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“Fili?”
Frerin’s voice broke through the silence and woke Fili from his nap. He hadn’t heard the little pebble approaching.
The corner where Fili was hidden away, was set apart from the main hall, so very few Dwarrow ever traveled through. It made for a perfect escape and allowed him to recover from the monotony of never-ending meetings, as well as get a few blessed moments of uninterrupted rest. Most of the time, that is. Of course, his cousins always seemed to find him no matter where he went, a trait he contributed to their mother.
It’d been fourteen years since they returned to Erebor, and though many had seen their victory as a happy ending, it was only just the beginning. Right after the fall of Sauron, Uncle Thorin and Aunt Bilba had gotten married, and a small army of representatives from each kingdom allied with Erebor, had gone with them as they returned to the Shire to reclaim Frerin and Ashrin.
The Shire had been as peaceful as the day they had left it, untouched by Sauron’s forces. Hobbiton’s landscape, with its green rolling hills and fields, was far more brilliant than the dark and desolate lands of Mordor, or the barren, dragon-scorched kingdom of Erebor. Fili had never payed much attention to landscapes before, but one does not simply walk through Mordor without gaining an appreciation for the greener things in life.
Not even the lush forests of the Shire could distract Fili from his growing anxiety that Frerin and Ashrin may have forgotten him in the time it took to destroy the ring. He spent many a night on their return trip, lying wide awake on the ground, wrestling with that very possibility.
To his relief, all his fears were unfounded, and when he held Frerin in his arms once more, the little dwabbit had smiled up at him in a way that made the prince’s heart melt. In that moment Fili vowed he would never again be separated from the little one. Something he still held at the forefront of his mind. Frerin meant the world to him, and that smile told Fili that Frein, in his own little way, felt the same way about him.
Fili sighed contentedly. If only I could have stayed in that moment. Holding the little one in the safety of Bag End, evil recently defeated, under the welcoming blanket of peace that had fallen over Middle Earth. No responsibilities. Just joy, peace, and celebration.
Instead, he was flooded with work and meetings. The task of restoring Erebor to her former glory was a monumental one. He had even heard his uncle grumbling from time to time that it had been easier to reclaim the mountain than it was to live in it.
There were moments when Fili readily agreed. One of those times being now. After sitting in on a meeting discussing the prospect of asking the Shire to send some of her hobbits to help Erebor and Dale revitalize the soil of the surrounding lands, he'd decided to retreat to his little alcove.
Uncle Thorin kept reassuring him that the meetings were necessary, But he didn’t see the point of them. If it were up to him, he would have sent word to the Shire asking for help as soon, and the idea was brought up. He did not see the need to discuss it in detail for FOUR HOURS, let alone have, not only the kings and advisors of Erebor and Dale but also of Mirkwood, there to do so. Thus, when the meeting had been adjourned for the day, though a consensus had STILL not been reached, Fili had sulked off to take a nap.
“Fili?” The little voice whispered.
Or at least tried to, Fili thought as he chuckled. The boys may understand the concept of being quiet, but they do not seem to have the ability to actually BE quiet. Just another thing the twins have in common with Kili and himself.
“Fili are you dead?” The voice came again.
Fili could feel the boy’s breath on his face and he struggled to keep a straight face for a moment or two. With a flash, Fili opened his eyes, jumped up, grabbed the small boy around the waist, threw him up in the air, and caught him again.
Frerin, screamed and giggled violently with delight, The sound of laughter echoed through the stone halls and Fili rushed to put the boy down again. He had forgotten how much louder everything was in the caverns of Erebor and he didn’t want to have to change hiding spots again.
Once back on the ground, his face flush with excitement, Frerin started gushing about…something. To Fili’s amusement, the boy was talking so fast, he was unable to speak coherently. Frerin would often get this way when he was excited and could get quite light-headed if allowed to continue.
“Take a breath Frerin. If you keep at it you’ll pass out…again”.
Frerin stopped and took an overtly dramatic deep breath, crossing his eyes in the process, likely in hopes of making his cousin laugh. Something the boy had seemed to take on as a personal goal in life.
