Notes: AN: Going with my Redo! stories of late there is always two sides of a story. When the plot bunny for this story bit me it had a very long time to roll around in my head before I actually started typing it out. Meaning I started writing this up in my head and I've gone through dozens of possibilities as I've indulged myself in reading similar plots and it always boiled down to one thing. One character is not meant to hold the pressure of knowing the future. It is a burden that must be shared, or the singular character faces all sorts of problems if he messes up or if his secret becomes known. My choice in who remembers may not be popular, but I have my reasons for choosing them. If Bilbo gets to come back because of regrets and unfinished business why should he hold the monopoly. That being said I hope that this chapter is enjoyed, Please review with you're thoughts and opinions, because I love reading them. Flames will just be used to been the writing furnace! ^.^


In a mountain range far away from the Shire and the two plotting Hobbits within Bag End, an Exiled Prince and would be King was not waking up in the halls of his ancestors, nor was he waking in pain, as one would expect to after the wounds he knew he had experienced on the battle field. Of course before one Thorin Oakenshield could open his eyes to see just where he was laying and what his condition might be, he got his chance to groan in pain as not one but two bodies collided with his own with resounding thumps. Immediately the out of wind Dwarf's eyes opened in alarm, only to see his Sister-Son's huddled on top of him, shivering.

Relief flooded Thorin as he recognized them, followed closely by an intense feeling of confusion. He had see the both die before Azog had struck that final blow. How was it that they were here with him now and alive? And just exactly was here, because they were not in the walls of Erebor, and his company was not surrounding them as they would if they had not woken from the battle yet. It took the King several moments to recognize his old Chambers in Ered Luin, but why in Mahal's name would they be here? It made no sense considering the quest he clearly remembered completing and the battle that he could have sworn he died in. Fìli shuddered suddenly, digging closer to his body and Thorin hugged him, brushing off his thoughts as he focused on two of the most important beings in his world. They were alive and right here in his arms. The hows and whys could wait for a time.

"You are well lads, calm yourselves. I won't be letting anything hurt the two of you." He murmured soothingly, confused by what looked to be his nightmare and reality crashing together. Kìli laughed shakily but both he and his brother were still acting like Dwarflings who had experienced a terrible fright.

"We died Uncle, and we can't tell mother that or she will take back her permission that she gave for us to accompany you on the Quest and we shouldn't even be telling you but the others would think us mad. You, you might at least hear us out though, and maybe if we're lucky you'll believe us and it won't have to end like it did again. We just woke up and it's just a couple days before we go to pick up our Hobbit with the Wizard. We needed to tell someone! It can't happen the same and Mr. Boggins is important so you have to be nice to him no matter what you may think of him when we meet him." Kìli blurted out suddenly, his voice hoarse as he babbled on and on. He'd obviously been crying and was still very distressed with the situation in general. To be honest the older Dwarf was surprised Dis hadn't come storming in yet.

Thorin held them tighter as his youngest nephew's words registered, inhaling shakily as he tried to gather his thoughts without ending up sounding over protective or mad. Apparently they were just days before they departed and started their travels to the Shire, which took weeks to reach. Knowing when he had woken up to was a boon to be sure, as it gave him a timeline in this mess. Whatever was happening to him had obviously included his Sister-Sons in it's madness and Thorin found himself cursing whoever had thought to include his nephews in whatever this was. It was a cruel thing to do, making them hold this burden too.

The two lads in his arms didn't need the memories of dying plaguing their minds, nor did they need to remember their Uncle going mad with Gold Sickness and almost killing his One. Beyond their admission of their deaths his Sister-Son's first thoughts had been to stress Bilbo's importance and that made his stomach turn unpleasantly with guilt. He had behaved vilely to the one person he should have treasured above anything else and although he would like nothing more than to deny having his memories now he couldn't. Doing that would be a coward's action and he was not a coward. Thorin would not hide from his mistakes, he would own them because ignoring what he had done wrong would change nothing and he needed to change his end.

