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 Reuel Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

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Bilbo wasn't certain what awakened him. The crickets were still chirping their night song in the meadow outside the large boulders around their camp, so he knew it wasn't yet light out. Glancing toward the fire, he noted that a sleepy looking Gloin and his brother were now on watch, and that everyone else seemed to be sound asleep. From what he could remember, they had the last watch of the night.

And if they look like they just woke up, then there must still be an hour before first light, he thought to himself as Gloin yawned. Groaning inwardly, the hobbit sighed as he flopped over on his back. It would be useless to try and go back to sleep now. If he did, he knew he'd be tired all day.

He stared up at the star studded sky above, deep in thought. His mind went back to what Gandalf had said when he had been arguing with Thorin, and frowned.

I knew they would need to be able to defend themselves if you are attacked after I am gone.

Bilbo wondered what he meant. Surely by the time they reached the mountain, both Kili and Cira's bones would have been mended. A thought suddenly entered his mind, and his eyes widened in realization.

He's leaving us.

Bilbo's heart sunk at the thought. If Gandalf was mentioning this now, did he mean that he would be leaving them soon? Maybe even at the elven gate? The hobbit thought it likely. His mind traveled back through the quest, and how the wizard and his magic and cunning had saved them from several scraps.

What will we do if something happens while he's gone?

The hobbit's hand trailed toward his waistcoat pocket before he realized it, and he suddenly had the answer. He would simply put the ring on, and vanish- just like he had when Gollum had come at him in his full fury. No orc or warg would be able to see him, and he was very quiet- he could escape easily and head for home and no one would be the wiser. But then he thought of the others, and how it seemed like only one person could use it at a time, and immediately felt guilty. Why had he been so selfish all of a sudden?

Glancing up at the pair on watch, he noted with relief that neither were looking in his direction. Slowly reaching into his pocket, he pulled the ring out and stared at it just under the hem of his blanket. The starlight glinted off the cold metal, and he began to wonder about this little trinket. It had certainly made Gollum very angry when he'd lost it, and Bilbo wondered.

He glanced toward the wizard, who hadn't left his position since he'd ended the argument with Thorin. He thought back to when Gandalf had cracked the rock during their captivity with the trolls and rescued them, on how he'd mended Kili and Cira's bones and kept Fili asleep during the worst days of his injury and awakened Thorin on the Carrock, how he had somehow known the eagles were coming, and on the wizard's words the previous evening.

I have more power than even you lot know.

The hobbit felt quite foolish for asking Gandalf if there were any great wizards during the rainstorm back in Eriador over two months ago, and thinking that his only real power lay in his fireworks before that. He looked closely at his sleeping form, then back at the tiny ring in his hands.

Could this little trinket that made one invisible have more power than he knew too? After staring at it for a moment, he shook his head slightly and stuffed it back into his pocket. That little bit of metal couldn't possibly have much power at all, though he was quite lucky it made one invisible. That was a rather handy trick to have on a quest, he thought to himself.

He looked once more at Gandalf, feeling that there was far more to this strange wizard than he had previously thought.

Perhaps, if I ask him politely, maybe he can tell me a bit more about himself as we ride.

XXX

The faintest shred of light began to show in the east, and Gloin stood to his feet. Stretching, he tapped his brother's shoulder.

"About time to wake the others, I think," he said. His brother nodded, before poking at the fire to liven it up for breakfast.

"Aye, it is," he agreed. He gestured at the sleeping forms of Kili and Cira, who were both still asleep. "Gandalf said he mended their bones, not their cuts. I need to tend their wounds before we leave, so best wake them first." Gloin nodded, seeing the sense in the healer's words, and moved to do as bidden.

He decided to wake his young cousin first, knowing that he was more likely to awaken more easily than the young woman. One thing he'd noticed about her- she was fairly slow to fully awaken unless there was danger, and often seemed to be half asleep during breakfast. He didn't fault her completely- she hadn't been trained as a warrior from toddlerhood like Kili had. Still, being a former mother, he was surprised she didn't awaken more readily. Reaching down, he gently shook the young dwarf's shoulder.

