In-Between

Summary: A collection of little moments in the life of Tauriel and Kíli from the time they leave everything behind after the battle. There will be kids, old friends and new faces along the way… and the War of the Ring is approaching.

Sorry for the long wait! It was a difficult chapter to get through and I'm still not fully satisfied with it… I hope you will find some good moments in there, though.

Enjoy!

"We should have left a note for Aragorn," Kíli mused as the small homestead slowly disappeared behind them. "Last time it took him years to find us," he smiled half-heartedly, not being able to shake the memory that the last time he set out on that same journey, he was with his brother and uncle. It was so bittersweet to think about all the excitement of a great adventure with which he and Fíli started their journey.

He had lost both of them on that adventure and he was terrified what would happen now that he was walking into the unknown with his family on his back.

He wasn't afraid of what would happen when they reached Erebor. Even with Dáin's family and other relatives of Durin alive, he had the strongest claim to the throne. And nobody would have disputed that had he walked into Erebor. At present, his right was basically uncontested.

What terrified him was the rising darkness.

He couldn't really understand all the powers that had been at play back then when they went to reclaim their home, and he could not possibly understand it now, but one thing was for sure. A dark and powerful enemy wanted Erebor to fall and it knew how to achieve it.

Without a legitimate claim to the throne, the Dwarves would fall into strife before they could face an enemy.

They had much more sinister matters to worry about than uniting a kingdom… they have to defend it from the enemy.

"We are doing what is right," Tauriel stopped behind Kíli, her front pressed against his back, and linked her hands on his chest.

"I know," he sighed, putting a hand on top of hers. "But it doesn't make it less difficult."

"It usually does not," she observed, resting her chin on top of his dark curls. "I am looking forward to it, you know," Tauriel decided to ignore the more obvious questions that must have been whirling in his head and concentrate on something decidedly more positive.

"To what?"

"Meeting your mother."

"Oh, that." He winced. "Way to point out the easily most terrifying aspect of our journey."

"What is it?" Angion asked when he noticed the shocked and frightened look on his sister's face.

Dís turned her wide eyes on him, then turned around to look for the others. Everybody seemed to be occupied with one thing or another so she beckoned him closer.

"What is it?" Angion landed with a thud next to her.

"Look." And with that, she turned the paper that was in her hand so that he could see the drawing on it.

"That is…" His blue eyes looked at her confused.

"The King under the Mountain."

"That's Fíli."

Tauriel had just finished a soft lullaby when she realized that there were tears in her eyes. She gave a reassuring look to Kíli who regarded her with concern, and kissed the red crowns of her twins, sleeping in her arms.

Whatever she might say, she was worried. Kíli knew that, too. They were after all leading their children through whole of Middle Earth and had no idea what they would find at the end of their journey.

That was why they had decided to leave Dóra and Doran in Imladris in the care of Lord Elrond. That was for the best, she told herself. Of course, that wouldn't make the parting any less painful.

"They will be all right," Kíli told her, smiling down at Mirel, who had laid her head in his lap. "All of them."

Tauriel nodded.

Yes, they would be. She and Kíli would make sure of that.

"Greetings, my friends," Lord Elrond walked down the stairs to greet his guests. He felt apprehensive. These days, guests did not appear in Imladris to bring good tidings. And he was still waiting for his sons to return after their hasty departure. "You are welcome in Imladris."

"Thank you, my Lord." A red-headed woman stepped forward and bowed her head with humble respect.

"An Elf," Elrond noted slightly surprised. "And a Dwarf," he turned to the man besides her before his eyes regarded the rest of the group. One of his eyebrow perked up in interest. "That is a strange company if I ever saw one…" He observed, turning back to the Dwarf. If he was not mistaken, maybe, this time, his guests did bring the light of hope. "Not mentioning, of course, the company of thirteen Dwarves and a Hobbit. So, what can I do for a presumably dead Dwarf?"

"You remember?" the Dwarf asked.

"I am afraid your visit was hard to forget, Kíli, Prince of Erebor."

"Yeah…" Kíli looked decidedly sheepish. "Sorry about that."

"Lord Elrond," the Elf spoke up. There was urgency in her voice. "You know my husband. I am Ta…"

"Tauriel of the Woodland Realm," Elrond finished. He knew too well that the strange red-haired Elf who, according to the tales and rumors, had disappeared with the Prince of Erebor all those years ago was the daughter of his friend. Not for the first time, he wondered if Thranduil knew what had become of them. He would not stop pester him about Legolas but he remained suspiciously silent on the matter of his daughter. "It is an honor to meet you at last."

Tauriel paused at the unexpected sentiment before she continued. "Lord Elrond, these are our children. We have come to request your help."

