And here is the alternate ending to the story that will lead to another one that I will start soon :) Thanks for you continual support! I will see you soon ;)

Alternate ending : Beyond memory

After another couple of seconds, both probably felt that the time had come because they opened their eyes again at the same time and shared a long glance that silently spoke all the things they didn't have neither the strength nor the time to say anymore.

"Are you afraid?" Luna murmured.

Kili squeezed her hand that he was still holding against his chest.

"As long as I'm with you, I know it'll be okay" he whispered.

She nodded and forced herself to keep her eyes open just a little bit more and push the darkness away.

"Together?" he asked in so low a voice even she barely heard it.

"Together" she whispered.

3 months later

A blur. A big, enormous, deep blur, that's all there was. Her thoughts were so confused and her body feeling so numb that it took her a long while to realise that she was waking up.

Waking up from what exactly, she did not know.

First, she could feel nothing, then slowly she understood that she was laying on something soft, probably a bed. She was covered in thick, soft blankets to keep her warm and little by little, sensations came back in her body.

First, it was her neck, then her arms until her finger tips and then her left leg. Although she could not feel her right leg yet, probably because it was sill numb, and that a little pain awakened in her shoulder, she was reassured. If she could feel something, it meant that she was still alive.

It took Luna a couple more minutes to finally open her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry at first then when it focused, she found herself staring at a bright ceiling.

"You're awake"

She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, startled and the move caused the pain in her shoulder to flash through her whole arm and another pain awakened in her chest. She groaned.

"Stay still. You fear nothing here"

"Gandalf…" she whispered when she saw the wizard looking at her from an armchair next to her bed.

She raised herself on her valid arm as much as she could to look around her. She was in a beautiful room that had nothing to do with Erebor. The room was opening on a large balcony and she could see that they were in a place surrounded by mountains.

"Where are we?" she asked in a weak voice.

"Rivendell"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Rivendell…" she repeated in a murmur, feeling sleep creeping back to her.

"You need to rest, Luna. You are gravely wounded. Sleep" Gandalf sighed.

She didn't know why but something wasn't right and she couldn't explain it. She wished she had been able to think properly but she wasn't and before she knew it, she was unconscious again.

When Luna came around again, this time there was no one in the room and from the light that came through the balcony opening, she guessed the day was ending, whichever day it was.

She was already feeling better. Of course, she knew she was still too weak to even think about getting out of bed but she could at least think a bit more clearly and the pain in her shoulder had almost stopped.

She didn't know why Gandalf had said she was gravely wounded, she was weak that was true but she wasn't feeling that bad.

The door opened and the wizard came in, followed by another person.

"Welcome back, daughter of Laïn" he greeted her.

"Lord Elrond…" she whispered.

"How do you feel?" Gandalf asked.

"Just…tired…and weak…"

The wizard nodded and she carefully raised herself on her elbows again.

"What happened?" she asked, decided this time to get explanations.

Elrond and Gandalf exchanged a quick look that she couldn't quite read but the bad feeling she had had previously came back.

"Gandalf…what happened? Why are we here?" she insisted in a firmer voice.

The wizard let out a deep sigh and sat on the armchair.

"What is the last thing you remember?" he asked her.

She searched her memory for a couple of seconds. The quest, Erebor, the battle then…

"Kili…" she whispered to herself then her eyes shot to her two care-takers. "Where is he? Where is everyone?"

Gandalf bit his lip at the hint of panic in her voice.

"What do you remember?" Elrond repeated the question.

"I remember the battle in front of the gates of Erebor. Then, Thorin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili and I went up to Ravenhill to find Azog then…Thorin sent us to scout the abandoned watch towers. I wanted us to stay together but Fili insisted and we all went separate ways then…oh Mahal…he…Fili…"

Gandalf gravely nodded.

"Azog killed him. Then Kili went after the orcs to avenge him and Thorin followed him, then you went too" he went on. "Then what?"

"Then…I ran to the tower where Kili had gone…I killed a couple of orcs until Bolg arrived. We fought, but he was so strong, it felt like everything I tried did nothing to him…then he smashed my leg with his mace and I couldn't move but Kili arrived. I…I told him to go but he wouldn't listen. Then…oh God, Azog was above him, ready to pierce him with his blade so I put myself between them and took the blow"

As she was talking, everything was becoming clearer and clearer. She now remembered where the pain in her shoulder and in her chest came from.

"Then…I thought I would die…I couldn't move anymore, Bolg was about to kill Kili and I shot my last dagger at him and finally managed to kill him but it was too late, he had hurt Kili. Then…then I was with him, we were dying on that platform. We saw the eagles and we…"

Tears dwelled up in her eyes as she remembered their unofficial wedding but she said nothing about that.

"Then I thought we would die…I felt my last strengths abandon me and that was it"

There was a little silence after her tale and Elrond and Gandalf exchanged a grave look again.

"Where is he? I want to see him" she said.

They didn't answer and she started to be a bit angry.

"Tell me where he is. And what happened? Why are we here?!"

"Luna, dear…" Gandalf started, reaching for her hand. "I will tell you all about it if you promise to stay calm and listen to me until the end"

She shot him a nervous look and flashed a glance at Elrond as well but the elf just nodded.

"I am listening" she said.

The wizard sighed.

"When you lost consciousness on that platform, you thought you'd die, but you didn't. You were severely wounded, that was true, and on the very edge of life but you weren't dead. Haleth arrived, he had been desperately looking everywhere to find you and fortunately when he did, it wasn't too late. He used his skills to stabilise you and, knowing that neither the dwarfish medicine or the men would be enough to save you, he brought you here where the lord Elrond could take care of you"

"What?!" she exclaimed and he squeezed her hand.