"Laddie," he said gently so as to avoid waking the others prematurely. "You need to wake up. Oin needs to tend your wounds before we leave the banks of the river." A low groan sounded from the young prince. His dark eyes cracked open, and Gloin's eyes widened.

"Laddie, did you sleep at all?" he asked, noting the dark circles under the younger's eyes with concern. Kili nodded, but a wide yawn belied his words as it seemingly threatened to split his head in two, and the older dwarf shook his head.

"Nevermind, Kili," he said quietly. "Get a bit more rest. I'll wake Cira then and Oin can tend to her wounds first." The young dwarf quickly shook his head as his eyes widened slightly.

"It's all right," Kili mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he propped himself up on one elbow. "I'm already awake. Let her sleep." Gloin's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are you sure, laddie?" he asked, and the young dwarf nodded. Pushing his blanket off his shoulders, he stood to his feet and headed over to Oin, yawning once more. Gloin's gaze followed him, the young dwarf's reaction to his suggestion very puzzling.

Why did he do that? He looks like he hasn't slept in a week.

A stick from the fire suddenly cracked, breaking him from his thoughts. He moved to adjust the burning wood, then put the pot on to boil.

Best get breakfast going, he thought to himself as he headed toward the still snoring Bombur.

Hungry dwarves were not a pleasant lot.

XXX

Kili sat in the far corner of their campsite, his back to the group as he removed his tunic. Oin immediately set to work, poking and prodding at the various cuts, bruises, and forming scars that adorned his chest, and he inwardly groaned at how seemingly rough his cousin's hands were as he examined his wounds.

Durin knows he could be just a bit gentler!

"Well, your bruises are looking much better laddie," the healer said as he sat back. "Gandalf's magic seemed to do the trick, all right. Your bones are as good as new, as far as I can tell." Kili nodded, looking down in wonder at his torso as Oin fished through his bag of supplies.

How did he do that? And why didn't he do it earlier?

The young dwarf wasn't foolish enough to ask the wizard that question- he'd seen how Gandalf reacted when Thorin had, and it hadn't ended well. But still he wondered. He glanced over his shoulder at the young woman, relieved to see that she was still sound asleep, though others were beginning to rise. Oin's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned back toward the healer.

"I think your stitches are ready to come out now," he said as he held an iron instrument in his hand. Kili didn't know what it was called, but he'd seen Oin use it to remove stitches from his cuts before, and nodded.

"I don't need to tell you that this will hurt a bit," the healer warned, his voice low as he looked Kili in the eye. "And it's not just one or two cuts from the training grounds this time. Do you need anything for pain, laddie?" Kili shook his head.

"I can manage," he said quietly, though his knuckles were tight.

I am a dwarf prince of Durin's line. Having a few stitches removed is noth-

A strangled whimper escaped the young prince as Oin suddenly tugged one of the stitches out, catching the young dwarf off guard. The healer glanced up at him, a questioning look on his face, but Kili shook his head. Bracing himself for the next stitch, he placed his full attention on the instrument in Oin's hand, determined not to be caught off guard again.

His thoughts drifted toward the young woman as Oin removed the stitches, and he wondered how she was reacting to Gandalf's sudden healing of her hand. He figured that, like his cuts, her wounds weren't fully healed yet either, but simply having use of her hand back took a great load off his shoulders. Now he wouldn't have to worry that it wouldn't heal properly.

The ride yesterday had been very difficult for him. He had heard her apology, and had felt her tear land on his hand as they rode when he didn't respond. He'd wanted to forgive her right then, but hurt had held him back from doing so. His conversation with Fili last night brought forward something he thought he had buried- he did blame himself for breaking her hand.

His brother reassured him that it was an accident, and deep down Kili knew that. He'd known it from the moment it happened. But as he'd watched her struggle with everything- from crossing a damp log to attempting and failing to braid her hair, and then having to fight off a strong and angry lynx because he had been too ill to fight it off- and knew that, had he not broken her hand, her struggle and burden wouldn't have been nearly as great as it was.

