Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to those newly joining us! A special thanks to Hermione Granger – I'm glad you're enjoying it and there will be some reunion in this chapter ;)

There is a little elvish in this chapter, translate below:

Hîr vuin – my Lord

Mellon/mellonamin – Friend/friend of mine

Ed' i'ear ar' elenea – by the sea and stars

This chapter is named after a beautiful song by Within Temptation called "Somewhere" that was actually one of my name inspirations for this fic! The lyrics are awesome (I'll post them at the bottom of the chapter in case anyone's interested)

So please, sit back and relax, read, enjoy and review

Chapter Ninety Three # Somewhere #

Thranduil strode through the halls of the Woodland Realm, making his way towards the entrance. Ever since they had received word from the dwarves that orc packs were attacking travellers Thranduil had extended patrols to outside of his own borders. It was the first time in centuries. It would not do to have the filthy creatures prowling near their lands – the orcs had attacked dwarven convoys and there was no evidence that they would not do the same to elven travellers. It was a chance Thranduil was unwilling to take.

What was more, Legolas was right – isolationism would not protect them forever, and having strong alliances with their neighbours would serve them well in the future. Despite what he would have the world believe, the Elvenking had been devastated upon hearing about the lives lost – in particular the lives of the slaughtered children. The loss of a child was always a tragedy – even a dwarf child.

However, none of that meant that Thranduil was happy with his son gallivanting off to join an orc hunt. He had perfect trust in Legolas' abilities, of course – his son was incredible at all he did – but he had had perfect trust in his father's abilities too, and in his wife's. In this world skill was not a guarantee of survival.

He could hear his son's voice and a faint smile spread across his face. Legolas was laughing – he was indeed back, and he was safe.

Then Thranduil turned around the corner and stopped in his tracks. Shock flooded through his entire body, dropping his mouth open and widening his eyes.

Legolas was striding straight through the entrance hall with a halfling child perched on his shoulders, looking around with wide eyes. There was a young man beside him, and in between them a dwarfling barely entering adolescence. Both Legolas and the son of man had their hands wrapped around the dwarf's wrists, and as the stunned king watched the dwarf was swung through the air, protesting adamantly.

A string of giggles tumbled from the little halfling, drawing Thranduil's eye. The child was the smallest toddler the Elvenking had ever seen, and in truth he was rather adorable. However, he did not hold the elf's attention for long.

Not when his son was holding hands with a dwarf.

"Legolas," he said, pulling his facial features back into their usual smirk. "Welcome home."

"Hîr vuin," Legolas greeted, a somewhat sheepish smile spreading across his face. He released the dwarf, but then put his hand on the red-head's shoulder. "May I introduce to you Gimli, son of Glóin, Estel, ward of Lord Elrond of Rivendell and Peregrin Took. Gimli, Estel, Pippin – this is my father. Lord Thranduil, the Elvenking."

Thranduil inclined his head. "Welcome. Tell me, where do these fine youths come from?"

The dwarf – Gimli – narrowed his eyes as if searching for the insult behind Thranduil's words, but Estel stomped on the dwarf's foot.

"I trust you received word from Tauriel?" Legolas frowned slightly.

"Indeed. These are the lost children then?"

Legolas nodded. "I would see them fed and housed before I give you a full report?"

"Of course," Thranduil met his son's eyes purposefully. "But I will expect a full report."

"Of course," Legolas bowed deeply, turning to his companions. "This way."

"By Mahal," Gimli grumbled as they left the Elvenking behind. "Is he always like that?"

"Gimli!" Estel protested. "He can probably still hear you!"

The dwarf snorted. "So? Snobbish, pompous, condescending-"

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Gimli, that was my father."

"He has nice hair," Pippin commented. "But his eyebrows just don't match."

Estel could contain his laughter for only a second, and Gimli for less time than that. Legolas simply shook his head. However, the toddler was not done. Concentration etched into his face, he clambered to his feet, hung over the elf's head, and peered down into Legolas' face.

