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Some who were there at the time say that the post-battle festivities actually began before the fighting had even come to end. Not that anyone could blame them for their excitement. The victory had easily gone in favor of the armies of the men, elves, and dwarves, and the Avengers alone knew how many lives had been saved by their presence.

The company of Thorin Oakenshield, along with some of their kin from the Iron Hills, the higher-ranking elves, Bard and his children, and the Avengers were enjoying a fine celebration inside Erebor provided by a wagonload of Elvish supplies.

You were all seated along a long table that had belonged to Thorin's grandfather. From your place between Bilbo and Balin, your eyes started scanning the table hoping to grab tidbits of conversation over all the noise.

Across from you, Steve and Ori were seated side by side, flipping through Ori's sketchbook. From the look on his face, you assumed the constant sweetie-pie that is Steve Rogers must have been complimenting his drawings. Next to them, Natasha was sitting so closely to Bard that they were almost sharing a chair. But all of her attempts to trap her potential mate kept getting interrupted by his children. Across from them, Kili and Tauriel were whispering to each other and giggling every so often. Only a few seats down, you spotted Clint and Legolas hitting the Elvish wine a little too hard and bonding over their shared pain of losing their vivacious redheads to "clearly inferior archers."

Then the sound of Thor's booming laughter caught your attention. He was at the far end of the table watching Dwalin, Fili, Nori, and Bofur struggling to lift his hammer. Your eyes then drifted to Loki who was giving his brother an irritated look before speaking to Thranduil. "I was a king, twice, but both times that idiot of a brother of mine had to snatch it away from me."

You noticed out of the corner of your eye that Bilbo was doing the same thing as you. When he finally looked back in your direction, he chuckled and said, "Your friends are...interesting."

"I could say the same thing about yours."

"Speaking of interested, I think one of them is becoming quite taken with you," he said, smiling and motioning towards the head of the table. You looked and spotted Thorin watching you, completely ignoring Tony who was sitting on the table in front of him rambling about how women back home would throw themselves on Thorin and trying to figure out what the net worth of Erebor's treasure would be based on the current value of gold. When you smiled at him, he blushed slightly and turned back to Tony, feigning interest as much as he could.

"I'm going to go take a quick walk," you told Bilbo. "I need to stretch my legs."

When you reached the entrance to Erebor, you leaned against the wall and stared up at the beauty of the night sky.

"Is everything alright?" you heard the deep voice of Thorin ask behind you.

"Yeah, I just wanted to come out here for a bit."

You noticed that he was now standing beside you.

"Why did you come here?" he asked. "I understand what you told me earlier, for the most part, but why did you want to come?"

"To save you," you quickly replied. The way he turned and looked at you made you suddenly nervous and you began to backtrack. "I mean, to save all of you. You, Kili, and Fili...I'm very fond of you all. Plus, there were a lot of other innocent lives that needed saving. I couldn't ignore that."

"Your people are very lucky," he replied quietly.

"My people?"

"They are lucky to have such a brave and selfless queen." The confused look on your face made him continue. "I heard Loki refer to himself as a King. From the way he acts around you, I just assumed..."

"Me and Loki?" you asked with a laugh. "No, no, Loki's a cool guy and all, but he's a little too evil and maniacal for my tastes...kind of like Thranduil," you added, causing him to laugh. It was a loud, joyous laugh. One that was completely unburdened and free.

After a few moments he asked, "Do you like it here?"

"I love it."

"Would you ever consider staying?"

You turned to him in surprise. He looked eager, yet anxious while awaiting your response.

"I've always wanted to be here," you began. "But what about my friends? They need me. I don't know how I'd ever choose between Middle-Earth and the Avengers."

"Why not both?" you heard Tony say.

You didn't know when he'd crept up or how much he'd heard, but right now you didn't care.

"Is that possible?" you asked.

"I built a portal. What kind of ass wouldn't let their best friend use it?"

"Oh Tony!" you yelled, running and giving him a tight hug.

"There's one condition though. You have to visit us at least once a week. If you don't, I'll come back, snatch you through it, and tear the thing down. Deal?"

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, you stood outside Erebor with the company while you made your brief goodbyes to the Avengers. Well, they were all brief except for Thor, who took you into a tight embrace and almost began crying into your shoulder.

"Thor, I'll see you a week," you said while rubbing his back in an effort to comfort him.

"But I shall miss you so! Who will I eat poptarts with every morning and who will watch those funny little cat videos with me when you are not there?"

"Loki will," you said, smirking at him over Thor's shoulder when he gave you a menacing glare. Then you gave Thor a kiss on the cheek and sent him back to the group.

Tony walked over and placed the remote control bracelet on your wrist. "There's only one button," he said, pressing it and turning the portal on, "so it's simple enough. I've got a second one at home so I'll be back if you don't hold up your end of the deal."

Then you watched and waved goodbye as each of the avengers stepped through in turn. You laughed when Clint shoved Nat through for trying to blow a last goodbye kiss to Bard. When they were all gone, you pressed the button to turn it back off, and you couldn't help but be a little sad that they were gone.

"I'm very glad you're staying," Thorin said, taking your hand. "I meant what I said last night. I think you would make a wonderful queen. If that's something you'd be interested in one day," he added hesitantly.

"I wouldn't be staying if I wasn't," you replied, making him smile happily up at you.

Then you leaned down and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "I guess you might as well show me around my future kingdom now, King Thorin," you said with a cursty.

Bowing to you and offering his arm, he replied, "It would be my honor."

Then you walked into the mountain arm in arm with the dwarf whose life had been saved by your simple act of love, and a little help from a team of superheroes.

The End.