Chapter Two

Bilbo awoke as Thorin's breathing changed, being out in the wild for the past year had made him a much lighter sleeper. He opened his eyes and glanced over at Thorin, slowly the king's eyes opened and he stared at Bilbo frowning slightly. "What are you doing in my bed?" He asked.

Bilbo shrugged and smiled at the king. "I am glad you are feeling better, as for why I am in your bed, well the answer is simple enough. Ori explained that it was easier to look after both of us, while we healed from the battle."

"I assume that we won, did any of the company..." He trailed off at the look on Bilbo's face. "Who died? Tell me who!" He said and Bilbo stared at Thorin, how was he supposed to tell the king about his nephews? They had been little more then boys and he knew Thorin loved them both dearly. He continued to hesitate as Thorin stared at him.

"Fili..."

"NOOOO!" Thorin said sitting bolt upright in bed.

"Lie back down Thorin, I am unsure if you are fully recovered from your wounds as of yet." Bilbo said gently before taking the king in his arms. "He died hero's death." He told the king. "You should be proud of him." He couldn't tell the king about Kili, the hobbit knew that it was better to take one blow at a time. "He believed in you Thorin, he knew the risks and he fought bravely." Bilbo said and started to run his fingers through Thorin's braids, Thorin knocked his hand away.

"Do not...Do not touch me." He said and Bilbo felt hurt.

"Thorin you need to relax, you are going to reopen your wounds if you are not careful."

"Do you think I care about that? My sister's son is dead, it should have been me."

"Thorin do not go blaming yourself for this, it was not your fault. Fili made his own decision in coming to win back his homeland. Do not you dare think for a moment that it was your fault." Bilbo looked to the king and put a hand to his back. "You are my friend Thorin and I tell you as a friend that injuring yourself will not bring Fili back." He said gently. "Your wounds have nearly healed but if you tear one open, you might be in this bed for several more days if not weeks." He told Thorin and Thorin nodded.

"I understand, thank you Bilbo." He said and Bilbo stared at him as moisture pooled in his eyes, Thorin dashed away the tears before they could form.

"It is alright to cry."

"No it is not, it dishonors their memory." Thorin said.

"After someone dies in the shire, their loved ones hold a wailing. All that knew the person come together and cry, they comfort each other." Bilbo said. "Despite what you think, dwarves are not made of stone and they have the same feelings as everyone else. Not allowing each other to cry at the death of a loved one, makes the pain fester like a wound. It is just us in this tent Thorin and I would not think less of you for crying, neither would Fili for he knew that you loved him." Bilbo said as his own eyes began to blur, he had been so concerned for Thorin that he hadn't had time to grieve for the brothers.

The hobbit started to keen and that keening turned into a wail, instantly ten dwarves ran into the tent and stared at the hobbit and Thorin, who awkwardly patted the hobbit on the back. "Bilbo its alright, please stop this." He said as he stared at the hobbit, Bilbo who was normally so happy shouldn't be like this. He felt his heart hurt at the hobbit's grief.

"Let him cry Thorin, he came to love the boys just as much as any of us." Balin said.

"Boys?" Thorin asked his eyes widening.

"Fili and Kili...They..."

"No not Kili too!" Thorin said and pounded the covers on the bed. "Not my sister's sons."

"I am sorry lad." Balin said and taking Thorin's shoulders touched foreheads with him. "We could not wait for you to get better, to entomb them." He said and Thorin looked away from the other members of the company. Bilbo felt something placed in his hand and looked to Ori.

"Drink lad, it will ease the pain for a time." Ori said. "Now is as good as time as any to hold the remembrance." He said and Bilbo was surprised at the amount of ale that was suddenly in the tent.

"Remember when Kili used to follow you everywhere B?" Bombur asked taking a large mug and filling it, before passing it to Thorin, who stared down at it a moment before taking a large gulp.

"Yes, I do, but that I think was mostly because of my toys. In fact I remember a few young dwarflings who were always scheming to 'barrow' some of them." Bifur said and smiled at the memory.

"And a right smacking from Lady Dis was all we got from our troubles."

"You smack children?" Bilbo asked horrified and the dwarves looked at each other and then at the hobbit.

"We do lad, when the crime is severe enough. Bifur's toys were his livelihood and as such we couldn't take the boys taking them light." Bofur said and Bilbo frowned.

"Still children are never hit in the shire, though then again hobbit children are generally well behaved. If they don't behave, we might make them skip a meal, but never hit them."

"You hobbit folk are entirely too sensitive, we've got much thicker skins then you have." Bofur pointed out and Bilbo let the subject drop.

