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

Cirashala had quite a bit of trouble sleeping. She had returned to camp along with the brothers, before going to sleep on her own bedroll. Since they were in a valley as opposed to on the mountaintop, the air was a little warmer, and the heat from the fire being trapped within their circle by the surrounding rocks was sufficient to keep her warm. However, she hadn't realized that in the past few days she had gotten used to sleeping between the brothers, and part of her missed the warmth and security that they had offered.

She also had difficulty sleeping because images of the skirmish earlier that evening kept clouding her mind. She kept replaying the harrowing moments, where, had it not been for the brothers either killing her opponent or warning her of their presence, she would have certainly died, or at least been badly injured.

Turning over again with a sigh, she fingered the bandage around her forearm. She heard the soft sound of boots scraping across dirt, and her eyes opened to see Balin looking down at her. The old dwarf knelt down beside her, smiling.

"Cannot sleep, lassie?" he asked softly, not wishing to wake the others. She nodded slightly, before sitting up. She wrapped her blanket around her form as she leaned back against the rock behind her, the warmth from it soothing her aching back.

"My body must have muscles I never knew I had, at least until now," she muttered, squinting in the light of the fire with stray wild curls around her face. The old dwarf chuckled as he sat down beside her.

"Traveling and mountain climbing tend to do that to you," he said, "Especially if you are not used to it." The white haired dwarf sat silently for a moment, watching the sparks of the fire rise as Bifur, the second dwarf on watch along with Balin, added another log to the slowly waning flame.

"That was a very kind thing you did," he said quietly, and she looked at him in confusion. He looked at her, respect shining from his old eyes. "I am quite sure that young Kili won't forget it." Her eyes widened, before they dropped to her lap.

"You saw," she stated, and the old dwarf nodded, looking somewhat sheepish. "Aye, lass. After you left to attend to your…business, I began to have regrets letting you go off on your own so soon after the orc attack, so I followed you." She gasped, flushing in embarrassment as she glared at him, and he held up his hand.

"Now I didn't watch you, so don't go thinking that," he admonished sternly. "I would never do such a thing. I turned my back, but I was near enough that I could have aided you, should more orcs appear."

She looked at him for a moment, before relaxing. She sighed, picking at small fuzzballs on her blanket.

"They could have died," she whispered. "Protecting me. I-I am not…good enough to fight against the orcs. I-I swore I would defend you all, but it was I who needed defending. They wouldn't even let me stand in front of them." Balin's eyes softened as he looked at her.

"No, they wouldn't," he said quietly. "Dis raised those lads rightly. They would never stand aside and allow a woman to be injured in their defense, whether she swore an oath or not." She looked up at the old dwarf, and he could see the hesitation, fear and uncertainty in her gaze.

"Then how am I supposed to fulfill my oath if they, or any of you, won't let me defend you?" she asked. Balin sat in thought for a few minutes, until his gaze landed on the sheathed sword next to her, and smiled.

"Learn how to defend yourself," he replied, looking at her. "Allow them to fight their own enemies without worrying for your safety." She eyed the sword, and then the bow with trepidation.

"I won't ever be as good with my weapons as any of you," she replied quietly, "But I will do my best." The dwarf smiled.

"That is all anyone can ever do," he replied. She looked at him again, biting her lip.

"Mr. Balin?" she asked, and the dwarf looked at her. "H-how in the whole of Middle-earth am I supposed to learn how to wield my weapons if I can barely move by the time I get into camp?"

This time, the dwarf's chuckles rang out through their campsite, earning him a few creative curses and gestures from his previously asleep comrades.

XXX

Kili woke as the sun was just beginning to rise. The burden he had carried the day before had been lifted from his shoulders, and he breathed deeply of the fresh morning air. He sat up and yawned, wincing as the movement tugged at the bruise on his cheek. He fingered it tenderly, feeling his beard beneath his hand and knowing that he had deserved the painful bruise-and much more.

He knew very well the penalty for touching a woman's beard against her will- he would have lost his own, along with imprisonment. He had had a terrible struggle to grow a proper beard, despite having had fuzz on his face since he was born, and had even resorted to applying bird dung to it one time (a surefire remedy, according to the admittedly very drunk full bearded healer).

Much to the chagrin of the young and foolish dwarf, he discovered the next morning that the particular bird the healer had acquired the concoction from had rather acidic matter, causing incredibly painful blisters on his face that took a week to heal. The thought of losing his sparse beard after all that in return for something he had done, especially when he had done it without thinking, had been terrifying. The young woman had no idea how much respect she had earned from him and his brother when she had forgiven him the night before. For such an offense, though rare, had never been forgiven in the history of longbeard dwarves that Kili knew of.

He glanced at Cirashala's bedroll, brow furrowing when he saw it empty. He stood up, and glanced around camp. Not seeing any sight of her as Bombur prepared breakfast, he made his way to the opening in the circle of rocks. A flash of light off to the side caught his eye, and he turned to see what it was, only for his eyes to widen in astonishment as he ducked his body behind the jutting out stone, peeking over it as he stared at the sight before him.

Cirashala stood there, sword unsheathed as she went through her motions, eyes focused and jaw set in determination. She thrust and parried, swung around and swiped at the knees and brought her sword back up toward the neck of her invisible opponent. His trained eye immediately spotted several errors in her stance and execution, and he noted the slight wobble of her sword as her arms trembled. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face, cheeks red with exertion, but she didn't stop.

She had replaced the two braids behind her ears with one long one down her back, though the two small braids beginning at the top of her forehead still wound down into the single braid behind her back. She panted heavily as she paused suddenly, her breath misting before her as the early morning sun glinted off her light auburn hair.

How long has she been out here, he thought to himself. She is already tired, and she will exhaust herself before we even break camp.

"She needs to stop," a quiet voice sounded behind him, and Kili didn't need to turn around to know his brother was watching as well. "She won't be able to keep up if she doesn't." The two pairs of eyes met, before they approached her.

She looked up at them as they stopped in front of her, shaking her head.

"It is impossible to separate you two, isn't it?" she asked. The two looked at each other, grinning.

"Mahal help the person who tries," Kili replied, before looking at her with a concerned expression. "You should stop." She shook her head.

"I have to learn to defend myself," she argued, "I don't want anyone else getting hurt if I can't." The young heirs shared a look, before turning back to her.

"You won't be able to keep up with us if you tire yourself out before we even start," Fili pointed out, and she looked in the direction of camp, before nodding in defeat.

"Right," she replied, sheathing her sword at her hip. She brought the back of her hand to swipe across her forehead, brushing the sweat off. She went back in toward camp, and began to pack up her bedroll. The two watched her, shaking their heads in wonder.

"Training tonight," Fili said simply, and Kili nodded.

Yes, he thought. If she could defend herself better, maybe she won't need us to protect her anymore.

That strange feeling tugged in his chest again, and he watched as she hoisted her pack on her shoulders and followed the dwarves as they wound down the path, continuing on their journey.

But, what if I don't want to stop protecting her?