A/N: Another nice long one, taking place in Laketown. It's a bit of a filler chapter, to be honest, but I was trying to give the company a few moments of lightheartedness and fun before they took off to face down a dragon. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with this - we've still got a ways to go yet, though, so hopefully I'll be able to maintain the standard I seem to have achieved ;) Despite the fact they probably won't read this, I'm dedicating this chapter to my parents, who are today celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary. Love you guys! x :)

Big thanks to the following people for following/favouriting: Sawaco92, Reading-Addict-Meg, Tribute Scott, AquaJMgirl, Rea21 and Cambm12.

Review Response(s):

SunnySides: Yes I did. I shot Kili. As for Alfrid, yes, he will appear again, but with no Thorin. It's okay though, because Alana can deal with him just fine ;)

CrystalVixen93: Thanks as always, and here you go! :)

SilverLark25: Kili's reckless by his very nature; coupled with how protective he is of his friends and family, I think it was inevitable that he got hurt at one point. And yeah, I could never get rid of Firebrand. He'll make another appearance later in the stories (as it has been planned so far, anyway), but not quite that soon. He'll be back for the battle though.

Dreamer4life16: Haha, I don't mind that you didn't review, though I do appreciate you going to the effort of doing so ;) And yeah, best friends will do that. It's definitely worth it in the end though - especially for me, when I can't see my best friend as often as I'd like. Luckily for me, my best friend is also a fan of fanfics, so if I asked her, she'd probably let me go ahead ;P Anywho, yes, Legolas is not as nasty - I thought he was a bit aggressive in the hobbit films, and it kind of took away from his earlier portrayals in the LotR (which, when you think about it, is a very backwards statement). As for the letters, I feel like I should warn you I don't plan to reveal that for a while. And yeah, after the mess that the dwarves and Alana had been through, I figured she could get away with a little mischief, and the rest just sort of fell into place. Had to get a bit of protective Thorin in there somewhere. As for your next times, not quite, but you do get a bit of drunkenness, and some of Alana's protective anger, so... :P Oh and P.S.: The moment has come! You'll know it when you see it ;)

Dinosaur Imperial Solider: Well, actually, I'm going more with the book on that one, so they'll all be going together. No one get's left behind.

ro781727: Yeah, I think the saying from the LotR was something like 'the hands of the King are the hands of a healer', or something. Since Alana has the same blood as Aragorn, I figured she'd have the same healing skill as him.

'The healthiest relationships are those where you're a team; where you protect each other and stand up for one another.' ~ Sharon Rivkin

Chapter 26:

The company set about clearing a space for Kili's healing, while Alana grabbed a wooden mortar and pestle from a shelf and quickly began mashing the athelas leaves, pacing up and down the room as she did. Her brows were creased with worry, and every time she glanced at Kili she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if this didn't work. She knew a few healing chants that Lord Elrond frequently used, and two in particular seemed relevant to this situation, but what if she wasn't able to fully heal him? Having morgul poison in his blood meant this was no ordinary wound... On any other day she would definitely say a full-blooded elf would be better. But there was no elf close enough, and she knew she could at least begin to help with Kili's healing. Perhaps, if it didn't work straight away, she could try again later, and again, and again, and maybe then she would slowly be able to work the poison from his blood. But what if she couldn't? What then? She loved Kili like he was her own flesh and blood, and it would destroy her to lose him. She knew it would be ten times worse for Fili and Thorin, who were his actual family and who had been there every moment of his life. How could she possibly look them in the eyes again if she failed to save him?

"Alana." She blinked, realising she had stopped pacing, had stopped moving altogether, and was instead staring sightlessly ahead of her. She looked down, finding Thorin standing in front of her, his hand gently encompassing hers as she gripped onto the mortar as if it were her lifeline. "What is it, atamanel?"

She glanced behind her again, meeting Fili's gaze as he sat by Kili, who was now lying on a table, his face locked in a permanent grimace. "What if this doesn't work?" she whispered, her voice cracking at the mere thought. "What if-?"

