Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. JRR Tolkien's estate, New Line Cinema, and I'm sure a lot more people who have way more money than I do own them and I'm just playing a bit. No infringement is intended or implied. And I promise to put them back when I'm finished with them. :)

Author's Note: If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for romance. Hopefully this one suits!

Dedicated to my darling Amy. "Don't say we have come now to the end. White shores are calling. You and I will meet again."

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Part Five

"All right, brother, everything you needed to do is being done, so tell me about what happened." Kíli was demanding as only a beloved younger brother could be. "I heard some of it from the troops you sent back. Did you really let her BITE you?"

"I didn't LET her do anything, Kíli!" Fíli growled back. This was not a good idea. He didn't need to be thinking about her. "She was alone, frightened, mostly blind. She didn't know she could trust us. So she fought dirty." He shrugged. "It's not the first time I've been bitten." No, but it was usually more fun. He tried to rein in his wayward thoughts as well as direct his mount.

Kíli simply stayed beside him. He knew his brother had a bit of a reputation; he had his own, really. Neither of them had lacked for companionship when they wanted it, especially after the quest. And he knew how single-minded Fíli could get when he set his sights on a lass. But this seemed a bit different and he wanted to know why.

Long moments passed in silence and finally Fíli sighed heavily. "What do you really want to know, Kíli?" he asked with long-suffering patience.

"Is she pretty?" Good, he was getting Fee to open up. He had felt his brother's need to talk since Fíli had returned to Erebor and he hadn't been able to get him to say more than two words about it. He knew it was only a matter of time and some subtle (and not so subtle) pressure before the older one cracked and started talking.

Fíli nodded. "For a human, I suppose," he mused out loud. "She has this dark hair, not black, not exactly, but dark. Her face isn't beautiful. But it isn't plain, either. I can't describe it." He paused for a moment, considering, somewhat lost in his own thoughts now and Kíli grinned as he finally sighed again. "Her eyes, though. Kíli, her eyes... Mahal, they draw me like no other has ever done. Moonstones. They remind me of moonstones."

Kíli frowned. This suddenly didn't sound like one of Fíli's casual encounters. His brother had never spoken of a girl's eyes like jewels, not to him. To her, maybe, in hopes of tumbling her, but never to him. And it disturbed him. "You want to see her again."

Fíli nodded in defeat. "Yes, I want to see her again. And I shouldn't. She's human. And she's worth more than my life if we were to be caught. So no, much as I want to, I won't."

"She's that important?" Now Kíli was confused. Most human women were dismissed, counted as less than the men. And no Dwarf really understood it, either. Dwarf women were cherished, honored, and permitted their own lives if they wished. They could learn a craft, even not marry if that was their choice. Human women, on the other hand – they might learn to sew in order to make a little coin but they didn't live without a protector. In most cases a husband or a father.

"She's Bard's daughter."

Kíli choked. "You never do anything small, do you?" he managed to grind out. "Mahal, brother, Thorin would kill you. Bard would kill you. And then they'd kill the pieces."

"You think I don't know that?" Fíli was miserable. He wanted to see her, needed to, and didn't understand why. Fire, he thought suddenly, that fire drew him as much as her eyes, and he was suddenly certain it would burn him badly. He didn't care.

Kíli was silent for only a moment. He would do anything for Fíli, the same as his brother would do for him. "Then we have to make sure you don't get caught."

(Nialla)

Thoughts of Fíli were never far from Nialla's mind. The Dwarf had been kind to her, hadn't even really been upset that she'd bitten him. Well, that wasn't entirely true; he'd told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to learn to fight properly, and maybe he was right.

Of course, she'd been more than half blind at the time and the only thing she'd really been thinking when he grabbed her was that one of her captors had returned to abuse her again. Of course she'd fought dirty. And then the feel of him against her had gotten through her thick skull.

He wasn't like the others. His clothes were clean, he didn't smell bad, and while he was broad in the fashion of his race, it wasn't weight like the ones in the camp. He was strong, all hard lines and muscle, and even his beard and mustache were pleasant against her skin. His voice was soft and kind as he spoke to her, murmured reassurances, even went so far as to try a lullaby to try and soothe her.

It was that more than anything that had convinced her he meant no harm. No slaver was going to waste time calming his victim. He'd simply take what he wanted and be done with it. She ought to know.

She shied away from that thought almost before it was formed. And of course her mind went right back to HIM.

He'd come to see her before he left. She hadn't expected that. It just put another facet to him that she hadn't considered.

Kind, gentle, even rather attractive in his own way. The only drawback she had seen was that he had a temper to match hers, and that wasn't good. She remembered their fight in the healing house with some shame; why had she been so mean to him?

Why couldn't she get him out of her mind? It was maddening. Nothing could ever come of it. He was a Dwarf and she human. It would never work out. And yet, still he stayed in her thoughts.

She growled and rose to pace. He was arrogant, too. That swagger of his, it rubbed her the wrong way and while she thought it was attractive, in a strange way, she also wanted to smack him for it.

But none of that took away from the fact that she wanted to see him again.

She sighed heavily and went to the window. They'd finally let her out of bed and her father had immediately taken her home. And she spent a lot of time at her window, now, since he seemed afraid to let her go out for fear of losing her again.

A glint of golden hair caught her eye and she smiled. Fíli had returned to Dale.

Would he come to see her again? It wouldn't be proper, she reminded herself firmly. She was an unmarried woman and a princess in the bargain. But she still wanted to see him. Surely one visit wouldn't be amiss? And WHY was she so drawn to him?

He was back in Dale like he'd promised, but hadn't come to see her. Never mind that it wouldn't be proper and her father would refuse it on general principles, he hadn't even made an attempt. Did that mean his caress on her face had meant nothing? She was confused and it made her angry.

She sighed and let go of the anger. Maybe her father would let her walk through the market. She had to do something. She was going insane trapped in the house.