Baby of the Group

"Wait… WAIT!"

Ella looked behind. It was Bilbo running towards them.

"I signed it!" Bilbo gave the contract to Balin.

"I win." Ella softly whispered in Fili's ear.

"Everything seems to be in order." Balin said. "Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

There were soft cheers and laughter.

"Give him a pony." Thorin ordered. Ella had to hold her laughter in because it just sounded so funny.

"No, no, no… That won't be necessary, thank you. I'm sure that I can keep up on foot. I-I-I-I have done my share of walking holidays, you know. Even got as far as Frog Morton once." Before Bilbo knew it Fili and Kili grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him on one of the ponies, Myrtle.

Ella had to put her hand across her mouth to hide her laugh. He looked so funny on the little pony.

"Pay up, Fili." Ella said.

"I'll give you the dagger when we stop for dinner." Fili said.

"Promise?"

"Yes I promise." Fili said rolling his eyes.

Kili and George just laughing at them. "Okay Kili. Now give me your cookie. I won too you know." George said to Kili. Kili pulled a cookie out of his pocket. He gave it on last look and gave George the cookie.

"You bet too?" Ella asked Kili.

"Yeah!" George answered. "Only, we bet on you and Fili."

Ella looked at Kili. "You made a bet with my little brother?" She asked the dark haired dwarf.

"What did you want me to do? He said you always win and from what I know, so does Fili."

"Guess that's not true then." Ella said teasingly but with a dark look toward Kili smirked at his brother and rode a little faster so that he would ride next to Oin.

"Come on Nori, pay up!" Oin shouted to Nori.

"Guess that we weren't the only one to make bets, uh?" Ella asked Fili. Fili just let out a quick sigh.

"Wait, wait, stop stop!" Bilbo shouted. "We have to turn around!"

"What on earth is the matter" Gandalf asked him.

"I forgot my handkerchief."

"Here," Bofur said, tearing a piece from his shirt. "Use this."

Bilbo caught it and looked weird to the piece of cloth in his hands. The men started to laugh. "Move on." Thorin ordered.

"Hey, Bilbo!" Ella said as they past him. "Guess you don't have to blow you nose anymore now."She smiled at the hobbit.

XxX

Ella leaned her head against Fili's back. "Tired?" Fili asked.

"No… Well, maybe just a little." She said. "You weren't the only one who got hit in your sleep. George kept kicking me, so it was a bit of a long night."

"You have to keep awake." He said. "I don't think that Thorin would appreciate you falling asleep."Fili straightened his back so that Ella couldn't rest her head anymore.

"Tell me about yourself." "What?" Ella looked up. "Tell me about yourself. We don't really know you." Fili repeated.

Ella took a deep breath. "What do you want to know me?"

"Well for example; Do you have any other sibling?"

"Well, I have three younger siblings if you include George, but I don't see them much." Ella said.

"Why?" Fili asked.

Ella knew that he was trying to keep her up. She didn't like it, but it worked. "Well they live with my mum. My parents split up when I was nine."

No sound came from Fili.

"What?" She asked him.

"Your parents are not together?"

"No they're not." She told him. "But my dad remarried a couple of years later to a woman who is Georges mum."

"So George isn't actually your brother?"

"No he is. We have the same father."

Fili was silent again.

"We just don't have the same mum that all." She added quickly trying to make him understand.

"So you are the oldest?"

"No I have one older brother, Jim, he's twenty-two. But he's in-"

Fili cut her off "Twenty-two?! Then how old are you?!" He asked.

"I'm nineteen." Ella said but Fili just started laughing.

"Oy, Kili! Did you hear that?!" Fili slowed down to ride next to his brother again.

"What?" Kili asked.

"Our lass here is nineteen!"

"Ey, lads!" Kili yelled to the group. "We got a baby in the group!" He laughed and the men started laughing with him.

"What is so damn funny?!" Ella growled.

"The fact that you are nineteen." Fili said still laughing.

"How old are you then?" She asked a bit angry.

"Eighty-two," Fili said. "And Kili is seventy-seven."

"That makes you older them my grandmother!" Ella said looking at Kili and back to Fili. "Where I'm you're lucky if you even turn 70!"

"But how old is George then?" Fili asked.

"I am six." George said proudly not having followed the conversation. The dwarves burst out laughing again. A loud sigh came from Ella and she laid her head against Fili again.

