Chapter Four

Tales

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Tauriel

Tauriel didn't know how long she had been sitting there with him , but the sounds of the party were dying down, so she'd wager that the sun was a few hours from rising. The thought made her sad, she didn't want to leave him, not just yet. Her face hurt from all the smiling ,and she couldn't remember the last time she laughed so. Probably sometime during her childhood.

"So by the time that we arrived, poor Bilbo already had his hands full with Balin, Dwalin and the rest."

"Who's Bilbo?"

"Oh! I didn't say, did I? He's the hobbit we met along the way."

Along the way. What a way it seemed to be.

"I've never met a hobbit. What are they like?"

"Well, they're placid little creatures, but in times of trouble they are as brave as any of us. Very clean. Excellent manners. Smaller than dwarves, Bilbo comes up to about here for me," he said, gesturing to his chest. "They can move around virtually undetected, that's how quiet they are. And they don't wear shoes, on account that they have really big, really hairy feet."

Tauriel laughed softly.

"They sound fascinating. I hope I get to meet one someday. But seeing as it took me six-hundred years to make the acquaintance of a dwarf, I will have to be patient."

Kili seemed to want to ask something, but didn't seem to know how. She noted how adorable he was when flustered.

"You can ask," she said.

"Ask what?"

"Whatever you so clearly want to ask me."

He met her eyes shyly.

"How old are you?"

Ah. She should have known. For elves, once you reach maturity, age isn't of much importance anymore. They were immortal. What did it really matter? But of course he would want to know. He was a dwarf. One of the mortal races, and they only had a limited time on Arda.

She decided to ignore the clenching feeling in her heart which accompanied the last thought.

"I'm six-hundred years old. Well, six-hundred and four to be exact."

Kili looked at her with a blank expression.

"It's rather young for an elf," she said, suddenly feeling the need to elaborate a little. "Elves only reach maturity at their two-hundredth year..." She was beginning to feel self-conscious in Kili's silence, and began to fiddle with her fingers.

Tauriel.

Fiddle.

Kili shook his head and gave her a placating smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just, I'm struggling to comprehend the concept of elven age. I fear you will think me a child with my meager seventy-seven years." He looked at the ground and ran a hand through his hair.

Did she make him nervous?

"Of course I don't see you as a child, Kili. I myself am but an infant in the eyes of some of my kin. And besides, despite me exceeding you in years, your adventures far outnumber mine."

"That may be so, but you are still to have a great many adventures of your own, Tauriel. I just know it. And I promised to show you a fire moon someday, remember?" The smile he was giving her did strange things to her heart.

"How could I forget?"

Kili's smile widened, his eyes dancing with light.

"Right," he said, rubbing his hands together. "let's resolve this age nonsense once and for all. If elves reach maturity at two-hundred, and dwarves do at forty…let's use human years as a converting medium…" He began to wright on the ground with his finger, mumbling to himself, seemingly in his own world.

"Aha!" he said, seemingly pleased with his work. "We're about the same age, in human years at least. You're about twenty-eight and I'm about twenty-six."

Tauriel's mouth hung open. Did he just work all that out, in his head?

Kili beamed.

"Not just a pretty face love, not just a pretty face."

Xxx

Kili

"No!" Tauriel gasped, half incredulous and half amused.

"Yes!" Kili countered, laughing. "I swear. Three mountain trolls, and may I add that the stories do not do their hideousness justice, had stolen two of the ponies. Fili and I hadn't a clue what to do. Luckily, mister Boggins arrived just in the knick of time. And after a lot of slashing and almost being squashed into jelly, Gandalf cracked a boulder clean in half with his …erm… wand and the sunlight turned them all to stone."

Tauriel laughed and shook her head. "Your mother is right, reckless indeed." Though the soft look in her eyes did not match the reprimand.

"And who is Fili? And did I hear correctly? Gandalf the Grey was part of your company?"

Kili was all too happy to answer her questions.

"Fili is my brother", he said, a proud glint in his eyes. " He's the dashing blonde dwarf with all the knives."

"Oh! Well that makes sense then. I wondered about the dwarf that was giving Linwe so much trouble."

Kili chuckled softly. " Yes well, Fili does have a bit of an affinity for knives. Our uncle is an excellent blacksmith and Fili loves working with the metals. What exactly did you mean by "well that makes sense"? I mean no offense, but people very rarely assume that we are brothers if they don't actually know that we are."

