#kilielweek2021

[cassiabaggins]

First Born

A/N: Kiliel week has finally come to a close! I had a lot of fun writing these and I wanna say a special thank you to @anjhope1 for being an amazing beta reader and getting me out of more than one slump! I have a super short bonus story I might post as well if anyone is interested. Also, the character Minasel does not belong to me, she’s the creation of @deathlikessodaandpizza and I included her as a little treat. You can read her story here if you are interested! Again, thank you all for your help and comments! I hope you enjoy this final part!

First          Masterlist

Wordcount: 3k

Tags: @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza @guardianofrivendell @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing @drowingintheempty @estethell @claraofthepen @kilielweek

Warnings: pregnancy, implied smut

Summary: Kili and Tauriel prepare for the birth of their first child, only they can’t decide on a name!

"Kili," Tauriel says one evening. "I want a baby."

Kili, sitting on his desk across the room, immediately stiffens, his back going ramrod straight. Then, he slowly turns around and just… stares at her, his brown eyes as round as saucers. He doesn't say anything, just stares, and the resulting silence is almost suffocating. 

Tauriel shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, waiting for him to say something. It seems like he might, a few times, opening his mouth, and then closing it, and then opening it again, but he never speaks. She bites her lip. Probably should have approached this more delicately. "Kili?" She asks. He starts, like her voice has snapped him back to reality. 

"Sorry," he says, suddenly standing up, "I just… now?"

Tauriel nods determinedly. No backing down now. "Yes. Now. I'm ready now."

Kili blinks. Suddenly, he's closing the distance between them, throwing off his shirt, and kissing her all at once. Tauriel bursts out laughing and welcomes his enthusiasm- they know it will be a long night. 

.

Upon waking the next morning, she immediately knows it worked. She can sense, somehow, a tiny life beginning to grow inside her. It's what Kili would call a 'spooky elf power', to just know, right away, but she just… does. She places her hand on her stomach and turns her head to look at her husband. Kili is a messy sleeper, as usual, all sprawled out, the blankets barely covering his naked body. He's matured past the young dwarf Tauriel met in Mirkwood, having grown into his body much more, thickening out from the gangly (for a dwarf) young idiot she fell in love with, a longer beard and several scars also being obvious indicators of the passage of time. Tauriel scoots closer to him and rests her head on his chest, the weight of it waking him. Kili tenses up in a stretch and a yawn, extending his arms above his head, and then wrapping them around her. 

"G'mornin'," he mumbles, rubbing her bare shoulder with one large, rough hand and pressing a sleepy kiss to the top of her head.

"Good morning," she replies. 

"Wha' time izzit?" 

"Early. The sun has not yet risen."

"Amrâlimê," he groans, grabbing the edge of the blanket and yanking it up to his shoulder. "Why did you wake me up? I can sleep in today!"

Tauriel bites back a soft laugh, helping him by pulling the other edge of the cover up and gently rubbing his chest. "I did not mean to. I apologize."

He lets out a wordless grumble, rolling them both over so he's snuggled up against her front, face against her chest, arms around her middle, and legs tangled with hers. "You're lucky I love you. Any other dwarf would protest quite heartily to an elvish witch waking them up before the sunrise."

"Elvish witch?" She asks with fake indignation.

Kili has the audacity to giggle in reply and she tugs at one of the braids that was left in his hair from yesterday. He lets out a shaky breath at that.

"I'm trying to sleep, witch."

"Are you?" She asks cheekily.

"Yes!" He untangles from her and rolls away to the very edge of the mattress, but Tauriel follows him, pressing her body up against his back.

"Kili," she whispers. "It worked."

"What worked?" He grumbles, trying to hide under the blankets. She chuckles and slides her arm around his middle, worming her hand under his arm until he lifts it to let her in. 

"I'm pregnant," she murmurs in his ear. Kili goes still again. Then, he snorts. 

"You're teasing me. You have no idea if it worked. Not yet at least."

"Oh, don't I?"

"Of course not. That's impossible."

"Mhm. Well. We could always try again, I suppose, just to make sure."

