"I'm so glad you came, Tauriel," Sigrid said softly as she leaned back in her chair, looking at the fire. Beside her, Kili pulled a face of mock indignation. Sigrid caught his expression from the corner of her eye and she laughed. "You too, Kili. I'm just sorry there's no snow this year. It's better in the snow." She sipped her warm, spiced wassail and gave a sigh, wistful but contented.
"It's a pleasure to share in your celebrations, mellon," Tauriel replied taking a sip of her own drink. "And everything was perfect, snow or no. This spiced wine is lovely."
"As was the meal. My thanks, sister," Kili said, raising his cup. "Thanks for introducing us to your midwinter customs in such a delicious fashion."
"Thank you for coming," Sigrid said. "Yuletide's always been my favourite time of year. I'm so glad to share it with you."
"I can see why," Kili said with a laugh. "It's the jumpers, isn't it?" He looked down at the red knitted jumper he was wearing, a Yuletide gift from Sigrid, and brushed an imaginary speck off the snowman depicted in white wool on the front. "It's great. I love it."
"It may snow yet, by the looks of things," Fili said from the window, sporting his own red jumper that Sigrid had knitted for him the year before. He let the curtain drop and came to sit back down beside her. "Do you remember how much snow we had last year, love?"
"I remember you heading out into a blizzard like a raging idiot," Kili said with a wink at Sigrid. "I couldn't talk him out of it. I thought for sure I was going to be a step closer to the throne by morning."
"I promised Sigrid I'd be there. I don't renege on promises," Fili said. His eyes met Sigrid's and they shared a smile for a moment, then he laughed and took a sip of his mulled wine. "In hindsight it was probably a bit reckless. It took my pony weeks to forgive me."
Tauriel grinned, the impish dimple in her cheek lighting up her beautiful face. "Reckless males. I remember taking a prisoner once who claimed he wasn't reckless. How wrong he was."
"I wonder who that could have been," Kili quipped. "Some lovestruck fool that you were flirting with, probably." He made a pretence of bracing himself for a blow, hands raised, screwing up his eyes and grinning like a loon. Tauriel merely shook her head, rolling her eyes at him fondly.
"Flirting with prisoners?" she said. "Never would I do such a thing. Thranduil would have had me demoted to the kitchens." From behind Kili's back she caught Sigrid's eye, and gave her a wink and another impish smile, and Sigrid and Fili laughed.
"At the time I thought Kili was just trying to sweet talk his way out of the cells," Fili said. "I on the other hand was annoyed that your guards found all my blades. Thanks for returning them, by the way."
"You're welcome, mellon. They were quality work. Not elvish, of course, but still very fine."
"No, please don't get him started on weapons. We'll be here all night," Sigrid said with a smile, blowing her husband a kiss to soften her words. "I want to hear more about the two of you. How did you know?"
"How did we know what?" Kili said disingenuously.
"How did you know you should be together? As a couple?"
Kili and Tauriel looked at each other with small, fond smiles as they considered the question, each waiting for the other to speak.
"You first," Tauriel said.
"For me it was the first moment, when you killed those spiders in the forest," Kili said, his eyes never leaving Tauriel's face. "We'd spent two weeks in Rivendell, and I thought all elf lasses were like the ones we'd met there – you know, soft, harp-playing ninnies. And then you came out of nowhere, and you were just… fearless. Skilful. That knife throw, whizzing past my head… you were magnificent, and I was gone, right from that moment, completely. I didn't know it at the time, though." He gazed at her, a soft smile on his lips, and then caught himself and laughed, and glanced around at Fili and Sigrid. "Love's like that, though, isn't it? You don't know you're in it until you're in it, and then it's too late."
"It's a mystery," Tauriel said softly, her eyes still on Kili's face. "It's madness, so it's impossible to explain. The only way I can describe it, is to say that my heart knew yours, and had known it always and forever." Kili looked back at her with his heart in his eyes, smiling, and leaned in for a sweet kiss, and Sigrid leaned her head on Fili's shoulder.
"The firemoon story helped, though, didn't it?" Fili said prosaically, and Kili and Tauriel broke their kiss with a laugh while Sigrid lifted her head and swatted Fili's arm.
"Trust you to spoil the mood," she said fondly.
"What? I'm just saying it didn't hurt," he said in pretended innocent indignation. Then he softened, lifted his arm to place it around Sigrid and pull her close, and grinned.
"Ah, my sweet, soft-hearted wife. You love love, don't you? Well I love you, and I did from the first moment I climbed out of your toilet."
Sigrid shook her head, her lips working to avoid a smirk, and leaned her head back on her husband's shoulder.
"Anyway, Happy Yuletide, everyone. And again, thanks for sharing it with me."