#<3 I wanted to answer this in a rebuilding Dale + Erebor + friendship between both as we have been plotting so far!

[swordoaths]

@viaminvenia​ spoke:  ❝ if there’s any help i can give, you’ve only to name it. ❞ (sigrid to fili)

    And so it was that the cost of war came at a great price. But was it too high? Fíli wondered sometimes--- had felt it gnawing at his heart the moment his uncle bade him leave his injured brother for the mountain. I belong with my brother. That gnawing sensation turned to burning flames the moment he laid eyes upon Smaug at Lake-town, teeth set hard and gaze unbroken at what was to come. It shattered his heart as he ran to his uncle, lost in a sea of gold. True, Fíli was raised on the stories of the mountain-- of their homeland stolen and their kin scattered. But truer still was Fíli’s knowledge that home would always be found in kin--- in the song that ignited the forges of their hearts, no matter where they lay their heads.

    He would strive to restore that knowledge to his kin, or die trying. The Halls of Mahal nigh on welcomed him, were it not for Elvish healing. It would not be the first time such skill would heal a Prince of Durin. 

     Though they and others survived, none were fully unscathed. Lives had been lost across Dwarves, Elves, and Men. And though they all had joined forces in the end to stay evil, there was yet another choice in the aftermath of war. How now do you choose to live? Fíli’s answer came not his in words, but in his presence at Dale. 

    “I do not doubt it,” he answered with a kindly nod. “And by my word do I give you the same promise. No more closed doors. Let us live now to forge a path our kin may take together.”