Hey guys! I hope that you have been liking Stories so far, its getting to the halfway mark already! So for this one I'm going to try my hand at time spacing or something, I want to keep a coherent story even though the flow is segmented. Tell me if it works or not.

Paring: Female Bilbo Baggins/Kili (A.N. This turned out to be more Bilbo-centric. so ehh)

Rating: T

The Hobbit belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Jealously flared through her chest as she hid in the shadows, and Belle could only wonder what she had that she didn't. Her own hair was a dark, near blood red, albeit not the vibrant red that the elf had. Her own eyes were a muddy hazel while hers shinned in the starlight, a bright topaz. Her hobbit body was still soft compared to the muscular, lithe body that Tauriel possessed.

And oh did she burn, the anger coursed through her before she was able to get her head on straight.

No, he was happy; Kili was happy and Belle should be happy for him. But something in her was just so...angry; what was wrong with her? She wasn't that old, spinsterhood was a good fifteen-sixteen years away from her. And she was of a good rearing age! Belle had been blessed with the birthing hips of the Took Family, as well as undergoing the Fertility Ritual of Yavanna as a tween. She took her herbs (I.E the child bloomers as Grandma Took had called them) whenever she could during the Journey. Did all the appropriate stretches to help her monthly cycles every morning, and even tried to keep herself the sensible weight in case she ever decided to settle down. Everything Belle did was for her future with another person, but it wasn't enough.

But, she was just not enough.

As the anger and jealously dissipated, depression and acceptance set in. Of course, Tauriel was an exotic elf while she was some uppity hobbit. Instead of visiting Kili's cell, like she did everyday, Belle went lower into the dungeons. Tears tracked down her face as she ran down the mossy stairs, her thin body was heaving with exertion as she forced herself to go lower and lower through the dungeons.

It was a dank place, even more repressing then the main level, where Kili and the others were. But, just as Belle sat down on a moist step to let her anger and sorrow out she heard a voice. One that she hadn't heard in over a month. Her gaunt face was grim and uncertain as she inched around a bend as clangs and elvish curses were sprung. Belle pushed herself into a small alcove and watched as a blond elf pushed Thorin in front of him. She choked back a gasp as she saw the state of the dwarf king, his once stately hair was reduced to a tangled mess of webs and leaves. The proud stance he had when she first saw him in Bag End had been crushed to a tumbling tween.

His eyes were sunken and she was reminded of herself, gaunt and starved half to madness.

She felt anger again; tears spilled not just for her sake but his as well.

How could Kili be infatuated with an elleth of this sort of cruel kingdom? She looked at the willow crown jammed on that silver blonde head and frowned, before making her way to one of the few cells in the dark dungeon. Of course this one might not be Thorin's cell, but she just found him after a month of looking. She was not going to let him slip through her fingers once more.

But as she waited in the shadows, all she could think of was why.

Belle could try everything in the world and it wouldn't be enough to garner the attention of a prince, much less a dwarven one. She could barely find it in herself to garner the attention of a hobbit. She was lonely and as the Quest went on she honestly believed that there could be a way for her to find love. To find the family that she didn't have after the Fell Winter happened in her youth.

Of course, some of the dwarves had been caught by her good upbringing, but she couldn't catch the one's attention that she wanted. The elves had seen something in her, that was interesting. In Rivendell, she had been inclined to talk with some very notable elves such as the Balrog slayer and a son of Elrond, but there was no spark between any of their interactions, well nothing that could induce a romance. However, every little touch that she shared with Kili was like lightning running down her spine. Her knees would go weak, and her words would fail her.

Though he was unaffected.

Belle curled in a small corner of the walkway and let her own fights wear her out, she slept very little. But it was sleep nonetheless and that was something in short supply nowadays.

"Stop struggling Oakenshield!" and she nearly hit her head against the unforgiving stone wall. It would cause some damage, though nothing that she couldn't handle. She waited as the scuffling noises that woke her came closer and closer. Two elves accompanied the blonde one this time, both handling Thorin as if he were some trash meant for the compost heap. Her indignation rose at that, but she kept herself quiet. It would do her no good if she exposed herself at this time.

The blonde elf had unlocked the cell door while the other two shoved the dwarf king into his cell. The clank of metal startled her slightly but eventually after a few choice of words had been spewed, all three elves had left. Leaving behind the once proud dwarf, brought low.

"T-Thorin? Are you okay?"

