When Sara was awake, she was not nearly as surprised at her environment as she should have been, but then again, it wasn't every day that you knew that when you woke up, you would be falling into the depths of an underground city inhabited by goblins.
That was the plus side of things. The downside of it was that while it looked rather dangerous and painful in the movie, it had never dawned on Sara how much it would actually hurt to be hurdling down a stone shoot and then to land atop and amidst a pile of large dwarves who, while they barely beat you in height, definitely outweighed you almost four fold in some of their cases.
This harsh reality was what Sara discovered when she found her arms and legs battered and bruised, the knees of her pants having ripped, and the skin scraped till it bled. For some magic reason, her hands were untouched, mostly because when she had started to fall, she had curled up in a ball to keep herself from having any of her limps slammed off her body by the impact and had kept her hands close against her chest.
The first thing that popped into her mind once she managed to suck in a breath of air even though her ribs were straining to hold up the weight of a certain large dwarf by the name of Gloin, was that she had forgotten to grab her backpack!
Looking around, she saw that most of their supplies had landed underneath them and she scrambled to look for her bag. She knew that the goblins would take their things, so she had to work fast. When her hand finally landed on the rough leather bag, she pulled it from where it was stuck beneath Bombur's behind. Opening the flap, she hastily grabbed her notebook and the other small contents, shoving them down the neck of her white shirt. After this was done, she pulled her leather jacket closer around her and buttoned it up the front, hoping that it would hide the slight bulge that her belongings made in her shirt.
She tossed the bag to the side but not before ensuring that her pistol was well hidden in her boot. And just in time too for she heard the screech of goblins and swallowed with dread.
Being petite wasn't the only issue as she was hauled to her feet. She could barely see thanks to her forgetting to braid her hair before sleep so her hair was all in her face and she couldn't even get a second to brush it away as one of the goblins grabbed her wrist and dragged her along.
It reminded her of all those mornings when Omar and Ryder would wake her up on the mornings of her birthday and would blindfold her before carefully maneuvering her downstairs to where the rest of the family had prepared a surprise birthday breakfast.
Needless to say, her brothers were not always careful of where they were leading Sara and quite a few times she came downstairs with a bruise on her forehead from her brothers having failed to notice her walking straight into a wall. Now that Sara thought about it, she would gladly have a thousand bruises on her face than having to be led blindly along a not so stable path to the one place that Sara wished she had missed in the journey to the Lonely Mountain.
When Sara finally came to a stop, the goblins released her arms and she quickly rubbed them to get rid of the horrible, grubby feeling that their hands had left behind on her wrists. Finally, with her hands free, she brushed her hair out of her eyes to find herself face to face with a headful of dwarf hair.... Oh... it was Fili.
The young dwarf was scanning everyone around him till his eyes rested on the girl behind him and his face seemed to relax in relief, having been looking for her.
"You alright?" he whispered, wrapping an arm around her and keeping her partially hidden behind his body.
Sara nodded, "Not so bad considering where we are, who we're captured by and how little sleep I got last night."
Fili chuckled at that before quickly removing his cloak and wrapping it around her, pulling the hood up, "Don't let them know that you're a girl."
Sara was about to ask 'why' but then she realized that she knew the answer and if she asked, she would appear naïve and stupid. Before the girl could barely pull the cloak closer around her body, they were pushed and banged around as the goblins began to search them, removing all their weapons from their possession.
The bow Kili gave Sara and her swords were torn from her back and thrown on the ground but she kept her eyes on them. When Gandalf arrived, she wanted to be able to grab her swords as quickly as possible.
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" the goblin king inquired. "Thieves? Assassins!?"
"Dwarves," one of the goblins replied.
"Dwarves!?" the goblin king inquired.
Sara quickly hid further behind Fili who pulled her closer. "Found them on the front porch."
"Well don't just stand there!" the king cried. "Search them! Every Crack! Every Crevice!"
Sara gulped. She completely forgot about that part! Please.... Please don't touch her! Please just think that she is Fili's pet monkey! Please!