"Ai!" the elf cried in surprise, grabbing onto Pippin's arms before he could fall.

"Your eyebrows don't match either!" the hobbit gasped. "They're very dark!"

Estel laughed even harder as Legolas pulled Pippin off of his shoulders and held him upside down before his face.

"Is this a problem, Master Pippin?" the elf drawled, wiggling said eyebrows.

Pippin giggled. "No!"

"Good," Legolas replied with a wry smile, lowering Pippin carefully to the floor.

The little hobbit stared up for a moment and then smiled, scampering over to slip his hand into Gimli's. Then he turned his wide green eyes back to Legolas.

"I can' reach your hand from down here. That's why I have to hold Gimli's."

The dwarf's mouth dropped open. "I'm second choice to an elf!?"

Pippin shrugged, unperturbed. "His shoulders are more comfy."

Estel snorted with laughter once more. "Face it, my dear Gimli. For a small child there are no shoulders so comfortable of as that of an elf. I'm afraid I speak from experience – we have no chance."

Gimli scowled down at Pippin. "Ungrateful midget."

Pippin's eyes flew open, wide and wounded. "But… but I love you too, Gimli!"

The dwarf's glare soon melted into a grin. "I know. I'm just messing with you."

"Oh," Pippin nodded. "Nelly does that all the time. Where is Nelly – is she here yet?"

"No, we are the first to arrive," said Legolas. "But she will be here soon."

"How soon?" the hobbit frowned.

"Within a few days, I would guess."

The toddler sighed. "That's so long!"

"Don't worry, Pippin," Gimli said. "We'll be able to terrorise the elves in the meantime."

Legolas raised his eyebrows. "Did your mother never tell you not to bite the hand that feeds you?"

Gimli nodded. "Aye, but no one's fed us yet."

"Then it is just as well that we are on our way to the kitchen then, isn't it?"

"Possibly – will there be any meat?"

Estel simply grinned and shook his head.

A lot could change in three days. The initial meeting between Legolas and Gimli had had the young man bracing himself for some awkward days to come, but by the time three days had passed they had reached the gates of Erebor and formed bonds of friendship that were surprisingly fierce.

Yes, much could change in three days.

Within two hours they had all eaten ("What, no meat?" "Shut up and eat your salad, Gimli.") bathed ("Oh Mahal's balls, where's Pippin?" "He was here a second ago, has he fallen in?" "He'll drown, oh Fíli will kill us!" "I don' wanna bath – can't catch meee!") and been shown to some beautiful rooms.

"I must leave you here for now," Legolas said. "I must speak to my father. If you need anything, there will be a servant by your door. You are guests here and you are welcome, but I would recommend that you stay in or around your rooms for now – the Woodland Realm is large and confusing for those who do not know their way, and I would not want you to get lost."

"Thank you," Estel smiled wryly.

Legolas bowed his head. "It is my pleasure. I'll be back soon."

As the elf left, Estel turned to Gimli. "You know, elven attire actually quite suits you."

The dwarf glared. "I can't believe I let you talk me into letting them take my clothes!"

"They will give them back!" Estel laughed. "They could do with a wash, you must admit that."

"Of course," Gimli plucked at the cream tunic he was wearing. "But I look ridiculous!"

"No!" Pippin shook his head fiercely. "You look pretty!"

"Pretty?" Gimli choked.

Estel snorted with laughter.

"Yes, very pretty," Pippin insisted. "Or… how do you call it? Hand-y-some."

"Handsome, that's the right word," Estel nodded.

Pippin yawned. "Um, I think… I think that Mama would be happier if I had a nap now."

Estel and Gimli grinned at each other.

"Of course," Estel nodded sincerely. "We wouldn't want to upset your mother, would we?"

"No," Pippin said. "But I can' reach the bed. It's too big."

"I'll help you," Gimli smiled, leading the hobbit out of the room and leaving Estel alone in the room.

