Interlaced (a Kiliel alternate story)

Chapter 1 - The Healing-

Before long, Kili was out of danger and recovering while Tauriel bound his wound. Kili was half numb when he finally pronounced words;

"Tauriel" He said softly with a struggling voice, exhaling each word.

She turned suddenly to Kili, eyes wide and a slight smile when the first word out of his mouth was her name. "Lie still," she said, resuming the binding.

"You cannot be her" Kili exhaled his words weakly. Tauriel stood motionless with a serious expression in her face.

"She is far.. she.. she is far, far away from me. She walks... in starlight, in another world" Kili closed his eyes for a moment, frowning as his tone changed to a sad and longing one... "It was just a dream".

Tauriel turned to him heaving deeply. No one has ever uttered such beautiful words to describe her as this dwarf did. Her lips parted; her heartbeats so fast it was almost impossible to breathe.

Kili's fingers interlaced with hers in a gentle way, like she was made of frail glass, making her tremble when their fingers touched. "Do you think she could have loved me?" his soft plead stole her heart, letting her know she was not alone in her feelings.

Tauriel fought the tears that threatened to flow; a lump in her throat prevented her from talking. She felt her destiny was sealed.

She was a lowly silvan elf whose biggest achievement in life was becoming the captain of the Mirkwood guards. Often she dreamed of a better life outside of her fortress, envious of the stars that contemplated the world she longed to explore. The beautiful looks her kind took for granted were noticed by a dwarf prince, who shamelessly spilled his heart to her.

Kili, although a prince, was just a dwarf that lived a nomad life and with no more possessions other than his weapons, high sense of adventure and dreams of Erebor, with songs of the lonely mountain that ornamented his childhood. All he could offer was his heart, which he felt was not enough. But he felt drawn to her high cheek bones, creamy skin, bright auburn hair, graceful pose and great combat skills.

"This is mere fever talk." she thought to herself, but his sweet words tortured her mind. She longed for them to be true, but was afraid to find out. So the easy way out was denying herself.

"I will need more athelas. He is out of danger now, but will need another dose soon," she said to Fili and Bofur, who were still dumbfounded after witnessing the medicine of elves and their effects, while Oin made sure there were enough cloth strips to replace the bandages from Kili's wound as many times as needed.

Right then the alarm of danger sounded about Lake Town...

"DRAGON!" shouted the inhabitants of Lake Town as they ran for their lives. Screams of terror took over. It was Smaug, burning everything at his passing as he flapped his wings all over the place. A rush of fire entered through the window of the house they were in.

"Kili!" yelled Tauriel, grabbing him by the tunic and pulling him towards her in an impulse of adrenaline. His body fell over hers below the table, grunting with pain from the wound that was still fresh. All others could hardly duck. The panels of the ceiling were in flames and would crumble any time. The house was no longer safe and they needed to evacuate.

Bard and his eldest son were nowhere to be found. They waited outside of the house with the one black arrow to finish what their ancestors started. Therefore his daughters had the task to evacuate the house to a safer place. Fili, Bofur and Oin dragged Kili out of the way to a lower level of the house above the water, where Bard had a small storage room, with supplies of all kinds. Tauriel followed in just in time, before the panels of the upper level fell, barricading the only exit and leaving them trapped inside of that cellar. There was smoke all over the place, and they kept ducking to breathe the little oxygen left. They could breathe through some cracks on the floor, just above the lake. It was a long night. A long sleepless night, waiting for news...

By dawn there was silence. Smaug was slain and the survivors removed burned panels here and there to find more survivors. Destruction was massive, several wounded and some deaths. Bofur and Fili hacked and slashed walls with their axes, until there was sunlight through the cracks. The dwarves had some scratches, but nothing serious. Everybody was alright, except for Kili, who was unconscious but still breathing. Only a few houses were intact, including an inn with several rooms. The Master of Lake Town gave orders to move all the severely wounded there, where they would be given medical attention. The women were instructed to assist the injured, while the men teamed up to rebuild the houses that were devastated by dragon fire. Kili was moved to a room at the inn.