Oh man, I've left this story to gather dust for so long, I so sorry guys :S

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Tauriel is 600 years old, and she has long given up looking for a dark haired man with starlight in his eyes. But glancing to her left, she wonders if maybe this time his dark hair has been replaced by locks the colour of gold and the starlight in his eyes replaced with the colour of the morning sky. Not that it would change anything. He'd still be far out of her reach.

The elf in question blinks, his stoic face that is typically impossible for most to read, is like an open book for her. Smiling to herself, she quickly brushes past him, her red hair trailing behind her as she grabs a bundle of arrows from their place on the wall. She feels his eyes on her back as she walks out of the armory. Frowning to herself, she touches her ears self-consciously. Yes. He is far, far away from her.

It is time for their regular patrol, and Tauriel frowns as she recalls the darkness that is seeping into their home. More often than not she is finding herself retrieving arrows from felled adversaries rather than from her own quiver. She doesn't like it at all. She can feel it as surely as she feels the wind in her face and the earth under her feet. Something is about to change.

And she's not sure if that is necessarily a good thing…

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Tauriel's eyes shine with the promise of violence as she flies through the trees, her bow singing as she lets her arrows fly with deadly accuracy. Rolling to the ground and immediately going to stab the foul beast, she allows herself a brief but proud smile as she whirls with confidence and ease as the satisfying sound of a spider in its death throes reaches her ears. Turning to her next opponent, her lip curls as she uses her bow to fend it off, when a voice filled with urgency shouts from behind her.

"Throw me a dagger! Quick!"

"If you think I'm giving you a weapon dwarf," Tauriel says tightly as she jostles with the spider's weight, "you're mistaken." With an upward slice and whirl, the Captain cuts through the spider she had been fighting and throws her knife into the one approaching from behind her, all in one fluid motion.

Straightening, Tauriel lets out a breath, relaxing as the battle ends. However when she does, the dwarf behind her turns as well, and Tauriel feels her heart stutter. Wild dark hair frames wide and youthful eyes that stare back at her in surprise. Outwardly Tauriel is the battle-hardened and controlled Captain that all expect her to be, but her breath is catching and her mind is reeling. No. It cannot be.

Tauriel manages to dismiss the thought as best as she can as they take the dwarves into their underground fortress. She tries to think of something, anything that will keep her mind off the thought, but somehow she manages to be the one to shut him into his cell.

A blond dwarf that looks roughly his age makes an exasperated noise when one of her comrades retrieves a dagger hidden within the folds of his clothing. "Aren't you going to search me?" He asks, looking up at her with emotion she doesn't dare to try and identify in his eyes. "I could have anything down my trousers."

"Or nothing." Tauriel arches her eyebrows at him, the corner of her lips twitching upwards as she closes the cell door.

The Captain of the Mirkwood guard can't help but smile to herself. She tried to deny it, but that interaction was enough. He is here, he is back in her life, they have somehow found their way together again-

"Why does the Dwarf stare at you, Tauriel?"

Tauriel starts, but manages to school her face into an expression more acceptable in the situation she's now in. "Who can say?" She says upon reflex. Pausing, her smile returns as her thoughts return to the dark haired dwarf, oh what was the name he bore in this life? "He's tall, for a dwarf." She muses, starting when she realizes she had said that out loud. Turning away from her prince, she walks forwards, trying to mask what she's truly feeling. "Don't you think?"

"Taller than some…but no less ugly." Legolas's voice floats towards her as she makes her way down the stair to make her report to their king. Tauriel allows herself to smile for a brief moment before sobering. They are reunited yes…

But the circumstances couldn't be worse.

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Tauriel makes her way through the dungeons, checking up on their prisoners as before coming to his cell last. As she peers inside, she notices him fiddling with something in his hands. "The stone in your hand. What is it?" She asks.

He looks up at her with fiery emotion in this eyes that have been present in all his lives before this one. "It is a talisman." He says lowly, his voice becoming graver as he speaks. "A powerful spell lies upon it. If anyone but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone…they will be forever cursed." He suddenly turns towards his, his arm extending the stone to her, and Tauriel can't help but start. His gaze is strong and full of weight as he retracts his hand, and she moves to go on her way, when he speaks again.

"Or not."

Tauriel pauses before taking a step back and gazing at him curiously. A cheeky and playful smile lights up his face as he watches her with eyes as curious as hers. "Depending whether or not you believe in that sort of thing, it's just a token." He continues casually, and with a slight chuckle. A smile slowly makes its way onto Tauriel's face, recognizing that mischief that Keoran was known for in this young dwarf's voice.

"A rune stone. My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise."

Inclining her head, Tauriel steps closer so that she's just barely touching the cell's bars. "What promise?"

A thoughtful look appears on his face as the mirth in his eyes diminishes. "That I would come back to her." He says. Throwing the stone in the air, he catches it before turning back to her. "She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."

The images of a young elf trying to take on a pack of wargs by himself, and an elderly man who probably should not be climbing trees considering his age appear in Tauriel's mind as she gazes back at him. "And are you?"

"Nah." He says with a cheeky smile. A split second later his rune stone bounces to the floor, the only thing stopping it from tumbling downwards is her foot.

She hears him leap to his feet as she bends to pick it up to hold it up to the light. The two of them continue to speak: of starlight and fire moons, what they've seen and what they have yet to see, and the entire time, Tauriel isn't thinking of the reason why they were in her forest home in the first place, or the historical tension that will inevitably arise because of their race. All that is on Tauriel's mind is the fact that somehow she has found her One, and this time she will not let him die without knowing that.

Not this time.

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Sorry for vanishing for...well, for quite a long time. But this story will be finished!