Her prayers either went unheard or it was just not her day because a goblin noticed her and tore the cloak from her body. Fili tried to grab it back from him but by the time he got it back, another goblin had snatched Sara by the arms and dragged her to the front.
"Well, well," the goblin king remarked, drowning out the shouts that the dwarves were making. "What do we have here?"
"Let her go!" Sara could hear Kili yell and from what she could gather, it sounded like the others were struggling to break free.
"looks like a little kitten washed in with the boars," the goblin king snorted before approaching Sara.
The girl kept her head down, not even wanting to look in the creature's direction. However, she didn't have a choice when he reached out with his staff and poked her stomach. Sara shot him a glare which only seemed to encourage him, and he stuck his staff between her legs, riding up her skirt. Luckily, she wore pants, but this annoyed Sara.
"Leave me alone," the girl hissed.
The goblin king chuckled, only pushing his staff further up between her legs which caused the dwarves to begin to shout, yelling insults and screaming at the Goblin King to stop.
The goblins completely ignored them, and the dwarves wondered why Sara didn't fight back. The goblin king also seemed intrigued and leaning forward, touched her stomach with the tip of his staff.
"Not going to bite kitten?"
A smirk worked its way onto Sara's face before she looked him straight in the eye. "Kitten's don't bite. They scratch."
Even Sara did not quite know what happened next but she had drawn the small dagger from the back of her belt and driving it into the handle of the goblin king's staff, wedged it in so deep so that when she wrenched her arm back, the staff went flying with it and hurtled across the keep.
"Cover your eyes!" She screamed.
The dwarves reacted just in time and either ducked their heads or buried their faces in the crooks of their arms as a bright brilliant blue light seemed to appear from nowhere, knocking everyone even the Goblin King back.
When the light finally faded, Sara found herself smiling at the sight of Gandalf standing there, his sword drawn and staff at the ready.
"Take up arms," he demanded. "Fight!"
Sara quickly sheathed her dagger back into her belt before rushing forward to grab her bow and double swords. Just as she was about to grab her bow, she saw that there was another hand near hers, grabbing for another weapon nearby. Sara lifted her eyes and immediately they locked with a pair of striking blue eyes. Thorin looked her straight in the face, a look in his eyes that she couldn't read but for some reason... it scared her.
As quickly as it happened, it was gone and Thorin had jumped to his feet and began slashing at Goblins. Sara shrugged before grabbing her bow and loaded it.
"Run!" Gandalf yelled, grabbing Sara by the elbow and pulling her along.
Sara did not know how long she was running but all she knew was to keep her feet moving and shoot down any Goblin who got too close.
She began to feel dizzy, not quite knowing why but things began to go fuzzy and she couldn't quite concentrate on any target. This did not go unnoticed by Gandalf who quickly disposed of a goblin that was getting close to the girl.
"Fili! Kili!" the wizard called. "Take care of Sara."
The two boys were at her side in an instant, Kili supporting her while Fili protected them.
"What's wrong?" Kili asked, feeling her head, only to find it a normal temperature.
"I don't feel so right," Sara stuttered. "I don't know what it is..."
The two young dwarves looked at Gandalf who obviously knew what was going on, "it is the altitude and the stench." He explained. "considering her.... condition.... She is more sensitive to smells and things that don't usually faze people."
"You make it sound like I'm a hormonal pregnant woman," Sara remarked sarcastically as she weakly leant against Kili.
"You're also adapting to this environment Sara," Gandalf explained. "Your body is changing to adapt to this environment and the situation we are in is not helping."
Sara groaned, "Just peachy."
"Hurry now!" Gandalf called.
Kili wrapped Sara's arm around his shoulder, slipping one of his arms around her waist so he could partially lift the girl. He soon discovered that the girl barely weighed a thing to a point where he settled for lifting her onto his back in a piggyback fashion and he barely noticed the extra weight.
"Aren't you eating?" he asked as Fili took down two goblins.
