Stolen Heir In which Tauriel makes a promise, a hobbit fanfic

Tauriel didn't awaken with a headache. She hadn't slept. The dull ache behind her eyes had come on slowly about two hours before dawn. Her red-hair was hidden in the shadows of the sluggish fire, as she hadn't fed any fuel to the hearth in quite a while.

She blinked, finding her eyes a bit dry from staring at the settling flames. Slowly she realized there was a definite bite of a winter chill in the stone rooms. Kili had explained to her that tapestries were usually lining the thick walls to help insulate them. But those fabrics had long since fallen from age and neglect. Only a few had survived.

The she-elf's head turned and she stared at one such masterwork. A faded tapestry denoting some long-ago Dwarven battle. The colors were muted in places, but it was still serviceable. Tauriel could make out some details such as family war banners and the like. Idly, a stray thought floated through her mind. While this was most likely ancient history to the dwarrows, it might have been within her lifetime so great were the age differences between the races. Should she recognize the battle being depicted?

Suddenly it felt like a chasm had opened up between herself and Kili.

Last eve, three dwarrowdams had kindly shared with her some of what it meant to live life as they did. Customs and knowledge common to them, that were foreign to her. Gestures, thoughts, manners, even clothing items she hadn't known to exist. Tauriel frowned.

Last evening she'd been prepared to tell her oldest and dearest friend that she would never love him, for her heart belonged to another.

Was she making a mistake?

A mental image of Kili left her catching her breath. Every line of his beloved face, every laugh, every frown, every smoldering look. They called to her. He called to her. Tauriel licked her dry lips and bit back a moan. Was what she wanted even possible?

She'd come here to this dwarrow stronghold to be near him. To be with him. But last evening was only a small sample of how little she truly understood what it meant to be Dwarven.

He isn't a Dwarf. Not fully.

Tauriel frowned sharply to herself. Kuilaith. The name echoed within her pain-dulled mind. Always before she'd named him Kili, to others and to herself. That was how she'd met him. That was how she'd fallen in love with him. And that is how he saw himself. As a Dwarven warrior and prince.

But could a Dwarf love an Elf? As for the other way around, she didn't have to wonder. She already knew. Still. What if he grew to resent that she wasn't like the other dwarrowdams? No matter how much they shared, she could never be as they. Not really.

Physically they were different. The Dwarven males looked upon them and found them beautiful in ways that elf males simply would not. Would Kili ever regret his choice? Also, he would age as she would not. Tauriel had thought she'd come to terms with that, but would he grow to resent her? What would be the alternative, though? Life without him. Could she travel the world without him? Could she face Lothlorien or any other land, alone? Return to the Mirkwood?

Should she let him go, for his own good? The red-headed elf didn't squirm or fidget in her chair, not physically. But in the deep recesses of her mind, she had to wonder …What had she done? What had she thrown away?

o.o.o.o.o

King Thorin II of Erebor yawned so widely that his jaw creaked. He walked into the main dining area as if he owned it. Which he did. A cocky grin touched one corner of his mouth and it tweaked upwards as he passed under the archway that still bore scars from dragon claws.

"We are stone." The monarch whispered to the dead spirit of the dragon he still hated.

Thrown from their homes in desolation, the dwarves had been scattered and near broken. Despite goblins, orcs, dragons, and whatever else Mordor, Humans and Elves had thrown at them, they had survived. And returned.

Stone could bear scars. Stone could be broken. But it still endured. Break it down into sand and soil and compress it. Force it to buckle under unimaginable weights and with enough time it became, stone.

"What are you happy about?" Dwalin sounded grumpy as the large warrior joined his king.

"We are stone."

Dwalin grunted in agreement, but no real understanding.

"Smaug is decomposing flesh and we endure." Thorin pointed out with no little amusement, though grim as well. His eyes rolled upwards to look overhead.

The bald warrior's eyes sparked as he too looked up, catching sight of what Thorin had been looking at. An empty space in the archway the same size as a dragon's claw. "We are stone." He agreed with more surety in his voice this time.

Thorin looked around his crowded dining hall, pleased to see the bustle and energy of …he frowned.

Dwalin followed his sire's glance and nodded, this he understood. "Our people return. Stormrune's group was only the first. If winter weren't coming down upon us shortly then they'd already be here. Spring will find Erebor exploding with life. Dain's people will return to the Iron Hills and we will rebuild. Grow.

"As long as we make it safely inhabitable so that it doesn't really explode. Or collapse under the weight of Earth Mover tunnels." Thorin joked with a serious look on his face.

"Hunted down three so far." Dwalin pointed out proudly. "In one day, now that we know what we search for." He paused, looking at the East entrance to the dining area. "High guests we have these days."

Thorin's sapphire blue gaze slid to that direction. Legolas. He grunted as the blond prince of the Elven King moved toward the wizard, Saruman. "We have several guests. Indeed, our most learned guest in white has been making free with our library." He commented coolly.

Dwalin shrugged. "He's a wizard, they like books. He doesn't get in the way."

Thorin frowned slightly. No matter what his feelings about Gandalf, there had always been a warmth to him. Not like this Saruman character. He simply didn't think he'd ever feel comfortable around him.