"It will," Thorin stated with confidence. "You will heal him. It will work." He lifted his hand to her cheek, and she couldn't stop herself leaning into his touch, closing her eyes and simply allowing herself to wallow in the comfort he offered. "I have faith in you, amrâlimê."

She smiled and lazily peeled her eyes open. "What does that mean?"

His return smile mirrored hers, his eyes to crinkling at the sides. "I think you know." He stepped back, tilting his head to the side, and after inhaling a steadying breath, Alana turned back to the situation at hand.

She approached Kili, placing the mortar on the table next to him. Taking his face between her hands, she made sure his attention was on her. "This will hurt," she told him with as soft a voice as she could manage. "But it will help, I promise. Do you trust me?"

He smiled at her as if she had grown another head. "What are you talking about? Of course I do."

She nodded, before turning to Fili and Dwalin with a stern expression. "Hold him down. Don't let him move - believe me, he will try." She glanced at the others. "I need you to stay close, just in case they need help."

She waved Thorin over and instructed him to hold down Kili's leg, before she stepped back and picked up the mortar. She scooped the mashed leaves into her hands, rubbing them together until they made a thick paste. Alana met Thorin's gaze once more, and returned his nod, before sucking in a sharp breath and pressing the leaves against Kili's wound. Almost immediately he jerked, a loud cry escaping his lips, and Dori leapt forward to help Dwalin and Thorin hold his legs still, while Fili kept a vice-like grip on Kili's torso and arms. Alana winced, feeling tears gather in the corners of her eyes as she listened to Kili's screams, knowing that she was the cause of his pain, but she grit her teeth and ignored it as best as she could.

Sucking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and started muttering a combination of the two healing chants she had chosen. "Anor valthen, togo laugas lín nestad enin gûr hen. Ceven dhaer, anno vellas lín enin 'raw hen. (Golden sun, may your warmth bring healing to this heart. Great Earth, may you give your strength to this body.)" She felt something stirring in her as she spoke, felt a peculiar warmth in her fingertips, but she kept her eyes closed and repeated the healing chants twice more, hearing Kili's cries and moans dwindling and eventually coming to a stop. Once she'd recited the chants three times, Alana slowly released the pressure she kept on Kili's leg, opening her eyes and stepping back. Becoming aware quite suddenly of the moistness on her cheeks, she lifted a hand and realised that she had tears streaming from her eyes. Slowly, she glanced at Kili. He was breathing heavily, his brow covered in sweat, but his face was clear of any signs of pain. And indeed, when she looked at his leg, there was no longer any sign of the poison in his blood, no black veins under his skin.

A near-hysterical laugh shot from her lips, and Alana sagged to the floor with relief, a disbelieving smile lighting her face. She sobbed happily, burying her face in her hands, her entire body shaking from a surplus of adrenaline that she hadn't even noticed had gathered.

A warm, familiar hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she lifted her head to meet Thorin's beaming smile, both of them ignoring the fact that he too had tears in his eyes. Thorin took her face in his hands, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, and breathed out a shaky, "Thank you."

She beamed, capturing his face in her hands before drawing his lips down to hers, kissing him with all her strength, pouring her love and devotion and relief and joy into the kiss. His hands buried themselves in her hair as he returned it with just as much feeling, neither of them caring that she was covered in dirt from her travels, nor that he tasted of cheap whiskey, nor that they had an audience. The weight of everything that had happened in the last two weeks hit them with all the force of a raging dragon, and through this kiss they let themselves forget it all, focusing only on the present, and the ever brightening future.

Morning came, the sun casting beautiful hues of pink and orange across the lake, but none of the company were there to greet it. After the chaos of the previous few days - with their journey down the forest river, their days of travel, the rather disastrous feast, Alana's return, and Kili's healing - the dwarves, Bilbo, and Alana were all exhausted. They'd fallen into deep sleep no less than half an hour after Kili's leg had been wrapped and bandaged, and with no pressure on them to leave Laketown just yet, they all had every intention of sleeping in as long as they could.

