A/N:
Hello all. In this first chapter, I have reposted "Don't You Remember" chapters 1-4 written by the lovely 101olive4u. She put this story up for adoption, and somehow I convinced her to let me adopt it. I promise I didn't use any mind tricks or spells, but I am humbled and honored to be allowed to use someone else's great ideas and adopt them with mine.
After Chapter 1, I will be taking over with my adaptation.
Chapter 1: Don't You Remember (by 101olive4u)
"Don't let go," Kili sobbed, clutching his brother's hand, the only thing keeping him from falling.
"Never," Fili gritted his teeth, palm sticky with sweat as he clasped his hand tighter around Kili's. Shouts from the other dwarves could be heard from above, but his brother was the only thing that mattered.
And there they were, stuck on a mountain. Hanging on for dear life. Two brothers. No one could tear them apart. If they die, they die together. The stone giants didn't only leave Bilbo hanging, it had thrown the two brothers off as well.
The company was desperately reaching for them, trying to grab Fili's free hand. Fili could feel the rain slamming against his face like little bullets, daring him to drop. He gasped as he felt his hand slowly slipping off the rock he had his grip on. Fili knew that soon he and his brother would be tumbling down a huge mountain, to their deaths. Not once did it cross his mind that he could live by letting go of his brother. Not once.
Fili gripped Kili's hand tighter as he felt his own grip slipping. He looked down at his brother, clinging on to his life. Water matted his unruly hair down onto his head. Those soulful brown eyes that had always been full of mischief. No happiness sparked those eyes now. Just fear.
Fili took one last look up. He could see the faces of Thorin, Dwalin, and Bofur ahead, reaching for them. It would be too late.
He then took one last look down and decided his brother was worth dying for.
And down they fell.
Kili knew it. He was dead. He wished he wasn't, but one wish couldn't will him from the dead. He never saw Erebor, his real home. He never got to apologize to Thorin about being a distraction. Kili knew that Thorin didn't want him to go, but at least he would have one less nephew to watch over.
Wait…Two nephews.
His heart breaking, Kili realized that Fili must've died too. With a moan, Kili wished his brother had let him go and save himself. Fili was the real heir after Thorin, he should've lived.
Wait…was death supposed to hurt so much in his wrist? And his head? And his side?
Kili gasped as he felt himself alive, eyes wide, not dead. Groaning, he raised himself up onto his knees and hands, looking about. Nothing but crushed rocks and dirt in his path. He grimaced as he felt his forehead sticky with blood.
Kili was surprised to see the sky so blue and bright. All he remembered was dark skies and rain. Lots of rain. It had poured upon him and the company, pelting them all.
He felt his wrist, it was limp and useless, broken. His side was also sticky with blood, indented by the rocks. He was surprised by all of the blood on his jacket, Kili thought of himself as impenetrable. He thought no one, nothing could hurt him.
Still recovering from the shock and horror of the storm, Kili slowly stood up, pacing himself steadily. He clutched his head, a horrible ache forming.
He winced as his memories hit him. He had been thrown off of the mountain, plummeting to the ground. He was all alone, not on the quest anymore. Kili was lost, abandoned in a field of rocks. It was a miracle he didn't die, he or his brother…
Brother.
Kili's head shot up as he looked wildly around for the thing he was missing. His brother had fallen off of the mountain, too. His slow pace turned into a quick limp as he turned his head left and right, searching for the golden nest of hair. How could he have not realized his brother was missing? Fili would've been at his side.
Kili let out a gasp as he looked on and saw a trail of blood leading to a pile of boulders. He could just make out wisps of gold under the rocks. He knew that morning gold, the fairness of it.
"No," Kili murmured, quick limp turning into a sprint as he stumbled. "No!"
He dropped to his knees, digging his hands into the rocks. Not thinking once of the pain in his wrist, Kili tore at the rocks. He threw them aside, not caring.
He gasped as he saw Fili's bloodied face and body underneath. Grunting, Kili grabbed Fili by the shoulders and carefully dragged him from the crumpled rocks.
"Fili? Fee?" He whispered urgently, smoothing down his brother's blond locks and lifting up his limp wrist, checking for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found a small, delicately beating one. He patted his cheek.
"Fili?" Kili asked again, wishing his brother would wake up so he wouldn't be so alone. Still he felt his heart swell up with hope, knowing Fili was alive. Kili wilted back a bit when he remembered that they were now out of the quest. They were lost, injured, alone. Thorin wouldn't come back for them, he didn't know where they were. That was it. At least they had each other.
Kili was brought out of his thoughts by a low groan. He looked down, surprised and pleased to see Fili coming back. Fili squinted as his eyes slowly opened, Kili looked down into them. He blinked once, drowsiness turning to confusion, then to suspicion.
