Here you go! Aaannnd they're back! This chapter will just be Aria and co.:)

Chapter 25

"Oof."

"Ow."

"That is going to ache dreadfully come morning!" I heard Kili groan beside me seconds after we hit the forest floor.

We hadn't fallen from very high up, but he was right. This was going to ache.

"Why couldn't we have landed in a river like last time," I complained.

"Because the only one around here's poisonous according to Gand-" Kili paused mid-sentence. "You landed in a river the first time?" he asked.

From the corner of my eye, I could see him rolling over onto his back.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, wheezing slightly as I turned over onto my own back.

"Because that explains so bloody much," said Kili, laughing for some reason unknown to me.

"What? What does it explain?" I asked, wincing as I sat up. The company's fire wasn't too far off, only a short walk through the trees if we could get to our feet.

"The way you looked when we first met. You were drenched and you were a terrible mess," he said, jokingly.

"Gee thanks," I said, laughing myself.

"It's true, the entire company, well almost the entire company, agrees on it," he said.

I laughed tiredly before realizing what he had said.

"Almost the entire company?" I asked, and Kili stopped laughing.

"Well, I mean, nearly the entire company," he said quickly, before sitting up with another groan.

It was a strange response, but I decided not to dwell on it.

Kili got to his feet and held out a hand to help me to mine. I took it gratefully and was standing before I realized what had just happened.

"Hang on, my arm doesn't hurt anymore," I said, flexing the limb in question, surprised when I received no protest.

"It shouldn't have healed that quickly, should it?" I asked.

"I'd be worried if it didn't. You resemble a dwarf most closely, and we're slow to injure and quick to heal. Don't know much about you Valarindi though," he teased.

"Oh, shut up," I said bending over to retrieve my backpack from where it had fallen beside me.

I hoisted it onto my back and noted that it had grown in heft, and my shoulders were more strained to carry its weight. Oh, well. I wasn't leaving any of that lavender soap behind.

"I wonder what they'll do when we turn up," Kili pondered.

"I can't say for certian. Whack us over the head with shovels maybe?" I asked.

"Where on earth are they gonna get a shovel?" asked Kili as we walked towards the light of the campfire.

"I don't know, Fili used to have one," I said, remembering that the older prince had indeed carried a shovel in his pack at one time.

"Oh, I remember that. Before we left home, we fought for a full ten minutes about who should carry it. I won," He said, throwing me a classic Kili grin.

"Oh sure you did. I bet he just gave up and took it to get you to shut your mouth," I laughed.

"How did you guess?" asked Kili in mock surprise.

"As soon as we get back, I'm going to sleep," said Kili after a pause.

"What, is it past your bedtime?" I asked teasingly.

"Like you don't have one too," Kili retorted.

"Oh, right. It's whenever Thorin tells us to. I forgot," I said, rolling my eye at him.

It was at that moment that we came upon the camp. We both fell silent and surveyed the small clearing. All of the company seemed to be sleeping around the campfire. All except for one.

"Kili, Aria, as that you?" came Fili's voice from the opposite side of the fire. He had apparently been put on watch duty and stood when we entered the clearing.

"Where in Mahal's name have you two been!" he demanded.

I can't describe how good it felt to hear his voice again, but I do remember feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. A weight that I hadn't been aware of until it was gone.

Kili crossed to the fire and I followed, watching, as the two brothers exchanged a hearty embraced.

"No sign of you two for a night and a day! I thought you were gone, but everyone else told me I was seeing things," Fili said.

"A night and a day you say? Time must pass more quickly in the other place," Kili said, looking to me for an explanation.

I was now standing right beside him and could see his face in the light of the flickering fire, a look of worry in his dark eyes

I nodded. "I think you're right," I said simply.

I was surprised to notice that I now had Fili's full attention. I reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. Ugh, I had to stop doing that!

"What other place? Aria, what does he mean?" Fili asked.

"I forgot to put my pendant back on after showing you. It brought Kili and I back to my world," I explained in as few words as possible.

