Sorry it took so long for me to upload this! First week of school's been absolutely crazy. Anyway, here it is! (reviews would be nice so I know what you think HAHA)

She'd begun to paint, now.

Nearly all of Emma's clothes were completely covered and splattered with paint. She was skipping school every other day, her mother only staring at her blankly when she realised that her youngest daughter – now her only daughter – was at home instead of in the classroom. And her father – he'd thrown into his work with more vigour than ever before, trying to drown himself in it.

Emma stepped back from the canvas, examined her work.

It was Ella – of course it was Ella – dancing, with a blond guy with his moustache in braids. The guy, in Emma's opinion, looked ridiculous – he was painted with lots of layers of clothes and weapons and whatnot, and the braids, oh god, the braids – but it was somehow right.

Yes.

It was somehow right.

She bit her lip as she remembered Jerelee. Jerelee, cheerful Jerelee, who had never been good with grief or sadness. Emma, at least, had had her art to help her through the pain that had overshadowed her when thinking of Ella; Jerelee had only had her studies, had thrown herself into them with renewed vigour, every day seeing the ghost of her friend who had always ever been a sister to her. Jerelee's parents had had no idea how to console their only child; and often, Jerelee would come over to visit Emma, Emma working on one artpiece or another while Jerelee studied, and studied, and studied.

And then that terrible day, nearly two weeks ago, when she'd gotten the news that Jerelee had died in a car accident – the older girl had been reading her history notes while crossing the road, and the driver had slammed on the accelerator instead of the brakes – and she was gone.

Gone.

Just like Ella.

The next few days, Fili didn't wander away from Ella more than was necessary.

He carried her everywhere, every day, as they made their way through the woods, constantly on the look-out for Orcs. Dwalin and Kili took turns helping him carry her, but even then Fili stayed beside her, making sure she was all right, talking to her, grinning at her, making her smile.

Ella supposed she should be grateful for everything that the company, and Fili most of all, was doing for her. He'd make her smile, make her laugh, telling her silly stories, asking her how on earth her glasses had survived everything she'd been through, getting her to stretch out a hand and whack him on his arm or on the back of his head every once in a while.

She'd never had anyone care so much for her. Never. Not even Emma, not even her parents, not even Jerelee or Bella or Beatrix or Delilah or Alison. She felt – she felt guilty, really, knowing that he was doing so much, much too much, for her.

But then he would pop up next to her and make her smile, and she'd laugh and forget about how much he was doing for her and her guilt that he was doing so much for her while she was doing nothing.

Every night, they fell asleep together, Ella's head on his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

And every night, he would sit up the moment she began thrashing around, would pull her closer and rock her as she began to whimper.

Bofur was one of the first to notice, and whenever Fili woke her during one of her more severe nightmares, he'd make his way over to them, helped Fili make her laugh shakily before she fell back asleep.

Next was Kili, and Fili was grateful for his younger brother as he proclaimed how Ella had broken his heart by choosing his older brother over him, winking at her and making her blush every time, bringing her out of her nightmares.

Even Bilbo had taken to trotting alongside whichever dwarf was carrying her, telling her of hobbits in general, of all the books he'd read, whatever he could think of, sometimes telling her stories until she'd fallen asleep with a peaceful smile on her face.

And so it went, with whichever dwarf on watch at the moment taking a while to make sure she was all right, to make her smile, before returning to their duty, everyone trying to make her smile. It was heartwarming, that was all Fili could say.

But he couldn't help but notice that Ori avoided him as much as possible.

He'd pondered on it for a while, maybe when Ella was too tired to hold a conversation with him or when someone else claimed her attention. Every time he tried to strike a conversation up with the younger dwarf, Ori would mumble something before moving away.

It took him a while to remember how Ori had been before Fili had started to take up almost all of her attention.

And he remembered, remembered how Ori had looked at her so hopefully when lending her his cloak, asking her whether she was all right after the trolls, handing her a clean cloth when she'd broken down crying after Radagast had appeared, asking after her at Rivendell, always looking back at her to make sure she was okay.

Fili felt guilt welling up inside of him.

But, he told himself, it wasn't his fault. And it wasn't Ori's fault. And it certainly wasn't Ella's fault.

Ella.

He felt something build up inside of him whenever he thought of her, whenever he remembered how he'd been so angry and so annoyed and yet so completely head over heels for her at the top of the Carrock, pulling her lips to his (which he regretted immediately, because was he really that sure she felt the same way about him?) and her yanking him closer to her after she'd gotten over the initial shock.