When Thorin made his way down the stairs, sometime mid-morning, he was greeted only by Alana and Balin, who had previously been talking quietly with one another. When Balin had left to wake his brother up, Alana had pulled Thorin aside and presented him with her finished, wooden bead. As the sons of Fundin came down again, Alana was just finishing off the braid she had weaved into Thorin's hair. The two older warriors sent them identical smiles of approval, before the four friends settled into companionable conversation.

It was almost noon by the time the last of the group crawled their way out of bed, none of them surprised that it was Kili. He seemed much healthier already, his face awash with his usual colour, and though he still walked with a slight limp, his leg clearly no longer bothered him as much as it had. He decided not to protest when Alana insisted that she change his bandages and leave a fresh layer of smashed athelas leaves on his wound.

Upon being informed by their company hobbit that they had missed his birthday by a mere two days, the dwarves and Alana insisted on celebrating. Thorin returned to the Master, who had apparently all but fallen to his knees to beg for forgiveness for his actions the night before, and had agreed to send over many bottles of alcohol to the house so they could celebrate Master Bilbo's 51st birthday.

By the time evening came around once more, everyone was happily buzzed (or utterly smashed, like Bofur and Nori, both of whom were passed out under the dining table and snoring loudly). Thorin had dragged Alana down to share a chair with him around mid-afternoon, and she'd been nestled against him ever since, the two of them sharing a bottle of somewhat mediocre wine.

"Hey, Alana!" Kili called with a slur from the other end of the room, leaning against his brother's leg, who himself was perched on the windowsill. "When's your birthday?"

Alana chuckled. "Why do you ask?"

Kili shrugged. "I guess 'cause I know everyone else's. I even know your brothers. So when's yours?"

With a somewhat perplexed smile, Alana replied, "It's November 23rd."

"Only two months away!" the young Durin realised with a broad beam. "And after Durin's Day, which means we'll have the mountain back by then! Your first birthday in a new home." He grinned at her, then let out a yelp when Fili moved his leg, and the brunette went tumbling to the ground. With a scowl on his face, Kili put down his tankard of cold ale and launched himself at his brother, knocking them both onto the hardwood floor.

Laughing quietly at their antics, Alana turned to Thorin. "Is he always like this when he's drunk?"

"No," Thorin told her with a smile. "This is him actually being quite well behaved. He once caused every patron in a bar to become part of a fight simply by calling one of them a pointy-ear. Half of the people there came to his defence, and the other half were furious he'd done that. In the ensuing fight Kili actually managed to escape from the bar without getting hit even once. When he came home he wouldn't stop laughing for almost ten minutes about the mayhem he'd caused."

Alana smiled. "I remember one of the first times I got drunk," she murmured, an embarrassed flush spreading across her cheeks. "I think I was twenty, and I was visiting one of the dúnedain villages that used to neighbour ours. I arrived there the day a couple got married, and was dragged into the celebration. Anyway, since there were seven kids in this village that couldn't drink, they started playing this game they'd really come to love. It was nothing complicated - one of the older men had carved a ball out of wood, and their game was to see how far one of them could throw it up, and then someone else had to catch it before it came down. Anyway, I don't make a habit out of drinking, so it wasn't long before I was really quite drunk. So when I looked up and saw this thing flying towards me, I immediately thought it was the wooden ball the kids were playing with. I had a pair of strong, leather boots on, and knew doing so wouldn't hurt my foot, so I decided I'd simply kick it back to the kids..." She paused, a look of mortification on her face as she muttered, "It wasn't the ball, as I thought. It..."

Thorin grinned at her and gently nudged her side. "What was it?"

Alana sighed, closing her eyes, and upon resigning herself to her fate she opened them again and met his amused, curious gaze. "It was a pigeon. I kicked a pigeon straight out of the air."

Thorin's face remained flat for about three seconds, before a grin spread across his features and he let out a hearty laugh. His laughter continued for so long that it drew everyone's attention, and Alana let out a groan before burying her burning face in her hands. When Thorin finally settled, he rested his chin on Alana's shoulder and murmured, "I wish I could have been there to see it."

