This one came out faster than expected (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!) but I won't be able to post anything on Friday and I was bored and didn't want to study for my last (and most important) midterm XP

IF I FAIL THAT TEST I BLAME ALL OF YOU!

But I honestly think I'm ready so it's all good XP

But yeah, so many of you were ripping on Thorin D: I understand you want them all to be happy and Thorin was disturbing that serenity but none of you bothered to look at things from his perspective XD

Anyways, we'll be clearing everything up this chapter.

ENJOY NOW!

When Kíli awoke after having fallen asleep again, Bilbo was no longer by his side. Instead, the blonde Dwarf prince named Fíli sat in the chair and was slowly nodding off, however Kíli's slight shift in position brought him back to consciousness. He smiled upon seeing the younger Dwarf awake and sat upright as Kíli pulled himself up and brought his knees to his chest.

"Glad to see you're awake now." Fíli said, "That was some nasty black out."

"Well, I did decide to sleep at some point." Kíli admitted as to make himself appear not as weak as the other might assume.

"I know," Fíli assured with a laugh, "You were snoring for the past two hours or so."

"So what happened to everybody?" Kíli asked, the darkness of the room betraying the time that had passed.

"Uncle insisted on sleeping here tonight and requested my presence as well." Fíli huffed, "The rest have returned to the Green Dragon."

"Oh…" Kíli hummed, sounding a bit disappointed.

"I take it you heard the argument between he and Master Baggins?" Fíli asked with a knowing gaze.

"How did you know?" Kíli asked genuinely surprised.

"I had an inkling." Fíli said, "That and you basically just admitted to it."

Kíli rolled his eyes at his own stupidity causing Fíli to laugh, "Is it true though?" the former asked, returning to topic, "Do I really have no say in the matter?"

"You mean about returning to the Mountain?" Fíli asked, earning a nod from the other, "Sadly, he is right. You were never meant to be sent away, you know, otherwise we wouldn't have gone after you. Because of this you have duties towards the realm and must fill your diplomatic role as second in line."

"But I don't understand," Kíli sighed in frustration, "Thorin is still healthy and young enough to still impregnate a woman, you're there if all fails as the current heir and you're definitely young enough to have children, doesn't my presence seem a bit excessive?"

"Of course it may seem that way at first," Fíli agreed, "But more complications mix themselves to the matter. So far, I'm Uncle's only apparent heir which, in a sense, is dangerous for him and makes him vulnerable."

"Why? How?" Kíli asked impatiently.

"Believe it or not, the kingdom Uncle rules isn't a sanctuary from chaos and crime." Fíli said grimly, "Ever since King Thrór's reign ended, the Dwarves of Erebor have grown increasingly unstable. Because of all the injustice and abuse that had been committed, Uncle did take the initiative to assure that such a thing would never repeat itself and installed a democracy within the present monarchy."

"What's a democracy?" Kíli asked.

"In brief, it's a government specifically made to voice the opinion of the population." Fíli explained quickly, "By installing the 'people's government', Uncle has lost a substantial amount of power and needs the approval of the government before acting upon any of his decisions. Many nobles who contest his rise to power – as it wasn't entirely pure or legitimate – have taken it as an opportunity to make the ruling and rehabilitation of Erebor a bigger task than it already was."

"But how do heirs come into play with this?" Kíli asked.

"It's simple, really," Fíli said, "Uncle, like any other man who loves his family, wants to make sure that, upon his death, they will not succumb to poverty or whatever misfortune could occur. Part of assuring this is keeping the monarchy relevant. To ensure that I am not overthrown, we have to win the hearts of our subjects and have them develop a sort of concern for our wellbeing."

"So finding the long lost nephew is just a political ploy?" Kíli growled, insulted.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Fíli said, "This is something heartwarming that will indeed win the hearts of a lot of Dwarves. Your exile wasn't exactly on the down low, a lot of people knew about it and a lot of people hated King Thrór all the more for it. But, again, there's more than just that to your retrieval."

"What else could there be?" Kíli asked cynically.

"Recently, the nobles have been getting a bit…rough around the edges, if you will." Fíli answered, "The ones who specifically want to see Uncle fail are sending extremists who absolutely can't forgive what King Thrór has done after he and I. If one of us dies, if I die, the line of Durin will fail and Erebor will no longer have a King. Now, what makes this so important to Uncle is that as much as he wants to keep his family safe, he wants to keep the line of Durin alive. You and I, we're Durins, and it is our duty to provide descendants to keep the name alive so we are not forgotten. Uncle doesn't want to be the one to provoke its failure."

