Disclaimer: The Hobbit and its characters do not belong to me.
AN: We finally leave Mirkwood!
The Trouble with Soulmate Marks: a Hobbit fanfic
By Indygodusk
Chapter 7: The Escape and a Dwarf Sandwich with Hobbit Filling
After the night spent with Thorin, Billa felt a renewed sense of optimism. She only needed one more thing to rescue her friends: the keys to their cells. Therefore she decided to stick to Hiwon, the elf in charge of the keys, like a burr on a wool coat. He was pretty sloppy in the execution of his duties, so she felt like she would get lucky soon.
That day Hiwon didn't do anything interesting except visit someone on the far side of the elven fortress. It took so long to walk through the winding corridors, and then to finish their bottle of wine, that after the meeting ended Hiwon just slept in a nearby room. Billa didn't trust that she could make her way back to familiar corridors by herself, so perforce she slept nearby as well.
That night, she had the most vivid dream. Thorin called her, "Amrâlimê," and then reached out and took her hand. When she looked up, they stood in a great green forest. The trail they followed was occasionally steep and made her think of the mountains. As they walked, they passed through sunbathed clearings frothing with spring wildflowers and buzzing bees. The sun drifted slowly lower in the sky, gilding Thorin's hair, but there was still more than enough light for their walk. They held hands and talked idly of random things, content just to be together.
A soft breeze lifted their hair to and fro, mingling and separating the strands. The wind danced through the branches in musical rustles. Thorin took off his cloak and snuggled it around her shoulders to make sure she didn't catch a chill, despite her protests of being warm enough. Secretly though, she liked feeling the residual warmth from his body and smelling his scent on the cloth.
As they walked, ravens and thrushes watched them curiously from the tree branches, occasionally calling hello. Billa saw something velvety brown out of the corner of her eye. Pulling Thorin to a stop, she crouched down and brushed away some fallen leaves to uncover a patch of mushrooms. Seeing her excitement, Thorin crouched down and confirmed that they were edible. Chortling happily, Billa picked several to munch on as they walked.
Smiling boyishly, Thorin took her to a hollow at the base of a tree. He explained how he used to hide his treasures there to keep them from his siblings. Billa smiled as she pictured Thorin as a small child. He must have been absolutely adorable!
She liked the feeling of Thorin's sturdy hand intertwined with her own. As they strolled through the forest, Billa swung their arms back and forth, pleased when the clasp of his palm never slipped. Turning her face up into a shaft of honeyed sunlight, she smiled and rubbed her thumb along his hand in thankfulness.
The trees thinned as they climbed higher. Finally the forest ended and they moved out onto a rocky outcropping. The wind became stronger and whipped about their hair and clothes. Billa shivered. She appreciated the warmth of his cloak. Although this side of the mountain had many trees, it looked like the slope curving away on the other side was almost bare. She asked why, but Thorin didn't know. Admitting he'd never thought about it, he suggested wind and weather were responsible.
Then Thorin took her shoulders somewhat impatiently and turned her to face the opposite direction. Billa grabbed his hand hard and gaped. Two ginormous stone dwarves crouched on either side of a road leading straight into an elaborate gate in the side of the mountain. Brightly dressed dwarves streamed in and out of the gate in orderly groups. Green pine trees stood in rows as if waiting their turn to march into the gate as well. Their small size gave the statues scale.
And that was only the beginning! The mountainside above the gate had been carved and sculpted into geometric patterns filled with lit windows and balconies that must belong to the kingdom inside. The builders had somehow brought out the green sheen to the stone compared to the natural rough gray of the surrounding mountainside. In the setting sun, the façade shimmered with reflected sunlight so it looked like the entire edifice was carved from solid gold.
Billa looked at Thorin in disbelief and then back at the gate. It must have taken years and years and years to create such a thing! She tried to close her mouth, but it was difficult when it felt like she could barely blink either. Thorin slapped his thigh and laughed at her reaction. Shaking herself, she looked at him and tried to scowl. But it was too difficult, so she just gave up and let herself grin.
"That's the biggest thing I've ever seen in my life! It's amazing! Beautiful!" she finally said with delight.
