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"Good Morning, Dori." Bofur said cheerfully as he sat across from the elder dwarf in Erebor's massive dining hall. Dori nodded and gave him a cheerful smile.

" Morning, Bofur. Would you like some tea?"

"Nah, Im alright. Thanks though."

"What can I do for you, Mister Bofur?" Dori then asked.

"I think you need to speak with Kíli." Bofur told him, in a serious tone.

"Kíli?"

"I think he blames himself for Ori's death."

"Oh." Dori felt the familiar pang of loss in his chest. He missed his younger brother dearly. He had grieved for the appropriate amount of time, and now wore the traditional black of mourning. He couldn't afford to loose himself completely to grief though, he had to be brave for Nori.

He had noticed Kíli's change in character though. The entire company had, and just like the others, Dori was concerned.

"Has he spoken yet?" he asked Bofur. The dwarf shook his head.

"No."

"That's not good."

"I know. On a rare occasion he'll use iglishmek, if he needs too, but thats it." Bofur said, then after a slight pause, continued, "He used it the other day, actually. He told me that he was scared."

"Scared? Of what?" Dori asked

Bofur shrugged, "I don't know, but then he spelled out Ori's name, so I thought it must be something to do with what happened on the battlefield."

"And what would like me to do?"

"I think you should speak with him, tell him it wasn't his fault. I think the moment he realizes that, he'll be able to speak again." Bofur explained, hoping that Dori would agree with his plan.

Dori nodded, then after a moment said; "I told him to stay by me, to not let me out of his sight. That was the one time he didn't listen to his older brother. He was such a good lad. I don't want his memory tarnished by guilt."

"Then you'll speak with him?"

Dori nodded, "Aye, I will."

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Fíli glanced anxiously at his brother, who was sitting on the bed with a book propped up with his knees. But as far as Fíli could tell, he wasn't reading. His eyes were frozen upon the pages, staring into nothing. Fíli watched for a few more seconds, then stood up from his chair and walked over to his brother, and sat down on the bed in front of him.

"Hey Kee. You alright?" he asked softly.

Kíli continued to stare for a moment, but then looked up at Fíli and nodded.

Fíli gave him a small smile.

"What are you reading?" he asked

Kíli pushed the book up over his knees so Fíli could see the title, which was in Kuzdul.

"Mister Balin would be proud, remember how he used to spend hours trying to get us to read?"

Kíli nodded.

Even though Fíli was now used to these one sided conversations, it still made him slightly uncomfortable. Was it only four weeks ago that he had complained about his brother's endless chatter? He would give anything now to hear that voice again. Kíli had been quiet-quieter for the last couple of days, he hadn't signed or used any other sort of communication with him since Thorin had yelled at him and Fíli didn't know what to do. Maybe today was just a bad day.

"You've been quiet." he said, Kíli shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"What's on your mind, brother? Was it Thorin? Because he was just being Thorin, you know he's just stressed. He means well, he really does. If you want to use iglishmek, that's completely fine. I understand."

Kíli shrugged again, looking down at his hands.

Fíli sighed, it was almost impossible to tell what his brother was feeling, or thinking. He stood up.

"Shall we go outside? He asked

Another shrug

"Come on, brother. The sunshine will do you good."

A nod.

Fíli smiled as Kíli put the book down and stood up.

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Nori and Dori strolled pleasantly through the newly refurbished upper mountain gardens. Surprisingly, it had been Nori, and Bifur who had thought to start a garden, despite their dislike in anything green. Dori thought it was a lovely idea, and hoped that maybe this new green life would help his younger brother. Nori had taken the death of Ori hard, perhaps not as hard as Kíli but enough to cause concern. Fortunately the discovery of this garden had helped with his grieving, and Dori couldn't help but smile at his brother's new found love for the herbs and flowers growing among the rocks.

Nori knelt down and examined a small bush with yellow flowers.

"These ones survived the frost from last night, sturdy little ones, they are!" he said excitedly, and Dori nodded.

"That's good! We can always use more mustard flowers in the kitchen."

Nori smiled, "They are quite tasty, especially on those biscuits Bombur makes so w-" Nori stopped short, smile faltering as he traced something with his eyes behind Dori.

Dori turned around and saw Fíli and Kíli entering the garden, he gave a small wave. Fíli returned it but Kíli just stared at them. It had been slightly awkward for the four of them to be around each other, since the funeral. Dori suspected that Nori blamed Kíli for the death of Ori just as much as Kíli did. If he did, he never said anything though.

Dori thought about what Bofur said to him earlier, about Kíli being scared, and feeling guilty. Perhaps Bofur was right, if they were able to make the lad understand that it wasn't anybodies fault, then maybe he would speak.

