The dragon had laid waste to Laketown. Kili had seen it with his very own eyes: people jumping into the water with their limbs on fire, wide-eyed children cowering from beneath burning buildings, blazes of fire unfurling all along the water. Tauriel had been quick to corral them away from the disaster: him, his brother, Bard's children, Oin, and Bofur. But whilst traveling along the river, a flaming beam had crashed near enough to their boat to set his face stinging. He could still feel it as he stepped off of the boat and onto the safety of the shore. It irked him to think that after all was said and done, he had come out of the desolation with a swollen cheek and no victories to claim.

Bard had been the victorious one. Kili had seen him standing tall behind the infamous Dwarvish Wind-Lance, firing arrow after arrow at the dragon snaking through the air. Kili's heart had beat madly as he watched his fellow archer. It seemed as if he could feel every fiber of Bard's being as the Lake-town man wound his arm back, settled into his posture, and let his weapons fly. Kili had closed his eyes and heard the whizz-thunk of every arrow that Bard had sent flying. In his mind, he felt the sharp recoil of the string bouncing back against the bow's limbs before falling still. And then, at some point, he wasn't even thinking of Bard anymore. Instead, he imagined himself standing proud behind the Wind-Lance, raining death and chaos upon the dragon. If only he had been given the chance…

But, no.

He had slunk away in defeat like the others. It didn't help that Fili had insisted on poking and prodding at him with his brotherly support. It had made Kili feel weak and childish, and so he had shrugged his brother's hands away with many heated mutterings. And if Tauriel found him weak and useless whilst they ran away from the dragon, she had had enough grace to hide it.

He sat upon his haunches at the shore's edge, rocking slowly side to side as he gazed out over the icy lake. He had been trying to dump the river rubble from his boot but had fallen dizzy with the exertion. The poison from the Morgul shaft was still in his blood. It was attempting to wreak its last bit of havoc in his body before the influence of the Athelas forced it out of him. Every second was spent trying to hold down the rancid bile rising along his throat.

"Salt on the tongue will keep the sickness down," Nadi had once told him. "Take your shirt off and put the collar on your tongue."

"Why?" He had asked.

"Because it's covered in sweat, as usual."

He had felt foolish for following such strange advice, but it had actually worked. Now, he surreptitiously lifted his shirt and set the hem of it in his mouth as he watched Fili, Bofur, and Oin work on the boat. He had offered to help them but they had immediately declined and reminded him, in exasperated tones, that he needed to rest. If he had one silver coin for every time that he was told to 'take it easy' or 'rest' or 'relax' he would go mad before he even got the chance to reap his riches.

Tauriel appeared amongst the crowd with her hand upon the shoulder of Bard's eldest daughter. He watched her survey the stragglers with a calculating gaze. He knew that she intended to leave them when all had been settled, and this was a thought that he could not bear. He lifted himself with a groan and made his way towards her. She turned to face him and once again he found himself struck by her beauty and stateliness. Such high cheeks and fiery hair! He had spent so much time gazing into Nadi's cold and distracted eyes that he had forgotten that brown eyes could be quite warm. And loving.

"Tauriel," he said cordially enough but unable to keep the desperation out of his voice. One of his kin called to him but he ignored them.

"Kili," she said back.

"Come. With us, I mean. To the Lonely Mountain. We have room in the boat."

"I can't-" she said, turning away. He grabbed her hand and drew her closer to him.

"You can. You are just afraid. Why?"

"I am not afraid," she said with a pitying smile. "You must look after your people, and I must look after my own."

"If that were true, you would have never come to Lake-town in the first place. Come on! I know how I feel about you and I am not afraid. I want…no, I need you by my side forevermore. You make me feel so alive."

"You have survived many years in this world without me. And you will continue to survive, even when I leave you."

He laughed. "Really? If I remember correctly, I almost died the moment that you left my sight. Or do you not remember saving me from the Morgul blade's poison?" He took her hands between his and kissed her slender fingers, all the while holding her eye. His brother called out to him again but, as he was often inclined whenever he heard Fili's voice, he ignored him. "By my beard," Kili said in a longing whisper. "If only you could see how the sun has set such a lovely glow upon your brow. Amrâlimê."

"I do not know what that means," she said softly. His smile broadened.

"No, you do. Do not shy away from me, not now."

"I-" she paused and quickly looked away. He had seen the softening of her features before they had suddenly snapped, like a door closing in his face. She straightened her shoulders proudly and quickly yanked her hands from his. "Nadi," she said simply.

