Author's Note: Umm…another really short chapter. But I think I managed to pack a lot into 2,000 words, so yeah.

Chapter 12-An Interesting Family Heritage

Walking, walking, walking—it seemed like that was all they ever did. Uphill, downhill, into the gentle foothills of the Misty Mountains, they walked. The beautiful scenery at least somewhat kept Karra's mind off her sore feet. And really, Balin's boots were pretty comfortable. She did regret forgetting her bedroll, though. The ground was sometimes rocky, sometimes grassy, but almost always hard. At least now she could choose who to travel beside, and wasn't forced to ride behind someone on a pony every day. She did kind of miss the ponies, though….

The conversations continued, and Karra learned more and more about the Kingdom of Erebor. She learned that her share of the treasure was much larger than she could ever have imagined it to be. What would her mother think, she wondered. Her mom had always had kind of a thing for gold and jewels. It seemed that with all this talking and traveling and questing, she still had time to miss her home. Not that she wasn't glad she'd come. Who knows—maybe there was some great reason she was on this quest!

And so one day she was walking along, daydreaming about gold and treasure, when Balin's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"May I see your key, lass?" he asked.

Karra jumped. He had startled her out of her musings. "You know about my key?" she asked a little uncertainly. "How?"

"Fili told me," he replied. He raised an eyebrow. "He told me you have had it with you the entire time you have been with us."

Karra nodded. "Yeah, I just never really saw the need to tell anyone about it. I mean, it's just a little trinket that was my dad's…." She pulled the key out from under her shirt and unhooked the chain it hung on. "Here. You can take a look at it if you want." Balin took it and gently fingered it. For a time, they walked along in silence, Balin examining the key. Once he muttered something under his breath, and Karra looked over and was shocked to see that it was glowing slightly around the edges. However, he quickly closed his hand around it, effectively quenching the white light. After a bit, he spoke. Carefully slipping the key back into her hand, he said, "It is as I thought."

Karra clasped the key tightly. "What?"

Balin nodded sagely. "This is one of the keys."

"One of the keys?" Karra's curiosity was peaked. "Are they, like, some sort of famous thing or something?"

"Not exactly famous," Balin began. "In fact, the three keys were known only to a few. Your father was one of them."

Karra jumped. "My father? How is that even possible?"

"Has no one ever told you about your father, lass?" Balin asked. He seemed genuinely confused. "Your father was a dwarf of Erebor, thought dead when the dragon attacked. As we now know," he glanced at the key in her hand, "he simply disappeared. I always knew he was the possessor of one of the keys, but I never dreamed he'd actually used it."

Karra nearly fell over. "Wait, my dad was a dwarf? How….how….." She thought of her mom, and a slight smile grew on her face. "I mean, my mom was never the tallest, but seriously…."

Balin laughed. "I assume you mother was of the race of men?" he asked.

"If you mean human, yeah, of course," Karra exclaimed. "Well, I mean, I guess…..I thought was dad was human until now….." She rolled her eyes. "How is that even possible? How could I never have known?"

Balin raised an eyebrow. "I am rather surprised your mother never told you the truth."

"Well, it's not like she lied to me," Karra protested. "Now that I think about it, she was always saying I got my height from my dad…." She suddenly began to laugh. "All those weeks trying to convince you I wasn't a dwarf! Now what am I supposed to say? I guess you were all laughing at me behind your beards, weren't you." All at once, she stopped. Turning back to Balin, she asked, "What do you mean by 'one of the keys'? Is this thing some sort of…..well, what is it?"

Balin began with the air of one telling a tale. "It is said that other realms exist parallel to ours. It is told by some that on Durin's day…"

Karra interrupted. "Durin's day?"

"Durin's day is the first day of the dwarves' new year," Balin explained. "It is the day that the last moon of Autumn and the first sun of Winter appear in the sky together. This actual occurrence is very rare, and said to have some connection with some sorts of magic. As I was saying, some say that in certain times and places on Durin's day, the line between realities blurs, and realms will intersect. Any object made on those times and in those places will exist in both realms at once, or will hold the power to travel between those realms. Three keys were forged in the right time and the right place many years ago. The doors they unlock have long been forgotten or fallen into oblivion. But the keys still exist. Your father possessed one. He gave it to you."

Karra tried to keep the shock off her face. "How do you know it was my dad's?" she asked.

"I recognize it as the key I know was his. I saw it once. The design and engravings are the same. That could be no coincidence."

