I'm back! Thank you for the feedback for the last chapter, it is much appreciated :D Thank you in particular to my two guest reviewers, since I can't reply to you in person! I'm sorry this has had a little wait, but I did warn you :P Now that I have my timetable I think that one update a week will probably be the most feasible thing I can promise you, but where possible I will update more often. This chapter has been set back by actual sickness and homesickness but hey, we're here now!

I've read out bits of it on my awesome flatmate who loved it, so I think you guys will quite enjoy this chapter!

Sorry about any mistakes!

Read. Enjoy. Review.

Chapter Sixty Eight # How To Save a Life #

"Merry… Merry… Merry is all gone yet? Will Mama be back soon? Merry, I want my Mama!"

Meriadoc Brandybuck swallowed hard and looked down at his little cousin. Pippin's green eyes were staring up at him wistfully, as though the littler boy believed that Merry had all the answers he was waiting for.

Merry did not have any answers. Not a single one.

"Merry, I want Mama!"

Forcing a smile onto his face, Merry pulled Pippin into his lap and wound his arms around him. "She'll be back soon, Pip. Don't worry."

Beside him, Pearl turned her head and swallowed, her eyes meeting Merry's even as she rubbed Pervinca's back comfortingly. It was like Merry could see his own fear reflecting back at him from Pearl's eyes. They were both old enough to know that their parents might not come home.

There was a battle going on. And people died in battles.

His mind began to replay the horrible scene of Dagr beating his father to the floor mere nights ago and Merry shuddered, burying his nose in Pippin's hair.

"Merry, what's going on?" Pippin pleaded, trying to squirm around. "Let's go and find Mama, please!"

"We can't!" Merry replied firmly, keeping his arms locked around his troublesome cousin. "It's not time yet."

"Why not?" the toddler's lip began to tremble. "Merry, I want my Mama!"

"We can't go outside yet, Pippin." Frodo said quietly, speaking for the first time since the adults had left them in the Old Mill House. The older boy's eyes were red and puffy and he looked like he was experiencing an awful cold, but though his voice was hoarse it was clear enough. "It's not safe."

"But why?"

"Don't ask any more questions, Pip." Merry murmured, trying not to allow his voice to waver. Strong – Merry had to be strong, like Kíli and Fíli and Bilbo – he had to be strong for the little ones.

There were some adults in the Old Mill with them, but they were mainly the old and the timid, since most everyone else had decided to take part in whatever hellish nightmare was going on outside. No one seemed to know what to do, not even old Odo Proudfoot. The elderly hobbit had been argued out of participating outside, though he held his walking stick in the manner of a sword.

"They won't reach us here," he had said at the beginning. "This is just in case."

Sometimes they could hear the screaming.

Across the room, Minto began to cry. At first it was only splutters, but soon the baby was wailing uncontrollably in the arms of his fretful mother. The noise was loud and piercing and Pippin whimpered, shuffling further into Merry's lap.

"I don't like it Merry. I want to go home, please let's go home!" the toddler begged tearfully. "I don't like it."

"I don't either," Merry promised, shushing Pippin by rocking him back and forward a little. "But we've got to stay here and be strong, like the good dwarves and Uncle Bilbo!"

With a deep, shuddering sigh, Pippin put his thumb in his mouth, but while Merry recognised the babe's attempt to stop himself from crying, he also knew that Pippin was failing miserably.

Merry did not have the words to comfort his little cousin, so instead he just rocked him back and forth and hugged him as tight as he dared. He pretended not to notice the treacherous tears escaping his own eyes.

Sniffling, Merry looked to his elder cousins. Surely Pearl or Frodo would know how to cheer Pippin up, surely one of them would know what to do.

Both Pearl and Frodo looked as lost as Merry was.

A lump grew in his throat and Merry knew that he could not ask the older ones for help.

It started as a little hiccup, but before Merry knew it his hiccup had transformed into a sob, and he began to breathe quickly to try and stop the oncoming tide of tears. He dropped his face into Pippin's hair to try and muffle the sound of his sobs as they broke free nosily.

