Kaya jerked out of her nightmare that afternoon. She had closed her eyes for just a moment and she had fallen asleep. In her dream, she had felt the ice cold water of the river Anduin close above her head. She had felt Thorins fist in her hair and he had seen his blue eyes through the water. In the next blink of an eye, the scenery had changed and she was in Erebor, dangling off the edge of one of the various paths leading through the mountain. Thorins fist was on her hair again, but this time not to lead her to saftey. This time it was meant to hurt. His blue eyes bore into her very soul and made her heart freeze. Kayas feet had slowly, but steadily lost contact to the path and she had clawed at Thorins massive lower arm. In her nightmare, Thorin had let her go and Kayas fall had been endless.

The gate opened and the barrels flowed out of the Mirkwood territory. Legolas and Kaya ran down the river alongside of the barrels and tried to shoot and cut as many orcs as possible. Kaya was a good archer, but not by far as good as the elves. She used her sword and her mobility to defend herself. Some orcs jumped into the water to get a grip onto the barrels, but the dwarves were defending themselves fiercely. Bilbo clung to the side of Noris barrel and Kaya tried to protect this one the most, for Nori had to grab the hobbit to keep him safe. Orcs came running by from every direction. Kaya cursed as she saw many elves fall under the blows of some particularly huge orcs. At the edge of a small waterfall, Kaya slipped and fell as she tried to block a blow of a huge and ugly orc. With a cry she dove down the water between the barrels and the cold water felt like a kick in the guts. The stream was pulling her down and the elven armor clung around Kayas body like stone, pulling her down even further. A sharp pain ripped through her body as she felt a fist in her hair. Kaya looked up and saw blue eyes look down at her through the water. The pulling of her hair worsened and finally her head broke through the water. She managed to get a hold onto the barrel and coughed.

'Hold on!' she heard a deep voice growl at her and looked right at Thorin, who was holding on to her hair. As he saw her pained face he let go and grabbed her by her wrists. He took care that the barrel would not smash the woman between itself and the rock and tried to turn the barrel everytime they flowed past the rocks. Behind him, Nori was doing the same for Bilbo. Kaya looked back and saw Legolas stand on a nearby cliff, staring after the escaping dwarves.

'Curse you, woman, you could have died.' Thorin mumbled under his breath and grabbed Kayas wrists even tighter.

'As if you cared.' Kaya managed to cough, but regretted her words immediately as a huge amount of water washed over her head, making her swallow too much of it. She did not look up into Thorins face and did not see the expression of surprise and hurt in his eyes. She could only feel Thorins grip around her wrists soften.

As the river was about to stream into the lake, the water grew calm and the barrels lost their drive. Bilbo and Kaya swam to the shore, while the dwarves followed in the heavy barrels. The hobbit walked onto the shore on shaking legs, but Kaya collapsed on the shore. She was coughing out water and the elven armor wore her down. She tried to get rid of it, but the ride outside of the barrel had weakened her arms and hands. Strong arms reached out for her from behind and made her jump.

'Lose the armor, woman.' Thorin voice sounded at her ear. Kaya relaxed into his touch and let him help her out of the armor.

'Thank you.' Kaya croaked.

'No, I thank you.' Thorin told her quietly.

Thorin, Kili, Bilbo and their mixed company of dwarves and hobbits sat at the royal table at dinner, glancing at their surrounding. The great hall of Minas Tirith was only half the size of the one in Erebor and made of white stone, like the city itself. It was cold and uncomfortable and the dwarves and hobbits missed the warmth of their homes below the surface. After dinner, they walked down to the lower city and entered a cozy pub. Thorin and his company sat down at a table in one of the back corners and ordered a round of ale. Merry and Pippin cheered as they saw the huge mugs and engaged Kili in a drinking contest. It all ended in pure chaos and much to Thorins and Bilbos annoyance, the three youngsters all ended up drunk under the table. In the end they had no other choice but carry them back to their rooms. Thorin threw Kili over his shoulder, Bofur took Merry and Dori Pippin. Dori fussed alot over the young hobbit, since he painfully reminded him of his young brother Ori. Young Ori who had died in Moria.

They were breathing heavily as they reached the top of the city and froze as the queens courtlady rushed towards them. Eowyn scanned the group of dwarves and frowned.

'King Thorin.' she greeted Thorin and bowed. 'I see that you had an...intersting evening...'

'My lady Eowyn, I would prefer to tell you that this is not what it looks like, but...' Thorin shrugged his shoulders with Kili on it.

But Eowyn only chuckled. 'I know Gimli, my lord. I am used to the drinking manners of dwarves. Speaking of Gimli, have you seen him by any chance?'

'No.' Thorin answered in surprise. Gimli was already here? They were supposed to meet in a few days to return to Erebor. 'I did not even know that he was here.'