Fili tried not to laugh, it only encouraged the boy, and he was already too much of a handful for poor Aunt Bilba. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Frerin had seen the glint in Fili’s eyes that was present any time he tried to hide his amusement. The boy smiled mischievously and returned to filling in Fili with his news.
“It’s snowing! Mom says Ashrin and I can go outside but she is too busy to go with us! I went to see if Uncle Dwalin would go but he is too busy with Dad doing boring things, and Ashrin is trying to find Kili and ask him. Will you take us outside if Kili won’t?”
Fili felt the slightest hint of jealousy that the boys would go ask Dwalin AND Kili to take them out in the snow before asking him. He had mountains of work to get done, and many meetings he had left to attend, however…. He looked at the boy standing in front of him, willing him to come with his adorable, brilliantly blue eyes.
The twins looked more and more like their father with every passing day. Sure, they shared their smaller stature and slightly more hobbit-sized feet with their mother, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the twins were Thorin’s sons. Their facial features and mannerisms had, without a doubt, come from the King Under the Mountain.
Looking down at the boy, Fili made his decision. He needed to go with the boys, even if it WAS just to prove that he was more fun than Dwalin and Kili. His pride had been wounded, and if it meant missing out on a few boring meetings to win back his position as the boy’s “favorite” then by goodness it was worth it.
“Sounds like fun! Do you think you and Ashrin would want to build a snow fort?”
The boy’s eyes grew wide. Yep, that would win him some points. No self-respecting sixteen-year-olds would be able to turn that down. He thought, as his mind started to create blueprints and debate locations for the best snow fort on this side of misty mountains.
“Do you mean it Fili, would you really build one with us?” he said in the closest thing the boy had to an awed whisper.
“Of course!”
With that he scooped up Frerin, who screamed with excitement and started running towards the gates of Erebor, clutching the boy safely against his chest. All thoughts of his duties were happily forgotten.
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Upon reaching the gates, Fili set the boy down, now wearing his snow gear after a quick stop in the royal wing, and Frerin ran out through the gates and into the snow.
He let out a little shriek of excitement, went stiff as a board, and dropped face-first into the snow. Then he rolled over and, while laying on his back in the snow, watched the flakes lazily fall around him, giggling with glee the whole while.
Fili was excited to note that there was at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground already. Perfect for building, he thought as he bent over and ran his fingers through it, a large grin spread across his face.
“Fili!”
He looked up a little confused, hadn’t Frerin said Ashrin was looking for Kili? Instead of somewhere deep within their mountain home, Ashrin was running at him from the direction of a small cluster of boulders to his left, with no sign of Kili.
“Frerin you got him!” Another little voice yelled from Fili’s right while Ashrin plowed into his legs.
“Lily!” Fili yelled excitedly as he turned to greet her, which proved to be rather difficult since Ashrin was still glued to his legs.
She was running towards him from another cluster of boulders where Kili stood. Ah, so Ashrin had been successful in getting his other cousin.
Lily was smaller in stature than her brothers, their heads came up to Fili’s chest, whereas she only barely made it just above his knees. It was a surprise since her mother was a hobbit when she had had the twins but was half-dwarven, thanks to the Valar, when she had Lily. This led to almost constant joking that the Valar had taken the height they gave to her, from any future children she and Thorin would ever have.
Aunt Bilba would only roll her eyes at the joke. Insisting, that nothing of the sort was true.
Lily had her mother’s fierce eyes and wit, as well as her small stature. She also had her father’s raven black hair, which Thorin had braided only this morning, strong facial features, and resolve. She had both her parent’s stubbornness, which she often used to get her way.
Lily came to a stop just in front of him and waited expectantly for Fili to bend over and pick her up. At twelve, she was much too old, by dwarven standards, to be picked up and carried around but Fili could not bring himself to stop, and neither could the rest of their family, so it didn’t really matter anyway.
“You’re late” she chastised him. Her little arms were crossed and her face held her father’s famous scowl.
“What do you mean?” He laughed out. That look on her always made him chuckle even though she was doing her best to look serious.