"And, we met her grandparents. Let me tell you, they are the most interesting people I have ever met. Especially her grandfather. We had a long talk in his forge room," said Kili.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something," said Fili, looking between his brother and I.

"Yes, I might ask the same question," I said suspiciously, upon the realization that I didn't know what had passed between my grandfather and Kili in the forge.

"Because there is something I'm not telling you. And I won't tell either of you, so don't bother asking," said Kili, grinning.

"You are infuriating," said Fili.

"At least I didn't conceal the true identities of my grandparents and lie about my race," Kili said defensively.

"What?" Fili asked.

"I didn't know," I said defensively.

"Didn't know what?" Fili asked.

"I'm not a dwarf. I'm not a human either," I said, my speech stunted.

"But you look nothing like an elf," Fili said.

"I'm not an elf. I'm-I'm a Valarindi," I said. "It means that the blood of the Valar runs in my veins."

There was but a moment's pause before Fili responded.

"I know what it means, but that's impossible. They don't exist," He said, looking slightly shocked.

"They do, they're just incredibly rare. She's the only one if we're being technical," Kili said.

"Incredibly rare my ax," scoffed Fili. "You had both better get to bed, Aria you must be exhausted. I'll take watch," he finished.

"You don't own an an ax," grumbled Kili. "But I'll take you up on that offer, I'm going to bed," he said.

I stood for a moment as Fili went to sit, back against a sizable boulder, to take the watch. I was tired, but so much had happened to me in what seemed like the last few hours. I needed few minutes just to take it all in. I made my way over to the boulder, and sat down beside Fili, dropping my backpack on the ground beside me.

"I meant it, you should get some sleep," Fili said, looking at me.

I leaned my head back against the boulder and shook it slowly.

"I can't. There's just too much to think about before I can bother with sleep. Besides, I don't like the idea of a nap in this forest," I said.

"I know what you mean, I haven't gotten much sleep either. This place is suffocating the entire company. I don't think they even know it's happening, and I'm trying to keep my head clear, but even I can feel my wits slipping," Fili said, staring into the fire.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked.

"No one cooked dinner tonight, and Thorin didn't bother to set a watch. As I said before, nobody even noticed that you two were gone. I was beginning to believe my own senses affected until you came back," he said.

"You took the news remarkably well. I thought you'd be shocked," I admitted.

"At this point, I don't think you could do anything to shock me. You could tell me your grandparents were Mahal and Yavanna, and I wouldn't be phased," he said sincerely.

"Good, but for future reference, Grandfather does prefer to go by Aulë," I said in as nonchalant a voice as I could muster.

Fili laughed.

"Keep it down, I'll catch my death of exhaustion. I've met my maker but I'd prefer not to make a repeat visit for a few more years at least," mumbled Kili, not far away from us.

Fili desisted, and turned to me. "You weren't kidding," he said.

"Of course not," I answered. "I-this doesn't change anything, does it?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, I guessed Aulë and Yavanna as soon as you told me you were descended from the Valar," He said.

"How did you guess that?" I asked.

He paused for a moment before saying "You're voice and your height."

I spoke next in mock indignation! "What about my height?"

"Oh come on, don't look at me like that," he said.

"Like what?" I asked innocently.

"Like you can't decide whether to laugh at me or yell at me," he said.

"Well I thought you would be used to that by now, as it seems to be all that I ever do," I said.

"I don't think I could if I tried," he said.

At this, I felt a blush creeping across my cheeks and, forgetting that it was already dark, turned my face away towards my backpack. I changed the subject.

"Kili knows everything now," I said.

There was a momentary pause before Fili answered me.

"He doesn't have a betraying bone in his body. Your secret is safe with him."

This was something I already knew, but it helped to have Fili say it out loud.

At that moment, I remembered my grandmother's parting gift and dug the vial from my backpack.

"What is that?" Fili asked when I held it to the light of the small auburn leaves inside the bottle seemed to catch the light as I rotated the bottle in my hand.

