Work Text:
Fili peeked out around the corner of the wall. His mother and uncle were arguing, and he didn’t like it. Kili was right behind him, sniffling, because he had a nightmare and because their adults were fighting. He had come to wake up Fili, and he had every thought of going to yell at them for scaring his little brother. However, their argument had gotten louder as the room darkened. The fire was burning low, and Dis was trying to stir it up a bit. They didn’t have much more wood left, and they were on the last days of winter. It was starting to warm up in the day, but it was still too chilly at night.
“We can’t afford new boots, Dis,” Thorin said. “Can we mend the ones he has now?”
“No, Thorin, we cannot,” Dis said. “They’re too small as it is. And Fili will need some more too.”
Thorin sighed. “I’ll see what I can do… I’ll stay late for now.”
Dis nodded, shoulder slumping. “They deserve better than this.”
“So do you,” Thorin whispered, and he went to his room, shoulders back, head held high.
“Did you hear them?” Kili asked, as they returned to Fili’s room. “We’re causing problems.”
Fili wanted to reassure his little brother, wanted to promise that he was no trouble at all, but he had heard it himself. His uncle couldn’t make enough to take care of them, which meant his mother and uncle would have to go without for him and his brother. He hugged Kili, as the younger dwarf sniffled. He wasn’t sure what do to do… He already knew that both of them ate less than they needed, especially his uncle. Uncle Thorin was gone most of the day and often came home exhausted.
"I know," he said after a while.
"What are we going to do?"
"I don't know."
"We could leave," Kili said, and he sniffled. Fili swiped at his younger brother's cheek gently, trying to comfort with a hug. He knew it didn't really work. "We have to." Fili wanted to argue, wanted to say that it wasn't true. But it was. He nodded.
"Let's go pack," he said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dis sighed, knowing that she should wake her sons for school. She prayed that they would not start a fight today, not after this second fight she had with Thorin this morning. Her brother was being stubborn for no reason. She strode to her youngest child's room, Kili. He was having problems at school. Many of the dwarves here were not fond of his proclivity to climb and his love of animals. Dis found it sweet and reminded her of the softer sides of her other brother, Frerin, and her late husband. It often struck her heart, seeing her youngest, but she shook her head. She had a job to do, and she was not going to let grief get in the way of that. Not anymore.
She pushed open the door. "Kili," she whispered, frowning when she saw the bed empty. It looked as if Kili hadn't even slept in it. No wrinkles, perfectly straight. Even with his brother's help, the bed never looked so neat when they made it. He was probably in with Fili then. He was prone to nightmares, and he often went to Fili for comfort instead of Dis or Thorin. She, in the past, had been hurt and maybe a tad jealous of this bond, but now she saw it for what it was. The two of them were inseparable, where one went, the other followed. Fili didn't even mind his younger brother tagging along. He relished in it, even when his friends grew annoyed of the young dwarf.
She entered Fili's room, ready to wake the two dwarflings up, when she saw that his bed was pristinely made as well. She touched where the boys would have laid and it was cold. Her heart hammered in her chest. Where were her sons? Neither were particularly neat, and most of the time they would just throw the covers up and count that as making the bed. She rushed back to the living room. Had the two slept there? They were not there, and Dis knew that. Thorin and Dis had argued out there just this morning. She checked in the front and out the back, and the two dwarflings were not there.
Where had they gone? Had they been kidnapped? Had they gone to someone's house and forgot to tell Dis? Did Thorin take them to the forge, forgetting they had school today? Maybe he had taken them shopping, skipping both work and school? No, Thorin would never be so irresponsible. That left only the first two options, which were both equally terrifying. Horrible things could be happening to her children, and she had been preoccupied with her fight with Thorin. She stepped outside once again, back in the front of the house.
"Fili! Kili!" she shouted, hoping this was some elaborate prank. She would scold them, but she would be so happy that the two of them were home, that they were safe. She would never take them for granted again.
"What have those two rascals done now?" Dwalin asked, coming over to Dis. Dis felt a surge of relief. Dwalin was working with the boys, training them to fight with swords. Although, it was more form work and foot work right now than actual sparring, especially for little Kili.
"They're missing," she said, hope swelling up in her chest. "Have you seen them?"
"No, ma'am," he answered, and the bubble popped. "Missing?"
"I went to wake them for school, and they are not in the house. It looks like they hadn't even slept in their beds," she answered.
