the queen is dead

Dwalin and Dain and the rest of the Dwarves arrived to Dale with huge smiles, Bolg's head on a spike. Yet when they received the news from a heavy-hearted Balin, their smiles crumbled.

Dwalin felt crushed inside, for he had failed to protect a fragment of his family, when in truth she protected the rest of them from harm. Dain felt full of regret and sadness, seeing as he barely knew her and he actually quite liked the Elf.

So out of a company of fifteen, only fourteen remained. But they would not let her memory die in any way shape or form.

After everyone was situated, there was a funeral. Everyone gathered at the mountain, the deep and mellow horns bellowing there sad but peaceful sound over the plains. Anne was there in her tomb, looking peaceful and at rest. She was wearing a short sleeved golden dress, her hair covered in simblenynë flowers, her flower crown consisting of different colored flowers. She was lying on top of layers of soft clovers instead of the hard and wooden base of the tomb, nature all around her. Her once bubbly blue eyes were closed, and her hands were folded across her chest. And just for the fun of it, she was barefoot.

Go figure.

Everyone was a mess, but no one missed her more than Thorin. At the moment, he needed her... bad. He needed her to hold him and tell him it was okay, he needed to hear her tell him that she loved him, and he needed her by his side.

But she couldn't. She was dead.

Balin stepped to the podium when the horns stopped sounding, looking at the crowd. His eyes were puffy from crying, and one could hear how much sorrow he felt in his voice. "Today, we lost many of all races. From fellow Dwarves, Men, and Elves, their lives were taken by the evil that tried to subdue this kingdom. But no loss will be greater to us than Anne Thranduileth."

Balin took a big breath as if trying to keep his emotions in check, looking at her casket. "She was more than just a friend," he croaked. "She was family. In the thirteen months that I had known her, I realized that no matter how many hardships you come by, there is always a way.

"Even if we only knew her for two minutes, she always had a way of capturing your attention, making you automatically fall for her." Balin chuckled quietly and looked at the crowd again. "But at first, that wasn't our case. I remember the first time we all met, half us wanted to strangle her. Although kind and graceful, she was snappy and very, very, very sarcastic."

The Dwarves plus Bilbo mumbled in agreement.

"Yet as time went on, we began to grow more towards this jumble of energy. She saved us more times than we could count, and she was wise. She stuck with us through our perils, and when we all thought hope was lost, Anne Thranduileth always found a way to make it better.

"She was the light of our lives. We all loved her, every single one of us." Balin bit back tears, his voice wavering. "But no one loved her more than the King Under the Mountain himself, Thorin Oakenshield."

After those words were said, Balin walked away from the podium. He stood next to his brother, Dwalin managing not to let one single tear slip even though he himself was crumbling. But he was a warrior, and he would stay strong. He had seen death before. Even if it was the death of someone close to him.

Thorin breathed deeply and stood on the podium, standing tall with his shoulders back and his chin high. "Anne Thranduileth..." He chuckled quietly to himself. "Where do I start?"

"Start with the time you threatened to kill her if she did something stupid, which was time and time again," Kili chimed.

That earned a small rumble of laughs from the crowd. Thorin exhaled shortly in slight amusement and looked to the ground. "I did want to kill her the first time I ever saw her, seeing as she was an Elf and I held everything against them at the time. But then... something changed." He smiled softly. "We grew to know each other fondly, and in the end of it all, I ended of falling in love with her."

Thorin tilted his head to the side and looked up. "Today will not be a day to grieve, but to celebrate," he said loudly. "She would not want us to mourn over our losses, but to rejoice over our victory against evil. We shall honor the dead, proclaim them heroes." He glanced at her tomb. "Anne Thranduileth shall be remembered a hero who saved my family and I."

There was a round of applause, as well as numerous tears shed. The company approached her one by one, saying something short before leaving and going inside the mountain. By the time Dwalin was up, he was in an emotional wreck... at least on the inside.

"You stubborn lass," he croaked, letting a few tears slip out of his eyes. "You never did know when to stop fighting."

