Author's note: Somebody asked for fluff - well, here's plenty ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit or any of its characters.

Chapter XXI

"Tauriel?" Kíli called her name cautiously as he stepped across the threshold into the room they shared. Light was fading outside and no lamp had been lighted yet, making it hard for him to see much in the shadows.

He squinted, finally making out her shape where she sat on the edge of their bed, her face turned away from him. He pursed his lips. If she was crying - if Legolas had made her cry - he swore to himself that he would go after the blasted elf and find something to hit him over the head with. Something large and heavy, preferably.

But as he slowly advanced on her and reached out to cup her face in his palm, running his thumb across her cheek, he was relieved to discover no tears. And yet, when he came to stand in front of her to gaze down at her lovely face, he saw that her eyes were tinged with sadness and disappointment.

Taking a step forward, he sighed and reached out to pull her against him, tightening his arms around her shoulders when she buried her face against his chest.

"You heard everything that was said outside?" he asked her after holding her silently for a couple of minutes.

She nodded against his chest and tightened her arms around his waist. Her silence was making him slightly anxious, but he continued nevertheless, feeling the need to assure her that everything would be alright. "Then you know already that Legolas will accept it. In due time."

Tauriel did not reply immediately, but eventually she pulled back slightly to look up at him. "I wish I could say that it does not matter what he thinks. That I do not care."

Kíli reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face. "But you do. And it is alright. I do not even want to think about how I would have felt if Fíli had reacted the same way when I told him our news."

She smiled wistfully. "But he didn't. He understood."

"He did," Kíli returned. "But then again, Fíli is my brother and while there was a brief time when he did not exactly approve of my love for you, he ultimately only wants me to be happy – without any reservations. Legolas, on the other hand…"

He trailed off, unsure, after all this time still, how to put the connection between Tauriel and Thranduil's son into words. Which sometimes made him uneasy – not jealous as when they had first met because by now he knew, without doubt, that she would never part from him – but uneasy. Like a bitter taste left behind by something you ate and that you cannot quite get rid of. But, for his love's sake, he would always try his best not to let that feeling get the better of him.

Tauriel sighed. "I know. My happiness will always come at a certain price for him."

He cupped her chin to make her look him in the eye. "But you cannot take responsibility for that, Tauriel. I know that you want everyone to be happy, just like you always want to save everyone. And while you may usually succeed in the latter, the former is beyond even your power."

"You are right, I'm afraid." She bit her lip, mulling over his words for a moment. When she looked back up at him, an unexpected smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "When did you become so wise?"

Kíli raised a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Do you mean to say that you thought me a fool before?"

She laughed at that, some of the darkness leaving her expression. "By far not. But you suddenly say all those profound things and, to be honest, a few months back I would have expected you to try and shoot Legolas in a situation such as this."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Were you disappointed that I didn't? Because I can still go after him, let me just grab my bow…"

He made as if he were going to leave, but was stopped by her hands on his chest. "No, please don't," she laughed. "I am glad you reacted the way you did. It was merely an observation – you have changed."

Her voice had grown more serious towards the end of her statement and her eyes were soft as she gazed at him. He smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to her temple, thinking back to the conversation he had had with his brother that very day. "That comes with the job description, I suppose."

She frowned. "Meaning?"

He let his lips travel across her ear, down to the side of neck, while he gently pushed her to lie back on the bed, allowing him to climb on top of her. "Father-to-be," he whispered between kisses. "Knight in shining armor… Do you want me to go on?"

She giggled and then sighed as his lips traveled lower to graze the skin above the neckline of her dress. "I suppose I haven't been making either of those tasks very easy for you, have I?" she whispered.

He paused in his administrations and looked up at her with amusement written all over his face. "That would be quite an understatement."

Tugging at his shirt, she invited him to lie next to her so that they were face to face. "I promise that this will change in the months to come," she said genuinely. "With us staying here, at least, it should not be so difficult…"

Her voice trailed off, but he sensed that there was something else on her mind when her eyes drifted up to the ceiling, lost in thought. "But?" he pressed on, drawing her attention back to him.