"Why don't you just pump babies out of Dwarf-ladies then?" Kíli asked, still not understanding why it was so important for him to return.

"It's not as simple as you would like it to be," Fíli said, "We must marry for our descendants to have claim to the throne and a royal marriage would not only require a lot of expenses that aren't ready to be made yet, but it would also open the way for more irrational and dangerous attacks from extremists and nobles with ill will towards us."

"Then kill the nobles." Kíli said with a shrug.

Fíli stared at him quietly with a disappointed expression, "Now it seems like you're not even paying attention to what I'm saying." He sighed with a playful smile, "If we would do that, the population would think a repeat of the tyranny of King Thrór was reoccurring and we would surely be damned."

"King Thrór…" Kíli snorted, "You keep mentioning him who is he anyways?"

"As much as I would like to tell you now," Fíli said with a sad smile, "It's not my story to tell. One day, Uncle will tell you and you will understand why you were sent away and why Erebor is so unstable."

There was silence for a moment and Fíli hesitated to speak again.

"There is…" he said slowly, "Another reason as to why your return is…essential."

"Oh? And what could that be?" Kíli asked sarcastically.

"Mother." Fíli said, and the word had more impact than Kíli believed it should. "He made a promise to her…" he continued, his eyes trailing towards the window, "He said that, one day, he would bring you back to her."

Kíli remained quiet, debating whether he should make a snazzy remark or bitter comment but he ultimately felt it was inappropriate. Instead he averted his gaze to the floor.

"Look," Fíli sighed, "I understand that all this talk of politics and duty is lost on you, you weren't raised in the same context as me. However, you can understand the weight of a promise, can you not?"

"I can." Kíli responded dryly. "I promised Bilbo I would come back to the Shire at the end of my journey."

"You still can." Fíli said which surprised Kíli.

"Thorin said I wouldn't be returning home." He said.

"He meant in a permanent manner." Fíli explained and elaborated once he crossed Kíli's confused expression, "From then on, you'll be living in Erebor with us, but this doesn't mean you won't be permitted to leave on vacation or just a visit to wherever you desire. As the second in line, you have more freedom than I ever will and it will only increase once I get married and have a child. Technically, you'll be able to visit the Shire occasionally and meet with your friends and family."

Kíli's expression brightened up but the soured, "How do you know that's what he meant?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because I too am allowed to leave for a vacation or visit to wherever I please." Fíli stated, "However, I can only go so far. I must stay rather close to Erebor and be ready to return as soon as possible if my presence if ever seriously needed. This is the only time and exception I've been given to travel so far to the East. Now going off what I said, since you'll have more freedom than me, you'll actually be able to come here. Of course, you won't be able to return so shortly after arriving at Erebor, but if you give Uncle some time and show him how you take your duties seriously, he might consider allowing you to visit the Shire faster than he would have otherwise permitted."

"Then…I suppose leaving's not that bad…" Kíli reasoned with himself, "But Erebor does sound awfully dangerous…"

"Aye, but it does sound more exciting." Fíli smirked. "Living a leisure life is good and all, but I think, as my brother, that a little bit of excitement and uncertainty is very appealing to you, isn't it?"

Kíli smiled guiltily, "I guess we really are brothers." He smirked, but his smile slowly faded away as his mind focused on something else, "Brother…" he repeated in a mumble, "You're my brother…"

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Fíli smirked, "We look nothing alike, though I assure you, you do really take after our mother. I resemble more our father, or so I'm told."

"What was he like?" Kíli asked. "Our father, I mean."

"Honestly, I wouldn't know." Fíli answered with a huff, "The day he died was also the day mother learned she was pregnant with you. Apparently he was a good warrior, very skilled and honorable who contested King Thrór and that inevitably ended with his head chopped clean off."

"Ouch." Kíli winced.

"But enough about that," Fíli said, scooting closer to the bed, "I want to hear about your life."

"My life?" Kíli repeated, surprised, "Why?"

"Because you're my brother!" Fíli reminded with a playful nudge, "All I remember about you is vaguely holding you as a babe before you were whisked away. It's a pity we don't know each other more than this and, honestly, if you're going to survive Erebor, you'll want a friend."

"I guess that makes sense." Kíli reasoned with a smile.

