Hope and Memory[Thorin Oakenshield Love Story]

[Chapter Twenty Two]

It was dark out. The bear had retreated back into the forest. The dwarves and the hobbit's were safe for the time being; from Azog and his pack. The dwarves had found spots throughout the Skin-Changers home to sleep for the night. Freya laid on the ground beside Bilbo, facing towards the window.

The woman starred out the window, looking at the stars and the moon that was slowly being consumed by dark clouds. She listened to the constant snores coming from the dwarves, but that wasn't the problem that was keeping her awake. She was scared that if she closed her eyes for even just a second, she would relive her worst nightmare.

Her eyes were weighing heavy and she couldn't force them to stay open any longer and she drifted to sleep. It was later in the night, the young woman let out a low scream as she bolted awake. Freya was panting, she could feel the sweat on her forehead. She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm. She glanced around and saw her cousin and the others were still fast asleep.

The hobbit got up from the ground and quietly went over to the back door. She was scratching at her wound, tracing along the cut with her finger over her eye onto her forehead, when she felt a hand gentle grab hers and removed it from her forehead. She looked beside her to see it was the prince. He let go of her hand, it was so tiny compared to his big hand and he looked at her.

" Your going to make it worse, if you keep scratching at it." Thorin insisted.

On this journey, Freya had noticed that the dwarf prince had a hard time showing his sensitive side, even though he was trying to when it came to the young hobbit woman. He had come to realize that he had been way to hard on the cousins when they joined his company but they stuck by him, despite his rudeness to both of them, but both of them had shown courage and strength and he was happy to have both of them on this quest.

" I know, it's just been hard to get used to." Freya admitted. Thorin turned his gaze to the moon that was hidden behind a cloud as he exhaled deeply.

" You had another nightmare."

She turned to her left and looked at him. He turned away from the window to look at her again. " You've been having them a lot these past few weeks."

The hobbit still didn't say anything. She was a little shocked the prince would even be showing concerns for her sleeping behaviour. Freya didn't know what to say, other then everything he was saying was true.

" It doesn't matter. It's just a dream." Freya stated in an offensive tone. She didn't want Thorin to think she was weak. He caught the anger in her voice. He wondered if something more then just the nightmares she was having every night and hearing her scream was bothering her.

" Do you want to talk about it? What is it in your dreams that has got you so terrified?" Thorin asked her. She bit down on her lip. Did she really want to tell him. She swallowed and looked out the window across to the woods.

" I keep reliving the moment when I'm cornered by those wargs and then that White warg...." She explained with a hint of fear in her voice as her eyes fell to the ground. She wouldn't be here right now, if the wizard hadn't brought her back to life. The thought she had scared her; that something like this would happen again and she may not come back from it like she did. She didn't want to die and she knew what she signed up for when She and her cousin ran out their doors after the dwarves that day.

Thorin stepped closer to her, and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. He could hear a voice in his head reminding him of the promise he made himself. " Freya, I promise that Azog and his White Warg will never hurt you again. I wont allow it." She looked him in the eyes, he was being serious and she found some comfort in that. The light of the moon shined down through the window.