Hey guys :) For my fans…I promise I'll finish that Dramione fic sometime, I just wasn't having as much fun as I wanted to, but I'm sure that will change. Either way, hello! This is an AU story in case any of you didn't get that from the summary and it's largely based of movie events (semi-unfortunately) instead of book events because of the inclusion of Tauriel. This was intended as a one-shot but I'm tempted to continue it because I like where it went. And for Bellarke or The 100 fans…there's a little reference for you guys :)

Tauriel crawled over to Kili, her hands chafing against the rough stone, and leaned over his body, peering at his face. His eyes weren't open but he was breathing very faintly. All Tauriel could really recall after she'd been flung against the rock, as her vision was switching between white flashes of stars and blurred images of Bolg and Kili moving swiftly and forcefully together, was Legolas appearing from nowhere in a swish of blonde hair and disappearing with Bolg as Kili crashed to the rocks. Tauriel silently hoped Legolas was okay as she brought her ear down to Kili's chest and listened for a heartbeat. Her eyes could've been playing tricks on her when it came to the breathing but if two senses told her he was alive that was a much more compelling argument.

It was there. Less than faintly. It was pounding hard; almost out of his chest and into her ear. She sighed in relief and rested all her weight on his chest as the relief coursed through her body. Laughing half-heartedly she brought her head up so she could stare at his face. She lightly trailed her fingers over the stubble on his cheeks, grateful she wasn't left to do the same to a corpse. She wasn't going to leave him until she knew he was okay.

She could hear the clashes of swords and screams echoing from below and from the other side of the cliff and imagined all of the other people who were not as lucky as her. Who were losing their best friends, their loved ones, their family. It was the first time she finally understood where Thranduil had been coming from. Was all of this death really worth the agonizing pain and the finality of death? Death. Something she'd never really considered seriously because it wasn't something she often had to face.

But of course it was worth it. They were fighting for this world and the ability to be continue living in it. And they were a part of this world. She couldn't help wondering, however, if she'd feel the same way if Kili's heart wasn't beating strongly beneath her hand.

"Tau…Tau-riel?" his voice coughed below her. She heard his breathing quicken and she shifted her attention back to him, brushing aside hair from his forehead. "It's alright," she whispered, "It's alright. We're alright. Does anything hurt?"

"No," he said, "I'm fine." He struggled to stand, pushing aside her assistance and leaned back against the stone, catching his breath from the effort. Tauriel stood herself and watched him with interest. What was the value in not telling the truth? He was definitely far from fine. While he could move without much strain there was something in his eyes. Something she'd seen when he'd woken, something that hadn't left, but instead increased the longer he was conscious.

"Kili. Tell me…what is the matter?" She extended her hand to his shoulder to steady him as he was falling sideways gradually. He quickly straightened and dodged her touch as subtly as he could. Tauriel didn't understand. She understood little of love, or whatever this was between them, but she understood even less of dwarves. Tauriel couldn't disguise the hurt in her eyes as she flinched away. Could she possibly have lost him anyways? How had she done that? Was it because she hadn't gone with him when he'd asked? Because she hadn't said anything when he'd told her how he felt so forwardly? Tauriel felt suddenly overwhelmed and desired nothing more than to float away into they sky and back in time when she'd had passion and drive but little notion of any other feelings.

Kili registered the pain and panic in her the creases around her eyes and mouth and sighed, his eyes softening slightly but not losing the dark and heavy something. "I'm sorry…I…" What Tauriel didn't know is ever since Kili had woken up he was replaying Fili dropping hundreds of feet and his body, eyes gaping soullessly open, sprawled at awkward angles against the grey. His brother was dead. He was alive. What was right about that?

"What?" Tauriel said gently.

"He's dead," Kili said shortly. Tauriel winced. She wasn't sure who he was talking about but he looked on the verge of maniacal, sardonic laughter. "And here I am. We should've gone out together. We always thought we would. What am I going to say to Amad?" He wasn't talking to anyone but himself now. Tauriel thought through his words, dissecting each one as best she could with the smidgens of information she knew about him, and gasped inwardly at her conclusion. He had a brother. Fili? Fili. His brother was dead. She didn't feel the need to confirm her theory in fear of uttering his name, unsure of what destruction it would cause. In fact, she had no idea what to do so she stood there and watched him with worry. She thought back to images of comforting she'd seen in her lifetime and briefly considered trying to hug him or stroke his hair. But considering his avoidance of her hand on his shoulder and the uncomfortableness she would feel, she didn't. She wasn't going to say anything either because she knew the right words were not something she had possession of. Which left her as she was and had been. Standing and staring. Helplessly and uncomfortably.

"I need to see him," he murmured. He started walking determinedly away from Tauriel and up the mountainside, picking up and down the rocks, trying to find a way through to the other side where his brother had fallen. Tauriel followed. She couldn't think of anything else to do and she'd promised not to leave him.

He didn't say a word to her as they hiked. Tauriel took that as a good sign and flitted around behind him in worry as he grimaced with almost every step. As the seconds grew larger so did his limp until he was practically lurching as though he were crippled. She couldn't stand it any longer. She drew even with him and bravely laid a hand on his shoulder. He started in surprise. His thoughts had obviously been elsewhere.

"We should rest," she said. She didn't know what his reply would be and it scared her. He probably didn't even want her here with him.

Again, no words. But he sat down against a wall on top of one of the only flatter rocks and put his head between his knees. She knelt down beside him and touched his left leg; the one that hadn't been supporting his weight as it was supposed to be. She tugged the pant leg from his boot and rolled it up to his knee. There was an extremely large bruise blossoming along the back of his calf. She laid both of her hands on the dark red skin and she murmured a few choice words in elvish. The bruise didn't appear to change but she sensed from the huff of breath that left Kili, that the pain had dissipated somewhat as she'd intended. She remained kneeling beside him but averted her eyes to give him privacy, instead turning her eyes to the sky.

