Chapter One: Watching Over

Kili was certain beyond any measure of doubt that his mother was dying. The young dwarfling once again crept past his brother's watchful gaze and snuck down the hall as he listened to the terrifying sound of his mother crying out for his father. Father; the thought made him sad as his mother, uncle and brother had already carefully explained that his father was dead and that meant that he would never see him again. With a stop he remembered what happened to little dwarves whose mummies and daddies left them forever; they became orphans! He did not want to become an orphan! No, he must save his mother from whatever ailment was trying to take her and then she can stay with him forever! He just had to reach the door.

"Kili!" a voice in the dark scolded slightly over the sounds of crying. The youngster turned to see his brother reaching out, pulling the little one from the door. "You are supposed to stay away from here until Balin comes for us!"

The little one stopped reaching for the door, choosing to let out a frustrated sigh. How could he begin to explain to his brother what was going to happen if they didn't run in to save Mummy?! Why wasn't he nearly half as worried as he should be?!

"Fili," the boy squeaked, "if Mummy dies, who will take care of us?!"

Fili, his brother, gave him a puzzled look. "Um, Uncle Thorin, I suppose. But why would you ask me that?!"

The boy let out a wail and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist. "Can't you hear her?! Mummy is dying! I don't want to become an orphan!"

Fili was about to say something nice, about as nice as a sixteen year old dwarf could muster at least, but there was a loud bang and the door swung open. There stood Uncle Thorin, his eyes narrowed slightly as he surveyed the young dwarves and blocking the room from both their sights. Behind him a great cry was heard and he turned to ensure his sister's wellbeing. Seeing an opening, Kili wrenched himself from his brother's grasp and made to dash past the future king all to no avail; he was lifted off the ground and into his uncle's arms.

"What in Durin's name is going on out here, Fili?!" he demanded, clutching his struggling nephew in his grasp while shutting the door behind him. Kili let out a cry of indignation as he pounded his fists against his uncle's chest. "I told you to watch the boy! Oin must focus and he can't do that with children scampering about like this!"

Fili had begun to mumble some sort of apology and or explanation before Kili let out a great shout, "Stop hurting her! I don't want to be an orphan!"

Thorin looked at the boy in surprise before lifting him so that they were nose to nose. "What do you mean by that?"

Kili looked taken aback and a little untrusting. "Why is she crying so loudly?! What are you doing to her?!"

The dwarf then reared his head back and let out a laugh so loud that in rang throughout the Blue Mountains. He then turned and sat down on the bench across from the fated room, placing the frightened boy on his lap. Fili followed suit and sat beside his uncle, studying how the grown dwarf handled the situation so that he could be better prepared next time. Kili sat very warily upon his uncle's knee, wincing every time his mother cried out. Fili took the boy's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Mahal!" their uncle exclaimed, "Praise my ancestors that this is the last time I will ever have to explain this!"

Kili let out a wail, convinced he was going to tell him otherwise and announce an evil plan to kill his mummy and take him and Fili away. "We won't go with you!"

"Kili, that's enough!" their uncle scolded gently. These children were going to give him a grey beard before he was ready! "You are not being taken anywhere. Your mother will be just fine. She is having a baby."

Kili stopped his incessant cries and perked his head his eyes widening. "A… baby?"

"Yes, a baby," Thorin affirmed, nodding his head. "Last I saw of her, your mother was doing just fine and you will have a new brother or sister within the hour."

Kili's eyes grew as wide as saucers and he stared at his brother in awe and disbelief. "We are having a brother?! This is how you get brothers?!"

Fili nodded excitedly. "Yes! We will play with him and teach him how to climb trees and cliffs! But we must be careful at first because he will be too small to play!"

Kili was about to share more thoughts on the matter when the door opened again. Oin stepped out of the room wiping his hands on a bloody cloth with a smile on his face. Kili, however, saw the blood and began to cry again. He should have known his uncle was lying to him! Now the two of them have killed his mother and baby brother! This was the worst day of his life! Thorin let out a gasp and tried to immediately comfort the boy who was now wailing in his uncle's lap, unsure where to cry. Even Fili made a meager attempt to explain that their mother was in fact alive and well.

"Kili?" a soft voice floated into the hall from the birthing room. "What's the matter, my little treasure?"

"Mummy!" he screeched, flinging himself off of Thorin's lap and sprinting past Oin's hands. Even Fili could not be reined in by either adult dwarf at this point and he was hot on his younger brother's heels. He could hardly wait to meet his new brother!

"Boys…" Dis purred gently, obviously exhausted from her ordeal. Her hair was matted and messy but all things considered she seemed well enough. "Were you two waiting in the hall?"