Out of nowhere, an arm wrapped its way around his shoulders, and he felt someone gently pull him into a gentle embrace.

"Don't cry, Merry," Frodo whispered into his ear. "It's going to be alright. Kíli won't let anything happen to your Mama or Papa, or to Uncle Paladin and Auntie Ellie. Neither will the other dwarves. They won't let the baddies take anyone else away."

"But what if they can't?" Merry could not help his little wail. "F-Fíli and Bilbo got r-really hurt in a battle when the mountain was gotten back, they didn't tell us but I h-heard them talk about it! What if they can't stop it and-"

Frodo made a low humming sound, and his voice took on the tone it always did when he was quoting someone. "'If's a funny word… It can cause both great terror and great hope, but often it's safer not to use it in times of despair."

Raising his head, Merry sniffed, wiped his nose and narrowed his eyes. "Who told you that?"

"Auntie Dís did." Frodo explained, shuffling slightly so that Merry could lean on him comfortably. "And she's right about everything!"

"She is right about most things, I suppose…" Merry allowed, unable to think of a time when Kíli's mother had been wrong.

"It will all be over soon, I'm sure it will be…" Frodo murmured comfortingly, reaching across with his other arm and ruffling Pippin's hair.

CRASH!

A couple of hobbits, Pippin included, screamed at the sudden noise, but Merry clamped a hand over his cousin's mouth even as he glanced fearfully at Frodo.

At the door, Odo stood up and put a finger to his lips, holding his stick tightly in his hands. A few of the other adults stood too, each holding some sort of makeshift weapon as the sound of splintering wood and fearful yells broke through the air.

"This way, this way!"

"Where're we going?"

"Out of here! Close the door behind you, quick!"

Merry stood up, balancing Pippin on his hip as well as he could. Beside him, Frodo rose as well, along with Pearl, Nelly and Pervinca.

In fact everyone was standing now.

All of a sudden four huge men burst through the door holding torches and swords and Merry was too busy screaming himself to try and hush his terrified cousin.

"Merry! Merry! Merry!"

Chaos burst into room as the men began to shout furiously and the terrified children desperately tried to escape. The adults were doing a good job of holding the ruffians off, and Merry would have noticed had he not been so scared.

The wood behind his head exploded and he screamed, stumbling away from it as an axe tore through the wall. One of the ruffians broke into the centre of the room and Merry stepped back again before freezing in terror. Pippin's arms tightened around his neck even as Merry's arms tightened around Pippin and they stood as still as a statue, screaming bloody murder.

A fist tightened around Merry's shirt collar and dragged him clean off the floor, Pippin and all. He shrieked as the floor fell so far away and held onto Pippin tightly, but then something cold and nasty and sharp was pressed against his throat and he automatically fell silent.

"If anyone moves," a voice boomed out, "I'll cut his bloody throat out!"

It's a knife… Merry realised in horrified wonder. There's someone holding a knife to my neck.

He whimpered as the room fell silent, his wide eyes taking in the horrified expressions of everyone else.

"See, Amos, we might get out of here after all!" the booming voice jeered. "We've got ourselves some nice little hostages!"

Merry's breath caught in his throat and he did not know what to do, but all of a sudden the man holding him yelped in pain and dropped Merry to the floor. Without a second thought the boy darted forward out of reach, his eyes widening as Nelly raced towards him, blood all over her little hands.

"Run!" she yelled fearfully as the man launched himself towards her. "Run, run, run!"

The room burst into motion at her words, with Odo smacking his walking stick into the nearest ruffian's crotch, allowing a point of escape for the frightened hobbits.

"Go!" he roared. "Plan B!"

Retreat to the inn and raise the alarm. Merry recalled automatically and began to run towards the others, before turning.

"Run, Nelly!" he screamed as she ducked in between the horrid man's legs.

Her fear filled eyes met his and he swallowed. Pearl was lingering by the door with her hand wrapped around Pervinca's and they were missing their opportunity to go but Nelly, Nelly, Nelly!

The ruffians by the door finally managed to throw their hobbit attackers away and Pearl dragged her sister out of harm's way as the door was slammed.

