"

Nimera smiled as Bofur's head poked around the corner

"Lass!" He grinned. Turning back he motioned to someone behind him "She's awake!"

"Nim!" Kili bounded around the corner, a broad smile on his face

"Slow down! You'll drop it!" Bofur chastised

Kili paused, adjusting his grip on the large basket he carried. Fili and Bofur followed behind him, baskets balanced in each of their arms.

"What on Arda is all of this?" Nimera asked as Bofur set his basket down on the side table

He pushed back the brim of his hat slightly. "Bombour heard what you did to help save me and the lads, and he wanted to express his gratitude for saving my hide. And well he only knows one way to do it." He pulled the cloth off of the baskets revealing piles of pastries. "Fili and Kili said you had a bit of a sweet tooth, plus we figured you'd be hungry after your rest."

Nimera's cheeks flushed slightly as her stomach growled at the sight of the food "Tell your brother thank you." She said picking one out of the basket Kili held out to her "But this isn't necessary."

Bofur frowned "Lass you saved my life and many others I think that deserves far more than a few sweets… oy drop that!" Bofur swatted Kili's hand away as he pulled a pastry from the basket "Those are for Nimera!"

"Don't be silly!" She laughed, offering the one in her hand to Kili. "I will need some help to finish all of this."

Kili grinned at Bofur as he took it from her.

"Here." Fili sat down on the edge of the bed, searching through the basket for a moment before handing a deep red tarte to her "Blackberry."

Nimera smiled at him "You remembered!"

Kili pulled a face beside him. "Of course he remembered, you two are the only people in Middle Earth who like those things."

Fili shrugged, pulling out a matching tarte for himself "It is not our fault you have no taste."

Nimera held out the closest basket to Dwalin "It looks like there are some lemon in this one."

His scarred eyebrows rose up slightly, one large hand rooting around the basket until he found the treat. He ate the small pastry in a single bite, pulling out a second before passing the basket to Balin.

She sighed, settling back down onto the pillows, licking the final bit of jam from her finger. "Your brother may be the finest cook in all of middle earth!"

Bofur grinned "Aye it is a wonder I have not grown as large as him, with his cooking at arms reach every day."

Balin cleared his throat. "I do believe you are forgetting something my dear." He shook the second vial at Nimera

She pulled a face as he passed the bottle to her "maybe one more tarte to wash the taste out." She said reaching into the basket as she tipped vial to her lips. She blanched as she swallowed its contents before taking a large bite of the pastry.

"We should be off." Bofur said noting the sleepy look beginning to cross Nimera's face

Balin nodded, pulling the blanket back over her. "You should get a bit more rest before Oin returns to check on you."

Nimera sighed but relented, as Bofur passed the baskets back to Fili and Kili.

"We will be back soon Nim." Kili assured her as he turned to follow after Balin

She gave a small wave as Dwalin Bofur and Balin disappeared around the corner, Kili trailing behind them. Fili was just about to turn the corner when Nimera's voice stopped him.

"Fili?"

He turned back to look at her. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?" He asked, taking a few steps toward the bed.

Nimera's face flushed slightly. "I was wondering if you could leave me one more tarte…." She said sheepishly.

Fili laughed, handing her one of the tarts from the basket. He paused for a moment as she took it from him, suddenly deep in thought.

"Fili? Is everything alright?" Nimera asked

He shook his head "I…. We were so scared we would not find you, and if we did that you were…" He sighed "I am just glad you are alright, thats all." Fili looked up in surprise as she took his hand

"I suppose I have you to thank for that, I never got the chance to thank you for finding us."

"Well I will take an extra pastry as my reward then." He squeezed her hand gently before standing "Get some rest, I am not sure I will be able to keep Kili away for long."

...

Kili sighed as he leisurely wove his way through the throng of dwarves, his aimless attempt at occupying his morning was beginning to prove useless. He paused mid step spying a familiar form among the crowd

"And just where are you going?" He ask falling into step beside Nimera

She looked up in surprise, smiling as she saw him "Oh to the library, I had asked Ori to pull a few books from the archive for me."