It was happy and joyful and bubbly, that feeling.

He wasn't quite sure what it is.

Fili supposed he was grateful Ella was half-asleep when the Orcs finally caught up with them.

He thought it would be much safer to not have her realise that Thorin had sent Bilbo off alone to find out where the Orcs were. She would, he thought, probably have argued vehemently against it, saying that it was far too dangerous, until Bilbo agreed to it. She would, however, probably have still been extremely upset about it – and Fili didn't like to see her upset.

Another reason was that when she was asleep on his back, she seemed far more peaceful and didn't seem to be plagued by nightmares.

Yes. He liked the fact that she was asleep while he was carrying him, though she didn't like it at all, insisting that she probably just added more weight while she was asleep. Hell, he'd probably carry her around everywhere if it were possible.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin's voice was demanding, and Fili snapped his head up to realise that Bilbo had returned.

"Too close," was the hobbit's reply. "A couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."

"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" It was Dwalin, striding forwards.

"Not yet, but they will. We have another problem."

"Did they see you?" asked Gandalf, suddenly, and the whole company turned to face him, saw his face grow serious. "They saw you."

"No, that's not it," said Bilbo, shaking his head.

"What did I tell you?" Gandalf said, mood changing abruptly, a smile breaking over his face. "Quiet as a mouse, excellent burglar material!"

"Will you just listen?" Bilbo demanded, sounding exasperated, as the dwarfs began chattering, praising Bilbo – which, of course, he didn't really mind, but not at that particular moment. "I'm trying to tell you, there is something else out there!"

Silence fell amongst the company, the dwarfs exchanging worried looks.

"What form did it take?" Gandalf asked, his voice growing serious once more. "Like a bear?"

"Ye – yes," said Bilbo, looking at him questioningly. "But bigger, much bigger."

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked, stepping forward, eyes staring at Gandalf accusingly.

"I say we double back," he said to the others when Gandalf gave him no answer, turning away.

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" Thorin snapped back.

And again the dwarfs began murmuring amongst themselves, their voices growing louder.

"What d'you think?" Kili muttered to his older brother.

"I say we continue," Fili said. We can't keep going back and forth, especially not with Ella like this.

"There is a house," said Gandalf, turning to face the company, cutting through their chatter, "not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house?" Thorin asked, darkly, remembering when Gandalf had brought them to Rivendell, to the elves. "Are they friend or foe?"

"Neither." Gandalf gave him a long, slow look. "He will help us, or he will kill us."

The entire company looked up at the wizard solemnly.

"What choice do we have?" said Thorin, finally, as a loud howl sounded.

"None."

And off they were, running again.

Ella had woken up to find herself still on Fili's back, the blond dwarf's feet never stopping. They hadn't stopped for a rest that previous night, had run all through the night until the sun had broken out over the horizon, until they were rushing out of the forest and across vast plains and back into forests, the Orcs coming every closer.

She decided it would probably be best to keep her mouth shut and hang onto Fili as tightly as she could without strangling him.

And so they ran, Gandalf leading the way, Ella wincing as the increased speed made her wound sting even more.

She suddenly realised, to her amusement, that Bombur was running past all of them, headed straight for the doorway in the wall – a doorway that Fili passed through only moments later, to reveal a huge garden with bees buzzing around, the sort of garden she probably could have wandered about in for hours if it weren't for the bees.

The dwarfs were slamming on the door, hammering it.

"Open the door!" she heard Gandalf call out, and Thorin was beside them in an instant, yelling: "Quickly!"

Hurrying to the massive wooden door before them, he unlatched it and yanked it open, the company all spilling inside just as the monstrous bear reached them, roaring as he slammed his head through the small opening.

"C'mon lads!" Dwalin shouted, and with one last shove, the door slammed shut on the bear and the dwarves latched it shut.

Slowly, at Ella's insistence, Fili lowered her to the ground, his eyes darting around the huge house with its stacks of hay on the ground and the huge wooden furniture.

"What is that?" Ori asked, tiredly, turning to the Gandalf, and the wizard opened his mouth, about to answer, when a voice cut in:

"Who are you?"

The dwarfs' spun around in an instant, drawing their weapons out, eyes searching the room for the voice, Fili already stepping in front of Ella with his swords in his hands.

The voice was shaky, but sounded determined, and it was most definitely a girl's voice.