Dwalin suddenly stiffened once again. Thorin looked toward him and then followed his arrested gaze. Framed in the opposite archway was a certain red-headed she-elf.

Both dwarves immediately glanced over at Legolas. Yes. The prince had noticed her arrival and was smiling in welcome from a place about half-way toward the White Wizard.

Of one mind, both dwarves then slid their eyes back toward Tauriel. She walked up to Legolas neither quickly nor slowly, though also without hesitation. Just about every eye tracked her movement, some while pretending not to watch, while others stared openly.

The entire room seemed to fall just a bit quieter. The prince's announcement of his intentions hadn't exactly been private the night before and it was obvious the news had gotten around.

Dwarves might be stone, but they did love gossip. Thorin sneered.

Tauriel stopped in front of her former prince and he gifted her with a smile and a bow of his head. Which she returned. Then she smiled and said something no one seemed to catch and gently touched the stunned elf on the shoulder in a distinctly dwarven manner, complete with a hand sign made at waist level.

Thorin choked on a laugh as he caught sight of Legolas' suddenly blank expression. The blond prince clearly did not know how to understand the gestures given, for she'd combined the touch with the silent hand sign.

The dwarves did.

Several dwarrow around them weren't able to hold back their laughter, making the moment even more stark for the blond prince.

Dwalin coughed and shook his head. "Think she knows that she just marked him as friend and sword-brother? Someone to greatly respect, but not a romantic interest?"

"He doesn't know yet. But she knows." Thorin shook his head grinning, watching the red-head lead the prince away so they could speak. "She definitely knows. Don't ask me how though."

"Trouble." Dwalin stilled as Kili and Fili walked into the area with several other dwarves. He sighed as the dark-haired prince lost his smile seeing his love with the Mirkwood prince. "Don't ruin it laddie." The bald warrior whispered. "She's doing fine."

"I don't think it's Kili we have to worry about." Thorin's blue eyes narrowed on the clenched jaw of his crown prince who was staring at the red headed she-elf. "Fili doesn't like that she's speaking with Legolas this morning."

Before anyone could react, however, Tauriel caught Kili's hand in her own and leaned in close. Placing her cheek two inches from his. A smile, then she straightened and continued on her way with Legolas following along looking confused.

Thorin laughed rather abruptly at Kili's stunned expression, shaking his head as he spoke. "Nicely done. Though someone should tell her it should have been the other cheek so that her nashatal braid would touch his braid."

"Minor detail." Dwalin sucked in a deep breath and finally laughed as a bemused Fili nearly knocked his younger sibling over to get the love-struck dwarf moving again. "It's really going to happen. I'm going to be related to an elf." His deep rumble of a voice nearly squeaked on that last word.

"I'm already having nightmares." Thorin joked in a dry tone of voice. "And we'll only be related to her through marriage."

"Only." Echoed Dwalin as he rolled his eyes until he was peering at his king. "Until the babies come."

Thorin literally shuddered. "We'll have to make larger cradles just for them." He held out his hands to indicate length. "And we're both going to have to dance with her at the wedding. Where do we put our hands?" He asked rhetorically.

Dwalin's shoulders shook as he bit back a loud laugh and shook his head at his royal cousin. "Don't." He pleaded.

"She'll be able to look down and read your tattoos." Thorin pointed out ruthlessly. "And I dare you not to think about where your eye level will be on her as you dance."

But the bald warrior wasn't so easily broken, he nudged Thorin heavily with his shoulder. "As eldest male patriarch and monarch, you'll have to share the wedding cup with the eldest of her family. The Witch of the Wood."

Thorin shook his head. "No. THAT one belongs to HIS family." He then paused in shock as that thought continued down its natural path. "So it would be Thranduil sharing the cup with her? Or Celeborn? Or would it be Bifur? Would they fight for the honor?" The thought of not being the one to preside over his sister son's wedding was an alarming one. He started to scowl.

"Didn't you tell me that elves just have sex and that's it? They're married? Maybe a few words and then they just go off together. No cups, no ceremonies, no dancing?" Dwalin's voice sounded a bit hollow at the moment. "I'm liking the sound of that right now."

"I as well." Thorin seconded. "Damn Kili. Why did he have to choose to be so difficult?"

"He fell in love."

"Yes, well, he's an idiot." Thorin groused fondly and headed over to get something to eat.

o.o.o.o.o

Kili couldn't stop grinning as he took a seat at the table, looking hopelessly sappy as several nearby dwarrow made congratulatory comments or poked a bit of good-natured fun at him and the lass he was courting. The dark-eyed prince took it all in stride, beyond merely happy.

The near brush of her cheek against his had been a shock. But it would be a treasured memory for the rest of his life. He sighed happily as he looked up at his older brother. He tried to clear the smile from his expression and look serious.

"So, what did you have to tell me this morning?" Kili couldn't manage to keep the grin off of his face, despite the sour expression that his brother had been wearing when dragging him from a nice warm bed. "Survived yesterday with no real injuries. You did say that my father was still recovering well?" Finally he gave up and his face nearly split in two so great was his joy. "You saw, right? Where did she learn that do you think?"