"When did you last see them?" Dwalin asked, standing up straight, the small smirk falling off his face.
"Last night. I sent them to their rooms to get ready for bed," Dis said. "I didn't tuck them in... I was arguing with Thorin, again, and... Dwalin, we have to find them."
"We will," Dwalin said, "You stay here in case they return. I will gather dwarves and go look for them. We'll leave Thorin to his work for now. No need to worry him. They couldn't have gotten far."
Dis returned to the house, cleaning up what little mess was left. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she refused to let the anxiety take over. She instead busied herself with cleaning up the boy's room, noticing key things missing from each. Kili's stuffed eagle was not on his bed, and Fili's practice sword, something just barely sharper than a wooden play sword, was not leaning against the bedframe. Clothes were strewn across the floor, but their heavy winter coats and some of their shirts were not there. Their boots were missing as well, but Dis wouldn't have been surprised. It was looking more and more like the two boys had run away, and she could not figure out why. Unless... But no, they couldn't have... They were supposed to be in bed.
But their beds were untouched.
They had overheard her argument with her brother, their uncle. She closed her eyes, guilt rising up in her. She should not have picked a fight with him, not when he was so tired. They had both said things they regretted when she did. Both Kili and Fili had hearts of gold. Upon hearing that they were causing the two adults stress over money, it was only logical to them to take themselves out of the picture. Their hearts of gold meant that she was losing her sons, two of the most important people in her life, a connection to her fallen husband, her family. She would have to wring their necks when they were returned home, after she hugged them death of course, to explain exactly why they should not worry about adult affairs. She wringed her hands, before shaking her head, and returning to chores around the house. She would have to make the boys' favorite. Even if it was expensive.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Fili, where are we going?" Kili asked. It was now morning, and Fili knew that their mother would be waking them up for school soon... or would have been if they had been asleep in their beds. They had traipsed down the mountain, since late that night, trying to get ahead of the search party that would soon be coming for them. Kili was starting to yawn, and he was walking half asleep. Fili himself wanted to lay down and rest, but he didn't think they were far enough yet. It wouldn't help his mother or uncle if he gave up so soon. He stopped and carefully picked up his younger brother.
"I don't know," Fili answered, "But why don't you take a nap while I figure it out?"
"Okay," Kili said, and Fili knew he was tired when he didn't argue. Kili usually hated being told to take a nap and would argue and argue until he finally got too tired and fell asleep. He was already snoring and drooling against Fili's shoulder, and he felt horrible. He really shouldn't have dragged Kili out so late. Maybe they could have ran off during the day, instead of going to school. But the teacher would alert their mother or their uncle sooner than this, and they were more likely to be seen by the guards. He sighed. There was no way around it. He continued down, until he finally saw the ground level out. "Part one done."
He continued on down the tree line, not quite trusting that they were far enough down to be safe to go into the plains. It ended up being a good call, as Dwalin and other members of the guard barreled out into the plains, looking around. Dwalin was barking orders so loudly that he startled Kili awake. Fili covered his mouth in time, so they weren't heard, and he huddled behind a bush. The other dwarves started searching through the underbrush, getting closer to them. Fili cursed much like he heard his mother do, and Kili looked up at him wide eyed.
"We should climb the trees," Kili whispered.
"What?" Fili asked.
"The trees. They won't look for us in the trees." Fili looked up, and he knew his brother was right. He hefted him to a low branch, and the two of them quickly scrambled up it. They reached the higher branches quickly, and the two stilled, hoping the shaking branches didn't give them away. They couldn't stay up here forever. Dwalin was still barking orders underneath them, but Kili had been right. No one looked up to see the two dwarflings chilling in a tree. Or well, Kili was relaxed. Fili much preferred his feet on the ground. He clung to the branch he was on, afraid of falling to his doom. Okay, maybe just a broken arm, but Thorin would be mad. He would be furious. Kili was perched on a branch nearby, swinging his legs back and forth, as if he was not afraid of falling, that if he slipped, he would simply float to the ground. Fili wished he had that belief, because right now, going down after they were safe would be horrible.
"Where are they?" Dwalin asked.
"We haven't seen any signs of them, sir," one of the Dwarven guards answered. "They must not have come this way, laid a false trail."