"I know that voice," Ella mumbled. Yes, she knew that voice. She was sure she did. And she could sense the fear in it. Placing a hand on Fili's shoulder, she smiled at him reassuringly before hobbling forward, painfully, aware that Fili was behind her.

"I'm going to repeat this one last time," said the girl's voice, coming at once from everywhere and nowhere. "Who are you?"

"We mean no harm," Ella said, hurriedly, before any of the company could say anything, and she could hear a sharp intake of breath.

And then a figure, a girl with pale, nearly white skin, choppy dark hair and brown eyes, dropped down from the rafters on the ceiling in front of Ella.

Ella stared at the girl in disbelief, as the girl stared at her, the sword in her hand dropping to the floor as their eyes met.

"Ella?"

"Jerelee?"

Ella flung herself on the girl and threw her arms around her just as the girl did the same, the two laughing as they crumpled to the floor, the tears sliding down their faces as their arms tightened around each other.

"I can't believe this," Ella was saying into Jerelee's shoulder, her voice coming out in sobs. "What are you doing here? What happened to you?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"I met up with this lot after I – " Ella swallowed " – I drowned."

Jerelee looked up at her, her arms still around Ella's shoulders, her eyes dark with sadness.

"They miss you a lot," she said.

Ella had to swallow again.

"I got hit by a car," Jerelee continued, seeing the tears spill down from Ella's face, knowing this was the best way with her friend – to keep prattling on, not to draw so much attention to the fact that she was crying. "Was mugging history and walking across this road – you know the amount of readings we got on World War II in Asia? I swear, it would have taken me like ten years to finish them all – when this car came out of nowhere and BOOM! It was lights out for me."

She was grinning now, grinning at Ella widely.

"I always knew mugging would kill you one day," said Ella, and suddenly they were giggling and laughing and crying all at the same time.

And then a throat cleared behind her.

Gandalf.

"Oh – yes." Ella pulled back slowly away from Jerelee, looking slightly flushed. "This is the company of Thorin Oakenshield, just give me a minute, I'll introduce you – "

And then Fili was beside her as she tried to get up, one hand around her shoulder, supporting her as she rested painfully on her injured leg.

"You're injured!"

Jerelee scrambled to her feet, crouched down by Ella's calf, examining the wound through the bandages. "I should be able to do something for it, but you'll have to wait properly for Beorn to get back before he can heal it fully. He works wonders with healing."

"Since when do you know anything about wounds?" Ella managed to laugh weakly.

Jerelee grinned at her as she straightened up. "Since I fell out of a tree when I first arrived, that's when." She raised a hand to push back some stray locks of hair that had fallen over her face, and Ella saw swirling patterns on her wrist – a mark eerily similar to Ella's own.

"Uh, this is Jerelee Yin," Ella said, gesturing a hand towards the girl standing before them, who was slightly taller than about half the dwarfs. "She's, ah, from my world. Lee, this is the company of Thorin Oakenshield. This is Gandalf the Grey, Mr Bilbo Baggins, and Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Kili and Fili."

"Oh, god," was all Jerelee said. "That's a lot of names. Heck, that's a lot of dwarves. What's with all the facial hair?"

Ella managed a laugh, as the dwarves chuckled at Jerelee's words.

And then – "Why are you so tiny?" Jerelee asked her. "You used to tower over me."

"Well, why aren't you wearing glasses?"

"The perks of being dead one moment and waking up in another world the next. My eyesight is practically perfect." She grinned again. "Don't tell me you woke up to find that you shrunk and your eyesight as bad as ever."

"Well, they always did say you got all the luck."

Jerelee laughed, that bright, familiar laughter that Ella knew all too well. She felt herself relaxing even more in Fili's arms. Jerelee had always found it easy to make people smile, to look at the bright side of things. It was probably why it felt so simple, so easy, to talk to her now. To forget that the reason they were both here in a different world, both here because they were dead in the world they'd grown up in.

Jerelee.

She'd missed her so much.

"Well." Now Jerelee had turned serious, thoughtful, was glancing around at the dwarfs and Bilbo and Gandalf. "I can't say that Beorn will be too pleased with thirteen dwarfs and et cetera taking refuge in his house. I don't think he's very fond of dwarfs."

Thorin stepped forward then, his face darker than it usually was.

"And where is this Beorn, this master of this house?"

"Outside," said Jerelee, mildly. "After all, you did slam the door in his face."

At this, the company stopped and stared at her for a long moment, before turning to fix their glares on Gandalf.

