[Kath]

Astilwen had opened her mouth to apologise for bringing back even more painful memories to Tilionwen, but was cut off.

"How about you? Do you dance a lot? And, have you been stepped on too much ever in your life?"

Blushing the hobbit pointedly avoided answering the last question, as well as the knowing looks that Tiliowen was sending her way. Her history with Tom was very much history now, and she didn't relish bringing it up again. She knew it wasn't really fair to keep things from her new friend, as Tiliowen had shared so much already. She made a deal with herself, if Tiliowen brought it up again she would tell all, but if not she'd stay quiet. For now she'd answer the other, much safer, question.

"I dance quite a lot yes. Where we live, my family that is, there's usually a small party at least once a fortnight, and everyone living nearby is invited. We use the field behind our hole and eat and dance from dusk til dawn, or whenever we collapse! I've been teaching my little brothers how to dance recently, they tend just to fling themselves about and while that's fun they're getting too big to be able to do it safely!"

She wondered for a moment whether bringing up her family and her brothers would be hurtful to Tilionwen, but the woman didn't seem bothered by it at all. On the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying hearing about them, so Astilwen continued.

"Sam, that's my eldest little brother, he had only ever danced with other boys before and you know what boys are like, bashing into each other and yelling. At one of these parties he danced with our next door neighbours daughter, and knocked her over. She landed quite hard and had to go home, so my mother decided it was time he learnt to dance properly, and that's where I come in. Of course, he isn't exactly best pleased about it, and takes no small amount of pleasure in pretending to forget his steps and knock me over, but he's a good kid at heart and he is improving."

Astilwen hadn't noticed the smile that had spread over her face as she spoke about her family, or the light that had appeared in her eyes. Her memories were fond and she found that she very much enjoyed talking about them with someone, especially someone who was listening with such honest interest. She just hoped Tilionwen hadn't noticed her earlier evasion.