Chapter 14

Or

You Can Not Return

"We're rich and famous, why do you look like your mum just died?" Jasper flicked his friend Felix on the head, breaking his friend out of his trance. Leo, the blonde one, glanced between them, also distracted from his thoughts.

"I dunno I just feel… bad. Like, that was kinda douchey of us," Felix mumbled, looking out the window of the ship to look at the water.

"It was douchey of those docs to lie to us!" Jasper rolled his eyes, still upset that the marine biologists had decided to return the creature to the ocean instead of keeping it. They could have made money by showing it off to the world, a lot more money than they would with just a tracker.

"Dude, she saved us, and we gave them money to capture her so we could become famous. You saw how scared she was," Leo spoke up and glared at his dark friend. Jasper grumbled but looked away, not sure how to respond to that. But the way he had said it did make Jasper uncomfortable.

"What do you think he'll do?" Felix nodded toward the figure on the ship deck. The other two looked, seeing the dark haired man that was familiar with the mermaid. He hadn't moved from the spot since they had released her back into the water, he hadn't even changed out of his bloody clothes. None of them had spoken to him, he had ignored them and they were not about to approach him, but they were curious about him. They had learned his name was Kili, the one the mermaid had said when she was helping them escape the storm.

"Whatever it is, it's too late now. She probably won't come up to the surface after what happened," Jasper said, looking away from the man on the deck. Looking at him made Jasper's stomach clench in guilt.

"She doesn't have to, not with the tracker in her now. They'll be able to find her whenever they want," Leo muttered, tasting a bitterness in his mouth from what he had done.

"I don't think they put a datalogger on her though, all the data should be sent to them remotely. They shouldn't need to retrieve her," Felix pointed out, knowing more about marine tracking than the other two simply because he paid more attention to the doctors' conversations. A datalogger required recapture to gain the information stored in the device, a transmitter on the other hand would send data until it died.

"They might not need to, but people will want to find her," Leo shifted uncomfortably, looking at his hands in his lap.

"She won't fall for the same trick again, she's too smart to be caught a second time."

"You think?" Jasper looked at Felix as he asked his question.

"You heard her, she can talk and understand us. If that's not a sign of intelligence I don't know what is," Felix continued to remain optimistic and have faith in the mermaid, for her sake.

"I just remember her crying," Leo's words made the other two go silent. The sound she had made when she was crying in the tank was not one any of them would forget.

Out on the deck Kili was remembering the same sound and blaming himself for what had happened. He desperately wished he could see her again, try to explain himself and apologize and make her understand how sorry he was for the pain he had caused her. But as much as he wanted to see her again he hoped that she would dive down to the bottom of the ocean and never return. She would be safe there. He sighed, shifting his weight and glancing down at his arms. They were clawed open, and the pain on his chest and back indicated that she had also torn his skin there as well. But the bleeding was minimal thanks to her licking the wounds she had inflicted. Whatever was in her saliva had sealed in the slashes, preventing them from bleeding more. But he had not mentioned that part to the scientists, they were already having a heyday over the blood sample they had taken from her. Her blood was clear, and while that didn't mean much to Kili it was blowing the minds of everyone with a Dr. in front of their last name.

He sighed, trying to put the thoughts from his mind as he watched the water. She hadn't even looked back when she was released. Not that she had any reason to, but he had hoped she would at least give him one last look.

Bran and Collin had not accompanied the crew back out to release the mermaid, and Fili was sitting in the waiting room with Collin while Bran was under a surgeon's blade. Fili sat with his chin resting on his clasped hands, watching Collin pace back and forth.

"Those stupid mermaids are nothing but trouble," Collin muttered, wringing his hands as he walked the same line again.

"She was defending herself. Plus she's like twelve feet of pure muscle, of course getting smacked is going to hurt," Fili defended her in a calm voice, knowing it wasn't what Collin wanted to hear.

"Bran is in a fucking operating room! She tried to kill him!" Collin shouted, gesturing to the door that led to where their friend was.

"You took her from her home and hurt her, did you really think she wouldn't fight back?" Fili tried to keep his voice level, knowing that shouting would not help the situation.

"Why are you defending her?" Collin demanded, spinning around from his pacing and glaring at Fili.

"Because you would have done the same thing in her situation!" Fili's voice rose as he bit back his anger and fear. He hated this, Bran was stupid but he didn't deserve to be in an operating room to save his life, but he couldn't fault Tauriel for defending herself.

"What? No I wouldn't have!"

