So tell me what you want 'cause I would give you anything,
Tell me what you need and I'll go get it.
I'd give up all these dreams to have you in my arms right now,
I'd give up everything and I'd forget it.

I wasn't on a mountain
When it came to me.
All my life's been wasted,
Chasing shallow dreams.

Dark eyes shot open and instantly became aware he was in a place he had no idea where he was. His head whipped back and forth and he felt a tightness in and on his body as well as his back. He hurt like he had never hurt again. A groan escaped his lips when he tried to sit up but couldn't move.

"No! Don't you will hurt yourself further!" At first the voice wasn't recognizable until the male saw who it was. He started to panic but relaxed when he saw him and he sighed faintly.

"Fili, where are we and why can't I move!?" He asked panic striken as Fili sat next to him on the bed, his own leg bandaged up and in a splint, as well as his ribs. "Kee, we were hurt. We almost died. I got knocked out and you, you were shaken by the warg and your back was broken in at least two spots. You have been in a deep sleep for two whole weeks without waking." Fili said, a calming hand running through his brother's hair.

Kili did relax, and noticed the tribal beads that normally graced his brother's hair and beard was gone. The braids were also gone and his long hair hung longer than he remembered it. "How? Where is uncle? This isn't the palace." Kili said as he looked at the small cabin. They were in a small room, it seemed to be in a forest, possibly Mirkwood but from his position he couldn't tell.

"We are about a days journey from the lonely mountain in Erebor." A female voice rang through the air as Tauriel, an elf he knew all too well came in with the other elf, Legolas at her back side. "They left you thinking you were dead. When the battle was over, we were scavenging and checking bodies for supplies. I saw you two were breathing and we brought you here. We were exiled for helping you two out. We live in the outer region of Mirkwood." Tauriel said as she moved and sat next to Fili, a cool washcloth slowly moving across Kili's face.

Kili hadn't realized how hot and sweaty he truly was until he felt the cool cloth. "Thank you, you saved us… Fee what is wrong with you?" He asked his older brother who just started to laugh. "I was knocked out cold. I was out for three days. I woke to my collar bone, three ribs and a broken leg." He explained as he patted his leg. "It will take months to heal. Even longer for you. Tauriel has been so kind as to clean you and even force nutrients into your body so you wouldn't waste away. I never knew Elven medicine was just that amazing." Fili said, his eyes glossy with amazement.

Tauriel just waved it off and bent to give her once lover a kiss on the forehead. "I am glad you are alive and now awake. You can't sit up too much we have your back set in place but I think we can manage a real meal. Legolas and I have been growing our own food supply plus hunting. I can easily whip up some soup or stew for you to eat." She teased as he smiled up at her.

"Always the resourceful one I see." Kili said as he looked to his brother and then the ever quiet Legolas. "When do we get to go home?" Kili asked.

Legolas started to laugh as he shook his head, 'home? You can't even move. You stupid dwarf. If we got you home now then you two would surely perish. The battles are still raging on and you two were meant to be killed. During our outings we have heard of almost every army planning on first destroying the two heirs and then the king himself. If word got out that the two princes lived your heads would be on platters in less than a day." He scoffed as Kili growled, trying to kick him but realizing he could no longer move his legs.

"Fee, I…I can't move or feel my legs!" He whimpered. "Fili what do I do?" He moaned and Fili glared at Legolas who was shooed out of the room from Tauriel. She left to, to leave the two alone and let Fili calm his brother. A loving kiss was planted on his forehead. "Soon, I have talked it over with Tauriel, once we are both stable and can hold our own in battle they will escort us back to the palace for us to go home. What is a few months compared to the decades we spent away?" He asked his brother who just nodded.

"I understand…" Kili said a bit disappointed. "But shouldn't we send word?" He asked "at least to uncle he must be in pain not knowing we are alive." Fili just shook his head.