"Well," a ruffian by the door panted, looking at those who remained. "I suppose eight is better than none."

Merry swallowed and backed away towards Pearl, though his eyes remained on the frantic Nelly. Frodo leapt out of nowhere and shoved something into her attacker's thigh, eliciting a howl of pain from the man. Grabbing Nelly's hand, Frodo lurched forward and sprinted the short distance to the others.

"It's about to be six, Amos…" the man growled, pulling a small knife out of his leg and throwing it to the floor.

"If you're going to kill anyone," Odo Proudfoot wheezed from the floor. "Let the children be…"

"They're not children, they're little devils!" the ruffian growled.

Merry's eyes flickered to the corner where Odo lay. Hilda Brandybuck lay a few feet away from the old mayor, clutching her stomach as if she were in a lot of pain, but it looked like all the other adults had gotten out.

As he watched, the meek, friendly niece of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins coughed up blood and spoke in a weak, trembling voice. "You leave those ch-children be! Y-you're the d-devil!"

Without even acknowledging her, the large man began to stalk towards Merry and his cousins. The young hobbit swallowed and then grabbed a hold of Nelly's sleeve, pulling her behind him, before doing the same to Frodo. If it was those two the man wanted, he would have to go through Merry first. Pearl stood by Merry's side instantly, and even little Pervinca clenched her hands into fists at her oldest sister's side.

But it will only take him seconds to kill you, Merry's treacherous mind reminded him. It will only take him a moment to knock you out of the way and then he'll kill Frodo and Nelly.

You're all going to die…

Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts, Merry clutched Pippin tighter to his chest and whispered into his baby cousin's ear. "Shut your eyes, Pip. Everything's going to be alright, just shut your eyes."

Pippin whimpered and tightened his arms around Merry's neck uncomfortably. "I've shut them, Merry!"

"Good boy…" Merry murmured, shivering as the man came closer.

"You stay away from my family!" Pearl yelled in a quavering voice, stepping in front of even Merry as she spied something that her younger cousin could not see. In that moment, she reminded Merry of his mother. "You stay away!"

"Aw, look," Amos crooned. "The little lady has a temper."

"Not just a temper!" Pearl snarled uncharacteristically, before flinging a handful of something up into the man's face.

Instantly the hulking ruffian doubled over and howled in agony.

"This way!" Pearl shrieked, shoving Merry to the side roughly, before overtaking him and dragging him towards the nearest wall.

Before he knew what was happening, a plank of wood tore away to reveal a little passageway, one that even an adult hobbit would have difficulty getting through. To his amazement, there was already someone in their – a familiar child who beckoned them towards him. Without hesitation, Pearl grabbed her little sisters' arms and all but tossed them into the tunnel, pushing Frodo after them before darting in herself. Merry paused and looked back, his eyes falling upon Odo and Hilda.

"Go!" the old hobbit ordered as the man lunged towards them with a murderous roar.

For a moment longer, Merry hesitated, his eyes on the wounded adults in the corner. It was so wrong just leaving them there with these villains, so wrong, so wrong, so wrong and Kíli would never leave them, Kíli would fight and -

"Merry!" Pippin sobbed in fear.

Pippin. He had to look after Pippin.

With a surge of guilt that threated to overwhelm him, Merry turned and ran. The fingers of his attacker grazed his back but he was too fast, and the man could not quite grab a hold of him, to his great relief. He sprinted through the tunnel, quickly catching up with Pearl.

"Where're we going!" he gasped through heavy breaths.

"Out of here!" Pearl replied breathlessly. "Omph!"

Merry crashed into his cousin's back and Pippin let out a little scream.

"Why've we stopped?"

"Just a second!" Samwise Gamgee called from the front of the group. Where had he come from? "I can't find the lever…"

"What're you doing back here?" Nelly asked him worriedly. "Why aren't you running with your family?"

"You didn't get out, and they wouldn't turn back - I had to come an' find you. I knew you'd forget about the hide 'n seek tunnels!" Sam insisted, before a loud click rang through the air and a sudden light streamed into the little tunnel.