The young man sighed softly and began to run his fingers over the intricately carved wooden windowsill. These rooms were not as light and airy, nor quite as beautiful as his rooms in Rivendell, but Estel was far from dissatisfied. The elven architecture made him feel like home.

It also dripped oil into the fire of worry burning in his heart for Glorfindel and the twins.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw their bodies in some horrible, mangled position or the other, or he saw them being tortured, and he could hear them screaming –

He dug his fingernails into his palms and closed his eyes on the world, and then Estel dropped to his knees and prayed.


A pained hiss left Dwalin's mouth as he eased himself down onto the sofa. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself against the pain, the dwarf picked up his leg and placed it onto the waiting footstool as his crutches fell to the floor with a clang.

"Careful with those! Óin would have a fit if he saw you drop them like that."

Dwalin raised his eyebrows and glared at Elza, though there was no real animosity in his gaze. "And just why would you be more concerned with my cousin's opinion than mine?"

"Ah, well," she sighed, strolling towards him with a playful smile. "I'm thinking of running off with him. He is rather charming."

"Aye, if you like deaf, irritable, irritating healers, of course." Dwalin nodded gravely.

Elza laughed softly, sinking down onto the other side of the sofa. "Did you know that this is called an s-shaped loveseat? Rather romantic, huh?"

Dwalin rolled his eyes. "Next you're going to tell me this stool beneath my leg is called a love-stool."

"A pouffe, actually."

"Pouffe? What sort of a word is that?"

She shrugged. "Ask Ori."

"How do you know so much about furniture's fancy names anyway?"

"I used to be a maid," she reminded him. "Or rather a maid's maid. Old Tonna would sit there, on the bed and watch as I cleaned and dusted and polished until Lady Sofie's rooms shone and sparkled as if the wood was made of diamonds."

"That sounds so very difficult." Dwalin drawled.

It was Elza's turn to raise her eyebrows. "I'd like to see you try it."

"With this leg?"

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes. "If you can chase a dwarfling around the company room for half an hour you can clean a suite of rooms."

"It wasn't half an hour, more like ten minutes, and by Mahal am I regretting it. My leg feels like it fell in the forges," Dwalin's frown softened and he smiled at her. "Thank you, for today."

She smiled back. "Anytime. I enjoyed it."

"I know it's not the way you were hoping of spending your birthday-"

"No, no, don't be ridiculous!" Elza shook her head. "Really, I was happy to help."

Dwalin smiled slightly. At Dori's request, he and Elza had spent their day entertaining Ari and Aria while Austen and Auden helped the fussy old wine merchant set up his wine and tea shop. Dori had taken Thorin's task very seriously; guarding and caring for Orvar and Elin's children from dawn to dusk, and sometimes overnight, too. Watching Elza play with the youngest members of his late friends' family had made Dwalin wonder if maybe, just maybe, they might one day have children of their own.

"Elza, I have a confession to make?"

"A confession?"

"Aye… I spoke to Dastan yesterday."

Her clever eyes narrowed. "And that is a confession because…?"

"I asked him a question."

"What question?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper because she was smart, she knew where this was going and Dwalin pulled the silk purse he had purchased the day before.

"Elza, will you-"

Knock, knock, knock.

Dwalin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You've got to be joking…"

Elza pressed her hands against her mouth but a giggle escaped anyway.

"If we pretend there's no one there-"

Another sharp knock interrupted the warrior's whisper. "Dwalin! Dwalin, are you in there?"

Clenching his teeth, Dwalin was about to roar for his brother to go away and mind his damn business for five minutes when Elza leant forward and kissed him. Then she called out.

"We are here, Balin, do come in!"

"Traitor," Dwalin huffed, his face glowing as his plans crashed around his ears.

She smiled as the door opened, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "It sounds important. You ask me that question tomorrow – I've got a feeling I'll say yes."

"Dwalin," Balin hurried over, and the look on his face sent shivers down the younger brother's spine. "We have received news from Mirkwood."

"News, what news?" Dwalin frowned, shifting into a more upright positon. "Brother, what's wrong?"

