When the remaining company reached the gates of Erebor, their leader was nowhere to be found. Balin had a pretty good idea where their king had disappeared to and didn't have a good feeling about it. Dwalin put the half-breed down on the ground, and she rested against the wall, staring out the gates. All she could think of right now was her brother and her two nieces and nephew and whether or not they made it out alive.

Gloin and Dwalin left to see if they could find something to get a fire started. Bilbo looked around as the others were busying doing things, whether it was going to look for some wood for a fire or clearing chunks of stone to make a pathway to the gates. The Hobbit went and crouched down beside his friend, he couldn't even imagine what was going through her mind right now. The worst part was not knowing. They had no idea if the four Dwarves or the woman's family had made it out alive. They could have been killed before the dragon was, they could be hurt or the most unlikely scenario - they may have just made it out alive.

"Bella..." Bilbo started as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"There dead..." The woman uttered lowly. "There all dead."

"Bella, you don't know that. Maybe...maybe they were able to get away safely." Hobbit stated and the half-breed could hear the uncertainty in his voice. Bella just sat there letting everything sink in. The last thing she did with her half brother was argue with him and she regretted it now more then ever. She didn't want that to be the last thing she remember him by. They always argued when she was about to disappear but this time it was different...

Bella's chest hurt from holding in the pain she was feeling. Not just for her brother and the kids, but Fili, Kili, Oin and Bofur as well. Tears began to roll down the woman's face, which eventually led to her choking on her sobs. Bilbo had never seen Bella once on this quest breakdown until now. Bella was in a lot of ways like Thorin, especially when it came to concealing pain. The hobbit sat on the ground beside the woman and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in comfort as she cried against her friend, wishing that it was Thorin holding her right now, she need him now more then anything and he was nowhere to be found.

The half-breed woke up the next day when the early light shinned through the front gates. Bella sat up straighter, squinting before her eyes eventually adjusted to the light and stretched her arms when she noticed that some of the chunks of stone had been cleared to make a pathway through the hall to the gate. Bella stood up from the ground and saw most of the Dwarves were still out, snoring away. Bilbo was sound asleep on the ground not far from her.

The young woman carefully stepped over the chunks of stone, not wanting to wake any of the Dwarves or the Hobbit. They were so exhausted from the last few days of little sleep, they deserved a goodnight's rest. Bella on the other hand wasn't going to find much rest. Not until she knew the truth of her family and friends fate. The half-breed passed by many of the sleeping Dwarf's, looking to see if one of them happened to be the leader but so far it appeared he never came to join the others to rest at all last night.

Glancing around the immediate area one last time at her sleeping comrades, she decided there would be no harm in her taking a venture through the halls of this enormous mountain. Now that she and the others didn't have to worry about the angry beast lurking around every corner, waiting to light them on fire. The young woman made sure she had her sword, and began walking in the opposite direction of the front gates.

It felt like she had been walking around this huge mountain for hours and she felt like she hadn't even seen half what there was to see in this kingdom. Bella had passed by many doors that looked as if they were once bedrooms, but most had been destroyed by the wrath of the dragon and now coated in decades of dust. But every now and then she stumbled on a room, that didn't appear to be too badly damaged. It would take a lot of work, but in just a few months, Erebor could start feeling like home again to these Dwarves... and maybe even for some others who have lost or just never felt like they had a home.

As she continued to walk down another hall, she started to think back to the day when Gandalf, the Grey had come to her, asking for her help in reclaiming a homeland with a group of Dwarves and a Hobbit. At first all Bella wanted was to do her part in getting the burglar safe to the mountain so he could fulfill his job and then she would forget about everyone and be on her merry way, alone on the road like she has always done and no one would have found out who she was. Instead, this journey had opened up so many old wounds from her past that she tried so hard to keep buried, and they found out who she really was. But Bella also found something she never thought she could find. She found a sense of belonging with these Dwarves, a family. Bella would die for each and every one of these Dwarves and she knew every one of them would do the same for her.

Time continued to pass and the woman was starting to get hungry, she hadn't eaten much since they left Laketown. She had been so stressed out about everything, she just didn't have much of an appetite. She decided she would continue exploring tomorrow and maybe mention to Balin and Dwalin about cleaning up some of the rooms that aren't too badly damaged so everyone could have a proper place to rest. Bella started to head back and at first she thought she was going in the right direction, until she somehow ended up in front of the healing chambers again. She looked around to see if anything seemed familiar and headed down another passageway, only to end up in a completely different area of the mountain that she did not recognize.

"Great. Next time you want to go adventuring Bella. Make sure you mark a trail so you know how to find your way back." Bella muttered at herself. The half-breed continued down the hall, when she came across a ledge and saw it was already getting dark out. Had she been wandering around that long? The woman finally admitted to herself that she was lost and that this was definitely not a good idea to go exploring on her own like she thought it would be. Bella leaned against the wall and slid to the ground, deciding it was best to stay in one spot until someone came to find her. 'Hopefully soon.' She thought, now realizing how exhausted she really was. It wasn't until now she suddenly realized she hadn't thought about her brother and his children and her friends. Or Thorin for that matter, she had no idea where he had taken off too since re-entering the mountain. She hoped he was at-least okay and that she would see him soon. Bella had a hard time admitting how much she needed Thorin, for the longest time all she had was her. She had never had anyone to depend on before. " Thorin, I need you now." She whispered before passing out.

