A/N: So I highly recommend reading the Author's Note at the bottom. It has a lot of relevant information in regards to "I'm Back Again". Trust me. It's been wild since I last uploaded. (Also, it's not a hiatus announcement or a discontinuing announcement. I still have every intention of finishing this fic, it just may take a bit. There is more information about the plan to finish down at the bottom though.)

Italics for thoughts...

Bold for different language...

Bold and italics for sound...


As time went by, nothing Oin did would even so much as ease the agony that was building within Kili. Fili started pacing as Bard and the rest of the family went about their chores. Bard and Sigrid would check to see if they could help when they could. I stared at Kili laying anguished before me and teased my lip between my teeth.

Pale face. High fever. Glossy eyes.

The dark dwarven prince withered in pain.

Something was nagging at me. Something familiar.

What was it?

I tried pulling forward what was bothering me so much, but for hours nothing would come. My feet paced around and my lip was replaced with my thumb nail. What was it? I felt like if I could just pull forward this one thought that it could help. Briefly I glanced again at Kili.

Bright eyes.

Suddenly, a different scene flashed before me. Frantic, dark hair bouncing around as their feet sought to destroy a campfire. Screeching. Tiny swords and a stick to defend ourselves. Frodo's screams echoed in my head, both sound and symptoms mirroring the dwarf in front of me. That couldn't be right though.

My pacing began again. It had been almost three days since Kili was shot. Aragorn did say that standard healing couldn't help Frodo. Frodo's symptoms worsened much faster than that, though. By the time Arwen and him had arrived in Rivendell, he was all but dead. My eyes darted back towards Kili.

He might not be far off from death's door either. I leaned against one of the beams holding up the lake house. My foot tapped over and over again. Rhythmic. Orcs could have a variation of a poison, similar to the stab of a Morgul blade. They all sided with Sauron when the War of the Ring happened. It might not be that far fetched. What did we use to treat Frodo though?

Oh.

"Athelas. We need Athelas."

Oin, Bard, and Fili stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

"I think it might be a poison that is greatly influenced by the stab of a Morgul blade. Which means that Elvish healing might be the best bet in healing him."

Fili stepped forward, his mouth open, "Morg-"

"Athelas?" Bofur questioned looking over to me.

"She means Kingsfoil lad," Oin added, clearly calculating if what I suggested would actually contribute to the healing of Kili.

"The weed? We feed it to the pigs," Bard said. I looked over to Oin, the one who would have the last say. The hard of hearing dwarf nodded his head. Bofur nodded his head.

"Pigs? Weed?... Right," He rushed to Kili telling him not to move before dashing out the door, his hat bouncing as he ran. Fili took this opportunity to finish his sentence.

"A Morgul blade though? How do you know what the stab of a Morgul blade looks like? Orcs aren't even sophisticated enough to make weapons that are of mediocre quality. They aren't capable of making a poison that replicates the effects of a Nazgûl blade."

"Sure, out of the creatures that thrive in evil here, they're not the smartest, but clearly they found a way to. I've seen the stab wounds, I've seen the symptoms, I've seen how fast it spreads. Kili has all the symptoms. He's just experiencing them faster than if he was just stabbed with the blade."

"Which is more concerning. It means the poison is more effective than just the stab wound."

Oin replaced the cloth on Kili's head, "I believe the lass is right. With how much we've had to move, the poison has probably circulated much faster. There are some old texts in Ered Luin from the Last Great Alliance. The symptoms are there, my only concern is we would need an elf who is familiar with healing. I have long forgotten how to invoke their tongue and if it's based off a Morgul wound then it won't be treated with normal healing methods and Kingsfoil."

Something still wasn't sitting right with Fili. The golden prince let it slide though. I'm sure that it was only for now.

A few minutes passed and then suddenly the lake house vibrated. Dust fell from the ceilings as I used a beam to steady myself. What in the world?

"Da?"
The children gathered together, Bain quickly taking a look out the window. "It's coming from the mountain."

Bard had an indistinguishable complex look as he looked at his frightened children. It finally clicked with me what had caused the vibrations.

The Dragon.

Bard eyed the house as Fili ran forward. "You should leave us. Take your children. Get out of here."

"And go where?" Bard's voice gave away how truly hopeless he felt. "There is nowhere to go."

Tilda could also identify the fear and desperation in his voice. The young girl was shaking as she moved towards her father for comfort. "Are we going to die, Da?"

Bard quickly concealed his fear. "No, darling."

"The dragon… It's going to kill us." The words kept catching in her throat. Sadness filled me as you could see how much the young girl wanted to believe her father. I'm sure even the children, as kind as they were, started to regret helping the dwarves. How were they to know it would endanger them and their home? Bard looked at all of his children, back to us, and then up at where he hung his plant to dry. His arm reached up and grabbed the metal bar that they used to dry the plants.

CHLINK

He ripped the bar from the ceiling.

"Damn. I didn't know he was that strong."

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the bar wasn't actually a bar. It was a long, metal arrow. His broad hands gripped the arrow as Bard stared defiantly at his children.

"Not if I kill it first."

