AU: SO… Summer is crazy. During my school year it seems there is some regularity to my life, but during the summer anything can happen, and it has. I'm really sorry I never got a chapter up for this fic, but here is the last chapter, and I'll try to update Siren's Song sometime next week or next weekend at least!

Life at the Durin household was slowly beginning to normalize after the previous events, much to Thorin's relief. Dori and Ori had disappeared some twenty minutes ago, leaving Kili at Fili's bedside, and Bombur cooking amazing smelling food in the kitchen. Eventually everyone had been called to the dinner table, and that's where they all sat now.

Dinner was more lively than Fili ever remembered. These new dwarves brought some sort of strange humor to the table which made Kili laugh immensely; Fili was glad that his little brother seemed so happy. Thorin, on the other hand, was not as amused by these new dwarves; at least, not at first.

In the beginning of the meal, all was perfectly normal as any Durin dinner would be, but then Bifur said something to Bofur which made Thorin frown and Bofur chuckle. Then Bofur called over to Bombur, who was sitting next to Kili.

"Hey, Bombur," Bofur exclaimed, "Orc No.63 walks into a bar and leaves his cave troll at the door. The barman says, "Excuse me sir, you can't leave that lyin' there." Then, Orc No. 63 says, "That's not a lion, that's a cave troll!""

This made Bombur, Bifur, and Kili laugh excitedly, and Fili couldn't help a little chuckle. Thorin, however, didn't seem to appreciate humor at the dinner table quite so much.

Seeing Thorin's expression made the humor die in Bofur's eyes as well, as he cleared his throat before going quickly back to eating. Bifur spoke to Bofur again, who shook his head, and then Bifur glared at Thorin before stuffing some food in his mouth.

"So," Bofur spoke up, "Thank you for having us to dinner, Lord Oakenshield."

"Indeed," Thorin nodded once. There was only the silent sound of a drizzling rain outside before Thorin spoke again. "Where will you be off to now?"

"Er…." Bofur hesitated, looking to Bombur for support, but the large dwarf was simply stuffing food in his mouth as quickly as his hand could carry it there. Fili couldn't help but giggle at Bofur's dramatic frown at his younger brother. It looked like the kind of frown he might give Kili, and Fili wondered what the relationship was like between this other pair of brothers.

"They can stay here!" Kili suddenly declared enthusiastically, and Fili swiveled to stare at his little brother. Stay here? They were just passing through; Thorin would never let them stay!

"Now, Kili, don't interrupt Mr. Bofur," Thorin told his smaller nephew, who huffed despite the smile tugging at his lips from Bifur's antics next to Thorin.

"Well, actually, Lord Oakenshield, what I mean to say is really quite similar, actually, if you know what I mean…"

"No I don't," Thorin replied.

"He wants to stay! And I hopes he does to!" Kili decalred and Fili elbowed his little brother in the side, which seemed to make him quiet.

"Yes, sir, actually the lad is… right," Bofur said haltingly, and Fili began to nervously chew his lip. Have these strange dwarves stay in the village? He certainly wouldn't mind. They seemed to bring such enjoyment to his little brother, and he liked new dwarves in the village to liven the place up. However, these new dwarves were awfully different than most Durins, and different than many of the dwarves that lived in this part of the Blue Mountains! Fili wasn't sure how Thorin would respond, and he watched his uncle with round, worried eyes.

Thorin seemed to think hard for a moment, and then he spoke.

"Well, it's not really my business who decides to live here is it? Welcome."

"Oh, thank you," Bofur nodded stiffly. Somehow this rather informal, yet terribly proper welcome was not how he'd envisioned his welcome being.

"So, have you found a home here yet?" Thorin asked, and Bofur shook his head. He glanced at Bombur again, who was still scarfing down food, and he pondered what to say.

"Well, we just decided it, actually, recently . We haven't thought about where to stay yet."

Thorin raised an eye brow.

"But tonight," Bofur continued quickly, "We'll stay in your local town inn! If you could point the way."

Bombur finally paused in his eating to glance at Thorin, hope filling Bombur's big round eyes.

"We can stay?" he glanced at Bofur as if he'd only now heard the conversation, and Bofur nodded at his brother. Bombur immediately turned to Thorin and said quite honestly, "Thank you!"

"Oh, well, my pleasure," Thorin nodded curtly to Bombur.

"It's just, we've been on the road for a very long time, and most towns aren't accommodating to any dwarves, let alone, well, a dwarf who can only speak Khudzul and a dwarven cook," Bombur explained.

"I think the food was good," Fili spoke softly, shying from his uncle's gaze. Thorin nodded.

"The food was good, Master Bombur," he agreed. "Any who shy from dwarven cooking need only try yours to realize they are incorrect not to enjoy it."

"Thank you!" Bombur repeated excitedly.

"Now, you're a cook. Do you plan to open some sort of shop in town?"

"Well, I'm not sure what your town does and does not have."

"We have a meat shop, and the inn has a cook, as does the tavern."

"Do ya have a bakery?" Bofur spoke up, and Thorin shook his head.