Nori narrowed his eyes at the young princes. Of course, Kíli was the one getting all the attention with his little act. He didn't understand why Kíli was doing this, he wasn't even related to Ori! In fact, Kíli had never really liked Ori, always shoving him off every time he had asked questioned. Nori shook his head, it's all just a plea for attention.

He stood up from where he was crouched down and watched as Fíli lead Kíli over to them, hand on his arm.

"Good Afternoon! The garden looks wonderful, doesn't it, Kíli?" Fíli said, looking admirably around.

Nori nodded, "It's really all thanks to Bifur, he found the place."

"Everything has survived so far, even these little mustard plants. I had thought for sure the frost last night had taken them." Nori continued, pointing down towards the yellow flowers.

Fíli smiled, "That's wonderful!" then he laughed a little bit. Nori gave him a look, "What?"

"Oh, its nothing. I just never thought you would become a gardener."

"Oh?"

"It's a good thing though, better a gardener than a thief, right?" Fíli asked, smiling.

Dori smiled clasping his brother on the shoulder, "Well, I'm glad at least somebody thinks so. How's the lad doing?" he asked, motioning towards Kíli, who was standing to Fíli's right, staring down at the yellow flowers.

Fíli hesitated, but before he could answer Nori scoffed quietly and shook his head, then strode away towards the garden shed.

Fíli furrowed his brow, "Is he alright? I didn't mean anything by the gardener-"

"No, no it wasn't you." Nori assured him

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence. Until finally Dori motioned for Fíli to come.

"May I have a private word?" he asked

Fíli nodded, "Sure, Dori. Hold on, I just-"

And he motioned towards Kíli, who was still staring at the flower and Dori nodded. He watched as Fíli lead his brother over to a bench, murmuring soft words to him, and then walked back over to Dori.

"What would you like to talk about?" he asked.

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Kíli stared after his brother and watched as he and Dori spoke. He fought panic as Dori looked at him, and desperately tried to think of a way to escape, to try to make this all better but he couldn't. The burden of guilt hung too heavy in his chest, making it impossible for him to move from his spot. They blame you. It's your fault he is dead. You killed him. He picked at a hangnail, scratching at it until it turned red, the pain helped dull the feeling of guilt. Thorin's words circled around in his head no more of this, no more of this, no more of this. How was he supposed to fix this when he couldn't even tell anyone what was wrong?He wished he could confess to someone, to tell them what he did and beg for forgiveness, but his voice was still frozen and now his hands were too.

I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Dori staring down at him. He tried to suppress a shiver and quiet the it's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault mantra in his head. He looked around for Fíli, but couldn't find him. He left me, he left me by myself to try to explain to Dori what I did.

"Hello lad. May I sit?" Dori asked kindly, trying to ignore the look of panic on the younger dwarf's face. Kíli nodded, not look at him in the eye. They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Dori said;

"It was not your fault."

Silence.

"You've probably heard that a lot, these past few weeks. But it's true."

Silence.

"He was a good lad. He would have defended any one of us."

Silence.

"Kíli, look at me."

Dori sighed. He knew he wasn't getting through to the lad. Kíli sat motionless next to the elder, eyes glued to his hands. Dori reached up, cupping Kíli's chin in his hand, and then gently tilted his head up, making him meet him in the eye.

"No one blames you, it was not your fault, Ori fell defending your honor because he loved you like his own brother. He would have not wanted you to be this broken. You must find strength to carry on. If you cant do it for you, do it for him."

Kíli's eyes turned glassy and he blinked a few times, then turned his head away from Dori.

How can you say that? How can you think that you know everything? You were'nt there. You didn't see him fall. It wasn't your voice that killed him, it was mine.

Mine, it was my fault.

"Kíli?"

Kíli just shook his head.

"You want to tell me something, don't you?" Dori asked slowly, hoping, and praying that the lad will realize that he was there to help. Kíli seemed to be getting more and more on edge. He paused, then raised his hands slowly, folding his fingers together nervously. Should I? I can't. But I should. Thorin wont like it. But he's not here. I cant. Just try, only a few words. I cant.

Dori seemed to have noticed this inner battle, for he said;

"You can tell me in anyway you choose, Kíli. Words are words regardless of their form."

Kíli nodded. Then slowly signed; "Ori. My fault."

Dori sighed, "It's alright, it was not your fault, we all-"

Kíli pointed to his throat, not knowing the word for it in iglishmek, then signed, "Ori. Answered."

Dori shook his head, "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Kíli shook his head, and repeated the motions. When Dori still didnt get it, he waved it off and signed "Forget." Then stood up, and ran.

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More to come soon! Please read and review, any feedback is appreciated. What would you like to happen next?