Here is then finally chapter nine:) Sorry for the long wait, I had no idea what to write next. But, don't worry about that any longer, I have a lot of ideas now:) Enjoy! x
It was almost Durin's day, which meant it was almost time for the annual festival the dwarfs held. Every year, the dwarfs would celebrate the day together, with wine and lots of food. With games and songs. It was one of those days were they felt connected to each other. Felt like family.
Kili was never old enough to experience the feasts properly. He was always too young to know what was going on or to even get what was it about.
Until this year.
He was barely five years old and finally old enough to know what was going on and to join in with the activities. Not that he was actually going to do that, Kili was an incredibly shy boy and much preferred to stay with Thorin, rather than joining the other kids.
Thorin was busy trying to clean up the place, not really wanting to come home in a mess, when all of a sudden his door burst open. The cheerful laughs of his company greeted him as the dwarfs walked inside, all of them.
'By the gods of Mahal! Can't you knock first?!' Thorin yelled, turning to his men. 'We're sorry, Thorin.' Bofur grinned, sitting down on a chair. The company was still being loud and Thorin put away his broom: 'Can you calm down already?! Kili is asleep and I don't want you to wake him up!' he shushed the company. 'Sorry, Thorin. We didn't know that.' Ori said, quick to feel to guilty.
'Dad?' Kili's little head appeared from the hallway, rubbing his eyes. His eyes grew wider when he saw the company.
The company but not his father.
'Well done, now he's awake.' Thorin sighed and put away his broomstick. 'Dad?' Kili asked again, a bit frightened now. 'I'm here, Kili.' Thorin wrestled himself through the small crowd and picked up his son: 'Goodmorning, little one. Did you sleep well?' Kili nodded: 'I had a really funny dream, dad.' He said, smiling at Thorin.
The company smiled at the two from behind. They always enjoy seeing Thorin interact with Kili. It was a different Thorin, from their perspective. They just couldn't get used to it, even though Kili had been among them for five full years now. It was just a bit crazy, and it would always remain that way.
'What did you dream about, Kee?' Thorin asked, wiping away a strain of hair out of Kili's face. 'I dreamt of you, in aunt Dis's dress.' The company started snorting from behind them and Kili started giggling as well. Thorin was taken aback for a second before cracking a smile at Kili: 'I hope I looked just as handsome as her in it.' Kili smiled: 'You were a very beautiful woman, dad.' The company was now laughing their heads off and Thorin put Kili down: 'Alright, young man. You need to eat something, we don't want you to starve, do we? Go, I'll come after you.' 'Alright.' Kili answered, turned around and ran away.
Thorin turned back to the dwarfs, who were hiccupping from laughter. 'Alright, alright. Enough now!' Thorin exclaimed. They shut up and Thorin rolled his eyes: 'I suppose you want to join breakfast?' 'I thought you'd never ask. Never start the day with an empty stomach, is what we always say.' Dori said and dragged Ori to the kitchen. The others soon followed and Thorin sighed. He dropped his shoulders and rushed after them.
'I've heard they are planning on displaying some firework this year.' Balin said, watching as Kili took a piece of bread. Nori nodded along: 'Yeah, I've heard that too. It would be amazing if they did.' 'Sure thing. It would make it much more spectacular.' Gloin said. Thorin turned his head to Kili: 'Are you sure? Kili has never seen firework, I'm afraid it will scare him.' Kili looked up when he heard his name but when back to his food when he noticed it wasn't that interesting.
'Oh come on, Thorin. He's got you, am I right? Kili will have to experience life, life like we live it. He can't always be under your wing.' Dwalin said, looking at Thorin. Thorin sighed: 'I know, but I just, I just don't want Kili to be scared at any point of life. I promised Sicilia, I want it myself.' 'We understand. But this is just firework. He will survive. Or your name isn't Thorin Oakenshield.' Bofur said, patting Thorin on his shoulder. Thorin smiled at him. 'You have wings, dad?!'
Kili spat out his food and with a bit of struggle, he managed to get off his chair. He rushed to Thorin and laid his little hands on Thorin's knees: 'You can fly, dad?' Thorin chuckled and lifted Kili up into the air: 'I will fly everywhere with you, kin. For you I will open up my wings.' Kili giggled and Thorin gave him a hug.
