I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged! J

Kili tried to curl up away from Cirashala, not wanting an embarrassing repeat of that morning. He could hear quite a few shuffles and grumbles, and turned his head as Fili sat up with annoyance clouding his features. He began to rifle in his pack until he had pulled out his spare tunic, and took off his jerkin.

"What are you doing?" Kili mumbled, sitting up as well. His damp tunic felt clammy and cold on his skin, and he noticed that several of the other dwarves had sat up as were rifling through their packs as well.

The fire had been put out due to lack of space, and after tossing the charred remains out into the snow, the dwarves had placed a lantern in the middle of the floor in order to make more space. It's glow reflected off the white walls, giving them enough light to see fairly clearly without being as bright as daylight. Kili could see his brother's annoyed expression quite well as the elder looked at him.

"Changing my tunic," he grumbled. "Can't sleep in this wet one." Kili's eyes widened as he glanced at the sleeping girl between them.

"B-but Fili, there's a girl in here!" he hissed, causing several of the dwarves to glance her way cautiously as they remembered their newest companion. Fili rolled his eyes.

"She's asleep," he said as his fingers resumed their task of unlacing the front of his burnt red tunic. "It's not like she will see anything."

"No 'm not," her muffled voice sounded under her blanket, and the dwarves' heads whipped towards her. Fili's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he pulled the two sides of his tunic together, face flushing in embarrassment as Kili fought the urge to snicker at his brother's discomfort.

She sat up, squinting in the light, before grabbing her thin blanket and began to stand.

"Don't worry, I'll step outside," she mumbled sleepily, eyes on the floor. "It's not like I could sleep with you all arguing anyway." She wrapped the blanket around her as she made her way toward the door, trying to step carefully between the rows of boots that met each other in the middle. She reached the doorway, and ducked down to crawl out, having to push some snow out of the way as it had begun to drift toward the door.

The startled dwarves looked at the doorway she had just exited, eyes wide as several flushed with embarrassment at being caught in the act of changing by a young woman. Balin was the first to break the silence.

"Well, best hurry up and get yourselves changed lads," the old dwarf said with a chuckle, reaching for his own bag. "We don't want the poor girl freezing to death outside waiting for us to get decent!" It seemed to have the desired effect, because the dwarves busied themselves with changing quickly. Even those who had not been changing before due to her presence decided to do so since the opportunity presented itself.

Kili reached toward his bag, before remembering that she had his spare tunic. He sat back and fiddled with the edge of his damp tunic, wishing he had thought to bring a third one. Of course, none of them had expected to encounter a poorly dressed companion, so at the time two had seemed sufficient enough.

Fili laced up his dry tunic, before eyeing Kili with confusion.

"Brother, why aren't you changing?" he asked, gesturing toward Kili's pack. "Your tunic is as damp as any of ours." Kili shrugged.

"She is wearing my spare, remember?" he replied, and Fili paused, glancing down at his warm tunic for a moment, before beginning to unlace it. Kili reached his hand over and placed it over Fili's, stilling his hands.

"You don't need to give me yours, brother," the young dwarf said, and Fili shook his head.

"Your tunic is wetter than mine," he replied stubbornly, and Kili shook his head.

"You are more annoyed with being damp than I," he argued back, and just as Fili opened his mouth to retort, a dark blue tunic flew past his shoulder to hit Kili smack in the face. The startled dwarf looked down in confusion, recognizing the tunic in his lap to be Thorin's. They looked over at their uncle in surprise, who had his arms crossed in front of him as he sat on his bedroll.

"Both of you, get dry things on and go to sleep," he muttered gruffly, before laying back down. Kili glanced down at the bundle in his arms, then back up at his uncle, before hastily undoing the laces on his tunic.

XXX

Cirashala huddled in the corner between the doorway and the wall of the igloo, shivering. The wind whipped her loose hair in all directions, and the two small braids on either side of her face were quickly becoming unraveled. She adjusted the blanket so it went over her head and drew her knees up to her chest in order to keep what little heat she had from escaping.

She thought about what the dwarves had said, about how they suspected her of being after the gold. While it wasn't like she didn't need something in order to set up a new life here in Middle-earth after she reached Laketown, she really didn't need much, and wouldn't even think about taking any of the dwarves' gold. That gold belonged to them and part of it to Bard as the heir of Dale, and she would not take even one gold piece or jewel from that horde.

She shook her head as her chin rested on her knees.

Why can't the dwarves just accept that I am genuinely trying to help them? She thought to herself, feeling more and more discouraged. They are convinced that no one will help them unless they can get something out of it.