Fili frowned, ignoring the last question entirely. "Elladan's fine." He said absently, his mind racing. Tauriel had just kicked his anger out from under him in a most decisive move. A brush of her hand, a hand signal and a smile. Damn. He chuckled, feeling off-center. "I need a drink."

The younger sibling passed over his mug of juice. "It hasn't fermented yet, but make do. It's too early for aught else. Besides, from what I hear it might be wine for all meals soon. Fresh juices are in short supply until the next harvest. We have some milking cows and goats, but far too few. Thorin decided the milk will go for baking and cheeses rather than drinking, at least this winter. Especially with no dwarflings in residence."

"Except you." Fili provoked dryly, them coughed as he dodged a quick jab from his sibling's sharp elbow. "Lung." He reminded the younger brother.

"Sorry." Kili flashed an apologetic look and sighed. "Heal faster or stop insulting me, your choice. Nevermind. After this morning I'll never be able to be angry again."

Fili focused his attention back on their previous comments. As the crown prince he was more than familiar with the lacks of Erebor's pantry and larders. "Actually, Uncle took my recommendation on the milk usage. We won't starve, but it might be a bit of a dull season without much variety. Wine and fish." He commented bleakly, making a face. "That's what we'll winter on this year."

Kili shrugged, he'd pretty much known that already. And it wasn't like the two brothers hadn't faced winters with less before. "So, what's going on that I need food in my belly before I can face it?"

The blond prince turned his blue eyes toward the archway where Tauriel and disappeared with Legolas. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Yes." Again the dark-eyed youth shrugged. "What do you want me to do? She chose me. Made it obvious too. She wears my clasp, I have her bead. Tauriel greets ME with love, not him." His grin widened as he tore off a chunk of bread and slathered it with soft herbal cheese. "And that blond twig? He let her go. He's a dumb idiot."

"The dumb idiot came back to court her. To make claim upon her. And she's talking to him."

The hand raising the bread to his mouth stopped as Kili's dark eyes narrowed on his brother. He put his food down, staring as all his smiles and humor suddenly vanished. "What?"

o.o.o.o.o

Legolas looked around the small room as if trying to divine its use, but it was merely an empty chamber with a few stacked chairs. Nothing else.

Seeing the glance, Tauriel nodded. "Storage area for extra seats. For formal presentations and events before the king."

The blond prince sneered at the pitiful number of chairs. "A paltry offering."

"No doubt most of the chairs were broken, flamed, or otherwise in disrepair after so long in forced exile." Tauriel's voice cut smoothly through his words, leaving him feeling a bit regretful of his lack of charity, though also a touch resentful for her defense of the dwarves.

"You greet me and then tell me that you're about to make a gesture. No other warning. Suddenly I'm being laughed at?" It was clear that he was seeking an explanation. Among the elves, the touch she'd given him would be seen as a bit familiar. And the laughter at his expense from a race he rather looked down upon was unsettling at best.

Tauriel bowed her head and dropped her gaze for a moment. "A signal to the dwarves around us that I wasn't taking you away for anything inappropriate. A show of friendship. It was not intended to make anyone laugh. Indeed, they may have been amused by me and if I managed to do it right or wrongly."

Only slightly mollified, Legolas' nostrils flared just a bit. "Truth?"

"There has ever only been truth between us." She countered. "We have been friends for centuries."

"And if you believe we were only friends, then there has not been truth enough between us." He countered in a rush, taking her by surprise.

Backing up a step, she stared at him with her wide green eyes. "There has never been more than friendship."

"Is not hope more? Is not the hope of more, actually more?"

"Riddles." She hissed, her eyes narrowing upon him. "Your father would never have allowed such. Nor did you ever give signal that you would either."

"I don't follow my father as I once did." Legolas told her with grim satisfaction. "If nothing else, I learned from our recent adventures that I am my own person and I can make my own decisions."

A brief pause as she heard the ring of conviction in his voice. Slowly she closed her eyes and shook her head. "As I learned that I can make my own as well." Her doubts of last night aside, now that she was alone with Legolas, she knew one thing for certain. She would not be returning to the Mirkwood.

It would ever be home to her. A fond call to her memories, a place of safety, blessings, and thankfulness. But also a cage to her soul and her heart, one that she had long ago outgrown even if she hadn't known it at the time.

Legolas' blue eyes widened in distress as if sensing her resolutions. He flinched as if to move toward her. She flinched, as if to move away. Both stilled without taking a single step. Wary. Watchful.

"I …we …do not have to return to the Mirkwood." It was a soft tone of voice, for all that the prince's words were explosively meant. "I know you long to see other places."

Green eyes melted with sorrow as well as pride. "I won't be returning." She said as simply as she could. "For now, this will be where I shall stay. From here, possibly Lothlorien. It is an unknown."

He waited, but she had nothing further to add at the moment. "You don't ask me to stay here. With you." It was an offer, one that she only had to extend to him to be accepted.

Bright green eyes studied him for a long expectant moment. Seeing her friend as centuries of memories flowed like a river through her mind. Smiles given and received. Small humors and shared secrets, a bird's nest protected in an area where the king had wanted only quiet. Her assistance with planning a surprise for a mutual friend. Hundreds if not thousands of these little, shared memories. Centuries of friendship. It literally made her heart ache.

