AN: A small warning to be aware of. This chapter gets pretty dark so viewer discretion is advised.

Chapter 8

Fili stayed by Kili's bedside though-out the night, holding his hand as he moaned and thrashed against the sheets. He didn't dare close his eyes for fear that he would not notice if Kili's struggling breaths suddenly ceased. No matter what happened, Fili would be there for his brother; he would not be alone.

A cool cloth that was placed on Kili's forehead sometime in the night to try and bring down the fever raging beneath his skin had slipped off due to his constant moving; Fili re-wet it and placed it back where it belonged.

The situation was eerily reminiscent of their time in Laketown when Kili was suffering from morgal poison but this time there was no elf maid to save the day.

Kili thrashed again and cried out in his sleep. Fili smoothed the sweat soaked hair away from his too pale face.

"Shhh, it will be alright," Fili wasn't sure if he spoke those words for Kili's benefit or his own. "I'm here, Kili. I'm here."

Fili screwed his eyes shut as he fought back the sob that was threatening to escape him. This was a dream; a terrible, horrible dream but it had to be a dream. He couldn't be loosing his little brother, it wasn't true.

He was supposed to protect him, to watch out for him but instead he lead him to this. Fili would never forgive himself for what he had done.

A small knock was all the warning Fili had before the door to Kili's room swung open and Thorin stepped gingerly into the room. He stayed back by the door, eyeing the figure on the bed with a hesitancy that Fili had never seen in his uncle before.

"How is he?" Thorin asked.

"He's fighting," Fili replied. "He's strong; so much stronger than I am. He's pulled through worse odds, he'll pull through this."

Fili could tell Thorin wanted to ask what he meant but he kept silent. It was probably for the better. After what happened to Kili, Fili didn't want to think about what the consequences might come from revealing too much of the future.

They sat in silence for a while until a low groan sounded from the bed and Kili blinked open his eyes.

"Fee...?" he moaned. "Hurts." Fili felt his heart shatter with that simple word. His brother was suffering and there was nothing he could do to ease his pain.

"I know but you're going to be okay, you hear me." Kili nodded, breathing hard through his nose.

"Is Da okay?" Even while in unbearable agony, Kili was still thinking of others before himself.

"Yeah, he's okay."

"That's good," Kili muttered almost to himself. "I'm sorry Fee. You were right, he needed our help. I...I couldn't let him die."

"No, Kee, I was wrong. There were consequences to changing history just as you said. Forgive me, I was too blinded to see."

"It's alright Fee," Kili said quietly. "You couldn't have known."

Kili's eyes slipped closed again and his breathing evened out as he drifted off to sleep. In the same instance, another knock sounded on the door. Fili thought it might be Oin coming to check up on Kili; he was not at all expecting to find his very pregnant mother standing in the doorway.

"Mo..." he started to say 'mother' but quickly caught himself. "My lady. Won't you come in." Dis nodded and flashed him a familiar smile.

"I'm sorry to intrude but they said my brother was here."

"And I am," Thorin said from his spot in the corner.

"I was thinking I might find Vili here as well, he left early this morning saying something about an injured dwarfling and having something he needed to fix." Dis glanced at Kili's sleeping figure on the bed with a sad smile.

"He didn't say where he was going?" Thorin asked. Dis shook her head.

"To be honest, Thorin, I'm worried about him. He didn't seem like himself this morning and I don't think he slept a wink last night."

The rest of the conversation faded into the background as Dis's words registered in Fili's mind. His heart tumbled into his stomach when the pieces of the puzzle fell into place and he had to reach out a hand to steady himself, knocking over a tray of instruments in the process. Both Thorin and Dis turned to look at him.

"Are you alright," Dis asked. "You've gone pale." Fili quickly nodded his head.

"Yes, fine. I just...I need some air. Would you mind watching over my brother for a little while?"

"Of course," Dis stammered. "Not a problem."

"Thanks." He turned and ran from the room as if a pack of wargs were nipping at his heals, vaguely registering that Thorin had ran after him.

"Fili, wait," Thorin called out once they were out of the healing house. "Where are you going."

"To Balin's," he called back, not missing a beat. "There's something I need to know."

They made it to Balin's small home on the other side of the town a few minutes later, panting hard from exertion. Fili slammed his fist against the hard, wooden door loud enough to wake the dead until Balin opened it.

"I know it's early but I must speak with you."

"You look like you've seen a ghost, laddie. Come inside and I'll make you some tea."

"I don't have time for tea," Fili argued but Balin set the kettle to boil anyways.

"Tell me what's troubling you, lad." Balin said, offering both Fili and Thorin a seat.

"Yesterday you told us that universe will take a life in order to restore balance when someone fated to die is saved, correct?"

"Aye." "What if that person dies anyways?" Thorin seemed to follow Fili's line of reasoning in addition to Dis's words.

"Mahal, you don't think he's going to..."

"To save Kili, I think he might," Fili said.

Balin, who had also understood what was being implied, nodded.