She sighed and smiled a little sheepishly. "I do long to get out for a bit."

He suppressed a laugh. "Already? I would have bet that I would be the one to first grow restless."

She reached up to play with the lacings on his shirt, her eyes cast down. "Well, you were out discussing strategies with Fendir, Finn, Fíli… I, on the other hand, was… well, here."

He looked down at her thoughtfully, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. "You are right, of course," he said and then grinned. "If you can wait until tomorrow, I'll have a surprise for you that might help you with your restlessness."

Her eyes widened. "You do? What is it?"

"Now, it would not be a surprise if I told you," he said, enjoying having something he could tease her with. His grin turned a little mischievous. "You could however try to get it out of me."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Could I now?"

He rolled off her and onto his back, holding up his hands. "I'm willing to let you try," he said in his most innocent manner.

The grin on his face quickly turned into a gentle smile as she proceeded to roll onto her side, her body pressed flush against his, and he reached up to wrap a hand around her neck, guiding her lips to his. Any thoughts of teasing and playing games were quickly forgotten as their lips moved against one another, hands tangling, touching, caressing.

It was still completely dark outside when Tauriel felt Kíli stir behind her, the change in his deep, regular breaths not escaping her attention after having listened to it peacefully for the first half of the night. Ever since they had come to Imladris, her habit of sleeping during most nights had been disrupted. Maybe it was the company of other Elves, maybe it was the feeling of security she currently experienced. Or maybe her body was finally coming to terms with the additional strain of childbearing. Either way, fatigue would not overtake her as often as it had before. Asleep or not, what Tauriel would not have wanted to miss was the feeling of lying next to Kíli at night and, thankfully, she did not have to.

"Are you awake?" she whispered now, low enough not to wake him in case she had been wrong.

He responded by scooting closer to her under the sheets, gathering her slim form against his broad, warm chest. "Mmmhhm," he mumbled, nuzzling her neck just below her hairline. The hotness of his breath sent a pleasant tingle down her spine.

The hand that he had wrapped around her shoulders slowly began to wander across her bare upper body and her breath hitched in her throat when his calloused thumb brushed against the side of her breast, causing its peak to harden almost painfully within an instant.

"You should sleep," she chided, despite the fact that she did not at all want him to stop when he began to draw lazy circles against her skin with his fingertips.

He stilled, pretending to contemplate her words for a moment. "Nah," he finally said, drawing her even closer against his body. "You are much more interesting to me than sleep."

She chuckled lightly in response. "I am happy to hear that out of the two, you desire me more. And yet, I do not want to be the one to rob you of the rest your body needs. It seems that where I have slept too much these last few months, you rarely slept enough." And it was true. Despite the fact that they had been here for a couple of days now, Kíli still looked a little paler to her than usual, his eyes, that were still heavy from sleep, showing the hint of dark shadows underneath.

He ran his hand up and down her upper arm. "Don't worry," he said, his voice very low. "I'm doing perfectly fine. And besides, it is not as if we have to be up and running tomorrow, do we?"

She sighed, arching back into his touch ever so slightly. "No, we do not, I suppose..."

He gave her a peck on her shoulder before rolling her onto her back, pushing his upper body off the mattress so that he could gaze down at her, his bare chest hovering inches over hers. Looking back up at him, Tauriel felt all resistance melt and her breaths came more rapidly when, with his free hand, Kíli resumed his previous activity of drawing patterns on her skin with the tips of his fingers.

As Kíli's hand slowly followed a downward path, Tauriel was just about to lose all sense of time and place when she was jolted back to the present by the most curious sensation inside of her. Sitting up suddenly, her forehead almost collided with that of her lover, but she did not react to his surprised little grunt and lifted a hand to gingerly touch her stomach instead.

It was not that the child she carried had never made its presence known to her before, no - but anything that she had felt before could most aptly be compared to the shy flutter of a small butterfly's wings, never something she could precisely locate and usually it had been gone before she'd had the time to fully register it. This, however, was different. What she felt now was not at all uncertain or difficult to describe. It was the movement of a tiny person growing stronger with each passing day.

