Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All I own is...never mind.
The cover image is not even mine, asparklethatisblue from Tumblr drew it... they inspired me to write this story.

A Bullet Through Water

By: iamCAMBRIA

Chapter 1: Turn Your Back on Mother Nature

The rain pattered on the window pane, and thunder rumbled furiously outside. Bella Baggins looked up from her writing briefly to look out the window before returning to her computer screen. The page was blank and no words flowed from her mind, to the keyboard, to the screen itself. Quite frankly she was in a writer's slump. Writer's block. Something that gave any author the shivers.

"Oh for the love of God," she murmured, rubbing her face with her hands.

Nothing was coming to mind. She was having a very hard time relating anything for her writing. There was absolutely no inspiration coming to mind. With an exasperated exhaled, she smashed her head against the desk.

"Ow…" Bella groaned, but made no move to pick her head up.

Her cousin Drogo often made fun of her occupation saying that she made easy thousands for doing nothing but dreaming of fairy land. Of course he was wrong, because in times like these, Bella found her occupation very tedious, painful, and downright boring. Because she wanted to write—she really did. But she simply couldn't put her ideas to words.

There was a soft roll of thunder and then the rain pounding increased.

Lifting her head, it seemed that the thunderstorm was passing. The sky was now a light grey and tiny bits of sun peeked from behind the clouds. The only thing left was the rain. And through the curtain of sting pellets, the beach front was easily seen.

Bella smiled. Getting up, she slipped her hoodie off so that she was only wearing her t-shirt and sport shorts. Quickly, she jogged out of her room and to the front door of her beach house. With a quick inhale of anxiety, she threw the door open and slammed it shut as she went outside. Immediately the rain poured on her as if someone had dropped a bucket of water. She giggled, and began to run onto the sand of the shore. She stayed well away from the water though. Despite her ability to swim, Bella was still morbidly afraid of the water. Whenever she looked upon the water, she couldn't help but fear of what creatures besides sharks lurked in the deep.

So then one of her many relatives—mainly her insufferable cousin Lobelia—would ask why on earth was she living in a beach house that was obviously located on the sea shore. The answer was simple, this was her parent's house. Bella Baggins had a strong fidelity for her parents and selling the house that her father had specifically constructed for her mother, seemed like something akin to sacrilegious. Especially when her father hadn't been well off financially. But with careful planning, he was able to make the house on the shore that her mother loved so much.

So, she could suppress her fear of the ocean for her parents love. Well didn't that sound cliché? No matter.

Bella walked out, the sand sticking to her feet like earth-mud. But she didn't mind. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back and opened her arms wide. She welcomed the downpour. In light that she did have a fear of the ocean, she loved the rain. Going out during a rainstorm was a sure fire way to get some inspiration. With a giggle, feeling like a silly school girl, she spun in circles. She even stuck her tongue out for fat little droplets to land on.

Yes it was times like these that she was able to forget what was important. Such as meeting her editor's quota by the end of the week. Or paying her electric bills. Or getting her stolen silverware back from that insufferable Lobelia.

"Help!"

Bella's eyes shot open. Through the thick sheet of rain, she found that she suddenly couldn't see much except for her boat and dock to the left. She turned to the right and didn't see anything either.

"Help me, please!" cried the same voice.

"Hullo?" She called out, her British accent lilting with concern. "Who's there? Where are you?"

There was a yell of pain.

Bella panicked quick. She turned in circles frantically looking for the source of the voice.

"Where are you?" She shouted over the pouring rain.

And then, she saw movement. There under the dock was a something kicking up a lot of sand and forcing it the fly in all directions. She figured that must be the person.

"Somebody help me!"

Wasting no time Bella ran towards the dock, the wet sand slowing her a bit. Not minding that, she fingered the pocket of her shorts, making sure that her mother's penknife was there. One could never be too sure. As she got to the dock, she could see a rather sound fishing net moving about in circles. Then, as she approached even closer, she saw that a man was trapped in the fishing snare.