The speed at which he rolls over and on top of her is honestly impressive and she finds herself laughing into his mouth.

.

“I was being serious,” she says as they fall apart on the mattress, sweaty and sated. Kili looks over at her, wiping his bangs off his brow. 

“What?”

“I was being serious. About being pregnant.”

Kili gapes at her, his eyes as wide as saucers. Then he sits bolt upright. “You were?!”

“Of course I was! Why would I joke about that?!”

“I don’t know!”

Kili covers his face. “Sweet Mahal. I’m going to be a father. Already. Y’know, I thought we’d have to try a few times at least! I didn’t think we’d get it in one go-- wait, how do you even know?!”

Tauriel props herself up on her elbow, thinking. “I don’t know. I just... do.”

He nods. “Fair enough.” He takes his hands off his face and looks at her. “We better start thinking about names.”

“Oh, we have time, meleth nin, don’t fret. We’ve a whole year to plan and get ready.”

“That doesn’t seem like enough time,” Kili mumbles. 

“We did have several years before this,” She teases. 

…

They don’t start thinking about names until a few months in, nor do they tell others about the pregnancy. The reaction from family and friends is ecstatic and the two of them are practically overwhelmed with well wishes and gifts and birthing advice and baby care tips. Tauriel finds herself quite glad that many of the dwarves are still cautious around her, especially when Cassia informs her bluntly that she very well might have perfect strangers come up to her and try to touch her belly the instant she starts showing. And that does not sound fun. Neither does the cravings or aches or morning sickness…  For the most part, though, Tauriel is truly enjoying the experience of it. Her body is growing a tiny life! There is a baby inside her, living and developing and moving! She thinks it is beyond amazing and never passes up an opportunity to gush about it. 

.

As the pregnancy progresses, they start thinking more seriously about names in between preparations.  Kili has been insistent on a dwarven name, while Tauriel quite likes the idea of an elvish one. 

"What are you thinking about?" She asks her husband one evening before bed. Kili is smoking his pipe and Tauriel is trying her best to knit a baby blanket. He blows a smoke ring thoughtfully. 

"Names for our baby," he says. "I think it'll be a girl, so I've been thinking of girl names."

"Oh have you?" Tauriel asks, smiling. In her brief distraction she drops a stitch and frowns. This is harder than Dis and Cassia make it look. 

He nods. "It’s tradition for the Durin line to give lasses names that end in "-is". My mother is Dis, my sister is Rhís, my great aunt was called Frís, and so on." He takes another drag from his pipe, his eyebrows furrowed in a way that lets Tauriel know he's been thinking quite hard about this. 

"What have you come up with?" She queries, carefully unravelling and fixing her mistake. 

"Eydís," Kili says. "It means 'good fortune' and she'll be our little treasure. What do you think?"

Tauriel frowns and lowers her knitting into her lap. "Well..." she says but is interrupted as Kili points his pipe at her in a joking manner. 

"You don't like it,” he declares.

Tauriel hems and haws, not wanting to hurt his feelings. It’s a nice enough name, but not exactly what she had in mind.

"It's not that I don't like it, I just… I've gotten rather attached to the name Minasel."

Kili squints. “Minasel? What does that even mean?”

“It means tower of stars. I was thinking, since I want her to rise above all opposition…” She trails off, seeing the unimpressed look on Kili’s face, feeling anger flare. “Well! It’s better than Eydis!”

The argument about names does halt for the entirety of the pregnancy, Tauriel will say how little Minasel is being especially active today, or Kili will rub her belly and ask how little Eydis is that day, and from there the same repetitive argument will begin again. Both parents are exceedingly stubborn, and if one would give in, the other would have to give in just on principle and argue that the other name was much  better than their idea. “No, really, it's a lovely name!”  One will say. And the other will reply, “Well, I like the name you picked better!” And then they'd be right back at square one. 

.

"What if you never decide on a name?" Fili asks one evening. The two brothers and their families are having a day off together, gathered in the large sitting room in the royal apartments.  Kili shrugs. 

