Chapter 12

"Grief does not change you…it reveals you." –John Green

"Has it rained yet?" A voice penetrated the silence. Madison stared out of the window, registering vaguely that she had woken to the pitter-patter of rain hours ago.

"Earlier, but not much. It didn't ruin anything." She answered in a monotone. James sighed, knowing it hadn't been easy for either of them to deal with the death of…her.

"Good." He nodded, letting the screen door smack the doorframe behind him as he went back outside. He knew she meant that the rain didn't ruin the flowers set at the grave. The grave with the empty coffin.

Ever since the storm, neither father nor daughter had really spoke aside from funeral plans and the occasional crying together on the couch. James had preferred to bury himself in his work, never setting foot in Nina's old bedroom or her drawing room. When he couldn't stand the silence in his home any longer, he would go for walks that could last for hours on end. Though he always stopped at least once at the same place on each walk—the backyard grave.

Things had been hard when his wife Sara had died long ago, and over time the pain from that tragedy had dulled. However having gone eighteen years without a death in the family left him unfamiliar with the feeling of fresh grief, new loss. He couldn't remember for the life of him how he had gotten through it before, and despite how much he had loved his wife there was something about losing his daughter that felt so much worse.

"I tried my best to save you, little girl." He croaked as he knelt on the soft grass where the coffin lay under him. He read the words on the gravestone that had haunted him through nightmares each night—Nina Elizabeth Bailyn, Beloved Daughter and Sister. "I should have fought harder, I could have reached you I know I could have." He squeezed his hands into fists, not feeling the pain of his nails digging into his skin at all. "You were too young, too young!" He shouted through the tears, sniffing. "I love you so, so much, Nina."

Silence. Madison had grown so used to it that it did nothing to her to be surrounded by it. College was over for now, and she was supposed to be looking for a job. Madison vaguely thought of how she should clean the carpet in Nina's old drawing room, but she couldn't find the strength. The stain of the blue paint Nina had spilled the day she died still covered the carpet and had long since dried into it. Nina's room was covered in a thin layer of dust, no furniture having been moved. If anyone were to just walk into the bedroom, they would think someone still lived in it. The schoolwork was still haphazardly sprawled all over the desks along with her braille materials. The house looked as if it had never suffered loss, as if Nina was on a trip and would soon return. Not as if she were dead.

"Come back, Nina. Just come back." She whispered to herself as she watched her father collapse hopelessly on the ground in the backyard before the younger girl's grave. They had never found the body of her sister, thought Madison desperately. Until they found it, Madison was determined to let herself hope for the impossible. James had gone past the stage of grief that was denial, however Madison consciously knew that she was stuck in it. There still wasn't a body. Until there was, Nina had a glimmer of hope in Madison's eyes.

"What do you think is taking them so long?" Bilbo shouted over the torrential rain as the company trekked through the Misty Mountains.

"Who?" Bofur yelled back. Bilbo sighed exasperatedly, though none could hear it over the storm.

"Gandalf and Nina!" Bilbo answered. Bofur merely shrugged.

"I wouldn't worry too much on it, Bilbo. She's with a wizard, what could go wrong?" Bofur suggested. Bilbo nodded, supposing the jolly dwarf was right. What had the company gone through thus far that Gandalf hadn't saved them from?

"Hold on!" Thorin shouted from ahead, causing Bilbo to be distracted. That, he soon learned, was a mistake.

Bilbo took a wrong step and slipped on the wet, rocky cliff, lurching into the chasm below. Dwalin reached out just in time, pulling the startled and now pale hobbit back against the rocky ledge.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin again ordered. An incoherent shout to 'watch out' came from one of the dwarves, and all looked up in time to see a humungous boulder barreling at them. With a terrified scream Bilbo pressed himself against the mountain and the dwarves followed suit without delay.

"This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle!" Balin suddenly cried. All the dwarves looked to him in confusion until they looked to where he pointed. Bilbo couldn't believe his eyes as he watched a giant form out of the rock of the mountains.

"Bless me, the legends are true! Giants; Stone Giants!" Bofur exclaimed. At the back of the company, Kili and Fili looked around hopelessly as they constantly pressed themselves against the mountain to avoid being crushed.

"I guess it was a good thing Gandalf and Nina aren't with us, I don't think either of them could have bested this." Fili exclaimed as the Stone Giants began their thunder battle.

"What's happening?" Kili cried, frightened and unable to comprehend his brother's previous comment.