All of those moments had gone into making the Mirkwood her home. Making the cage around her palatable and even wanted. But to share with Legolas what she shared with Kili, it was not anything her heart of hearts could contemplate.

Slowly, Tauriel shook her head. Her nashatal braid sliding provocatively along her collarbone as she spoke softly. "I would not hurt you so. You would not be happy here."

Legolas stiffened, feeling the rejection beneath her spoken words. "You really mean to choose him." His voice sounded hollow, empty. Pride and pain were all she could see reflected in his gaze.

"I already have." She admitted, sorrow in her voice. Sorrow for him. Pity. It stiffened his back and gave rage to his temper as his gaze grew ever colder.

"You love me!" The blond prince barked, knowing he was wrong to push at her even as the words left him.

Her nod soothed him only slightly. "I do love you …" She smiled sadly. "My friend."

Her last word was not meant to harm, but the wound to his soul was immediate. Blue eyes closed in utter dejection as he turned his head to the side. "You won't be happy here. He can't make you happy. You will never fit in with these Dwarves." Her words might not have been meant to cut, but his were.

Tauriel did not respond. How could she? Doubts on that very subject had haunted her all night.

Legolas turned and stared at the door, finally he looked back at her. "Come with me."

She didn't ask where, in the end, it didn't matter. Her green eyes just stared at him as she met his gaze head on.

Legolas suddenly shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "He is a prince, as am I. He has a wealthy family, as do I. It is the other things that I can offer that matter. I will not age and pass away from a mortal death. Our children will not be a separate race. We work well together, always have. And I can offer you my heart, for I love you."

Tauriel's eyes misted and she closed them for a moment. How long had she longed to hear those words without ever realizing it?

The truth hit her hard. Never. Whatever 'love' she'd thought might be in her future, she'd not known the true pain and true joy that was real love if she'd not come across a certain dwarven prince.

Breathing deeply she let reality wash away her doubts, her hurts, her fears. "Legolas. My friend. I love you. When I was young I looked up to you. You eased my hurts and offered comfort and friendship. You were there for me, always. I trust you at my back and I would give my life to protect you from harm."

The Mirkwood prince shook his head in denial as he listened, dreading her speech as it continued. "Don't."

"But not once in all those centuries did I dream of being your love. Not truly."

"My father …" Legolas began his protest.

"Your father was right. In this, he was right." Tauriel could not be gentle enough, no one could. Her words were making his heart bleed. "Even if your father would have allowed, we were not in love. I love you, yes and forever. Perhaps we mistook that for more, but deep inside knew better for we never acted upon it. Our souls knew it wasn't real and true. We were never IN love."

"I was." Legolas' eyes pleaded with her to understand, to just see his sincerity. "I still am. I may not have realized before, but without you beside me …it doesn't work. Nothing works anymore."

Tauriel sighed unhappily. "You will find your footing. If you are serious about leaving the Mirkwood and finding your own way, I applaud you. But I cannot be beside you. I am in love with someone else." She shook her head slowly.

"I love you. That will never change." His voice was stark, almost hoarse in a way that elvish voices just weren't meant to sound.

More sorry than she could say, Tauriel shook her head. "You are not in love with me, not in the way you think. One day, you will see that."

"You cannot presume to know my heart." He drew back, affronted and hurt by her rejection.

The she-elf sighed and made a soft sound of distress at the back of her throat. "My friend. Please. Just listen. If you love me as much as you think you do, then you would have spoken to your father long ago."

Legolas' lips thinned as he spoke. "You think I only seek not to lose you, but that my love is thin and sheer? I did not speak to my father because there was plenty of time …"

Tauriel held up one hand to stop him from speaking, something she would never have dared to do before leaving his father's guard. His voice ceased from surprise more than merely because she asked. "Legolas. I name thee friend forever, even if you walk away and never let your sight fall upon me again. I love you more than I can express. But until I fell in love with Kili …" That name made him visibly flinch but she continued without pause. "I did not know the full power of being in love."

Legolas opened his mouth, but Tauriel didn't let him speak, not yet.

"I may not fit in here. I may never be truly happy among dwarves and living beneath a mountain. I have no love for rocks or stones as I do for the stars and the sky. I may be lonely here, or find myself surrounded by those who care little for me." She paused and gave her words solemnity and weight as she pinned him with her jewel-bright eyes. "But I left all that I knew, all that I loved, all that was familiar and comfortable. I left your father, and you, and all my friends. Not out of unhappiness there …but because the love I feel for Kili is so strong, so true and so …right …that not doing so would have killed me."

Silence fell heavily between the two old friends as their eyes met and held. Long moments passed and it was a blue eyed gaze that dropped first.

"Ask me how do I know your love for me isn't real? You were fine with the way things were. If you truly loved me, that wouldn't have been so."

Legolas' eyes blazed and looked left, then right, as if the elf warrior was feeling trapped. "He's still ugly."

"No, it is your words that are ugly." Her voice sharpened with warning. With sorrow in her breaking heart, she saw him turn and open the door. He paused while leaving, but did not glance back at her. Nor did he speak again.

o.o.o.o.o

Thorin paused mid-chew, the just burnt enough griddlecake sweet in his mouth combined with late season blackberries newly arrived from Dale. The humans had discovered large, over-grown brambles long abandoned and hidden from casual view while clearing the area around the once great town. He'd been as delighted to hear of the find as Bard had been to share the news. The ruler of Men had sent them with his envoy on his latest trade caravan along with more barrels of preserved fish.