Alana shook her head. "No, you really don't. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life, because everyone saw it. And the whole camp just went really, really quiet, and I couldn't take my eyes off that poor bird. I didn't kill it, but I broke its wing and it was obviously in a lot of pain. I felt so bad for it I broke down into sobs where I stood."

Thorin chuckled again. "I'm rather looking forward to the first time I see you drunk, atamanel."

Snorting, Alana turned and met his grin, tapping him lightly on the nose. "That, my dear, would be very un-Queenly of me."

Grinning, Thorin retorted, "Then we had best make sure it's before you are coronated, mustn't we? I'm sure there are others here who would agree." He hummed. "In fact..." He pressed the nearly empty bottle of wine into her hands. "Drink up."

"Oh, no," she muttered, pushing the bottle away. "Not a chance. I have no intentions of repeating that night. I've had enough to drink as it is!"

With a soothing smile on his face, Thorin pressed his chin against her shoulder again. "I would stop you from doing anything so embarrassing, my love."

Alana snorted. "Yeah, right. You may act like a King sometimes, but I think deep down you're just as mischievous as your nephews. I'm not falling for that."

"Oh, how your accusations wound me!" Thorin jabbed his fingers into her sides, and Alana's entire body jerked away, while her mouth betrayed her and released a high-pitched squeal. Thorin's grin suddenly became more devious, and the moment he saw the look of horror dawning on Alana's face his fingers dove back into their previous position.

Within a fraction of a second Alana squeaked again, then threw her head back laughing, trying to wriggle her way out of his reach, but Thorin kept her close, tickling her sides mercilessly. It wasn't long before the two were the centre of attention once more, and then everything went silent when Alana jumped a little too far and simply rolled off the chair. She let out a long breath, then met Thorin's amused gaze.

"Amin delotha lle, (I hate you,)" she grumbled.

Thorin grinned. "No, you don't," he shot back, just as he had back at Beorn's. That day felt like so many years in the past, yet Alana knew it had probably only been a month in reality.

"You alright over there, lassie?" Bombur called teasingly, and Alana flicked her finger at him, causing the other dwarves to laugh.

"That wasn't a very Queenly gesture," Fili called from the end of the room, he and Kili having finally stopped wrestling, though they were still half-tangled on the floor.

Alana smirked. "I'm not a Queen yet, Fee. And since that is the case, I'm most certainly gonna make the most of my freedom to swear at whomever I wish." A brief huff of air shot from her lungs as Thorin unceremoniously dropped the wine bottle on her stomach, raising his eyebrow at her. Alana rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to get me drunk, iaron," she huffed, but nonetheless sat up against his legs and took a healthy swig of the wine.

"You shouldn't have called me that, Alana," Thorin murmured against her ear, leaning down so his words could only be heard by her.

She chuckled. "Well, you are old, are you not?" He cocked an eyebrow again, and Alana frowned contemplatively. "Am I already drunk?" she asked aloud, glancing at the wine bottle. Thorin had said when they first got the bottle that he wasn't a huge fan of wine - and this was really quite a poor quality wine - so she knew most of the alcohol had ended up in her blood. Alana let out a whistle. "Puitho nín!" Behind her, she felt Thorin tense up, and with a frown she thought over what she'd just said. Her hand clapped over her mouth, and a look of acute horror washed over her face. "Oh, Mahal! Did I really just say that?"

The dwarves sent her a curious look. "What did you say?" Ori asked, with an innocence that Alana definitely could not ruin.

She shook her head. "Trust me, you don't want to know." The dwarves turned to Thorin, who had slipped a mask of emotionlessness onto his face. With a long exhale he shook his head, silently conveying that he wouldn't share it either. Alana frowned and glanced up at him. "If you know only basic elvish, how could you possibly know that?"

Thorin chuckled, though there was an awkwardness to the sound that was not missed by anyone. "That is a story I shan't be sharing."

Alana grinned wickedly at him. "No, no, no, I want to know."

