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The adventure was over. Finally. A week after the battle, Thorin had survived, as had Fíli and Kíli and now the Company were all sitting in the huge dining hall. Bilbo entered, glad for the peace that was hanging in the air.
He sat down next to the young brothers, who were talking about something called 'Ones'.
"What are these Ones of yours?" He asked.
"What? You-" Kíli was elbowed by his brother.
"What Kíli meant is that Ones are a dwarf's other half. When we were created by Mahal, he separated each of us in two, leaving us to search for our perfect other half." Fíli explained. "Every dwarf has one, it's considered, I don't know, taboo, not to have one."
"Yeah, they're supposed to be the only one who can understand you completely," Kíli smiled dreamily.
"It's more than that," a new voice informed Bilbo, who turned to see Thorin, his voice and face softer than he had ever seen the dwarf king's to be. "Ones are..." Thorin seemed to falter for a moment. "They complete each other. A dwarf might spend his whole life searching, never feeling completely whole until they find their One. You would fight for them, die for them, you would go to the ends of the earth for them. You feel safe with them."
"Have you found your One?" Bilbo asked. Thorin stiffened and shook his head.
"But some of you others have." The Company's attention turned to Bilbo.
"Only a couple of us," Bombur said. "I have, and so has Gloín, but that's it."
Bilbo looked confused. "But, Dwalin, Norí, Balin, Dorí, Fíli and Orí have obviously found their Ones." All dwarrow stared at him. "It's obvious!" Bilbo repeated.
"Is that so, laddie?" Dwalin asked, his voice dry. "Then, pray tell, who is mine?"
Bilbo turned slightly red. "I wouldn't say without him agreeing as well." This caused murmurs to run through the group.
Kíli grinned wickedly. "Is everyone who was mentioned in agreement of Bilbo sharing who he thinks their One is? I wanna know who Fíli likes."
There was a moment's hesitation before all dwarrow mentioned nodded or agreed.
"Okay," Bilbo began, "well first of all, Dwalin and Norí. Met when, I'm guessing, Dwalin arrested Norí; for theft? And by the way, I do want my cutlery back, thank you Norí, but anyway, they have been avoiding it for ages, because Norí doesn't want his position as a thief to make Dwalin fall from his more noble station, whereas Dwalin insists that he doesn't care, and due to this quest they can't help but be together, and they make it obvious by sort of automatically," Bilbo gestured with his hands, pulling his palms together, "gravitating to each other." He looked up to see the dwarrow staring at him, shocked into silence as Bilbo's redness grew.
"I'm sorry. I just thought-"
"You're right." Dwalin cut in, watching Norí; carefully, who was staring at his boots.
Bilbo squeaked slightly. "Oh, uh, well, then, Balin and Dorí I'm less sure of. You two are more subtle, but when we camped at night, similarly to Dwalin and Norí you two also seemed to automatically find each other. You're more of in a quiet acceptance of it."
"And Fíli?" Kíli jumped in. Bilbo snorted slightly.
"Yes, that one is probably the most obvious. Obviously he and Orí and each other's Ones, and they only realised when you all met up and destroyed my house, and it is, I'm sorry, slightly amusing. You two keep looking at each other when you think no one's looking and then blushing and it is very cute and all."
Kíli roared with laughter as both his brother and the young scribe brushed a brilliant red, avoiding each other's eyes. The rest of the Company also found this quite funny.
Fíli scowled at his brother before trying to move the conversation along. "Do hobbits not have Ones then?" Fíli asked curious.
"Uh, no we don't." Bilbo told him truthfully.
"That's sad," Kíli said.
"Well, we have soulmates." Bilbo smiled. "And heart tattoos, which I'm sure you know of."
"Heart tattoos?" Orí joined in the conversation.
"What?" Bilbo looked stricken. "You don't have heart tattoos? How can you tell who is your One?"
"Mostly through, just, seeing them. Touch helps solidify any wonderings, but you just sort of, know." Thorin finished weakly.
"So what's a heart tattoo? And a soulmate?" Norí asked. Bilbo smiled wistfully.
"Soulmates are like your Ones. They are the other half of your soul, and you balance each other out. You understand each other perfectly and you just... you're destined to be together, and... Like Thorin said, you would do anything for them. And you love them so much. And a heart tattoo is amazing. It appears when you meet your soulmate, over your heart, and it's beautiful. It symbolises you and your soulmate, and it's the size of a fist, roughly. It can be you together, or an important moment between you, or, like with my parents, the greatest gift the other gives them."
"Your parents were soulmates?" Dwalin leaned closer slightly.