His mind wasn't focused on those fish at the moment though. Instead his sapphire blue eyes took in the glowering visage that was his younger sister-son. Both of his nephews were talking with growing agitation and hand gestures. Kili's dark expression did not bode well for a leisurely morning or a well digested meal.

Beside him, Dwalin sighed. "I think Balin will be complaining soon." He glanced at his king's expectant look and gave a rueful half-smile. "You're going to be late for your first meetings today."

Thorin turned back to watch Kili stand up and their eyes met from across the dining area. The king shrugged and shook his head. Letting the young prince storm out of the room without stopping him. "No. Keep my schedule. If he wants to make an ass of himself, that is on him."

Dwalin too watched as Fili bared his teeth and stalked out of the room after his brother. "Want me to go after them?"

Thorin sighed and shook his head. "No. Wait. Bring me Fili." He looked down at his still hot meal and grinned darkly. "Actually, make Fili wait for me in my study. I want to finish eating, then I do have that meeting with the mining engineers. Make him wait for me." He said coldly.

"Does he get to finish eating?" Dwalin's own smile was grim.

"No." The king took another blackberry and popped it into his mouth. "Just make sure he goes nowhere until I speak with him. Damn, these are good."

o.o.o.o.o

Kili turned the corner and spied his target, clenching his jaw he stared as Legolas worked on packing supplies. He was leaving.

The blond prince was hardly unaware of the newly arrived audience. But he refused to look in the dwarf's direction. How he knew it was Kili watching him was unclear, but his words were not. "You appear to be the winner."

The mixed-blood youth's scowl deepened with disgust. "It is not a game nor a contest." He protested, his tone highly cutting.

"Yet I find that I am the one who has lost." Blue eyes looked up suddenly, something cold and pained looking out from behind them. Anger lurked there, but beneath that was a bone deep hurt.

Words and temper died as Kili stilled and took a deep breath. He'd not expected to feel sorry for the elven prince. "Tauriel is loyal and true, I am sure that what she felt for you is still there. She will ever be your friend."

The dwarf's voice did not hold pity, but Legolas' nostrils flared as if he could smell it anyway. He drew up to his full height, looking every inch the haughty royal scion of Mirkwood. His hand settled on the hilt of his sword that he'd been about to strap to the travel packs for his mount.

Kili suddenly felt all his temper, all his tension, simply vanish. He found that he really did feel sorry for the blond elven warrior. "Where do you go?"

"Does it matter?" The answer was short, and so was the tone of voice.

"It will to her." Kili said simply.

Legolas sneered unhappily and shrugged without a word.

"Go North." The third voice startled both Kili and Legolas, though it made the dwarrow smile and the blond elf blush to be caught out unaware.

"My Lady." The Mirkwood prince placed his hand over his heart and bowed as Arwen moved gracefully toward them. Though when he rose back up, his eyes couldn't quite meet hers.

"Aa' lasser en lle coia orn n' omenta gurtha." The she-elf's voice slid smoothly over them as she smiled encouragingly at Legolas.

The blond warrior twisted his mouth sourly and shook his head. "It is mean to speak in a language not all can understand." He cocked his head toward Kili.

The dark haired prince's eyes glittered with mirth. "May the vines of your life tree never wither." He smirked as he translated. "I've been paying attention."

"Not close enough." Legolas countered. "It's leaves, not vines. And I wouldn't say 'wither', more like …may the leaves of your life tree never turn brown."

"Turning brown is withering." Kili shot back.

"Not necessarily." Legolas disagreed sharply.

"Cease. Please. Let us have peace." Arwen tried to placate them.

Kili grinned. "Leaves turn brown in autumn, it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them. It's the cycle. So. The phrase means don't let your life tree wither, as in sicken or take injury. Wither. Because saying don't let your life tree follow the natural path of trees actually goes against elven philosophy." He paused, then smirked. "It's your language, you should have known that."

Legolas stared and then shook his head. "The words still mean 'turn brown' as in meeting death, not withering which is drawing the life from. Entirely different, the subtlety might elude you. That's how it translates. New elfling that you are, you can't go about changing our language."

"Baru is the word for brown, and the meaning doesn't have to be literal." Kili started to argue the point further when Arwen decided to leave delicacy to the side. She put her fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle that caused both males to swing their gazes, and attention, in her direction. The beautiful brunette she-elf then smiled becomingly. "You. Go find Tauriel, she is upset."

Kili stiffened and stared at his aunt, appalled. "Why should he go find Tauriel? He's the one who upset her in the first place."

"So he should be the one to ease her mind." Arwen pointed out smoothly.

Legolas shook his head. "We have no more to say to one another." He said with finality.

"I sorrow for you both then." Arwen bowed graciously, then with her head still down she continued. "Seek the North. You will perhaps find solace in training with the Rangers my old friend."

"With your brothers?" Legolas asked stiffly, looking pointedly at the son of the elder of the twins.

The beautiful she-elf shook her head slowly. "They will remain here for a while yet it seems, both of them."

