Fili was very confused. He kept his blue eyes on the woman laying in the bed across the infirmary room. She was very beautiful - exotic, even. Her long brown hair streaked with the vibrant colors of red, orange, yellow, blue and purple was a huge contrast to the plain white of the bedsheets and pillowcase her head rested heavily on. Her ivory skin glowed against the reddish-orange hue of the dancing fire flames in the hearth. The bedsheets were pulled up over the woman's chest to keep hidden her naked chest and torso; bare arms and shoulders the only evidence proving that the woman's upper body was bare.
He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her. When his blue eyes had taken in the sight of her brown ones, he had felt an odd pull - like what his uncle had described to him when he had met his aunt.
Fili was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't' notice the joining company until a gentle hand rested atop his shoulder, bringing him back to reality.
Looking up into familiar blue and purple eyes, Fili saw that his aunt and uncle had walked into the infirmary. His mother, Dis, flanked them with Dwalin at her side.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked, giving her nephew's shoulder a firm squeeze.
Fili began to nod his head, but ended up shaking his head instead; remembering why he had come into the infirmary in the first place. "No."
"What's wrong?" Raven asked gently, kneeling down beside her oldest nephew who's face was twisted into utter confusion. Dis copied Raven's movement on her oldest son's opposite side.
"I feel…..confused." Fili admitted. He locked his blue eyes on the still-sleeping woman. "About her."
"What about the woman is making you confused?" Dis asked, following her oldest son's line of sight to the woman and then back.
"I felt something when I looked into her brown eyes; something I've never felt before."
"What did you feel?" Raven gently asked, urging her nephew.
"It's hard to describe." FIli admitted, "I remember uncle telling me about a pull he felt when he first laid eyes on you, irik'amad. How uncle described the pull was the same kind of pull I felt when I looked into the woman's brown eyes."
"Are you certain of this?" Dis asked, suddenly very hopeful.
FIli nodded. "Yes."
Dis let out a joyous holler. "Oh, my sweet boy! You have found your One!"
"My what?" Fili asked. He had remembered hearing the tales of Dwarves finding their One - soulmate, but he never thought he would meet his so soon. He never even gave much thought about the situation.
"Your soulmate," clarified Raven.
Fili's eyes shot up in surprise. "What?"
"Your soulmate," clarified Dis.
"I know what she said." FIli explained, "I just can't believe it."
"Why not?" Dis asked, suddenly concerned.
"Don't become stubborn and hard headed like your uncle," added Raven. She smirked up at Thorin who only rolled his eyes.
"That's not - I mean-," FIli abruptly cut his sentence off; huffing out a breath.
"That's not what, sweetheart?" Dis asked, giving her son's hand a gentle squeeze.
"I don't know." Fili admitted. "I don't know if it's because I never thought I would find my One so soon, or if I'm feeling a lot of things because I didn't think Mahal would make someone special just for me."
"Oh, darling." Dis squeezed her son's hand again. "Of course Mahal would make someone special just for you. Why would you think he wouldn't?"
"I don't know." Fili shrugged. "Not every woman aspires to have a royal life. What if…..?" He let his sentence trail off.
"What if what, sweet boy?" Dis asked, gently urging her son to speak what he was feeling.
"What if she doesn't like me like that - or even want anything to do with me? What if I'm not good enough for her?"
"I remember a certain Dwarf King feeling the exact same thing." Raven met Thorin's blue eyes again and Dwalin and Dis laughed when he rolled his eyes. "And I will tell you what I told him." Raven saw her nephew's blue eyes lock with hers, attention caught. "I told your uncle that he will always be good enough for me. It's not what you do in life that matters most. It's how you treat others that matters most. And sure enough, Thorin slowly opened up to me, and when he realized I only cared about how he treated me and how I treated him, he asked to court me, and was over the moon when I said yes."
Dis nodded in agreement. "Yes."
Fili returned his eyes to to the still-sleeping woman. "I just wonder what her name is."
"We won't know until she wakes up." Raven informed. A smile broadened her mouth. "I can tell you she will be very lucky to have you as her One, as she is a very rare creature."
All heads locked on her. Raven smiled.
"What makes you say that, Amralime?" Thorin asked.
"I think that, because I know that."
"Care to elaborate?" Thorin asked.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of Pete! Fili's One is a Phoenix!"
"A what?" All four Dwarves asked in unison. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, don't you guys read? Fili's One is a Phoenix." At the confused looks Raven explained, "Phoenix: a bird that bursts into flames when it's time for them to die and then reborn from the ashes - or so that's how the legend goes. A very long time ago in Middle-Earth, during a Mid-Summer's Eve Party, a Phoenix showed up to the party to celebrate it; coming out of hiding because his great grandfather's tear ducts had been harvested by Witches for their many potions and such. Thrain, the Phoenix, met a human woman and fell in love with her. By the time the next Mid Summer's Eve Party rolled around, she was pregnant, but the woman ended up escaping from Middle-Earth when Thrain was killed right in front of her! She ended up in a different world, and no one has ever seen another Phoenix again….until now."
"My One is a Phoenix?" Fili asked, amazed.
"Yes." Raven confirmed. "She's not just any Phoenix, though. Your One is the last Phoenix."