Thorin smiled down at her fondly. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the lips and then tucked her underneath his arm in a sideways embrace. Then he turned them so they both could watch the sun set behind the mountain.
"Yes, it was," he said softly. They stood that way as the sky swirled from gold and pink to red, purple, and finally gray. In the last bit of light, Billa stretched up and kissed Thorin on the jaw. Then she woke up.
Billa followed Hiwon around again as he spent the morning doing official looking things. After lunch, he snuck down to visit his friends in the wine cellar by the underground river. Of course they couldn't resist opening a few bottles as they talked. As she watched them drink more and more, her hopes rose higher and higher. They started reminiscing about the good old days before the forest was called Mirkwood. Pretty soon they all ended up passed out on the table.
Bouncing in excitement, Billa stole the keys from Hiwon's belt and ran as fast as she could for the cells upstairs. Unfortunately, she forgot to account for the guard schedule. She had to wait for ten more minutes for a gap in the patrols. It was torture. Finally, however, all the elves had left the area.
Elated, Billa plucked off her magic ring, pocketed it, and danced up to Thorin's cell. Brandishing the key wildly in triumph, she grabbed him by his ill-fitting elven shirt, pulled him flush against the bars, and gave him a quick, sloppy kiss. He blinked in startled pleasure before focusing on the key in her hand and grinning wolfishly. Billa unlocked his cell.
"We can escape through the basement," she explained. "Let me get the rest of the company and then I'll show you." Quickly she opened up the rest of the cells while simultaneously reminding the dwarves to all be quiet!
They snuck down to the basement dock. Billa shoved the box full of Thorin's things his way casually. Then she moved to the other side of the room and quietly ordered the rest of the dwarves to get into the barrels. Thorin silently changed from the ill-fitting elvish garments into his own clothes while the rest of the dwarves were distracted by disagreeing with her.
A short but quiet argument ensued. The dwarves didn't want to get in. They didn't like her plan. Billa stamped her foot in frustration and planted her fists on her hips.
"This plan will work, but only if we get away before the alarm sounds. You've been asking me for days to rescue you. Well I've done it. This is it. So get in the barrels!" Billa growled quietly, trying not to wake the elves.
Thorin came up and stood next to Billa. He was dressed in his own clothes and boots once again, with his necklaces and rings restored to their rightful places. "Those of you who don't trust Billa can stay here with the tree-shaggers, but I'm leaving for the lonely mountain." Then he strode forward majestically and climbed into a barrel.
Kili was hot on his heels. "Of course we trust Billa," he proclaimed, diving into a barrel of his own, soon followed by Kili. Most of the dwarves trailed along with only a few more grumbles.
"It's not that I don't trust you," Gloin apologized as he shuffled in place, "it's just that I don't like the idea of being cooped up by a cooper." Billa blinked at him in confusion. "You know, a barrel maker? I got cheated at dice once by a cooper. It earned me a horrible scolding from Tosi, soured me ever since. I don't like 'em."
"Gloin," Thorin said impatiently.
Tugging at his beard uncomfortably, Gloin swallowed. "Right, right, quest and company come first. Very well." Sighing gustily, he reluctantly climbed into the last barrel.
"Thank you," Billa said impatiently. She went to the wall to pull the lever to finally drop the barrels into the water when she realized something. There was no way for her to pull the lever to open the door and yet be safely in a barrel at the same time.
Thorin looked up at her pause of consternation. Eyes widening, he glanced down the row of barrels and then back at where she stood by herself on the dock. Placing his hands on the rim of his barrel, he rose up as if to get out and trade places with her.
However, at that moment the sound of alarmed shouting echoed out faintly from the stairwell. Several of the sleeping elves started to twitch. Firming her lips, Billa reached up and put both hands on the wooden lever.
"Billa," Thorin said warningly, "don't." He threw his elbows up over the rim and started to heave himself out.
But Billa would not allow it. She was going to rescue all of them, no matter what it took. Her dwarves had to be inside the barrels, especially Thorin, because they had to be as safe as she could make them. She'd sacrificed and suffered to get them all to this point. She wasn't backing down now. With a mighty heave, Billa pulled down on the lever and dropped the ramp. Thorin fell back into his barrel with an angry yet worried oath as the barrels dropped into the water with a splash.