Kili tilted his head at her words, listening. Hadn't his Uncle Elrohir talked about returning North? When had that changed?

Legolas stared at her for a lengthy moment, then sighed, letting some of his awful tension go. "I may travel in that direction, my path is an unknown one."

Arwen rose and smiled at the blond prince gently. "I would see you again, and see the stars shine upon our meeting. I would see you smile freely once more."

The blond frowned, then nodded formally to his friend. "Perhaps it will be so. Though it seems an impossible thing to me at the moment."

"Elves and Dwarves are friends. How much more impossible do you want to get?" Teased Arwen as she moved toward Kuilaith, putting her hand gracefully upon his shoulder.

Legolas' lips tightened and he fairly leapt into the saddle. "I will never be friends with a Dwarf." His words rang with true conviction as he took up the reins that he hardly needed, so well trained was his horse. "Be at peace." He said almost bitterly as he urged his mount forward, leaving Erebor, and a certain red-head, behind.

Kili sighed as he and his elvish aunt watched the blond prince leave the courtyard. "Is Tauriel really upset?"

Arwen's hand tightened on his shoulder very slightly as she nodded. "I think so, though she does not share with me. But if she hones her blades any further they will be sharp, but thin as a hair comb tooth so worn will be the metal."

Kili sighed at the mental image. "Do you have doubts about Tauriel, with me?"

The question as bald and out in the open. Arwen paused for a long moment, then nodded. "I have doubts about how things will work out. But I have no doubt that you love her, or that she loves you. However, that is only the start of relationship."

Grimacing, Kuilaith gave a rough chuckle as he shook his head. "Ask one question, get several answers all which don't really answer the question in the first place. Yes. You're definitely an elf."

o.o.o.o.o

"I've been waiting in here for over two hours!"

"And I greet you too, my least favorite relative. And yes, that includes every relative, even the ones I hate." Thorin said blandly as he walked into his private study and tossed several rolled parchments onto the desk rather haphazardly.

Pricked, Fili's head reared back as his eyes widened at the verbal jab. "Uncle …"

"No!" Thorin's voice cut harshly through whatever the crown prince had been about to say. He pointed one authoritative finger right at Fili in a forceful forward movement designed to make the younger dwarrow shut up. It worked.

Thorin pulled up a chair and sat. On the wrong side of the desk.

Fili looked confused.

The king waved a hand at his usual chair behind the desk. "You seem to think you're ready to take over now. Go ahead."

Fili blushed, though he wasn't sure what had set off his uncle's rather perverse mood. "Thorin, please."

"Who are you?"

The blond dropped his gaze and sighed. "Your heir."

"So. I'm the king?" It was a direct question.

Fili felt like a fool as he raised his head and met his uncle's gaze. "Of course you're the king. Have I not worked hard to make sure of it? Put my life and my blood on the line every day of my life?"

"And if I say something, it gets done?" Thorin ignored the pointed comments.

The short blond beard that Fili sported did nothing to hide his unhappy expression, though he nodded sharply.

"We are Dwarves. We have traditions. Some have changed over the years, but not so many as you might think. We are stone, and not easily moved."

Fili nodded again, still silent but for the clenching of his jaw.

"You are angry with me for urging Tauriel to speak with that blond twig of a tadpole."

Now the crown prince's lips twitched, though his amusement lasted only a second or two.

Thorin sighed and shook his head. "Courting is in the hands of the dams. Though Tauriel isn't one of our race, she is female. She has taken on the braid of nashatal. She will be treated as a dam might be treated. That includes this … ANY male can present himself as a potential mate. It is up to her to decide. Not you. Not me. Not even I as the king."

"He has no right." Fili protested, his voice rough and angry.

Thorin looked sadly upon the heir to his throne. "Maybe. But think it through and explain why I am right and you are not."

Fili's teeth ground together so sharply they made a sound. Only, Thorin seemed prepared to wait him out. Finally he shook his head. "I told Kili poorly."

Thorin frowned sharply and waited further.

The crown prince sighed and tried to organize his chaotic thoughts. "Prince Legolas …" His voice held a sneer. "…asked to be considered for courting Tauriel. Only she can say yea or nay."

The king nodded slowly. "And?"

Fili looked up, anger still dancing behind his blue eyes. "Males cannot influence her decision?"

Thorin snorted. "Males have been trying to influence courting decisions from the first awakening. We're just not supposed to. Tell me, aren't you trying to influence Erelinde?"

Staring at his uncle, Fili grimaced even as he acknowledged the comment with a short nod.

"Why am I angry with you?" Thorin continued.

The crown prince straightened his shoulders, running through every possible response. Finally, he frowned. "Because I doubted your decision."

"No. Have doubts. Have questions." Thorin rose, looking stern as he glowered at his sister-son. "But NEVER show them, not in front of the elves. Or Dwarves. Or anyone." He finished pointedly.

Fili closed his eyes in deep embarrassment. He'd known better. But being called out like this made him feel like a shallow youth of twenty again. "I acted poorly."

Thorin sighed and rubbed his beard tiredly. "You're angry. It's causing you ill effects. Making you unwise."

The crown prince shook his head. "I was angry with Legolas, not you."

