Hello - I'm back!

Finally decided to update hahaha. I'm sorry if this chapter is very empty, though, and not up to standard at all. I suppose it's, like, a filler chapter.

Hope you enjoy!

"Let's go. Now, quickly."

Bofur looked at Thorin in confusion. "But what about Ella? She's still asleep."

"Which is exactly why we're going now," Fili said. "It's too dangerous for her."

Bofur only gaped at Fili in disbelief, some of the other dwarfs' expressions mirroring his own.

"Leave the lass behind?" Gloin demanded. "Lad, what are you thinking – "

"He is right," Thorin said, shortly. "It is far too dangerous for her. She will be safer here. She has already come this far. We leave immediately."

"Wait, what? You're leaving?"

Bain had appeared by the table, his face alarmed. "No, you can't go – "

"Try and stop us."

The sun was just beginning to sink when Tilda saw the bundle of blankets on Sigrid's and her bed start to shift.

Ella was underneath that pile of blankets, her dark hair spreading out across the white pillow. Tilda liked her hair. It was dirty and tangled, but it was lovely hair. And Ella's eyes were very pretty – plain brown, but very bright and sparkling.

Tilda wasn't a fool. She'd seen the way that Ella and the blond dwarf had looked at each other and how close they were. And she remembered the conversation that the two had had just before Ella had followed Sigrid into their room to sleep – and the promise that the blond dwarf had given to waken her should anything happen.

And now they were gone, and Ella was still here.

Tilda wondered how she would react to that.

"Tilda?"

Ella's head had finally emerged, her brown eyes blinking sleepily. She glanced out the window – and shot to her feet instantly. "Is that – is that the sunset?"

Tilda swallowed. "Yes."

"But – " Ella whirled around, as if trying to take in her surroundings – and then her shoulders abruptly dropped. She took a step closer to the younger girl. "He wouldn't – he wouldn't have – "

She marched over to the doorway and promptly made her way through, and came to a halt at the sight of Sigrid and Bain standing before her, deep in discussion.

"He's – he's gone."

Ella stood there, swaying slightly, her eyes searching the room, as if one of the dwarfs would suddenly spring out of somewhere.

Sigrid looked worried. "Yes," she said. "They left hours ago."

"He didn't – he didn't wake me?"

Bain was watching her with an anxious look. "No, he didn't."

Ella stood there a moment longer, and then, slowly, shut her eyes.

"There is a prophecy," Bard was saying, some time later, having burst into his house, demanding to know where the dwarfs were. "A prophecy about the King Under the Mountain and his return to Erebor. For that is who he is, isn't he?" He looked at Ella accusingly. "That dwarf that you travel with, your leader. He is Thorin Oakenshield."

Ella lifted her chin slightly, fire clear in her eyes. "Yes," she said, "yes, he is Thorin Oakenshield, and I am a part of his company, as are his heirs."

Tilda watched her from the table, the small, dark girl with the strange glasses on her face, glaring at her father.

"They will bring only death, and danger!"

"They are the dwarfs of Erebor, and they've come to reclaim their homeland!" Ella had risen to her feet, despite still not being much taller than Bard when he was seated. "And besides, what stupid prophecy are you talking about?"

"I know it," Bain said, quickly, before Bard could open his mouth. He recited:

"The lord of silver fountains,

the king of carven stone,

the king beneath the mountain shall come into his own;

and the bells shall ring in gladness at the mountain king's return,

but all shall fail in sadness and the lake will shine and burn."

Ella frowned, processing the verse.

"All right, I'll admit that the last line is a little disheartening," she said. "But where I come from, prophecies are only true if you make them come true. They're just one of the more solid possibilities of the future. But it's us who decide what we want to do in life, and how."

"That may be how it is where you come from, but here, prophecies tend to come true," Bard said grimly.

Ella looked at him, opening and closing her mouth, as if struggling with what to say.

