A/N: I know this probably isn't accurate to the timeline, but I wanted to illustrate a day of preparation for battle.

As much as I love fluff, this isn't too fluffy. It's kind of sappy. Its mostly sappy...

Prepare for the sap.

The Light that Shines from Us

There was to be a battle.

It was early. Most of the small company was still slumbering, but not Kili. The dark haired prince had risen far too early with far too much on his mind, so he'd grabbed his weapons and walked off, losing himself in his thoughts.

He had been in plenty of skirmishes throughout his short life and had bore his fare share of battle wounds - having the scars to show for them. He'd trained hard to become the fighter he prided himself to be and had all the confidence in the world about his skill.

But it wasn't until today, on the eve of the greatest battle his kind had ever seen that he remembered just how short his life had been.

The young prince was sharpening one of his arrows, perched upon a stone ledge peeking out of the forest, the Lonely Mountain in sight. He had waited his entire life to see it, and even now with the promise of death so close, he still stared at it in childlike wonder.

Perhaps an hour later, Kili was met by the sound of careful footsteps in the distance. If it were not for his trained ear and familiarity with his brother's movement, he would have been startled by the presence of Fili now beside him.

The blond haired dwarf sat beside his brother, silence remaining as if he had not come forth. Silence between them was usually peaceful, the brothers so close that words had little meaning in times like these. But today, Fili could sense something in Kili that he never had before. Uncertainty. Possibly fear.

"This journey has changed you." Fili said, his voice low and soft, almost carried away by the slight breeze.

Without a moment's pause, Kili replied. "In what way?" His voice a snap in the cold air, his throat dry from lack of speech. He probably hadn't uttered a word all morning.

"You have met with death, and now you see life differently. You no longer wish for vengeance or victory, you wish for change."

After a thoughtful pause and a deep breath, Kili spoke, though still looking to his hands and working on his arrows.

"There is no time for wishing."

Fili made a face of disbelief. "That, brother, is something I never thought I'd hear you say."

"Well it's true." Kili shot back. "Only Mahal knows how long we have."

"Do you fear death?"

"Not as much as I fear your death."

Fili was taken aback for a moment, before he realized how unsurprising such worry was. "...Aye."

Silence, again, fell upon the brothers. This silence was one of respect; one that confirmed their shared fears.

"We used to share our dreams." Fili spoke up. "On mornings like this. We would wake before the sun rose and sneak off into the trees of the marshes just beyond the Blue Mountains, just to talk about the dreams we'd had the night before." Fili looked at Kili, seeing a small smile on his lips from the memory, though he didn't stop with his arrows. So Fili continued. "We'd talk of this journey when it was but a childish whimsy. Finally returning to our homeland as royalty. I remember one of your dreams was to be in glorious battle, like Thorin."

Kili did not respond to that. His only change was to put down one arrow for another. The only sound between them for seconds was the gritty slash of metal on stone.

"Do you worry for her?" Fili said, not knowing how else to bring up the elf.

It was then that his sharpening hindered. Fili looked closely at his brother's face and saw the lightest spark in his eyes. The older brother nearly laughed.

"It is impossible to hide your heart from me. I know what you see in her."

Kili smiled, mockingly, finally meeting his brothers eyes, a stinging in them that reminded Fili of the poison that threatened to take his life not a day before.

"You do not know what I see in her. You know that I see her, but you do not know. You have no inkling of what she is."

Fili tried not to smil. In amusement, not wanting to upset him further. "You speak as though I've committed a crime."

Kili looked to the mountain. "...I'm sorry."

"I saw her heal you." Fili began. "The conviction in her eyes, in her voice. No one came to her for aid, she came to you. On her own will. Surely she sees you unlike any other elf can see a dwarf. She has given me a gift, no matter how long we have left in this world, I owe her a great dept. I respect what you see in her and what I cannot."

Kili hasn't taken his eyes away from his brother. The venom in his look had long since dissipated and his eyes were now soft. He dropped his weapons and leaned into his brother, his forehead against the others shoulder. Fili bent his head and raised a hand to settle at the back of Kili's head for comfort. Kili had not needed this kind of support in some time, probably not since he was a younger lad. They stayed like that until Fili felt tears threatening to clear his eyes. This may be the last embrace he shared with his brother, his closest friend.

He'd promised their mother before they left for their journey that he would protect Kili above all else. Now, after everything, he was promising himself the same thing.

When they broke apart, they sat there for another moment, staring at the mountain together. The cool morning air seemed to be melting away as the sun came peeking out from behind the surface of the earth.

"You should seek her out." Fili said.

Kili smiled, shaking his head. "You think I should seek her out?"

"It would make you feel better. You haven't become shy now, have you?"

"I dunno, your the one saying I've changed."

"Not much. Your still just as reckless." Fili got up from the ledge and urged him to do the same. "But falling for an elf? Most reckless thing you've done yet."

"Shut it." Kili snapped playfully.

"Make me!" The elder brother coaxed.

"Alright." Kili said, jumping up, swiftly taking his bow and kicking up a freshly sharpened arrow into his hand. Fili's eyes widened and he started a sprint towards camp, Kili following eagerly, easily abandoning his woes.

Their game lasted until they reached camp, the two dwarves toppling over each other in their haste to stop running, despite being on a hill. Kili landed on his bad leg, though much of the pain was gone, it was still quite sore. He lay on the ground so that the world looked upside down and gritted his teeth as to not make a sound of pain. He watched the other dwarves roll their eyes at them and he felt like a kid again.

