Date: TA 2941

Thorin: 195 years old

Lina: 192 years old

Lina found Fili lounging on a sun-warmed rock. His blonde hair lay, unbraided as it dried, splayed out across the surface of the rock. A smile lit his face as he saw his aunt approaching, and he sat up.

"We were a bit worried something had eaten you, Aunt. But Nes assured us that you and Uncle Thorin were simply speaking privately," he teased, giving her a knowing wink. His voice was low so only she could hear it. Heat crept up her neck.

"Be careful what you say, youngling. Your uncle is not as forgiving as I," Lina retorted good-naturedly. She gave him a light cuff upside his head. Fili just grinned. Kili, who had been listening quietly, bit back a laugh.

"This is for you, Fili." Lina held out the letter from Kitta.

"For me?" Fili swung his legs around and pushed himself up from the rock. His brow was knit with confusion as he examined the letter. A slow smile grew on his face as he read the first lines. He backed away until he was resting against the rock once more. The contents of the letter were devoured hungrily. Lina felt almost sad at the disappointment on his face as he read the last lines and found there was nothing further.

"You can always write back to her," Lina suggested. Her suggestion brightened his face. In an instant he had bounded over to Ori, the only on in the group to have pen and paper. Baffled, Ori handed Fili some paper and a quill and ink. Lina just watched with a smile as Fili quickly got to work formulating a reply to his sweetheart. She would need to key the bird to Fili before she left the company to meet Kira. Then, at least, the letters would get to her nephew faster.

A gentle hand on her waist brought her attention back to her immediate surroundings. Thorin stood quietly beside her, his eyes resting on his heir.

"Is she a potential wife for him?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," Lina answered, "that is up to him."

"Of course it is," he agreed.

The dwarves began to dress and repack what few belongings they had saved from Goblin Town. Fili was disappointed to not finish the letter, but Lina assured him that the bird was more than willing to wait for him. He should have time later that evening to finish it. So he returned the quill and ink to Ori for the time being.

As the dwarves began to move, Thorin joined Gandalf at the head of the column, desiring to speak with the wizard. Nes seemed grateful for the chance to drop back and rejoin her commander.

"Saved the dwarf from falling, now he seems to have gotten it in his head I need following," the assassin growled, catching Bofur's gaze upon her. The toymaker quickly looked away when Lina glanced up at him.

"I think he's smitten," Lina chuckled.

"Smitten? With what?"

"With you." That seemed to shock Nes.

One must understand that Nes had lived a rather solitary life with her brother. Raised as assassins, the pair had gone out on their own at a relatively young age. Lina was not exactly sure her entire history. Nes had made mention once that she was not full-blooded dwarf. That, however, was a secret Lina had kept well. Her upbringing, as she had once stated, was away from her parents. Her trainers were mostly older assassins of the clan who had ceased hiring themselves out. There was no love, especially not in their training. Nes had been surprised at the affection she observed between Thorin and Lina, and had said as much to Lina. Warriors of her clan did not show affection. Many of the feelings the dwarves of Belegost had exhibited were foreign to Kes and Nes. So to discover that one of the dwarves had some fascination with Nes was incredibly strange to her.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" she asked finally, her grey eyes wide with shock.

"You could try just talking to him," Lina said, chuckling at her companion's expression. For the first time in her life, Nes had no clue how to proceed. Nes knew how to seduce males, true. That was a skill she'd needed on many missions. However, she wasn't sure what to do with males she wasn't actually trying to seduce. Such an issue had never occurred before.

Nes stayed silent, thinking. She was not used to being someone's objective, at least not without her manipulation of that someone's mind. What made this situation more disturbing for her was Bofur's interest not being purely physical. She was used to males being attracted to her body. She'd worked hard to develop an attractive body. It was as much a weapon as her knives or swords were. Bofur, however, seemed to be more interested in talking to her and doing things for her rather than doing things with or to her. This change of circumstances had her uneasy.

As Thorin finished speaking with Gandalf, he dropped back to rejoin Lina. Nes obliged him, moving further forward in the column to allow the couple some privacy. There was a look of confusion and questioning on the dwarf's face as he approached his wife.

"What is on your mind?" Lina asked as he fell into step beside her.