The first giant hurled a huge boulder at the second, causing smaller rocks to plummet from the mountainside and hail down on the company. To their horror, the rock ledge began to split in two with an agonizing creak and the company was split into two groups. They were on the legs of a giant. Kili whipped his head back to his brother who was slowly floating away on the other leg.

"Kili! Grab my hand, Ki…" Fili trailed off as their thrust-out hands moved farther and farther apart. A sudden lurch broke their pitiful stare as one half of the company—including Kili—were thrown about as their giant failed to win the fight.

The giants smashed and battled each other, paying no attention to the dwarves as if they were flies on the back of an animal. The one half of the dwarves—including Fili and Thorin—watched in horror as the leg of the giant belonging to the other half of the company—including Kili—began to plummet toward the mountainside.

"NO KILI!" Thorin bellowed in anguish as the dwarves smashed into the wall. Fili couldn't breathe, how could he have lost his brother?

"Kili…Kili no…" He stuttered under his breath as the surviving dwarves rushed to save their smashed friends. One voice is what saved those survivors from lives of wallowing in grief.

"We're alright, we're all alive!" Balin grunted happily as he maneuvered out of the rocks around him, the others following suit. The unscathed half rushed to the aid of the others, all of them letting themselves have a moment of relief before continuing the treacherous journey.

"Wait, where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?" Bofur scrambled about after they had all gotten out of the rocks.

"There!" Ori cried, as the whole company rushed to the edge of the mountain. Bilbo was there—sure enough—hanging by his fingertips off of the ledge. His face was white as snow as he gasped the words 'help me' before going into full panic.

"Get him!" Dwalin ordered as they all reached for Bilbo. He grabbed at Dwalin's hand but slipped, almost falling when Thorin swung down and saved him. He pushed him up to Dwalin who pulled him onto the relative safety of the mountain when Thorin himself slipped. Dwalin groaned in pain and exertion as he struggled to pull up Thorin with all of his weight.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar," Dwalin commented breathlessly as Thorin gained his composure back though slightly flushed in the face.

"He's been lost ever since he left home." Thorin snapped, to everyone's surprise. "He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." Bilbo hung his head low at the harsh insult, and the dwarves tried to figure out how to react. "Dwalin!" He called with a stern tone. Dwalin sighed. There was no telling what Thorin would do next.

"How far are we, do you think?" Nina groaned as she wiped the endless stream of sweat on her brow. Gandalf chuckled lightly.

"Not too terribly far before we catch up to the others; that horrid storm had to have slowed them down I imagine." He replied as he held out his hand to help Nina climb further into the Misty Mountains.

"You don't think any of them got hurt, do you?" Nina frowned as she felt her way through the rocks.

"I certainly hope not." Gandalf answered kindly. Nina sighed.

"That's reassuring."

"Have you decided yet to tell me what you were doing alone in the council room in Rivendell and how you got there?" Gandalf asked suddenly as they walked. Nina gulped nervously; was she supposed to keep it a secret from Gandalf? Galadriel hadn't specified, but it seemed like a secretive kind of thing in Nina's opinion. But then again this was Gandalf, couldn't he be trusted?

"Maybe later, Gandalf. I'm very tired. When are we stopping for the night?" Nina decided to reply, putting off this decision as long as possible. She heard Gandalf sigh in defeat.

"How do you know that it is night, my dear?"

"I'm just really hoping its night so we can stop and rest." Nina grinned.

"I see," Gandalf chuckled. "Well then you are quite fortunate because it is nighttime, though it is very hot, and we shall rest."

"Hallelujah."

The crunch of leaves covering the forest floor were the only sounds to be heard as Madison trekked through the woods behind her house. Her eyes were red and puffy from the endless crying, and her clothes were long past needing to be washed. She couldn't bring herself to care.

"Here it is," She sighed, stopping at the spot that made her stomach churn. There she saw an old treehouse crashed into the ground, and a tree with a small stain of crimson on its trunk where Nina was hit. But there was no sign of the body ever being there. Madison took a deep breath, gaining her confidence.

"I'll find you, Nina Elizabeth. I will find you."

Author's Note:

So for anyone wondering how Nina's family back in Virginia is holding up, that is how. Is Madison going a little crazy from grief or is she on to something...? Hmmmmmm

Also some details of Galadriel's history in Middle Earth (for this story) will be clarified soon, I just thought it would be too much info and not enough action.

Please leave a review, I would like to have at least 3 before I put up the next chapter (cuz I'll be needing motivation from reviews) soooo until next chapter! :)