The seven children burst into the sunshine, blinking and disorientated at the back of the Mill. The screaming had stopped, and it was quiet outside.

Eerily quiet.

"Home, home, let's go home!" Pippin sobbed bitterly into Merry's shoulder. "I don't like it, don't like it, don't like it, let's go home! Please let's go home!"

"We can't go home, they'll find us at home!" Frodo reasoned fearfully from Sam's side.

"So where do we go?" Nelly all but wailed.

A sudden thought sprang to Merry's mind and he nodded sharply. "This way, we go this way!"

He did not pause to tell his cousins what he meant, but instead he ran as fast as he could down the back lane. They followed him, of course they did, and sprinted as fast as they could towards the nearest cluster of trees.

"Hey! Stop right there!" the thuggish shout met Merry's ears and Pippin screamed loudly.

"They're coming, they coming, Merry bad mens coming!"

"Faster!" Frodo yelped needlessly, and they within moments they flew into the woods.

Merry led his friends wordlessly, cutting through the familiar bracken until they were out of sight of the ruffians, before pausing at the base of the most familiar tree in the forest.

"My back, Pippin, get on my back!"

Surprisingly, the terrified toddler cooperated with Merry, shuffling onto his back without complaint and allowing Merry to scamper up the tree behind Pervinca, who was already halfway up. Soon enough all seven children were perched in the tree, cowering behind branches and leaves. Merry shifted so that Pippin was sitting in his lap and the toddler buried his face in his cousin's shoulder.

"Shh," Merry whispered almost harshly as Pippin sobbed. "They'll hear us. Shh, Pip, we'll be alright."

Hiccupping, Pippin nodded and fell silent, though he continued to tremble in terror as he snuffled further into Merry's arms.

Merry did not think that it was possible to feel any worse than he did at that moment, but then an almost inaudible keening met his ears and his heart broke a little.

"Don't cry, Pippin." He murmured in a much softer tone, holding Pippin even tighter. "Don't cry, Pip, I'll look after you. I'll look after you, I'm here."

"What if I falls, Merry?" Pippin whimpered quietly. "What if they finds us?"

"We're safe up here, I promise. I won't let them hurt you. I won't let you fall" Merry swore, pressing a kiss into Pippin's curly hair. "I won't let anything bad happen to you."

As he listened to the sound of the man's furious footsteps, rubbed Pippin's back and looked fearfully up at Frodo and Pearl, Merry prayed with all his heart that he would be able to keep that promise.


When Dís gently chided Kíli for hovering around the wounded and Bofur carefully led him away from the prisoners ("We can't let you have your way with them just yet, lad, we still need 'em.") the young dwarf was, for a moment, at a loss for what to do.

The moment did not last long.

His eyes flickering over his trembling, traumatised friends, Kíli made his way through the meadow.

"We've put the b… We've put… The… Those who did not make it… They're by the Party Tree, just until we get sorted…" young Lily Underhill had told him in a shuddering voice.

The line was too long, far, far too long for Kíli's liking, and his stomach churned at the sight of it. He counted seventeen… Seventeen hobbits dead , compared to twenty eight of the gathered ruffians.

Kíli closed his eyes as he reached the beginning of the line. He did not want to look. He did not want to gaze into the faces for those who had given their lives solely to protect him – the guilt was too strong, and the grief, and the pain…

But you owe them that much… he reminded himself sorrowfully, and so with great effort Kíli prepared himself to discover who had perished in the battle.

He was not ready, but he knew full well that he would never be ready, not for this, so he opened his eyes.

Everard Took was the first body in the row, his broken bow still clutched in his cold fingers, and by his side young Longo Underhill was motionless in a slumber from which he would never awake. Everard's sister Hazel came next, her copper curls spilling out from beneath the sheet she was covered with. Kíli had long come to consider them as cousins of his own, and to see them lying so still and so bloody made him want to howl in pain and grief.

