(Requested by the amaaaaaaaaazing CinderEverdeen11! Thank you sooooo much for my first request in quite a while!)

Type: One shot

Pairing: Bard x Female (Elf!) Reader

Translations: Nin cóon, Legolas = my prince, Legolas

Warning: LOOOOOOOONG... Also, I have no idea why I wrote this with such a long journey, and, uh, I hope it works with the storyline. :p

Enjoy!

I pull back the arrow, silent as the night's sky, aimed perfectly straight at the target. I draw my breath and release the arrow. It flies straight and true, hitting the direct center of the tree knob target with a satisfying 'thunk!' I smirk at my success and move my hand to reach for another arrow.

"Keara." I freeze.

Turning around with as much dignity as I can muster, I say, "Nin cóon, Legolas." He raises an eyebrow and replies coolly, "What are you doing out here? The king would not be happy." I roll my eyes and ignore him, slinging my bow across my back. As I head over to the tree and pull out the arrow, what he says makes me pause: "He has ordered the gates closed. No one can enter or leave." I turn around and look at him, surprised, and he continues, "Tauriel left." I nod. Of course he'd go after her, I've known for years that the Prince of Mirkwood harbors affection towards her. I follow him back to the clearing where a majestic horse waits patiently. He climbs on and offers me his hand. I take it and swing on behind him. Little do I know how much that simple gesture will change the course of my life...

We ride to the river and find Tauriel staking out the rocks. There is blood and the scent of evil remains. I frown. "A battle between orcs and a company of fourteen was fought along these riverbanks. One of them was injured." Legolas raises eyebrow at me, but I brush his disbelief off with a simple, "You'll find I am quite intuitive, nin cóon." He does not reply and I see Tauriel turning this way. Legolas raises his bow and she does the same. They exchange a few words before she requests we follow her to find the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, the group of whom fought this battle in escape from our Mirkwood kingdom. "Do I have a choice?" I remark wryly, and we set off on foot.

A long while passes as we track the dwarves all the way to Laketown, far north. I can see the Lonely Mountain high and proud on the horizon beyond the water-bound city. We fight off a legion of orcs looking to kill the dwarves left behind in one of the residents' homes, Tauriel saves one from dying and he falls SO in love with her, and I calm and comfort the children. Legolas glances at me once before leaving to chase after the orcs that attacked us. Then the dragon attacks. There is fire and screams everywhere. There isn't enough room for us all in one boat, so I take the children and get them out of the town gone up in flames in a smaller vessel. Once we are on the opposite shore and safe, I turn back and face the town just in time to see the dragon fall with a thundering roar.

My cheer is the first heard among the survivors and all of a sudden, they look to me for hope as they begin to praise whomever has saved the remnants of their town from the evil dragon's fire. I am swarmed by men, women, and children, old and young, they all swarm to me and I do my best to take a sort of leadership role, handing out the measly supplies that were saved and brought ashore. I glance over to the side at one point to see the dwarves saying farewell to Tauriel. The one who has clearly fallen for her is smiling until he spots Legolas standing behind her. Drama... I shake my head and turn back to the next person waiting for food and warm blankets and startle. It is a man, a very ugly man at that, dressed in women's clothes and glaring harshly at me. "Um, sir, women and children take priority-" He snarls and tries to take the blanket from my hands, but I keep my grip strong. "Give me that, you filthy-"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, Alfred," threatens a voice from beside me and I glance over to see a tall, black-haired (and rather handsome) fellow pointing a sword at the rude man's throat. He stumbles back and spits angrily at the man beside me, who shakes his head and warns, "Stay away from her." "It was Bard! He was the one who slayed the dragon!" shouts a weary, yet grateful voice from the crowd. Another chimes in, "Yes! I saw him, atop the spindled tower!" "He shot it down with a black arrow!" Cheers and praises erupt from around us, all directed at Bard, the one standing beside me, until the greasy, rude man from before grabs his hand and raises it. "Long live the king of Laketown!" he sneers and I elbow him in the side before he can make another move. He falls to the ground and I kick him in the side, saying angrily, "You simpering coward! I watched you push others into the water to save your own skin while the town was burning!"

There are hoots and cheers of agreement, directed at me, from the crowd and I shake my head at them now. "He's not much worse than the rest of you! Would you really turn on one of your own? We need to band together to keep ourselves and the ones we love alive. I know I am not one of you, but I wish to help as much as I can. Look to this man-" I gesture to the one beside me, "-to lead you. Stay with your families. Grieve as we journey, for time is running out." I turn to Bard. "Do you know where you must lead them?" "Did you have an idea?" he counters and I nod. "Travel to the ruins of Dale. If the dragon was woken, the Company has reached the mountain. Their leader will assist you, and if he does not- I know Thranduil well enough to say this. He wishes for specific gems in the mountain. We will have elven reinforcements coming our way, with food, clothes, and weapons." "Weapons?" My expression turns grave. "He will attempt to take back the gems he believes are his, at almost any cost."

