Welcome Home [Thorin]

[Leona Oakenshield]

The morning light filtered into Aledon, just as Leona swept the last of the tavern floor clean. Silvery eyes were tired, but not overly so. She glanced up to see Granny, she had finally given up on calling the woman anything but, wiping down the last table. As much as she enjoyed her solitude the feeble woman was growing on her. Her tongue was harsher than most fully grown men and the insults that sometimes flew from her tongue made her nearly want to gasp in mild shock. She replaced the broom and the old woman thanked her, before giving her a fair pouch of coin and shooing her off. Leona offered a gentle smile at the woman's odd antics, but she was happy to be heading home all the same.

Home... The small house was on the edge of the city, far enough away to beckon solitude and gentle quiet, but not far enough away to be in danger. The home was simplistic, nothing extraordinary, but it suited her. She had never had fancy trinkets before and she certainly didn't need them now. Flanna had visited often, and she to Flanna, the more time the two spent together, the tighter the bond she was beginning to feel to the woman... of course no matter how many meals or soft stories they shared, she could not help but wish for her beloved to reappear through those doors. She missed their time in the forest, upon the beach, stone and mortar that offered meager protection was a poor substitute for the length of Thorin's body. She yearned only for the calloused fingers of her lover, she never cared where they were.

Besides she had something to tell him. Instinctively her hand drifted across her belly, a barely there bump, unnoticeable almost. She had discovered her state only three weeks prior and had almost sent a raven... but this was news she wished to share in person, not in hand written messages. She reached the front gate of her home just as the morning rays of the sun sparkled above the horizon, she slid open the gate only to pause as a solitary figure, appeared far off in the distance. The blinding rays of the morning sun, obscured him from her vision. Her fingers squeezed the gate with anticipatory excitement and tentatively she called to him, hoping, praying it was her beloved. “Thorin?”

[Thorin Oakenshield]

It had been about a month, maybe more, since he’d been here, but the time had come and Thorin was on his way home. He and his nephew, dear Kili, had been out on an expedition to rid this land of its orc infestations, and it had taken longer than they had originally anticipated. But the deed was done and they could find no more of the vile creatures. This was Thorin glad for, and that he could now return to the woman who completed him and find a welcoming place to lay his weary head beside her. She was his lifeblood, his love. Leona.

Thorin knew he was nearing the house when he could smell the familiar scent of baking bread and heather, intwined in the air with an ethereal presence. It was home, and it was where Leona was. He was glad to have given her a permanent residence, having so long been wanderers, and she seemed equally happy with the settlement.

As he emerged from the trees, Thorin saw her figure on the porch and it brought a smile to his face. She called out to him, his name the only thing on her tongue, and he quickened his step to reach her, calling, “Home at last!” When he reached the door, he wrapped her in an embrace and held her close to him, wanting for her to hear his heart and remember him well. ”I’ve been gone too long. I’ve missed you so,” he said quietly, letting her go and setting his weapons aside. Offering her an arm, and wondering about the very overt smile on her face, Thorin led her inside.

[Leona Oakenshield]

It took only a moments more and the speed that the figure possessed confirmed her initial thought. Before she could so much as inhale another breath, he was upon her, warm arms, caging her, dragging her willingly against the length of his torso. With a soft squeal of excitement she embraced him back, one arm wrapping around his shoulders, while the other tangled itself in dark, silky locks. She buried her face in his neck, squeezing him with possessive zeal. Various weapons dug into her skin, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Thorin was here, he was home, he was safe, and he was all hers once more.

Reluctantly she released him so he could discard his weaponry. When he had finished, he offered her his arm, but damn it... she couldn't care about chivalry at the moment! She ducked, tucking her whole body into the crook of his arm, and pressing flush against his side, her own arm winding around his torso to hold him tight. She could scarcely believe he stood before her. “Thorin! Gods how I've missed you!” She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, leading him swiftly into the house, previous weariness forgotten.

“You are not to leave me again! Teach me to wield a blade if you must!” Her joy, excitement, exuberance, love... it all colored her tones as she merely breathed him in. Too long since he had seen her! Which quickly reminded her why her excitement was two fold to see him home again. She chewed her bottom lip, releasing him but not going far. “Thorin, there is something I need tell you. I would have you sit for this, come with me beloved, to our quarters?” She tugged softly on his sleeve, willing him to obey her, if just this once.

