Fem!Kili and Fem!Fili short story. Thorin loves his two nieces...they are the joy of his heart and pride of his eyes... but hopelessly stubborn like their mother and grandmother. When he sets out to reclaim Erebor, they refuse to consider marriage (ever!) unless their uncle agrees to let them come along. And worse, Dis is on their side. With the future of the line of Durin at stake, he reluctantly takes on the task of chaperoning the two princesses across Middle-Earth. Stern! And Overprotective!Thorin sets ridiculous rules at first, but the two lasses attempt to set him straight and prove him wrong.
Thorin set down his fork. He was exhausted after a long day of making arrangements under the mountain. He was proud of the two lasses, taking on the reins whilst Dis had gone for her twice-yearly spice-shopping in a neighboring settlement with Gloin's wife. Fili had made dinner, a delicious venison roast, and Kili had gone with him on his rounds.
The Big Question was coming up, and this he knew and dreaded. No doubt this was the reason why the food was particularly savoury tonite, the meat juicy, fragrant and falling off the bone... they knew his weaknesses too well. There was no stalling the lassies, not like when they were children and could be distracted by a shiny toy or a change in conversation. With this in mind, Thorin quickly excused himself from dinner and went to the front room to sit by the fire and smoke his pipe. He could hear a whispered discussion and the clearing of plates, and presently Fili followed Kili. They approached him nervously.
"Uncle," begin Fili right after she untied her apron and folded it away nervously, "We heard of the Quest is nigh."
"Aye, I planned for it all winter with Balin and Dwalin," Thorin nodded, "We leave this year."
"How many will go?" Kili asked, helping Fili.
"A few from our halls, mostly from our kin. I will leave tomorrow as planned to meet with representatives from the Seven Dwarf Families."
Fili nodded, and settled down by the grate to poke at the fire. Kili followed her, but merely sat there and folded her knees.
"Uncle," said Kili, "Are we to accompany you?"
He hadn't said yes, he hadn't said no. He himself was split in two down this issue.
Kili lit her pipe and settled down to wait for an answer.
"May we, accompany you?" Fili amended Kili's question.
He looked down at the both of them, eyes misty and distant in thought.
They were capable, there was no doubt. He had arranged for them to train under the best weapons-masters, forgemasters, and all the lot. They were responsible, and would be an excellent addition to his company. They were loyal, eager, fiercely determined... mature, sensible... but this was a Quest! With long treks, rides... battles large and small, great adversities, and there waited for them a dragon at the end of it. This was no place for lassies.
He didn't answer the question.
"Why can't the both of you be like your mother?" he asked, fondly.
"I am," Kili tried to make light of the situation, "You have always remarked at my resemblance to amad."
True, Kili was like Dis. She had her eyes, her hair, her laugh, her smile... but of course, Kili was thin. Far too thin for a dwarf lass, so much so that Thorin worried it wasn't healthy. Fili was rosy-cheeked, with fair hair and rounder, more robust figure like Dis's well-rounded fullness. Kili was tall... but Fili was not short, just more like Dis than himself.
"Ah," Thorin clarified, "I meant it more... in that your mother wed a fine dwarrow and bore two daughters for the Line of Durin, and I have had difficulty enough attempting to convince the e lot of you to do the same."
It was true. They were coming of age, and fiercely set against every match Thorin suggested. He knew, of course, they had natural attractions, but they kept their tastes in malefolk to themselves, and spoke nothing of it to him or their mother. Fili more than capable (and experienced) in sending any and all suitors packing; she didn't need her uncle or mother for that.
"You have always taught us, uncle," Fili said with a hint of accusation in her warm voice, "That to be a dwarf is to be a warrior, to be a smith, to be a leader, to be loyal, to be brave..."
"And your own example has shown that marriage and making babies are of no particular importance," Kili corroborated.
Thorin knew his stout, stubborn sisterlings would never abide by him leaving them behind. They were, after all, their hope and future. The two adorable dwarf lasses, ruthless and brutish in their warfare yet ever attentive, wise and insightful... they were not little boys. Laddies would be reckless, these two were not. They were dead serious.
Thorin sighed a deep sigh. They were right. He was a hypocrite in this respect... and he was no match for their arguments. As children they had teamed up against him to outwit their poor uncle a great many times. He always fell for their clever arguments and pleas, so much so that Dis had to step into prevent a great many catastrophes he might have allowed.
When Fili and Kili were in league, he was helpless. As children, they had fought terribly, engaging in mean "catfights" that shook the entire household. Heavy volleys of verbal attacks and cruel pranks would be exchanged until a truce was reached. In the intervening peace, however, they were inseparably close.