"I asked Gandalf what had happened that you were dragged into the shadows with me. He told me that he would explain it later this evening, but that I should ask you about your sudden appearance to me before the goblins captured us as well as the sound of your voice when you are not nearby," Thorin replied.

For a long moment, Lina was quiet. She was trying to think where to begin her tale. It was difficult to explain something she did not fully understand either.

"The dreams started when you gave me this," Lina began, holding up her hand. She gestured to the clear stone ring she always wore upon her right hand.

"At first they were just colors and sounds that didn't make much sense. Then I began to get glimpses of your surroundings, and, finally, you. When you told me you thought you were hearing my voice out of thin air the day I returned from visiting the Iron Hills, you had actually heard my voice. I was calling out to you. The dreams only come when we're apart. All the time I spent with you, I never had any dreams. Yet when you left for the Shire, the dreams returned. Until I found you in Goblin Town, I had the dreams nightly. They were still just fragments of vision or sound. Most of the time they didn't make much sense, but then I met Lady Galadriel in Rivendell. I had followed the signs you left for me to the Elves. There Lady Galadriel gave me some understanding of the connection between us." Lina paused and took a breath.

Thorin took the moment to allow this new information to sink in. At least now he knew he was not crazy. He truly had been hearing his wife's voice those nights he stood waiting for her to return to him.

"When we were joined, the Valar bound us in a way that few ever experience. That bond has only strengthened over time. It was the ring you gave me that started the dreams and visions. According to Lady Galadriel, the stone has some sort of property to strengthen previously existing connections, particularly emotional connections. Wearing the ring allows me to see you in my dreams."

"But I saw you as the goblins were taking us," Thorin interjected.

"Lady Galadriel gave me one gift before I set out from Rivendell. Whatever she did, the dreams and visions are now clearer. I think, if I had tried, you and I could have talked that night in the cave. I'm not sure exactly how far this gift extends, but, now that I think about it, the connection between us may have been what pulled me into the shadows after you," Lina finished softly.

"Maybe so," her husband agreed, "but you following me into the shadows saved me, I think."

Lina looked at him in surprise. Her head tilted slightly to one side, silently asking him to continue.

"I don't remember anything after Bilbo attacked the orc, at least nothing about what happened to my physical body. I fell into darkness. I didn't know who I was or where I was. I could remember nothing from my life except bits of light and color. I vaguely saw faces once, but when I tried to recall them, they would not come. Slowly but surely, I was dying. I knew that. Soon I would cease to exist at all. The only thing I had to cling to was the pain. Yet clinging to that seemed foolish the longer I tried. I could think of nothing holding me to life except the pain and a faint sense of longing for something unknown. Then another presence appeared in the darkness just as I was about to let go of the pain and fade. Soothing warmth seemed to envelope me from the Other, giving me something else to cling to. I know now that it was you, but all I knew then was comfort. Trying to piece together our lives and seeing your face, though I didn't understand the significance of what I felt upon seeing it, kept me clinging to life."

Thorin went quiet for a moment as Kili looked back at his aunt and uncle, curious to see why they were bringing up the rear. Lina waited. Her husband was not one to speak freely of such personal matters when another was looking on. It only took one look from Lina to send Kili's attention elsewhere.

"Gandalf said he pulled me out, hoping that you would follow me back to life when he did so. He also told me that, were it not for you, I would have died then. Your presence in the shadows kept me alive."

Lina smiled gently at Thorin. Perhaps this gift was good for something beyond making her miss her beloved more every moment they were apart. If it would help keep Thorin alive again, she would gladly fall back into shadow.

Thorin did something then that he'd never done before. He entwined his fingers with hers and continued walking. Lina had to be steered around a rock by his grip on her hand as she looked back and forth between their hands and his face. A smile spread across his face at her surprised reaction.

"When we return to Erebor," he whispered in her ear, "you will rule beside me, Queen-Under-The-Mountain. Your hand and mine shall be forever entwined, and I care not who sees."

Lifting her hand, Thorin pressed it gently against his lips. Lina could only smile as hope filled her heart. Suddenly the quest did not seem to daunting. Perhaps it was as the hobbit had said as they descended the Carrock. Perhaps the worst was behind them.

A/N: Fair warning, there will probably not be a chapter tomorrow. I will be gone from 5:45am until 4:30pm thanks to work and school. I can pretty much guarantee I will have homework. So apologies in advance if no chapter gets posted.