"Alana..."

"Thorin," she mimicked, grinning. "Come on, I told you about the pigeon!"

"What pigeon?" Bilbo piped up.

Alana blanched. "You don't what to know that either."

"Alana kicked a pigeon on someone's wedding day," Thorin told them, obviously trying to get her to forget her line of interrogation. It worked, because the moment the dwarves began laughing, Alana's face flushed and she buried her face in her hands again, mentally cursing Thorin for telling them this. Why had she thought it was a good idea to tell him that in the first place?

With a sigh, Alana passed Thorin back the wine bottle. Then she blinked, realising something. "Hey, Thorin?"

Thorin cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes?"

"Do you remember when we were at Beorn's you called me atamanel for the first time?"

"I do."

"And do you also remembering telling me that you'd one day inform me of what it means? That you actually said you'd tell me when I found out what the rest of the lot were discussing so secretly?"

Thorin chuckled. "I do remember that, yes."

"Well, you're late." She grinned up at him. "So, what does it mean?"

He smiled fondly at her. "Atamanel is an endearment that literally translates to 'breath of all breaths'."

Alana giggled. "That's rather poetic," she teased.

Rolling his eyes, Thorin asked her, "Do you remember what I told you when I asked you to court me?"

"Which bit?"

"Which bit do you think?" he countered, knowing that, even with a little alcohol in her blood, her mind would make the link.

Alana pondered for a moment, then made a drawn-out sound of realisation. "You said something like, 'when you are near I feel like there is no breath in my lungs, no strength in my limbs, and yet at the same time all the air and all the strength that I have ever held swells within me'."

Thorin nodded, smiling to himself and slightly touched that she remembered his words so exactly. "When I call you atamanel, that is what I mean."

Alana opened her mouth to speak again, when Kili's yelp met her ears, and she glanced over to see Fili had caught him in a headlock, while the brunette tried frantically to pull himself free. "Stop it! Fee, let me go!" came the protesting cries. "Ow! Ow! Fili! You're pulling on my beard!"

Alana couldn't stop herself. Maybe it was the alcohol (though she figured probably not), but nonetheless she snickered, and called out teasingly, "What beard?"

For a moment the whole room fell still and silent, but Alana was too busy trying not to laugh at the betrayed expression on Kili's face to really notice. Fili, on the other hand, looked like he'd been handed the world on the silver platter. He laughed heartily. "You hear that, Kee? Even Alana agrees."

Kili responded by throwing his elbow back into Fili's stomach, the blonde letting out a grunt, before the two were wrestling on the floor again.

Alana turned to Thorin with a half-sheepish, half-amused grin on her face. "I'm going to bed before I cause any more trouble," she told him, before standing up and planting a kiss on his forehead. "Fuin vaer, meleth nín. (Goodnight, my love.)"

Thorin smiled softly at her. "Zann galikh, amrâlimê," he repeated in khuzdul, and then watched her leave the room with a contemplative expression on his face.

The next day proved to be only slightly more productive than the first, as they set about repairing their clothes and planning what things they would need upon leaving the small town of men. Food had been provided for them for the duration of their stay, so they didn't need to worry about buying any. Curiosity alone was what drove half of the company out into the streets, while the other half remained in the house, making the most of the calm and comfort.

Alana ended up wandering around with Fili and Kili, because - despite his insistence to the contrary - Kili's leg was still healing and the activity ran the risk of doing more harm than good. The trio received more than their fair share of excited or curious looks, and the guards seemed almost hostile towards them. Alana was sure there was a story behind that, but when she asked the boys, they'd simply avoided the question and hurriedly changed the subject. She didn't chase them for an answer, as they had been allowed into the town and were living in a warm house, so she couldn't complain. What happened before she showed up wasn't important in the grand scheme of things.

After an hour of aimless wandering, Alana parted ways with the dwarves, after receiving many promises from Kili not to push himself too far, and promises from Fili to keep an eye on him.

