Author's Note:This is a story from the Hobbit. Movie inspired. It is about those who help us grow and shape us as they prepare us for life. A father is not always the one responsible for your birth, a father is someone you can look up to, no matter how tall you get. Fili and Kili never lacked for a father.

Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit, nor the actual dwarves. All I own is my own three inch high Fili and Kili and they shall suffer naught for my stories…

No Matter How Tall You Get

Important Note: In one of the later chapters of this story Balin was rather tucking in Kili and Fili, this has now been shown as a photo illustration which I have posted on my tumblr account. I am not yet fully used to tumblr, and therefore not quite sure of how to show the link. My tumblr is elenhin-michael, the blog is called the Adventures of Fili And Kili, and is my photographic adventure of Fili and Kili. On the blog is a page called Illustrations for fanfic, and there you have it. Please enjoy.

Chapter 11

While Bilbo still sometimes felt that he did not fit in into the company there were times when he felt quite at home. He never truly had fit in into his own home either. He wasn't quite respectable enough for a Baggins after all. He'd loved the idea of adventures when he was a small lad and though he'd grown to pay more attention to his mother's dishes and doilies as he was supposed to the idea of an adventure had still appealed.

After he got through the initial fright of thirteen Dwarves in his dining room that was.

He made sure to mind himself around Thorin and Dwalin. He respected them but found them hard to get close to. Thorin was too proud and too majestic to really let anyone close. Dwalin and Balin were old trusted friends who knew him better than anyone, but even they were sometimes kept at a distance.

He'd come to see just how much Thorin cared for the two sons of his sister, and Kili and Fili would never lack for love. The two of them basked in it at every turn even if Bilbo had not noticed it at first.

Sometimes it simply took you a while to get used to the Dwarves.

Ori shared his love for books and Bilbo found it was easy to engage in conversations with him and the young Dwarf would shine up when they spoke on the subject. Hardly surprising as he was seen as the most inexperienced of the Dwarves. Fili and Kili were trained warriors and much more was expected from them. Ori sometimes felt a bit lost in the mix, something that Bilbo could understand and he'd go out of his way to comfort him. Their conversations around the fire would always comfort them both, and sometimes though they did not share the interested Kili and Fili would join them. Most often they would play the fools and make the other two laugh.

Kili held the book upside down and Fili shook it over his hand as if he expected the story to fall out. They would have Ori howling with laughter at their antics and though Bilbo at first feared for the book he soon joined in the laughter.

He couldn't share his love of books with either Kili or Fili as they did not quite understand it, but he cared deeply for them just the same. When Kili had ill luck at hunting and was mocked for his scrawny catch Bilbo managed to draw to mind just how to make the most of the meagre meal. He knew how to cook it and even how to stretch it and Kili beamed at him while Fili gave him a grateful smile. The duty of defending his brother would otherwise have fallen to him.

Bilbo had seen how that played out, for Fili too would mock him if he thought the catch not worth the effort. He'd joke and tease his brother, pluck sticks from the trees that he suggested they had with the tiny rabbit. Then he'd put his arm around Kili's back and steer him to the camp, but should the teasing go too far in his mind he'd face them all down. He fixed Bofur with such a stare that the Dwarf quickly quieted.

Fili still had much to learn and yet needed to grow, but he was still aspiring to be a perfect copy of Thorin and the soft but challenging stare he could manage would make anyone think twice about crossing him.

Balin had said how Fili was trained to be Thorin's heir, and apparently that included his majestic bearing and piercing glare.

Bilbo could never hope to do that, but he could keep an eye out for herbs and other edible things that they passed. He'd add roots and fruit to the meal so that Kili's catch would seem larger than it had been, and after the meal the dark haired Dwarf would always seek him out to share a pipe and a joke.

It was the way he showed his gratitude Bilbo noticed, he'd push a pipe full of tobacco at you and make you laugh, most often by relaying some embarrassing story involving Fili. It would make the golden haired Dwarf glare, threaten and occasionally pounce.

Bilbo grew to like it, expect it and even join in it to the point where he ordered Fili away until Kili had finished the tale of the ale barrel and to his surprise Fili heeded him.

Looking out for Kili came natural to him, even if it was just in such small matters. Fili always appeared so competent he would never need anyone to look out for him or aid him in any way. The others might because they had the right of a father or a father figure to the lads, but there was no real need for it.

Had he not seen Thorin drape his coat around him when it was chilly he would never have thought that Fili would accept any aid of such kind. The blond Dwarf was an enigma, so quiet and serious most the time and yet so full of life and laughter.

He certainly didn't need Bilbo to calm the others' laughter for him, for then he'd simply break out the Thorin training and stare them down himself while Kili looked upon him and giggled.

Fili was competent to look out for himself and never expected anyone to do it for him. When one of the pack ponies startled and knocked him clear over he simply rolled out of the ways of the stomping hooves and stood, brushing himself off and rubbing a sore wrist.

Óin insisted on looking it over and Fili allowed it without any show of concern or emotion. He was not hurt, but the wrist was sore and he sought to spare it during the evening. Kili had taken his bow to hunt or he would likely have fussed over his brother, if for no other reason than to annoy him.

Bilbo thought nothing of it, but when he saw Fili sit and try to straighten his braids he paused. He'd seen him do it before, and he'd seen Kili do it all the more often. Now though his wrist was a little stiff and his fingers a little clumsy and he could see his frustration grow as the braid turned lumpy.

He was surprised at his own confidence when he never hesitated but simply walked over and offered his aid. Even more surprising was that Fili easily allowed it. He only shifted so that Bilbo could reach and grinned at him.

"I fear I haven't much practice, but I do know how to braid," Bilbo mused as he started. "But I offer my apologies if I pull on your hair."

"No fear, I would be a poor excuse for a warrior if I couldn't stand to lose a strand of hair," Fili grinned.

"I expect that's true," he grinned. "But they might not be as neat as Kili would have made them."

"Better than my own effort at the moment," he shrugged. "And I never was that vain, no matter what my dear brother tells you."

Bilbo chuckled as he finished the braids, studying his handiwork. A little uneven, but not too bad. Fili appeared satisfied and thanked him, pulling out his pipe and offering Bilbo of his tobacco. Apparently in that he and Kili were alike and Bilbo accepted without hesitation.

Nori called out a remark about Fili's braids, but one look from the blonde silenced him though he smiled and Bilbo realized it had been a test. He wanted to see how Fili would respond and grinned amused as he judged the reaction.

Bilbo pulled deep on his pipe, blowing out a smoke ring. He knew what it was Nori had seen and he didn't mind. He was included in Fili's protection now and he knew it. What took him by surprise was the fact that he had included Fili and Kili in his own, just the same as Ori. He looked upon them not as his sons, but as the young ones, the ones whom he would look after. They were young, no matter how competent as warriors they were young and he found he wanted to protect that youthful streak so that Kili never stopped that giggling and Fili never ceased that easy teasing grin he had.

They might be past him in experience, and he was just a small Hobbit but no matter how grown they were he would look upon them as youths to guide and protect when he could.

Absently he wondered how they would look upon him.

The End

Important Note: In one of the later chapters of this story Balin was rather tucking in Kili and Fili, this has now been shown as a photo illustration which I have posted on my tumblr account. I am not yet fully used to tumblr, and therefore not quite sure of how to show the link. My tumblr is elenhin-michael, the blog is called the Adventures of Fili And Kili, and is my photographic adventure of Fili and Kili. On the blog is a page called Illustrations for fanfic, and there you have it. Please enjoy.

Please review, the Cricket is hungry…..