'You need to get dressed. The feast starts in an hour.' Thorin placed Kili back on the ground. 'We need to leave, Thorin. We should get ready ourselves too.' Balin said. Thorin nodded: 'I'll see you in an hour then. Come on, Kili. Bye, lads.' Thorin gently pushed Kili towards his bedroom as the dwarfs took their leaving.
An hour later, Thorin opened up his door. He let Kili out and closed it again. 'Kili, wait. Come here, let me check you before we leave.' Kili sighed and walked back to Thorin. His dad adjusted his brown coat and checked if his boots were still secure. 'Alright, let's go.' Thorin grabbed Kili's hand and walked to the big field, where the feast was being held.
On his way to the party, Thorin felt a bit worried. After what had happened to Kili, he wasn't sure if he could just go out with him. It worried him that the dwarf would be there too, that he would try to grab Kili again. But he wasn't going to let that happen. He would keep a close eye on Kili.
He arrived at the field and noticed there were a lot of people already. Kili shuffled closer to him and Thorin wrapped his arm around him, keeping him close to him. Before stepping on the grass, Thorin bend down and whispered to Kili: 'It's going to be alright. I'm here and the company is here. And I'm sure we'll find aunt Dis and Fili too. You'll be fine.' He gave him a kiss on his forehead and grabbed his hand again.
The field was higher than the ground they were standing on and Thorin helped Kili getting on the field. He held Kili's hand close as he observed the entire party. The was food, lots of food. Beer, wine, colourful lights, small stands with stuff to buy, you could name it.
'Where is my brother? Did he not arrive yet?' Dis joined the company with Fili, who was being ridiculously impatient to see Kili.
'No, we haven't spot him yet. He's just late, that's all.' Dwalin said, taking a big sip of his beer. Dis rolled her eyes and placed Fili next to her. Only for Fili to jump off his seat again: 'Kili!' Without saying another word, Fili dashed away and Dis followed him with her eyes. She saw he was running towards Thorin and Kili, who had just arrived.
'Thorin's here.' She sighed, relieved. The company turned around and saw Thorin pointed at several things, talking to Kili. Kili was holding Thorin's hand and the dwarven king had his other arm wrapped around Kili's small frame, keeping him safe and protected. They all started smiling. 'Now the party has begun.'
'Uncle! There you are!' Thorin turned his head and saw Fili running over to him. 'Hey you, how good to see your face.' Thorin opened up his arm and let Fili hug him. 'Hi Fili.' Kili spoke up, a bit shy. 'Hi Kili! This is fun, isn't it?' Kili shrugged and Fili gently took his hand. Kili looked up at his father and Thorin ruffled his hair: 'I'll be right behind you.' Kili turned back and let Fili lead him to the others.
Despite the fact that he knew all of them, Kili did hold Fili's hand very firmly. Fili didn't mind at all. In fact, he loved it. It gave him the feeling that he was protecting Kili. And he was proud of that, proud that Kili allowed him to protect him. Besides, it showed that Kili was his cousin. And Fili was more than proud to show everyone that Kili was his cousin.
Thorin was right behind them, keeping his hand on the back of Kili's head. 'Evening, everyone. Hello, sister. Good to see you.' Thorin greeted everyone, getting waves from all the others. 'Hello, Thorin. Good to see you too. I see Fili greeted you already?' Dis grinned, looking at how her son held Kili's hand proudly. Thorin smiled: 'He did. And I believe he found Kili too.'
They looked down on the two and saw how Kili shuffled a little closer to Fili. 'Oi! You're scaring him!' Fili exclaimed, in defence of Kili. Thorin chuckled and took over Kili's hand. 'Thank you, Fili. I think I can handle it again.' Thorin grinned as he ruffled Kili's hair. Fili sighed and walked over to his mother: 'But you do have to sit next to me!' Thorin laughed, lifted Kili up and took his place next to Fili and Dis.
