A/N: I know it seems impossible but…another chapter! Yay!

Disclaimer: These characters belong to JRR Tolkien and I make nothing for my efforts.

Chapter 3

Kili ran down the hill, tears streaming down his cheeks. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined what he'd faced on that front stoop—Bilbo and the hobbit lass. He'd never given a thought to the possibility that the hobbit had moved on, found someone new and started building a family. To see Bilbo standing there with another, knowing it would literally kill his Uncle broke Kili's heart. He couldn't stand there—he wouldn't stand there.

He didn't see the hobbit heads turn, eyes following the sight of a dwarf running past their homesteads. He continued past some merchants' stalls on the edge of Hobbiton. They shook their heads and whispered about the dwarf in their midst. Kili paid them no mind. He dashed past a large oak tree in the middle of an open field and the Green Dragon further on. He didn't even slow down when he pelted over a small bridge, only slowing when he reached the wooded brush on the other bank. Hidden from view, Kili slowly sunk to his knees. Gulping air and pulling on his braids, he gave into his despair.

He was young but he was no longer as naïve as some would like to hope. War tended to burn that out of a person. While he fervently prayed to Mahal for a happy conclusion, he had known that this mission to the Shire would more than likely end in heartache. It was much more likely that Bilbo had perished on some gods forsaken battlefield during the Battle of the Five Armies. They feared his body lay forgotten among the unidentified and later burned on one the large pyres. It was the only logical conclusion that the Company could reach.

After their battle wounds had been tended, those capable had spent days searching among the dead for their burglar's small body. When that failed to turn up anything, they started questioning anyone that may have seen their hobbit. Still they found nothing, until one day a man in Dale admitted seeing Bilbo near Ravenhill toward the end of the battle. They thoroughly searched the area for any sign of their dear hobbit. It was Balin that found the coat, a child sized, blood soaked waistcoat. It was the one Bilbo had borrowed in Lake Town and wore into the mountain. It had been hidden among a small pile of rocks, the ground around it, churned up and torn by battle. With its discovery, they were forced to give up the search and conclude that Bilbo had died and they'd never find his body. It hurt but the needs of the still living weighed heavily on all.

He counted himself lucky that he'd still been unconscious and unaware when the damaged jacket had been given to Thorin. He was later told by those that heard his Uncle's cries of despair, that they would never forget it. The sounds of the dwarf's grief and mourning for his lost One had echoed through the camps. Not even the most stone hearted were untouched by the depths of the King's anguish. Their king's body may heal but his heart was shattered. This had been their only hope….

O~O~O~O

Resting his hands on the dwarf's shoulders, Bilbo studied him for a moment, seemingly searching for something. After a long moment, Bilbo squeezed his shoulder and said, "Come Balin," shuffling towards a pair of chairs on the front porch. Gingerly sitting in one, he motioned for his friend to take the other, "Please let's sit, it's been too long."

Still in shock at the sight of their precious friend, alive and well in the Shire, an overwhelmed Balin stepped back and sat down in the proffered chair. He'd prayed to Mahal for this outcome, to find Bilbo alive but he never truly believed it would ever come to pass.

"I'll bring tea and biscuits," the lass said with a smile.

"Oh thank you," a clearly flustered Bilbo said, while giving the young female hobbit a loving, grateful look.

Balin watched the exchange with a heart growing steadily heavier with sadness. It seemed their journey would be for next to naught. Yes, Bilbo was alive and well, which was a miraculous gift from Mahl himself but it seemed the hobbit had found another. Bilbo clearly cared for the lass and she was pregnant with a little one. Had he felt nothing for their King?

"It's good to see you Balin," Bilbo said, shock and disbelief colored his tone.

"Tis good to see you too." The dwarf took a moment to study the hobbit. He hadn't missed the cane or the careful way Bilbo moved, as if he were still favoring a hidden injury.

As Balin still contemplated the hobbit, Bilbo shook his head in disbelief, "Kili," he muttered in astonishment, "here."

"Aye," agreed Balin. "I couldn't have stopped the lad from making the journey even if I was of the mind too."

"I thought," Bilbo shook his head in disbelief before meeting Balin's eyes, "I saw him fall. He died Balin."

"No," the dwarf denied, "He was badly injured. It was a close thing but Kili survived the Battle, as you've seen with your own eyes."