"What of her?"

"Something has happened. And I cannot rightfully come between the duty that you two now share. It would be improper of me."

"Duty?" Kili repeated incredulously. "Nadi has only ever had a duty to herself and her own whims."

"That may have been true once," Tauriel said in a calm voice that took his breath away. "But now," she shook her head. "That is no longer the case."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kili!" His brother cried in a stern voice.

"When you find her again," Tauriel continued in a rushed voice. "Ask her. Ask her to reveal the secret that she has been hiding from you. Then you will understand that her duty as a woman is not to you, or even herself. Ask her, Kili."

"What-"

"-it is not my place to say! Ask her."

"Tauriel-"

There was a strange movement that he caught from the corner of his eye. He glanced back upon the lake and spotted a greyish cloud floating slowly along the surface. He turned away from the Elven-maiden and waded into the shore until the water was up to his thighs. He watched the cloud pass a few feet in front of him. It was long and large - much larger than him - and seemed to be waving many greyish tentacles along in its wake. A faded line of red uncurled from the cloud and spread its way towards him.

His eyes narrowed into a squint as he moved closer. As an archer, his acute eyesight had always worked in his favor. Now, as he gazed upon the ice-laden surface of the water, he realized that the cloud wasn't even a cloud at all but the body of a woman. What he thought had been tentacles were actually torn strips of her clothing trailing along behind her. Her skin was grey and her eyes were a pale white as her limp body brushed along his legs. She was dead, and badly disfigured by the burn marks stretching up and along her face. From her nose poured a small stream of blood which was quickly fading away within the water.

"Oh," Kili moaned. A sudden sense of heavy hopelessness descended upon his shoulders. "Along the mirror that reflects the daughter of blood unspooling in peaceful water…" he drew his eyes up and searched the sky. There, slightly to his left and above him was a flock of crows. At first, he couldn't believe what he was seeing: the crows were flying backward as if their sleek, feathery tail feathers were being pulled along by some invisible string. "Turn your eye to the wayward crows, that herald the warrior in deathly throes."

"Kili," Tauriel called. He ignored her and instead turned to face Fili who was standing some ways away and looking up at the sky. Fili looked down, caught Kili's eye, and then glanced at the corpse floating through the water.

"Do you see it?" Kili called to him in Khuzdul. Fili looked away, frustration rising upon his face, and then nodded.

"Aye," he called back. Kili took a deep breath in and mentally willed his heart to keep beating, just keep beating. His time couldn't have come, not yet, even though the portent had finally revealed itself. He wondered when it would happen. Would he die in his sleep that very night or live to see just one more day?

No one else seemed to have noticed the strange occurrences. Tauriel was still watching him from upon the shore, but he no longer heeded her. He was thinking hard about what she had said about Nadi. If what he thought she said was true, then the heralding of his own death had severely complicated the matter.

He looked back at her and saw her blond-haired companion approach her from behind. She seemed to stiffen before saying something in her native tongue. Though she held Kili's eye, he could tell that something between them had already been lost. And, quite possibly, it would never be retrieved.

She turned away and followed Legolas through the crowd. Both he and Fili stood side by side in the chilly water, for once at a loss of what to say.

"I imagine that you want to go after her," Fili finally said. He was trying to appear unaffected by the terrible portent but had failed with the quiver in his voice.

"Who?" Kili asked.

"Your woman," Fili said simply. Kili shook his head.

"I can't even begin to imagine where Nadi has made off to."

For some reason, Fili raised his eyebrows at this. "I was referring to Tauriel."

"She was never my woman."

"I suppose neither was Nadi." Fili clamped his teeth down tight on his pipe and stormed away, leaving Kili to wonder just what in the world he had been talking about.

X

I was referring to Tauriel.

She was never my woman.

I suppose neither was Nadi.

The mountain was so close now that the small group began to run. The large and beautifully rune-encrusted doorway lay before them like the open arms of some living thing. Kili knew that he should have been in awe, that it was his duty as a Dwarve of royal blood to rejoice at the sight of his dear homeland. But all that he could think about was his short conversation with Fili and the way that his brother seemed to grow coldly distant at the sound of Nadi's name. Fili and Nadi had once been betrothed, he knew that, but he had always seen their short-lived union as little more than a joke. Perhaps he had been foolhardy to think that they had seen it that way as well.

"Wait, stop, stop," Bofur said with a heavy pant. He put his hands upon his knees and bent forward. Even though he tried to hide it, Kili could see the frozen tear tracks upon his face.

