Alright, this chapter contains Fili and Kili. (the next chapter might as well). Enjoy (May not be the best, but see what you think...)

Chapter 6: A foreboding gloom

The next morning was far from being a cheery one. With two dwarfish adults, brother and sister, going about the house and slamming things around, even the two smallest of the family could understand that something was up and knew enough to know that it was a fairly serious matter.

Thorin was gone before Dis really had a chance to say anything to him, though it may have been for the better for it allowed more time for them both to cool off. Still, she was really mad at how secretive her brother could be. They were family! Could he not see that keeping secrets would only cause her more emotional pain than she could deal with now?

"Mother, are you mad at uncle?" a small voice asked timidly as she banged a newly washed bowl on the counter in front of her. Dis turned to her eldest, a small, fake smile already spreading itself across her lips.

"It is nothing, Fili," she reassured the blonde, "Why would you think that?" Blue eyes blinked up at her, so much like her own yet totally different at the same time.

"Because you seem awfully mad today," he answered, though his eyes seemed to be hiding something else, "And me and Kili did nothing, I am sure, because I just woke up. We didn't do anything right?" he finished, panic beginning to show itself in his eyes. Dis sighed.

"It's Kili and I, Fili," she corrected before replying to the question, "And no, it was not anything that you or your brother done. Where is your brother?" she asked, suddenly noticing that Fili was without his constant shadow. Fili stared back up at her.

"Still in bed, sleeping I think. He was tired when he fell asleep. I can get him for you if you like," he said, eager to be of use and prove that she shouldn't be mad at him. Dis shook her head, slightly worried by the unusual behaviour of her youngest. Usually he was first out of bed.

"No, I will get him," she said, hoping that he was still asleep. There had been a strain of sickness going around, though it was nothing to be concerned by. Still, it could make life quite miserable for those who caught it.

"Kili?" she asked tentatively as she opened the door to her sons' room, Fili hovering at her heels.

"Momma," a small, pitiful voice cried back. To Dis' relief her son sounded more scared and miserable than sick.

"What is it, my Little One?" she asked, "And why are you still in bed at this hour?" Kili looked up at her with swimming eyes.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied in the small voice he used when he was upset, "Cause I heard yours and uncle's voices arguing and then I got scared cause I reme-re-remem…" The small dwarfling struggled with the long word.

"He remembered the dream he had about uncle leaving," Fili said, swooping in to save the day and his brother. Dis was not surprised the blonde knew. Kili told him everything. "And then it took ages to get him to sleep again and by then it was only a few hours until dawn, and I thought it was best to let him sleep in a while," Fili finished, summing up their little story. He sounded as if though they were still possibly the cause of their mother's anger.

Dis closed her eyes for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Kili was not sick, just tired, but the reason why was disturbing. The fact that they had both clearly heard the argument she had had with Thorin upset her in a way she could not describe. Sitting down on the bed next to Kili, she gestured for her other son to join her.

"What did you hear?" she asked, her mind suddenly clearing as to why Fili had asked if she was angry at their uncle. Neither of the boys met her eyes.

"We didn't hear the words, but we heard the tone," Fili admitted, spokesperson for the both of them. Dis sighed, trying to put on a smooth face.

"It was nothing," she reinformed the blonde, "Just a silly little argument. Your uncle refused to do something and I merely pointed out that he was wrong in doing so." She looked at her youngest, thoughts floating towards the episode that had occurred last night and her anger relighting. "Now help your brother get dressed, Fili, and then you can both attend to your chores."

She winced at the tightness of her voice but could not help it. Not only was her brother a stubborn fool, he had also been the cause of her two sons to wake in the middle of the night to them arguing, just like they had woken all those years ago to hear Thror and Thrain arguing heatedly about Erebor. And just like the two of them plus Frerin had been affected, so to had her children. However calm Fili appeared, he did not fool her, and Kili could not hide his tearstained face from her eagle eyed sight.

Exiting the room and closing the door mostly behind her, Dis returned to her place by the bench in the kitchen. Holding her breath for the count of ten, she placed both palms against the counter and straightened both arms, leaning all her weight into the two limbs. She remembered those nights well, the nights where none of them had gotten any sleep of hearing the two oldest members of their family arguing. It had grown worse right before the battle of Moria where they had lost both their king and grandfather, Thror, their brother, Frerin, and in extension, their father Thrain. On those nights, Dis had been woken and, still not a fully grown adult dwarf, had been deeply upset by the words they could hear; they all had been.

The princess of Durin closed her eyes as she remembered first Frerin trying to comfort her, but being too scared to do so properly. Thorin had then entered the room, eyes deeply troubled and arms spread wide to allow accommodation for both his distressed siblings. They had sat there for the rest of the night, close together and refusing to relinquish their holds on one another. It had been right before the battle of Moria, and the last time all three had been together in such a way. Dis herself had never felt Thorin hug her afterwards, at least not in the strong, centred, brotherly hug she had come to know and love. Rarely did he ever hold his nephews in the same way, especially now. And now she missed that side of him more and more with each passing day as the world around her tried to swallow her up in all its cruelty and despair, when she needed the kind, caring, considerate side of him the most. Yet most of the time he was not even there for Fili and Kili, two young boys now without a father to guide them through life.

Thorin… If he came to hurt her children through neglecting and abandoning them, intentional or not she would have his head.

*Gets down on knees* Review. Please. I beg of you.