The king stood and shook his head, moving to stand in front of his heir. Blue eyes met blue eyes. "Fili. You've been angry with me since Lake Town. You've been angry with the elves since they arrived. You're angry with yourself for not being able to hate the elves as you think you ought. You've been angry with …everyone. You've been injured and have barely taken time to heal. You have circles growing under your eyes. You glare at any dwarrow foolish enough to even look in the same direction that Erelinde is standing. And you're angry." He thumped his sister-son on the chest, directly over his heart. "Anger. Rage. Fury. It roars inside you with the heat of the internal forge. It can temper your soul, or melt your heart away."

Fili bared his teeth at his uncle and then stilled, shocked that he'd done so. He blinked rapidly, suddenly unsure. And still angry.

Thorin watched the younger dwarf with suddenly sad eyes. "There were ways of informing your brother of last night's events without setting him off so fiercely."

The blonde gave a rough nod of his head, but said nothing.

"If I am the source of your anger, face me. Do not turn it inward and against yourself." Thorin continued, putting his hand on Fili's shoulder.

The crown prince nodded, submitting to the touch awkwardly before backing away and letting the king's hand fall away from him.

"Fili."

"I'm fine." The prince offered a tight smile. "I apologize. It won't happen again." He bowed stiffly and waited for release.

Unsatisfied, Thorin waved for him to go. Watching with a worried expression in his concerned gaze. "There's an explosion coming." He muttered to the empty room.

o.o.o.o.o

Tauriel was aware the moment Kili came even fifty feet of her room, hearing the pattern of his walk and the sound of his boots. She let the whetting stone go as she wiped at the lethally sharp blade.

"I would have you greet me again, if you sheath the blade."

The she-elf felt her heart turn over within her chest as she heard the soft tone of the voice of her beloved. Any thought at all of sending him away, even for his own good, vanished.

Blinking up at him, she frowned. "I cannot release you."

If her serious tone and expression gave him pause, it did not show. "I did not ask to be released. Nor would I." Kili told her gently, sensing that her emotions were rather raw at the moment. "He left."

Green eyes closed with sorrow for a moment, then she gave a short nod of her head. "He was my friend for a very long time."

"He could still heal." Kili tried to comfort her. "A friendship like that would be hard to let go."

Tauriel shook her head, and when she opened her eyes she put the subject of Legolas away. Focusing instead on the dark-haired dwarrow before her. "I am not strong enough to send you away."

Kili frowned at her, moving closer as he sat down next to her on the rough work bench. "Why would you want to? Do you doubt my feelings?"

"Never." Her smile was so sad it made him groan lightly and place his hand on her cheek. She turned into his touch gratefully.

"When you walked up to me, greeting me as you did this morn, with your cheek so near to mine. I don't know if I have ever been happier in my life. I cannot give words to how my heart sang in that moment."

"Do you awaken?"

Kili's mind blanked. He drew back with wide eyes, large melting pools of chocolate. His mouth gaped open and shut without sound for a moment then he started coughing roughly.

She reached for him and he jerked back, holding a hand up protectively in front of him as he caught his breath.

Finally able to breathe, the couple stared at each other, both unsure for different reasons. Kili broke the moment first, forcing a small chuckle as he shook his head, the bead she'd given him lightly tapping the side of his face. "Not really expecting that question. Sorry."

Tauriel frowned. "Did I ask incorrectly?"

Kili reached for her hand, capturing it with his own. "No. Yes. Maybe? It's a final step in courting. The dwarrow can tell a dam 'I need to press you for an answer' which is code that he is …er, waking up and she has to make a decision soon. Take him for husband or let him return to stone."

The red-head stared at him, as if waiting.

Kili flushed beet red, not answering her actual question, not yet. "A dam can ask if a dwarrow 'seeks an answer'."

"Do you …."

"Please." Dark eyes pleaded with her, shaking his head. He did not want to talk openly about the itching he'd been dealing with, nor his chats with Oin about how his mixed blood might be affecting this area of his life. It was embarrassing enough already.

Tauriel drew back as if hurt, making his breath catch. "Perhaps it is I who is lacking the ability to call you from stone."

These words made Kili blink rapidly as his mind was thrown off track once more. "What? That makes no sense."

"I do not look like the other dwarrowdams." She said starkly. "It was explained to me that when dwarrow fall in love, true love, they begin to come awake and if you are not … It could be that you don't find me physically attractive."

Kili's gaze narrowed on her for a long moment, shaking his head in denial.

"I'm too thin, I have freckles, there is no beard upon my face and my shape is lacking the need of support. I am too tall and …"

Kili stood and bowed hurriedly to her, leaving without a word. Tauriel gaped after him in shock. Though it was a matter of several minutes before she heard him returning.

"Give me your hand." He demanded without heat. Indeed, he reached for and took her hand without any movement on her part. He opened her palm and dropped several stones there.

The she-elf looked down and stared. Diamond. Ruby. Emerald. Topaz. And something covered in common, rough stone that might hold something crystalline. She brought her other hand forward and cupped the treasures she held. Looking up at Kili, the red-head waited for some kind of explanation.

"Choose one."

Tauriel looked down at the stones and felt utterly lost. She shook her head and glanced back up. "Why?"

"Just pick one."