Kili didn't notice. "Fili!" He cried, overjoyed to see his brother's blue eyes open again. "Are you all right?"
Fili jumped off of the ground, eyes wide and wild, slowly backing away from Kili. His robin's egg blue eyes darting around, settling on Kili with suspicion. Kili was surprised to see him so unsure.
"Fili? Are you all right?" He repeated, inching towards Fili who backed up again. "You don't seem like yourself."
Fili stared at him blankly. "Who are you?" He asked warily.
Kili gaped at him, not knowing what he meant. "Fili?" He breathed, reaching a hand out to him.
Fili slapped his hand away. "Who are you?"
Fili slowly backed away from Kili, eyes darting around. "How do you know me? Who are you? Get away from me!" He barked, looking over his shoulder and back to Kili.
Kili laughed nervously. "That's real funny, Fili. Real funny. But now is not the time for jokes." When he saw Fili's hard stare, his anxious laughter died down to horror.
"What are you saying, brother?" Kili timidly asked.
Fili glared at him. "I'm not your brother. I don't know who you are. Leave me alone!" Taking one last look at Kili, Fili turned and ran. Kili, standing in the dust, didn't know what to do. Dumbfound, he chased after him.
"Fili come back! It's Kili! Your brother!" Kili shrieked, vaulting over a boulder to catch Fili.
"I don't know who you are. Just go away!" Fili hollered. "I don't know anything!"
Kili gasped in mid-run. Fili didn't know who he was? What happened? Putting on a burst of speed, Kili caught up to Fili and grabbed his wrist.
"Fili, stop! What happened? Just listen!"
"Let go of me!"
Kili finally had no choice. He threw all of his weight to his left, tackling Fili, knocking him to the ground. He sat on his chest, pinning his flailing arms down. Breathing heavily, Kili looked deep into those blue eyes. They had a stony expression in them, nothing that Kili was used to seeing.
Kili could feel tears stinging at his eyes, he willed them not to fall. "Listen to me," he gasped. "I am your brother. I know you."
Fili stared up at him. "I can't trust anyone," he spat, pulling an arm free and slugging him in the cheek. Kili gasped and fell back, it felt much worse than it was. Fili had never hit him once, not once.
The surprise turned to horror. "How could you!" He shrieked. "How could you!" Fili's forbidding glare melted off as he looked at Kili in puzzlement.
Kili had now picked himself off of the ground and was looking at his brother with wild and hurt eyes. They were pools of horrified ebony, not believing what he had witnessed. Fili's eyes dropped, ashamed of what he had done.
"I'm sorry," he said gruffly, still unsure. His hands fidgeted as his eyes darted around. Kili knew he couldn't stay mad at him for long.
Kili slowly shuffled up to Fili. He looked down at him, snappy eyes still for once. They focused their attention on the darting blue ones.
Instead of saying anything, Kili held out his hand. Fili looked up surprised, but took it as Kili pulled him up. Their eyes met again. Trust me, Kili's eyes seemed to say, and Fili felt that deep down he had to.
"All right, but I still don't trust you," Fili said bluntly. Kili said nothing in reply but turned around and left to go find the packs. Not wanting to be left alone in the middle of nowhere, Fili followed.
Rubbing his hands to stay warm, Kili shot another look to Fili. He didn't remember. Fili was keeping his distance, at least thirty feet away in the woods.
Kili grimaced as he felt pain shooting up his wrist again. He had forgotten it was broken, useless. Moving slightly away from the fire he had started in their "camp", Kili opened his pack gently. Rummaging around for a few moments, he finally found what he was looking for, the bandages.
He gently unrolled the cloth strips, choosing one the right length. Carefully wrapping it around his wrist, Kili took time to secure it snugly. But as soon as he had wrapped it fully around, it just unraveled. He was about to give up and call Oin for help, but he stopped himself. Oin wasn't here, none of the dwarves were. Just him and his brother. Except Fili was only half there, his memory gone.
Kili was surprised to see his vision go blurry as tears wet his eyes. He hadn't noticed them.
Fili tossed and turned that night. He wasn't able to get any sleep, nothing was the same. He had no recollection of anything, no family, events, friends, himself, nothing. Questions flooded his mind, but he knew no one to answer them. Trying to toss them aside, Fili had no luck. They just washed his brain.
Perhaps Kili knew something about him, he claimed that he did. But how could anyone be trusted? Fili was hopeless, innocent, not knowing anything.
