Author's Note: I own nothing.

19 Barrels of Fun

Bella's plan required some convincing on her part. It wasn't perfect, but it was all they had. She'd camped out in the cellar and heard one of the elves, she thought he might be some kind of overseer of the storerooms, talking about sending the barrels back to Lake Town before the feast, but as far as Bella could tell he was always late, mostly because he was always in his cups. It was their luck that he and the Keeper of the Keys were drinking buddies. The next few days progressed slowly. Bella sat next to Thorin's cell feeling anxious so she asked him a question she'd been wanting to ask for a while now.

"What was Erebor like? Before the dragon." He glanced at her, she was sitting slightly to the side of his cell. He was silent for a long time and for a moment Bella thought he would remain so. He sighed.

"I am not sure I can do justice to what it was before." He admitted and Bella tilted her head at him. He sighed. "But I suppose you do deserve to know what you are fighting for." He said with a slight smile. She rolled her eyes but remained silent as Thorin chose his words. "The mountain sits away from the lake, overshadowing what was once a great city of men, the main hub of trade in the East. Dale it was called. And barely a mile from the gates of Dale sat the great gate of Erebor. It's blocked up now, the dragon isn't keen on visitors, but once it was grand. Carved from the mountain itself it was near as tall as the face of the mountain with great statues to either side. There were statues at all the cardinal points of Erebor, one on every side of the mountain, though two stood at the front gate." He painted a lovely image of the mountain Bella had to admit that. The Shire had no great works like those he described, unless one counted their gardens.

"The gates were almost never closed. The only time I clearly remember them being closed was when we first heard the signs of the dragon coming." He paused his expression darkening.

"Why were they never closed?" Bella asked, she was curious but she also wanted him to smile again as he spoke of days long past. She didn't get to see him smile often and she cherished every upturn of his lips.

"Trade mostly, Erebor supplied at least half of the trade going in and out of Dale." He shook his head. "I do not know if you have ever been inside a mountain before the Misty Mountains." Bella shook her head.

"I had not." She admitted.

"Then I must make clear that Erebor was nothing like Goblin town. It was not a mishmash of stolen good and terror. Everything under the mountain was made with skill and craftsmanship that has not been seen since. Erebor was forged by my fathers forefathers, founded by Durin himself. The halls were full of light, in some places lit by the forges which worked near constantly in others lit by a series of mirrors that reflected sunlight into the halls. It was never cold, the great forge kept everything warm." He smiled and Bella grinned back at him.

"The halls were always full of laughter and chatter." He sighed looking wistful.

"It sounds wonderful. I hope I get to see it restored to its full glory." Bella said stepping closer to the door. Thorin smiled at her, it was warm and full of something she couldn't quite identify. He reached out and caught her hand pulling her right up to the bars. He leaned on the bars and raised her hand to his lips laying a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

"As do I." Bella nearly didn't hear the footsteps coming down the stairs. She just managed to pull her hand back and slip her ring on her finger and vanish before the guard came around the corner carrying dinner. Thorin frowned at the guard who frowned right back. He slipped the food into the cell as Thorin glared daggers at him. He rolled his eyes muttering in Silvain as he walked away. Once his footsteps had fully receded Thorin glanced out of his cell, eyes searching in vain for Bella.

"What did he say?" He asked lowly. Her laughter alerted him to her position, somewhere to the left of his cell door.

"He called you surly." She said clear amusement in her voice. Thorin rolled his eyes.

"I am not surly." He insisted. Bella laughed lightly.

"You can be at times." She said, still invisible. Thorin rolled his eyes again and slid the dinner back out of his cell.

"Eat, you need it more than I do." He said. Bella reappeared, frowning slightly.

"But."

"No, you're doing the most out of all of us, eat you need it. You still look pale." He insisted. Bella frowned but knew that arguing with him was akin to beating her head against a stone wall.

The day of the feast arrived and activity bustled in the upper floors of the woodland fortress. But the lower levels were nearly devoid of people entirely. Bella followed the Keeper of the Keys grinning as he and the supervisor of the store room sat down and began to drink, and drink and drink. It wasn't long before they were slumped over snoring lightly. It didn't take much for Bella to slip the keys off his belt, careful not to jingle them as she did. She ran into a bit of an issue though when she got back to the cells. Tauriel was sitting in front of Kili's cell. They spoke about Kili's gift from his mother, she'd given him a token that he was meant to return to her, to remind him of his promise to return to her. They spoke about starlight and what it meant to the eldar. Kili talked about a fire moon he'd once seen and Tauriel listened with wrapped attention. Bella was starting to disrepair of her plan working at all with Tauriel sitting down here. Would she even have time to return the keys before someone noticed they were missing?

They were saved by Thranduil's son calling from the to of the stairs.

"Tauriel, you are expected at the feast. The guards will be coming by soon to check on the dwarves." He called and Bella flattened herself against the wall to avoid Tauriel. She rolled her eyes.

"You will have to tell me more later." She said with a grin. Kili smiled back.

"I would like that." He watched her go. Once her footsteps had receded Bella unlocked his cell and he blinked. She rolled her eyes slipping off the ring.

"Sorry, no time. We're getting out of here." She ran to the other cells freeing the dwarves. "Come on, follow me." She called leading them down to Thorin's cell.

"Lass one of us should clear the way, which way are we going?" Dwalin muttered, trying to keep his voice low. Bella unlocked Thorin's cell, he smiled at her, causing a few double takes. She dodged around them.

"Come on it's this way." She led them down the small passage. She wasn't sure as to the purpose of it but as she'd hoped the barrels were stacked and ready on the mechanism that opened down into the canal. "Everybody in." There were protests but Thorin barked an order in Khuzdul and they loaded into the barrels.

"What about you?" Bofur asked and Bella grinned.

"I'll get there in a minute." She said stepping over to the lever. "Everyone keep your heads in and hold your breath." There were a few cries of confusion but Bella had already pulled the lever sending the barrels tumbling into the river below. A few of the dwarves cried out in surprise and Bella darted forward swearing as the mechanism closed before she could follow the last dwarf. She swore. There was a cacophony coming from back the way they had come. Their escape had already been discovered. Bella stepped onto the mechanism her back to the door, she frowned it was starting to move but the voices were growing closer. A cry of confusion let Bella know she'd been spotted. Something solid struck her pack and she stumbled forward, the mechanism overbalancing and sending her plunging into the canal below. Only then did she realize the biggest problem with her plan. She'd forgotten she did not know how to swim. Her problem was solved after a fashion when Nori fished her out of the river letting her cling to his barrel as there wasn't really room for both in it. The current carried them out of the canal and into the river beyond quickly as the alarm was sounded behind them.