AU: Okay, so this is the story that won the poll, so enjoy! I'm taking creative liberty as to who they have met and who they have not met; thus, in a later chapter, I am introducing a dwarf most of you know, but Fili and Kili have not met him yet.

"You're sure you'll be able to handle the lads until I get back from my little trip?"

"I'm not incompetent with dwarflings."

"Of course not," Dis smiled. She was off to visit an old family friend who lived a bit away from the village. The dwarf she was visiting was an elderly, grandmotherly dwarf that had long ago decided she preferred a more solitary lifestyle over busy village, though Dis liked to young visit her occasionally. Leaving her sons in the hands of her brother for more than a day or two always made her anxious to return, this time she would be gone for a little over a week! Thorin could be prone to annoyance and growing tired of the boys' childish antics. In the past, the boys had tried to convince their uncle to play games with them, though his idea of a good time was teaching the dwarflings more about smithing to help their futures. The nephews tended not to agree to his plans.

"They'll be fine, in fact we might even have lots of fun, this time. Go and tell Leilki she has my greetings," Thorin nodded at his sister, watching as the two dwarflings hugged their mother goodbye before hurrying to their uncle's side.

"Bye mummy!" Kili called, while his brother echoed with a: "Bye mum."

"Be good lads and don't cause your Uncle Thorin to much strife!" Dis called back before hurrying away, trusting his brother to keep the dwarflings from harm.

"What we gunna do today, Uncle?" Kili asked excitedly, receiving a rather dull answer in return.

"I have to go work, so you and your brother can come along. I will teach Fili about smithing, and you will stay out of Dwalin's way."

"Oh," Kili replied, slightly put-out at his uncle's statement, "I thought we were going to have lots of fun!"

"Learning about smithing can be fun," Thorin told Kili, though he hardly believed himself, and then he lead the two dwarflings toward his shop.

The boys chattered along the way to the shop, but once there, Fili attempted to absorb himself in what his uncle was trying to teach him. Attempted, because Kili made it rather difficult.

"So you swing the hammer like this, see... Stand back Kili! You'll hurt yourself!"

"Uncle Thorin, why is the sword orange?"

"Because it's very hot. Don't touch it, Kili!"

"It's funny! I wish I could have an orange sword! Fili, why don't you have an orange sword?"

Thorin found that Fili was learning very little because his brother was constantly pestering him, though Kili was learning less. No, scratch that, Kili wasn't learning at all.

In Kili's defense, however, the littler dwarfling didn't seem to find much of Thorin's attention placed upon teaching the younger nephew. Thorin was showing Fili all sorts of things, yet when Kili asked questions, Thorin rarely told Kili anything but to back up and get out of Fili's way.

"Uncle, how did you make the design in the sword hilt?"

"Kili! You'll burn yourself! Go look at the already made ones and watch from over there. Now, Fili, it goes like this..."

Eventually, Kili gave up altogether. What was the point in trying when he was never given a real chance? This didn't seem to make Thorin any happier, for when he did ask for Kili's help, he found his younger nephew rather unobliging.

"I have this little hammer, you can try hammering this metal into place, Fili."

"How? I'm sorry, I can't seem to remember... Is it like this?"

"Yes, that's good. Just practice that. Kili would you stop playing with that, Dwalin has been working on that statuette for a week now and you might drop it and bend it! Now why don't you stay back and poke the fire like I taught you?"

"How Uncle Thorin? I don't remember you teaching me anything!"

"I've taught you things, but you must put them to good use... Kili! I told you you'd knock it over!"

"I'm sorry, Uncle, really! Here, let me try to fix it!"

"No, I'll do it before Dwalin gets back. Go over there and don't knock over anything else!"

Eventually, Thorin's nerves had reached their breaking point, and Kili decided he'd had enough of the smithy.

Kili was telling his brother about ways they could get out of 'learning about smithing' and though Kili was fully enthusiast to run off, Fili wasn't quite sure.

"We have to learn someday," Fili reminded his little brother, who giggled.

"Not if uncle goes to the mountain and becomes the king! Then we never have to learn it! We won't have to learn anything! I'm not learning anything anyway."

Fili shook his head with a laugh, following after Thorin, but Kili continued to persist.

"We could play just outside his shop, anything to get us out of learning about smithing! It's so dull just sitting there, Fili! And don't tell me you enjoy learning about smithing."