'He came here a few days early to meet with prince Legolas.' Eowyn informed Thorin and smiled at his frown. Of course she knew that the friendship between the elf prince and the dwarf annoyed the king under the mountain.

Suddenly a few guards passed the group and their loud conversation made Eowyn frown.

'...Gimli and the elven prince just came by. A dwarf, an elf and a woman...only bad jokes start like this.' one of the guards laughed out loud.

Bofur exchanged a look with Thorin. A dwarf, an elf and a woman?

'What is a woman that beautiful doing with those two anyway?' the other guard frowned. 'Do you know her?'

'She is one of the queens courtladys.' the first guard answered. 'Nice lass, very sad, though. I think her name is K...'

'Why don't you bring your nephew to your rooms, king Thorin?' Eowyn asked and diverted Thorins attention. 'Now that I know where he is I am sure that Gimli will be at breakfast tomorrow. Good night, king Thorin, my lords.'

Eowyn smirked as she turned away and walked to her rooms. She only hoped that Kaya could keep Legolas and Gimli out of trouble.

Thorin nodded his goodbye and turned to Bilbo. 'Lad Gimlis choice of friends is...interesting.'

'So is yours.' Bilbo smirked.

'One time that I am out with you two!' Kaya exclaimed and cursed as she tried to lift Gimlis weight on her shoulder. Legolas and Gimli had engaged in another drinking contest and Gimli had passed out. This time Legolas was struggling to stay on his feet, too. The sweet wine of the tavern had affected him more than the ale in Rohan. 'Eowyn told me that dwarves were made of stone. I laughed at first, but I intend to believe her now. I swear to the Valar, if he farts again, I will let him fall.'

Legolas smirked at his friend and tried to walk steadily. 'His room is only a few more paces to the left. No sorry, the other left.'

Kaya growled and cursed in all the languages she knew, making Legolas hiss in surprise. Finally, they had found Gimlis room and Kaya almost kicked the door open. After they had laid Gimli down in his bed, Legolas sat down in the armchair by the window. Kaya sighed as both started to snore. It had been a merry evening, but Kaya had not been able to forget about who had arrived in the city today. She knew that she had to meet him sometime and thought about what to say to him when it happened. With a sigh she closed the door to Gimlis room as she left and walked back to her own chambers. Kaya way not paying attention to her surroundings and bumped into a small person as she walked around the next corner.

'Kaya!' she heard a familiar voice cry out and looked down.

'Bilbo!' Kaya was surprised to see the hobbit in the corridors at this time of night.

'We...I...brought some drunk dwarves and hobbits to bed.' Bilbo explained sheepishly and smiled. 'How...are you? And what are you doing here?'

Kaya had completely forgotten that nobody from Erebor or the Shire had known where she had gone as she had left the Lonely Mountain. They had no idea that she was here.

'I...this is a long story.' Kaya sighed. 'I am one of the queen´s courtladies now.'

'So you are...I see.' Bilbo grinned. 'You were out with Gimli and Legolas? Lady Eowyn was looking for Gimli.'

'She was?' Kaya was surprised, but then she remembered that Eowyn wanted to make sure that Gimli met with his kin in the morning, before the council of kings started. 'I will see to it that Gimli will make it to breakfast tomorrow.'

Kaya turned away to leave, but the small hobbit took her hand. 'Kaya...' he stepped from one large foot to the other. 'Why did you leave?'

'I do not know, Bilbo.' Kaya clenched her jaw. 'Why did you?'

Bilbo let go of her hand and looked to the floor. 'I...my home is not in Erebor.'

'I see.' Kaya turned away from the hobbit. 'Neither is mine.'

She was almost gone around the next corner as she heard Bilbo call out for her.

'And where is your home, Kaya?'

'I saw her.' Thorin jumped as Bilbo stormed into Kilis room.

'Who are you talking about?' Thorin asked and looked at Bilbos wide eyes in surprise. It had been a long time since he had seen the hobbit excited like this.

'Kaya!' Bilbo exclaimed. 'Your Kaya! She is here, in Minas Tirith! She is one of the queen´s courtladies!'

Thorin had to sit down on Kilis bed. Kaya, a courtlady? Here, in Minas Tirith? The king of Erebor shook his head. 'This is not possible, how...why?'

'I have seen her with my own eyes, Thorin.' Bilbo assured his friend and king. 'You should talk to her.'

But Thorin shook his head again. 'She must have known that we are here. She knew that I was here and she did not want to see me. That tells me enough.'

'Thorin...' Bilbo did not understand. 'What happened between you two? You wanted to get married when Erebor was reclaimed! How could you drift apart like this?'

Thorin sighed sadly. 'That, dear burglar, you should understand best.'

Alright, so far so good. Next chapter will be only a retrospect from the quest. I need to tell the story how Thorin and Kaya grew closer and what exactly tore them apart again ^^

And of course, I know that you await their meeting! I am getting there, stay with me, please! :)