The following weeks passed quickly. Fili spent every day in the forge. More and more hobbits heard about the good quality of his work and now he even had customers from the neighbouring villages. He also tried to finish all his commissions before the wedding. He wanted to spend at least one week with Poppy without having to worry about work.

Fili was also glad that he had finally finished the beads for the wedding braids. With a huge smile on his face he put them into a wooden box. He had decided to make them of silver and mithril. He carved them similar to his own beads and put three tiny rubies into Poppy's bead. In his opinion they were perfect. The colour would fit perfectly with Poppy's dark hair and they weren't too opulent. He hoped that Poppy would like them, too.

A few days before the wedding Fili received a small package from Erebor. He went to his bedroom to read the letter. He was torn between happiness and worry about what news his mother might tell him this time. Inside the package was a letter and a small box.

Fili sat down on his bed and started reading.

Dear Fili!

I hope you and Poppy are fine and that she has fully recovered.

I'm delighted to read, that she has agreed to your marriage proposal. I won't even try to imagine what you might have done if she said no or had even died.

I would love to come to your wedding. But, of course, this is impossible. I have no idea how to explain to Thorin why I want to visit the Shire. Also for him the only important thing is that I conceive a child and being on the road with child wouldn't be a good idea.

It makes me sad that I will most likely never see you again and that I will never meet Poppy. She seems to be a wonderful person. On the other hand it makes me incredibly happy to know that you are with the woman you love. You deserve that! Seeing you suffer in an arranged marriage every day would have been worse.

When you told me about the necklace you made for her, I thought about something your father gave my when we were courting. You may not remember them because I didn't wear them after his death anymore. It hurt too much. They are one of the few things I have left of him and my most precious treasures. But now I have a new husband and I will never wear them again. So I have decided that I want my daughter in law to have them. From how you described her, I'm sure she'll look lovely wearing them.

Please give them to Poppy and tell her how much they mean to me. Maybe you can even hand them down to your daughter one day. This would be wonderful.

Fili noticed that some letters were quite blurry. His mother had been crying when she wrote the letter. He blamed himself for the whole situation. Without his selfishness his mother might be happy. But he couldn't change the situation anymore anyways. He'd try to include her in his life as good as possible. With a sigh he continued reading.

Of course I could also give them to my second daughter in law. But I'd never do that, not just because she's an elf but also because Kili changed very much because of her. I barely recognise my own son. Until now they spent time in Erebor and the Greenwood, but now they're going to move there at all. That won't change too much though. Even when they were here Kili had only eyes for her and barely talked to me. He didn't even attend mine and Dwalin's wedding. I'm sad and disappointed. I understand that you had to leave to be with the one you love. But he could be with her and still spend time with his family.

I will always be grateful that she saved Kili's life when he was shot with the poisoned arrow. But I still can't like her. Dwalin even said, that he'd rather see Kili dead than with her. He thinks that she bewitched him with some elven magic. He also told me that he didn't even fight with you but with her in the battle and that he igored you afterwards. All of this makes me really angry. It has always been Fili and Kili, it was impossible to separate you. You have always been there for him and he abandons you only because of that woman.

Of course I don't want my son to be dead. I pray to Mahal every day that I get the Kili I loved for 77 years back one day.

I'm glad that I have Dwalin at my side. He's my best and maybe only friend. I have no idea how I'd manage the whole situation without him. I'd like to tell him about you if you don't mind. I need someone to talk to openly and I'm completely sure that he'd never tell the King. Of course he has to obey his orders as captain of the guard. But he doesn't like Thorin's behaviour at all. It's hard for him to understand how the gold could turn his best friend into a monster within a few days.

Please allow me to tell him!

I hope you have a wonderful wedding. It's supposed to be one of the most wonderful days in your life! I also hope my letter arrived before the wedding and that I can be there through my gift for Poppy. I will think of the two of you!

With Love,

your Amad

Fili groaned. He couldn't deny his mother to talk to Dwalin. Hopefully she was right and he wouldn't tell Thorin. He feared that if he found out, he might not simply hurt him but Poppy to punish him.

Fili took the small box out of the package. He was pretty sure that he was some piece of jewellery but he didn't know what. Dis had wrapped it in a piece of blue silk with red ribbons around it. She had even attatched a small silken flower with Poppy's name on it. He decided not to open the box. Hopefully there was nothing in the box that might reveal that he was more than a simple blacksmith.

I'm sorry for the late update! I wanted to write a new chapter on Monday. But I made the huge mistake to read some BOFA spoilers. They made me really angry and sad. I simply couldn't concentrate on writing a happy chapter and I want the wedding to be happy and romantic.

This chapter was never supposed to be written. It's somewhat influenced by my dislike towards certain characters though I really tried to keep my feelings at bay. I hope you still enjoyed reading it :)