True Loves Kiss
'Thanks for the kiss.' Over all her sobs, she did not notice those words which came out of his mouth with such an effort. 'Miss? Where are your manners? I said thank you.' Again he tried to reach out to her, the words coming more fluent this time, the tone playful. For a split second, the tears running down Tauriels face stopped, as she lifted herself, as she gathered herself together from the bundle she was, lying in her lovers arms. But as she recovered, his words ringing in her ears, she couldn't trust her soaked eyes.
There he was, his face saturated in blood, his own and the one of his enemies as well. Some lonely tears dried underneath his eyes. His body lying rumpled on the cold stone beneath her. His cloths totally ripped into pieces, sprinkled with blood. One of this hands still clutched by her. But other than the last time she had scanned his face, desperate to discover a sign of life, she had cried over him, she had kissed his lifeless lips. There now was a smile playing around his lips. For a very short time, Tauriel felt relieved, clutched his hand even tighter. But before Kili got the slightest chance to say another word, she burst into tears again. 'What kind of game is this? Who is playing such a cruel trick to my broken heart?' Her voice was shaking and she felt so desperate, she wanted to run as far away as possible, but also knew she could never leave him here. She did not understand what kind of trick was played on her, but the sensation of the whole situation hurt her already wounded heart so much that she had to close her eyes, let go of his hand and fall to her knees. Her body was shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm and even thought his wounds were still aching, Kili couldn't stand to see her like this.
In torment he managed to come to his knees, crept forward and entwined Tauriel from behind. 'It's okay, It's all okay', he whispered in her ear. After a few more seconds Tauriel gave in to her craving and leaned in to him, Kili rocking her forth and back, holding her as tight as possible. 'I don't know what dream this is, but I never want it to end. I never want this to end.' Her voice still sounded hopeless, even after a few minutes in Kilis arms. 'Would you like to hear a tale?' he asked her in a soft voice as her tears finally had stopped falling. 'Anything', she answered and slowly leaned into him a little more, still confused about this dream.
'As you are an Elf, I'm quite sure you are very well informed about the powers they have, the healing powers. Well, I've heard stories about them throughout my childhood. The widest mysteries. One of them I could never really forget. The legend of the true loves kiss. That if an Elf, a really powerful one, loves someone truly, deeply, than this is magic. As love is so rare in the life of an Elf, it is very powerful. If it's true love, than it is real magic. If it's not just an illusion or a game, but true, than true loves kiss can mend everything. If the love of an Elf is real, than it can cure even death.'
He paused for a moment to stroke Tauriels hair, than went on, slowly and tender. 'I never truly believed this, as I was told not even the Elves themselves believe this tale, as most of them don't believe in love itself. And I never even believed I could ever fall for an Elfmaid. But well, here I am.' As he had finished, he felt the tension creep up Tauriels body once again. As she herself already had known the legends, she hadn't paid too much attention to the words he had said, but paid close concentration to the sound of his voice.
Very hesitant the words she just had heard sank in, deeper and deeper. Suddenly Tauriel clapped her hand over her mouth. Again she started to shake and Kili had to tighten his grip as he was afraid she'd break down once more. 'This can't be. It just can't', was all she mumbled. 'Why can it not, Miss?' Kili wanted to know. While waiting for Tauriel to answer, he rocked her gently around in his arms. 'Because as most of the Elves I have never believed in love, and have never given much attention to this tale, which I always have been sure to be not more than this, a tale. And because … because it's too good to be true', she finally admitted in a whispered tone, tears starting to form in her eyes. 'Because if I do believe this, than I will be broken even more, 'cause it's just not possible.' Her voice became quieter with every word and Kili knew that as much as she wanted to believe, she couldn't. He did not know what had happened after life has left him. But he realized that it must have broken her heart.
Slowly, very very carefully he turned her shaking body around in his arms, so that they now were face to face. 'I wish I could make this any easier for you. I wish I could erase the minutes of suffering from your memory. But I can not do that. All I can do is to be by your side from now on and show you all the wonders of my world, fill you up with all the love that I feel for you. So that one day the beauty in your life again overpowers the dark moments and memories. Like it used to be before you met me. If you let me, than this is what I will do. And I will thank you, a thousand times if need be, for you giving me all your love. For you kissing me, even thought you were certain it was too late.'
During his speech, Tauriel was still as stone. She did not cry or shake, nor did she sob or gasp. She just sat there, his arms folded around her weak body and looked him in the eyes while listening very closely to every word he had said. But now that he had finished, her body started to shake again, her eyes filled up with tears that than rolled down her face faster than ever before.
'Can this be true?' she asked, her voice cracking. 'Did you really come back to me?' She looked at him through watery eyes. A look full of hope, but also full of dread. 'You brought me back. Back to you, Tauriel. Amrâlimê.' His voice was tender and with this last word, he finally brought all her walls down. Without hesitation Tauriel leaned in to kiss him. It was a wet kiss, tears still falling down her face like the wildest waterfall in all of Middleearth. But it was a desperate kiss as well, with a lot of fear and a lot of love. She clutched his neck as he stroke her long hair falling down her back. After a few more kisses had been shared, she rested her head on this shoulder, drawing even nearer.
'I'm sorry that I come up with this so late, I should've told you much earlier. I guess I was afraid, not as brave as you were. But I love you, Kili, I do.' 'Oh Tauriel', he laughed ‚don't you say you're not brave. You came up this mountain even though your king had already drawn back his army. You came to fight anyway.' She searched for his hand and squeezed it as she had found ist. 'I came here to save you', she admitted in whispered voice. 'And that you did.' He grinned wildly at her. She cuddled herself up in his arms like a little cat, letting the feeling of hope finally sink in.