"It was a gift from my grandmother. It's important, but she said she couldn't tell me how to use it. She isn't allowed to meddle in affairs more than she already has.

"Well, what does the label say?" he asked.

"Fili, you know I can't read," I told him.

"Well, that won't be too hard to fix. Give me a moment," he said, pulling a small dagger from the underside of one of his sleeves. He then etched the Westron alphabet into the earth near the fire. Beneath each letter, he drew a rune.

"Simple enough, assuming you can read Westron," he said.

I rolled my eyes, and pulled the old copy of Romeo and Juliet from my backpack, setting it on the ground.

"Yes, I think I can read Westron."

"There you are then," he said, gesturing towards the marks in the earth.

I leaned in towards the fire, holding the vial to the light. I made out the first few letters quite easily with the help of Fili's impromptu chart, but soon found myself unable to distinguish.

"Can you help me with this?" I asked Fili.

"What is it?" he queried by way of reply, leaning in towards the fire.

Our shoulders were brushing together now, and I nearly pulled away, tucking my hair behind one ear once again.

"I've made out the first few letters quite easily, but I can't tell if this one's a 'j' on an 'i'," I said.

"Neither, it's actually an 'l'. See the extra line across the center," he pointed out.

"Oh, right. I see it," I said.

I went back to work, quickly deciphering the rest of the label, aware of the fact that Fili's shoulder was still brushing mine with no effort in moving away.

"I've got it, but I don't understand what it means," I said at length.

"The sleep of Yavanna," he read from the top of the label.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused.

"It's an event in our history. Much of the life on Middle Earth fell into a death-like slumber until the first rising of the sun. That's all I know, but I think I know what these leaves are. I remember reading that there's a power over plants that were alive at that time, but they're incredibly rare and hard to find," he said. "Do you think that's what these are?" he asked.

"Yes, but I still don't know what they're for," I lamented.

"What does the rest of the label say?" he asked.

"Chew one by mouth and swallow. Expect hasty results within two minutes," I recited.

"Is that all?"

"No. Next, it says this. Swallow one without chewing. Expect delayed results within fifteen minutes. It's a guide to dosage, but I still don't know what it's for. Grandmother said that that I had been carrying the answer all along, but I have no clue what that's supposed to mean," I said.

Maybe you're thinking too hard about it," said Fili slowly, brow creasing in concentration.

"Oh and I suppose you have the answer then?" I asked, frustrated that he would tell me to stop thinking at a time such as this.

I turned away from the vial to look at him and found that our eyes were but inches apart.

It seemed as if an age past in the next few moments. Both caught unaware by the situation, neither of us thought to move, to do, or to say anything.

I was sure my heartbeat could be heard for miles around but I couldn't help it. I had never felt so vulnerable, so unguarded, in my entire life. I was sure that in those moments, Fili's azure durin eyes could see right through my every thought, my every worry, and my every secret. And yet, I had never felt so sure that I was safe. The frustration left my grey-blue eyes and I knew for certain that I could be the most difficult, temperamental, frustrating person this side of the undying lands and I could still count on him to help me, to understand me, and to listen when no one else would.

Then, without even realizing it, I reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

The pressure in the air between us seemed to evaporate and Fili reached for my backpack, and picked up my copy of Romeo and Juliet from beside it, handing the book to me.

"The only thing you've had with you this entire time," he nearly whispered.

"You're right, I was overthinking it. That would be the obvious answer, I'm sorry I snapped," I said, taking the book from him and holding it next to the vial. I held them together, looking back and forth between the two, desperately trying to make a connection between the two, but finding none.

I dropped both items to the ground, a wave of exhaustion hitting me like a truck. I buried my head in my hands, my back resting once more against the rock. I bit my lip to make sure that I didn't break down crying.

It didn't work.

Looking back on the adventure, I don't know how I went that long without breaking down. The tears flowed freely from my eyes, and while I wasn't very loud, I was still utterly embarrassed. I had started crying in front of the one person I hoped would never see me do so, and while I knew he wouldn't think any less of me, I still felt utterly humiliated and childish.