"And I will provide it," he looked at the family. "Come, have a rest. Then we will talk. We have much to discuss." It could not be a coincidence after all, that not a fortnight after receiving news of the demise of Dáin Ironfoot and all the immediate heirs to the throne of the Lonely Mountain, the only man who had had the strongest claim to begin with showed up with his family in tow.

There was children's giggling coming from the quarters of her father's unexpected guests. Two voices were protesting while tiny feet were pattering on the floor but the children's mischievous laughter was mixed with their parents' merry one.

It brought a wistful smile on her lips.

She instantly regretted her intrusion when, after her gentle knocking, the sounds died away.

"Lady Arwen," the red-haired Elf gasped at her before gathering the children to her to keep them at bay, and bowed her head. The Dwarf next to her followed suit.

"Please, not with the formalities," she waved her hand in a friendly gesture. "Not from the Princess of the Woodland Realm… and not from the woman my brothers call sister." The couple shot her a decidedly alarmed look. She smiled. "There may be things the two of them can hide from our father but they can hide nothing from me. Master Kíli," she turned to the Dwarf.

"What happened to the no formalities?" he asked sounding somewhat timid in her presence. Arwen tilted her head in agreement.

"And who are you two, little ones?" Arwen turned to the children.

The children instantly straightened. "Dóra," the little girl said. "Doran," promptly followed by her brother before giving Arwen a deep bow. "At your service."

The adults shared a bemused laugh.

"They are adorable."

"Don't let the cute faces deceive you," Kíli warned Arwen. "I have half the mind to throw them over to Mordor and let them solve this whole… situation."

"Kíli," Tauriel turned disapprovingly to her husband, but Arwen noticed that the corner of her mouth turned upwards in exasperated amusement.

"What? I'm right. Give them two days there and Sauron would beg for mercy."

Tauriel just shook her head with a loving smile then turn to their guest.

"Please, come in and join us. We were trying to sit down the children for breakfast."

Arwen gladly joined them.

"That is an exquisite pair of swords. Worthy of a princess of Erebor."

"I am no princess," Thoriel declared with a laugh as if the whole idea were absurd. Elrond regarded her for a long moment. They were at the training ground where Thoriel had found some privacy in the early morning.

"Indeed, you are not," he agreed finally with a knowing smile. "They are beautiful nonetheless. May I?" he asked for one of them and took it when offered. He studied it, then a surprised look crossed his eyes. "They were forged here. To Prince Legolas' behest if I am not mistaken."

"I lost my old one when we ran into a pack of Orcs a couple of years ago. Uncle insisted that I had saved his life so he had them made for me. He knew that I prefer them in pairs and your people is renowned for forging the best of them."

"Curious," Elrond remarked curtly, then offered the sword back to her. "Let us see how you wield them," he told her before reaching for a training sword.

They sparred for a time and Thoriel even thought that she had managed to impress the Lord of Imladris when, after a successful blocking on her part, the man gave her a pointed look.

"It was not your uncle who taught you," he started as they circled on the training ground. "Though, you definitely know his father's tricks."

"It was my Naneth. King Thranduil taught her well."

"Of that I am sure. That was not his move, however, was it?"

"You know it wasn't," Thoriel answered, standing off. She'd just realized that she had revealed more that she should have.

"And I always thought that my son has no patience for teaching," he remarked.

"Master Baggins," came the enthusiastic greeting that broke Bilbo out of his early morning reverie. He knew that voice, and he definitely knew that face which was suddenly before him, wearing a huge grin. He was just too dumbstruck at the moment to make the connection. He blinked. "By Mahal, it's good to see you, Master Baggins."

"Kíli, son? By the Valar, is that you?" Bilbo stood up and walk to his old friend.

"The one and only," the Dwarf beamed in front of the Hobbit.

"Indeed, you are," Bilbo smiled. Now, there was a story he wanted to hear. He had heard, of course, the tell-tale stories of the young prince's body disappearing but he suspected there was more to it than that. "You still have that smile."

"What smile?" His features straightened in confusion.

"That makes you seem all the time that you're up to no good," Bilbo laughed and, seeing his expression, he added, "Not my words. Thorin told me once."

The mention of the man stopped them for a moment but they quickly found that it was good to remember.

"I never could fool Uncle with my cuteness," Kíli laughed out and there was an accompanying snicker coming from somewhere. That was when Bilbo realized that his friend wasn't alone. Kíli noticed that and gently guided two red-headed Dwarflings from behind him. Except, they weren't Dwarflings, not really. They looked more like Elflings. They looked like Kíli's lady Elf if his memory served right.

