Fili had wandered off not long after the elf king had left. He felt his brother's grief, and that of his beloved, was too private a thing for him to be intruding on. He had taken mere seconds to turn his back on the door and wish to follow his brother. He was just thrilled it had worked. He and Kili had lived side by side their whole lives, they couldn't be separated now in death. He had known Kili had fallen swiftly for this elf, and when she'd healed him he'd sensed her feelings too. Never had he imagined the problems this would bring. Kili would need him now more than ever.

Kili had felt his brother leaving but he could tear himself away from Tauriel. She was staring intently at his still face, the tears had stopped but the pain on her face seemed to be getting worse. She had gone even paler than her usual shade of white. He could see both her physical and mental pain and she was close to succumbing to both. It had been an age when she finally moved again, uncurling her legs from under her she moved slowly and came to rest her head on his chest. His heart leapt as he was thrown back to the last time she'd lay like that, in the boat on the edge of Laketown. Away from prying eyes, where they'd really gotten to know each other. Where he'd truly fallen in love. They'd watched the stars for hours before stealing back into the Bards house.

He had snuck out for some air, things were starting to feel quite crowed in the small house. Not only was his brother fussing over him, but so were the other dwarfs, the children and Tauriel. He had hated seeming so weak in front of them all. So when they'd all gone to sleep he'd snuck out the door quietly and he'd limped along the paths by the water. It had been barely ten minutes before he felt her presence behind him. He could remember everything said that night, every last word.

"You are quieter than the average dwarf." She said, knowing he wouldn't be startled.

"I never claimed to be the average dwarf." He replied throwing another chip of wood into the river.

"No you did not." He stayed silent as she sat down beside him, keeping her feet underneath her as they would hit the water if she didn't. "You should be resting."

"I wanted to get some air." he shrugged.

"You will live under a mountain soon. You should get as much as you can." He looked up to see a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"You have great faith that we will succeed."

"I have seen your resilience, and I believe you will triumph." He threw another piece in and watched the ripples spread out across the water.

"Why did you stay?" she looked at him, saying nothing. "Why did you save me?"

"It was the right thing to do." She said simply. He gave a half hearted laugh. "I wanted the chance to get to know you properly." She said in the quietest of voices. He lifted his hand and rested it on hers between them.

Her hand was grasping his arm, pulling him as close to her as possible. He took a deep breath and reached out to put his hand on hers, stopping just short. His hand hovered over hers and he tried to imagine the warmth he should be feeling off her skin. She heaved a dry sob again and this spurred him on. Letting his hand drop he sighed as it just passed through hers. He could barely look at their hands, it was almost making him sick. He was shocked though when she looked up and curled her fingers back. Looking around clearly startled she was now on high alert.

"Is there someone there." she whispered eyes still scanning. He felt like his heart was racing, not that that was really possible. She had definitely felt him.

"Tauriel!" he said hope springing into his voice. "I'm here! It's me!" her fist curled into a ball, and her shoulders fell again. He reached his hand up and tried to cup her cheek. Her head snapped around and she looked through the mountain entrance. Thranduil had returned with a band of dwarfs clearly coming to move him. He hated that he recognised none of them. The all looked uncomfortably at the she-elf, the eldest of the group stepping forward.

"We have been sent to recover the prince Miss." He said gruffly. He had a long red beard in three long braids, Kili figured he must be one of Dain's men.

"He is dead." Tauriel said bluntly. "There will be no recovery." Kili hated the tone in her voice. The complete defeat in it. The dwarf flinched slightly, it was quite a sight to see such a dwarf shaken by a female's words, but Kili knew she was no ordinary female.

"Yes I… I just meant they've asked us to move him." He stumbled over his words.

"Tauriel you can go with them." Thranduil said, his commanding voice taking over. "You do not have to leave him." A few of the dwarves looked puzzled at his words.

"Let them take me, you need to go inside." Kili said, sitting close enough to her to see the goose bumps on her skin.

She leant down once more and kissed his cheek.

Kili stood behind her right shoulder as he watched the ominous scene before them. Six dwarves lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him away, revealing a dark pool of blood where he'd been lying. They were almost off the ledge when he heard a faint thump. She lurched forward throwing herself on the ground. Kili followed after her not knowing what she was doing.

"Be careful! You almost lost it!" she said cradling something in her hands. "His mother needs to get this." Kili blinked himself in front of her, still not sure how exactly to do that at will. Looking into her hands he saw his runestone. He smiled as she tucked it back into her tunic.