So here's the next chapter! Yay.

Anyway, I have my exams coming up and all that (sobsob) so I'll probably not update for the next month and so! I'm sorry if you find this chapter slow-going, by the way ): Things aren't moving very quickly yet, but they will. Soon. Right after I finish re-watching the movies. Right after my exams.

Okay, maybe not so soon.

But I'll try to do what I can!

Hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

Kili.

Why had she loved him?

Reckless. Brave. Kind. True. Loyal. Funny.

Humour was something she appreciated, more than anything else.

She remembered her conversation with Thranduil, that same day that they had found the company.

"I do not think you would allow your son to pledge himself to a lowly Silvan elf."

"No, you are right. I would not. Still, he cares about you. Do not give him hope where there is none."

That had been the first time she had discovered Legolas' feelings towards her. It had come of something as a shock – Legolas had, after all, always been her friend. Nothing more. He had spent so much time with her that it sometimes felt strange when he wasn't around.

And yet it was not Thranduil's implying that Legolas was fond of her that had struck her.

It had been his casual dismissal of her, of any possibility of her and Legolas having a future together apart from their friendship and their duties – simply because she was a Silvan elf.

She had always known that it had been her own hard work and skill that had allowed her to reach the position as one of the captains of the guard, despite occasionally being looked down upon for being a Silvan elf.

But to have her own king disregard her completely because of that –

She could still remember the hurt that had washed over her, the knowledge that no matter what she could or would do, no matter her skills, Thranduil, and very possibly the rest of the elves of Mirkwood, would always look down on her.

People would look up to her as a captain of the guard, as a skilled warrior, a seasoned fighter.

But they would never forget that she was a Silvan elf.

And Kili –

Kili had not known, and she had little doubt that he would have cared.

He had looked at her with eyes that shone, a look on his face that she had never seen before. It was as if – it was as if nothing else had mattered in the universe except for her. As if she was the point on which the whole world revolved.

She would never forget that.

And she, in turn, had looked at him with eyes that saw him in a different light from the rest of the elves of Mirkwood, had looked at him and seen something more than the reckless dwarf who had so nearly been killed by the spiders, who had nearly lost the runestone his mother had given him, who had so willingly nearly sacrificed himself for the company to continue on their quest.

Kili.

Why had she loved him?

"You look deep in thought."

Eowyn stepped up beside Tauriel as they looked out over Edoras, the first rays of the sun shining out over the horizon.

"Lady Eowyn."

"Eowyn. That is all."

Tauriel turned her head slightly, and her lips twitched into a smile. "Very well. Eowyn."

"What shall I address you as, then?"

"Tauriel. Simply Tauriel."

It had been a few days since the victory party of Helm's Deep, and Tauriel missed the young hobbit Pippin greatly. So full of life, heedless of danger and throwing caution to the winds – he had so easily made her laugh, made her smile. His friend Merry had been the same – but now he grew quieter, more solemn, with the departure of his friend to Gondor. They were waiting, she knew; Legolas had told her of Gondor being in need of aid, of how Gandalf would have Gondor ask for aid from Rohan. They were waiting for a sign from Gondor.

"Have you been out here the whole night?"

"For most of the night, yes."

"Could you not sleep?"

"I had much to think about."

"Of the coming battle?"

Tauriel smiled faintly, shook her head. How foolish she was being! – to think of a love long lost, to think of her feelings and emotions and of herself when a battle was coming, a battle to decide the fate of Middle-Earth.

"I was thinking of a time long ago," she said, softly, that Eowyn had to strain her ears to hear. "I was thinking of a time when another dwarf and another elf walked hand-in-hand, a dwarf and an elf who saw the good in each other, who would have done anything to save the other."

Eowyn blinked at her.

"If you speak also of Legolas and Gimli," she said, uncertainly, "I remember thinking it strange that they were so close – I have never heard before of a friendship between elf and dwarf."

"And now you have."

Tauriel turned to look at her then, and Eowyn was taken aback by the look on her face, the sadness in her eyes.

A look of immeasurable longing.

A look of pure loneliness.

"She walks in starlight, in another world."

Why? Why had she loved him?

"Do you think she could have loved me?"

She loved him, she knew she did. She had known little of love at that age, but she had loved him, did love him, cared for him like she had cared for no one else before.

