Summary: Kili believes in legends, in conviction, in dreams, in hope, in Fili and in a million other things beside that are ragged stitches on his weary body. Drabble.

As always, thank you to those who looked over this story on TBB and to Queenie who prodded me into getting this done. Reviews are, as always, appreciated!

Kili believes in legends, in conviction, in dreams, in hope, in Fili and a million other things beside that are ragged stitches on his weary body. They hold him upright through the victories and through the losses, through the joy and through the sorrow.

He believes in legends.

Most dwarfs do. Most dwarfs want to believe in something greater, in Aulë and in lost kings, in a forgotten mountain and in buried gold. But Kili's different from them, just as he's always been - whether it's because he carries his bow or because he prefers the company of his brother to the company of a noble lass. Kili has to believe in those dusty and old and half-forgotten legends. He has to believe that there are dragons that can be defeated and kings that can reclaim their thrones.

He believes in conviction.

Well, mostly he lets himself believe in Thorin. Thorin is the heir to the mountain and his king and his uncle and his father, all wrapped in one confusing bundle. Some days his elder is a storyteller, other days he's a warrior. Sometimes he's the dwarf that gave Kili his second bow (because the first one was from a human who didn't really understand dwarfs) and who made Kili his first sword. Other times, he's the unapproachable leader, the unyielding Oakenshield, the resolute king.

He believes in dreams.

I had a dream you were gone, the little dwarf tells the elder. They are the only things awake in the house besides old, tattered memories. I had a dream we were by the Mountain, and you left me behind. The bigger dwarf holds the smaller one close, gold and ebony mingling together. Then go back to sleep and dream that I come back.

He believes in hope.

This is a dwarf story, not a hobbit story, Thorin tells their Boggins beside the fire one night when the burglar asks how this will end. Baggins asks what it means, but it's not Thorin who answers. The answer is a legion of old dwarf tales that end in stolen treasure and murdered kin. The answer is within Balin's shaking, tired voice as he says, Dwarf stories don't have happy endings. But Kili has to hope that since they have a hobbit, maybe his story is no longer just a dwarf story.

He believes in Fili.

In a life of change and war and battles and death, there's always been one constant – Fili. To Kili, that's all that matters. It doesn't matter that they're retaking the mountain (okay, so maybe it does. It makes Thorin happy) or that Boggins didn't really want to come along (so maybe it hurt a bit, when the hobbit looked on at them with those familiar eyes of distant pity) because Fili is there. Kingdoms will rise and fall, alliances will form and break, friends will come and go. One day Thorin, their mighty king, would succumb to the ravages of time. The world exists in a balance of good and evil, and maybe Kili's fine with that, so long as Kili's able to stay by Fili's side. The two brothers have accepted their fate – they live and die and fight and surrender together. They will take it no other way.

Dwarf stories don't have happy endings., Balin told them in a broken voice, memories of a burning mountain lingering.

Kili chooses to believe in other things.

Believing makes it easier to be Thorin's sword.

It makes it easier to be Thorin's shield, as well.

Kili does not follow Fili into the dark and Fili does not follow Kili. They go together, because they simply will have it no other way.

(And still Kili hopes and dreams and believes, because that's all he's had in his fragile wavering life.)