The caravan moved slowly. It seemed to be the first of the dwarven caravans moving from the Blue Mountains to Erebor. Heavy carts with all the dwarven posessions rolled over the narrow streets. Only a few dwarf soldiers protected the caravan. Apparently, the victory over the orcs and goblins at the Battle of the Five Armies had rendered the dwarves confident. Too confident.

Gaia frowned deeply as she watched the caravan move. Together with the other Dunedain rangers, she watched over the safety of the roads of the West. After she had fled Erebor, she had seeked refugee with her old comrades and had kept herself busy by hunting orcs. But nothing could distract her from her aching heart. Gaia thought about Thorin every moment of every day and it destroyed her. The former energetic and fun-loving woman had turned into a bitter and heartless warrior, captured in her own sorrow and grief. Of course, her old comrades had wondered where she had been, but she had told them nothing and after a while, nobody asked anymore. Her friends worried about her, but Gaia hid behind her duties as a ranger. Gaia had no family anymore, her mother had died in childbirth and her father had been slain by orcs years ago. The rangers were her only family left, but Gaia seeked solitude. She walked through the forest and patrolled the streets, avoiding people who could ask questions. During the day Gaia tried to divert herself with the hunt for orcs, but at night her dreams tortured her. She dreamt about Thorin and relived the moment when he had looked at her with nothing but hatred in his beautiful blue eyes over and over again. Then she dreamt about the moment when she realised that the hobbit had been more important than her. Sometimes Gaia felt incredibly childish and unreasonable about her feelings. How could she judge Thorin for what he felt for the hobbit? Bilbo had saved his life and he had been a loyal companion. But then Gaia remembered that Thorin had asked for the hobbit on his deathbed, but not for her, the woman he claimed to love. Their love had been a lie. If he had loved her he would not have cast her out, he would not have banished her and he would have called for her instead of Bilbo. The deep hurt and the disappointment were louder than reason.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Gaia focused on the caravan. A few hundred dwarves were heading back to their home, to Erebor. But the high number of dwarves in their caravan endangered them, the few soldiers would not be able to protect them all in an attack.

'We should follow them until they have passed the Misty Mountains.' one of the other rangers kneeled down beside Gaia in the shadows of the forest. 'Afterwards they are in reach of the Mirkwood realm.'

'Thranduil will never come to their aid.' Gaia remembered the hatred between the elves of Mirkwood and the dwarves. 'He would let them fall under the blades of the orc filth and watch.'

'We can't protect them until they reach the mountain.' the other ranger shook his head. 'We are too few.'

'But we can try.' Gaia was bitter, but she would never let dwarves die because of her feelings for only one. Feelings she tried to banish, just like he had banished her.

'Come back with me.' Thorin sat on the bench in front of Bag End at sunrise and shared a pipe with Bilbo. 'Come back with me, as my advisor.'

Bilbo looked at Thorin in surprise. 'Leave Bag End? The Shire? Again?'

'I know that this is your home.' Thorin took a deep breath before he continued speaking. 'But you do not feel at home here. Not anymore. I can see it in your eyes.'

Bilbo stared at his feet and laughed silently. 'You know me too well. Things have been different after I returned. Gandalf was right, I am not the same hobbit who left the Shire.'

'I am sorry.' Thorin looked at his friend in sorrow.

'What for?' Bilbo leaned back on the bench. 'It was my own decision to follow you. And is was worth it.'

They sat together silently for a while. The next day Bilbo left Bag End again, this time to maybe never come back.

The small group of dwarves and the hobbit reached Bree at the evening of their first day on the road. They stayed at the Prancing Pony for the night. Bilbo noticed that Thorin was more silent than usual and even more grumpy. He knew now, that this mood swing meant that something bothered the king. He followed Thorins gaze to a small table for two in the middle of the Inn.

'Gaia and I met at that table for the first time.' Thorin told the hobbit.

Bilbo nodded and laid his hand on the kings arm. 'The memory pains you...'

'Yes.' Thorin closed his eyes. 'It reminds me of what I have lost. But this memory is all I have left of her.'

Thorin had entered the Prancing Pony on a rainy evening. Soaking wet he sat down by the fire at a small table and asked for someting to eat and an ale. The young barmaid hurried away through the mass of people, some drunk, some on their best way to get drunk. As she came back with his food and a pint of ale Thorin thanked her with a faint smile and dug into his food. He was hungry, for he had not eaten a good meal while on the road. He took a bite of the still warm bread, but his appetite faded as soon as he had swallowed. He felt two pairs of eyes burning into him, one from the right and one from the left. He saw two men sitting in the corners of the Inn, staring at him with a murderous expression. Thorin took a deep breath and grabbed for his sword which he always had in reach. One of the men stood up and headed towards him, but suddenly a movement in front of Thorin caught his attention. At first he thought that he might have to face a third aggressor, but when he looked upon the face of the woman who sat down at his table, he froze.