The red-headed elf lass held up the ruby.

"Why that one?"

Tauriel sighed and shook her head. "I don't know."

Kili grinned darkly. "Is it the most beautiful? The biggest? The most valuable?"

"I said I do not know." Came the rather short response as green eyes narrowed on the young prince.

"Each person sees something different in the stones. But generally, everyone has a favorite. That ruby is flawed, by the way."

Tauriel held the ruby up between her fingers, trying to look at it in the light. "I do not see any flaws."

"Not a mistake of cutting, but simply the way the stone was when it grew in the earth." He stared at her for a long moment. "Do you want to trade it in for one of the other stones?"

The she-elf's mouth twisted and she caught the ruby in her free hand with a shake of her head. "No. It isn't a flaw, it's how the stone was meant to be."

"I love you. What you see as flaws in yourself, I count myself lucky to see in you. I would count your freckles every day of my life, which has been greatly extended, thank you." He sighed and gave her a lingering look. "Everything you think of as a lack, I think of as something beloved and perfect."

"What if I'd chosen a different stone?" Tauriel asked, putting the precious gems on the bench between them.

"I have wonderful arguments for each and every one of them." Kili said, flashing a brilliant grin. He sobered as he looked deeply into her green eyed gaze. "Tastes differ. I don't want anyone else. I will never want anyone else."

Her breath caught roughly as she read the deepness of his emotions within his eyes.

"Oin thinks it's because I'm too young." He shrugged as he kept staring at her. "As an elf. Maturity in that area for an elf is not for another twenty plus years for me."

Tauriel stared at him, as if barely daring to hope.

There was no hope for it, his eyes dropped as he made a huge confession. "I itch. Down, well, yeah. It's a sign of waking up for a dwarrow, but it's lasting too long in my case. Oin and Nuluin think it's my body trying to wake up too soon really."

The she-elf suddenly felt herself smile as she mentally recalled several times that her dark-haired love had adjusted himself in what he thought was privacy. "Itching?" Her smile grew.

"It's not funny." Groused the young prince. "Sometimes it even hurts."

Her smile never dimmed.

"Twenty years. Maybe less." Kili looked up at her with misery.

"Twenty years is nothing to an elf." Tauriel assured him. "And it will give rest to any rumors that we rushed into anything recklessly."

"It could be less." Kili groused, chafing at the restrictions his body was putting upon him. He peered at her, then chuckled. "No chaperone down here."

Tauriel's eyebrow rose as she smiled at him. "Am I supposed to be thinking Dwarven again?"

Kili groaned darkly and sighed. "Elves see kissing as a promise. So. If I promise you that I will always love you, then perhaps I can kiss you and it won't seem as …."

Whatever he'd been about to say fled from his mind forever, lost as she leaned over and took his lips with her own.

Wonder bloomed within him as he smiled against the softness of her lips. Two sets of eyes closed as they tasted one another leisurely, letting their lips make acquaintance.

When Kili stood and moved toward her, it did not separate the kiss. With she sitting on the work bench, and he in front of her, the touch strengthened. Deepened.

Work roughened hands cupped the sides of her face. Deliberately he caught the nashatal braid between two fingers, sightlessly wrapping it into his grasp as he cradled her face. His mouth opened in invitation.

A slight hesitation, then her tongue moved forward and touched his. Who moaned first could not be said. Her arms wrapped around his waist, holding him closer, one hand moving up to the back of his neck in a possessive caress.

He moaned again, drawing back to catch a breath and them moving back in before she could protest.

Her hand trailed down his back and then up again, pulling him even closer. Another long moan and a wince.

Tauriel drew back slightly, he followed and recaptured her lips, unwilling to let the moment end. She lost herself in the heat of the kiss, never having imagined such as this could ever exist outside of the great love poems.

He moaned and shifted his weight, catching her distracted attention. She tried to pull back again, blinking at him in confusion. "Kili?"

"No worries." He muttered, laying small kisses along the side of her jaw and luxuriating in the scent of her soft skin.

"You're hurting." She protested.

He shifted his weight again, his hips twitching slightly. "It's nothing."

Tauriel managed to pull back enough to look into his face. "I think not."

"It's only itching, ignore it. I do." The eager prince leaned forward again, even as she leaned back and shook her head.

"If I touched you there?"

Kili's eyes widened for a moment, then his body reacted and he nearly doubled over as the itching intensified exponentially at just the thought. "Damn."

"We need to get you to Oin."

"No." Kili protested, gritting his teeth. "It'll ease."

Tauriel reached out and trailed one hand down the side of his face to his chest and then to his hip. She stopped there, having demonstrated her point as Kili's eyes closed with the pain of the moment. "Damn." He repeated. "You're going to have to get Oin."

"The healing halls aren't that far."

"Don't think I can walk." Kili turned and sank down onto the rough work bench with a wince, stretching out one leg in front of him. He looked down at his lap. It hurt, and itched, and hurt some more. But nothing was moving or poking out. "Shit."

"Twenty years of this?" Tauriel asked, making Kili's face go pale with horror.

o.o.o.o.o

I apologize for being behind in answering reviews. I like to do that first, but this chapter would not let go of me until it was written and I don't want to delay posting it just to reply to everyone. I will catch up, promise!