Missing Piece

It was the knocking that woke him up, which was only irritating because he had only just managed to fall asleep a few hours ago.

Fili didn't sleep much anymore.

He sighed as he opened his eyes. His room was dark save for the tiny slits cut into the side of the mountain. Save for them, Fili would have no idea what the time was inside the stone walls.

When the knocking sounded again, the young prince growled softly to himself.

"Enter," he rasped, throat dry from disuse.

The door opened and in walked Balin, dressed in fine robes of red and golden thread. The seal of the Line of Durin was embroidered on one shoulder sleeve, marking him as an advisor to the King under the Mountain.

"What do you want, Balin?" Fili asked. The old dwarf came into room cautiously.

"Fili, Lad," he began. Fili fought to roll his eyes. "You have been hiding from your duties for two weeks now. Don't you think that it is time that you came out and attended at least one council meeting?"

Fili huffed, "That depends. Will the king be in attendance as well?" Balin gave a sigh.

"Aye, you know that he will, Lad. Your uncle-"

"He is not my uncle," Fili spat, sitting up and glaring at the old dwarf. "The one who sits upon that throne is no kin to me and I'll thank you to not imply otherwise."

Balin stared in dismay at the prince for a few minutes and then shook his great white head. "Of course, Lad, I understand," he said sadly. "I shall inform his majesty of your continued indisposition." He gave a quick bow and retreated from the room.

When he was alone again, the crowned prince flung himself back against his pillows with an exasperated growl.

If any of them thought that he was just going to forget what they had done, they would be sorely mistaken. He wouldn't forgive any of them.

He laid back with his eyes closed thinking. The sun was glowing brightly enough that he could just barely make out the shapes around him.

The rooms that he had been given were situated right next to Thorin's. He'd been told that they had once belongs to Thorin himself when he was the crown prince. They were decent enough with nothing in them but his bed and a bedside table. A door in one corner led to a medium sized bathroom, complete with a tub and a washing basin.

It had been two weeks since Smaug and Bilbo had been banished. The restoration of the mountain kingdom had finally gotten to the point where they could begin accepting refugees from the Blue Mountains.

The first caravans had arrived only a few days ago filled with mostly unmarried men and women offering their help to finish restoring their home. Those with families would come at a later date when the mountain would be safer for little ones.

As it stood now, there was still much that had to be done. The damage that Smaug had inflicted when he had attacked was extensive. There had been whole rooms desecrated and entire mine shafts that had collapsed under the weight of a thrashing overgrown lizard.

It was all so daunting that Fili hadn't known where to start. At the very least, he'd thought to himself, he and Kili could keep each other company.

But the morning after Thorin had banished hobbit and the dragon, it seemed that Kili had also fled the mountain. Fili found himself waking up alone in the small corner he and Kili had huddled themselves into the night before.

He'd been confused at first, then frantic with scenarios, ranging from his baby brother walking off a ledge trying to find a place to relieve himself to Smaug deciding that he needed one more dwarfy snack for the road, running through his mind.

He'd just about gotten up to find one of the others to ask if they had seen his brother when he spied the note.

It was placed just beside his pillow. How had he missed it? Honestly, if it had been a snake it would have bitten him.

He'd picked it up though what he read, however, both confused him and made him sink to the ground in dismay.

"Dear Brother," it began in Kili's messy scrawl.

"I'm fine-well not really I guess. But it's okay because I will be. Fine, I mean.

I can't do this, Brother. I wanted very much to be like the rest of you, but I'm

not. I'm not like you. We've always known this but now, I think I can finally

accept that. I can finally accept me.

I know that you're probably really confused right now. I know that I definitely

would be. Please let me try and explain.

I'm the same as Bilbo, Fili. I'm a dragon lord. I knew it as soon as Smaug

said that only those with dragon blood in their veins could read the words.

That's the reason I've got to go. Uncle would never accept that one of his

heirs has dragon's blood. So I've decided to follow after Bilbo. He'll take me in,

I know that he will.

Please don't try and come after me. I've made my decision. You've got a life in Erebor.

Don't ruin that. I know that you'll make a great king

someday. Maybe an even better one, now that you don't have a kid brother

to look after now.

Tell Mother that I love her and that I'm sorry. And if Uncle ever comes back,

tell him that I'm sorry too.

I love you,

Kili"

Fili stared at the letter. When had Kili written this? How had his missed his younger brother leaving in the night? Had they really become so foreign to each other? When they were kids they could communicate with a single glance and now Kili was saying that he was some sort of monster with the power to control dragons? There were so many questions running through the blonde's mind, and none of them had answers.

That's where they'd found him, hours later, staring blankly at the wall, parchment clutched in his hand.

Thorin had snatched the letter from his nephew and read it with a critical eye. "So," he said calmly. "Your brother has gone to the traitor." Fili looked up at the man he'd known all of his life in wonderment. There was no love in the dwarf's tone nor any of the fond exasperation that his uncle usually had when speaking about his brother. In this moment, Fili could not recognize the dwarf that was his uncle.

He hastily tried to take the letter back. If his brother truly was gone, then the letter was all he had left of him.

"Uncle, Kili is just confused," he tried to reason with him. "Let me go and find him. We can talk this out-"

"Be silent, nephew." Thorin snapped and Fili took a step back.

"Thorin," said Balin warningly as he gestured to put his hand on the King's shoulder. Thorin shrugged him off as he advanced on the boy.

