"Do you think she could have loved me?"
Tauriel tried to smile as she felt Kili's fingers brush against hers. She had never felt more conflicted in her long life as the tidal wave of emotion that crashed within her met with the strong walls of duty and loyalty that she had built up over hundreds of years and threatened to crack them. Her heart ached to be able to reply to him, to tell him yes that not only could she love him she believed she may already be in love with him. But her mind prevailed and she held his hand lightly murmuring ancient words of peace and rest. Kili's head drooped backwards as sleep took him and Tauriel had to take a deep breath.
He was oddly beautiful, with a rugged, somewhat gruff exterior but a happy, hopeful spirit filled with youths wonder and awe at the world surrounding it. She had known when she had spoken to him in his cell back home that he was not the sort of dwarf she'd heard of. He was not arrogant or small minded, smelly or greedy. Kili was young, and filled with youths willing, hopeful nature. Seeing him lying there, pale, sweaty and breathing deeply on the table made Tauriel wonder about herself. How could one dwarf have such a profound effect on her? She had always prided herself on being independent; she had never had need of a male's approval or love. Having worked hard for hundreds of years, Tauriel was the captain of the guard through her own merit and had earned the Kings favour through the sweat of her brow and the strength of her arm. But there was something about this dwarf that captured her interest like no other male had and she felt something inside her ache and yearn for him, for the happiness he brought her.
Dragging herself out of her thoughts, Tauriel berated herself. She had not intended to feel this way for the dwarf, but she did. That was somewhat understandable and not something within her control. But allowing her guard down as she wondered at his beauty was unacceptable. She was not a young maid still half in childhood whose sole purpose was to flutter her eyelashes in such a way as to attract the object of her desires. She was a proud Silvan elf, a captain of King Thranduil's guard and whilst she had been moping over this dwarf she had failed to act upon the worrying sounds that she could detect coming from the direction of Erebor, The Lonely Mountain. Concentrating, Tauriel realised the sounds she could hear were the roars of a beast and the rhythmic whoosh of the air beneath its wings. Smaug was coming.
Running across the room to the window, Tauriel looked to the mountain and saw, to her visible dismay, that she had been correct. The dragon was indeed flying from Erebor, larger and fiercer than she'd ever imagined with scales that glittered pure gold in the moonlight.
"Will he be alright?" Tauriel heard from behind her. Fili was at his brother's side, checking to see if the fever was subsiding.
"Yes, he will heal. Stay with him and protect him, I must go."
"Go? Go where? What if he needs you again?"
"He'll heal perfectly well Master Dwarf, but unless I leave he may not be safe." Tauriel strode to the door purposefully, attempting to arrange her face into what she hoped was a brave smile for the two small human girls who were cowering in the corner, staring at her with awe.
"What do you mean? What's happening?" Bofur asked desperately, going to the window himself to look for himself. "I can't see anything."
"Your kin have awakened the beast." Tauriel said abruptly, stopping by the door and gazing back in to the room thoughtfully. She wasn't entirely sure what she could do but she knew she had to act, to protect the people of Laketown and these strange dwarves who for some reason she felt oddly protective of.
"Smaug?" Fili said weakly, leaning on the table his brother slumbered on. "But if that's true, then what can you do? Bard is the only one with the means to kill it, but he has only one arrow."
"Well then," Tauriel said simply, "I shall have to make sure he gets such a clear target he cannot miss." Turning quickly, Tauriel leaped elegantly over the rail and out of sight.
Going to the window, Fili gazed out over the shimmering lake into the night. He could just make out a dark shape in the sky near the mountain that slowly seemed to be getting bigger. In the moonlight he could see flashes of gold on it and for a moment Fili felt a surge of panic. If Tauriel and his instinct were right and this was Smaug on his way to Laketown to murder and burn everything in his path, then what had become of Thorin and the others in Erebor? Had they woken the beast searching for the Arkenstone? Were they even still alive? Fili stared at this dark shape, as if by sheer will power he could make the beast fall and sink into the lake, never to rise again. Walking back over to the table, Fili put his hands on his head in dismay.
"What do we do?" He asked desperately, searching Oin and Bofur's faces for some semblance of comfort. "How do we three defeat the monster that slaughtered our kin as easily as a bird flaps its wings?"
"We don't." Bofur said tentatively, "We have to hope Bard can."
"Aye, his aim must succeed where his ancestors failed." Oin added, glancing out of the window anxiously.
"Da can do it. I know he can." The youngest daughter of Bard said defensively, staring down the dwarves and daring them to contradict her.
"I hope so." Fili muttered thoughtfully, "or we shall all burn together."