[Thorin Oakenshield]

Thorin had been happy to oblige the royal family and kill the orcs, and it didn't hurt that a hefty reward was returned him. All the better; he could buy nice things for Leona if she so chose. Or even if she didn't. He would do as he pleased because his love for her was unlike any other. He was so glad to hold her in his arms again, to feel her wrap around him as though her life depended on him. He was glad to be whatever she needed him to be and nothing less. The way she felt, fingers in his hair, made him recall how much he'd been missing.

He did not wish to hurt her and so discarded the load he carried, then trying to be a gentleman. But he was denied this as she instead weaseled her way beside him. Shaking his head, Thorin laughed. "I was trying to be proper," he said lowly, kissing her cheek gently. "My goodness. You've been very alone, haven't you? Bad on me, I admit. I hope you've been to see Flanna. I've missed you so, my dear." He was quickly led in, not one to deny her of whatever she seemed to be wanting. He did not know where she was leading them, and his thoughts drifted elsewhere when it was to their chamber. Her words, so anticipative, perked his ears.

But he was sat down on the bed and swiftly, protectively, wrapped an arm around her. "What could be so utterly important that we've come to the bedroom for?" He grinned, a quick stroke to her cheek to remind her that he loved her. She was so... unlike herself at the present, so happy, and he was so goddamn curious, it was killing him. "Tell me, love. Tell me."

[Leona Oakenshield]

So quickly he became her world, she hadn't the faintest clue of how she survived without him. Her past seemed so trivial when compared to all of the love that was trapped in her embrace. Her life was so dull when his warmth wasn't there to lighten her day, he brought so many things to her, she marveled at how...why he had ever chosen her of all people to be his one and only, but she knew him well, knew he would only deny and tell her how wonderful she was regardless of her own insecurities. She choose to simply accept that perhaps he loved her as much as she loved him and held him ever so tighter.

His own laugh at her impatient and childish antics, made her own soft humor twine with his own. “Be proper when we haven't been apart for what has felt like years! I pine for you when you are naught but in next room. I fear you take the core of me with you wherever you wander.” Her soft laugh died down, her tone growing just a touch more serious towards the end of that phrase. It was true. She nodded slightly, a fondness growing in her eyes at the mention of Flanna. “Flanna is sweet, we get along well, as bizarre as it sounds, locked in that Orc's dungeon bonded us I think.”

Then there were other things to think of besides her brother and sister in law. This would be for him and her, and his reaction... they had never spoken of having children. She had thought of it on and off, but she wasn't sure if he even wanted an heir. She wouldn't dispose of the child if he didn't, not even she could be so cruel. She would give it up... it would kill her, but she would. She hoped like hell he would exuberant. She was nervous. Her smile widened though, because the thought of her helping create something so beautiful... she hadn't expected to sit beside him, she was too anxious, too nervous, too utterly enthralled, but she did so never the less, and his warm fingers trailed across her cheek. ”I love you...” She prefaced, she had no idea how to go about telling him something so huge.

“Thorin... I'm with child.”

[Thorin Oakenshield]

Whatever she did, he would oblige. Whatever she wanted, he would get her. Because she meant the world to him, he would give her the world. She had saved him and did not know it; he had saved her and been thanked tenfold. He was a hardened, self-kept king; she a beautiful angel who belonged in a world of another sphere. He had won her and did not know how or why but for all his days he would cherish her. That was love, it was. And he knew. He understood why Kili was so smitten and so overcome with a protective spirit, because now that same persona was his own to wear as a mantle. He was going to be everything she needed, any everything she never knew she needed.

"Ah!" he laughed. "But I think you have it wrong. It is I whose core is taken from me by a fine vixen." Thorin smiled upon her and was glad just to be near her again. Distance sure made one sensitive. He could see that she now had a good friend in her sister-in-law and for that Thorin was grateful, should ever he and Kili have to venture again, which no doubt they would. "I am glad to hear that," Thorin murmured, kissing her nose.