Her fingers deftly took off her ring and shoved it in her pocket as he surged forward to clutch at the metal bars separating them. "Belle!" and she cursed under her breath before running into his sight, her hands frantically waving at him. She shh'ed him as quietly as she could, worried that the elves could hear them. "Belle, are you okay? Are the others safe?" Thorin grit out as the young hobbit nodded.

"Last I saw of them, some are doing just dandy," she replied bitterly.

He raised an eyebrow at her, interested in the situation of the company, but also being the nosy prick that she knew he secretly was. "And how so Mistress Baggins? How can anyone be 'just dandy' in the dungeons?" he picked at some leaves in his hair as he asked her.

Belle wanted to stop herself, she really did, but the anger in her heart could not be ignored. "Ask Kili, if you must, but I wish not to answer. My sensibilities cannot take it." She allowed herself to slide down the metal bars and tuck her skirt under her legs. Belle leaned against the wall and sighed, the angry tears letting themselves be known.

No, she wasn't some Chubb or Hardfoot, Belle was a Baggins and Bagginses do not cry in front of others not of their kin. But Belle let her frustrations be known as the sobs escaped her. She let a calloused hand wipe them away and Thorin could only look at her in concern, "What is wrong, dear Burglar?"

"I c-can't do this anymore!" and suddenly she wasn't sobbing, "I try and find a way out, but he is cozying up to her! Of all people and races! Her! I've starved myself and lost sleep over this! And HE is doing what I might ask? Eating, sleeping, and being generally okay!" In that moment Thorin decided to take a real look at her, to see how Mirkwood had destroyed such a female.

She was a spitfire and after a while the Company had come to covet her as if she were a dwarrowdam.

Now, Belle was nothing but skin and bones; the only evidence of her soft life was a busty chest and her style of speech. Her dark hair was matted and the curls have turned into a rat's nest. "But it's also about Kili, is it not?" and he cringed at his own words. Thorin never was the best when it came to comforting others. Or smoothing over matters.

"I- I. Its more than just that okay!" she accused, "My entire life was spent making myself to be exactly as a wife should be. Though I could not be tempted by others in the Shire, but here I am doing what I did to those in the Shire. I find myself tempted, but the other party is not interested nor will he ever be interested!"

The dwarven king grimaced, this was reminding him of a similar conversation with Dis; but she was afraid of talking with Vili. Let alone be tempted to marry him, though he knew that if Vili had asked back then Dis would have married him without a formal courtship. Now, Belle was basically giving up before she ever tried, and Thorin knew that Kili would never truly love an elf.

Especially when he had been insulted for looking like an elf growing up.

"Belle, it is entirely possible that he is not giving her the time of day because of an infatuation. Maybe because he had no other visitor than yourself?"

The glare he got in return for such a suggestion shut his mouth quickly.

"It is in my culture to make myself better in a suitor's eyes, I was basically told in hobbit sensibilities that I will never be good enough and should never even attempt to become good enough."

Thorin sighed, "I know my sister-son, and he would never allow an elf to be courted by him or become infatuated with him. He had been the brunt of many an insult concerning elvish qualities. But even if it is not my place to say so, I will say that it is imperative that you do not lose hope. For not everything is as it seems. But for now, all we can do is try to get out of this Mordor of a place. It would be better for us all, do you not agree?"

She wiped at her face and cringed at the sticky, grimy feeling, "Of course. Terribly sorry, I didn't mean to-" and he cut her off with a hand.

"Tis fine, Mistress Baggins. I myself have a sister who once came to me for advice, and I feel inclined to give you the same. Just. Go. See. Him."

Somehow, she took that suggestion and found herself, hours later hanging onto a barrel for dear life as she floated down a river with a bunch of wet dwarves.

Lovely.

~.~.~.

Oh, how she hated Tauriel. The elleth just walked into the Durin's tent with a broken Kili in her arms, however it may seem she hated the other woman. Because she started glowing.

Belle kept her head down and controlled her anger to properly follow Oin's instructions to stitch Thorin up. The dwarf king was clinging to life and she was going to save him, even if the woman was glowing. Fucking elves, of course the one Kili likes glows. She worked tirelessly to keep Thorin alive and to keep her mind off the woman that had taken post right next to Kili's sick bed.

She bustled to and fro between Thorin and Fili; replacing cold cloths when fevers arose, changing bandages when they became bloody, feeding them when they woke (only for Fili to vomit it back up onto her...twice), giving them water, finding more blankets, getting reports for Thorin (when he became cognizant), and to add salt to the wound Tauriel watched it all.

There had to be credit where it was deserved, Tauriel had no clue how to help around as the hobbit became increasingly bossy.