"Well, we do, but far away in a town over. We go to that one if we really want bakery bread."

"Eh, Bombur, bakery!" Bofur declared, and his brother nodded.

"And you, Master Bofur?" Thorin asked.

"He's a toy maker, see uncle, Bifur made me a toy and Bofur makes them too!"

Thorin took the toy from Kili and examined it.

"Excellent work!" Thorin appeared surprised. He turned to Bifur, who shrugged.

"I have one too," Fili fished his own toy out of his pocket, and Thorin's eyes widened.

"We don't have skilled toy makers like this in our town. I think you'd both be incredible assets to parents and children alike."

"Thank you!" Bofur beamed, as did his cousin.

"Can they stay? Can they stay?" Kili bounced in his seat, and Thorin nodded, now with a genuine laugh.

"Yes, I already said they can stay Kili," Thorin told the excited little dwarfling.

"I'm glad," Fili smiled, "I like the toys just as much as the cooking."

Fili's voice was growing even softer, so Thorin stood and walked toward his nephew.

"I think it's time you got back to bed, Fili. Oin said plenty of rest, and so you'd best get back to sleep."

"Okay," Fili agreed. Standing made him a bit dizzy, so Thorin helped his nephew back into the bedroom, and tucked him in gently.

"Sweet dreams," Thorin smiled, and Fili quickly drifted to sleep.

Coming back out, Thorin found Bofur's family and Kili surrounding the fireplace. Bofur was weaving some wild tale of magic, wizards, and forest creatures, so Thorin sat on the couch to inconspicuously listen. He hadn't heard such an incredible tale since his days as a young prince in Erebor.

When the tale was finally complete, Bofur glanced at Thorin, who finally harbored a warm gaze, and smiled.

"Well," Bofur told Kili, "I think it's time you be off to bed too?"

"Yes," Thorin agreed, "Run along."

Kili smiled at the older dwarves, and then he obediently trotted off to bed. Apparently the story had put him in an agreeable mood.

"We'll be along. Thank you much for having us," Bofur told Thorin, who shook his head.

"It's very late. The inn is rather far, I think it'd be alright if you stayed here for the night. It's a perfectly safe town, but wandering at night is never a wise choice."

"Oh, well thanks again," Bofur laughed.

"Thank you for bringing joy to my nephews. I believe they learned their lesson, at least for a while, and I worried that they were be terribly sad for quite a while. I'm glad you were able to cheer them both up."

"They're great little dwarflings. They'll make good princes," Bofur smiled warmly.

Thorin nodded, and then he created sleeping arrangements for these unusual dwarves for the night.

In the morning, Thorin heard a clatter in the kitchen. Dressing quickly, he left to find Bombur making breakfast, and he smiled at the plump dwarf. Kili was also in the kitchen, running back and forth with ingredients, and Thorin beamed at his nephew.

"You're up early," Thorin grinned.

"I wanna help make breakfast!" Kili declared, and Thorin laughed.

"And I'm sure it'll be delicious," he agreed. Going to check quietly on Fili, Thorin found that his elder nephew was still sleeping soundly, so Thorin left him alone in hopes that it would help his headache.

After breakfast, Thorin went again to check on Fili, who was slowly waking.

"I'm going to show the new dwarves around town. Do you feel up to coming along?"

Fili nodded, and so Thorin left him to get dressed. After Fili was finally ready, the group explored the town and homes available. It didn't take long for the group of dwarves to find a little cottage that they liked, and Bofur found an empty shop that he told Thorin the family might turn half into a bakery and half into a toy shop.

"Eating and shopping is always popular," Bofur told Thorin, who laughed heartily.

"Yes, I suppose so," he agreed. Perhaps he did like these new dwarves. Their lively attitudes did brighten the day.

After a long day of exploring and introductions, the new dwarves bought their cottage and there Thorin and his nephews left them. Arriving back at their own house held a surprise, for there was a light shining in one window.

Thorin entered carefully, and there he found Dis sitting on the couch in front of a bright fire.

"I decided to come home today, I missed my little dwarflings too much!" she smiled, and Fili and Kili both ran into her arms.

"Mummy!" Kili giggled happily, and she hugged both dwarflings for a moment before Kili crawled into her lap, and Fili sat cheerfully next to her on the couch.

"Well?" Thorin asked.

"She sends her regards, and these gifts."

Handing three little boxes to each dwarf, Thorin, Fili, and Kili each discovered a pair on finely knit mittens, and Thorin smiled.

"Well, next time you go back you'll have to send our regards and our thanks."

"Now, Thorin, another reason I came home is a traveling man came by and said he'd heard tale of some trouble. Was there trouble?"

Thorin was uneasy, and he looked at his happy little nephews' curled up to their mother. Smiling, he shook his head

"We'll talk about it in the morning. Don't worry, everything is fine now."

Then, the family of dwarves sat around the fire while Thorin thought furiously about how to phrase his abridged version of the events of the last three days.

AU: Thank you all for the support throughout this fic via follows, favs, and reviews. If you could review one last time, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks for following through until the end. :)

Joke is from a website called Middle Earth Jokes and Humor.