"Oh good God!" She shouted in surprise, before rushing even closer. "Hey, hey stop moving! You'll hurt yourself more! What in the world were you doing swimming in that thunderstorm?"

The man immediately stopped moving. She slid to the net, her knees in the sand. And then she stopped. From the torso up, the man looked normal—with slightly curling, shoulder length, dark brown hair held back with a metal clip. He had a small stubble and smooth facial features. The only thing not normal about him was that he had bright amber eyes. And then of course there was one other tiny fact.

From his hips and groin down was a rather long, and impressively strong looking fin instead of legs.

Bella screamed, falling forward accidently into the net. She then found her hands stuck between the cords. She looked back at the man, or merman, who went back to thrashing wildly as she got caught as well.

"Wait, wait, please!" She panicked, her hands getting twisted and the ropes burning painfully.

The man didn't seem to hear her over his grunting and struggles.

"Please stop!" She yelled, "You're hurting me!"

The man looked at her again, eyes wide. He mumbled something. Was it an apology?

Bella shook violently, but manage to free her wrists, ignoring the fact that both were bleeding.

"I'm going to cut you loose, but you have to hold still. Alright?" She whispered, too shocked to pay attention to what he really was. All that mattered at the current moment was that he was hurt. And so was she.

The man nodded.

Bella reached into her pocket and took out her penknife. The little silver thing vibrated as water fell from beneath the cracks of the dock wood. Her lips quivering, she began to saw into the ropes of the net. The merman stayed still throughout the entire procedure. When she got close to where his body was ensnared, she looked at him hesitantly.

He spoke.

"I won't hurt you." He whimpered.

Biting her lip and forcing herself not to recoil, Bella nodded. She had surely seen scarier things than this merman? Especially with her mother's espionages. She worked around him, mindful of his skin—which covered a body of musculature—and his fin. The fin itself was having a hard time staying because it shook rigidly and the girl couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her if it hit her. Shaking the thought she focused and the cords. Surprised to see that the scales next to the dull brown rope were a dark navy. They were actually pretty, for there were also silver dapples here and there.

Finally the rope fell away and Bella shuffled back with fright. Everything hit her like a wrecking ball, shattering her ideals of reality. She stared as the merman carefully drew back the nets and untangled himself from the pieces.

"Oh Christ…" She mumbled.

The merman looked at her, his amber eyes soft. "Thank you."

She nodded her lips numb.

"Um…" He stuttered. "You landwalkers aren't supposed to know I exist okay?"

"Landwalkers?" She demanded, a bit shakily.

"Humans."

"Ah."

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She rocked back and forth. But she never took her eyes off of the strange creature. And then suddenly, using his forearms, he began to drag himself towards her.

Bella panicked again, she shuffled away in the sand. "No, don't!"

"I won't hurt you." He promised, as he got close to her.

He reached out and grabbed one of her arms. She tried to pull away, but his strong grip held her firm. He turned her hand over so he could look at her wrist. He sighed and then looked back up at her, but not releasing his hold.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I didn't think you would get your hands stuck."

She chuckled nervously. "Don't worry about it Mr. Merman, all is forgiven if you let go of me."

The merman's cheeks blushed bright red before he dropped her arm.

"Sorry." He muttered sheepishly.

It was then that she realized that this creature more than likely did not mean her any harm.

"S'alright." She said, before asking, "Do you have a name?"

The merman grinned. "Kíli, at your service."

Polite manners, well there was a point for the merman.

"And Bella Baggins at yours." She said, a wry smile on her face.

"Thank you again for freeing me." He said before scooting back.

And Bella suddenly found herself wanting to know more about him. Stupid writer's curiosity. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have to! My brother's gonna kill me! He told me not to go out in the thunderstorm 'cause the winds kick up a bunch of debris in the water…and I didn't listen!" He protested, moving closer to the water.

