Title: Love Me (Like I'm Not Made Of Stone)

Genre: Movies

Series: The Hobbit

Characters: Kili, Tauriel

Spoilers: N/a

Rating: PG-13 to Mature

Summary: Events didn't turn out as expected, and the ripple effect cascades over all things.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

The Fellowship of Two

The soft tugging of her hair lulled her into a light doze, her eyes sliding shut and a soft smile curling her lips. This was, perhaps, something her mother had done for her when she'd been small but she couldn't remember. It'd been centuries since she'd been so comfortable with another person that she allowed them casual touch.

"Amralimne?"

Tauriel rested her head on his chest, pulling the bead that now hung from a small braid at her temple to her face so she could study the detail. It was wood exquisitely carved with decorations. It was no bigger than her finger nail, but she felt the weight of it through her whole body.

"Tauriel?"

His heart beat just under her cheek, the coarse fabric of his tunic tickling her nose, but she didn't want to move from where they lay together. "Tell me what it means."

He laughed and she could feel the way it traveled through his skin, his muscles jumping and his heart speeding up. She'd never been close enough to someone else to see how their body reacted to things, but she wanted to see it on Kili. How he'd feel when she kissed him, what made him laugh, what made him groan; she wanted to know everything.

"I thought you'd fallen asleep," he admitted, sitting up and dislodging her but he grasped her arms and they twisted so that her back rested to his chest. Together they looked at the bead that he'd woven into her hair minutes ago. "It's like a promise."

"Of what?"

"It means I am yours. To give it is the most serious thing a dwarf can do. It tells my kin that you are the one I love. That I will always love."

Tauriel thought on it for a minute. "Should I give you one?"

"You can, but you don't have to. It's a very public declaration, and I know you're more private." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "It's enough that I know."

She didn't think it was, not when her secret desire was to shout to the stars that she loved him and didn't care who knew. "Does King Thorin know you've given it to me? I don't wish to cause tension."

"He knows," he reassured her, holding her just a bit tighter, their legs tangling together. "He suggested that I do it before we leave, so that our people will know we leave in honor and not disrespect or...scandal."

"Scandal?"

Kili smiled sheepishly, shrugging. "An unwed dwarf prince running away with an unwed elf? I wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation, Tauriel. We may some day return here."

"We will return, Kili, I would not have you away from your family for all your days," she replied, turning her head to gaze back at him. He flinched slightly, and she knew it was the mention of his shorter life, and the unspoken length of her own.

She wanted to tell him he need not worry for the difference, but despite his own brash openness to discussing everything, she was an elf and sometimes did not have the words to give.

The preparations to leave took several months; Tauriel allowed the dallying because she felt that Kili wanted to spend that time with his mother and brother. It also made sense to wait until Bella would be able to withstand the travel better.

"Will you miss it? The forest, I mean," Bella clarified, standing beside her new traveling companion and studying the view that lay before them. The lake reflected the sun like a mirror, though there was just a small hint of shadow, the outline of Smaug's bones, just under the surface. The trees on the shore opposite were hinting at green leaves, branches swaying in a wind that was no longer cold.

"No," she replied. Tauriel was relieved that it was a true answer. "Whether it be made of trees or stone, a cage is a cage. I lived there for six hundred years, I will not regret leaving, only that it took me so long."

"You're welcome to stay in the Shire with me when we arrive," Bella offered with a smile, glancing back at the gathering of the company behind them. "Rest up before you two continue on. Do you know where you'll go?"

"We have talked of several places. He'd like to show me where he was raised in Ered Luin, I would like to see Imladris and the Western Sea. We thought of going south to Harad to see the desert. I think...we will wander."

"That sounds lovely," Bella offered, "but always remember what direction lies home. It makes leaving easier when you know the path back."

"What of you? You have spent much time with the dwarves, will you not miss them?"

"I will, but it's past time that I went home. I have friends and family in the Shire that have wondered for far too long about me."

"You return for obligation?" Tauriel inquired, perking her eyebrow as she gazed down at the small hobbitess beside her.

"Partly, but not just that. I...I just feel like I need to go. I should be there, safe in my home, waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What are you waiting for?" Tauriel asked again, though Bella looked well and truly confused by it and a small feeling of concern rose as the elf studied her face.

"I'm not sure, just...waiting for something."

Bella toyed with her necklace as she turned to gaze off into the distance, a small golden ring sliding along the chain with a soft rasp and Tauriel could feel that noise, echoing in her head, her fingers curling together as she fought the urge to reach out and touch it, take it, wear it-

"We're getting ready to go, come say goodbye to the company, Bella, before Gloin starts blubbering more than he already is," Kili instructed, joining them and pulling three small ponies behind him.

Bella darted off, throwing herself into the arms of her friends one by one, lingering just a bit with Thorin and speaking softly for his ears alone as they stood slightly apart from the others.

Tauriel shook her head, the fuzzy buzzing that had seemed so strong a second ago fading until she could think again. She smiled at Kili, taking the reins and studying the small creature. "You know I cannot ride this horse, yes?"

