Chapter 46:

Kili's POV:

I sat up from the battlefield, and I saw the prone form of Freya beside me. I scrabbled sideways desperately, my hand finding her wrist and I felt a pulse. I watched her for a moment as dizzying relief flooded through my body, and I saw her slowly breathing. I almost sobbed with relief - she was here, not Earth, she would be okay.

My hand flew to my stomach, groping for the wound that wasn't there. "Thank you, again," I whispered to the comatose girl next to me.

I stood up fluidly and carried her, "bridal style," she had told me, out of that place. As we passed the line of her destruction as she had fought her way to me, I noticed an Orc with a sword sticking out of its neck. I set Freya down gently, and pulled the sword out with a squelch, wiping the blood off on the ground. I recognised Ripplescale, and I slid it into one of her sheaths.

Not too long after, I found Glitterthorn sticking out of a Warg's back, and I pulled it out with slight difficulty, as it was lodged in the bone. I wiped it off, and put it in her other sheath.

When we got back to the camp, I found my brother, and he looked relieved but terrified. "Is she okay?" he asked desperately.

I opened my mouth to assure him that yes, she was fine, when Gandalf appeared out of nowhere. "No, Master Fili, she is not 'okay.'"

"Yes, she is!" I snapped. "Look at her, she's breathing, she's got a pulse, and she's here! She's not on Earth! You told her a spell would knock her out if she didn't use her gems, and that's what happened."

Gandalf looked sad. "Kili, she was like this for three months not too long ago. She lay quietly in a glen outside of the Shire for three months, twenty-four years of Earth time."

I tunnel-visioned and almost blacked out, but somehow managed to keep myself on my feet. "I see," I said weakly. "What - do we do?"

Gandalf shrugged. "We wait. If all goes well, once she returned to Earth, she will try her hardest to kill herself there to return here."

I swallowed. "I promised her I would wait for her. Gandalf, if she kills herself immediately once she gets there, will she be back here in less than an hour?"

Gandalf shrugged. "The time difference is not set, Kili. She was there for twenty-four years, and three months of this time. Yet this time, she could be there for only an hour and not return for weeks. We will not know until she comes back."

I struggled over to a tent and went inside. It was empty except for a bed, a chair, and a basin of water with a few cloths, which was perfect. I laid Freya on the bed and gently set about cleaning her wounds, dressing them. I carefully washed her off (Fili came to help, at some point) and Gandalf helped by casting a simple little spell that changed her clothes to clean ones instantly.

Then I sat, and I waited.

I watched Freya, just lying there as if sleeping. "I'll wait for you," I whispered. "I'll wait if it takes a thousand years."

I have nothing to add to this.