Balin pursed his lips.

Elza began to stand up. "Should I-"

"No, no, Miss Elza, stay," Balin insisted, clearing his throat and taking a deep breath. "But you should know what I am about to say is not public knowledge."

"Of course."

"As you both know, Dís and Fíli and some companions are all heading back to Erebor. It seems they have joined with Dana and Marta, their children and a few others Dwalin, they were attacked on the road."

Dwalin could feel the colour draining from his face. "Attacked?"

"In the dead of night," Balin nodded worriedly. "Four of their party vanished, without a trace. The elf that came did not know all their names, but he knew that Fíli and Gimli were among the four taken."

"Oh, Mahal, no…" Dwalin shook his head slowly.

"Tauriel and her kin have sent out search parties and they are coordinating with Dís and the others, but that is all the messenger knew."

Dwalin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Kíli, Bilbo… were they with them?"

"The messenger did not know, he did not even see the group, but given that they weren't mentioned I would wager that they weren't there."

"They stayed in the Shire…" Dwalin murmured. "Well, at least they won't go through this hell. We have to find them; we have to get them all back here safely! And ideally let's do it before Kíli finds out this ever happened."

"Is there anything we can do?" Elza stood up.

"Not at this point," Balin shook his head mournfully. "Even Thorin agreed it makes tactical sense to stay in the mountain – but he's not happy."

"First Kíli, then Fíli…" Dwalin muttered. "When will this end?"

Balin took a deep breath, and for the first time Dwalin noticed the tears in his brother's eyes.

"Nadadith, I don't think it ever will."


Sitting on his own in the dark wagon, Merry hugged his knees to his chest. The elves had led them through Mirkwood for a whole week, and now that the Woodland Realm was close by the others had all gone outside to ride the ponies so that they could see the gates as they approached.

Merry could not care less about the gates, no matter how pretty they happened to be.

It had been a week.

A whole week without Uncle Paladin and Fíli and Gimli.

A whole week without his Pippin.

For six years Merry had had a little shadow everywhere he went – a little shadow that made everything seem very lighter and happier. And now his little shadow was gone and the world had never been so dark. Merry's parents had no other children but Merry had never been lacking siblings. Pearl, Nelly and Vinca were his sisters and Pippin was his brother.

His baby brother. He was gone

Merry was not stupid. He knew that the chances of finding them alive were very, very, slim, especially if orcs were involved, and he was all out of hope.

A ray of light shone on his face as the door creaked open, but it was soon blocked out by the shadow Kíli cast as he stumbled over to Merry, sitting down beside the little hobbit.

"So, what're you doing in here?" Kíli said.

"Nothing…" muttered Merry.

"Can I do nothing with you?"

"I s'pose."

For a while there was silence, and then Merry had to ask. "Kíli… Kíli do you think we're going to get them back?"

Kíli pursed his lips and sighed. "I don't know. I hope so."

"Pippin's just so… so small!"

"I know," Kíli whispered, pulling Merry onto his lap. "I know."

Merry took a deep breath and leant back into Kíli's embrace, and they sat in silence until the wagon finally ground to a halt. Saradoc opened the door and smiled at them both, but it was not his usual smile. It was the smile he had smiled before Kíli came home.

"Come on, Merry. We're here, and they're going to take the wagons another way so they can look after the horses."

Merry sighed and shuffled to the edge of the wagon and onto the floor. He held onto Kíli's hand as they walked into the elven city, but he could not feel the admiration and awe he usually would. The two of them trailed at the end of the group.

They had always been close, but now they were drawn closer by fear and grief and neither of them had any hope to spare, so when they were greeted by a group of elves neither Merry nor Kíli were really listening.

Then Merry heard Auntie Ellie gasp and cry and he squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he shrugged the hand off. Whoever it was, he did not want to know.

Then two tiny hands wrapped around his wrists and tugged them away from Merry's ears and a little voice he was so sure he would never hear again sang out to him.