Laying a false trail would have been smart, Fili thought, but it was too late for that now. They had not been nearly as careful as they should have been in the start, but now, they were well hidden. Except... he had to sneeze. Fili held his breath, squeezing his eyes shut, willing the sneeze to go away. The dwarves were still arguing below, when he finally let it out. Fili and Kili froze, glancing down, and fortunately, it seemed that the arguing had stolen all of their attention, and no one had heard the noise. He was so going to tell Dwalin about this if they got caught. It would at least make the older dwarf disgruntled, and that would be amusing even if they would be in a lot of trouble. Although, the amusement would just have to be in his imagination for now. Fili had no intentions of being caught. That would be the exact opposite of helpful to his uncle and mother. If he was going to be a leader, then he needed to act like one. And a leader did not hurt their families.
After a few hours of searching and Kili dozing off again, the dwarves and Dwalin left, heading back up the mountain. It was almost dark, and Fili didn't really want to continue traveling at night and sleep during the day. Dwarves were not nocturnal, so he settled in, laying with his head at the widest part of the branch, and he fell asleep. He was exhausted, as he hadn't slept since two nights ago. His worry for Kili and fear of being found raged inside of him, and he knew that if they were found this early, they would never have another opportunity to help. Now, they just needed to find somewhere to live and learn a trade. They could come back when they were self-sufficient and then they could help Uncle Thorin and Mama.
He woke up to a bird pecking at his head. He jerked awake, just barely managing to not fall out of the tree. The bird flew away, cawing in rage. Fili found he didn't care, as the bird had been messing with him first. He heard a giggle, and he turned to glare at his brother, who was petting the bird on his finger. He rolled his eyes. His brother always adored animals and nature. He still enjoyed the stones of the mountain, but he also adored the wide opened air. It was strange, Fili knew, but he was his brother. Just because he liked things that were different didn't mean he was bad, didn't mean he was wrong, or even that he was weird. He was different, and Fili thought that was good.
"I think we should keep going," Fili said.
"During the day?" Kili asked.
"Yeah, I don't want us to become too used to be nocturnal. Besides, it's safer to move during the light hours," Fili answered, and Kili nodded. He pet his bird one last time, and the two of them scrambled down the branches. Fili felt like he was constantly falling and just barely stopping himself, while Kili did, in fact, look like he was floating between the branches. Kili giggled, and Fili took it for what it was. Kili typically laughed loudly when he was having fun, which he was sure he was having right now. Fili didn't understand it, and Kili didn't understand how he could not, but they were two different dwarves. Something he noticed his uncle forgot at times, and Fili was going to remind him until the stubborn dwarf understood.
"Let's go," Kili said, bouncing. He was already on the ground, and Fili was still only three quarters down from where they were. He sighed, moving slightly faster. He sighed in relief as he finally felt his feet touch the solid ground. He swayed a bit but nodded at Kili. It was time to go. They followed the treeline, and Fili listened to Kili gasp in wonder at the all of the animals that lived here. They saw squirrels and deer and birds and even a fox. Around midday, they stopped for a short break, eating some jerky that Fili had stolen from their mother. He felt horrible, stealing their rations like that, but without having to feed two growing dwarflings, they should be able to afford more. Besides, this was used when they went on expeditions, not at home.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thorin arrived home, exhausted from a day of work, only to find his house filled to the brim with some of his most trusted men from Erebor. He blinked, concern wrapping around his heart, as he stormed into the house, demanding answers. The ones he received were the worst kind, he decided. His nephews had run off, for reasons unknown, but easily guessed. He stared at the floor, guilt swirling in his stomach. He should not have argued with his sister. He should have agreed and made it work. There would have been nothing for the dwarflings to have overheard. He shook his head.
"I'll go look for them," Thorin said, "They could not have made it far."
"They've made it down the mountain at least," Dwalin said, "And we were unable to find them. They're good."
"They are my nephews. I know them better than anyone else," Thorin said. "I will track them, and I will bring them home." He turned to Dwalin. "Take care of Dis."
"I will," Dwalin said, and he bowed his head.
Thorin went to his room, grabbing a pack he had made in case of an emergency. He grabbed a few ration bars, but he would have to hunt to make up for the lack of food. His boys would have to too, and he could only hope that they remembered their lessons. He took a deep breath and returned to the living room. Dis was wiping down the counter, but her hand was only circling around the same spot, and her eyes were locked out the window, staring long into the distance. He stepped up beside her, looking out in the same direction, praying to Mahal that the dwarflings would be popping out of some shadowy corner and run back with teasing laughter. But they did not. He squeezed her shoulder gently.
