Author's note: Thank you so much for your feedback. Currently I'm having a hard time writing this story, not so much because I'm out of ideas, but because I am so awfully busy :-/ I hope to be able to keep updating weekly, but if not I apologize in advance. If I could, I would spend all of my time writing. This one is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you like it nevertheless (at least it's rather fluffy).

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit.

Chapter III

"Can you see anything from up there?" Tauriel heard Kíli's voice drift up to where she was perched on the branch of a large tree, overlooking the lands around them.

She leaned forward a little, looking down in order to catch his gaze and felt the corners of her mouth turn upwards in a teasing smile. "I see many things from up here. Maybe you should join me."

She saw him roll his eyes, not annoyed, but clearly a little unnerved by the several yards that separated her from the ground. "Thank you, but I am quite happy to stay where I am," he mumbled, well aware that her keen ears would catch his low voice. "If you have seen enough, come back down, would you?"

Tauriel suppressed a smile and debated whether she should surprise him by dropping down right in front of him. But something in his voice and his eyes as he craned his head to get a look at her made her reconsider this and she chose a more controlled descent, lowering herself to the ground carefully and slowly.

"I do not lose my balance that easily, you know," she said nevertheless, needing him to understand that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, no matter what her most recent state of mind might have indicated.

"I know, I know," Kíli muttered, averting his gaze. "I'm merely trying to look out for you."

"I am aware of that," she said quickly, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "And I am grateful for it." And she really was – even though it was clear that when he said 'you' he meant that as in plural 'you.' Only a few days ago, this would have caused her to panic, would have made her try to put some distance between them. While she still could not bring herself to actually speak of this matter aloud, it did not make her want to run away anymore whenever Kíli alluded to it in some way.

Now Kíli looked back at her, not letting go of her hand. The softness in his eyes nearly made her say something else, but she held herself back, her heart jumping into her throat all of a sudden. "There is no sign of a settlement of any kind in sight," she said instead, her voice a little husky. She cleared her throat. "Just the river to the East and mostly open land, some trees, some smaller hills, to the West."

Kíli continued to look at her for a few seconds before speaking. "How far do you think before we reach the southern boundary of the Angle?"

Tauriel gave a small shrug. "Another few days' journey, I believe. Four, at the most."

He frowned. "I would have thought that we had come across some sign of the Rangers by now," he said.

Tauriel smiled, reaching out to smooth the lines of worry forming on his forehead. "Maybe they are as good at hiding their own tracks as they are at finding those of others," she quipped.

He huffed, a lopsided smile on his face. "Probably." Walking around her he came to stand at the edge of the small, wooded hill they currently found themselves on, overlooking the river Bruinen. "What next?" he asked, uncertainty carrying in his voice. "Do we continue south or do we turn west?"

"We should keep going south, I believe," she replied. Looking down at the river, her face lit up when she noticed a small pool that had formed on the western bank, and area of a couple yards in width where the water seemed reasonably shallow and which the steady current of the main river did not seem to touch. Looking back at Kíli, she saw him looking down at the same spot, clearly lost in thought. "Since we do not seem to be anywhere near reaching our goal today, would you care to join me for a bath?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"What, here?" he asked in return, surprised. "I'm not sure if it is such a good idea, since we have no way of knowing… Tauriel, wait!"

But she was already making her way down the small but steep slope, her step secure. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled when she saw Kíli throw up his hands in defeat and follow her, his descent considerably less elegant than hers.

Uttering what were obviously a few Khuzdul curses under his breath, he approached her from behind once he had reached the bottom of the slope. "Were you listening to me at all? I really do not believe we should-"

He broke off in mid-sentence when she untied the broad leather-belt she was wearing and tossed it to the side, quickly proceeding to shrug out of her knee-length, green dress underneath, letting it pool around her feet. Stepping out of her boots and leggings, she again cast a look at him over her shoulder, her lips curling in delight at his utterly stunned expression.

"So, what will it be?" she asked, teasingly, taking a first careful step into the water without taking her gaze off him. Her body responded with the most delicious, anticipatory tingle as she watched his eyes darken with desire.

"In Mahal's name…," he growled, but nevertheless proceeded to strip himself of his own clothing, suddenly in quite a hurry to join her.

Smiling in satisfaction, Tauriel took another few steps into the water, enjoying its refreshing coolness as it enveloped her body. She waded deeper into the small pool until the water came to just about her hips and held out her arms, resting her palms against the smooth surface of the water. Closing her eyes, all she heard was the roar of the river ahead of them and the singing of the birds in the trees. The sun gently warmed the bare skin of her upper body, creating the most interesting contrast to the coldness of the water pooling around her legs.

