The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien and the movies belong to Peter Jackson. I'm just a devoted fan.

I know, it's been a while. And I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I really am. But I'm a double major in college with a part time job and a boatload of personal issues, so I would really appreciate it if ya'll cooled off with the 'UPDATE PLZ NOW UPD8!' messages. I have no intention of putting this story on hiatus or anything, but sometimes life happens.

I'm glad the kiss got such great response! I had fun with that last chapter, esp. when Bilbo brushed aside her hair on her face. Gosh, precious babies :') I've even gotten fanart...that's so sweet of you guys~

WE GET ORI'S CONFESSION THIS CHAPTER OK IT'S BEEN LONG OVERDUE. It may not be as dramatic or swoon-worthy as I originally planned but I just needed to tie up that loose end before we get to some adorable Bilbo/Relly times...does that ship even have a name? Belly? Rilbo? who knows...

Dwarf Style Interrogation Time

Talk not of wasted affection - affection never was wasted.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Relly Crillynook had never considered herself pretty or even remotely good looking. She was scraggly with sharp bones and floppy black hair and as she soon learned, wore a two inch scar on her left cheek from a Goblin arrow hit. She had traced the line on her cheek over and over, realizing it didn't really mar her face as badly as she thought. Relly definitely took after her father, with the exception of slightly rounded eyes from her mother. Still, while she was short and a little hairy on her arms, legs and feet like her mother, she mainly resembled a human and could honestly pass for one if she tried hard enough.

She never thought about having a normal or decent life. Being a wayward vagabond meant uncertainty, instability and a not so great lifestyle for settling down and raising children. She was supposed to be carefree, independent and only focused on herself and her needs and gains. With a chunk of her memory gone, it was harder for her to accept the view that the dwarves and Bilbo held about her. It was like waking up in an alternate universe where everything was real but still felt fake and forced. Relly had been acting in a role and now that the play was over, she was out of character.

Relly remembered some feelings and emotions, even with how vague and strange they were. Over the last few days, blurred images filtered inside her empty head as she tossed and turned in her sleep. She desperately wanted proof that everything she had been told was true and that she wasn't insane or being kept against her will among dwarves and a Hobbit. So far, the bits and pieces she finally recovered matched a little of the mental puzzle she was putting together, but some things still didn't add up.

Oddly enough, she felt comfortable if not slightly nervous around Bilbo Baggins. He seemed to know her back story well, a sign that maybe the company was correct in their facts about Relly's place in the group. She didn't remember stealing his forks, clothes or his poor insults but whenever she saw his curly brown hair or cute dimpled face, her stomach would tie itself in knots and the back of her neck would creep up with goosebumps, which joined the feverish redness that spread across her thin cheeks.

Maybe that was why she kissed him so suddenly. She had never been great at saying 'thank you's (for what reason would a thief ever need to be gracious?) and perhaps she had been a bit hasty of her affection for Bilbo. Relly wondered if she had intensely liked him before she gained amnesia, if she really felt this strongly about the well dressed Hobbit. It made sense and yet it didn't. Feelings, what a drag.

Relly still had her lips pursed out when Bilbo broke the kiss, leaving the poor thief hanging as she opened her eyes and immediately sucked in her teeth upon seeing the looming shadow of Dwalin above them. She craned her head back towards her shoulders and forced a meek smile on her face. Relly averted her eyes from Bilbo as she nonchalantly whistled an improvised tune. As far as first kisses went, this could have been much better if she weren't surrounded by sweaty, dirty dwarves and an equally sweaty, dirty Hobbit. Granted, Bilbo did smell just a little nicer than the others but not by much.

"Uh..." Relly bit the inside of her cheek as she bolted from the boulder, leaving behind her poor Bilbo. She had just kissed him and what was she supposed to do next, talk to him? Relly had never kissed another person, let alone talk to someone after the fact. The worst part of this entire experience was that a majority of the dwarves saw it take place. She slumped her shoulders, averting her eyes from everyone in the company.

With red flaming up his tattooed head, Dwalin interrogated Bilbo about the event that just occurred between him and Relly. The male dwarf was already mad with realizing Thorin was absent, mostly likely kidnapped, from their group, and now assuming Bilbo had taken advantage of Relly lunged him into a fierce anger.

"Did you force it on her?" Dwalin changed the subject violently as he grabbed Bilbo by the collar and lifted up the pudgy burglar with his death glare boring into the squirming Hobbit's eyes. "Did you?"

Bilbo wildly shook his head. "N-no, she kissed me! And I—," poor Bilbo was hot in the face, throwing a glance over to Relly as if asking for her confirmation that she had initiated the kiss or else he'd be at the rapidly dwindling mercy of Dwalin the rough dwarf warrior. "I would never do anything to hurt her!"

Dwalin begrudgingly set down the Hobbit, casting his hardened gaze over to Relly as he lifted a hairy brow in question. "Is he right?"

