Chapter Sixteen

In Their Arms

The company followed behind Gandalf as they moved through the underground pathway, confused as to where the tunnel would lead them, but deciding it was safer than where they were before. The only one who wasn't so concerned as to where they going, was Dwalin; the burly dwarf was right at the wizard's heels with quick, large strides, more concerned on how quickly they would get to a place safe so that they could address Tati's legs.

Dwalin glanced down at the meek girl in his arms when he felt her flinch, her warm face pressed against the tunic covering his muscled chest; she had been flinching every so often throughout their whole time in these caves. Dwalin knew it was because of his hurried pace that caused her body to jostle every so often was causing her flinches but Dwalin couldn't stop his rushed steps, he just wanted to address her wounds soon. "Gandalf, how close are we to getting out of this dingy, cavern," Dwalin growled, his steely eyes focused on her blood stained pant legs.

"Fret not Master Dwalin, we are nearly out of this rocky cage." Gandalf answered cooly.

He flashed the bulky dwarf a comforting smile, not at all fazed by the glare the dwarf sent in return.

"Hopefully," one of the other dwarves muttered.

Despite the fact that many dwarves grew up deep within mountains and quite liked it, many of the company was tired and aggravated; they just wanted to set up camp and get some rest, and they wouldn't get that until they got out of these tunnels.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that light," Bilbo asked with both surprise and relief, glad to be out. Hobbit holes, while slightly underground (yet not by very much), they were always filled with warmth and sunlight, and Bilbo was tired of walking so deeply underground in these freezing tunnels.

"Your eyes do not deceive, Master Baggins, we are here." Gandalf stated, and the company all let out relieved groans.

"This is…" Bilbo gasped in awe.

At Bilbo's gasp Tati glanced up, ignoring the pain in her leg as she was more intrigued of what was going on. Her breath got caught in her throat, her doe eyes wider than usual. Gorgeous, was the single thought in her mind. There laid a castle she could only imagine from books. Everything about it was elegant and warm; the castle was large and grand, colored in colors of soft gold and cream, the towers so clean and shiny that it literally sparkled from the sun rays reflecting from it.

"Wh-what is this place," Tati questioned in awe laced in her voice, as her hazel colored eyes glanced up to Dwalins face. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw the scowl on his face.

"Rivendell, a home of elves," he snarled the last word, as if the very word disgusted him. Tati grimaced at the anger in his voice and felt a flash on fear in her heart. Dwalin instantly noticed and was quick to soften his features, his thumb rubbing against her upper arm soothingly, and he watched with satisfaction as the fear in her eyes disappeared.

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it wizard?" Thorin snapped at his magical companion, glaring dangers at Gandalf.

"I know not of what you speak of. But you will find no enemies here, the elves can aid us with reading that map of ours," the wizard stated calmly. "They can also provide us a bed to sleep on, food to fill us, and give Tati the medical attention she needs." Oin huffed under his breath at that.

"I remember a time in which my people desperately needed the aid of their kind. And instead of helping us, they simply watched as my people, injured children, females, males, elderly, struggling to even move, and they turned away," Thorin snarled lowly. Though most of the company heard his words, having gone quiet at his furious tone. And while Tati didn't know what had exactly happened, she now understood why her riding companion had grown so angry so quickly.

Slowly, hesitantly, Tati softly caressed Dwalin's chest, trying to comfort him. The burly dwarf, hyperaware of anything Tati seemed to do, head jerked down in both shock and (much to his surprise) pleasure. Tati had never instigated a touch before and so just the very thought of it caused an odd feeling of satisfaction to rise in him.

Seeing that Dwalin was staring at her, Tati offered him a timid yet sweet smile, her eyes quickly dropping to her belly bashfully. Despite how warm and comforting Dwalin was to Tati, the same feeling of unease rose up in her, likely due to finally realizing just how much they were touching each other, her hand in his chest, his arms wrapped around her back and legs; it was too much touching, too much contact. Tati ripped her hand away, almost as if his soft warmth had burned her. Dwalin instantly felt cold, and nearly considered holding her hand against his chest, but despite the need to feel that warmth again, Dwalin knew better; he wanted her to do it willingly again, he didn't want it to be forced.

The company of dwarves grudging made their way down the trail to the gleaming beauty of a castle, not happy whatsoever with their current predicament. Though just because the dwarves were unhappy, didn't stop Bilbo from gazing in awe, not even trying to hide the wonder twinkling in his eyes. Tati, not wanting to upset the one of the very few people she had grown close to, hid her own amazement.

