A/N: Just realized how long we've stayed in Moria... Let's move on now, shall we? Next chapter is going to be intense and filled with action.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, I only own Nàin and the characters that I have come up with and their stories.

Chapter 38
Drums In the Deep

Fili

"Fili?"

A soft voice. Nàin's voice.

He found himself in his bed, though he could not see past it. The rest of the room was simply not there. There was not darkness - just nothing. Either way, Fili was not interested in the rest of the room, because there, next to him, lay Nàin.

His heart leaped out of his chest at the sight of her there, resting her head on her hand and smiling at him. The scar she had gotten in the Goblin Town was gone and she did not look tired; she was just perfect.

Neither of them wore clothes. The only thing covering her was the sheet under which they both lay. Fili reached over to her, afraid that when he touched her she would disappear out of his grasp again.

But she didn't.

She simply smiled at him.

Fili could not hold it back. Tears fell freely down his cheeks and he moved over to her, resting his head against hers, breathing in her scent and relishing in her being there with him.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought… I thought you were gone."

Nàin smiled again, her hand brushing away strands of rogue hair from his face. He pulled back, just a little bit, so he could see her face up close.

"Durin's beard… You are so beautiful…"

Another smile.

"Please let this be real…"

"DAD!"

With a start, Fili awoke. Mili and Nmori both jumped up into his bed, shaking him awake. He was genuinely scared for a moment or two, and then his dream faded away and his mind caught up to him.

"Wha…"

"Good morning, da'!"

Those smiles, reminding him of her, and that blissful unawareness of their mother's actual situation – it did something to Fili. Nothing bad. It just made something click inside of him.

Why mourn her? Why mourn his loss? He had not truly lost her. Not yet. She could still be alive. Besides, he had her still. Right there, in his children and in his heart; in his memory.

There was still hope and so long as his children were alright, and so long as everyone remembered her, Nàin would never truly disappear.

"Hey, you two," smiled Fili.

Footsteps approached, and a flushed Aiwin appeared in the doorway. It was obvious she had run over, probably to try and stop her younger siblings from entering Fili's room.

"So sorry, father," she apologized, shaking her head at her sisters who simply giggled at their antics. "I tried to stop them but they're… urgh… they're being annoying."

Fili smiled, causing Aiwin to stop in her tracks. She had been walking over to the bed, ready to drag her siblings out. The past day or two, Fili had been shutting himself out. He was sure that Aiwin had been told to leave him alone, and that he was completely out of it. Finding him smiling must have been a shock to her.

"It's okay."

Aiwin blinked a couple of times before straightening up, "Oh… okay."

"Really. It is," smiled Fili, looking down at Mili – the youngest – before tickling her. She jumped away, laughing loudly.

Aiwin smiled, but still seemed unsure. So, Fili sat up straight in bed, waving her over. She awkwardly sat down on the bedside.

"There's always hope." Fili watched as Aiwin's eyes turned sad, and then confused again. "Always."

Aiwin suddenly smiled, nodding her head, "I knew it."

Nàin had gone through Goblin Town. Nàin had gone through Mirkwood. Nàin had fought a dragon.

Fili was not going to lose hope that Nàin could make it through this as well.

Fili was not going to lose hope that Nàin would return home.

Thor

"He is dead then… I feared it was so," mumbled Gandalf quietly.

Silently, the company stayed put behind Gimli and Thor, watching them mourn. Thor remained quiet while mourning, unlike Gimli, and did his best to look away from the tomb. He had known something bad had happened, it had been obvious from what Gandalf had been insinuating all along.

Though as he looked away from Balin's grave, he was only met with even more death. All around them were skeletons of Dwarves. Perhaps they had come in here to mourn Balin before they suddenly died, or perhaps they had fled in here – Thor did not know. But his bet was on the latter theory, as all of the dead Dwarves had been clad in armour, having died with their weapons in their hands.

