Thanks for all the reviews and lovely comments! This chapter's a bit of a let-down I'm afraid, what with it basically being a list of stuff I've noticed. Stuff to watch out for though.
Chapter 9 - Milestones
As the weeks go by Thorin marks every little milestone with a silent shout of joy. The first time he hesitantly goes in to find Dís sat on a chair clumsily spinning, rather than propped up in bed. The first time the pair of them manage to coax Fíli to leave the room for an hour or two, to eat a meal in the hall, take a walk and get fresh air. The first time Kíli does not scarper to whichever of his protectors is closest the moment Thorin enters the room.
The best one is the first time he gets them all outside. Fíli leading his mother by the hand, and Dís in turn grasping a hesitant Kíli's.
As the weeks go by he notices things too. How Dís jumps every time a door opens. The way she smiles apologetically at Thorin when he notices her do it. The way Fíli notes things: people, exits, threats of any kind. How he always knows where the nearest weapon, or potential weapon, is. The tremble in Kíli's eyes at any sudden movement, the worried look on his face when someone speaks too loud. A hand clenched as often as possible in a mother's or a brother's. The way he clings to them but shies away from Thorin
The most fascinating thing is the way they watch over each other. It's a habit that endures, even after the other effects begin to die away. Thorin, watching over all of them, notices it all. Dís constantly checks on her sons: where they are, what they are doing, who is near them. Even when they reach the point where she will sit in the sunlight with her sewing whilst Thorin supervises the children's activities she will still wander up every so often, to see them, to be near them. Fíli is the same, constantly checking that both are safe and as happy as they can be. After a while, Thorin notices that even Kíli does it. That when he pauses in his aimless wanderings or looks away from Fíli's side to glance back towards his mother, he is not just checking that he is safe, but that she is as well. It makes his heart crack when he realises.
It is beautiful the way they grow in the sunlight, gaining confidence again. How Dís remembers how to smile a genuine smile, how Fíli remembers how to run for the sake of it, and how Kíli starts to hide from him out of mischief, rather than fear.
But there are still moments when Thorin cannot help but remember. Like when, only a day or so after his week-long illness, the heir to his throne refuses to follow him outside, anger, grief and incomprehension marring his young features. "Ma won't tell me where Da is."
He knew this would come. Dís knows now. Her sons do not.
"She won't tell me! She won't tell me anything! He might even be dead!" Fíli is rapidly becoming hysterical. "He's dead isn't he, he's dead! I hate her, I hate her, and I hate you and I hate this place and I want to go home! I hate it I hate it I hate it!"
Thorin tries to calm him down, and ends up wrestling a screaming kicking biting child to the ground. "Dís!"
"No! I hate her, I hate you, I hate you all!"
"Fíli, Fíli, calm down…" Dís is there too, but Fíli kicks out at her too, screaming words that Thorin assumes he can only have learnt off his father. Something else hits him, scratching frantically at his arms, and Thorin lets go of Fíli out of shock. It's the first physical contact his youngest sister-son has made with him since he brought back news of the raid. Kíli falls into his elder brother's arms and both Dís and Thorin back away as Fíli instantly turns away from his tantrum to comfort his terrified younger brother, glaring at both of them.
It doesn't make sense in Thorin's mind. The way they can deserve Fíli's hatred while he can still deem his father worthy of love.
It never will make sense. Over time he just learns to accept it instead.
Had a kid do that to me once. I couldn't come up with much of an explanation either. I think something just snaps inside them sometimes, and they want it all to go away. And I just wanted to get it out of my head. So there.