"Peekaboo, Merry!"

Merry's eyes flew open. Standing in front of him with a huge grin and even huger elvish clothes was his little lost shadow.

"Pippin!" he gasped, before crying out and pouncing on his cousin, hugging Pippin to him fiercely. The toddler's arms locked around Merry and his face nestled into the older boy's chest. "Pippin, Pippin, Pippin!"

Within moments Auntie Ellie was there, but instead of separating the boys she threw her arms around both of them, drawing them close to her. One of Pippin's arms moved away from Merry to wrap around his mother's neck and Merry was so glad to be wrapped up what was quite possibly the best hug he had ever had in his life.

Disbelief and happiness flooded the little boy's body and Merry's knees buckled. It felt like his heart was growing bigger and bigger in his chest, making it harder and harder for him to breathe, and he had never felt such intense relief and overpowering joy in his whole life.

"Merry, Merry get off he's my brother first!" Nelly's irritated voice accompanied strong hands prying at Merry's arms. "Pippin, are you alright?"

"Nelly!" Pippin squeaked, patting Merry's head before flying into his sister's arms, only to be mobbed by Vinca and Pearl too.

Wiping his tears off of his face, Merry sniffed and looked around. Dana and Dís were both hugging Gimli fiercely, who for once did not seem to have any issue with being treated like a child. Over by the elves before them was Estel, standing rather awkwardly until Bilbo strode forward and took his hand, speaking to him with a soft smile. Kíli was smiling too when he picked Merry up and held him close, but there was a pain behind his eyes as he searched the hall desperately.

Then Merry swallowed and looked up at his Aunt. "Where's Uncle Paladin? Where's Fíli?"

"They were separated," Ellie said in a shaky voice, standing up and lifting Pippin out of Pearl's grasp and onto her hip. "And they do not know where Paladin or Fíli could be."

"They told us we had to run," Pippin sniffed, dragging his hand across his nose. "That we had to get away."

"It was Glorfindel," Gimli said in a loud, strong voice. "One of Estel's elven friends. He started to sing, Ellie-roe-hir told them it was a prayer and they believed him. He was actually giving Estel a plan – it was really clever. Without him we'd probably still be there…"

"Estel put the nasty knife into the mean dwarf's tummy," Pippin explained. "And then we were running very fast, very, very fast and even when I fell asleep Estel and Gimli kept running and we found a secret way into the woods and then we were sleepy and thirsty for a very long time and then Lego-elf found us."

"Lego-elf?" Kíli frowned.

Estel smiled wryly. "Apparently 'Legolas' is a bit of a mouthful for a toddler."

"Well, our Lego-elf was nice, very nice, but at first Gimli was very bad because he didn' trust Lego-elf and they were mean to each other but then they became friends and we came here and they made me have a bath and we had some nice food and then now you came here!" Pippin finished.

"That sounds like quite an eventful week," Ellie murmured, stroking her son's hair.

"It was," Pippin sighed happily. "Are Papa and Fíli with you?"

Silence fell, and after a few moments Esme cleared her throat.

"Sweetheart, we haven't seen either of them since you all disappeared. We don't know where they are."

Pippin's face fell.

"How were they?" Kíli asked in a hoarse voice. "When you last saw them, how were they?"

Pippin's lip began to wobble and his eyes filled with tears and then he whined, hiding his face in his mother's blouse.

"What is it?" Kíli demanded, fear ringing from his tone. "What happened-"

"When we were separated Elladan was missing," Estel spoke in a soft voice, but it was loud enough to reach every ear. "Paladin was relatively unharmed. Fíli… They… they made us… we…"

"He's alive," Gimli rasped. "He was alive and well enough to scream at us to run."

"But?" Kíli cried, and Pippin began to sob. "What did you do?"

"Kíli!" Bilbo's voice was sharp as a knife, and it cut off his son's fraught roar. "That is enough."

