Gaia was one of the first ones to get into the cave. She just experienced the scariest thing in her life. She was lucky enough not to be on the part of Anders, but she was scared as hell. She was unnoticeable the entire time, trying not to get any attention. And she succeeded. Nobody looked at her, only Ori, who had to make sure she was alright, that she was still with them. He was the one that helped her through the storm. And she was very grateful for that.
Once she spotted Ori, she went over to him. 'Ori, right?' She asked and Ori nodded. 'Thanks. Thanks for helping me out of this horrible weather.' She gave him a kiss on his cheek and smiled at him. Ori started blushing and his brother Dori and Nori, who watched, started grinning. 'Look at our little Ori, finally getting himself a proper woman.' Dori grinned and ruffled his little brother's hair. Gaia laughed and walked away from him. Ori lay his hand on his cheek and started smiling like an idiot.
Thorin was the last one to enter the cave. He had Kili and Anders safely tucked under his arms and checked if everyone was there. 'Stay together, alright? Or close to another dwarf, but don't stand here all alone.' Thorin told the two before rushing off to arrange some stuff. Anders gave Kili a hug before sitting down. 'Fili, are you alright? Your face is as white as a sheet.' Kili stated a bit worried, looking at his brother, waiting for respond. 'I, I'm alright. I think. This was the worst thing I've ever experienced. I thought I was going to die.' Anders said, looking down in shame. 'Oh Fili. It's alright. You've been away so long. You're not used to it all.' Kili wrapped his arms around his big brother. 'You don't actually mean you've been through this all?' Anders asked worried.
Kili looked down: 'I have faced trouble, but never something like this. Mother won't be happy with uncle now.' 'Mother. Kili, our mother doesn't know I'm back.' Anders suddenly remembered. 'Don't worry about that, Fili. We will get back home. And once we get back home, mother will be very glad to see you back.' Kili said. 'I don't even know what she looks like, Kili.' Anders said, feeling guilty. 'Mother is the most beautiful woman you will ever meet. She is strong, brave and very caring.' 'Do you think she will like me?' Anders asked worried. Kili smiled: 'She loves you, Fili. Even when you weren't there. She has her times where she starts crying because she misses you. You don't need to worry about that, brother. She will adore you. I can promise you that.' Anders smiled: 'Mother has done a great job on raising you.' Kili smiled with pride: 'And she would have done the same with you.' Anders looked outside. The thunder got heavier and rain was still pouring down. He sighed.
'When are going home, Mike? I don't like this anymore.' Axl whined. They had been sat down in corner of the cave. 'Axl, if I knew, I would tell you.' Mike snapped. 'I can't believe this is the life Anders chooses for. Constantly on the road can't be fun.' Zeb said. 'I don't think they are constantly on the road, Olaf. They still have a home. At least, I hope.' Ty said. 'But this can't be life. It's horrible. And constant danger.' Stacey said, getting a bit fed up with the weather. Nobody responded to that statement. They were all just hoping they would get home soon.
'Uncle, when can we continue our trip?' Anders asked, sitting next to the sleeping Kili. Thorin looked outside: 'Soon. The weather should calm down soon.' Anders sighed and looked down. Thorin looked at his nephew and sat down next to him: 'My kin, is something wrong?' That grabbed the attention of the gang, who didn't sit too far away from the duo. They looked at the two and listened as the two spoke.
Anders' gaze didn't move and he said: 'I'm sorry, uncle. For everything. I am so sorry.' Thorin sighed: 'Oh Fili.' He wrapped his arms around Anders and said: 'Why do you feel guilty?' 'Because I wasn't here. You didn't get the chance to watch me grow up, I was ripped out of your life. And then all of a sudden, I'm back again. Like nothing has happened. I ruined your life.' 'You did not. Fili, I was so relieved and shocked when I saw your face again. I feel guilty. I feel guilty for not being there for you. I should have prevented it from happening to you. I feel extremely gutted that I wasn't there on your journey to become an adult. I didn't have the chance to watch your first steps, to hear your first words. And Kili. Poor Kili didn't get the chance to grow up with his brother.' 'That's what makes me feel guilty, uncle. I wasn't there for him. And for the majority of my life, I didn't know about both of you.' Anders' eyes filled with sadness and Thorin pulled him into a big bear hug.
It was the middle of the night and all the dwarfs were sleeping, except for Kili and Thorin. Thorin had second watch and Kili simply couldn't sleep. The gang also didn't sleep. They couldn't, not in the cave, tied up and wet.
Thorin stared into the night and watched as the stars sparkled in the darkness of the cold night. One star was sparkling more than the others. Durin was watching over them. It was full moon and Thorin remembered how all the older dwarfs told Kili stories about werewolves and proper scared him. Thorin grinned when he remembered how he got angry at them, for scaring the little Kili. 'Dis.' Thorin got ripped out of his thoughts and he snapped his head around, hearing that name. 'Who said that?' he asked. 'M-Me.' Thorin looked at their prisoners and got up. 'What did you just say?' he asked, getting closer to them. 'Dis.' Mike said again. 'That was Anders his first word. Dis.' Thorin's eyes widened in shock and for a moment he froze. Kili got up and walked over to his uncle: 'Uncle, what is it?' 'Dis..' was all Thorin said. Kili looked at him: 'What? Is something wrong with mother?' he asked a bit worried. Thorin turned to Kili: 'Dis… Anders knew. Anders knew his mother's name..' 'We, we never knew what he meant by that.' Mike said soft. 'Dis… Dis is the name of his mother…' Thorin whispered.