"Thank Yavanna," the hobbit whispered. Relief washed over Bilbo. The loss of Thorin, Fili, and Kili was an open wound on his heart. To know the youngest Durin survived soothed some of the pain. It was something, not enough but something.

As they sat there the silence lingered between them, broken only by the solitary chirping of a bird in the nearby oak tree. There were so many questions that needed to be asked, answers that they hadn't dared hope for but both were afraid to ask. It was Balin who finally said, "I almost cannot believe my own eyes! You are here and alive!"

"Why yes, yes of course I am," the hobbit replied.

"There is no 'of course' Bilbo," the dwarf retorted a little sharply, "We thought you lost and gone. Dead among the bodies and never found!" He heard his companion inhale abruptly, but continued, "The Battle was chaotic but still a few members of the Company could recall seeing you among the combatants. You seemed to appear at just the right moment to deflect a blade or block a blow and then you'd disappear into thin air."

"I tried to help," Bilbo whispered, "To protect my friends."

"And help you did," Balin reassured the hobbit. "Many wouldn't be alive without your timely assistance."

"It wasn't enough," Bilbo choked out, "He...Thorin...gone," his pain filled voice trailed off.

"It was more than we deserved after everything that happened."

"None of you were in your right minds, most especially Thorin."

The elderly dwarf disagreed, but let it go for the moment. Leaning back he continued. "Afterward there were so many dead, "Dwarves, Men and Elves," he frowned, "Orcs and Goblins." Taking a deep breath he let it out slowly before he continued, "Many were unaccounted for after the fighting ended, you among them. We feared the worst."

"The fear was for naught."

"Aye, thank Mahal."

"And Yavana."

"And the Green Lady," the dwarf willingly added. The pair of gods clearly smiled down on Bilbo.

"What of...Fili," Bilbo started as he fidgeted in his seat and twisted his hands together, "...Fili?" He lost his courage at the last moment, fearing he wouldn't like Balin's answer.

"Fili was badly wounded in the Battle," Balin said sadly, "He was run through by an Orc blade."

Bilbo lowered his head and closed his eyes. He battled to keep his tears from falling yet again. It was as he had always known then. Fili had gone to Halls of his Maker. It had been too much to hope for that both young dwarves had survived that horrific battle.

"Those that found him thought him gone," Balin took a breath, "There was so much blood."

A tear streaked down Bilbo's face…

"After carrying his body back to camp the healers were shocked to find Fili yet lived."

BIlbo looked up sharply at Balin, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "Lived?"

"Aye," Balin smiled at him kindly. "Durin's Folk are built to endure."

"Fili lives too?"

"Aye," the dwarf said, "Fili lives."

The air whooshed from Bilbo's lungs in relief. Both young dwarves lived! The pain caused by the death of his beloved Thorin was assuaged a bit by the knowledge that the dwarf's nephews lived. It was more than he'd ever dared dream possible.

"So only Thorin was lost," Bilbo whispered sadly

"Thorin?"

"Aye," Bilbo said as a few tears betrayed him, "I was badly wounded at that point," he motioned to his leg and the cane next to his chair. "I was unable to stop the orc," the hobbit's voice hitched with grief, "All I could do was watch as he killed all I held dear."

"Bilbo," Balin reached out a hand and rested it on the hobbit's leg in silent support.

"With his death I had nothing to live for," grief coated each of Bilbo's words. It was obvious his anguish was still fresh. "I laid there, closed my eyes and waited for death."

Overwhelmed by his friend's story and his pain, Balin lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"I awoke in Rivendell," Bilbo's voice broke, "With the knowledge that I'd never again see my beloved, in this world or the next." Bilbo gave into his grief, his body wracked by sobs.

As Bilbo cried, Balin got out of his seat and knelt down in front of him. He rested his hands on the hobbit's small shoulders, offering what comfort he could until the hobbit's tears subsided. Balin met Bilbo's eyes and said, "After all that happened, you grieve for him."

"I loved him," Bilbo admitted softly, "No matter what he'd done I will always love him. He was my One. There will be no other."

Balin glanced back over his shoulder at the door thinking of the pregnant hobbit lass. He was unfamiliar with Hobbit mating customs but it seemed odd that Bilbo would take a wife if Thorin was his One. Did she not know Bilbo loved another? Shaking his head, he let it go for now. He had more information he needed to share with the hobbit.

"Bilbo," he said gently, keeping one hand on the hobbit's shoulders, "there's more you need to know."