Kíli stared at her with worry written all over his face. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

But she just shook her head in reply and quickly grasped his hand, placing it firmly against her stomach with her own two hands on top.

For a moment there was nothing, the only sound coming from crickets chirping away outside. And then another, tiny jab from inside her womb, like a hiccup. "Can you feel it?" Tauriel whispered, completely in awe.

The frown on Kíli's face disappeared to be replaced by an expression of complete bewilderment. "Is that…?" It seemed that he wanted to continue, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Tauriel nodded eagerly, not entirely able to explain why tears suddenly pricked the corners of her eyes. "It is," she half laughed, half sobbed. "Your daughter. Our child."

His eyes shining with a wild happiness, Kíli searched her face before scooting back in order to be able to lean forward and place his head closer to the gentle rounding of her stomach. "Does it hurt?" he asked, his eyes flickering back and forth between her eyes and the place where his hand was pressed against her and where, Tauriel knew, he could still feel the feeble movements of the unborn life inside of her.

She shook her head. "No," she returned gently. "Not at all. It is a strange sensation, but the most wonderful one indeed."

Smiling widely, Kíli gently removed both their hands, uncovering the skin beneath. He hesitated, but then leaned in very close. His breath tickled her, but Tauriel did her best to hold completely still, mesmerized by his actions.

When he spoke, his voice was barely louder than a whisper. "Take your time, my little one," he said with such gentleness that Tauriel thought her heart would surely burst. "I just know you'll be the most perfect being to walk this earth – aside from your mother, obviously."

Tauriel laughed and lifted her hand to run it through his tousled hair. "Stop it," she said a little self-consciously. "You are making me blush – once again."

Kíli glanced up at her, smirking. "Do you hear that, little one?" he muttered, his attention returned to her stomach. "I'm making your mother blush. But just wait until you see her with your own eyes. Then you will see that I am right…"

With a small, contented sigh, Tauriel gave up protesting and rolled onto her side. Kíli imitated her, lying down beside her with his face still close to her stomach. For the remaining hours of night, until the mellow light of dawn infiltrated the room, he continued to talk to their unborn child, speaking of things that had been, things that were, and things that would be. And, every so often, he would look up and catch Tauriel's gaze, her own feelings of joy and happy anticipation mirrored in his soft, dark eyes.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Tauriel tapped her foot impatiently. Kíli's actions on this bright summer morning were making her unsure how she was expected to react, inexperienced still in the conventions of giving and receiving gifts. A rune-stone and a baby's blanket – those were the two most valuable, material gifts she had received in her life and she still felt inadequate in the art of expressing gratitude.

He laughed softly somewhere close to her. "You're really not overly fond of surprises, are you?"

With her eyes still closed, Tauriel shifted her weight to her other leg and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Speaking from experience, surprises are not always pleasant," she responded, avoiding the true source of her discomfort.

He chuckled. "This one is, don't worry."

She flinched slightly when he pried her interlocked arms apart, taking her hands in his. Feeling an insecure smile tug at her lips, she followed when he proceeded to slowly turn her around.

"Alright, you can open your eyes," Kíli said, his voice low.

Tauriel blinked a couple of times, letting her eyes readjust to the brightness in the room. As her sight cleared, her heartbeat quickened. Before her, on the bed, lay a brand new bow, its polished wood gleaming in the light of the sun.

Her former reservations about gifts forgotten, she smiled with delight as she reached out to run her fingers along the elegant shape of the weapon. It was of Elvish design, its design familiar to her, and yet there was something special about it, something that sparked her interest.

She smiled broadly at Kíli, who stood beside her, looking quite pleased with himself. "How did you-?" she asked, slightly overwhelmed. This she had not quite expected.

He shrugged. "I figured you would need a new one – after all your old one was never found after that disaster at the Rangers' camp. I was surprised, in fact, that you did not inquire after it since we came here."