As they approached the doors to the magnificent castle, Tati stared with wide, curious eyes as a extremely tall man came striding down the stairs. Everything seemed perfect about him: perfect skin, long silky brown hair, pristine clothes; even the way he glided towards them seemed to be elegant. Tati noted curiously that his ears were oddly pointed, like an fairy or an elf in fairytales. These are the elven people Gandalf and Jack had taught me about… they are just as beautiful and perfect as Jack had described, Tati realized.

Without meaning to, the black haired girl caught eyes with the too-perfect-to-be-real creature. Embarrassed at being caught looking, Tati instantly turned her head into Dwalins chest, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She felt the burly dwarf's arms tense around her limbs protectively, and Tati's body involuntarily relaxed in response. Without thinking, Tati breathed in his husky, manly scent, and she felt strangely comforted by his smell enveloping her. Tati kept her face pressed against Dwalin's front as she faintly listened to Gandalf and the mystery elf greet one another in a mystery language that sounded rather smooth yet odd.

"We are here to see Lord Elrond. Is he about?" Gandalf questioned.

"Actually, Lord Elrond is not in."

Not even a moment after the mystery elf spoke the sound of hooves thumping against the ground infiltrated Tati's ears, and the girl glanced up from her spot pressed against his chest. She felt a stab of fear as a group of elegant, but deadly, elves riding atop of magnificent stallions circled the company, like a predator circling it's prey. The black haired girl felt extremely uneasy, anxiety rushing through her veins; she felt like a cornered animal, trapped, and unable to escape. Tati's dainty fingers tightened in a bruising grip around the burly dwarf's tunic, her already pale knuckles turning a milky white as her muscles shook lightly against his hold.

Tati gasped while her fingers tightened even more so when she felt Dwalin start to set her on the ground. "Calm ye' self lass, and get behind me," her riding partner softly yet sternly whispered, and Tati instantly released her hold and did as he ordered, sliding behind his broad back. "I got you, keep behind me, alrigh'?" Tati nodded against his back, however even though she felt better with Dwalin right there, she couldn't help but feel useless; she was more of burden to them than anything, and the fact that she was pressed against Dwalin's back, trembling in fear and he remained the ever so faithful protector just showed how useless she was the quest.

Now's not the time to have a pity party, Tati scolded herself, shaking her head lightly as she refocused on the situation.

The dwarves were now shifting together into a tighter group, all which kept their hands on the handles of their weapons.

One the elves leapt off his horse and with a soft smile, walked up to the grey wizard. "Gandalf." He greeted shortly. And even Tati could feel the power the exuded from him even from her spot behind Dwalin.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf greeted back, before shifting to the elegant language she had heard earlier.

"What is it? Does he offer us insult," a dwarf growled out from behind Tati. Tati stiffened, just now realizing how close all these male dwarves were to her, and it took everything in the hazel eyed girl not to start hyperventilating, unable to move away from their touch like she usually could.

"No Dori, he offers you food and a bed to rest in," Gandalf scolded lightly back.

Many of the dwarves grumbled at that, grudgingly accepting their sworn enemies offer. Despite that, Dwalin wrapped a hand around Tati's back, keeping her firmly hidden behind and so close that she was practically molded against his back. Tati rested her forehead in between his shoulder blades, short, heavy breaths rapidly escaping her mouth. Her fingers trembled, and against her will, Tati shoved hard against Dwalin's back, trying desperately to get as much distance between her and all these bodies, touching her, surrounding her, unable to escape, unable to move-

"Ah Gandalf, why did you not inform me that you had a maiden traveling with you?" Elrond questioned, causing Tati to freeze up, her wide eyes darting up to Elronds, still on the verge of breaking down in a panic attack. "Come along my lady. My serving maids will take you to your own separate quarters and draw you a bath, I'm you'll feel much better afterwards." Despite his kind, sincere smile, and his obvious good intentions, Tati still flinched violently when he offered his hand, her own hands protectively clutched against her chest.

Elrond didn't even blink when Dwalin growled lowly at him before he stepped in front of the petite girl, an inhuman sound that that could easily scare anyone he wanted, except for Elrond that is. "The lass stays with me." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order and a promise. The elven lord opened his mouth, though after a moment of watching the burly dwarf's face, and the way Tati trembled in terror, not because of Dwalin, but because of the elf himself, Elrond shut his mouth and gave a slight nod.

"… Very well, only if the young maiden agrees." Elrond's eyes focused onto Tati, sympathy and a bit of something else in his eyes when her shaking seemed to get worse.

Tati swallowed harshly, still trying to hold her panic attack, though it was harder to control now that she had such an intimidating, powerful figure's eyes peering down on her.

"I-I w-would li-like to sta-ay with D-Dwalin," she barely managed to choke out.