Relly blurted, "Yeah. I-I'm okay." Not the best answer, but her head was still reeling.

Her hazel eyes glanced over to Bilbo, who appeared alarmed and perhaps a bit hurt by her answer. She gulped. What was she supposed to do? Relly had made the mistake of giving a simple little kiss to him and suddenly it was dwarf style interrogation time.

"We don't have time for foolish behavior," Dwalin grumbled under his breath as he walked away from Bilbo and Relly, deciding to take action over the plight of their missing, most-likely kidnapped leader.

Relly liked Thorin, or at least what she could remember about him. He was like a grumpy, heart-of-gold fatherly figure which was nice considering Relly never knew her own father. He, along with Bofur and Bilbo, was one of the few in the company Relly could honestly believe the words he spoke. Maybe it was because how serious he was or the kindly look in his grey eyes that made Relly believe him. Either way, she was actually quite sad to learn he had gone missing when they had all been captured by those icky spiders.

Meanwhile, the male dwarves who had witnessed the kiss between Bilbo and Relly all had varying reactions to the whole event. Bofur had a smug, stupid grin on his bearded face, happily nudging Gloin and Bifur as the two tossed Bofur a small bag of coins as part of some unknown bet. Kili and Fili high-fived themselves, having happily suspected it for quite some time now. Balin wore a knowledgeable smirk, one that faded after a few seconds before he shook his head. Ori looked completely heartbroken. In fact, Relly felt a stinging flinch of pain when she looked at her dear friend.

Unable to do anything at night, every member of the company anxiously went to sleep, though very few if any could find rest in the twisty maze of the forest. Relly was still wide awake as she tied the Warg skin around her shoulders and quietly stood up, scanning the forest floor for any disturbances. She crept back over to that boulder, the very one where hours ago she kissed Bilbo. She ran her hand along the craggy edges of the boulder, gripping it hard before letting it go.

"Relly?" a hushed voice crept up behind her. She was startled at first but relaxed when she saw the faint outline of Ori.

"Ori?" she faintly remembered, squinting her eyes at him as she sat down on the boulder. She didn't feel uncomfortable around him but she was not sure what to say to him.

"May I sit with you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she responded and she heard her friend sit not too close from where she was.

It was silent for a few moments and Relly's eyelids began to feel heavy. However, Ori's question surprised her awake.

"Do you like him? I mean, do you..." and he hesitated with what he was about to say next, "remember caring about him so affectionately?"

Relly's lips curved downwards as uncertainty etched into her skin and she wrung her hands. "I...maybe. I dunno, he did save our lives, and mine. It's all vague and emotional and I don't like it at all."

Ori was quiet yet again as Relly's stomach tied itself in knots. Had she really been so oblivious to Ori's feelings towards her before her amnesia? Then again, Relly was not one to ponder on affections and as evidenced by her kissing misadventure with Bilbo Baggins, she was not the expert on romantic relations.

"I like you very much Relly," he finally blurted out to her but was careful as to not stir the attention of anyone unless he wanted Dwalin at his collar like what happened to Bilbo. "Ever since I met you, I just thought you were very different and pretty, very pretty even if you didn't think so. I...I wish you had your memory recovered so you'd remember all the stories I told you and all of Bofur's jokes and everything..."

She felt herself blush at his words. Although Relly did not care for Ori romantically, it felt nice to have someone say such pleasant words about her. She smiled in the darkness and patted Ori's hands, a reassuring gesture for our young love struck dwarf.

"You're a very good friend Ori and even if I can't remember much I think I'd like to hear some of those stories."

Even though she had basically rejected Ori, she had tried to make it as painless as possible. After all, she still wanted Ori as a companion even if it wasn't quite the companion Ori was hoping to be. If she ever beat this amnesia she wanted to look back on the journey and remember all the good times she shared with her friends.

Ori meekly smiled back, a little down that he had been correct in his worst assumptions about Relly's feelings. He straightened out his back and faked a confident appearance. "If Bilbo ever hurts you he'll have to deal with me and my slingshot."

Relly stifled a giggle. "Um, okay."

And for a moment, everything was alright.

The morning came and with it brought the aching and the groaning of weary bones and muscles that forced themselves to start walking in the messed up mazes of Mirkwood. With all the drama and the stress that had occurred in the past two days, there was not one single party member that was a) thirsty, b) tired or c) absolutely fed up with this horrible never-ending forest. Their food and water long since gone, even Relly's safely stashed supplies did not last as long as she hoped it would.

"So...hungry..." came the complaining and whining.

"We've past this stump ten times!"

"If only Thorin was here!"

The dwarves, the Hobbit and the quarterling all had grievances of their own. Relly noticed how awkward Bilbo was whenever she was near him and she was scared to approach him ever since she essentially ditched him after kissing him.

