VIII. Home

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The battle had ended. It had only been won due to the arrival of the Eagles and Beorn after Radagast had brought them to Erebor. Though they were victorious in their efforts nobody was cheering, too many lives had been lost for anybody to find any merriment, instead they turned to one another to find comfort.

Gandalf made his way through the endless sea of bodies that were being collected by those who had survived the fight, the numbers too many for him to count. He eventually made his way to Ravenhill, turning the corner up a flight of stairs to see the body of Fili that still lay on the ground. But he wasn't alone. Athena knelt beside him, one of his hands clasped in both of hers as she looked at her fallen friend. It only took one look at her bloodshot eyes for him to know that the Dwarf had been lost.

"They are beginning to collect those who fell in battle. He will need to be taken to Erebor to lie amongst his ancestors," Gandalf spoke up unsurely, his staff held in both of his hands.

Athena gave no clear reaction to his words, only subtly holding tighter onto his hand. Gandalf slowly walked towards them, crouching down to be eye level with her with nothing but sympathy and understanding in his gaze.

"You need to let him go now," he softly told her.

"I'm not ready," she whispered with her voice cracked and broken, raising her head to look at the wizard.

"Nobody ever is," he responded just as quietly, using a finger to brush away a piece of tangled hair from her eye.

She looked back down at Fili, his eyes had already been shut by her when she first rejoined him. He looked peaceful among the ruins. Her thumb rubbed against his knuckles before she reluctantly placed his hand against his chest.

"Govado i nothrim în ah i mellyn în mi Mannos, [May you meet your family and friends in the afterlife,]" she whispered before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

With the help of Gandalf she was able to stand again, some men from the city coming to take his body to be laid in the halls of Erebor while she walked away from the scene and to the edge of one of the many outlooks. Gandalf was hesitant to leave her but he knew she wasn't the only one who may need his presence, when he spotted somebody else approaching her he finally turned in search of Bilbo, his heart knowing that in time she would heal.

Athena stared out at the distance, a few of the Eagles still hovering over the battlefield while the clouds rolled over the mountains in the horizon. The air was cold and bleak, a fitting atmosphere to reflect the hearts of all those who had made it out alive. Her ears picked up on the soft footsteps that approached her before stopping beside her. She didn't need to turn her head to know who stood beside her, his quiet footsteps giving his identity away.

"If we had met under different circumstances perhaps we could have been friends," Legolas said from beside her, his eyes also gazing out at the aftermath of the battle.

"Maybe we'll meet again," she whispered in response, her arms crossed against her chest. "Thank you—for pulling me back."

Legolas nodded in acknowledgement to her gratitude. "You should have your injuries tended to, you were lucky to have survived that fall."

"I will. In a moment."

"Where will you go now?" He asked her after a moment of silence.

She'd be lying if she said that she hadn't already asked herself that question. She found Bofur's words replaying in her mind and for the first time ever she could see the truth as clear as daylight. Fili and Kili had been her home—at least one of her homes. They had accepted her with open arms and given her nothing but love, warmth, and safety, but now they were gone and the home that she had built with them was shattered to pieces. As much as she loved the other Dwarves and wished to stay with them to rebuild Erebor, she knew that staying would be too painful for her. The memory of those that she had lost would haunt her every step if she remained, and she had not yet had the time to heal for her to be strong enough to face that. Even though she had lost much on this day, she knew that she had not lost everything, and there was still one place where she could go. Her family was not entirely gone.

"Home. I think I'll go home."

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She found herself sitting on a pile of hay in the house of Beorn, taking shelter there before her, Bilbo, and Gandalf planned to continue the journey home the next day. Night had fallen and the Hobbit was sleeping underneath a blanket across the room from her, but she could not find herself able to get any rest that night.

After the battle had ended they held a funeral for the sons of Durin, the still faces of Thorin, Fili, and Kili refused to leave her, nor did the sound of each of the Dwarves grieving for their fallen friends. Dáin had been crowned the new King under the Mountain in the process, but nothing would quite be able to fill the hole that Thorin had left behind in the hearts of those who followed him, though she managed to find some peace in knowing that Thorin died as Thorin; he died as their king.

Her eyes shifted over to the Grey Wizard when he took a seat beside her on the hay, offering him a tired smile which he returned.

"Do you remember when I asked you to keep an eye on Bilbo?" He asked her in a hushed tone so not to wake him.

"Just before we went into Mirkwood," she recounted, nodding to show that she had remembered and done as he had asked of her.

"Is there any news that you can tell me of the ring he carries? What does it do?"

Athena thought for a moment, being reminded of how he had escaped certain death situations by using the ring that he carried. "It causes him to vanish, becoming completely invisible unless you can either smell him or see where he's walking. It saved his life many times."

"I am glad it did," he responded with a satisfied smile at her answer, "you should try and get some rest, we'll be leaving at dawn," he finished before patting her shoulder lightly and heading back to wherever it was that he had came from within the house.

But sleep never came for her that night, and she found no joy when the bees visited them at the first sign of sunlight.

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Eventually the horses that they were riding came to a stop outside a delicately designed archway, Athena dismounting her horse while the other two stayed atop theirs.

"Aren't we staying here as well?" Bilbo asked in confusion when noticing that Gandalf had not moved.

"Of course we are, but let's wait a few minutes," he answered Bilbo.

She stepped through the archway into Rivendell, a hand on her horse's reins while he trotted in beside her. She found a comfort in the familiar pathways that she had not obtained elsewhere, her heart feeling lighter as she returned to the home that she had left behind.

Her hand dropped from the reins before she held them both together in front of her, stepping further into Rivendell until she could hear the recognisable sound of running water that belonged to the fountain the Dwarves had once decided to bathe in. She approached the fountain and took a seat on the edge of it, dipping her fingertips into the fresh water and unintentionally creating ripples with a tender smile.

The smile slowly fell from her face when she heard footsteps to her side. She stood up and turned to face the person who strode towards her, her eyes resting on a man with scraggly brown hair that reached down to his shoulders accompanied with blue eyes that matched her own. They stood there staring at one another for a moment, Athena fearing what his reaction would be to seeing her again after so many years. Even though she had not seen him since he was a child there was no mistaking who stood before her.

Her fear disappeared when he silently moved towards her before engulfing her in his arms. She instantly returned the gesture with her arms coiling around his waist while she buried her face into his shoulder, finding solace in the embrace of her brother. He sent an affectionate kiss to the side of her head before uttering the words that she needed to hear the most.

"Welcome home."

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