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

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Warning- for the sake of realism, this chapter mentions female monthly cycles and puberty-related changes. Please be forewarned.

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Cirashala groaned as someone shook her shoulder. Her entire body ached all over from her training the night before. After she had finished her archery instruction, she had begun to train with her sword. Fili was a demanding, though patient and fair, teacher and by the time she had gone to her bedroll, she could hardly feel her arms or legs.

I know there is legwork involved in swordfighting, but I can't believe how much they hurt!

"Cira?" She groaned again, almost but not quite tempted to pull the woolen blanket over her head instead of the crook of her arm. It had been so, so hot that night that the entire company had all but stripped down to just their tunics and trousers, but being a woman, Cira still had her top bound up under her tunic for support and modesty. Dori hadn't been able to find any leather at Beorn's for a proper corset, as was to be expected given the Skinchanger's attitude about his fellow animal bretheren, but the resourceful tailor had sewn extra layers of thick, sturdy fabric together to give her a cloth one.

She had been incredibly appreciative, as it was impossible for her bust not to hurt her neck and shoulders if things weren't supported properly, but at the moment the thick corset served simply to trap all the sweat and dirt of the day directly against her skin in a stinky, sweaty, hot mess. She had grown much bigger up there after becoming pregnant with her first daughter, and ever since if they weren't supported well, she would suffer migraines as a result of the pressure on her neck and shoulder muscles.

Cira was almost tempted to ditch it behind a tree last night just to get some respite from the body heat it trapped as she slept, but thought better of it. Going without a corset in this world was akin to going without a bra in hers, as they essentially served the same function, and the very thought of not wearing proper undergarments while surrounded by male dwarves and a male hobbit was mortifying and highly unproper, at least in her eyes. And no doubt, in theirs as well.

"Cira?" Kili's quiet voice once more reached her ears. "It's time for watch." She groaned again.

"I can't move," she mumbled, wincing in pain. "It hurts."

"What hurts?" the young dwarf asked, and she could almost see his brown eyes scanning her for injuries as he spoke.

"Everything," she replied, groaning again. "My arms, my legs, everything." I won't mention cramps, as I doubt he'd want to hear about those anyway. The young dwarf chuckled a bit, causing her to peek out at him from under her arm.

"I know," he replied, smiling down at her. Understanding shone in his eyes. "But you need to get up. Thorin said we need to do watch in pairs." She groaned again, before sitting up.

"I thought I was on watch with you and Fili," she remarked sleepily. Kili shrugged.

"We were," he replied, glancing fondly at his elder brother. The elder prince was snoring as he lay sprawled out over his bedroll, his shirt drenched in places where he, too had sweated during the night.

"But Thorin said that you were progressing faster than Bilbo with your weapons," he explained, smiling down at her. "He came up to us after training and told Fili to pair up with Bilbo and Bofur this time." Her eyes widened a bit.

"Thorin said I was progressing?" she asked, surprised. The young dwarf nodded.

"Aye," he said, nodding to her. "You did well last night, especially since you are a beginner. You take instruction well, and you are smart. I didn't even have to tell you to anticipate Fili's moves because I could see you were already trying to." She glanced toward her weapons, which lay beside her bedroll.

"I want to learn," she said quietly, determination in her gaze as it moved back toward Kili. "I want to be able to defend myself, and all of you if necessary." Kili nodded.

"And if you keep training like you did last night, you will," he stated reassuringly. The young dwarf watched as she rubbed the top of her leg.

"The soreness will pass," he said, "after you get used to training." Cirashala breathed a sigh of relief as he stood and held his hand out to her.

At least I won't hurt like this forever. But I'm going to be awful sore in the meantime.

She turned to grab her weapons, when suddenly she tripped over her pack. The young woman landed on her knee hard as the sword and quiver clattered down around her, and inwardly cursed even as she tried everything in her power to avoid crying out. The last thing she wanted to do was alarm the sleeping company unnecessarily.

"Mahalu-me turg," she whispered through clenched teeth even as her knee throbbed in pain. I wish we didn't have to sleep on these stupid cobblestones, or paving stones or whatever they are.

Taking deep breaths to try and weather out the pain, she looked up in embarrassment at the young dwarf—only for her eyes to widen at his horrified expression. As the young woman's gaze followed his, her embarrassment quickly turned to sheer mortification as she realized just what he was staring at.

"Cira, what happened?!"

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Kili stared down at the bloody rags at his feet in shock, unable to believe his eyes. Oin had said she was healed, and yet it was clear to him that she wasn't. As the thought of her training with a wound bleeding so profusely entered his mind, he couldn't help but be horrified that she had been given permission to train with such an injury.