"Who keeps track of that?" Sara groaned against his shoulder. "Besides, I never have an appetite.... At this particular time...."
"Oh," Kili muttered, turning crimson when he realized what she was talking about.
Fili glanced over at his brother with a smirk, having heard the exchange, "I pity your wife Kili. She's going to think you're a teenage boy discovering the wonders of reproduction."
Kili tilted his head to the side, "What does that mean?"
Sara and Fili exchanged partially horrified looks before Fili went back to clearing a path for Kili to carry Sara.
Before Sara could even begin to clear her head, she felt Fili rush over and wrap his arms around both her and Kili as they began to plummet.... Wait.... When did they run into the goblin king? Was she really that out of it?
When they made contact with the ground, she was squashed like the turkey in a sandwich between Fili and Kili. Fili got off her instantly and lifted her into his arms so Kili could get up. Weakly, Sara tried to stand up, but her knees buckled.
"GANDALF!" Kili yelled.
Sara could barely open her eyes, so Fili slipped his arms around her and lifted her onto his back.
"Only one thing will save us," she heard Gandalf say. "Daylight!"
*******
"Eight... nine... ten... thirteen... and Bombur, that's fourteen," Gandalf counted.
Fili and Kili stopped running and Kili helped his brother set Sara down she was sitting against a tree.
"How is she?" Gandalf asked.
"Like I want to throw up," Sara replied in a low grumble.
The two brothers looked at Gandalf for guidance, the wizard nodding, "She'll be fine. She just needs air. That stench would make anyone sick."
"What happened to the lass?" Dwalin asked, getting the attention of the other dwarves.
Thorin walked over before crouching in front of Sara, stroking her cheek.
"Are you alright?"
Sara nodded but refused to look at the dwarf prince, "I am fine. Just felt a little sick is all."
Thorin bit his gum before looking away, irritated that Sara refused to meet his gaze.
"Bilbo," Sara muttered, "Where is Bilbo?"
Gandalf looked around, suddenly realizing that there was no sign of the little halfling. "Where is our hobbit!?"
"Curse the halfling, now he's lost!" Dwalin groaned.
"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin snapped.
"Don't blame me!" Dori argued.
As they began to argue about who had seen Bilbo last, Sara managed to compose himself and rose to her feet.
"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin started. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. he has thought nothing...."
The dwarf prince stopped when a voice overpowered his ranting.
"Do not finish that sentence," Sara growled, leaning partially against the tree.
The girl had tried to talk herself out of speaking out but when she heard the words drip from Thorin's tongue like venom, she snapped.
"it's the truth," Thorin objected.
Sara pushed herself from the tree and stormed over ot Thorin, "no. the truth is, you're jealous. You are jealous of what Bilbo has, a home. He has one and you don't, which makes you jealous."
"He is weak," Thorin hissed.
Sara raised an eyebrow, "I am weak."
"No you're not," Thorin objected. "You are... you're..."
Sara took a step closer, so she was close to Thorin's face, "I'll tell you what I am. I am a girl from a world where dragons, orcs and goblins are all just made up creatures in a storybook. I am a girl who had the perfect family and the moment my parents died; I broke. I am a girl who died, leaving my younger brothers either alone in the world without a family or worse, dead. I am a girl who woke up in the land of her dreams, only to learn that the reason she ended up here is to change a course of events. I am a girl who has one duty and that duty is to ensure that the line of Durin does not die. I am a girl who has one job but is failing because the storyline is changing and every time she looks into the blue eyes of the dwarf she is supposed to be protecting, she loses her mind and cannot even form straight sentences. I. Am. Weak."
Sara didn't have to look away from Thorin's eyes to know that everyone but Gandalf was staring at her in stunned surprise.
Thorin's blue eyes were wide in shock and his lips parted slightly. Sara stepped away form hi, not breaking her gaze before speaking again.
"You can come out now Bilbo," she muttered.
There was the sound of ruffling leaves as said Hobbit scrambled forward.
