*Thorin Oakenshield's Perspective*

"Poor little kitten!"

And with that Aurora was out of my arms and being cradled in the palm of that giant as she was swept away from the rest of the Company.

Needless to say, I was not pleased.

"Kitten?" I spat, sitting beside my nephews as they waved me over to a secluded section of Beorn's home near the stables. "She is not his kitten. If anything she is-"

I paused, clenching my jaw shut with a growl of frustration. Why could I not restrain myself from these comments? I needed to get a hold of myself, needed to stop proving Balin correct...

"She's what?" Kili prodded with a grin, and I had half a mind to smack him upside the head right then to save me the migraine.

"She's, well, the lass is ours."

The lad seemed upset by this development, huffing slightly in defeat. "You were not going to say that."

I growled beneath my breath, muttering, "You know very well what I wished to say."

Fili chose that moment to intervene, grinning cheekily like his brother as he added, "Well, it's more fun to hear you say it. There's nothing wrong with it, y'know."

"Nothing wrong?" I hissed, but it was clear my nephews were showing no sign of surrender. "Tell me, how would I explain this to Aurora? I would be asking her to change her life forever, and imagine the repercussions if she said no."

"We don't have to because she wouldn't say no. There's a reason she always sleeps by us now, instead of the others. She prefers our company over that of even the Urs, and you know how fond she is of them," Kili pointed out with another grin. "It's obvious she's more comfortable with us than the others. All you would be doing would be asking her to stop calling you Thorin and start calling you-"

"Don't say it!" I snapped just before he could say the word. "I will tell her in all good time when she and I are both ready."

"How are we to know when she's ready?" Fili pointed out. "She could be ready right now, for all we know."

"She's not ready, Fili. End of story."

"But how do you know, Uncle?" Kili questioned stubbornly. "Maybe all she needs to be ready is for you to simply say it."

"Kili, I know she's not ready because I've seen cases like hers before." I lowered my voice drastically, leaning forward and gesturing for my nephews to come closer. "I'd rather not tell you this, but it's quite apparent you need to know. She's been beaten before, Lads, and quite severely too."

The pair stiffened visibly, but Kili was first to speak. "Like, how those kids picked on her when she needed to go to the market?"

"Worse, Kili. Aurora's episodes, the times when she's not quite herself, they are the result of her mother pushing her down a flight of stairs when she was just a babe. The lass-" I took a breath to sooth my nerves, gaze wandering to where Aurora was sleeping in Beorn's palm. "Aurora was a slave to her parents, beaten and tortured in ways you could not imagine. She's broken, Lads, and terribly damaged. Her wounds will take more than just time to heal."

"What can we do?" Fili asked quietly, taking this all in stride, whereas Kili looked more hurt by this, dark eyes shimmering as he added, "There has to be something, right?"

"The best we can do is simply be there for her. She must do most of the work on her own, but it shan't be easy. She needs to learn how to trust, needs to allow others to worry for her." I shook my head, dragging a hand down the side of my face in frustration. "Mahal, she's just a child, practically a babe. To be completely and entirely isolated for eight years would do terrifying things to anyone, but to endure it at so young of an age, and to be beaten during the isolation, that is scarring, Lads. She needs care, needs help."

"There has to be something else we could do. Anything else," Kili added hopefully, leaning forward. "I mean, she's been making progress, hasn't she? She's been opening up to us, and that's something, isn't it?"

"It is an improvement, Kili, but we cannot do anything else until we know of all Aurora's been through. I still do not know the full extent of her treatment by her parents, but any little thing could set her off. You saw her reaction to the smelling salts, did you not? Certain smells, certain tastes, certain sounds... Nearly anything could be enough to send her into an unpleasant memory."

"What about waking up in the hand of a stranger?"

I cursed beneath my breath at Fili's words, realizing that he had a good point. I stood, taking a breath as I turned away from my nephews and towards the Skin Changer who had Aurora settled in his palm.

"Where are you going?"

"I, Kili, am going to retrieve my pundurith."

The second Beorn set down Aurora, I retrieved her, darting away as quietly as possible for the sake of my dozing little bundle. I lay her down where Kili and Fili had been before joining her. Rested my back against the wooden door of the stable, I stretched my legs out in front of me before shrugging off my coat in order to swaddle the lass in it. I lay her against my chest, one arm wrapped firmly around her while I used the other to card through her hair. Her head was nestled against my chest, nose buried in my tunic as she sidled as close to me as possible.

"Th-Thorin?"

I startled alert at the soft voice sometime later, finding Aurora staring up at me with those big sapphire eyes of hers. I smiled down at her, unable to resist the urge to knock my forehead against hers to elicit a giggle.

"Thorin, can I ask you something?"

"Anything, Lass."

"Could you- Could you maybe teach me Khuzdul? I- I can speak some of it, really only the basics like greetings, but I can't read it at all, and it's just really hard to understand Mister Bifur without any proper training and-"

I smiled, wordlessly pressing my finger to her lips to get her to be silent. I noticed that whenever she wasn't feeling herself or wasn't confident, she would begin to ramble without cease, fumbling over her words and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. It was adorable, really.

"It would be an honor to teach you, pundurith," I promised, reaching up to ruffle her dark locks, but she met my eyes in confusion, asking, "What does that word mean? I remember you said it before, but I never got a chance to ask."

I simply laughed, setting Aurora off my chest so I could get to my feet and grab her hand. "Perhaps we'll discuss that in of your lessons, eh?"

Don't worry, I didn't forget about you all! I've just been studying for midterms and whatnot so I haven't been able to post. Anyways, I'm going to unashamedly advertise my new story "The Not So Domestic Adventures of Aurora Watson" which is the sequel to my first Sherlock fanfiction "Born Mad". If you do plan on reading it, I recommend going through Born Mad first or else you will be severely confused. Well, I hope you take a look at them, but, if not, I'll see you next time! (P.S. I live off of reviews. :P )