Try as he might, her words had still hurt him- badly. A poisoned orc knife through his heart would have hurt less by comparison, Kili was sure of it. So when she'd tried to apologize, he found that he couldn't respond. He wanted to, but the hurt from the night before bubbled to the surface and he just couldn't. And then, he'd felt the tear on his hand, and felt even worse than he had before.

He wanted to hold her like he had when she'd seen the dwarf babe desecrated before her eyes. To let her know that he was sorry, that she was forgiven. He wanted to whisper into her ear that they were still friends, and everything would be all right. But he couldn't- not with the others around them, and not with her being a widow. He honestly should have never held her close even with the dwarf babe incident, and he realized he must apologize for that impropriety as well. His heart sank at the realization as he dressed himself and nodded numbly to Oin's orders.

I really made a mess of things, didn't I?

XXX

Cira yawned, before lying her head back down into her makeshift pillow with a groan.

Is it morning already? I feel like I just fell asleep.

The smell of oats and honey greeted her, and she cracked one eye open to see a steaming bowl in Bilbo's hands in front of her.

"Good morning," he said, and she honestly could have swung at him for how chipper his voice sounded. She refrained from doing so, however, and slowly sat up.

"You can use your right hand now, Cira," he said as he gave her a confused look. Her own brow furrowed, before she glanced down and realized that she had not been using it to aid her in sitting up out of habit. Nodding, she put her hand down and easily sat up.

"I forgot," she mumbled as she accepted her oatmeal. Bilbo gestured toward her hand.

"It might be easier if you took the splint off," he said, and she shook her head.

"I know Gandalf said it's healed and all, but Thorin told me that Oin was the only one allowed to take it off," she reminded him. He nodded, before sitting down beside her with his own oats in his hands.

"I didn't think he could heal broken bones," he said, gesturing toward the wizard. "That's quite something, isn't it?" She nodded.

"Well, he is a wizard," she said, spooning a mouthful of oats into her mouth. Bilbo glanced at her, then back at Gandalf.

"I know that," he said, stirring the drizzled honey into his oats. "I just...I didn't know he could do so many things, that's all." The young woman bit her tongue as all of Gandalf's great accomplishments from the books ran through her mind, and simply nodded.

Her gaze suddenly landed on Kili, and she quickly diverted it. A lump formed in her throat once more, and she swallowed heavily, refusing to allow any tears to form. Bilbo had said last night that maybe Kili just needs some time, and she would give him that and more- any time he needed if it meant they could still be friends.

The truth was, she missed their friendship terribly. She thought back to before the separation- how he had kept quiet about her prank on Fili with the pinecones, how he'd helped her and taken her to Rivendell, how he and his brother had kept her warm in the mountains, and how he'd gone out in a blizzard to retrieve her after the dwarves had taken longer than she'd thought changing in the igloo.

She then thought about the week and a half they'd been separated from the group. How afraid they both had been that first night, how she'd trusted him with tending her wounds and how he hadn't violated that trust, how he'd asked her to let him protect her, how horrified he was when he'd broken her hand.

Her hand.

She looked down again at the bothersome limb, noting that the bandage was loosened now that her bone was mended. Once again, she wished she could take back her spiteful words from two nights ago. Kili had helped her out so much, had saved her from an orc with a blade to her neck, for heaven's sake! He'd held her when her grief became overwhelming and when she'd had flashbacks after seeing little Mizimel's body so disgraced.

She remembered how they'd taken shelter in the rotted out log, and how they'd jested back and forth about Fili's childhood antics and Kili's self proclaimed "innocence of any wrongdoing" that she hadn't believed for a second. As her eyes fell on the young dwarf once more, that lump came back, and she had to stare into her oatmeal bowl to prevent the tears from falling.

By Durin, she missed her best friend. And it was all her fault.

XXX

Oin glanced over at the young woman, before looking up at the quickly lightening sky. Grabbing his medical bag, he headed over to her.