'Mind if I join you?' the woman asked him with a smirk and sat down without waiting for the answer. She ordered some food herself while Thorin looked at her in astonishment. She was clad into mens clothes, dark trousers, dark tunics and a leather armor. A sword was hanging at her side and a bow was strapped to her back. Her long hair hung from her shoulder in a single thick braid. Shining brown eyes looked at him from a face with high cheekbones, a snub nose and sensual lips.

One of the men who had stood up to charge at Thorin sat back down again with an insecure expression. He eyed the woman suspiciously and decided to stay put. Thorin let out a deep sigh of relief, for he had not wanted to cause a fight inside of the Inn. He had not been afraid of the man, he could have handled him easily. He had not said a word yet and the woman looked at the dwarf prince with an amused expression.

'How impolite of me, I apologize. My name is Gaia, I am a ranger of the Dunedain.' the woman smiled at Thorin as she introduced herself. 'You are Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror?'

Thorin frowned at the woman, Gaia. 'How do you know who I am?'

'There are only a few dwarves in this region and it is my duty to know who travels down the roads of this lands.' the female ranger tilted her head at the dwarf. 'It is easy to track you. But you should be more careful. I ran into a few ill mannered bandits on my way here, they thought I was a defenseless girl...'

'I imagine they regretted that.' Thorin recognised a warrior when he saw one and that woman in front of him was not defenseless. Neither was she a mere girl. Thorin tried not to look at Gaia to obviously interested. She already fascinated him and he could barely look away from her beautiful eyes. But he would not let himself be ensnared by a woman from the race of men, that he told himself in that moment. He did not know her one bit and his sudden interest in her irritated himself.

Gaia smirked at his remark and handed him a leather pergament over the table. 'They had this in their posession. It is dark speech. A payment is offered...for your head.'

The cold tone of her voice made Thorin pull back his hand with which he had reached for the pergament. Was she here to kill him? The dwarf prince stiffened, but he then realised that the female ranger looked at him with nothing but a worried frown.

'And why is this of your interest?' Thorin asked more coldly than he wanted to.

Gaia only smiled at him. 'You are the heir to the throne of Erebor. And I am a ranger, my duty lies in protecting the honorable folk who wander these lands.'

'I do not need any protection.' Thorin grumbled.

'Is that so?' Gaia smiled at him. 'Your pride will be your downfall, prince Thorin. You will remember my words some day.'

And Thorin did remember her words today. Shortly afterwards Gaia had left the table without a word and had nodded at Gandalf who had sat down at Thorins table next. Gaia had walked out of the Inn, but not before glancing at the two headhunters menacingly. Thorin had seen her again the next day, as he set out for the South together with Gandalf. He did not ask why she accompanied them, for deep in his heart he was glad that she was with them, with him.

Bilbos heart almost tore apart as he saw the look on Thorins face. Slowly his hand moved over Thorins for comfort and he smiled as the dwarf king squeezed it slightly before he pulled away.

Gaia knew that something was wrong as soon as she emerged from the shadows with the other rangers. They had planned to follow the caravan to the Misty Mountains as their scouts returned and brought bad news. Orcs had been spotted on the road ahead and the dwarves were to run into a trap at a narrow passage of the road. Cursing under her breath Gaia covered her face and hid her female features under a cloak. They had to warn the dwarves.

The soldiers walking in the middle of caravan jumped as the rangers ran out of the shadows of the nearby forest and drew their weapons.

'Save your breath for the orcs!' Madril, the head of the group of ranger called out to them and held his hands up to show the dwarves that they meant no harm. Madril was from Gondor, he was a tall and authoritian and the dwarves lowered their weapons the second they heard his voice boom over to them.

'Who are you? What is the purpose of this?' one of the dwarves turned towards the ranger and eyed the men suspiciously.

'You are walking into a trap. There are orcs on the Eastern road, only a few miles ahead.' Madril warned the dwarves. 'They match you in number and force and you have women and children with you.'

The dwarf women who heard the rangers warning cried out in fear and pulled their children close. The soldiers protecting the caravan tried to stay calm, but Gaia could see the fear in their eyes. There was nowhere to go for the dwarves, the Eastern road would lead them straight home. There was another road leading north, but it was too narrow for the carts and it would take them several days if not weeks more to reach their destination.

'What is going on here? Why have you stopped us?' a deep but female voice cut through the tension. Gaia turned to see a tall female dwarf walk up to them from the end of the caravan. Her breath got stuck in her throat as she looked at the dwarf. Long raven black curls fell down her shoulders and bright blue eyes bore into the eyes of the rangers. Gaia felt her stomach clench painfully and she could not breath. This dwarf looked like Thorin. She was Dis, Filis and Kilis mother. Thorins nephews had told Gaia so much about her that Gaia felt as if she already knew her. Kili had promised his mother that he would live through the quest to return to her and he had kept true to that promise, with a little help from Tauriel. Gaia promised herself that day that she would safely guide Dis back to her sons...and her brother.