"It's Mr. Baggins Kìli, Bilbo get's annoyed when you call him Mr. Boggins." Fìli hummed, his voice so very quiet as he admonished his younger brother and Kìli just chuckled in response to his scolding. If there was one thing that Thorin knew about his youngest Sister-Son, it was that his love of riling up their excitable Hobbit was not something that he would give up. Even if the Bilbo that they would be meeting in mere weeks was not the same one that they had last seen. And the reminder that Bilbo had survived the battle was bittersweet, because it meant that the Hobbit that Gandalf would be introducing them to had no chance of being the one that Thorin had fallen in love with, or the ones that his nephews had come to care about as their family. They would have to work to get that Hobbit to care for them again, that much was true.

Both Dwarfs huddled closer to him, drawing comfort from their uncle though he was being silent still and Thorin pushed the thoughts of the small Hobbit that he had loved and betrayed horribly out of him mind to focus on them for the moment. Bilbo Baggins could wait until they met once more because nothing was going to change the fact that he was back on square one with his One, but his nephews needed him now. He sighed, if this was a second chance then he hoped to Mahal that he got it right this time.

"I won't see you fall in battle protecting me again. If we face the battle at Erebor once more you shall not join the fight." He rumbled in a quiet and grave tone, letting them know that he not only believed them, but he remembered what they did also. Both of his nephews stiffened as he spoke, and he might have even heard Kìli squeak if he wasn't mistaken. Obviously they had not expected him to remember, and had thought that their confession would be met with disbelief.

"You died too?" Kìli whispered, sounding shocked and more than a little betrayed. Thorin sighed again, his heart aching as he nodded and his nephews both let out a sob. He held them, wondering how it had been so easy to disregard their age and thrust them into danger before, when now he wanted nothing more than to hide them away and protect them from their demise. Kìli was barely considered an adult in their culture and Fìli wasn't much better. Oh how his Burglar had ranted when he realized this, though truth be told the fact Bilbo was only 50 summers himself had caused Dori to go into a protective fluster.

"What do we do now?" Fìli whispered, his voice still hesitant and so very small compared to normal. Thorin took a deep breath. He could declare that this quest was a lost cause and hoard away his family to keep them safe, but that was pure selfishness that would have his One scowling at him and stomping his bare and hairy feet in anger if he ever found out about it. They had accomplished their quest before, it had just ended the Durin Line and he assumed another had taken the throne in their stead.

This quest was not about his nephews or even Thorin himself sitting on the throne of Erebor though. It was about reclaiming his people's home and providing them with a future that didn't involve merely scraping by as they had since Erebor had fallen. If Thorin could avoid the gold-sickness this time, if he would listen to his Hobbit when the other male suggested alliances, they might just live this time around, with Mahal's blessing of course. Thorin couldn't be selfish in the face of his people's need.

"We convince a Hobbit that he is in fact a Burglar and ask him to help us reclaim out home and we don't die or go mad with gold sickness while doing it. Bilbo and the rest of the Company survived the battle, I know that much. My last words were an apology to our Hobbit" He replied, his voice heavy as he went against every instinct in his body that demanded he keep the dwarfs that his heart called his sons safe from the deaths that might be waiting for them at the conclusion of this quest. Both younglings sniffed as he spoke about the Hobbit though, stiffening in his arms. Thorin waited to see what caused that reaction, since both of them had mentioned his One before without that reaction.

"Did... Did he forgive you, when you apologized? Would he have forgiven us? We all, every single one of the company, got sick because of the didn't listen to him when he begged us to, and when he took action to try and keep us safe we condemned him for it. We stood there when you held him over certain death and spat those horrible things at him and then cast him out with a war rolling in. And now we never get to apologize to him ourselves because we died and he lived so he won't be here waiting at Bag End." Fìli croaked out, his voice breaking as he spoke. His words were like the arrows that his brother preferred piercing his heart though, both in the fact that his nephews blamed themselves for not being able to help Bilbo while they themselves were suffering from Gold Sickness, and the fact that they would never get the forgiveness that they so desperately wanted from the Hobbit that they adored.

