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“Thorin!” Bilbo fell to his knees beside the Dwarven King. Thorin’s eyes were closed and he was very pale, and bleeding.
“Thorin, please! Say something!” Bilbo cried, shaking him softly. “I’m not giving up on you! Not now!”
Thorin’s eyes fluttered open and he coughed. Bilbo grabbed at his jacket, pressing his hand over the deep wound in Thorin’s chest.
“Bilbo...” Thorin breathed his name, surprised. He lifted his hand to Bilbo’s face, his palm cold against Bilbo’s cheek.
“Bilbo…” he said again, “Please, forgive me, I am sorry to have led you into such peril.” he continued, gasping slightly between breaths.
Bilbo shook his head and smiled sadly. “No, no Thorin. I am glad to have shared in your perils.” he said, his hand finding Thorin’s hair. A tear slid down his cheek and he dropped his head to Thorin’s chest.
“Anywhere…” Bilbo sobbed brokenly, “I would have followed you anywhere, Thorin Oakenshield.” He felt so small, even smaller than usual. How did it all end like this? They were all in over their heads.
Thorin put his hand over Bilbo’s, the one holding his wound, and squeezed it. “Hearing that is worth all of the gold in Erebor,” he sighed. “Go back to your books, and your armchairs, Master Baggins. Plant your trees, and watch them grow. Live a long, happy life.”
Bilbo looked up to see Thorin smiling, one hand still against Bilbo’s cheek. His thumb brushed away a tear and Bilbo decided. If this was the end, he had to tell Thorin the truth.
“When you…” he started, stumbling over his words. “When you first showed up at Bag End, I knew nothing of the word, like you said. I knew nothing at all.” Bilbo forced himself to keep his head up, anchoring himself in Thorin’s eyes.
“And then I fell, and you caught me,” He said, a soft cry escaping his lips. “And I kept falling, but you were always there.” He took a deep breath and tightened his hold on Thorin’s hair. He could do this. He had to do this.
“I still know nothing, except… except that I... I love you.” Thorin wiped away another tear and he forced himself to go on. “I’m still learning to… to love you… just starting… and now you… you’re leaving me, Thorin. How… how am I to go back now? It’s not… it’s not fair!” he said brokenly, sounding like a small child. More sobs escaped him as he grabbed at Thorin’s hair frantically, crawling closer to him.
“Amralime,” Thorin said, moving his hand to the back of Bilbo’s neck and bringing their foreheads together. “My brave Hobbit, if only I had swallowed my pride sooner, would you have known you are the one that I love? You are my One, and I am truly sorry that my madness brought you such pain, and that I am saying goodbye, before we have even had a chance to be. Love is unfair, but death is even crueler. Know that I love you now, and I will love you always, and we will be together when the world is remade. I will wait for you in the afterlife, my love, and never forget you are my ghivashel, my treasure of all treasures.”
Bilbo’s heart ached and he let his tears flow freely. “Don’t go Thorin, please… don’t go!” he begged, knowing it was useless.
Thorin tightened his hold on Bilbo’s neck and pulled him closer until their lips met. Bilbo shook and pressed his lips against Thorin’s softly, their lips moving together slowly.
Bilbo pulled away when he heard a noise above them, and looked up, Thorin's hand falling from his neck. The eagles were flying overhead. He turned back to Thorin and pointed up at them, but Thorin’s eyes were closed.
“The eagles, Thorin, look! The eagles…” he shook Thorin softly, but his eyes stayed closed. No! No, no, no, no!
“No! No, don’t go! Say something, please! Say anything!” Bilbo buried his face against Thorin’s neck as his sobs wracked his body. He stayed like that for a long time, crying over his lost love until he was numb from the cold.
Later, Bilbo tried to fight it when someone’s hands pulled him away from Thorin, but he could hardly move and didn’t put up much of a fight. Dwalin, it was Dwalin, he realized. The Dwarf was saying something but it sounded far away and he couldn’t make it out at first.
“Come on, lad. He’s gone… he’s gone…” said Dwalin’s far away voice.
Bilbo just shook his head dumbly and said, barely above a whisper, “But… the eagles…”