I want to note that some readers have mentioned fearing a love triangle of Fili and Kili against Legolas. There will be none, as there's enough angst as it is, and I was never going to write a love triangle into this anyway. So no worries!

TW: Mentions of past violence in this chapter

Fili had to force his eyes away. Judging by a quick glance at his brother, Kili was still looking, and wasn't quite as subtle about it. His mouth was slightly open, and in his eyes a mix of awe and shock.

"Kili," Fili said. His voice was low, too low for even he himself to easily hear. A quick jab to his brother's side was far more effective, and quickly turned his brother's eyes over to him.

"What did I do?"

"Don't look at her like that."

"Why?"

It seemed like common sense. "Look at her arms." Considering how much Kili had been looking, Fili would have thought that his brother would have noticed that they were crossed at her sides and holding onto her waist.

Kili quickly averted his eyes back down to the table.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that Moria had once belonged to dwarves. When she thought of dwarves, Tauriel pictured finely made weaponry and carefully crafted trinkets. She thought of the Mirkwood queen's jewelry and various bracelets her mother had bought from Erebor centuries before, with gems that sparkled in even the faintest of light.

She did not think of halls overflowing with Orcs or their putrid scent. When she looked at the remains of broken statues she saw only rubble, tossed around by a Orcs as if it meant nothing. Once, those dusty and broken pieces had represented someone and meant something.

Perhaps that's the problem, Tauriel thought as she looked over herself in the mirror. Orcs don't care if someone cares about something; it's not as if they care about anything themselves.

It was hard to call what she was wearing a dress. The thin brown fabric seemed to be just that - fabric. It showed more than she would have liked, and hardly gave her any good coverage. Goosebumps rose over the backs of her legs. It seemed more like fabric loosely stuck together than anything, and luck was likely the only reason it stayed on her.

If it had been elven made, it would at least have been made to last. Tauriel doubted that it would still be held together within a month.

Tauriel blinked a few times at the mirror in front of her. Though the cover was slightly dirty, she could still make herself out. The mirror's frame was made of a sharp, slightly shiny rock and inlaid with geometric patterns. Bits of the frame were chipped, but the patterns was still visible. She ran her finger over them. It was so much easier to focus on the patterns and to try and decipher their meaning then to look at herself.

It wasn't as if there was anything worth seeing.

These were made by dwarves, Tauriel thought.

As hard as that was for her to believe sometimes, it was an easier idea to swallow than that the Orcs had managed to make something so beautiful.

Her fingers wondered over the patterns until an Orc came to fetch her.

"Azog requests you," the Orc said, their voice low and face blank.

"Of course," Tauriel said. She pulled her hand away from the mirror's frame and turned. Right before the mirror was completely out of sight, she got one last look at herself.

When she returned to the room (it was hard to consider it hers, especially when Azog always had her over in his), she turned the mirror around.

"I see that I am serving a rather large company tonight." Thranduil's voice filled the room, and all heads turned to him. There was an almost hypnotic quality to him, something that easily let him gain everyone's attention.

For a moment, Tauriel's heart raced as she waited for him to continue. The heavy silence, however, remained.

"My father," Legolas continued, gesturing around the table, "welcomes you."

"And we thank you," a dwarf, Balin, quickly replied. Though his brother and Thorin, who were sitting on both sides of him, were still dressed in their dwarven clothing, Balin was dressed in a clean Elvish robe.

Thorin's face looked to be on the verge of a frown, one that he could just barely hold back.

Old grudges die hard, Tauriel reminded herself.

"This was quite generous of you, dear king Thranduil." Balin smiled. Even if he was simply faking happiness, he did it well. Tauriel doubted Thorin could do the same, let alone have the chance to actually be happy about it. "We are all pleased to sit and eat with you."

For a moment, Tauriel could have sworn that she felt the eyes of everyone in the room turn to her. How long could everyone skirt around the issue? How long until she was questioned?

"And we too are pleased to have you here tonight," Thranduil replied. For a moment, his eyes locked onto Tauriel's. There was no way to deny it, not with a gaze as sharp as her king's.

Sometimes he was not angry.

Sometimes he did not raise his fist or mace.

Sometimes Azog was almost gentle, his touch almost like a caress.

Almost.

Sometimes.

As Tauriel surveyed the fresh marks on her skin, the ones that were always taking longer and longer to heal, she couldn't help but wish that the night before had been one of the good nights.

