I'm still alive! Hahaha, well, hope I didn't leave you guys too upset with that last ending... What can I say? I love leaving cliffhangers! I'm sure most of you readers have figured that out by now! XD! But here is Chapter 25, so enjoy! (P.S. re-uploaded the crappy Chapter 23)

"NO!"

In a flash, Bilbo saw Creog fall with an arrow in his head. Kili. His sword was dropped but not before slicing a small portion of Thorin's neck; the King grunted in pain. The orc behind the dwarf king was stunned, while the orc holding Bilbo let the hobbit go in fear. As soon as the hands left him, Bilbo crawled as fast as he could, through the charging company members, towards Thorin who had matching tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. The hobbit moved closer and the orc behind Thorin released the dwarf, letting Thorin fall forward. With barely enough energy, Bilbo caught the dwarf king before he hit the floor.

"My Thorin," Bilbo sobbed, running his hands through the dwarf's hair. "It's over," he panted, trying to steady the dwarf. "I- Thorin?"

The dwarf king's eyes were closed and his breathing shallow, blood was seeping from the wound on his neck; he was limp in Bilbo's arms.

"No..." Bilbo whispered. "Thorin... Thorin!"

"Let him go, laddie," Oin said, prying the hobbit away from Thorin. "Bilbo-"

"NO!" Bilbo screamed, trying to grab onto his dwarf though Dwalin held him back. His screams turned to cries, horrible body-shaking cries. "Is... is he...?" he managed out through sobs.

Dwalin passed the hobbit to Dis and Kili before joining Oin and Fili on the floor with Thorin. "Get Bilbo out of here," he ordered to the other dwarfs. "Now."

"No..." Bilbo sobbed, clinging onto Kili. "I won't leave him!"

"I-it'll be okay," Kili gritted through Bilbo's nails digging into his skin.

"Now!" Dwalin shouted, and Kili and Dis swiftly pushed the hobbit from the room.

"Let me go!" Bilbo cried. "Thorin!"

"Bilbo, it's okay," Dis soothed as best she could. "He's with Oin and Dwalin; he's-"

The hobbit stopped walking, sunk to the floor, and broke down crying. "My... m-my dwarf..." he sobbed into his hands. "Th... Thorin..."

Dis looked to Kili and her son grumbled quietly before picking up the hobbit. "Bilbo," she soothed again as the hobbit hiccuped. "Oin, Dwalin, and Fili are with him. You need to calm down. Thorin will be fine." She smiled sadly at the drained and limp hobbit in her son's hold. "Come on," she said. "We should get back to the chambers."

With a grunt, Kili set his uncle's hobbit on the ground while Dis moved to open the heavy wooden door. The female dwarf sighed heavily as she knew what would happen once the door was open. True to her word, when the wooden door was halfway open, Bilbo ran into the master bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

"Leave him," Dis said softly, seeing Kili head for the room. "He'll come out when he's ready."

Kili nodded and moved to the sitting room with his mother where both sat quietly, trying to ignore the loud sobs of Thorin's hobbit.

In the master bedroom, Bilbo curled up on Thorin's side of the bed, burying his face into the pillows the dwarf slept on the night before. He sobbed and cried and tried to feel Thorin's strong arms around him, soothing and comforting him. He pulled the furs up to his chin and shakily breathed in his love's scent. "P-please don't... be dead, Thorin," he sobbed quietly. "I... I don't think... I can... live w-without you..."

"I'll be fine, love. Believe in me."

"I do believe in you," Bilbo sobbed. "I just wish you were here to... to..."

"To tell you I will see you again?"

"Yes," he said softly. "I can't bear to think of life without you..."

"I love you, Bilbo Baggins. I will always be with you..."

"No..." Bilbo cried, clawing the pillow. "Don't leave me."

"Oin is trying his best."

Bilbo's sobs quieted. "A-am I i-imagining you... or... are you... r-really dead?"

"I am here with you, Bilbo. I... I have died... but my dwarfs are not giving up. I don't want to leave you, and I'm not ready. I have lost a lot of blood... but... if I don't come back... I want you to live your life, and I'll always be with you. I love you, Âzyungâl, and my life with you was worth it..."

The voice faded and Bilbo began to cry again. "Thorin..." he sobbed into the pillow. "Please come back... I need you... I love you..."

A light knock crept into Bilbo's ears, and the door opened. "Bilbo," Dis said softly. "Oin wishes to speak with you in the infirmary."

