~ From Kili's POV ~
"Mind if I sit here?"
Kili looked up to see Mei standing a few feet away, pointing to the empty spot on the stone bench. He had left the loud, busy atmosphere of the party about a half an hour ago, had escaped to the town square, and had seated himself upon one of the benches that lined the square. The cool, brisk night air was helping clear his head of the muggy, stuffy air of the bar, and he had begun to feel his anger and jealousy fade away.
That was, until Mei showed up.
"Sure," he muttered, tearing his gaze away from her chocolate-brown eyes.
"Are you okay?" Mei asked, taking a seat on the bench next to him and leaning over.
"Fine," Kili huffed, still not meeting her gaze.
"Kili," Mei said warningly, sticking her head out in such a way that he was forced to look at her. "I know when you're lying."
"I'm fine," Kili snapped.
Mei nodded, her lips pressed together. "Alright," she said after awhile, the sarcasm clear in her voice. "Keep your secrets, Kili."
"It wouldn't be the first time," Kili said, before he could stop himself.
"What?" Mei asked, bewildered.
"There are things you haven't been telling me, aren't there, Mei?" Kili retorted, thinking back to Bain.
"Excuse me?" Mei scoffed. "What are you even talking about?"
"You know," Kili said, his voice bitter and sharp. "I thought there was something between us, Mei. I was even pretty sure that I loved you. But apparently, you never felt the same."
Mei looked as though she had just been slapped. "What do you mean?" she asked, the hurt plain on her face.
"You know perfectly well what I mean," Kili grumbled.
"I'm pretty sure that I don't-" Mei began, but then a wave of realization washed over her, and Kili saw her lips part slightly to form an O. "You didn't see me and Bain…" she trailed off.
"I saw him kiss you," Kili said, the hoarseness and agony in his voice surprising him.
"Kiss me?" Mei half-laughed, half-screeched. "Hold your horses, Mister Kili. I've never kissed anyone before."
"What?" Kili asked, turning to look at her.
"Bain tried to kiss me," Mei said pointedly, "but I pulled away."
"Oh," Kili said softly, and he felt his cheeks start to flush red with embarrassment. How wrong he had been… "I must have missed that part," he said, uncomfortable.
"Aww, Kili, you adorably awkward little dumpling," Mei giggled. "Trust me, there's nothing between me and Bain." Her face saddened slightly. "But I've been feeling so bad about pulling away from him like that… he really is a nice person." She gave a nervous smile. "I've never been approached like that or even talked to like that by a boy before, and considering that I've had a hard enough time landing a boyfriend, it's weird that I turned down the first one who tried. Ironic, huh?" She gave a short, forced laugh.
A chilly wind swept by, and both Kili and Mei shivered from the icy blast.
"Why did you turn him down?" Kili asked.
Mei shrugged. "He'd always seemed nice, but when I saw him starting to lean forward for a kiss, I just didn't feel anything, y'know? When someone you truly love is about to kiss you for the first time, you feel sort of… electrified, and your heart starts to beat faster, and the whole world starts to disappear. But I didn't feel that with Bain."
"Have you ever felt it before?" Kili couldn't help from asking.
"Once," Mei said evasively, and blushed slightly.
"Oh?" Kili said.
A long, uncomfortable silence ensued, with only the slight whistle of the wind and the faint sounds of clinking cups and joyous song echoing from inside the bar.
"Quickly, quickly!" Thorin bellowed at the company. "The ship is leaving in just ten minutes!"
Mei groaned, sitting up from where she had fallen asleep on the floor. She and Kili had stayed up late to care for Fili (whose condition seemed to be worsening by the hour), and seemed to have both haphazardly draped themselves over two of the velvet couches in the Master's guest suite sometime during the night.
"Put these on," Bofur handed her a bag of clothing, which was presumably from the Master.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Mei stumbled behind a screen to change. She pulled the simple, sleep-worn dress that Sigrid had leant her over her head (she hoped Sigrid wouldn't miss it-they had left Bard's house without saying a proper thank-you for the service and help his family had provided them), and yanked on the new, fur-lined red dress from the Master. It had long, warm sleeves, a collar that could be turned up, and a furry hem that hit just above her knees. Adding some woolen stockings underneath, a pair of leather boots, and a matching red traveling cloak, Mei turned to look at her reflection in the floor-length mirror.
Oh, how much she had changed. Her previously smooth skin was now covered in bruises and small scrapes (and some not-so-small ones, like the scar from the wound in her stomach and shoulder). Her hair, which had always been so neat, was now, although still clean, more unruly and troublesome. Her arms were beginning to show signs of muscle, as were her legs.