The pain at seeing his death, at seeing him die, at seeing him dead – it still stung in her heart, still made it difficult for her to breathe sometimes.

She had loved him for who he was.

But she had also loved him because he had seen her in a way no one else had, had looked at her and seen something more than the captain of the guard, more than the lowly Silvan elf.

Was that still love?

She shut her eyes.

Yes. Yes, it was still love.

It was a more selfish manifestation of love – but it was still love, all the same. She had loved him.

But did she still?

She opened her eyes.

Yes. Yes, she still loved him.

She believed she always would. There was a part of her that would never let him go. That would keep him in her heart forever.

She looked up as she saw Legolas stride through the hall, Gimli at his side – managed to smile back at him when he caught sight of her and smiled at her, before he was dragged away by Gimli, who was hollering something about going to find Aragorn.

She thought of Legolas, and something warm seemed to come to life in her heart. It was as if knowledge of his presence gave her warmth - comforting, soothing. Legolas, who had always been there for her, who had always had a special place in her heart; a place different from Kili's, but a place all the same.

She loved Kili. She always would.

But maybe –

Maybe, just maybe, her heart could be big enough to accept the love of someone else, and maybe, just maybe, she could open her heart to love someone else too.

"Are you all right, Tauriel?"

Tauriel lowered her blade, looked at Eowyn critically.

In their wait for news from Gondor, Eowyn had hesitantly approached Tauriel for her help in training her – and Tauriel had willingly agreed, and had been surprised to find Eowyn more skilled than she had expected. It was a good surprise, though; it was enjoyable sparring with her, training her, teaching her how to fight.

Although she reinforced her belief, every session, that there was more to life than fighting in a battle; that fighting for your loved ones was honourable, but so was aiding them in other ways.

All Eowyn would say, every time, was that she had no right to give any less than those fighting to defend those they loved.

And Tauriel would raise her eyebrows, every time, and say that Eowyn had no right to throw away what aid she could give to others who could not fight – that there were so many other things they could do to protect those whom she loved.

And yet the topic never caused tension between them, and Tauriel found herself looking forward to not only the sessions, but to the talks they would have afterwards.

"Why would you ask that?"

"A look in your eyes. There is something on your mind."

"Perhaps."

Eowyn looked at her, hesitantly.

"If you wish not to talk about it, it is your choice – but I am here, if you need someone to listen."

Tauriel raised her eyebrows. "Would you not offer to give me advice?"

"I am not sure that anything I say might be helpful towards you. Advice is dangerous."

"So it is."

Tauriel managed a smile.

"I am fine, Eowyn. It is nothing."

This time, it was Eowyn who raised her eyebrows.

"As long as you do not lie to yourself as you lie to me," she said, "I will leave you to your thoughts."

"Will you not tell her?"

Legolas looked over at Gimli. "Tell who what?"

Gimli gave an annoyed snort. "Tell Tauriel that you love her still!"

Legolas blinked at him.

"No," he said, simply.

"Why not?"

"It would not be fair to her."

"You are not being fair to yourself!"

"I love her," Legolas said, "but I want her to heal. She is mending, I hope – mending slowly but surely. I would have her heart fully heal, more than anything. Telling her my feelings for her would only make things worse."

"You do not know that."

"I know Tauriel."

"It has been sixty years! Even my father has managed to reconcile himself with their deaths – with Thorin and Fili and Kili." Here Gimli fell silent, and Legolas remembered, quite suddenly, that Gimli had mentioned being one of Kili's closest friends. "If I could, I would willingly give up my gold, maybe even my axe, for another day with Kili, another day with all of them. But I cannot. They are lost forever. They will not return. And life continues."

"She grieves still."

"Life continues," Gimli repeated. "I miss Kili, and Fili, and Thorin, every single day. Not a day goes past that I wish that I had been old enough to be a part of their quest – to have, at the very least, spent more time with them before they fell. But I cannot change the past. I keep them in my heart, but I move on in life."

Legolas said nothing for a long time.

Gimli shifted uncomfortably.

"I thank you," said Legolas, finally. "I do. I truly do. But I would not hurt Tauriel in any way that I possibly could. My only wish is for her to slowly heal, and for her heart to mend, and for her to smile again, to be the person that she once was, instead of the shadow that she so often is now."

Gimli looked at him.

"You truly do love her," he said, after a long moment of silence.

"More than anything."