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     Kili paced by the door impatiently. His brother and Uncle had been gone for what seemed like forever! They had gone to the Iron Hills. Kili really wanted to go with them, but his mom said he was too young. He was already thirty six years old! In only four years he'd reach maturity! And he was only five years younger than Fili.

     They were supposed to be coming back to The Blue Mountains today, and Kili had been pacing by the door all day. He hadn't even eaten anything that entire day. He hadn't eaten much since Fili had left, actually, worrying his mother, Dwalin, Balin, Bofur, Gimli and Ori.

     "Relax, laddie." Balin said as he walked up to him. "They'll be here today. No use worrying about them."

     Kili sighed. "I know, but I can't help it. What if something bad happens to them? What if they're ambushed by Orcs?"

     "I doubt there would be Orcs in these parts." Balin assured him.

     "I know, but what if Azog had a son and was after Uncle and Fili?"

     Dis walked into the room and put her hands on Kili's shoulders. "Kili, calm down. Thorin and your brother will be just fine. Just take a deep breath and calm down."

     Kili took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Okay."

     Dis smiled and started to fix Kili's hair. "You do know you won't be able to spend every second of every day with Fili forever, right?"

     Kili gently moved his mother's hands and his facial expression saddened. "Yeah, I know. That's part of the reason I want to be with him as often as I can."

     "But being away from each other is good." Dis went to fix his hair again.

     "Mom, my hair's fine."

     She drew her hand back. "Sorry."

     Aiviel and Adura walked into the room right then.

     "We heard part of the conversation." Aiviel said. "And I'm just wondering; don't you two ever get sick of each other?"

     Kili looked at her. "No, almost never. This bond between us can't be broken."

     Adura looked at Aiviel. "They've only gotten into one fight in their entire life. Since then, they get into disagreements and small arguments, but they never get mad at each other."

     Aiviel raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, they get along better than we do; and we're best friends!"

     "Tell me about it." Adura said with a laugh. "I sometimes wish we were the way they are."

     Kili looked out the door again. Still no sign of them.

     "Where'd the guard go?" Balin asked.

     "Oh, he left a little while ago." Kili said. "Before you get upset with him, I told him he could. I was over here anyways."

     "Very true, laddie, very true."

     "There they are!" Kili exclaimed, bolting out the door. "Fili!"

     "Kili!" Fili began running as well.

     As soon as the two brothers reached each other they embraced. Thorin was smirking and rolling his eyes when he reached the two.

     "You boys are ridiculous." He said with a chuckle.

     "Well I missed you too, Thorin." Kili said sarcastically. He smiled and hugged his uncle, who hugged him back with one arm before heading up to the door to the mountain.

     "Welcomes back, lads." Balin greeted as Thorin and Fili entered.

     "Thank you, Balin." Thorin said.

     "It's good to be back." Fili said.

     "We missed you, Thorin." Dis said.

     "I assume by 'we' you basically mean Kili?" Fili said with a laugh.

     Kili rolled his eyes and smirked.

     "Yeah, pretty much." Aiviel said. "You should see him when you're gone!"

     Thorin and Dis gave each other a one armed hug, and Fili gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Is he really that different now?"

     "If different means 'doesn't eat; doesn't sleep', then yeah." Adura said, smirking at Kili.

     "I eat!" Kili protested. "Just... not as much..." His eyes widened and he looked at her curiously. "Wait a minute, how'd you know I didn't sleep?"

     "Oh, uh... I think I hear my- my father calling for me." Adura stuttered. "See you later!" And with that she was off.

     "She's a creep." Kili muttered.

     "Ah..." Fili playfully teased. "Did my little brother really miss me that much?" He ruffled Kili's hair and laughed.

     Kili pushed him away and smirked, crossing his arms. "Well, maybe I did."

     Thorin smirked at Kili. "Fili was the exact same way with Dili, actually. Didn't sleep much, didn't eat much. He didn't even talk much."

     Fili shrugged and put an arm around his brother. Kili put an arm around his brother as well and smiled.

     "They're closer than pages in a book." Balin said.

     Dwalin walked into the room and heard Balin speaking. He joined in the conversation. "When they were little you always said you hoped they'd be this way forever, Thorin."

     "Well, it looks like he got his wish." Dis said.

     "Hey, Fili, lets go sword fight!" Kili whispered.

     "Okay! Let's go!"

     Kili took off, Fili following behind him. "Last one there's a useless axe!"

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