Bilbo nodded. "My mother had Bag End, as her tattoo, because my father gave it to her as a courting gift. And my father had a baby, as his tattoo. Me." Bilbo's voice went quieter on his last word.
"You?" Kíli sounded confused.
"Mother never really wanted a child, she was more of the adventurous type. But my father did. So much. And my mother loved him, she said she would have given the earth if she could, but instead, they had a child." A single tear rolled down Bilbo's cheek. "When a soulmate dies, the tattoo turns black."
"And what's your tattoo?" Thorin asked, his voice still soft.
"Oh, I don't have a tattoo," Bilbo smiled sadly. "It just likely means that their not a hobbit. Most, if not all, hobbit soulmates meet quite quickly."
"But you do have a tattoo." All eyes turned to Norí. "I saw it, the other day."
Bilbo automatically looked down and shifted his shirt to the side, and upon seeing a flash of colour gasped.
He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and could've fainted at his tattoo.
"I thought you said it was the size of a fist?" Balin asked.
Bilbo nodded, staring at his tattoo. "It is. Or should be."
Across Bilbo's chest, stomach, shoulders and back was the most beautiful and elaborate heart tattoo he had ever seen.
Over his heart was the door of his smial, a glowing red mark over the bright green. Thirteen pairs of footsteps circled the door, and above was the stars of Durin. Golden eagle feather fell from his collar bone to his stomach, where there was a huge crag of rock, silhouetted by a deep sunrise of pinks, blues and yellows. On his right arm, cascading to his elbow was a waterfall he recognised from their time in Rivendell. On the other side were huge trees, Mirkwood tress, each one etched with an Elvish rune.
"What... what's on my back?" Bilbo asked faintly. Fíli shifted round and explained it to him.
Going up his spine from his just below his trousers to about halfway up his spinal cord were barrels, blue drips occasionally marking his back. To the left of this was Smaug, huge and terrifyingly beautiful, curled round a huge arrow, the one Bard had fired. On the other side was a great war, the Battle of the Five Armies, as it had been started to be called. Where the barrels stopped a sword began, and it ran all the way up to Bilbo's neck. Embedded in the hilt was a shining jewel, the Arkenstone. Wrapped around the sword and on Bilbo's shoulder blades were several flowers, which Bilbo instructed Fíli to describe to him.
"Dahlia- Lasting bond, and commitment," Bilbo muttered as Fíli talked him through the flowers. "Tulips- Perfect love. What colour? Red means true love. And then Carnations stand for love, fascination and distinction. What colours are they? Light red is for admiration, darker red for deep love and affection, and white-" Bilbo's voice faltered slightly, pausing his mumbling monologue. "That means pure love, and then the Lady's Mantle means a comforting love, and the Red Camellia show love, passion and a deep desire. And, oh, Anemones mean faded hope. Meaning my soulmate does not think I..." Bilbo made himself breathe carefully. "And the Purple Hyacinth means sorrow, forgiveness and regret, and White Tulips are used to seek forgiveness." Bilbo stared at his chest and arms, transfixed.
He didn't notice all the dwarrow staring at Thorin, who had turned a bright red that his Company had connected the dots. He muttered something in Khuzdul and swept from the hall.
Bilbo looked up when he heard a door slam shut. "What? Where did Thorin go?"
Dwalin raised an eyebrow. "For someone so knowledgeable about all of us and our Ones, you are really oblivious when it comes to yourself."
Bilbo frowned confused, what did Dwalin mean, and what did that have to do with Thorin. Oh. OH.
He stood quickly and rushed from the hall in the same direction Thorin had gone, leaving the chuckling dwarrow behind.
He walked quickly through the hallways, stopping and listening to find Thorin. Eventually Bilbo rounded a corner and he was there, his back to Bilbo, standing on a balcony cut through the rock. The moon was glinting and the stars were shining, picking up the couple silver strands in Thorin's hair and making his glow.
Bilbo wondered how he had never realised how the stubborn, rude, brave, courageous, kind and selfless king was his soulmate. He walked over to him cautiously before standing by Thorin's side, who started and turned.
"Bilbo!" Thorin was caught off guard. "So, I, ,uh-"
Bilbo turned and grabbing the fur on Thorin's coat pulled the dwarf into him and kissed him, letting out all his emotions. Hands snaked around his waist as he and Thorin melted together.
After what felt like a second and yet also eternity, the pair broke apart, both smiling widely. Thorin leant his forehead against the hobbit's.
Bilbo's heart thrummed in contentment as his heart tattoo glowed, the colours dancing on the stone.
Thorin was his, and he was Thorin's.