"The eagles," she whispered, "The battle is won." Kili lifted his head from his knees and glanced up at her words. He watched them fly by solemnly and then stood. "We should continue," he said, "It won't be much longer until I'm missed."

"Of course."

And they kept walking. She was trying to catch glimpses of the battle below through breaks in the rocks and was completely clueless when Kili tore away from her side, sprinting down the remaining rock and onto the ice of a water fall. He made it to two sillouhettes against the setting sun. One body was definitely still, the other shaking and heaving. And then Kili was shaking and heaving. Tauriel did not want to intervene but her curiosity won out as she approached the huddled group and blinked in amazement as she saw the body of Thorin Oakenshield still and cold. She stepped away and slipped back onto a rock where she sat in stunned silence. Kili had lost everyone. His pain was becoming her pain and she began to realize how much she didn't want this, how much she wished she could hide away in the forest with Thranduil and her kin. She began to cry, the grief overwhelming her.

She couldn't avert her eyes from Bilbo and Kili as they mourned. Eventually Kili was joined by all his kin who had come up to retrieve the bodies of both Fili and Thorin. Now she definitely felt she was imposing and so rose from the rock, making the decision to find Legolas. She had just gone on her search when Kili looked up from his uncle and peered around the surrounding rocks, looking for that fiery red hair but it was nowhere to be seen, of course. He stood, saying a couple of words to his kin, and then chased after her. He frantically whipped his head around as he ran, hoping something would make it clear which way she'd gone. He finally saw her lithely walking a couple hundred feet to the left of him and he went after her.

Tauriel ceased calling Legolas' name and turned at the sound of feet clomping behind her. Kili was coming towards her. When he saw her stop, he slowed to a jog, and then a walk as he got even closer and finally came to a full halt when he was a couple feet in front of her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm looking for my prince."

"Right." Tauriel spotted something which she'd seen in Legolas countless times before. Jealousy. Kili's eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were still wet.

"I felt as though I was imposing," she whispered. "I did not belong there."

"You did. You belong wherever I am," he said confidently, "I don't think splitting up has ever been in our best interest."

"Perhaps not," she smiled weakly. Kili reached over and grasped her hands in his. This time she was prepared for the warmth and the surprising gentleness of his rough skin and she didn't let any shock show on her face. Instead she weaved her fingers between his and tried to take comfort from the contact. As did he.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About the way I behaved earlier. You were being kind."

"You were grievously hurt. I understand."

"Thank you for not leaving me," he mumbled.

"Of course."

He leaned in, releasing her hands, and winding them instead around her waist. She stood stock still not wanting to interrupt whatever he was doing. "You know," he whispered, "I wouldn't mind if you returned the hug."

"Right." She didn't move for almost a minute and then she slipped her arms around his shoulders as delicately as she could, unsure what the proper pressure for this sort of contact was. He sensed how awkward she was and he stepped out of the embrace, laughing quietly as tears fell down his cheeks and the laughing quickly turned to sobs as he fell back against a wall and sunk down to the ground. Tauriel joined him and stroked his hair, her fingers rippling through the gentle waves. Occasionally they would catch in knots and she would unravel them as methodically as possible before continuing her motions. He was leaning into her hands and then suddenly his head was on her thigh. She was shaking with his shoulders now but she didn't stop as it appeared to be helping.

It wasn't long before the shadows overtook the light and there was not much left to see by. She released his hair and raised his head with her hands as slowly as possible. "We should go," she whispered.

He stood in a rush, turned from her, wiped his eyes, and turned back. "Yes," he declared. "They'll be singing songs and sharing stories of Thorin and…Fi…yes, Thorin. I really shouldn't miss it."

Tauriel knew without having to ask that they'd be splitting up no matter what Kili said. That was not something she was invited to. "And I have to find Legolas," she said.

"Will you go with him?" Kili asked.

"I do not know. Probably not. I will probably go my own way."

"You don't have to leave."

"I think we both know this is never going to work," she sighed. She'd been hoping to delay this conversation for another day when there was less on his mind but it had come up now. She just hoped he wasn't going to fight her on it.

"Who cares what everyone else thinks? I do love you and don't tell me you don't know what that means because I said it in a language we both understand this time. And I think you feel the exact same way. That's enough."

She didn't know if she loved him. Then she thought back on the fear that she'd lost him, the relief when she hadn't, the intense pain over the deaths of dwarves she'd barely known, and she thought that she probably did love him. "I must go," was all she said. She turned, not wanting to face him any longer and began to walk away.

"Wait, Tauriel!"

She closed her eyes before returning her gaze to his. There was no telling how much longer she could resist him and the youthful confidence, bordering on arrogance, that he displayed. She may not be able to see a way in which they could ever be together but as long as he could the barrier of resistance would be a weak one.

"Do you still have my rune stone?"

She nodded. She pulled it out of her tunic and held it out to him. He approached her and wrapped her hands back around it with his.

"Keep it." He stood on the tops of his toes and using his hand he brought her face down to his and pressed his lips against hers chastely but sweetly, before pulling away slowly, letting it linger.

"May we meet again," he whispered into her ear. "May we meet again," she whispered back, fighting back a smile, and then strode away from Kili, leaving him to watch her go. But the farther away they got from each other the more Tauriel pondered the kiss and brushed her fingers across her lips and the more Kili was smiling despite the pain of losing his family because he knew she'd be back. Most likely. Who could really tell with elves?