"How did you know I was there?" the hobbit inquired.
Sara did not reply but turned and walked away from the dwarves to stand a good distance from them, her back to them.
"What does it matter? He's back," Gandalf said, trying to break the tension.
"It matters," Thorin objected. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"
Bilbo smiled, "I know you doubt me and always have. But like Sara said, I think of home and that is why I came back. Because it is true I have a home, but you don't and I will try everything I can to get it back for you."
Silence enveloped the group and Thorin looked across the clearing to see Sara standing still but he knew she had heard the whole thing. What he didn't know was that the words Bilbo said sent a wave of worry through the girl's heart.
"What did Sara mean about a 'storyline'?" Ori asked, breaking the silence.
Gandalf was about to answer when a howl sounded from above, "No time for that. Run!"
*******
"Sara!" Fili yelled, "Up! Jump up!"
Sara looked around to see that while she was helping Bilbo dislodge his sword from the warg, everyone else had climbed up the trees.
"Hurry!" Kili cried.
Sara rushed to the nearest tree and a hand reached down to her. having no time to think about refusing, she took the person's hand and was hauled into the tree.
Instead of being helped up, she was practically lifted onto a branch so that she had her arms around the trunk, someone standing behind her, shielding her from whatever was coming. Sara couldn't turn her head to see who it was but her nose was suddenly filled with the scent of cedar, sweat and pine... oh great!
Sara was about to try and escape the cage of Thorin's arms when she heard his voice come out in a hoarse whisper yell.
"Azog!"
Sara bit her lip. Not this! Anything but this! Seeing the fight with Azog and Thorin on screen was one thing but to see it in person... she knew she wouldn't be able to stand it.
"Thorin," the girl whispered, catching Thorin's attention instantly.
"you knew?" he whispered, his eyes radiating pain and betrayal. "And you didn't tell me?"
Before Sara could reply, the tree had begun to tilt before it ran into the nearest tree. Sara quickly jumped across. When she looked around, she found Thorin on the same branch as her, bearing down on her like a bear.
"How could i!?" she snapped, "If I had avenged my dead family and thought the monster to be dead but you knew he wasn't dead, would you have told me?"
Thorin faltered before turning to look away from her. Suddenly, the tree they were in also began to lean till it fell on it's side, half hanging off the cliff.
Sara quickly climbed up and knowing what would happen next, decided to go against her plan of following the storyline, at least just this once.
"Thorin," she said sternly, looking Thorin straight in the eye, "Do not provoke him! Do not attack him!"
Thorin's blue eyes met hers and it seemed like they were having a staring contest, waiting to see who would falter first. Thorin sighed and was just nodding in agreement when he saw Sara's eyes widen in fright before she slowly looked down.
The dwarf prince followed her gaze before he choked on his own air. Protruding through Sara's abdomen was a long orc arrow!
Sara couldn't tell what happened next but she faintly remembered hearing Thorin's heart breaking cry, followed by a few more cries from the others. She remembered the soft smell of cedar and pine as Thorin caught her in his arms. Then she felt him pass her to someone else. She tried to tell him to not provoke Azog but she could barely breathe. Everything faded to darkness and the last thing she heard was Fili's voice whispering her name.
******
Sara slowly cracked her eyes open, groaning at the pain that punctured her abdomen. She slowly cracked her eyes open, only to see Oin hovering over her. she saw the old dwarf open his mouth to announce that she was awake to the others when Sara held up her hand weakly. She put her finger to her lips and the dwarf nodded in understanding. Gently he helped her sit up and the girl saw that they were on the eagle's crest. She could see the faint outline of the eagles flying off in the distance. Of all the times to pass out and miss something, it had to be when the eagles came!
Sara's attention was drawn to the rest of the company who were standing with their backs to her, looking at the Lonely Mountain in the distance. The girl was just about to smile when Kili just had to turn around and catch sight of the girl sitting up.
"Sara!" the young dwarf literally shrieked as he sprinted over to her side.