Taking several deep breaths for courage, Billa ran down the ramp as fast as she could and leapt after her friends, trying to land near a barrel of her own. She plunged into the shockingly cold water. As she surfaced, she thought she heard something that might be shouts above her head, but she was too busy trying not to drown to pay much attention. She quickly found an empty barrel to hang onto, but only a few moments after they reached open air an orc dagger embedded itself into the side of her ride. She let go in shock and splashed back into the icy river.
Flailing her arms, she concentrated on keeping her nose and mouth in the air and just let the current of the river sweep her along. She was concentrating so hard on staying afloat that she shrieked and got a lung-full of water when someone grabbed at her sleeve. Her arm was dragged to the rim of a barrel and secured. When she finished coughing and could concentrate on something besides breathing, she saw that Nori had her forearm braced over the rim in a firm grip.
"Just hold on tight, Billa! I've got you!" he shouted above the roar of the river with a flinty-eyed determination usually found more on the face of his older brother, Dori. Then they swept out of the caverns.
However her momentary elation was soon destroyed. Just a bit farther down their barrels got trapped by an elf-made gate across the river. Billa feared for all of them, with both elves and orcs on the attack. Kili jumped out of his barrel to help and got shot by an orc. Only the timely arrows of Tauriel saved him from getting killed!
Biting her lip bloody, Billa couldn't breathe until Kili limped to the side, pulled the lever to open the gate, and rolled over the wall and back into his empty barrel. But even that valiant effort wasn't enough. The orcs kept up their steady assault and the elves kept pursuing. In the chaos, Nori had to grab an axe from an attacking orc's hand to defend them both. An elven arrow missed the orc and skidded across their barrel, nicking her arm shallowly and causing her to lose her grip. Nori shouted and reached for her hand, but it was too late to catch her.
Billa flailed back into the water again, once again too busy focusing on keeping her head up and breathing to watch out for attacking orcs. If she ever made it back to the shire, she would spend more time practicing how to swim. That or she'd avoid any body of water larger than a puddle forever after.
Terrified, she finally caught a glimpse from the corner of her eyes of another barrel nearby. Calling on almost empty reserves, she swam for it frantically. Grabbing onto the edge of the barrel, she heaved her arm over the side to get a better grip and was almost punched in the face by Ori. "It's me!" she shouted before coughing hard to remove some of the water from her lungs.
Ori pulled back in shock and then surged forward to grab onto her hands. "I'm sorry! I thought you were attacking me!" he apologized. Then he ducked his head quickly to avoid the falling body of a dead orc. Elven and orcish arrows flew across the river. Dwarves grabbed everything they could get their hands on to fight back. Thankfully Ori made sure to keep at least one hand on her at all times.
At one point during the chaos, Billa accidentally locked eyes with Tauriel. The female elf looked confused to see a hobbit floating along with the dwarves. Then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She glanced over the fleeing dwarrows. Then she looked back. Annoyed comprehension on her face, she glared at Billa, raised her bow, knocked an arrow, and fired.
Billa yelped and would have let go of the barrel if Ori hadn't had such a vice-like grip on her arm. However the arrow never hit. Billa glanced behind them and saw a dead orc dangling from the tree they'd just floated beneath. Tauriel had saved them. Billa tried to find Tauriel's eyes again to thank her, but the elven woman was too busy stabbing an orc with her daggers.
The fighting continued for a few more minutes before a tributary joined their branch of the river, finally speeding the water up enough to get them away from their attackers. The water became even more icy cold, probably snowmelt from the upper elevations. Constant shivers racked Billa's body as the water dragged down on her skirts like a needy child.
Without Ori's unwavering support, she likely would have fallen into the water to drown. "Just a little longer, Mistress Baggins," Ori said encouragingly. "You can do it. You're strong enough." It was sweet of him to say, but it was a lie. Billa wasn't strong at all. She was miserable. She wished that it was Thorin holding her up instead of young Ori, and then felt even more awful for being so selfish and ungrateful.
Luckily they only floated for a few more minutes before the river widened and slowed. Their barrels bobbed into an inlet. With a splash, the dwarves all began pouring out of their confinement and splashing onto shore. Ori let go of her hands, but she actually found that her fingers had frozen into a clenched position onto the side of the barrel and didn't want to release.