"It's not what you think." The young dwarf looked at the crimson face of the young woman before him as his expression turned to anger. Dropping down in front of her, he looked her squarely in the eye.

"Cira, why didn't you tell us you were hurt?" he asked, clearly upset with her even as he tried to keep his volume low. "You shouldn't have trained at all yesterday if you were bleeding so much! You should have told us you were inj—" The young woman cut him off.

"I'm not hurt," she stated firmly. The young prince's eyes widened, and he pointed toward the rags, but before he could retort, she cut him off again.

"It's just my time, Kili," she said, unable to meet his gaze as her face grew even redder. She quickly grabbed her pack and began stuffing the rags back in as fast as she could. "Don't worry about it." The young dwarf's brow furrowed in confusion as he stared at her.

"Y-your time?" he asked, now thoroughly confused. She paused, before looking at him in confusion.

"Y-you don't…know?" she asked slowly. At the blank and completely bewildered look on his face, the young woman sighed. He watched as her blue eyes scanned the group, before returning to his own.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you?" she asked, rising to her feet. The young dwarf noticed that, though her face was still quite red, she made an effort to look him in the eye.

"I, uh," he muttered, looking between Cira and her pack on the ground as he shifted his feet awkwardly. She seemed to sense his unease, and glanced around.

"Where should we sit?" she asked, looking back up at him. Kili blinked at her in surprise, before realizing what she meant.

Right…we are on watch.

The young prince felt foolish at having been momentarily distracted, and gazed around their campsite. Eyes landing on a large stone at the edge of the path a couple feet ahead, he looked at her and nodded. The pair quickly made their way over to the stone, before sitting down. The brown eyes quickly scanned the woods surrounding their camp, noting that all was quiet. Their watch was second to last before the dawn, and he could only assume the moon had set as the woods were very, very dark. The sound of a whetstone scraping across steel sounded beside him, and he looked at the young woman, who had begun to sharpen her sword.

"Like this?" she asked, glancing up at him. He looked down as her hand made slow, deliberate circles across the steel edge.

"Aye," he replied after a moment. "Tilt it just a little toward the south. That's it. Just keep doing that." The young prince took out his own whetstone and began to sharpen his blade as well.

For several minutes, the only sound that could be heard in their little clearing was that of their task. A few black squirrels darted above, and each time Kili quickly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, before loosening it as he realized what had made the sudden sounds. Suddenly, the young woman spoke up.

"I-I'm sorry I alarmed you," Cirashala said softly. "It-it's just…you don't have to worry, that's all. It's perfectly normal." His hand froze on the blade in his lap, and he stared at her more bewildered than ever.

"Y-you're…it's normal to bleed?" he asked, sure he didn't hear correctly. "Cira, people only bleed when they're hurt." The young woman sighed, before looking at him in disbelief.

"Y-you're serious?" she asked. He nodded, and her eyes widened in realization.

"You really don't know, do you?" Cirashala asked, shock in her voice. The young dwarf could feel frustration welling up in him.

"Know what?" he finally asked point blank. The young woman's jaw dropped, and she sighed.

"Kili, did your mother or Thorin talk to you when you were young?" she asked, "About the…you know…about changes growing up?" The young dwarf's eyes widened even as his own cheeks began to warm.

"Uh, a-aye," he stammered, face turning crimson with embarrassment as he stared at his hands. He didn't understand what that uncomfortable topic had to do with her bleeding, and was now thoroughly confused. "W-why?" The young woman paused, before continuing.

"D-did they tell you about," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "A-about…how girls change too?" Kili's eyes widened considerably in shock as he looked at her.

"Girls…bleed?" he asked after an awkward moment, slowly putting two and two together. She nodded.

"Yeah," she replied, and he could tell by her tone that she felt a little less awkward than before, though he was still feeling incredibly uncomfortable. "Um, when girls grow up, they, well…they bleed from down there." His brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "How can girls bleed?"

"Well," she explained. "Every month, there are three weeks where they don't, and one week where they do. If they aren't…aren't expecting, anyway." Her voice cracked a bit, before she looked at him.

"Basically, girls and boys both change in…certain areas," she said. "There's, well I don't know how it is with dwarves, but in humans boys and girls start out not having much hair other than on their head, but when they start to grow up they get hair in other places too. Girls also grow bigger on their chest, to prepare for nursing bab—" The young woman suddenly tensed, and Kili's eyes widened in concern.

"Cira?" he asked, worry filling his eyes. She took a shaky breath, before quickly wiping her eyes.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I-it's just…I…I can really say that word. Not-not yet." He nodded in understanding.

