Note: Quotes are from "Stabat Mater" Woodkid's version and Caswell's translation of the original hymn. "Silhouettes" by Of Monsters and Men, and "The Other Side" also by Woodkid.

Epilogue

In the glorious days, till we lost our ways
Do you recall when the war was just a game?
Now the wind ventures to other plains
When will I see you again if I go?

The fire crackled softly beneath Thorin's fractured gaze. Kili sat with him quietly, often it was best just to sit and be silent. Words were confusing; they tangled and strangled those that spoke them. This way Kili could enjoy his Uncle's company, he could pretend everything was alright. The moment Thorin opened his mouth the illusion was shattered…

But today Thorin's eyes flicked to Kili's face... there was a vague sadness about him. The young dwarf searched his face for a sliver of understanding, but he just couldn't fathom the depths within.

"I am… sorry". Thorin spoke slowly and deliberately, feeling the weight of each word drop at Kili's feet. "I don't recognise you… but I look at your face and know that I am sorry".

"It's alright…" Kili stopped himself tacking the word 'Uncle' on to his sentence. The young dwarf had quickly come to learn that it only confused Thorin. "There is nothing to be sorry for, not now anyway".

It seemed pointless holding Thorin to account for his previous sins when he couldn't even remember who Kili was.

Thorin just looked at Kili as if he was trying to solve a riddle. "What did I do?"

The young dwarf looked back to the fire, wondering how he could possibly answer that question.

"Everything… Nothing". There was no answer, no answer that this Thorin would understand anyway. "We are all where we are because of you… I know it won't make sense, but like small rocks that cause an avalanche you made a choice that changed us all. You asked me to go on an adventure, to leave everything behind…"

Kili wanted to go on, he wanted to say that people and places were damaged… that lives were lost. But he couldn't burden his Uncle with that. Not when his mind was so fractured. The young dwarf looked to Thorin, half hoping to see recognition on his face.

"I'm sorry". Thorin replied simply.

Maybe it was better this way. Maybe there was freedom in not knowing… not remembering. Thorin always kept a stoic uncaring exterior, but who knows how much death and destruction weighed on him beneath it all? Kili sighed and settled back into his chair, coming to cradle his aching arm.

"Everything is about to change again. Maybe change is the only real constant… There will be a new King. It should have been you, you know that? But you got hurt, you…" Kili was saying more than he intended, but less than he wanted. The young dwarf told himself to let it go. Thorin watched Kili with curiosity, wondering at his incomprehensible words.

And then Thorin's puzzled face seemed to soften. "There is something else".

"Yes?" Kili asked, wondering what on earth would come out of his Uncle's mouth next.

"I know that I am proud of you".

A lump caught in Kili's throat at hearing that. He managed a sad smile and nodded.

This time when Kili reached for his Uncle's hand, Thorin did not pull away.

They sat quietly a little longer, enjoying the silence, until Kili deemed it time to leave. "I've got to go, but I'll see you very soon Uncle".

That word slipped out accidentally. Kili held his breath waiting for a reaction, but Thorin just nodded and turned back to the fire. Previously he had shouted, he had accused Kili of lying… this was some improvement at least.

~oOo~

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing
All his bitter anguish bearing
Now at length the sword has passed

Kili was lost in his thoughts as he made his way down the passageways of Erebor. A dwarf ran past and nearly knocked him over. Kili scowled and asked him what the hurry was.

"They're here! They've arrived!" The response was excitedly given, and Kili found himself running after the careless dwarf.

They could only mean one thing… The dwarves from Ered Luin… Dis…

Everything blurred around Kili as he ran, chest heaving, desperate to see his mother.

And then suddenly he stopped.

There she stood, at the end of the corridor, bags at her feet, coated with a layer of dirt from the road.

A beautiful sight.

Kili stopped, breathing hard, half wondering if he was seeing things. She was here… after all this time… He wanted to call out, but his voice was lost as he tried to hold back the flood of tears that threatened. She smiled sadly and held her arms out, Kili ran to them, becoming lost in her embrace. He felt safe… at last. The young dwarf collapsed into his mother's comforting touch and let everything go. He wept, he wept as he had not done since he thought Fili lost. But these were tears of relief, of healing, the pain and the weight he had carried washed away. The hurts he bore from battle, from losing Fili, and from betrayal… he let them go, everything he had been through was released in his mother's arms.

And then he realised this was a release for her too. She wept as fiercely as he did, for she felt every hurt as if it were her own. Such is a mother's curse. And she had borne her own hurts too, fretting in a far off land over her brother and her sons, not knowing if they lived or died. As he had suffered, so she had suffered too. Back in Ered Luin a message from Erebor finally arrived; it sat unopened in front of her… Did it bring news of death or victory? Her hand stalled, those precious moments of not knowing were almost at an end. They seemed suddenly precious, for if she opened that message and found them all dead the world would not be worth living in… But she wept with relief at the good news within. All lived. And they wept with relief now, in each other's arms. It was over…

~oOo~

Wherever there is you
I will be there too

Kili adjusted his brother's cloak one last time outside the Great Hall. Fili batted away his hands and told him to stop fussing.