"We're at the shore, Billa," Ori said softly, "you can let go now." The poor dwarf couldn't get out without tipping her back into the water and he was too polite to do such a thing.
"Sweet Ori," she gasped. "Just give my body a minute to catch up to my mind." In the background she heard Fili shouting Kili's name. Using her worry for her friend as a catalyst, she slowly forced her fingers to unclench. Then she dropped back into the water. It swallowed her down for a frightful moment, but then her feet touched the bottom and she bobbed back up. Sputtering, she dragged herself to shallower water. Ori grabbed her arm and helped to pull her the last few feet up onto the shore.
Before she could get her bearings, Thorin swept up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Atmêlê, are you alright?" he demanded, looking her over anxiously. He ran his hands over her arms and down her sides. "I'm fine," she said, then let out a mighty sneeze. At his concerned look, she waved him off. "No really, I'm fine. Just wet and cold. I just need to sit a moment on dry ground. Maybe kiss it a little in gratitude."
Thorin's teeth flashed in a quick smile. "Not too much kissing or I might get jealous."
Billa rolled her eyes at him.
"Unfortunately you only have a brief moment to rest. Then we have to keep moving to stay ahead of our pursuit," Thorin said with a bracing pat on her shoulder that left her staggered before taking off to rally the other dwarves.
Wobbling over to a nice rock, Billa sat down. Letting herself sigh in relief at being stationary, she turned her face up into the sun to catch a little warmth. That, of course, is when she saw the human standing above them all with an arrow knocked in his bow.
After mutual threats, some flattery, and a bit of bribery, Bard agreed to take them into Laketown on his barge. Most of the dwarves gathered near the front of the boat with Thorin, planning their next move. Not having anything to add except for a spate of sneezes, Billa sat in the back down against the side where there was the most protection from the wind.
After a few minutes, Kili limped over and slid down to sit beside her. Fili hovered behind him with arms slightly raised, as if to catch his brother in case he slipped. "Hello," Billa said before sneezing again. "I do beg your pardon," she added.
Fili went to sit down on his brother's other side, but Kili sent him an annoyed frown. "Stop hovering. I'm fine," Kili snapped in annoyance.
"Of course you are. How silly of me. It's not like you just got shot in the leg by an orc." Fili snapped his fingers and looked up, "Oh wait, you did!"
"Oh shut it," Kili grumped, shoving at his brother's leg.
Fili kicked back at his foot, but when Kili gasped and winced he stopped with an apologetic frown. "Here," Fili said, "I'll just go sit on the other side of our favorite hobbit. We can make a dwarf sandwich with hobbit filling!" Then he plopped down on Billa's other side.
"I feel like I should object to that for some reason," Billa said, stopping for a moment to release a petite sneeze before continuing. "It doesn't sound respectable. But you are somehow both warmer than me and block the wind beautifully, so I won't. However, you are making me hungry, so if you could refrain from mentioning food again I'd appreciate it."
"Very well," said Kili, "what should we talk about instead, brother?"
"Yes, what should we talk about?" answered Fili. "I know, let's talk about Billa's fetching new hair style."
Billa flushed and felt her shoulders creeping up around her ears.
Kili grinned. "Now that you mention it, her braids do look delightful," he said. "And is that one of our family patterns? It certainly looks familiar."
"I do believe you're right, Kili," said Fili. "The bead above her ear is rather blatant, after all."
"Quite hard to miss," added Kili.
"Which can only mean one thing," laughed Fili.
Then they both chorused, "Uncle Thorin likes you!" Kili elbowed her in the side knowingly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Billa deflected weakly.
Fili didn't even blink. "C'mon, Billa, give! What's going on with you and Uncle?"
"Yeah," Kili broke in, "are you soulmates and in love and gonna get married?"
Twin expressions of glee stared at her from either side. Billa sighed, "It's complicated."
"How?" asked Fili.
"Why?" asked Kili.
"Well," she said slowly, glancing up front to make sure Thorin was too busy to be listening. "We haven't really discussed any of that yet."
"But you totally kissed him," Kili interjected. "I saw it when you broke us out."
"There may have even been tongue," Fili teased.
