Chapter summary: In which Fíli and Sigrid talk about being older siblings while certain people tend to others.

A/N: Woah, I haven't updated since last year! I was bemoaning the fact that there were so few fics of Bard's family. This is here to fix that fact. I am dearly sorry to keep you waiting, here's the second and final part of this two-shot. Enjoy!


Sigrid fiddled nervously at the hem of her sleeve as the blond dwarf glared at her in suspicion. It seemed that even the shortest warriors were just as intimidating as any other. But his eyes were tired as well, which Sigrid could understand if it really was his brother lying on the table so close to death not five minutes ago.

The dwarf in the floppy hat kept an eye on the table where Tauriel was tending to Kíli before bringing his attention back to Sigrid when she coughed nervously.

He introduced each of them. "I'm Bofur, Miss. Our other resident healer here is Óin and our resident worrywart is Fíli."

The blond one, Fíli, absent-mindedly scowled at the addition to his name without removing his eyes from his view of Kíli.

Sigrid was thankful for the politeness of the one with the floppy hat, Bofur now, she supposed, and introduced herself. "I am Sigrid, daughter of Bard. And those are my younger siblings, Bain and Tilda." She gestured over to her brother and sister sitting on the bed together.

Before a lull in the conversation could emerge, a small vibration in the house released some dust from the ceiling.

"Be glad they are here with you now, for it seems there may be some trouble in the mountain," the healer, Óin, spoke with a bit of foreboding.

Sigrid's perplexed face spurred Bofur to explain. "All of us have brothers or cousins or uncles in the company, and they're in the mountain at the moment. We worry; as you would do if it was your family. Actually, Fíli is he only one to still have a brother in this town."

Óin contributed to Bofur's explanation. "That would be the dwarf Tauriel is tending to. He's-"

"My brother. Kíli." Fíli abruptly cut him off.

Her guess was confirmed; after all, how could it not be? They were both obviously brothers, despite their differing appearances, with the care that they showed for each other. It reminded Sigrid of her own siblings. Although she was taken surprise when Fíli including himself in their conversation. He seemed perfectly content with watching his brother from a distance without adding a word.

"Well," Bofur said as he planted his hands on his thighs to push himself up, "I think it's best that we fix up some tea while we wait." But when Bofur attempted to stand, he wobbled and his face blanched. He put a hand to his head with a chuckle. "Maybe that Orc hit me harder than I thought."

Óin sighed and gruffly muttered something about hard-headed dwarves before tending to Bofur in the corner. Bofur took off his floppy hat with shaking hands and released something that was definitely not a squeak of indignation when Óin prodded his head. Once the unique floppy hat was removed, Sigrid noticed he did have an awful scratch along his hairline at his temple.

She also realized her two buffers between her and the not so pleasant Fíli had exited their buffering positions and sat themselves a little farther away. She was left alone to deal with his mood, which obviously came from being excessively worried about his brother.

Sigrid desperately searched for a way to avoid an awkward silence, and her gaze landed on the surprisingly undamaged kettle. "I'll just... get a pot going then," she muttered to herself.

His eyes flickered to her and the tea she was busying herself with, and Sigrid decided she would be the grown up of the situation (as she usually was with her siblings when they squabbled) and have a civilized conversation with this stubborn dwarf, if only to distract him from his troubles for a moment.

"Why did you not stay with your brother?" Sigrid asked tentatively as she began to boil the water, inwardly cursing herself as she brought up what was probably the one thing troubling him the most.

Fíli's gaze drifted back to where it mostly had lain, on his brother. As he spoke to Sigrid once more, she could tell the majority of his focus was not on their conversation but on Kíli's well-being which rested in Tauriel's capable hands.

"I had wished to, however, Tauriel explained to me that it was best for his health if he had a little more space and not someone crowding around his head. I just want to do what is best for him. So, I agreed to step away, but the second she finishes with those bandages, I will be at his side once more."

Once Fíli neared the end of his explanation, he rushed his words, and it was clear he realized that pouring out his troubles to a young girl who he barely knew might not have been the best idea.

Luckily for Fíli, Sigrid knew exactly what worries plagued him thanks to having to younger siblings herself. To ease what was probably an embarrassing moment for him, she spoke up again. "In their younger days, Tilda and Bain were prone to catching whatever illness that ran rampant in our town. Many a night I had been forced to sit at a distance from my younger siblings as they suffered from sickness. Our Da feared for my getting sick as well and left the healer to tend to them both as I kept the house standing and he continued working. Although he did not always follow his own instructions to keep away and the sickness passed to him eventually. But the point is, sometimes we must let someone else care for our loved ones and do what's best for them, forsaking our own needs for theirs."

