Chapter 3

Don't Know How I Really Feel

So here is he third chapter, hope you enjoy!

Marina Oakenshield: Thanks and I'm glad you like it :D

"I honestly don't see what his problem is!" Amy ranted, having been forced to stop swinging upside down in a tree by Thorin, to go get firewood with his nephews, "I mean, why me? He could see I was perfectly happy in the tree, and, I was out of the way! Wasn't bothering anybody! Except him, but he is a grumpy old sod. Don't you agree?"

The brothers chuckled, shaking their heads.

"Come on! Admit it!" She pressed, jumping in between both of them, "No one's around so they won't hear you."

"Will it make you stop?" Kili asked, almost pleading with her to shut up.

"Yep, all you gotta do is admit it or deny it, not hard."

"Alright, our uncle, Thorin, is a grumpy, old sod," They both admitted, with relief that she'd finally shut up and calm down.

"See!" Amy cheered loudly in their ears, causing them to wince, "Now, was that so hard?"

"Please, shut up!" Fili pleaded, sounding like he was about to break down in tears, "We've had to listen to you all day long! Even Balin thought we were ill because we couldn't get a single word in!"

"Does your brother always exaggerate like this?" Amy looked at Kili, questioningly.

"Nope, never!"

"Wow!"

"He isn't exaggerating though, it's the truth," Kili told her, handing her a stick, "But, yes, he does exaggerate sometimes."

"Right, that's confusing, am I really that annoying?" Amy's eyes widen in surprise.

"Yes," Both brothers answered in unison, nodding their heads vigorously.

"Oh my God!" She squealed, jumping up and down, amazingly somehow keeping hold of the large pile of sticks, "Kate no longer has the title!"

"Title?!"

"Yeah, she has always had the title of being most annoying," She explained, composing herself.

"I can't begin to think what's worse than you!" Fili exclaimed.

"Nothing now, I'm more annoying," Amy beamed.

"...Wait! Kate doesn't seem that annoying?" Kili questioned, dumping another load of sticks on Amy's already huge pile.

"She stopped about a year ago, when she got custody over James and Brody," She explained, heaving the sticks so she could get a better grip.

"What?" Fili's brow furrowed, as his brother voiced their question.

"Custody?!" Kili's eyes widened.

"Yeah, their parents had...troubles...yes, let's call them troubles," Amy finally decided, as she made her way back to camp, unable to carry anymore sticks, "They were unable to look after them properly, but they didn't want to let anyone else take care of them, so Kate had to fight for them. It took her just over a week to get custody, in fact it has been just under a year and a half since then."

"Wow," Both brothers said in unison, their voices and eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You never want to mess with her, especially when it comes to her nephews, like what happened with Thorin earlier today."

The trio walked in silence for a few minutes, the brothers were still trying to process it, which Amy found quite strange. She had been told that dwarves stood up for their kin, so why was Kate trying to provide a better life for her nephews such a problem.

"Why is it so hard for you to take in?" Amy asked, getting fed up with them as she found it rather a humane thing, well, the story she told the brothers.

"It's just-" Kili started, his brother cutting him off.

"Most would try and support the parents-"

"Instead of taking their children away," The brunette dwarf finished.

"Not from where I come from," She shook her head, "If you remember, I'm from another world. And it's normal from where I come from, but it actually depends on the trouble. Don't even bother asking! This is something Kate has asked not to share, not until Brody and James are old enough."

The two princes whined, pleading with her to tell them. She rolled her eyes in response, speeding her pace up so she could get to camp quicker, giving the brothers less chance and time to convince her.

"Anyway, going back to our original conversation," Amy spoke, distracting them and changing the topic successfully, "Me and Kate have been after the title for years, as childish as it may seem, after she stopped I carried on, it always cheered the boys up. Anything I did never beat what she used to be like, until now."

"I'm glad you two aren't fighting, or we'd be dead within a week," Fili commented, his brother nodding in agreement.

"Haha," She said flatly, "I'm so-"

Before Amy could finished, she stepped on a loose rock that had, obviously, appeared out of no where. She screamed as she tripped rather ungracefully into camp, smacking into a startled Bofur, and scattering the pile of sticks onto the rocky ground. Laughter burst out from Kili and Fili, deepening the red shade that was creeping onto her face.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized, ignoring the two princes for the moment.

"It's alright, lass," Bofur assured Amy, helping her gather the sticks.

"And you two," She turned on Kili and Fili, who shared amused smiles, "Shut it."

The duo held up their hands, mouths tightly shut, and knelt down beside her to help pick up the remaining sticks.

oOo

"Ow!" James exclaimed, Kate was scrubbing his arm raw to get off the now dry, crusty mud, "Auntie that hurts!"

"Well then, it'll just teach you not to fight with your brother, won't it?" Kate chuckled in amusement, receiving a grumble of a reluctant agreement from the young boy, "So, are you going to tell me what it was about?"

