Note: Hey readers! This is just the first chapter of something I hope to continue. I'll be especially motivated if I hear from you in the comments/reviews. I haven't written fan fiction in awhile but I couldn't help but be inspired by this ship! Let me know what you think! Also: the T rating is just in case. Again, I'm not sure how far this will go. Enjoy!

Starlight.

She walks in starlight in another world…

But were they really that different? The Elf asked herself. He looked at her as if she were a dream, as if she were unreachable. No one had ever looked at her like that; she was a lowly, Silvan Elf. Nothing more.

Except for when he looked at her. She felt like so much more with those brown eyes staring back at her.

"Do you think she could have loved me?" he managed.

She felt his hand reach to touch hers ever so lightly. Her heart fluttered in an unfamiliar way. Tauriel opened her mouth to answer him when she felt a presence behind her.

"You did it!" said Fili, looking over his brother with relief. He looked up at the Elf, "Thank you. I did not know your kind was capable of such generosity," he looked down at his hands, embarrassed to admit such a thing.

"Aye, what a sight to be seen!" Oin agreed, whole-heartedly.

Tauriel nodded modestly and turned back to Kili but he had fallen into a deep sleep. "Perhaps you should turn in for the night," she suggested to the dwarves, "I will stay and keep watch, in case the orcs return."

Fili puffed out his chest, "We can manage," his Dwarven, stubborn attitude returning suddenly.

Bofur slapped him upside the head, "Oi! I'm not goin' to say no to a li'l sleep after today."

"You don't have to stay long, lass. We'll catch a few hours of sleep and then feel free to follow your Elven prince," Oin managed an appreciative smile.

Tauriel felt guilty, having only just remembered Legolas. He could take care of himself, there was no question of that. But would he return to the king without her? She felt torn. She did not want to abandon her people but the idea of being free of the king's disappointment and judgment seemed so welcoming.

Her head told her to go find Legolas and hope that the king would not be too angry with her. But her heart?

Her heart lay on a table, his head resting on a sack of walnuts.