Odovacar Bolger's body was next in line. Kíli had never known the rather large hobbit that well, though they had gotten along nicely enough but Kíli did know his two young children, Fredegar (or Fatty, as he was commonly known) and Estella, and his grief peaked once more at the thought of the now fatherless little ones. Peony Burrow's father, Posco, was the next corpse along, his grey hair now dyed red with blood, and the image of the old man playing with his baby grandson mere days ago brought the stubborn tears to Kíli's eyes. Beside Posco Baggins lay Ferdinand Took, the very same hobbit responsible for accidently releasing a firework into the tree Kíli and Rosa had perched in all those years ago. It took only a moment for Kíli to realise that Ferdinand's sister Rosamunda had in fact been married to Odovacar – the poor woman had lost both her husband and her brother at once – all because of Kíli.

Kíli swallowed and moved on, forcing himself to look upon every hobbit who had died that day. Togo Goodbody was the next corpse he saw – a cheerful hobbit who always had a smile for a friend and a biscuit for a cheeky child, and Kíli had to close his eyes. His people, these people, they were not warriors, they were fathers and sons and mothers and daughters. They were farmers and bakers and people of peace. And for what small prize had they paid such a price?

Was Kíli's life really worth this?

But it is not just your life, his mind reminded him rationally. This was the only way to make sure Bilbo and Fíli and Amad and Bofur and Nori are safe.

For a moment, Kíli allowed himself to wonder if he would have pursued such a path if he had known the price, but he did not like where his mind was wandering to, and so he opened his eyes and moved on. Hob Hayward was the next in line – again, the older hobbit was one Kíli had not known all that much in life, but then again few had. Hob had been the village drunk of Hobbiton for as long as Kíli could remember, and though many had grudgingly loved him for it, few had really seemed to know him. That such a character would go to battle and fall for one who barely knew him took Kíli's breath away.

The next corpse was recognisable instantly from the distinctive engagement ring still circling her finger - Violet Underhill, or 'The Bywater Beauty', as she had been known in life, would never again dance rings around all the boys in Bywater, and never again would she end up in the lap of her lover, Holman Greenhand. Kíli looked around for the young woman's betrothed, unable to fathom why such a petite, gentle lass had even considered coming to join the fray. His eyes wandered back down to the woman, and he noticed this time that her hand was resting on another lifeless hand, and his stomach dropped through his legs.

Well, there's poor Holman Greenhand… Kíli thought painfully, looking at the blood soaked torso of the once lively lad.

He was going to be sick, he was going to throw up, he needed to be sick –

"Kíli." His name was spoken gently but firmly and he felt a strong arm loop over his shoulders. "You look pale, brother. Do you wish to sit down?"

Kíli shook his head even as he leant against his brother's strong form. "No."

"Alright…" Fíli's voice was hoarse as he replied, and Kíli knew that he was not the only one feeling the weight of the guilt. "Do you wish me to stay?"

Strong, Kíli, you're being strong now! He reminded himself, so he took a deep breath and straightened slightly before nodding. "Please."

Fíli nodded and fell silent, and Kíli looked to the next body, his brother's presence giving him the strength to continue.

With a jolt of shock, Kíli recognised the next hobbit as Barney Brandybuck, and this time he could not help the soft cry of disbelief and pain from escaping his lips. His fingers clutched Fíli's sleeve with what must have been a painful grip, but his brother did not complain. From the tightening of Fíli's jaw, the younger brother knew that the older prince recognised Saradoc's older brother too.

"Does… does S… Saradoc, does he…?" Kíli whispered brokenly, looking to his own (alive, alive, Fíli's alive and alright and alive, alive, alive…) brother, who shrugged slightly and glanced over his shoulder.

"I don't know… He's with Esme."

Kíli swallowed, unable to stop himself from shuddering as the horrific image flashed across his eyes.

Shoving his sword into the chest of the man bearing down upon him, Kíli flicked hair away from his eyes and looked for another target. A familiar scream filled his ears and his heart stopped beating.

Whirling around on the spot, Kíli's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Dagr drawing Esme's face close to his own all the way on the other side of the field, and for a moment he could not even breathe. Dagr smashed his head into Esme's and Kíli began to run, faster than he had ever run in his life.

