Tauriel sat next to Kili's prone form, holding his hand even as the last of the warm seeped from his body. Looking down upon his face, smeared with blood, his own, that of orc and that of goblin alike. Her eyes glazed over with tears as she stayed at his side, mourning for the loss of what could have been.
Sensing someone appraoching she didn't bother to look up, knowing it was Thruanduil standing in the opening.
"They want to bury him." She said almost absently, her eyes on Kili's pale face.
"Yes..." He said softly, almost inaudibly.
"If this is love, I do not want it." She said, her eyes lifting slightly, to the ground just beyond Kili, shaking her head slightly. "Take it from me..." She beseached, lifting her eyes up to him, her body shaking slightly. "Please..." She almost begged.
As Thranduil took a step closer she turned her head away, placing a hand over her heart, tears streaming down her face. "Why does it hurt so much?" She asked, her voice cracking with loss.
"Becasue it was real..." The Elven King replied, stepping forward, causing Tauriel to look up at him, her gaze meeting his. Understanding passed between them for a single moment before she leaned down, pressing the first and last kiss to Kili's lips.
As Thranduil backed away, leaving her to her grief, she pulled Kili's hand to her chest and stared down at him. Finally, the ruthless she-elf broke. Tauriel wept.
She wept for all that was lost; the life of the dwarf she had loved, the loss of her heart to death's grips. She knew she would never recover from this loss. Tauriel had been wreckless and given her heart to this dwarf, this strange and handsome dwarf.
The strong female's heart died with her dwarf.
She sat there on the frozen ground, his hand held to her chest until the sun set and true coldness set in. Unable to tear herself from him, knowing that he would never open his eyes and look at her again. This was not something she could heal him from. He would not open his eyes once again and tell her that she could not be she. Never again would he tell her that she walked in starlight. Never again would he smile at her and warm her to her very soul.
She could feel the coldness of fading envelop her. She knew she was far too young to fade but she could not bring herself to care... She could not force herself to be bothered with living. The last of her own warmth was cooling as Kili's blood froze on the cold hard ground.
"Tauriel..." came a soft voice, almost beseechingly. Looking up she saw Thranduil standing there, a pained look on his face. "Fade not for Kili." He said surprisingly gently. "The blood he shed, the life he gave, was so you would survive." He continued, catching and holding her gaze. "Do not throw his sacrifice away. Do not fade. Let not the Light of the Eldar leave you this day." He finished sadly. "I know the depth of this pain."
Nodding, she turned her head to look behind her at the dwarves that had watched her mourn, inclining her head to them in aquiecence. "Care for him..." She said to them in a broken voice. Turning her attention back to Kili she pressed a kiss to his lips before standing and moving away; each step farther feeling as though another part of her was being violently ripped from her body. Refusing to look back, lest she lose the strength to leave, she followed Thranduil away, both leaving unsaid that her banishment had been lifted.