"I will find them," Thorin said, and Dis turned to meet his eyes, "And I will not come back until I do."
"I know you will," she said, and her faith in him should have brought him pride, but it ached instead. He was to blame for their disappearance. His callous words and his actions had driven his nephews away. When he found them, he would drag them both back home, and then he was going to make sure they never doubted their place in his home and his heart. He had turned into his father, into his grandfather, and he did not like it. He vowed to do better from that moment on.
He left Dis, standing in the window. Throwing the pack over his shoulder, he set off, leaving the fortress quickly. Dwalin had mentioned how they believed that the trail they followed had to have been a false one, but Thorin had found no evidence of a secondary, more carefully laid trail at all down the mountain. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Thorin grimaced. He had a late start, and he would not be able to stop until he reached the point the trail disappeared, or the rain would wash it away. He hurried down the mountain, deciding that the trail he was following was most likely the one they had taken. He should not be mad. It would make it easier to follow him, but had those foolish boys really forgotten all of their lessons.
It took a few hours still to reach the end of the dwarflings' trail, and the storm loomed ever closer. Thorin looked for signs, desperately hoping to find anything. There! A small boot print left by a hurried dwarfling. One of them had planted, probably Fili, and hoisted the other into the tree. No wonder Dwalin had a hard time finding them. No dwarf would look up, as most did not like to climb away from the ground. He sighed. Kili liked to climb though, and Dwalin should have anticipated that he, at least, would have been in a tree. Although, it looked like both had ended up high above the ground. Thorin was a bit surprised by this, as Fili had a strong distaste for heights, much like himself and Dis.
He grunted, as he felt a few drops land on his cheek. He was running of out of time. The boys were not still in the tree, at least not this one, and he would have to find their trail before it went cold. He searched the ground, looking for snapped twigs, footprints, a piece of cloth, anything that could hint where his two nephews had run off. It was as the rain poured down from the sky, soaking him to the skin in just a few seconds, that he found footprints, heading into the field towards the east. He ran after, hoping to catch them that day.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Miles away from Thorin, Fili and Kili were riding in a wagon full of hay, eating apples and jerky. A friendly farmer had offered the two dwarflings a ride after they explained they were going to find a trade to learn, so that they could help their family. The farmer had offered a position at the farm, but Fili thought it was too close and respectfully declined. However, he did promise to send people looking for work the man's way. In fact, they were able to find someone at the next town. It was getting dark, and Kili was yawning.
"Mr. Farmer, sir?" Fili asked, remembering his manners. "If we help you out tomorrow morning, can we stay the night with you?"
"Of course," the man said, and he gave the two young boys a gentle smile.
They ate a nice meal that night, and the older man tucked them into a small bed. Kili was already asleep, long before the man blew out the candles and shut the door to the hallway. Fili heard him limp into the master bedroom and the door close. He slept well into the next morning, and he felt guilty as the sun crossed his eyes, drawing him out of his sleep. Kili was already in the kitchen, chattering to the old farmer. The human was listening with a smile on his face, nodding along, laughing in all the right places. Fili was amazed by him; he was nothing like the humans near the Blue Mountains, who often scoffed at Thorin and forced him to work far harder than Fili thought was fair. They often underpaid him or demanded he finished in unreasonable times. Who could create a good sword in a day? Thorin... apparently, but only when he rose early in the morning and stayed late into the night. Fili had fallen asleep at the kitchen table, waiting for his uncle to come home, only to find that he was not going to be until his normal time that day. Sometimes, it could be days before he managed to make it home.
And it was all because of them.
Well, now he was going to fix it. They were going to learn a trade, so that they could return and help their uncle and mother, so that they were no longer burdens, and the two adults could eat without worrying about feeding two growing dwarflings. Fili promised himself that he would not return until he was much older, much stronger, at least partially independent.
"How can we help you today, sir?" he asked the farmer, after he had eaten his porridge and drank some juice for breakfast.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"What do you mean you let them go?" Thorin demanded, glaring down at the old farmer. There was a young man, glaring right back at the dwarf, but Thorin ignored him for now. He was sopping wet, and the rain did not look like it was relenting at all. He had to find his nephews. It had already been a long, hard, and wet three days. This was the closest he had been to them in a long time, just to learn that he had missed them, because a stupid human let them go. Let them leave. Who let two young dwarflings wander off? How dare this man-?
