Legolas tore off the bottom half of Tauriel's shirt, revealing a blood quaked abdomen. Suppressing his fear, he began to clean off the gore. What little he did manage to clear, was feeble, for the blood kept flowing. Legolas sat back, despair rising.
Abruptly, Tauriel convulsed. Leaning forward, Legolas saw her eyes. They were wild, flickering to each side as if there were adversaries at every angle.
Copper stands lay plastered onto her neck, her blood running onto the ground, creating an unwanted pool around her.
Legolas stared at her, unable to contain the terror dancing in his eyes.
Suddenly, Tauriel writhed on the ground, wallowing in her own bloodshed. Then she lay deathly still, barely breathing. Legolas stumbled toward her, kneeling beside her head as he got close.
"Legolas..." she started to say, using all her strength to find the right words to say.
"Forgive me." she breathed, her last words floating lightly into the heavy air.
With her words spoken, Tauriel lay silent and unmoving on the floor. Her sightless eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Greif made his throat close and his eyes cloud. A moment later, Legolas regained his composure. He leaned down and lightly brushed Tauriel's hair away from her face. Her still warm body shattering his resolve. A tear slide down his face, pausing for a heartbeat then dripping onto her cheek.
Tenderly, Legolas straightened her frame. He took a breath, and got up. Turning around, he left her dead body and walked away, his heart crumbling with every step.
As he walked through the forest, away from her final resting place, memories bombarded his mind. They flashed across his eyes, years passing in seconds, seconds passing in years. He remembered the way she would smile, how the setting sun would turn her gold, her hair floating with breeze. His only love.
When Legolas left the cover of trees, his composure was once again mended. The only thing permanently altered was the emptiness in his chest where his heart used to be.