World's apart (Thorin Oakenshield fanfic)

Chapter 23. Returning to you

~ Warning for spoilers! And because you all already know what's going on :P ~

You were laying on your back. It hurt a lot for some weird reason. Thankfully the nausea had dimmed a few days ago. You weren't sure if you would have been able to handle it otherwise. Marriet was sitting next to you, singing a song to distract you from the pain. 'You know it doesn't hurt that much?' you asked smiling. She smiled back. 'I know. But this way I feel like I can do something to relief your pain.' You chuckled. Marriet had been so kind to you. First in the Medina Woods and now here, on a quest that neither of you should be on. The eagle had dropped you off somewhere close to Lake Town. At first you had no clue where you were but then you saw the mountain behind you. 'Erebor' you had muttered.

Gandalf had nodded. 'Aye, we will wait here until Smaug is defeated or when he escapes.' And that's what you were doing right now. The pain in your chest had been terrible but now it was almost absent. And there it was again. The same feeling you had felt before in your tummy. You couldn't describe it better then to say it felt like someone was kicking your belly from inside. You lifted your head and tried to look at your stomach. This was the first time you noticed your breasts had become bigger. Or were you imaging things? 'Are you alright?' Marriet asked worried. You frowned. 'I'm not sure.' You pushed yourself up to sit and you pulled your legs closer. 'Have you noticed anything weird about me?' you asked.

'What's that?' Gandalf interrupted and pointed at something in the sky. Marriet helped you to stand up and together you stared at the sky. Something was coming your way but you couldn't tell what it was. It came closer and you were able to tell it was something black. Next to you, Gandalf sighed heavily and seemed to surrender in defeat. 'Where could he have seen us?' he muttered more to himself then to you. You became curious of the black thing. It appeared to be a black raven and it was flying directly towards you. It landed on your shoulder and looked at you with it's dark eyes. 'He looks like a nice fellow' Marriet said and petted the raven. It didn't seem to mind the attention at all.

Marriet was looking at the bird in awe when she noticed something strapped on it's paw. 'What do you carry with you?' she asked. You looked down and you saw what she meant. The raven carried a letter. Carefully you lifted your hand as to not scare the bird. 'He won't fly away (y/n). It's his job to deliver the letter to you' Gandalf said, packing his belongings. 'What are you doing?' Marriet asked confused. You didn't pay attention to the wizard, instead you accepted the letter from the raven and it flew away as soon as you undid the string from his paw. You unrolled the parchment and saw your name at the beginning of the letter. Quickly you read it and your eyes widened. 'Gandalf!' you said alarmed. The wizard just sighed in return.

'He knows you're still here, doesn't he?' 'Aye.' Marriet's head shot back from you to Gandalf and back. 'What are you talking about?' Neither of them answered. Marriet stood behind you and leaned over your shoulder to read the parchment. She gasped in your ear and you pulled back a little. 'Thorin knows' she stated. You hid the parchment in your bag and looked at the mountain in front of you. Gandalf had been wrong to assume Thorin would fall for his scheme. He may not know what the wizard was up to, but he did know that you hadn't left Middle-Earth. You were sure Bilbo had done his best to keep Thorin from finding out. But the pain in his chest would have been more then enough evidence for the dwarf.

In his letter to you he asked if you could return to him as fast as you could, after the dragon was slain. He told you he wanted you back by his side, no matter what the wizard said. You weren't allowed to go on any quest if it meant your life was in danger. And the wizard had already proven he couldn't protect you and he couldn't be trusted. 'When will we leave?' you asked, your eyes still on the mountain. Gandalf tapped his wand on the rocks and looked in the distance. 'When the worm has left his hole.'