"It doesn't matter," He looked down at the ground, avoiding her gaze.

"It does if it has ended up with both of you giving each other black eyes," She insisted, then stopped to lift his chin, "I promise your not going to get in trouble, I just need to get this sorted out."

"Brody said that mum and dad don't love us," He sniffed, tears welling in his eyes, "That's why you're looking after us."

"Hey! That's not true!" Kate hugged James, "Your parents love you, they have always done so and will continue to do so, even when they aren't with you!"

"Then why were we taken away from them?" James asked, rubbing his watery eyes.

"Sometimes these things happen for no reason," She answered, "But what is important is that they will always love you."

"To the moon and back?"

"Yes, to the moon and back. Now, let's go sort out your brother."

oOo

Shania walked over to Fili with a slight spring in her step, and a smirk plastered across her face. He looked up at her when he saw her shadow in front of him, a groan escaped his lips.

"Hand it over," She held out her hand, waiting for his pipe.

"Can't I just have one last smoke," Fili pleaded, reluctantly handing over his pipe.

"Nope," Shania shook her head, before skipping off towards Gandalf.

"Hello Shania," Gandalf greeted.

"Hi," She smiled, then offered him Fili's pipe, "Could you look after this for me?"

"Of course," He took the pipe, putting into safely into his satchel, "I'm guessing you don't want me to give this back to Fili if he asks?"

"Yep," Shania nodded, "And thanks, if I were looking after it, I'd just end up breaking it."

The wizard chuckled as she left to return back to Fili, resting herself down beside him.

"When can I get it back?" Fili questioned, a slight pout on his face.

"Whenever I decide, or if you win it back by a bet."

He groaned in annoyance, falling back onto his bedroll, a slight pout tracing his lips as he met Shania's eyes. She rolled her eyes, looking away from him.

"I'm not going to be getting that pipe back anytime soon, am I?" Fili sighed heavily, knowing the answer already.

"Nope," Shania grinned, emphasising the 'p'.

"Great," He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"You have a terrible addiction, you know that right?"

"No I don't," He denied, "I just enjoy smoking."

"That's like saying if you enjoy food you have an addiction."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean?" Shania asked, shifting to lie on her stomach, propping up her elbows on his stomach.

"I-I just meant that an addiction is when you can't stop or get enough of something, smoking is neither of that for me," Fili explained.

"If you say so," She smirked, collapsing on his torso, "You make a comfy pillow, you know?"

oOo

Amy jumped over another log, just skimming it like the last time.

"You are going to trip, just like last time," Kili warned, guiding his pony around it.

"No I won't," Amy protested, speaking too soon as her foot caught on a tree root.

She stumbled forward, managing to stop herself from falling flat on her face. Panting heavily, she looked at Kili, who was sniggering like a school boy. Amy huffed, before holding out her hand, offering it to him so he could pull her up. He grabbed it and lifted her up with ease, before bringing her round in front of him, putting her in the saddle.

"Now you won't trip," Kili grinned, regaining his hold on the reins of his pony.

"You're never going to let that die, are you?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Nope!" Kili shook his head, emphasising the 'p'.

Amy groaned, slouching back against his chest, looking to the front of the line where Shania was laughing at something Kate had said, obviously about Fili as the tips of his ears had gone bright red. Thorin did not look a bit impressed, though he said nothing to the blond haired girl.

"So, tell me about yourself?" The brunette prince asked, capturing her attention.

"Like what?"

"Eh...your family."

"Well, I have an older sister and a younger brother. My mum and dad are split up but get along well with each other, in fact my dad is engaged to another woman," Amy told him, surprising him with the fact that her parents were split up.

"Your parents aren't together?"

"No, but we're come from it is pretty common for that to happen, and for your parents not to even marry, like Kate and Shania's parents."

Kili nodded, resting his head on shoulder like he usually does.

"What about your family? Other than Fili and Thorin," She questioned.

"There is my mother, Dis, she is a lovely woman. Always kind and caring, but has a huge temper on her, so it's best not to anger her," Kili answered, a smile on his face as he remembered his mother, but it soon changed, "I never knew my father, he died before I was born, and mother never spoke of him, it upset her too much, so I never asked. All I know is that he was loved dearly and is missed terribly."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Amy squeezed his hand in comfort, earning a small yet grateful smile.

They sat in silence for the next few hours, watching the rest of the company in their playful antics, or listening in on their conversations. Amy had begun to doze off less than an hour after their chat, falling asleep about two hours later. She had only been able to rest for another hour or so when they reached some tall, heavy looking gates, that were thankfully still open, considering it was nearly dark.

"Where are we?" Amy yawned, having been woken up by Kili.

"Bree," Kili replied, bringing his pony to a halt like the rest of the company, just outside a stable.

"Why?" She inquired, stretching hugely, nearly hitting Kili in the face with her arms.

"Food, rest, supplies," He listed, dismounting from the pony.

