Kili and Tauriel

Kili watched the staff and servants hustle and bustle about the place from his quiet little corner of the kitchen. The bench was unoccupied and half an hour beforehand, he'd plonked himself down, grabbed an ale, and proceeded to look handsomely dour. At least, he hoped he did.

'Ah, who cares.'

He didn't want to look handsome to others. He just wanted to pout to himself for a bit.

He and Tauriel had unfortunately argued again and this time, it was his fault. It was always tricky talking about their long engagement and despite wanting to push the date forward, something had always come up to postpone it.

First, their agreement had been it would last three years, to ensure that their feelings were 'genuine' to not only all of Erebor, but her King himself (apparently 'Thranny' wanted to ensure Kili wasn't just after a quick romantic fling). Then, Mirkwood needed her and Kili was needed at his home.

Then distractions, over incidents and births and it just…all slipped away. Forgotten. Well, not forgotten, but pushed back to the bottom of the pile. She had finally decided she would live in Erebor with him after they were married, but now, it appeared Legolas was 'sulking' about losing his best friend.

'There's always next year.'

How many times had they said that?

"There you are," a familiar, cheery face looked around at his little alcove and smirked, "pinching all the best food for later?"

Despite still feeling sorry for himself, Kili offered his little sister a smile.

"Just checking on the quality," he investigated his near-empty cup and shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose it will do for the elves. They get sozzled just like the rest of us and this will do it."

Dru came waddling around the corner and sat down next to him, holding a small cup of her own.

He arched his brow and she offered it up for inspection.

"Spiced apple. Nothing more, don't worry," she laid her hand on her large bump and patted it in front of him, "we want this one to be as bright as Thora. You look glum, big brother. Someone say you weren't that handsome?"

He sighed and looked away from her.

"Not now, Dru."

"Oh. This is serious. Come on, what's wrong. Let me guess," she took a breath, pondering for a moment, and got it right straight away, "it's to do with a 'pale, beautiful enchantress who holds your heart', right?"

He nodded and felt a pain in his chest at the thought he'd truly, mucked it up.

"We had a fight. My fault but…I don't know. Are we doing the right thing? Waiting so long? I don't want to rush it, but I just…I want it to be perfect. She deserves it."

Dru placed her hand over his and made him look at her.

"Well, she may deserve it…but does she want it? I felt Fili deserved the grand, traditional wedding everyone had planned, but…he wanted it to be just as simple as I did. No fuss, no big dresses, no people gathering from every corner of the land that we did not know. We talked about it once actually, after we left for the Blue Mountains."

"Talked about it?"

"We played pretend. The Hobbits had that party one night, and we were just…dancing and having fun. And we almost fell asleep on top of Bilbo's house, just looking at the stars. And we started talking as though we had never left Ered Luin…as though we had stayed there, and he'd asked me to marry him. We talked about having a simple ceremony and….I won't say I regret the way we got married. It was beautiful and what we wanted," she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "but there will always be a part of me that wonders, maybe we should have just eloped. Run off to dale or some other town and got married. But it depends on the person. It depends on the way you want it. I'm sure Rana and Thorin would have wanted something private, but they seemed to thrive during their ceremony. What do you want for you and Tauriel?"

Kili looked at her curious, encouraging smile and realised…he wasn't sure himself. He had pictured marrying Tauriel in so many different scenarios and they all seemed right. And yet…wrong, also.

"You know…I've thought about so many things so many different times, I-I can't tell. I can't tell-"

"Ok, don't hurt yourself. Shut your eyes."

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm a little old to pretend-"

"Shut up and do it or I'll pull your nose."

He sighed but saw she was serious and did as he was told.
"You're standing on an altar. You're looking at the big ugly bloke holding a book."

He imagined it, snorting, and shaking his head.

"You turn and Tauriel is there. What does she look like?"

She'd always looked the same for him. He smiled as he described her.

"Beautiful. She's wearing that white dress she always talked about. One that looks like it's made from moonlight. And her hair is down, and she wears my braid…and my bead. And she smiles-"

"Ok, lover boy. You've got her in your head, right?" She waited for him to nod and asked him the next question, "Now. Who else is there?"

He paused for a moment.

"No one. It's just us."

"Then there's your answer, big brother."

He opened his eyes and realised she had a point.

All that mattered was he and Tauriel. The wedding stuff…it wasn't important. As long as they were together.

"Thanks, sister," he pulled her closer and they hugged in the little alcove, a tiny world just for them at that moment.

"You're welcome. Now, sadly," she pulled back, looking disgruntled and tapping her bump impatiently, "I must go to the bathroom. Again. Fifty times today, I swear if I don't pop soon, I'll scream."

He laughed as he watched her go, but she turned around just before she was out of sight.

"And don't forget what we talked about. It's what's important to YOU and Tauriel."

He nodded and as she left, decided not to spend the evening sulking. He'd go find Tauriel, make it up to her and enjoy this ball. Though he had a feeling, she'd just make him talk and try to 'befriend' Legolas.

But he'd do anything for her. Even kiss up to Leggy.

XxXx

Author's note: Wondering why this is familiar? It's actually supposed to happen earlier in the evening to the chapter 'Kili'.