The Undecided Title Of Sara Miller *Hobbit Fanfiction* (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 12: Reconciliation

In which there is reconciliation and revelation.

The next day they broke camp and were back on the road. They were still in the forest as they traveled through the day, but when they stopped for the night they could see the edge of the forest in the near distance. Fili was still not talking to Sara, so she had spent the day near Bilbo and Bofur which have been pleasant enough. When they arrived, the company set about preparing camp for the evening; the ponies were unloaded and left to graze on the soft green grass not too far away. Sara had set up her tent and was returning to camp when she spotted Fili sitting with Dwalin and several others. Not wanting to drive Fili away she turned and walked towards the ponies.

It has been a while since she had given Starbright a good brushing and being with the animals was calming. The ponies had moved away from the camp looking for greener softer plants and it was a few minutes before Sara found them. They had pushed their way to the edge of a small clearing and Starbright had his nose amongst a cluster of purple flowers munching happily. She pulled the brush from her pocket and began to run it over the old pony. She had finished one side and was moving around to start the other when she almost ran over Bilbo. Sara jumped and dropped the brush.

"Oh my gosh! Bilbo!" she expelled. "What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack? Kili is right, you would make an excellent burglar." He looked a little offended as he stooped to retrieve the fallen brush and handed it back to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she said taking it and stepping around Starbrights other side.

"It's all right," he said stroking her pony.

"How do you do it?" she asked. "Stay so quiet and then pop up out of nowhere?" He shrugged.

"It's just something we hobbits are particularly good at; staying out of sight and not being noticed when we don't want to be." He was scratching under Starbrights chin, a favorite spot of the old animals.

"Why would you not want me to see you?" she asked.

"I hadn't meant to sneak up on you. Sometimes I forget I'm doing it," he said. "I saw you leave camp alone and figured you were coming out here to visit the ponies. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were doing well. I know Fili is still not speaking to you."

"Yeah he's still avoiding me," she confided. She started brushing Starbrights mane.

"Whatever did you fight about?" ask Bilbo "You always seemed to get along so well."

"Nothing important," she said. "I just said some things I shouldn't have and so did he." Bilbo did not push the issue. They talked as Sara finished and they moved on to Bilbo's pony before the hobbit decided to return to camp and see if Bomber needed help with tonight's meager meal. The sun was getting lower in the sky and Bilbo had been gone a few minutes when Sara decided to follow him, but stopped when she saw a Fili emerge from the trees and come to stand in front of her. They stared at each other for a moment, the tension palpable between them.

"Hello Fili," she tried.

"Hello Ms. Sara." They were quiet again. "I came to find you."

"Oh, is the food ready? Bilbo was going to go help and I was just headed back," she asked, purposely being obtuse.

"I came to find you so I could talk to you," he clarified. "I came to apologize."