Dis loved watching the look of awe pass Bilbo's face as she lead him through countless monuments and historical artifacts. She had never seen a creature that loved to learn as much as this one. Maybe that was why Thorin took such a liking to the small creature.

"Mother, please, Bilbo must be tired," Kili ran up to his mother, trying to get her to stop walking so fast. "The physician said to take it easy, I don't think this is easy." Kili tried to reason.

"Nonsense Kili, I'm fine," Bilbo waved the Dwarf away. "If I wasn't feeling like myself, I would say something, I promised, didn't I?" Bilbo stopped and turned to Kili, who seemed a little out of breath. "Really Kili, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

As Bilbo and Dis walked away, Kili signed, "I always worry." He whispered before running after the two, having lost sight of them.

While on the other end of the mountain Thorin was pacing while his oldest nephew tried to console him. Which he wouldn't even hear the younger man out.

"Uncle, please, Bilbo will be staying here for a couple day, a week at most. If you want his forgiveness, ask him. He's not fragile; he walked all the way to Mordor by himself!" Fili tried to reason.

Thorin stopped his pacing and looked Fili dead in the eye, "I dangled him over a cliff in front of all the people that he trusted, and not one of them went to his aid. I threatened his life, his very well being. I took him from his home and brought him here with no one to protect him. If Gandalf hadn't been there, can you honestly tell me I wouldn't have dropped him?" Fili didn't reply, not being sure of the answer himself. "That's what I thought."

"But can you say that you would have dropped him?" Fili argued back. "You have no idea what you would have done in that situation."

"I can't trust myself, Fili. The last time I trusted myself, I almost killed the one person I love the most," Thorin whispered, having nothing else to say.

"Bull." Thorin and Fili looked to see Bifur and Bombur standing at the side of the throne. Bombur was the one who had spoken. "Thorin, if I may speak so freely, and I will regardless, you walked into the treasury without any prompting. You looked at the gold and jews that once possessed your mind and was able to not be tempted by it. Not too many dwarves say they fought their gold sickness and won."

Thorin sighed as he took in the words of his…. friends. And they were his friends, he found as he thought about it. These people were the closest friends he's ever had. Besides Bilbo, of course. If he didn't have these people, where would he be now? Probably dead. And if he couldn't trust these people, who could he trust?

Thorin sighed as he made up his mind. "Fine, I'll talk to Bilbo. A real talk, before he leaves." The others whooped and cheered, like they had just won the best prize in the world. Which they kind of had. "But for now," Thorin started again, "we will eat and then Bilbo will be put back to bed." The others gave him a pouty look before running off to their respected jobs.

Bilbo finally asked Dis to stop when they neared the treasury. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the treasury, it was just that he was getting tired now. And, okay, maybe he didn't want to see the treasury. Too many bad memories.

"You know," Dis said, sitting down next to him, "Thorin really is a good person." Bilbo tilted his head as Dis continued. "He might not always act like the best person… or be as nice or friendly as the next guy… but he had a good heart. I should know, I live with him." Bilbo snorted out a laugh which made Dis smile.

Bilbo gave Dis a small smile as she looked at him, waiting for him to say something. "I know that he's good, deep down in his heart he is. And I know he's made some bad choices, but sometimes I'm not sure if I can trust him. Anymore, that is. He's… changed since I last saw him. Given that last time I saw him I was dangling over a cliff with his hand on my collar, but he has changed. He hasn't dangled me over a cliff as of yet," Dis gave a short laugh.

"What would you think if Thorin asked you to say?" Dis asked, making Bilbo look at her in surprise. "If he asked you to stay, would you stay?" She clarified.

"Yes," Bilbo answered without hesitation. Dis nodded and looked around. It was almost time for dinner and she wondered if she would still have time to show him around a little more. "You don't seem surprised that I would agree to stay," Bilbo decided to comment.

"Oh, that's because I'm not," Dis shrugged. "When I first came here, I was expecting to see you standing next to my brother wearing fine silks and gold." Bilbo gave her a disbelieving look.

"You didn't even know me back then!" Bilbo argued.

"Aye, I didn't, but I heard about you. Everyone has. Why do you think no one has asked your name?" Bilbo seemed truly taken aback by this statement. He hadn't even noticed, being so used to everyone just knowing him. Dis rolled her eyes and stood with a huff, "I can't tell which of you is more dense, my brother or you."

Bilbo chuckled and looked around, "Where's Kili? Wasn't he behind us?" Dis gave a sneeky grin as Bilbo brought up her youngest son.

"I think I lost him somewhere around the newly refurbished kitchen. I'm not sure really," a loud crash interrupted their talking as Kili appeared from around the corner with a very old looking vase following him down the hall.

