I was writing a different story when this story jumped out and wouldn't leave me alone. Sorry if it is a bit choppy and rambling.

This happens before Make Us Strong. Fíli and Kíli are quite young. Kíli is about 2.5 human years, Fíli is about 5 or 6 human years.

Disclaimer: I don't own Middle Earth nor it's characters.

Thorin scrubbed his eyes tiredly. He and Balin had been at a meeting with various local leaders. There had been a dispute between Dwarfs and farmers about several parcels of land and the meeting was supposed to settle any debates. However by the time all was said and done, the meeting had resulted in five separate duels and the Dwarfs losing rights to the land. The whole meeting had gone on for hours after it was supposed to and he had been forced to wait until first light to travel home. He entered the house as silently as possible, trying not to wake Fíli and Kíli. Dís was out of town visiting an old friend and had left Thorin in charge of the boys. While Thorin loved his nephews, he couldn't wait until his sister got home the next day; they were a handful. He didn't know how his sister handled them.

Thorin's internal monologue was interrupted when the door slammed shut behind him with a loud BANG. He winced as the sound echoed around the house. No pitter patter of small feet followed, so Thorin assumed that his nephews were still asleep. His shoulders slumped in relief; he was looking forward for just a few minutes without someone demanding his attention. However, just to be sure though that neither of the boys were up to any mischief, Thorin crepted down the hall to check on them. Fíli lay sound asleep in his bed and Kíli lay... Thorin looked again, but Kíli was not in his bed nor anywhere in the room. Pushing down frustration, Thorin checked the whole house, but the dwarfling was nowhere to be found. It wasn't unlikely that Kíli was simply lying in wait somewhere, ready to spring out when you were least suspecting it. However, after checking Kíli's usual hiding spots and offering candy bribes, Thorin came to the conclusion that Kíli was not in the house. With a long-suffering sigh, Thorin left the house to search for Kíli outside.

Dwalin was making his way to the forges when something ran smack into him and clung to his leg. Dwalin had never been a morning person. If someone, or something, was unfortunate enough to get in his way... well, they usually ended up worse for the wear. Dwalin shook his leg in an effort to detach the thing, but the parasite clung to him and refused to be parted from his leg. Growling, he reached down and de-tangled his leg from the thing. With a jerk, he hoisted it up into the growing light and was surprised to find 'it' was Thorin's youngest nephew. Kíli was dressed in his night clothes with tousled hair. Before Dwalin got a chance to ask what Kíli was doing at this hour of the morning all the way on the other side of town, the dwarfling wailed and buried his head in Dawlin's beard. Dwalin was very confused and concerned. Dís, he knew, was out of town and Thorin was watching the boys for her. Thorin took his job as nursemaid way too seriously when Dís was gone; he almost always kept both boys in his line of sight while his sister was away.

For Kíli to be wandering around at dawn with no supervision would mean... oh Mahal, no. The house must have been attacked. Thorin would die before letting his nephews come to harm. This would mean that Thorin was most likely dead and Fíli kidnapped or dead as well. He wondered if Kíli had witnessed the violence or if he had been spared the grisly sight. Then it hit Dwalin; he would have to inform Dís. Dwalin quickly tore himself away from that thought. He looked down at the small dwarfling crying into his beard.

"Kíli, what happened?" He asked fearing the worst. Kíli pulled away from Dwalin's beard to look the large dwarf in his face.
"Fee's sick and I can't find Unca. Unca Thowin said if I can't find him, ta find you. You have ta make Fee better. Please, Mis'er Dwawin, you have ta help. I don't want Fee ta die!" Kíli wailed. Dwalin's first thought was relief; he was spared from burying yet another friend. However, his next thought came just as quickly: Fíli must be deathly ill for Kíli to be this upset. Dwalin's heart lurched again. They wouldn't be burying Fíli, not if he could help it. Hugging Kíli's tiny body to his chest, Dwalin took off running.

Thorin was not in the house, but that came as no surprise to Dwalin. It was dawn, so he was most likely already at the forges. Dwalin set Kíli down and the dwarfling tugged him into one of the back rooms. Fíli lay on his bed, tangled in the blankets. Besides the fact that he was a bit flushed, Fíli didn't look particularly sick, but Dwalin could hear his breath rattling in his lungs. The large dwarf leaned forward and felt Fíli's forehead. Dwalin gave a sigh of relief. A slight fever and some lung congestion, nothing to worry about. Dwalin turned to tell Kíli this when Fíli weakly coughed, spitting a small amount of blood onto the pillow. Dwalin froze. Years on the battlefield had taught him exactly what coughing up blood meant: the lungs were compromised and the afflicted was well on his way to a slow and painful death. Reaching forwards, Dwalin lightly ran his hands down Fíli's ribs, but found nothing of concern. Taking a deep breath, Dwalin gently lifted Fíli in his arms, praying that Fíli would stay asleep until they arrived at Oin's. Unfortunately, Fíli felt the motion and woke up. He blinked blearily at Dwalin, not quite sure why his Uncle's best friend was carrying him away from his warm bed.

