Do You Wanna Be My Friend?

Chapter 2: Eyes Of Innocence

Kili woke up to silky chocolate hair tickling his face, Fili's hair was not chocolate colored nor was it soft like silk. Suddenly alarmed, Kili sat up and found that he was still laying with Alyss, who was sleeping soundly.

"Alyss..." the name left him shuddering, it felt funny to say but nonetheless it was beautiful and mysterious. Truly fitting for the girl as she was a mystery to him.

Alyss seemed to have heard her name for she awoke and stared back through half-lidded eyes, "Kili?"

"M-Morning Alyss!" he blushed slightly, finding it strange and almost enticing to look into her hazel eyes. Or perhaps it was the sun that made her eyes appear hazel for once she blinked away from the light they turned to a dark-almost black- brown. "Did you sleep well?"

She sniffled a bit but nodded, "I'm hungry."

Kili nearly laughed at her timid response, dwarves were known to just eat but she must have been raised to ask for food or she scared of them despite the fact they saved her. Regardless, Kili stood up and offered his hand, "Mum must have breakfast ready by now."

Giving him a weak smile, Alyss accepted his offer and followed him slowly to the kitchen while taking in the strange house. The house seemed so small compared to what she was use to and certainly it was not meant to accommodate the tall.

"Mum," Alyss looked forward toward Kili and realized they were standing in the kitchen and living room of the house. "Alyss is hungry."

Alyss peeked behind Kili's shoulder, seeing a female dwarf with long hair and a longer braided beard that was brown and gold. Sitting in a chair beside the table, not exactly seated at the table, was a male dwarf with long black hair with thin lines of silver and white and a smaller, trimmed beard than the female, his eyes looked worn with little youth in them.

"Alyss?" the she-dwarf asked, for a moment she had not realized that her youngest was talking about the girl they saved from death.

"Alyss," he lightly tugged her out from behind him, "our guest."

Alyss cowered away, despite the fact they were the ones who took pity on her she still feared that they would shun her away and turn a blind eye.

Smiling at the girl, Thorin approached the two children cautiously like he had when he found the girl. "You're name is Alyss?"

The small brunette nodded her head, her normally rash and quick tempered personality hid beneath a more timid and soft spoken one. "W-Who are you?" he voice became a little more than a whisper due to the fact her throat was still sore from her coughing fits.

"I am Thorin and this," he extended his hand toward Dis, "is my younger sister Dis."

Recognizing his voice and name, she smiled a bit, "You're the dwarf who brought me here." Her recollection of last night was blurry though she did remember when he found her and when she spoke to Kili.

His smile widened, "I am and you should also thank Kili, for he was the one who heard your distress."

Kili blushed under the praise of his uncle, he did not think that he contributed to her rescue since he figured that Fili would have also heard her eventually.

"I-I don't..I mean..." he stuttered under embarrassment when Alyss turned her grateful smile toward him.

Alyss and Dis giggled at his flustered appearance as Thorin chuckled, "Well, before Kili is pounced by Fili for abandoning his brother during the night let's get you something to eat." Picking up the small girl, Thorin placed her on a wooden chair.

"You should dress Kili," Dis told her youngest, who was still redder that a tomato. "after breakfast Balin and Dwalin will be taking you and Fili for your lessons."

Kili groaned but obeyed his mother, nothing scared Kili more than the consequences that followed disobedience toward Dis or Thorin. Besides, he could trick Fili into thinking he had not left him last night for a girl otherwise, the dark haired dwarfling would never hear the end of it.

Alyss watched Kili go before turning her attention to the strange smelling tea that was placed in front of her. "What's this?" she sniffed it and crunched up her nose, it smelled different from the tea her mother use to give her when she was sick."It smells funny."

Dis chuckled at the girl's partial disgust at the medical tea Oin had told her to give to the child, "You must drink it, it will help heal your throat from all the coughing you've done."

Alyss wrinkled her nose, she knew exactly what kind of tea it was now and she truly hated how those tasted. "Can I have some honey with it?" She had a terribly huge sweet tooth and preferred teas that allowed her to overdose of sugar or honey. Though some herbal teas allowed her to add some honey it never tasted the way she wanted it to. Still, some honey would be better than nothing.

Dis shook her head, "I'm sorry little one, but that would not do you much good."

Alyss whined a bit but nonetheless picked up the cup and toss all the liquid content down her throat without letting it touch her tongue.

Thorin let out a roar of laughter as he watched the girl throw back the tea, even he would admit that throat soothing teas were horrible in taste though necessary for one's health. Fili and Kili still were learning how to avoid tasting the foul medical herds but this girl seemed to already know all the hacks. It was very amusing to him.

"I never said to do that.." Dis took the cup away and while amused that the girl was trained in avoiding foul tastes she did fear that the small girl would make herself sick or choke.

