Disclaimer: The Hobbit, all characters, places, and related terms are the sole property of J. R. R. Tolkien's estate, and Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and WingNut Films.

Her Prince

"Shouldn't you be with your prince?"

Tauriel jumped at the sudden gruff question that broke the long silence. Her gaze swung from the dwarf and elf camps far below to the bowman beside her. His expression was still stern, his eyes staring downward.

After a moment of surprise, the elven captain sighed heavy. She had noticed the thunderous frown on Bard's face worn as he'd observed her and Legolas talking in front of the dwarves' tent of healing. By the time she and her friend parted, the man had vanished, and it took some time before she found him here, giving no acknowledgement of her presence as she sat down.

"Legolas is not my prince," she replied, feeling weary, resisting the urge to add, as you know.

"Not him." A muscle in Bard's jaw twitched. "The dwarf," he clarified roughly.

The elf blinked, startled, and felt a blush rise in her cheeks. "How…?" she stammered.

The corners of the dark-haired man's mouth tilted up slightly. Resolutely he did not look at Tauriel as he answered. "Sigrid is in raptures over your bravery against the orcs who attacked our home. She hopes to be like you when she becomes older now, a warrior. And Tilda admired how you saved the dwarven prince. Kept asking me if you were going to marry him – like I would know!" He chuckled humorlessly.

Tauriel burst out loudly, "Kili is not my prince! He never was."

The bowman wordlessly turned his face away so all the captain saw was the back of his head. She clenched her hands into tight fists, fighting the desire to reach out and touch him. (Again, as always.) She took several deep breathes.

"He never was," she repeated, her voice quieter. "Nor do I desire him to be." She plunged on when the only response she received was a grunt. "It had been many years since I last encountered dwarves. Kili was different from the others. Bold, rash, curious, an archer. I suppose I found him fascinating. I'd heard dwarves to be extremely private, suspicious creatures. Yet he opened up to me; asked me things I had not considered in a long time."

Her smile was small, possibly sad, as Bard stared at her, his face unreadable.

"I did not save Kili because I loved him," she shook her head firmly. "I just knew I could not let him die. Because of him I realized—" she broke off at the foreign feel of callous, warm hands against her cool cheeks, followed an instant later by chapped lips pressing lightly against her own. Time seemed to go still, her heart thudding in her ears.

Soon – too soon – the kiss ended, though the bowman's hands did not leave her face. Wonderingly, one of the elf's hands rose to rest over his. Looking at him, she took in the stern lines around his mouth, the fresh scar on his left cheek, the way his shoulders sagged with exhaustion and grief from the battle, the pained anger easing from his face. Replaced by a faint softness, tenderness.

The same which she had come to recognize over the last three years. The only indication that while their interactions and words remained the same during their brief encounters, simply business, something was changing. How occasionally his rare smile was free of shadows and cares. How his hands trembled as though wanting to reach out. How his eyes lingered on her. How she sensed he was drawn to her as she to him.

"I love you," he confessed, holding her gaze.

His words stole her breath away, and her heart soared. "I love you," she said.

Bard stilled for a moment. Then a slow, genuine smile lighted his face, a weight easing from his shoulders. Tauriel sighed as he gently directed her to lay her head against his shoulder. She smiled at their laced hands in his lap.

"My Tauriel," he breathed against her red hair.

"My prince."

THE END

Author's Note: Ever since Between Grey Hairs, Young Hearts, and Sneaky Dwarves, I've wanted to try to write something for these two. Hope you all liked it.