Oh, but they had their father's smile. Kíli couldn't deny them if he'd wanted. "And who are these little ones?"

"This is Dóra and Doran, my youngest ones."

"And how many are there again?"

"Five. Without these two."

There was definitely a story he wanted to hear.

After lunch, Lord Elrond asked Tauriel to accompany him for a walk. They'd been walking for a while in silence when, following a deep sigh from Tauriel, Elrond spoke up.

"I suppose coming here raised a lot of questions in you… and I do not mean the ones concerning the purpose of your visit."

"I have just never thought that you and Thranduil were that close and yet you are talking about him like a dear friend… you are talking about me as if…" She was apparently at a loss so Elrond helped her out with a small smile.

"He loves you, child. There was no time when he did not talk about his sweet daughter with pride and love shining in his eyes. I do not know what exactly happened between you two but he regretted it the moment it happened."

"And yet he failed to change anything."

"He is a proud man."

"He is a selfish bitter man."

"He is hurting."

"He had hurt us," Tauriel snapped. "Stop making excuses for him." Then she stopped ashamed. "I am sorry."

"No. I am sorry if I crossed my boundaries. There is no excuse for his foolish and, as you said, selfish behavior. It was not my intention to make one. I only assumed that you would like to hear about him. I am not sure that it is my place but, unfortunately, there is no one else who could tell you these things. Except for him, of course. So, if you are willing, I am here to answer your questions. Now or whenever you are ready."

"Did you make this offer to Legolas, too?"

"I did… when he came to Imladris after the battle. He was unwilling to listen."

"I am willing," Tauriel quickly said and Elrond nodded, guiding her to a bench.

"I have known your father for a very long time," he started when they sat. "I consider him a really good friend. I admit that he is not the easiest person to be around but that would hardly surprise you if you had known his father. Oropher was not a pleasant man, especially not towards the Noldor. He and Thranduil had rarely seen eye to eye. But Thranduil loved the man. Unfortunately, as the centuries passed, he had become more and more like him. Cold, distant… and mistrustful. He was, however, nothing like that when we had met.

"Let me tell you a story. Your mother told me that not long after we had met in the Havens of Sirion.

"During the First Age, when Elves were battling the armies of Morgoth, the Grey Elves refused to have anything to do with the strife of the Noldor. They lived in Doriath, secluded and protected by a wall of enchantment and they paid little heed to the suffering of others. But there was a young Elfling among the Sindars who refused to turn a blind eye on the going of the world. One day, he rode out of Doriath with a small troop of warriors and headed North. It was particularly grim there after the Nírnaeth Arnoediad and his mind was set on aiding Elves and Men in that area. It was there that he met the serpent that almost took his life."

"He had never told us about that."

"I think nobody knows what exactly happen there… only he and your mother. They had met there, you know."

"I wish he had talked about that… that he had talked about Naneth."

"Losing her was devastating for him. Even more so that he felt such enormous guilt over her death," Elrond told her. "He is a strong man, Tauriel. He stood up when only a few would have. But everybody has a breaking point. And he had seen a lot of terrible things. He lost his mother when Doriath was sacked by the Dwarves and his brothers were slain by their own kin. All that tragedy made him more guarded. It made him follow Oropher to the East. Then he lost his father, too, and saw his army decimated. It is no wonder that after that experience, and having become solely responsible for the men, he was more careful. All he was trying to do was to protect his people. And I am sure that whatever he had done, he was only trying to protect you."

"He cannot protect us from everything," Tauriel said, standing up as she wiped away some tears. "Certainly not when he is pushing us away."

"I think he is beginning to realize that." Elrond followed her and stood by the carved railing of the balcony.

There was silence after that as they both seemed to have gotten lost in their memories.

"Thank you," Tauriel finally spoke up. "You are a good friend."

Elrond was just about to say something when some noise caught his ears. "Are those my sons smoking pipe with your sons?" He asked sincerely stunned as he found the source of the noise. Tauriel chuckled, wiping her eyes. "I can see it was not only teaching sword fighting to Dwarf-Elf children what they did in the North." Tauriel's eyes shot to him. "I met your daughter, Thoriel, earlier. You taught her well… but so did Elrohir."

"My Lord…" Tauriel started to explain but, lifting a finger, Elrond silenced her.

"I am not looking for an explanation. Contrary to what you and my sons might believe, it is not my place to make a judgement. If anything, I admire your courage to leave your peaceful life behind and come back."

"It was not always that peaceful… or safe," she told him, and he could see the worry that must have been her constant companion. "And I am afraid that it would never again be so if those who had the means did not do anything."

It was in the afternoon on the day following their arrival when the purpose of their visit finally came up.