"I apologize, Master Dwarf," he said, "I tried to keep them here. They are awfully young, and quite helpful and kind. They even stayed until young Mr. Smith could finish up his job and move in with me. But they were determined to leave. Determined to find something better."
"Where did they go?" Thorin asked. "Did they say?"
"Last I saw, they were with a mail courier, travelling to Bree," he answered.
Thorin was out the door, back into the storm. He climbed up into the saddle of a horse he had bought. He would have to rest at some point, but he had to catch up with his nephews. He had to make sure they were alright, and then wring their scrawny necks for making him worry. The weather was turning chilly, and Thorin prayed it was just because of the rain and not because of winter coming. However, he knew which one it really was, and it only made his mission to catch the boys all that more time sensitive. Who knows what could happen to them if they were out in the open when winter hit? Thorin may have been able to survive, but it would be hard. The food was scarce. Animals left or burrowed down. Berries died. It would be hard living if they were between towns, and he would have no way of knowing where in the vast wilderness they were.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fili did not like Bree. The men were loud and smelly, and someone had almost run over Kili with a horse and cart and cursed at him for being in the way. At least the humans in the Blue Mountains were respectful enough to not run over children. Fili glared at anyone who got too close, as he led Kili back out the gate. While this place seemed hopeful at first for learning a trade, Fili wasn't going to put up with it. They would continue east, like they had been for the past three weeks. The entire trip seemed boring, but it was at least nice. There was no one telling Kili that he was not a real dwarf, that his mother must have been part elf, that he was stupid and worthless and not fit to be the nephew of a King... a king without a kingdom that was. The amount of harsh words the two got for this was annoying.
Fili himself found it to be a double standards. They were princes when they were misbehaving, but when doing exactly as taught, they were pretentious as their uncle had no lands to call his, therefore, wasn't a king. Even some of their tutors rolled their eyes when they acted proper. Kili had more free reign as he was the second child, but Fili did not wish to trade places. He could only imagine how much more cruel the others would be if Kili was the firstborn, the heir. Fili loved how different Kili was, and he knew their mother felt the same. Dwalin and Thorin both approved of him, despite their gruffness. And that was all that mattered to the younger dwarf, but Fili wanted everyone to see Kili for who he was, that he was perfect, good enough, as he was. No changes necessary.
"Where are we going to go now?" Kili asked, as the two walked. It was nice out here, quiet, except for the singing of birds and the scampering of rabbits and foxes. The sun filtered through the trees, and it warmed them. It wasn't too cold, but it had started to get a bit chilly during the day, especially when the wind was blowing. Winter was coming, and Fili knew they needed to find a place to stay soon. They could move on after the winter, if only they could find a-
"Oof," someone said, as Fili walked right into them. Fili scrambled to go help them up and was surprised that they were only double his height and didn't tower over him. He knew enough to know that this being, whatever he was, was not a child. He was fully mature.
"What are you?" Kili asked, and Fili almost smacked him for being disrespectful.
"I am a hobbit, and you are?" the small adult said.
"We're dwarves!" Kili said, proudly. "I'm Kili, and this is Fili."
"Well met, Master Fili and Master Kili," the hobbit said. "I am Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. Ah, where are your parents?"
"We ran away," Kili said. "And we're gonna learn a trade so that we can help them, Master Bilbo!"
"Do you have anywhere to stay?" Bilbo asked.
"No," Fili said. "We were going to try Bree, but they're mean."
"Why don't you stay with me?" Bilbo asked. "I don't know many trades useful to dwarves, but I can teach you to cook and study maps and do accounts."
"Maybe accounts would be useful," Kili said, and he took Bilbo's proffered hand.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It had been a month, and Thorin had still not been able to find his lost nephews. He had searched every itty bitty town along the way to Bree. And nothing. No one had seen two dwarflings travelling together. He prayed to Mahal that they had not been eaten by some beast or died due to any number of things: starvation, dehydration, or the elements. It had been cold and wet, and was only growing progressively worse as time went on, since he started this journey. It was too late to turn back now. Winter would be upon him before he could reach the base of the mountain, and certain areas along this road would be impassable until spring. He would have to find somewhere to stay and hope that he could stumble across his nephews when he did short expeditions during the cold months.