"The boys always had a thing for telling tall tales. When they were younger they used to beg me for stories." Thorin said and drank deeply from his mug of ale.

"I remember when they came into my house, they teased me about my mother's china." Bilbo said and took a sip of the ale. "This is strong stuff." He said and shuddered slightly, the dwarves laughed.

"What did you expect lad, that's real dwarven ale you're drinking. We found some that the dragon didn't touch and its been aged to perfection." Bombur said drinking from his mug.

"Personaly I prefer a nice sherry, but this is quite good." The hobbit said and smiled.

"Kili used to like to pull pranks, remember that one time when he and Fili dyed all the sheep bright pink?" Gloin asked and everyone laughed.

"I would have loved to see that." Bilbo admitted and took another sip from the flagon.

"It was quite the sight, though the village that we were staying at made the boys sheer them." Balin said.

"Those must have been some ugly sweaters." Bilbo commented and a few of the dwarves smiled sadly.

"That they were and we bought a fair few of them to make it up to the villagers." Gimli said.

"Remember how Fili would always stand behind Thorin as a boy?" Balin asked and almost everyone nodded. "He said that he was to keep guard for his Uncle, because Thorin couldn't pay anyone else to do it." He added. "Though he was rather small for a dwarfling and it was lucky that there was never that much trouble where we roamed. Otherwise Thorin would have been too busy defending him, to help himself."

"Yet I was the one who fell first and could not look after them. Their deaths were my fault and I doubt that my sister would ever look upon me."

"Thorin, it wasn't your fault. Fili and Kili were capable warriors, there were just too many wargs and goblins."

"How did they die?"

"They were surrounded by wargs, orks and goblins, they tried to fight them off together but there were too many. We were lucky to be able to save you, but for Fili and Kili aid came too late." Gloin said and gulped back his mug, the other dwarves did the same and let out several belches. Bilbo was reminded of the first time he had met the company and felt tears come to his eyes.

"I love you guys." Bilbo said and all the dwarves looked uncomfortable. Bilbo chugged his own ale and sat the tankard on the table. "You know, it only seems right that it should end with a tankard of ale, like it started."

"That's right, I forgot about drinking your larder dry." Bifur said and the dwarves laughed, quieting soon after.

"Come on, the lads should be remembered with laughter." Ori said and smiled. "They were after all, always dedicated to spreading it." He added and the tankards were refilled and passed around again, Bilbo slammed his back with the rest of the dwarves.

"I remember on the first night they tried to frighten me, I guess it was funny to them that I'd never been outside the shire before." Bilbo said and a few of the dwarves laughed.

"Kili was always good with that bow of his, but he'd quickly take anyone to task if they mentioned his weapon choice to elf like." Ori said and there were a few smiles at that memory.

"Remember when Fili used Kili as target pratice, I never knew that Lady Dis could yell that loudly." Bofur said and a few of the dwarves smiled at that. They continued to tell stories, as the ale was passed around. Bilbo soon learned that while Hobbits could hold their liquor they didn't hold a candle to the drinking habits of dwarves. He nursed the last cup of ale, while the others had an additional five rounds, before they lumbered from the tent.

"Are you alright Thorin?" Bilbo asked and the king frowned.

"I'm fine Bilbo, just fine." He said and Bilbo smiled.

"I'm here if you need me." He said and took Thorin's hand in his own. "I'll stay until you get settled, I'm not going back to the shire right off." He said and Thorin smiled, though the thought of the hobbit leaving was unpleasant to him. Bilbo felt a sudden longing stir him and he looked to Thorin a certain lust in his eyes. Thorin stared at the Hobbit and felt a primordial need within him. "Thorin, take me, just this night?" Bilbo asked and Thorin stared at him a moment, before nodding. Together they undressed and lay in each other's arms. Together they shared pleasure and tried not to feel the pain of loss. Finally Thorin pulled out from Bilbo and laid beside him, his skin was sweaty and he felt a sudden peace fill him. He closed his eyes and was asleep within moments.

Bilbo smiled at the sleeping king and flipped over to his side, watching Thorin as he slept. The dwarf was well muscled and looked younger in sleep. Bilbo smiled then and gently ran a hand over Thorin's shoulder. "Couldn't stay awake could you, then again I don't blame you with the amount of ale you drank." The hobbit said and chuckled, before checking the bandages, he decided that they needed changing and it was better to do while Thorin was out of it. He gently took the one covering his arm and replaced it with a fresh one, with the bandages Ori had left behind. He then carefully did the rest of the bandages, without waking Thorin and pulled down the blanket he was lying on top of. He gently covered Thorin and closed his eyes, listening to Thorin's snoring he fell asleep.