Nerves were eating me alive as Thorin knocked on the door. I don't even know why I was so nervous. Deep down I knew that Kili would be happy to see me. It was only my anxiety that was trying to convince me otherwise. But it was desperate to make itself known, refusing to fade into the background and let me function normally.
The sounds of cheering stopped suddenly at the sound of Thorin's knock and an apprehensive tension filled the air. My heartbeat crept up as I heard people shuffling behind the door.
A crack appeared at the edge of the green wood throwing candlelight across the ground. It opened with almost deliberate slowness as if whoever was inside knew exactly how tense I was and wanted me to stew for just a little longer. I stayed hidden behind Thorin as the door creaked open completely, only allowing myself to peer over his shoulder. A large group of dwarves stood in a semicircle around the entryway with an oversized wizard and an undersized hobbit standing out in the middle. I tried to catch a glimpse of Kili's face but could not quite find him from this vantage point.
"The directions you gave us were less than helpful Gandalf. We lost our way twice," said Thorin as he walked into the house.
I could hear a few confused mumblings "We?"
Some of the dwarves peered over Thorin's shoulder and saw me still half covered by my hood.
"Ah yes," he said, turning towards me "I found someone on my journey here."
Thorin guided me into the house as he spoke. My shoulders hunched inwards as I felt the disbelieving stares land on me. None of them could quite grasp why their leader had brought someone with him. Especially one who was clearly not a dwarf. I peeked up from underneath my hood desperate for a familiar face.
"Kili, I believe you two may have already been acquainted," Thorin said.
"What–"
His voice came from my right and I spun at the sound.
Kili
It was him. He was actually here.
Our eyes met and Kili sucked in a shaky breath. The knot my stomach had tied itself into unlooped and set me free. Any nervousness, any uncertainty vanished the moment I saw him. In the grand scheme of things, four weeks was not a long time but now that he was here, it was undeniable how much I had missed him. The heavy aching gap in my chest where I had felt my heart break was no longer empty and hollow. The sudden influx of fullness and feeling was nearly overwhelming.
"Kili!"
My face crumpled and I launched myself at Kili, banding my arms tightly around him and tucking my head into his neck. I breathed in deeply, letting the scent of his skin wash over me. He smells the same. He smells like home. Kili's arms wrapped around me without hesitation, crushing me to him.
"Leah?" his voice cracked slightly. "How? How are you here?"
"It's a long story," I mumbled into his shoulder.
Kili's hands found their way to my face bringing my head up to look at him. His thumb stroked my cheekbone as he drank in my features like a man dying of thirst.
"Is it truly you?"
I nodded, a smile climbing on my face. Kili's face mirrored my own and I lost all sense of my surroundings.
That is until I heard a pointed cough to my left. "You never told us she was an elf maid lad."
My face dropped and I turned towards the speaker, a grizzled older dwarf with the top of his head shaved. Complex runes were tattooed across the entirety like a crown. He stared up at me with a fierce expression and crossed his thick arms over his barrel chest.
Dwalin, it must be.
My hands reached up to my pointed ears, noting the lack of hood covering them. It must have fallen down when I threw myself into Kili's arms.
"What?" Kili sputtered.
He looked up to me with wide eyes. His hand reached up and gently grabbed my chin, tilting my head slightly so that he could see my ears. The fingers on my chin tensed like he had received an electric shock and he inhaled sharply
"When did this happen?" he asked, bewildered.
"That's a long story too," I said in a small voice.
This is not how I wanted to tell him. I thought I may get the chance to sit him down and explain calmly but my rushing need to be next to him had shot that idea in the foot.
Thoughts raced behind serious eyes as he gazed upon me in a new light. I could not tell what was going through his mind and a heavy weight of dread pressed down on my shoulders.
"We can discuss that later," said Thorin in a commanding voice. "Right now there are more pressing matters at hand."
I took the opportunity to turn away from the uncertainty of Kili's mind and face Thorin. He turned towards the hobbit in the middle of the room. Bilbo was nearly a head shorter than Thorin but he still held his own beneath his stare. "So you must be Mr. Baggins, Tell me how much fighting has a hobbit like yourself done?"
He didn't need to be so rude. Bilbo would become a valued member of his company if he let up a little. I felt a hand slip into mine, looking down I saw that Kili had entwined his fingers with my own. A good sign. He squeezed my hand reassuringly and I gripped his with equal vigour.
"Fighting? The only thing I've done even remotely similar would be a game of conkers" Bilbo asked flabbergasted. "Why is that relevant at all?"
Thorin sighed, looking like he knew best, "I thought so, you look less like a burglar and more like a grocer."
A few chuckles emanated around the room from the dwarves. I didn't laugh though, I didn't want Bilbo to feel any worse. The poor hobbit looked so frantic and stressed about the whole situation. Thorin removed his large coat and handed it to a blonde haired dwarf to his left. His features held a deep familiarity to them even though I had never laid eyes upon him before. A similar nose, a similar face shape. There was only one person it could be. Fili, Kili's older brother. I had wanted to meet him for so long now. Despite my tenseness I felt a new bubble of nervous excitement. When he saw me staring he gave me a wide smirk and a wink.