Every one showed up for the afternoon tea, one after the other. Of course, Bilbo was the first one, promptly joined by Lord Elrond and Tauriel. The rest of the group was slower to appear but after Dís and Thoriel arrived with a profound apology, having spent the afternoon in the company of Arwen, the others joined them, too. And from the look of it, they hadn't been up to any good, Elladan and Elrohir being not exceptions, either.

Elrond arched an amused eyebrow.

"I am sorry for your loss, Kíli," Elrond finally got to the point when the conversation halted. Kíli nodded in acknowledgement. "It is a great loss for all of us. But fortunately, it seems, all is not lost. The last direct heir of Durin lives. Seeing that you arrived with my sons in tow," here he gave a pointed look to the twins who showed up only a couple of hours after his guests, "after their hasty retreat just after the grave news had reached us, I assume that this is the reason of your visit."

"That is right," Kíli agreed. "As it turns out, I'm the last hope of my people. Mahal help them."

"Tauriel mentioned a favor upon your arrival. I am ready to aid you in whatever way I can."

"Thank you, Lord Elrond."

"We would ask you to take in our youngest children," Tauriel spoke up. "We do not wish to subject them to perils unknown."

"I would leave the rest of them, too," Kíli supplied. "But they are a stubborn lot."

"I am sure of that. Rest assured that your children will be safe here and well looked after."

"We are most grateful, my Lord," Tauriel bowed her head.

"There are things, however, that you should know before you continue your journey to Erebor."

"The One Ring has been found," Dís suddenly spoke up alarmed, looking at Bilbo. Elrond regarded her for a long moment before answering.

"Yes," he nodded then started to relate the events that led up to the formation of the Fellowship that had started from Imladris not two months before. He did not mention, though, who were part of that Fellowship. In the light of that morning's revelations, he deemed it wise not to worry the family when they had their own quest. If he was not mistaken, it would be revealed soon enough. But until then, they had a road to follow.

"You can see now why it is so important to all of us for Erebor to stand strong once again," he conlcuded his account.

"The North stands defenseless without the Dwarves," Kíli summed up. "Great. No pressure there."

Kíli, Tauriel and Bilbo were sitting on a bench, quietly talking when the children walked up to them. They were in a merry spirit.

"Where were you, kids?" Kíli asked in a cheerful tone as Doran slipped from Angion's grasp and climbed into his father's lap. The boy was wet… and very much nude. "And why are the little ones without clothes?" As a matter of fact, all of the children looked as if they'd just left the bathes.

"We saw a fountain earlier. Thought it would be fun to take a dip," Angion gave him a wicked grin.

The look on Kíli's face was priceless. They wouldn't, really… Would they?

"Relax, my love," Tauriel smiled. "They have more common sense than you lot had last time," she remarked with a bemused expression. "They went to the pools."

"There are pools?"

Bilbo snickered.

"You have the gift of foresight," Elrond stopped next to Dís as she was standing on one of the balconies. She nodded. "What did you see?"

"My brother as the king of Erebor," she answered after a long pause.

"You are worried what it could mean."

"There is only one thing it can possibly mean."

"Never draw hasty conclusions from what you see," Elrond warned her. "What you see is only a part of the whole."

Dís nodded. "It scares me," she admitted.

"Dwarves are a resourceful folk. And I recon your father is more so… after all, he had married an Elf."

"That he is," Dís smiled fondly.

"What you saw had many ways to come true… and there might be reasons behind it you cannot yet see."

"It is all so confusing."

"You can stay in Imladris if you wish so," Elrond offered to the girl. "We can help you discover the full extent of your gift... teach you to understand it better."

"That is a very gracious offer, my Lord. But my place is with my family."

"I understand that. But remember that my offer stands."

"What will happen when we reach Mirkwood?" Kíli asked one night when they were sitting around the fire. They had left the High Pass behind the previous day.

All eyes turned to Tauriel, no doubt, all of them pondering the same question.

Tauriel had told the children about the Elvenking, about the man she remembered from her childhood and about the man he had become. She tried to remember the happy times but it was hard when the darkness lasted so much longer… and when the children had a neck for asking about things she wished to omit.

Truthfully, she was afraid what would wait her if they ventured into Mirkwood. For years now, she'd been harboring the idea of Thranduil changing, the look in his eyes at their parting on Ravenhill staying with her. But what if it had been only an illusion? What if everything she had heard of him from Lord Elrond was in the distant past and she had got her hopes so high that they would eventually crush?

She longed to meet the man who had been a loving father to her but she dreaded to meet the king who had banished her.

"One way or another, we will get through that forest," she told them the only thing she was sure of.

Well, guess where next?

Thanks for reading!