It felt like eternity before Elsa arose from her slumber, but not in a good way; her dreams had been plagued with nightmares fraught with fire, ice, and death itself...but through it all, there had been the single, solitary sight of a terrible red eye made of fire that stared down at her, and a voice whispering in a harsh tongue over and over…but with the coming of dawn, these visions faded away, much to her relief.

Blinking her eyes open, she found herself lying against the trunk of a barren tree in the midst of a fog-laden forest, an old quilt wrapped around her and keeping her warm in the cold gray dawn. The smell of a lake water-drenched shore hung heavily in the air, but so did the bitter stench of smoke and burnt things, calling to mind the events of what had happened before. Another scent wafted through the air, this one belonging to food cooking over an open fire tended to by Bofur, Fili and Óin, just a few paces away from her. Looking on her left, she found Bard's two daughters huddled next to each other on her left, still in the thrall of dreams, and on her right there was Kili, looking healthy enough, but still rather exhausted.

Óin was the first to notice that Elsa was up; "Bless our souls," he laughed, "She's awake!" The other dwarves soon came to share in the quiet joy, and invited her over for some breakfast. She did so, initially reluctant to leave the warmth of her blanket, but she welcomed the soft heat of the fire as she sat on a crude log seat.

"We were so worried about you!" Fili said, "After that battle, we'd thought you'd never wake up!"

"I should probably make a note," Elsa remarked, "to stop falling unconscious before it gets ridiculous." That earned a laugh from the others.

Bofur handed her a dish, saying, "Here you are, your highness; tomatoes, sausages, and nice crispy bacon. We managed to save some just for you."

"Thank you—wait, what did you say?" she asked.

"…Tomatoes, sausages and bacon," the dwarf answered, somewhat confused, "It's not quite a meal fit for royalty, I know, but…"

At first, she wondered how it was that he came to know, but then she remembered what had happened the night before with the kingsfoil. Before Bofur could go on, she stopped him, saying, "Please, don't call me that. I'm not a queen, here." She then turned back to her food, eating it graciously after such a long time spent without sustenance and feeling strength return to her body. After some time, Bard's daughter's came to awaken as well, and joined the party in their meal while keeping their blankets wrapped around their bodies. After clearing her plate, Elsa stood up to get a better look at their surroundings; they were a little ways off from the shore of the lake, where bits and pieces of charred and broken wood were washed up by the waves. Further off in the distance, she could see Lake Town itself—or at least the smashed and scorched remains of it, smoke and flames still floating upwards into the heavens. She felt despair at the sight of the ruins, in spite of her efforts; couldn't she have done more? Couldn't she have summoned greater power and saved the town? But what could she do now? Lake Town was ashes now…

Removing her eyes from the sight, she gazed into the shore and the forest along it; here she saw the survivors a good distance away from them, mostly women and children but a good number of men as well, sitting around fires and wrapping themselves in whatever they could find to keep warm. People weaved their way through the crowd, offering food, blankets, and comfort to whoever was in need. Here, Elsa felt the most despair; yes, these people had survived, but now they were homeless…and she felt so much of the blame weigh down on her shoulders. These people had welcomed the company with praise and open arms, and they had unleashed hell upon them in return…all in the pursuit of prosperity. The dragon's words had burned themselves into her mind. But she felt some comfort in knowing that the same dragon had died and the danger had passed…and especially now that she could see the man responsible coming their way, alive and well, his son at his side.

The two daughters turned to see this as well, and ran to Bard with open arms, shouting, "Da!" He received them with all the love a father could give them, coupled with relief and gratitude that they had not been lost to the dragon fire. At least some good came out of this; Elsa could feel the adoration and caring that this family had for each other as they embraced…a caring that surely she had once felt before. How long ago had it been when she had hugged her own family like that?

It was a long time before the family decided to splinter, and with that, Elsa and the Bowman met again. She didn't what to say at first, but then the words stumbled out.

"Bard," she said, "I'm so sorry, I…"

"No," he interrupted, "I'm the one who should be sorry; sorry for calling you a witch. Sorry to judge your character based on your associations. I thank you for protecting my children, and for saving our lives."

"No," she responded, "Thank you, for saving my life. By the way, I'm curious; what happened to you after we last spoke?"