Peace. Despite the calmness and uneventfulness of the days that lay behind them, she had quite forgotten what it felt like to truly be at peace with yourself and the world around you.

She sighed contentedly when Kíli came up behind her and reached out to draw her against his firm, broad chest. With one of his hands he brushed her long hair aside, kissing the skin of her shoulder beneath. In the position they were standing in now, his head came to just below her neck and when he stepped a little closer still, she could feel his hardness pressing against the back of her upper thigh, causing her to reflexively rock her hips back against him.

His responding low groan made her shiver with desire and when his right hand sneaked up to gently cup one of her breasts, running a calloused thumb across its already hardened peak, she felt her knees tremble slightly, her toes curling to dig into the sandy ground below the water.

She desperately wanted to turn around and crush her lips against his, wrap her arms around him, but the little jolts of pleasure caused by the painfully slow, southward path that his hand was beginning to follow, made her stay in place and she let her head fall back with a small moan, her eyes closed.

A few moments later, however, she opened her eyes again when his movements stilled. She felt rather than heard him draw a nervous breath before he splayed his fingers over her stomach, gently pressing his palm against her smooth skin. Involuntarily, she stiffened a little at that, which he felt of course, and made to withdraw his hand.

She surprised herself quite a bit by quickly raising her own hand and covering his, keeping it firmly in place. Looking down at where their joined hands covered her stomach, she admitted to herself that – maybe and only if you looked very closely – you could detect the hint of a rounding there. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest at that thought, only this time not from fear, but from a bewildering sense of happiness, brought about by the warmth that she could feel radiating from deep within herself in response to the touch of his hand against the bare skin of her belly.

She wondered if she would be able to put her feelings in this very moment into words, if there was a way how she could let Kíli know what was happening inside of her right now. But she hardly dared to draw a breath, afraid to break this intense, unexpected moment between them.

But from the way that she could feel Kíli's own heart hammer in his chest where it was pressed against her back, she knew that he felt the same and that there were no words needed. Not right now. He leaned his forehead against her spine, exhaling a shaky breath, some of the tension leaving his body.

They stayed like that for a long moment, seeking comfort in each other, calming their hearts, calming their minds. Then Tauriel slowly turned around, still holding Kíli's hand in place against her stomach. He looked at her, his expression one of amazement and wonder and she could not help but smile, telling him without words, that yes, right now she was perfectly fine with him touching her like this, sharing her burden.

The smile he returned was bright and he lifted his other hand to cup her cheek, gently drawing her down to brush a kiss against her lips. Their lips had barely touched, when they were both startled by a deep, gravelly voice cutting through the air.

Kíli spun around upon hearing someone speak up behind them, adrenaline rushing through his body. This was precisely why he had tried to stop Tauriel from her plan, but she had not been willing to listen and he had been persuaded all too eagerly. And now here they were, separated from their weapons by several feet of water, and not even a scrap of clothing to cover themselves with.

He tried his best to shield Tauriel with his own body, reaching behind himself to pull her close, as his startled eyes fell upon a tall, lean figure reclining in the grass above them.

"I have travelled far and wide and would have thought I had seen many a strange thing. A dwarf and an elf, going for a swim together, is however quite puzzling to behold. And pretty amusing, I might add," the stranger said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

A Ranger, Kíli realized, with a nervous jolt of excitement. He wore the telltale green coat that he had also seen on other members of his kin. His shaggy hair was of a chestnut brown and a short beard of the same color covered his wide, angular jaw. Kíli noted no real animosity in his sharp gaze, but equal shares of callousness and shrewdness instead.

Kíli swallowed under the stranger's scrutiny, wondering what would be the best way to answer him that would not to ruin any chance of their negotiations being successful. If there even was such a way considering the odd and more than slightly embarrassing circumstances of their encounter. Ah, how he wished for Fíli to be there. Well, maybe not right there with them, because that would be even more awkward. No, he wished his brother were there to guide him, to lead the way. For a dwarf, whose stubbornness usually outweighed their negotiating skills, Fíli had always had a way of knowing what words to use with whom in order to not give unwanted insult and keep everyone happy. Not like Kíli himself, who wore his heart on his sleeve. Which often resulted in interesting situations – such as confessing his romantic feelings to the elf-maid currently pressed against his backside while he was barely conscious.

This time, Kíli was spared from getting himself in more trouble than he was already in by said elf-maid speaking up behind him. "We are glad to have provided some amusement to you, sir," she said, her voice betraying not a trace of discomfort. Below the water, Kíli could however feel her fingernails dig into the skin of his arms. She, too, did not underestimate the threat that the stranger might pose. "If you would be so kind and allow us some privacy to make ourselves decent once more, we will be happy to explain to you the reasons for us being here."