No, no, no, no, Esme, no, no –

The memories of his own torture flashed across his mind as Dagr threw a punch into Esme's stomach and Kíli could not stop himself from crying out.

"Esme!"

Even as he ran, Kíli saw Esme try to turn her head towards him. Moments later there was the glint of a blade in the sun and his heart began to race faster than his feet as he saw Dagr push a knife to his sister's neck.

"Esme! No, no!" his voice came out like a plea as he barged past Robin Smallburrow, who was fighting three ruffians at once.

As he drew closer, Kíli saw the blade pierce her skin and he was sure in that moment that he was going to lose her, he was going to lose his Esme…

"No, no, Esme, Esme, no!" he begged through his cries.

Kíli saw the blood trailing down her neck, he saw her body begin to sag.

Kíli screamed. "Esmeralda!"

His heart tore in two as both Dagr and Esme fell to the floor, but it began beating a moment later when he saw that Esme was still alive.

Alive… she was alive…

He saw her press a hand against her neck, he heard Sindri's shrieks of denial and he saw the other dwarf's charge.

Kíli saw Nori gather her up and pull her away and he saw his mother take Sindri down.

"Get her out of here, Nori!" Kíli yelled desperately.

As soon as he saw his mother protecting Esme, Kíli threw himself back into the fight, but bloodlust and fear were now battling for domination in his veins and he barely noticed the time pass.

He did, however, get the satisfaction of watching Frár surrender.

Then he ran once more, stumbling over his own feet in his haste, and fell down by his sister's side.

"Esme…" he whispered, pulling away her hand to look at the wound.

His stomach curled. It was deep…

"Is it bad?" she whimpered in a tiny voice.

Kíli tried to smile, he tried so hard to comfort her. "Nah…" the lie tasted bitter on his tongue. "You'll be fine."

With a little gasp, Esme fell against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, gathering her up as he would one of the little ones. She curled into his arms like a child and as Saradoc grasped her hand and met Kíli's gaze with his own haunted eyes, Kíli let himself bask in the fact that they were alive.

But though his immediate family had escaped death, not everyone was so lucky.

His eyes rested upon Barney for a long moment, and for a while it was hard to come to terms with the fact that he would never again share an ale or a laugh with the cheerful brother of Saradoc Brandybuck. Then Kíli forced his gaze onwards. His ever sinking heart dipped even further at the sight of Griffo Boffin, Hugo's youngest brother, who was all of thirty years old. Griffo had been at the head of adolescent protestors who adamantly refused to shelter with the woman and children.

"I am thirty years old!" he had argued. "Bilbo was younger than I am now when he took Kíli in, and those who have reached adulthood have but three years on me. We can fight just as well as you can, we'll fight as hard as you will."

After nearly an hour of furious arguments, a dozen tweens between the age of twenty seven and thirty three had won the right to fight. As he stared at the brave lad who had headed their fight, Kíli wished that he had fought harder. The feeling only intensified when he looked to the next corpse; a body so small that Kíli physically gagged. Twenty seven year old Poppy Noakes had always been smaller than her fellows, but in death she looked no more than a child. She was no more than a child.

The plump baker Harding Bunce of Michel Delving was the next of the deceased, and to Kíli's horror the hobbit's body was severed completely from his legs. Old Wilcome Goldworthy, the owner of The Green Dragon in Bywater, lay beside Harding with a torn and bloody coat, his warm, friendly face unrecognisable from the blow of some sort of weapon. Kíli could not tell what it was.

He did not really want to know.

Beside him, Fíli hissed slightly and squeezed Kíli's arm. Looking to his brother with utter dread, Kíli swallowed. "What?"

"Brace yourself, little brother." Fíli murmured, pressing his forehead against Kíli's for a moment, before gesturing to the final two bodies.

"No!" Kíli moaned at the sight of Robin's motionless body amongst the dead. "Oh, by Mahal, no please…"

"If it makes you feel any better," Kíli's lifelong friend grinned at him. "You could think of yourselves as a honey jar on a picnic. It may well attract some nasty flies and bees, but it isn't the honey's fault if someone gets stung and everyone's much better off with the honey there."