"I did not have the opportunity to mention that he is our host," Gandalf said smoothly, raising his eyebrows at them as he began to walk into the room. "He is a skin-changer. Sometimes he is a huge black bear; sometimes, he is a great, strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. And the lady is quite right – Beorn is not over fond of dwarfs."

"Absolutely despises them, really," said Jerelee cheerfully, making Ella laugh and a small smile slide over Ori's face. "You can make yourselves comfortable, but remember this – here, you are guests." Her eyes turned hard, cold, and Ella was reminded of the few times that Jerelee had lost her temper. Rare times, but once on the receiving end of her temper, there were few who would risk incurring her wrath again. "Should Beorn wish for it, he would throw you out of the house without a moment's hesitation."

"He's under some kind of dark spell, isn't he?" Dori asked, having hauled Ori away from the door. "It's obvious."

"Don't be a fool," Gandalf snapped. "He's under no enchantment but his own."

"That he is." Jerelee gave the wizard a small smile, before turning her attention back to the dwarfs. "You all can get some rest – you'll be safe here."

Her eyes fell on Ori, his sleeve still in Dori's grasp, his eyes never leaving her face, and Jerelee turned away quickly.

"Can you help her?"

Fili had brought Ella nearer to her friend, still supporting her as she winced, mumbling something along the lines of "I can walk perfectly well on my own".

"Still as stubborn as ever, I see." Jerelee supported Ella's other side as she led the dark girl – the dark girl who was once so much taller than her, whose own terrible eyesight had once been infinitely better than Jerelee's own – to a large pile of hay with blankets spread above it, letting her lie down on it. She winced when she pushed Ella's pants up her right calf, slowly unwinding Oin's bandages. "What caused this?"

"Warg."

Fili kept his eyes on Ella's face as she bit her lip.

"Beorn will be able to heal this leg completely, but I'll do what I can first." Jerelee fetched a large wooden box and bag from one of the shelves in the room, before returning to sit by Ella. She gave Fili a quizzical glance. "You can go and sleep, if you want. I'll take care of her."

The "No" was nearly out of Fili's mouth when he choked it back. What if Ella wanted to be alone with Jerelee? After all, she'd told him enough about how they'd spent so much time together, how Jerelee was like another sister to her, nearly as close as she was to Emma.

And then he felt a hand, a small, cool, comforting hand, wrap around his.

"The pile of hay's big enough for two people." Ella was looking at him. "You can sleep here."

And Fili felt a smile flicker across his face.

"You just really want me to stay but you're just too shy to say it, aren't you?" he said, grinning. "And you're feeling guilty about even thinking of asking me to stay with you in my sleep deprived state."

He saw the heat rise up to her face. "I never said that. You could go look after Kili."

"You didn't have to. And Kili's fine – look, he's bothering Dwalin."

And Jerelee watched, interestedly, pausing to look up from her rummage through the medicine box, as Fili pressed his lips to her forehead before collapsing onto the hay next to her, his hand clasping over hers.

Fili wasn't sure how long he had drifted in and out of sleep, vaguely aware of Ella still awake next to him, talking with Jerelee. He heard names and incidents and something about painting and sketching, lots of it, cheerful things that made them giggle, made them break into laughter, Jerelee trying to avoid any mention of anything upsetting, Ella quietly grateful for that.

His ears only pricked up when he heard Jerelee say: "So, dwarfs?"

"They found me," was Ella's reply, as Fili felt his senses grow sharper as he woke up fully, making sure he lay still as he did so. "And Gandalf – well, he's a wizard, you know, and when they told me they were dwarfs and everything, I just sort of guessed, and he confirmed it for me. Like telling me about the mark on my wrist."

"Lucky you," said Jerelee, laughing quietly, so as not to wake up the rest of the company. "I found myself at the top of a tree – at the top of a tree, can you believe it? – with Beorn standing below glaring up at me. I fell right off in shock and he caught me and brought me over here. And he – well, you'll see him later – I just couldn't stop screaming and shrieking, you know? Because the last thing I remembered was getting hit by a car, and then I was suddenly at the top of a tree with birds chirping and bees buzzing around me. And this huge freaky scary guy standing below me.

"But Beorn took care of me, and he found this wizard friend of his to see if he might know anything about me, because, you know, I was sort of in school uniform when I arrived and I was just freaking out and he had no idea what to do with me. So this wizard guy, Radagast or something – "

"Radagast the Brown?"