Bilbo has saved us all again, Fili thought. This time, rather than trying to argue with trolls or try and protect Thorin from his worst enemy, he just had to keep the elves' attention. Judging by the number of questions he had, which he had begun asking without previous prompting, every question was genuine. Considering how quickly he went from receiving an answer to asking another question, it would probably be a while before his desire for knowledge was quenched.

Tauriel, Fili noticed as he shot her a quick glance from the corner of his eye, looked to be the most relieved. Her earlier tension had faded slightly, with her frown gone and her arms reached towards her plate rather than the table. She was nibbling on bread.

Fili took another bite of his meat. Whatever it was, it tasted good. The sauce was certainly delicious, and he had to keep himself from licking his fingers. It wasn't as if they were eating at Bilbo's house.

But I'm sure Thorin wouldn't mind us throwing around these dishes, Fili thought.

"Is it true that one of the elven poets once compared Greenwood to paradise? I've read various translations of the text and even the original Elvish itself, in Elrond's library to be exact, and I'm still not one hundred percent sure." Considering how many questions he was prattling off, it was surprising that Bilbo had already finished half of the food on his plate.

"Hey, Fili," Kili whispered.

Fili raised an eyebrow and leaned his ear closer to him.

"Can you understand anything that Bilbo's saying? It all sounds like gibberish to me."

"I've started tuning it out." For the first time that night, Fili picked up his glass of wine. It was even larger than Bilbo's beer mugs had been, and was all but filled to the brim with red wine. Raising the glass to his lips, Fili ignored whatever Bilbo was saying.

Fili was no stranger to the taste of wine. It was easier to swallow than beer, and didn't burn his throat the way some of the drinks in men's taverns did. There was just nothing quite like Mirkwood wine.

It was sweet to the tongue and easy to swallow. In one swig he took nearly half of the glass.

No wonder Thranduil finishes this so quickly, Fili thought. He looked down to the glass for a moment before raising it again to his lips.

The wine made Bilbo's words even easier to ignore. For a moment, Fili could only drink his wine.

When he brought the glass down from his lips, it was only because his glass was empty. Placing his glass back down on the table, Fili took another bite of his meat. The meat, though well cooked, and the sauce, though delicious, was nothing compared to the wine. His teeth went back to mechanically chewing and he found himself focusing on Bilbo's every other word.

An elf passed by and quickly refilled his glass. Fili gave them a smile, but the elf vanished before he could get a good look at them.

Kili seemed to have realized the wonders of Mirkwood wine as well. He raised his glass up and took a good long drink, downing half the glass.

That's my brother, Fili thought. He shot Kili a smile before raising his own glass once more.

When Fili woke up, his vision was swimming, his head felt as if it had been hit with wooden clubs by a pack of Orcs, and there was a knock on the door.

For a moment, Fili just stared at the ceiling. His mother could get the door; she was the only dwarf he knew who actually liked to get out of bed before the sun rose.

It took him a moment to recognize the ceiling above him wasn't his.

Fili sat up and blinked a few times. He put a hand against his forehead and leaned against the bed frame. The room around him was only vaguely familiar; he and Kili had been given it when the company first arrived in Mirkwood, and they had gone back to it after dinner the night before. It was large, with most of the space empty. The surfaces of the wooden dressers and night stands were dust free and empty, and the beds had been neatly made before the two had slept in them. The rest of the space, though clean, was bare.

"Kili, could you please get the door?"

His brother merely grunted from the other bed, the sound partially muffled by the pillow Kili had his face buried in.

The knock came again, a bit louder than before and lasting a bit longer.

This can't be Thorin, Fili thought as he forced himself up. By now he would have torn open the door.

When Fili finally got to the door, one hand held to his head and the other at his side, the knocking started once more. For a few moments, Fili could only stand still and listen to the knocking.

Once it ended, Fili opened the door.

He recognized the elf instantly, though it took him a moment to remember his name.

"Legolas," Fili said, quickly straightening his back. "Prince Legolas," Fili quickly corrected, giving a small bow as his mother and uncle had taught him. "I apologize for the wait."

"I've waited far longer for others before." Legolas quickly silenced. His face was unreadable, his blue eyes seeming to simply stare at what was in front of him.

Stay formal, Fili reminded himself. Of the two brothers, he was the one expected to make the best impression.