He could hear her response in his head: Neither did you, tough guy.

Dwalin sighed shakily and shook his head. "I'm so sorry," he continued. "I failed you. My duty was to not only protect the King, but the people closest to him. I tried to save you, but I was too late. And for that, I am so sorry."

Dwalin walked away from her then, going inside the castle. A few more people went: Bofur, Ori (who had the courtesy to say that she still looked very pretty even in death), Bifur, Nori (who had to translate Bifur's words for her), Bombur, then Balin. Even Dain said a few things to her before disappearing in the mountain.

Thranduil approached his daughter's tomb, biting back his tears. He put his hand on her head, looking at her with remorse and regret. "Thank you," he whispered, "for forgiving me, lellig-nin." He bent down and pressed his lips to her temple. "Gi mellin."

Legolas approached her tomb, sighing. "You're so stubborn, it hurts," he said lightly with a smile. "I'm proud of you, though. You proved that you really were Princess material, in the more warrior type way." Legolas put his hand to his heart, then put it on hers. "I'm proud to call you my sister."

Tauriel found it hard to say her words, but she managed to choke them out. "Hey," she greeted softly. "It's not fair, Anne. You were so young and so full of life, and you didn't deserve this." She inhaled, trying to control the fast tears that were rolling down her face. "I know that we barely got any time, but I want you to know that you were—you still are—my best friend."

The three Elves stepped back, Balin leading them all into the kingdom. Now it was Bard and his kids. Tilda was in a wreck, Sigrid wiping her eyes every five seconds.

"You look beautiful in a flower crown," Tilda croaked. "Because of you, I now want to learn how to heal people, like you tried to do when helping your friend. Sigrid is going to teach me."

Sigrid tried to laugh, patting her sister's shoulder. Bain cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. "You helped my father and I kill the dragon," he said. "Thank you."

Bard sighed. "Bain's right, and I realize that I never got the chance to thank you. I guess we were all so caught up in getting what we wanted, I never got the chance." He put his arm around Sigrid and his hand on Bain's shoulder, Tilda hugging his waist tightly. "You helped me protect my family. I only wish you were still alive to see how much yours loved you."

The four of them left her tomb just as Fili and Kili approached her. "For the love of Mahal, Anne, you've got a ton of admirers," Kili joked lightly, sniffing and exhaling. "And I thought I was the one who attracted everyone."

Fili found it in himself to laugh. "You were our best friend, Anne. Though, if you think about it, it's a little awkward to call you that since you were destined to become our aunt, soon, so..." Fili thought about it. "You were our best Auntie, I guess."

"She still is, brother," Kili said, swinging his arm around Fili. "She still is."

The two of them left with not-so-heavy hearts anymore, happy to have gotten one last laugh in with her before she was buried. Bilbo slowly approached the tomb, tilting his head to the side and rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Um..." he started, trying to think. He sighed and slumped his shoulders, shaking his head. "Why? Wh— why would you do this?" he croaked. "You had so much to live for, Anne, and instead you gave up your life to save someone else." Bilbo sniffed and shrugged. "But it's who you are, and I find that amazing.

"You know, I never really got to thank you." A shrug. "For... for believing in me. You were the first one to really show signs of hope in me, and I thank you for that. You were my greatest friend, and although stubborn, you were sweet... when you wanted to be, of course."

He chuckled and lowered his voice. "I know you can still hear me, so I'm going to ask you to please watch over the Dwarves. I don't know if you can reach me back in Bag-end, but if you can, it wouldn't hurt to whisk by and help me out with my garden." He dug out something from his pocket. "See? I picked up an acorn from Beorn's garden, and I'm going to watch it grow." Bilbo sighed and pat her shoulder. "Farewell, Anne Thranduileth, may your memory never fade."

Bilbo turned away, fiddling with the acorn in his hand. It was now Thorin's turn. He took a few steps towards her tomb, gazing over her beauty. "Even in death, you still look like an angel from above," he whispered, kissing her cold lips.