I probably should not have done that, she frowned as she saw Bilbo's eyes quickly change direction when he glimpsed at her. I've never got this far with someone. What exactly happens after you kiss someone?

Those questions would have to wait. As night enveloped the forest once more, torches lit up in the gaps of the foliage surrounding the travel weary companions. In fact, there was hardly a struggle. Relly almost wanted to be captured just for that sake that maybe there was food at the end of the tunnel.

"Stop!" harked the Wood-elves and with the exception of Relly, all the dwarves knew which creatures spoke. "You are trespassing in our corners of Mirkwood!"

Nobody even considered fighting. Sleepy, starving and most certainly under prepared for a skirmish, the dwarves all plopped down on the ground and merely waited to be lined up and taken to where Thorin was being held. Unbeknownst to Relly, Bilbo had made himself invisible and slipped away from being blindfolded and tied with elven rope to be taken single file to the fortress of the Mirkwood Elves. Just like the days and nights before, the company was shrouded in eternal darkness.

Relly's legs did not appreciate being forced to walk so hastily. She especially did not like being blindfolded and tied up like a common prisoner, a fate she had avoided in her early thieving days. "Where are we going?" she asked angrily, but got no response. Instead the elf-guards began singing in a language unknown to the ears of Relly and it greatly annoyed her that she did not understand the words to the eerie song.

After what felt like an eternal walk, the line finally halted. The elves removed their blindfolds at the command of the Elvenking as Relly absorbed in the unfamiliar surroundings. In a strange way, this throne room was very beautiful but earthy and did not match her expectation of Elf kingdoms. She vaguely remembered the ethereal quality of Rivendell from what images she pieced together.

The Elvenking himself looked very strange, with a crown of branches and berries covering his brow and looked more like he were part of the forest than king of it. "You mat untie them for here is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside," he spoke in a haughty voice as his wild but restrained blue eyes skimmed over the captives, raising a surprised brow at the lone female of the group.

That's inviting, Relly surly thought as she dug her heel into the dirt floors of the throne room. There was hardly a polite bone in her body, if there had ever been one. In the back of her mind, she noted the absence of Bilbo Baggins and wondered where the male Hobbit had wandered off to.

"Now, hopefully I can get some answers as to why dwarves are traipsing around in my wood and disrupting my festivities," he snarled, leaving his thorny throne and making long strides towards the now freely untied members of Thorin Oakenshield's company. "Nasty, smelly mining disturbances..." but he caught himself when he noticed Relly once again. "Though it is odd a female Hobbit would be among your ranks, wouldn't it be?"

He began interrogating the dwarves one by one, starting with the eldest Balin. But even the white bearded dwarf gave him no answer than a venomous statement about if it was a crime to be tired, hungry travelers hunted down by spiders. The elvenking got no better responses from the rest of the company.

Relly glowered. More like a Jerkenking, she snorted as her hazel glare bored into the king's eyes. Flustered and angry that a spry weird Hobbit lass would stand up to him, he only got angrier as he paced back to his chair.

"Do you not think I have a right to know what tromps around in my realm? I want to know what brings you here and if you refuse to tell me now, you will all stay in prison until you wise up and learn some manners! Guards!" he over-enthusiastically clapped his hands to gain attention. "Place them in separate chambers and give them food and drink! Perhaps then they'll think kindly to answer my questions."

If prison had been like this all along, perhaps Relly would have let herself get caught by the authorities long before.

Relly felt much better with the meal she had been given, even if she was separated from the rest of her companions and that her head was murky with dreams and blurry memories that made no sense. At night she would curl up on her Warg skin and hope that she would be rescued, having given up on breaking out of her little prison cell. It was actually quite comfortable for a cell, with a pillow and a tankard of fresh water to refresh her.

The time away from the male dwarves gave her some space to think about her confused feelings for Bilbo Baggins. She noticed he was not among those captured by the Mirkwood Elves and she wanted a sign that he was safe somewhere. Or even better that he was planning a big prison break and set them free.

I wasn't right to run away, she glumly peered out the bars from her cell at coming to the conclusion. Now he probably doesn't want to talk to me and I messed it all up.

She gripped her head from her emotions, gritting her teeth as she rubbed her temples with the palm of her hand to ease away the throbbing in her head. Maybe she had been rash in her actions but it wasn't far from the truth that she did hold Bilbo in a high regard, before and after her memories were erased.

I would like to kiss him again, Relly grinned to herself as if she were being watched, hiding her face away from the open bars as she snuggled onto her Warg skin. Just to say I'm sorry.

I know, I know, it's a measly 3k chapter compared to the 5-9k I usually type up. I'm kinda tired at the moment and need some sleep. But hey, I'm saving the sweet barrel rides for next chapter as well as some fluffy Bilbo/Relly moments because let's face it I'm mean and awful for making Relly run off and not smushing those two lovebirds together already, hehe.