Rhavaniel fed the fires in the kitchen and the back bedroom, then sat beside Kili on the bed, brushing her hair. She had taken one last bath in the river.

"I will miss this place." she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know I am being fanciful, but it felt like home."

"It was also practical." said Kili, "This is the best shelter we have had."

Rhavaniel handed him the last vial of miruvor.

Kili shook his head, "No, we should save this for another dire circumstance."

"Kili," she said, "Do you want to be well enough to leave here tomorrow? Then take this. Let us have faith that the worst is behind us."

He nodded in agreement, and drank the last vial.

"Oh, what does it taste like?" she almost forgot to ask.

Kili realized that much like seeing Rivendell, he had experienced parts of Elf culture than Rhavaniel had not. Rather than explain it with inadequate words, he surprised them both by kissing her on the lips. Rhavaniel kissed him back.

"What did it taste like?" Kili asked.

Rhavaniel searched for words, "The first taste was honey, and oat, and a flower I can only imagine. The second taste was much better, and that was you."

"What do I taste like, then?"

Rhavaniel blushed, "May I kiss you again?"

Kili smiled at her, "Yes."

She slid on to his lap to face him, kissed him, and sighed. "Like things I never knew I was missing."

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

She was darker skinned that any Elf Kili had seen before. They had all seemed so deathly pale to him, but not her. Her skin reminded him of when he was a boy, and had discovered a nest of swan eggs. They were a light golden brown, warm, and perfectly smooth. The voice in the back of his head said the same words then as now - It is fragile, you must leave it be.

Kili pulled back, "Stop."

"Have I offended you?" she asked anxiously.

"No," Kili assured her, "I just...Dwarves are not casual, about kissing."

"Neither are Elves." she countered, "I understand - maybe you do not feel the same way about me that I feel about you. I should go, and let you sleep."

She moved to get up but Kili put his arms around her. "No. Stay."

"We can talk until you fall asleep."

"I like when we do that." Kili acknowledged.

She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "If I were to make sense of myself, I would say that my playmates were right. That I truly am an Elf that Aulë built. No burden of past wrongs between Elf and Dwarf apply to me. No rules of Elf behavior bind me. I can find my way in the world as I choose...make friends wherever I can, learn new languages, and take my heart to different places."

Kili stroked her hair, "Don't ever be reckless with your heart. You should only choose to love your own kind, someone who understands you."

"Sometimes I think I have no other kind, but it would not matter if I did. Do you really believe we choose who we love?" she asked.

"No, we don't choose." Kili admitted. He was not sure how long he had been trying to guard his own heart from her. He did not want to feel this way about an Elf, or about any girl, really. He was so young, love seemed a dangerous prospect for him. She was even younger. She shouldn't be thinking what he was thinking...was she?

Rhavaniel kissed him on the neck, and moved up to his cheek, planting light kisses along the way. This didn't feel like the carefree kisses of playgrounds.

Kili searched his mind for any other practical point he could grasp. "You are immortal. Someone like me would be gone from your life so soon..."

She opened her eyes and pulled her head back to face him. "I was orphaned twice by the time I was three years old. Being Elf does not spare us from broken-heartedness. I could love nothing ever again and be safe until the end of time, or I could take every chance at love. I prefer the second option. What do you think?"

"I think you are a bad influence on me." he smiled.

"Oh, that is very true." she laughed. "I think you are upset that I am already much better than you are at serious kissing. You Dwarves are very competitive, I have noticed."

She kissed his ears next.

"You do not understand Dwarves." he chided her gently, "We are taught to be respectful of girls - that means letting the girl decided what she will or will not share with you."

Rhavaniel pondered this new information about the rules. "The girl must decide first. But if you did not care for the girl, you would say 'no'?"

"Of course." Kili said, "That is only right. She deserves to know if her feelings are shared."

"If I offered you my heart, would you say 'no', or would you accept it?"

"I won't make a promise I cannot keep."

"I did not ask you to keep it safe, I only asked if you wanted my heart here and now."

"Yes." He could not bring himself to say no.

Rhavaniel thought for a moment, then wordlessly pulled off her nightshirt. The soft fabric brushed the length of her dark hair before it fell to the floor. She took Kili's hand in hers, and placed it over her beating heart.

(********************************************)

Author's note: There is no smut in the next chapter. Readers will have to use their imagination. This was the first piece of fiction I ever wrote, and I was not prepared to write a love scene. Now that I am going through and cleaning the story up, I decided that it would not be appropriate for the tone of the story.