Yeah! See what I managed! I've finished another chapter! I really didn't expect myself to finish it that quick, but I managed. As I said in last chapter, this might turn out a bit different from what you thought. I'm not going to spoil it, I'll only let you read it.

Please, enoy - if you can.

Chapter 4

I blinked and sat up as I heard someone laugh, and someone else exclaiming: "Rosie!" On each side of me I heard someone groan. I glanced at the two laying there. Kili on my left side, and Fili on my right. Kili had been holding around me, and we had been sharing the same blanket, while Fili had his own blanket to cover up with. First I became really nervous, but then I remembered why we had been laying so close. I had been nothing but an icicle.

"What's going on?" Fili asked tired, while Kili rolled over on his back and blinked at the morning sun.

"Good morning", Bofur said with a grin. "Have you slept well?"

"Rosie, what do you think you're doing?" Bilbo nearly shouted. That awoke Kili who sat up and glanced at first me, and then the blanket covering us. His face reflected my own shock and confusion. Then his expression changed and he stared at Bilbo.

"Do you have any problems with Rosie sleeping here?" he questioned in a protective tone.

"She isn't grown yet!" Bilbo exclaimed. "And besides, I won't allow her to sleep that close to anyone else than the one she'll marry!" I felt my heart sink.

"Fine, then", Kili said. He threw the blanket away, got to his feet and held his hand out to help me up. I couldn't believe what I heard. Kili actually said it was okay? I laid my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet. Suddenly I stood so close to him that I could feel his warm breath over my face. I swallowed and stared wide eyed up, into his dark brown orbs. Again I got the feeling of melting. "But I wish I could be the one." His voice was so low that if I hadn't noticed his lips moving, I would've thought it was nothing but my imagination. My heart leapt into my throat.

"Kili", I whispered. Then I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. His words rang in my head and I closed my eyes. But I wish I could be the one. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't.

For a few seconds I thought I heard his heart pounding, but then I heard his voice instead, soft in my ear. "We should pack our things and get going." I let go of him. He smiled that small smile of his. That smile which made his eyes twinkle in a mischievous way. "You know that I love you?" he asked, still with that smile. I punched him lightly in the arm and managed to make a small laughter.

"Come on, big brother. Let's gather our things before Thorin gets too mad at us." Both Kili and Fili grinned.

"Good idea", Fili replied.

As I went to pack my few things, I noticed Fili whisper something to Kili. Something that made Kili blush, even if he tried to hid it. Fili grinned and quickly jumped aside when Kili threw a blanket after him. I shook my head and continued to pack my bag which I then tied up on the back of the pony I had got. Her name was Caramel.

"Rosie?" someone asked behind me. "Would you like to-"

"No!" another voice interrupted when I turned to face Kili. "She won't go with the two of you again." I frowned and glanced at Bilbo. Why did he say that? Didn't he want me to be happy? Didn't he want me to have friends? "Rosie, I'll wait for you together with Minty." Bilbo turned and disappeared between the other dwarves, ponies and luggages.

I sighed and closed my eyes before turning back to Caramel's straps. Suddenly I understood why Bilbo didn't want me to get some closer relationship to Kili or Fili. Bilbo wanted me to marry Merry.

"What was that about?" Kili asked, still standing behind me.

I hesitated in a few seconds, before saying: "Bilbo wants me to say yes to Merry's question." It wasn't louder than that he could hear it. For a while no one answered me, and I thought I was alone. That Kili never had been there.

"What did he ask about?" I nearly didn't hear what he said.

"I-I..." Suddenly I felt unsure. Unsure if I should tell it to Kili. Somehow I knew he wouldn't be really pleasant of hearing it. Warm, rough hands were put on my shoulders and my eyes closed. I felt so safe in his warm presence. He could protect me. He could help me. He could...

"Did he propose to you?" His voice was soft and so close to my ear that I could feel his warm breath across my cheek. I managed to make a small nod. "You're not going to say yes, are you?" I swallowed. Somehow I knew he wouldn't like my answer.