Her worries for her father, and whether or not he was alright, were resurfaced by the memory. Her brow furrowed with concern while Fíli absorbed her words and recognized her as a fellow older sibling, a kindred spirit of sorts.

"You carry much responsibility on your shoulders for one so young." Fíli's voice broke through her anxiety.

"Being the oldest is a challenge, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." Sigrid smiled wistfully as she saw Bain lightening Tilda's mood with one of his spur of the moment stories.

"Neither would I," Fíli said more to himself than to Sigrid. "Despite what a pain he can be at times."

Sigrid fondly remembered growing up with her family all well and whole together. It lasted only a few years before the precious family of five became four. She shook her head and rushed more recent memories to the forefront of her mind. And she suddenly remembered what else she was going to ask Fíli.

"Why in all of Middle Earth were you glaring at me and my siblings earlier?" Sigrid's harsh tone tore Fíli from what might have been a fond memory of his family, but she paid no heed. "After the attack, I mean. I was overwhelmingly glad we were all alright, and you had such a strange look on your face as you looked our way. You could have been taking care of your brother!"

Fíli's eyes flashed with a burning anger which was quickly smothered by - understanding? This dwarf was completely unlike any others she had met. He had a great control over his emotions, not loudly voicing his opinions as some did; and Sigrid was quite confused.

"It wasn't a glare, first of all." He recrossed his arms over his chest and looked down as if debating with himself before speaking in a low tone. "In all honesty, seeing you with your siblings, both well and whole after the attack, made me jealous. Ever since Kíli had been pierced by the arrow, I had been hoping beyond hope that it was just a scratch and wouldn't get any worse. But it did. And while I was desperately holding my brother to keep him in this life, you and your siblings rejoiced in yours."

Before Sigrid could collect her scattered thoughts into a comprehensible sentence, not that she could have at the time, a shrill whistle emitted from the tea kettle. She jolted and quickly covered her shame and misunderstanding of Fíli's actions with the busywork of preparing the tea.

As she stared into the dark depths of the kettle, she worried her thumb over one of the chipped teacups. Then Sigrid squashed down her pride and spoke up once more. "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to question you so harshly when you were only thinking of the wellbeing of your brother." She rolled the teacup in her hand and smiled to herself. "I should know how that feels."

Sigrid peeked out of the corner of her eye and through her loosened strands of hair to see his reaction. Fíli had returned his gaze to its silent vigil of watching over Kíli from a distance. "It's alright. It was quite an honest reaction for us protective older siblings." He smirked up at her from his stool and she continued busying herself with the tea, glad that they had sorted that out.

Bain's voice carried over to them and he was saying that Tilda should get her doll to help him tell his story. A smile graced Sigrid's lips when Tilda leapt up to get her favorite doll. Fíli was straining to hear the breathless words his brother mumbled to the elf healer. Óin was wrapping a bandage around Bofur's head. And for a moment, everyone was almost content. But of course, as Sigrid thought back to the moment later on, their quiet peace couldn't last.

The ceiling shook, causing more dust and dirt to drift down. Everyone in the house froze. Until all of a sudden, the floor shook with enough intensity to make Tilda stumble as she walked back to Bain with her ragged doll. After regaining her footing, Tilda gripped it tightly to her chest. Sigrid abandoned the rattling kettle and rushed to her siblings, and Fíli leapt off his stool to his brother when the throttling of the household intensified. Óin quickly finished his administrations on Bofur's head and huddled them both into a more secure position.

Sigrid planted herself on the bed between her siblings and gathered Tilda in one arm and wrapped the other around Bain's taller shoulders as if the strength of her grip on each of them would keep them from harm.

She placed a worried kiss on the crown of Tilda's head and saw that Fíli had rushed over to his younger brother and jumped onto the table between Tauriel and Kíli, scattering the walnuts that pillowed Kíli's head. Tauriel hurriedly backed away, even though Sigrid could tell how much it meant to Tauriel to stay by Kíli's side and make sure he would be alright, Tauriel also knew that Fíli's need was greater.

And Sigrid realized with a jolt that she would probably never again have the opportunity to ask Tauriel about how she knew about their mother.

Sigrid wasn't able to follow the thought as an even greater rumbling filled the house and shook its foundations and inhabitants even more than before. Roaring filled their ears and the wind outside battered the sides like a hurricane. The dragon was coming.

Sigrid suddenly had the most ridiculous thought that one could have in their situation. To think that only just yesterday dwarves were coming out of their toilet and Tilda was wondering if they would bring them luck.

As Sigrid looked out of the window at the towering shadow looming closer and closer, she didn't believe there would be any luck coming from the dwarves.