"No, little brother. No one can know. Legolas and Tauriel are risking our lives but we are far enough away no one should find us. If uncle is to know everyone else will and then it can get spread to the enemy and we will die. We promised mother to come home safe and we will do that. A few months." Fili said, trying to calm the younger dwarf. Kili finally was relaxed enough.

A few months weren't too far to wait, right?

A few months turned into more than just that. By months, Kili was sitting up and able to move slightly, but he was unsteady on his feet and had to use crutches. Fili was out of the splint but was unsure and uneven on his own legs. Any wrong movement and either would be wobbly and falling over. It gave Legolas quite the amusement though it all seemed in good fun. Tauriel and Legolas always came back with fresh venison or rabbit and even squirrel. One night, Tauriel had cooked up lake turtles and they had tasted delicious when they cut open the soft shells.

"It has been 6 months. Why can't we go?" Kili finally asked, a bit upset that no one would give him a time to go back. Even Fili was ignoring the questions. Fili was doing his best as the ever loving older brother he was. He had moved his room into Kili's and they shared the small double bed. If Fili even dared fall asleep somewhere else, he woke with Kili next to him with arms and legs entangled around him. Fili knew at one point they had had a very intimate relationship.

Since the armies and battles had begun, all that was put on the back burner and their once loving relationship turned straight to fighting and taking care of their uncle and that was it. No one knew of their intimate past times and he liked to keep it that way. He was raised knowing it was okay for there to be family sleeping with one another, but only in times when the line needed to stay pure and one of the parties involved could reproduce.

With Fili being an heir, it would be doubly wrong that he was having sex with his younger brother. He was pretty sure that Kili was all male and would not be giving him his own little heirs anytime soon. So, their love was kept a secret. Everyone knew the two were close, but just how close was never speculated. Thorin chalked it up to never being apart. Others assumed that was just how they had been raised. Thorin was partially to blame for their raising after all. Their biological father was never known and Thorin had been there for both boys from birth on.

Now, they were ripe old (relative really, dwarves could live upwards of 250 years) ages of 82 and 77. Fili was thrust out of his deep thoughts when he felt fingers entangled in his unbraided hair and smiled at his brother. A sigh escaped his lips as he kissed his forehead lovingly. It was approaching supper but he didn't care if he had Kili in his arms.

"Ah-um." A voice cleared their throat at the door and he jumped, ready to fight. What he saw was a sympathetic Tauriel who smiled faintly at him. "I am not here to judge what you two do. Even if you were to do it under my house hold roof. I just wanted you to know we got a deer and it is fried venison with root vegetables plus I picked fresh berries." She said lovingly, her eyes staring at the ever quiet and sleeping Kili.

"Do you still love him?" Fili asked, a pang of jealousy ripping through his stomach. Tauriel turned her gaze to him and it softened even more so. "I will always love your brother. We are not meant to be and it isn't even the fact that I am an elf and he is a dwarf. No, our paths are meant to be with others. Legolas and I are mated now and it seems to me that you two are either mated or need to be. He loves you. I am not blind to him waking up to find you in the middle of the night no matter where you fall to sleep. Or even when you are within his arms and he has nightmares that wreck his body from being torn to just losing you. I also see how you move closer and calm him with words and touches and he instantly relaxes and smiles knowing you are close. I could never compete with that." Tauriel said to Fili softly. "I love him, yes. Just as you do but please do not think anything of it. I will protect you both and get you home safely when the time comes." Fili nodded at this and the elven woman was gone.

A sigh escaped his lips as he decided to nap as he waited for dinner. When dinner came, he roused Kili up and helped the wobbly man to actually sit at the dining room table. It was filled with vegetables and berries neither had ever seen plus it all smelt delicious. They both dug in. Legolas was absent and Kili looked around. "Where is the elf?" He asked Tauriel who chuckled.