She smirked. He knew her so well. "It did cross my mind, once or twice. But then there was always something – or someone – to distract me." She looked pointedly at him which caused the proud grin on his face to widen still a little more.

He gazed back at her steadily and as his grin slowly faded to be replaced by a more heated stare, she felt warmth pool somewhere deep inside of her in that particular way only he could ever manage. When, for a few seconds, neither of them moved, Kíli appeared to shake himself out of his reverie.

Clearing his throat, he stepped closer to the bed, reaching down to pick up her new weapon. Turning it over in his hands he glanced up at her. "Now, this is not exactly the same as your old one, seeing as it was made here, in Rivendell. I have been assured, however, that you will find it to your liking."

Tauriel smiled brightly at him. "Of that I am sure." Carefully, she took the bow from his hands, flexing her fingers to find a good grip on it. The wood was smooth and cool beneath her palm. "Thank you," she said, slightly puzzled by the fact that her voice was thick with emotion.

Kíli gave another soft laugh and reached up to kiss her softly on the lips. "If I could, I would give you one every day just to see you smile like this," he whispered, his face still very close to hers.

She giggled at his sweet words. "What would I do, with all those bows?"

"I do not know. But we'd think of something," he muttered distractedly against her lips before leaning in to claim her mouth in another kiss, this one much deeper than the one before. When he pulled back, he looked up at her expectantly. "So?"

She frowned at him in slight confusion, the warmth left behind by his kiss and the way that her body, after all this time still, seemed to instantly react to his touch sending her thoughts slightly astray. "So what?"

He smirked. "Do you want to go and have a little fun?" When she gaped at him, her mind not immediately catching up, he added, "With the new bow, I mean."

She flushed when the meaning of his words registered with her and, from his darkened gaze, she knew that the ambiguity of his statement had not been entirely accidental.

"I am not sure the Lord Elrond would appreciate us shooting arrows in the middle of Rivendell," she returned, her face still crimson.

"I've tried that before and I can't say he does," Kíli replied, grimacing.

"You did? When?" Tauriel's curiosity was piqued.

"Last year when we passed through on our way to the Lonely Mountain. Let me just say that it involved Ori's slingshot, my bow, a stupid bet, and a couple of broken objects of undefined value." He grinned a little sheepishly when she gasped and then laughed. "But either way, I meant do you want to venture beyond Rivendell's borders for at least a little while, see something different for a change?"

Tauriel felt herself grow more excited at the prospect of a little excursion. "That sounds just wonderful," she said. But her smile quickly turned into a wry grin. "To be honest, I am a little surprised that you would suggest this."

Kíli laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist, yanking her closer. "I know, I know, you still think I am being too protective of you. How could I not though, when you are the most precious thing I've ever had in my life?"

She smiled self-consciously and leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his lips. "Should we go then?" she asked, eager now with the prospect of a very welcome diversion.

He nodded, letting go of her to take her hand in his. However, when she leaned down to pick up her bow, he held her back. "I have one condition though," he said, his dark eyes boring into hers.

"Oh?" Tauriel's eyebrows shot up.

"In the unlikely event that we come across an orc pack or something equally foul, we retreat immediately." He looked at her intently and seriously.

She could not help but roll her eyes. "Who are you trying to caution here? Me or yourself?"

Her manner was teasing, but he remained unmoved. "I am serious."

After a couple of tense seconds, she relented under his intense stare. "I know you are. And I promise not to take any unnecessary risks. Not today and not in the immediate future."

With this Kíli appeared satisfied and Tauriel watched some of the tension leave his body as his smile returned. "After you then," he said, handing her a quiver full of arrows and reaching out to grasp her free hand.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed - you guys all rock and always know how to make me smile.

I hope I don't disappoint anybody when I say that we are drawing close to the end of this story. The final two chapters are basically written, I just need to figure out how to get to the place I want to finish in without leaving too many loose strands (which is a little difficult right now...). In total I estimate that there are about 4 chapters left - expect time to speed up a little in the next two.

~ Amber