I must make a quick confession. There was a different version of this chapter where Nimm and Kili got married. But I really hated the way it turned out. It was very depressing. So I rewrote. I hope you enjoy this new outcome!

I stood very still for a moment as confusion continued through the camp. Kili and M expected their hands for wounds as my trembled as I attempted to mask my own. Thorin turned towards me angrily.

"Explain."

"I…" my mind scrambled for an explanation. An excuse, anything. "M and I are…" I couldn't think of anything. What had happened? "Sisters." The word popped out of my mouth without a second thought.

"Really?" Fili said from behind me, her eyes narrowed in accusation.

"It's true I defended myself quickly, growing away of how many more pairs of eyes were on us."

"What?" Oh no. "We aren't sisters." I turned again to see M glaring feet away from me, holding her hand closely to her.

"Wait… no…"

"Nimm?" Kili asked in confusion.

"No, this isn't… there's an explanation." I tried to reassure everyone.

"Then let's hear it!" Thorin barked.

"But-"

"What seems to be the problem?"

"You don't understand-"

"Who are you?" My blood ran cold as I turned to look at M once more. I could feel fear pouring off her in waves. Who was I?

"You all wouldn't understand." I said at last. "It's a Valar thing…" My voice trailed off as I turned in circles into pair after pair of distrusting eyes.

"Nimm…" Miley's voice broke into the silence. "Cat's out of the bag." I turned to her, feeling my shoulders tremble uncontrollably. Her eyes were fearful, but full of sympathy. I hated it. "We're not getting out of this one."

"What does she mean?" Thorin demanded. I inhaled slowly before letting out a long breath, trying to calm myself down and prepare myself for whatever would come next. In the back of my mind, I was aware of Gandalf watching in the background. When I reached the end of my exhalation, I raised my arms to my face, removed my mask, and lowered my hood. I heard Miley take a sharp inhale. Apparently she had not been expecting my new hairstyle. There must have been something in dwarf culture about haircuts as well. I didn't need to have a connection to see the unease in their eyes… the disgust.

Thorin snorted. "And what does this have to do with what just happened?"

I turned to look at him, a white pale face with smudged, streaks of blue across. "A person and their One have a connection. One that binds their feelings to each other. The most powerful feelings, such as pain, can be felt over longer distances. Or so it would seem." Thorin looked to Balin for verification.

"It's not always the case." Balin sighed. "But sometimes, yes… this is true."

"So that would explain why Kili got hurt." Fili gritted her teeth. "But what about her?" she jerked her thumb at M.

"Yeah, what about me?" M hissed.

I took another deep sigh. "Well, there's one person that someone would be more strongly connected to than even their One." I started, trying to moisten my dry mouth.

"And who would that be?" Thorin asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Themself."

"What does that even mean?" Fili asked immediately. I let out a sigh of frustration. There I was being all awesome and dramatic and someone had to go and ruin it!

"It means…" I hissed lowly. "That SHE…" I stomped over to M. "Is ME." I pointed at myself.

Well, that had them all stunned. After the silence continued for long enough that it was beginning to feel really rather awkward, I turned to Miley. "Now, see? This is why I said not to tell them. It just makes everything unnecessarily complicated!"

"Well you couldn't have pulled it off anyway." Miley pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe…" I sighed.

"W-what… what do you mean?" M's broken voice squeaked out. "How are you… me?" How? Good question. Only good one you've ever asked.

"Are you going to answer her?" Miley asked me. "Or will I have to do it myself?"

"You knew about this?" M rounded on her roommate.

"Yeah, of course I told her." I rolled my eyes. "And I told her not to tell you."

"Why?" M demanded, turning back to me. "Why would you… who ARE you?" I stepped up to her and looked her in the eye. And she looked into mine. They were my eyes. Like looking through a mirror. But this time, I really looked at myself. My face was tired. Not from the recent adventure, just tired in general. It was an old face. One that had lost the wonder of youth.

"I'm about to do something possibly very dangerous." I said quietly to my other self.

"What?" M made a face. Before she could move away, I quickly ungloved my hand and touched her fingers with my own. Nothing happened. I breathed out a sigh of relief as M yanked her hand away quickly. "What were you thinking?" she snapped. "You could have imploded the world or something!"

"But I didn't." I smiled weakly.

"Everyone get back to work!" Thorin barked, turning away quickly. "We set out at sunrise." The dwarves quietly returned to their work. I moved to go help as well, but Miley stopped me.

