I know I said yesterday, and once again, I lied. Oops... But, I figure this should maybe slightly make up for it. That and the fact that this story will go three or four more chapters than I earlier anticipated. AND after that I'll start up my other Hobbit fic about our favorite Durin's:) It's a sure promise of more hurt/comfort, family, and adventure!
Kíli drifted on the edge of darkness.
As Tauriel tied the rag gently on his leg, he began to stir. His eyes opened. Shapes blurred above him in shadowy disarray. He could distantly make out red in the haze of color. The colors cleared, the shapes became objects around the room. He felt a dull pain throb throughout his body.
Then he saw her.
It was then that he knew he was dead. Certainly he had passed into the Halls of Mandos. This must be some preparatory state he was in, where the mind eases itself into the new reality that is death.
He wondered then, if that were the case, why Fíli wasn't with him instead.
"Tauriel." His voice was raw and quiet. He couldn't keep the awe from his tone.
"Lie still." She smiled softly. He nearly gasped at her beauty. How his mind had remembered and conjured so perfectly the delicate details of her face, he did not know.
Even if she was just a personage of his own thinking, he could not keep himself from speaking his thoughts. "You cannot be her. She is far away. She… she is far, far away from me." Indeed she was. She was on Middle Earth. Living. Breathing. While he was not. "She walks… in starlight in another world."
She paused in what seemed like confusion as he spoke, recognition slowly making its way onto her features.
"It was just a dream." His voice cracked, eyes sad and longing for the life that could have been. He noticed her hand, only a hairsbreadth from his. He reached up, yearning for some form of comfort, as he knew he would shortly pass into loneliness until the world was rebuilt at the end of all Ages. Their fingers laced together. Her skin felt warm and real.
He could not help but wonder.
"Do you think she could have loved me?"
TINY CHAPTER. It's a stinker, I know. But I'll update tomorrow (promise this time) And don't worry, our little Elf and Dwarf aren't quite through speaking yet;) ALSO to come: Fili and Kili interaction, sure to pull at the heartstrings:)
Thanks again you guys for all the wonderful support!:)
Please review!:)