"This isn't better," Kíli choked aloud. "This isn't… this… Oh, Robin, what did you do?"

"There's…one more…"

It was just as well that Fíli tightened his grip around Kíli, for when the younger dwarf say the corpse of the ever sweet, ever gentle Bell Gamgee lying next to Robin on the grass his knees gave out entirely and he sank to the ground with a choking sob.

"No… No, oh no, no…"

Fíli knelt beside him and pulled him gently into his arms. "I'm sorry, Kíli… I'm so sorry…"

Kíli let out a bitter sob and clenched his teeth, refusing to give into a fit of tears. His head curled in towards his chest, his hair shielding his face from the view of even his brother. Fíli's hand rubbed circles into his back.

"I'm here," his brother promised. "It's over now, Kíli."

"No…" Kíli shook his head, raising his agonised eyes to Fíli's. "It will never be over, Fíli. For as long as we live, we can never escape this, can we? The curse of being royalty, the curse of being of our bloodline… We can never escape. We are princes of the line of Durin. This will never be over."

"Perhaps, but for now it is over." Fíli promised.

Kíli shook his head once more and pushed himself to his feet. "I need to help, Fíli. I must help people."

Fíli nodded his agreement and clamped a hand onto Kíli's arm. "Let's go."

The two brothers flittered between the clusters of frightened, injured hobbits, healing where they could and comforting where they could not.

They ignored the bound prisoners – Sindri, Frár, and the remaining four ruffians.

Kíli had plans for them, plans he was almost looking forward completing, but at that precise moment he could not care less.

He cared only for his friends, his family, and his poor, battered home.

After a short while, Kíli returned to the two nearest hobbit holes – the temporary base of the healers and strode right up to his mother, wrapping his arms around her tightly and pressing his cheek against hers for a moment.

"I love you, Amad."

"I love you, too." She whispered into his ear, hugging him tightly. "Are you alright?"

"Alright isn't the word I would use, but I'll survive." Kíli replied grimly, unable to lie to his mother. "The others-"

"Just in there…" Dís pointed into the living room of the Underhill's family home, and Kíli offered her a weak smile before walking through.

Esme was lying on the sofa, her fingers wrapped around the blankets she was swaddled in. A white bandage, damp with blood, was wrapped around her neck, and she shivered constantly, though her eyes focused quickly on Kíli and her mouth twitched up in a pale imitation of a smile when she saw him. Saradoc was sitting on the floor by her face, his knees tucked up under his chin as if he was a little child, and from his muffled shaking it looked as though he was crying. Paladin was by his side with an arm around his friend's shoulders, and though Paladin looked as though he had gone several rounds with Dwalin in the training arena, he managed to smile sadly at Kíli as he entered.

In a nearby armchair, Ellie was curled up in a little ball, with one eye covered with a red spotted bandage that wound its way around her head. She raised her head at the entrance of the dwarves and nodded slightly, her face contorting into a weak smile that appeared more of a grimace given the horrific cuts that marred her beautiful face.

There were others huddled in the room as well, some crying, some sleeping, and some who seemed to even be praying, though Paladin's whispered words were the first to be spoken aloud.

"Hello, Kíli…"

Swallowing, Kíli tried to smile back. "Hello…"

Saradoc raised his head, his eyes strained and bloodshot. The hobbit's curls were pressed against his forehead, held to his face by sweat and tears, and even as he trembled he raised his hand slightly. Kíli was there in moments and he dropped to the floor by his friend's side.

Anguished hazel eyes bored into Kíli's as Saradoc stared at him, his gaze flickering over Kíli's whole face and body. Before the dwarf could say a word, Saradoc fell against him and pulled him into a rough embrace.

"Thank… thank goodness it wasn't you, too…" Saradoc's voice was an odd mix of a whisper and a sob and his fingers wove their way into Kíli's hair almost painfully.

Kíli returned the hug wholeheartedly, though he was careful not to hold his friend too tightly lest he anger any of Saradoc's injuries. "I'm sorry, Saradoc, I'm so, so sorry. I never expected… never meant… Oh, I'm sorry!"