Something was amiss, whether it was good he could not quite tell, but when Leona's smile grew, he was certain that whatever this was could not be based in pain. She seemed so nervous, and he stayed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I love you too, my dear," he answered lowly, head tilted to catch whatever she was to say. But when the words came, Thorin knit his brows. His face was caught in a spell of exquisite surprise and for a moment he could not even react. "Leona..." he said, looking away in shock, then back to meet her eyes. There were no words that could describe what was upon his heart now. All he could do was kiss her, pushing her unwittingly onto the bed as he smothered her in his affection.

[Leona Oakenshield]

Over these past few weeks her mind had wandered, drifted to far away places, sometimes memories, but more oft than not, she found herself pondering the strange world that Thorin had come from, he was a dwarf, she knew that much, knew them to be honorable, if Kili and Thorin were anything to base such a presumption of, she knew her lover to be their king, and she knew of Erebor... but she knew of very little else. She wondered what their customs were, did they celebrate holidays? Festivals? Were they all hardened warriors? Or were there other occupations? She was curious, perhaps one day, she would ask him, but for now her mind was focused, excited and terrified at the same time to share news that she had been holding close to her heart for the past few weeks.

He answered her in kind, a gentle blush staining her pretty cheeks. He leaned in to kiss her nose and she smiled, giggling softly as her eyes fluttered shut, long lashes resting on pale cheeks. He answered her confession of emotion and she steeled her nerve, willing herself to tell him what he was surely dying to know before fear took her. The words escaped her in a breathless tone, so many emotions raging through her. She could scarcely wait to see his reaction and she hadn't realized she had held her breath, until she tried to speak again and had to force her lungs to draw in air.

“I was going to write to you, a raven borrowed but I-” Leona tried to explain quickly, suddenly nervous when he shied away from her, looking away, but a moment later he was upon her, his own weight forcing her backwards upon the bed and kissing the hell out of her until she could scarcely tell what was up or down. When finally he pulled away, still easily pinning her down with his weight she managed a vibrant smile, so bright and so excited that it hid nothing... she didn't even try. “I take it you are pleased? I might dare say happy?” A breathless laugh and she shifted to find his fingers with her own twining them together. His body felt heavenly, so intimately twined with hers.

[Thorin Oakenshield]

It was with a joy in his heart that Thorin made it home. He had been gone too long and he knew so, but what had been done had been necessary. It would keep him and Leona and Kili and Flanna safe, so he would do as he was asked. Once a king, he now stooped humbly to serve the place he'd ended up in and now was nothing better than a knight. But Leona did not care and that was part of why he loved her so much. No one had ever loved him as she did before; they may have wished to be mother to the heirs of Durin, but nothing more. Selfish dwarves, indeed. He wished he could take Leona to Erebor now.

He loved to see her face turn different shades, particularly when he knew she was still working on trying to accept his praise. But she was nervous, so dreadfully nervous, and that had set his heart on edge, because he'd not been here to guard her... Thank the gods. It was good news. He had to take the time to register the idea in his mind that maybe he could have a fairly normal life, that he could help create small children, that he was not an outcast here. He had... by the gods, he had gotten her pregnant! And she had a mind to explain herself? No need, he thought as emotion overcame the usually-quiet man.

He kissed her senseless until he was out of breath himself and then could do nothing but look at her, admire her beauty. Her smile was radiant, matching his own. "Oh, my love..." he said roughly. He kissed her again, not able to conjure the words that filled his heart so. Finally, he managed, "I am ecstatic, Leona Oakenshield. Ecstatic." He smiled more as her fingers found his and leaned down to kiss her stomach, covered and not showing but still absolutely precious.

[Leona Oakenshield]

She so often found herself at a loss for words. Sometimes, she couldn't conjure up how to accurately express herself, whether this was simply the way she was, or some long defense of keeping herself so heavily guarded and shielded from the rest of the world, she didn't know. But this singular fleeting moment, she realized how monumentally important her words were, she not only carried a child, a child born of her and Thorin, but she carried an heir. The unborn child in her womb would, quite possibly, be a King one day. Her words needed to find her, because Thorin needed to know what magic they had created together.