I quickly turned away, only to find that most people had started leaving the room. Bilbo stood lost in the middle of the room while the rest vacated. My heart went out for the poor guy.
"Come on, we should get you something to eat," Kili said. His voice was soft and I relished the sound of it. My memory of it had not done it justice.
"Yes, I'm starving," I said, "Just one minute though."
I let go of Kili's hand, reluctantly and made my way over to Bilbo. "Hello, you must be Mr Baggins. I'm Leah," I offered my hand towards him.
He happily shook my hand, his politeness not knowing when to quit. "Yes, yes hello."
"You have a really lovely home," I said, looking around. The ceiling was obviously a little low for my height but I could fit in it without banging my head on the lights above. "I know you weren't expecting any of us but I'm very grateful you let me in."
"Oh, yes, thank you. And of course I wouldn't just leave you outside. No self-respecting hobbit would leave a young lady out on their doorstep," said Bilbo.
I smiled down at him "Well I hope the dwarves haven't eaten everything. I haven't actually had dinner yet."
"No no, I'll make sure you have something. Don't worry," he said quickly. He swivelled his head around and realised that most of the dwarves had now moved on "Go find a seat and I'll search for some food."
Then he was off, striding to a different part of the house with all the confidence he could muster.
Kili's hand returned to my own and pulled me in the direction the others had left in. A lot of the dwarves turned to surreptitiously glance at me when I walked in. A few looked suspicious but I think they were mostly just curious looks. I shrunk underneath their stares, wondering about every awful thing they might think about me.
Kili pulled a chair out for me like a gentleman–gentledwarf?-and I sat down. I let out a sigh as the weight was taken off my feet. After a whole day's walking it felt good to sit down. Kili dropped down into the seat next to me, quickly followed by another dwarf on my other side.
I looked up to find the same blonde dwarf from before, staring at me with a triumphant grin.
"So you're the famous Leah that Kili won't stop talking about," He said with a grin.
"Famous?" I turned towards Kili, raising my eyebrows. Did he really talk about me? The thought sent a warm feeling across my chest.
"Fili, shut up," Kili said through his teeth.
"Oh I'm only having a bit of fun brother" then he turned back to me "Fili, at your service" he siad with a bowed head, "I'm Kili's older brother. It's good to actually meet you."
There was a sincerity in his voice. Such that it sounded like he was genuinely happy to meet me. It made me smile.
"Kili's told me a lot about you too," I added "It's cool to actually meet you."
Fili raised his eyebrows slightly "So you are where Kili got all these strange new words from."
Bilbo came around not one minute later, half frazzled, with a plate full of food. It looked like he'd piled it with whatever he could find. I accepted it off of him with a smile and a thank you. There were a few scones, a bread roll, some cherry tomatoes, cheese and an apple. I happily dug in, starving from our journey. Thorin only wished to have some of the soup that was left over.
While I was half-way through my bread roll I looked up to see a very tall wizard giving me a quizzical look.
"Would anyone like to introduce me to this young elleth here?" said Gandalf.
"Sorry," I coughed, realising I hadn't actually introduced myself to anyone yet. "My name's Leah Orrison" I looked around the room. All eyes were on me.
"Do you mind if I ask you how old you are? It's not often I come across an elf of your...stature," said Gandalf.
Dude is calling me short.
"I'm 20," shocked gasps came from around the table "But technically I think it's my birthday tomorrow. I'm not sure though because my days all got jumbled up."
This would be the first birthday where my mum wasn't there to celebrate with me. At least I wouldn't be alone for my birthday with Kili here. As well as a whole other company of dwarves that I hadn't had the chance to acquaint myself with yet but that was neither here nor there.
"To my knowledge there has not been an elf born for hundreds of years now. I'm surprised that this is the first time that I'm hearing of you," said Gandalf, his voice sceptical.
"That's probably because I'm not from this world and I was human before I landed here four weeks ago."
Gandalf eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline and I heard a few expletive exclamations from around the table. Followed by pained grunts as they were elbowed in the ribs for their language. Not all the dwarves were aware of me or my situation it seemed.
"Another world? What do you mean by that lass?" I turned to look at who asked me the question. Their hair was dark brown and their moustache was long and unbraided. He had a very cool russian style hat on. Was it Bofur then?
"As in I lived somewhere completely different to here. It was just called Earth and there's no magic or Valar or anything like that. And Middle Earth was just a story."
There were a few grumblings about the validity of my statement.
"It's true," Kili came to the rescue. "I've been there myself. It's a strange world that's nothing like this one."
"How did you come to be in that world Kili?" asked Gandalf, an inquisitive look in his eye.
Kili looked thoughtful for a second, trying to think of a way to explain. "There was some kind of gateway. I fell into it when I was pushed off of the side of a cliff."