He gave her a skeptical look "Are you not supposed to be resting?"

Nimera rolled her eyes "Oin is insisting on giving me the rest of the week off, but I refuse to spend one more moment in bed!"

A grin spread across Kili's face. He placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her in the opposite direction "Well if you have to have a day off why waste it in a dark library?"

"I suppose you have a better idea then?"

He flashed her a broad smile "I have no business to attend to today, why don't we go to Dale for a drink?"

"A drink?" Nimera's eyebrows rose slightly. "It is not even mid-day!"

Kili thought for a moment "We could tour the market first, that will get us to midday? Come on Nim, I have not had the chance to properly welcome my best friend back home!" He said offering his arm

Nimera gave him a sidelong look "I would have thought Fili was your best friend."

"Oh aye, but you come in a very close second." He grinned

She sighed, taking his arm "Oh very well, but just one drink. You have a penchant for getting me into trouble when we are left on our own."

Kili scoffed as he led her down the passage and out into the main hall "I am perfectly capable of self control. Name one time I have led you into trouble!"

"The night we went to the inn for your 65th birthday." She answered quickly "You bet me you could make a better dagger and broke Thorin's forge in the process! We had to try and fix it the best we could before he returned that morning, and when it broke on him he blamed poor Torvi!"

He laughed, scratching his chin thoughtfully "Aye. I've still never owned up to that one!"

Nimera laughed as well, shielding her eyes against the sun as they turned onto the large path that connected the two cities.

"Have you been to Dale yet?" Kili asked as they reached the town

She shook her head "Balin was going to take me earlier but he got caught up in counsel affairs."

"Well then welcome my lady." He said, making a sweeping gesture with his hand, "To the city of Dale."

"It reminds me a bit of Gondor" Nimera said as they ventured into the market "Though there were no other dwarves around." She noted looking as they passed a few dwarven stalls.

"Aye Dale can be quite the mix." Kili nodded "There are even elves here sometimes."

Nimera looked over at him "Elves really? I would not think they would mix much with dwarves and humans."

"The battle for the mountain strengthened the bonds between our races, though it is still a rare occurrence."

Nimera stopped at one of the stalls as she eyed some of the bundles of drying herbs and plants hanging from its walls. She carefully selected a few of the bundles. Rummaging around her bag for her coin purse as the vendor wrapped the herbs in a small piece of parchment.

"What is that?" Kili asked, looking over her shoulder as she took the parcels from the man.

"It is dried athalas." She said, lifting a corner of the paper to reveal the dried plant. "It is mostly used to feed animals but it has strong medicinal uses as well. I am hoping to be able to pull some seeds from this bundle."

"I thought we agreed today was a day of leisure not work." Kili raised his eyebrow

Nimera took his arm once more "I can do both. Thorin has granted my request to use one of the outer terraces to regrow some of the herbs I brough with me, so I need a few practice seedlings." She said tapping the bundle. "I promise only leisure from here on out!"

He steered her towards another stall, the shelves lined with fletching and twine. "The feathering is very important to the flight of an arrow." Kili said, rolling a feather in between his fingers, studying it carefully.

"You have come a long way from making arrows out of chicken feathers." Nimera noted as she held up a bright red feather for inspection.

He took the feather from her, holding it close to his face as he scrutinized each part. After a moment he seemed pleased with what he saw, adding it to the steadily growing pile in front of him before he began inspecting another.

As he continued his search Nimera wandered to the next stall over, The dwarven shopkeeper greeting her in Khuzduhl.

"Looking for anything particular?" The woman asked as she surveyed the small display of pins and bracelets.

Nimera thought for a moment. "A hair clip." She said running her fingers through her loose hair

The darrow nodded, bringing up a tray onto the table "This one here would look quite lovely." She said, holding one up for her to see. It was a small clasp only a few inches long covered in elegant silver scrollwork with a single small sapphire set in the center. Nimera held it close to her face as she inspected the work.