The Ranger watched them closely as they left, but turned away in the end, satisfied their promises would be kept. She moved then to the edge of the town, standing on a dock that faced the Lonely Mountain directly, and simply stared up at it. The low fog over the lake obscured her view of the base of the mountain, but perhaps that only made the sight more awe inspiring. The sheer peak seemed to cut the sky in two, the snow-covered stone shrouded in mist and wisps of low-hanging cloud, and Alana could scarcely remember a time when such a sight brought such warmth to her. Many times she had admired the beauty of nature, but there was something different about this. Something like... home. She had a familiarity with the mountain through all the tales and stories she'd heard in the past months, and only now did she become so painfully aware of how much she saw this place as where she belonged. It was where she envisioned herself to be in the future.

"It makes for quite the intimidating sight, does it not?"

The familiar voice caused her to grow tense, the slight nasally quality making it easy for her to determine who was speaking. She didn't know his name, having never bothered to inquire, but she knew without looking that this was the Master's right-hand man.

Swallowing back her disgust, Alana schooled both her face and voice into ones of cool detachment. "I don't think that is the word I would use," was her vague response.

The man huffed. "Perhaps your opinion would change if you had spent longer in the mountain's shadow."

"Or perhaps your opinion would differ if you bothered to look beyond the beast that lies inside it," she countered coldly, finally casting a glance his way.

He smiled wanly at her. "Easier said than done, I'm afraid, my Lady."

Alana scoffed lightly. "You say that only because you have not tried." She waved him off when he opened his mouth to respond again. "Don't bother - I know what you would say, and I have no desire to argue with you about it."

"What brought you here with the dwarves, then?" he asked, and Alana got the distinct impression this was what he'd always intended to ask. She was grateful he cut to the chase as swiftly as he did.

"A... friend directed me to them," she answered, frowning a little at her hesitation. She was still very upset with the grey wizard for sharing her secret with Thranduil, but the elven King had never brought up the topic of her bloodline, so perhaps she had misjudged him. If so, she may also owe Gandalf an apology. That said, good intentions or not, he still shouldn't have gone behind her back like that.

"A friend?" the man asked, drawing her from her musings. "You didn't sound so sure."

Alana frowned, glancing at him once more. "Is there a reason for your questioning, sir? Because I find I am growing rather tired of your long-winded way of getting to the point."

His face shifted, a faint sneer curling at his lips, before he quickly slipped on a blank mask again. "I am simply curious as to what purpose a Ranger would have amongst such-"

"Be warned that if you have any intention of insulting my companions, I will not be happy," she snarled, cutting him off. "Our business is of no consequence to you."

His face darkened. "Forgive me, my Lady, but since you may very well bring a dragon down on our heads, I think you'll find it is most certainly of consequence to us."

"If such a thing scares you so much then order an evacuation of the town," she snapped back. "We are perfectly aware of the dangers, as are you, and while we will do everything in our power to ensure the beast is brought down, there is still a chance we will fail. I know that, and I accept that. But don't think for a second that the thought of failure would be enough to stop any of us from continuing on to the mountain."

His lips pulled back into a sneer, and this time he made no attempt to hide it. "What interest do you have in that mountain? I find it hard to believe that a Ranger of all people would have noble intentions. What is it you desire? Gold? The throne? And here you are, on the path to getting those-"

Alana cut him off again, though this time with no words. Her hand snapped out and closed around his neck, squeezing just enough to restrict his breathing, but not so much as to completely cut off his air supply. "My desire," she hissed, her low voice and firm grasp making him pale, "is to see the dwarves returned to their home. It is my desire to rebuild that place so it may once again be a source of pride for their people. The gold and the throne are of no importance to me, and you would do well to remember this; Rangers are not lawless beasts, as you seem to believe. It is our duty to protect ignorant men like you from dangers that would haunt your dreams at night." She bared her teeth at him, before wrenching her hand from around his neck and taking a step back. "If I hear word that you have harassed another member of my company, believe me when I say that next time, I shall not be so kind." And with one final scowl, she stalked back along the dock, not once turning to look back at him. He was not worth it.