When he pulled away, her eyes were open. She was grinning like no tomorrow, and she was looking around the area.

"Well, this place is a mess," Anne mused with a smile. "By the way, I loved the speech. I had no idea you were sentimental."

Thorin smiled sadly, his eyes glistening with tears. "Still in my head?" he asked quietly.

The smile reached her eyes. "Even in death, you can't keep me away from you," she said. "Not a chance."

Thorin let out a little laugh and shook his head. He reached in his pocket, finding the Key of Durin. He had her hold onto it, patting her hands lightly. "Keep this safe."

"I'm dead, Thorin, and I don't think anyone is dumb enough to crawl six feet underground to grab a key," she laughed. "But, yeah, it'll be my pleasure."

Thorin smiled and kissed her one last time. When he pulled away, her eyes were closed again.

~>~>~>~>

Anne Thranduileth died on November 23, T.A. 2941, where she was buried in the beautiful gardens of Erebor, surrounded by flowers and nature. She was set six feet under ground, the lid of the tomb closed. Her grave stone said this: Here lies Anne Thranduileth, daughter, sister, friend of many, future aunt, and future Queen of Erebor.

Throin and Bilbo walked out of Erebor, Bilbo with his pack of stuff over his shoulder. As promised, he got his fair share of gold, and he got to keep the Mithril vest. Gandalf was waiting near the bridge that was formed when the gate got destroyed with his pony and Bilbo's.

"There is to be a great feast tonight," Thorin said as they walked outside. "Songs will be sung, tales will be told, and Anne..." He wavered a little and trailed off, stopping near the entrance and looking up at Erebor. "She'll pass into legend."

Bilbo rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well, I know that's how you must all honor her, but to me she was never that. She was.... To me, she was..." His voice cracked and he also trailed off, exhaling deeply.

Thorin smiled sadly, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I know," he said.

Bilbo sighed once more, nodding to Thorin. "Well, I think I'll slip quietly away. Will you tell the others I said goodbye?" he said sort of rushed as he turned to walk away.

Thorin frowned and looked back, seeing a pair of familiar brown and blue eyes in the shadows, along with ten more coming. He smiled and looked at Bilbo again. "You won't tell them yourself?"

Bilbo frowned and stopped, looking behind him and giving Thorin a look. When he saw the Dwarves at the entrance, he laughed quietly to himself. He walked forwards next to Thorin again, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He swallowed his emotions, but his voice sort of wavered. "If any of you are ever passing Bag-end..." he sniffed and nodded his head, sighing to himself, "tea is at four. There's plenty of it." His voice wavered, and he cleared his throat. "You are welcome anytime."

The Dwarves all smiled sadly at him, bowing. Bilbo turned to leave again before spinning back around and stammering. "Don't bother knocking."

The Dwarves laughed quietly, and even Thorin smiled. Bilbo smiled lightly and pat Thorin's shoulder, walking off to Gandalf and the ponies. Fili and Kili approached their uncle, both standing on opposite sides of him. Thorin glanced at the two of them, wrapping one arm around their shoulders. The two boys grinned at their uncle, watching as the Hobbit trotted away on his horse.

"Farewell, Master Burglar!" Thorin called. "May our paths meet again someday!"

Bilbo looked behind him and waved. The Dwarves waved back, a few of them sighing. Bombur pat his stomach when Bilbo was out of view. "I'm starving," he grumbled. "Are we going to celebrate and stuff our faces with food and ale, or what?"

The Dwarves laughed and barreled inside, all of them making fun of Bombur. The Line of Durin, though, stayed outside Erebor. "It's good to be where we finally belong," Kili mused.

"Yeah," Fili agreed. He craned his head up. "What do you think, Uncle?"

Thorin sighed and looked at his nephews, squeezing their shoulders. "Yeah," he said, all of them turning around and gazing upon Erebor. "It's good to be home."

And it was even better because Anne was there, too, resting and finally being at peace.