If there was only one thing that Bilbo knew about his brother, it was that he hated other dwarves. Though there weren't many times when they had the chance to speak to one of Fili's kind, the adopted son of Bungo vehemently avoided them. The hobbit had no idea why, but he didn't ask. That seemed to be what happened a lot with his brother. Fili had his demons.

Like his avoidance of fire.

Or, in contrast, his fear of rivers.

How he froze when he was spoken to in a sharp tone.

The way he walked softly, almost soundlessly, but his eyes were still hard and watchful, and he flinched the few times someone managed to surprise him.

How he never slept on nights with a full moon.

And of these demons, he didn't ask about them. The few times he did, he received only a blank stare in return. But Bilbo saw, and he took note, and he wondered.

That was why, when he opened the door that fateful night, expecting to find his brother there, back from visiting their Tookish cousins, asking himself why Fili had nocked in the first place, he was struck-dumb to find a dwarf. A different dwarf. A dwarf that was most definitely not Fili standing there.

The son of Aulë bowed.

"Dwalin, at your service."

"Bilbo Baggins, at yours." The dwarvish greeting his brother had taught him rose to his lips instantly. He answered this 'Dwalin's questions but rote, not really thinking before he spoke.

Or when he greeted Balin.

Or Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Nori, Ori, Dori, Oin, or Gloin.

His answers were clipped and without feeling as he tried to puzzle out the scenario he had been faced with.

And its most pressing question.

How am I going to keep them away from Fili?

Not even when he saw Gandalf did he came back to reality, and he thought the wizard could tell.

But when he saw Thorin and Kili, something in him sparked, something pushed him back into the world.

It might have been the braids they wore, the bead with the shape on it that he swore he recognized from somewhere.

It might have been the light that the other dwarves had, the one that was missing from Kili's eyes.

But, when Bilbo thought back to that moment in later years, he was certain it was because of the shape of their faces and noses, that reminded him strangely of Fili.

He separated himself from them, waiting by the door, waiting for his brother, in the vain hope that he could herd him away until their guests left.

When Fili opened the door, a small bag slung over his shoulder, his rare smile present on his face, the first place he tried to go, of course, was the dining room.

"You can't go in there." His grin faded to a frown.

"Why ever not?"

Unbeknownst to the two brothers, the walls in Bag End where not as thick as they believed them to be, and, in the silence called by Gandalf and Thorin, they could hear every word.

"Why ever not?" Bofur nodded at the question. Why couldn't this new character go in… wherever it was he wanted to go?

"There are dwarves in there." They all stiffened? Dwarves? Was he being racist? They waited with bated breath, hoping that this newcomer would defend them. But, to their disgust, he paused, then said only,

"Dwarves? Why are there dwarves in there?" Thorin growled. He'd had enough. Throwing back his chair, he stalked into the other room, shoving open the door to meet face to face with their host and his friend.

To his shock, it was another dwarf.

Another dwarf with pale, blonde hair, such much like his long-lost nephew that his heart ached. But the dwarf turned to him in utter apathy and said, in a voice calm and clear as a lake on a winter's day,

"Hail, Thorin Oakenshield, King of Erebor and the Blue Mountains." The king's face twitched.

"Who are you?"

"I am Fili Baggins." He paused. For one brief, shining moment, he could pretend that it was his sister-son standing there, but then he remembered the locks of hair they had found, the note, the blade that was gone, the way he never returned, even though it was winter, and all the passes were blocked.

"Fili, son of Dis?" Fili's face didn't change. He barely gave a reaction at all.

"I have not gone by that name in many years, nor do I ever intend to go by it again. I am Fili Baggins," he repeated in the same voice, not even looking at the male he had just claimed as he uncle.

Bilbo looked between them in a mixture of confusion and shock and from the dining room, the members all glanced at each other and Kili's eyes lit up for the first time in years.

Author's Note:
This is way shorter than I wanted it to be, and it feels way to rushed.

Tell me what you think, please!