Kili's face flushed with guilt. "Well, yes. But… only because I was…" He stopped, not wanting to admit his fear in front of his new baby brother.

Dis smiled and looked down at the bundle in her arms who was now wriggling about eagerly. Fili grinned from ear to ear and tried to look inside the bundle of blankets. This was not a new experience for him, even though he could barely remember what it was like meeting Kili for the first time. He reckoned he would never forget this moment, not ever. After what seemed like an age, Thorin stepped in and stood behind the boys. The new mother smiled and pulled the blanket back just enough to reveal a little round face complete with eyes, a nose, lips and ears!

"Wow, Mummy," Kili breathed, his eyes widening again. "Can I hold him? What's his name? When can I play with him?!"

Thorin, who seemed to be privy to something the youngster didn't know, let out another loud boisterous laugh. Dis however smiled coyly and beckoned for both of her sons to sit on the bed. Fili declined the offer, choosing to let Kili get to know their brother first. This was of course the first time Kili would get to experience this! The ten year old dwarf knelt down on the bed before burrowing himself into his mother's neck, nuzzling her affectionately. Dis gave her son a reassuring smile before redirecting his attention to the newborn babe.

"This, Fili, Kili, is Brili," she announced, tilting the bundle just a little much to Kili's delight. "I expect you two will take good care of her."

"A sister!" Fili gasped, a little surprised. Ever since he had heard of his mother's expecting two years ago he had always thought they would have another brother.

"Eww! Gross!" Kili exclaimed. "I wanted a brother!"

Dis narrowed her eyes at her youngest son who now crossed his arms over his chest and began to pout as if that would make all the difference in the world.

"Now, now, Kili, that's enough," Thorin chastised. "Having a sister is an honor and you should be proud!"

Kili faltered a little under his uncle's gaze and seemed to deflate slightly. "But she's a girl…" he whined.

Thorin smiled and hoisted the youngster off the bed, wrapping him into his arms. "She is a girl, yes, and you and Fili are going to love her with all of your hearts; just like you love your Mum over there. Come, boys, your mother and new sister need to rest!"

With that the boys were whisked away to play for a few hours while being closely watched by their uncle. It wasn't until late in the night and everyone was tucked into bed that Fili had the chance to sneak away from the watchful eyes and creep into his mother's bedroom. He snuck past her bed where she lay sleeping soundly and approached the cradle where his newborn sister lay.

He peered over at her with curious eyes. She looked very much like Kili did when he was that small. He supposed her eyes were a little rounder but she was really too little to tell. She seemed to look at him and let a little gurgle.

"Hey," he whispered, reaching into the crib to stroke her cheek; something he remembered Kili had liked him to do when he was small. "Welcome to the world, Brili. Um, I'm Fili, your big brother. That other boy, the one that thinks you're gross because you're a girl, well, that was Kili. Sorry he's being such a stinker about the whole thing. I'm sure once he's a little bigger he'll warm up to you a bit more.

"You already know Mom, you were inside of her for the past four years so… I would hope you know her," He giggled a little as the baby squirmed and wiggled her fingers ever so slightly. "And the big guy in the room with us, that's Uncle Thorin. He's not home all that much because he's always out adventuring and things like that. He came home this time because he knew you were coming and wanted to meet you. He's really great and me and Kili like him a whole lot. Anyways, I think you are going to be very happy here. And I just wanted to say hi to you before you went to sleep. So, sleep tight little Brili, I'm gonna sit here and watch over you."

And that's exactly what he did.

So after a freakishly long hiatus I felt the need to write this snippet out. I noticed that there is a huge lack of sister stories for Fili and Kili which is a shame because I think that there could be a pretty decent story out there for them.

Unfortunately, I'm the one writing this. My apologies!

So I pulled all of my facts from this website:dwarrowscholar. mymiddleearth 2012/04/27 / about-dwarven-women-and-children/ (minus the spaces) Whether you want to consider them accurate is your prerogative. Now one of the things I noticed is that no one really talks about how old they are. So I placed them in human years 16 and 10 which puts them around 8 and 4 or 5 in dwarf years. That's just the way I processed the info. If anyone sees a better way to look at it, let me know because I have been puzzled for some time!

So this story has been stuck in my head for quite some time now so if you like this blurb let me know and I think I may start taking some time out of my day to keep writing this story from the beginning. I'm planning on using elements from both film and book because both are worthy of attention. (spoilers, there are character deaths that I can't wait to get my paws on!) Pulling from just the movie is a bit easier as there is more dialogue but I do want to include parts of the book because it is one of my favorites!

With all that being said, enjoy! :)

-kim