All the while Kili remained comatose.

When Thorin could sit on his own and try to lead the gathered contingent of dwarves and Men, he would give her looks. Looks that she remembered her own mother giving her long ago, when she wished to go and experience the joys of teenage-hood. The "I-Told-You-Not-To" look when she came home one day with a raging hangover, a little after her twentieth birthday.

Now the damned King was practically begging for Belle to just poison his light broths, because if she saw another look she was going to kill him. Then Fili would be King Under the Mountain.

The hobbit could only glare at him as she went about her business and took care of the injured parties in the Durin's tent. Her focus only on the Durins and she would try and do the same for Kili, but Oin (dear Oin) could sense her turmoil and took over his care completely. Having faith that the young woman would be able to take care of the other two.

Of course she had her struggles, her obnoxious red curls were irreparable to her chagrin. She was not at the prime weight for a healthy female hobbit, and Belle didn't like to look at the scars she accumulated over the entire Quest. Her Baggins sensibilities cringed at the state of her clothes (they weren't even of hobbit make, they were cast off clothes of Men) and her Took blood boiled at the continued snubs she received from the Iron Hill Dwarves.

Even worse, none of the dwarves would allow her access to a blade of some sort.

"It is just a small trim! Only shoulder length-" she tried to protest as Dwalin stared her down.

The entire company was up in arms against her, they all claimed that her hair could be repaired. And she was nothing but practical, it was just hair. Sure it could take a year or two to get back to its original length, but it would be worth it in the end.

"But Belle! Its such a lovely red shade, surely there is some other way?" Ori cried out, his hands wringing his worn sweater.

"Ye can't jus' whack that hair of yours! We haven't done anything ta ya have we?" Bofur asked.

"Honestly, its just hair-" Belle tried again, but this time Thorin interrupted her.

She glared as he began to lecture her, "What if you were to marry? How would your beloved braid his beads into your hair? How would others know of your accomplishments? How could people identify your clan? It is not merely hair, it is your history."

"Lad's right Belle."

Hazel eyes bore into the king's skull and he wisely shut his mouth; with a look to the elleth sitting by Kili's bed Belle said nothing. But she did let the Ri brothers work on untangling her long hair. With the threat that if it didn't work then she would shear it to her ears. She had never seen Nori sit so quietly and so determinedly since she met him. He was always up and about, off doing one thing or another. But here he was sitting with his two brothers, all with an identical blush on their ears and insisting that as a friend they would be honored to help her this one time.

Emphasizing friend and one.

The tent was nice and quiet, with the dwarves working on their respective projects (or sleeping in Fili's case). Then she heard Tauriel gasp and the clatter of her chair as it hit the floor. The hands in her hair were idle for a second, and she could hear them call out to Oin about Kili. After that it was straight back to her hair, and she desperately wanted to turn around to see if Kili was indeed awake.

"Oww! Not so hard," she whined when Dori tugged on a particular curl with a comb.

"Apologies Mistress Baggins," he murmured when Nori elbowed him particularly hard.

From her position she could only see Thorin's bed as well as the tied together flaps of the tent moving with each burst of wind. The King was propped up with a piece of parchment in his hands as a pile lay in his lap. His tunic long gone, so Belle could get to his bandages quicker and his tanned skin contrasting against the stark white of his bandages. From the Elven King of Mirkwood in attempts to help start some diplomatic relations between the kingdoms.

Though he was staring at his sister-son incredulously, "Kili?"

"Please don't get up!" she heard the elleth cry out. His bandaged head was peaking out from under all the blankets that Tauriel had thrown on him. Probably afraid that he would hurt himself, and she couldn't help but to turn around. Regardless of the Ri's protests and watched ad the brunette stared around him. Taking in all the changes, Fili's short hair peeking over the mountain of blankets he was in, Thorin bedridden, Tauriel at his side trying to keep him in a laying position, and finally Belle in her ratty state. With all of the Ri males combing her hair. In front of the king and him.

A tug caused Belle to glare at Ori, but the scribe kept trying to gently run the comb through her locks.

"Its not working," the hobbit grit out, "Just give me a pair of scissors if you will."

The younger Durin gawked, "Y-you can't just cut your hair Belle!"

"It it something that I have to do, it's a nuisance."

Kili bit his lip and let Tauriel help him sit down, "If you really want your hair cut then let me do it!" The elleth gave him a knowing smile as the other dwarves in the room stared incredulously at the young prince. Belle, on the other hand, was glad that someone was seeing sense; even if it was Kili.