Before she had a chance to answer, Frerin and Ash started pulling him towards the rock formation to his left. “This would be the perfect place for a fort don’t you think Fili?” Frerin spouted expectantly.
Yes, he thought to himself. The location would be perfect for a fort due to the fact that, if built behind the rocks, it could be easily defended. Sharp clifts of the Lonely Mountain rose not far behind the outcropping preventing any ambushed from behind, and while the sides were left unprotected, it would be easy to see any oncoming forces. It’s a great location.
Lily started to wiggle in his arms, letting him know she was ready to return to the snow below. Carefully he put her down and she ran towards the rocks.
“We could build it behind the rocks and have the perfect vantage point!” Ashrin yelled with an odd tone to his voice.
Fili couldn’t put his finger on it but something was off…
”Fili wait up!” Kili caught up behind him as Lily disappeared behind the rocks, followed close behind, by Frerin and Ashrin.
Then it hit him.
A snowball collided with his chest so hard that it knocked the air out of him. Once he had regained enough oxygen in his lungs to speak, he lunged at Kili, knocking him to the ground
“IT’S AN AMBUSH!”
He heard peals of laughter coming from behind the rocks and noticed his Aunt’s head retreat back behind them. It is so on, he thought as he scolded himself. He should have known someone was hiding there after Ashrin had run from that direction. Dwalin would have him running extra drills for weeks if he knew. He’d trained Fili better than this.
Next to him, Kili started scraping the snow together and compacting it into snowballs. “That was a mistake Aunt Bilba!” Fili stood up and started looking for somewhere to hide from the next attack. “You may have Kili and I outmatched when it comes to throwing stones at Orcs, but when it comes to snowball fights we reign supreme!”
“Pretty speeches don’t work on me Fili!” she returned “We all know that Kili has the better aim and even he can’t hit the broad side of a barn!”.
Fili fell silent as he watched as Kili sputtered and his face turned a bright shade of red.
“THAT WAS JUST THE ONCE! ONE. THAT WAS. THAT WAS ONE—“YOU WOULD HAVE MISSED TOO IF YOU HAD SOMEONE SITTING ON YOUR SHOULDERS!”
Fili heard the muffled laughter of his aunt and cousins from behind their fort.
Still sputtering, Kili jumped up with an armful of snowballs and started hurling them towards the rocks and the traitors behind them. They easily dodged the onslaught, however, by ducking. Fili knew his family had the best vantage point for this fight, but with Kili on his side, there was no way they could lose. Not now that he had his honor to win back.
Fili scooped up the snowballs Kili left behind and started running towards the rocks to assist his brother, all responsibilities as the Crown Prince happily forgotten.
---------------------------------------------------
No one here either, that’s strange, Thorin thought to himself. First Fili had missed most of the meeting that morning, forcing Thorin to make apologies on his behalf, and now his family was completely missing from Erebor’s dining room, where they normally took their dinner at this hour.
Thorin sighed, they must be busy with other things, but they normally let him know if they were detained and wouldn’t make it for a meal. He had worked so hard to make sure that nothing interrupted their mealtime, Bilba had chewed him out after he brought his work with him to dinner and supper for a week straight. He shuddered at the thought, even with everything he and Bilba had been through, that was the only time he had truly ever feared for his life. They had had a very long discussion about the importance of protecting their family time in the midst of all their work. Because Bilba did not gain a longer life just to watch him squander away their pebble’s childhoods.
He could not argue with that, though he had already conceded her point. He loved his children more than all the gold in Erebor, he had just gotten a little carried away with the rebuilding of their kingdom.
Suddenly, the door closest to him burst open and slammed into the stone wall with a bang that Thorin was sure could be heard in Rivendell. Dwalin bounded through the door and pulled Thorin out of his chair.
“There is something outside you need to see” Dwalin replied to the unspoken question on Thorin’s face.
Dwalin ignored Thorin’s questioning as he dragged his King through the many twists and turns of Erebor’s pathways and caverns.