"If you change your mind, milady, you may come to me any time. I promise you that I will not mind if you change your mind," Elrond emphasized. For some reason he felt a sort of adoration for the tiny girl, like the way a father adores his daughter.

Tati gave a nervous, tiny nod, but kept her eyes plastered to her feet, robotically following the servants as they lead the dwarves to the rooms that they would be staying in. She was thankful that Dwalin stayed by her side, a little at ease at his quiet and peaceful presence, yet it did very little to fix the panic attack she had barely managed to hold in for this long.

OOO

What Tati didn't know was that the burly dwarf had been watching her closely since the moment he felt her dainty hands shove against his back. It didn't hurt, if anything the friendly shoves he gets from the other dwarves hurt far more than hers, however he knew in that second something was wrong. He had turned around to find Tati hyperventilating, cowering in on herself, with unshed tears built up in her eyes, and Dwalin knew exactly why. He hadn't thought of how it would not only he, but also the rest of the company would be touching her, nor had he considered how it might affect her knowing how she didn't do well with touch; he had just been focused solely on protecting her at the time.

Dwalin watched her closely, as her body trembled, as heavy breaths left her lips like she had just ran many miles, how she clutched her hands against her heart in a fearful manner. He desperately wanted to help her, but knew he couldn't do anything until after she rode this out when they were alone in their room.

And he did just that.

The second he closed the door behind, and the second he and the black haired beauty were alone, he turned to her. "Let it out, I'm 'ere," he urged softly, and that was all it took for the dam to break. Dwalin watched with a heavy ache in his chest as Tati fell painfully to her knees and start pant and sob loudly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Tati curled up into a fetal position as she continued to sob and pant. And for what felt like hours Dwalin stood there, as if rooted to the ground, as Tati's cries filled the room, his steely eyes watching Tati sadly. The burly dwarf finally couldn't take anymore and he looked away and walked over to the night stand, scowling angrily at the wall. He felt helpless and he also felt cowardly. I should have known that she would've been terrified, I know she doesn't like to be touched, I should've seen it! Dwalin scolded himself, feeling guilt starting to consume him.

After a while, he finally heard the sobs start to dwindle down. Dwalin turned back around and noticed that she was now just resting on the ground rather than cowering tightly in a fetal position. Dwalin turned back to the night stand and used the pitcher the elven servants had left, to fill up a glass of water. The burly dwarf, feeling guilty, knelt down next to Tati, " 'ere some water lass, drink up."

Tati sat up and immediately clutched the glass and shakily brought it to her lips, greedily drinking the entire cup. "Slowly my love, ye' might make yerself sick," he continued to urge after he refilled her cup and handed it back to her, and Tati instantly did as he told, slowing her movements.

"Do ye' feel better, do ye' need anything else?" He asked with a worried look in his usually cold eyes.

The black haired girl glanced up at Dwalin, and within a second, the usually meek and timid girl launched into his arms, something the burly dwarf accepted immediately, holding her just as tightly as she was holding him. He ran his hands along her back, stroking her dark hair and shoulder blades as he whispered soft assurances that he was here, and he would protect her and help her as much as he can.

Dwalin… her mind softly whispered as she nuzzled him. He always seems to know what I need, even when I say nothing… he is such an amazing friend… I don't deserve someone like him…

Despite her thoughts Tati didn't remove her arms from their spot around his chest and she didn't remove her face that was pressed snugly against his neck. Even though she had just had a panic attack over being touched so much, she couldn't help but feel comforted by Dwalin's touch, because with his she felt safe and protected, and she knew she could trust him.

Why do I feel like this…

Her thoughts stopped at that when she felt lips, Dwalin's lips, press a warm kiss against the side of head, just above her ear. She had been kissed before, but it had never been consensual, nor had it ever been as loving and without any sexual intent as Dwalin just did. She felt strangely warm, and an odd feeling washed over, one she couldn't quite put to words.

"How's yer leg feelin'?" Dwalin asked. Tati noted that his voice seemed a little rougher than usual, almost as if he had a frog in his throat but she decided not to question it.

"It-um i-it's fine," Tati whispered back, feeling her cheeks burn hotly at the lie that slipped through her lips.

"Lass… You don' need to hide from me. If somethin's wrong, you can tell me."

"… It does a-ache a bit," Tati admitted, still a bit shaky from the after effects of her panic attack.

Dwalin frowned against her head, knowing Tati, if she said it hurt a bit it must mean she's in some serious pain. The black haired girl seemed to always downplay how she actually is. Reluctantly, Dwalin pulled out of their embrace, instantly feeling cold without her soft heat pressed against him. The burly dwarf ignored it, instead moving to grasp her injured leg gently. He glanced up, wordlessly asking for permission to lift up the leg of her trouser; Tati gave him a soft nod.