"I think I'm going to say yes", I whispered, "'cause I don't think anyone else will propose to me. But on the other hand... There is a feeling growing inside me. The feeling of being owned when I marry him. I don't want that." I swallowed again. "However, if that's what Bilbo want, then I'm willing to give up my freedom." Kili let his arms slid down from my shoulders, until they restet around my waist instead. I leant the back of my head against his collarbone, and laid my hands over his, still with my eyes closed.

"What a polite, suppressed and silent creature you are", Kili murmured against the top of my head. "The opposite of most dwarves, and hobbits too, I suppose."

"I guess you would never be like that. Give up your freedom for someone else." He chuckled softly.

"There are only two persons in the whole Middle Earth I could do something like that for", he replied. "The first is Fili, and the other is a beautiful, young girl I met." When he said this, I felt a strong sadness close around my heart. I couldn't tell why. I couldn't describe it. It only was there, together with the knowledge that I could never be his One. I wasn't the one he spoke of. A beautiful, young girl. I was young, but I wasn't that beautiful. There were many other who were much more beautiful than me. I opened my eyes and felt them water. Did I really want to be his One? Could it be true that I had fell in love with him? It didn't matter anyway. There was another girl he had fell in love with. Some young dwarf with a good look and all those things.

I blinked. Then I realised myself from his arms, took Caramel and hurried away from him. The tears ran down my cheeks. Kili was probably quite confused. He wouldn't understand my feelings. Bilbo would think Kili had hurt me, and in a way he had.

"Rosie, wait!" Kili exclaimed behind me. "What's wrong?" I didn't answer, only made my way through the crowd, and kept my head bowed. I didn't want them to see my tears. "Did I say anything wrong?" He grabbed my upper arm, but I yanked it free, still without looking at him. "Why don't you tell me what happened?!" I could hear how frustrated he sounded, and it made me angry. Didn't he understand? Was he too stupid to understand what I felt? Wasn't it so obvious?

"I shall tell you what happened." I turned to him, still with my head bowed. Slowly I lifted my gaze until I stared into his dark eyes. Until he could see the tears and the pain in my face. "You happened!" I yelled. The confusion and anger was written over his face.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice rising. I could see how his fists clenched.

"I wish I never met you!" I replied. Then I pulled off the cloak, the belt and the dagger too. The things he had given me. "And those things", I said, before throwing them at him. "I don't want them, 'cause they remind me of a dwarf who broke my heart!" Then I spun around and rushed off to find Bilbo.

"Rosie?" Bilbo asked when he spotted me. "What happened?" I didn't say anything, only let go of Caramel, rushed over to Bilbo and nearly fell into his arms. He would always be there. He would hold me just as he always had. He would protect me from all which could hurt me. He had been right in trying to keep me away from the dwarves. In trying to keep me away from Kili.

"You were right", I sobbed. "You were right in trying to keep me away from all of this!" Bilbo gently rubbed my back as he hushed on me.

"So now you know that I only want to help you?" he asked softly. I nodded.

"I want to go home", I whispered. Before Bilbo got the chance to answer, we were told to get on the ponies and continue the journey.

We hadn't been travelling for long, when the rain came. It was heavy, and everybody and everything became soaked in a matter of minutes. "'Ere, Mr. Gandalf?" Dori asked from the front where he rode beside Nori. "Can't you do something about this accursed rain?"

"It's raining, Master dwarf", the wizard replied, seemingly unaffected by the weather. "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo questioned beside me. I felt a strong urge to smack him, and would probably have done it, if it wasn't for my low mood. Not that it wasn't low in the rest of the company, but after the short argument I had with Kili, it felt as if nothing matter anymore.

"What?"

"Are there any other wizards?"

"There are five of us", Gandalf replied and turned to glance back at Bilbo. "The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are two blue wizards..." He paused for a few seconds. "Do you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo asked from under his wet hood.

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown."

"Is he a great wizard?" Bilbo inquired. "Or is he more like you?" This time I gathered myself enough to send him a glare, and breathed: "Don't be so rude."

"I think he's a very great wizard", Gandalf replied and didn't sound offended by Bilbo's question, "in his own way. He's a gentle soul, who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps an eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too, because evil will always try to find a foothold in this world."