"Why do you wish to leave to follow that traitor? Are you not my loyal nephew?" he'd asked menacingly. Fili took another step and tripped over his own feet. He stumbled and fell back into the wall.

"I-I just want to bring my brother back," he stammered.

By now the rest of the dwarves had gathered around the small group.

"Here now, Thorin," said Bofur. "Ease up now, the lad is just concerned for his brother." His uncle's glare remained steady. Fili swallowed, more afraid of the dwarf than he'd ever been in his life. Visions of Bilbo's bleeding and beaten body had filled his head.

With a huff, Thorin turned and strutted off back toward the mounds of treasure. "Know this," he said as he walked. "Anyone who goes after them, anyone, will join them in banishment."

Fili blinked away the tears that burned behind his eyes. Remembering that day hurt more than anything. He'd not only lost his brother that day, but he knew that his uncle was gone as well. He did not know who the dwarf who wore his uncle's face was.

Not for the first time, Fili wished that his mother was here with him. She would have straightened them out in a heartbeat.

He sighed and turned on his side. Burrowing in his blankets once more, he tried to forget about his troubles.

Sometime later, though how much later, Fili was unwilling to admit considering that the lighting was quite a bit dimmer than when he fell asleep, he heard yet another knock at his chamber door. He groaned and rubbed his face in his pillow. His confrontation with Balin, had completely filled his social quota for the week.

Since Kili had left, he found himself secluding himself more and more. He'd always been more of a loner anyway and Kili had been the social butterfly, always dragging his older brother into whatever mischief he'd found that day.

"Um, Fili?" came the quiet and timid voice of Ori. Fili sighed and stretched out. He wasn't going to answer. The whole company knew where he'd be.

"I'm just going to leave this here, outside the door then," he said. "Um, please come out soon. We all miss you."

Of all of the company, Ori was the one who he felt the least amount of ire toward. He knew that Ori had liked Bilbo just as much as he and Kili had and was the only one besides them who had tried to get Thorin to see reason.

Perhaps he would go and see his friend later. He owed him that much at the very least.

The crown prince stayed in bed until he was certain that the scribe was gone. Groaning, he slithered out of bed. He ignored his growling stomach and peeked out through a crack. Certain that there was no one around, he opened the door fully and looked down the brightly torch lit hallway. Sitting in front of his door was a tray of food. It wasn't much; a loaf of bread, a hunk of Fili's favorite cheddar cheese, and a cup of black tea. There was also an oil lamp with a match, as well as a piece of parchment. Fili blinked and picked up the tray carefully so that he wouldn't spill anything and brought it inside his room. He set the entire thing down on the table and pulled up a chair.

He lit the lamp first and squinted as it blazed to life. Next he took the folded parchment from the tray and unfolded it. The note wasn't very long and was very neatly written. The words made Fili feel a little lighter and he had to smile and shake his head fondly.

"Fili, meet me in the library tonight after dinner.

I think I may have found something to help Kili and Bilbo.

Of course, I don't actually expect to see you at dinner, though

it would be nice for you to get out of that room. Anyway, the

dining hall will be empty in about three hours if you aren't

sure of the time.

Please come.

Ori"

For the past two weeks, Thorin and the council had been insisting that Fili stop this nonsense and accept his place as the crown prince. No one had tried to speak to him about Kili, let alone Bilbo. Leave it to Ori to be the one. He sighed, nothing was getting done with him lazing about like a great berk. He needed to get out.

'Three hours huh? Dinner must have just started then.' he thought to himself. He looked down at the tray in front of him and back to the note and he made his decision.

After he finished his meal, he got up and went to rifle through his closet for something to wear instead of his well-worn bed clothes. He bit his lip, the library... Maybe he could hide in there until Ori showed up. He was sure no one would bother him in there.

He nodded to himself and took a deep breath, glad that he now had a plan. He quickly changed clothes, splashed some water on his face and made his hair look semi presentable. He would not wear the royal braids. He saw no reason to.

He looked himself over briefly in the mirror in the bathroom, and steeled his nerves. He could do this for his brother, if nothing else.

He doused the lamp and quietly snuck out of the room, relieved when he ran into one.

"My lord, Fili has refused to leave his chambers once again, I'm beginning to grow concerned."Balin squinted in the dark light of the fireplace. Thorin stood in front of it, glaring at the flames.

"Let him continue with his tantrum. He will soon see that it will make no difference." he said darkly. Balin pursed his lips.

"Thorin, your nephew is just a child. A child who has lost his brother, mind you. Don't you think that you should go to him?"

"Do you think that I've been too hard on him? That I should give him special treatment.?" Thorin growled. Balin knew that he was in dangerous waters. He was not dealing with a reasonable individual right now.

"Of course not," he said. "I trust your judgment, my king, you know that. But Fili is still young and cannot see the wisdom in your decisions yet."

Thorin did not answer for a long time. When he finally turned to face his friend, all Balin could see was darkness in his eyes. There was nothing left of the dwarf that he knew.

"Fili will have to grow up one day. That or he will waste away in his chambers, moping. I have no time to deal with an impudent child."

He strode passed the old dwarf, out of the chamber. Balin could only close his eyes against the wave of disappointment he felt.

Thorin was lost in the throes of madness and it would only get worse. There was a darkness eating away at his friend and Balin didn't know if he could help him.

Chapter one/End