Tauriel looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I suppose the spunk with regard to the knives and the fact that after you mentioned it, you do look rather alike. Although your colouring is different."

Kili smiled. "Aye, though I'm afraid he got all the looks, or at least he likes to think so. Though I've found that being too attractive has its disadvantages, stops you from developing a wicked sense of humour. But , that doesn't seem to be the case with you." He finished with a wink.

Blushing softly, Tauriel decided to ignore that last part. "Why do you say that? I am not aware of what dwarves consider to be beautiful, but I find you by no means unattractive." The words were out of her mouth before she had fully turned them over in her mind.

Her pink cheeks turned a dark shade of crimson as she averted her gaze.

Kili on the other hand , was grinning so widely, his face has I serious danger of splitting.

"So you think I'm beautiful then?"

"I…I don't think you …unattractive." Kili found it endearing how the mighty elven warrior was stumbling over her words, cheeks flushed.

"Wouldn't that be the same as finding me attractive, then?"

Tauriel met his eyes, an exasperated laugh coming from her lips. "You're relentless!"

"Indeed , that would be one of my finer qualities."

Once their laughter died down, Tauriel spoke softly.

"It's interesting that your uncle is a blacksmith, for my father was one as well."

Kili noted the past tense.

"Was?" he asked , the word was out before he could think of its repercussions.

He sensed that Tauriel had immediately erected some wall around her heart, her eyes losing their sparkle, her face becoming stoic.

"S… sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

Tauriel shook her head ,her mouth forming a sad smile, a sigh escaping her lips.

"No no, I must not be so sensitive, my parents have been gone for a long time now."

Kili scooted closer to her before he spoke, fighting the urge to take her hand.

"I do not think you weak for missing your parents, if anything, it makes me think of you as even stronger than what I did before. You must've… must love them dearly. And love is not weakness. It is precious. Something to be treasured and not to be forgotten." He replied ,meaning every word of it.

And in turn, she looked deeply into his eyes, showing more of herself to him in one simple gesture, than what she had to most of her kin in all her years. And all because of one simple reason: he made her feel safe, he made her feel understood.

She looked at him with such openness, such …affection (dare he hope?) that he wished the bars of his cells were gone , just to be able to hold her tightly in his arms and protect her from the world.

He couldn't remember having ever felt such fierce protectiveness in all his life.

"Would you like to tell me about them?" he asked gently.

"I have never really spoken of my parents," she replied, pushing some hair behind her ear. "But, I think that it's about time that I did." She finished, a genuine smile gracing her features.

Tauriel

Kili shifted again, giving her an encouraging smile as he settled ,leaning his shoulder against the bars.

"Well, my father was a blacksmith, as I've already said, and my mother was a healer."

"What were their names?"

"My mother was called Tori, my father Elessar. My mother had the most beautiful hair I've ever seen," she touched her own hair absentmindedly "it was waves of molten chocolate that came up too her knees. Whenever I'd ask too 'braid' her hair ,she'd always let me. Though I'm afraid I mostly just made a mess, knotting and tangling it, but she never reprimanded me for it, she would simply comb it out and have me try again."

Kili listened with interest, a soft smile on his face. "You have your father's hair then?"

Tauriel laughed. "Goodness no, my father had black hair. I do not know where this colour came from, my mother told me that she believed some great ancestor of ours must have had red hair, but none that any of us knew."

A frown creased Kili's brow. "You do not like your hair then?"

"When I was younger I did not, but I have grown to accept it. After all, there are far more important things than physical appearance: honour, bravery, wisdom, kindness, the ability to love deeply…"

"I could not agree more, but you have also been blessed with great beauty, surely you must see that."

Tauriel could feel herself blushing furiously again. Why did he say such things? She knew she possessed some fine qualities, but being beautiful was not one of them.

"Red hair is rare amongst elves, I've never even seen another elf with red hair. And it is not by any means sought after."

"Red hair is much admired amongst dwarves."

"And that is probably why it is not by elves." They gave each other a sad smile then, for the first time since her sitting down to speak with him, did they acknowledge their glaring difference: their race.

Kili changed the topic, no doubt trying to diffuse the sudden awkwardness. "What were they like, your parents?"

Tauriel jumped at the opportunity.

