Disclaimer: I do not own Middle-earth.

"How did you get dirty already?" Aífe asked, wiping dirty off his sleeve with her hands. "Oh, it doesn't matter. Just promise me you'll do your best to arrive clean as you can and not have your clothing all off-kilter, alright? What would Mr. Boggins think? Are you even listening to me? Kíli!"

"I'm listening, I promise," Kíli threw her a bright smile as he picked Kiath up off the ground and settled her on his hip. The usually familiar grin looked so foreign to her without his beard. "Stay clean as soap and symmetrical as a broadsword."

Kíli rubbed his face playfully against Kiath and she giggled, grabbing at his cheeks with her chubby, little hands. "Pupa, you're scratchy now!"

"You shouldn't have chopped off my beard whist I slept, my silly little princess!" He teased her, planting a kiss on her lips.

"When will you be back, Pupa? In time for my Name Day?"

"No, little princess," Kíli shook his head sadly. "But I will be home for you next Name Day, I promise."

Kiath looked confused and she stuck her thumb in her mouth, hard in thought. "Will I have a Name Day if you aren't with me?"

"Of course you will, silly princess," Kíli nodded as she leaned against his chest. "Your muma will bake you a cake and your brothers will make you presents. Muma will make you a new dress just like last year."

"Green," Kiath said firmly.

"Yes, green like emeralds to match your eyes," Aífe nodded, taking Kiath from her father's arms and setting her down on the ground. "Kiath, be a good girl and go fetch your present for Pupa."

The three-year-old took off running, full-tilt, towards her room and Kíli watched her go for a moment, but Aífe was already fussing over his wrinkled shirt, trying to straighten it. Kíli laughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and tilting his head to kiss her. Aífe sighed and leaned into the kiss as it deepened, her fingers closed on the teal wool of his cloak. One of Kíli's hands, the one unseen from the doorway their daughter had just disappeared through, slide from her lower back to her side, gently resting on the just barely perceivable bump where their bairn grew, strong and healthy.

"What am I going to do without you?" Aífe whispered, resting her cheek against his.

"Be strong," he told her, his voice unusually serious. "Take care of our children, take care of this little bairn, and take care of yourself. You'll be alright, Aífe. You hardly need me as it is."

"Oh, but I do..." Aífe closed her eyes against the tears threatening. "I do need you, Imp Prince. I need you always. I need you to smile at me and to tease me. I need you to tuck our children into bed and then let them into ours when they run in after a nightmare. I need you to hold my hand and kiss me. I need you to love them and to love me. I need you to come back safely. You have to come back to me, Kíli."

"I will." Kíli promised her, brushing his lips against hers lightly, in that tender way that made her ache for him. "I swear I will come back to you. I'm sorry I'll be gone when she's born. I'm so sorry, Aífe."

"This bairn's a boy," Aífe insisted. "I can feel it in my bones."

Kíli smiled at her and Aífe longed again for the beard that had been forfeit a week ago. He took his arms from around her and she felt suddenly very alone as she watched him rest on his knees in front of her. He curved his hands to her stomach and leaned his forehead there, whispering words to the bairn that she could not quite hear.

He pressed a firm kiss to her belly and Aífe felt a sharp kick at the same time. Kíli burst out laughing as he leaned back onto his heels and rubbed his forehead where the blow had connected.

"Fisty little one, aren't you?" Kíli asked the child merrily.

"They all were," Aífe commented dryly, massaging the spot just kicked as Kiath reappeared with her hands behind her back and her brothers following at a range of varying paces. Kiath jumped on Kíli and nearly bowled him over. Kíff, at just barely four, was right behind his sister, launching himself onto his father with uncontrolled enthusiasm. Kith, Koth and Kalin surrounded the three of them, but at six, nine, and ten, respectively, they had the slight sense not to turn the six of them into a massive heap on the floor.

Only the eldest stayed watching from a distance, his hound at his heel. He wore an angry scowl on his face and he scuffed his boot against the stone floor. Aífe watched Kílin from where she stood and sighed. She didn't want the two of them to leave each other in anger when they had no answer as to how long Kíli would be gone or the state in which Kíli would return.