"The Master of Lake Town and I haven't been on very good terms," the Bowman explained, "And I suppose he saw it convenient when Oakenshield arrived. I further believe he thought it further convenient if I were to disappear at the time. I was freed when the Master's boat caught on a line and tore open the cell I was in. It was…rather fortunate, I should say."

"But how did you know where to strike?" she further asked.

"Lord Girion was my ancestor," Bard replied, "Yes, he missed his mark, but our family always told tales of how he managed to strike one of the scales below Smaug's left wing. I was never too sure of it myself…but then a little bird confirmed it. Quite literally, as a matter of fact." He then looked towards the lake, and began to muse, "That story is why I trained to be an archer, if not the best of the archers. As a child, I always hoped that one day I'd be able to grow past the stigma of being the spawn of Girion, as they said, and maybe one day…"

She finished the sentence for him. "Become a hero?"

He quietly nodded.

"So, what now?" she asked, "What will become of Laketown?"

"We will rebuild it," he answered, "begin new lives, and move on from this, as we always have. And now that the dragon's gone, perhaps we can all breathe easy."

There was a noise coming from the crowd, the sound of heavy debate occurring amongst a strong concentration of people. Seeing this, Bard said, "Excuse me," and then started to walk back towards the rest of the townsmen, his son following close behind him. But then Elsa realized something; she hadn't noticed it at first, but there was one person missing. She ran to Bard, calling after him. "Wait," she said, "Last night, did you see a Wood Elf? She had red hair and carried a bow with her."

The Bowman seemed confused. "No," he said, "I haven't at all. But I will keep an eye out, if she's important to you." Elsa thanked him and allowed him to go on his way.

She then returned back to the dwarves, and asked them, "What happened to Tauriel? Wasn't she with you? Where did she go?"

The dwarves looked at each other nervously, chuffing and grumbling, until at last, Fili spoke.

"We don't know," he explained, "After you left and started frosting everything, we took off, figuring that's what you would've wanted. When we made land here, she suddenly ran back to Lake Town without a word; we haven't seen her since."

Elsa felt her gut wrench at what the blonde dwarf was implying. "Does Kili know about this?" she asked quietly.

"Know about what?" Kili asked, sitting upright.

Everyone turned, surprised to see him up. Fili went over to him and held him down, saying, "Take it easy, brother, you've still got a bit of healing up to do."

"No," Kili said, determination rising in his voice, "I want to know. Where's Tauriel?"

"Calm down, lad," Óin told him, "Everything's fine."

"No, we've got to find her!" he cried, fear rising in his voice.

"Come on, Kili," Bofur said, "I know she saved your life and everything, and for that we're grateful to her, but why is this so important to you?"

"Because I…" suddenly the young dwarf fell silent. Elsa, remembering what the dwarves had said about elves before, could tell that shame had caught his tongue at the moment. Then Kili spoke again; "…It's just that," he said, "she saved my life, and I should repay her. It's the honorable thing to do."

Based on what she had seen, she knew that wasn't entirely accurate.

"If there's anyone you should be thanking," Óin said, "it's Elsa. She's the one who got that kingsfoil to work. Repay her!"

Kili looked in her direction, somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, right, obviously," he said, "Forgive me, Miss Elsa…"

"That's her majesty to you!" Bofur barked.

"Enough!" Elsa said. She went over to where he lay, sat next to him, and said very quietly so that the others wouldn't hear, "Its okay. I understand."

It took a moment for the dwarf to catch on, but once he did, his eyes became very wide. "Really?" he said in astonishment.

But before she could go on any further, Bard's son returned, making it very clear that he had run as hard as his feet could carry him. Through heavy breaths of air, the boy gasped, "You have to get away from here! Now!"

"What's going on?" Fili asked.

"There was a meeting going on," the boy explained, "Alfrid's been riling people up, saying that Oakenshield let the dragon out on purpose. Da's dealing with it, but it looks like a mob's getting together and looking for you!"

The party members looked at each other, clearly worried about the situation. Elsa for one couldn't blame the Lake Men for their hard feelings, but at the same time she didn't want to deal with an angry mob or spill just men's blood.