"AND STAY OUT!" Was called with another loud bang. Bilbo and Dis looked at each other as Kili started yelling in angry dwarvish. A door was opened and Kili ducked as a hot pot flew at him. Kili huffed and turned to see his mother and Bilbo watching him.

"I, um, I can explain," Kili said making gestures to where all the commotion had come from. "The cooks and I were just having a small disagreement. Um, as you can see we didn't see eye to eye about his cooking. He was… rather admit that I was in the wrong about everything. And he threw a hot pot at me." Kili rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to explain.

Dis rolled her eyes as Ori came down from a different hall. He looked at the broken vase and the large silver pot scattered on the ground. "Should I even ask?" Ori wondered as Kili opened his mouth to speak, but Ori stopped him, "No time for explanations now, it is time to eat," Ori turned away, but stopped and turned to look at Kili, "You might want to apologize, never piss off the cook who's feeding you." Kili gaped at the smaller dwarf before shouting something in dwarvish that sounded more like a plea for pity.

Ori didn't look back.

Thorin watched as everyone took their usual seats, leaving an open seat on Thorin's left. All twelve of his party members were with him at this such dinner. Though they usually tried to eat all together, a day's work usually didn't allow that though. Seeing as everyone had their own specialized jobs suited to their talents.

But today was special. Bilbo was back. Their Burglar. Their Hobbit. And he was going to eat with them. Bombur had prepared an extra large meal, remembering Bilbo's love of food. Gloin's son, Gimli, was watching Bilbo, having never seen a Hobbit before this point. He seemed truly bewildered by the small hairless creature. It amused Thorin to no end, seeing as he had reacted in the same way.

"Bilbo! Gloin called when he noticed the Hobbit, "Come here and meet my son," Gloin pushed his son over to where Bilbo was stood with Dis and Kili. "Gimli, this is the one who helped us reclaim the mountain," Gloin said, "Bilbo, this is my son."

Gimli hesitated to shake Bilbo's hand when Bilbo reached out for him. "Don't worry," Bilbo said, not releasing Gimli's hand, "I won't try to take your beard," Gimli gave him a wide eyed look and quickly retracted his hand. Gloin laughed at his son's shocked expression and clipped Bilbo on the shoulder.

"Oh Bilbo, how I've missed you," Gloin laughed again. Thorin couldn't agree more at that statement. He missed Bilbo more than he missed the home he had lost not so long ago. And maybe if he had thought more about it before now, he could have had Bilbo next to him now.

"Uncle, isn't it time to eat now?" Fili asked, motioning to the empty seat to where Bilbo would sit. Thorin took the hint and called out to the others.

"Come now, my friends, it is time to eat. Now that Bilbo is… here," Thorin had to stop himself from saying "home" and continued talking, "we all have time to talk to him, but for now, we let him rest. Let us sit and celebrate Bilbo's return." Everyone gave a soft cheer as they sat down, leaving the only space open for Bilbo next to Thorin.

"Come here Bilbo," Dis called, patting the seat next to Thorin, "come sit next to me," Bilbo glanced to Thorin before sighing and walking towards the two. "There we go," Dis smiled as Bilbo sat next to her. It was more than halfway through dinner and when Dis kicked Thorin's leg from under the table. He looked confusedly at Dis while she tried to motion to Bilbo. He finally took the hint and turned to address the Hobbit.

"So Bilbo," Thorin spoke softly, not wanting to startle the smaller man. Bilbo took a second to look at him, looking startled that Thorin was the one to talk to him. "How are you… liking the mountain so far?" Dis looked about ready to jump over the table and kill him at that moment.

"It is," Bilbo took a moment to find the right word, "nice. I didn't have time to see all the monuments last time so I'm excited to see them this time," Thorin was just able to hide his wince when Bilbo talked about before. He had never meant to harm the Hobbit.

"Well, I am glad that you could experience something from my past," Thorin heard Bilbo make a soft sigh and mutter something about Smaug. Thorin tried to think of something to say, anything. Before, he could talk to Bilbo freely and without hesitation. Now, he did not want to upset the smaller man. Dis was glaring at Thorin, looking back and forth between him and Bilbo. She had taken quickly to the Hobbit and did not seem to want to give him up.

Well, neither did Thorin.

"Bilbo," Thorin waited until Bilbo looked at him, "I would like to talk to you. Privately." Bilbo looked down before nodding and pushing away from the table.

"If you don't mind, could you meet me in my room? I am feeling very tired and would like to rest for a while," Thorin didn't say anything, only nodded and watched Bilbo walk away from him once again. Only this time, he was sane and, hopefully, knew what he was doing. Dis, Fili, and Kili turned to glare at Thorin after Bilbo had left.

Thorin held his hands up as they glared. "I know what I'm doing. Trust me," they sighed and turned away. "I hope I do anyway." Thorin gave one last longing look in the direction where Bilbo left and went back to his meal.