Author's Note: I own nothing.

36 Changing

Thorin was at the anvil, shirtless and sweating from the heat of the forge when Bella entered. He looked up and smiled lightly. Bella smiled back but something was off. She couldn't tell what it was but something was different.

"Wait there Mizimel, bit too hot over here for Hobbits." He said dipping something into a bucket of water with a pair of tongs. It hissed and sizzled and he pulled it out inspecting it closely. He smiled turning from Bella and laying whatever it was on the table behind him.

"What are you working on?" Bella asked wondering what could possibly be so important that he needed to do it now when the others were making sure they would survive the next few days.

"Something wildly important. I had hoped this would be a bit more romantic but circumstances being what they are." Thorin said and turned back to Bella, something held in his hands. He held out his hand and opened it revealing a bead laying there. It was a bright shining silver and about as long as one of Thorin's finger knuckles. All the way around the bead was a green jewel. Bella didn't have a name for it but it had been carefully shaped into a leaf that she recognized from the plant she was named for. At the base of the bead hung a berry like those on the Belladonna plant as well.

"Thorin that's beautiful!"

"Then do you accept? I don't know what Hobbits do for their courting rituals but Dwarves make their intentions known through gift giving." Bella laughed lightly.

"Hobbits do something similar but now quite so extravagant. It's usually shown through flowers." Thorin of course had no idea what flowers meant, that was a language Hobbits were quite proud of but that not many other races took the time to learn. Thorin had no way of knowing that the flower belladonna did not in general mean anything romantic. It was a flower that held many meanings, silence, death, a meditation on good and evil. It sort of fit under the circumstances. Not necessarily how many Hobbits would want to start their courting, but Thorin couldn't know that.

"May I braid your hair to show the world we are beginning our courtship in earnest?" Thorin asked and Bella blushed. She nodded. Thorin grinned and stepped into Bella's space and began to braid her hair, securing the bead at the base of the braid and pulling her into a deep kiss. It was as they broke apart Bella noticed what was different. There was a golden gleam in Thorin's eyes. For a moment Bella was reminded of the gleaming eyes of the dragon as Thorin brushed her new braid behind her ear. "Since I know you were not raised to know how these things work, by dwarven law only the couple are allowed to re-braid this." He said as he showed her how the bead was secured. "Only you or I are allowed to touch it. Every being in Middle Earth who lays eyes on you will know you are mine." He said pulling her into another kiss.

Hours later Thorin was pacing back and forth in front of his throne. The barricade had been completed they'd taken stock of their stores so they were prepared and as such he'd set everyone, except Bella, searching for the Arkenstone. But after many hours it still had not been found.

"We need the stone!" Thorin insisted and Bella frowned as the golden gleam in his bright blue eyes grew more intense.

"We are searching as hard as we can Thorin." Dwalin said and Thorin whirled on him.

"And yet it has not been found!" He snapped. Bella laid a hand on him.

"Thorin." She said trying to calm him.

"It needs to be found now! If it is found and someone is withholding it, I will be avenged." He said shaking off her hand and stalking away. Bella caught a look passing between Dwalin and Balin before they both walked away, Dwalin back to the treasure room and Balin to the library. After a moments hesitation Bella followed Balin. He was digging through some dusty old scrolls when she slipped silently into the library.

"Balin." He jumped slightly letting out a breath as he realized who it was.

"My lady." Balin said and Bella again rolled her eyes.

"Balin what's happening to him?" She asked. If her dwarves could get away with being completely blunt so could she. He winced turning back to the scrolls and books in front of him. For a moment Bella didn't think he would answer her.

"Dragon sickness. I've seen it before." Balin said his voice choked. "It drove his grandfather to madness. I think it would have driven his father to madness if grief had not taken him first." Balin scrubbed at his eyes.

"What can be done?" Bella asked, her heart had dropped into her shoes but she would be damned if she didn't try to save him. She had not found him just to lose him. Balin shook his head.

"Not that I know of once it gets bad enough. But I don't know if he's to that point yet." He said turning to her.

"How can you tell he's not too far gone?" She asked and Balin pointed to the bead in her hair.

"Thror never gave anything when he fell to the madness. Not so much as a copper penny to anyone. His wife had already passed into the halls of our forefathers though, so there is a lack of comparison to be had." Balin said and Bella frowned.

"But you think he can be saved? What if…" Bella paused. "What if the Arkenstone was found. Hypothetically." Bella said fiddling with her new braid. Balin turned to look at her. It was a look much like Gandalf's calculating look. He glanced around to ensure they were truly alone.

"That stone crowns all. It is the summit of this great wealth, bestowing power on whomever holds it. Would it stay his madness?" Balin shook his head. "Hypothetically speaking, I think it would be best for all if it stayed lost. But I do still have hope that Thorin can be saved, though it may be a fools hope, I do not know." Bella shook her head.

"I wish Gandalf were here, he may know some cure we do not." She said her voice catching in her throat. Balin nodded.

"The wizard does things in his own time. I believe he will appear here before things are said and done but I do not know if we have time for that. Be careful lass, you of all of us now are closest to him." Balin said and Bella nodded and all but fled from the library. She stopped in a side hall and slipped her hand into the pouch at her belt that held the Arkenstone. She frowned as at the bottom of the pouch her fingers met something else. She wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it out, finding it to be the acorn she'd picked up in Beorn's garden. She let out a light laugh and nearly jumped out of her skin as Thorin came barreling around the corner.

"What is that! In your hand!" He demanded.

"Thorin it's nothing."

"Show me!" He demanded. She held out her hand and opened it, the acorn laying there innocently. Thorin blinked.

"I picked it up in Beorn's garden." She said going slightly red. The gleam of gold in Thorin's eyes dimmed slightly as he smiled.

"You've carried it all this way." He said it in the same tone he'd once used to call her Ghivashel. That word though had vanished from his lips when he'd entered the mountain, replaced with what Ori had translated to jewel of all jewels. She wasn't sure how she felt about that right now given the madness sinking its claws into Thorin.

"I want to plant it in my garden. When I have one again." She said smiling lightly down at the acorn. Thorin frowned tilting her chin up to look at him.

"A poor prize for all you've done." He said, eyes gleaming. Bella shook her head.

"No, not at all. Someday it will grow. I will look at it and remember everything that happened the good, the bad, and just how lucky we are to be alive." Was it just her imagination or had the manic golden gleam in his eyes grown dimmer as she spoke. He leaned forward pulling her into a kiss. They broke apart as Dwalin's voice echoed around the corner.

"Thorin, the survivors from Lake Town, they've reached Dale. There's hundreds of them." Thorin's eyes narrowed and the gold in them seemed to grow as he whirled.

"Call everyone to the gate! Now!" He commanded leaving Bella standing there still holding the acorn. She shook her head. That had not been her imagination, for a moment he had been himself again. Her hand slipped back into the pouch on her belt depositing the acorn back in its place next to the Arkenstone. Maybe Balin was right, maybe it would be better if it remained lost.