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Fili tugged at his tunic, trying to get comfortable. He'd been scrubbed pink, and dressed in his nicest clothes. His mother insisted, and he must wear them, even if they were horribly stiff and itchy. Fili had suffered in silence, knowing that he'd be in trouble if he argued, but Kili, who was dressed in no-less scratchy clothing, was having none of it.

"I don't like it!" he wailed, squirming in Thorin's arms. "I don't like it! I hate this shirt! It's too scratchy! Nobody else will be scratchy there!"

"Kili, stop that," growled Thorin, trying not to drop his nephew. "We all have to dress in our best for your mother's birthday."

"Where is mama?" Fili asked.

"She's coming later, she's getting ready with friends."

"Getting ready for what?" asked Fili.

"For the party."

"Why she gotta get ready?" asked Fili.

"She's dressing up too."

"Why she gots ta get ready… uh… not at our house?" Kili fumbled with the lacing on Thorin's jerkin, distracted, but still curious.

"Because her friends wanted to make her day special."

Thorin was doing his best to remain patient with his nephews, but privately, was just as uncomfortable as they were. Large crowds didn't bother him; it was the pressure to perform his role as the rightful king that chafed at him - the open stares, the judgement from all sides, and an endless litany of questions: when was he going to take back Erabor? Had he had any sign from Thrain?

And, from the less friendly parties, the always-whispered question of whether he was even fit to rule. He was a king without a kingdom.

But it would not do to dwell on these things, not today. He would smile and be happy today. It was Dis' birthday. He would ignore the stares and rude questions. He would be cheerful for her sake.

"Now, boys, when we get to the party, I need you to be on your best behavior. Your mother is turning a hundred and forty - this is a big occasion. Pretty much all of Ered Luin will be there, and your mother and I won't be able to watch you closely. If I hear you've gotten into any trouble,…"

"We won't uncle!" promised quickly. He'd been in trouble with his uncle enough times to know that he meant business.

"We'll be good!" said Kili. "Really truly extra super good!"

Thorin had to bite back a smile. It wouldn't do to let his nephews think he was getting soft on them, even if he did love them as his own life.

"Well, I'll hold you both to that."

Thorin opened the door to the great hall, and the boys stopped and stared:

A huge banquet table had been set up, laden with an enormous feast, with fancy place settings and candles to boot. Torches gleamed from the walls, and an enormous space had been cleared for dancing. A huge cake sat on a table in one corner.

Kili's eyes grew wide.

"Fili!"

"I see it!"

"Ooooh uncle can we have some cake? Please, please, pleeeease?" they begged, quite forgetting their itchy clothing.

"You may have some after the feast."

"But... but... I'm hungry." Kili looked up at his uncle in his best puppy-eyed expression.

"You wouldn't want us to starve, would you, uncle?" Fili asked innocently. Thorin frowned at him.

"No use, lads," said Dwalin, who was walking by. He was dressed in a fine kilt and dress shirt with a small ceremonial axe strapped to his waist. It was the first time either of the boys had seen him without his knuckle dusters.

"Yer mam gave all of us strict instructions not to give either of ye cake until after dinner, and it's more than me life's worth not to cross Dis."

Kili sighed, and Fili couldn't help looking back at the cake with a slightly forlorn expression.

Dwalin shot Thorin a look. Both dwarrows were fighting to keep a straight face. They'd been partial to cake as children too - Thorin remembered an evening when both of them went home from the 25th anniversary of Thror's coronation with a bellyache that lasted three days.

The crowd was enormous – everyone was dressed in their very best clothes, the men in fine tunics, and the women in elaborate dresses.

Fili spied his school friend, Mali, in a soft pink dress. Her little sister, Joli, was wearing blue. She clutched her sister's hand and watched the activity, wide-eyed.

Fili and Kili walked up to her.

"Hi Mali!" Fili said, relieved that he wouldn't have to spend the evening with boring grown ups.

"Hi Fili!" smiled back. Joli, who had mastered walking by this time, hugged Fili around the middle, as her affectionate nature dictated. She saw Kili and waved a chubby arm at him.

"Kee!" she cried happily, teetering forward and wrapping her arms around Kili's midsection.

"Er, hey, Joli." Kili patted her head awkwardly.

She was still tiny, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder. She beamed up at Kili.

"Happy Bert day!"

Mali giggled.

"Joli, it's not Kili's birthday, you goose! It's lady Dis's birthday."

"We gets cake!" Joli announced, the happy prospect causing her to ignore her sister completely.

"I know," sighed Kili, gazing wistfully at the cake table.

"Mama said we could have cake if we behaved ourselves and ate all our dinner -"

"I am! I'm bein' a have!" Joli protested, feeling that Mali's admonishment was a little unfair. She hadn't run about, or spilled anything, or mussed her dress, or talked too loud, or done any of the things her mum had said not to.

