it was an hour after the horse escapade and Thorin's mind was driving him insane. No matter how many times he tried to busy himself exploring or talking with someone, or even reading, he couldn't get his mind off of what had happened.

She had lied to them! She had purposely kept a secret from them because she knew that he hated elves! That was why she was such good friends with the elves! She was one of them!

Finally, he could stand it no more and getting up, he stormed to the healing rooms. He had to check in several rooms before he found Arwen and the elf, not noticing the dwarf's infuriated eyes, told him that Persephone was in the main healing bay, getting more medicines.

When he finally managed to find the bay, asking many elves (even though it annoyed him to do it) how to find it, he found Persephone alone. She looked incredibly relaxed in her black attire, her weapons left in her room, her hair still in the elvish style but now she was dry from the waterfall and she was humming to herself.

She was organizing medicines when she poured a glass of water and began to place ethalas plant in it. She was going to give it to one of the sick elves to help with their internal ailment. She was just turning, the glass in her hand when she saw Thorin. A smile appeared on her face.

"Hello. Didn't expect to see you down here."

THorin stormed over to the girl and stood over her, about three feet away, "How dare you lie to me!"

Sepha's green eyes widened with shock and slight fear, "Lie to you? About what?"

"About your being an elf!" THorin spat, "You're no better than them. You think you're above everyone else just because you're immortal and you care for no one but yourself!"

Suddenly, Persephone was on the defensive and gripped the glass with both hands, "First off THorin, I didn't lie to you. I just purposely avoided mentioning that I am also part elf. What is so terrible about that anyway. Besides, I'm not immortal. Because of the dwarf genes in me, I only live about as long as a dwarf."

"So you're blaming us dwarves for the fact that you are not immortal?" Thorin scoffed.

"I didn't blame you!" Sepha objected. "I'm glad I'm not immortal because I couldn't stand watching people I know grow old and die in front of my eyes while I live on! I want to live a normal life!"

"You are a miserable, misbegotten wretch," Thorin spat. "You knew that I hated elves because they turned their backs on me and my kin! They led my grandfather to his death and my father to his! You're responsible for all of it!"

Persephone's face no longer looked beautiful. It looked gorgeous as her green eyes flared slightly purple with fury, her hands gripping the glass tightly and she took a step towards him.

"Don't you ever speak to me like that! You know nothing about me THorin Oakenshield! You don't know what I have seen or what I have gone through! I never turned your back on you or your kin! Just because the woodland elves did doesn't mean that every elf in the world is like that! Just because I know a certain self centered dwarf prince who is as stubborn as a mule and refuses to be reasonable doesn't mean that I believe that every dwarf is like that! In fact, I'm sure there are many more agreeable dwarves than there are disagreeable!"

"All lies," THorin hissed. "You don't care for anyone but your own elven kin!"

"You and the company are my kin too! So is Gandalf and Radagast!" Persephone shouted.

"Then why do you turn your back on all your kin?" THorin sneered. "You have more family than you could ever want and yet you refuse to tell anyone anything about you! For almost a week you have been keeping this secret from the whole company and chances are you wouldn't have told us till we found out! You wont even tell anyone about why you are so darn afraid of my sword!"

Persephone had enough. Her hands were clenching the glass so tight that it burst, breaking into a thousand pieces and fell to the ground. This startled Thorin beyond doubt and he took a step back, some of the anger gone to shock. Tears were streaming down the girl's face and her eyes blazed purple.

"You are the most vile, wicked being to ever walk this earth! You want to know why I have been alone for years? Why I never seemed to have a place to belong? IT's because I lost everything before I was even fifteen years old! I saw my own mother die from a disease before my eyes and I couldn't do anything to save her! I am a healer and I couldn't save her! The reason I came onto the journey with you was because you were my kin! I am not turning my back on them! I haven't been keeping the secret from you because I wanted to but because I knew that I had to take it slow! Fili found out about it and God so help me, he actually accepted it! You want to know why I am so afraid of the sword? Why I cowered and ran off when you spoke of your past with Azog? Why I shiver and cry in my sleep? IT's because Orcrist was my brother's sword! He forged it and carried it into battle! It was the last thing he carried before he was killed. It's because MY OWN BROTHER WAS MURDERED IN FRONT OF ME BY THAT HUNK OF FILTH OF A PALE ORC!"

Persephone's voice had risen so loud that THorin thought that something would break. He found himself staring, all the anger gone and only shock, horror and realizing that he had done something terribly wrong. Persephone was shaking but he could tell from how she held her head high and her eyes blazed that she was strong.