Upon reaching the battlements above the front entrance, Dwalin pointed out to a group of rocks to the left of the gates. “What should we do,” He asked. His voice held a slightly mischievous undertone that was unexplained until Thorin noticed his wife running out from behind the rocks, followed closely by his children and nephews.
“Has the tunnel been cleared yet?” Thorin asked, not even trying to keep a smirk from spreading across his face. “Because if it has﹘”
His cut his statement short as a smirk spread across the guardsmen’s face. “Just finished clearing that one last week. Should be ready for use.”
“Perfect. Go grab some supplies and I’ll meet you there,” Thorin said, his blue eyes glinting at the plain coming together in his mind.
Dwalin took off towards the armory and Thorin found himself willing the guardsmen to run faster. With all thoughts of his responsibilities gone, he chuckled to himself, I’ll show you what happens when you leave me out of the fun.
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Bilba could not remember the last time she had had this much fun. Sure the Durin family kept her on her toes, but there were a lot more duties and responsibilities that came with being the Queen of Erebor than she would have ever believed. She loved being the queen, she really did, but she would be lying if she said she never missed the freedom she had had while questing with the dwarves, or even the quiet of Bag End.
She was thankful every day for her extended years. Yavonna and Mahal had given her the opportunity to live the life of a dwarf, all but erasing her fear of not getting to see her children grow up. It also meant that she would no longer worry about Thorin being a widower before he was even a middle-aged dwarf. Most wonderful of all, however, was that the changes to her body allowed her to have children again. Although a heads up would have been greatly appreciated.
She had been experiencing morning sickness and a heightened sense of smell as well as several other symptoms she remembered from her first pregnancy. Thorin was worried that being in the mountain all the time was causing her to be ill, which she didn’t entirely disagree with, so he sent her to see Oin. She’d been quite surprised when Oin, after a short examination, had told her that she was, in fact, pregnant, not sick. Thorin had been so incredibly relieved and excited, that he didn’t have any brooding sessions for nearly an entire month.
Bilba’s pregnancy with Lily had lasted the full two years that are expected of a dwarrowdam and, due to her status as a dwobbit, she was able to give birth to Lily safely and naturally. Thorin, despite his distrust of elves, had been very adamant that Rivendell’s best healers be present for the delivery. Everything went well and Thorin had been ecstatic at the addition of a little girl to their family. Bilba, of course, already knew her baby was a girl, but Thorin didn’t want to get his hopes up and did not trust Bilba’s claims that she knew despite not going to the elves to check. She just knew.
Six years after that, she and Thorin had another boy. She had wanted to name him after her brother but knew that Bongo would not be a strong dwarven name. Instead, she and Thorin agreed on Barin, keeping with the family namesake.
Barin, now a pebble of six years, recently started speaking in short, but full, sentences. He took heavily from Bilba’s side and looked much like Bongo, his name-sake, had at his respective age. The only physical feature that he shared with Thorin was his brilliantly blue eyes, which looked rather lovely with his golden brown, curly hair.
He was currently taking a nap at Nori’s. The thief had proven himself. Not only as a capable spy and confidant for the royal family but also as a great babysitter. Bilba had duties to attend to, and though they had a nanny, the dwarrowdam has her own family and doesn’t work every day, so Nori had offered up his services. Thorin had been totally against it at first, having very little love for the thief, but in the end, he had given in.
“Only,” he had said one night while she was curled up on his lap, her head leaned back against his shoulder. “Only because we have a fourth one on the way and we desperately need some us time.” Frerin and Ashrin had just that morning cut three of Thorin’s braids out of his hair while he was taking a nap and they were SUPPOSED to be taking naps of their own
Bilba giggled at the memory of him walking sadly into the meeting room, first making sure that everyone else had already gone. He gave her the most pitiful look and announced that he had taken the boys, and Lily, to spend some time with Uncle Nori. When faced with her look of surprise, his only response was to show her his choppy haircut.
She giggled again and then was hit square in the face with a snowball.
She stood up, snowball in hand ready to avenge herself when she realized that her children had ratted her out to their cousins and they were all now standing about twenty yards in front of her, stocked with ammunition and smirks. “Traders”, she muttered and turned to run.