Stretching out his aching limbs, Kili groaned. He had had the most spectacular dream; the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, who was cloaked in the earth and had hair like fire, had smiled upon him as she'd walked in starlight. He would have given anything to go back to that dream, where life was filled with a glorious heavenly shine and her smile was brighter and more mystical than all the stars in the sky. But a dull throbbing in his leg had torn him from this magical land of dreams and his dry mouth and thumping headache screamed at him for water. Forcing himself to abandon the last dregs of sleep, Kili opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the candlelight surrounding him.
Pulling himself into a sitting position, Kili made out the shape of his brother on the other side of the room. Straining, Kili could just about make out the other shapes next to Fili; Oin, Bofur and Bard's daughters, Tilda and Sigrid. Feeling a stab of pain from his leg at the movement, Kili looked down at his bandaged limb. Gritting his teeth, Kili checked out the binding to see just how bad his leg was. When he saw the raw wound, no worse than when he had first received it, no longer blackened or infected, Kili thought he must be hallucinating. Surely it was the fever that was slowly driving him insane, clouding his sight so that he thought he saw his wound beginning to heal when in actual fact it must be killing him. Grunting as loudly as he could with his dry throat, Kili sat up awkwardly. Hearing his brother, Fili immediately turned and smiled in relief.
"Thank Durin, you're awake!" Fili said, relief and happiness colouring his tones as he strode across the room to where his brother sat meekly upon Bards dining table.
"Of course I'm awake; you had me using walnuts as a pillow. My neck's so stiff I'm surprised I can move my head." Kili pouted grumpily, but returned his brother's fond smile.
"Let me through, I should check the lad's leg." Oin said, shuffling past Fili and beginning to examine Kili's injury. After a few grunts and mutterings, Oin stepped back and nodded his head appreciatively. "Aye, the elf did a good job. It'll heal up alright."
"Elf? What elf?" Kili asked frantically as his eyes searched the room. Surely it was just a dream, she couldn't really have been here… could she?
"The redhead from Mirkwood." Fili stated simply, his brow creasing with concern at his younger brother's outburst. He would only make himself worse if he became stressed out about the elf.
"Tauriel? Where is she?" Kili's voice filled with hope and elation at this news. He hadn't dreamt it; she truly had been here, for him. To save him. A warm feeling unlike any other he'd ever felt filled his chest, buoying him up and causing him to forget any pain from his leg.
"Don't worry, she's gone." Trying to smile encouragingly, Fili couldn't help but feel sorry for the elf inwardly. He could hear the awesome beat of the dragons wings already and he didn't envy the task she'd set herself. He knew, of course, the chance of Bard accomplishing this astonishing feat with only one black arrow was small and that, logically, he should be helping to get his brother to safety immediately. But for some reason, calm had taken hold of Fili and he found himself immersed in a warm, comforting feeling. Perhaps it was because the logical part of his brain reasoned that they would never get far enough away from the dragon fire to survive, or perhaps it was Fili's warrior heart that wanted to stay and fight not flee and cower from the very beast that had stolen his kins homeland. Fili mentally gave both of these ideas credence, but he also knew that it was most likely the thought of the she-elf, Tauriel, standing in between Smaug and his brother that had given him this calm. The way she had healed him so simply, with nothing but some Kingsfoil, a few words and her own strength had amazed Fili and, although he felt ashamed to think so highly of an elf, she had been truly incredible. It was the thought of such a person standing side by side with the bargeman against this terrible foe that gave Fili hope. Surely, if anyone could give Bard the chance he needed to kill the beast, it was such a being.
"Gone where?" Kili asked desperately, struggling to get off the table.
"Kili it's alright." Fili said soothingly, attempting to keep his brother relaxed so that he didn't hurt himself.
"Where is she Fili? And what's that noise?"
"That, my lad, is a dragon." Oin asserted, sighing deeply as if he had already accepted his fate.
"What?" Kili's face had paled substantially and it hurt Fili's heart to see him so scared. He had always wanted to protect his little brother but in this situation he didn't see how he could. Kili wasn't stupid; he had to be prepared for what may come.
"Smaug is coming. Tauriel went to find Bard and help him get his shot. That's all we know."
"But the others," Kili blurted out, "what happened to them?"
"We don't know." Bofur said despairingly, collapsing on to the floor and picking up an overturned pint.
"Come on, we have to help da!" Tilda exclaimed, running for the door. Oin nodded at her sister and together with Bofur, Fili managed to support Kili and get him out of the door and down the stairs. Following Tilda in the mayhem and chaos of the streets, the dwarves hoped that this time the aim of men would be true, and Bard would not miss his mark.