Disclaimer: I do not own Hobbit or any of its characters. Only the plot is mine. Hobbit belongs to both Tolkien and Jackson. This takes place right before the scene cuts of with Kílí, Tauriel, and Thranduil on Ravenhill where Kílí had fallen. As soon as I saw that scene, I could not accept that there was nothing Tauriel could do. Her face showed otherwise. So I started writing this. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Awakening

"What grace is given me let it pass to him. Let him be spared." Tauriel thought the words as she kissed the cold lips of her love. She drew herself away, tears still streaming down her face. She did not care if the Elven king saw her this way. He had banished her. He had no hold over her. And he may actually be one of the few who could understand what she was going through right now.

A sound invaded her ears. Not one of death from the fighting, but one of life. Slow at first. Rasping. As is the person were just waking up. Tauriel looked down at the body of Kílí, and found that his chest was moving! The injury that had struck him down was slowly closing. Each breath he took was stronger than the last until his breathing was that of true, even sleep.

King Thranduil looked on, unable to hide the shock from his eyes. Moments ago the dwarf had been dead! Now he was truly asleep with barely any wounds to show that he had been in battle. "The Eldar have chosen to bless him," he said more to himself than to Tauriel. The maid heard anyway, though she kept her eyes on Kílí. "They have brought him back from death, though he is no Elf."

Amazement lit into Tauriel's eyes. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought the Eldar would grant a request such as this! "I said a prayer to them," she explained. She spoke quietly, not wanting to wake Kílí. "I said a prayer to them as I kissed him."

"Which prayer?" Thranduil asked gently. Cold and cruel he may be, but the former captain still held a place in his heart. Seeing what the Eldar have done has shown him that he can't have his heart be so cold. That is how he lost his son.

"What grace is given me, let it pass to him. Let him be spared." Tauriel recited.

Thranduil was stunned further. He knew that prayer. It was a sacred one used only in dire circumstances. Very rarely did the Eldar oblige the prayer for it passed some of the life of the Elf to the one they are trying to save or bring back. "It seems the Eldar smile upon your union," Thranduil stated. He turned to leave, then thought better and looked back at Tauriel. "All of the dwarves know that the line of Durin has failed. If one suddenly came back, you both will forever be apart. The elves of Lorién and Rivendell are more open-minded to relationships such as yours. Legolas is going to the North to find a ranger named Strider."

"Thank you King Thranduil," Tauriel said as the elven king left. She continued watching Kílí late into the night, the cold winds not bothering her. When the sun shone bright into the sky and he still had not woken, Tauriel began to worry.

A soft tapping noise came to her ears. Slowly it drew closer. With no rest since the battle and her vigil over Kílí the night before, Tauriel could not sense who the visitor could be. She drew both of her daggers and took a protective stance in front of Kílí. She would not risk losing him again. Ever so slowly the tapping came closer and louder. Soon she could hear grunting and soft chattering voices though she could not make them out. The voices hushed as they approached, but the tapping continued to echo off the walls. A small bit of grey cloth appeared from around the corner followed by Gandalf the Grey and the small Hobbit from the Company.

Tauriel straightened sheathing her blades. "Mithrandir?" she asked confused. "What are you doing up here?"

"King Thranduil told me of your experience last night so Bilbo and I came to see for ourselves before we left," the Wizard explained.

Tauriel moved aside for them to see Kílí. "He still has not awoken."

"So it's true," Gandalf whispered. He knelt down by the sleeping dwarf placing one hand over his eyes. Gandalf closed his eyes, whispering in Quenya. Kílí suddenly drew in a large gasp of air, his eyes shooting open. Gandalf drew his hand away but stayed next to the dwarf. "Lay still," he said.

Kílí looked up at the Wizard, confusing written on his face. "Gandalf? How are you in the dwarven halls of Mandos?"

"Kílí."

Kílí looked over to find the woman who had stolen his heart sitting on his other side. Now he was very confused. "You cannot be here," he said sadly. "You walk in starlight far longer than I ever will and I am dead while you live. You cannot be in these dwarven halls."

Tauriel choked on a sob. Of all the things she thought he'd say or do when he woke, that was not one of them. To deny that he was alive again was a stab to her heart.

Before she could say anything, Bilbo came up next to Gandalf in Kílí's line of sight. "You're not dead Kílí," he explained softly as he knelt down next to Gandalf. Kílí looked to the Hobbit puzzled.

"Mr. Boggins. How can I not be dead when I got stabbed right in the heart?" As if to emphasize his point, Kílí raised his hand to where his wound had been, only to find that there was no wound. His flesh was tender at the spot, but there was no hole where Bolg had driven his stake into Kílí's chest. "How can this be?" Kílí looked from Bilbo to Gandalf who both shook their heads. Slowly he looked to Tauriel who was not looking at him, but down at her hands. "Tauriel?" Gandalf and Bilbo stood and walked out of earshot so the two could speak in peace.

Kílí saw Tauriel's hand near his and took it in his own startling her out of her own thoughts. She looked into his eyes, finding them on her as intently as they had been on the beach so long ago. "Tauriel, did you bring me back?"

Slowly she nodded.

For a moment he did not speak, his face blank. When he did he said, "My brother and uncle are dead. Both have been avenged. What does the Company know of me?"

Tauriel had to control her voice before she could answer. Again this was not what she had expected he would say. "They believe you are also dead. Your cousin Dain was crowned King Under the Mountain as the closest living relative to you and Thorin." Silence reigned as he took in the new information.

"I guess that when you are done here you will have to return to your prince," he said his face still stoic.

Tauriel was taken aback. Her prince? He could only mean Legolas. She chuckled. "Legolas is no longer my prince," she explained. "Just as I am no longer and Elf of the Woodland Realm. I am now free to go wherever I please and with whoever I please."

The mask that help Kílí's stoic expression shattered. A wide grin spread across his face and hope filled his eyes. "Would you come with me then?"

A gentle smile graced her lips. "The word you said on the shore," she said ignoring the question. "Amrâlimê. I lied when I said I did not know the meaning."

Kílí's smile grew broader across his face. "I figured as much."

She rolled her eyes but continued. "I was scared. I didn't know what was happening. When Elves decide to marry, they only marry once and only for love. I have never felt anything for any one of my kin. Not until I met you. At first I thought it was simple curiosity, I had never met a dwarf like you before. But when you got shot with the arrow, I felt fear for another for the first time. Not because you were a prisoner, but because of what you mean to me. When the orc we captured said that you would die from the shaft, I felt pure terror."

"You came to save me then?"

Tauriel nodded. "I didn't know why then. But now I do. Gi melin."

"You'll forgive me if I don't know any Elvish," Kílí said sarcastically.

Tauriel sighed, rolled her eyes, and kissed the dwarf who put her through so much in the last few days. Releasing him she explained, "It means 'I love you'".