Ari: I've been waiting for it too, since about the fourth chapter. I'm very glad you liked how I did her treating Thranduil, and she is growing; slowly, but she's growing and losing some of that innocence.

Bilbo poked his head out of the door and listened as hard he could for any sign that elves were coming to see to Pearl; he crept forward when he heard none and then reached back and grabbed Pearl's elbow and led her along the caves he had come to know very well. Pearl tiptoed along holding the bowl she had put the fish in, hearing that they were not happy in the small space with only a little bit of water and that they were afraid. She stopped behind Bilbo, looking over her shoulder to see if there was anyone coming while he unlocked the cell.

"By Durin's beard," Balin said joyously at stepping out of his cell to see Bilbo. "Pearl?" he asked astounded, having thought she was dead – Thranduil had not told the others she was alive, nor did Bilbo know where she was the day before and if she was the treasure the prince had referred to so he had not mentioned it. Balin smiled kindly at their mermaid before hugging her without a second thought, smiling when he looked down at the two fish in the bowl. "How are we to escape?" Balin asked turning to their burglar.
"No time for that now, we have to collect the others. All of us must escape or none, and this is our last chance," Bilbo said urgently before grabbing Pearl's arm and leading the two on. They collected the others and each one greeted Pearl with the same happiness at seeing her alive, all having despairingly thought she was dead in the forest. They came to the last of the cells, which was deepest in the caves, and the only member of the Company to know Pearl was alive.

"Upon my word," Thorin exclaimed when Bilbo told him to come out and join his friends. Thorin smiled at the hobbit, the second time the dwarf king had done so, before his eyes found Pearl.

Thorin's jaw slackened when he saw her before him, having spent the two weeks imagining all the things Thranduil was doing to her; one cruel thought being he cut her in half to further inspect her. But there she was, not in a cage, her smile so lovely he wanted to kiss her – though as a king he refused to let him give in to his desires in front of others. Though that proved incredibly difficult when he noticed the bowl in her hands and then that she was not wearing clothes.
"Mahal," he muttered when he saw her breasts, which were not covered by her hair for her wet hair was tied up. He refused to let his eyes trail lower, though they greatly wanted to, and it was almost painful for him to bring his eyes back to her face.

Many of the dwarves who saw his reaction hid their smiles, all of them had taken note of her state almost immediately after seeing her but none of them had anything to cover her with besides the shirts on their backs which Pearl had refused.

Thorin tried to shake himself of how he was feeling as he looked to Bilbo. "What comes next?"

Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea of riding inside the empty barrels the elves used to receive goods; upon hearing his plan there were many cries of "what" and "you can't be serious" in spite of their danger.

"We shall be bruised and battered to pieces," said Ori.

"And drowned too, for certain!" said Dori.

Bifur said something in Khuzdul that Bilbo did not understand but the hobbit knew it was not pleasant nor was it kind.

"We thought you had got sensible notion, when you managed to get hold of the keys. This is a mad idea!" said Gloin and many voiced their agreement.

"Do you have any other idea?" Bilbo demanded irritably. "You can go back to your nice cells and I will lock you all in again and you can think of a better plan – but I don't suppose I shall ever get hold of the keys again, even if I feel inclined to try. Besides Pearl's own glass cell was shattered to pieces, and I don't believe the Elvenking will treat her with anymore kindness."

Pearl could hear the anger in Bilbo's voice and she greatly hoped he did not actually plan to take them all back. The dwarves too realized they had no other option and were quick to apologize and to offer themselves forever at his service. And so they followed after Bilbo, Thorin tried to keep his eyes from straying down Pearl's back – seeing the lovely muscles in her shoulders move with each step. His eyes did stray though, a few times actually, and he discovered that every part of her was beautifully perfect.

Thorin was almost relieved when they reached the river, hoping to have her bare body out of his sight so he could breathe normally again. It was not many moments longer before he lowered Pearl into the water where she handed him the now empty bowl, and then she dove under the water and left the caves as Bilbo had instructed her to.

She waited outside of the mouth of the cave, feeling the sun warm on her skin though the air was cold, her two fish swimming happily around her as they chased each other – she had taken to calling them Fili and Kili for they reminder her of the dwarves' playfulness. Fili had yellow around his mouth, while Kili had yellow on his tail. She felt when the first few barrels were pushed into the water and hoped the dwarves were inside. She did not have to wait for long for the first barrels flowed on the current out of the caves, and she saw first Dwalin's head and then Thorin's followed by his nephews and the others.

Bombur's barrel tilted and tipped into the water from the weight of him and Pearl pushed it back upright and he continued on down the river. She did this several times for many of the dwarves as they came upon rapids. They traveled for a long while, often times many of them caught glimpses of Pearl as she swam near, though she seemed to be the color of the water and they usually lost sight of her, though they often saw one of the two fish as they swam after her. They came upon a shallow point in the river and Pearl steered the barrels towards the bank so they could get out.

She held Fili's barrel as he climbed out, his sides tender from the many times he had hit them on the rougher waters. Fili then in turn helped his brother. Thorin saw Pearl's dark head as she held his barrel and he returned her smile though his was much smaller. He looked after her confused when she slipped beneath the surface of the river, amazed at how easily she blended in with the water. He heard what she had seen and he turned to see several armed men coming towards them.

"Who are you and what do you want?" one of them asked, the points of all of their swords aimed at the dwarves.

Pearl stayed in the water, hearing the small bubble chatter of the fish as they wondered what was happening. Pearl didn't know though, she did not why those men were pointing their swords at them nor why the dwarves were gathered out of their barrels.

"There are taking us to the town further north, go there and stay hidden I will come for you," Thorin whispered before he climbed out of his barrel. Pearl watched as he left, wishing she could say something in return as he looked back at her; once again she was left until Thorin was to get her, and yet again Thorin was to leave her.

In case anyone cared the fish on the top of the story picture would be Kili and the one on the bottom is Fili.