Numb and cold, Bilbo felt himself nod and stand from the bed. He blindly wiped his eyes free of tears as best he could and followed Dis from the chambers. He walked slowly, everything was foggy and cold; he couldn't feel a thing as he walked through the surreal surroundings. Many times he felt faint and nauseous and sweaty. He had to breath deeply and use the wall for support as he made his way down the hall. Dis had slowed for him several times, but she never complained about him; she knew he was hurting. Soon they were there, and Bilbo numbly followed the female dwarf into the crowded infirmary.

Wounded Dwarfs, Men, and Elves were on cots in the infirmary with healers bustling every which way, trying either to sedate, mend, stitch, or wake the poor creatures. Bilbo gulped as he knew Thorin was among the wounded, among the dead. He looked around him as Dis lead him to Oin; hideous orc stabs and warg bites had nearly torn apart one Man, and he saw the healers around him shake their heads in defeat. Bilbo found himself pleading to the dwarfs' god Mahal that Thorin would be okay. An Elf had an arrow in his chest, most likely caused by his kin or the Men, and Bilbo knew the Elf had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A Dwarf beside the Elf had blood seeping from a nasty slice on his stomach, and like the Man, the Elf and Dwarf healers were shaking their heads; the Dwarf was going to die. Bilbo lowered his head in sorrow of all the wounded around him; it had to have been one horrid battle.

"Bilbo," Dis said, waking Bilbo from his thoughts. "Oin."

"Oh, there you are," Oin said, spotting the hobbit and hurrying over to him. "I need to speak to you of Thorin's condition."

Bilbo nodded solemnly, noticing Dis head towards a bed in the corner of the infirmary with a group of guards surrounding it. Thorin...

"He... Oh, where should I begin," Oin mumbled, leading Bilbo to the cot in the corner where Dis was standing beside. "Well, Bilbo. Thorin is... he's... he's alive. The wound on his neck... we... we almost lost him..."

"I know he died," Bilbo interrupted in an annoyed tone. "Don't beat around the bush, Oin. Tell me. I deserve to know."

The medical dwarf sighed heavily and rubbed his face with his hand. "Fine," he relented, clenching his jaw at the hobbit's stubbornness. "He died. I tried my best and hardest to bring him back. I stitched up the slice on his neck, but he lost a lot of blood. I honestly don't know what happened, but he started breathing again. We thought he was gone. When he opened his eyes again, I knew Mahal had sent him back to finish what he had started. You saved our King, Master Hobbit."

"May I see him?" Bilbo asked, nodding to the bed behind the guards.

"Yes," Oin said before turning to the guards. "Master Baggins wishes to see the King."

The guards eyed the hobbit suspiciously since the last they had heard of the hobbit was when he was banished from Erebor.

"I am the King's-"

Whack!

"You speak when spoken to," a guard growled, lowering his hand and glaring at the hobbit.

Coughing was heard from behind the guards, horrible racking coughs... sort of as if someone were trying to talk. "L-let... him... through..." was all that was said, and the guards moved back to let Bilbo in.

"Thorin," Bilbo breathed, ignoring the sting in his cheek and hurrying to the King's bedside, barely seeing Dis leave them alone. "Thorin..."

The dwarf king looked to his hobbit and smiled. "I... I knew you would... believe me..." he whispered. He struggled in breathing but kept his eyes on his Bilbo. "I love you, my Âzyungâl."

"And I you," Bilbo said softly, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I... oh, Mahal. Your neck..." Bilbo carefully touched the angry stitches on the side of Thorin's neck, retracting his hand when the dwarf hissed. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"The wound... isn't... enough to kill... me..." Thorin grunted softly, running his thick fingers through Bilbo's hair. "But... it..."

"Somehow did," Bilbo finished, leaning forward and pressing a light kiss to his dwarf's lips.

"You taste like tears," Thorin said after Bilbo pulled back.

The hobbit gave a halfhearted smile. "I know," he said, running his hand gently over Thorin's forehead. "You should know too."

Thorin smiled. "I... I had to assure you... Mahal let me... speak to you..." he admitted quietly. "Would... would you have lived a full life... if I had really died?"

Bilbo sighed heavily and sat down on the edge of the cot. "I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "I guess I would have returned to the Shire... and lived the rest of my days there."

"I'm sorry. It... it was my fault," Thorin grunted, reaching for Bilbo's hand.

The hobbit frowned. "What was your fault?" he asked, rubbing his thumb over the dwarf's large hand.

"Creog and the orcs in the passageway," Thorin said with a sad smile.

