I don't own any of these characters.
I'll tie in with the events of the book, so please, be warned there might be book spoilers on the next chapters.
"Do you think she could have loved me?"
Kili's hand reached for Tauriel's and she didn't take it away. What could she tell him? Was this just some foolish feeling? She cared a little too much.
Since she could remember she had been taught dwarves were dumb, ugly and greedy creatures that cared nothing more than for their wealth. The Fall of Erebor had been a lesson for all to learn from, Thraundil had assured to Legolas and her. But in her mind, it also reflected on her own people: What would outsiders think of the Elves of the Woodland Realm? Those sad, strange and aloof creatures that care nothing of what happens to the rest of the world. She did not agree with that at all, but now Tauriel was starting to regret caring; Caring for the world, caring for their neighbor kingdoms, caring for this dwarf. *Specially* this dwarf. Her world was upside down.
Oh, the dwarves had been quite the characters but she had never imagined one like this one. In many ways she had realized they were very similar. They were young and so full of curiosity for the world and to do the right thing. She was barely 600 years old and had already attained the rank of Captain of the Guard. She had worked so hard to prove her worth to the King since he had taken her under his wing.
During her visits to his cell, Kili had explained to her about his life before their quest. He told her of how Fili and him had been trained for years by the best of their kin because they were the immediate heirs of their uncle Thorin. He had wished to distinguish himself from his brother and had taken up archery, quickly turning into the best marksman among his company. Tauriel was surprised at this and would have promised him for a friendly match of skill... hadn't he been a prisoner of the King.
It had been the little things like that which had slowly, but surely, pushed her in the current direction. She had started to wonder if they could have been friends under other circumstances, perhaps one day hunting together near the edge of the forest. She would have showed him the best hunting spots and in turn, he would have taken her to see the fire moon over Ered Luin. Perhaps they could have gone to chase orcs, and globins and many other wretched things, making the roads safer, allowing both their people to travel far and wide. She could see blooming friendship, understanding and laughs. But was she only fooling herself or did Kili of the Line of Durin actually wonder the same?
"Do you think she could have loved me?"
Oh, he had wondered the same and much, much more.
Now that he had said the words, she could not avoid thinking on the answer. She dared not to speak. She was afraid of her own heart. She was afraid that her lips would betray her. It was the first time someone had offered his heart so fully like that. Legolas had praised her many times on her skills and wits, but in all their life together he had never opened himself as this young dwarf was doing. Kili's warm words were spoken directly from the heart.
"Rest" she managed to whisper, she felt a knot on her throat.
From behind, Fili stepped closer to Tauriel. "The kids say there's another bed on the attic, we should put him there to rest, right?"
A little startled, Tauriel pulled her hand back from Kili's. She did not know if Fili had heard the exchange or if he approved. "Yes, that should be the best."
Kili frowned for a second, not understanding what was happening. He had been on daze all this time, taking the elvish figure before him as a soothing vision. "Walnuts do not make a good pillow, little brother, up you go" Fili moved to hold his head, while Bofur helped him with his feet.
"what...?" Kili finally came out of his trance-like state and his eyes went wide as they started to carry him to the attic, with Tauriel and Oin following close behind them.
She was here. It was truly her! Good gods... did he actually say that out loud? Did he ask her-?
"Careful with the head, he still looks a little pale" Bofur commented just when they were placing him down on the bed.
"I still can't believe it was a damn morgul blade..." Fili cursed under his breath, promising to kill every orc on his wake. He also gave furtive looks to the elf maiden. He had seen and heard it all, and while he was grateful of her, he still wasn't sure of this elf's intentions.
Their uncle had told them many a time how the treacherous elves had looked away from the suffering of their people; How there was no honor on their words and actions. Never trust an elf! And yet... she had turned her back on her own prince to help save Kili. Of course he was glad she had done it, but he couldn't think of what hidden agenda she might have. He could sense no ill intentions on her words or actions. She must be and odd one, he thought, very much like Kili. Did that really surprised him? Nah. How could it?