During the dinner, Fili and Kili couldn't sit still. They were constantly playing with their food and Fili was making funny faces at Kili, making him laugh. At one point, Fili hit with his fist the tines of a fork, throwing food into Bifur's face. 'Fili!' Dis exclaimed, shocked to see her son just did. Fili sunk under the table but Dis pulled him back up. 'Apologize, now.' She hissed at him and made him look at Bifur, who was cleaning his face. 'Sorry, Bifur. That wasn't supposed to happen.' Fili said, looking at his hands. 'And?' Dis went on. Fili looked up: 'And I wasn't aiming for your face anyway. I went for Balin's.' 'Fili Durin! I am so sorry for his behaviour, I don't know what is up with him.' Dis smacked Fili behind his head and he sat back down, rubbing his head.
'Fili? Are you okay? Does it hurt?' Kili asked, eyes full of concern as he watched Fili's face grimaced. 'I'm a warrior, Kili. It doesn't hurt.' Fili answered, but Kili didn't believe him. He crawled on top of Fili and carefully placed a small and soft kiss on the back of Fili's head. Fili was surprised when he felt Kili giving him a kiss. Kili turned back and gave Fili a hug: 'I don't like you seeing hurt.' He whispered and Fili smiled widely.
Thorin watched full of pride as Kili attempted to cheer up Fili. When Kili gave his cousin a kiss, Thorin turned to his company, smiling widely. 'That's my boy.' Thorin said, looking at Kili. 'You are raising him well, Thorin.' Balin said, smiling at Thorin.
Kili pulled back from Fili and asked: 'Are you okay now?' Fili nodded and smiled: 'I am. Thank you, Kee. You are the best cousin ever.' Kili smiled and didn't leave Fili's lap.
After dinner, the two dwarflings ran off to play with the other children. It was Kili's first time, playing with other children than Fili. But Fili was there and was certain not to let anything happen to Kili. He introduced his friends to his cousin and was more than happy when they were immediately very nice to him.
Thorin smiled as he watched Kili play with the other kids. He noticed how utterly careful they were with him, as if Kili was made of glass. He appreciated it though, he'd rather had them play too careful with him than be all wild and reckless with him. But of course it had to go wrong.
Kili was sat on the ground. He was still very young and therefore rather quick tired. As he was sat, the kids around him continued to play with their fake wooden swords. But one of them stood a bit too close to Kili and as he drew his sword back, he hit Kili on the back of his head. Kili fell forward and started crying. The boy turned around and started stuttering: 'B-By the G-Gods of M-Mahal, I-I,I'm s-sorry!' Fili was quick to be next to Kili and all of his friends gathered around the little boy. 'Kee, Kee! It's alright!' Fili tried to cheer him up, not knowing what to do now. Kili just kept on crying and all the dwarflings started panicking. 'Kili!'
The voice made them all look up and they saw Thorin racing over to them. They gulped and watched as Thorin came closer.
As soon as he arrived, Thorin sunk down next to Kili and wrapped his arms around him: 'It's alright, little one. It's alright. I'm here, dad's here. He did it on accident, you know that, right?' He felt Kili nodded but the tears were still rolling down his cheek. Thorin lifted him up and he felt Kili burying his head into his shoulder. He carefully laid his hand on the back of Kili's head but pulled back when Kili whimpered.
'I-I'm s-o s-sorry, m-master Thorin!' the boy stuttered. 'It is forgiven, boy. You didn't mean to hit him, I understand. You were just playing.' Thorin smiled at him and saw Fili coming closer. 'Uncle, is Kili going to be alright?' Fili asked, worried about Kili. 'He's going to be just fine, Fili. Kili had worse, blame the lads for that. I just need to lay a cold cloth on it.' With that, Thorin walked away with Kili in his arms.
Fili turned back to the boy and asked: 'Why did you hit Kili, Ivan?' 'I didn't do it on purpose!' Ivan exclaimed, feeling extremely guilty. Fili sighed: 'Just don't ever do it again. All of you. Kili is just a baby, you need to watch where you step, alright? I don't want him to get hurt again.' He said, getting nods from his friends.
Thorin joined the others again, holding a wet cloth against the small wound on the back of Kili's head. 'Is the boy alright?' Dwalin asked. 'He is. He had worse.' Thorin said, looking up at his company. They turned red and Balin said: 'At least the boy didn't mean for it to happen. It could have been worse.' Thorin nodded and gave Kili a kiss in his hair. Kili was hiccupping and had dried tears on his face.