She thought about what Gloin had said- about how the world of Men treated the dwarves. She remembered points in her country's history where racism was rampant, and even in the current times, when she befriended a Latina girl even though the white students in the school she was in at the time didn't mingle or hang around the Latinos and Latinas. She had known some Spanish, and had aided the girl in a class as best she could when the girl couldn't understand the teacher.

While she had been the subject of bullying for her many differences- being a new student all the time, having hand-me-down clothing that was far out of style, having glasses and at one point braces, and being naturally shy, she had never dealt with actual racism being directed towards her before. It was a humbling experience, and she appreciated the efforts that minorities had taken in order to be treated equally. She supposed there was what she had heard termed "reverse racism" where those who were minorities returned the racism towards Caucasians in kind, but she had been fortunate to live in many areas that hadn't had that problem.

She had always been taught that everyone was the same, regardless of who (or in this case, what) they were, and to always look at a person's heart to judge their character, not at the outside. It wasn't always easy, for many people wore "masks" to hide their true nature, and she had been fooled on occasion to devastating consequences. She had her share of friends that had feigned friendship, only to turn around and with horrible words and actions stabbed her in the back. And she had learn to wear a mask of her own- the mask of indifference. She let few in, and even then had often held her at arm's length.

Her husband had looked beyond that mask when they met, and accepted her for who she was. Where others had scorned everything about her- from what she looked like to how she sang or played her fiddle, and her husband had loved all of it. She hadn't sung a single note since her husband died, and her grief was still so raw that she wouldn't dare allow a tune to pass her lips. Her violin had not been picked up, and all those things she had loved doing had died. In their place was grief, for the one person who had looked beyond the mask and accepted it was gone, along with her two daughters.

Now, because of her hurt and also because of the secret she bore- the knowledge of the Quest and of the events that happen many decades after- she had to wear the mask again. She didn't like hiding it, but she knew that if they were to find out the events that were supposed to happen in their future, any attempts to change it could result in even worse fates, and would undoubtedly affect the fates that must align up for the War of the Ring to be successful.

In that moment, she felt very small and alone, and the words she had heard seemed to clarify one thing- it didn't matter what she did, she would always be nothing more than a human to the dwarves. And unless she could magically change her race, she felt that nothing would ever change that.

She only hoped that someone would come and let her know it was all right to go back into the shelter before she froze to death.

XXX

Once everyone had gotten decent and settled down, Bilbo offered to go get Cirashala. His brow was furrowed with concern as he realized just how long it had taken the dwarves to change, and hoped that she wasn't half frozen. He went to crawl through the door, but stopped short with a cry.

"We're snowed in!" he called over his shoulder as he pushed on the snow blocking his way to no avail. Fili and Kili's head snapped up, eyes wide, before the two jumped over the dwarves blocking their path, earning several curses as they accidentally stepped on several legs and boots.

Bilbo moved out of the doorway as the two came up from behind him, and Kili crawled through first, pawing at the snow and handing it back to Fili, who piled it off to the side. Balin stood behind the three along with Bofur, both dwarves looking concerned as their gaze drifted from the doorway to the small hole in the roof, hearing the wind blowing hard outside.

It took Kili about five minutes to dig a hole big enough for him to fit through, and before Fili or Thorin could stop him he squeezed out, hoping that they weren't too late.

XXX

As Cirashala's thoughts consumed her, her head began to tilt toward the side and her eyes became very heavy. She struggled to keep them open, blinking rapidly for a second or two before her head tilted again, and each time her eyes stayed closed longer and longer.

Why am I getting warm? She thought to herself, I should be cold.

The last thing she remembered was a slight thump as she slumped into the side of the shelter.

XXX

Kili stood up, peering into the swirling snow. It had gotten a good two feet deeper since they had gone into their shelter, and any tracks she might have left had disappeared in the thick snow.

He shivered from the cold, glad he had grabbed his coat. He walked toward the right of the doorway, making sure he kept his hand on the igloo so as to not lose it in the storm. He had experienced whiteouts before back in the Blue Mountains, but nothing like this.

The swirling snow was so thick he was covered in it within seconds. His hair whipped around his face so fast that it stung when it made contact. He followed the shelter around quickly until he was on the other side, seeing so sign or shadow of the girl.

He had just begun to grow really worried, when his boot thumped against something under a drift of snow. He knelt down beside the huddle on the left side of the doorway, and brushed his hand against it, feeling fabric underneath. He gasped, and quickly brushed the rest of the snow off of her.

He removed his cloak, not caring about wet tunics anymore, and wrapped it around the cold girl. He picked her up, pulling her close to him, and was relieved to feel warm breath against his neck. He stumbled a bit as he stood up, turning to find his brother now beside him.