"It's all right," he said quietly. "I know what you meant to say, though I still don't understand." She took a deep breath.

"All right," she began. "From the top. When boys and girls are born, the area where their legs meet their body is different. That's how you tell boys from girls. Well, when they start to grow up, as I'm guessing you know, that area begins to change. Do you understand?" He nodded, remembering his change all too well. He had been fortunate at least, as Fili had gone before him and he had known what to expect when his turn came. It had been very awkward, very uncomfortable, and very embarrassing at times. But he had survived it, just as every other dwarf man had.

"All right," Cirashala continued. "Girls get hair down there, and under their arms, and the hair on their legs gets a bit thicker and darker. At least some do anyway—if someone's hair is very light, sometimes you can't see it much, just like how my beard is almost white because I have light reddish-blonde hair." She glanced down at her front, and without thinking about it Kili followed her gaze. Eyes widening in horror as his face turned crimson, he quickly looked away.

"I-I'm s-sorry," he stammered. "I-I didn't mean to—"

"It's all right," she said reassuringly. "I figured that would be your next question." He couldn't bring himself to look at her as shame descended on him.

"I-I truly apologize," he said quietly. "I-I know we're talking about…about, uh, changes, b-but I still shouldn't have—" The young woman interrupted him.

"Kili, it's all right," Cirashala stated firmly. She placed her hand on his, and he guarded his expression before slowly looking at her.

I can't believe I looked, he railed inside. I am a prince of the line of Durin! Brown eyes met blue, and there was no animosity in the gaze.

"Kee?" she asked quietly, "Y-I'm fine telling you. I-I know it sounds strange, but I believe all adults should know the facts of life." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I genuinely don't know why you weren't told," she said in confusion. "I would think your mother or Thorin would have told you long before now." Kili shook his head.

"They didn't," he said quietly, now thoroughly embarrassed at not knowing. "Thorin, he…he told us what we were going to go through, but as soon as we asked a-about girls, he…and mother told us to ask him, and he said to ask her, and…"

"You never learned," she finished, realization in her features. He nodded.

"Aye," he replied. "Fili didn't learn either, so I-I guess we just…gave up asking." She nodded.

"Well," she said bluntly. "I would be happy to tell you, though…" The young dwarf followed her gaze as it landed on the snoring Fili, and he nodded.

"I'll tell him what you tell me," Kili said, realizing that it would likely be quite embarrassing for her to have to repeat this information to his brother in front of the entire company. His gaze started to lower again, before he caught himself and quickly looked away.

"Those grow during the change too," she said matter-of-factly, seemingly unaware of his near-repeated transgression. "They make milk for the…but only after one is born, not all the time." She took a deep breath, before continuing.

"And the bleeding," Cirashala explained, "that comes from…well, from inside where the…where it grows but only if one isn't in there." The young prince noticed that she refused to say the word baby, and he fought the desire to hold her and comfort her in her grief, knowing she was missing her baby girls very deeply in that moment.

The young woman continued to explain the rest of what a girl goes through during the change, and both the presence of bloody rags and her subsequent embarrassment at them being strewn about began to make sense. The young prince had had a few unexpected instances where certain parts of his body were more prominent than he had wanted, notably in the fallen log the pair had sheltered in while they were alone in the mountains, and could easily see how mortifying the earlier pack incident must have been for her.

She must have wanted the ground to swallow her whole after I pointed it out. Thank Mahal the rest of the company wasn't awake!

"I'm sorry," he blurted out suddenly. The young woman paused mid-sentence as she looked at him in surprise.

"For what?" she asked, confusion in her gaze. He swallowed heavily.

"For pointing out the rags in your pack in front of the others," he said quietly. "On the path yesterday." Her cheeks reddened and she looked down in her lap.

"It's ok," she replied. "You didn't know. You were worried, that's all." Kili's eyes widened, and he quickly averted his gaze even as his cheeks heated up once again.

She has no idea how much I worry about her. And she can't know.

"You are my friend," he said carefully as his hand began moving on the whetstone again. "Of course I worry about your health and safety."

"Thank you," she said quietly. He glanced up at her, seeing the gratefulness in her gaze even as the sky slowly began to lighten. The young dwarf nodded to her, before glancing at the fire.

"Best stoke that," he instructed, gesturing toward the low flame. "We will need to wake Bombur soon for his and Bifur's watch, and they will want to begin breakfast." The young woman moved to do as bidden, and he looked at his sleeping brother.

"Well, brother," he whispered in Khuzdul. "Looks like we finally asked the right person after all."

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