"Listen to me. He never rested during the trip and in only a couple of weeks, brought you here"

"It is a miracle that you survived the journey in the state you were in" Elrond added. "I thought that even my medicine wouldn't be enough to help you. You have now been here for almost two months"

"Two months?! But…how long since the battle?"

"Three months"

"And the others? How did they agree to this? Why aren't they here too?"

"They…don't know" Gandalf hesitantly said.

Her heart tightened a little.

"What do you mean? Kili must have been asking for me, he wouldn't just let me disappear like that!"

"Luna…when you two lost consciousness on the platform, you did not die but…he did"

There was a silence after that. Her glance passed from one to the other in shock as if she was waiting for one of them to tell her it was a joke or for Kili to arrive in the doorframe, grinning at her.

"You're lying" she said after a while in a shaky voice.

"I wish I was" Gandalf sadly shook his head.

"No!" she suddenly exclaimed. "It can't be true! It's wrong! He is still in Erebor, he is fine and I need to go back to him! The others…Thorin…"

"Luna" Elrond interrupted her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Thorin…did not survive either. The line of Durin has ended"

"No!" she shouted, not even aware of the tears streaming down on her face. "They're alive, I need to get there!"

She pushed his hands away and, ignoring the pain, she sat up and pulled the blankets away from her to get up but she suddenly froze when she did so and that her eyes landed on her right leg.

Or, more precisely, on what remained of it.

More tears silently streamed down on her face as she stared in absolute shock at her leg that had been amputated up to her knee. She knew now why she hadn't been able to feel it ; there hadn't been anything to feel anymore, it was gone.

"Bolg's mace had caused too much damage" Elrond apologetically said. "It was beyond the point of saving"

"The others" she gasped. "Where are they?"

"In Erebor. The dwarves from the blue mountains have started to settle back in the kingdom you reclaimed"

"Don't they know I am here?"

Gandalf shook his head.

"The last thing they know is what Dwalin told them : you went after Kili and then, no one ever saw you again. They found Kili's body with all around him, evident signs that you had been there as well, and gravely wounded, but what happened to you next, they don't know. They have looked for you for a long time, and then supposed that the orcs had taken you. There is a stone with your name carved on it next to Thorin, Fili and Kili's tombs. Even I did not know what had become of you until I came here on the way back to the Shire with Bilbo"

"And I suppose he doesn't know either?"

He shook his head. Her voice had now become way too calm again, as if she did not believe a word of what was being said, or as if she thought it was all a very bad dream from which she was about to wake up in her lovers' arms.

"Would you care to tell me why you kept me here without letting my kin know I was alive?"

"Because your story is not over yet. The quest for Erebor has ended, yes, but Elrond had a vision of another, much more important one in which he saw you. That is why he sent Haleth to get you. You couldn't die in the battle"

"Of course" she muttered with a little smile.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed as if to get up.

"What are you doing?" Elrond asked, frowning.

"Kili needs me. I am going back to Erebor"

He shared a concerned look with Gandalf.

"Luna, Kili is dead. He died three months ago"

"No he didn't. He is alive and waiting for me. He lost his brother, I should be with him now"

"Luna…"

"Stop it!" she suddenly shouted. "He isn't dead, do you hear me?! He can't die! Not without me! I am their captain, I can't outlive them!"

At that moment, a third person suddenly came in and there was a little silence during which Luna stared at the new incomer, Haleth, without saying anything. Then, all of a sudden, she exploded.

"YOU!" she yelled, breaking down into tears.

She tried to stand up and walk forward but with only one leg, lost her balance and Elrond caught her just in time. She struggled against his grip and he had to hold her firmly to keep her from moving.

"Luna…" Haleth started.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! I SHOULD HAVE DIED, I WAS READY TO DIE! I WAS WITH HIM!"

"Please, you…"

"DON'T EVEN TALK TO ME YOU MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF MY FRIEND?! I SHOULD HAVE DIED, I SHOULD HAVE…I…"

Then all of a sudden, all that had happened seemed to much for the young girl and she collapsed in Elrond's arms.

Haleth looked with a pinch to the heart as his lord carefully put the young girl back to bed. It had taken all his strengths to take her from Kili's arms and separate them when he had found them but he knew he had to bring her back to Rivendell. Her role in the story of Middle-Earth wasn't over yet.

"Will she be alright?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't know" Gandalf sighed. "She will have to be"

"One should never underestimate the dwarves' extraordinary ability to love" Elrond pensively said.

"You do know that the others in Erebor think she is dead, don't you?" Haleth asked. "I don't understand, we had to bring her here to heal her but why couldn't we let them know that she was safe with us?"

"From now on, she needs to stay here until we know what the vision I had meant" Elrond shook his head. "I saw her future. It is still uncertain, but it exists, and sadly, it isn't amongst dwarves anymore. The line of Durin has fallen and, as it has always been written, the line of the captains fell at the same time. There is no more sons of Durin and no more captains to watch over them. Her time in Erebor is over"

Gandalf was there once again with Elrond when Luna woke up the third time. As soon as she opened her eyes, they both tensed and shared a concerned look before anxiously looking at her. They hoped she wouldn't try and get up again. Gandalf bit his lips when she looked around her and that her eyes landed on him. He opened his mouth to tell her he was sorry and that they would be here to help her but the look of confusion on her face as her eyes passed from him to Elrond surprised him.

"Luna?" he called.

She frowned and looked even more confused.

"Where am I?" she asked in a weak voice.

Elrond and Gandalf shared a worried look again and the elf raised an eyebrow.

"In Rivendell, don't you remember?"

She slowly shook her head. Her confusion seemed so great that Gandalf gently reached to squeeze her hand. When he did so tough, she suddenly took her hand away and looked at him with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Luna…"

"Who are you?" she muttered.