"He forgave me without hesitation. I remember that and I remember that there is no force in Middle Earth would have made Bilbo blame you for what happened when the sickness took us. He was a Hobbit who rarely held grudges and cared for you greatly. Remember that always. He didn't blame either of you." Thorin spoke in a low voice, careful not to let his sister overhear what was being said. Kìli let out a low wail, shaking his head as he denied what his uncle was saying. The older Dwarf shifted and looked as his youngest nephew, wondering what had caused this reaction. Fìli didn't say a single thing about it though.

"He shouldn't have forgiven you so easily and he should blame us for not helping him. We should have done something to help him." Fìli suddenly spoke up, his voice hard and louder than the than the tones that he had been using. Thorin turned to look at him, shocked by the venom in his voice. Hadn't both of the Dwarfs next to him just wanted Bilbo's forgiveness? And now he was saying that that thier Hobbit shouldn't have forgiven them? There was something more than guilt going on here, that much he knew.

"I understand feeling that he shouldn't have forgiven me for my actions because I agree with that, but I was the one to harm him and he was- is my One. The two of you had no control over my actions so I see no reason that he shouldn't have forgiven you two or any of the others." He asked straight forwardly, trying to talk some sense into him and make him see that Bilbo would have forgiven them no matter what. His nephew grimaced at his words.

"Somethings are better left untold Uncle. It's nothing that we can change, or even help now although if it or the Gold Sickness happens again you're right in saying Kìli and I won't be in the battle at Erebor if that also happens once more. We'll personally escort Bilbo away from the mountain at the first sight of you or the other Dwarrow falling ill and as for the Battle there's no way in Mahal's dungeons that we'll let him out in that mess again." Thorin's eldest nephew all but growled at him, untangling himself from his arms and climbing out of the bed that he had all but thrown himself into not long before as he glared at Thorin. Kìli made a soft noise before following his brother's lead and climbing out of the bed. Thorin watched as Fìli gave his brother a one armed hug and lead him from his bedroom, their Uncle wondering just what in Mahal's name just happened.

Kìli's reply to his question had made no sense at all, but it had centered on Bilbo and something that Thorin had not known. But his nephews had known whatever it was, and that was the source of their guilt in not protecting their Hobbit during their Gold Sickness and after the Arkenstone. Thorin shook his head to clear his thoughts as he got out of his bed intending to get ready for the day ahead of him. He needed to put that mystery out of his mind for now. There was a great deal of planning that he needed to do before the Company that was currently still in Erebor left in the Shire's direction, and not a lot of time to do it in.

Thorin had to admit to himself that he didn't like not knowing what his nephews were talking about in regards to Bilbo, but he also knew that neither of his stubborn boys would betray a secret they shared with Bilbo. They were loyal to the Hobbit and if they were willing to steal him away to prevent him from suffering once more then he would ask nothing more of them. They could keep the secret of a Hobbit that no longer was, if it meant that they would keep this new, innocent version of Bilbo safe from what Thorin had done before under the sickness and the battle itself. The King Under the Mountain would remind himself of that every time he might wonder what their secret was though, because the way Kìli has looked at him and sounded when he spoke that last time lead the elder Dwarf to believe that he was angry with him over it. That he held enough anger towards his Uncle to make up for the Hobbit's easy forgiveness.

Sighing Thorin dressed for the day, then sat in the small desk and picked up his quill. He should start planning while everything that he remembered happening was still fresh in his mind, so he didn't miss a single detail in what needed to be changed during this second chance. Oddly enough the first thing that went down onto the parchment was this. 'Treat Bilbo with respect and teach him how to use his letter opener.' It seemed like an easy enough goal, but Thorin wasn't fooling himself. He would offend the fussy Hobbit in some way, they were always bumping heads over the smallest things. And he had a feeling his nephews wouldn't put up with disrespect shown towards their newest and smallest family member. Not this time around. It would be good to have someone to hold him accountable for his mistakes this time around, hopefully it kept him sane.