Authors Note: Here I am again! :) I don't know if it's any good but I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Writing dialogs for Gandalf and trying to keep him in character is really hard. Again, thank you for the reviews, the constructive criticism and all the support! And I'd like to share a part of my response to Birdy21's great review with you guys as well.

Birdy21: Reading that kind of stories is fun, but I'll try to be more realistic and give them the time they need. :) Right now I'm trying to keep it to the level where Fai has an enormous crush as her fictional love is now standing next to her, while Kili only being himself and nothing more. Also I want this to be more than a story of romance, but a bit more complex and I gave some hints of it so far.

I'll definitely update before the new years but Merry Christmas to you all! Happy holidays.

Gandalf's face clouded with sheer terror. Fai couldn't be sure but he was looking even taller now, if such thing is possible. But she didn't understand, thought her secret could get her a place in Middle-Earth, not Gandalf's wrath.

It was wrong to call it "wrath" and leave it though, there was a carnival of mixed emotions on the wizard's face. Whatever it is with Fai was clearly out of his territory, and he was infuriated with desperation. He looked like he wanted to grab her by the arm and draw the answers off of her, as if his crazy eyes would magically made her unravel the mystery. She shivered in fear and hoped that Kili didn't notice since she was leaning against him to stand still.

He was just like the movie-Gandalf but she never wanted to believe it. Whenever she saw or read about Gandalf's anger, it completely conflicted with the Gandalf image in her head. The Gandalf she wanted to imagine was a calm and good-tempered man. But there were scenes of him hustling Sam, and she remembered how he lost it for a moment when Pippin took Palantír from him. And now, was she the reason for it?

Gandalf's face stayed like that only for a moment though, and no one else noticed. It was Fai who couldn't get it out of her head, knowing she would have to deal with some serious business later in the night. But even with all these thoughts, she noticed the change in the atmosphere with Thorin's arrival. Dwarves were happy to see their leader again and she saw how Fili and Kili's eyes shone. It was astonishing how naive and childlike they looked when Thorin was in the room. It wasn't about their behavior, it was something with Thorin that makes anyone seem different. All the dwarves were kind of relieved and became more sure of themselves, now that their King is back. Thorin really looked like a one true King. After seeing him, she could tell how the title King Under The Mountain suits him, and him only.

However being noticed and to be questioned were the last things she wanted at that very moment. Unfortunately Thorin looked at the girl standing in between his nephews directly in the eye and inquired. "I wasn't quite expecting to see a young woman in our company tonight. Who are you, if I may ask?" His voice had a deep tone and it was hard to tell whether it was just the way he speaks or it was caused by anger.

She wanted to hug Dwalin who spoke on her behalf, "The lass fell from a tree and wounded herself, Tharkûn brought her here." Seems like the dwarves were yearning to talk to him, so they started to tell everything they know about Fai by interrupting each other.

"She hit her head" said Ori, sounding sad for her and Oin added, "and isn't rememberin' anythin' " while nodding his head, the last one to speak was Kili, "and her name is Fai."

Thorin's eyes softened a bit, not much, but only to reveal that he missed his kin too. Gandalf took advantage of this small moment and took the attention off of her and direct it to Bilbo. "This is the Burglar I told you about. Mr Bilbo Baggins."

Seemed like Bilbo also didn't like to be the center of attention. Looking at the king standing in front of him, tried to understand why he's been referred to as the Burglar. Thorin studied him carefully with his eyes, as if trying to find a quality that would earn him the title burglar. Although there isn't a dramatic height difference between the two, Bilbo couldn't help but feel very, very small before him.

"Tell me Mr Baggins, have you done much fighting?" he asked, looking almost sure of the answer he'll get.

"Pardon me?" Bilbo was absolutely frustrated. The following question popped his eyes out.

"Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

Bilbo rambled something about Conkers and Thorin declared him as a grocer than a Burglar. While dwarves are getting troubled by the insufficiency of their new member-to-be, Fai was trying to hide her delight. Couple of minutes later, dwarves followed Thorin into the dining room and Fai found herself once again escorted by the brothers. This skipping on one leg thing was starting to get to her nerves that she couldn't even feel excited by the presence of Kili anymore. She wanted them to take her to the couch by the fireplace again, claiming that she wanted to rest. When in fact all she was trying to do is to ignore Gandalf, or Thorin. She didn't know which was worse.

Sitting on the couch by herself and watching the flames, she could hear the dwarves are talking about their quest. Their excitement and determination made her heart ache, she could tell by their voices how much they long for their homeland. It was all jokes and songs before Thorin's arrival but now their spirits were captured by their quest, she knew they'd even give their lives for it. It was sentimental to be in the world where people look out for each other, loyal to each other and doesn't easily give up to fear. It felt so good to be surrounded by dwarves, after all the bullshit she dealt with in her own world. Kili's voice coming from the dining room pulled her out from her thoughts.

"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

Fai smiled at his naivety. Without all the distraction caused by her huge crush, she could see how young he actually is. And how hard it must be for him to grow up without a father and away from his homeland. Not being able to see the amazing kingdom he's been told his entire childhood. He was passionate and gutsy, but he owed these to his youth. It was easy to mistake him as a great warrior and a brave dwarf and just fell in love with him. But he was none of those yet. He wasn't even aware of how serious the danger awaits for them. But there was more to this fascinating dwarf than she ever read. He was charming, no doubt to that, but seeing how innocent and young he was, that made her admire what's in him. And of course, what could become of him. The even younger girl herself did not realize but, there was the most heart warming smile on her face.

"Be quiet, we need to have a word, before that eager dwarf army notices my absence."

"What in the-?!" she jumped couple of inches in her seat because of the Wizard creeping up on her like that. How could he even managed to flee amongst them anyways, considering his height? Without letting her say anything, he literally dragged her to the sofa out in Bilbo's garden. She couldn't help but miss Fili and Kili's gentle ways.

"So you have proven your point," said Gandalf in distress, quickly reigniting his pipe. "However, I am thrilled to think that 'I know everything' of yours was exaggerated somehow."

So she thought as if it's true or not and began to mumble without realizing how irrational she sounds "I read the Silmarillion, the Lord of the Rings series of course, the Children of Húrin, Unfinished Tales, Roverandom, -oh, am I leaving anything out?" She had to stop in order to breathe but didn't, of course. Gandalf tried to process her words and before he got the time to interrupt, she continued.

"Oh, what an idiot am I, I also read the Hobbit, the complete tale of your upcoming quest. Want me to tell? Please Gandalf, take me along, convince Thorin, I'll tell everything I kno-"

"IN THE NAME OF VALAR - Daro!* have you been sent to destroy Middle-Earth? You fool- the company does not lack another little- Pe-channas!** it is unbelievable have you got no - you are just.. Dôl gîn lost!***"

Fai couldn't even believe her ears. Gandalf must be swearing in Sindarin?! His face darkened and the air around them felt heavier. Even his eyes changed color. She shut her mouth and waited for this bilingual cursing to come to an end. It took him long enough. He was short on breath when he stopped, looking like he just ran a mile.

"You can not tell anyone. Not me, not any of the dwarves. Especially the dwarves. They must not know any of this. What you keep within can change the course of history, and messing with time, or fate would bring nothing but disaster. You have any idea how much trouble you can cause. You can bring an entire race to their end, destroy kingdoms, or build ones that shouldn't be built at all. No one can know. You, little child, are the most precious yet dangerous thing in Middle-Earth. No one must know you have this power. You, Henig****, you must be protected for life."

Fai was literally scared to death. She couldn't do anything but to sit there with tears in her eyes. And felt like she pushed the limits of idiocy. What was she thinking? Being in Middle-Earth, spreading the word and to remain unnoticed? Whoever captures her could live in wealth and safety as long as she shares her wisdom. And they could make her do it. Thinking about helping the dwarves was one thing, but if the rumor spreads, she could be captured by anyone.