'Hey, Kili. Do you want to hear a funny story about your father?' Bofur asked, getting Kili's attention. 'One time, there was a goat-'Oh no, Bofur! Don't you dare tell him that tale!' Thorin exclaimed, getting red cheeks. Bofur grinned and continued: 'One time, before you were born, your dad and we were out on a hunting trip. All of a sudden, it started raining. We had no cover whatsoever, so we decided to head back. Along the way, we stumbled across a small farm. It had a few cows, a few chickens, it had goats.'
'Bofur, you shut your mouth.' Thorin hissed. Kili looked up at his dad and back at Bofur. He was interested and asked: 'What happened then?' Bofur smiled up at Thorin and continued his story.
'Well, your father wanted to go inside the farm and ask for shelter. But the goats were kind of blocking the way in. Thorin became angry and started to push the goats out of the way. That didn't work. So, he started poking them with his sword. That was the worst idea ever. The goat he was poking kicked him with his paws and Thorin fell over. Thorin quickly stood up and wanted to run away, but the goat started chasing him. And because it was raining, your father slipped and the goat ran to his side. Do you want to know what happened then?' Kili's eyes were wide and he nodded. 'The goat started eating Thorin's coat.' Bofur finished.
Kili burst out in a fit of laughter and so did the company. Hearing the story again made it only funnier. 'Once this is over, I'll kill you.' Thorin muttered, turning to his sister, who was laughing her head off. 'How come I never knew about this?' She asked, wiping away tears of laughter. 'And why should you know?' Thorin exclaimed, only making her giggle even more. He looked at Kili and sighed. He cracked a smile at him and gave him a hug.
Kili wrestled himself free from Thorin and asked: 'Can I go and play again? I'll be careful.' 'Make sure Fili is near you.' More wasn't needed to be said. Kili jumped off and carefully ran back to the other kids.
'Kili! Are you alright?' Fili wrapped his arms around Kili and gave him a tight hug. 'I'm alright, Fili. Bofur told me a very funny story of dad.' Kili answered, getting all the attention of the dwarflings.
Thorin happened to hear that and exclaimed: 'Kili! No! Don't tell them! Don't embarrass your father!' Dis grinned and playfully punched his arm: 'Tomorrow everybody knows about your goat accident.' Thorin sighed: 'Thanks, Bofur. Thanks for ruining my reputation.' Bofur snorted.
'Don't embarrass your father!' they heard Thorin yell and Kili chuckled. 'What is it?' Fili asked curious. 'Father got chased by a goat once. And that same goat ate his jacket.' Kili started giggling all over again and the other kids started laughing. Fili fell to the ground and got tears in his eyes from laughter.
And the night continued for them. Kili played with the kids till the moment they had all been waiting for.
The firework.
Kili had never seen firework and crawled into his father's arms. Thorin wrapped them tightly around Kili's waist and Kili peaked over them. Fili sat next to him, together with his friends. On the other side was Dis sat. 'Come on, Kili. It's going to be fun!' Fili exclaimed, getting nods from his friends. Kili had no chance to respond, the first bit of firework went up into the air, ending with a loud explosion.
Kili squeaked and hid his head in Thorin's chest, covering his ears. Fili and his friends looked at him when they heard Kili's small outburst. Thorin wrapped his arms around him: 'Laddie, it's alright. The fireworks won't hurt you. Look, it is very beautiful.' Kili slowly turned his head around and squeaked again, hearing another *boom*. He looked up at his father, than to his aunt and eventually at Fili and the other boys. Fili gave him a nod and Kili looked at the firework. He thought it was very beautiful, but all the loud noises kept on scaring him.
'Hang on, little one. I've got an idea.' Thorin said and covered Kili's ears himself. Kili gave him a thankful nod and turned back to the firework. Thorin gave him a kiss in his hair and felt Dis shuffling closer. He gave his sister a smile and turned to Fili. The young boy was cheering along with his friends, loving every second of it.
Thorin smiled and turned his gaze back on Kili. Now he wasn't hearing the noises so loud anymore, Kili was enjoying it. His mouth had fallen open as he watched the sky lit up in all different colours. Thorin smiled and looked up at the sky. This had to be the best Durin's day he had ever experienced.
I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and if you did, please review for me:) Thanks for all the follows and favorites! :D x