"About the Company?" Bilbo asked, his eyes curious but still grief filled. He had no hope that by some miracle of the Valar Thorin lived. Knowledge that Fili and Kili lived did not change the impossible. He had been forced to watch as his One breathed his last, unable to move, unable to stop it.

"Aye the Company," Balin replied carefully. He wasn't sure how well the small hobbit would take the news Thorin yet lived, his grief was deep and bitter. "It is important."

"Go on," Bilbo managed, though his thoughts were elsewhere.

To this very day, when he closed his eyes, he could see that final battle between Azog and Thorin. He could see Azog above Thorin, trying to press his blade arm down into the dwarf's chest. He'd tried to shout to stop Thorin as he removed Orcist but he couldn't make a sound. He watched in horror as Azog's blade sunk into Thorin's torso. And sheer amazement as seconds later, Thorin drove Orcist into Azog's chest with all his dwindling might. Hope built inside him as Thorin managed to flip them over, climb onto Azog's chest and shove Orcist through him, slaying the beast. Hope fled as Thorin's body fell to the ice moments later. Grief filled his soul as the ice around his beloved turned red and Thorin bled out.

"Bilbo," Balin called urgently. Worry for the hobbit overwhelmed him. He'd watched as Bilbo seemed to drift away in thoughts and dreams. Balin could see Bilbo start to fade from grief as he looked on. "Come back to me."

Bilbo shook himself and pushed back the waking nightmare that masqueraded as a memory. "Sorry," Bilbo whispered as he took it a deep breath and let it out slowly, "you were saying?"

"You must believe me," Balin squeezed the hobbit's shoulder in desperate encouragement. "I know not what you saw that day or thought you saw." The old dwarf could see the questions in Bilbo's eyes as he continued, "I know the state Thorin was in when we found him."

"Aye," Bilbo managed to choke out as he lowered his head. He knew what state the dwarves found their king in, their kin...Thorin had been dead.

"Bilbo look at me please." Balin hooked Bilbo's chin and gently forced the hobbit to look at him again. "Thorin was mortally wounded but he was still breathing."

"No," Bilbo whispered and shook his head in denial. "That's not possible."

"It is possible Bilbo," Balin said firmly, trying to make the hobbit believe him. "And there is more. You must hear it."

Denials died on Bilbo's lips and he looked at the old dwarf sharply. Against his will, a small acorn of hope blossomed in his breast. Bilbo tried desperately to stomp it out but it took root and wouldn't let him go. "Yes?"

"Thorin did not pass on to Mahal's Halls. He still lives."

"Thorin?" Bilbo was confused and slipping into shock He clasped his hands together in his lap, attempting to hide how badly they were shaking.

"Aye lad," Balin reassured the hobbit yet again. He watched as the tension drained from the small body and Bilbo sagged in the chair. "Though he yet recovers from the wounds he received in battle, Thorin lives."

"It's not…possible...how...he was dead…watched...died...," thoughts chased through Bilbo's head one after the other. He was unable to make any sense of his own thoughts. Finally he buried his face in his hands again and cried, this time in relief, hope, and a bit of sorrow for the time lost.

"It was a near thing laddie," Balin whispered as he rested his head against Bilbo's offering him comfort, "But he lives."

"I never dared hope…or dream…," Bilbo muttered, still unable to believe his One lived.

Balin offered what comfort and companionship he could to his friend. So much unneeded heartache caused by the confusion and miscommunication of battle. All of this could have been so easily avoided, yet both were living in pain believing the other dead and gone from the circles of this world.

The sound of the hobbit lass opening the door and bustling outside with a tray finally forced them to look up. "I brought refreshments," she started, before she noticed the pair, "Oh! I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"It's fine Prim," Bilbo laughed and wiped away a few stray tears as Balin stood up and walked back to his seat. "Balin was one of the Company."

Prim glared at the dwarf suspiciously, "You have not been yourself since you left with the dwarves."

"He brought news from Erebor," Bilbo explained. When that just caused her frown to deepen he hastily added, "good news."

"What news was that Uncle?" The hobbit lass was still mistrustful of the dwarf.

Two voices nearly covered each other.

"Thorin is alive."

"Uncle?" Balin exclaimed in relief.

TBC

A/N: First if you read this update, I want to say thank you for sticking with me. I know this was a long, long time coming. Motivation and writing inspiration deserted me. I had no idea what to write or how to update this story. I finally had a breakthrough and got this chapter finished. Yay! Hopefully more will follow. Thanks again!