We have reached Dale by now. It has been a dozen or so days since we left the smoldering ruins of Laketown behind us. "Set up shelter wherever you can. Share food rations if you can spare them. No one is to go hungry tonight," commands Bard, who I've gotten to know well over the journey, as well as his three lovely children. I am lost in my thoughts for quiet a while before I spot Alfred trying to steal an extra loaf of crusty bread from an old woman and shoo him away. Tilda runs up to me then, her cheeks flushed from the cold, and says, "Miss Keara? Da wants to see you." She is smiling knowingly and I sigh, patting her shoulder. "Now is not the time for silly manners of the heart, your Da and I both know that, so keep the kissy faces to yourself." She laughs and hurries away, and I smile at having coaxed a laugh from her in these dark times.

"Keara, look," is the first thing Bard says when I arrive on the high tower at the edge of the city. The roof was blown half off when the evil dragon attacked the city oh so long ago, so I can see all the stars sparkling above. But it is not stars that caught Bard's attention this evening. "You were right," he continues, pointing at the Lonely Mountain, now so close- and well-lit. The great doors glow with light, the rampants flickering with torches. It is a breathtaking sight and it takes me a moment to reply, "Now all we must do is convince their leader to lend us help in our dearest time. I pray he will." Bard turns to me and remarks softly, "You would make a wonderful queen, you know that?" I sigh and meet his gaze, smiling uncertainly. "I don't know about that. And now is not the time to discuss such things." "You and I both know what we feel," he presses and I nod, admitting I have felt something flickering in my heart for him as of late.

The conversation ends and I head back into the camps scattered around the city. Many folk pull me aside to thank me for my help and offer me food. Whenever they don't accept my thanks but refusal, I take the food and hand it out to the families with more children and less rations than some others. The evening wears on and I can't seem to fall asleep. When I do, I dream of a battle where so much blood is shed, it paints the grounds beyond Dale red and black. Men, elves, dwarves, even one hobbit- they all fight alongside each other against the greatest foe they have ever faced. I wake, gasping and shaking, only when the sun peeks above the horizon- and I hear the familiar sound of the Mirkwood trumpets announcing the arrival of the king.

Negotiations are short-lived and a failure, Bard and I riding back from the mountain in low spirits. Thorin Oakenshield refuses to assist us, to uphold his end of the deal he made with the people of Laketown when they offered him shelter. I noticed there did seem to be a sort of sick cloud hovering around Thorin's mind and remark this to Bard as we head back to Dale, but he just shakes his head and replies the new King Under the Mountain wouldn't have helped us anyway. Thranduil has, as I predicted, brought supplies to aid the survivors, who are extremely grateful. I am invited to join Bard, a new arrival of Gandalf the Grey, and the elven king of Mirkwood to discuss our plan of action and agree- but then a hobbit arrives. The same one I saw in my dream last night. He brings us the Arkenstone as a way to bargain with Thorin. "You are quite the brave hobbit," I tell him and pat his back. "Thank you." He nods, but I can tell how worried he is to return to the mountain with the weight of betraying the Company on his shoulders.

The next day is a blur. All there is around me is death, war, and screams. Arrows fly, spears jab, swords sweep through the air. We are fighting a losing battle against the worst of evil I have ever seen as giant and small orcs alike attack and brutally murder the survivors of Laketown. I fight the hardest I have ever battled against the endless waves of foes, but sometimes I cannot save a villager and my heart breaks for every life lost. Bard fights close to me and at one point he calls out for his children. I immediately go find them and find Tilda expertly fending off three orcs with a broadsword. I take the last one by surprise and the three children flock to me, grateful, but I only nod and take them to a safe place, where Bard finds us, and they have a quick reunion while I guard the door. Then it's back into the fray and I lose all sense of time.

My heartbeat finally starts to slow once the last orc flees from Dale, the adreneline rushing through my body fading and the wounds on my arms and side finally registering in my mind as painful. I make it to the base camp in the center of the city, where I find the medical tent and quickly wrap the worst of my wounds, then get to work helping others who are more injured than I. The night wears on and by daybreak the next morning, my eyes are barely open and I am swaying on my feet, yet I still find time to make sure Bard's children are safe before taking a rest on the bench behind where they are waiting for their Da to come back. When I wake, I feel warm arms around me and a quiet voice mutters into my hair, "You're awake?" I nod and murmur back, "I'm so glad you're alright," as I sit up and curl into Bard's embrace.

We watch the people outside regroup, mourn for the dead, and rejoice over those who survived through the broken windows, taking a moment of peace before we need to go take the roles of leaders again. I lean my forehead against Bard's chest and sigh in comfort. "You really would make a wonderful queen," he says after a moment and I chuckle, then turn my head to lean up and kiss him. When we break apart, I reply with a smile, "I still don't know about that, but I do know I love you." He smiles in return and kisses me sweetly, just as Tilda, Sigrid, and Bain come rushing in, giggling about something, and stop with shrieks of joy. "Finally!" teases Sigrid as Tilda hides behind her sister's skirt, staring at us with wide eyes, Bain still giggling beside them. Bard grins at his kids and asks them, "Do you think Keara would make a wonderful queen?" "Definitely!" they chorus and Tilda adds, "Especially if that means you two are in love!" I laugh and agree, "It's a good thing we are, then."