The rest of the company rushed over to the girl. Sara suddenly felt like the new Greenie who got sent up in the box to the Glade from The Maze Runner as over a dozen heads towered over her from all sides.
Kili threw his arms around Sara but the girl cried out in pain. Fili reached down and grabbed his brother's right ear, pulling him off Sara.
"She just got shot by an orc!" Fili scolded.
Sara clutched her abdomen in pain as Gloin and Oin helped her lay back down. Gandalf pushed through and gently lifted Sara's shirt to reveal the black puffy wound on her upper left hip.
"Kingsfoil," Sara muttered. "Do we have some?"
Gandalf smiled and nodded, drawing said plant from his bag and wetting it with some water from his pouch, pushing it onto the wound and began to chant elvish. Sara cried out in pain from the contact and many of the dwarves moved to stop Gandalf when Sara spoke.
"Please tell me Bilbo and Thorin made up," she said through gritted teeth.
Everyone looked at Thorin who looked as if he had just seen a ghost before he turned bright crimson. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Sara rolled her eyes before turning to Kili. Thorin was too proud and stubborn but Kili wasn't. the girl grabbed Kili's left ear and pulled him down to eye level.
"Tell me Thorin apologized and gave Bilbo a hug and apologized for doubting him." She whisper growled.
Kili's face radiated fear as he spoke in a rush.
"Thorin apologized and gave Bilbo a big hug and apologized for doubting him."
Sara smirked when she suddenly let out a grunt of pain as Gandalf finished cleaning her wound. Oin washed away the black puss and kingsfoil before wrapping the wound in a clean bandage.
Sara sat up and pulled her shirt down only to see that the company were still standing over her.
"I'm just guessing here, but do you all usually hover over people when they're being patched back together?"
The dwarves took the hint and scurried off to set up camp. Fili and Kili stayed behind though to slowly help the girl to her feet. Sara noted that Kili was still rubbing both his ears from having had them pulled violently so she turned to Fili.
"After i.... passed out....did Thorin..."
"Did Thorin literally break everyone's eardrums with his blood curdling yell and then proceeded to do exactly as you had told him not to and provoke Azog so much that his warg bit him and then knocked him out, resulting in Bilbo having to go in there and rescue him before the eagles arrived and brought us here? Oh yeah."
Sara wanted to laugh but she knew it wasn't the time, so she let the two brothers help her sit down near where Gloin was making a fire for the night.
*******
Thorin looked up from where he was seated to see that across the fire, Sara was lying sort of set off from the others. The company were all sound asleep except for Gloin who was on watch, sitting near the edge of the cliff about twenty feet away. Fili and Kili had offered to sleep on either side of Sara to keep her warm but she had politely declined so as to not let herself be crushed by the two sleep rollers.
Rising to his feet, the dwarf prince walked around the fire to where the girl lay to see her lying on her back under her blanket, looking up at the stars.
"Cant sleep?" he asked, noticing that her eyes were wide open but he got no response.
He slowly sat down next to the girl before looking up at the sky.
"It is quite beautiful out," he mused.
He didn't expect a reply but he got one.
"Why?"
Thorin looked down at the girl to see that she had turned her head slightly away from him so that he couldn't get a good look at her face.
"Why did you do it when I told you not to?"
Thorin felt his heart drop, "Sara.... I..."
"I know I have a lot of secrets and I haven't told you everything, but I was afraid that if I did, something would happen and everything would go wrong. But that's not why. I didn't tell you to avoid Azog because I knew something you didn't. I did it because i....i....i couldn't watch you fight and die when I could do something to prevent it. I couldn't lose you.... Not like that. I distanced myself from you with the fear that if I got too close to you, it would distract me from my duty and would result in you dying. But when everything went black and I felt you let go of me.... Knowing that you were going to fight Azog... I knew that I while I feared losing you, I was more afraid of you dying without me telling you how I felt about you."
