Chapter 20:

I wasn't exactly unconscious. I felt like I was, because I couldn't see, and everything was kind of fuzzy, like it was drifting in and out of focus. But I wasn't because I could feel some coils of sticky stuff pressed against my skin and I could hear a few yells and clicking and the occasional "Attercop!" or "Lazy Lob!" in a voice that sounded like Bilbo's.

Other than that, however, I was completely free of any outside interference with my thoughts. This was a first, having travelled across a great deal of Middle-Earth with a large amount of males. I didn't really feel like thinking about anything, other than puzzling over the fact that I wasn't dead. I had thought I would be dead.

Now, however, I remembered that pretty much all of the dwarves had gotten stung in the book and had been fine, once Bilbo'd rescued them.

But before I could really get thinking, I realised that I could move. Not much, but a tiny bit. I twitched and squirmed the best that I could, and then suddenly I felt another pinching sensation in my shoulder blade and I groaned.

Then once again everything faded and I became unconscious. Again.

Kili's POV:

Now that I was awake and free from the spider silk, the one thing in my head was getting to Freya. Once I was free, of course, there were many spiders to kill and get rid of, and by that time Freya had been stung again and she wasn't going to be moving for a little while. Then again, it was only thanks to Bilbo that she was alive in the first place. Eventually, I was charged with the duty of untangling her from the sticky spider stuff, and eventually carrying her.

Which I didn't mind.

But it was incredibly frustrating, being so close to Freya and being utterly unable to speak to her. Especially after what she'd done just after the spider stung her – I tried to shove my thoughts away from that and focus on the present, but the notion was just too amazing. It almost made me jump up and down like a little kid on his birthday.

The fact that I had no beard had been troubling me for a while, I noted as I trudged down the path. I had wondered if Freya cared. No self-respecting dwarf woman would often go for a man without a beard. Which was why I had cherished the three dwarf women that had. I frowned as I remembered how Alithyk and Piolína hadn't really been interested in me. Piolína, especially.

And then Tralique came along. The only woman I had ever met (until Freya) who cared about me – for me. I tipped my head to the side as I considered all of the likenesses between her and Freya. They even looked almost exactly the same.

I was rudely jarred out of my thoughts as Fili walked up beside me. "You have that look on your face," he noted.

"What look?" I asked, a little frustrated. I felt like my thoughts had been on the verge of something important – and now it was gone.

"Your thinking look. I try to steer clear when you have that look."

"Why?" I asked, knowing that I was leading into some insult and not caring.

"Well, thinking doesn't come naturally to you, and -" He stopped, noticing the look I was giving him. "What were you thinking about?" he asked, changing his tone of voice from teasing to brotherly.

I glanced at him, then back at Freya.

"I see," Fili said, taking the hint. We both looked at Freya thoughtfully for a moment. Her arms hung limply and her head lolled on my shoulder. I supported her back with one arm and my other arm was under her knees, keeping her from falling. I couldn't clearly see her face, but I could picture it – her face was always softer when she slept. Her breath came out in little puffs, often ruffling her hair, and I could feel it fluttering on my neck. Then Fili asked, "What happened?"

I blinked slowly and almost tripped over a rock as I thought about it. "She – she got stung by a spider," I said quietly.

Fili barely restrained from rolling his eyes. "Yes, she did, Kili. Twice. Anything else?"

"She got stung the first time, and she was giving me this look like it was all my fault." My voice dropped until it was quiet, but not a whisper. "Then I got stung, and you know the feeling, where your muscles start to flop around and you can't move willingly...we sort of fell onto the ground and then she sort of jumped on me and -" I stopped.

"What?" Fili asked. "What'd she do?"

I swallowed. "She – she kissed me," I whispered. "And then she kind of fell backwards, and I'm afraid I gave her this look like she had three heads, and then she rambled on for a few seconds – I wasn't really listening, I was in shock – and then she stopped and fell asleep, kind of, like she is now."

