Disclaimer

I, in no way own The Hobbit or any of its characters.

Oh, and for the stories sake let's just say that the awakening of Smaug the terrible has been delayed few days, okay?

Tauriel POV

Tauriel was exhausted, healing people did that to you. At least the Athleas had worked and Kili was sleeping peacefully, his fever had subsiding and the muscles in his leg easing. She watched his chest rise and fall as she bound his wound, occasionally talking to him soothingly in elvish when he stirred.

She was about to go and rest herself when he spoke.
"Tauriel..." He whispered hoarsely

"Lie still." She said, her heart secretly fluttering in happiness that Kili remembered her name

"You cannot be her. She is far away. She... she is far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world." He opened his eyes slightly and reached up weakly to touch her hand. Surprisingly she didn't pull away; instead she drank in every detail of his touch as his rough fingers scraped over her smooth skin.

"D-do you think she could have loved me?" He fixed her with his eyes for a few moments before falling back asleep.

She sat with him, gently holding his hand for a while, alone with her thoughts. Did she love him? He had made the long days of guarding the dwarves in their cells bearable and she had found herself looking forward to her shift. When the orc had said Kili was going to die she had definitely felt more than friendly concern for the dwarf that had flirted so shamelessly with her. When she and Legolas had gone to hunt down the remainder of the pack she had hoped beyond hope that she would be able to find him, and save him.

Was it love?

Tauriel got up quietly, careful not to wake the sleeping dwarf; she stretched and went outside, into the cool night air to ponder the question further.

Bright stars scattered the velvet sky and as she stared up at them she caught herself thinking that Kili was right. Their light was cold, high above, taunting them with beauty that they could not have. Even as she thought that she also knew that they were promises, not unlike the rune stone, promises that even in darkness there is light. It was there; beneath the stars she knew her answer.

...

The next morning Kili was awake before she was, complaining about spending the night with a bowl of walnuts as a pillow, and a great deal other things. He fell silent though when Tauriel entered the room, trying not to meet her eyes and blushing slightly.

Later that day the rest of the dwarves went out to gather supplies for the trip to the mountain that they would set of on as soon as Kili's leg was healed. Unfortunately this left the two in a relatively empty house, sitting in a relatively uncomfortable silence.

Kili coughed nervously "So, uh, I'd like to thank you for saving my life. What's that, three times now?" he said counting them off on his fingers

Tauriel smiled "Well I did not save you before just to see you die now, did I?"

"True."

Back to silence.

"I'm sorry." Kili said quietly

"For what?"

"For what I said while I was sick. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sorry that I feel this way, I'm just sorry that you had to know."

It was either now or never. She swallowed her fear and leaned closer to him, making him look into her deep green eyes

"I'm not."

Then she cupped his face in her hands and slowly brought their lips together.

Review Please! Constructive criticism is welcome!

Thanks so much for reading! I plan to add(a lot )more chapters when I get back from my holiday!

Akronite