All for Love
I do not own The Hobbit in any way.
"There is no choice, Balin. Not for me", Thorin said.
Balin knew why Thorin wanted to take back Erebor.
He still held onto the hope that she was alive.
Celka had been Thorin's betrothed.
It had been an arranged marriage, but Thorin had loved her more than anything in the world.
Thorin met them at the gate, along with his father and grandfather. He was not thrilled with the idea of an arranged marriage to a girl he barely knew. But he knew it was his princely duty to marry a girl of high standing and produce an heir. But his thoughts were quickly changed when he met her.
She had hair the color of golden corn and eyes as blue as the sky. She was a head shorter than Thorin, but Thorin and his family were tall for dwarves. "Prince Thorin", she said shyly.
"Princess Celka", he said bowing in front of her. He took her delicate hand in his and brought it up to his mouth for a kiss.
The dwarves entered the room and came upon a group of skeletons.
The breath left Thorin's body when he saw a mithril bracelet shining in the low light of the cavern.
He carefully walked over to the skeleton. He reached down and slipped the bracelet off the bony wrist.
Her wrists had always been delicate, even in life.
He had made this for her as a wedding gift.
So that was it then, she was dead.
Thorin would never love another. He should have gone back for her.
Perhaps it was better when he didn't know what fate she had suffered.
He placed the bracelet in his tunic, fighting back tears.
Azog's blade was millimeters from Thorin's chest.
He knew there was no way both of them were going to get out of this alive. He surrendered and let the sword pierce his chest and in turn, he sank his blade into Azog's chest.
Azog cried out and fell back onto his back.
Thorin pressed the blade deeper and watched the light fade from his eyes. Thorin looked over the battlefield and collapsed. As Thorin lay dying, his last thoughts were of Celka and the life they could have had. He knew he was going home to her. He felt her small hands on his face.
"Wake up, my beloved Thorin", her voice said.
Thorin opened his eyes and saw her blue ones looking down at him. He was no longer lying on the cold hard ice. Instead, he felt soft grass beneath his finger tips.
"Welcome home, my king", she said.
"Celka", he said. He sat up and noticed a child sitting in her lap.
A child with hair as black as night and eyes that matched the sky.
"Papa!" he cried and jumped into Thorin's arms.
Thorin looked at Celka.
"I died with him in my belly", she said stroking the boy's hair.
"I'm so sorry", Thorin said.
"I've been waiting for you. Both of us have", Celka told him.
"What is his name?" Thorin asked.
"I named him after your grandfather. Thror", she said, "We're together now and that's all that matters".
"But you would not be here if it not for me", Thorin said.
"Thorin, my love. You must let go of the guilt. It will not do anything for you here", she told him.
Thorin leaned forward and placed his lips on hers.
If only she had lived.
Maybe he wouldn't have made the quest to Erebor, but in death, he knew why he had done it. He had held onto the hope that maybe she had lived and would come looking for him. Instead, he was the one who had gone looking for her. He had done it all for love.
Even though the quest had ended in his death, he finally had his One back.