"Good, kind, honourable, wise. My father was rather serious…intense, but I never doubted his love for me, or my mother. My mother on the other hand," she smiled, shook her head slightly, "she was rather…passionate. Some in this kingdom would even say wild, by Mirkwood standards at least. She never did anything by halves, whether it be taming her child's unruly hair or treating a patient. Every night once the sun had set we'd climb high into the trees, higher than any mortal or even elf might dare to go. I was never afraid though, to fall I mean, I knew no harm would come to me as long as my mother was with me…" her eyes glazed over, a flash of grief crossing her face, but then she shook her head and continued. "We had to climb that high you see, so that we could reach our 'secret spot'. Not that there was really anything secretive about it, but it was our spot. There was a branch just before one would break the canopy of the trees, a branch so wide and strong that two could lay side by side. We'd spend hours up in that tree, my mother teaching me the constellations, telling me the stories that accompanied them…" Oh how she loved those precious nights, she knew she would cherish them for the rest of her days.

"My father," she smiled wider now " of course knew about our nightly adventures, but my father being my father, didn't want to intrude on our not-so-secret escapades. However, one day I got home after the sun had already set ,but I would not be seeing my stars that night, for my mother had to tend to a few men who had been ambushed along the road…I went up to my room and was met with the most wonderful surprise, my room had been made into a glass dome. The walls ,the ceiling, all glass…but what took my breath away was the awe inspiring view, the stars ,twinkling far above, was on perfect display for me through the thin canopy of trees above our home. It was… spectacular. On my bed there was a small piece of paper, a note, which simply read: Now you may walk among the stars, even when you do not slumber. Do not forget that you are more precious than them all – Ada."

Tauriel smiled softly, too caught up in memory to feel the embarrassment of sharing something so intimate with someone she barely knew. But ,all good things must come to an end, and the realization dawned on her. She had stared off into the distance while speaking and now she addressed Kili without meeting his eyes.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head and chuckling humourlessly "you don't want to know all that, I'm sorry to have bored you."

"Tauriel," he said, obviously wanting her to meet his gaze.

She still did not meet his eyes.

"Tauriel…" he said it softly, carefully, almost…lovingly.

She looked into his eyes. And that's when she saw it, that soft look in his warm brown eyes. A look she could not name. Even though she would not ponder on it, the word adoration kept echoing in her head.

"… you are the most fascinating creature I have ever met, you could speak gibberish and I would sit here in silent awe. Sharing something as intimate as your love for your parents and their love for you…it is not something I take lightly. I feel honoured that you would choose to share something like that with me, of all people. …thank you."

"Oh Kili, but it's so easy with you...almost freeing"

And that's what terrifies me.

Xxx

Kili

After Tauriel had spoken of her parents (something which he felt deeply honoured about) he had told tales of his own: of his childhood, the blue mountains, the mischief he and Fili got up too. He spoke of Thorin, what it was like being third in line to a throne which was currently occupied by a dragon, in a kingdom he had never laid eyes on. Once he started, he didn't seem to have been able to stop.

But as his eyes caught sight of a stray ray of sunlight which had somehow made its way through a crevice in the ceiling, and watched it land on a strand of Tauriel's hair, he knew their conversation would soon be over. They had spoken through the entire night.

No doubt noticing the same thing, Tauriel delivered the blow , "I should go."

"No! I mean…" he suddenly felt desperate "you don't have to. Unless of course you want to…what I mean to say is," he really was making a royal fool of himself, wasn't he? "you don't need to go if you don't want to. I rather enjoy your company."

She seemed unfazed by his blabbering, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth the only clue that she had heard him.

"My patrol starts soon, and I'm afraid I haven't let you get a wink of sleep."

"I'd gladly give up sleep for the rest of my life if it meant spending my nights with you."

Tauriel merely shook her head.

"You regard me too highly, I am but a lowly Silvan elf."

"There is nothing lowly about you, Tauriel. You are brave and kind and beautiful. Please, never forget that. You are by no means lowly."

"You speak so freely of what you think of me."

Kili shook his head, smiled.

"It's the only way I know how, and I do not regret it. I only regret that you do not seem to already know these things yourself."

"You are so kind and gracious ,Kili. You will make a wonderful prince, and if need be, king."

"Why does it sound as though you are bidding me farewell?"

"Not farewell, just goodbye. I somehow do not doubt our paths crossing again. And besides, you still need to show me that firemoon, remember?"

"How could I not?"

More sunlight fell onto Tauriel's hair ,making her fiery locks come alive, seeming to dance when she turned her head.

He so desperately wanted to touch it.

"Until then, Kili, Prince of Erebor."

"Goodbye ,Tauriel, Daughter of The Forest."

They shared one last smile, and then she left. Taking a piece of his heart with her.