Kili was too busy fighting a warg to see the group of orcs sneaking up behind them, but Fili saw them. Fili always saw anything before it could hurt his little brother. He decapitated the orc he had been fighting before and started hacking his way towards Kili.

Even as he sprinted through the battle, slipping on the blood-soaked grass, Fili knew he couldn't possibly make it in time.
"KILI!" Fili knew it was useless – he was too far away. Kili couldn't hear him, couldn't see him. Fili ran even faster, slashing at anything that got in his way. His only instinct was to protect Kili, as it had been every day since he had first held his baby brother.

The orcs were almost upon Kili, who still hadn't seen them. Fili desperately hoped he could make it in time. The first orc was just pulling back its sword to strike when Fili threw himself between it and Kili.

There was a sickening crunch, and suddenly Fili couldn't feel anything but white-hot pain. It was in his veins, filling his mind, leaving nothing but agony. He looked down as the orc yanked its sword out of Fili's chest. Blood spurted from the wound, and Fili sank to his knees without a sound. He would have screamed, but he couldn't breathe.

"Kili," he manged to gasp out as the orc raised its sword for a killing strike.

Somehow, miraculously, Kili heard. He whirled around and screamed in rage and terror when he saw Fili on his knees. The orcs were dead within seconds – nothing could defeat Kili's love for his brother.

Kili knelt next to Fili and caught him as he slumped forward. Blood trickled down his chin, and his breathing was harsh and uneven.

"Fee, no, you can't die! You promised you'd never leave me! Fee, please. Please be okay." Fili tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace of pain.

"S'okay, Kee. I'm okay." Kili choked on a sob, trying to hold in the tears filling his eyes. Fili wasn't okay. Fili was dying. His older brother, who had been by his side since the day he was born, was dying. He couldn't live without his brother.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to.

"Oh." Kili gasped as the first arrow pierced his shoulder, then winced as another arrow pierced his abdomen. The arrow went straight through, its arrowhead sticking out the front of Kili's armor. Another arrow pierced him, and Kili crumpled to the ground next to his brother.

"Kee…no." Fili could barely speak, for the darkness was closing in on him.

"I love you, Fee," Kili whispered, propping himself up on one elbow painfully. His face was the last thing Fili saw. Fili smiled and closed his eyes, and was gone.

Kili laid his head down on Fili's chest, like he used to do when he had nightmares. He would sneak into Fili's room and crawl into bed with him and let his brother's steady heartbeat soothe his fear. But now there was no heartbeat. Fili was gone. He was already starting to go cold. Kili's body was racked with painful sobs, each one jolting the arrows embedded in his flesh, causing them to rip apart his insides a little bit more.

"Wait for me, brother. I'm coming, Fee." Kili's eyes slid closed, his face buried in Fili's shoulder, and let his older brother comfort him one last time. As the darkness took him, Kili's last thought was of Fili.

So fell the last of the Line of Durin. They would be found later, still together, looking for all the world like the children they once were, safe and asleep in each other's arms. Legends would be told until the end of days about the two brothers who fought together until the end – the lion of Durin's line, and the reckless archer whose courage never failed him. They were not forgotten, for Gandalf spread their story far and wide throughout Middle Earth, and one day, far in the future, on a different quest, Gandalf told their story to two young hobbits, Merry and Pippin, who made him remember the two young dwarves he had led to their end. But at least he knew they were together. That was how they would have wanted it. Together, or not at all.