"I don't think it lasted long enough for tongue," argued Kili over her head.
"I'm not telling you anything unless you stop talking about tongues," she hissed threateningly. They both assumed mock serious faces as they waited.
It wasn't in Billa's nature to dissemble. This was private, but on the other hand, these two were practically, and hopefully one day would be in fact, her family. They kept staring at her expectantly.
"Okay," she caved, "we did kiss," the brothers high-fived, "and I did tell Thorin that I loved him. He didn't use the word love back, but his words and actions did lead me to believe that he holds me in high regard." She pulled her coat more tightly around her middle and tucked her hands in her armpits. "We haven't had the time to work out all of the details. It seems like he wants to wait until after we reach the mountain before making any promises."
A frown grew on Kili's face. "But what about his soulmate mark. Have you seen it?"
"Yes," Billa said cautiously, trying to keep the flush off her face from picturing Thorin shirtless or wearing even less than a shirt, "I have."
"And did anything happen? Did you solve it?" Kili asked with mounting excitement.
Billa thought back to that night. "I don't know. I don't think so, but then again, with the way he acted… maybe? I'm not sure. Probably not."
Fili looked worried. "Billa, there is nothing I'd like more than to have you as an auntie, but with Uncle Thorin, nothing is simple. If you aren't his soulmate, then you are setting yourself up for a world of hurt here that, plainly speaking, I don't think you deserve. You should stop before you get pulled in any deeper."
"But if she is his soulmate," Kili interjected, "that would be wonderful!" His manic grin turned to apprehension. "Unless he doesn't seal it. That would be bad. If he knows and deliberately puts off completing the bond to finish the quest for the mountain, then he could be cursed by the Maker for rejecting His blessing."
Turning to Billa, Kili said worriedly, "You have to make him tell you whether or not you really are his soulmate. This is serious."
"When have you ever known anyone who was able to make Thorin do anything?" she asked heavily.
Fili turned thoughtful. "Do you have a soulmate mark? That would make it easier to find out."
Billa sent him a scathing look. "I thought I already answered that question ages ago. I only have regular birthmarks and moles!"
Fili shrugged and scratched his head. "Well, how far did stuff go? If you went all the way, even if it isn't verbally acknowledged, that would definitely seal a bond. But then again if he completed his bond with you I would think that you'd know it."
Red flooded her features as she hissed, "Just what do you mean, 'stuff'?"
"You know, stuff," he said in a sing-song tone of voice while making an obscene hand gesture.
Billa gasped and thwacked him on the arm with her hand. "Don't make that gesture at me! It's crude!"
"That's the point," Kili laughed.
Scowling, Billa hit him too for good measure. "For your information, hobbits save intimacy for marriage. I did not do that sort of stuff with Thorin, and if I had it would be none of your business!"
"Sounds boring," said Kili provocatively, raising an arm defensively when she gave him another glare.
"Not that you'd know," Fili said from her other side. His younger brother tried to gag his mouth from around Billa, but Kili only succeeded in jostling her shoulder and pulling at Fili's golden mustache braid.
"Ow!" Fili yelped, rapping his brother's knuckles to make him let go. Leaning back, Fili stuck out his tongue and confided to Billa, "Kili's a virgin, too."
Glaring resentfully, Kili stopped straining around Billa's body and plopped back down onto his bum. "So what?" he muttered. "There's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather save all my firsts for my other half than ruin them in failed attempts and end up having to be trained out of bad habits. Isn't that why your last relationship failed? You treated your current girlfriend like your ex-girlfriend accidentally?"
"We said we weren't going to talk about that anymore," Fili snapped. Then he turned to Billa and took up teasing his brother again. "You should have seen him. He was an adorable child. When little Kili was only 26 he declared that he was going to save himself for his soulmate. It was all very romantic. Girls from all over the settlement swooned. Mother couldn't resist pinching his cheeks."
"You're just jealous that you don't have a soulmate," Kili shot back.
"Bah, that's too much drama for me," he defended. "Or are you trying to tell me that you have no worries about telling Uncle Thorin about finding your soulmate… or mom and dad? I'm sure they'll all be thrilled."
Kili glared defensively and leaned forward on one hand, "They will be once they get to know her. I love her, Fili. She's my other half. That should be enough for all of you."