Thorin reached over and turned her face to look at him and that's when he saw the tears, pooling in her beautiful doe eyes.
"Sara," he said gently reaching down to pull her into his arms, cradling her head close to his chest. "I am so sorry. When I saw you fall.... No life in your eyes, your face ashen white... I just..."
Thorin felt tears of his own trickle down his face when suddenly a warm hand touched his face and wiped it away. Thorin looked down to see Sara looking up at him, her eyes reflecting the stars. Slowly the girl leant up before brushing her lips gently across his. That was the only permission Thorin needed. Threading his fingers through her hair, he crushed his lips onto hers, snaking his other arm around her waist.
Sara gasped in pain when his hand grazed her wound and Thorin pulled back.
"Sorry.... I'm sorry...."
Sara chuckled softly before bumping his nose with hers.
"Stay here?" She whispered.
Thorin smiled before pulling his cloak off and lying down on the ground next to her, pulling the cloak over the both of them.
Sara curled up close to him, keeping their eyes locked. Thorin wove his legs around hers and cupped her waist with his hands, pulling her impossibly close.
Gently he leant over to reconnect their lips when he heard Sara whisper something under her breath.
"What was that?" he whispered.
Sara smiled before whispering it in his ear. Thorin felt his heart freeze before he caught her lips in a strong, hungry kiss before pulling back. Gently he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before burying his face in her hair.
"I love you too."
******
Sara shivered as she listened to the loud roaring of Azog and the wargs. Of course, even though Thorin had just sent Bilbo off to find out how close the pack was, she knew that they were only a couple leagues away. She listened intently, waiting to hear the roar of Beorn but so far, they were too far from Beorn to hear him... yet.
The girl gnawed on her fingernails, not caring that her fingers looked ghastly. She always had the bad habit of biting her nails till they were so short that they hurt to move. The only way she could keep herself from biting them was paint them and the slightest sign of the pain chipping, she would start to pick, peel and chew them again. Her mother assured Sara that it was either a nervous or concentrating habit. Sort of like stress relief. Since entering Middle Earth, she hadn't painted them obviously and with everything happening, they didn't even look like nails anymore.
How was she going to tell the company about her knowledge of their fates? She knew she couldn't tell them any details, whether it was about Erabor, the dragon, the elves, the spiders, deaths.... None of it because the slightest knowledge could trigger a change in the timeline, making Sara's job near impossible. She honestly preferred the storyline being like it was in the movie. That way, she knew right when and where something would happen, and she could be prepared.
Sara let out a squeak of surprise when she peeled a piece of nail from her finger, splitting the nail and catching a bunch of skin, making it bleed. Thorin was at her side in an instant, taking her hand into his and examining the damage.
His blue eyes lifted as he looked at her. "You bite your nails?"
Sara looked down, biting her lip, "Yeah... it's a bad habit."
The girl looked up when Thorin touched her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his to find a smile on his face, "it is relief from stress."
Sara's eyes widened, "How did you know?"
"I had a similar problem when I was a child," Thorin replied, smiling. "My sister Dis hated it, but I had a habit of always wanting to do something with my fingers. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was chewing but instead of my nails, I chewed the skin around my fingers. I peeled so much skin away that my fingers looked like someone had taken a chisel to them."
Sara chuckled, trying to imagine Thorin biting his fingers. "How did you stop?"
"I found other things for my hands to do," Thorin replied. "By then, Dis was older and constantly needing someone to braid her hair so that was what I did. When she grew out of that, I started getting into archery and swordsmanship."
Sara smiled, "I haven't found a hobby that can distract me from biting my nails... they look horrible."
The girl almost choked on her own air as Thorin sat down next to her and brought her hand up to his face before kissing her knuckles, one at a time. When he came to the finger that was bleeding, he planted a kiss on the bleeding wound. Taking the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped away the excess blood before applying pressure to her finger by wrapping it in his palm and squeezing.
"You're beautiful," he whispered, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist, letting his lips linger there longer than need be.
