booksfoodmusic-minion: I'll leave that up to your imagination.

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Hobbit."

! $##$%^*&^*)(#%^^%~ #%^$%^*&^)(&^*&^# !$! #W%&^%($% $!^

Chapter 12: Healing

Edana rode up in the front for the rest of the trip to Rivendell. Legolas didn't mind and Sarah loved the company. The only one who seemed to have a problem with it was Thranduil, mostly because he couldn't say a word to Sarah without someone interrupting him. His daughter's protectors kept a close eye on him and were always ready with a new topic of discussion if he so much as turned his head towards her. When they stopped for the night they made sure that Sarah was never left alone, at least not with someone who was afraid of Thranduil, which was basically her protectors.

Sarah was grateful for her loyal friends, but, with each passing day, she felt the tension between her and her father grow thicker. She knew that they had to have a serious talk before one of them got seriously hurt. And besides, this wasn't what she wanted. Her avoiding any heart-to-heart conversations with her fake-dad was one of the reasons things had been so bad between them. She didn't want something like that to happen again, but she didn't want to have that talk while they were on the road and she had nowhere to run if things went south.

There was some good news while they were traveling, and it happened when they were at the foot of the Misty Mountains. Sarah was in the middle of telling her friends a funny joke when she heard a voice cry out in pain. She grew silent and turned her head towards the nearby grove of trees, listening carefully.

"What's wrong?" Edana asked.

Sarah didn't answer. She just turned her horse towards the grove and cantered over to it, ignoring the people calling her name. When she got there, Sarah dismounted and walked through the trees, listening for the voice she'd heard, until she found what she was looking for: a gray rabbit that had jumped and landed on a thorny branch, the sharp thorn going all the way through his paw.

Sarah approached him slowly, speaking soothing words to the creature. She knelt down next to him and pulled his paw out of the thorn. It hurt, but the rabbit remained calm, comforted by Sarah's presence and her wild magic. She picked him up and took his injured paw gently in her hand. Closing her eyes, she reached down and into her magic.

Using her magic, Sarah closed the wound, repairing torn tissue and muscle and chipped bone and burning away any infection that might have set in. She remained focused, not noticing the concerned and fascinated people surrounding her, nor the fact that over an hour had gone by from the time she started the healing and the time she finished.

She opened her eyes, checking the paw one last time before releasing the rabbit, with a warning to look before leaping next time. She stood up as the rabbit thanked her and bounded away, noticing that she felt dizzy and her head was pounding a bit.

Stumbling as she turned to walk back to her horse, she was caught off-guard as a pair of arms wrapped around her, stopping her before she hit the ground. Looking up, she saw that it was Thranduil. Great concern was written all over his face, and Sarah managed a weak smile.

"I'm fine," she said in an attempt to ease her father's worries. "I'm just a little tired from using my magic like that for the first time."

"Your mother was never able to completely heal a wound as small as that in so short a time," Thranduil replied, the worried look in his eyes refusing to leave, "even after hundreds of years of using her magic like that."

"Gandalf did say that my magic was a lot stronger than Mother's," Sarah said. This was the first actual conversation she and her father had had since after the wizard had revealed Sarah's identity, not including their attempt at a conversation the day after that. It was going well so far, and she wanted it to stay that way.

"I just don't want you pushing yourself too hard too fast. All magic comes with a price."

"I know. I'm paying the price right now for that small bit of magic I just did."

As she spoke, Sarah's eyelids grew heavy. She closed them, and felt her father's arms lift her up off the ground and carry her back to her horse. They hadn't brought any wagons with them, so there wasn't really any place to put Sarah as she rested and regained her strength. Cheyenne assured the princess that she could carry her and prevent her from falling off as she slept, and knelt down so that Thranduil could place his daughter on her back. As the traveling party continued, the Elvenking kept glancing over to the sleeping girl on her horse.


When Sarah had healed the rabbit, it was just after midday. When she woke up, it was dark and she was lying on a blanket next to a fire.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Edana said, walking over to Sarah as she sat up. "Or should I say, 'Good evening'?"

"Very funny," the waking girl replied. "I'd like to see you do what I did and stay awake for a few more minutes."

"You kidding? I would have been out in two seconds. I'm surprised you were able to stay awake for another minute and have a conversation. Though, considering who that conversation was with, I don't know if that's a good thing."

"It wasn't that bad," Sarah protested. "Besides, I can't avoid him forever. I'm just waiting for the right time and place."

"And if that time and place never happens?" Edana asked. "What will you do then?"

"I don't know," Sarah answered. "I haven't gotten that far yet. I just know that it needs to happen sometime before we both do something that we're going to regret for the rest of our immortal lives."

"Thinking about your dad?" Edana asked. They had decided that "Dad" would refer to Sarah's fake-parent and "Father" would refer to Thranduil.

"More than I've ever thought about him in my entire life."

"Never mind him," Legolas said as he and Tauriel walked up to the girls. "Father has not come out of his tent since we set up camp. If that little conversation you two had causes him to react like that, I am almost afraid of how he would react to a true heart-to-heart."

"I have to get it out of my system though," Sarah said, "otherwise I will never be able to truly heal myself. My healing powers only work on other animals, not me."

"We could tone it down a bit on keeping you away from your father," Tauriel suggested. "Let you at least talk to each other."

"It's not much," Sarah said, "but it's a start."

At that moment, Thranduil cautiously walked up to the group. He fully expected them to start talking again and completely ignore him. To his surprise, Legolas, Tauriel, and Edana walked away, leaving Sarah alone by the fire. With his elvish hearing, Thranduil could tell by their footsteps that they hadn't gone very far, so they didn't completely trust him. He turned his attention back to Sarah.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better," Sarah responded. "My head doesn't hurt and I don't feel like I'm dead on my feet. I am a little hungry though."

Thranduil waved to a servant who was standing nearby, who brought over a tray of bread and cheese. Thranduil took the tray from him and set it on Sarah's lap. She gave him a questioning look.

"Your mother was always hungry after waking up from a healing," he explained. "She could never stomach anything more than this, though. I figured you would be the same."

"Thank you," Sarah said before she began eating.

Thranduil sat a little ways from her as she ate and stared at the fire, glancing over occasionally at Sarah, who glanced back at him from time to time when he wasn't looking.

!# $%^(^&*)($%^* $%&^!#&$%#%^(&^$%%(^%&**&% #%&%$^(^# $^$!$#^

They finally have a civil conversation. What did you think of it?

There's a quote in here from "Once Upon A Time." Cyber-cookies if you can find it.

Please leave me a review.