Imagine comforting Thorin when he gets sad while remembering his late brother Frerin.

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You were happily skipping through the halls of the Blue Mountain, wondering about where your brothers were today. Fili was probably stuck somewhere in a class about dwarven history. Perhaps Kili was out somewhere to play.

Guards greeted you when you passed by them. Their large axes that they held by their sides still impressed you. 

They were a few of the only dwarves that you saw on a daily basis.

Being born as the first and only daughter of Dis, daughter of Thrain, in the house of Durin, you didn't get to go outside the halls that often. Dwarves liked to keep their woman hidden in their family' halls so they were guarded.

There weren't many woman amongst their race so they were more precious than jewels. 

Not even your cute looks could persua the guards to let you out every once in a while. Only when the king himself took you with him were you allowed to leave.

And even then were you heavily guarded.

But the Durin hall was your terrain. There were guards but they were just there to make the new king feel better. Now he could see to his duties without having to worry about the safety of the remainder of his family.

He had lost his father, whom couldn't be found after the Battle of Azanulbizar. The same battle that had also claimed the life of his younger brother.

Many had lost their lives that day, but the burden on the new king was one that came with many new responsibilities. And even now, many decades later, the pain for their loss was just as great as it had been on the day itself.

Thorin had a gift for caring for the younger dwarves in his kin, especially his little princess. Though you were not his own daughter you were still treated as such. 

At times you were allowed to stay with him during the night. Your uncle had restless nights more often than not but your presence sometimes offered him some peace. He would call you his 'shining sapphire in the night'.

Being Thorin' favorite also gave you some other benefits. For example;

Your bright blue eyes could make him melt within a heart beat. This lead to you getting away with a lot of stuff. 

Luckily for you, your brothers were also weak to you. Not that you took advantage of this ability. At least not all the time. But you did know when to use and how to use it. It was a skill you had practised for quite some years now.

Right now you were not really on your way to anything. You were a little bored with your brother' out and were just looking for an adventure.

You passed by your uncle' chamber when you heard a strange noise.

It sounded like someone was sobbing. And it came from your uncle' chambers. That couldn't be.... Was one of the maids sad about something? Maybe Fili and Kili had played a prank on them again.

You tiptoed towards the door, putting your hands on the wood and softly pushing it open. The door was opened just a crack when you noticed the hunched figure in your uncle' favorite armchair. 

"That is uncle' chair, you can't sit there even when you're sad" you said politely. 

The sobbing stopped and you met your uncle' eyes. His face was slightly redder than normal. "Uncle!" you cried out. You ran to him to throw yourself in his arms. "Did someone hurt you?" you asked worried.

Thorin tried to get himself together but he couldn't when he looked at your face. He had a hard time hiding anything from you. He pulled you on his lap and allowed you to hug him.

"I am alright little one. Don't worry about an old fool like me. Say, were you playing a fun game?" he asked. 

But you wouldn't let it go that easily. "Uncle, you were crying" you spoke softly. It almost broke his heart to hear your broken voice. The last thing he wanted was for you to know such pain. 

"Nothing is wrong little diamond. I had something in my eye, nothing more" he said.

You pulled back, sitting down with your arms folded. Your face was the perfect representation of stubborness.

He sighed heavily. "I can't hide anything from you, now can I?"

You shook your head. "You always say that I have to tell you everything. Even when I think you're not going to like it" you explained to your uncle. 

He chuckled. "I should keep my wisdom to myself it seems. When did you grow up so fast that you are the one teaching me the lessons? I can still remember the day where we got you your first doll. You were so little back then. So-"

"Uncle, you're doing it again."

"The rambling?"

"Aye, that. What is hurting you?" You looked him straight in the eyes and used your sweetest voice. And like always he budged and finally opened up.

"I was thinking about my late brother, little one. His name was Frerin. You didn't know him. He was alive a long time before you were even born." Thorin took a deep breath. "Kili reminds me of him. They look alike" he continued with a softer, cracking voice.

You kept silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Sometimes, when I sit down, my thoughts drift back to the battle where we lost him. It was two days before my father, your grandfather, went missing. We knew it was a hard task but not that we would lose this many good dwarves." He stared off into the fireplace.

Seeing your uncle sad you knew it was your job to cheer him up. "And what about the times you played together?"

He looked up at you, surprised. "What?"

"The times you played together. Didn't you play the same games that Fili and Kili play with me?"

His face brightened a little as the memories came flooding back. "Aye, that we did. We were gifted each our own set of a small army when we were both young. The toymakers had carved them out of stone for us."

"That sounds really nice uncle. Did you play together often?" you asked genuinely interested.

Thorin shook his head. "I already had some responbilities back then. We couldn't spend as much time together as we wanted" he said, his voice turning sad again.

You quickly put your hand on your uncle' left chest. "I am sure that your brother knew that you loved him, uncle. Fili is away a lot too but I know that he is always there for me!" you explained to him.

"I know that when I get into trouble I will never be truly alone. Fili told me that when I was scared of the thunder. He said that I didn't have to be scared because he is always there with me.

And it is not like he doesn't want to spend time with me. He just has to do some boring grown-up stuff" you said with a smile.

He studied your face to see if you were just trying to make him feel better. "Don't you want to spend more time with him?" he asked.

You nodded. "Of course I do! Just like I want to spend more time with you uncle! But, I don't want you around all the time either" you said thoughtfully.

When Thorin raised an eyebrow, you quickly explained; "Not that I don't love you but having you around all the time would drive me insane uncle."

Together you laughed. 

"Is that so little one? Maybe I should give myself a day off then and play with you all day long." He attacked your sides with tickling fingers before you realized what he was about to do.  

Your giggles filled the royalhalls, leading your mother to her brother' chambers. She watched her daughter and brother play with a smile on her face. "Have you convinced the old fool to take it easy for a change?" she asked when Thorin was tickling you.

Thorin turned his head, noticing his sister standing in his doorway. "Hello sister. I hope you weren't looking for our sweetling" he said, ruffling your hair to tease.

"I am not a sweetling!" you yelled in objection.

Dis chuckled. "No dear brother, I wasn't looking for my smallest troublemaker. I simply wanted to check if you had still locked yourself up in here" she explained. "And now that I see you are alright, I will leave you be."

She opened her hand, indicating to you that you should come with her.

"Uncle, can I stay? We can play with the stone army" you asked, widening your blue orbs that always softened his heart.

Dis didn't even bother and just walked off laughing. She didn't need to wait to hear what her brother' reply was going to be.

The old army set was taken out of a chest beneath his bed and together with his niece he played until dinner time.