I hadn't been crying for more than a moment before I looked up and tried to apologize.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just, one minute I'm a girl with a habit of getting myself into trouble and a slight obsession with a world that doesn't exist, mourning the deaths of three fictional characters, and now I'm here and I'm supposed to save you and I have no idea how I'm supposed to do it, and there's so little time left to do it," I told him before realizing what I had just said and attempting to cover my tracks, all while tears ran freely down my cheeks.

"When I said save you, I meant save the company. Collectively. As a whole," I said, hiccupping as I finished.

I heard Fili sigh heavily by my side.

"Aria," he said very quietly.

I sniffed, taking a shuddering breath that failed to steady me.

He reached over and took both of my hands in his, running his thumbs over the backs of my palms in a soothing manner, until I turned and looked up, meeting his eyes.

"You are far more capable and courageous than you know. You are more determined to remain with this company than I could have imagined when we first met, and I know that you can do what you were sent here to do," here he paused as if deciding what to say.

"I also know that you are terrible at concealing the truth when you don't really want to. You didn't mean that you were here to save the company as a whole," he told me steadily.

He knew.

I couldn't respond so I just looked away. Not toward the fire, but in the direction or the rock that our backs had been resting against.

"Aria, I knew there was a chance of this before I left home. We all did. Not a single dwarf would be here if he weren't prepared to risk his life for our King and for our homeland. I do not fear death," he said.

It was the most typically heroic thing anyone had ever said to me, and I hated that he meant it. He would go to his death willingly if it meant saving his home, and he had.

"But I do fear death," I said, turning away from him to gaze once more into the fire.

"I've seen brave men of this world die. Men who aren't even born yet. I've seen elves who had done no wrong meet their fate before they have lived full lives. I've seen dwarves fall because you're just too stubborn to give up on what you know is right, and you won't flee from a hopeless fight," I said, taking in a deep breath.

"How will it happen?" Fili asked, his tone steady and level.

"It won't," I said, reaching for the book and vial that I had discarded.

"Not if I've got anything to do with it," I said, opening the book to the page on which I had left off.

"What are you doing?" Fili asked.

I wiped the last tear streaks from my face, sniffed one final time, and said "I'm going to do what I do best. I'm going to read."

And read I did. I told Fili to get some rest, for there would be no danger that night, and he fell asleep sitting upright, with his back against the stone.

I was reading Romeo and Juliet for maybe the hundredth time, but as I did so now, it struck me that no matter how many time I did so, I always held up hope that Juliet would wake up in time to save Romeo from suicide. When I read Romeo's last lines, I decided that I was quite fed up with the whole plan.

Knock Juliet out, make everyone think she was dead so they could bury her, and then she would wake when the time was right. Ridiculous!

"Hang on a moment," I said to myself, looking once more at the vial of small auburn leaves. If chewed, their effects would manifest quickly, if directly ingested, the effects would be slower.

But what effects?

"The sleep of Yavanna," I said aloud, covering my mouth when I saw Fili stir.

Life fell into a death-like slumber, only to be awakened by the coming of the sun.

Juliet. A girl who had been put into a death-like slumber and even been buried!

When eaten, the leaves would send their victim into a death-like sleep. Just like Juliet. Just like the plant life during the sleep of Yavanna. My next question was the length of the effects, but Fili had answered this question earlier. The effects would last until the rising of the next sun.

I turned the vial over in my hands. I was halfway there.

Now if I could only figure out why I would need these sleep-inducing leaves in the first place!

Nothing I could do about it that night. I packed the book away, and wrapped the vial carefully in an extra tunic, before settling into sleep.

I was gazing into the fire, dozing off, when I realized that my head had once more drifted down to Fili's shoulder.

I didn't want to move, and I didn't want to wake him, so I stayed put.

"Promise that I never have to watch you die again," I whispered a hopeless plea to the night air.

"I promise," said a voice near my ear.

I wonder just what Aulë gave Kili in the forge (besides the dagger)

And why the heck can't Aria be more tactful...He knows!