Two months passed, and life under the mountain was well. Thora was growing like a weed, much to Ila's dismay. She was a healthy and happy baby, the happiest little dwarfling anyone could remember seeing, and she made her parents equally as happy. Ila began to carry her around the palace with her, now that she was a little older and less fragile, and everyone stopped to see and admire the princess. Thora met everyone with smiles and giggles and the entire mountain was swiftly in love with their new royal.

Ila would even take Thora down to supper now, sitting her in her lap while she ate when Thora wasn't being passed between Fili and Kili. Fili was becoming much more confident with Thora now as she was less fragile, and he and Kili would bounce her on their knees or tickle her while Ila ate. Fili liked to hold her by the middle, tilting her back and forth as she tried in earnest to grab onto the braids of his mustache. She would almost have them and then he would tip her back, then up again so she might try once more. This was a favorite game of hers.

On this night in particular, Fili had just given her a good tickle, Thora having squealed and cackled until she was visibly tiring, when Kili took her from him.

"You're exhausting her," he said and took her to hold against his chest. Thora cooed and laid happily in Kili's arms, her little eye lids half open now and being quiet, clearly going to be asleep soon. Ila smiled adoringly at them as she finished her meal. "She already loves her uncles, there is a no more fortunate dwarfling in the world."

"Certainly not, especially having you as a mother," Thorin said, now standing behind Ila with his hands on her shoulders. Ila placed a hand over his and smiled up at him, then looked to her Thora. Thorin followed he gaze and smiled too before seating himself on the other side of his wife and pulling food towards him to devour.

Thorin's beard had grown so that it now ended in a short braid, capped with a bead on the end that Thora was ever trying to latch onto. She was so tired now though that she didn't seem to notice her father had arrived.

Ila looked around at everyone, noting how happy they all were. Fili and Kili were admiring her little love, Thorin was happily devouring his supper, Dwala and Dwalin were sitting at another table, doting on each as always. Dwalin was done eating and sat facing Dwala. He had a hand on her bump and was putting more food in front of her, which she was obviously trying to resist. Ila wasn't close enough to hear them but could clearly see that Dwalin believed his wife wasn't eating enough for their growing dwarfling. Ila just smiled, remembering how Thorin had felt the same.

Ila looked down at her own flat belly, and wished for a moment that it was distended with a little prince. After a moment of sadness she looked to her daughter again, having drifted off in Kili's arms, and felt any and all sadness melt away. Everything seemed so perfect, everyone so happy…..Ila wanted this to last forever. And why shouldn't it? Why couldn't life be this perfect? Simple yes, but perfect in its simplicity. She loved her new family, more than she could have ever imagined possible, and she had many years to continue doing so.

Later that night in their chambers, Thorin and Ila were reaching a mutual climax where they lay on the bed in each other's arms. Thorin moved on top of her, feeling his release threatening, and with a few more thrusts withdrew from her and spilled his seed on her stomach.

The first time he'd done that Ila just stared in confusion, not believing what had happened.

"I'm sorry my love, I know it's disgusting..." He'd said, but Ila wasn't disgusted, only confused and alarmed. How was she supposed to get with child again if he did this?

"It isn't... but how am I supposed to give you a prince like this?" She replied, getting upset.

Thorin had already gone for a cloth to clean her off with, and kept his eyes on what he was doing while he explained.

"My love, we want sometime between our dwarflings...you need time to recover and devote to Thora, and I want time to enjoy you properly."

That all made sense, Ila thought. But why not mention it first?

"I agree my dear, but don't you think you might have mentioned it before you came all over me?"

Thorin still didn't look at her, only finished wiping her belly clean.

"Probably," he admitted.

Now this happened every time they made love, though there were some near misses. When caught up in the passion of the moment, pulling out was not always easy. But so far they had managed. Ila didn't know how long they were going to practice this and she hadn't asked. They both agreed it was too soon for a new baby and that it would be for the immediate future. Ila had often heard dames say that you were extremely fertile just after giving birth, so this was safest. But then Ila also desperately wanted to give Thorin a son, and thought perhaps the sooner the better on that.

