Hey guys! So, originally, this story was posted back in 2017, however I stopped updating after only 3 chapters. To be honest, I wasn't happy with how it was turning out, so I lost all motivation to continue. Recently, I found myself thinking a lot about this story, and I decided to delete the original, touch up the chapters to my level of approval and continue it. I really hope you like the new and improved story! I am still relatively new to writing fanfiction. Let me know what you think and enjoy :)
Since I fell in love with Tolkien's writings at the age of 7, I often liked to imagine that Arda was not Earth but was in fact a planet somewhere in our vast universe. I want to state for the record that I respect everyone's religious views and I do not want to start any kind of religious argument with any readers, but this story will follow the first law of thermodynamics: energy cannot be created or destroyed but converted into one form or another. I firmly believe in this, and if these views offend you in any way, then please do not read the story. In this story, when a being in our universe dies, they are reborn, and not necessarily on their original planet, or even galaxy. **SPOILERS FOR BotFA!** So, when Thorin, Fili and Kili died at the end of BotFA, they were "re-born" on Earth.
The common assumption is that if we do get reborn after death, we would not remember our previous lives. What will be special about Thorin, Fili and Kili though, is that not only will they remember their lives in Middle Earth, they will not have been "re-born", but will pick up their lives from the time of their death, just… on Earth with no idea of what's going on. Essentially, they will just wake up on Earth, having no idea how they got here, assuming it was by some dark magic, and plan to return to Middle Earth, to their lives.
For the record, I do not own the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, or anything to do with it.
And now, I want to introduce some characters that I DO actually own ;)
Erika: Long, wavy, dirty blonde hair, green eyes, 5'4, very slim build, 27 years old, works at LaGuardia as a regional flight attendant for United Airlines; regional meaning that she does only short-haul flights and she's home every evening, unless she gets stuck with the 3am rotation. She loves staying in, cheesy romance movies and reading. Erika is the quiet sister. She has always been shy and unsure of herself, lacking confidence when it mattered most.
Mattea (Matty): Erika's sister; Jasmine's twin, shoulder length chestnut coloured hair, green eyes, 5'4, very slim build, 25 years old, waitress at Hooters, loves parties, going out, boys and fashion. Matty might not always be the brightest, but she means well and cares for her sisters above all else. She is silly, hyper and hard not to like. She lightens the mood of any situation and can make the grouchiest group of people laugh with her silliness.
Jasmine (Jas/Jazzie): Erika's sister; Mattea's twin, shoulder length frost blonde coloured hair, green eyes, 5'4 slim build, 25 years old, was just laid off from her job as editor's assistant at the Wall Street Journal, sometimes bossy, loves cleanliness, order, perfection, fashion, being right, always being busy and travelling. Jasmine can be a bit of a tough ass, but that's because she believes life isn't fair, and we all need to deal with it. Somehow, she feels a responsibility for her two sisters, and thinks that it's her job to keep everyone in check and safe. While she may put up a rough side, she is struggling and fragile on the inside. She is afraid of letting people in, out of fear that they will leave and break her heart.
Prologue
Erika's POV
Where do I even begin? Okay, let's start with my name... Erika. Erika is my name. I'm 27 years old, which I truthfully cannot believe. When I scroll through Facebook and Instagram, I come across all of these people I went to high school with. Most already are married, in serious relationships, having kids or travelling the world. Where am I? Nowhere close, it feels. I know, 27 is not that old. But I cannot help but have this constant creeping feeling like I'm failing. At this age, should I not at least have an IDEA of where to be in life? Do I want this life? Being a flight attendant, dealing with idiots on a daily basis, living in a small 3-bedroom apartment with my sisters? Is there not more to life than this?
Please don't get me wrong. I love my sisters. We might not have always been close when we were growing up, but since mom and dad died in a car crash two years ago, we have really bonded. This had been the most difficult time of our lives, so we moved in together to support each other as best as we could. I could not be more grateful to have them. But a part of me wants more. I wished sometimes that I could just pack a bag, move to France, meet an exotic stranger who would say the right things, we would fall in love and spend our life travelling the world, while eating good French cheese and drinking good French wine. I didn't care so much about material goods. Of course, as any woman, I have a closet full of clothes and a vanity full of makeup. But loneliness and lack of companionship would make me trade all of it for adventure and love.
What else do you want to know? I'm usually the one to vote for staying inside with a tub of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked or Cherry Cheesecake ice cream and watch some cheesy romance movie. But I am also a nerd. I will proudly admit to being obsessed with Star Trek and having a guilty pleasure of going to Comic Expos. I am hopeless with guys. I've been on a few dates over the years, but most of them ended so damn poorly. I am too shy and lack the confidence than Mattea has.
The year before our parents died, Mattea signed me up for Tinder. I didn't want to, but she wouldn't drop it. So out of curiosity and boredom one night, I was swiping through and came across Oskar Anderssen. He seemed like the most perfect guy: Tall, strong build, blonde hair, blue eyes… perfectly high cheekbones. Oh, and he had just moved to New York from Sweden, so the accent was irresistible. We went on a date and had the loveliest time. He was charming, kind and well-mannered. I fell in love with him. At least I think I did. He was my first. I gave him all of me blindly, having my vision clouded by this desire I had for him. I never asked him how he felt about me. Turns out, to him, we were just a casual fling. In fact, he had THREE (3) other girls on the side, can you believe it? Needless to say, my heart was broken. I deleted Tinder, broke it off with Oskar and since then, I've been too afraid of open myself up to any man. So, I envelop myself in blankets, with my Ben & Jerry's and watch cheesy romances to get by. So, yeah… that's enough about me.