"You have a brother?" She marveled.

Kíli facepalmed. "Ah, forget I mention that."

"There are more…?"

"Merfolk…ah stupid, stupid." He chastised himself. "Don't…just forget this all happened alright?"

Bella laughed. "I'm pretty convinced I'm dreaming right now."

"Better off that way." Kíli allowed the chuckle. "Well, good bye Ms. Boggins."

And then with a graceful turn around he pulled himself into the shore water. After a bit of flopping on his tail's part, he launched himself into the water. With a jump that reminded her of a dolphin's, Kíli disappeared into the water with a slap of his navy blue tail.

"Whoa." Bella gasped. She got up and looked at the water. And then with wide eyes, she turned around and walked calmly back to her house. She entered and closed the door behind her quietly. With a sigh, she looked up at the roof.

She met a merman.

Bella Baggins then began running around her house screaming, trying to wake herself up.

§

"Ms. Boggins!"

Bella groaned.

"Ms. Boggins are you home?"

Sleepily, the girl opened her eyes and looked up at her bedroom window. Another sandball hit the glass.

"Ms. Boggins!" came a sing-song male's voice from outside.

She groaned. So last night really happened. The merman and the thunderstorm…and the conversation…

"No…" she moaned, rubbing her face with her hands. An expression of horror flicked across her face.

Nevertheless, she tumbled out of her bed and walked down the hall, grabbing her handy dandy baseball bat to ward off creepers, and opened the front door.

There, beached on the sand, was Kíli. He was propped up on his elbows while his tail curled lazily above him. A small woven basket was next to him. He looked up at her with a smile.

"Good morning, Ms. Boggins!"

Stepping outside in a daze—still holding the baseball bat—she walked towards him. It was far too early in the morning to be dealing with something like this.

He frowned. "What's with the weapon?"

She looked from him to the baseball bat and then back at the merman again.

"Taking precautions."

He looked a tad hurt. "Oh."

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly. "I thought you told me to forget about you."

Kíli grinned guiltily. "I know, but I had to thank you again. I could've lost my fin last night…so I brought you breakfast!"

His right arm reached out and lifted the basket that was next to him.

"My amâd made it, so it must be good!"

Bella blinked sleepily. "Your…?"

"My mother." He explained.

"So you have a family?"

"Since you already know me, I guess I can explain to you. Sit."

She dazedly walked up to him, before siting cross legged. He grinned even wider and reached into the basket and doled out the food. Bella glared suspiciously at the sandwich that was made of seaweed and fish.

"It's really good, I promise." Kíli said, before eating one himself.

She took a cautious bite. And then ate it all. It truly was good…for fish food.

So while they ate, Kíli told her a bit about his family and a few other merfolk.

"But that's about all I can tell you." He said, but his brows furrowed as if he made a decision. "We merfolk tend to be a secretive around landwellers as possible."

"Oh."

"But if, you don't mind…my family may need your help." The merman admitted.

Bella looked up from her fifth sandwich with surprise. "You need my help?"

"Yes," Kíli nodded.

"What would you need my help with?" She asked bewildered.

He smirked at her, before backing away. "Guess you'll find out tonight."

"Wait? Tonight?" Bella demanded, alarmed. "Kíli, what's going to happen tonight?"

The merman smirked. "Just be prepared to meet my kin. And make food. Lots of it."

With that, he back flipped—again in a very dolphinesque manner—before disappearing into the water.

Bella stared at the water wide eyed with a sandwich still in her hand and the basket by her side.

"Christ, what did I just get myself into?"

A/N: So I saw these pictures of a merman Thorin and I read the story that belonged to it on An Archive of Our Own and I simply could not resist giving a go at my own Mermaid Au Bagginshield story. So what do you guys think? Oh, and Bella's personality is going to be based off of John Watson's personality from Sherlock-if you haven't noticed already.

Please Review! I love criticism and advice!