Merry looked up at Kíli's face, and for the first time in his whole life, he was a little bit scared of his dwarf. There was so much pain in Kíli's eyes that it looked like they were burning – he looked like he was ready to drive his sword through anyone's body. And he was shaking, shaking so much and there were tears in his eyes and Merry just wanted to get down and run to his Papa, but something stopped him.

"Kíli," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the dwarf and hugging him tightly. "It's going to be alright, Kíli. Fíli's going to be fine."

For a moment Kíli clenched his jaw and Merry was afraid that he had made things worse, but then Kíli closed his eyes and pressed his face into Merry's shoulder. The hobbit stroked the dwarf's hair gently, humming under his breath.

"It's alright," he murmured. "It's alright, Kíli, it's going to be fine. We're going to be fine. Fíli's going to be fine. We're going to be alright."

It was always scary to hear grown-ups cry, but by the time Kíli was sobbing into Merry's shirt the hobbit was no longer afraid. He was just sad. Very sad.

And Merry was not sure that such a sadness could ever be healed.


"At last!" Glorfindel breathed as his eyes fell upon the gates to the Woodland Realm. He was weary of heart and mind, and wanted to know what his kin in the Woodland Realm knew.

He wanted to know if the bloodied tracks of the orcs that pursued Estel led to the corpses of the three youngest captives, or if by some miracle they had outrun their hunters.

Their pace quickened and Glorfindel glanced at their dwarven companions. Alfr was standing behind the two prisoners, jabbing them with swords whenever they slowed down. If Glorfindel was not very much mistaken, sometimes the furious young dwarf would stab at his treacherous kinsmen just because he felt like it.

Soren, on the other hand, stayed as far away from the prisoners as possible. Since the revelation that his cousin had betrayed his king, Soren had been very quiet, but Glorfindel believed that the young dwarf was doing well.

The gates opened for them and Glorfindel strode through. A familiar face met him at the door.

"Legolas," he greeted the young prince with a drained smile.

"Glorfindel," Legolas replied, his own smile much brighter than the older elf's. "It is good to see you, mellon."

"You too, mellonamin. They tell me you followed the trail of the young ones-"

Legolas opened his mouth to interrupt, but a yell from the other end of the hall intervened before Mirkwood's young prince could.

"Glorfindel! Elladan, Elrohir!"

Glorfindel's heart leapt and he turned, relief flooding through his every vein. "Estel!"

The boy raced across the hall, propelling himself into the air the way that he used to when he was just a child. Laughing in joy and relief, Glorfindel also reverted to the way he was in those more carefree times, grabbing Estel into his arms and hugging him fiercely. The elf did not care that the young man was almost fully grown – he lifted him up into the air as if he was still that little boy who would come running the moment Glorfindel returned to Rivendell, even if he had only been gone half an hour.

"You're alright," Estel whispered. "Ed' i'ear ar' elenea, you're alive!"

"As are you," Glorfindel replied, stroking the boy's hair. "I'm so glad to see you. So glad…"

"You too!" Estel choked, and then his hand shot out over Glorfindel's shoulder. "Elladan! Elladan, Elrohir! You're alive, you're alive."

"Glorfindel," Elladan's voice sounded happy and teasing to everyone but Glorfindel knew that Elrond's son was close to choking up himself. "Don't hog the little troublemaker, he's ours too!"

"Of course," Glorfindel took a deep breath and released Estel, watching him tumble into the arms of the twins.

He smiled so widely that his cheeks hurt as Estel's arms wrapped around each of Elrond's sons. He had never seen the twins looking so thankful, so happy, except perhaps when they rescued their mother - until they realised how wounded she was. Until they realised that while the orcs had not killed her, they had chased her soul from Middle Earth forever.

Glorfindel felt his smile slip a little, and he prayed that there would not be so horrific a bubble to burst this time.

But the bubble did burst.

It burst the next day, with the entrance of the rest of Legolas' search party. Glorfindel was there when they arrived and reported back to their prince and captain.