"But I always do that."Alyss stated with a pout. "I don't have to drink it again right?" The way she asked made it seem like she'd do something worse to avoid repeating the event.

Thorin chuckled, carefully rubbing the girl's head, "Not for a while, unless Oin says you need to."

Before Alyss could ask who Oin was, Kili raced out from his room, followed by a wooden sword wielding Fili. "MUM!"

"Oh now what's wrong?" Dis sighed as she picked up her youngest son, away from his playfully upset older brother.

Fili pretended to be hurt but the wide grin said differently, "He left me last night, did not even bother to tell me he wanted to see our guest!" Fili poked and playfully jabbed Kili's dangling feet. "He goes to the dungeons!"

"No!" Kili laughingly cried, trying to crawl up to his mother's shoulder. "Save me mum!"

Alyss watched with a small smile though it changed to a depressed frown that caught Thorin's attention. She must have had siblings if her reaction to the boys is like this. He thought to himself. Perhaps I should take her out and ask her. She seems like she wouldn't mind talking to someone.

Dis eventually managed to calm down the dueling brothers and fed them all some breakfast before Dwalin arrived.

"Where's Balin?" Dis asked, noting the absence of the older brother of her cousin.

"He went to look at the main road where Thorin found our little miss." he said, not spotting the little mouse hiding behind Thorin's leg.

"Her name is Alyss!" the brothers chirped, Fili had learned her name over breakfast and quickly gained her trust just like Kili.

Alyss moved a bit, gaining the harden Dwarf's attention. "She's up already?" he asked, surprised that she moving about just fine after what happened last night. Not even a dwarfling would be out of bed with simple cold and here she was, prancing along like nothing had hpppened. "She's strong for a little thing."

A small Humph! sounded from her, she obviously did not like being called small. "She's got more to her than we thought." Thorin patted her head, it hardly felt weird to him that he was treating her like she was his family. It felt like she actually belonged with them. "Dis and I will have to buy her clothes today so it's a good thing that you'll be taking them." Thorin nudged his head toward the two dwarf boys.

"I'll take the boys off your hands then." Dwalin laughed, "You won't be seeing them until late tonight probably, Balin's got a lot tests waiting."

The brothers groaned and sadly waved goodbye to their family and Alyss, Kili seemed to take their departure hard as he suddenly began to miss Alyss. It was going to be a long day for both dwaflings but even more so for Kili.

Alyss suddenly felt a cold shiver run through her as Kili left her sight, it definitely bothered her that she would not be with the dwarfling despite the fact she knew she was in good hands. "Where are they going?"

Thorin and Dis heard the panic in her soft voice and it slightly confused them. "They have lessons little one." Dis replied as she entered the kitchen to clean the mess made from the morning meal. "All dwarflings have lessons."

"Lessons?" Alyss knew the word but she did not understand the context of which it was being used. "You mean school?"

"School?" Dis turned a bit with a questioning look.

Alyss nodded, she had just plopped herself in her previous chair at the table so she could watch Dis scurry around the kitchen. "Yeah, school. The place where kids like me go to learn right? Is that where they're going?" she coughed a little as she finished her question.

Thorin nodded, "Yes Alyss, they have school." The word was nothing either of the royal siblings have heard before but Thorin understood her a bit after he managed to understand that school was a place where children went to receive their lessons.

Alyss stuck her tongue out when Thorin told her the were going to school, she was not against learning new things it was the teachers she hated. How they were always impatient and acted like she should already know things she never heard of before, she had made it known to most of her elders that she'd rather sit in from of a wall than hear another teachers nagging.

"She can't leave the house in a nightshirt." Alyss snapped out of her self induced daze as Thorin and Dis talked about her clothes. "She's smaller than Kili is, she could use some of his older clothes."

Thorin let out a hearty chuckle, "In case you've forgotten my dear sister, most of Kili's old clothes are used to make fires."

Alyss tilted her head at the conversing pair, she had no idea on what the problem was so she asked, "What are you talking about?"

Thorin gave his attention to the brunette, "You need some new clothes little one, you cannot walk around in a nightshirt all day."

Alyss looked down at herself, she had not realized that she not wearing her clothes even though she wondered why she did not feel the crust of dirt on her anymore. "Oh."

"We'll just give her some of his current clothes then." Dis interrupted, "After all, I'm sure he won't mind since it is for Alyss."

Thorin smiled a bit, "Fair enough." He stood from his chair, "I will go find her something to wear and in the meantime why not show Alyss where the bath is."

Normally, Alyss hated baths as that meant she had waste precious time sitting in a tub of water that was filled with her own filthy but after days of bathing in frigged rivers and constant raining nights, she missed bathing in warm water. "Bath!"

Kili released his arrow, missing his moving target by only a mere inch. His eyes were focused on the target that moved back and forth but his mind was wandering. He missed Alyss, though he wasn't all that sure why. He understood that he was worried about her and though she was pretty much fine this morning did not mean something could not happen during the day.