Dwalin rolled up her torn trousers, scowling angrily at the sight. Her leg was covered in numerous cuts, covered in blood and dirt, as well as speckled with bruises. He noticed her ankle particularly looked red and swollen, likely she had twisted it when she had landed on her leg. "Stay put, I'm goin' to get Oin to glance at yer leg," Dwalin stated, standing up. Tati ducked her head and timidly nodded, prompting the dwarf's eyes to soften. Dwalin quickly ran one of his calloused hands through her hair, causing her to glance up shyly. "It was an accident, that could have 'appened to any one of the company. I will be right back."

After his reassuring words, Dwalin left, heading straight to the room he knew Oin was in.

OOO

"It is always a pleasure to see you Gandalf, even if I feel like you only come around anymore is because you are in need of something." Elrond commented lightly, his dark eyes never straying from the beauty of the view of the crashing waterfall in the distance.

"I apologize if you feel that way my old friend," Gandalf said softly, standing right next to the elven lord.

"Fret not, I owe you many debts, I don't mind helping you." He said back, smiling a barely-there smile. "How is the young maiden fairing?"

"I'm not sure yet, though knowing Dwalin, she's probably already being patched up by Oin."

"Dwalin? That muscular dwarf that she had attached herself to?"

"Yes, that is Dwalin. The two have surprisingly been attached to the hip since the start of our journey. Out of everyone I expected of her to take a liking to, and out of everyone I expected that would take a liking to her in return, I had not expected it to be Dwalin. He's a good dwarf, strong, loyal, passionate, capable, but he's never been the kindest nor the most approachable dwarf. I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams that Tati would have been drawn to a dwarf like him." Gandalf admitted.

"Likely he saw someone in need of a strong figure and took her under his wing, and she in return saw someone that could be her safety and comfort… I saw the look in her eyes Gandalf. I know she's experienced horrors already in the short amount of time she's been alive. They rely on one another, and ignore the cliché, but likely they are the light in one another's life. Though we both know that isn't all, I know you are not as ignorant as you try to appear to be, you see it too."

"I admit I didn't see it at first, though as days passed I finally saw it."

"I know that dwarfs aren't like elves. With elves we know who our Soulmate is the very first time we see them, but with dwarves it isn't as obvious when they first see their One. From what I understand it could even take years before a dwarf realizes that their One is right in front of their face the whole time. I could see instantly that Tati is Dwalin's One, and Dwalin Tati's. I'm sure with a little more time, they might be able to see it too."

To be continued…

A/N: Hey guys here's another chapter! Thank you all for being patient with me I've had a lot of things going on. I'm going to be starting college soon, and work hasn't been going well. Long story short, I was basically threatened to be fired because I called out a couple times (and I mean literally 2 times) this entire year. One of those times was food poisoning (which has the same symptoms as the flu) and the other I had to go to the emergency room. My manager (who doesn't like me for a reason I don't know) is using that excuse to threaten me and say my performance has been bad because of it. It's just frustrating because I work really hard, I got crossed trained in a lot of places so I could be useful to the business, I've stayed late so many nights when my shift was over hours ago to help out, I've been doing amazing selling wise, and I did jobs that I'm not meant to do because I was asked by my manager and I was helping someone out. Like one night I did security even though my job is not even remotely close to security all so the security guard wasn't too tired the next morning when he opened… sorry for the long rant I'm just frustrated and a bit down but I know that's just life. Anyways, onto answers to reviews:

To Pint-sized She-Bear: Thank you! I adore Dwalin, and I don't mean any insult when I say that the Dwalin/OC stories that I have found just aren't my cup of tea. Its just my own personal preferences, nothing personally against them

To Kelwtim2spar: Sorry for the late update hope you enjoy it!

To angel897: Thank you!

To Christmas95: Thank you, hope you enjoy this chapter.

To Adoniss: Yeah I didn't want them to immediately start kissing and the stuff, I wanted to do a soulmate that's more of slow burn than a love-at-first-sight. But I still like to add flares of affection and romance here and there. Like the kiss in this chapter. Though a real kiss is still going to take a while!

To Jhessill: Thank you, sorry for the late update!

To hermonine: Thank you, please enjoy the update!

To Mariana Lestrange: Cool username by the way, hope you like this chapter!

To ramen-no-juutsu: I super adore your username by the way! I love Naruto! Yeah I'm going to start putting in more Tati/Company interactions. I know it'll be hard for them with how shy and timid Tati is and with them being naturally loud and rambunctious.

To Sky0828: Thank you! I know I have bit of a weird writing style and struggle with making words grammatically correct, so it's great to know you enjoy it. Please enjoy the update!