"Very well," and she turned to grab a brush and bandage scissors that Oin had in his kit. Missing the look of joy on Kili's face, and Thorin's disbelieving one. Tauriel merely sat down, looking satisfied and nodded at Kili. As if she were giving him her approval.

The Ri brothers and the other hand, looked both relieved and confused; Nori, himself, asking, "What just happened?" A small brush was thrown Kili's way and Belle finally held up a small pair of scissors happily. The hobbit just glad that the rat's nest she called hair could finally be tamed. The small stool she had been sitting on was grabbed by Tauriel, and set close to Kili's bed.

The prince was propped up with pillows supported his back, and his head carefully bandaged. The cloth over his right eye was dirtied with a dark red, but he seemed confident in his abilities to groom hair. Once the scissors were passed to him, he carefully brushed her hair out. From root to were the tangles started, and once he deemed that the hair couldn't be saved below a certain point the scissor were put to use.

It was an intimate task, and everyone seemed to turn their head or find something else to do entirely.

Belle noticed how the Ri's left the tent and Thorin focused on the papers in his hands intently. Fili was still sleeping and Tauriel had the sense to leave the tent as well, not before giving a wink to both Belle and Kili.

Of course she was confused but chose to spend more attention on the fact that Kili was well enough to give her the time of day, and that he voluntarily did so. She allowed herself the happiness of the moment and focused on the gentle snips of hair. The tangles so bunch up that when Kili cut off a piece, it didn't even fall to the bed. Instead it stayed with the entire bunch until he basically carved out chunks of hair.

He huffed at the sight of her precious hair falling in huge chunks but she was more than happy to reserve some of her hair. The curls just stopping above her shoulder blades now, the rest of her long hair being combed out of the fresh trimmed locks.

Her head slumping over in exhaustion as Kili worked quietly, and it almost lulled her to sleep. Then she heard Thorin speak up.

"So... when's the wedding?"

Belle's head snapped up so quickly that Kili thought she broke her neck.

"WHAT!?"

~.~.~.

She fidgeted in her seat, embarrassed beyond all belief as Tauriel chuckled at her plight. Her shoulders shaking with mirth as Belle turned her head to the ground, the only sign of her discomfort was the fact that he ears were a molten red basically.

"Y-you thought I had designs on Kili?"

Her silence was the only answer that Tauriel needed and the elf couldn't take it anymore. The laughter that fell from her lips was contagious because Belle found herself laughing along as well. "Well, it was a legitimate concern for me. Spinsterhood is just around the corner in less than two decades, and I thought I found the one that made me happy," she tried to explain.

Great, now she just sounded like a crazy lady.

But to her surprise, Tauriel understood her completely. "It may not seem like it, but I waited too long to start a family of my own," she started, "I thought that I would have forever, but as a member of the guard I should have known better. I should have realized that fighting the evil against us would have some repercussions. It wasn't until I woke up in the Halls of Healing with a bandage around my abdomen, that I knew I would never have a family.

"I do not blame you for wishing to hold onto happiness when you found it," Tauriel commented.

The empty room that Belle was given, once the Durins had been given the all clear to leave their tent, was in what was once the Royal Wing. Now dubbed the Company's Wing, it was an entire stretch of the Inner Palace with access to hot springs and their own communal kitchens. None other than the Company of Thorin Oakenshield and their families were permitted to live there.

Spacious rooms were dolled out to the Company as Thorin assigned the barracks to the soldiers from the Iron Hills and the Ruby Halls just outside the Palace to the Men of Esgaroth.

Summer was months away and there was nothing she needed more than to be able to get word to the Shire. More importantly her maternal side of the family needed the confirmation that she was alive as well as engaged now. She had no clue how the courting worked, but the way that it was explained to her was the she accepted his suit when he offered to cut her hair for her.

And that she propositioned the Ri family by letting them untangle her hair.

Which the hobbit apologized for profusely.

Then Kili almost took back his suit when he realized that the culture differences meant that she had no clue what he was actually saying. Which prompted her to shyly ask if he would cut her hair, leading to the most awkward moment she ever lived through. (Something she would not discuss, thank you very much.)

Well, second most awkward moment, because when Belle had to meet his mother. Not to mention the fact that whenever she saw the Mirkwood contingent show up, she shied away from the reinstated Captain. Then finally talking to said Captain at Kili's request, and finally spilling why she didn't really like Tauriel to begin with. And she was so wrong to hate Tauriel for all this time.