Fili wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders and all but pushed the two down the slight slope they had dug into the shelter.

XXX

Cirashala could hear voices around her, but they sounded foggy and far away. She slowly became aware that she was shivering violently, and that her hands and feet were tingling. She was also aware of a steady thump-thump in her ear, and the slight sound of a crackling fire.

Her eyes fluttered open, but she couldn't see much beyond the blanket that was nestled right up to her eye, dipping just enough to not cover her nose and mouth. Her brow creased in bewilderment as she felt her face rising up and down. A slight whimper escaped her as a twinge of pain from her icy hands shot up her arm, and the up and down movement stilled for a moment.

"She's waking up," Kili's voice reverberated by her face, though it sounded far away, and she tried to look up, her forehead brushing soft stubble as it came in contact with his chin.

The blanket was pushed down a bit, revealing Oin's concerned face. She was vaguely aware of someone rubbing her bare feet vigorously, and could see her lower legs in Fili's lap as the blond haired dwarf moved his hands over her very red feet, looking at her with concern.

"How are ye, lass?" Oin asked her. "Warming up yet?" She took a deep breath, and nodded slowly.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, her voice a bit raspy. Oin sighed.

"It seems you fell asleep outside waiting for us to change," he said. "Don't you know it's dangerous to fall asleep in a snowstorm?" She ducked her head in shame.

"I-I tried to stay awake, I really did," she mumbled, and the healer looked confused until Bofur hollered what she had said at the deaf dwarf, and advised him that he probably should keep his ear trumpet handy if he wished to hear anything at all. "I'm just so tired."

"Why didn't you say anything about these blisters?" Fili asked, and she tried to sit up to see what he was talking about, only to realize that both her and Kili seemed to have over a dozen blankets around the two of them. She realized quickly enough that he was talking about the blisters on her feet when he had to move his fingers around one to avoid rubbing it as he tried to get blood flow back to her half frozen feet.

"It's not important," she replied. "Why am I in Kili's lap?" She could feel the young dwarf's heartbeat quicken at her question as his breath hitched in his throat.

"Because the lad went the wrong direction looking for you and nearly froze himself after he wrapped you in his coat," Balin explained. "We needed to wrap the both of you in our blankets to get you both warm. It is cold enough outside to freeze meat." Her eyes widened, and she tried to shuffle away.

"I-I don't….you can have your blankets….I'll be fine, I—" Balin held up his hand.

"None of that now, lass," he said sternly. "You left a warm shelter so we could change into dry clothes, something you need to do as well." Her eyes widened to saucers.

"I won't make all of you go out there!" she cried out, and Balin looked at the company around him.

"Then we will turn around," he said simply, his expression daring the others to challenge him. Thorin sighed and motioned to Dwalin, and the two grabbed one of the blankets and used Fili's twin daggers to pin the top two corners of the blanket to the back of the igloo's wall.

"Change behind there," Thorin ordered, turning around to face her. She nodded, and went to get up, but hissed as her feet made contact with the snow beneath her feet.

"Here," Fili said, handing her socks and boots to her. She put them on quickly, and grabbed her pack, going behind the blanket to change. She could hear shuffling as the company grabbed their blankets back and laid their bedrolls back out, and when her dry tunic was back on, she stepped out from behind the blanket.

She stepped up to Kili, who looked up at her from laying his coat on the floor to use as a sleeping surface. She handed him his spare tunic, still quite damp from outside, and looked down.

"Thank you," she whispered, before laying her damp tunic out along with the others to dry by the fire. She almost didn't hear his response, it was spoken so softly.

"You're welcome, milady."

XXX

They all lay down to sleep, everyone finally in dry things, and as was the case from the night before, Cirashala was between the two young heirs. Instead of trying to avoid her like before, they both scooted as close as they could to her to try and warm her still shivering form. She scooted down just a bit so that she could breathe more comfortably, never having been able to face someone who was sleeping next to her.

She glanced upward at Kili, and was struck by how much he looked like her husband. His dark eyebrows were almost exactly the same, as was the large brownish hazel eyes, and his hair color. Her husband's hair had been far shorter, but when he briefly had bangs he had looked very similar. And though her husband did not have a beard, when he went without shaving for a few days, his ghost of a beard was slightly reminiscent of Kili's.

A pain flitted through her heart at the thought, and she wondered how on earth she was going to be able to go on this quest with a constant reminder of her dead husband walking near her.

She was really confused as to why he had referred to her as milady. She had no title, she had no birthright. She did not understand why he would say such a thing, but as the grueling events of the day caught up with her, she found her thoughts drifting away to sleep.

I will deal with the "milady" tomorrow, she thought to herself as warm sleep claimed her.