But then the logical part of her mind reminded her that having two babies at once couldn't be a good idea, and would not be fair to them at that. Fili and Kili were five years apart and that seemed to have worked well. They were still very close and it must have given Dis plenty of time to raise Fili and not feel she was terribly neglecting him when Kili came along.

But then the hormonal and sentimental part of her mind couldn't imagine going five years without another baby...Thora was growing like crazy and she wished she could stop time. She would be a weeping mess the day her dwarfling became to big to carry around in her arms.

But, Dwala would have her baby soon, and she would have another little one to snuggle and play with, even though it wasn't her own. That might be enough to hold her over, she thought. For now she decided to simply continue as they were, making love carefully and loving their princess with all the might of their hearts and souls. The rest would work itself out, Ila assured herself.

As with every night, Thorin gently cleansed Ila of his seed, then pulled the covers over them while Ila nestled into his chest. Ila had risen up to peer into Thora's crib to ensure she was still asleep, which she was, and relaxed into her husband's embrace.

Thorin kissed her the corner of her eye, his growing beard soft on her skin. She smiled with her eyes closed and tried to nestle even deeper into Thorin's chest. As she drifted off to sleep, Thorin whispered sweet words of love and devotion into her ear, so soft she barely heard them, in Khuzdul, so that they sounded like nothing and like a lullaby at the same time.

"Sanazyung…" he whispered in his deep baritone that practically caressed itself, and Ila repeated it back to him before she fell into a deep and satisfied sleep.

Elsewhere in the dark and quiet mountain, Kili was sitting on the edge of the tiny balcony that his room boasted, a bottle in his hand. The other hand gripped the stone rail, though not as hard as it maybe should have. He turned his head back and took another great gulp of the strong liquor, trying in desperate earnest to wash his pain away.

He had to stop himself, he could not profess his heart and soul to her. She was too happy, she loved her life too much. That night at supper, she had glowed like mithril itself she was so happy. Her husband on one side, her baby on the other. And surprisingly he had fallen head over heels for that baby, the baby that had caused him so much grief with the announcement of its conception, the scare of nearly causing Ila to lose it and the fear of losing her in the birthing bed. Perhaps he loved it so much because it was Ila…it was literally a part of her.

Tears welled in his eyes and Kili covered his face, rubbing his forehead and trying to will the tears from coming. Not that it mattered, there was no one but the stars to see. But he was ashamed for even them to see him like this. He wanted more than anything to forget her, to rip her out of his heart by the roots, to rip his own damn heart out if he had to to get rid of this feeling. He wished he hated her….anything would be better than this living hell. He told himself it would fade with time…..but it only grew. Time only nurtured it, cultivated it, and it began to grow into something he could no longer control.

Yet, when he was with her he was so at peace…..so calm and so happy. Their daily training had become his favorite part of the day, more than eating or sleeping or anything else he could do. But then when she retired to her chambers every night, when she went to his uncle's bed all, of that love and happiness and peace became a black hole inside his chest, consuming him and eating him alive from the inside out.

He had thought many times that he was suffering from Arukhel, the "need of all needs," but if she was his One, his destined, then it didn't matter. She was already taken, by this uncle, by the King, and he would just have to run mad with need and wanting. He had hoped it wasn't that, that Asta would help fulfill his need, he was young and potent after all, but it had done nothing of the sort and only made things worse.

Kili sucked the last drop of alcohol from the bottle and threw it violently against the stone wall behind him, it shattering on contact and throwing shards into this hair as he turned quickly to avoid it. Looking down the vast mountain, into the darkness below, so high up and it so black that he couldn't see the ground, he wondered that he shouldn't just let himself drop. From this height he would be dead before he felt anything, dead before he knew it. Perhaps it would be better that way. He would be out of pain, Thora too young to remember him, Ila would be safe from him finally…..

He considered it for a moment, but then slid back and onto his feet. He had his mother to think of, she had suffered enough. And Fili too. And, selfishly, he wanted to live, even if it was a living hell.

Running his hand through his dark hair to shake the glass bits out, he turned and stumbled back into his chambers and collapsed unceremoniously onto his bed. He had training with Ila in the morning, and couldn't look like hell. He only hoped his dreams would be free from her, but knew that was not worth hoping anymore.

