Hello there! Glad you clicked through to my fanfiction. This is a Tauriel – Kili fanfic and rated M for mature content in the upcoming chapters.
I'm not going to tell too much about the story. I just hope you'll all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit belong to Tolkien. I only borrowed it for this fanfic. No money was made.

Extra note: ' … ' means the character is thinking this, " … " means the character is saying this out loud.

There's only one thing left to say: Have fun reading!

A reddish glow was all he could see. Hotness was all he could feel. Coal was all he could smell.
Although his senses worked perfectly, he didn't understand what he was feeling. What made him see this glow, what made him feel so hot, what was that strange smell?
That was all he could think about before going back in the emptiness where he saw nothing, felt nothing or smelled nothing.

xxxxx

She ran and ran and ran until she couldn't feel her legs anymore and then she ran even more. She had to save him. She just couldn't leave him there. Not when he could … die. As she ran closer to the town she felt the temperature rise. She could smell the scorched bodies. 'If only he survived.' was all she could think about. 'If only he was able to cover himself from the fire somewhere.' she hoped. 'Yes of course', she reassured herself, 'he's smart, he would have stayed close to the water, he would have saved himself.'

"Kili!"

"Kili, where are you?!"

"If you hear me, give me a sign."

No answer came. All she could hear was the licking of flames, her footsteps and her own heavy breathing

xxxxx

Slowly, very slowly, he began to feel again. The first thing he felt was his sore body. Then he felt hotness, as if his body was on fire. Suddenly it all came back to him. He knew why he felt so hot. He knew why his body hurt so much. Then he heard it:

"Kili!"

"Kili, where are you?!"

"If you hear me, give me a sign."

He knew that voice. He would recognize it everywhere. It was her. But what was she saying? He could hear the words, but didn't understand them. It was as if she was talking in another language. He could hear the panic in her voice, and that made him realize what was happening. She was looking for him and she couldn't find him. That made him open his eyes. The only thing he saw was wood above him. Where in heaven's name was he?

Then it dawned on him. He was laying here, in a boat, under the floor of a Lake Town house. Why? To protect himself from something. Otherwise there wouldn't be a reason why he was in a boat.

xxxxx

"Oh come on Kili, where are you? Just give me a sign or something if you hear me!" But still she heard nothing, so she kept running.

And then she heard it. At first it was really quiet, but then it became louder and louder. It was him. She could recognize that voice anywhere and it was calling for her. He was shouting her name, and it was coming from beneath.

She ran to the side of the wooden walkway and looked at the underside. All she saw was water and fire surrounding her, but when she looked better she saw something on the water. It looked like a … boat. 'Could he be in the boat?' she questioned herself. 'Could he have been that clever to seek protection there?'

She tried to reach the boat but her arms weren't long enough. If she hung over more, she would fall in the water. "Damn the Valar!" she mumbled.

"Kili are you there?" she yelled.

At first she only heard a whisper, but it became louder and louder. He was calling for her. He was calling her name.

"Kili, I'm going to help you, don't worry!" she shouted.

"Dear Valar, how am I going to reach you?" she mumbled between her teeth.

She searched the area above the boat but she just couldn't see a way to reach the boat. There were only houses surrounding her, most of them on fire. There was no rope to be found near her. Debris was floating in the water, jumping in was dangerous.

The only way I'm going to save him is by trying to get through the wooden walkway,' she realized, 'but how I am going to do that?"

She could see the answer gleaming at her from the corner of her eyes. Kili seemed to have lost his battle axe while trying to escape the fire. She grabbed the handle firmly and started chopping at the walkway. Every blow send splinters and wood flying in the air, determined to save him she put all her strength in the effort and chopped a hole in the wood. The strained look on her face quickly made place for happiness, she could almost see the boat now.

Agile as she was, she sat on the floor and swung herself down the hole. The boat was just close enough to put her feet in it and then she threw herself in.

What she saw wasn't very pretty. The first thing she noticed was Kili being unconscious again, then she saw his leg and that wasn't looking good.

She sat beside him and tried waking him up, but the effort was futile.

"Kili come on, I have to get you out of here. It's not safe here. Just wake up!"

But Kili wasn't going to wake up she realized. His body was too harmed, too much in pain.

She had to do something right now or it would be too late for him. Panic was rising in her chest, she wasn't a trained healer. She only learned the basics.

'All I can do is this one thing my mother learned me when I was younger', she thought.

So she collected every good thought there was in her and released them …

xxxxxx

He couldn't describe what he felt. First he was in a deep sleep, feeling nothing, and suddenly he was pulled out of that, to a whole other world. Everything was bright in it. And all he saw was her. Her long red hair, her hazel eyes, her pointy ears, her beauty …

"Tauriel."

"You cannot be her."

"She's far away."

"She's far far away from me."

"She walks in starlight in another world."

"It was just … a dream."

"Do you think she could have loved me?"

And then he went back to the void he came from. But what he couldn't hear anymore was the whisper.

"Yes, I could have."

So, what do you think about it? Please let me know by giving a review. I would love to get feedback!

I also want to thank my two bèta readers. My best friend Soetkin and my sister Stéphanie.

See you at the next chapter.