Fili and Kili prepared to sleep by the campfire.
Fili whispered, "What did you and that Elf girl talk about for ten days?"
Kili was silent.
"So, you were as tongue-tied with her as you are with Dwarf girls, eh? What did she talk about while you listened?"
Silence.
Fili kicked his younger brother. "Come on. Say something. You are not asleep. Tell me one thing about Elf girls, and I will leave you alone."
"She tasted like honey." Kili said quietly.
Fili bolted upright, "You kissed that girl!"
Kili shushed him, lest the others hear.
Fili fell back to the bedroll laughing. "Ho, ho! You were too scrawny for a Dwarf girl, so you found yourself an Elf! I would want to know how Dwarf and Elf compare, but unfortunately you've nothing to compare it to. I should have stolen a kiss myself before she left, since at least I could have told the difference."
Kili thumped Fili hard on the chest and Fili groaned, "Argh! Sorry, brother. Sorry."
After Fili regained his composure. "That explains why you have been so upset. You liked that Elfling as a bit more than friend."
Kili sighed, "Uncle Thorin is angry with me."
Fili chuckled, "Well, he shouldn't be. There's no harm done. Not really."
Kili knew better, "I hurt everyone, especially her. I am paying the price now."
"Kili, I have kissed many girls. A kiss is loaning a bit of your heart, and borrowing a bit of hers. That bit of heart comes back to you, none the worse for wear. Same with the girl. Was that your first real kiss? You think you gave your whole heart, but you did not. You will recover, and so will she. Your heart will be yours again, long before you are ready to marry and give it away, whole, to the right one."
Kili rolled onto his back and asked hesitantly, "If you behave as though married with a girl, is your whole heart gone, never to return?"
"Kili, what are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything, I'm asking ...in the hypothetical. You're the older brother, you're supposed to know these things. If you don't have answers, shut up and go to sleep!"
"Brother, tell me what happened on the road." Fili asked with growing concern.
"I have told you everything - every encounter with Orc, every path taken, everything I saw. I told Uncle Thorin, I told you, I told the Elves. I am all told out."
"That is not what I meant. What happened between you and the girl?" Fili coaxed gently.
"You won't even say her name. " Kili pulled up his hood and rolled over.
Fili wondered how they had all been so blind. How could something not have happened between two lost and frightened young ones, with only each other to cling to?
"You are not the only one to grow up on this journey." Fili shared with his brother. "Uncle Thorin wants me to lead. That means stop following his every order and start questioning what I don't agree with. Maybe I don't want this feud with the Elves. Why can't we make peace and trade with them like the Men of Lake-Town? It can happen. Once we have something of our own and our elders can lay down their bitterness and burdens - we will have some hope for a change. We will be the lucky ones, free to make our own choices. Would you like that - to have a choice?"
Kili turned back to look at Fili. "I would. But that is not what is going to happen. I think she was all the luck I was missing, and I was all the love she was missing."
(***************)
Dwalin and Thorin sat by the fire.
Dwalin broke the silence, "I am thinking I should say something to the boy."
"Give him a bit more time." Thorin advised, "Let whatever poison the Elfling gave him leave his system. Kili will be himself again soon. He will come to you when he realizes the truth of things."
Dwalin sighed, "I never thought there'd be a day where one of those boys did not trust me."
"That's what Elves do - sow strife. A few hours, and that one had us at each others' throats. "
"Are you worried about what happens next? "
"No." Thorin assured him. "After we recover Erebor and claim the treasure, I will be sending Kili to escort the families back from Blue Mountain. Kili will not disobey that order, and he'll be gone for a year. I will miss him, but it is for his own good. I expect that Kili will come to know some suitable Dwarrowdams in that time. As for the Elf, I will send off a handsome payment in gold for her broken bow and injuries. Let her try explain that to her people. I don't imagine Thranduil's Kingdom will be a welcome place for her much longer."