Prologue

Now

If ripping her heart out with her bare hands quench her pain, she would gladly do it.

The dead lay thick on the ground, ten dead for each of the living. There will be no celebration tonight. The grieving of those who survived is heard all throughout the land; winning the battle does not seem a prize good enough to make up for the loss of their kin.

In death, there is no discrimination, no races or species. Orcs lay next to humans and dwarves mourn next to elves; all of them side by side, like equals.

The same sight is seen high up in the plateau of Ravenhill. A red-haired Silvan elven maid lays next to her dwarf prince, her green eyes bleeding tears. Draped around him, her head on his soundless chest, silent sobs rack her body, wetting the coat she lays on.

She does not know what to do; all she wishes for is to be left there next to him, holding him. Maybe if she stays there enough she will bleed out and fade away.

Despite that strange moment of almost bonding with king Thranduil, he said nothing of redeeming her in Mirkwood. She had been banished from her home the moment she chose her love for Kili over the comfort of the palace.

But she cannot care less.

She lifts her head to look at him, her trembling hands outlining the contours of his face. Cheekbones, nose, forehead, lips... Lips that will never smile, never kiss her again. It seems like yesterday when he was last smiling at her.

The memory pierces her vision like blades of fire, and in one blissful moment, she is back in time, rewarded, for a single second, with the remnant of that happiness that only he could give her.

"Catch me if you can!" She had called, running down the grassy hill shining with sunlight.

"No fair! You had a head start!" Had been his answer, but her heart had swelled as her ears perceive him rushing after her.

The hill, steeper than she had thought, brought her to a sudden stop before she had time to fall headlong into it. But her dwarf prince had not seen this, and had not thought of stopping. He had tackled her, and with a scream of surprise, the couple had rolled down the hill in a tangle of arms and legs and hands, their laughter echoing endlessly throughout the valley.

Why did it have to end so abruptly? Why did death have to do them part? Was this a punishment for her sin of loving a dwarf? All she asks is for one more moment with him. One more chance to see his blazing eyes, to touch his calloused fingers, to taste his lips on hers.

Breathless with the memory, fresh tears soaking Kili's coat, something unnamed, dark and deep, stirs in Tauriel's heart. She has to find a way. There has to be a way to get him back. Middle Earth is full of mysteries; one of them has to be the answer.

But right now, all she can do is curl up against his lifeless body, trying not to dream of the life they could have had together; a life death ripped away from them.

Her hands curling around his last gift to her, she stows the blue stone in her pocket, her lips searing as they meet his in a final kiss, speaking for themselves her last vow to him.

I will see you again, my love, somehow.

I promise.

Author's note: I hope you liked the beginning! The story will be written in then and now chapters. The now, as you can see, will follow Tauriel after Kili's death. Thank you for reading!