"He is scouting. It is his turn after all. We have had to watch and make sure the battles never got this far. They haven't and when they start to, he is able to somehow turn them upwards to a different region always moving around us never towards us." She explained. "He was the one who got the deer. Quite proud of himself. Arrow to the eye." She said.

"How is it out there?" Fili asked. He had been dreading to ask this question for days but he had to know how bad the battles were still.

"Good." Tauriel said. "The orcs and elves have backed off. The dwarves seem to be winning. Another month or two and the humans will back off. If my ears hear right the elves are making negotiations with the dwarves on working together." She said with a shrug. "The ground isn't covered so in blood as it once was. Dead bodies don't litter the fields if that is what you mean." She said as Fili seemed to relax, nodding.

"My people, they are good yes? I mean, our people…" Tauriel nodded again.

"Yes, your family is rebuilding the mountain and the towns quite nicely. Though rumors have said the king has gone mad with grief and greed. He hides away either with all of the gold or in his chambers and refuses to leave. It is left to his advisors to do his bidding." She murmured.

Both Kili and Fili flinched and tightened at this. They knew it was because he was there. They died, or at least he thought they died, saving his life. "Can you not send word now?" Kili asked meekly. "Please send word that we are fine." He pleaded with the woman.

"No, my dearest. I can't send word just yet. You are barely able to walk and neither could hold a weapon to save its life. We will start training you and when the training is complete we will escort you to the mountains and you will be home. Until then, you are to rest and not break your back even more. The next time your back breaks, you will lose your life if not worse, be paralyzed and need total care for the rest of your days."

Kili looked to Fili who instantly knew, "yes I would care for you brother you should know that!" He snapped. "But just do as she says and rest so your back heals." Kili's face broke out into a genuine smile and both their hearts seemed to melt.

The months passed. They worked slowly at first. Starting with children's weapons until they could both manage before moving up. Soon enough, Kili was shooting with just as good if not better accuracy with his bow and arrows. Fili was able to swing his sword and throw the daggers as if he hadn't taken almost a year off. Both dwarves had not worried about their looks and so their beards, mustaches, and hair went wild. Neither seemed to care; they were in the company of each other and on top of that company of friends.

Kili's back hurt less and less, but still strained on certain things. Fili limped and would probably always limp but he didn't grimace and didn't mention pain. Tauriel was big on them telling her about any and all pain and where it was, how it felt, if it was worse or better than the last paint, etc etc. She doctored them and now they were patched up quite nicely.

"The plans have been made." Legolas said one day at breakfast. "Within two months' time, I believe you would be ready for the journey home. It will be at least a day's full walk from here." He explained. "There will be dangers, but the men have begun to back away from the dwarves and by now things are settling within the air." Kili could hardly contain himself as he bounced up and down in his seat, quickly scarfing up the eggs Tauriel had made. She laughed whole heartedly as Fili too seemed anxious at their journey home.

Both the men knew they were not up to their peak and neither would ever be up there again but they were ready to leave the quant forest nook they had called home for the last year.

When that day came, Legolas and Tauriel prepared them. "We will leave at sunset. If my calculations are correct and you can keep up, we will make it to the kingdom midday." Legolas said. Kili was pacing slightly fast as he nodded. What few things they had were packed up and at the foot of their now shared bed.

"Kee, why are you pacing? You have been crying out to go back to Erebor ever since you woke and now that we are leaving you look upset."

"It isn't that. Uncle still believes we are dead yes? What if he has moved on? He could have his own heirs by now what if he doesn't want us or need us?" He whimpered as he looked at his brother. Fili put his arms around him, trying to sooth the tension as he kissed his temple.

"Relax, from what everyone knows of Thorin he is locked up. I doubt he has found a maiden and made any of his own little heirs." Fili said, soothingly as he stroked Kili's unmanageable mane of hair. He knew once they were home, they both needed a cut and trim on their hair and beards.