"Perfect!" She nodded "How much?"

The woman held up two fingers, "Two gold."

Nimera dug the coins out of her pouch, dropping them into the darrows hand.

"Do you want me to wrap it for you?" She asked holding her hand out for the clip

Nimera shook her head and smiled "Oh that's not necessarily." She said opening up the clasp as she began pulling the top section of her hair back

"There you are." Kilis voice sounded from behind her

Nimera turned to look at him, her hands still working through her hair as she clicked the clasp into place "Sorry I thought you were going to be a bit longer!"

"It is no worry" Kili waved his hand "Did you find something?"

She nodded, turning her back to him, tapping her finger against the clasp.

He leaned in for a closer look. "Very pretty". He turned to the vendor "Excellent craftsmanship indeed."

The woman's eyes widened as he turned to her "My prince." She said, stumbling into a curtsy "Thank you."

He turned back to Nimera "Shall we my lady?"

She nodded, waving goodbye to the shopkeeper.

"I do forget you are a prince sometimes." Nimera said once they were out of earshot

Kili grinned "I know it is hard to believe someone as kind hearted and level headed as myself is royalty."

She snorted "It is hard to believe someone who I have witnessed doing the greatest acts of stupidity imaginable is in line for a throne."

He tugged her down a side street "Oh but it is Fili's job to be king not mine."

"And thank Mahal for that." She said giving him a sly smile

Kili looked affronted, "You would not trust me as king!"

Nimera gave him a skeptical look "I would not trust anyone who I have personally witnessed trying to ride a wild boar bareback to be king!"

"That was one time!"

"That happened twice!"

Kili shook his head as he stopped in front of a large tavern, the sign declaring they had arrived at 'The Dragon's Demise'.

"It was only one time." He said as he pushed the door open "The second time it was a mule deer."

Nimera rolled her eyes as she followed him to a small table set into the back corner of the tavern "Oh then in that case you should make a claim to be first in line to the throne!"

Kili shot her a look before turning to the server ordering their drinks and meals. "I would not want to be first in line anyway." He said taking the flagon as the woman set it on the table "It wouldn't be any fun if Fili and I were both sticks in the mud."

"Your brother is not a stick in the mud. He has had a great deal of responsibility put on him." She paused looking over at the large parcel of feathers on the bench beside him "Are you planning on reassembling a bird?"

He laughed "I am making special arrows for the Khayam Undül."

Nimera frowned "What is that?"

Kili gave her a strange look "Surly Dwalin has told you about the Undül."

She shook her head

He clapped his hands together "There is a large celebration held every year to commemorate the reclaiming of the mountain and the battle against Azog- beginning on Durins day through the day the treaty between the dwarves, men, and elves was signed. The Khayam Undül is the tournament that is held in the first week of the festival." He held up 3 fingers "It has three events- the sword, archery, and hand to hand combat. It's open to men and elves too, not just dwarves."

She raised an eyebrow "It seems unfair to compete against someone who is immortal."

Kili waved a hand "There are age requirements of course to make it fair. Besides there are not really any elves in Mirkwood young enough to complete it is more of a formality."

Nimera hummed

"So," He said, leaning in conspiratorially, "Are you going to compete?"

"Most certainly not in hand to hand combat. The other darrowdamns in this mountain have at least twenty pounds on me, and I have no desire to be publicly beaten into the ground." She tapped a finger on her chin in thought "Perhaps the blade though. But I would need to improve before the tournament ."

Kili let out a dramatic sigh "If only you knew someone who could help you improve your skills? Someone like last year's champion of the bow and champion of the blade."

Nimera hummed as she took a sip of ale "But where to find such teachers…."

"Come on Nim. Fili and I will make sure you are ready for the Khayam Undül!"

"It sounds like you are volunteering your brother without his knowledge. How do you know he will want to help me?"

Kili shrugged, suppressing a grin as he took a drink. "Oh something tells me he will be just fine."

He held out his flagon to her "To victory then?"

Nimera grinned, clinking her flagon against his "To victory."