A brilliant smile
Summary: Kili and Tauriel fight back to back in the battle of five armies when fate strikes…
Warning: Major character death, nothing out of the ordinary, though
Disclaimer: If I owned the Hobbit, I wouldn't be here…
Author's note: Feedback greatly appreciated! I've never written The Hobbit and it has been ages since I last attempted something. But seeing TDOS got the writer-juices flowing!
When she felt the body behind her going limp, sagging against her own, a cold panic took hold of her. With a forceful blow she killed the orc she was currently battling and, regardless of the fighting, killing, dying that was surrounding them, she turned. Just in time to catch the wounded dwarf before he hit the ground.
"Kili!"
Supporting his weight she sunk down with him, almost tenderly holding his torso in her arms. The huge wound on his shoulder didn't look good and the blow he had taken to the back of his head had left its toll. When he opened his eyes and finally focussed on her face, his face seemed to light up. Maybe, just maybe, she could even detect the hint of a smile.
"Tauriel" he whispered. She knew then. She knew all the things he wanted to say and all the things she wanted to say. If only they had more time! With her usually strong hands she shakily stroke his hair from his face. This time she was sure he smiled. Lost in his dark eyes she nearly missed how he drew in a shaky breath, trying to say something.
When the fallen warrior opened his mouth, a thin line of blood accompanied his faint words.
"Could she have loved me?" he breathed.
He nearly chocked on the words, more blood tickling out of the corner of his mouth. Tauriel felt an unfamiliar burning sensation behind her eyes and with surprise she noticed how tears were forming. She gulped, having forgotten about the battle around them.
"She does, Kili" she answered, a single tear dropping onto his cheek. He smiled and one last time, his face lit up like the stars they had talked about so long ago. The elf held the dwarf and prayed that somehow, in a miraculous way, she would wake up from this terrible terrible nightmare. But the rattling last breath he drew brought her back to a painful, dark and empty reality.
She looked at his face, that last smile frozen for eternity. He was beautiful. Even in death he had an aura around him that drew her to him.
For a moment Tauriel was lost. Surrounded by darkness. Yes, an elf and a dwarf, it seemed nearly impossible but it hurt to know she would never get to find out, never get the chance to figure it out with him. They could have been happy, even if it had only been for a couple of days.
She didn't know what pained her more, his passing or never having acknowledged her emotions.
Certainly, the pain that came from the arrow that found its way into her back and right into her heart wasn't the worst. Ignoring the pain, she forced herself to think of a happy future that will never be and taking a last look at Kili, she drew her final breath.
Hours later, after Fili and Thorin had been found, wounds had been tended to and consoling words had been spoken, Dwalin found the last missing dwarf, his lifeless body held and protected by the equally lifeless from of a redheaded elf. They looked strangely peaceful, the older dwarf thought. And he wasn't taken by surprise, when he saw the brilliant smile that lingered on face of his deceased companion.