Bilbo rescued Thorin, and the mighty eagles rescued them all from certain death by fire or orc. They were now on the carrock, panicking over the condition of their leader as the eagles protectively swarmed them. Fili was kneeling beside his unconscious uncle, tears in his eyes. Kili and Ella stood behind him, hands on his shoulders.
"Thorin!" Gandalf barked as he landed, flopping to the ground. His eyes closed and his hand went over Thorin's face.
The wizard mumbled something and words echoed in Ellie's heart as well, praying for the well being of her friend.
"Uncle!" Kili reached as the king dwarf opened his eyes.
Ellie noticed Bilbo release a heavy sigh of relief.
"Where's the halfling?" the dwarf asked the wizard.
Gandalf smiled at Thorin's confusion.
"It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."
Thorin hobbled to stand and the company shuffled to help him up. He found his footing and faced off against his savior.
"YOU!" Thorin barked and moods shifted. Bilbo's smile instantly dropped and the rest of the company were quite confused.
"What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" Thorin continued as he stalked closer to Bilbo.
"Did I not say that you would be a burden?"
"Thorin..." Fili began in an attempt to recourse his uncle's attention.
"That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?"
Bilbo visibly swallowed and rest looked between them.
"I have never been so wrong in all my life!" Thorin huffed as he fell on Bilbo in a hug.
It took a second for Bilbo to realize what was happening, and the others cheered hurray.
"But I'm sorry I doubted you." Thorin began as he pulled away.
The hobbit scoffed a laugh.
"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, or a warrior."
"Not even a burglar." He addressed Gandalf.
The sun gave its final rays and Thorin's company watched the eagles fly away.
Suddenly, Bilbo noticed Thorin's gaze stuck on something, and the two walked in that direction.
"Is that what I think it is?"
They all walked to the edge of the monolith, yearningly staring at their home far away.
Thorin was speechless.
"Erebor." Gandalf confirmed to Bilbo. "The lonely mountain. The last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth."
"Our home." Thorin said, mostly to himself, with gleaming eyes.
"A raven!" One of the dwarves shouted, watching it head toward the mountain.
"The birds are returning to the mountain."
"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush." Gandalf corrected him.
"But we'll take it as a sign. A good omen."
"You're right." Bilbo agreed. "I do believe the worst is behind us."
The thrush indeed made its way to the lonely mountain, only to sit on a rock and bang its food against mountain. The knocking of the bird's little seed echoed in the great halls of Erebor, swimming with gold under which lay the last fire drake of middle earth, asleep.
Sleep didn't come easy to the dwarf princes. While the rest of the company slept around the fire, Fili and Kili sat up against a boulder, busying their hands while they hummed and sang.
"Far over
The Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep
And caverns old
We must away,
Ere break of day
To find our long
Forgotten gold
The pines were roaring
On the height
The winds were moaning
In the night
The fire was red,
it flaming spread
The trees like torches
blazed with light"
From near by, Ellie heard their song and came their way. She too hadn't been able to catch sleep after today's events. The orcs' black speech echoed in her mind and left her restless.
"Mind if I join?" She poked her head around the boulder and startled the two.
"Oh, Ellie. Shouldn't have jumped us!" Fili said with a laugh.
"Sure, find a seat." Kili invited her.
Ella rested against a tree opposite the boulder.
"That was a lovely song. What were you singing?"
"Our song. Uncle Thorin used to sing it to us when were restless."
"Can you sing more?"
The brothers cleared their throat and began encore.
"The dwarves of yore
Made mighty spells
While hammers fell
Like ringing bells
In places deep,
Where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls
Beneath the fells.
For ancient king
And elvish lord
There many a gleaming
Golden hoard
They shaped and wrought,
And light they caught
To hide in gems
On hilt of sword."
As the dwarves sang, Ellie had closed her eyes and, unknown to herself began to hum a different tune. Fili and Kili stopped their song and looked at her. Ellie opened her eyes to find them smiling at her.
"Don't think that's our song." Kili said.
"What?" Ellie asked, not sure of what had happened.
"The song. Is it yours? Do you remember it?" Fili asked.
Ellie closed her eyes and tried to rethink the tune. At first she began humming it, then words slowly filled her mind and she began to sing.
"How does a moment last forever?
How can a story never die?
It is love we must hold on to
Never easy but we try
Sometimes our happiness is captured
Somehow a time and place stand still
Love lives on inside our hearts
and always will
Minutes turn to hours
Days to years then gone
But when all else has been forgotten
Still our song lives on"
"That's beautiful. Where is it from?" Kili asked.
"A lullaby," she answered. Me and my..." before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly had memories. Of herself playing with a little boy, who looked just like her. "My mother used to sing it to me," she lied.
"Up for an encore?" Fili teased her.
Ellie smiled. "Of course!"
She closed her eyes and began:
Maybe some moments weren't so perfect
Maybe some memories not so sweet
But we have to know some bad times
Or are lives are incomplete
Then when the shadows overtake us
Just when we feel all hope is gone
We'll hear our song and know once more
Our love lives on
How does a moment last forever?
How does our happiness endure?
Through the darkest of our troubles
Love is beauty, love is pure
Love pays no mind to desolation
It flows like a river through the soul
Protects, persists, and perseveres
And makes us whole
Minutes turn to hours, days to years then gone
But when all else has been forgotten
Still our song lives on
That's how a moment lasts forever:
When our song lives on
She opened her eyes when the song finished, and smiled to find the brothers asleep. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she awed at the scene before her. But then the thought of having maternal instincts distressed her, and she left to take a walk.
Ellie sat on a fallen tree, staring at the lake far away. She took of the dream catcher Gandalf had given her, and held it tight in her hand. The moon's reflection glittered at the horizon, like tears made her sight watery. She couldn't escape from the memory of the little boy. More and more began to swarm in her mind. Ellie remembered teaching the boy how to shot arrows. How to swing in the trees, how to ride pony. She remembered taking him on picnics and walks, with his father along.
Ellie remembered teaching him how to walk, feeding him, healing him. She remembered her joy when he began to crawl, and then she remembered the pain of giving birth. She wanted to scream, call for him to be at her side as she birthed their son. Ellie was just about to scream his name when she heard noise behind her and quickly put on the necklace and stood up, turning around to see a very stunned Bilbo.
"Y-you!" The hobbit stammered.
"Shh!" Ellie warned as she grabbed him and sat him on the tree next to her.
"You're... a human?" He guessed incorrectly.
Ellie laughed. "No, I'm an elf." She tucked her hair behind her elvish ears to show him proof.
"Wow." Bilbo gasped.
"Yes. Gandalf gave me this necklace right before I happened upon you all. He said the dwarves weren't fond of elves."
"Or hobbits for that matter."
"Well, they like you now!" She quieted to tease him. "He likes you now."
"Well, I did save his life."
They sat in silence for a while after that.
"So what's keeping you up?" Ellie asked him.
"Self insight. Realizing how far I've come from home. It still feels quite unreal. Like I'll wake up back home."
She pinched him.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"It's not a dream. You're right here, next to me. An elleth pretending to be someone I'm not. I'm pretty sure I wasn't even alive till a year ago." She revealed to him, and it indeed shocked him. "You survived orcs twice. Met lord Elrond and saw Rivendell. Were almost troll food if I hadn't saved you."
"Yeah, thanks for that."
"Oh, you're welcome Mr. Burglar."
"That's yet to be seen, isn't it?" He said as he looked at the lake, feeling the ring sit against his pelvis.
Far away in the forest, a bear restlessly paced on his land, and roared.