"Yes." Thranduil said sadly, "he should be buried. However, I do not think we should do it. Let us bring him back to his own people and let them bury him according to their own customs."
Tears still gleaning in her eyes Tauriel nodded, she let her hand run gently across the cold face of the young dwarf, wondering how one who had been so full of life, so brave, could now be lying there on the ground, dead. Finally, she stood and was surprised to see genuine sadness in the eyes of the king she had deemed cold and uncaring.
Together they fashioned a makeshift stretcher, carefully Tauriel lifted Kíli onto it, making sure his stone was still firmly grasped in his hands, before moving to stand by the head of the deceased while – to her surprise – Thranduil moved over and stood by the feet. Carefully they lifted the stretcher up and begun the short walk to the gates of Erebor.
As they approached the gate, they were shocked to see that two other stretchers had already been placed outside the gate; upon one the proud figure of Thorin Oakenshield himself lay, and upon the other Tauriel was shocked to see the blond dwarf – Kíli's older brother. Slowly Tauriel and Thranduil walked over and put the stretcher down next to Thorin, so that he was flanked by the brothers, and then stood and made to walk away, leaving the dwarves to their grief.
"Wait." Dain Ironfoot said, walking towards them. "Thank you, for bringing him back to us."
Thranduil bowed his head, then left. However, before Tauriel could follow the dwarf who had found the athelas in Laketown walked over to her.
"You look guilty." He said, in a voice that was at the same time accusing and simply stating a fact. "Why is that?"
"I could not save him."
"You already did, in Laketown, remember? If you hadn't used your elf magic there he would've succumbed to his wound."
"But don't you see? It was all in vain. He died anyway. What difference did I make, other than postponing his death a short time?"
"You made all the difference in the world. You gave him a chance to see the halls of his fathers before dying; you gave him a chance to fall nobly in battle, instead of dying of a poisonous wound."
Tears still gleaning in her eyes Tauriel smiled faintly before leaving and quickly finding a secure place where she could crumble down with her grief.