Kili had always been a little different from the rest of the dwarves. Fili blamed it on all the time they had spent among humans since a young age. Unlike the older lot, the brothers had an easier time socializing with humans, and it wasn't strange that human girls and women fancied them once in a while. But for Kili the flirting and play almost came natural. And then of course, there was the incident on Elrond's house…
"How do you feel?" Fili asked.
"I... I'm good" Kili's face was getting back his color, specially his cheeks. He gave his brother a meaningful look, that look that only brothers understand; the one that said "I think I just screwed up. HELP ME"
Fili sighed and turned back to look at Tauriel as she brought a bowl of water and some clothes.
"Will you look after my brother a little longer?" Fili asked the elf. Kili gulped and stared hard at Fili. What was he doing!? "Oin will patch the rest of us. No use on wasting elven magic on those little wounds."
"Yes, although, he just needs some rest- " she was starting to answer but Fili was already motioning Bofur out. Before she could say another word, Kili and Tauriel found themselves alone in the attic.
The tension on the room could be cut with a sword.
Kili promised to punch Fili for leaving like that. Was this his idea of helping? He had asked her, with all his heart, if she could have loved him. And she said nothing! Of course... how foolish had he had been to think they could have been anything more? She cared, he could see, but maybe just as a friend.
Tauriel hesitated a second but made her way to his side. She took a piece of cloth and soaked it the bowl of water. Just as she was going to place it on his forehead, he tried to take it.
"Oh. It's fine. I can do it..." he grabbed the cloth from her hands but she held his hands in turn.
"You are shaking" Tauriel was worried the fever had come back, although she quickly realized that wasn't the case.
"You saved me"
"Yes" Kili wanted to ask why she had come to save him, but kept explaining, almost reading his mind "I wished to stop those orcs before they hurt anyone else and, well… your mother would have been sad. No mother deserves that kind of pain"
"I...I must apologize. I might have said something very foolish in my daze" Kili looked away to the small window where the stars could be seen shining in the dark of night.
"There is no foolishness on speaking what's on your heart" she squished his hand slightly; she could tell his words had been honest.
"I was wrong back then in the cells. I said..." he hesitated, moving himself up to a sitting position "I said the lights of stars were cold and distant. Now I know that light is warm, precious and pure, like you said. But I have to accept I can never reach it. I realize I cannot reach you... forgive me " he excused and tried to pull his hand back but she would not let him.
There was a second of silence while Kili tried to understand why she wasn't letting go.
"Oh, but you have..." she said with a half scared smile on her lips and a shy tear rolling down her cheek. Her very core had been moved by his words. There was really no need to lie to herself. Tauriel slowly leaned forward and kissed him softly on his forehead. Kili's eyes went wide, suddenly full of life. His chest would burst in warmth and joy. But then there was a slight tremor, a reminder of the reality around them.
Could that have been the Dragon in the mountain? The mountain where Thorin was? The dwarf that was at odds with the Elf King of the Woodland Realms? Even if that tremor wasn't Smaug or they survived the night, Thranduil would never approve. Thorin would never approve. They both understood that.
"This cannot be" Kili whispered with his eyes closed. Now his chest hurt so much. It hurt worse than the morgul blade had.
"It can be" Tauriel reassured, placing her forehead against his. She refused to let go of this new found feeling.
"It won't last" Kili held her face close, touching her skin and lips, trying desperately to burn that face into his mind, his heart, his soul, so he could never forget.
"I know" Another tear escaped from her eyes.
"Where could he be?" Bain, Bard's son was restless at Fili's side looking out of the window. "He should have been here by now"
"Did you see the guards taking him in?" Fili asked the boy.
"They were chasing after him. The guards usually give up after a while"
"They really don't like him, do they? The Master and his men" Bofur said helping the girls clear the house of debris and broken furniture from their fight. The boy just shook his head.
"They wouldn't do anything bad to dad, would they Bain?" Tilda asked her brother.
