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

Fili stood stock still, eyes wide and mouth hanging open with disbelief, hoping-no, praying that he had heard wrong.

"Y-you touched her face?" he asked slowly, the shock evident in his tone. Kili shivered, before whispering, "Aye." Turning around, he was completely unprepared for what happened next.

Fili's right fist collided with the side of Kili's face, sending the young dwarf straight to the ground. Kili's hand shot to his rapidly darkening cheek, looking up at his angry brother with wide, shocked eyes. The blonde dwarf stood above him, fists clenched at his sides, face visibly angry.

"Kili, what in Durin's name were you thinking?" he growled lowly, mindful of his surroundings and the potential dangers even in his furious state. "You touched her face! Aren't you aware that, if she was a dwarf woman, you would have touched her beard?!" Kili nodded, face reddening in shame as he averted his eyes.

"I-I didn't mean to," he whispered, and Fili's eyebrows shot up.

"You didn't mean to?" he spat. "Kili, you violated her!"

"Brother, I swear I didn't mean to!" Kili replied, fear evident in his tone. Fili opened his mouth to continue, when the sound of boots scraping against dirt reached their ears. The young heir looked up in the direction the noise came from, and froze.

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Cirashala stood stock still, blue eyes wide as she stared at the two brothers. It was immediately evident that Fili had struck Kili, given their stances. And, although her ears were in no way as good as an elf's, she was still able to make out nearly their entire conversation, having been heading back toward camp when she had come upon them.

She swallowed quickly, her grip tightening on the hilt of Bilbo's sword as it pointed toward the ground at her side, which she had been forced to carry given that Bilbo hadn't handed her its sheath. She looked from one to the other, a shocked expression on her face.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, breaking the tense silence. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I…" Kili's face paled at the mention of eavesdrop, his dark eyes widening. She swallowed, looking at Fili.

"W-what are you talking about?" She asked quietly, confusion and just a hint of fear in her voice. "Kili didn't violate me. Why would you accuse him of such a thing?" Fili's eyes widened, before glancing at his brother. His eyes narrowed, and he looked at her.

"He touched your face," Fili said simply, frowning when a confused expression crossed her face.

"Huh?" she asked, glancing at Kili. "I-I will admit, it was a bit…unexpected, a-and I…wasn't sure…about it, but….violated?" Fili looked at her, recognition dawning on his face at the completely bewildered expression on hers. He sighed heavily.

"You have no idea, do you?" he asked quietly, and she shook her head. She looked at Kili, who had stood up but was still looking at the ground, shame in his features as the bruise on his face stood out against his pale skin. Fili glanced at his brother, before looking back at Cirashala.

"You remember what I told you, about dwarves and their hair?" he asked, and she nodded. He took a deep breath. "Well, with dwarves….let's just say….he shouldn't have done what he did. In fact, there are laws against it, with severe punishments." Her eyes widened considerably as Kili dropped down to his knees right where he had been standing.

"Milady, please," he whispered, releasing a shuddering breath. "Please-I beg your forgiveness, though I do not deserve it." He looked up at her, eyes glistening with tears of shame. She shook her head, and watched as Kili lowered his, wrapping his arms around himself.

"No," she whispered, before looking straight at Kili. "No, I won't forgive you." His breathing hitched as his face crumpled, mostly hidden by his dark locks. Fili looked at her in stunned defeat, and she held up her hand, moving to crouch in front of the despondent young dwarf.

She placed her hand on Kili's shoulder, feeling his shoulders shaking and hearing the slightly muffled sobs, and her eyes softened.

"I won't forgive you," she said quietly, no hostility in her tone, "Because there is nothing to forgive." The young dwarf's head shot up, completely stunned as his wet face came into view. Behind him, his brother's face was equally stunned.

"W-what?" he whispered, swallowing. It wasn't quite a smile she gave him (her not being able to smile with her grief quite yet), but her eyes bore a look of reassurance as she squeezed her shoulder. "I-I don't understand. I viol—" She held up her hand, silencing him, and he looked at her, a question in his eyes.

"You did not violate me," she whispered. "Your laws may say such a thing, but I could tell that you were just trying to help me feel better, am I right?" He nodded fervently.

"Aye," he replied, "I-I could tell you were in pain, a-and I just wanted to help." She nodded.

"I know." She stood up, offering her hand. He looked at her for a moment, hesitating, before reaching up and grasping her hand. She helped him stand to his feet, squeezing his hand before letting go. She went to pass him, but stopped and looked over her shoulder for a moment.

"And I am no lady," she said, "Just a simple peasant. No need to call me otherwise."

Unseen in the shadows, a pair of brown eyes watched as she made her way back to camp, the two brothers walking protectively behind her, a warm smile spread across the old, wise face.

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A response to guest reviewer-Guest- I know this is a very short chapter compared to my usual ones, but you asked for another chapter up soon, so here you go :D This is kind of a bridge chapter, closing the mini-arc about the whole face touching incident, and I felt honestly that this was a good spot to end this particular mini-sub arc. I will be starting the next chapter right after I post this, though given that it is already 9 pm here where I live, I cannot promise that the next chapter will be up today. I also am babysitting my friends two kids in addition to my own (all four of them aged 4 and younger) until 6:30 pm tomorrow so while I might attempt to get the next chapter up tomorrow, I cannot promise it then either :[ But I will do my best :) Thanks for reviewing! If you put your name (or a name) on another review, then I will respond by name next reply :D

In response to guest reviewer Ri-chan- It's not so much that it was a good/bad review thing, it was more that all they did was nitpick a typo and accuse me of using passive voice throughout the whole first chapter. Considering that a)they got the grammatical concept incorrect, and b) that most of my first chapter was comprised of flashbacks, what I had done seemed to be fairly appropriate. It is a huge pain in the you know what to try and repost existing chapters, so I will just let my typos be…that was all they said, except for the phrase "for shame" indicating to me that it was likely someone who was just trying to be rude or a flame. Now, I have gotten some reviews with feedback that I can actually use, and that is constructive and not condescending, and those I appreciate, because they help me improve as a writer. I am sure that after 40 chapters that I have improved throughout the course of the story itself as a result. I am aware that I cannot please everyone, but I do have a philosophy-if a person doesn't like my story they don't have to read it. They don't have to be mean about it either. And you will probably be happy to note this ends the cheek touching sub-mini-arc :D And I am trying to be medically accurate as much as possible (I couldn't ask my nurse practitioner mother in law if someone could survive a warg bite, for example, but could ask her how much blood a person can lose and still function, albeit dehydrated and anemic, and she said about half their supply, which would make Cirashala still being alive doable as long as no major organs were irreparably damaged or spleen was ruptured, which they weren't in this case. Bruised maybe, but not ruptured) and my extended family's knowledge plus my own (was pre-med in University then decided to stay home until my children are old enough for school full time before heading back-also have to work through a sleep disorder first as well) So the reference to bleeding practices was knowledge that I already knew, thus by extension my character does as well (she is loosely based off me).

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow! I love you guys! 8 reviews for last chapter! Woohoo :D :D :D you made me one happy girl! :D