Again the silence fell upon the company, and we continued. What else could we do? I sighed and kept my gaze on Caramel's wet neck in front of me. Her fur had the colour of caramel when it was dry, but her mane was dark brown, nearly black when it was wet. I found myself daydreaming as we went on.

I was back in Hobbiton. It looked as if we never had left in the first place, and I noticed the pain wasn't there. "I'm home!" I shouted. I expected Bilbo to appear in the doorway, but instead a young hobbit appeared. He had dark brown eyes and dark brown, slightly curled hair down to his shoulders. He had no fur on his feet, wore shoes and he reminded me of someone.

"Mummy!" he exclaimed happily as he ran toward me. Somehow it didn't surprise me. I laughed, knelt down and hugged the boy.

"Hello, Thrain. Have daddy and Thror been nice while I was gone?" I asked in a joking tone. The boy grinned when I rose, his hand in mine.

"Yes", Thrain said. "Daddy took us out for a small walk, and guess what? We met uncle Fili!" The small boy continued talking about the days events when we entered the house. I let go of his hand and closed the door behind me.

"Rosie", a voice said from the door which led to the living room. "What took you so long?" I smiled as I went toward the man standing there. He had dark brown chocolate eyes, long, dark brown hair and dark brown beard. Truly not a hobbit. He put his arms around my waist and gently placed a kiss on my lips.

"Eww", another child said and made a grimace. "Can't you do that in privacy?" I glanced at the boy standing in the door, beside Thrain.

"One day, Thror, you'll find a pretty, young girl, and-"

"Oh, shut up", the boy said annoyed as he turned his back to me and the man. If I only could remember his name. "I'll take Thrain out for a walk", Thror said as he exited the hobbit hole, together with his younger brother. The door closed behind them and I turned my attention back to the man. He smiled and his eyes glimmered mischievously.

"Shall we continue from where we were interrupted?" I asked with a small smile.

"Why not?" he replied. All of a sudden, he turned me around, lifted me into his strong archer-arms and held me in bride style. "My little burglar." He grinned.

"Kili!" I chided with a laughter. "That was years ago."

"Ten years", he replied, still with that grin. "Do you remember-" I took his face in my hands and cut him off by pressing my lips against his.

"Right now", I replied softly, "I don't want to remember."

I blinked when someone shook me. Confused I turned and glanced at Bilbo's smiling face. "Wake up, sleepyhead!" I blinked again. Then I straitened, yawned and rubbed my eyes. "How did you manage to fall asleep during that rain?" I glanced at Bilbo.

"Have no idea", I replied groggily, before giving my attention to the surroundings. It had stopped to rain. We were at the edge of a small forest, and there was also a small, half ruined house there. It was still daylight, even if the sun soon would begin to sink in the horizon. "Where is Gandalf?" I asked when I realized the old wizard was nowhere to be found. That had to be the first time the others looked after him, 'cause they hadn't seen him disappear. A few feet away I heard Thorin mutter something about "disappearing wizards" and "not telling where he's going".

"We'll camp here for tonight!" Thorin announced and got of his pony. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies, and make sure you stay with them." He gave the siblings a strict look, and they quickly began to tie the ponies to the trees around.

I found myself following Kili with my eyes, and a lump appeared in my throat. Heart breaker. That was what he was. A heart breaker. I hated myself for having feelings for him and just wanted to turn away and run. Run to a place where someone would take me into a warm embrace, hold me and tell me everything would be fine. I wished Kili could be the one. I groaned and closed my eyes for a few seconds. Why did it have to be Kili, of all persons?

"Anything that matters, lassie?" a known voice asked beside me. I had opened my eyes which still were on Kili, but quickly turned it away from him, even if I knew Bofur had seen it. "You like him", he said silently. I only nodded. What else was there to say? "And he likes you." This time I shook my head. "No?"

"Well..." I cleared my throat before continuing. "He said there was a young girl he liked. A beautiful girl." The last was nothing but a whisper, and I felt my eyes water. "That would never be me. I'm not his One." Bofur gently put his arms around me. He didn't say: "But don't you know that you're the most beautiful creature he's ever seen?" He didn't tell me that Kili for sure liked me. He only held me.

