A/N: There are only two more chapters (after this one) I want to get in before we start getting into the events of The Hobbit. I know some of you are impatient. However, I would like to finish setting up things for later on.

Date: TA 2920

Thorin: 174 years old

Lina: 171 years old

Fili was distracted today. It would have taken a blind man to have missed that fact. His sword swings were wild and unfocused, rarely hitting the mark. Lina merely stepped aside with each wild swing. On a normal day, she would be hard pressed to avoid her nephew's blow, especially when she was only wielding a shield and short axe. His sudden lack of coordination and skill puzzled her.

With a quick strike, Lina had sent Fili stumbling. A blow from her shield put him flat on his back. Standing over the fallen dwarf, Lina planted the blunt end of her weapon on his chest, holding him down. His eyes darted to the side of the arena involuntarily. His aunt followed his gaze.

The first thing she saw was her other nephew, Kili. Her lips pursed in annoyance. The youngling was supposed to be paying attention to the bout Lina was running against his brother as his turn would be next. However, his attention seemed to have wandered. At fifty-six, Kili had begun to explore his interest in females. Lina rarely saw him anymore without at least one female hanging on his arm. The females of Belegost—both wed and unwed, it might be added—found the youngling very appealing. While he did not seem to have a specific female he was interested, Kili was certainly interested in the idea of females. He was a terrible flirt.

The second thing Lina noticed actually surprised her. Standing several yards from Kili and his group of sighing females was one lone girl. She appeared to be about Kili's age, perhaps a bit younger. Lina had never seen this girl before and she usually noticed females in the training arena quickly. With the disapproving looks of the city matrons growing ever sharper, the number of females presenting themselves for training had sharply declined. This girl was certainly not here to be trained. For one, her clothes were all wrong for it. The simple skirt, blouse, and bodice suggested she was a craftsman's daughter.

Glancing down at her nephew, she noticed his eyes were firmly fixated on the girl. Lina sighed softly and took a second look at the girl. She wasn't the prettiest girl in the room by any means. In fact, she was rather plain. Nothing about the girl particularly stood out when one simply glanced at her. Her hair was a dull brown, braided quite simply. Of her face, well, everything was there and in correct proportion. There were no scars of defining marks upon her body that Lina could see.

"Get up," she said finally, nudging Fili with her toe. He got quickly to his feet, picking up both swords. It took a great force of will for Lina not to roll her eyes at her nephew. He'd gone back into a fighting stance as if he thought she was going to run another round when his head was obviously not firmly attached.

"If I hit you with even the least little bit of force, you're going to go tumbling end over end," Lina informed him, sliding her axe into the loop on her belt. Fili looked at his aunt warily. The look sent a smirk across her lips. Good. She could still put fear into the hearts of the younglings then.

"You fancy the girl?" she asked, jerking her head at the female who was quite obviously watching Fili now. Fili looked over in time to see the girl duck her head as if to examine the collar of her blouse. He shrugged noncommittally.

"Well?"

"I don't know," he answered uncomfortably.

"You obviously do or you wouldn't be losing bouts as poorly as you lost that last one. You have no concentration today. Go talk to the girl already."

"I can't," he muttered. Suddenly Fili had transformed into his much quieter self. This was the side of Fili Lina had only seen when he was very little and meeting new people for the first time.

"Why?"

"I'd probably say something stupid. I usually do. Kili always knows what to say and he's got the looks they like." Fili's gaze moved from the girl to his younger brother. At least six females of varying ages were laughing and batting their eyelashes at them.

"May I point out that the girl you've got your eye on does not have her eye on your brother?"

Fili was startled. His gaze shot over to the lone dwarven female. Her eyes immediately went about examining the railing in front of her. No, she hadn't been looking at his brother.

"Just go talk to her before we all get old!" Lina scolded, nudging him off in the girl's direction. If he was going to be distracted, he might as well figure out his own feelings about the girl.