"M's'r Dwa'n," Fíli croaked, confusion written all over his face, "Don't feel so good."

Fíli made a strangled noise at the back of his throat seconds before he vomited down the front of Dwalin's shirt. Dwalin let out a string of very descriptive cuss words.

"Mama don'ted like those words," Kíli informed him around the thumb he was sucking. Dwalin groaned. Mahal save him, this was going to be a long day.

Oin groaned and got out of bed as the banging on his door continued.

"Coming!" he shouted, though it was unlikely that his guest heard through the thick oak door. As he made his way to the door, he mentally prepared himself for whoever it was. For someone to be here at dawn meant bad news. An Orc raid during the night perhaps, or maybe a tunnel in the mine had collapsed. Of all his possible scenarios, a worried, vomit covered Dwalin carrying a flushed Fíli with a distraught Kíli in tow was not one he had thought of.

"He's coughing up blood and vomiting," Dwalin said gruffly, shifting from one foot to the other, "Can you help?"

"Yes, yes, bring him in and I'll check him out," the healer said, brushing away his surprise and quickly ushering them inside.

Thorin had run into Bofur and Gloin. They had searched the whole town as well as the neighboring fields and orchards, but Kíli was not to be found. After hours of fruitless searching, Thorin was forced to call off the search. Both of the other dwarfs promised to keep an eye out for Thorin's wayward nephew. Thorin headed back to the house, hoping that Kíli was simply waiting for him there. It was noon. True to dwarf form, Kíli and food were inseparable. However, as far as he could tell when he arrived back at the house, it was empty. The house was empty. A thought suddenly sprang up. He raced to the back of the house to check the boy's bedroom again and felt his heart drop. There was no sign of his blond nephew either; Fíli's bed was empty and unmade. Thorin pinched the bridge of his nose. Both boys were missing. Dís was going to kill him...

"Is Fee going ta die?" Kíli asked with worry after they had been sitting for a little over an hour. Oin had relieved Dwalin of his sick charge and whisked Fíli to one of the back rooms. Before he had gone, he had pointed Dwalin to the bucket of water in the corner and told him to wash up. He then left them with the command to wait there, so wait they did.

"I don't know little one, I don't know," Dwalin confessed. Dwalin was actually surprised that Kíli had remained seated for the whole time thus far. The dwarfling was a ball of energy on a good day. Dwalin had a feeling that all of the pent up energy was about break loose and wreck havoc. Dwalin noticed that he was practically vibrating. He was going to have to find something to do with the dwarfling before he wrecked the place. He realized rather belatedly that he didn't know any games for children, so he did the next best thing in his opinion: he led Kíli through various practice drills he'd learned as a lad. They were active and provided the perfect distraction for both of them.

A few hours of the drill left them both panting and sweaty. Dwalin sat down in one of the chairs with a plop. Kíli crawled up into his lap and snuggled rather tiredly into Dwalin's chest. Dwalin stiffened slightly, not quite sure what was expected of him. They sat like that for quite some time.

"Mis'er Dwawin?" Kíli's tiny voiced pipped up. Dwalin hummed a response.

"Why does you have drawn-ings on your hands?" Kíli asked, tracing the tattoos on Dwalin's hands.

"Their tattoos," Dwalin corrected.

"Whas a tattoos?"

"They.. um, they're like drawings, but they're permanent and they mean something."

"Whas per-ma-ment?"

"It means forever."

"Like how Mama say she gonna keeps me forever even if 'm naughty?"

"Exactly, Kíli. Just like that."

Oin checked Fíli over before coming to a prognosis. Fíli had dragon throat, a mostly harmless virus similar to the flu. The blood that had been coughed up had come from his throat which was raw and swollen and not from his lungs as the healer had first feared. Technically, there was nothing that a little bed rest couldn't cure. However, he continued to vomit, so Oin thought it was best to keep him for the time being. Mahal forbid he let Dwalin take care of a sick dwarfling. By mid afternoon, Fíli had stopped vomiting, so Oin felt now qualms in leaving him to rest while he sorted through his herbs. Oin found herbs sorting to be quite soothing. It was the mindless business of sifting through bundles of... Oin dropped the herbs as a thought struck him. He had forgotten to tell Dwalin what was wrong with Fíli. With a quiet curse, Oin hurried out to the front room.