"No, no" he assured the younger girl, but once she had turned around he whispered to Fili "Not much anyway. There's still people who like my dad so the Master takes care on not hurting him too much. At most, he has been a day at jail... and that's it" Bain hoped to be right.
At that moment, the door of the attic opened and Tauriel came down. She had been up there for a while. Her cheeks were pink.
Fili's mouth made a thin line and Bofur gave him a quick glance with a smirk. Fili scolded him.
"How is Kili?" he asked.
"He's resting" Tauriel said with a bittersweet smile "These wounds usually take days to heal for us elves and men. I have never seen someone recovering their strength this fast"
"Well, that's about it. We are made of sturdier stuff, you know? You should have seen Thorin some time ago. Azog's pet got him bad and then, with just a little patching from our wizard, TADA~! He was back on his feet and ready to keep going"
"You had a wizard with you? That's how you escaped from the Elven King's Halls?" she asked a little surprised.
"Oh, no, that wasn't Gandalf. Bilbo was the one who got us out, our halfling" Bofur said. "Although we still don't know how he does it. Perhaps he has a little magic himself, or perhaps..."
"The problem is, we could really use a wizard right now. We don't know what happened with Bard, the father of these children" Fili then explained the story behind Bard and the black arrow and how he had left to try to prepare for the dragon's coming.
"I hid the black arrow. Even if the guard's of the Master came here, they won't find it" the boy said proud of his quick thinking.
"Could you shoot it?" Fili asked of Tauriel.
"If the arrow is like the tales said, no, I doubt it. Mine are smaller and almost weightless, and I have never touched a dwarven windlass crossbow. But are you sure the dragon is coming?" Tauriel said hoping to be wrong and, just as if Smaug himself was answering, another tremor from mountain shook the house.
"Yep. Dragon. Pretty sure" Bofur grabbed his weapon in anticipation.
"My dad can shoot it" Sigrid said with full faith on her father.
"We must find him then, let him be ready" Fili noded to the boy and turned at Tauriel. "We should look for him at jail first. Bust him out if we must."
"The children should not stay here" Oin finally commented and they all agreed.
"We must get you all out of here quick" Bofur looked at the kids with worry. Tauriel had already gone up and was helping Kili down the attic with Oin's assistance. Oin had made a crude crutch for him, but it didn't make much of a difference on his state.
"The quickest way to leave, would be my father's boat. I can lead you to the arrow, is not far from here. Then I can run back and sail the rest out" Bain told Fili as he grabbed a satchel and started to place the essentials to leave home, same as his sisters: some food, some clothes, a knife.
"I'll go with you" the young dwarf stated.
"Kili..." Tauriel face was full of worry.
"Fili, I can still shoot" but Fili would have none of his reasons, he simply turned around to grab his weapon and motioned Bain outside. Tauriel took her bow, arrows and her knife and followed him to the door. As soon as they stepped out of the house, they could see a golden glow in the distance at the mountain.
"Smaug" Fili breathed in disbelief. It had to be the dragon.
"I said, I'll go" Kili had walked with the crutch and grabbed their arms.
"No" Fili and Tauriel said at the same time surprising everyone. Fili tried to hold Kili just as he was about to stumble
"Oin, Bofur. You take Kili and the girls to the boat we came in and leave. Bain, if you are as half as good as your father is with a boat, you should be out of harm's way very quickly"
"FILI! Listen-!" Kili said in frustration.
"Kili, if that's really Smaug, then Thorin might be..."
"Don't dare say it!"
"I won't. But we can't take any chances. We can't let this people die because our uncle woke a dragon. I have to stay and make sure they at least have a fighting chance; that arrow IS their only chance. And if something was to happen to me..."
"No. Don't you even-!"
"You have to get to safety"
"You won't get trapped here, you heard me!? Neither of you! If the arrow is wasted, you must run. You must save yourselves! Promise me!" Kili demanded of them. There was a small silence between them. Fili and Tauriel looked at each other and nodded back to Fili.
"Let's go" Fili said, and so they ran into the night.