Fili quickly sheathed his blades and began to walk over to the railing. The girl's eyes went wide as the handsome dwarf approached her. Bemused, Lina watched as Fili awkwardly tried to start a conversation. Both younglings were blushing furiously within a few seconds. Yet neither was making any move to walk away.

"I thought they were supposed to be training," a deep voice commented from behind Lina.

Lina laughed as she turned toward Thorin.

"That's what I was trying to do. The bouts with Fili didn't go so well. Apparently that female he's with now was more interesting. I sent him sprawling then sent him her way. If he's going to be knocked senseless, he'd better at least figure out whether she's worth it," Lina explained.

"What's Kili's excuse?" Thorin asked, arching one eyebrow.

"He has none," Lina replied, grinning ferally. Her youngest nephew might be an accomplished flirt, but he wasn't truly interested in single one of the females before him. At least he might be more challenging than his distracted brother.

A shrill whistle got Kili's attention and brought him over for a bout. Thorin took a step back to watch his wife work over his nephew. Kili was still very headstrong, very sure of himself, but he at least had the skill to back that up. He could usually work himself out of sticky situations with relative ease.

Thorin hid a smile as Lina executed one of the dirtier moves she'd picked up from Ira when they were all still young. Kili opened his mouth to complain it wasn't fair, but obviously thought better of it. Instead he rolled to avoid Lina's next blow.

After using the move enough times that Kili finally caught on, Lina sent him off with a smile. He was exhausted, but she'd gotten through to him. She honestly hoped he'd try to use it on her in the next bout they ran. After placing her practice armor and weapons back in the armory, Lina rejoined Thorin at the side of the arena. He was watching Fili and the female dwarf. The red blushes covering the younglings' faces had subsided and they were now talking easily.

Thorin walked beside his wife as she moved in the direction of their rooms. The day had been long for both of them. Lina had started her day as she always did, in the forge. At least with two new apprentices, Lina did not have as much work to do on her own. Her husband had worked beside her for part of the day, but she had left early in the afternoon to begin training with their nephews. Thorin had other business to attend to.

The door to their room closed behind them. A steaming bath had been drawn for Lina.

"You know me too well," Lina told Thorin with a smirk as she stripped off her sweaty clothes.

"I should by now," he retorted, catching the shirt she flung his direction. "We've been joined for over a hundred years."

Had it truly been that long? Lina quickly calculated the time in her head. One hundred and eighteen years had been spent joined. It did not seem like that long.

"It's hard to believe it has been that long," Lina said finally, sinking down into the warm water. She winced as the old wound in her abdomen sent sudden stab of pain through her. That one never had seemed to heal quite right.

Thorin settled in the chair beside her bath. The bands holding Lina's hair in braids were removed, the beads placed in a small bowl beside him. She sighed with pleasure as his fingers combed gently through her mussed locks.

Lina tilted her head back into his lap and gazed up at him. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. His fingers stroked the underside of her jaw lovingly.

"Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw me?" Lina asked, curious. The way Fili had been acting throughout the bout left her wondering how Thorin had reacted to seeing her for the first time. Had he felt as paralyzed as she?

"Yes."

Lina spun around, growling in frustration.

"Are you not going to tell me?"

"Why does it matter how I felt then as long as I am here now?" he asked. His expression was one of slight amusement. Even these many years later, Lina still had the ability to say strange things and make him smile.

Lina tried to hide her answering smile. It wasn't really a relevant question, she was simply curious. She stretched languidly. Thorin caught her hand in his and pressed it to his lips.

"We should go somewhere," Thorin announced after a long moment of silence.

"May I ask why?"

"I'm almost so used to having to wander the world that settling in one place for so long has made me restless," he answered.

"Where would we go?" Lina asked.

"Wherever we wish," he replied with a shrug. "It would never be for very long, just enough to get away from everyone and everything. We'd have a few moments to ourselves that did not involve us locking ourselves in our bedroom."

"I'd like that," she murmured.