'Uncle, what on earth is the matter?' Kili asked, wanting to know what was going on. Thorin sat down and looked up at Kili: 'Kili, all this time.. All this time, your brother wasn't completely lost. His first word, it was Dis.' Kili's eyes widened in shock: 'Really?! Uncle, did he really say that?! That's great news! He did remember something! Deep down, he knew!' he exclaimed excited. 'Keep it down, Kili. Your brother and the others are sleeping and do not want to wake them up.' Thorin warned Kili. 'Sorry.' Kili apologized and sat down next to his uncle.
'His first steps were wobbly. He couldn't keep himself steady. He kept on falling over. It got so bad that we actually had to help him with his first steps.' Mike continued. Kili grinned a little, picturing a little Fili falling over while trying to walk. 'Why are you telling us this?' Thorin asked, turning serious. Mike sighed: 'We, we want you to know. You need to know what happened in Anders' life. You need to know these kind of things. We accept that Anders' wants to stay here, so I might as well tell you some stories of his life.' 'You are still willing to do that?' 'You deserve to know. You take much better care of him.' Mike said in a low voice. 'What else do we need to know?' 'When Anders just got his god powers, he got stuck in a tree, trying to use his Bragi god powers on a bird.' Ty said, making Kili laugh. Thorin smiled at Kili, happy to see Kili smiling.
'When he was six, he broke his tooth while playing football.' Axl said, still with trembling voice. 'That tooth is alright now, I hope?' Thorin asked. Mike looked down: 'We never fixed it. We, we told him to man up and get over it.' 'He was six! How can you tell such a young boy to man up!' Thorin snapped angry. 'I told you, you take much better care of him.' 'I, I a-actually have some pictures of young Anders. If you like to see them.' Olaf spoke up. 'How can you still have pictures of him?' Axl asked a bit surprised. 'I'm an oracle, I might need them sometimes. Anyhow, I can show you if you want?' Kili looked at Thorin, who sighed: 'Where are they?' 'On my phone.' Olaf sighed. 'On your what?' Thorin asked. Kili thought about it for a minute: 'A phone. Is that the same thing as a cell phone? Anders explained to me what a cell phone is, uncle. But you can only talk through it to people who are miles away.' 'You can also save pictures on them.' Olaf said. 'Where is your, phone?' Thorin asked, still not sure about it. 'In, my pocket.' Olaf sighed a bit frustrated. Thorin got up and got the phone himself. Kili immediately came closer.
'How does this thing work?' Thorin asked. 'Press that big button.' Olaf said. Kili pressed it and the phone went on. The two backed away in surprise when the light got into their faces but got close again. 'Do you see that flower?' Olaf asked. 'Click on it.' 'Just, click on it?' Kili asked confused. Olaf nodded. Kili did as he was told and a few folders appeared.
'Which one contains pictures of Fili?' Thorin asked. 'It's called 'Anders'.' Olaf said. 'Where?! What is this for foolish language?' Thorin tried to figure out which one said Anders. Olaf looked at the two confused dwarfs: 'It's the upper left one.' 'This one?' Kili convinced his uncle to show it to him and Olaf nodded.
Thorin clicked on it and hundreds of pictures of young Anders appeared. Thorin clicked on a random one. He got a bit teary eyes, looking at a little version of Anders. Kili peaked over Thorin's shoulder and giggled a bit. 'Fili looks so little.' 'He's got already long hair.' Thorin whispered. Kili knew that the hair was important to dwarfs. It was their pride. The hair was a clear sign Anders belonged to the dwarfs. 'He was seven years old in that picture.' Mike spoke up. Thorin looked up for a second and focused back on the picture. That was his Fili. He hated it that he wasn't there for him at that age.
He scrolled further. 'What's this?' Kili asked, looking at the picture. It was a younger version of Anders. 'That's at our home. It was a hot summer day and Anders refused to leave the house. While I took that picture, Anders was giving a rant about how he was going to stay inside. He was just two years old.' Mike said. Thorin sighed: 'He already had the tempter of a dwarf then.' Kili looked at his uncle and felt his pain. He felt just as guilty as his uncle. He wished Anders had grown up next to him. He didn't like it that he had to watch Anders' life through pictures. Thorin suddenly stopped.
'What, is this?' Thorin asked. Olaf sighed: 'That was the first time Anders refused to cut his hair. He felt like he had to let it grow.' 'A real dwarf never cuts of his hair.' Thorin beamed a little with pride. In the picture Anders was a teenager. He had long, curly hair and a feisty look on his face, ready to face the world.
Thorin looked up at them and saw their faces. He felt anger rise in his chest again: 'You made him cut of his hair, didn't you?' 'We had no idea!' Axl whimpered. 'Uncle, please.' Kili begged and Thorin just sniffed in anger. He looked at the last picture, the most recent picture of Anders Johnson, who was now Fili, sister-son of Thorin. 'Uncle, his hair.' Kili gasped a little. Thorin looked in a bit of shock at the picture. The long hair was gone and was replaced with a short haircut. Thorin sighed and stood up. He put the phone back in Olaf's pocket: 'I say thank you for this. Now, sleep. It's late and tomorrow we leave early.' 'Without protesting, the gang went to sleep. Kili looked at his uncle. It was a lot to take it, it was the same for him. He saw his brother's life, flashing in front of his eyes. It was weird. 'Kili, go to sleep. You need rest.' Thorin said and Kili walked back to his brother. Thorin sighed and looked up at the stars. He looked down again and let out a deep sigh. He sat down against a rock and tried to go to sleep.