I blinked for a moment. "Wait, is that one of the arrows from your ancestor?"

Bard nodded before he took off, clearly on his way to prepare for whatever battle was about to take place. "I'll be back. Wynter, please keep an eye on the children for me. I'll be back soon."

I was taken aback for a moment before I nodded, "We'll keep them safe."

"I'm coming with you, Da," Bain quickly followed behind the dark haired bowman. His father seemed reluctant to let him go. Quickly he decided that getting prepared for the dragon was more important. Bard didn't fight Bain as they exited the house.

Fili stayed close to Kili. His honey eyes flickered over to me before moving back to his brother. About half an hour passed since Bard had left. Another fifteen minutes went by and Bain returned home. He mentioned that Bard was having some trouble, but that his father should be back at any minute. Another half hour passed and he still wasn't back yet. I went to help Oin with what I could as we waited for Bofur to return as well. Sigrid's worry got the better of her and she went outside to wait for her father's return. Bain and Tilda began whispering to each other as Oin went down to gather some more water to boil.

"What really happened to you?"

Fili didn't take long to break the silence once we were alone with pain and fever hazed Kili. I knew what he was asking. He wanted answers about where I was from. About the time travel he didn't know of. How a girl who appeared from nowhere was so knowledgeable.

"It's a long story. There's a dragon on its way," my soft reply was barely heard over the crackling of the fire. His reply didn't surprise me.

"Then there's not a lot of time left to explain."

I sighed, my teeth back to playing with my lip. What more could I say? How do I explain to him that I can't tell him more. I keep outting myself, first Ori and then Bilbo, I couldn't add Fili in the mix as well. What would telling him change? What would telling him not change?

Noises on the roof caught my attention. I moved towards the door to see what it was when I heard Sigrid scream. I ran to the front door. The teen was trying to close the door on something stronger than her. It's sword jammed between it and the frame to keep it open. I rushed to her side, helping her slam the door shut on what I could now see to be an orc.

Orcs.

Great.

I heard a crash and yell from behind me. The orc in front of me and Sigrid forced the door open. She screamed again. A disgusting purple arm reached up to swing. Sigrid was his target. I moved in front of the younger girl, quickly pushing her to the side.

"Hide!"

THUNK

My body flew against the kitchen table. The force made my vision blurry and fuzzy. Something shiny caught my eye though.

A knife.

My fingers wrapped around the hilt of the kitchen knife. I struggled to force myself up from the table. I could see the calamity around me. Sigrid's and Tilda's screams echoed in my ears as I pushed myself up. Fili tackled the Orc that had come through the front door. Oin was holding off the one that came through the back.

An orc fell through the roof onto the table. Adrenaline coursed through me as I sliced at his knee. His screech drowned out the girls. An arm shot up. My knife found his throat before he could move any farther. More and more kept coming into the house.

Opening.

Stab. Stab.

Dodge. Stab.

Dodge.

Push.

One of the orcs flipped the kitchen table, revealing Tilda and Sigrid. The knife found its home in his back. I heard a new grunt behind me and turned to find Tauriel. She was quickly dispatching the orcs.

I never thought I'd be so happy to see the elf again.

Another one fell from the same hole in the roof. I kicked at it before it had the chance to gather its bearings. My face pulled into a grimace as my dress made it difficult to get much force behind the attack. It thankfully proved to be enough to throw the orc off his balance. I took the opportunity to stab at him.

The orc was able to utilize my momentum and dress to knock me down on the floor instead. He flipped me onto my back and straddled me, his sword raised to stab me.

A flash of blonde appeared beyond the orc. The orc was ripped off of me and stabbed through the neck. Blood splattered on me, I barely noticed though.

Legolas.

Legolas is here.

He made eye contact with me for a second before moving on to his next enemies. I pushed myself up and stood. I went to help Fili, who was protecting Tilda, Sigrid, and Bain. Another minute went by before the orcs were escaping. The next thing I noticed was Kili's cries as he gripped at his wound on the floor. Tauriel stared down in shock before finishing off the last of the orcs.

I dropped my knife and rushed to Kili with Fili close behind me. My hand went to his head, feeling the inferno beneath his skin and the shivering from his chill. The echos of the orc language and footsteps sounded around us. Oin took over looking at Kili and I turned back to the children.

"Are you three alright? Are any of you hurt?" I went over to Tilda and helped her up, quickly glancing over her for any wounds. The youngest shook her head.

"You killed them all…" Bain looked around in wonder at the littered house now filled with dead bodies.

"There are others," Legolas quickly made his way across the house, once again glancing at me. His eyes quickly left to find Tauriel though as he reached the door. "We must go, Tauriel."

"We're losing him!"

Oin's panicked voice sounded from behind me and I whipped my head around. My eyes then went to Tauriel who also looked panicked, as well as torn.

"We need an elf who knows healing."

The auburn elf looked at me confused. My mouth vomited words before I could think.

"We think they poisoned the arrow with a poison with the same properties as a stab from a Morgul blade. We can't save him ourselves."

"Tauriel," Legolas commanded before he left the house. Tauriel looked between all of us. Her body moved closer to the door. My heart sank as our one option to save Kili was seeming to leave. I thought… I thought she was interested in him?

