Run It Back Again (Part 2)

Chapter 3

"Era...?"  I turned and looked away.

"I already know what you're going to say..."  I held up my hands and looked up at the ceiling.  "What are we going to do with you?  You worried your father half to death!  What were you thinking?"  I looked over at her.  "That about cover it?"  She chuckled and shook her head.

"No, I was actually going to see if you were okay..."  She started to look me up and down, but I turned away from her.

"Not even a scratch, Mother.  I'm fine."  She sat down beside me and smiled.

"That's good, otherwise your father would have the head of whoever hurt you..."  She placed a hand on my shoulder.  "He worries about you, Era..."  I nodded.

"I know..."  I looked at her and met her gaze.  "I just wish he'd quit treating me like a child.  I'm 60, Mother.  As a dwarf, I'm fully grown.  I know that may not be the case to a shapeshifter, but I'm not just a shapeshifter, just like I'm not just a princess, either."  I shook my head.  "Why won't he let me fight?"  She sighed and pulled out her necklace, the wooden threshing Father had given her for a wedding present.

"That, I can't say.  Maybe you'll find the answer here..."  I focused on the energy that was contained in the necklace.  There I stood, a lot older, blood soaking the stomach of my clothes.  I watched myself smile at me.

"Finally..."  Before long, she was gone, and all sorts of horrible images raced through my mind.

A human coming at me with a sword as others jumped up to hold him back...  Myself fighting the same human...  The human lying there, with 3 arrows in his chest...  Myself crying over the body of an elf...  Mother being tossed onto a burning funeral prye...  Her dying in my arms...  Myself, alone in the woods...  Myself with Mother and Father on their journey to reclaim Erabor...  Myself fighting Azog, the pale Orc...  Him stabbing me in the stomach...  Myself staring up at Father, coughing up blooding, dying...

I jerked back to the room and looked up at Mother.  She watched me closely as I patted at my stomach, making sure none of it was real.  Finally, she spoke.

"Those were your memories you just saw..."  I swallowed hard, feeling myself pale.

"What do you mean...?"  Before she could respond, someone knocked on the door.  It was Fili.

"Aunt Skyrena?"  He looked around a little before seeing her.  "Uncle Thorin wishes to see you in the throne room."  Mother nodded and stood up.

"Very well then."  She turned and looked at me.  "I'll be back in a few to help you prepare for the banquet tonight, Era."  I kept my gaze down as I waited for her to leave.  As soon as she was gone, I spoke to Fili.

"You both didn't get in trouble, did you?"  He shrugged from the doorway.

"No more than we usually get ourselves into."  I nodded as he continued.  "In fact, I don't really think he was angry with any of us.  I think he was on the verge of hysterics from watching you fight those Orcs, though..."  He chuckled a little.  "Thorin doesn't typically get mad at us.  Instead, he simply goes into hysterics until everything blows over, then he can't seem to keep from panicking."  I smiled a little.

"He did look a little relieved when he was scolding me."  I tucked my knees to my chest and stared at the cuff of my pants.  "But, something tells me he's not going to let the 3 of us out of his sight for the next month."  Fili shrugged.

"So what...?  Maybe it's better that way..."  I rolled my eyes.

"You sound like me..."  I tried to contain my gasp as I realized the words had rolled off my tongue, not even knowing where they came from.  Fili narrowed his eyes at me as he stood there, rigidly.

"What did you say?"  There was a tint of pain in his voice, which, in turn, hurt me.  I shrugged.

"I don't know where that came from.  I'm sorry, Fili."  He shrugged and shook his head as though he was shaking something off.

"Don't worry about it, Era..."  I smiled a little at him before looking down at my filthy clothes.

"I better get cleaned up and send these to be washed before Mother comes back and decides these need burned for being so filthy."  Fili laughed and nodded.

"I better leave you to it.  As of right now, Uncle's mad enough at me already."  I laughed and threw a pillow at him, which he dodged, laughing as he ducked out the door.

Slipping into the bathroom, I saw Mother had already had a bath drawn for me.  I stuck a hand in and tested the water.  It was still warm enough, so I slipped out of my clothes and got in.  I scrubbed away every speck of dirt from my skin and hair for the next hour.  With luck, I'd be clean before Mother came back.

*Thorin's Pov-

"She's so stubborn!"  I paced back and forth through the throne room, dodging the workers who were preparing for the banquet.  "I came riding up, and she was swinging around this..."  I groaned and shook my head.  "I don't even know what it was she had, but she was swinging this staff made of swords around like she was playing with a bowstaff!"  I turned to Skyrena.  "She could have been killed!"  She nodded.

"But, she wasn't.  From what you've told me, she was perfectly fine until you came along and called her attention away from the fight."  She approached me carefully and placing a hand on my arm.  "You can't keep her here forever, Thorin.  She's got to know the truth."  I sighed and sat down on my throne.

"I know, but..."  I shook my head and buried my face in my hands.  "I just don't want to lose her like we did almost 60 years ago."  Skyrena sat beside me and reached over to take my hand.

"I know that, Thorin, but she doesn't.  If she doesn't know, how can she avoid what happened?"  I looked over at her and saw the sadness in her eyes.  "You're not always going to be there to protect her, Thorin.  She's going to find a way to make herself useful, whether she becomes a warrior and remains the fighter she is."  She shook her head.  "If I know Era, she's going to get back out there again."  I nodded and sighed.

"I know that.  And, that's what really has me worried."  Skyrena leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Just tell her.  It won't hurt anyone to just tell her the truth..."