Finally, after much thought, Fili finally tore his sleeping roll off of him. Gritting his teeth, he rolled it up as gently as possible. He studied the pack that was at his feet, he couldn't tell if it was his. Shrugging, Fili proceeded to stuff the roll as best as he could into the pack. Before he could fit it in, two sharp points hit his fingertips lightly.
Eyes wide, he threw his roll aside and gently pulled out two silver swords. They were twins, in fact, beautiful. Fili was mesmerized by the beauty of them, were they his? On his back, he quickly felt around for something to hold them. There, in fact, were two scabbards.
Watchfully, he sheathed the swords upon his back. He would have to see if he could use them. Finally, he managed to fit the sleeping roll into the pack with much force.
Cautiously touching his forehead lightly, Fili felt the dried blood caking it. His shoulder throbbed, but he dared not ask for help from Kili. He knew what he had to do.
Fili stood up slowly, and swung the pack over his uninjured shoulder. The early morning was cold, small drops of water were sitting upon the leaves and grass. He shivered, was it always so cold?
Eyes lighting up, Fili spotted a fire some twenty five feet away. He trudged towards it, but stopped when he saw the dwarf, Kili's, body huddled into a small ball a couple of feet away from the dying fire. Fili hesitated. He wanted to escape, not wake Kili, but he needed to have a bit of the warmth of the fire before it died.
His coldness finally won the best of him. Fili carefully inched towards the merrily glowing fire. Scintillating flecks of the red flame danced up into the early morning's dark sky. The soft golden glow beckoned Fili, it reminded him of something. Something…like a memory.
But the memory started to fade as the fire grew dim, it was running out of light. Now hurrying, the blonde dwarf reached his destination and kneeled upon the dead leaved ground. Throwing his pack off his back, Fili grabbed a stick off the dewy ground and hopefully poked at the fire. Something inside told him that he needed the flame to keep him going. Something.
Sighing in relief when the fire shot back to life, Fili sat back on his haunches to admire the merry flame. Feeling the warm glow on his face, Fili closed his eyes to let a memory come to him, his first memory.
"Fee?" A little voice called. Little Fili turned away from the crackling fire to see a small dwarfling with big chocolate brown eyes staring back.
Little Fili smiled tiredly as he patted the floor next to him. The brown haired dwarfling's eyes lit up as he pattered over to him, dragging a blue blanket.
"What's the problem, baby brother?" Fili teased, yawning.
"I-I can't sleep. Where's Papa? Where's Mama?" The tiny dwarf asked, lips quivering.
"You know where Papa is. He'll get better, Master Oin and Mama are with him. Don't worry, he'll be back with us by morning. Mama promised." Fili said hopefully.
"A-Are you sure?" The dwarfling asked as he stared into the fire, flames reflecting off his ebony eyes.
"Don't worry, Kili." He replied as the two watched the fire for hours, until they finally drifted off to sleep. The flame stayed with them until sunrise, red embers glowing until they were drowned out in the bright morning sun.
"You always did like the fire." A voice said softly. Fili's eyes shot open and he slowly turned his head, looking over his shoulder. Kili was sitting up, staring at Fili with melancholy in his scooted forward.
"I-I saw you. In a memory," Fili whispered uncertainly.
He watched Kili's eyes light up. "Really? You remember me?" He asked, brunette hair bouncing softly.
"Only a memory," Fili repeated.
Kili's face fell a little at those words, but there was hope still visible. The two brothers sat in silence. Kili finally cleared his throat.
"D-Do you believe me?" He asked with a hint of doubtfulness.
Fili stared into his eyes. "I think I do,"
Slowly, like the rising sun, a smile grew upon Kili's face. Then he was grinning. "I knew you wouldn't forget me!" He cried. "I knew you wouldn't forget your brother!"
Fili gave a soft laugh at Kili's antics. "I still don't remember anything, though. Who I am, my full family, my personality, nothing."
Kili stopped his celebrating to stare into those pools of blue. His jaw tightened, but he stayed strong. "You are Fili, Son of Dis. Your family is me, Uncle Thorin, and our mother, Dis. You are a true leader, wise beyond your years, passionate, and a future king. Your favorite color is gold, it reminds you of new beginnings. You carry six knives, two swords, and can fight with just about any weapon. But sometimes you need to learn to trust, you are suspicious. You have a scar on your right ring finger from a long time ago. When no one is around you like to run wherever your feet can take you, it reminds you that you are free. You like fire because it is a source of hope, it brings you back to good times, even though it is a destroyer. You are a warrior, but like peace. You like fire because it reminds you of yourself. You trust your mind and your conscience. It guides you." Kili swallowed. "And you are my brother. Don't forget it."
:) Next chapter will be mine. Hope leave some love for my girl 101olive4u