"What's going to happen to me, Gandalf?" she sobbed in despair. She was 19 years old but at that moment she only felt like 10. She wasn't feeling like the other girls in fan fictions who fell onto the Middle-Earth and lived happily ever after. What she felt was utter terror. This was beyond her and she felt so small, like any other normal 19-year-old trapped in another world would do.

For the first time, Gandalf's face lit with compassion. He calmly blow out a smoke-pony for her, and answered.

"As long as you keep it to yourself, we would be alright. You will join us. Thorin will be even grumpier, if that's possible, but this is beyond him and he has no say in this. I will think about consulting the Elves, guess it wouldn't be wrong to say that you already know them. But for now, let's focus on keeping you safe. And we must keep the changes in minimum, for your presence alone causes a disturbance in the future already."

Fai nodded and tried to look braver. She couldn't be weak around the company and make Thorin hate her more. She shouldn't be a burden. So straightened her back and looked at the wizard in the eye. Oh, what wouldn't she give for a drag from his pipe? Though the thought of wine bottles in the house made her immediately feel better.

"One last thing," Gandalf added, his eyes clouded again. "During this journey, there might be some situations where our lives are on the line. No matter what, and no matter who, you should not do anything to change our fate. You know the rules, you know the story. Don't help anyone when you must not."

She nodded again, thinking that this would be the hardest.

Fai woke up to the sound of couple of dwarves thumping around. It was Dori and Gloin who were trying to find a place to sleep. After talking to Gandalf, Fai went back inside and lied down on the couch by the fireside. When opened up her eyes, she noticed two beds spread on the floor, right next to her couch. Fili was sleeping in one of them, his blonde hair splayed on the floor. His chest was slowly moving up and down as he breathe. Fai was lying on her side end the first thing she saw happened to be Kili's eyes, looking up at her. They were lying next to each other, Fai being couple inches above. She scooted little bit further to the edge in order to see him better.

"What did I miss?"

"You know you were right about not being a lady. You literally sleep like a log, I can't even believe it." said Kili in response, he was grinning but also looking baffled for real. "Thorin and Gandalf got into a fight about you. And Gandalf got really mad that at some point I thought his head will drill the ceiling-"

"I know, right?! He really lengthens when he's furious!" said Fai, interrupting him with a genuine but silent giggle.

"Uncle Thorin lost it. He roared like an animal and cursed in Khuzdul, they went on for about an hour. Balin merged and forced him to come to his senses, for uncle was screaming that he doesn't want Gandalf's help anymore. Thank Mahal the old laddie know's his way around the King, he made Thorin gave up."

Fai was listening him with a "did he really? did they really?" expression on her face. She literally couldn't believe that 1) Thorin was convinced and 2) she slept through the entire fight.

"So, that means I'm coming.." she said, absent-mindedly. She was thinking about the upcoming wrath of Thorin during the journey.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure uncle is. He stormed out after the fight and haven't returned since." he joked, trying to lighten up her mood a bit. "And also, we are not sure if Bilbo is coming." After the comment on Bilbo, he looked a bit worried.

"We'll see about that in the morning then.." said Fai. Thinking about tomorrow morning was making her body numb. Looking at Kili's eyes once again, she recognized she wasn't paralyzed by his presence this time. In fact, she managed to have a decent conversation with him without blushing. It made her happy, if they were going to be on this journey together, then she'd like to operate when he's near as well.

"Yeah, ready to go to sleep again? Don't worry, I'll wake you up in the morning no matter how deep you sleep." he joked. Then he raised himself in his bed and pulled the cloak on the side of the couch to properly cover her. She didn't realize that it slipped away while she was sleeping before. He smoothed it out then gently tucked its edges under her and smiled, "The fire is about to go out and it gets colder in the dawn. Goodnight, see you in the morning!"

Fai wished him a good night as well, then turned her head in the opposite direction to hide her face and thought, well, this blush is very well deserved.

Ending Notes:

Daro!: Stop
Pe-channas!: Idiot
Dôl gîn lost!: Your head is empty
Henig: My child.

Thank you for reading, feel free to shoot a review! :)