Karra didn't know what to say. This, this she had never dreamed of! "This necklace?" she asked, pulling the necklace out. "It…it looks just like one my mom had. Does….does that have anything to do with anything?"

Balin nodded. "Perhaps. It is certainly possible that your father could have given you mother a dwarven necklace." Gently taking her hand, which she had clenched around the key, he asked, "May I show you something, lass?"

Karra nodded, opening her hand and staring at the key. "Sure." Balin ran his finger over the key and muttered something. Part of the intricate design began to glow.

"See those letters, lass?"

Karra shook her head. "Letters?" she said blankly. "All I see is the design."

Balin pointed to the glowing design. "These are dwarf-runes."

"Those are letters? I always thought they were just part of the design."

"Yes, lass, dwarf-letters. Translated into the common tongue, they read, 'I gift this to my daughter, in the hopes that she may someday discover her heritage.' Your father meant this for you."

Karra gasped. "My mom….my mom always told me he wanted me to have it after his…..disappearance, but….I never realized….."

Balin smiled sympathetically. "I know this is all rather sudden, lass." He carefully set the key back in her hand. The glow had faded now. "I understand it must be a shock." He patted her on the shoulder. "But you must realize that you have a proud heritage."

"So you knew my dad?" Karra asked. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Was he…..related….to…..anyone?"

"Related?" Balin shook his head. "Not exactly." He suddenly seemed to realize what she was saying, and glanced Fili and Kili's direction. "Not to closely related, that is. Not too closely at all." He gave her a knowing smile.

Karra let out a sigh of relief. If she had actually been related to….never mind. That would have been overly awkward. She smiled weakly at Balin. "Thanks….thanks for telling me this. I guess I needed to know sometime." She swallowed hard. "But it's all so….." her voice trailed off. "So odd. I mean, I never even dreamed….."

Balin patted her on the shoulder. "I know, lass, I know." He smiled compassionately at her.

Karra giggled. "This is….I don't even know what to think. I mean, I guess it's cool to be a dwarf….of course it is!" She stopped laughing as she thought of something. "I really need to talk to someone." Tossing a smile back at Balin, she ran off, and catching up with Fili, gave him a dark glare.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she burst out.

He looked a bit surprised. "Tell you what?"

"Why didn't you tell me about….this!" she pulled the key out and shoved it into his hand. "And about me! Or did you know?"

After staring at the key for a moment, he looked up at her with a slightly guilty look on his face. "I knew," he said softly.

"Then WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" she exclaimed.

"I….didn't want to shock you. I was waiting for the right time."

"Well, apparently Balin wasn't. I'm glad you didn't keep 'waiting for the right moment' until the end of the quest—or never," Karra retorted.

"I'm sorry, I really am," Fili said, and Karra thought she detected a little sheepishness in his voice. "I don't know what else to say to you." And then, rather suddenly, he took her hand, drew it towards him, and kissed it. And, looking straight into her eyes, he asked, "Will that do?"

Karra gasped. A funny little tingle ran down her spine, and she felt an odd fluttery feeling in her stomach. For a moment, she just stared into his eyes, and then said a little breathlessly, "Yes….that'll do…just fine…."

"Good," Fili said, and took her hand and kissed it again. Karra caught her breath again and found herself being drawn closer. She felt Fili's mustache tickling the back of her hand. Her heart began to beat very fast.

And then someone bumped into them. Karra thought afterwards that Kili had done it on purpose, for he drew back with a very contrived sounding, "Oh, terribly sorry." The moment was broken. Fili gently let her hand go and they walked on, catching up with the rest of the company. Karra's heart was still pounding. He had kissed her hand! And she had liked it! As she let her hand drop to her side, she bumped the sword that she had picked up in the troll hoard, which she had managed to secure, though not very well, to a makeshift belt she had made. The sword slipped out and fell to the ground. Blushing hard, she reached down to pick it up.

"Leave it to me to drop a sword," she muttered. "And I still have no idea how to use this thing."

Fili looked in her direction, apparently having heard what she said. For a moment, her heart began to pound again as she stared at him, her hand holding her sword hanging at her side.

"I think I'll just have to teach you, then," Fili said.

Whew! I think I reacted the same way Karra did when Fili kissed her hand. I mean, I was just writing along, and all of a sudden…..oh my gosh, did he just kiss her hand?! Seriously, that happens to me a lot. I'm not sure whether it's a good or a bad thing. XD