'But I have to proof you wrong', she mumbled after a few minutes in Kilis arms. Before he even got the chance to find out what she was referring to, Tauriel went on. 'My life is not what you think it is. Yes, my life had been full of beauty and I never had to bother much about war. But there had been one thing missing in my life. One thing I had missed, even though I hadn't known I had missed it. I had never known love. I had never known how it felt, of this sensation. Had never known that it was so deep, that it could run so deep. I had never thought that I could feel this. Never would have believed that I could feel so complete. You showed this to me. I want to thank you for it. Thank you, Kili, that you showed to me what love is, and that you showed to me that someone did love me.'
Suddenly, biting down the pain of this wounds, Kili set up straight. He looked at her with concern, the smile in his eyes only barely visible. 'Excuse me? Have my ears mistaken me? Did you talk of someone who did love you? Sorry to disappoint you, but I still do love you. And I always, always will love you, Tauriel.' This words let the tears well up in her eyes again. Sheepishly, she tried to cover them with her hands, feeling ashamed about breaking out into tears again. 'Come here.' Kili offered, as he embraced her again, but this time couldn't stand the pain anymore. He gasped aloud and immediately a look of horror crossed Tauriels face. 'What is it? What is it, Kili?' 'Well', he finally admitted 'even though I'm back from the dead, does not mean all my wounds never happened.' He did not look into her eyes, but at the stone floor they both were seated on. 'Why … why didn't you tell me earlier? We need to get you help. Kili, do you hear me?'
He woke to the soft touch of someone stroking his hair. He tried to remember what had happened before he had fallen asleep. But all he could see in front of his closed eyes was a majestic elk, a king he never grew very fond of, and the most beautiful woman Kili had ever seen. As he finally managed to open his eyes, the same beautiful woman was leaning over him, still stroking his hair. 'There you are.' She grinned down at him. 'Finally the dwarf decided to wake up.' He looked at her with a puzzled expression all over his face. 'What would that mean?' 'Well', Tauriel began 'on the way down that mountain you passed out. We brought you here, inside the Erebor, to cure you. But you wouldn't wake up. Not for days. You scared me to death, are you aware of that?'
Even if she had been worried, her eyes now glowed with happiness. 'I'm sorry I caused youso much trouble, my love', he whispered, taking her hand in his. 'It's all fine. I'm willing to take all the trouble in the world if only you'll always come back to me.' He smiled, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it. 'I will, always.' A single tear ran down her cheek, but she ignored it, shaking him playfully as she spoke. 'But now get yourself out of bed! Your fellows are dying to see you.' He grinned and with one simple pull made her fall down in his arms. 'I guess they can wait some more minutes.' And with his words, he buried his hands in her hair and kissed her, feeling her lips form a smile as she kissed him back.
A few hours later that evening, Kili was bundled up in a couple of blankets, Tauriel cuddled up beside him. 'Are you already asleep?' she asked in a silent voice. She knew this had been a tough day for him. Meeting his friends again, but also dealing with their loss. He had to look in their eyes, so filled with pain. She first hadn't realized, but quickly came to notice that Kili had tried to keep her near all the time. Whenever she had left his side, he had grown more anxious, locking for her every few seconds. When she than had shown up again, he had reached for her hand immediately. She had tried her best to help him through the day, comforting him with her presence and words, even thought she had known all her words could never mend the pain of losing his brother and uncle to death. And she also felt very unsure, being surrounded by dwarfs. Being kind of his girlfriend, when this was not allowed. 'I'm not', he answered. In the dim light she scanned his face, searching for a sing about what he was thinking.
Finally she reached in her pocket, than sought his hand and put a black stone in it. 'I kept this for you.' Kili didn't have to open his hand to see what she had given him. 'My runestone', he said, smiling. 'Your promise which you redeemed.' He leaned over to kiss Tauriel on her forehead. 'And you helped me with that.' She smiled and drew even nearer. After a while, Kili started to play with the stone in his hand. 'I've been thinking …', he began 'we should bring this stone back to my mother.' Tauriel shifted uncomfortable in his arms and finally set herself up, her arms folded around her knees, her head resting on top.
'Well … with we, you mean …?' 'You and me, of course.' Kili tried to reach out for her, but she shifted herself out of his reach. Immediately, he knew something was not alright. 'What is it, Tauriel?' he wanted to know as he sat up next to her. There it was again. This feeling that was bothering her the whole day. The fear that this would not work in the outside world. Because he was a dwarf and she was an Elf. And it had been eternities of hate that had separated those two species. His friends would not have said one world against her for all this day, and she knew they never would. Because they saw him suffering, knowing he will never be with her. And they knew she was the one who saved him, because she loved him. But those were his friends. What about the rest of the world? She hesitated, than finally came clear with what was bothering her. 'It's not that I don't want to meet your mother. I'd love to! It's just that … I'm an Elf …' Quickly Kili reached for her hands and took them in his. 'Yes, you are. And there's no need for you to be afraid, Tauriel. I've lost my brother and I've lost my uncle. You're all I've got left. You're the one I love. That's all she'll care about, I promise. And if there's someone out there who comes to accuse this love a problem, then I will not care about that. Because all I care about is my family. And those dwarfs who are inside this mountain with us, my mother back home, and you, those are my family. You are my family now, Tauriel. And that's all that matters. Don't you ever be afraid!'
A smile crossed her face and she drew his hands, still holding hers, to her mouth to kiss them. 'I love you so very much and I can't wait to meet the rest of your family.' Kili laid down again, taking her with him under the blankets. 'Than you better be fit tomorrow.' He kissed her on the forehead again, before she placed his head on his chest. 'Le melin', Tauriel whispered. 'Men lananubukhs menu', Kili answered, before drifting off to sleep, his love in his arms.