Chp 12

The group made their way slowly back to the house. To Tauriel's endless surprise, it was the dwarf Dwaylin who offered to help her walk through the darkness. She rested her arm around his broad shoulders and together they walked through the forest in silence.

Eventually they all entered the clearing around the house and Kili knocked on the front door, "Open up," He called, "It's us."

A frightened dwarf woman opened the door and peered up at them, "Is it over?" she asked, her large eyes taking in the sight of the group.

"Yes," Kili nodded, rocking back and forth on his crutches, "It's over."

The woman swung open the door, "They did it!" She called over her shoulder, "Thank Mahal!"

Sounds of relief and gratitude filled the house as the small party filed into the warm fire-lit house.

Tauriel found her way to the small bed by the wall and sat down, ignoring the sounds of the happy dwarfs around her. She was tired, and she hurt all over, and now all she wanted to do was sleep. She glanced over to where Kili still stood, shaking hands with the other dwarves while Dwaylin and Unway related the events that had happened that night to the rest of the group.

The children stood agape and the women held their breath as the story was told by their leaders. She shrugged off her jacket and laid it beside the bed, taking one last moment to watch as Kili received the group's awe and appreciation. His face was still smeared with blood and he rocked back and forth on his crutches uneasily, but he still shone out as a leader. He would have been a great king. Tauriel knew this. However, he had been called to a different destiny. She glanced around the inside of the house and took in the sight of the small dwarvish babies and defenseless women. If Kili had remained in the Lonely Mountain these travelers would have been slaughtered. He had chosen the path of nameless service and had saved his kinsmen because of it.

From across the room Kili met her gaze and smiled. His eyes were warm and quiet.

Tauriel returned his smile. They had been right to choose this path. Although it was a harder path to follow they had been right.

Soon the group had settled down again to sleep what little of the night was left. Kili sat in front of her, putting a splint on her leg to support her ankle. "Anything else broken?" Kili asked quietly.

"Nothing," Tauriel answered, using a wet rag to clean off the caked blood from the cuts on her face, "How did you know the spear would kill it?" The question had been on her mind all night and now she finally could ask him in private.

"Truthfully," Kili looked up, "You killed it."

Tauriel frowned, "No I didn't," she said, "It was faking."

Kili finished wrapping her splint, tying off the cloth he was using to bind it carefully, "No, he wasn't. He was just running off adrenalin. I've seen it lots of times."

"So you're saying that he would have mauled me to death and then go off and die slowly?" Tauriel winced as Kili lay her leg against the bed.

"Yup," Kili shrugged off his bloody jacket and lay it on the floor beside the bed, "I've got a scar on my back from a bear that did that when I was hunting with Fili"

"You knew that the monster was going to do that?" Tauriel was shocked through her weariness.

"No," Kili said, climbing onto the bed beside her, "It's a fluke. But I knew that the spear would take down a bear if the arrow didn't."

"Oh," Tauriel glanced around the quiet room, looking at the sleeping families on the floor and watching as the two elder dwarves sat at the chairs beside the fireplace smoking their pipes, "I'm just glad it's over."

Kili nodded, "I'm glad you're alright."

Tauriel smiled, "I'm an elf," She took his calloused hand in her own, "Elves are tougher than you give us credit for."

"I'm starting to see that," Kili replied, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together they sat against the wall on the bed.

Tauriel smiled, "We make quite the pair, don't we?" She glanced down at their injuries, noting now that they both wore braces and casts.

Kili chuckled, "Yes we do. But everything heals after a while."

Tauriel paused for a moment resting her head on his shoulder, "I know we agreed to stay here just for the winter, but I like it here. Could we stay longer?"

"Whatever makes you happy," Kili answered, letting out a long sigh.

For a long time they simply sat and watched the dwarf families asleep on the floor and the elders smoking their pipes in the firelight. Eventually Tauriel motioned to Kili that she wanted to lay down and he moved aside for her, sitting up beside her.

As Tauriel yawned, Kili put his fingers through her long red hair. Tauriel closed her eyes, feeling safe for the first time since she had started this adventure.

Kili sat quietly, watching the fire. After a while he began to sing himself under his breath. His words were quiet, and only Tauriel could barely hear them, "Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old, we must away at break of day..."

Tauriel fell asleep peacefully, listening to Kili's singing as she slipped into a restful and quiet slumber.

TBC

AN. I hope everyone had a good weekend, thanks for all the reviews!