"Then we hope the baby is a boy," he replies.

"And if it's not?"

Kili frowns. "Uhm…"

"How did you come up with the names for your children?" Tauriel asks her brother in law. “Didn’t you two ever argue about that?” Fili, bouncing his middle child, a lad named Kirin, on his knee, shrugs. 

"Not exactly. Cassia's only request was our first daughter be named after her mother, and mine was that our first son be named for Thorin."

"What if you never have a daughter?" Kili challenges, "what then?"

"She thinks we will."

"I know we will!" Fili's wife, Cassia, enters the room, holding the littlest child in her arms. The infant, named Arnin, has just woken up from his nap, and blinks sleepily at them all over her arm, sucking on his fingers. "I just have a feeling our next will be a girl."

"After three boys?" Tauriel asks. Cassia sits down beside her friend and hands her the infant. Tauriel coos at him and tickles his stomach.

“I want at least eight children,” the Queen says, leaning back in her seat. “I’ve decided.”

"Eight?! You already have a preposterously large family with less than half that number!" Kili splutters. 

“It’s how many she wants,” Fili says, as if that’s a perfectly valid reason.

"Nuncle Kili?" Fili and Cassia's oldest, Thorin, tugs on his uncle's pant leg. He had been playing on the floor. "What does proptserisly mean?"

"Preposterously," Kili corrects him gently, bending down to be at his level. "It means absurd or foolish."

"Oh. Are we pre...pre… prepops…"

"Preposterous?"

"Yes. Are we?"

"Indeed," Kili says, scooping him up into a hug. "Beyond a doubt!" 

Thorin giggles and hugs him. "Mama!" He shouts, "we're propsterus!"

Cassia gives him a blank look. She hadn't been listening, busy talking with Tauriel. "Are we?"

"Nuncle Kili said so!"

“Kili, stop teaching him long words he can’t pronounce,” Fili says as Kili sets Thorin back down. The child runs to his mother and climbs into her arms. 

“I’m improving his vocabulary!”

“Kili, he’s barely nine, when is he ever going to use the word preposterous?”

Tauriel laughs as the brothers argue, stroking Arnin’s curly hair. “If our baby is anything like this little pebble, I don’t think we have any cause to worry about them taking after Kili.” 

Cassia fakes a shudder of horror. “Another Kili, running around causing havoc? That’s awful!”

The two of them giggle. 

.

The months pass all in a rush, but also nowhere near fast enough and near the end Tauriel is well and truly fed up with being pregnant and Kili is desperate to meet his child.

The day of the birth, Tauriel goes into labor in the very early morning, and Kili sprints off to fetch the midwife. His mother and sister in law come to help with the birth. He is permitted to give his wife a kiss but is then promptly booted out the door to spend the time with Fili and his boys in their apartments, waiting with bated breath.

“Would you sit down and relax?” his brother says, blowing a smoke ring from his pipe. 

“No! I cannot! I don’t know how you can expect me to sit down and relax when my wife is giving birth!” Kili shoots back and continues to pace. Fili raises an eyebrow at him. 

“You’ll be pacing like that for a long time.”

“How long, adad?” Thorin asks sleepily, leaning against Fili’s side. He had awoken from the commotion of Cassia leaving and, despite the early hour, had been too excited to go back to bed, so Fili had permitted him to stay up. 

“It depends,” he says, rubbing Thorin’s head. “It took all day for you to be born, so probably about the same.” The lad groans. 

“All day?! But I wanna meet the baby now!”

“So does your uncle, but we’re all going to have to wait.” 

After about half an hour, Thorin drops off to sleep and Fili tucks a blanket around him before walking over to stand next to his younger brother. “Here,” he says, offering his pipe. “You need this.”

Kili takes the pipe and inhales, letting the pipeweed calm his nerves and still the shaking in his hands. 

“How long has Tauriel been having pains?” Fili asks, “Do you know?”