"What are we supposed to do?" Bofur asked, "Where are we supposed to run?"

The answer was quite obvious to Elsa. "We go to the mountain," she declared as she stood up.

"What good will that do for us?" Oin questioned, "We don't even know if Thorin and the others are still alive…"

"They are alive," she stated, "I know this for a fact. But he's right; we have to get moving."

Although it was clear to her that they didn't quite believe her, they did eventually get on their feet, Fili and Bofur helping Kili getting onto his feet, and everyone gathering what they could.

Moving through the trees, Bard's son led them to the lakeshore, where their boat sat in the water. "You take this," he said.

"No," Elsa refused, "They'll know you helped us. We appreciate the help, but we can't afford to put your or your family in anymore danger."

"But how will you get to the mountain without it?" the boy asked.

She had already considered this on the way over; it would have been easy for her to simply step on the ice and allow them to walk the rest of the way to Erebor, but that would've left a trail, and allowed their pursuers to chase them as well. To answer his question, Elsa turned to the water and conjured up a small boat and oars made of thick, sturdy ice, but with an elegant touch of her own making, of course.

"Oh, right," the boy said, "Forgot you could do that."

The dwarves immediately began to climb into the boat, and Elsa followed as well, but not before telling the boy, "Thank you so much for your help. Please pass my gratitude to your father."

"I will," he said. Once she had climbed in, he pushed the boat into the water with all his might. As they sailed out, Elsa sent a gust of wind to propel them further out, and they watched as the son of Bard shrank into the distance before running back into the woods.

The lake was far larger than Elsa had initially expected; it was midday by the time they reached the middle of it, and the entirety of their voyage had been spent in silence, though with a few complaints of chilled bottoms every now and then. There still remained chunks of ice floating in the water, but she was surprised at how quickly it had broken apart; she could only assume that it had something to do with Smaug. All the while, the mountain continued to loom in the distance, growing larger and larger the nearer they approached it, but now it didn't seem as ominous as it had before, which was a relief to her.

It was Óin who broke the solemn quietude, asking, "Look, I know you don't like to talk about it, Miss Elsa, but I have to speak my mind: why in the world would a Queen completely leave her own kingdom?"

Elsa's first instinct was to either change the subject or get defensive. But somewhere in her mind, a small familiar voice whispered to her, Aren't you tired of shutting everyone out?

She sighed, and acknowledged that for once in her life, she was.

"Because of this," she said, waving a cloud of snowflakes in her hand. "I've kept my powers a secret for all of my life, but then it came out and…I just wanted to keep everyone safe from me. It's a miracle I've been able to control it thus far."

"So you ran away?" said Óin.

"Yes. And I am a coward for it."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Bofur said, "I don't think a coward would go this far down the road, facing trolls, orcs, goblins, wargs, and spiders along the way, not to mention a dragon."

"Thank you," she said, "but it doesn't change the fact that I left my people behind."

"What about now?" Kili asked, "Do you think you'll ever go back?"

"…I don't know. I'm not even sure if that would be the best thing to do."

The dwarves smiled at her and gave her encouragement and best wishes, but Elsa was aware of how much they weren't aware. They didn't question at all how she was going to get home, and that she was not keen to give away, not now. It was in her mind to discuss that with Thorin, first; maybe she could include the Star Gems as part of her payment. But bigger questions laid on her mind; she remembered what the dragon had said, and at the time she had believed him, but now she had lingering doubts over the veracity of his words...and yet he had known her name and that of her kingdom….whatever. If what he had said was true or not, then surely she would be able to figure it out by looking through the Star Gems, just to make sure. And what if he was right? What if she really had left the kingdom locked in eternal winter? There was the bigger question; should she go back? But what good could she do? In spite of all her progress here in Middle-Earth, she had not as yet learned how to thaw her snow and ice, or even if that were possible…

Then the group noticed something that had not come across their ears for the first time in days since departing Mirkwood; the songs of birds and the flapping of wings. They looked up, and to their astonishment, they saw birds of an innumerable multitude of different kinds, from the robin to the gull, and from the goose to even a few carrion birds, all flying high above in flocks of hundreds, if not thousands. Elsa was confused for a moment; surely the good majority of the avians should have at least fled south for the winter?