Fili barely held back a smile. "Why don't you wait till she wakes up, brother, and then you can discuss it with her."

I nodded once, a short, birdlike dip of my head.

"Don't look so grim," he said, finally letting his grin through. "This is what you've been waiting for, isn't it? And you were a wimp and didn't start it yourself, so now that Freya has, it's like she's started the ball rolling, right? So -"

I shut him up with another look, and we walked in a rather stiff silence for a few moments.

Freya's POV:

I regained consciousness and let out a groan that was mostly based on the stiffness of every single one of my limbs.

I heard footsteps crunching on dirt and a quiet conversation between two familiar dwarves. I was conscious of somebody's arms under my knees and at my back, and my face was pressed against someone's shirt. My money was that it was Kili.

I struggled to move, but the only thing I could do was open my eyes and breathe. So I opened my eyes and, after a second, realised that I was staring at Kili's neck. So it was Kili holding me. Then I realised I could talk (sort of) and I whispered, "Hey."

The footsteps quickly stopped, and Kili shifted my head off of his shoulder. "Hey, you're awake!" he said, sounding pleased.

"Kind of," I replied. "Can't move much. Just eyes, mouth, whatever's used to breathe. Some random muscles." I coughed and spluttered for a second, and Kili supported my back, looking worried. "Fine," I managed when I could breathe again.

"Famous last words," he chuckled quietly.

I leaned my head over his arm and just concentrated on inhaling and exhaling. Now that I was awake, it was way harder than it should've been. Usually, if one doesn't think about it, it just happens. Now I was being forced to think about it, otherwise it wouldn't happen.

"You okay?" Kili asked, watching me to make sure I was breathing. Part of me wondered if he would give me mouth-to-mouth if I stopped, but he probably didn't know what it was. I winced at the thought.

"Yeah, fine," I said. He walked in silence of a moment, and then I thought it fit to comment, "I thought I was dead."

He shot me a confused look. "You aren't. Unless you're a zombie, which would be creepy."

"Did I teach you about zombies?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, then," I muttered. "But seriously. I thought I was at least going to die, and when I woke up the first time, I thought I was dead. And when we – er – got stung, I thought we were both going to die."

Kili's face fell. "So...you didn't mean what you did?"

I yelped like I'd been stuck with a pin. "Gods, of course I did, Kili! How you could even think that, I don't know -"

"You did?" he interrupted, looking down hopefully at me. I sighed. Guys (especially dwarves), and especially of this specific line of dwarves, were very thick.

"Yes," I told him exasperatedly. "I'm not so cruel that I'd lie to you about that." I stared up at him. "I meant what I did, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent."

There was a rather uncomfortable silence for a moment, and then Kili cracked up laughing, and I happily followed. "An elephant?" Kili asked between bouts of laughter.

"Yes!" I replied, trying to sound defensive through my own giggles. "It's a rhyme on Earth from a book -" I slapped my hand over my mouth. "Er...never mind," I said between my fingers, causing him to chuckle. "Later."

"Fine," he said comfortably. "Hey, d'you think you can walk now?"

I stared dubiously up at him. "Most likely not. I'm not that heavy, am I?" He shook his head. I smirked. "Good answer. Very good." Suddenly I had a thought. "Where's Thorin?"

Kili's face closed and I wished I hadn't spoken. "He's not here," he replied, looking straight ahead. "We don't know where he is. I wish we did. I'm worried that the spiders got him."

"I think the elves've got him," I murmured. Kili looked confused, but I shook my head and sighed. "Just the shock talking. Um, maybe I can walk now." Kili put me down and I wobbled slightly but managed to stay upright. Then I took a step and would have hit the dirt if Kili hadn't caught me.

"Bad idea," he commented. I just nodded, and he continued to carry me.

If only we could've stayed like that forever, because the next instant a melodic and melancholy female voice sounded out of the trees: "Put down your weapons – and the girl."

Surprised by lack of reviews on last chapter, considering the kiss finally happened...:( Oh well. New chapter! Please review!