Balin had cottage duty this morning. The dwarves had set up a rotation so that one or two of them could stop in, see what Thorin needed and then move on to work on other things during the day. He walked in the door and stopped dead in his tracks. Thorin and the woman were wrapped up so tightly together on the bed that it was hard to tell where one started and the other ended! What was going on? (Bofur, that model of discretion, had said nothing of the events he had witnessed. It nearly killed him, but he had managed to keep quiet…)

What should he do? Quietly retreat, make some noise, go back out and come in again? He chose the last option, tip toed out and down the steps. Treading heavily back up the stairs, he 'fumbled' with the door latch, made some loud sounds of self-disgust and re-entered the room. Damn, they were still asleep and all tangled up. Now what? He fell back on time honored tradition and cleared his throat. "Ahem, Thorin?"

...

He had been having the most marvelous dream. Pleasant smells, soft clouds, blue skies…and then it began to thunder. Thunder? Slowly he was dragged back to the real world. His eyes opened to see Balin standing by the bed, looking puzzled. Thorin began to realize the reason for the look. He was in bed. With a woman. A strange woman he had not known three days ago. Thorin had never been in bed with ANY woman let alone an almost total stranger. Naya was still sound asleep (for real this time). He slowly disentangled himself, stood up and, trying to sound casual, "Yes, Balin, what can I do for you?" Having all his clothes on certainly helped, he thought to himself. You always appeared more innocent with at least some clothes on.

Balin looked at him. "What do you think you are doing? You don't even know her and now you are sleeping with her?"

"Nothing happened, I swear! She asked me to hold her. And since I am supposed to do anything she asks and after the kisses, I ..."

"After WHAT! You kissed her! Thorin! I take half a day off and I come back to find all of this! Have you lost all control?" He sounded truly outraged. They had been keeping their voices relatively low, but now Naya showed signs of being disturbed. Thorin put his hand on Balin's shoulder. "Let's go outside."

Away from the cottage, Balin started to show signs of blowing up, but thought better of it. "Alright, I will let this go for now. What I came for was to give you a chance to get cleaned up. She seems to be asleep. Why not go to the Lodge and take a quick bath. I will tend to things here. Whatever that means these days."

Thorin grinned at him. "Thanks, old friend. It really isn't what it seems…exactly."

"I will want an explanation of what 'exactly' means," grumped Balin.

"And maybe, you will get it, or not," laughed Thorin, as he headed for the Lodge and a much appreciated bath.

Balin stormed back into the cottage once Thorin was gone. He was not going to let things drop that easily. There was someone else who could give him answers and he was going to get them! He went over to the bed. Naya's eyes were still closed. He shook her shoulder roughly. "Naya, wake up. Wake UP!" She muttered and rolled away from his hand. "NAYA! You are not going to get away from this by faking. Wake UP!" Her eyes opened slightly.

"What, what?"

"What is your game, what are you doing to Thorin? I demand to know! Answer me!"

Her eyes closed again and he could tell she was all but unaware of her surroundings. He grabbed her wrist and pulled, hard. "Nooo, don' hur' me," she cried. Her eyes again opened slightly and she seemed to register Balin's face. "You mustn' go. Don'go, don' go. You'll die…Please don' go…"

"What do you mean, what are you talking about you silly girl? I have just about had enough of your games!" He yanked on her wrist again. "Stop speaking nonsense and WAKE UP!"

"Oohh, stop. "

"I will stop when you give me answers. Don't go where? Who is going to die?"

"Moria, Balin…Don'go. All die…"

This stopped Balin dead. He had never talked to anyone about his dream. To return to Moria, drive out the orcs and rebuild Khazad-dum to its glory. He knew it was a foolish idea, but part of him believed that some day he would really do it. How had she known? He dropped her hand. He watched, guiltily, as a raw red band appeared where he had twisted it. Then a terrible black bruise formed and then, in another instant, disappeared. If nothing else, she was a phenomenal healer.

"What else do you know? What else did you see?" He remembered Gandalf's words now to note anything she said. Well, he would not be telling anyone about these particular words!

Naya seemed to lose interest in Balin once he let go of her hand. Her eyes rolled under their lids, but she did not wake. "He'll die. I have to stop him. He'll die."

"Who, what!" he cried.

"The sickness. He has to share. No one needs all that gold. He'll die. I have to save him. There is a way. If only he would listen! I can do it, but he has to share….Oh, Thorin, noooooo."

Naya went limp. She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Balin had no idea what he should do. These predictions, how real were they likely to be? It did not sound like the future looked very bright for himself or Thorin!

...

Naya could not wake. She was vaguely aware that Thorin had left her. She heard her name shouted. When someone grabbed her hand, flashes of light seemed to drill into her brain. Horrible scenes of death and destruction crossed her vision. Dark halls with vast ceilings. The sound of swords battling. It all happened so fast. When her wrist began to burn with pain she finally saw something she recognized. Balin. He stood before her covered in blood. She knew he was dead. He was surrounded by an army of dwarves, also dead. Orcs advanced from behind and struck him down and began to mutilate his corpse. In her mind, she could not stop screaming. The pain in her wrist ceased and the scenes changed. These were much lest distinct. Thorin, gold, orcs. Words flashed and she cried them out: Sickness, Share, Gold. Then all went mercifully black.

Don't worry, Balin isn't going to be a bad guy!