Thunder cracked overhead, and lightning struck a tree a few miles away. It briefly illuminated the dark woods that he was traversing through on his horse. The horse snorted, sidestepping a bit, before he could urge it onwards. It only took a few minutes before they were back to travelling. Hope was dimming inside him. His nephews were well and truly lost to him, all because of his stubbornness. His pride. His arrogance.
The next strike of lightning and boom of thunder was much closer, and his horse bolted out from underneath him. He fell, but he tried to get up quickly to recover the spooked animal. However, he slid in the mud and twisted his ankle. He watched as the horse disappeared into the murk. He almost gave up then, but he pushed himself up and limped on. He eventually left the forest area and entered fields, but with only lightning to see with, he was unsure if he was nearing any settlements. This looked like it could be corn but he couldn’t spot a farmhouse anywhere. Just more storm clouds and corn.
He found houses eventually, but all of the lights were off. Well, houses might be an exaggerated word for them. They seemed to be hills that were hollow. He didn't dare knock on any of the doors, concerned about creatures would live in a place such as that. He continued on, hoping to find a friendly face soon. He needed out of this raging storm, and just as he was about to collapse from exhaustion, a light of hope sparked in his eyes. He trudged onwards, eyed fixed on the one light she was. He knocked desperately at the door, and as it opened, he came face to face with a hobbit.
And he passed out right there.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fili was sitting beside his uncle’s bed, worried. It had been a few days since the dwarf arrived in a clatter of armor in the entryway to Master Bilbo’s hobbit hole. He had not woken up, or at least, not in any way that seemed like he was aware of himself or others. He kept muttering his and Kili’s names, sometimes jolting up as if to continue searching for them. Fili should have known their uncle would come looking, and he felt even worse, knowing that his fever was at least partially on him.
“He seems like a good uncle,” Bilbo said, bringing some food for Fili.
“The best,” Fili said, taking the plate but not eating.
Bilbo didn’t press the issue like others might. He simply sat beside the young dwarf and smiled at him. “Then why did you run away?”
“Because him abd Ma were working too hard, and didn’t have. Lot of money,” Fili said. “We thought if we left and came back when we’re useful that it would help.”
“Ah,” Bilbo said. “I guess you didn’t realize that you didn’t have to be useful for them.” Fili shook his head. Kiki was asleep on Thorin’s chest, nose still a bit red from where he had been crying. “I am glad he came for you. Seems like he had much worse traveling conditions than you did.”
“He’s sick because I left,” Fili said, and he started crying quietly. Bilbo hushed him gently, drawing him into a tight hug. Fili sobbed into the hobbit's shoulder, as the older hobbit rocked him gently and whispered sweet nothings into his ear. It took a while, but Fili slowly calmed down, eventually falling asleep in Bilbo's arms. Bilbo gently deposited him next to his uncle. The older dwarf's arm moved to pull Fili closer, and they both settled into sleep.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thorin woke up with sun in his eyes, and he groaned, feeling like death warmed over. However, he pulled himself out of bed. He trudged out of the room, trying to find the latrine. When he did, he looked in the mirror and was startled by his appearance. His hair was knotted. His braids were all over the place. He needed to trim his hair and his beard. His clothes were stained. Oh, Mahal. How long had he been out? Where were his nephews? Were they okay? He had dreamed that they had been here. Had been talking to him. Had been caring for him with the help of an unknown voice, a kind voice. It must have been a hallucination.
He heard laughter coming from outside the house, and his head jerked up. He recognized that sound, but no, surely not. It came again. He knew it! Kili! He crashed through the house, knocking over tables and chairs and stacks of books, and he thought he heard a vase shattering behind him. He didn't care. He would figure out how to repay whoever owned this place. He stomped out into the front yard. When he looked over, he fell to his knees. His nephews. They were here. It hadn't been an hallucination.
"Fili, Kili," he croaked. Kili was held by the stranger he had heard before, and Fili had been laughing along with them. His head jerked around, and he ran to Thorin. Thorin's arms were wide open as he was tackled by two of his most favorite people in his life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"And that's how you met your husband," Fili said, teasing.
"It was," Thorin answered, glaring at his nephew.
"So it was good that we ran away?" Kili asked.
"No, absolutely not," Dis answered. "You worried us sick!"