Now that the orcs are left behind, however temporarily, and Thorin's company is again on its way to Laketown, Kili has time to think.

Perhaps he should be planning on how to kill the dragon before it wakes up and wrecks havoc for miles around the Lonely Mountain but the dwarves have hired Bilbo for that, haven't they? It's the hobbit's dirty job now. Or perhaps Kili should carefully consider if his uncle is in the right state of mind for this quest. Something about Thorin seems off lately. But then Thorin is one stubborn piece of dwarf and would not listen to reason anyway. So Kili chooses to think of things kind and lovely, not of things worrisome and depressing. He chooses to think of the elven guard, Tauriel.

That's her name. He knows because he asked and she answered.

It was easy, really easy, as if they were at some party and both have had a couple of mugs of ale to ease up their spirits. A strange outcome, given that she had jumped out from Mahal knows where, saved his life from a few giant spiders, denied him a dagger, called him a dwarf like it was an insult and locked him up in a cell. The fact that he tried to provoke her with a rather crude innuendo probably didn't help either.

Truth be told, Kili had only invited her to search his pants because he wanted to piss her off. She seemed just like any other elf he met so far: cold, untouchable and unreachable. Polite but always looking down on other races; self-assured of their own superiority in everything, including things they had no idea about. He wasn't risking anything even if he were to offend her – an elf wound never look at a dwarf in an even remotely-romantic way. Since the beginning of times elves have kept to themselves. Very rarely some love-stricken elf would condescend to marrying a human and such unlikely unions would be remembered in poems and songs, but no such songs or poems have even been written about dwarves or let alone hobbits. Although Kili could certainly understand why there have been none about orcs either – no one wanted to marry an orc, orcs included.

He fully expected her to take leave with a snort of derision and to avoid him in all years he would have spent in prison. Yet she did not leave right away and her reply was almost playful, as if she were challenging him. It made Kili smile involuntarily as she was walking away and he was glad the elf couldn't see his stupid happy face.

It hasn't gone unnoticed by her male companion though. While Kili's knowledge of Sindarin has been very poor he recognized a word for "dwarf" and it became obvious that the blond was asking about him. Kili understood none of the guard's answer (apart from the word "dwarf" which was used again) but she didn't sound angry or displeased. In fact, there seemed to be a dreamy undertone in her voice and her words must have pissed the prissy guy off. The prissy guy gave Kili a glare the meaning of which Kili knew too well. "Don't talk to my woman." Kili glared back, hoping that his message ("Your woman? We will see about that, you elven princess") was correctly interpreted.

The elf came back that very night although he didn't expect her to. He ended up telling her about the rune-stone and his promise and actually got to see her smile. It made him feel good about himself and for a moment Kili forgot that he was talking from behind thick bars.

He shouldn't have forgotten. Because then they really talked, almost as if they were some sort of friends and all of a sudden she was coming to chat to him every evening. It is during those conversations that he realised something important: she wasn't one of those typical elves that were perfectly content with their elven lives, dismissing everything else as inferior and not worth their attention. The world outside excited her and she longed to see more of it.

Oh, if only it were that simple.

Open the door then and come with us, he wanted to tell her. Come with me. We will sleep under the starry skies and eat by the roaring fire. We will bargain at town markets and drink ale at seedy taverns until someone starts a fight and then we will join in and kick everyone's asses. Every time we wake up in an unfamiliar place we will have one more funny story to tell. I will give you half of my treasure. No, two thirds. No, all of it. You will walk in starlight in a world far, far away. Come with me. Do not say a word other than yes.

He didn't say any of that, of course. Instead he asked for her name and she told him and then he offered his own in return and from there on she wasn't just an elf to him and hopefully he wasn't just a dwarf to her and when Kili was telling her more about his adventures it felt pleasant but strange, although not in a bad way…

M-m, Tauriel…

Daughter of the forest.

Thinking of her is a great distraction from the dull pain in his wounded leg and from the stench of fish all around him. Kili lies in the dark, cold cod against his burning skin, and wonders why she saved his life the second time, why she let him escape… However busy she might have been slaying orcs it would take her very little effort to prevent him from pulling the lever and opening the portcullis…

Kili wonders if he will ever see Tauriel again. Probably not. But he wants to see her so badly, oh, he does.

He is no stranger to some fun and he has danced merrily with many a she-dwarf and kissed a fair few of them. But those kisses, as pleasant as they were, could not make Kili forget the world and he didn't find the women of his kind particularly pretty and enticing. It bothered him at first and for a while he was even wondering if maybe he didn't fancy dwarrowdams because he preferred to mine with his own crew, as the dwarves used to put it. Yes, these things happened sometimes and while it wasn't widely discussed Kili knew perfectly well that sometimes men liked men. But he never felt attracted to any of his male friends or acquaintances and thus gradually put this thought to rest, having concluded that he probably just wasn't interested in romance in general.

That was until their group came to Rivendell. The elf maids (at least Kili thought they were maids back then) caught his eye for a while. They were tall and slender and so different from his folk that he found it bewildering. But in the end their apathy, expressionless faces and the coldness of their beauty drove Kili to conclusion that there really was no temptation there for him.

Kili thinks that she seems different. She is an elf and yet she looks rather lively with her fiery hair and a variety of emotions on her face. And he certainly does not find her cold.

Talking to Tauriel was probably the best part of the quest and now Kili regrets it because seeing the kind of person she is makes him like her. But even if he likes her there's no way she would look affectionately at a common dwarf, she, who seems to have the attention of that prissy Prince of elves. Kili reminds himself that he is somewhat a Prince too but the idea is really laughable. The younger of the two nephews of the King under the Mountain who isn't even yet an actual King under the Mountain… The heir who doesn't want to be King and hopefully will never have to be King…

Kili tells himself not to be stupid. He will never see her again and even if he did, Tauriel would never love him. For Mahal's sake, he is everything that elves are not – reckless, wild, hairy, not nearly immortal and he has little appreciation for harp music. Also, regardless of the fact that he is rather tall for a dwarf, Tauriel is still almost a head taller than he is. And while he could make a vow to shave every day or even educate himself in the damned ways of the damned harp he would never be able to change his height.

Sure, she did say that love had nothing to do with height but it's easy to say this while thinking about some rumoured couple you've never actually met and it is an entirely different matter when you are the one considering being involved.

So yes, Tauriel would never love him.

The thought stings. Probably more than the damned wound on his thigh.

Author's notes:

Thank you all very much for reading and for your responses. It warms my heart as prior to commencing this work I've been on a 5 year long break from writing and in all honestly I thought I could never write again (which made me very sad because I had a lot of ideas for various fandoms). Also this is the first time I am writing a lengthy story in English. Feels a bit weird compared to my mother tongue.

This and the next chapter more or less cover the events as they are in DoS, from there on I will venture into the lands of the unknown.