Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 61 - Trust

~~ Celia ~~

Celia swam back to consciousness slowly, stretching her arms out and groaning as something popped. Moving her head out from underneath her blankets, she blinked blearily at the light in the room and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Did you have a good nap?" Her sister's teasing voice interrupted her slow thoughts.

Celia yawned, then sat up, shoving the blankets down to her waist. "Sure. If by good you mean weird." She rubbed her eyes again to clear them, smiling when she saw Kíli asleep on his mat beside her, arm tossed over his face and the hair in front of his mouth fluttering softly every time he breathed. "When did you guys get here?"

She looked over at her sister, only then realizing that she was curled up against the wall, sketching in a notebook that she'd most likely borrowed from Ori, her own having been appropriated by the Mirkwood elves. Fíli sat next beside her, watching over her shoulder, careful not to lean against her bad arm.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Elena asked, not lifting her eyes from her drawing.

"Uh... The last thing I remember is getting some stew from Bombur, then coming back here and passing out. I think you and Fíli were talking to Balin and Bilbo at the time."

"We were talking - about how much you guys needed a nap," Elena agreed easily. "Mainly because Kíli looked almost dead on his feet, and I could use the bags under your eyes to hold the contents of my pack."

Celia grimaced, not disagreeing. "How long have we been asleep?"

Elena shrugged, looking up from her notepad and glancing at the fading light in the room. "I don't know. A couple hours? You fell asleep shortly after lunch, and I think we'll be having dinner soon. So maybe more than that. Five or six, maybe? I don't know."

"Six hours? Ugh." Celia wrinkled her nose, digging around for her water skin before downing half the contents. "I believe you. My mouth feels really dry."

"Hard to believe with all that drooling you were doing," Elena teased her. "I think there's a small puddle."

"Liar," Celia retorted, wiping her mouth anyways and sticking her tongue out at her sister when her hand came away dry. "What are you doing in here, anyways? Why aren't you at the party?"

"Ah, yes. The party of fun and awesomeness," Elena said dryly. "Where half the guests are mad and have no sense of humor on a good day. Nah. We tried to stick it out for a bit, but after Bilbo and Balin got distracted, I kind of zoned out until Fíli suggested we come hang out here and watch you guys sleep like creepy people."

"I did not," Fíli protested, nudging her side with his elbow. "I suggested we wait here because neither of us felt like exploring, and you lot are the closest thing I have left to sane companions. After Balin. And Bilbo. And Óin," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, gee, thanks. It's nice to know I made it on your list of semi-sane people, even if it is near the bottom," Celia grumbled, freeing herself from her blankets and settling herself fully on top of them. "Any ideas on what to do now? Two truths and a lie? Truth or dare? Awkwardly stare at each other until someone starts a decent conversation?"

Elena scoffed. "You can awkwardly stare. I'm going to work on my drawing. But I don't think we should do any serious conversation until Kíli wakes up, to avoid having to repeat ourselves." She sobered. "It's going to be hard enough to explain once."

Fíli nodded somberly. "But let's not wake up Kíli until we have to. I don't think he's slept more than a few hours this whole week."

Celia shook her head, glancing over at the sleeping prince. "He hasn't. He was up every time I was, either still awake when I fell asleep, or waking me up from my nightmares, and I hardly slept this week." She turned back to her sister and Fíli. "So let's talk about something else. What are you drawing, Elena?"