Dwalin still had not adjusted to his new role as nursemaid. He sat ramrod straight while a tired Kíli snuggled in his lap, the fingers of one hand stuck in his mouth, the fingers of the other tangled in Dwalin's beard. Dwalin was watching the world through the lone window in the room. Every time Kíli shifted, Dwalin's gaze snapped down to lap as though to verify that the youngest prince was still there. Oin almost laughed at the sight. Almost, mind you, because it never did to laugh at a seasoned warrior. Oin gave a small cough. Dwalin whipped around to look at the healer.

"How is he? Will he be alright? Please tell me he's going to make it!" There was fear in Dawlin's face that Oin had never seen before.

"He'll be fine. He's a young, healthy lad. A few days of bed rest and he'll be right as rain. Tell Thorin, he's got nothing to worry about," Oin told him.

"Aye, I…" Dwalin trailed off as his eyes grew large. He had never told Thorin about the boys. He gave a mental shrug. Thorin was probably at the forges all day, so it was unlikely that he even noticed that Fíli and Kíli were gone.

Thorin was beginning to feel desperate. Dís would be home any moment and he was no closer to finding either of the boys. No one in the town had seen neither hide nor hair of the young princes. Thorin knew that it was not uncommon for his nephews to disappear for the day and suddenly show up for meals. However, when they appeared at neither breakfast nor lunch, Thorin's minds started running over worst case scenarios. He continued searching, but routinely checked back at the house, in case they wondered back while he was out. Throin was doing one of these checks, when he heard someone enter after him. He listened for a moment. The tread was far too heavy to be either Fíli or Kíli. Thorin was immediately on alert. He slowly pulled out one of his daggers and crept towards the intruder. He charged into the room only to discover it was Dwalin carrying a sleeping Kíli.

"You found him!"

"Aye, wait... you thought he was missing?"

"Well, if he hasn't been missing, then where has he been all day?"

"With me," Dwalin responded with a shrug.

"And I don't suppose you know where his brother is, do you?" Throin growled. Dwalin realized he was walking on thin ice.

"Yes?"

"Where. Is. He. Now."

"Oin's."

"Explain." Thorin was torn between overwhelming relief and outright anger.

"Well, it was like this: Kíli discovered that his brother was sick early this morning. He couldn't find you, so he panicked and ran into me. I brought him back and checked on Fíli. He was pretty sick. You weren't around, so I took him Oin. He says Fíli's going to be fine, Oin just wants him to stay overnight," Dwalin explained sheepishly, handing over the sleeping dwarfling to his waiting uncle. Kíli woke up with a mumbled curse. Thorin stared at him in shock while Dwalin grew red from embarrassment.

"Kíli!" they exclaimed in unison. The dwarfling cocked his head before repeating the curse much louder. Thorin clamped a hand over Kíli's mouth.

"Kíli, I know Dwalin likes those words, but you never speak them here, especially if your mother is about. Understood?" Kíli gave a small nod and Thorin removed his hand. He then turned to Dwalin.

"I suppose I should thank you for taking care of the boys, but I am rather disinclined to after that."

"I don't blame you. How about this, as long as I never have to single handedly watch Kíli again, I say we're even," Dwalin stuck out his hand. Thorin shook it and Dwalin went on his way. Thorin offered a prayer of thanks that he knew where both boys were, and not a moment too soon. Dís let herself in the front door, just minutes later, none the wiser to events of the day. She looked curiously at Thorin and Kíli standing awkwardly in the hall before looking around for her oldest. Before she could panic, Thorin explained to Dís about where Fíli was. She agreed that it was probably best that he was with Oin and not Thorin.

"After all, brother, you hardly know what to do with the boys when they're well," she said with a tired little giggle.

"And what about you Kíli. Did you enjoy your time with your Uncle Thorin, my little raven?" Dís cooed, scooping her son out of Thorin's arms. Kíli gave her a huge smile.

"Yea. I gots to learns lots of words tha Unca Thowin say I can't tell you an' I wan' lots of tattoos like Mis'er Dwawin!" Kíli happily exclaimed to Thorin's horror. Dís just stared at her son. Thorin used the opportunity to slip out of the room.

"Thorin, you get back here this moment and explain!" Dís screeched. Thorin winced and walked a little faster. Maybe Dwalin would be up for some company tonight.