Here's another (short) chapter to get on with the story :)

Chapter 5 : Cello

I recommend listening to Cello Suite n°1 by Johann Sebastian Bach for this chapter.

When his shift came for the night's watch, Fili got up and told Bofur to go to sleep. He sat near the fire and started smoking his pipe, his eyes lost in the fire.

He had been doing so for a few minutes when he heard her silent footsteps. She was smiling as always and sat next to him, not leaving any space between her slender body and his left side. Selis let her head fall on his shoulder, her pale hair falling on his coat.

"I thought it would never be your turn" she confessed in a small voice "That you would never be alone tonight."

He turned his face towards her and shivered when he saw her small lips and grey eyes staring at him.

"Oddly, I'm always on night watch these days" he told her winking, happy to see her.

She smiled as well, understanding what he meant.

"Are you tired, from all the walking?" she asked concerned.

"A little, but I'll be fine. I wanted to get the chance to see you before we reach the heart of the mountains tomorrow."

"If you go inside the tunnels, I won't be able to follow you" she said frowning "I'll have to find you on the other side of the mountains." Selis did not seem happy about this idea. Not knowing where Fili was inside all that stone for days was very scary indeed.

"We'll find each other on the other side" he assured her, taking both her hands in his big ones.

She nodded and snuggled back against his coat; their hands still entwined. Selis sighed and shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?" asked Fili immediately, forgetting she did not feel the cold or heat as other people did. It worried him.

She laughed quietly, and answered in an unsteady voice:

"No, I think… it's weird…" she paused sighing "I think it's because of you."

Something warm tickled Fili's inside at her simple confession. He did not know how much Selis knew about being in love, but he knew, in that moment, that he was in love with her. Probably, she had never experienced being in love before, as she had never spent much time with men, dwarves nor elves before.

Maybe he'll ask some advice to Gandalf about it. That last thing he wanted to do was scare Selis with his feelings or actions. As difficult as it would be to restrain himself, he would wait for her to come to him.

It was their last night together before quite a while, and they did not talk much. They remained against each other, Selis' body glued to Fili, his arm around her waist.

Before his watch was over, he said:

"My brother would like to meet you."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide and a little scared "Why?"

"Because you're important to me" and Fili could see that his statement pleased Selis as her eyes came alive.

"Then, I'll meet him. But just him, right?" she asked, sending an insecure glance at the sleeping form of Thorin. Fili could tell she was shy and would be very uncomfortable meeting the other dwarves, especially his impressive and stern uncle.

"Just Kili" he reassured her.

She then got up so he could wake Oin for the next watch.

They stood together in the darkness, and she hugged him, her slender arms enclosing his waist. He embraced her immediately, putting one hand on her back and the other against the back of her hair. It felt soft underneath his fingers.

"Stay safe" she said, her voice muffled by the fabric of his coat. "Beware the goblins in the mountains."

"I promise. Don't worry" he whispered.

She pulled back to look into his eyes, and then her gaze lowered for the first time to his lips, once, then his eyes, then his lips again. She seemed to be experiencing conflicted emotions for a few seconds.

Fili wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to feel the shape of her lips beneath his own, to hold her tight against his chest, to open his coat and wrap it around both their bodies. But he didn't. He just smiled at her, trying to communicate all his desire for her with only his eyes.

She finally stepped back and told him, as always when they parted: "I'll find you." This time, her voice had a sad edge in it.

As she retreated into the darkness, Fili felt the cold of the night around him. He woke Oin, and quickly reached his bedroll next to his brother, falling asleep close to Kili's warm and comforting presence.

"You seem distracted lately, my nephew" Thorin told Fili the next day, as they were walking side by side on a path that slithered between the mountains.

Fili turned to face his stern uncle, but found he had nothing to say to that.

"Is something troubling you?" asked Thorin in his serious voice.

Fili pondered his answer. Yes, he was distracted. He was happy, in fact. Traveling with his family and friends. His heart filled with the new love that seemed to have warmed his future. But he could not tell his uncle that.

Thorin was so stern, having lived almost all his life in misery and the hope of vengeance. His heart had blackened; and there was not often light that could reach inside so much darkness of the mind.

So Fili answered as best as he could:

"I'm concerned about the journey ahead."

"It is normal that you should be worried about the dangers we will face. It does not make you less a warrior." Thorin stated.

Fili felt frustrated. He had meant something different; and he told his uncle so:

"It's not that exactly. I'm worried of course about the dangers of the travel and the dragon… but I want to see beyond that. After we have reclaimed Erebor. Then what?"

"What do you mean?" Thorin asked, frowning.

Fili hesitated. His uncle would not like this, but doubts had been inside his mind for some time, about the purpose of the quest. He felt like he should voice them now.

"I've never been to Erebor" Fili said cautiously "So maybe I don't understand, but I sometimes wonder if we're not taking too much unnecessary risks to reclaim a lost fantasy, when we already have a home in Ered Luin." He ended his statement with a bitter tone to his voice.

Thorin was stunned and angry at the same time. He loved Fili but could not understand his doubts, nor his hesitation. Erebor was the sole purpose of his existence. He did not want to get mad at his heir, so he sighed and tried to comfort him instead.

"You'll understand when you see the glory of our halls, the immensity of treasures, how high the golden ceilings stand inside the mountain!" he told his nephew enthusiastically, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You'll see."

And the King in exile went to join Dwalin a few paces ahead.

Fili loved his uncle, but he was not as convinced by his words as he would have been a few years ago.