"You didn't-"

"Let me finish," Thorin interrupted before clearing his throat. "Ori... bless his soul... advised me to seal the passageways... I didn't listen," Thorin confessed, closing his eyes in shame. "I ordered him onto the battlefield when he was really supposed to stay in the mountain... Dori and Nori will surely have my head... Dwalin too..."

"Dwalin?" Bilbo asked.

Thorin smiled softly. "Ori stepped in front of an orc blade and saved Dwalin's life... I should have listened to the dwarf and sealed the passageways," Thorin said, letting out a weak and hurt laugh.

"I'm glad you didn't," Bilbo said, surprising both himself and Thorin. "They would have caught us in our sleep, and I don't think we... we would have lived."

Thorin nodded solemnly. "I still failed you, my hobbit. I broke my vow and let them hurt us."

"Thorin goddamn Oakenshield," Bilbo reprimanded in an annoyed tone. "I am so fed up with you blaming yourself for this. I know you're the King and you feel everything is on you, but this wasn't your fault. A war was going to happen and we both are to blame. Let me explain," he said after Thorin opened his mouth to speak. "I prevented Azog from killing you, and you killed him in the end. Bolg and Creog wanted revenge. You and your army killed them all. Please do not blame yourself for this. I don't give a damn that you failed me. Thorin, you save my life again! We lived, and we will continue to live together... forever."

"I love you, my fierce little hobbit."

Bilbo smiled shyly after his strong explanation and kissed Thorin's dry lips. "And I love you, my brave and majestic dwarf."

"Excuse me," Oin said, pushing his way through the guards. "I see we have said our apologies and declarations, so before we get any mushier, Thorin needs his tea again."

The dwarf king grumbled. "I just had a two cups two hours ago," he whined.

"Your Majesty," Oin began in a tight voice. "Either you drink this or Bilbo can force it down or I will force it down."

Thorin looked from the medical dwarf to Bilbo and back to Oin again; he gulped. "I'll drink it," he relented, taking the cup from Oin. He grimaced as he drank it. "Here," he said bitterly, handing the cup back to Oin.

Oin tsked. "Two cups, remember?"

"Yes," Thorin muttered, rolling his eyes and growling at Bilbo's giggle. "Where's Fili and Kili?" he asked once he gave the empty cup to Oin.

"In the dining hall," Oin replied. "Apparently bugging Bombur to make a celebratory feast."

"H-how many dwarfs did we lose?" Thorin asked, laying against the pillows with Bilbo's small hand still in his grasp.

"A mere ten," Oin said with a smile. "Their families have been told and burial will happen tomorrow."

Thorin nodded. "Thank you," he told Oin with a smile. "Oin?"

"If you're going to ask when you can leave the infirmary, I say when that cut on your neck heals," the dwarf replied easily before leaving the dwarf king and hobbit alone again.

"Bilbo... how long does it take for stitches to heal?" Thorin asked, putting on the most pathetic pout he could manage.

"I don't know," Bilbo said with a smile. "I never had stitches when I was a lad. Maybe days. Maybe weeks. Maybe years." He laughed when Thorin narrowed his eyes at the 'years' part. "I'm joking. Maybe a couple of days. A week at the most."

"Fine," Thorin grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"Hey, don't pout," Bilbo added. "You still have the celebratory feast."

"Celebratory feast without the King doesn't seem celebratory enough," Thorin grumbled.

"I won't go," Bilbo offered. "I'll stay with you."

Thorin shook his head. "No, Bilbo. Go and have fun."

Bilbo snorted. "With what? Rowdy dwarfs? Belching dwarfs? Food-fighting dwarfs? The same twelve dwarfs that were raiding my pantry? Those dwarfs?" Bilbo asked in mock-disbelief. "No, I would rather stay with you. The one civilized dwarf I know. The one who didn't belch. And the one who has stolen my heart."

"Don't make me sappy, Bilbo," Thorin argued playfully.

"Sappy? It's true!"

"And I love it," Thorin replied, pulling Bilbo in for a kiss.

So readers? That wasn't so bad, was it? :D haha, anyway, I had to put in a little comic relief since everything was all angst-y and depressing. :) We are almost done! *sniffles* My first story! Yes, I will be writing Thorin and Bilbo's make-love session (i didn't know how to put it) in case anyone was wondering. :D So, my lovely readers! We are looking at at least fourish/fiveish chapters, because Thorin and Bilbo will finish courting. Should I put the wedding in? I was thinking about that, but I am not sure.

Anyway, thank you for reading/following/favoriting/reviewing again! XD! I wuv you!

P.S. Next chapter will be longer and will be up sooner than this one!