"Mama said there'd be dancing too!" Mali said.

"Wait… dancing?"

Fili looked nervous. He didn't know how to dance! And what if he had to dance with Mali? She was nice enough, but what if people thought he LIKED her? She was just a friend! Why couldn't everybody just play dwarves versus goblins instead?

Mali giggled.

"Don't worry, Fili. It's not hard – Mama and Daddy dance all the time."

Thorin approached the group of children, looking somewhat less brooding than usual. For some reason that neither of his nephews could fathom, he bowed from the waist – first to Mali, then to Joli.

"Good evening," he said formally.

Mali and Joli stared up at him, and the elder sister had the presence of mind to curtsy – or try to, at least; she was still small enough that she wobbled a bit and had to fling her arms out for balance.

"Good evening, Mr. Thorin, - um, I mean, Mr. King Thorin, Sir."

She faltered and stared at the floor, her little round face turning crimson. The rightful King Under the Mountain had bidden her good evening, and had bowed to her!

Little Joli was so surprised that she couldn't do anything but stare.

"I hope you are both well," said Thorin, hoping to put the Mali at ease.

"Yes, sir." Poor Mali was blushing so fiercely that Thorin was afraid she'd faint.

"There's a big cake!" said Joli, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Thorin smiled.

"That sounds delightful! I'll be sure to have the servers save you a piece," he said, winking at Joli.

"AFTER dinner, Kili." He said, fending off the question he knew Kili would ask. His youngest nephew slumped his shoulders and looked a bit glum. Joli patted his arm consolingly. Thorin had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing.

"I'm afraid I have to borrow Fili and Kili a moment ... boys, come say Happy Birthday to your mother."

Both boys turned, and saw a dark haired woman chatting with a few friends. Their jaws dropped when they realized it was Dis – her hair was out of it's customary braid and fell loose on her shoulders, with an intricate set of braids keeping it out of her face. Her gown was of a rich red color.

"Mama!"

Kili ran across the room. Dis turned and saw him, and opened her arms in time for Kili to launch himself into a hug.

"Hello, boys! Oh, you look so nice in your fine clothes."

"Mama, you look different!" said Kili.

"Pretty," Fili said, then ducked his face into this mother's shoulder, suddenly bashful. Dis gave him an affectionate squeeze and kissed the top of his head.

"Yes, she does look quite nice, doesn't she?" Thorin asked, suddenly at Dis' elbow.

He kissed her cheek and pressed his forehead to hers in the traditional dwarven gesture of affection.

"Happy birthday, sister," he said quietly.

"Thank you, Thorin," said Dis, whose cheeks had become slightly pink at the compliments. She stood back to study Thorin in his dress tunic.

"Well, don't you look handsome, you old fool!" she teased. She felt a tug on her sleeve.

"Yes, Fili?" she knelt down so that she was at eye-level with her youngest.

"Mali says we gotta dance," said Fili, shuffling his feet and avoiding eye contact with his mother, cues that he was nervous and embarrassed at being so.

"Fili, you don't have to dance if you don't want to," Dis assured him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Well, that's good."

"Mali and Joli are here," said Dis, " did you get to say hello?"

"Yes, said Kili, pulling her other sleeve, "Joli hugged me! Why she always doin' that?"

"Remember when we learned the word "affectionate", what we said that meant?" Dis asked. Both boys nodded.

"well, I think Joli's way of saying hello is to hug people – here she is!"

Both boys parted and saw Joli scampering towards Dis. She opened her arms for the little dwarfling, who happily returned the hug.

"Happy bert day!" Joli cried.

"Why, thank you, miss Joli!" Dis beamed down at the little dwarfling, then held out her hand and squeezed Mali's.

"Hello, Mali, how are you?"

"Fine, Lady Dis, thank you," said Mali, who dropped another wobbly curtsey. Dis felt a small pang at the gesture – she was very fond of both of the girls, and did not wish to stand on ceremony. Hoping to loosen the tension, she beamed at the children and dropped her voice.

"Have you had any cake yet?" she asked conspiratorially.

"Not yet," said Mali truthfully. "Mama said we can have some if we eat all our dinner."

"Ah, your mother's a smart lady," said Dis, but was cut off when Balin held up his hands and called for quiet.

"Friends, if I could have your attention..." he called, and the room quieted.

"We're gathered here to celebrate the Birthday of Lady Dis, may Mahal bless her!" Clapping and cheering filled the room, no one cheering harder than Dis' brother and sons.

"The feasting will begin shortly, and there will be dancing and songs afterwards!"

More cheering. The entire room took their seats at the long banqueting table, with Dis and Thorin in the middle and the two boys to Thorin's left. Mali and Joli were seated on the opposite side of the table, next to their parents.