"The portents are being fulfilled!" Óin cried, "The birds are returning to the mountain! The reign of Smaug is truly over!"

With this cacophony of bird calls overhead, the group continued to sail on over the lake.

At long last, they reached the other side of the lake, and came upon a barren wasteland; here, no greenery grew, save for the hardiest of weed and shrub, leaving the landscape gray and riddled with large rocks and boulders that jutted out of the ground, while snow drifts were laid about like white spots. Cold winter winds whipped and whistled across the land unhindered, and the place bore testament of a dragon's presence having been here once; she could see places where the earth was blackened by fire. The group hiked and climbed their way through the rough and jagged hills of this desolation; it would have depressed them, save for the fact of the birds flying high overhead.

As time went on, they eventually came across an outcrop looking over the sprawling ruin of what must have been a great city, the empty grey buildings like the bones of a once powerful creature brought low.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"Once it was the city of Dale," Óin answered, "And someday it will be so again."

This filled her with hope for the future. Further on, they could see the foot of the mountain, and there they could see the front gate itself; it must have been sealed once, but now it stood open, with piles of debris scattered all across the area surrounding it. This was rather fortunate; at least now they didn't have to scour the land for the secret entrance.

They went on, climbing down the hills, jumping over a dry riverbed, and walking past the ruins of the city; even after more than a hundred years, they still bore the marks of fire and destruction, bringing to mind what had happened to Lake Town. But still, Elsa knew that surely such madness and suffering could never happen again, and that brought her comfort.

Then at last, the small party came upon the stone-paved path leading towards the entrance. Even from such a far off distance, Elsa was awed by the size and might of the front gate in spite of the ruin and decay inflicted upon it; carved from the green rock of the very mountain itself, it was flanked by a pair of huge stone dwarves standing guard and brandishing their axes against any assailant (in spite of the fact that one of them had lost its head). The gate itself was already meant to be heavily guarded; up above, she could see numerous battlements at higher and higher levels, enough to probably give one a magnificent view of the surrounding valley. But whatever fortifications had been put into place, they clearly hadn't succeeded against the dragon; rubble and debris cluttered the area immediately in front, and scorch marks blackened the outer edges of the door—which had clearly been burst through, judging by the damage.

The party continued on, and for some reason found splashes and puddles of solid gold scattered across the earth here and there, leading them to wonder what in the world had happened. But such questions were put out of their mind almost immediately, for they saw at the very gate at least four of their brothers, Glóin, Bifur, Bombur, and Dori it appeared, laboring away at the task of piling stones on top of each other, as if they were building a wall.

It was a sight for sore eyes.

"I can't believe it," Bofur cried, "They're alive! They did it! They made it into the mountain!"

Overjoyed, the group came running and shouting towards the gate. Hearing their cries, the four other dwarves, looked over and, judging from the look of utter shock and surprise on their bearded faces, surely thought they were dreaming. But they realized what it was they were seeing, and likewise came running towards them as well, returning joy for joy, embrace for embrace, and blessing upon blessing. It proved to be infectious, and Elsa found herself laughing and crying along with them.

"You old dodger!" Glóin chuckled at his brother, "I thought for sure that I had lost you, and after all the trouble I went through looking after your deaf head…"

"Ah, save it for your son back home, brother," Óin shot back, "Here I was thinking you were roast the whole time!"

Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, meanwhile, all came together in a big raucous cheer, with Bifur shouting out victory chants in Dwarvish.

"We were all so worried about you!" Dori said, shaking Elsa's hand, "We didn't know what had happened—oh! You must come and see the others, they're all inside! Wait 'till you all see the place, it's magnificent—well, it's been in better shape, but still!"

At that moment, Dwalin came tromping out of the entrance, grumbling "What in the world is all the noise about? You're supposed to…" but then he saw Elsa and the others, and any irritability in him was washed away. He too came running down to the group and clasped Fili and Kili in his tough arms, a great hearty laugh erupting from him. "What are you all waiting for?" he asked, "Let's get you inside! A celebration's to be had!"

He then led the group through the gate and into the front hall, but for a moment Fili, supporting Kili, stood at the entrance to Erebor, beaming.

"Look at that, Kili," Fili said, "We did it! We made it!"