"I'm sure he'll understand. Further or later he'll realize that you're the best that ever happened to him."

"But", I sobbed. "That can take years, and then I'm already married!" I felt how Bofur froze in a few seconds, but then he rubbed my back.

"Don't think about it", he told me. "You'll go with us all the way to Esgorath, and there is a long way. You two still have a lot of time to find each other." I swallowed and nodded. "Come now. Let's go and see if Bombur have began making some food." Again I nodded, before drying away the tears. I didn't look over at Fili who was sitting on an old trunk, his back against a tree, watching the ponies with a pipe in his mouth, and at least not Kili who was leaning against another tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching me and Bofur carefully.

I plopped down beside Bilbo and leant my head against his shoulder.

Nearly at the same time...

Fili glanced up at Kili who was standing there, looking tense, and not his usual joyful himself.

"Do you think she really meant what she said?" Kili asked, looking after Rosie who was lead away by Bofur. Kili's jaw tightened a bit and his eyes were sad and dark. "When she said she wished she never had met me..."

"She sounded quite serious about it", Fili replied and blew a ring of white smoke toward the sky. Again he glanced up at Kili. The youngest dwarf was pale, and the tension made each movement he did, nearly difficult. "Where did the joyful, young dwarf I grew up with, disappear?" At this, Kili sighed and turned his head to meet his brothers brown gaze.

"I don't know", he answered. Then he turned his head back to the other dwarves, Bilbo and Rosie sitting around the fire. For a while none of them said anything. Kili was the one to break the silence. "It feels as if a part of me disappeared when she said those things." Finally he moved away from the tree and sank down at the ground with his back against the trunk Fili was sitting on. "I brought her out of that shell she had crept into, but then I said something wrong – I don't know what – and she returned to the shell. I won't be able to bring her out again. She won't believe in me again. Never again." He put his forehead on his arms and stared down at the moss between his knees.

"What exactly did you say?" Fili asked, staring at the sky which quickly grew darker.

"We were talking about what polite creature she was, when she said she maybe would give up her freedom for another hobbit. She said she didn't think there were any persons I would do that for, and I answered: 'There are only two persons in the whole Middle Earth I could do something like that for. The first is Fili, and the other is a beautiful, young girl I met'", Kili answered, still with his forehead against his arms and his gaze at the ground.

"You said 'a beautiful, young girl'", Fili said slowly without looking at Kili. "Maybe..." He paused and frowned. Kili lifted his head and stared at his older brother.

"Maybe what?" he inquired anxiously. "Maybe what, Fili."

Fili took another few seconds before answering. "Maybe it was those words. A beautiful, young girl. Maybe she actually like you, and have feelings for you, but then she thought you meant someone else."

Kili stared at Fili with wide open, shocked eyes and half open mouth. Fili turned to look at him. Brown eyes locked with dark brown eyes. "That have to be an absurd joke", Kili finally said. He shook his head slightly in disbelief. "An absurd, mad joke." Fili shrugged and turned back to the ponies. Then he froze.

In the camp...

"He's been an awfully long time", Bilbo said and glanced around to look after the wizard again. I had lost count on how many times he had done that.

"He's a wizard, he does as he chooses", Bifur replied as he filled two bowls with stew and reached them to me and Bilbo. "Here, do us a favour and take this to the lads." I frowned at the bowl he reached me, but then I took it and sighed. Maybe I could do them that favour and bring them their food. One time. Only that one time.

I rose, took the bowl and followed Bilbo toward the edge of the woods where they were last seen. When we came in between the first trees, everything quickly became darker and I shivered a bit as I made my way after Bilbo. My small shoes weren't made for travelling, and if I didn't get a new pair soon, I would have to continue without shoes. I frowned as something sharp stung me in the foot. Not enough to make it start bleed, but enough to make it hurt. I cursed inside, something Fili and Kili had learned me, and again I cursed. Why did I have to think of them nearly each time I did something?