Kili complied and rested his hands on his brother's shoulders, looking him up and down. "So this is it".

"This is it". Fili said with a smile.

"You scrub up well". Kili teased.

"You're not too bad yourself".

They both stood in their finery, preparing to go inside… perhaps stalling a little.

"Are you ready?" Kili searched his brother's face.

"As ready as I'll ever be… I can't back out now". Fili took in a deep breath. "Who would have imagined we would be standing here today…"

"Not me for certain…" Kili thought back to when they set out on this journey. How keen they had been to reclaim their home land... a home land that they had never seen. "I was eager for adventure, I wanted to see more of the world… Slay a dragon, be a hero. It all seemed so exciting".

And it had turned out so different. How naive he had been back then. War was no game, he knew that now. Kili had lost his naivety; he had lost some sense of innocence he would never get back. It left a part of him hardened, but he was not lost entirely. He had his brother. They had each other. And today was not a day for sorrow; this was a new beginning, a time to look forwards. Let the past wither and fade away, they would build something better on this fledgling foundation.

"There are no heroes. Not outside the pages of books anyway". Fili's grave words broke Kili from his reverie.

"Speaks the true hero amongst us". Kili smiled. "Need I remind you of the dragon again?"

"Well I won't be a hero until it's written down then".

"Ori's already got that in hand".

"Has he? Well, I suppose I'll have to be a hero if that's the case…" Fili spoke slightly wistfully.

Kili glanced at the door. "They're waiting".

Fili took in another deep breath. "They are".

"I'm with you". Kili squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"I didn't doubt that for a second". Fili drew his brother in to a warm embrace.

"I'll always be with you". Kili whispered in his ear.

"And I'll be with you till the bitter end too".

They broke apart and faced the great wooden doors before them. Kili stepped forwards and looked to his brother before pushing them open. They gave way with an ominous creak that was quickly drowned out by a fanfare of horns. Kili took up the banner of their house, the Durin crest, and strode proudly out into the hall. It was filled from wall to wall with cheering, smiling faces. Kili maintained his stoic posture until he spotted Dis, Tauriel and the rest of their company near the front. He couldn't help but break out into a smile then.

Behind Kili followed Fili, the Crown Prince, ready to be crowned. Balin stood with the coronet on a deep red cushion. The cheering reached a crescendo, nearly beating the horns for supremacy. But when Fili reached the front and Balin held up a hand, they fell silent.

It was time.

And so Prince Fili became King Fili. He was a strong King, a wise King, he tempered justice with mercy. Hyuran was granted a pardon, Fili thought losing his sight was enough punishment… especially when it came to light that he pushed Bilbo aside and stopped the hobbit taking the blow that blinded him. Amradûn was given a sentence that would hurt him deeply – exile from the lands he held so dear. He was doomed to wander far away and homeless, banished from his people. Only Khahûn remained imprisoned, and there he stayed until his name was long forgotten…

Things changed, and changed again. The beginnings of a prosperous kingdom came about. But it could not be said that this was a truly happy ending. Old scars ran deep for all of them. Thorin's could not be hidden. He got better in degrees only to relapse again. He would never be as he was, nor would Fili and Kili. The new King stood strong, but Kili noticed he seemed to slip away when he sat before a warm fire on a cold day… The flames took Fili somewhere else. Kili would distract his brother before Fili became too lost. Even when they grew old and grey and these years were a long distant memory, Kili would put a hand to his brother's shoulder on seeing his eyes glaze over before a flame. As for Kili, his arm never recovered enough to draw a bow, but perhaps the nightmares grieved him more. As he watched out for his brother his brother watched out for him. Often Kili would be roused from a raven's call to find Fili holding him tightly, telling him it was over. They had made it through.

No, it was not a truly happy ending. But perhaps there are no happy endings… because nothing ever ends.

I'll see you on the other side

~oOo~

Note: So there we have it :) I hope I managed to pull all the loose threads together well enough, it was no easy task to do everything and everyone justice!

I just want to take a moment to sincerely thank everybody who has read this story, especially those who have been kind enough to follow, favourite and review (And a *fist bump* for my regular reviewers, you know who you are ;) ). I never imagined I would write something that so many people have enjoyed. I've been amazed by the response... Thank you, from the bottom of my heart :)

And so much for this being a one shot eh? I laugh every time I click on this story and see at the top of chapter one... "I'll be back to working on SPN after this brief flirtation with Kili". That brief flirtation turned in to quite a bit more... So, I do have those unfinished SPN fics to finish off (subject to time, which is a luxury right now, ugh), and I'm just entertaining a couple of plot bunnies from The Musketeers fandom (I urge everyone to watch it when it airs where you are. To twist the words of the Bard - It is such stuff as fandoms are made on). I was intending to let Fili and Kili rest a while after everything I've put them through, but a couple of you have mentioned wanting more, and that got the muse thinking... What about popping in on Kili and Tauriel rebuilding Dale? There are many things that might happen... So do let me know if you'd like to see something along those lines, and feel free to toss out your own ideas! There's no telling what might set the plot bunnies off :D