Is the infatuation of an elf so fickle?

That was definitely something I didn't want to start thinking about right now. I heard her footfalls descending the steps before suddenly stopping. Things were silent for a moment. Then Tauriel rushed back into the house, Bofur trailing close behind her.

"Please let me save him."

I took Bain and Sigrid and we righted the kitchen table. Tilda went to get water for Tauriel as the elf had requested. She began washing and tearing up the herb in the water. Bofur, Oin, and Fili lifted the flailing dwarf and set him on the table.

"Hold him down."

I grabbed the uninjured leg, opposite to Oin. Fili held down Kili's chest on my side, hugging and comforting his brother through the pain. Bofur held down the free arm on Kili's other side. I looked at Sigrid before Tauriel started.

"Sigrid, grab something for him to bite on. We don't want him hurting himself."

The oldest girl nodded before running to grab some sort of leather strip and put it in Kili's mouth. I looked to Tauriel and nodded. We were ready.

The auburn elf grabbed some of the herbed water filling both of her hands as she pushed them together. Elvish chanting fell from her lips as she pressed the herb into the dark prince's wound.

"Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth."

Kili's trashing became worse. Sigrid was the first to jump in to help us hold him down. She called for Tilda to help as well. The trashing only lasted a moment longer before Kili started to calm. Everyone was looking at Tauriel intently, almost hypnotized. Kili's eyes became glossier and his face more pale. I chewed on my lip, not holding him down as hard now that he was calm. Worry gnawed at my insides with the possibility that maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was doing more harm than good to the dwarf. Fili's eyes met mine from across the table, some of the same worry on his face. There was one emotion there that helped quell my concern though.

Hope.

Hope colored most of Fili's eyes and he nodded his head to me. Soon enough, Kili fell into a light sleep. Color began to return to his face. Tauriel's chanting faded off as she slowly took her hands off.

"He will begin to heal now. I will dress his wound. Let us give him time to rest."

I looked up at Tauriel. Fili and Oin moved over by the fire as Sigrid, Tilda, and Bain started to pick up around the house. I grabbed a clean bowl of water for the elf to clean her hands in before wrapping up Kili's leg. A soft call of her name sounded from the dwarf on the table. I took that as my sign to leave.

I was stopped by Fili before I could start helping the children. His rough hand grabbed my wrist before I could move much farther. "Thank you. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to save him."

I moved my other hand on top of his and squeezed. "I don't think that's true. I'm just glad we were able to save him."

His hand held mine and we stayed silently like that for a few moments. Suddenly everything started shaking again. I gripped onto Fili's hand one last time and ran over to the window. Something was coming towards us. I could only have one guess as to what.

"Smaug is coming…"


A/N: So we're finally getting to the third movie. Praise the gods haha. I actually have it pretty well planned out from here on out, just some minor things to go over here and there. Also, I think we're all pretty much in agreement that the poison the orcs used on Kili was some derivative of the poisoning the Morgul blades do, and considering they focus on the rising of Sauron in the movies and the fact that the Nazgul still exist, I'm sure its possible. *insert shrugging emoji* Either way, Wynter has knowledge that must at some point be shared. (Foreshadowing? Probably not?)

I've also been thinking about doing another one-shot (Still Wynter and Legolas based, something a little different though, inspired by some of my real life events that are mentioned below.) If that is something that you would be interested in reading, let me know! I would want at least 5 reviews saying that they would read it. With that being said, though, sometimes I write things to change things up for me and decrease burn out. So maybe you'll get it even if I don't get 5 reviews.

Anyway, Life Update I guess. Everything has been wild/hectic/unbelievable for me since I last posted.

I quit my job, got another job, and am now quitting that job because another opportunity came up. Specifically, I'll be working at ER Admissions in my local hospital. So I am now an essential employee here in the states. Which means things might be delayed a little more.

But wait.

There's more.

In the same time that I've quit my job, got another and then got another one, I've also gotten engaged and married.

Also, I'm 18 weeks pregnant as of posting this chapter (Surprise!). That's everything that's happened in the past 4 months (and it didn't really start until September so I guess technically 3 months. It's been a lot to process). Anyway, the pregnancy is relevant.

I'm due in mid-May of 2021, which means maternity leave (yay!) my goal is that if I'm not done with "I'm Back Again" by then that I take time on my maternity leave to finish up. Which means that come June/July of 2021 this fic should be done! (Hoping it won't be that long, but we shall see. I have a few days between my last day of the 2nd job and I haven't gotten an orientation or start date for the new job, so that leaves time for writing. I'm hoping to get at least one more chapter out before the new year.)

Anyway, thank you so much for your time, especially if you've read all the way through this Author's Note. I know that the chapter is a little shorter than what I've been putting out, but I thought it was good to end at the end of DOS. Also with the wild ride of my life right now, I thought an update was in order.

As always, I love your reviews, likes, favorites, follows, and patience with me getting these chapters out. It really keeps me going on writing believe it or not.

Much Love, Affection, and Appreciation,

Secret Moon Princess.