If his reaction was anything to go by, she had done just fine. He kissed her until neither one of them could scarcely breathe and as she lay beneath him, chest heaving in an effort to regain her dizzied senses, she watched her King lower himself down her body, placing the softest of kisses upon her still flat stomach, the motion, so reverent, so gentle, nearly brought tears to her eyes. Clamping her bottom lip between her teeth she tangled her fingers in his curling locks and dragged him back up to meet her, She buried her face in the crown of his hair, fighting back her tears of utter happiness. And shifted her arms to gently scratch his back through the thin linen of his undershirt. “I love you Thorin, I am so honored to be your wife.” Her arms tightened around his broad back, all but crushing him into her.

When she regained a bit of control she gently tugged at his hair until he tilted his head up to see her face. She smiled at him, hints of mischief gleaming in the corners of silver eyes. “Won't you kiss me without such wretched fabric in your way. I yearn for you Thorin, you have been gone too long.”

[Thorin Oakenshield]

Thorin had never thought about this side of his life. He, for so long, had been interested only by the conquest that was his life's mission and never thought that maybe one day he'd be forced, albeit willingly, to lay down the sword and just be a man. Not to be a dwarf-king. Not to be a noble figure. Just to be a lover and a husband and... and a father. The surprise was something he certainly had not expected but he was not opposed. It would be something to have those sorts of responsibilities, and he was not used to thinking in this manner. But it would come with time. Good things always did.

His reaction was so unlike him that it even took him by surprise, but he could not control the love he held for this woman and the trust, fidelity, love that filled his heart at the prospect of having made something so miraculous. A father. Not just a king. The former title seemed even to hold more reverence than that of King Under the Mountain. Right now, he was on the highest of peaks. Thorin kissed her stomach, blessing her for what she'd done already. But she pulled him back to her; they could never have enough of each other. He loved her and he would be her willing slave. What she wanted, he would provide. He was not a ruler at her side; he was the servant and she was the queen of his heart.

Not one to be outdone, he kissed her back. "'Tis I who has the honor, my dear." He answered her in rough tones, his voice returning. Her words came to him, drifting sweetly in his ears, and he could not help but feel eager as she. But he would not let her get away with it just because she was pregnant. "Oh? I suppose you'll just have to change that then," he responded, and began to kiss her furiously again.

[Leona Oakenshield]

She was amazed still, and thought, perhaps, that she always would be, that he had chosen her to be his wife. It bewildered her that he had even glanced in her general direction. That day, covered in snow and ice, before that massive wall of stone... he was a King... but unlike any King she had ever met. The King's on her world wouldn't have so much as spat upon her. She wasn't a Queen, a duchess, a lady of the courts, or even a respectable woman. She had been homeless, penniless, figure less, and at times even the title of thief or beggar were becoming of her. She had never thought her life would amount to anything more than helping out that little old woman on the farm. Invisible, or so it would seem, until she drew her dying breath.

Thorin. She had never been invisible to Thorin. He spoke to her like she was worth more than the dirt one scraped from their boots. He sought her out, remembered her face, her voice... and now he knew her body, her smile, her love, and in return for how greatly he lit her world, for how much he willingly adored her? She carried his heir. She carried a child born of pure unadulterated love and even now such thoughts made her heart still and momentarily forget its singular job. She was a peasant and he a king, but she was his peasant, his slave, and forever more would she belong to only him.

She smiled for him, loving and filled with all of her devotion, trust and adoration for him. Lust flickered in the depths of silvered eyes as he answered her pleas in kind, and wickedly she leaned up to nip at his bottom lip, taunting, teasing before he finally kissed her with such passion that her toes curled in his boots, but he had been gone too long and she was too eager to play long. Tugging his shirt from his pants, her fingers skated up the strong pectorals, teasing his skin with a soft touch. She pulled the fabric up and out of the way as she went, wanting to brand him in her memory, wanting to remember every curve of his body. She pulled the shirt over his head, but stopped as the band reached his eyes, blinding him, temporarily. Gently she eased him onto his back and straddled him, leaning down to barely brush her lips against his own. “Let me love you my King, and I will be your slave for all eternity.” She breathed against his mouth, before swooping down and capturing his lips for her own.

[Thorin Oakenshield]

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