"Well I wouldn't expect someone so little as you to understand, but it's my duty to learn about smithing since Uncle want me to," Fili was more joking about the little part, but he did think that learning smithing could come in handy, "After all, even at the mountain we've got to learn something about smelting or something. It's my duty to!"

"Well it's your duty to look after your little brother, so have at it!" With that, Kili ran off in the other direction, Fili frowning after him.

Thorin turned at the sound of disappearing footsteps, and his frown deepened when he saw Kili tearing off into the edges of the forest.

"Get your little brother back here this instant!" Thorin turned to Fili, "I need to get to the smithing shop and don't have time to be chasing after little dwarflings."

Thorin huffed and stomped away, leaving Fili standing alone on the path, rather annoyed with his little brother.

"Kili, come back!" Fili called after his brother, "Where'd you go?"

Fili cautiously approached the forest, and at first he couldn't see his brother any where, but then Kili dropped down from a nearby tree.

"Hi Fili! Did ya come to play?"

Kili's wide brown eyes looked very hopeful, yet Fili found he could only shake his head.

"No, we've got to go after Uncle Thorin. Maybe we can play later?"

"Maybe." Kili sighed, and he cast one sad look at the forest before following after his brother. They were silent as they walked, yet an unanswered question tugged at Kili's heart.

"Does Uncle Thorin not like me or something?"" Kili sighed, and he cast one sad look at the forest before following after his brother. They were silent as they walked, yet an unanswered question tugged at Kili's heart.

"Does Uncle Thorin not like me or something?"

The question caught Fili so off guard that he stopped and swiveled to stare at his brother.

"Repeat that?" Fili asked.

"Uncle Thorin, he only ever teaches you things; he always tells me to leave and stop bothering you and him and Dwalin and everyone!"

"Oh Kili," Fili shook his head, kneeling down to his brothers slightly smaller height, "Of course Uncle likes you; he's just worried you'll hurt yourself, and you are rather young to be learning real smithing." Kili's face fell and Fili continued quickly, "Not that I'm saying you're young, it's just that Thorin is probably waiting until you're my age to teach you smithing."

"Then why do I even have to be there?"

"Because he's a good uncle and he's taking care of us while Mum is away. Now come on, Ki, let's catch up with uncle and maybe he'll listen to me if I ask him to teach you something."

Fili ruffled his brother's hair before they continued on to the smithy, yet Thorin was not in a listening mood. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Thorin was standing near the door, arms crossed, while Dwalin hammered away on something inside. Fili hurried on in, yet Thorin stopped Kili before he could enter.

"Now Kili," Thorin's voice was stern, "I need to talk to you about your behavior as of late. You have been bothering your brother while he tries to learn, you have gone near the fires and almost burned yourself, you have knocked over Dwalin's hard work, you have interrupted me while I tried to work, and now you ran off into the woods so that your brother had to go after you!"

"I'm sorry Uncle, it just seems like I haven't been doing anything in that shop!"

"Oh you've been doing plenty," Thorin muttered to himself, "Now Kili, I am willing to teach you, but you must be willing to learn!"

"I'm willing!" Kili insisted.

"Then start acting like it!"

With that, Thorin stormed into the shop, leaving Kili to kick a stone against the wall angrily before following his uncle. Fili saw his little brother's downcast expression, and he knew something had to be done.

"Uncle Thorin," Fili spoke softly, "Kili really does want to help, he just doesn't know how."

"Then he should watch and learn," Thorin replied, "Perhaps tomorrow, if he is good today and still shows interest, I will show him a thing or two that won't get him burned or set him about making things worse around here."

Dwalin ignored the conversation and continued on with his work.

At lunch, Kili was restless and fidgety from keeping quiet all day long. Seeing that Kili had a large amount of pent up energy, Fili made a suggestion.

"Uncle," Fili spoke, "I've learned a lot in the last few days, perhaps Kili and I could take a little break?"

Thorin looked up from his lunch, sharing a look with Dwalin.

"Alright," Thorin nodded, "Go ahead and take a long break, but be back by closing time."

Kili's eyes shown happily, though his face dropped a little at Thorin's next words, "Kili, don't run off."

With that, Fili and Kili were dismissed.

AU: Well, this kind of a setting up introduction, there will be action and hurt/comfort in the future chapters!