Aragorn's hand was still on Thor's shoulder, and in a fit of raging sadness, Thor shook his hand off and walked away from the group. With his back against the company, he looked over all the corpses. This was all on his parents. All of these lives had been taken because of a decision they had made.

It just convinced Thor even more that he would never want to become a king. These sort of decisions… he would not be able to live with himself if he had to make those.

Thor kneeled down next to one Dwarf in particular. He had died clutching a large journal to his chest. An arrow had pierced his heart. A figure crouched down next to Thor, gently pulling the arrow out. The gloved hand belonged to Boromir.

"Orcs…" reported Boromir back to the company before turning his attention back to Thor. Once more with gentle movements, Boromir placed a hand against the skeleton's forehead, "They're at rest now."

Thor glanced over at Boromir, and Boromir almost did a doubletake. Maybe Thor had glared. Maybe Thor had looked more emotional than Boromir had ever seen anyone – Thor didn't know. All he knew was the pain in his own heart.

Looking away from Boromir, Thor turned his attention to the journal. Perhaps Orcish arrows had pierced this Dwarf's heart, but Thor wanted to make sure. He gently, as though he was asking permission from the dead Dwarf, grabbed the journal from the skeleton, standing up.

As he opened the journal, Thor gasped and placed the journal away from him before stepping back. He should not have been surprised. After all, it was obvious none of the Dwarves had made it. So why, when he saw Ori's handwriting, did it seem like such a painful shock?

Thor, during his schooling, had read many of Ori's scrolls about Erebor's past; about Thorin; about his father – and now he was dead. Gandalf looked at the journal, glancing once at Thor before moving to the last entry.

Unbeknownst to them all, Pippin was moving away from the company.

"It is grim reading…" mumbled Gandalf, the whole company standing, listening. All apart from Pippin. A shiver ran down Thor's spine as the Wizard spoke. Even Gimli quieted down to listen. "'We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second hall.' The rest is smudged with… blood, I think. Here, it goes on, 'the pool is up to the wall at Westgate. The watcher in the water took Oin. We cannot get out. The end comes… drums… drums in the deep…'"

A long pause fell over the company.

"So ends the retake of Moria…" grumbled Gandalf.

"The watcher. We encountered him," deduced Frodo.

"The water must have sunken over the years. We were in luck," said Gandalf.

Suddenly, something happened. A loud bang was heard, followed by Pippin gasping in surprise. The whole company turned towards him. A little away from them, Pippin had found a well. On it, a Dwarven skeleton had been leaning, an arrow in his chest as well. Somehow, Pippin had gotten the skull to fall off, the thing falling down into the depths of the well. It landed somewhere far below them, disturbing the silence that had once been in Moria.

Once it landed, there was a moment of silence. Pippin glanced at the company, and when the silence remained, Pippin seemed to relax. However, things were not over.

The whole skeleton had lost its balance when losing its skull, and suddenly the rest of the body fell down, creating even more noise than the skull alone had made. Thor cringed, at the noise.

Luckily, silence followed this happening as well.

"Fool of a Took!" scolded Gandalf, surprising even Thor. It had just been an accident after all. "Throw yourself in next time to rid us of your stupidity!"

Thor could not believe their luck that nothing had stirred in the depths of this foul place. Gandalf relaxed as well after he had scolded Pippin, who remained quiet and with his head bowed low in remorse.

"Take this book back to Fili," said Gandalf, handing the journal to Thor. "He will want it."

"Ay," agreed Thor, placing the journal into his backpack.

Gandalf turned to the rest of the company, opening his mouth to speak when suddenly…

Drums were heard far off in the depth of Moria. It could be heard through the well, and Pippin was the first one to turn towards the sound. At first it had been vague; far off. But the second time they heard it, it was closer.

Whatever it was that was coming, it was closing in fast.

"They're coming…" said Legolas ominously.

"You don't say," mumbled Thor quietly, taking out his battle mace.

A fight was coming.