Mei had changed, but she found the changes to be glorious, as they highlighted just how much this quest had altered both her physical and emotional being. She was stronger, smarter, tougher. And she was hungrier too, but that was besides the point.
"Onto the boat, all of you," Alfrid ordered, hoarding the company onto the fancy, arched boat that would bring them across the lake to the Lonely Mountain.
Just as Mei was about to board, she saw Fili, who was being helped onto the boat by Kili, stumble and fall over, landing with a wince on his injured leg.
"He cannot come with us," Thorin said flatly as he passed his nephews.
"What?" Mei and Kili exclaimed at the same time.
"He will only slow us down," Thorin added, hardly daring to look his nephews in the eye. "Fili must stay here in Laketown until he is healed.
"No," Kili shook his head furiously. "No, uncle, you can't do this."
Thorin gave Kili a significant look. "Kili," he said warningly, although his voice was soft and pleading.
"We've grown up hearing tales of Erebor," Kili protested. "And we've lived for the day when we first walk through the gates of our fathers. You can't just take that away from him, uncle."
"Kili," Fili groaned, clutching his leg. "I'll be fine."
"That is my final word," Thorin said solemnly, and beckoned Kili to follow him onto the ship. "Come, Kili. Fili can rejoin us when he is healed."
"I'm not coming with you," Kili said defiantly.
"Kili, don't be a fool," Thorin scolded.
"I'm staying with Fili," Kili snapped, and helped his brother to his feet.
"You belong with the company, Kili," Thorin reprimanded, grabbing his nephew's arm before he could walk too far away.
"I belong with my brother," Kili spat, and wrenched his arm from his uncle's grasp with considerable force.
Thorin flinched back a little when Kili broke free from his hold, and Mei saw the dwarf's eyes sadden slightly.
"I'm staying with them," Mei piped up, surprising even herself as she said so.
"No," Thorin shook his head. "Mei, you have to come with us. You're the only one who knows how to defeat the dragon."
Mei gave a shocked laugh. "Honestly, Thorin. You thought you were going to be the one to kill Smaug? You and the rest of the company set the dragon loose on Laketown and Smaug burns it to ash before Bard can finally shoot it with a Black Arrow, and there's nothing I can do to stop that." Her own harshness shocked her, but she was so fed up with Thorin's cruel, heartless decision-making, and his ignorance to the danger this quest would bring to the people of Laketown.
"Mei," Thorin hissed. "You must come with us."
"I'm not, Thorin," Mei said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I can't just leave a fellow company member behind, and I don't agree with your decision to do so. I'm sorry, but I'm not coming."
Thorin muttered something under his breath and stomped away. "Fine," he grumbled, although Mei could sense another layer of sadness underneath his anger.
"I'll stay with them," Bofur added, wincing slightly as Thorin's furious gaze whipped up to meet his own eyes.
"Is anyone actually going to help reclaim Erebor?" Thorin cried, looking around at the remaining members of his company.
The rest of the company, Mei knew, would stay with Thorin, but she saw flashes of doubt and conflict on their faces. They didn't agree with Thorin's choice to leave Fili behind, she noticed, but they would rather die than abandon their beloved leader.
Before anyone else could speak, a horn blew and the ship began to leave the dock, the rest of the company exiting the harbor with it. Mei waved to her friends as they left, a few tears welling up in her eyes. But she quickly blinked them away and turn back to Fili, Kili and Bofur, who were watching the precession leave with the same expressions of fear on their faces, fear for both themselves (they were all alone in Laketown now, after all), and for their friends, who would soon face down a deadly, fire-breathing dragon.
For all they knew, this could be the last time they ever saw their friends again.
~ From Kili's POV ~
"It's alright," Kili said, watching apprehensively as Fili tensed and beads of sweat began to form on his brother' forehead. It was late at night, and everyone else had already gone to sleep. All except for Kili, who had demanded that he stay awake to tend to his brother.
They had run straight to Bard's house after the company had left on the ship, and had been greeted by the sour, stern face of Bard.
"I've had enough of dwarves for one lifetime," he growled, trying to shut the door on them. "Get lost."
"No, no!" they had all cried out, straining to keep the door open. "It's Fili," Kili had said, pointing to his wounded brother.
"He's sick," Bofur had added, grimacing with concern as Fili moaned in pain. "Very sick."
Bard had reluctantly let them in (the man had a good heart, Kili had come to realize), and had helped heave Fili onto one of the tables. He had left them alone after that, but had provided all of the necessary herbs and tools that they needed to try and heal Fili's wounds. Nothing they tried had worked, however, and Kili was beginning to feel doubt and fear blossom in his chest at the sight of his brother's worsening wounds.
