“I still can’t believe babies are so tiny...” she whispered, smiling up in triumph at her sister, tired and yet still grinning like an idiot after hours of unmedicated labor. “Wanna meet your nephew?”
Just because the war was over, doesn't mean the nightmares have ended. (NOTE: hover over underlined words for translations)
She couldn't sleep. Just tossing and turning all night. It never ended. Yes, she knew Fili was alive and with her sister and their children. Yes, she knew Thorin was out visiting the Shire, and of course she felt her husband's arms wrapped tightly around her and his breathing on her shoulder... But seeing the life leave his eyes as she did in her world on the movie screen haunted her dreams all the same. So here she was, sitting by the fire, wrapped in Kili's furs and hoping her tears didn't wake her husband or either of their sons.
"Amad! Amad!" her eldest cried, throwing open the door, launching himself into his mother's arms and clinging to her. Cassandra let out a small noise of surprise as her son knocked the air out of her lungs. Something was wrong, she could smell it.
"Inùdoy, what is the matter?" she murmured, wrapping the furs around herself and her child as she looked him in the eye. The half dwarf hiccuped, burying his face in his mother's chest to dry his tears as he attempted to compose himself. Cassie was patient, knowing her children never got hysterical unless they sensed something was wrong-something they inherited from her. She pulled her child's face from her dress, cradling his cheeks in her hands and kissing his forehead, her thumbs stroking away his tears and she felt him calm in her hold. "Why are you out of bed, little duck?"
"Something is wrong with adad! He's thrashing around and crying and he won't wake up! Nadad and I tried to wake him but he--!"
Blue eyes widened at the sound of Kili's blood curdling scream from down the hall, prompting the doors to be thrown open once again by her youngest, who flew into his mother's arms just as his older sibling did. A growl formed in the woman's throat and her children clung to her, blue eyes shifting to red as she stood and wrapped the children in the furs, kissing both their foreheads to comfort them. "I will take care of this. If I am not back in ten minutes, I want you to find your Uncle and your Grandmother. Do you understand?" Her children nodded, sniffling as their mother ruffled their hair and bolted back to her bedroom as her husband screamed once again.
Cass glided into the room, eyes focusing on her dwarf's writhing form in the bed before her. She had to take in every move he made; her way of analyzing what sort of nightmare he was having. It wasn't until he clutched his abdomen and screamed something about an orc that it hit her. He was somehow seeing her nightmares, and he was living through what almost happened. The wolf immediately was at his side, crawling in beside him as he cried, trapped in a nightmare that just kept going on and wouldn't release him.
"Kili!" she called, noting the way her husband's face contorted in his dream, recognizing her voice almost instantly. Her hand gripped his shoulder tight, prompting a whine of frustration from her other half. He still couldn't wake up, and Cass was unsure of what to do. This only happened once before, but the roles were reversed. It was right after the battle, before they were married, and Cassie was stuck in her nightmare for hours--the only person able to reach her and wake her being Kili. Running purely on instinct, Cass soon felt her hand trail down his arm to where his hand had a vice grip on his shirt, as if to try and stop the bleeding that never came all that time ago. Her hand squeezed his, slender fingers slipping between his palm and the fabric he was clutching, and soon the prince released his grip on the shirt, clinging to his wife for dear life.
"Shh, love. It's alright," she murmured, moving damp strands of hair from his face as he groaned in his sleep. The wolf gave his hand a squeeze, relieved when he squeezed back, and soon she simply pressed her body against his. His back against her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, just as he'd done for her almost every night they spent together. He relaxed in her hold, still shaking and fighting to wake up, but Cassie placed her chin on his shoulder and breathed in his scent, giving him a squeeze before she spoke again. "I promised you all those years ago I wouldn't let you die... I kept that promise, Kee. You're here, you're alive... There's nothing bleeding, there are no Orcs here. Fili is probably on his way to make sure you are alright and Thorin is visiting Bilbo, remember? Just follow my voice, I'm right here," she sensed he didn't believe her for a split second, probably remembering when she'd pushed him out of the way and took a nasty hit for him before the Eagles came, but a squeeze to his waist proved to him she was alive and well. "Come back to me," she whispered, nuzzling the back of his neck and pressing her lips against the skin there. It was really all she could do at this point, just physically be there. Kili was scared, and who wouldn't be? Trapped in a nightmare you couldn't escape from? Pure hell.
Her husband tensed at her words, shivering when he felt her lips against his skin, but finally, finally, relaxed. Cass breathed a sigh of relief when she felt him go limp in her arms. Good, he might actually get some sleep now. She turned to get up and check on the boys, only to feel a pair of arms wrap around her and a face buried in her neck. "Kee," she whispered, looking into those brown eyes when they peeked up at her. Cradling his face in her hands Cassie pressed her lips to his, the prince returning the kiss enthusiastically as he scooted closer to her. "Gave the boys quite a scare there," she chuckled, breathless from the kiss and from the relief that washed over her when Kili blushed. "You okay?"
He nodded, leaning into her touch as she wiped his tears, pressing kisses along his forehead and cheeks and prompting a laugh from the dwarf. Cassie smiled, feeling him scoot closer and lean his forehead against hers. "M'sorry, for worrying you," he mumbled, closing his eyes and burying his face in her collarbone. "And the boys..."