"What is it, Bofur?" Oin demanded. "You've asked us to stop several times already. It's a shame to think that I, as your elder, am not as easily winded as you."

"I'm not winded," Bofur said. "I just want to take a moment, see, and appreciate how far we have come. Look here, we are on the verge of stepping back into very mountain that was stolen from us so long ago - the mountain that we have spent a year traveling for. Once we cross that threshold, we will no longer be the same Dwarves-"

"Look!" Fili suddenly said. He ducked down and peered over the edge of a large boulder. "Is that Nadi?"

Something in Kili's chest gave a jarring thump at the sound of the woman's name and he quickly ducked down beside Fili. A silence fell over the Dwarves as they watched a lone figure stroll along the icy, flat surface that made up Erebor's porch. The figure moved along at a leisurely pace, swinging its arms back and forth as if in a little dance. A high, sweet voice rose and rode the wind back to them. Kili immediately recognized it as the pitch that Nadi carried whenever she thought that she was alone.

"What's she singing?" Bofur asked.

"Sounds like a child's nursery rhyme to me," Fili said.

"Be quiet," Kili hissed back, although the two men had been whispering. It was not lost on him, the irony of Nadi singing a nursery rhyme as opposed to the raunchy ballads that she was so fond of coming up with. He looked up at the sky and wrung his hand over his chin. All his life, he had seen Nadi as an adventure companion, loyal friend, and a Sometimes Lover. Now, the thought of her becoming a mother to his child set feelings alight within him that he could not fully understand. But he could not deny that he was happy to see her alive and well.

"I have an idea," he said to the others. "You three go on ahead and meet her at the doorway. When she asks for me, tell her that I had gotten lost and you hadn't seen nor heard from me for several days. I'll wait here and hide."

"That's a rather cruel thing to put a woman through, don't you think?" Oin asked. Kili laughed.

"I cannot count the number of times that she has put me through some trickery or another that had me fearing for my life. Go, go on! I want to see her face when I walk out and surprise her."

"Kili-" his brother said in a warning voice. Kili looked over at him and was once again startled by the expression on his face. "Now is no time for your games."

"Ah, but, she's always been fond of my games. Haven't you noticed?"

He pushed the three Dwarves from behind the boulder and waved them on. He could see Nadi crouched down before a flock of birds that had gathered at the entranceway. As he watched in amusement, she sprung forward and attempted to catch one. She was so engrossed in her task that she didn't even notice the three Dwarves approaching her. It was only when they were a few paces away did she look back and seemed to give a startle.

"Oin! Bofur! Fili!" He heard her exclaim in a faraway voice. "You've made it!

Bofur said something that Kili couldn't hear and she gave a robust laugh. Their voices fell and he strained to hear their conversation. Nadi had fallen still with her hand upon her stomach as she watched Fili gesture. Though he could not see her face, he imagined that she was frowning deeply.

"Then I shall find him," he thought he heard her say. She nudged her way past the three Dwarves and began to cross the snowy expanse. She was moving right towards him, and yet she had no idea that he was there.

He couldn't help it. The sight of her approaching had filled him with giddiness. Oh, forget it all, he thought to himself as he dashed from behind the boulder.

"Nadi! Nadi!" He cried as he ran towards her. The whistling wind whipped the words from his mouth and flung them behind him. "It's me! I'm here! I'm here! It was all a joke, I-"

She froze mid-step and simply stared at him as he approached. Having recognized the fury on her face, he began to slow down until his legs were moving at a slow jog. There was that warning flare in her eyes - he could see it from a distance.

"It's all a joke!" he said, though the smile on his face did not reflect his words. "It's, er…" He began to walk even slower as she bent down and began to untie her boot. Slowly, she unsheathed her foot from within it and began to untie the other one. Kili chanced a glance at Fili, who shrugged and raised his eyebrows in response.

"Nadi?" They said in unison.

She suddenly reared up and began to swing her boots by their strings like a lasso above her head.

"HOW'S THIS FOR A JOKE, YOU DIRTY SCOUNDREL?" She howled before lobbing one of her boots straight at his head. He quickly ducked down with a smile but was not able to escape the second boot that caught him square in his face. His head bounced back with the impact and he stumbled back as dramatically as possible.

"FILI!" She screeched. "Give me one of your boots! Now!"

"Why?!"

"I have to throw it at him!"

"You'll decapitate him in your fury!"