"Pupa! Pupa, I made you a present," Kiath crowed happily, shoving the gift into his face and nearly stabbing him in the eye in the process. The rolled up scroll of paper brushed his cheek and Kíli gently teased it from her pudgy fingers and, shifting to get both Kiath and Kíff into his lap, unrolled the scrolls with his arms stretched around them. A crudely drawn mountain was painted on the parchment and the sun above had a smiling face in the centre. Eight stick dwarves were lined up at front and smiling. "That you, Pupa. That's you and that's Muma there. And there's Kílin and Kalin. Koth and Kith. And then that's Kíff and there's me!"

"That must be Tovey," Kíli pointed at the brown circle near Kílin's feet.

"Yes!"

"Thank you, princess. I love it." Kíli kissed her and hugged her tight.

"Me next, Pupa!" Kíff offered his present and Kíli smiled as he accepted the small piece of carved wood with an intricate design and Kíff's name etched into the bottom.

"It's perfect," Kíli praised him and Kíff smiled broadly under his father's love and started detailing how he'd done everything. Kíli listened attentively, making comments when Kiff looked at him and, in that instance, Aífe fell in love with him anew.

"My turn," Kith insisted holding out his own gift. Kíli set Kiath down and she ran to her mother. Kith took Kiath's place and Kíli hugged him tightly before accepting the proffered crudely crafted bladed stars. Kíli examine each inch of the weapon carefully and Kith watched him, swelling with pride with each passing second. "I did that with the flat, two inch carving knife. That was with the rasp and that was the needle carving knife."

"I love it, Kith."

"Really, Pupa?"

"Really." Kíli nodded and kissed him, running a finger over the end to feel the edge. "It's sharp too. You did very well, Kith. You're going to be an excellent smith when you grow up."

"Just like you," Kith grinned, his whole chest puffed out and and his head high. Kíli laughed and kissed him again.

Koth was itching to give Kíli his present, but he waiting, shifting from foot to foot and bouncing up and down. Kíli put Kíff down and motioned for Koth, who bumped into Kíff in his hurry. Koth sat on his father's knee and held out a silver hair piece like the one currently holding his hair back from his face, except for this one was much more plain.

"It's fantastic."

"I messed up when I curved it," Koth said, taking the piece from his hands again and turning it so Kíli could see the intricately carved inside. "I curved it the wrong way. I was going to curve it back the right way, but I didn't have time and I was afraid it would mess up the design."

"I like it this way," Kíli told him, studying the design inside. "This way I'm the only one who knows how special it is. And you put my knot in here, Koth."

Koth nodded proudly and pointed. "It's twisted with mine."

"I absolutely love it. Put it in for me." Kíli reached up and pulled his from his hair and Koth messily fixed his clasp where the other had been. Kíli kissed and hugged Koth, grateful for these little things to take with him.

Kalin stepped forward and Kíli put both Koth and Kith on the floor so he might stand. Kalin smiled brightly, albeit sadly, and held out a new pipe. It was beautifully crafted from red oak with a light finish the first five inches from the lip down the curved stem to the beginning of the shank, where a dark finish stained the rest.

"It works too, Pupa. I tested it." Kíli raised an eyebrow at his son as he took the pipe and Kalin rolled his eyes. "Okay, I had Uncle Fíli test it for me. But it works! And here, Muma told me to give you this with it. It's your favourite. Matured and red Brightleaf mixed with sweet burleys."

"That is my favourite," Kíli smiled, tucked the pipe-weed into his cloak and sticking the pipe into his mouth. "Perfect fit!" Kalin gave Kíli a big hug and held on long enough that Kíli knew Kalin truly understood the danger ahead. "It only has one problem," Kíli continued serious, and Kalin looked up, horrified. "As soon as I light it, I'll forget that I'm not home and I'll be expecting you lot to come running 'round the corner!"

Aífe's smile faded while she watched as Kíli approached the sullen fourteen-year-old standing a ways away. She closed her eyes and pleaded for them not to have another row on the day Kíli left.

"Kílin."

"Father." A heavy silence filled the space between them and Kílin held out a handful of arrows. "Here. I made these for you."

Kíli examined the yellow-feathered arrows carefully, testing the weight and balance on his fingertips. He notched his fingers in the triangular wedge in the fletching to get a proper feel. When he looked at the end between the fletching points, he spotted Kílin's knot carved in the end of the nock.

