(Warning, Spoilers)

Hello, all! I just decided to write a little Tauriel x Kili oneshot, because I have a lot of feels…and i have to get rid of them somehow, because I still have to wait two weeks for BotFA. Anyway, I just wrote it, without referencing the book, because I don't remember exactly what happened to Fili and Kili when they died, so apologies! This definitely is not my best work, but I decided to post it anyway. It's loosely based on a scene from "The Elite" in the Selection Trilogy, because well, I couldn't think of anything else, and I just suck as a writer. But anyway, enjoy!

…

Tauriel clasped Kili's hands. Wanting, waiting, and wishing. His eyes closed, and his body trembled as another wave of pain washed over him. His hands were icy cold. He opened his eyes, focusing on hers.

"My brother?" He managed. Tauriel felt her throat tighten.

"He died defending you." She whispered. After Kili had been rendered unconscious, Fili had fought valiantly, defending Kili, until his last breath. Kili took another shuddering breath, from the physical or emotional pain, she knew not. Kili looked up at her again, his eyes begging, pleading with her to change it all.

"Tauriel…" He whispered, his voice shaking. "Do you think you could have loved me?"

The question was so familiar, yet unexpected.

"Could have? It's not over yet." She attempted to delay the inevitable. Kili shook his head, his face twisted in pain.

"For me it is. Just listen to me. I know I'm young. I know I'm a dwarf and you're an elf. I'm still learning to love. But I think if I had ever loved anyone it was you."

"Kili, when I met you, you were just a dwarf in our prison. I thought nothing of you."

"And you still do."

"No-" Tauriel hesitated. This was it. This was goodbye. "You're the only person I've ever met who gave me hope. Legolas…he is like his father. He only understands and he only cares for his own world. But Kili, you were part of the world. You were doing something not for you only, but for your kin. And look what you have achieved!" Her eyes swept over the battlefield, and she wished to take back her words.

"Thorin is king… but Fili is dead." Kili whispered, his eyes leaving hers for a moment. He swallowed, and avoided her eyes. "Could you have ever loved me?" He repeated. His eyes met hers. "Did you ever love me?"

Tauriel let go of her hands, and looked sideways. She didn't want him to see what was in her eyes. All the emotions she had fought because she thought he was something he wasn't, all the feelings she had never wanted to confront. The words she spoke surprised her.

"I know you're a dwarf, and I'm an elf. I know we're different. I know Legolas admires me, and I know that I do not think of him in such a way. I know when I imprisoned you, and I realized you were tall for a dwarf, I smiled. I know when you told me the story of the fire-moon, I was there, but with you. I know when you were wounded escaping our prisons, I came after you. And I know that when I saw you in Lake-Town, clinging to life, I wanted to kill the orc who had done this to you, and give him no mercy. I know when you left to join your kin, I wanted to go with you." Tauriel paused, realizing what she was saying. "I think, that even though I'm and elf, and you're a dwarf…and that this is goodbye…yes. I did."

Kili smiled weakly, but winced with the pain. He took a shuddering breath, his face pale from blood loss. "Thank you."

"If I could have been here, I could have saved you." Tauriel cried out. "I should have come sooner. I could have-" Kili silenced her, brushing his lips over hers. Tauriel froze, and he pulled back, grinning like an idiot.

"Tauriel, I do not blame you. At least I know that we felt the same thing. But this is goodbye." He kissed her again, this time with more zeal than before, but he broke it too soon, obviously in too much pain. Tauriel watched in vain as he was slipping away. She could do nothing now.

"I'll see you…" He murmured, his fingers brushing hers. "In the starlight."

…