Making a placating gesture, Fili held up his hands. "I'm not putting her down, I'm just saying that there might be difficulties and, you know, drama. But people will eventually accept it."
Kili relaxed back, to which Fili then added, "They'll have to. It'll be just like Billa said that one time, we'll treat it like a hare-lip or near-sightedness or a hobbit that prefers only three meals a day. The family will endure it because we must and because it's too much effort to avoid you." Kili sent him a scowl, but Fili just smirked. "But if we're really lucky, you just might breed like rabbits."
"Oh, ha ha," Kili grumbled.
"I did not say that," Billa defended self-righteously, but then she thought back. "Or did I? Okay, sorry, never mind."
"Anyways," Fili said, "I thought we were supposed to be talking about Billa and Uncle Thorin. Not you, Kili."
"That's true," Kili said with a mercurial shift in mood, turning to Billa and giving her a small smile. "I still think you should ask Uncle Thorin if he's your soulmate or not."
"I agree," Fili said, raising his hand. Kili glanced over and then raised his hand up too.
Billa looked back and forth at them. "This isn't a vote."
Fili poked her in the arm. "Do it!"
"Do it," repeated Kili, poking her other side.
"Do it, do it, do it," they chanted, attacking her with tickling fingers from both sides.
Billa squirmed and gasped and giggled, swatting at air and failing to escape their hands. "Fine, fine, I'll ask! Just leave me be!" she conceded on a wheeze. Satisfied, the brothers sat back.
"Is everything alright over here, Billa?" Bofur asked as he settled down nearby. She sent him a look of confusion, to which he replied sheepishly, "Thorin sent me to make sure the lads aren't giving you too hard of a time."
"Oi!" said Fili defensively.
"We're fine," Billa said firmly, elbowing him in the side and speaking over his protests. "Just talking."
A lock of hair fell over her eyes suddenly. Billa tried to blow it up and out of her face, but to no avail. Flicking her head just caused a few more curly strands to slide down over her ear.
"Whoops," Kili said. "I think our tickling was the final blow for your hair. Sorry."
Reaching up to feel around her head, Billa discovered with a pang that sure enough, the braids had started to come unbound from whatever Thorin had done to secure them. Dredging up a polite smile, she said, "That's alright. I'll just take them out."
"Of course it makes sense to take them out now," Bofur interjected, "but that doesn't mean your hair has to stay undone. None of us realized that you might like a bit of help with your hair or I'm sure we'd have offered to help you with it long before now. The braids look very fetching, like a proper dwarf female but curlier. They let everyone know you're with us. I bet the three of us could put you to rights in two blows of a smithy's hammer."
She scratched her head. "Um, is that like two shakes of a lamb's tail?"
Fili reached over and pulled out the tie on the back of her hair without asking. "I don't know what a lamb's tail has to do with anything, but I thought we agreed not to talk about food." He abruptly dropped the hair tied in her lap. She barely caught it in one hand.
Before Billa knew it, the three dwarves had surrounded her on all sides and unbraided her hair into a poof of curls. It was strange and slightly claustrophobic to be at the center of six arms, all messing with your head at the same time. However, she decided that it was too much trouble to protest now. Bofur's finger caught on a snarl. She tried not to wince.
"Sorry, lass," he said. "I should have gotten out a comb first."
Fishing in her pocket, she found the elven comb and pulled it out. "I have one," she said shyly.
Bofur plucked it up, "Hmm, bit shoddy workmanship and decoration, being elvish and all, but I suppose it'll do."
"When we have a chance, we'll have to pick you up something better," Fili said.
Billa just shrugged noncommittally. She liked her elvish comb. It seemed perfectly pretty to her. Plus it had sentimental value, reminding her of Thorin's endearments as he played with her hair.
A small argument ensued above her head over what kind of braids to use. Billa found it all rather silly. Did it really matter what the braids looked like as long as they kept her hair neat and out of her face? Of course she wanted to look nice, but it didn't need to be anything elaborate. They were floating on a boat on a lake to confront a dragon in a mountain, for goodness sake. But with the way her friends talked, braid pattern and position was of vital importance. Finally they settled it by letting Bofur decide the weave of the three braids arching away from her face, while Kili and Fili got to control the patterns on the sides and back.