In yet another part of the mountain, there were two dwarves still awake, though just barely.

Dwala was lying on her back with her head on Dwalin's shoulder. They were both enjoying the afterglow of their second coupling that night, and both were beginning to fall asleep. Dwalin was slightly more alert than Dwala however, and brought his fingers up to lightly tickle her belly.

"Stop that," Dwala said swatting his hand away gently, fidgeting as he did it again.

"Stop tickling me," she said tiredly.

"I'm not tickling you, I'm tickling the baby." He defended himself.

Dwala huffed. "Oh, well I'm afraid the he is inside of me currently, and so I feel it too."

Dwalin made a muffled sound that sounded like a small laugh, then rolled over to face her, his hand rubbing the curve of her bump just above her sex. He kissed her neck and laid his face in her dark blonde hair. Content and comfortable, he was ready to fall asleep just like that. But then he realized she had said 'he.'

"He?" Dwalin asked into her hair.

"Hmm?"

"He," Dwalin said raising his head so that he was no longer muffled by her hair. "You said 'he.'"

"Yes, I did."

"How do you know it's a boy?" Dwalin asked casually. Odds were it was a boy, but as Thorin had just found out there was never any guarantee, not even when you are a dwarf king.

"I just do." Dwala answered cryptically.

Dwalin chuckled to himself. Females, he thought. And Dwala must have been able to read those thoughts because she became indignant at them.

"I know it's a boy because I dreamed it." She added a little defensively, expecting Dwalin to dismiss her.

Instead, he brought his arms tighter around her.

"Really? You have dreamt of our dwarfling?"

"Well, yes. Although it was before we were even married. Before we were even really courting too."

"Really? You had dreams about carrying my children even before we were courting? What a naughty wee lass you are…" he added and she shot him a look over her shoulder. But it only made him laugh.

"Anyway, in the dream we had a son and I was pregnant with another dwarfling." She finished.

"We had two then? Do you believe that a sign too?"

"Well…..why not?" She asked timidly, wondering what he thought about dwarflings as opposed to a dwarfling.

"I think we will have far more than two don't you?"

"Well…three perhaps. That is not unheard of…"

"I was thinking more like ten."

"Dwalin!" Dwala exclaimed and rolled over to face him in disbelief.

"Ten dwarflings! You want me to be pregnant for five whole years?! If my body even could—"

"Well not all at once of course…but over time." He said as though this were no great matter. And perhaps to him it wasn't since his part in it all was very brief and entirely pleasant.

"I can't honestly tell if you are being serious or not." Dwala stated, searching his face for a clue.

"Well….maybe not ten per se, but I do so love seeing you this way. Knowing we've made a baby together. I just want a few more…that's all."

Dwala smiled in spite of herself, feeling her heart warm. What a husband she had. She almost forgot how lucky she was sometimes…almost.

"Well, you may feel differently about that when we have a screaming, demanding little dwarfling around in three more months. You may decide that one or two is quite enough."

"Perhaps, we will see. But I doubt it." Dwalin replied, then pulled her close and the covers over them. Dwala didn't argue, only kissed her husband one last time before settling into his chest for the night. Dwalin leaned over in the opposite direction to blow out the candle on the table next to the bed, and Dwala distantly felt Sam jump onto the foot of the bed to sleep there as he did every night. With Dwalin's hand going to rest protectively on their baby, Dwala registered it just in time to happily lose consciousness.

A/N: So I am pretty torn about how to finish this story. I mean I know how it ends, but I don't know if it should be all done in one story, if I should just have a really long epilogue, or a sequel to finish out the story of Ila's life. Things are going to get crazy and there is much drama to still be had, though I am trying to write and publish it all pretty quickly because I have to move across 3 states this month and I just need to get it all out of my head. But urrrghhhhhh I am just torn about how to draw it all to a close.

BTW, sanazyungmeans "perfect love" according to the Khuzdul dictionary I referenced online. And if I took Arukhel out of context then forgive me, I have found a couple of references to them that are a little differnet but definitely sexually motivated.