"The shafts are birch and the heads' iron tipped with mithril. They'll penetrate the thickest armour. The feathers are from a twenty-year-old finch high up in the mountain. I brought him berries from the holly bush every day for three weeks and he gave me his feathers. Each barb was plucked directly from the rachis and ironed and coated in myrrh resin. After being attached to the shaft, the barbs were cut evenly. They're perfectly straight with the luck of the finch; if your aim is true or even close to true, they will never miss."

"Only fourteen and you're already ten times the craftsmen I will ever be," Kíli marveled, looking at the boy still a head shorter than him.

"Gandalf did... something to them. I don't know what, but they'll return. When your quiver is nearly spent, Father, the arrows will return to fill the quiver again."

Kíli nodded and, before Kílin could protest, Kíli hugged him tightly, not ever wanting to let go. Kílin stood stiffly before returning the hug.

"Take me with you," Kílin pleaded for the thousandth time. "Please, Pupa. Please, please, take me with you. I am big and strong and I can help. I won't get in the way, I promise."

"No, Kílin. I'm sorry, you cannot come with me. You are too young, Son."

"But Pupa -"

"No, Kílin."

"You did everything early!" Kílin protested, tears in his brown eyes. "You were too young to marry Muma and you did. You're too young to have a child and you have six."

"Fourteen is too early, even for me," Kíli shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kílin."

"Why don't you love me enough to take me with you?"

Kíli's heart wrenched and he hugged Kílin tighter. "I do love you. That's why I cannot let you come with me. It's too dangerous. I cannot put you in that danger, Kílin. Besides, you are needed her. Your mother will need you while I'm gone. You have to help her and take care of the littlins."

"Muma will have your mother and she'll have Lempi and Grá. Please, Pupa."

"Muma is having another bairn."

Kílin stopped his pleading and stared. "Another one? But you're leaving."

"I have to," Kíli said. "She'll need you, Kílin. Very much."

"When? When will the bairn come?"

"The bairn is two months grown."

"Four months, then," Kílin said, remember from when Kiath was born, and Kíli nodded. "I'll take care of her. And the littlins."

"I love you, Kílin. I'll be home as quick as I can."

""I love you too, Pupa."

"Pupa!" Kiath cried for him from Aífe's arms. Kíli put his arm around Kílin's shoulder and father and son rejoined the rest of the family. Kíli kissed each of the children again and they followed him from the hall to where his pony was waiting outside.

Kíli was halfway through checking the contents of his pony's packs when Fíli arrived, holding the reins to his own pony. The mother, Dís, came behind, followed by the old, grey Grá, who had long cared for the children of the Durin's line. Lempi came last, their childhood playmate and Fíli's intended.

"Mema!" Kiath exclaimed happily when Dís caught her eye and Aífe put the child down to let her run to her grandmother. Fíli embraced Aífe, hugging her tight and kissing her cheek.

"I'll take care of him," Fíli promised and Aífe nodded.

"Don't let him do anything foolish, Fíli."

"I won't."

"I'll watch after him."

The children dragged his attention away and Aífe watched her family, soaking in the last moments they were all together. Lempi stopped next to her and reached out to squeeze her hand.

"They'll be fine," Lempi smiled. "They're too stubborn to let anything happen to them."

Aífe laughed. "Stubborn," she agreed. "He keeps tell me the bairn's going to be a girl. It's not. It's a boy, but he won't hold with it."

"Men are fools," Lempi shook her head.

The clock in the square chimed a quarter till. The farewell was coming quickly, everyone felt the shift in the group. Aífe was overwhelmed with the need to do something and she walked to Kíli.

"Eat as well as you can, but be careful. Stay away from mushrooms! Don't eat anything that looks sickly." Aífe muttered a continuous stream-of-consciousness narration of advice and Kíli nodded as if he were truly listening while he checked his packs and all his belongings. "Watch out for Fíli, don't do anything foolish. Think before you speak, I know it's hard, but promise me you won't spout off with whatever comes to your tongue before you think about what you're saying."

Kíli stopped checking his packs and began checking his pockets. Finally sure he had everything and his gifts were tucked away carefully, Kíli looked at Aífe and nodded.

"Don't make Thorin angry. Don't hang over Mr. Dwalin, he'll be tired of you. Don't sass Mr. Balin, he's smarter than you. Do not make fun of Bifur when he's not looking. And, so help me, if you let anything happen to Ori, I will skin you alive and turn your bones into hair pieces."