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked when we reached the two young dwarves. Last I spotted them, and that only happened, they were sitting at the edge of the forest, watching the ponies. Now they were standing there, staring at them.

"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies", Kili explained. I wanted to smack him in the back of his head. Why did he have to act so stupid? Everybody had heard what Thorin said.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem..." Fili said and tilted his head slightly toward Kili who I stood beside.

"We had sixteen", Kili continued, not noticing the bowl I had placed in front of him.

"Now we have fourteen", finished Fili. I narrowed my eyes at the ponies. One, two, three, four... eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Nearly panicked I searched for the missing two ponies. It couldn't be true. It had to be some joke.

"How did you manage to lose two ponies?" I asked frustrated as I hurried out between them and began searching for Caramel. She had to be there somewhere. I had tied her to the tree by myself!

"We didn't lose them!" Kili replied, sounding angry. "They were tied to the trees!" He began to name each of them as he went around in my track.

"Well, they're not now", I said, still searching for Caramel between the other furry horse backs.

"Caramel and Daisy are missing", Kili announced, just a few seconds after I realized Caramel was nowhere to be found. She was just as gone as Gandalf was. I turned to Kili who stood just a few feet away from me. The urge to do something drastically grew stronger inside me.

"How could you lose Caramel?" I yelled, closing the distance between us and smacking him at his cheek. "The others were right! You never care for anyone else than yourself!" The tears welled up in my eyes.

"She wasn't my job", Kili replied. "And besides, I wasn't the one tying her to the tree."

"Could you two please shut up and be quiet?" Both I and Kili turned to Bilbo who was the one talking. For a few seconds I wondered if the dwarves had had some influence on him, somehow. It was as if I only waited for the beard and moustache to appear on his face. In fact it was a comic idea, but then I threw it away. Bilbo was a hobbit, and hobbits didn't get beard nor moustache. "Well, that's not good. That's not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"No!" Fili and Kili exclaimed at once. Fili cleared his throat. "Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it." I frowned and glanced from Kili to Fili, and back again.

"Well", Bilbo said and didn't look quite sure of what he should do. "It looks like something big uprooted these trees." He walked over to the trees which indeed were laying there with their roots into the air.

"Well, that was our thinking", Kili quickly interrupted. He jumped aside when I lifted my hand to smack him again. Bilbo wasn't a good burglar, but I would protect him and what he said if it was right.

"Something very big... and possibly quite dangerous", Bilbo continued. I nodded, but suppressed the urge to give him a small smile.

"Hey", Fili suddenly exclaimed. "There's a light!" He jumped over the fallen tree, followed by Kili, then Bilbo, and me like the last. Fili was right. There was light in between the trees, and I could spot vast, dark shadows moving around it.

"What is it?" Bilbo hissed, and I realized he was still holding the bowl with Fili's stew. He had also picked up Kili's bowl, and was now holding both of them. He was looking toward the light.

"Trolls", I and Kili said at the same time. We quickly glanced at each other, and I felt myself blush when those dark brown eyes met mine. I automatic thought about the dream I had. The dream of me, Thror, Thrain and Kili. My fists clenched and I didn't want to look at him again.

"They've got Myrtle!" Bilbo hissed as a troll moved at the other side of the tree he was pressing his back against. "I think they're going to eat them. We have to do something!"

"Yes!" Kili nodded eagerly. This surprised me positive, but it turned to resignation at the next he said. "You should!"

"Wait – wh – no!" the poor hobbit exclaimed as the two dwarves took the bowls out of his hands and pushed him out between the trees, toward the troll camp.

"Trolls are slow and stupid", Fili informed him in a reassuring tone.

"You're so small, they'll never see you", Kili continued. "It's perfectly safe. We'll be right behind you."

"And if you run into trouble", Fili said to finish it, "hoot twice as a barn owl, and once like a brown owl." I groaned, but it was so low that they didn't hear it. Didn't they understand that Bilbo couldn't hoot as an owl at all?

To be continued...

Before this is finished, I should tell you that Rosie's dream won't come true. Just so you know.

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In fact I don't think I have many followers who're not on fanfiction, but it's just a little information if you're not.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!