"You're not yourself brother." Fili noted as he watched his brother ready another arrow. "You should already be done."

Kili sighed and lowered his bow, if his brother was standing there watching it meant their training was over. Training always ended once Fili finished. "I can't concentrate."

Fili gave a small laugh, "So I've noticed, what is bothering you?"

Kili stayed quiet as he headed toward the armory to return the bow. He really didn't have to return the bow, for it was the only one and only he used it but he felt that it belonged to everyone. "I just have a lot-"

"Stop." Fili said, already knowing that his brother was lying to him. "We are brothers Kili, sworn by blood and soul to protect each other, if something is troubling you I want to know. Do not lie to me or I cannot help you."

Kili bowed his head a bit, he felt ashamed that he tried to fool Fili. "It's Alyss, she's been on my mind since we left." he admitted.

Smiling in understanding, Fili lightly patted Kili's head, "She is strong brother, we both saw her strength this morning remember?"

Kili nodded, he did see it in her eyes that she would not let a cold get the best of her. She even said so herself when Dis asked if she weak or anything. He still wasn't so sure though, illness had taken some of the strongest of dwarves and she was not a dwarf.

"Do not worry yourself brother," Fili could feel the worry radiate off his younger brother, "I'm sure uncle will bring her over for lunch."

Kili's face brightened a bit, "You think so?"

Now Fili felt bad, he could not guarantee that would happen but Kili seemed so happy at the thought of Alyss visiting them at lunch that he forced himself to lie. "Of course, now come on. Mister Balin is waiting for us."

Kili eagerly put away his bow and hurried out to where Balin and Dwalin were discussing the elder's findings while Fili sighed and put away his practice sword. He was in serious trouble now, he needed to find a way to have Alyss at lunch or Kili would become a depressing wreck and never talk to him about anything again.

Dressed in Kili's clothes, which were too big on her and needed to be held with a sash, Alyss followed Thorin through crowds of dwarves as he led her toward where his favorite seamstress worked. Thorin had said that the she-dwarf would have her new clothes made and ready before night fall once they recorded her measurements.

"What's that?" Alyss grabbed Thorin's hand and pointed at the display of dwarvish goods. Since entering the market place she had pointed and asked about everything she saw, Thorin hadn't minded on bit and was quite happy to explain some of their trade to the girl.

"That would be dwarvish jewelery little one." Thorin told her with a proud smile. "We make those for special reasons."

"Really?" She tugged at his hand and tried to drag him toward the stand, "Can we go see them? Please?"

Thorin chuckled, he almost did not want to resist her tugs but he knew her clothes were their top priority at the moment. "After we get you clothes."

Alyss pouted but agreed, she figured he would keep his word since he was promising but at the same time, she really wanted to see the jewelery. Following him past several other stands until they left the main part of the market, Alyss began to notice that the shops looked oddly different. They looked more like stores than stands and while that was a normal sight to her, she was not sure she liked it all that much.

"Raella." Alyss looked up and saw Thorin conversing with a pretty she-dwarf. "How convenient of you to be out of the shop."

The she-dwarf laughed, her small, twin braided beard shook from her laughter. "I seemed to have gained a sixth sense for when you come looking for me Thorin. What may you need my services for this time?" Something in the she-dwarf's voice said she had been given many tasks by Thorin and knew him very well.

"I have a little one here," he gently brought Alyss in front of him so Raella could see her. "she needs new clothes and I know you have nothing on hand for someone of her small size."

Alyss squirmed under the female's curious gaze, looking up at her with some fright and curiosity. "Such innocent eyes.." she heard the she-dwarf say.

"Can you make her something?" Thorin asked, already knowing the answer.

Raella smiled at Thorin, "Of course, I'll take her my shop and measure her."

Thorin nodded and knelled down to Alyss's line of sight. "I must leave you for a moment little one, I some errands to run and you shall be with Raella for that time."

Alyss nodded her head in understanding, "You'll come back wight?"

Thorin felt his heart melt at the sight of the girl's true innocence, "I swear I will." he promised as he let Raella take the small brunette away. Suddenly, like Kili had, he felt an ache as Alyss left his sight.

This Chapter was prewritten along with Chapter 1 which is why I can post it so early, tell me what you think of the story so far and thank you to my first follower SineNominae! I love you despite the fact I don't know you! The next chapter is about halfway written but won't be posted anytime soon! And in case anyone hasn't noticed, Do You Wanna Be My Friend was deprived from Do You Wanna Build A Snowman, that damn song was on repeat and the name seemed to stick. Also, just in case people don't realize, Alyss's name is pronounced Alice, I got the alternative spelling from Pandora Hearts as the white Alice (Intention of The Abyss) was given the fan name Alyss to tell her and her twin (Alice) a part. I thought that Alyss was a more interesting spelling than Alice. I considered Lacie but that name seems more adult to me.