Mattea's POV
First thing you should know about me: I'm younger than Jasmine! Yes, I know we're twins, but she came out first, and I will never let her forget that! It's weird, isn't it? Typically, the older twin is the one to brag. But let me tell you something. Since I was a child, I knew that getting old is no fun. I want to stay young forever. I'm 25 now, and I am determined to live my life with no regrets. I love my life. I love living with my sisters. They are like my best friends. And who wouldn't want to live with their best friends?
You know all those sitcoms like Big Bang Theory and New Girl? Where they all live together or close to each other and are constantly having hilarious days? That's what I try and make our life like. Because mom and dad dying was just so friggin' hard. I mean, I cried for days on end. I cried for me, I cried for them… I cried for my sisters. My heart was torn in a million pieces. But I just want my sisters to be happy. I know I can be reckless and stupid. I'm not the brightest star in the sky. Or is it brightest fish in the sea? Something along those lines. Anyways, I will do anything for them. And I will continue my simple existence because it makes me happy. If there is one thing I do know for certain, is that mom and dad would want us to be happy. So, I will be, and I will not let anyone bring me down.
My twin, Jas, gives me a lot of crap about responsibility. She constantly says I'm too childish, that I should do better, that I should get a better job. But guys, I LOVE my job! I meet people from all walks of life. And yes, it bothers me sometimes that I have to wear the outfit and flaunt myself. But since Jas has been laid off, my income, along with Erika's has been getting us through. Mr. Prickley, the landlord, was threatening to evict us just six months ago! Now is not the time to be picky.
I love parties. My first party was when I was 15 and snuck out of my bedroom window to go across the street to my friend Stacy's house. Her parents were in Mexico and she was left with her older brother, who decided to have a high school house party. Shit, guys. What a night! I had so much fun! But of course, Jas, who I was sharing a room with, woke up to pee in the middle of the night and HAD to rat me out to our parents. They were so mad… But now that I'm grown, I'm partying all the time and she can lecture me all she wants, but she can't stop me.
That being said, lately I've been feeling some kind of emptiness inside. I don't talk to my sisters about it. I don't want them to see me as someone other than I am. And I'm scared that I'm somehow changing to be honest. I realized that other than with my sisters and my parents, I've never sat on a couch with someone, cuddling and watching a movie. I realized that when Erika and I were talking the other day. It kind of hit me. I go to all these parties, meet all these boys, have all of these meaningless hook-ups. But what does it bring me? It feels good at the time, in the moment… but when that moment passes, what are you left with? Nothing really. So, I've been dwelling on that a bit lately.
Jasmine's POV
When I don't know how to express myself verbally, I write. I write page after page and do not stop until it's all out of my system. People see me as harsh sometimes, too stuck up and uptight. And you know what? Yeah, that's me. Maybe that is why I went into journalism in university. To be a journalist, one must be resilient; tough. That's me. You have to push for answers, even if the answers are kept from you. That's me. I've always been this way: stubborn, goal oriented. I get my way. So, when I left the bullshit position as journalist at a failure of a newspaper, "Horizons 25 – The New Yorker's Go-To Paper for [fake] News" to become an Editor's Assistant at the Wall Street Journal, I thought my career was finally taking off in the right direction. Sure, my boss Laura was a complete ass. I was her errand girl and she treated me like a servant. But it was refreshing to be around credible news and sit in on intelligent meetings. I was, in fact, growing. And I was happy to bring Laura her 'quad long shot Grande in a Venti cup, half calf double cupped salted caramel mocha latte, with 2 pumps of vanilla, but substitute 2 pumps of white chocolate mocha for regular mocha and substitute 2 pumps of hazelnut for toffee nut, with half whole milk and half breve, with absolutely NO whipped cream, and it better be extra hot with extra foam, extra caramel drizzle, extra salt and with an added scoop of vanilla bean powder and it has to be well stirred', if it meant I could continue growing.
Then, one lovely day, I come to work, only to see Laura packing boxes. Turns out, the staff at Starbucks complained about my constant complicated orders on Laura's behalf. So, Laura's boss took a look at her company transactions, as she was actually not supposed to use her company credit card for coffee. But that wasn't the big deal. The big deal was discovering that the bitch used company funds to re-do her entire kitchen, writing it off as admin fees, and take a leisurely trip to Barbados, writing it off as business travel. Needless to say, Laura's idiot ass was fired. And as I was her assistant, there was nowhere for me to go. It was not in the budget to keep my position, besides, everyone already had assistants. Therefore, I was laid off. I could've ripped Laura's hair out for losing me my opportunity at the Wall Street Journal. Now, I am sitting at home all day, trying to make it work as a free-lancer and getting myself situated in the stock market.
I am embarrassed to be honest. I was always the responsible one. My sisters are sometimes living with their heads in the clouds. I was always the grown up and since mom and dad's accident, I've taken it upon myself to look after my sisters.
No, I will not talk about the accident. Truthfully, I can't. I lost my mom and dad that day. It is still fresh. It still hurts. I just can't, guys. Sorry.
Who has time for boys when I have my sisters to take care of? I'm really not looking right now. I know I may seem like this bitter, boring annoying person to you, but I'm really not. That's just my exterior. On the inside, I'm fragile. The loss we went through hit me harder than anyone. My sisters don't know this, but I still cry myself to sleep every night. So, don't be deceived by appearances; don't judge a book by its cover. I had parents, I had a job, I had savings. Now, all of that is gone. Can you blame me for my bitterness?
Just an introduction to the characters for you guys :) You'll get to know them better as the story goes on. Thanks so much for reading. It means the world!