"And is that how you returned here as well?" said Gandalf.
Kili nodded.
"I'd heard that you'd gone missing for a few days but I had no idea you'd gone to another world, lad." said who I assumed was Bofur.
Then Kili turned to me with his eyebrows creased together "How did you get here Leah?"
"Well you disappeared and I didn't react great," I said. The biggest understatement of the century. "So Mum decided we should go for a drive and the gateway appeared in the middle of the road."
"Wait, Ellen's here too? where is she?"
I looked down at my hands and started tracing the runes on my bracelet. "I don't know. She must have crashed somewhere else."
Kili reached over and covered my hand with his, squeezing reassuringly.
"Let's get back to the matter at hand," said Gandalf "Leah, when you said that, in your world, Middle Earth was a story. What did you mean by that?"
There was a glint of something in his eye. I had a feeling he already guessed what I was going to say. "Well this world's history is written as fictional stories back in my world. Like the war of the last alliance… or the desolation of Smaug."
Emotions flickered in the dwarves' eyes when I mentioned Smaug. Gandalf however leaned forward slightly.
"Just the histories?" The glint was still in Gandalf's eyes
"No," I said, looking to Kili and Thorin before answering. Thorin gave the barest of nods, "The stories in my world extend past this point into the future."
There were many scoffs and sounds of disbelief. I mean you couldn't really blame them. It's not everyday a random person shows up and says she knows the future is it?
"It's true," said Kili "She told me that Bilbo would be joining the company over six months ago. Gandalf hadn't even told us who he'd chosen until a month ago."
There were looks of astonishment around the table. Along with one very annoyed hobbit behind me "A Month? You only spoke to me this morning!"
"Now, now Bilbo let us not get into the semantics of it," said Gandalf trying to calm a very disgruntled Bilbo.
"So you're a seer then?" asked another dwarf, this one with ginger hair. Gloin, maybe?
"Not really, I only know one version of events that might happen. It could all change." Kili hand squeezed mine harder. He knew exactly what potential events could come to pass. He wanted to change those events as much as I did.
"That remains to be seen, but I think your foreknowledge could be infinitely useful on our quest. The Valar obviously put Kili in your path and brought you here for a reason. I believe that reason was for you to join us," said Gandalf, sounding incredibly wise.
I nearly sighed in relief when he said that. Thank god, I didn't have to goad him into letting me join. My relief was cut short however by cries of "No!"
"I cannot guarantee her safety" said Thorin
"She could be hurt!" said Kili.
I could understand Thorin saying no but the fact that Kili didn't want me to go either hurt a little bit.
"Please Thorin! I could help," I pleaded. He had to let me go.
"But–" Kili tried to say something else but I cut him off with a pleading look. His own eyes were slightly panicked.
"Would you deny this company a valuable asset, Thorin Oakenshield?" Gandalf's voice suddenly had an edge to it. "When the Valar themselves seem to want her here?"
"There are many dangers ahead of us," The resoluteness of Thorin's tone was wavering.
"And she may be able to warn us of those before they happen."
"She could get hurt."
"So could anyone in this company yet they have chosen to follow you all the same. Leah has said herself that she wishes to help and she knows better than we do of what dangers are to come," said Gandalf, matter-of-factly.
Thorin leaned back in his chair. HIs face was very difficult to read as he pondered his thoughts for a few moments. Then he sighed deeply down his nose and faced me.
"If you are to join us you will need training," he said, looking directly into my eyes.
Oh thank god for that. My relief was palpable.
"You may have some skills with a knife but you will need more than that on this quest," Thorin continued.
"Thank you so much," I added breathlessly.
I felt Kili stiffen next to me. "What do you mean she has skills with a knife? How would you know that?" he asked warily.
I froze, not wanting to burden Kili with the knowledge. He would undoubtedly feel guilty about it even though none of it was his fault. I turned to Thorin, begging for help with my eyes, but he gave a small shake of his head. It was my place to speak, not his.
"I kind of stabbed a guy," I said very fast, needing to get it out as soon as possible. Like ripping off a bandaid.
"WHAT?" he shouted, the sound so loud and sudden it made me wince slightly, "Why in Mahal's name did you need to stab someone?"
I rubbed my hands down my face and took a deep breath before continuing "I may have been grabbed on the road and had to defend myself."
I could hear Kili's panicked comments next to me. As I suspected he started to blame himself for not being there. Thorin thankfully came to the rescue.
"Kili what's done is done. We cannot change what happened, but she's safe now. That's all that matters," said Thorin "Now can we please get back to discussing this quest."
Kili nodded, though his face was still awash with emotion. I reached for his hand and held it in both of mine. When he looked at me I gave him a small smile. "You did help me, you know? Even though you weren't there you were the one that taught me how to use a knife. And it was even your dagger that I used. Without that I could be god knows where right now," I whispered.
He gave me a small, uneasy smile in return.