"Wait 'till Mother hears about this!" Kili replied.

As she stepped through the entrance, her sense of awe and wonderment only increased with significant strength, not only because of the sheer size of the towering pillars that stretched impossibly high and held up massive tapestries, but also the evidence of destruction that had taken place; all over the place were splatters of gold, and on the floor were gold marks in the shape of dragon feet that trailed from a huge pool of gold towards the back, filling the hall with yellow light. At the base of the foremost of the pillars, Balin, Ori, and Nori were resting around a fire, but they too couldn't help but jump up and join the revelry and rejoicing once they saw the group.

They celebrated their reunion for some time, each member of the company sharing their own part of the story; from those who went before, Elsa learned that the dwarves had indeed found the secret entrance, and engaged Smaug in battle, before using molten gold in a failed attempt to drown the dragon ("It would have been nicely poetic," Balin remarked, "had everything worked out in the end"). But even then, Elsa noticed there was still someone missing. "Where's Bilbo?" she asked.

Her answer came running down the hall, overjoyed as much as the rest of them, perhaps even more so, and so was she. She moved to meet him…but she stopped in her tracks. Smaug's words echoed in her mind; now that she knew how he felt about her, what was she going to say? How was she to respond? And then there was the question of this 'precious'…

He came up to her, panting and smiling in his exuberance. "Elsa, I—I can't tell you how glad I am to see you all alive! We saw everything from the hill up there—we saw you, and it was, well, spectacular! I was so worried…the dragon said he'd…What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, it's alright, Bilbo," she said, kneeling down to his height, "We're fine…I'm fine. I'm glad to see you all too." She could feel the awkwardness rising; was there a way to change the subject? Then she noticed something glittering from under Bilbo's collar. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" he asked. He then partially unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a garment of silvery mail underneath, embedded with small white gems. "Thorin gave this to me from the treasure hoard; he said it was called mithril or something like that."

"It's beautiful," she observed. Suddenly she remembered what she had to do. "Where is he," she asked, "I have to speak with him."

Suddenly Bilbo went a little pale. "Um, I don't think that would be wise at the moment," he said.

"Why?"

"Well, because he's…" he started, but then looked up past her. Elsa noticed that the laughter from the dwarves had gone silent; turning around, she looked up, and saw Thorin himself descending on a staircase, dressed in a long robe of fine fur, but looking quite serious.

"Thorin," Ori piped, "The others are alive! And they're here!"

"I can see that," the Dwarf Prince said as he came down to meet them. There was for a moment a glimmer of pride and relief in his eyes, especially when he saw Fili and Kili. Coming up to them, he clasped them on the shoulders, saying, "Welcome, my sister's sons, to Erebor! At long last, we have reclaimed what is ours, and none shall dare take it from us, again!"

But almost as soon as Elsa saw that glimmer, it disappeared. "But the time for celebration is not yet. Bofur, Elsa, go help the others finish the barricade."

"Barricade? What for?" Bofur asked.

"I have spoken with the leader of the ravens, Roäc," Thorin said, "We should be expecting company soon, and until Dain arrives with his reinforcements, we have to be ready. Go, now!"

This all came very suddenly for Elsa; what enemy could Thorin possibly be expecting? And what was with this strange change of character? But whatever it was, surely it could wait; right now, she needed the Star Gems.

While the others scurried off to obey Thorin's commands, Elsa followed him, saying, "Thorin, can I talk to you for a second?"

"I need that barricade finished, and you of all people are best qualified to finish it," he said, hardly turning to look at her.

"But it's about the treasure…"

He suddenly whipped around, startling her. "NO ONE touches that treasure," he said in a loud, angry voice, "until the Arkenstone is found! Get moving, all of you!"

He left her standing there, scared and confused as to what had overcome him. Balin came over, and with some comforting words led her away, but nothing could stop the memories running in her mind, the ones concerning Thorin and the people who spoke of him. She remembered the Goblin King, Beorn, Thranduil, Bard, and Smaug, and the words they had spoken. She hadn't, or at least she refused to believe them, and she refused to believe it now, but she could see it now…was it true? It couldn't be...could it? She was afraid of the truth, for now the evidence was growing stronger.