"Yeah, you know him too?"

"We've seen him before."

"Yeah, the guy with the bird shit trailing down his hair and everything, right? So anyway, he comes to visit, and he's really, really weird, but he was pretty cool, and he saw the mark on my wrist and talked to me and everything before explaining that I was in a whole different world because I'd died before my time or something like that. Like, a second chance. And I think I started screaming again, but he and Beorn were super patient with me and everything, and after a while I just sort of accepted it, and I've been staying with Beorn ever since. For, like, I don't know, maybe one and a half weeks, or two?"

"Well, you've had a house. I don't think I've ever stayed anywhere with a proper bed since I came here, except for maybe just one night."

"Hey, but you're on an adventure, right? I remember how Addy and Tiffany and me always used to make fun of you for that and how you'd end up ignoring us." A wistful tone had crept into Jerelee's voice now. Jerelee, Fili remembered Ella telling him, didn't do grief or sadness very well. She lived in the moment, for the moment.

"They'd probably both start screaming about how terrible and unhygienic everything is and freak out about not having Wi-fi or not being able to wash their hair everyday."

"That they would. And," Jerelee said, and now she was giggling, "what's with you and the blond dwarf?"

Fili held his breath.

"Fili." He could hear something in Ella's voice – he wasn't very sure what it was, but it made him happy, made him feel the urge to smile and laugh and throw his arms around her.

"Ella."

There was a note, a warning note, in Jerelee's voice.

"How long have you known him?"

"Not very long." Ella's voice was quiet.

"Ella, you know you – "

"It's not like that, Lee." Fili had to force himself to keep his eyes clenched shut, to act as if he were still sleeping, as he felt Ella take a deep breath beside him. "It's not like Don, or Kevin, or – "

"Ella, you know how easily you fall for people." Jerelee's voice had grown gentle. "I just don't want you to get hurt, or anything. I saw the way you look at him. It's almost like the way you look at Emma. But more. Something even more."

"It's just, Don and Kevin and all that, they were different, you know?" Fili felt Ella's hands tighten around his as she continued speaking. "Like, I thought I liked them, but it wasn't. It wasn't really. With Fili, it's different. He makes me feel – makes me feel completely whole. Like there was a missing puzzle piece I didn't know existed, and he's that missing piece, you know? And everything just feels right when I'm with him."

Fili didn't hear anything for a long, long moment.

"And," he heard Ella continue, "I think he – I don't know, but – he never does leave me alone – and he's always taking care of me – and he's so sweet and everything even though he's a warrior and – "

"Ella. Relax." Jerelee's voice had lightened considerably. "I saw how he looked at you too, when you took his hand. And when he kissed you on your forehead – well, I have to say, he's a much better choice than all those idiots back home."

They both laughed slightly at that.

"I just needed to make sure."

"Thanks, Lee."

"But you do know that dwarves live much, much longer lives than us humans, right?" There was a sad note to Jerelee's voice now. "He could easily be eighty to ninety years old."

"I know," Ella said, quietly, and she said nothing else, and her friend squeezed her free hand before changing the topic.

"So, how long - ?"

"Not very long, but it just sort of – sort of happened."

"Oh god." There was a laugh in Jerelee's voice. "You've kissed, haven't you?"

"Well – "

"I can't believe you kept that from me!"

"It wasn't like I actually had the opportunity to tell you!"

"Idiot."

Another round of muffled laughing.

"And, by the way," Jerelee asked, casually, "what's that dwarf's name again? The one who doesn't really look like a fighter, you know, the one with the book and slingshot and stuff?"

"Oh. Ori. Why?"

"Nothing." A pause, and then, "I just had the strangest feeling when I saw him."

"He's very sweet."

And then Fili heard Jerelee get to her feet, packing up her stuff. "You'd better go sleep. We can talk more in the morning, and Beorn can take a look at your leg for you."

"Okay," said Ella, yawning. "Thanks, Lee."

"Just go sleep."

And as Ella settled herself comfortably beside Fili, turning over to face him and burying her head in his shoulder, he heard Jerelee mutter to herself as she kept her things, out of Ella's earshot: "I swear, if he ever does anything to hurt Ella, I will personally hunt him down and make sure he can never have any children."

So Jerelee really did die - and like Ella, she died before her time, though not to save someone she loved! (Which is why her life in this world won't be as crazy and impactful as Ella's! Although of course it may be particularly impactful towards a certain dwarf...)