"Wait! What do you mean by rest?" She asked, taking his offer of helping her down.

"Sleeping," Kili answered like she was stupid.

"No, I mean, like where? Outside?-"

"In an inn, Gandalf mentioned something about rooms-"

"With beds! Like actually beds!" Amy gasped, nearly squealing while bouncing from foot to foot.

"I should think so," Kili said, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to die!" She celebrated, running with a slight spring in her step over to her friends.

The brunette archer chuckled, watching the young girl with a soft smile tracing his lips. A slap on his back knocked him out of the dreamy state, he looked to his side to find his brother there.

"Aww, has my little brother caught a bad case of lovestruck?" Fili joked, receiving a glare from Kili, "Should I take you to see Oin? Or Amy?"

A sudden loud laugh from Shania had an evil thought running through his mind, a smirk now making its way onto his face, dread falling upon Fili's face knowing Kili was about to get his revenge.

"While we're there, why don't we see if Shania can help satisfy your needs?" Kili rejoindered, though he didn't deny his brother's claim.

Fili's face flushed a crimson red, to which Kili found great amusement in, a few looks were thrown his way, which only the golden brother saw. This only annoyed him further as they saw his red face, obviously showing them that the archer had said something to embarrass him.

To shut his laughing sibling up, he lunged himself at him, bowling him over. They began to roll around, trying to get on top of one another, neither actually physically hurting the other.

Thorin stormed over to the two, forcing them apart, which wasn't much of a struggle. He held one in each hand by the backs of their collars, though it wasn't really needed.

"What was that all about?!" Thorin fumed.

"He started," Kili panted, tired out from the scuffle.

"I don't care who started it! I want to know why!" Thorin snapped.

"He said I couldn't forge a spoon," Fili quickly admitted, seeing as Kili was just about to admit the truth.

Thorin sighed heavily, letting go of their collars.

"You can both sleep on the floor tonight," He told them, storming away.

"What?!" They chorused, looking desperately at Balin and Dwalin, in hopes that they might change the leader's mind.

Neither seemed to answer the brothers plea, shaking their heads while chuckling instead, turning to follow Thorin. They groaned which turned into a whine halfway through, amusing the Brody, James, Kate, Shania and Amy.

"It's your own fault really," Shania said, linking her arm in Kili's.

"You knew your uncle would punish you," Amy added, linking her arm in Fili's.

"And you shouldn't be fighting anyway," Kate put in, "Bad examples for these two monsters, you are!"

"Monsters?!" Brody and James gasped, "Oh but auntie, we're little darling angels, couldn't do a thing wrong."

"Angels my foot," Kate scoffed, picked Brody up to carry him on her hip, while holding James' hand.

This interaction managed to crack a smile onto Kili and Fili's faces, who were reminded of themselves when they were younger.

oOo

"But that's not enough beds," Amy pointed out, after discovering they only had sixteen beds.

"That's why I just said that James and Brody will sleep with me," Kate sighed impatiently, having been tired out from trying to keep an eye on her nephews, who were now with Bofur.

"Why weren't enough rooms booked for anyway?" Shania asked.

"There wasn't enough spare rooms," Thorin suddenly appeared from behind Kate, causing her to jump.

"Don't do that!" Kate scolded, glaring at him.

Thorin opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind, "Get some rest, we leave tomorrow morning."

"What room are we in?" Shania asked, realising they have no idea where they were sleeping.

"Room 3 with Amy," He answered, "Kate, your in room 10."

"Wait. I'm not with them?" Kate's brow furrowed, confused by the situation.

"No," He turned to leave, an irritated Kate said nothing, being too tired to argue.

Kate sat in thought for a few minutes, her friends debating whether she was trying to calm herself down or was actually thinking, which they doubted considering her clenched jaw. After a while, she left, taking her nephews with her and went to find room ten.

Unfortunately, it was a flight of stairs away from her friends, being on the top floor. Brody and James, who were still full of energy unlike herself, reached the door well before her. She entered the room to see her nephews sleeping on top of the covers of a bed, having collapsed despite the amount of energy the had left, probably finding the beds too tempting.

Sighing, she put them under the blankets, tucking them gently in. Then taking her cloak, she cuddled up next to the bed, choosing the floor like she did in Bag End. She feared waking her nephews up if she tried to get under the covers, they looked too peaceful to do that to.

Even so, Kate got to sleep rather quickly, her body exhausted from the past week of travelling.

Hope you enjoy and I'm sorry for the late update but I had to get Loving You updated as well. Some other romance hinted in there, though it's up to you readers if you want romance for Fili or Kili, or both. So if you want me to, then just say.

Any filler chapters you want me to add? Like an archery practice, or a fighting competition, maybe a game of tag? Or anything that you think would be good to add, then just say!

Feel free to comment/favourite/follow as you see fit!

If you could, then check out my other fanfic, Loving You, which I am currently updating the chapters on.

~Birdy~