"Can we talk about something else, please?" Fili turned his head towards Ella.

"Very well." He said with a nod still trying to hold in his laugh.

"Do you have any family Kili?" George asked. "Well Fili is my brother, so I have to say yes."

"You two are brothers?" George asked.

"Yes."

"But you don't even look alike."

Ella couldn't help but smile at her little brother. "I mean," He continued "You have dark hair and Fili doesn't." Kili really tried to hold in his laugh.

"And why don't you have a beard like everybody else?"

Oh no, here we go again. Ella thought.

"And why don't you have any braids? Where I am from braids are for girls. Putting you hair up too. And most people don't even have beards. My dad had one once…" George was rattling on about beards and braids and all kinds of weird stuff.

Ella wrapped her arms a little tighter around Fili's waist, listening to her little brother.

XxX

"I though he said that you talked to much?" Kili said to Ella after a couple of hours.

She could help but to laugh at the handsome dwarf. Poor Kili. George just kept on talking. His light blond hair was still a mess from this morning and his big glasses were dirty. Ella loved her little brother. He could always make her smile.

It was getting late and the group had found a place to rest. Fili and Kili when off scouting, taking George with. He still wouldn't shut up.

So Thorin had sent him with them. Bifor and Bofur where making a fire and Bombur was making dinner. The rest of them were unpacking. Ella helped Bombur with the food. Because according to Thorin, that's a women's place. Sometimes she just wanted to hit him in the head with a frying pan, just like in Tangled. Ella sat in front of the fire when the boys returned George was completely covered in dirt. Ella shook her head. George ran up to her and hugged his sister.

"What happened to you?" Ella questioned. "Please don't tell me you had anything to do with this." She looked at Kili who walked by.

"Here" Fili said, placing himself next to Ella. He had a small dagger in his hands. "I believe this belongs to you now." He said with a smile. Ella took it in her looked beautiful in the late sun.

"Thanks Fili. It's beautiful." She looked at him. "How do I put it on my belt?"

"Let me show you." he said. Fili placed the small dagger on her left hip. "There, you're already to look like one of us" Fili and Ella smiled at each other for a moment, just a second or two.

XxX

"Come on, George." She said to her dirty little brother, taking his hand. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

George took her hand. Together they walked down to the river they had passed with the horse. Ella and George took off their boots, rolled up their pants. George took off his glasses and pulled off his shirt. The water wasn't cold and it wasn't warm it was just perfect. Ella cleaning her little brothers face as George washed his hands and arms.

"How did you get so dirty?" She looked at her little brother.

"I my foot got stuck and I fell."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't break anything." She smiled upon her adorable little brother. "Remember a couple of years ago, when I tripped over Pebbles and broke my arm?"

"Yeah." George said with a smile on his face. "You had to go to the hospital and the doctor ended up asking you on a date." He said laughing.

"Yeah." Ella pulled a face, remembering the way to old doctor.

"Do you think that mom and dad know that we are here?" George suddenly asked.

"Of course they do." Ella lied. She never liked lying to her little brother but she didn't want to freak him out. "And after we kill the dragon and take back Erebor we'll go home."

"I think we would need to take a shower before we go home. Because I don't think that mum will be happy if we get back home covered in mud." George joked.

"Well the I guess you have a problem my little friend." She joked back to her little brother. "Because you are so dirty that no even a bubble bath filled with rainbows and unicorns can clean you."

George splashed water in his sister's face. "We you aren't the cleanest either!" he yelled as he ran away from his sister. Ella laughed while rubbing the water out of her eyes, when suddenly she heard a splash.

George had been pushed back in the water by a group of men. "Well, well, well look what we have here boys." One of then men spoke. Ella reached for George's arm as the men stepped closer. There were five of them. They where all covered in dirt. You could even smell them from a mile away. So maybe it wasn't her brother that smelled so bad. Ella pulled George closer. The five men surrounded them.

"Aren't you a little far from home?" the man whom Ella suspected to be the leader. "My, my. You must be the first dwarf I see without a beard and no braids as well. I must say you are the prettiest dwarf I have seen though."

"What do you want?" Ella said trying to say with a strong voice.

"Well, I thought a pretty young thing like you would know."

Ella's eyes widened in fear. "You can have me but you have to let my brother go." She said. George looked up at Ella. Fear in his eyes.