Well done, Tauriel, Kíli thought proudly, trying to make him give us some space and signal that we would like to talk at the same time.

The Ranger did not reply immediately and looked at Tauriel before shifting his gaze to Kíli and then back at her again. When he answered her, he did not use the common tongue, but something that to Kíli sounded a lot like the Elvish tongue he had heard frequently on his travels. This surprised him – he could not remember Gandalf mentioning that the Dúnedain would be skilled in Sindarin.

From her split second of hesitation, Kíli judged that Tauriel, too, had not expected this. Her reply sounded slightly angered, but what she said, Kíli could not tell. All he understood was his own name as well as hers, so he assumed that the part where they would introduce themselves had already been taken care of.

When she was done speaking, the brown haired Ranger threw a quick, surprised glance at Kíli, before pulling up one corner of his mouth in a smirk. "Right," he said. "Meet me where you so carelessly left the remainder of your things once you have put some clothes on. I have to admit I am a little intrigued to hear this story of yours."

With those words he disappeared up the grassy hill and out of sight. Kíli spared about two seconds to make sure that he was not coming back, before grasping Tauriel's wrist, pulling her out of the water with him.

Reaching the water's edge, he stepped onto the sandy ground and quickly handed her her clothes before gathering his own. When he had finally managed to struggle into his pants – not so easy when your skin is still wet – he noticed that Tauriel had not moved at all and stood there clutching her bundle of clothes to her chest.

"Get dressed," he said a little more sharply than he intended to, eager to avoid another all too revealing encounter with the Ranger.

She bit her lip. "You are angry with me. For bringing us into this situation."

He frowned and paused in his movements before turning around to smile at her. "Trust me, I have done much more foolish things in my life, that have brought me a lot more trouble. Compared to those, this is just a slight… inconvenience."

When she still did not move, he walked over to her and reached up to cup her face firmly in his hands. "I jumped in right behind you, didn't I? How could I not have, with the sight of you before my eyes."

When she blushed a little he grinned and leaned up to press a kiss to her lips, wishing very much to continue where they had been interrupted before, but tearing himself away before his heart or his body could get any ideas. "Now put some clothes on before I forget myself," he half whispered, his gaze darkening with desire.

This time she obliged, but not before leaning down to capture his lips in another, slightly longer kiss. As he waited for her to finish getting dressed, he nervously watched the treeline above them, wondering how that talk with their latest acquaintance would turn out.

Looking back at Tauriel he saw that she was busy trying to hastily rearrange her hair. Smiling when he saw her frown in frustration he went over to her. "Sit down," he said and gestured towards the ground when she raised her eyebrows questioningly. She hesitated but obliged and he surprised her by grasping a few strands of her hair that had come loose and tying them into a delicate braid running along the side of her head. This was something his hands had been itching to do for a long time and now he wondered why he had not done it sooner and in a moment where they were not in a hurry, where he could savor the feeling of being allowed to run his fingers through her long, silky tresses.

When he was done she reached up with one hand and gingerly touched the braid he had made. She looked at him in utter surprise. "How come I did not know that you could do this?" she asked.

He shrugged and grinned at her. "Have you looked at other dwarves? Just because I prefer not to bother with that kind of thing does not mean I do not know how to do it. In fact, this counts as quite the accomplishment among my kin."

She returned his grin and reached up to pull his lips down to hers. "Something where your people and mine are quite similar."

"Though I'm sure neither would like to hear it," Kíli replied with a low chuckle.

Smiling at each other for another moment, Kíli was the one to tear his gaze away, once more looking up the small hill they had descended not too long ago. "What did he say to you, before?" he asked, nodding his head into the direction that the Ranger had disappeared into.

Tauriel looked slightly uncomfortable. "He demanded to know our names and where we come from. I told him my name and that you were a rightful heir of Durin."

Kíli nodded. That much he had understood. „And?" he asked, knowing that this could not have been what had made her sound angered when she had spoken to the Ranger.

She sighed. "Not much else than what was to be expected, really."

Kíli gave a slight huff, his suspicions that the Ranger had somehow referred to her and him in a disgraceful manner affirmed. "Then I suppose I do not really care to know," he said, reaching out to take her hand in his. "Not as long as I am still required to behave civilly towards him."

Tauriel squeezed his hand before letting go to pick up her belt off the ground. Tying it around her waist she pushed herself into an upright position. "Let us go find out what information he can give us."

"Or rather which he is willing to give us," Kíli grumbled, earning an affectionate grin from his Elven lover. "By the way," he added as they made their way up the small hill side by side, "we really need to work on that thing were we are being watched in more than slightly compromising situations without even realizing it. Happens a little too often for my taste."

"You do not say," Tauriel mumbled, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she reached out to help him climb the last few steps of the grassy slope.