The elleth was actually very nice and her designs were actually on a member of her guard, she wouldn't tell her which one though. A little revenge for all the grief that Belle had given her.

Now, when the Captain left after their grievances were aired (or she hoped they were) it left Belle all alone in her room. Well her shared room with her intended, and smiled at the filling in they had to do. He was more than happy to get rid of all the old and broken furniture, so they could make their rooms their new home. All her possessions in the Shire, either had been sold or went to her favorite cousin Drogo.

The bare minimum was all they really needed now, and she gasped when the door to the room opened once more and in came Dis. The mother was happy (for once) and Belle hoped that she didn't make a fool of herself again.

"Ahh, Lady Dis!"

"Enough of the formalities, I am to be your mother soon."

Just like that she became even more mortified, but nodded nonetheless; getting up to greet her properly before sitting down with Dis. The tea she had when Tauriel was there was still hot, and she poured some into a fresh cup for the Princess. "So, I heard some interesting rumors concerning hobbits the other day," she began and Belle swallowed her saliva uncomfortably.

Keeping the face of a proper Baggins she asked, "Yes?"

"Supposedly hobbits, particularly female hobbits, undergo fertility rituals. Am I mistaken?"

Belle had to shake her head, it wasn't a secret in the Shire but it wasn't something that she wanted broadcasted around the mountain. It made her sweat a little bit, but the young hobbit was more than willing to take in the fact that it was a possibility. While many, if not all, females in the Shire underwent the Fertility Ritual of Yavanna; it was usually arrows in the quiver so to speak. Just more backup when it came to spreading rumors about one another.

She herself used to tease Lobelia about going through with the ritual three times before she got pregnant.

It wasn't malignant per se, it was rather an inside joke.

But she wasn't sure how dwarves would take it, would they crucify her? Or rather ostracize her for being so desperate? She knew that it was too good to be true-

"Some of the dams that came with me would like for you to perform the ritual on them as well."

What?

"Yes, they hope that it will help them conceive more or easier. Children are too precious and they wish for their own, or some dams would like to use their bodies to give other couple their own child if they cannot have one," Dis explained. Her face telling Belle that she was serious, before she broke out into a smile. "And I guess that Kili is my only hope for many grandchildren."

"What about Fili?" and it had Dis sent into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, he's had googoo eyes for Dwalin since he first started training, so no. Unless they get a surrogate, I expect grandchildren only from Kili."

Belle could see that, Fili did go more macho around Dwalin during the Quest and still did. Maybe he was trying to impress him, but for the most part she never really noticed it. For she was too wrapped up in her own problems. She smiled at Dis, before nodding. Belle was more than happy to teach the Ritual; it wasn't a secret and was never meant to be hoarded.

The mother gave a nod of appreciation and stood; her tea cup emptied and her time running thin. "Well, I wonder when he's going to talk to you about the wedding. Have a nice day, Princess Belle," she commented offhandedly.

It took Belle a bit before she screamed back.

"ITS JUST BELLE!"

~.~.~.

"They're killing me, actually killing me."

"Belle, azyungal, it is just morning sickness."

"No! Its an attempt on my life!"

She had no clue why she went through all this trouble as a young lady; pregnancy was awful. Belle was woken up at all times in the night, needing to use the bathroom or having been awoken by the kicks to her bladder. Her back ached when she was awake and there was little she could do about it. To top it all off, she was well past the gestation period for hobbits and was considered a little over halfway through a dwarven pregnancy.

Constant worries were plaguing her, like Kili not finding her desirable because of her rather large stomach or something as simple as burning the pastries. Each new worry could send her into a tizzy.

Plus, she had suspicions that there was more than one babe, but Kili was insistent that the child was just very large.

He obviously didn't know since he can't get pregnant.

Though, there were days that if someone looked for her, they could find her sitting in a chair just rubbing at her stomach. Amazed by the fact that she was making a new life, that there was another being growing inside of her. Days occurred where Kili would show her the small spinning mobile he made for the child out of precious gems and minerals. Or Dis and any other dwarf in the Company would ask to feel the babe, and looked just as amazed as she.

In the end, worrying did nothing for her. It never mattered to really worry, because it all ended up alright in the end.

She had a husband, child(ren) on the way, a home.

Belle, wife of Kili, (formerly of the Baggins clan in the Shire) had everything that she could ask for and more. Through every misconception and worry, she found what she wanted most in life.

Home.

I don't know it the segmented sort of style is particularly linear, so if there are any suggestions then hit me up.

Ragehappy Mavin Fan