"My brother and I were inseparable! We promised each other one day that we would journey the whole of Middle Earth and see all the wonders and eventually visit our kin in Erabor. it was my brother's dream to see the Lonely Mountain. Then when we were fifteen, we went against our father's wishes and fought in the battle of Moria. My father died trying to save my brother from Azog. My brother was crushed by Azog seconds after... I lost all my family that day but most importantly I lost the person who meant the world to me. I have never met anyone who has ever been able to help me get over Prometa's death and I doubt I ever will! If you think for one second that I am anything like the woodland elves than you're wrong. Thranduil only met me once after my father and brother died and wanted to use me for experiments! He wanted to see if the genes would change if I was 'bred' with another species! He wanted to breed me! He wanted to see how many races he could combine into a single human being! He sent people out to hunt down other half or quarter breeds and he even had the nerve to suggest breeding me with a half human, half hobbit! He wanted to use me! If you think that I hold any place in my heart for woodland elves, think again Oakenshield! And if you think that I don't know what it feels like to watch the person you love get crumpled beneath a mace before your very eyes, hearing him scream your name for the last time, then you might as well go to hell!"

Persephone's voice was no longer in a yell but it was dripping with venom. THorin's eyes trained down when he saw her look down and he realized that blood was dripping onto the floor... coming from her hands. When the glass had burst, she had cut her hands... bad! There were two long cuts on each of her palms, starting from the fingers all the way to the wrists. They were bleeding so bad that soon her hands were covered in blood.

Bending down she picked up the pieces of glass, refusing to look at THorin. She finished picking up the pieces and threw them away. She walked to the sink and rinsed her hands quickly, not bothering to wrap them or put anything on them. As she turned, THorin knew they needed tending for they were beginning to bleed again.

She started to walk past when Thorin reached out to take her shoulder, "Sepha you should..."

He was going to suggest she see Oin but before he could even speak, she had swung around and brought her hand across his cheek. She left a print of blood on his cheek and a rather painful sting but he barely noticed the pain when he saw the tears pooling in her green eyes.

"Don't touch me." She spat.

With that she spun on her heel and left the dwarf prince standing there, knowing that he had messed up bad.

It was late and all the dwarves were sitting on the porch where they would sleep. Bofur had made a small fire with Bifor and they were cooking sausages. Everyone else was sitting around the fire quietly.

THorin was the only one standing, leaning against a rail of the porch, staring into the flames. He didn't like it that Persephone wasn't joining them. It was dark and even though he knew Rivendell was safe, it made him uneasy not knowing where she was.

"Where is Sepha?" Kili asked finally.

"Did you scare her off laddie?" Balin asked instantly.

Thorin snapped his head towards him, "What makes you think that?"

"We saw the way you looked when you realized she was part elf," Dwalin pointed out. "What did you say to her?"

"Did you lay hands on her?" Balin asked, frowning.

"OF course not!" THorin snapped. "I... I said too much."

"Too much of what?" Gloin inquired. "There's a lot Sepha can handle. How much is too much?"

"I questioned her understanding of hardship... and she revealed everything... her family.... her brother, her pains with azog, her pains with THranduil... everything.... I messed up."

"Look," Oin remarked, switching to Kuzdul just in case an elf or Sepha was nearby. "Sepha is a strong lass but no girl should ever have a man yell at her especially when she did nothing wrong."

Just then Kili and FIli waved their hands, trying to signal Oin to stop but it was too late. Sepha walked up onto the porch, wearing her black attire, her weapons on and her hood up, concealing her face. Thorin noticed right away that her hand were wrapped in bandages kind of hastily and the blood had seeped through, staining the linens.

"Don't talk about people when they're not around," she muttered. "It's not fair especially if it isn't true."

THorin felt his ears go red in embarrassment, hoping that Sepha didn't hear all of the conversation but Dwalin was staring. "You know Kuzdul?"

Sepha snorted as she sat down near the fire across from Bofur, "What do you think? You think that just because I'm part dwarf that I would naturally decide to learn elvish instead? Even considering that the elf in my blood is not nearly as much as the dwarfish?"

All of the dwarves could sense the venom in her voice and they all turned, glaring daggers at THorin. He knew why they were doing that and he knew he deserved it. he had hurt Sepha and now she was hurting and now it was coming back at all of them. She wasn't saying those things at the others, but rather at THorin, but not to his face.

"Want a sausage?" Bofur offered.

Sepha smiled sadly and shook her head, "Thanks though."