"It would set things to how they were meant to be. Vili would die as he was meant and Kili would live."

"There's got to be some other way," Fili pleaded.

"I'm afraid not, laddie. One of them must die."

Fili launched himself to his feet so fast it knocked his chair backwards.

"Fili," Thorin started but Fili never heard what he intended to say. His feet struggled to find purchase on the ground as he half stumbled, half ran from the house.

The storm that had ravaged the area the night before had returned for a second round, turning the sky an ominous gray.

He didn't know if it was desperation or wishful thinking that lead him to the swimming hole that his father used to take him to as a small child. He and Kili had spent entire summers splashing around in that lake.

It was well off the beaten path so most folks didn't even know of it's existence. Others choose to stay away due to the waterfall that ran down from a mountain stream that could often become unpredictable when the weather turned sour.

Kili had once jumped off the very top of that waterfall once, just to prove he could and nearly took ten years off his brother's life doing so. It was only by the grace of Mahal himself that he managed to avoid impaling himself on the sharp rocks at the bottom.

Vili was there when he arrived, standing near the mouth of the waterfall, nearly in the same spot where Kili had made his swan dive.

The river's raging waters brought on by the storm cascaded over the edge with a deafening roar, falling in torrents of swirling foam into the pool below.

Fili approached his father slowly, hoping to avoid startling him while he stood so close to the edge. The sound of dried pine needles crunching under foot told of his arrival. "I thought you would be with your brother," Vili said loud enough to hear over the falls.

"Do you remember when I would bring you out here?"

"Of course," Fili said. "We would splash around in the water for hours; you taught me to swim here and when he was old enough, this is where I taught Kili."

Vili turned and looked him for the first time since he arrived. Fili could see his face was wet with tears as much as it was with river water.

"That's what I will miss the most; not seeing you boys grow up."

"We can find another way. Father, please."

"You and I both know there is no other way, Fili. This is my choice." His words were sad but final. "I'm glad I had this chance to see you here, to see the strong dwarves you and Kili have become." Tears were streaming uncontrollable down Fili's face. "I'm so proud of you, Fili; of both of you."

"Vili, stop!" Thorin's baritone voice echoed through the pines as he finally caught up with them.

"Take care of them for me Thorin."

Vili took a step backwards, his brown eyes meeting with Fili's blue as he fell.

"No!" Fili rushed forward with his arms outstretched, ready to dive after his father.

"Fili, don't." Thorin's strong arms held him back and it was in those arms that Fili allowed himself to cry.

Dis placed her hand on her swollen belly as the babe she carried issued a rather powerful kick. He would be a strong one, Dis could already tell.

She caressed her abdomen lovingly. This new generation will help to bring light to the darkness that had so long shrouded over her people. Fili and this new little one she carried would bring joy and hope for new beginnings.

She sat beside the bed of the injured dwarfling and gently stroked the back of his hand. Maybe it was her maternal instincts coming into play but she wanted to make sure he was comfortable and knew he wasn't alone.

The young dwarf's brother had left nearly two hours ago with her own brother and so far has yet to return. She wondered what it was that was keeping him and why he would stay away from his brother for so long.

A soft moan drew her attention out of her thoughts and onto the bed. The lad's eyes fluttered open and Dis could still see the fever burning bright in his dark orbs as his eyes rolled around in his head.

Dis got to her feet as fast as her condition would allow her and bent over him.

"It's alright, little one, your brother will be here soon." he turned towards her voice, his vision seeming to come back into focus slightly.

"Ma?" Or perhaps not. "It's you. I've missed you."

Dis sighed and took his hand in her own. The lad was delirious with fever. Staring up at her with wide, innocent eyes, he looked so very young. He was probably too young to have even left home yet, which made one wonder how he ended up here. One thing was for certain though, the lad needed his mother and she could not turn his away.

"I'm here, mudùmel, just rest."

"I kept my promise; I came back to you." he said softly.

The short spell seemed to have zapped all his strength and he slipped back into sleep. Or Dis had thought until he inhaled sharply and began to convulse on the bed, his finger digging at his throat.

"Oin, Oin!" she cried desperately. "No." She place both her hands on the sides of his face. "Don't leave me, you have to stay, please. You made a promise to your mother; to come back to her, remember? You have to keep your promise."

"Ma," he gasped. "Help." Tears began to stream down her and she was glad when Oin pushed her out of the way to attend to the boy.

His choking gasps seemed to go on for hours before they seemed to stop completely. Oin barked out orders to the nurses in the room but Dis couldn't make out what he was saying, her eyes remained fixed on the boy in the bed.

A few short hours ago, she hadn't even known he had existed but she felt an unexplainable connection to him. Bowing her head she prayed to Mahal that he would be spared.

After what felt like an eternity, her prayers were answered as he pulled in a long, gasping breath. Dis cried with relief.

Thank you. Oh Mahal, thank you.

Mudùmel- comfort of all comforts.

I read somewhere that that word was supposed to be Dis' pet name for Kili and I thought it would fit.