After a bit, Kili reached over her shoulder and held out his hand expectantly in front of her face. Looking at his hand cross-eyed, she finally figured out what he wanted. Billa passed over her hair toggle. With a few strange-feeling tugs her braids were secured into place.
Bofur then made sure to let Fili, as the older brother, reposition Thorin's bead, which may or may not have some sort of significance that she still didn't understand. Billa was about to ask about it, but then the dwarves up front suddenly got really loud and excited. The four of them stood up and wandered forward just in time to witness the mists clearing to reveal the grand peak of the lonely mountain.
Thorin turned from the mountain to sweep them all with a thrilled, triumphant look. "That's our home," he said, unable to conceal the longing in his tone.
Billa couldn't help but give him a besotted smile.
Seeing her face, Bofur leaned over and teasingly whispered, "You have it so bad, lass." Unfazed, Billa elbowed him in the ribs.
Unfortunately the haze closed in once again, veiling the mountain from sight. Billa didn't want to ruin the gravitas of the moment (any more than Bofur's teasing already had), but she could no longer hold in a series of vigorous sneezes. Tension broken, the dwarves broke into smaller groups.
Fili grabbed her arm and steered her back to her former seat. "Sit back down here where there's some shelter from the wind," he directed protectively. "We don't want that sneeze turning into something worse." The two brothers took up their stations sitting on either side of her again.
"You're a natural big brother, Fili," Billa said fondly.
"That's an idea," Kili said. "When you feel the urge to get all protective, just focus on Billa instead and leave me alone."
Sending him a disapproving frown, Billa said, "Even though I'm younger in years, I'm much older in maturity, so watch yourself. Besides, you should appreciate what you've got. I always wanted siblings but never had any. When my parents died I was alone. That's worse than being annoyed by the siblings you've got. You should be nicer about it."
From the front of the boat, Thorin looked over to check in on Kili, who waved back with longsuffering. Then he moved his attention to Billa, giving her a slight smile. Billa wiped her nose and smiled back to let him know everything was fine. Nodding his head, he relaxed and turned back around to return to his conversation with Balin and Dwalin.
Kili leaned against her side with warm comfort and looked towards Thorin. "You are a good person, Billa Baggins. It can't be easy, loving Uncle, but you are strong enough and cunning enough for it. You've proven that. When he gets an idea in his head, he focuses on it, becomes obsessed until he makes the world bend to his vision. It is both a great strength and a great weakness. It might be hard, but in the end you should follow your instincts when it comes to him. That seems to be your strength, focusing on the simple things and listening to your heart. If you do, I'm sure things will come out right."
Fili leaned in from the other side. "And if it doesn't, we'll be there to help you with the fallout, right brother? Because she's ours now. She wanted siblings, so now she's got some."
"That's right," Kili confirmed, throwing his arm over her shoulder to tuck her more protectively against his side. "We're family now, Billa. In the end, it doesn't matter if we get to call you sister or aunt, you are ours. We claim you."
Tears pricked Billa's eyes. "I am honored," she said with a sniffle. "Next time I cook, I'll have to set by an extra portion for both of you. Feeding family is very important to us hobbits." The brothers high-fived again around her body. Billa wanted to say something more to let them know just how much it meant to her, but then a large sneeze snapped her head hard back into Kili's arm. "Excuse me," she said with embarrassment.
"You are freezing," Fili said with worry, snuggling against her side and bracing his leg up to further shelter her from the wind. "As soon as we get to town we'll have to find you some dry clothes."
Bofur came over and plopped himself down at their feet. "Well you may be cold now, but take comfort, lass," he said. "The closer we get to the dragon, the closer we are to a fiery death, which at least will be warm."
Billa sent him a half-hearted glare. "Somehow, that doesn't fill me with much comfort."
TO BE CONTINUED
AN: Stay tuned for our next episode. Tough times lie ahead, but Billa makes a shocking discovery first.
Amrâlimê = my love (what Kili says to Tauriel in the movie.)
Atmêlê = my breath of all breaths
The character of Hiwon is cast as Johnny Depp (see my tumblr for inspiration photos)