"Do you have need for us?"

Why wouldn't he? Fili thought.

"I came to ask for a meeting later." Legolas stepped forward, looking over to the bed where Kili laid. "Now does not seem like the best of times."

Fili stepped back, doing his best to try and block the elf's line of vision. "I apologize for my brother-"

"There is no need to apologize," Legolas asked. "I simply came to ask that you two meet me near the east hall before dinner. That should give you some time to prepare yourselves."

"What do you have need of?"

"I simply have a few questions to ask you two."

Fili nodded. "And we will be glad to answer them."

"Good." Legolas turned. "I shall be seeing you two later. Also, I had a special mixture be sent with your breakfast, which should be arriving soon. It should help with your condition."

When Legolas went looking for Tauriel again later that day, he found an empty room and an unmade bed. Just like she had at dinner the night before, she had quietly vanished with only a few hints that she had ever been there at all.

The night before, it had been an empty plate and chair that indicated that she was gone. Her servant had gone with her, and probably vanished during one of Bilbo's long winded questions

Legolas sighed. Earlier, he'd come here looking for her and another servant, one he did not recognize, mentioned that she was sleeping and had asked not to be disturbed. Now, she was gone.

Turning around, he headed towards the east hall. If he hadn't been busy instructing soldiers earlier than perhaps he would have had time to go search for his friend. But there was a meeting he had to attend to, one he certainly couldn't cancel.

When he got to the east hall, he was surprised to see the two dwarf princes.

That saves some time, Legolas thought.

His slight smile vanished, however, when he saw that the two were alone.

"Prince Legolas," the dark haired dwarf, Kili if Legolas remembered correctly, said. He gave a small bow. "We are glad to see you."

Legolas merely raised an eyebrow. He had hoped that they would not have bothered with the formalities.

"What have you come to ask us?" The older one continued.

"Have you seen her?"

The two blinked.

"Do you mean Tauriel?" Fili asked.

"Who else do you think that I would be referring to?"

The two dwarves stiffened and glanced towards the other.

"My apologies," Legolas said. "I simply have been looking for her. I have some questions to ask of her."

"Oh," Fili said. "I'm sorry, but we haven't seen her all day. She was at dinner last night and then she was..."

"Gone," his brother added.

"Oh." Legolas looked to the ground. "Might I ask you a few questions instead?"

Fili nodded. "Of course."

Legolas wordlessly sat down and motioned with his hand for the two to follow. They did so, leaning against the dark wooden wall.

"Are you her friends?"

The two blinked again.

"I think so," Kili finally said.

"I hope so." Fili quickly added.

"I think you are." Legolas sighed. "We were friends once. Now? Now I hardly know anything, except that the person I thought was dead for so long never really died." Legolas locked his hands together. "But if she was not dead, then what was she?"

Kili bit his lip. He looked ready to say something, but stopped himself.

"She was," Fili said. He tightened his fists together before breaking them apart a few moments later. He continued this for a while. "The thing is," the blond dwarf finally continued, "Tauriel never told us much. Most of it we learned from Beorn, actually."

"Beorn?" Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Is that a dwarf?"

Kili laughed, and for a moment even Fili smiled. "No, Beorn was too big to be a dwarf."

"Beorn was," Fili continued, "an ally, her friend. He knew a lot about her, and faced some of what she faced." He stiffened. "To be completely honest, I do not know if I should tell you. My brother and I don't truly know that much, and we never asked her about it."

"She would always get so nervous if it got brought up." Kili wrapped his arms around his waist. "And start hugging herself like this. She always looked so afraid, and it would take her a while to start to relax again."

Fili had expected the elf to get angry. It was clear that he wanted answers, and had probably expected to get more out of the two dwarves than this.

Instead, he simply looked down to his lap. "No, no, I understand. Thank you for not bringing it up." Legolas paused. "Whatever happened to her must have been truly inexcusable and horrific."

Before, Fili never would have imagined that the son of Thranduil could cry. It used to be that he was nothing but another elf that his uncle ranted about, a caricature without a name. Now, he was sobbing in front of Fili and his brother with no sign of stopping.

Fili searched his mind for a reply. When he found none, he looked over to his brother. Kili was always good at filling in the blanks for him.

Kili could not help him, not now, not when he was crying himself.

Thank you again to everyone who has been reading! You guys rock and mean a lot to me!