"Kili," Fili groaned now, the white cotton of his bandages turning a dark crimson. "You need to get some sleep."
"And you need to get better," Kili said, trying to hide the fear, the utter, pure terror in his voice. If he lost his brother… the prospect of a world without Fili had always seemed as impossible as a world without the Sun, or a world without the sky. And now…
"Kili," Fili said again, this time more insistently. His eyes were huge and pleading. "I can feel my body getting weaker. I can feel myself fading away."
"No," Kili said, shaking his head so quickly, he wondered if it might snap off. Tears welled in his eyes. "No, Fili, you're not going anywhere. You're staying right here, and I'm going to save you."
"I love you, brother," Fili said, his own eyes glistening with wetness. "I always have, and I always will."
"Fili," Kili said, his eyes widening. "No, don't leave me! Please, Fili!"
Fili's eyelids began to sag, and then his hand became slowly more limp in Kili's own.
"No…" Kili breathed, his voice cracking at the edges with despair and grief and shock. "No, no…" He grabbed Fili's lifeless hand and shook it, desperate, desperate to shake life back into his brother, or to wish for him to be alright so much that it actually became true. He would have done anything to save Fili. Anything, from burning to drowning, from torture to death, Kili would have done it all. He would have experienced all of the pain in the world, he would have allowed for every last drop of despair and hatred and agony to be poured into his soul, and he would have endured it, all for Fili.
And now he was dead.
Kili wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to kill every last orc he ever saw. He wanted to track down the two archers who shot his brother and stab them through with his brother's sword and watch the light leave their wicked eyes. He wanted to…
Kili didn't even know what to do now. Without Fili, it felt as though an entire half of him were missing, as though someone had simply chopped both his legs off and expected him to walk. He just couldn't be happy, he couldn't ever laugh again, he couldn't live without Fili.
Then, all of a sudden, pounding footsteps from the roof above. Dust from the rickety rafter floated down in misty clouds from the impacts.
Hastily wiping his tears away, Kili instinctively grabbed his sword. Glancing nervously at the door, he watched as a form heaved itself against the wooden door from the other side. Someone was trying to break in.
Kili gave his blade a few practice swings, and found that his aim and grip on the sword had been completely destroyed by the terrible grief that was his brother's death. His mind was foggy with despair and sadness as well, and he wondered if he would even be able to fight like this. If he would be able to fight with the dead body of his brother only a few feet away.
But when the door did finally break down and a sniveling orc stomped through the doorframe, something inside of Kili flickered. An anger, an intense fury, and a greedy thirst for revenge filled his bones, his blood, his very soul, and he charged at the orc, releasing a cry of agony and sorrow and pure, pure hatred.
When Mei heard Kili's battle cry, she sat up straight in the bed she had been sharing with Sigrid. Looking over, she saw that Sigrid had heard it too.
Both of them jumped out of bed, pulled on their slippers, and dashed to the kitchen to see what was wrong. Mei's heart was pounding so loudly that she thought it might burst. What if Kili was hurt?
When they reached the kitchen, she saw that Kili's sword was buried deep in a goblin's chest, and that more goblins were pouring in through the broken-down front door. Two dead goblins laid on the ground at Kili's feet, blood leaking from Kili's perfectly aimed sword strokes.
Then Mei noticed the motionless body of Fili on the table behind Kili. No… her mind raced, and she hurried over to Fili, felt his clammy, lifeless hands, and let out a sob. Fili couldn't be dead… he couldn't be. She looked desperately at his two wounds, dark and bloody they were, and at least a hundred times worse than they had been a few days ago.
A new fury kindling inside of her, Mei grabbed one of Kili's daggers from the chair he had been sitting on, and whirled around, only to find a goblin standing right behind her. But she wasn't afraid, she was only filled with anger, and a terrible, terrible thirst for revenge. She plunged the dagger into the goblin's side, it's cries of pain and shock echoing throughout Bard's cramped home.
By this point, Bard, Bain and Tilda had come rushing out of their bedrooms to find the source of the loud crashing, screaming and slamming coming from their kitchen. When little Tilda saw the orcs and the bloodied floorboards, she shrieked and dove for her sister, who had been hiding in the corner of the kitchen. Bain grabbed a metal ladle, and Bard snatched up a frying pan, and the two of them joined Mei and Kili in fighting off the orcs.
But the orcs kept coming, more and more of them scuttling in through the front door. Mei knew they couldn't hold much longer. Besides, being the non-skilled fighter that she was, she had already earned herself a few more scratches and cuts.
And then Legolas and Tauriel got on the scene.