Night came none too quickly for the party of four. Both Kili and Fili had their own packs and they set out into the night. Legolas and Tauriel set a very quick pace just to see how much the two once injured dwarves could handle. When Tauriel felt they couldn't any more, she had them slow, but never made it known that was what they were doing.

The trek wasn't taken lightly. They did have to fight off a few wargs and even an orc. They passed unseen by trolls and fought off the big spiders that still lurked in parts of the forest areas. It wasn't anything the two couldn't handle and even at their weakened state took in stride.

Kili's hand to hand was just as great as before the accident and it was the same with Fili. They both had practiced with Tauriel and Legolas quite often during their stay. Truth be told, both men were happy there and they wished they could find their own place to call home, but they knew the mountain was calling them. The mountain was their home and that was all they could think of. 50 years of waiting and when they finally can go back, they were taken again. It was time they set foot inside and was there to stay within the halls of the palace under the mountain.

They made it through the Iron Hills unscathed and mostly unseen. This suited the party just as well since the two dwarf princes had not been known to still be alive to this day. Legolas also had it quite right. The sun was just falling out of high noon when they walked upon the great walls of the castle. There were guards at the ready to shoot when the four slowly moved up. Kili and Fili put their hands up.

"Don't shoot please! We are here, we have returned." Kili shouted out. At that, guards stormed out and circled them. Most were in awe, some even fainted at seeing the two alive heirs.

"Get the king! He must know of this!" A voice rang through. It was Balin, old and short as always he waddled over as fast as he could and looked them over. "Mahal, look at you two." Kili bent and happily hugged him. Fili followed suit as he laughed, tears filling his eyes. "We are home, where is our uncle?" Balin shook his head as he took all four into the castle, placing Tauriel and Legolas into a study room that was rarely used and put the other two in the royal library that only the king and his council were to ever use.

The room was musty, with an untouched feel to it. It didn't look as if it had been touched since before they had reclaimed the castle, but neither cared. Fili gave Kili the lightest of kisses before he pulled away, both fidgeting as Balin went to go summon the king from his private quarters.

"Your drabble is none too kind to my ears, leave I do not wish to hear your drunken stores guard!" Thorin shouted at the guard who was sputtering and attempting to explain to the king they had found Fili and Kili. Well, the two had found their way back, but he just wasn't listening.

Balin shook his head and shooed the male away as he entered and closed the door. "My king, will you listen to reason just once?" The older dwarf asked as Thorin growled, eyes crazy. "No, I searched the battle fields ten times over. I also watched them perish in front of mine own eyes. You cannot seriously be telling me that they wandered up to the castle completely okay after over a year gone?" He snarled at Balin. The dwarf took it in stride as if he was used to it and cleared his throat as he leaned closer to the taller dwarf.

"I am old, my eyes and ears are not as good as they used to be, but you must believe me when I tell you, the boys are here. They are alive Thorin please just come-" He was cut off with a loud shout of rage and anything that Thorin could get his hands on thrown at the other's head.

"No! They are dead! I have come to accept their deaths and it is time everyone else must too! I couldn't find their bodies! Kili's back it was shattered, there was blood everywhere and, and Fili his skull was crushed by the mace of that god awful pale orc!" Thorin shouted as he tossed a shield that had been planted on the wall at Balin.

Balin had taken all this in stride but soon growled out as he caught the shield, throwing it back at Thorin with ease. "My king! The boys are alive! I would not be here if I hadn't seen it for my own two eyes. Go, go to the royal study and see your boys!" He shouted.

Thorin was hit with the shield as Balin had shouted at him. Balin had never over spoken him. This had to really mean business. "Fine." Was all Thorin could utter as he walked out and down the hall to the royal study.

The door opened slowly and there you have it, Kili and Fili stood silently, their eyes filled to the brim with tears. Wetness stained Kili's cheeks as he had already been crying.

"Uncle, we have returned." Was all Fili said as Thorin stood stock still unable to process the boy's returning.