Back at the front gates...

The light shinned through the front gates of Erebor. The company slowly got up and stretched and started walking around. The Hobbit was the last to wake and saw that Bella was not beside him anymore. He got up off the ground and looked around and saw the others, except for Bella. Where had Bella gone off too? His gaze turned to the doors that led outside. He remembered how upset and worried she was for her brother. Could she possibly have left to go find him and their other friends? Or did she go to find the Dwarf leader?

"Have any of you seen Bella?" Bilbo asked as he approached the others. Balin and Dwalin looked around the area, they hadn't seen Bella since last night when she was still pretty distraught by last nights destruction. The other Dwarves shook their heads at the Hobbit.

"I'm sure she's fine laddie." Balin stated, with a reassuring smile. " She probably just want to be alone to clear her head." Bilbo nodded his head, knowing the older Dwarf was probably right and the group headed for the feasting room to have something to eat to satisfy their starving bellies.

The afternoon rolled around quickly and Bella still had yet to appear. None of the other Dwarves seemed to think it was such a big deal but Bilbo was worried about his friend. It wasn't safe for her to be wandering around alone, especially in the state of mind she was in right now.

The company was talking amongst themselves when heavy footsteps coming towards the feasting room. They were too heavy to be Bella's so that only left one other person. Thorin came walking into the room, causing everyone to go silent. "What's going on here?" Thorin demanded, dark circles had begun to form under the leaders eyes from the lack of sleep he was getting. "There is plenty of work that needs to be done. First we need to find the Arkenstone." The leader insisted about to head back, when he turned back around only to notice one person wasn't present. "Where's Bella?" He asked, his voice a little more calmer this time.

"She's not with you?" Bilbo thought.

"No...I haven't seen her since we were on the tower." Thorin admitted, now that he thought about it. He couldn't believe he just left her there like that, alone and frightened after watching her home burn down, wondering if her family was alive or not. She needed him and all he could think of was finding that stupid stone. " I have to find her." Thorin said quietly to himself and he left the feasting room to begin his search through the halls.

The Dwarf didn't get far when he heard his name being called by the Hobbit. Bilbo caught up to him. " Here, she's probably gonna need this when you find her. I don't think she's had anything to eat or drink in the last few days. The others and I will search the other halls for Bella. " Bilbo told him, handing him some food and a pouch of water. Thorin nodded to the Hobbit.

It didn't take Thorin long to check rooms on every hall he went to. Even though it been decades since he stepped foot in this mountain. He still remembered every inch of his home. Thorin every once in awhile called out the woman's name, seeing if she would respond. During his search he randomly met up with two of his men, they were all searching in pairs and so far none have had any luck finding her.

Thorin was going down another hall and as more time passed it was getting harder and harder to see down the hall as the light from outside quickly disappeared. The king found a torch that was sitting in a mount on the wall and eventually got it light on fire so he could use it to see where he was going. The king's exhaustion was catching up to him, but he wasn't going to stop searching until he found her. The next passageway went around the corner towards the burial chambers. The Dwarf went around the corner and there she was. Propped up against the wall. He put the torch in the wall mount and crouched down in front of her.

"Bella? Bella, wake up." Thorin called, as he placed a hand on her cheek, gently tapping it. Bella woke up, blinking a few times before she could see it was Thorin in front of her. The leader pulled out the pouch of water and put it to her lips and she took a big gulp and he pulled the pouch away from her. "Are you alright?" He asked her next. The woman nodded and preceded to sit up a bit straighter. " Here you must be hungry." Thorin insisted as he placed the bun in her hand.

"Thank you," She said about to take a bit when she looked up at the Dwarf. " Have you eaten?"

"I'm fine. You eat it." Thorin told her.

"Thorin..." Bella sighed, knowing he was lying. She tore the bun in half and gave half of it to Thorin. He went and sat down on the other side of Bella as the two of them nibbled on their food.

"Bella..." Thorin began, causing her to look up at him. " Bella I'm sorry, I should have been there for you when you needed me. I know your worried about your brother, the kids...and Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Oin. I am too, but the only thing we can do is hope they made it out of there alive and we'll be reunited with them soon." Thorin told her wrapping an arm around her and she laid her head on his chest. " And I promise you Bella, any survivors that come our way, will have a place to stay in the mountain."

"You promise?" She asked as she wiped the few tears that came down her face.

"I promise." He told her and kissed her forehead. The king laid down on his back, guiding Bella down with him. Both were too exhausted to make the long walk back to the others. They would be fine resting here for the night and then would go find their friends in the morning.

"One more thing Bella." Thorin spoke. Bella hummed in response. " Next time you want to go exploring, please have someone go with you." He insisted before allowing a small laugh to escape his lips, causing her to laugh as well.

" Deal." Bella responded before the two of them finally passed out.