Back in Erebor, many Dwarven miners and construction workers were very busy rebuilding the damage that Smaug caused. During the reconstruction, Thórin spent hours gazing upon the throne while two Dwarven guards stood silent. Thórin touched the spot on which the Arkenstone had been inlaid before it was lost during the terrible sacking. Bilbo, however, remained completely silent and continued to think if he should give the Arkenstone to Thórin. Before he was about to speak, Bálin and Dwálin arrive.

"Any news I like to here?" Thórin asked, still gazing upon the throne.

"The Dwarves spent hours searching for it." Dwálin explained. "No luck so far."

"It is here in these halls - I know it." Thórin breathed loudly.

"We have searched and searched." Dwálin claimed.

"Not well enough!" Thórin growled.

"Thórin, we all would see the stone returned." Dwálin said.

"And yet, it is still not FOUND!" Thórin snapped in a deep anger, causing a loud echo to spread all over the cavern.

"Do you doubt the loyalty of anyone here?" Bálin asked Dwálin.

Thórin turns and slowly walks toward Bálin and Dwálin.

"The Arkenstone is the birthright of our people." Bálin said.

"It is the King's Jewel." Thórin responded and began to shout. "AM I NOT THE KING?!"

As Thórin turns away, Bálin, Dwálin, and Bilbo look uneasy.

"Know this - If anyone should find it and withhold it from me, I will be avenged." Thórin warned and walks away to his quarters.

Alone in a library, Bálin was in a quiet corner, breathing deeply as if he had just been weeping. That was when Bilbo comes in and keeps him company.

"Dragon-sickness - I've seen it before." Bálin sniffed through the air in sadness and begins to explain something. "That look. That terrible need. It is a fierce and jealous love, Bilbo. It sent his grandfather mad."

"Balin, if-if Thórin... had the Arkenstone..." Bilbo paused. "...if it was found - Would it help?"

The Hobbit slightly cocks his head, and Bálin looks surprised, understanding Bilbo's implication.

"That stone crowns all." Bálin continued his explaination. "It is the summit of this great wealth, bestowing power upon he who bears it. Will it stay his madness? No, lad; I fear it would make it worse. Perhaps it is best that it remains lost."

"That's just the thing, Bálin." Bilbo said. "I'm don't think it will remain lost." At a split second, he takes out the Arkenstone out of his pocket.

"Oh Bilbo." Bálin whispered, looking at the Arkenstone. "If Thórin finds out that you have kept it from him, I have no idea what he will do to those who withhold it from him."

"But should I do Bálin?" Bilbo asked. "I can't give the Arkenstone to him."

"Keep it." Bálin replied quietly. "Keep this as your fourteenth share of the treasure. Take it with you... on your journey home. Just make sure that Thórin doesn't know that you have it. This might be the only way to keep this atrocity from happening."

Following Bálin's advice, Bilbo kept the Arkenstone hidden in his pocket and hoped that no dwarf in this mountain would know that he kept it from Thórin. He was sitting on a bench in a hall all alone and went on to reach into his coat pocket and pull something out. That was when Thórin, who was walking in an adjoining hallway, sees what he's doing.

"What is that?" Thórin asked in a fierce voice and strides rapidly toward Bilbo. "In your hand!"

"It-It's nothing." Bilbo said.

"Show me." Thórin demanded.

"It…" Bilbo gulped as he holds out his hand, and in it is an acorn. "I picked it up in Beorn's garden."

"You've carried it all this way." Thórin whispered with a slight smile.

"I'm gonna plant it in my garden, in Bag End." Bilbo said.

Thórin's anger had faded and smiled fondly at Bilbo. "That's a poor price to take back to the Shire."

"One day it'ill grow." Bilbo continued his plan on returning home. "And everytime I look at it, I'll remember - Remember everything that happened, the good, the bad. And how lucky I am that I made it home."

They smile at each other for just a moment until Dwálin comes up and interrupts.

"Thórin, our scouts report survivors... from Esgaroth." Dwálin reported. "They are streaming into Dale. There's thousands of them."

Thórin's smile fades into a stern, uncompromising face. "Call everyone to the gate." He immediately strides off and lets out a deep yell. "TO THE GATE! NOW!"