"I know!" Saradoc sobbed back, holding Kíli tighter. "B-but we knew that c-could happen. We knew, it… it was h-his choice t-to fight… This is…isn't your f-fault, Kíli!"

Kíli closed his eyes in shame. It was his fault. This was all his fault…

"Stop! Right now, just stop it!" A weak, rasping voice ordered bitterly.

Kíli looked up in shock, gently pushing Saradoc away a little to stare at Esmeralda in bewilderment.

"Don't look at me like that, either, you know exactly what the problem is." she scowled, wincing and probing her neck gently as she spoke. "Do you believe in us, Kíli? Do you respect us?"

He frowned, offended. "What? Of course I do!"

"Then stop blaming yourself." Esme's stared fixed on him, and though she looked far weaker than he had ever seen her there was a fire in her eyes. "Allow Barney and the others the dignity of their choice. We all truly think you are worth it. So stop right now with your guilty nonsense!"

Snapping his jaw shut, Kíli swallowed. "I'm sorry… You're right, that was… selfish of me."

Esme smiled feebly, seemingly content with his reply, and reached out to stroke Kíli's hair. "You do not look too badly harmed… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Kíli smiled slightly, holding her hand for a moment. "I'm fine… Don't talk if it hurts, Esme."

Her smile strengthened ever so slightly and she blinked slowly. "It only hurts if I speak or move my head too fast…"

The sound of a ruckus reached Kíli's ears from outside, but Fíli nodded slightly at him and went to investigate, allowing Kíli to stay with the others.

"Hamfast still hasn't woken up," Paladin told Kíli sorrowfully. "And Milo's still in a bad way."

Kíli's heart sank even further. "Really?"

"Mm hm." Ellie confirmed from her armchair.

"I've spoken to your father, Ellie," Kíli said suddenly. "Every Banks of Hobbiton is safe and accounted for, they found your cousin."

A small smile of relief flickered over her face. "Thank you, Kíli. I thought that perhaps-"

All of a sudden, Hamson Gamgee burst into the room with an expression of pure fear on his youthful face. Fíli stood behind him, his features contorted in dread, and Kíli stood up.

"What's happened? What's wrong?"

"They found us!" the young lad's words tumbled over each other in their hurry to leave his mouth. "There were four of them, four ruffians, they ran away from the fight but they found us and they tried to take us hostage but then they got distracted and we got out but not everyone managed to escape but we got separated from some people, they were still in there and then the rest of us raised the alarm and some of the others got into the building again and they got Odo and Hilda out and took care of some of the ruffians but, but- but-"

"But what?!" Kíli demanded fearfully.

"They're gone!" Hamson swallowed, tears in his eyes. "We lost them, they've gone, we don't know where they are! Merry and Frodo and Pippin and the girls, they're all gone, all of them, and I can't find Sam, either! We don't know where they are and there's two ruffians we can't account for. They're gone!"

The reactions of the others were lost to Kíli as his mind reeled at the implications of Hamson's somewhat hysterical speech.

The little ones.

His little ones.

Lost, at the mercy of two faceless murderers…

No words of denial escaped Kíli's lips. No howl of grief or sorrow filled the air. No curses tore from his throat swearing revenge or an oath find the missing children.

Kíli could not deny the news, he could not cry and he could not curse because nothing, nothing he could do could possibly express what he felt.

Sam – his sweet little neighbour - Frodo – his brave little dreamer, Pearl – his beautiful little dancer, Nelly – his wonderful little artist, Merry – his fantastic little adventurer, Pervinca – his pretty little princess and Pippin - his little baby troublemaker.

All of them. Gone.

He did not feel the impact of his knees crashing into the floor. He did not hear the cries of denial and rage and fear and sorrow from his brothers and sister.

All he knew was that his heart was now frozen and shattered inside his chest, and it would not be whole again until his littlest family members were safe and sound at home.

If that's the case, a cruel voice sneered inside his mind, your heart may never be whole again.

And there we end things for today! Thanks for reading, please do tell me what you think!

I'll update as soon as I can. Was that worth the wait in your personal opinion?