"We followed the trail of the orcs down the Old Forest Road. We found the orcs' corpses in a spiders' hoard, wrapped up in webs and ready to be eaten. We also found blood – hobbit blood and dwarf blood. And we found this."

Glorfindel watched Legolas take an envelope from the other elves, and he saw the bloodied braid hanging out of the paper.

And he was in the room when they told Kíli.

He could count on one hand the number of times he had heard such a noise before.

It was so much more than a scream – it was gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, and Glorfindel could not fully describe it if he wanted to. It was almost a full minute before mangled words began to join the wordless cries.

"No, no, Fíli! Fíli, Paladin, Paladin oh Mahal no, no! My brothers, my brothers!"

After a few painful moments another voice joined the wail – the voice of Dís, the mother.

"They are noisy when they mourn."

Glorfindel looked to Thranduil in shocked disgust. He knew that the Elvenking was not fond of dwarves, but to mock them in such a way –

"We should give them some privacy," Thranduil continued, and Glorfindel could see the sympathy hidden in those icy eyes. "And whatever comforts we can offer."

Glorfindel sighed sadly. "Yes. We should."


He had never in his life been in so much pain.

Hitched, rattling breaths drew from his lungs as he stumbled step after laboured step down a road he was staining with his own blood. The weight on his back seemed to grow heavier after every second.

Paladin tried to breathe in deeply but it felt as though his lungs would only inflate halfway. The food had all gone. The water was spent. Even the orc draught was gone. For the last day and a half he had consumed nothing but stale air.

It had been two days since Fíli last woke up.

It felt as though he had been walking forever, but the hobbit was not really sure how long it had been. Realistically, Paladin knew that he only had a couple of hours left in him before he collapsed for the last time. He could only carry a full grown dwarf on his back for so long.

He was beginning to realise that he would probably never see his children again.

He wondered if Pearl would grow up to be a dancer. He wondered if Nelly would manage to stay out of jail. He wondered if Vinca would ever come out of her impenetrable shell. He wondered if Pippin would remember his Papa by the time he came of age.

He wondered if Ellie would ever remarry.

It seared his heart to think of her growing old with someone else, to think of another man raising his children, becoming their father.

Paladin's feet fumbled beneath him and he barely had the strength to put out his arms and stop his fall. What little air was left in his lungs sent the dust by his face flying into the air, and when he tried to regain his breath his head began to spin. Fíli's limp body slid off of Paladin and the hobbit moaned softly.

I'm sorry, he thought. I'm sorry I failed you, Fíli. I'm sorry all of you, I'm so sorry…

And then the lights all faded.

Hooves, hooves, there were hooves against the floor and he was flying through the air like a leaf on the wind but he was heavy and he was bobbing up and down like a cork in a river and then there was a clamour of noise like a symphony muffled by something, something soft and gentle and warm.

Papa…

There was singing and lights dancing around like –

Papa…

He could smell it, so sweet, so beautiful in the air, the scent that Ellie used, the way she washed her hair and her voice was there so soft and soft and he loved her –

Papa…

It all faded away, and peace carried him off into a gentle sleep.

And there I will leave you for today. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, I will update as soon as I can!

Thank you so much for reading!

The lyrics to Within Temptation's Somewhere are as follows:

Lost in the darkness
Hoping for a sign
Instead there's only silence
Can't you hear my screams?

Never stop hoping
Need to know where you are
But one thing's for sure
You're always in my heart

I'll find you somewhere
I'll keep on trying
Until my dying day
I just need to know
Whatever has happened
The truth will free my soul

Lost in the darkness
Tried to find your way home
I want to embrace you
And never let you go

Almost hope you're in heaven
So no one can hurt your soul
Living in agony
Cause I just do not know
Where you are

I'll find you somewhere
I'll keep on trying
Until my dying day
I just need to know
Whatever has happened
The truth will free my soul

Wherever you are
I won't stop searching
Whatever it takes, need to know

I'll find you somewhere
I'll keep on trying
Until my dying day
I just need to know
Whatever has happened
The truth will free my soul