"Look," she said. "I get where you're coming from. I do. I know people always think I'm young and irrational and unreasonable and all that just because I'm a teenager, and I don't understand a lot of things. Maybe sometimes that's very true. And I know that you are a realist, and a pessimist, and you only want to protect your family and your town. But sometimes, I think, it's important to have faith. Not to just believe, but to have faith that things all turn out right in the end. I know it sounds like a silly fairytale, or something. But things don't necessarily have to turn out that way. Life's thrown a lot of terrible things your way, I can see it in your eyes. But maybe all Thorin needs is a bit of help, even if he is a stubborn old ass that won't admit it."

"I thought you were angry at them," Sigrid said, quietly.

"Angry? I'm fucking furious." Ella's face hardened, slightly. "But I'll deal with that when I see them again."

Bard looked at Ella for a long time.

"I know that you probably think that Thorin and the others are only out here for the gold that Smaug took from them," Ella said, and in her mind's eye, she could see a great, red-gold dragon, mountains of glinting gold treasure. "But that's not all there is to it. Thorin's main objective, his main purpose, really is to reclaim Erebor. And I can promise you that I'm not lying."

"I will take your word for it," Bard said, after a silence so long that Tilda had begun to be afraid. "But I must go after them."

Ella only looked down at the floor as Bard left the house, the door swinging shut behind him.

"Well," she mumbled, "that went well."

"You love him, don't you?"

Ella's head jerked upwards, sharply. "What?"

Sigrid glanced around, hurriedly, then slid into the seat next to Ella. "That blond dwarf. Fili, or whatever his name is. You love him, don't you?"

"I – " Ella opened her mouth, and then shut it again, a faint flush seeping into her cheeks. "I – yes. I do."

"And he loves you."

The red on Ella's face spoke for itself.

"It sounds so beautiful," Sigrid murmured. "I've never seen anyone look at each other, the way you two do. You are very lucky, and so is he."

Ella scoffed. "Lucky? He left me."

He left me.

Ella squeezed her eyes shut. It had to happen. Of course it had. She wasn't important enough to him, to be brought along on the final part of their journey.

"No," Sigrid said. "No, you're wrong. He didn't want to. He had to. I don't think he could bear to see you hurt. Before they left, he stood in the doorway, watching you sleep. Just watching. And then he asked me to make sure that you were all right. And to tell you that he would come back for you, and that he always would."

"Yeah, well. Words are only words."

"He asked me to pass you this, too." Sigrid pressed something into Ella's palm, and she opened it to find a single silver bead, hard and cold and worn-looking. "He told me to say that that was his favourite, and that he would come back for it."

Ella looked at the bead for a long, long time, and then shut her eyes with a groan. "That asshole," she muttered. "How am I supposed to be angry at him like this?"

Sigrid let out a low chuckle.

Bain burst through the door, panting, eyes wide.

"They're feasting," he said. "They're celebrating Thorin's return. They're going to celebrate all night long."

Sigrid looked over at Ella, who had drifted over to the window.

"Are you going to find him?" she asked, quietly.

Ella shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

"He can come find me, if he wants to."

Bain looked from his sister to the dark girl, looking slightly confused.

"How is Father?" Sigrid asked him.

"Not far behind," said Bain. "He's upset. Very upset. He tried to make the townspeople see reason, but they turned against him in the end. They can think only of the gold."

"Gold." Ella's voice was sad. "That's all that most people can ever think about."

"Will you go find her, lad?"

Balin looked at Fili searchingly, the blond dwarf's eyes fixed on his younger brother, wincing, obviously in pain, but still trying to smile.

"Find who?" he said, absently.

Balin raised his eyebrows. "Ella."

Fili turned his head to look at him. "No."

"And why not?"

"She'll be furious," Fili said. "I don't even want to imagine it. And if I go to her now, she'll find some way to follow us tomorrow. And Kili – Kili's hurt. I'm afraid."

"Kili's a strong one," said Balin. "He will pull through."

"Yes. Yes, he will."

"But about Ella, lad. Just don't forget her, will you?"

Fili looked at him blankly. "Forget her?"

"Aye." Balin thought of the gold-sickness, and hoped that Fili would not fall under it as well. "Not all that is precious is gold."

"I would never leave her behind."

"I hope so, lad."

Balin sighed.

"Yes, I hope so."