She pulled her knees to her chest and hugging them to her, she gazed into the fire. THorin watched her, noticing that her eyes didn't blink once as she watched the fire. Her hood was concealing most of her face and it hurt him to realize that the reason was probably because she didn't want anyone to look at her ears.

He missed seeing her hair billowing around her shoulders and her waist... seeing her perfectly shaped face and smooth neck... even her pretty pointy ears. They were incredibly pretty now he thought of it. it wasn't that they were pointed that had angered him, but the fact that pointy ears were always associated with elves.

What had he done?

Sepha lifted her head and noticed that Kili was sitting on a nearby bench, staring down at his pipe mournfully. Getting up, she approached him and sat down next to him, "What's on your mind?"

"A lot of things," Kili whispered. "I mean... now that I've joined the company, so many things have come to my mind that I had never thought before... will we return? Who will we meet? Will we meet any more friends or only foes.... will I ever find my one?"

Sepha smiled sweetly at him when Bombur spoke up, "I don't know if she understands what the One is laddie."

The girl shook her head, "No I know... and I know what you're going through Kili. I'm going through it too."

Kili's head shot up and at once all the dwarves were paying attention. "You do? Is there someone you love?"

Sepha smiled and shook her head, "You know... you never know you love someone till a while. You might meet someone and know they for years.... but only find out much later that you love them and that you've always loved them, you just never realized it. No Kili, I'm still looking for my One... but I know how frustrating it can be. How sometimes you just wish your One was there right here and now to be there for you.... to listen to you... to comfort you..."

As she spoke, Sepha's eyes seemed to wander off into another world and her voice was in almost a whisper. She quickly shook her head, "Sorry.... kinda off the subject."

Kili shook his head, "No.... that's exactly what I'm feeling!"

Soon the place quieted down and most of the dwarves laid down to sleep. Fili laid down on the bench near Sepha, leaning his head on her shoulder as a pillow. Kili still seemed distraught till he laid his head in her lap and let her stroke his hair. The young dwarf seemed to relax after that and sighed.

"Can you sing to me?" he whispered.

Sepha looked at the other dwarves from beneath her hood. Dwalin, Oin, GLoin and Bilbo were awake by lying in their bed rolls. Balin was sitting up, smoking his pipe and THorin was still leaning on the pole, partially hidden in the shadows while his face was aglow from the fire. All the others were sound asleep.

"Okay," the girl whispered.

Soon, her hauntingly beautiful voice broke out in a soft volume, not reaching anything too loud to rouse the others... and so soft and gentle that it filled the whole of Rivendell like a gentle breeze.

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

But watching you stand alone

All of my doubt, suddenly goes away somehowOne step closerI have died everyday, waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand moreTime stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything, take away

What's standing in front of me

Every breath, every hour has come to thisOne step closerI have died everyday, waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand moreAnd all along I believed, I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand moreOne Step closer One step closer

I have died everyday, waiting for you

darling don't, be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you

time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years

I've loved you for a thousand more.

When she finished, Fili was out cold, sleeping on her shoulder and Kili was dozing off. Oin and GLoin were snoring peacefully, Bilbo was lying on his stomach, his head in his arms, watching the girl with a smile on his face. Dwalin was lying on his back, eyes closed but awake and smiling. Balin was smiling around his pipe and Thorin's whole heart was in his eyes... but he didn't dare speak.

Sepha, seeing that the two young dwarves were asleep, shifted. She gently lifted Fili's head off her shoulder and laid him down all the way on the bench. She then wiggled out from under Kili's head and place a rolled up cloak beneath his head, leaving the two Durin's heirs to sleep peacefully.

Treading silently across the other sleeping dwarves, she made sure to not step on any of them. Approaching the fire, she held her hands over them and winced when her wounded hands got too close but she ignored it. Softly she whispered a spell and the fire died down slightly, but the whole porch was filled with a comfortable warmth.

Getting up, Sepha ducked her head, muttered a soft goodnight to Dwalin and Balin, ruffled Bilbo's hair and gave him a farewell before stepping off the porch. Thorin turned and watched her go. Every night since she had joined them she had told each dwarf in their turn goodnight... even him... this was the first night she hadn't told him goodnight and it pained him... it was like a part of him wasn't complete till he heard her sweet voice whisper goodnight.

He watched her slim figure walk off before he saw her head up the stairs and to the small room that she was living in. It was going to be a restless night for a certain dwarf prince. Full of tossing and turning, not managing to even find himself tired. His mind was too distraught... to the point where he lost most of his sleep that night.