Sara felt her face heat up at these words and she was just about to go hide somewhere (preferably behind Gandalf) so Thorin didn't see her blush when Bilbo returned at a full sprint. Thorin rose to his feet and approached the hobbit.
"How close is the pack?"
"Too close!" The hobbit replied, skidding to a stop. "Couple of Leagues but no more. That is not the worst of it though."
"Have the wargs caught our scent?" Dwalin asked.
Bilbo shook his head, "They will soon but we have another problem."
"Did they see you?" Gandalf asked, not noticing that his choice of words made Sara's heart drop.
"No that's not it," Bilbo panted. "But there is something else out there!"
While the others were getting information out of the small hobbit, Sara bit her lip and began to gnaw on her fingers again. There was something wrong. Why was the dialogue not like in the movie? Did her presence disrupt the timeline like that? What if something happens to her or she does something.... It was one thing to just be there and for the dialogue to be different but what about actions? Would actions of the storyline begin to change because of her presence in the story!?
"SARA!" Fili yelled, catching the girl's attention, "RUN!"
The girl realized that the dwarves had begun to run out of the clearing with Gandalf. She jumped from her spot and rushed after Fili, allowing him to grab her hand and pull her along at a faster pace. Curse dwarves and their impossibly strong endurance!
******
Sara sighed as she flopped down on the pile of straw, letting her bag fall to the ground and rubbing her sore arms. She flinched when she pulled too much on her wound but quickly wiped the pain off her face when the dwarves approached from having ensured that the door of the stable was locked.
As everyone chose their spot of Beorn's barn for the night, Sara felt many of them glancing over in her direction. She knew why. Since the Azog and warg attack when it was revealed that she knew something that they didn't, there had been no time for her to explain her situation to them but now, being safe in a barn protected by a giant skin changer bear, this was the perfect time.
When she saw Ori, Nori and Dori whispering to each other, occasionally glancing in her direction, Sara finally lost her cool. Standing up, ignoring the searing pain in her abdomen, she walked across the barn to the huge table and climbed up onto the seat that was almost as tall as her.
Reaching into her bag, she drew out her sketchbook and laid it on the table before flipping to the first pages, showing her first attempts at drawing the Hobbit members. By then, the dwarves had gathered around, having gotten a look from Gandalf which basically told them to pay attention.
"When I said that... in my world, there were stories about this world... that wasn't the whole story," Sara began. "I know about Kuzdul, dwarves, elves, the Lonely Mountain... all of it... because of the stories from my world but... there are more details about this world that I didn't tell you."
Fili and Kili must have sensed how tense and nervous the girl was, so they climbed up onto the stairs on either side of her and Fili placed a hand on her shoulder to offer comfort. Sara smiled at the blond dwarf before taking a deep breath.
"In my world... there is a book called: The Hobbit. It...it tells the stories of certain people in Middle Earth and how they defeat evil."
"The Hobbit?" Gloin inquired. "As in the halfling?"
Sara nodded, "The story is about Bilbo's adventures.... To help reclaim Erabor."
The dwarves' eyes all widened in surprise. "You mean.... You already knew about this journey before you came here?" Dwalin inquired.
"Yes," Sara replied. "And I know what happens the rest of the time..."
"That's how," Balin whispered. "That is how you knew when and where all those things happened... the trolls, Radagast, the goblins..."
Sara nodded, keeping her face hidden behind her hair. "That's the hard part."
The dwarves all frowned in confusion until reality dawned on Kili, "Does.... Something bad happen?"
Sara sighed, "I cannot tell you. All I can say is... some things happen that are hard to accept... and if you know about them then...."
"It will change the course of events," Gandalf intervened, noticing how uncomfortable Sara was. "it is like knowing about your future, it could change the course of events."
"But wouldn't that be a good thing?" Dwalin inquired. "It could prevent them from happening."
"Not necessarily," Gandalf replied. "Knowing if something is going to happen might not prevent it from happening but might result in it happening at a different time and place."