"Oh really? Then tell me what you did, what you felt, when you captured by them," Fili managed to return to a calmer voice, trying to think of a way to make Collin understand. If he could get Collin to calm down and think about it, maybe he could use the same strategy on Bran later on. He did not want this to become a permanent rift between Kili and Bran, and it needed to be dealt with immediately.

"I… I was scared. I thought I was going to die. I didn't want to die, and I was willing to do whatever it took to escape," Collin admitted, glancing away and holding himself as he remembered how terrified and desperate he was.

"Then you have already felt what she did, you should understand what she went through."

"It's… different," Collin muttered, not looking at Fili. He knew Fili was right, but he wasn't comfortable admitting it.

"How? You went into their world and were captured. She came into our world and was captured."

"I…" Collin sat down in defeat, "I didn't think about it that way."

"She could have killed Bran right then and there, with the harpoon," Collin said after several moments of silent thought.

"But she didn't, because Kili asked her not to. If it had been you and Bran down there, and you had the chance to kill one of the ones who had captured you, would you have stopped if Bran asked you to?" Fili replied, looking at Collin critically.

"I don't know," Collin mumbled, still not able to look up at Fili.

"Bran will be fine, the doctors know how to fix up broken ribs and internal bleeding," Fili said, touching Collin's shoulder to physically reassure him. Collin managed to turn his head but still did not look at Fili, instead looking toward the door and praying Bran would be alright.

Under the waves Tauriel was relieved to finally see a friendly face after diving straight down into the water, the depth giving her solace. Her moment of happiness shriveled in fear when she made out the larger form accompanied by a guard.

"Highness-" before she could explain or address her friend Thranduil snarled and whipped his tail at her. She knew if he wanted to hit her he would have, but she still darted away to dodge.

"I warned you, and yet you did not heed my command," the much larger merfolk snarled, and she recoiled, making herself smaller as she curled up in fear and submission.

"My king-"

"You reek of them. Even now I can smell their touch on you, you carry something dangerous," he continued and she looked away, guilty.

"They… put something in me. I do not know how to reach it or remove it-" she saw the looks of disgust and fear on the others when she admitted to what had happened, but Thranduil drew closer to her.

"And so you have come to endanger us all?" he said softly, anger and bitterness in his voice. She looked away, understanding what had to happen next.

"I did not listen, and now I…"

"Cannot return. Be gone, and let your final act in service to me be to protect others from your fate," despite the rage on his tongue in this close proximity she could see he was looking at her sadly. He had cared for her for her entire life, and in return she had disobeyed her king and risked endangering her kind by associating with humans. He did not wish to hear her speak again, and so turned away from her at those parting words.

"Legolas," she called out as the party drew away. He hesitated but did not look back at her. She knew it was foolish of her to think he would come with her, being near her would put him in danger, and he could not risk disobeying his father while in his presence.

And so she was left alone in the water, curled in a tight ball as she floated and tried to hold herself together. There had to be something she could do to fix this. Someone had to know how to help her.

Then, out of the darkness, she heard a gentle singing. When she looked up and through her hair she saw two lights coming her way, one brighter than the other, but both larger than her. She wasn't sure if she should run or stay, but the song calmed her down, making her feel safe once more.

"I could not reach you, Tauriel. You went too far," the soothing voice of the Lady Galadriel made Tauriel's heart ache and she looked away.

"They took me out of the water. And now I can't come back," Tauriel explained, although she knew Galadriel would have already known. Tauriel looked up when a glowing hand brushed her face, Galadriel offering her a sad smile.

"I thought… I thought things could change," Tauriel admitted, looking at the second large merfolk that had accompanied the Lady Galadriel when he scoffed. He was just as long as Galadriel, but he did not glow as brightly, his skin was more similar to Tauriels in that there were spots of light instead of the entire skin emitting light.

"The race of men is a foolish and selfish one. Saving a few from drowning will not change the way they are, they think only of themselves and what they can gain from others," Lord Elrond spoke, making Tauriel look down in shame and Galadriel look at him in what might have been disappointment. Whether she was disappointed in him or in humans Tauriel did not know.

"You are not at fault for having hope, Tauriel. Come, we wish to know what happened, and I have a gift for you," Galadriel bid, extending a hand to Tauriel's. Tauriel accepted the gesture and followed the two massive merfolk, feeling like a pilot fish among sharks. But she had faith that Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond could help heal her injuries, as well as her spirit, and she was not about to turn down friendly company.