He then looked up to see Tauriel standing before him, barely able to hide a smile. What it would be like to hear her laugh, he thought to himself. He suddenly began to imagine how heavenly it would be, compared to that wonderful smile of hers.

Fili had made it to his feet and was now pulling Kili up from the shoulder, the younger dwarf having been momentarily stunned into paralysis by the elf captain. Fili rolled his eyes. His brothers heart was a mystery to him.

After Fili had dusted him off, Kili regained his composure and was pushing his hands away, turning his attention to the elf maiden that has stolen his heart. Fili wondered how he had ever doubted his brother's brashness, calling him shy. He was not shy, just the opposite, he was a fool.

"Good day, milady." Kili said. "Or do you prefer Captain?"

"I prefer my name, Master Dwarf." She replied, a certain delight lingering in her tone, amusement still in her eyes.

"As do I." He said, a smile gracing his features, her amusement contagious.

She nodded, taking note. "I take it that your leg is faring well this morning."

"Good as new, thanks to you."

Finding the need to change the subject, her gaze wondered to the arrows in his satchel. "May I have a look at that?"

Kili glanced over his shoulder, took an arrow and looked at it before handing it to her. "o'course."

She examined it with genuine intrigue before looking back at him, a spark in her eyes that made Kili's heart soar, reminding him of the night they'd talked of stars and memories and fire moons. He wished their conversations would never end, just to indulge himself in the light that seemed to shine from her.

She turned away. "Come here, I want to show you something."

And before he knew it, they were sitting by the fireplace, examining each other's weaponry and swapping stories about archery training and whatever else came to mind. By midday they had forgotten about their weapons and were sharing stories about family and friends. For a few stories, Kili called on Fili to join them, for his brother told a few stories better than he. By near nightfall, the entire company was huddled around a fire sharing in story telling.

Tauriel became a bit restless by the fire. She looked to around into the blackness of the forest and longed to seek a point where she could see the stars without the disturbance of the firelight. She looked to Kili, actively listening to one of Oin's stories. She stared for a moment, the firelight illuminating half of the prince's face in a breathtakingly peaceful way. His smile was pure bliss that warmed her heart in a way nothing else but starlight ever had. She did not think she'd ever seen a smile so jovial. The thought of such pure joy having to be in the middle of such war made her ill; she wanted nothing to touch him, nothing to threaten his life ever again.

After a moment of thought, she decidedly nudged Kili, finding that his attention was immediately hers. She nodded behind them and got to her feet. He followed her away from camp and into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Kili asked.

"Somewhere with a better view of the night sky." She replied.

Kili then grabbed her hand and pulled her into another direction. "I know a perfect place."

He didn't let go of her hand when he began leading the way, and she didn't pull away, so he decided to entwine his fingers with hers and relished in the feeling of her tightening her grip in his.

After he'd safely navigated them to the ledge he'd been sitting that very morning, they were greeted by a brilliant spread of night sky above the black silhouette that was the lonely mountain.

The elf captain and dwarf prince took in the scenery, then looked at each other, both surprised that they'd turned their eyes to each other at the same time.

"Do you still find the starlight cold?" Tauriel enquired.

Kili took a moment to think, still finding their fingers entwined.

"Not entirely. Not when you're here."

Tauriel felt her face heat up and was greatful for the darkness. There was so much to be said, so much she wanted to tell him, but before she could he spoke again.

"I never did properly thank you. For saving my life so many times." His voice was full of sincerity and care. His eyes grew a bit darker before he continued. "You-you were there, when I felt death's poised in my heart. You didn't have to be there, but you were. And you're obviously not imprisoning us again. Why did you heal me?"

And that was a question she hadn't yet asked herself. She hadn't really thought when it happened, she just acted. She wanted to heal him and she did. She'd just wanted to.

"You surprised me." She finally said, sitting on the rock ledge, now eye level with the standing dwarf. "You have a good heart and a noble light about you. I could not just let that light die out with good conscious." She raised their entwined hands and touched his knuckles to her lips briefly, loving the shocked look on his face. She didn't think he was breathing any longer.

He finally acted by stepping closer to the elf and raising his free hand to the side of her face, softly touching her skin with the backside of his coarse fingers.

"You are like no person I have ever met before." He confessed, his voice a bit shaky. He smiled wide for a moment. "Although you are the first elf I've ever met."

She smiled as well. "And you're the first dwarf I've ever met."

"Well isn't that a coincidence."

They stayed like that, looking into each others eyes as if they held all the secrets in the world. They both felt the weight of their situation; of how unlikely it was that they would both survive the impending battle; of the certainty that their love would be judged and ridiculed. Tauriel thought of her people, and Legolas, and her King, how they would look down upon her.

She finally thought of how much she didn't care.

"You asked me if i could love you." Tauriel said, referring to the night she'd healed him.

"I remember." He nodded, wanting nothing but to be even closer to her. Luckily for him, she wanted that too. She leaned in, somewhat uncertainly, and he followed until his lips were pressed upon hers in a delicate kiss.

...

Fili was already set up for bed when Kili came back to camp. He didn't say anything when he settled into the cot next to his, though he did notice a very interesting braid in his hair. If he had to guess, he'd say it was elvish.

Wait until Thorin gets look at that.