"That is the point! Bofur!" Nadi turned away from him and Kili seized the opportunity. He rushed forward and wrung his arms beneath her shoulders, lifting her in the process. He felt her chest dip as she gasped in indignation and began to squirm like an injured worm.

"Nadi, Nadi, Nadi," he said with his cheek squished against her shifting back. "It's not like you to fall so easily for my jests. Have you lost your wits or have I lost mine?"

"If you haven't yet, then I shall ensure it for your future. Put me down, you criminal!"

"As you wish," he said. He set her down gently and she spun around to face him. Immediately he was taken aback by the sight of her, but not in the usual way. The odd blackness that he had noticed upon her face in Lake-town had deepened and descended farther down her brow. It had rolled far enough down her face to have passed her eyes and stopped along the bridge of her nose. As a child, they used to paint each other's faces and pretend to be warriors flying into battle. But Nadi was no longer a child, and there was no battle coming that would have made her stain her face in such a way.

Well, no coming battle that he knew of at that moment.

"Ah-" he said curiously as he pushed a strand of hair away from her face. Perhaps she is only sick, he thought as her amber-golden eyes held his, or perhaps this is what happens to her people as they age. Sadi's skin had been a rich and deep dark brown. There had been something so beautiful about it, and whatever affliction had caused Nadi's skin to darken hadn't exactly taken away from her handsome looks.

Or perhaps she's dying.

The thought came so suddenly that he immediately pulled her into his chest again and nestled his chin against the top of her head. It was true that he had received a portent of death a day earlier. But perhaps he had been naive in thinking that the portent had been in reference to him or his brother. They were not the only warriors amongst the Company, after all.

"Nadi, Nadi," he said as he stroked her hair. He could tell by the way that she ground her nose against his chest that he was smelling the scent of lavender that hung around his hair. The other Dwarves were waiting around anxiously, their gazes torn between the embracing Dwarves and the mountain. "This entire journey would have meant nothing if I had never gotten the chance to hold you like this. Come, look at me," he commanded. She leaned back a little and allowed him to sweep his gaze across her face. She had never been well-equipped enough to withstand his coquetry - not even now, at the end of all things. The way in which she tried to hide her smile was proof of that. "If only you could see how the sun has set such a lovely glow upon your brow," he said as his thumb stroked her cheek.

"Stop it," she said with a blush in her voice as she wedged her hands beneath his arms and attempted to push him away. "That's quite enough of that. Let me go."

"Tell me that you missed me first, and maybe I'll consider-"

"Kili, son of Dis, I am warning you-" she said with a giggle.

"What? You have no more boots to throw, woman-"

"Yes, but I still have my fists. Let me go, or I'll-"

"Let her go," Fili said gruffly. His strong hands clamped down upon Kili's shoulders and he dragged him backward a few inches. Kili spun around with one hand held back. Then, he caught his brother's eye and the two Dwarves stared at each other as if they had never seen each other before. There was that look in Fili's eye again, the one that Kili did not understand.

"What's the matter with you?" Kili asked in a high, affronted voice.

"She told you to let go, and you didn't," Fili said as if the matter was simple and Kili was stupid for not understanding it.

"She was fine-" he said but Fili was quick to cut him off again.

"You should know better than to assume a woman's acquiescence, brother."

Oin and Bofur gave a simultaneous gasp. Fili's implication had crossed an ugly, ugly line. Nadi lifted her hand with a small smile and wrapped her fingers along Kili's wrist. He hadn't even realized that his hand was still raised and poised for a blow. The thought of retaliating violently against Fili's brashness had been instinctive and alarmingly comfortable.

"Here," she said as she gently guided his arm down. "It's been a long day, and we've all been through a lot. Tensions are high, I understand that, but let us not turn upon each other - not now, and not here at the doorstep leading to all that we have toiled for. Kili, tell your brother that you are sorry."

"I am sorry that you look so ugly when you're mad," he muttered under his breath. Nadi gave a quick yank at a strand of his hair and he yelped. "I meant to say that I am sorry for…whatever it is I am supposed to be sorry for. There, did I do it right, Nadi?"

"It will suffice. And Fili?"

"I am sorry," he muttered back. The two clasped hands as Nadi slunk her arms around both of their waists. Her head only came up to their shoulders as she turned them around.

"Isn't it beautiful," she asked breathlessly as the four of them gazed upon the mountain. "Now, finally, we will have our peace."

x

Author's Note:

And here we see the start of the jealous madness that'll cause Fili to do terrible, terrible things...