Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit. It belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson and Company.

Author's Note: For those of you who are reading "The Treasure of Dale," you can consider this a prequel of sorts. Otherwise, it can be read as a stand alone. Thanks to LadyWallace for reading over this and giving me an opinion.

Compassion for the Weary

"Does your leg hurt?"

Kili started at the question and turned to look at the little girl who stared at him with a curious gaze.

"Aye, just a bit." He shifted on the uncomfortable wooden bench and leaned back against the wall.

The child leaned over, bracing her hands on her knees, and studied the wound carefully. "My sister could bandage it for you," she offered. "Sigrid cared for my leg last week when I tripped on the dock and skinned my knee."

Kili smiled. "Thank you, lass. That is a very kind offer, but I do not wish to trouble you or your sister."

"It is no trouble, master dwarf," a soft voice murmured from his side. The older sister knelt beside him and examined the still-bleeding wound in his leg. "This looks inflamed. I have some herbs and some bandages. I shall get them and return shortly."

Kili was about to protest, but Sigrid shushed him. "As I told you, it is no bother." She pushed to her feet and disappeared upstairs to rummage around in the small kitchen area of her home.

Fili, who had been resting in a wooden chair across the room, moved to his brother's side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "How is your leg?"

"It has been better, but I will live." Kili grunted when Fili sat down beside him, grasped his thigh, and tried to get a closer look.

Sigrid returned then and placed her supplies on the bench beside the blonde dwarf. "If you will excuse me sir, I will try to care for your friend's leg."

Fili slid down on the bench to give her room and then offered up a smile. "He is my baby brother, actually."

Kili scowled at being called "baby brother" in front of a pretty young lady.

Fili only smirked at his brother before turning his attention back to Sigrid. "I am Fili, son of Dis, and this is my brother, Kili."

Sigrid tore the fabric away from Kili's wound and bit back a gasp at the angry red surrounding the oozing hole. "Oh, this must be very painful."

"Kili," his brother gasped, "why did you not say anything?"

"It is not as bad as it looks," the youngest heir of Durin gasped as Sigrid probed at the wound.

"Why is it all red and puffy?" Bard's youngest daughter asked as she leaned over her sister's shoulder.

"Because it is getting infected," Sigrid answered her younger sister. "Now go and get me another clean rag, Tilda, and be quick about it."

The child scurried away to do her sister's bidding.

Fili grabbed his brother's arm to make sure he had his full attention. "Oin should have looked at this. I will go and get him."

"No!" Kili protested. "He will only tell Uncle, and I do not want to worry him. It is not that bad, really. We have just not had a chance to care for it properly. Now that the lovely Sigrid here is cleaning and bandaging it, all will be well."

"You give me too much credit, master dwarf. If you know of a healer, it would be best if you sought his services. This wound needs more care than I am trained to give." Sigrid uncorked a glass bottle and gave Kili a sympathetic smile. "This is alcohol to cleanse the wound. It will burn terribly, I am afraid."

KIli's eyes widened a moment, but then his face became set in a determined grimace. "Do what you need to do, m' lady."

Fili gripped his brother's hand and watched as Kili clenched his eyes closed. The younger dwarf's body tensed in anticipation of the alcohol's burn.

Sigrid met Fili's blue-eyed gaze and she could read the worry there. She wished she could offer him kind words of assurance, but this would was bad. She could find nothing to say that would calm his fears for his brother.

Sucking in a fortifying breath, she poured the clear alcohol over the dwarf's fiery wound. Kili moaned through clenched teeth, his lips nearly white as he pressed them together.

"Hold on, brother. The sting will fade soon," Fili encouraged.

"Your brother is right, Kili," Sigrid murmured softly. Dipping a cloth in the cool water by her side, she handed it to Fili.

"Thank you, Sigrid," he smiled before placing the cloth against his brother's sweat-dampened forehead.

Kili's breathing was heavy and harsh, his face too pale against his dark hair. His dark eyes blinked open and he focused on Sigrid. "Thank you for helping me," he choked out, his wound still burning as if on fire.

"You are very welcome, Kili, son of Dis," she answered softly.

Tilda returned and handed her sister the rag she had found. "Will this work, Sigrid?"

"Aye, Tilda, thank you," she smiled.

The little girl eyed Fili for a moment and then let her gaze return to Kili. "You do not look like brothers," she commented.

"Tilda!" Sigrid scolded as she cleaned around Kili's wound and prepared to bandage it.

"No, it is all right," Fili assured her. "We hear that a lot actually." He smiled at Tilda and began to explain. "Kili has dark hair like our mother and our uncle, and he has the dark eyes of our father. I have my uncle's blue eyes, but my father's blonde hair."

Tilda sat down next to Fili thought for a moment before she responded. "Me and Sigrid look a lot alike, but Da says that Bain looks like Grandfather."

"We look like our Ma," Sigrid said softly as she tied off the bandage around Kili's thigh. "I often feel that we bring our father pain because of it."

Tilda moved to her sister's side and wrapped her arms around her in a hug which Sigrid returned tenderly.

"Aye, I often feel the same way with my mother. I know that I remind her of my father, and it saddens me." Fili caught Sigrid's gaze and held it. They shared a small smile. "Thank you for caring for my brother, m' lady."

"It was no bother," Sigrid assured him as she cleaned up the things she had used and rose to her feet. "Be sure to get some rest," she told Kili softly.

Tilda followed her sister to the stairway that led to the upper level of the house. She turned back once more to look at the dwarves who sat huddled together on an uncomfortable wooden bench, Kili leaning against his big brother's shoulder as Fili wiped his face with the cool rag. She gave them a tiny wave and spoke to her sister as she climbed the steps, her little voice floating back to the two dwarves. "Sigrid, they are very handsome, do you not think so?"

Fili chuckled and Kili managed a small smirk through his pain.

The End