"Lass, I need to look at your wounds before we leave the river," he said. She looked up at him as she handed Bombur her breakfast bowl, before looking worriedly at the others.

"We'll go in there, lass," the healer said gently to her, gesturing toward the crack where Fili and Kili had gone last night. "No one else will see you, I give you my word." She nodded. Heading through the gap, he turned toward her.

"I need you to remove your tunic, lass," he said gently as he pulled out his stitch remover, taking care to leave her privacy in her task. "Use it to cover yourself up in front, then let me know when I can turn around." A few seconds passed, then the young woman voiced her consent.

Looking at her back, he gently poked at her wounds. They were healing well, all things considered, and her stitches were ready to come out as well.

"Lass, I am going to remove your stitches," he said. "I'm afraid it's going to hurt a bit, but I will be as gentle as I can." She nodded, though she didn't turn around.

"D-do you have something for the pain?" she asked timidly. He grabbed a cup out of his bag, before pinching some ground willow bark in it and adding water.

"Drink it, lass," he said, placing the cup beside her on the ground. "It won't help as quickly as you'd like, but perhaps it will help some." She nodded, and he looked at her wounds to decide which ones to remove first while she drank.

Giving her a few moments after she'd finished the tea before acting, he slowly began to remove the stitches as gently as he could. She stiffened and muffled her cries into her tunic, but he worked quickly so as to be done as soon as possible. Once the last stitch was buried into the ground at his feet, he stood up.

"All done," he said quietly as he turned around. "You may get dressed now. Let me know when you're presentable." A few minutes later, her voice caused him to turn around.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Kili early this morning," he said, his voice stern. "I do not want either of you fighting for at least three more days, and then only light fighting for at least a week after that. Your stitches are out, and your cuts are healing well, but too much stress on them could open them up again, and increase the risk of infection. You must wait until they are fully healed before you start training again." She nodded, and he continued.

"Now give me your hand," he commanded, though his voice was calm. "I will remove the splint now."

The young woman did as she was told, and he unwrapped the limb and looked closely at it. Unlike Kili's ribs, which weren't overly visible though he was more slight than other dwarves, her break had been far more obvious, due to her very slender hands. He marveled at how, with exception to the fading bruises, her bone was perfectly mended.

"Well, I've certainly never seen a bone mended before by magic," he commented at last, releasing her hand. "But my orders still remain- no fighting for three days, and only light fighting after that for a week. Do you understand, lass?" She nodded.

"Good," he said, before shaking his head at her in slight wonder. "How you managed to fight off that lynx with that broken hand is beyond me, lass. But for my cousin's sake, I'm glad you did. You're as stubborn and crazy as any dwarf I've ever met, that's for sure!" He chuckled, before gesturing toward the gap.

"We need to head out. We have a long ride today," he said, before looking at her pointedly.

"And Cira- don't you even think about ignoring my orders this time, or you'll find out very quickly how fierce I can be to stubborn dwarves and lasses who don't listen to their healers."

The young woman nodded sheepishly, before they rejoined their companions.

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A response to guest review Guest: Yes, yes he does- especially when he feels the need to explain himself to a bunch of stubborn dwarves ;) You're welcome :) I hope they were still interesting before :( And yes they will soon, if you mean a much needed heart to heart conversation. If you're talking about something more x-rated, then no- they're both proper and honorable, and neither dwarves nor Cira would do something like that out of wedlock (plus, in Kili's mind if he did anything like that with her before he knows she's actually available, not bound by marriage vows with her husband as he currently thinks, as well as being out of wedlock, then that would be adultery anyway and it's a vile act amongst dwarves). That's why this story isn't rated M (though a few violence scenes always have disclaimers at the beginning of said chapters just to be safe).

A response to guest reviewer Kaia: Nope! Lol. He only uses it when he has to, which was the point with Thorin (but then again, he doesn't feel the need to explain himself to that stubborn dwarf king ;P ). Thanks! I hope so too- still not feeling all that great, but slowly improving.

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- you are all so wonderful and amazing! :D :D :D