Tauriel's bones were battered and her wounds she received from the foul beast Bolg burned in the cold dry air, but she press herself one in search of her dwarf. As she trudged through the snow and ice she hoped against all hope that she was mistaken, that her dwarf, her Kili was alive, that he had clung to life in spite of Bolg, she knew well the stubbornness of dwarves.

Consumed in her thoughts she realized too late her path had turned to pure ice and her footing was lost, she caught herself before she could fall farther and going over the ledge again, but the impact still rattled her already injured body.

She gasped, trying desperately to catch her breath, but this was a state she was not familiar with. Tauriel was always strong, stable, and never had she ever been in a situation where she found herself to desperate. She feared not for herself however, her wounds would heal. But every time she thought back to Kili her stomach would drop and she would find the strength to press on. She struggled to right herself, and when she was stable enough to press on she heard it, and anguished cry of pain unlike anything she had heard before, not a pleasant sound but one that filled her with hope, she was close to where Kili had fallen surely it could only be him.

With a new found strength she fully righted herself and pressed on with vigor she had lacked before. The cries of anguish continued and she followed them like a siren's call. The screams were terrible and wonderful all at once to her elven ears, she would find him and heal him, things were not over not yet.

As she round the corner of a shattered stone wall however, her hopes were dashed as she took in the sight before her. The screams had not come from the mouth of her dwarf, but rather his uncle, who screamed and sobbed as he clutched desperately to his fallen nephew as though he may be able to wake him from his eternal sleep. His pained shouts not from the wounds on his body, but from a wound that cut deeper than any axe or sword.

Suddenly Tauriel felt like a stranger in this scene, though her heart wept and tears ran freely from her eyes she could not quite bring herself to approach the dwarf king as he held desperately to his fallen kin. Even from where she stood Tauriel could see the tears streaming down Thorin's face as the once stoic king now cried for his nephew.

After what seemed like hours Thorin's anguished screamed turned hoarse and turned to quiet sobbing as he cradled Kili gently to his chest hid faced buried in the young dwarfs hair. Tauriel summoned her courage to slowly began to approach the grief stricken king under the mountain. Her elven feet kept her from make any unwanted noise as she drew closer not sure what she was going to do when she reached them.

Time seemed to pass quickly and far too slowly all at once, but she finally stood mere feet away from the king and departed kin. She wanted so desperately to reach out and stroke Kili's gentle face and soft hair, but at the same time she dreaded doing so, to touch him would prove that this was her love who lay fallen before her. Without making a sound she knelt down before the pair of dwarves before and reached out, but she stopped halfway when her eyes meet with Thorin's.

There was none of his hatred for elves in his blood shot eyes, no rage or mistrust, only sorrow, regret, and the salty tears that were now frozen to his cheeks. She imagined her eyes were the same though she could not know for certain, seeing the grief in his eyes made Tauriel feel like an intruder on the scene, she had no claim to be here while Kili's family grieved for him. With no small effort and a great deal of sorrow sitting heavy on her heart started to stand and turn from the scene when a hoarse voice spoke.

"Wait…don't…" Thorin whispered his voice weak and ragged pure sorrow echoed in his voice as he tried desperately to convey his grief stricken thoughts audibly. "Kili…he wouldn't…" but the rest was lost as he broke down one more. Tauriel believed she understood however as she moved to sit next to the weeping king.

"I won't leave him" she whispered back to him as she gently placed her hand upon her fallen dwarf and her tears flowed freely once more.

As Thorin sat next the elf still holding his beloved nephew closely, he forgot about what the elven king had done to him and his people all those years ago, he forgot his prejudices and he thought of Erebor. He would gladly trade his crown, the mountain, the gold, and even the Arkenstone just have his nephews returned to him. He would trade it all for his family, he realized too late how foolish this quest had been, in their journey to reclaim a pile of stone and metal he had lost what was truly most precious to him.

His energy drained from him Thorin now wept silently, his sorrow surrounded him blocking out the sounds of war and screeching orcs when suddenly a gentle hand on his should cut through the fog of his grief. Slowly he turned to face the fair elf maiden who had offered the comforting gesture. In another time he would have bated it away and insulted her for daring to lay a hand upon him, but today Thorin Oakenshield could not bring himself to stir up any hate.

Slowly and with a shaking hand his calloused fingered wrapped gently around hers trying desperately to find some small comfort. Her soft but strong fingers gripped his hand back trying to find the same comfort. They sat quietly like that for some time, the silence broken only by the occasional whimper or sniff, the battle around then having fallen silent.

"You know… he loved you" Thorin spoke quietly after a while, his voice still hoarse and his eyes never leaving his nephew's face. Tauriel was quite for a moment before looking over to Thorin, her eyes red and face streaked with frozen tears, she had never seen a man, elf, or dwarf look so broken in her countless years.

"He loved you too" she whispered unsure of what to say to dwarf before her.

The mighty dwarf raise his gazed from his fallen kin and their eyes meet, in that moment there was no hate between the two races, there was only loss, sorrow, pain, and an understanding. Hate had suddenly become trivial in wake of grief, and the two races sat together in peace as they grieved for the ones they loved.