"I will not let anything happen to your bairn of a cousin, I promise. Though why Uncle is allowing him to come, I'm not quite sure."

"Do-not-let-anything-"

"Bairn Ori will be snug as a Dwarf in a mountain, I promise."

"And listen to Thorin, Kíli. If he tells you to do something, do it straight off. And don't play the hero. If you need help, ask for it."

"I won't need help," Kíli protested indignantly, much to his children's amusement, but Aífe was already on the next topic.

"Be polite to Mr. Boggins. It was very kind of him to host you lot at his home. Do not eat more than your offered and let the elder Dwarves pick first. But don't let Ori get nothing, because he's too shy. Don't break anything, wipe your feet before you enter. Be careful where you walk and don't knock things over."

"You'd think I don't know how to survive without her," Kíli winked at Kalin and the boy giggled behind his hands as Aífe punched Kíli in the arm with her eyebrows narrowed, looking very much like the girl he'd first met thirty-six years ago. "I'm sorry, Love. You were saying?"

"Don't be rude. Treat any wounds promptly, it won't do to have them infected."

"Because I was planning on leaving wounds to fester."

"That was rude!" Aífe glowered with another punch to the arm. Kíli laughed and, before she could wind her arm back again, Kíli enveloped her into his embrace and kissed her. Aífe softened instantly and wrapped her arms around his neck. The children made disgusted noises, but Kíli ignored them with a chuckle low in his chest.

"I love you," Kíli whispered when they broke apart, their noses brushing and his breath warm on her skin. "More than all the gold in Erebor, more than all the stars in the sky. I promise you, I will come back to you and the children whole and unharmed and without having shammed myself in front of Mr. Boggins."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she sniffed, her emotions bubbling to the surface without her tirade to keep her thoughts occupied.

"Be strong," he whispered. "Don't cry in front of the children, Aífe. You'll scare them."

Aífe nodded and kissed him again. "I love you, Imp Prince."

"I love you too, Baker's Daughter."

"Kíli, it's time to go," Fíli said reluctantly, giving their mother a hug and Kíli finally pulled away from Aífe. Kíli hugged Grá, then Lempi and then Dís after Fíli had moved.

"Be safe, my son," Dís told him, tears falling into her beard.

"I will, Mother." Kíli kissed her cheeks and she gave him a push to where his children were waiting in a bunch for him. The youngest three faces were streaked with tears and Kíli knelt before them first, wrapping his arms around those three crying littlins and kissing them, telling them how much he loved them. He stood and took Koth and Kalin into his arms, then finally Kílin.

"I'll be good," he promised so only his father could hear. "And I'll take care of everyone."

"I know. You're ten times the craftsman, but you're going to be at least ten times the man I am as well. You'll be near as great as your Uncle Thorin, I know. You said your mother and I are too young to have children and I know that we are, Kílin, and perhaps I have not been the best, wisest father you might have had, but I must have done something right to have raised a son like you. I'm very proud of you, Kílin."

"The best father," Kílin shook his head and hugged him tightly.

"I love you."

Kílin bit his bottom lip and nodded. Kíli clasped him on the shoulder and, with a deep breath, turned to give Aífe one last kiss before mounting his pony alongside his older brother. They turned their ponies, calling their final goodbyes as the ponies excited the courtyard.

"Be safe!" Aífe shouted, as they left. "And, for Mahal's sake, don't you dare, under any circumstances, scrap your boots clean on any of Mr. Boggins' furniture! Kíli! Kíli!"

A/N:

I went to see The Hobbit for the third time yesterday and this popped into my head when Kíli used Mr. Baggins' mothers' glory box to clean his feet.

I've got this whole backstory out for Fíli and Kíli and I don't know if I'll ever write it, but yeah. This is a little piece of it right before Kíli left. Kíli's so impetuous and heedless and impatient and I really think that if he found a girl he liked he'd never want to wait until he was 100 to marry her - though I'm 100000000% sure that it would vex his poor Uncle within an inch of murder.

Anyways. Pronunciation guide: Aífe = A-fe; Muma = "mum-ah"; Pupa = "puh-pa"; Mema = "mem-ah". Also, Dwarves carry their pregnancies for 6 months, says me.

So, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, and, please, tell me what you think - good or bad!

Love, Thalia

P.S. And yes, I do absolutely think that the jovial, goofy Kíli would be extremely serious in saying goodbye to his family.