Dis.
"Your mother will have my head should I bring you," he changed the subject.
"She knows her own mind on this matter, mother does," Fili stated, "She would come to, if it was not for... for the injury."
Dis, always eager to prove herself as a lass. She had taken the girls hunting for deer several winters back and had gotten a warg-bite, and a permanent limp.
"Amad believes us capable," Kili said.
"I never doubted your abilities or loyalty," Thorin quickly said, "But the danger, the risk..."
"We cannot allow you to take the risk. We could not live with ourselves if anything happened to you, uncle. Even if you reclaimed Erebor, we would be ill at ease to live in its wealth having done nothing..."
"Please, uncle? Surely you will not do this to us..."
"I should leave the both of you behind," he pondered out loud, "Or perhaps take only one?"
That was too cruel, and he knew it immediately from the horrified looks that crossed their faces. Fili started running her hands through her shaggy blond beard, and Kili was rubbing her cheek-stubble.
"I can cook better than Mister Dwalin," Kili started to say, and Fili was muttering something about navigation, one of her strengths.
Thorin chuckled and waved away their protests, "I know your talents." He liked to see them laugh. He treasured the light in their eyes and a smile on their beautiful faces, so rare now as they become more and more weighed down by the burdens of life. He wanted them to be children as long as they could...
"Uncle," Fili drew herself up seriously and kneeled at Thorin's feet, which was a distinctly uncomfortable position to be in for him, "We will vow not to wed unless you allow us to stand by your side in reclaiming our home. After which, I will do my duty in that respect."
Kili followed her sister.
"So will I," she promised.
Thorin sighed and reached down from his chair to draw them up.
"Too good for me," he drew Fili's forehead near and kissed it, "Too good. You needn't bother to make such vows, I konw how you stick to your decisions."
Fili was faithful, and fearless. Kili was strong, like iron. They both were unquestioning and unwavering in their duties. He knew their strengths were many.
The wordless question hung in the air, yet.
"Fine," Thorin agreed at last, "I will allow both of you to join my Company."
He had his hands on each of their shoulders.
"I will leave soon, but Balin will explain the details about the journey and so forth. It is not as if I am capable of remembering... the what-tos and where-fors. We will meet soon, in Bag-End. But you must promise me, lassies, that if anything happens to me, you will both return to Ered Luin and never, never attempt a quest to reclaim Erebor or Moria. Do you hear?"
Fili and Kili nodded solemnly.
"We will do you proud," Kili promised, "Even when you a long gone, even as you watch us from the halls of Mahal."
He nodded solemnly.
When Dis returned, she faced two nervous and eager young dwarrowdams who were trying to decide what to pack. She was happy, and sad at the same time. The next year would be long and lonely for her, and the future beyond that painfully uncertain. She would soon have to bid them goodbye, and send them on their way to travel alone to the meeting point the Grey Wizard has arranged.
"Alone!" Dis exclaimed when she found out, "Why does your uncle Gloin or Balin not accompany the pair of you?"
"Uncle says we must prove our independence," Kili explained resolutely.
"Besides," Fili explained, "If we do not make it to the appointed place at the appointed time, Uncle will send us back here to be apprenticed to Mistress Rega as weavers for twenty-five years."
Dis smiled. Weaving was punishment indeed, tedious and painstaking as it was. Her daughters could sew, make shoes, tan leather, forge weapons... but they ran far from the clacking of a loom.
Whilst preparations were made in the short time they had left, Dis went and dug out her husband's silver clasps for Fili to wear on her long beard. It would make her feel brave, and remind her of her father. Then, Dis thought of what to give Kili. Perhaps a runestone, she decided, a promise for her return.
The night before sending them off and bidding them "Fare Well", Dis stayed up stitching the hem of Kili's hand-me-down coat and crying her eyes out in private. When dawn came, she washed her face, made breakfast, checked their packs, and went through the agony of saying goodbye. The last thing Dis did for them was sit them down like little dwarflings and brush their long hair, putting braids in Fili's dark golden curls and a clasp in Kili's brown ones.
"You don't have to prove anything to anyone," she whispered with much difficulty, "You are already my pride."
They were nervous, obviously. They wanted to do everything right, to prove that lasses were just as strong and resilient as lads.
"Remember to drink the tea before you get cramps, not after," she whispered. Fili blushed and looked away, clearly uncomfortable, but Kili seemed unmoved by the mention of that topic.