"We'll get you a larger one in the first town we come across," he replied with a grin. "She'll carry some supplies for now. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she assured him, brushing her fingers against his for just a second or two before grasping the reins he offered. "I just felt...strange for a moment, but it's passed."

The trio rode north for the journey home, skipping the forest and the mountains that divided east from west in Middle Earth. The abandoned city of Framsburg welcomed them on the cusp of spring, with the Grey Mountains north, the Lonely Mountain south, and smaller peaks of Hithaeglir to the west. Tauriel suggested this route for the ease of following the river through the mountains and past Ettenmoors, but also because she wanted to get a sense for Mount Gundabad, now that so many orcs had been slain and their leaders gone.

"It will be decades before they recover their numbers," she explained as they rode past. "If the leaders of man were more united, now would be the time to destroy them completely."

"Is that why Gandalf went south? To roust the armies to march on Angmar?" Kili asked, not so subtley placing himself between her and the shadow of the Mount Gundabad. He watched the area with wary eyes, his hand resting on his bow.

"I do not believe he wants them gone from this earth," Tauriel admitted. "There must be a balance in such things, there is a place for good and evil."

"What do you think?" Bella asked.

"I think that the sun will rise, the stars will shine, and evil will always exist. If the orcs are gone, something else will rise in their place. Perhaps there could be a season of peace without them, however."

"Would the elves not come to wipe them out?"

Tauriel smiled at Bella, before shrugging. "If they are wise, and most would say elves are, then no. We have lost many of our kin for the wars of man. Most of my kind would rather cross the Western Sea than fight again."

"Then why did Thranduil enter the battle at Erebor?"

"Arrogance," she admitted, glaring when Kili grinned at her. "He did not think the dwarves a serious threat. By the time the orcs came, his army was cornered and even then he still thought to try and leave."

"Without his aid, all would have been lost," Bella admitted, remembering how the arrows had filled the sky and the graceful sway of an elven warrior cutting through orcs.

"He will feel the loss of so many warriors for centuries," Tauriel replied. "Hopefully he will learn from it."

The Shire was the greenest place Tauriel had ever seen. The Greenwood had been beautiful before the darkness had swallowed up its vitality, a mix of the soft earth, the thick lush green of tree moss, and the towering shadows of tree limbs. The Shire was an entirely different feeling, like stumbling out of the shadows and finding the soft velvet touch of sun on grass. There was an innate relaxing sense of warmth, from the land and the people.

It was very clear, however, that she was the first elf that many of them had seen.

"How's the air up there, lass?"

It was the third time in two hours she'd heard that joke.

Kili stiffled his laugh at the look on her face, she knew he could probably tell that beneath the serene smile she was growing agitated.

"The same as down there, I imagine," she replied, continuing down the path after Bella and leaving Kili and the small group of hobbits laughing at themselves.

"If your home is as small as these, I do not believe I will fit within," Tauriel pointed out to Bella.

"Bag End is different, best hobbithole in all of the Shire. It's a bit bigger for visitors. Gandalf moves about just fine, only hit his head a couple times and you're shorter than he is," Bella explained. "Though we could also make a lean-to for you if you'd like to sleep under the stars."

"I would not decline the offer of a bed."

"We would not decline the offer," Kili corrected, catching up with them and reaching out to grasp her hand. If they had been around her people, or his, she would have indulged him just a second before withdrawing the sign of affection; she felt it better to be decorous around people who were predisposed to opposing their match. Here, with these people, she felt no need.

"Now, Bella, let's talk about this offer of...meat pie? How soon could you make such a thing?" Kili teased, his thumb passing smoothly back and forth over the skin of Tauriel's hand until she felt the touch vibrating through her arm.

"If you weren't a dwarf, you'd make a good hobbit," Bella laughed. "I can make it for supper if you'd like, I'll have to run to market though-" She stopped, her smile falling off as she gazed up the hill at what Tauriel could only assume was Bag End. "Who are all those people in my home? Is that...Lobelia?! That cabbaged face daughter of a-"

She's dancing under the moon of the summer solstice, and Kili swore that he'd never seen anything so beautiful. The apple brandy the hobbits had passed around in excess seemed to have gotten to her more than the ale of the dwarves ever had. Her lips curved in a dreamy smile and she held her hand out to him, inviting him to join her.

"You are drunk, amralimne."

"Perhaps," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close, encouraging his head to rest just above her bosom. They swayed there together, the other couples eventually leaving them to it until they were alone and even the musicians had stumbled their way home. "Amin nowe ron n'kelaya."

"When you start speaking in elvish, it's time for bed," Kili pointed out, chuckling to himself as he started to pull her towards Bag End.

"I am not tired," Tauriel protested, but still followed him without hesitation.

"Maybe I am? We're leaving tomorrow and we need our rest. The Blue Mountains aren't far but I'm pretty sure they're going to be more tiresome than the Shire."

"Are you nervous?"

He thought about it for several minutes, they had made their way all the way to their room in Bag End before he spoke again. "I am not nervous for them to meet you. I am afraid that they will give you a hard time, because if they do-"

"I can handle it," Tauriel interupted, pressing her fingers to his lips. "Words do not hurt me, Kili."