"So tell me about your childhood." Fíli demanded as he laid back comfortably against the chair, "I want to hear about how life was with these people. They're so kind and relaxed, it sounds like it would have been loads of fun."

"It was." Kíli confirmed with a growing smile. He enjoyed how Fíli seemed genuinely interested and excited to learn more about him, "My mother was Belladonna Took and my father was Bungo Baggins."

"They already sound fun." Fíli commented.

"They really were." And as Fíli continued to be positive, Kíli got all the more excited to tell him more about himself. "Belladonna was single when she first took me in but got married almost immediately after returning to the Shire. She and Bungo took good care of me and completely forgot about how they wanted a child of their own for twenty-five years."

"So I'm assuming you were difficult." Fíli guessed with a grin.

"A bit." Kíli admitted with a guilty smile, "I was very energetic, or so they kept telling when I got old enough to remember things. So twenty-five years later, Bilbo came along and I was really excited about having a little brother. I wouldn't leave him alone and Belladonna later teased me about having been a second mother to Bilbo then."

"Ha, I know the feeling." Fíli laughed, "I was the same way when Gimli, Gloín's son, came into the world."

"When we were around the same age," Kíli continued, "Bilbo and I got into all sorts of trouble. We would run off into the forest, wreck the house while attempting to cook, and pillaged the garden from which we were quickly forbidden to enter ever again. We were basically little balls of energy and we were schooled often for our behavior. We had actually become infamous at some point and were known as the Terrific Duo or something of the like."

"Oh wow," Fíli laughed, "Belladonna and Bungo must have been exceptional people."

"They were." Kíli nodded, "Belladonna was righteous and as energetic as us. She was the only one who could keep up and control us to some extent. Bungo was essentially her polar opposite, very relaxed and struggling to deal with us. He normally left that task to Belladonna while he cleaned the house of cooked or something. They were the perfect match and were very much in love."

"Where are they now?" Fíli asked.

"Belladonna passed away eight years ago." Kíli explained, "Bungo had left four years before her. It was tough but even more so for Bilbo."

"I guess his reaction was only understandable then." Fíli concluded, remembering what he had heard from the argument, "You really are the only family he has left."

"Well…" Kíli said slowly, "That's not entirely true. He has plenty of cousins, aunts and uncles, he just doesn't like any of them as much as me!"

"Ha! I reckon he would never admit to that!" Fíli laughed, "He seems far too respectable!"

"See," Kíli grinned, "He might seem that way at first but when you get to know him, the only word to describe him is: frightening."

"That doesn't surprise me!" Fíli said, "When we first got here and barged into his home, he exploded and yelled and argued with Uncle until he learned he was addressing a King."

"Oh Valar!" Kíli laughed as he imagined Bilbo's face, "I can't even begin to imagine his reaction!"

"Aye, it was something priceless!" Fíli laughed as well, "Something akin to a stunned dear!"

"Now I regret not having been there!" Kíli said.

They continued to chat as so for a while. They laughed and joke, got to know each other better as brothers and bond. Kíli found it was rather easy to talk to Fíli and that he was far more reasonable and open minded than Thorin seemed. In brief, Kíli rather liked his newfound brother and was quite happy they got on so well.

Bilbo, on the other hand, loathed it. As he stood on the other side of the closed door and listened to them laugh as though they had known each other all their lives, fear swelled within him. Kíli opened up so easily to Fíli, even more so than he did with him. The Hobbit's eyes filled with tears again as he sighed and wondered if Kíli would simply accept leaving with the company of Dwarves – having only begun eavesdropping when hearing the boys laughing loudly about his reaction to the presence of a King. The fact that Kíli had already made his mind was unknown to him.

Nonetheless, in the end, it was only a matter of time before Kíli befriended everyone and left with them merrily, leaving Bilbo to live in the house of his deceased parents on his own. Bilbo's eyes shifted to the ceiling, watering as he woefully began accepting the inevitability of the loneliness he would eventually suffer – the instigation of which he blamed on Thorin. His eyes moved from the veiling and down the hall to his left where he found the formerly mentioned standing quietly, his arms folded across his chest as though challenging him. Bilbo glared at him and merely left without exchanging a word. Something Tookish awoke in him in that moment and he decided he wouldn't let that obnoxious, hardheaded King win. He was going to keep his brother no matter what and Thorin would not stop him.

POLITICS 5EVER