"Don't you think you should get M up to date?" she suggested.

"Oh… right…" I scratched the back of my head before pulling my hood and mask back up. I had gotten accustomed to the safety it brought me. "Come on." I motioned to M before heading off away from the group.

We walked in silence, our paces unconsciously matching each other. Even the way we walked was practically identical. After we got a good distance away from the others, I slumped to the ground. M stayed standing off to the side.

"So…" she spoke at last. "What happened? Are you… my future? Am I gonna have to go through all of this again?"

"No, you shouldn't have to." I shook my head. "I'm from… a different future… I guess. When I was going through this the first time, there was a slight accident and I died."

"Nothing that hasn't happened before." M snorted.

"Yeah, I know that." I snapped.

"So how did you end up here?" M pushed.

I let out a long sigh. "Something went wrong obviously. Miley didn't come out of the book like she was supposed to. She never came out."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know!" I said defensively. "I don't know any more than you! Well… a little more. But not much. Anyway, I went back into the book, thinking that maybe I could pick up where I left off."

"But you didn't." The other me guessed.

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes. "I ended up at the beginning with Miley and the other me... you."

"And why didn't you just tell me straight off?" She asked, sounding a little betrayed.

"You'd have done the same thing in my place!"

"It doesn't matter." M snapped. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I needed to make sure you didn't kill yourself and trap Miley here again! It's enough with two of us running around, do you really want another?"

"I guess it's turned into a mess already." M huffed. "What will you do once we reach the end?" she asked. "I'm not gonna give up my life if that's what your expecting. You're on your own."

"Actually…" I frowned. "I don't think it'll be a problem."

"Why not?"

"Because in Bag End… I slept."

"You mean like… sleep sleep?"

"Yes, I actually slept."

"But that means-"

"I don't know what it means. But it means I'm not getting home. Most likely I'll just disappear without a trace." An empty feel gnawed away at my stomach as the realization dawned on me. "Which leads me to my next order of business." M looked at me questioningly. "Kili is mine. My One. Got it?"

"What makes you think I like him?" M made a face.

"My god. Are you seriously trying to lie to yourself? You forget M; I know exactly how you feel about him. When your not to busy trying to convince yourself otherwise, that is." M blushed and looked away in embarrassment. "Just think about it." I groaned. "You're going to be leaving at the end anyway. It's a relationship doomed to end it misery, so why make it worse."

"How is it any different for you?" M asked, reserved.

"Because, in most chances, my whole existence is doomed to end in misery." What a cheery conversation. "Listen, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't touch him. Got it? There needs to be some sort of physical contact to establish the connection. So if we can prevent that, it'll be easier on everyone."

"Fine." M grumbled. "So our cover story is still active?"

"Yeah… I think. Things are going to get a lot more complicated."

"You can say that again."

I looked up from the stew Bombur had made. M and Nimm were still talking. Their silhouettes were slowly disappearing into the gloom of night. The shouting had stopped at least. But I looked at them and finally understood… they were the same person. It was strange, to say the least.

And then, of course, there were the dwarves. Not one of them had said a word and it was starting to scare me. Kili especially. His eyes seemed glazed over and confused. Is this what happened when I… told them it was a book? Or tell them it was a book. But I wouldn't tell them now, right? I knew it was a bad idea. I had been warned.

Gandalf came to stand next to me. "Now, my dear, I believe a few explanations are in order." I looked around to see all the dwarves looking at me questioningly. So this is what Nimm had felt. Alone.

"We wait for my friends." I said stubbornly, casting my eyes to the ground.

"Very well." Gandalf nodded, nodding to Thorin as well, a reminder not to get too worked up. The dwarf lord seemed less than pleased with the whole situation. We all went about eating in silence until, after a small eternity, M and Nimm walked over, a noticeable distance between them.

M immediately noticed the silence I turned a questioning gaze towards me. Nimm may have, but her face was too hidden to tell, she just walked through the dwarves, who all looked away, before coming to sit on a tree root. Nimm glared out from underneath the shadow of her hood with eyes burning with an unspoken challenge.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the tension as well and turned to Gandalf. "Alright then. What is it you want to know?"

*starts singing* This story is falling down,

Falling down,

Falling down!

This story is falling down!

My fair lady!

...Seriously though... these characters... they just... just... ughhhhhhhhh! I've confused myself *goes insane*

(I have officially decided not to write author notes right after writing the chapter. It's bad for my health.)