After about fifteen full minutes, she was cornered against the side of Erebor with Fili, Kili, Frerin, Ashrin, and Lily all ready to bombard her with snowballs. She closed her eyes and braised for impact, but none came. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked at them. They all seemed shocked and were looking at something behind her with fear in their eyes.
Flashes of Orcs, Wargs, and Witch Kings crossed her mind. The nightmares were all but gone but it still didn’t take much to send her straight back to some of the worst moments from her life.
She froze. You need to turn around Bilba, she told herself, it is better to know than to just stand here.
Before She got to turn around, however, Bilba felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pull her close. She melted against Thorin’s side. She had not realized how cold she was until her personal furnace had pulled her into his arms.
Looking up she smiled at him, realizing that he had come from a “secret tunnel”, as he liked to call them, behind her.
He smiled down at her before kissing her on the nose. “Looks like you need some assistance, my queen,” he said without taking his eyes from hers.
“I do not NEED it,” she replied. “I have everything under control. They are right where I want them.” He looked at her with that obnoxiously sweet smirk.
“I can go back in the tunnel then,” he said. Thorin started to pull away, taking his warmth with him.
“NO!” Bilba replied, looking down at her feet. “I need your help.” She hated admitting defeat, but there was no way she could beat her whole family by herself. Besides, her husband had the added bonus of having the captain of the guard as his best friend.
“What’s that? I didn’t hear you.” The growing smirk on his face told her otherwise.
“I said I would like it very much if you would go teach your nephews and children not to gang up on their aunt and mother.”
Thorin leaned down and kissed her forehead, “as you wish, Gavishal.” She blushed and could hear one of the twins whine “I think I am going to be sick,” while Kili made gagging noises.
Dwalin appeared at her, and Thorin’s, side and everyone else dispersed. Bilba smirked, the guardsman was never far behind. “Thorin,” he looked towards them and then back at the retreating children. “Are ya’ ready to take this thing seriously or are ya’ just going stand there and kiss ya wife?”
Thorin gave him his classic smirk and replied, “I can multitask.” Then he hoisted her onto his back and gave her a few snowballs. “Will never catch up if we have to wait for you,” he said. For that, she gave him a snowball to the head. In response he dropped her in the snow and pelted her with a few snowballs for good measure. Dwalin chided them for friendly fire and then they all took off after the kids.
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On the battlements, Nori stood holding Barin. “Look at that,” he mused, “they are having fun without us.”.
The young boy shot him a hurt look but replied, “We could ‘ave fun without ‘em too.”
Nori looked surprised, “what do you have in mind, little pebble?”
Barin replied by wiggling free of Nori’s arms and starting to play in the snow there on the battlements. “Make snow dwarves!” he exclaimed.
Nori stooped beside the boy and joined in, a plan coming together in the back of his mind. “We could go get your father’s armor and put it on the snow dwarves. Don’t you think they would look quite splendid in mithril?”
Barin gave him a little frown while putting the finishing touches on what could be called nothing other than an odd mound of snow. Yep, that settled it. It’s a good thing mithril doesn’t rust. This snow dwarf was in desperate need of some help.
“Let’s go get it and bring it up here as a surprise for your adad,” there was a smirk spreading across Nori’s face at the prospect. “He will absolutely love to see his armer on the best snow dwarrow guardsmen this side of Middle Earth.”
Barin still looked skeptical but reached up so Nori could lift the boy onto his shoulders. “Don’t look so glum. How about we play a game?”
“What kinda game? Is it better than snow dwarves?”
“Much better. We are going to play sneak past the guards.”
Barin giggled, well acquainted with Nori’s little game. Thorin wasn’t completely wrong to think Nori was a bad influence, but it wasn’t all the spymaster’s fault. He couldn't help it that the boy’s mother was an excellent thief. The little pebble had it in his blood.
Nori took one last look at the family below. He knew how much they needed this….but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t take the opportunity to teach the youngest how to steal from the guarded armory.
He smirked as he turned away from the happy scene, Barin on his shoulders. “Now, Barin, if you want to break into an armory, first you need to…..”