She sighed, placing her chin on his head and holding him close, feeling Kili grip onto her nightgown and breathe her in. Seemed to be a running theme with the two of them, if one had a nightmare the other would cling to them and make sure the other was real.
"Was that really what happened to me in your world?"
Cassie tensed, and she felt Kili do the same in her arms, instantly regretting asking that question. She swallowed hard, how do you answer such a question? Sure, the event that would have killed him was already done and over with, but maybe the sooner they discussed it the sooner their nightmares could end. "Yes... It really was," she finally whispered, her hand moving from his waist to his hair as she ran her fingers through it-her mind needing reassurance that he was real and she wasn't completely dreaming.
"I'm sorry you had to see that..." he murmured, leaning into her touch and giving her a squeeze. Why the hell was he apologizing for something he didn't have control over? Cass buried her face in his hair, squeezing tight-but not too tight. Could accidentally hurt even a dwarf with werewolf strength.
"All that matters right now is that you're alive. We both survived the battle, so did Olivia, Fili and Thorin, and all the rest of them. Sure, in our world it was fiction, but that is all it is. Fiction. This, here, is reality. A strange reality I'm still getting used to but a reality nonetheless," she heard him chuckle in her arms and she shook her head, twirling a strand of dark hair around her index finger.
"Amad! Is adad alright?!" their eldest called, Fili throwing open the door with his nephew on his shoulder as Olivia trailed after her husband, her other nephew balanced on her hip. Cass felt Kili finally release her in favor of sitting up and smiling at their sons, who reached for their mother when she stood to gather them. Fili immediately bolted to his brother's side, speaking to him frantically in Khuzdul as the younger of the two calmly responded in kind. Cass approached her sister, mirroring the way she was holding her youngest as her eldest leaned on her shoulder. Exhausted little ones. The elder wolf kissed her sibling's forehead, to which Olivia pouted, but she shrugged it off when both her nephews saw their father was awake and wriggled down from both females' arms in favor of running to his side.
Cassie finally relaxed, leaning her forehead on her sister's shoulder and groaning as her arms fell limp at her sides. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. Olivia laughed, patting her sister's head in a playful motherly manner.
"Long night?"
"Like you read about."
"Poor baby."
"Shut up."
Olivia shook her head, patting her sister's shoulder as Fili, Kili and the boys were now all sitting on the bed and talking. "Looks like you guys won't be getting back to bed anytime soon."
"Eh I'm used to it by now. I'm sure you are too. How's the new little one?"
"Thankfully better than the last. She lets me sleep and bugs her Daddy for everything. Dis is watching them."
"Thank goodness for Dis," Cassie sighed, straightening up and looking at the bed, a smile gracing her features when she saw both her children curled up in their father's arms, listening intently to the stories Fili and Kili weaved of the quest to reclaim Erebor.
"Yeah, she raised a couple good ones," Olivia smiled, leaning against her sister as her head rested on Cass's shoulder. "Our mom did too," Cass pointed out, earning a watery smile from her younger sibling as she wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulder.
"Amad! Will you and amadnamad tell us of your world and how you came to be here?" the youngest asked, blue eyes widening into his father's signature pout as he looked over at his mother. "Maybe it'll help adad sleep better! Like how you tell nadad and I stories before bed!"
"Sweetheart I tell you fairy tales before bed. My story isn't a fairy tale until I get here and I meet your father," Cassie grinned, watching Kili turn a bright red and Olivia giggles.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" both boys chorus, giving their mother that pout she knew oh so well by now as Fili and Kili join in. By now Olivia has plopped herself beside her husband, grinning as he pulls her into his lap and Cass rolls her eyes when her sister gives her the same look.
"Oh can all those eyes get any bigger?" she smiled, sarcasm dripping from her words as her sons grinned in triumph. Cassie settled in beside her husband, her youngest finding her lap and leaning into her as she placed her chin on his head. "Alright," she sighed, feeling Kili scoot closer and place his hand in hers, threading their fingers together as his head rests on her shoulder. Cass presses a kiss to the top of his head, prompting their oldest to wrinkle his nose in disgust before snuggling into his father's chest.
"Dude you're taking too long."
"Dude, shut up."
"That's it! I'm telling the story! Once--"
"ONCE UPON A TIME!" Cassie crowed, prompting laughter from her sons and a smirk of triumph from her sister. The little shit. Cass rolled her eyes and started from the beginning, telling the others of her childhood in Beacon Hills and meeting a boy named Hieronim as a little girl, but he liked to be called Stiles. The name made Cassie tense up, and Kili gave her hand a squeeze to bring her back to reality. She squeezed back, taking a deep breath and continuing, feeling Kili's thumb stroke the back of her hand as she continued. Yes, the battle was over and they had won, but the demons of the past will always haunt someone no matter how many years it had been... The only way to handle it was to have someone who loved you who could chase the bad dreams away. No one can do it alone, and thankfully none of them had to do it on their own anymore. They all had each other, and that's all that mattered.
itsybitsylivi and lupusxvenatrix are the Crocodile Elf Hunters
"Crikey! What do your elf eyes see, Legolas?" Cass whispered to her sister with her most terrible Austrailian accent as she took a bite of fruit. Good thing she got Lady Arwen to go to the party with them. Gave them a good shield for if they wanted to wander.