First, Mei saw a familiar flash of bright red hair, and then the tell-tale sound of a perfectly crafted Elvish arrow finding its mark. Her heart leapt, and when she looked towards the doorway, instead of more orcs, two tall, armor-clad elves leapt through, hardly missing a beat before continuing their slaughter of the orcs.
Mei stood back and let the two elves do their work, but Kili and Bard kept fighting alongside the elves, using their makeshift weapons so viciously that the frying pans and metal pots that they used might as well have been golden, jewel-encrusted swords.
When the dead bodies of the orcs lay in bloody heaps on the floor, everyone took a moment to survey the wrecked room, the two elves looking suspiciously at the dwarves and Bard's family.
"Come, Tauriel," Legolas said at last, tearing his gaze away from Kili, who looked so much like Thorin in this grim lighting. "Bolg is not far off. If we hurry, we can catch up with him."
Tauriel began to nod, but then let out a pained, shocked gasp. She rushed over to Fili's body and took his pulse, her face paling when she found none. "No," she said hoarsely, her reaction mirroring that of Kili and Mei.
"Tauriel," Legolas said, more insistently. "We must hurry."
Tauriel ignored the blonde-haired elf and continued to examine Fili's wounds, her eyes welling with huge, shining tears. "Fili," she whispered, squeezing his limp hand.
"I'll go scout ahead," Legolas said, his voice scratchy. Mei could see that seeing Tauriel's love for Fili was just too much for him to bear. He secretly loved Tauriel, and hated Fili for taking her away from him.
As Legolas left, Mei turned her attention back to Tauriel, who was now full-on crying, kneeling next to the body of Fili and sobbing.
Kili, Mei could see, was just as distraught. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now… her own grief was bad enough. Biting back her tears, Mei watched Tauriel and Kili, her heart shattering as she saw them cry.
Tauriel began to murmur something, her words sounding like part of a chant or a spell. Then it hit Mei-hadn't Kili, who had originally been destined to get pierced by the orc's arrow, been healed by Tauriel's magic? Perhaps the red-haired elf could do the same now. Amongst the sobs, Mei could make out the sounds of Elvish words being sung out in Tauriel's smooth, enchanting voice.
Kili began to say the words to his own prayer, the Dwarvish words and the Elvish ones harmonizing beautifully into one, merged spell. Mei listened as Kili and Tauriel's agonized, desperate voices, full of love for Fili, rang out in the room, the two people who loved him most in the world joining together.
A twitch of his eyelids. A slight flick of his fingers. Fili's chest began to move, slowly, carefully, as he exhaled a breath. Mei saw his wounds begin to close, the skin around them cleaning itself of all it's blood and grime and raw skin. She wanted to cry out in shock and happiness and joy as she saw the blonde dwarf cough and begin to sit up.
Tauriel shrieked and Kili gave an amazed, disbelieving laugh as they watched Fili heave himself, wincing, into a sitting position.
"You're alive!" Tauriel exclaimed, squeezing his now life-filled hand with glee.
"You have got to stop doing that!" Kili jokingly scolded his brother, wiping tears of happiness from his face.
"Doing what?" Fili asked, looking at and stretching his fingers, as if amazed even by himself that he was alive.
"Tricking us into believing that you're dead," Kili laughed, and hugged his brother tight.
Bofur entered the room now, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Whaddeyemiss?" he mumbled sleepily.
"You really slept through all that?" Mei cried incredulously.
"Slept through wha-" Bofur began, and then he saw Fili, who was grinning joyfully at the mustached dwarf. "Oh, Fili! You're alright!"
Aww, such an emotional chapter for me to write. *dabs at eye with tissue* I tried to expand more on the whole "brotherly love" relationship between Fili and Kili, because I found it to be such an interesting one. Kili's pain and fear at seeing his brother in such a state was, although just as painful a sad to write, a really unique experience.
I also tried to incorporate some of the Harry Potter themes into this chapter. You know how Lilly Potter saved Harry from Lord Voldemort because of her "old magic," her love for Harry? The reason why Tauriel and Kili were able to save Fili from basically being already dead was because they both loved him so much, and the combined forces of their magic and grief was enough to save Fili's life. Cheesy, I know, but how can I resist? :P Also, I just loved the idea of an elf and a dwarf joining and working together to save someone that they both cared about.
Oh, and can anyone guess when that "once" Mei was talking about early on in the chapter actually happened? ;) *cough cough, check out Chapter 16*
And of course, Bofur being adorably oblivious. :P
Reviews, favorites and follows all mean so much to me! I can't believe that 54 of you (as of today) have made the conscious decision to follow this story! I love each and every person who has ever read a chapter (or even a sentence!) of this story, and I am eternally grateful for all of your support! 3