"I will not allow them to speak ill of you," he confessed. "I will abandon all ties to the mountains before I would."

"Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar."

"Get in bed, elf, there's no talking to you tonight."

Tauriel complied but looked up at him coquettishly. "Amin mela lle."

"That one I recognize." He kissed her gently, allowed her to pull him into bed with her. They had disregarded propriety somewhere on the road through the mountains, and he did not want to sleep away from her ever again, no matter where they were. "I love you, too."

He waited only until the door closed behind them to draw her close, his thick fingers sliding up her legs and taking her tunic with it. "That was brilliant!"

"Kili, it is the middle of the day," she protested, but Kili could feel her fingers twining in his hair and pulling him closer. She was bare beneath her top, her back as smooth and pale as white silk, and his hands slid across the two dimples that dipped just above her slimly curved rear with what could only be described as possession.

"You took down ten...ten! Of Dain's warriors."

"They wished to see how skilled a warrior a elf lady could be," Tauriel explained, though she knew he already had heard of the circumstances of the sparring match. "I only endeavored to show them."

"I was worried when I heard you were sparring, but I did not need to. You can take care of yourself, I know," he said, talking into the shadow of skin beneath her ear, his lips caressing her skin. "But I like to take care of you."

Tauriel pushed her trousers to the floor. She grasped his shirt and began to pull him forward, walking backwards toward their bed. "Then by all means, melamin, take care of me."

After a very thorough session of care, he watched from the bed as she moved about the room, his robe dancing flirtatiously around her lithe thighs. Having finally found her hairbrush, she returned to the bed and began to run it through her hair, swatting at him playfully when he idly started to braid the ends.

"Marry me."

"In the dwarven way? Yes."

Kili furrowed his brow, confused by the distinction. "What is the difference between the two?"

Tauriel bit her lip, a blush rising up her chest and flushing her face. "For my kin, we are already wed."

"What? When?"

"In the shire. When we...consummated," she explained in stilting voice, clearly uncomfortable.

"You do not exchange vows? No celebration?"

"I believe you and I have said vows several times, but yes, traditionally there is a celebration. It was not neccesary, however." She studied his reaction to that and he let his displeasure be shown. "My parents are deceased, Kili. Part of the celebration would require their presence for the gifting, without it it is merely a party."

"Is there an exchange?" He asked, forcing himself to move on from a clearly painful admission.

"An elven betrothal starts with the exchange of silver rings, and before consummation they are returned and gold ones replace them. They are not ornate or bejeweled, I did not think you would be interested in such a thing. During the celebration, my mother and your father would call on Manwe and Varda, and gift a necklace to us both with a jewel to rest over our hearts." She reached over and covered his hand. "You see now why a celebration of elven nature did not make sense? Besides, I am happy with my bead. It serves much the same, a soft reminder of you to have with me."

"I do not want you to forgo elven traditions for mine," Kili chided, "You have compromised on many things-"

"Happily compromised," she asserted, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I did so without regret. Now, are we going to attend dinner or are we going to stay in bed all night?"

"You know which one I'm going to vote for."

She cannot describe the immense presence of the Western Sea. Tauriel imagined she could speak of the soft but coarse sand under her bare feet, the way the water surged back and forth, churning and bubbling, or how blinding the sun was as it reflected off the water and into her eyes. There was an intimate feeling on the beach, like there was something holy but unseen right before her eyes and she need only reach out her hands and she could feel it.

"Beautiful."

"It is," she agreed, kneeling so that she could run her fingers through the water that was now tickling her ankles.

"I meant you," Kili corrected, still trying to pull off his boots so he could join her. "One day you'll cross those waters..."

"No, Kili, I won't," Tauriel confessed. She nervously pulled the length of her hair over her shoulder, wringing the water from the ends where they'd dragged in the water while she was distracted.

"Why not? Because...you're with me?"

She couldn't stand the look of self recrimination on his face, and she knew that if she was going to tell him of her decision this was the best time and place to do so. "I could not bear to be away from you. When you are gone, I will fade. Elves also only love once in their lives...I will not live without you. I will see you live and see you die, and when you are gone I will choose to follow you."

"I don't want that, Tauriel."

"The length of a life does not decide it's merit. I choose to live and die with you." She pulled from her pocket a small pouch, opening and allowing what was inside to fall into her palm. She offered it to him, waiting until he stood beside her in the water. "Dain taught me how to mine gold, and allowed me a small boon. I poured the mold myself. I decided I do not want to abandon all of my heritage."

Kili picked up the golden rings, running his sensitive fingers over their curves. Tauriel knew he could find the imperfections easily, but they needn't be perfect, they need only be theirs. "You did a good job. May I?"

She offered her hand and held her breath as he slid it onto her index finger. It was jarring to see it there, so dark against her skin, but it felt right. "Sometimes...I do not have the words to tell you how you make me feel." His ring slid onto his finger just as easily as her's had.

"That's okay, I know. Haven't I always known?"