Well here it is...The Epilogue...keep an eye out for the last actual chapter!
Epilogue – A Return Journey
3024 FA
The dwarf walked through the gloomy library. He was on a mission...he knew what he sought. He sought consoling, privacy and memories...His family were mourning the loss of a family member...his Nana was finally sleeping...she was now resting beside his Granduncle and Mother. Darin felt the tears biting at his eyes, but he wouldn't let them flow. He wanted to hide and bury himself in a book, his only escape. He'd heard his Uncle and Aunt talk of leaving and sailing to the west. His brother's all had families of their own, but he, the youngest, was alone...just like his Father.
"Come on...come on...where are you?"
His eyes scanned the familiar shelves. He'd walked this path many times before, many times when he was younger. The dwarf had not been coming to the library as often as he used to...even less after...after his Mother died. Images of her pale and lifeless form filled his mind. Overwhelming emotion filled him and he leaned against a bookshelf and put his hand over his eyes, allowing the tears to flood and his shoulders to quake.
"Come on Darin, crying won't bring anyone back...it..it won't make the hurt any easier...remember what Mum said!"
Her voice drifted in his mind, deep within his memory, like a silent breeze.
"Now remember whenever you're hurt, lost or alone my dear...crying will only drown the pain. You've got to make the return journey and find yourself a changed person; a better person..."
The blonde gritted his teeth and marched further on into the library. Then he spotted what he sought...tattered on the shelf. Dust collecting on it's pages...the black leather well-worn and ripped around the edges. He could see them now, the memories standing around him, all as he watched the book. A young, happy version of Daisy, a giggly, chipper Anne...and the company...all were there...he could hear the rushing fountains at Rivendell, the cackling of the Goblin King...the boring elf music...Azog's cries...even the old woman; Annie, who'd aided his Mother and Father...the story came alive in his mind.
They couldn't see him...they weren't really there. He could hear their voices...he knew them so well...he'd read the book more than once.
They were singing...just before they had been captured by the trolls...
"Feeling ma way through the darkness..."
"Guided by a beating heart..."
Now he could see them being chased by orcs...
"We're surrounded!"
"KILI! Shoot them!"
He laughed as he saw his Aunt and Uncle's battlefield wedding...
"Do you Fili take Anne to be your wife?"
"I do."
"And Anne...DIES YOU FILTHY CREATURES!"
"Do you take Fili to be your husband?"
"I do!"
"Gandalf?!"
"You may kiss the...TAKE THAT! AND THAT!"
"Gandalf!"
"You may kiss the...OUT OF MY WAY! OH FOR ALL THE VALAR JUST KISS!"
Darin smiled though, through his tears, chuckling weakly. He stretched out his hand and pulled the heavy book from the shelf; the images vanishing as he did so. Carrying it gently, he sat down and leaned against the shelf. A piece of loose paper fluttered...it was the drawing of his mother and aunt when they'd been younger. Darin stroked the paper and then laid it to the side as another page fell out. He chuckled as he reread his Nana's letter.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN FILI GOT MARRIED?! WHO IS THE WOMAN AND KILI GOT ANOTHER PREGNANT! TELL THEM THEY'RE GOING TO BE SMACKED WHEN I SEE THEM!
I mean...Dear My Idiot of a Brother (who let's his nephews get married and woman pregnant)
I am glad to hear that everything was successful on your quest. Besides Kili falling off a cliff, your burglar going missing more than once, you and Fili getting injured, the spiders, orcs, goblins, I have to say I was highly amused by the trolls, oh and you're a large piece of warg dung for letting the gold sickness overcome you!
As for me I am well, not to much has happened in Ered Luin over the past year. More word from you though would've been appreciated. Also I still want to know why you insist on keeping the identity of your female companions secret? It's all very mysterious...
Our caravan will probably have departed by the time you get this letter and even though it will take a couple of months for me to reach you...DON'T THINK THAT I'LL FORGET WHO NEEDS TO BE SLAPPED...I've made a long list!
Now hello to my boys...you're dead when I see you.
He folded it and then opened the large book. There written on the first page was Daisy's scrawly handwriting.
A Return Journey
The Story of Two Slightly Crazy Girls
by Daisy & Anne
Darin flipped the page and began to read the story again...
Introduction
Hi, my name is Daisy, and I'm Anne, we're not from this world. Yeah we're from a world where everything is more advanced...more boring! Thank you Anne for that...anyway we weren't meant for that world, we were meant to live here; in Middle-Earth...and this is our story of how we came home.
…
Well that is it...end of the story...