Slowly, everyone looked at Sara who had bitten her lip hard to keep from crying at the thought of the future events.
"That is why I am here," Sara sighed. "I know what is going to happen and I am going to try everything in my power to stop some things from happening but...I cannot even tell you about the good things that will happen."
Silence enveloped everyone present and Sara felt her heart sink. This was what she feared the most. They would find out that she knew more about them than they did and were going to shun her.
"How do we know that this isn't just a joke?" Dori inquired, not believing what he had just heard.
Sara sighed and turned her notebook around before showing everyone the sketch that she had been looking at.... A sketch of the Fellowship of the Ring. She knew it was a bad thing to tell them about their futures, but they were not associated with the Fellowship... it would be okay if they knew a little about it.
"Is that Gandalf?" Balin asked, pointing at Gandalf in the drawing.
Sara nodded, "This is a course of events that occurs about 60 years from now. These people will all journey to destroy an evil relic."
"Is that a dwarf?" Fili asked, pointing at Gimli in the picture.
Sara bit her lip. Should she tell Gloin that his son would one day do this? Well, if Gloin hadn't been born yet, maybe it wouldn't have been a good thing to tell him but... Gimli is already alive and a young dwarf...
The girl glanced at Gandalf who seemed to know what Sara was thinking and gave her a reassuring nod. Sara sighed before nodding.
"Yes, he is a dwarf... his name is Gimli."
Everyone froze before turning to look at Gloin who's eyes had widened.
"My wee lad?" the dwarf asked.
Sara nodded, "Yes Gimli."
Silence enveloped everyone once again and Sara closed her notebook, starting to feel like she had almost gone too far.
Rising from the seat, she headed out the back door of the barn into the back yard, leaving her notebook on the table. Not caring if they saw the sketches.
She had located the small well in the corner of the back yard and had sat down on the stone wall, staring down into the water below.
She sensed a presence behind her and turned to see Thorin standing there. The first thing she noticed was her sketchbook in his hand, but she also saw that he had his finger marking one particular page.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle.
Sara sighed, "I don't know. The reason I held back all that information from you is because I fear it myself... I am afraid that I will not be able to keep those things from happening..."
Thorin walked over and sat down next to her but facing the opposite direction. "Why do you think that?"
"Because some things have changed," Sara explained. "The things said, who says them... some things have begun to change... and I wonder if my presence here will begin to change things."
Thorin nodded in understanding, "I am sure your presence is changing things from how they were supposed to be. But I wouldn't be worried about it."
"But what if something bad happens?" Sara asked, turning to look at him, raising her voice slightly, "What if something terrible happens just because of my being here?"
Thorin turned to look at her, realization crossing his face, "Is that why you distanced from be back in Rivendell?"
Sara turned to look back into the interior of the well, "Maybe... with my being here, there is another person that you all are worrying about and that extra worry could cost one of you your life! If it weren't for my being here, we wouldn't have argued!"
The girl was cut off when Thorin cupped her face in his hands and turned her to look at him, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have fallen in love."
Sara felt her heart jump at those words, but her worry overcame her joy and she shook her head, "You don't know that..."
Thorin smirked when he saw the deep blush cover Sara's face, "In the story, did I find love?"
Sara hesitated before biting her lip, "No..."
Thorin smiled but noticed that her lip had two red marks where she had bitten on her lip to keep from crying earlier. Leaning down, he brushed his lips dangerously close to hers. "Good."
With that, he drew her face closer to hers and pressed his lips to hers. Sara melted into the warmth of his embrace, allowing one hand to fall against his chest and she could feel his heartbeat through his clothes. He tangled his fingers into her bright red hair and kept her close as he showered her lips with desperate kisses.
When he pulled away, he nuzzled his lips and nose against her forehead, keeping his hands cupped beneath her chin.
"Don't ever be afraid to tell me these things," he whispered.
Sara smiled at his words before her heart dropped. He had no idea the things that she wished she could tell him... namely... his upcoming death.