Emily

~~~

The battle ends quickly and my feet soon touch the blood drenched ground near my lover.

"Emily there is hope for Kili and I yet," Alex calls as soon as I land. I nod in acknowledgement and once again kneel by Fili's side.

"That is good, no more blood needs to be spilt this day," I reply softly and gently pat Fili's face. It hasn't sunk in completely yet, that he's truly gone.

"Is it over?" Alex inquires and holds a rock to support her as she gets to her feet.

"Yes it's over, all the orcs are dead. I won't say the battle was won, how could it be a win? Too many have been lost," I mumble and wipe away the tears pouring from my eyes.

Silence falls over us before Alex clears her throat.

"Do you regret it? Coming I mean. Do you regret coming on this journey?" she inquires and I inhale deeply.

"I can't bring myself to regret this journey. If I had never come I would have never met Fili, I I hadn't met him I wouldn't have liked him, if I hadn't liked him I wouldn't have loved him, but I did, I do."

~~~

Allie

~~~

"Stupid dwarf," I grumble and release my hold on Thorin. "You never listen."

"D-did you just call me stupid?" a hoarse and quiet voice questions and I jolt. My gaze finds Thorin's open blue eyes and I cry in relief.

"Yes I did you stubborn dwarf," I reply and joyously kiss him. I hold to his chest garb tightly as if he could slip away at any moment. "Never leave me."

"I'm too stubborn to leave," he says when I pull away for air. "I did promise to make you my queen." I smile through waves of happy and sad tears and drape myself over him. My wings shield us both from the world.

"I'm honored."

~~~

Alex

~~~

Emily and I sit in an awful silence for a long while until elven healers come for us.

Emily is hauled off in a stretcher wailing and screaming about leaving Kili, Tauriel follows on the next stretcher, I have them take Kili next, and then I am, leaving behind Fili. With all the wounded the dead aren't a priority.

During the bumpy ride down I fade in an out of consciousness only filling coming to when we entered the city.

"Alex! Alex!" a familiar voice yells making me turn my head to see Natalie running up. She walks along the stretcher and reaches up to touch my forehead. "You live!"

"Many others don't, make sure the bodies get off Ravenhill," I cough out and Natalie nods.

"You make sure to keep breathing," she says before dashing off and barking orders at the able bodied elves.

My eyes fall closed and I succumb to darkness again.

~~~

Sam

~~~

The Greenwood recovery team finds me shaking and curled up on the ground next to Jacob. They yank me from his body and tie me to a stretcher. They insist I cannot walk and they're right.

"Please, please take him too, he's my soulmate!" I beg but they don't listen. They are trained to heal the living and leave the dead, there is a separate team for body recovery.

In Dale the dead are being lined up on the outer roads of the city and the wounded gathered in the Town Hall and medical tents.

"Sam!" a weak voice coughs as my stretcher is lowered onto a bed in the Town Hall. I notice that I'm in a separate room from the other wounded. I sit up slowly and find Lacy in a bed next to me looking pale and near to death.

"Lacy you're alive," I sigh in relief and look past her to find Tauriel laying next to her, Alex next to Tauriel, Kili next to Alex, and Emily across from me. "You're all alive! Thank Valor I can't stand I lose anymore."

"Fili isn't," Emily deadpans and my relief shatters.

"Who else?" I whisper.

"Wait what do you mean you can't stand to lose anymore? Who did you see pass?" Alex interjects.

"Jacob," I utter. "He-he.." Sobs from my own mouth cut me off and I lay back and cover my face. "He's dead."

"Legolas too," Grace adds and we all turn to see her in the doorway with a stoic expression. "Allie, Thorin, and Bilbo are coming down the mountain on stretchers now. Smaug is doing search and rescue, while Natalia is trying her hardest to keep up with all the chaos."

"Grace I am-"

"Don't," she hisses. "Just don't."

"What about the dwarves?" Alex asks.

"Nori, Dori, and Ori all made it out only a little beat up. Bifur lost the axe in his head when he head butted an orc, Bombur broke an arm, and Bofur is missing. Dwalin was stabbed in the thigh, and Balin is helping the Lakemen. Gloin is checking the mountain for orc stragglers, and Oin is helping the elf healers," Grace informs stiffly. She seems to have shut down completely.

Before anything more can be said Allie and Thorin are carried on and placed on beds. Thorin is completely beat up and Allie barely awake.

"Allie you're alive!" Grace observes looking happy. She rushes to her soul sisters side and touches her face. "I thought you dead."

"I was dead for the third time actually, the Valor just keep shoving me back," Allie says weakly. "Grace I saw Le-"

"Say no more," Grace snaps and Allie's face falls with realization.

"Grace-"

"I said stop talking!" With that Grace storms out leaving Allie in tears.

"Grace wait!" she yells, but to no avail. Weakly Allie slumps back and Thorin holds out his hand to her. She takes it gratefully and weakly smiles.

Minutes later Bilbo is carried in and placed next to me. A bitter relief washes over me when I see him. He's shivering and has a nasty cut on his head. His eyes find mine and tears well over when I nod.

"He's gone," Bilbo utters. "I can feel it."

"He's laying just past Ravenhill, they wouldn't take him," I say my voice just above a whisper.

"H-How did it happen?" Bilbo chokes out as guilt washes over me.

"A bigger orc got him, I wasn't fast enough Bilbo I am so sorry, I could have saved him but I wasn't fast enough. The orc," my voice cuts out and it's a long moment before I can continue. "Before I knew it his head was at my feet and his body at the orcs. I wasn't fast enough."

Bilbo wretches over his head at the image of our headless soulmate and sobs loudly. I take his hand and squeeze it. We hold to each other as sobs wrack our bodies and grief consumes us.

Jacob is dead.

~~~

Emily

~~~

A sleepless night followed and in the morning Alex was on her feet. When I tried to get up a sharp pain forced me back down.

"Rest Emily, you were shot with an arrow during the battle," Natalia soothes and pushes my shoulder down. She sends a pointed look to Alex who ignores her and shakily walks the expanse of the room.

"I didn't even know," I mumble and look down to find my stomach wrapped.

"The adrenaline and emotional pain drowned it out," Natalie explains. Behind her Smaug is standing by the door watching intently. "But now you need to rest."

"Did they get him?" The question makes Natalie pauses before she looks to Smaug.

"I retrieved all the bodies of our fallen friends they are in a tent outside the Town Hall," Smaug answers and my throat goes dry.

"I want to see him, I need to see him," I declare and sit up again. I just have to see him again.

"Please wait another day or atleast a few more hours, you need rest," Natalie pleads with big puppy eyes. Reluctantly I lay back down and she almost smiles.

"Where is Grace?" Alex questions sharply.

"Scanning the battlefield for surviving orcs," Smaug replies. "I should get out there as well."

"I'm going too," Alex says and grabs her daggers.

"You are not," Natalie growls and gets to her feet to stand before Alex. "You can barely walk upright!"

"Give me some of that fine elvish pain killer and I'll be fine," Alex insists and Natalie stomps her foot.

"I won't allow it!"

~~~

Natalie

~~~

"Natalie I need to do something, I was out of commission most of the fight. I can't just stay here doing nothing," Alex persists and shoves past me. How thick can she be?

"Alex don't do this!" I exclaim and chase after her. "What if something goes wrong? Then you and Kili both die!"

"Nothing will go wrong Nat," she says and grabs a bottle of the pain remedy. Alex chugs it down and stands up straight. "I need this." The desperation in her voice weakens my anger and I let her go.