All through dinner the dwarflings kept stealing long glances at the cake in the corner. Dis looked over at Kili once while the wild boar was being served, and saw him with his elbows on the table, chin in his hands, staring at the cake and sighing like a love-struck teenager.

"Kili," she muttered, "elbows off the table, please."

"Sorry, mama." Kili whispered, stealing another side-long glance at the cake. .

"Patience, young Kili," said Balin, who was seated on his other side. "You'll get your cake, by and by," the old dwarf winked at him.

After dinner there were stories and songs. The dwarflings didn't know most of them, but Mali hummed along once she'd gotten the tune, and Joli simply swung her little feet to the music.

Soon, to the utter delight of the children, the enormous cake was brought forward, a delight covered in white icing sugar and candied fruits. There were toasts, and everyone said three cheers for Lady Dis, and then the cake was cut.

Dis caught sight of Joli watching her (in her later years, Joli would always remember Dis as a very great beauty), and winked. She took a small scoop of icing on her finger, and mimed smearing it all over Thorin's cheek. There was a smattering of chuckles from those who noticed. Noticing the laughter, he turned to look at her, but Dis was merely licking the icing off of her finger, and shrugged as though she had no idea what was going on.

Thorin only quirked an eyebrow and leaned over, plunging his fork into Dis' slice of cake and scooping out a rather large bite, which he got to his mouth despite his sister's laughing protestations while the table erupted in cheers and laughter.

Mali was staring open mouthed and Joli had clapped her tiny hands over her mouth, her little round face red with suppressed giggles, while their parents laughed heartily. Fili and Kili looked at each other, completely shocked – they'd never seen their uncle joke like this.

Shrugging, they dug into their slices with gusto, as did the other children- Joli managed to get icing sugar all over her mouth, and even proper, polite little Mali abandoned decorum and attacked her piece, which was gone within minutes.

Having been properly plied with food, cake and song, the party stood, scraping their chairs, and servants quickly cleared away the tables and chairs. Soon festive music was playing.

Fili, Kili, Mali, and Joli stood off to one side and watched as Dis and Thorin opened the dancing, performing a stately, slow dance that was more of a pattern of walking than actual dancing.

soon the music picked up and the other dwarves joined in, whirling each other about in a square dance.

Since the dwarflings were too small to join in, they did dances of their own - all four skipped in a circle, playing ring-about-the-rosebush; Kili and Joli joined hands and jumped up and down in a circle while Fili and Mali looked up at the ornate ceiling, twirling on the spot with their arms outstretched until they either lost their balance or crashed into each other and fell to the floor, breathless with giggles.

Soon the girl's father, Joul, came and scooped up both of his daughters and carried them over to dance with their mother; Joul, Ane, and a girl on each arm, the very picture of a happy, innocent family.

Dis watched them, then turned to smile at Thorin.

"What's that look for?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing," said Dis airily.

"Don't lie, sister. You're terrible at it," Thorin teased her, executing a complicated dance step with surprising skill.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

"That Mali might do very well for Fili," said Dis thoughtfully.

Thorin threw back his head and laughed.

"What, matchmaking already! Come on, Dis, neither of them are out of the schoolroom!"

" What? It's a simple observation! She's a sweet girl, and she and Fili get along well. I"ve always said the boys could choose whoever they wanted to marry, never mind if she's royal or not -"

"Dis..." Thorin interrupted. "You're not planning anything, are you?"

Dis held up her hands in mock defense.

"Of course not! All I'm saying is that if, perhaps, Fili one day falls in love with her, you wouldn't hear any shouting about it from me." Dis smirked. Thorin merely rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Fili and Kili had managed to sneak over to the cake table and steal a few large pieces while the cook's back was turned, and stole over to a secluded corner where they enjoyed the fruits of their clandestine mission. They watched Dis dancing with Thorin.

"Mama looks nice," said Fili absentmindedly.

"Hmhmm." Kili nodded, his mouth and chin covered with icing sugar, cheeks bulging with candied fruit. He gulped down his mouthful and looked at his brother.

"Fee?"

"Hmm?"

"Did ahmad and da dance?" he took another enormous bite of cake.

Fili shrugged.

Kili thought a minute.

"I'm glad Uncle Thorin is here," he said, swallowing a candied orange.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Cos otherwise ahmad wouldn't have anyone to dance with. And then she'd be sad. People shouldn't be sad on birthdays."

Fili could not but agree.

Hello everybody! Thanks for reading my story!

Thanks also for all your feedback regarding the new fic I'm planning! I am hoping to upload the first chapter of my new story soon - ya know, the post BOFA AU with Mali and Joli. It'll be funny and fluffy, but still have enough serious bits to have some substance. I'm still working on a title for it - I'm HORRID at thinking up titles - so if you have any suggestions feel free to hit up my inbox or suggest one in a review!