“She said she was beginning to feel it when we went to bed last night. She didn’t want to sleep but told me to.” Kili chews worriedly at the end of the pipe. “I feel like I should be there, helping her or something! I’ve never seen her in so much pain, Fi! Her face,” he waves his hand in front of his own, “was just white. I want to help her, Fili! I need to help her!” Kili cries, before placing his head in his hands.

“You’d probably get in the way if you tried,” Fili says bluntly. He places his hands on his brother’s shoulders and the weight grounds Kili, “Nothing will happen to her, she’ll be fine. You just have to relax.”

Kili looks up at Fili. “Are you sure?” He asks nervously. Fili nods.

“Of course I’m sure. Tauriel is one of the strongest people I know.” He pauses. “Don’t tell Dwalin I said that, though. He’d get indignant.”

That manages to make Kili let out a soft laugh, the tension in his shoulders fading away. Fili is right. Tauriel will be fine.

.

After what seems like an age, Cassia returns to fetch Kili and bring him to Tauriel. Right before he enters the room, he stops on the threshold, suddenly nervous. His sister in law turns back to him when she notices he’s not beside her anymore. She trots back to him and frowns, giving him a little shove toward the door.

“Are you going in or not? Go! Go see your wife!” Kili stumbles through the doorway and hurries into the room. Tauriel is sitting up in bed, holding a little bundle. She looks exhausted, her face drawn and her forehead sweaty, but her sunlight smile is beaming across her face. She is clearly happier in this moment, despite her pain and weariness, than she has ever been before.  

"Would you like to meet your daughter?" Tauriel asks him. Kili is at her side in an instant, nodding. As he moves across the room, he vaguely notices the midwife and his mother off in the corner doing something, but he doesn't exactly care about them. He only cares about his wife and his newborn child. He sits on the edge of the bed and Tauriel leans against his shoulder, moving the blanket slightly so Kili can clearly see the face of his firstborn. The little baby has his eyebrows and nose and a full head of dark red hair, and tiny, pointed ears.

“Hello there,” he whispers, reaching out and touching that miniscule nose. The baby murmurs a bit in her slumber, her eyebrows drawing down in a surprisingly intense glare for a newborn. Kili feels tears burn at the back of his throat.

 “Isn’t she perfect?” Tauriel says, smiling down at the baby, “Our little Minasel.”

Kili looks up from admiring his newborn daughter with a frown on his face. “Minasel?”

“Doesn’t it fit her perfectly?”

“But I wanted to name her---”

“Are you two still fighting over that?” Dis sighs, turning around. “Here, Kili, this is Eydis.”

Quite suddenly, Kili is being handed a second baby. Luckily, he’s held his nephews enough to know exactly how to position his arms and support her head and he does so almost on instinct. This baby is smaller than Minasel, completely bald atop her head, but just as is typical of dwarven babies, has a beard, soft and strawberry blonde.

“Twins?!” Kili shouts. “We had twins?!” Minasel and Eydis, startled by their father’s loud voice, burst into tears. 

“Kili!” Tauriel and Dis scold, scrambling to quiet Minasel while Dis takes Eydis back to calm her. 

“Sorry!”

Soon, the babies are quieted, sleeping peacefully. The midwives finish their work and leave the new parents alone to bond with their children. Somewhere along the line, Kili and Tauriel had traded babies, and Kili is now holding Minasel. Tauriel is nursing Eydis (another thing that isn’t as easy as it looks) and Kili carries his eldest daughter over to the window to get a better look at her. She squints hard when the sunlight hits her face, screwing up into that glare again, and then slowly blinks open her eyes. Kili’s breath catches in his throat. “Hello,” he whispers. Minasel squints at him, then opens them wider. “She has my eyes,” he says softly to Tauriel and draws his daughter up to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. She sighs and sinks back into peaceful sleep. 

“I’m glad she does,” Tauriel says, “I love your eyes. Eydis hasn’t opened hers, yet.”

Kili comes over to the bed. The smaller baby has finished nursing and is now laying peacefully in Tauriel’s arms, her eyes still squeezed shut. He sits down beside his wife and leans against her shoulder. “Can you show us your eyes, Eydis?” he whispers. To both their surprise, she squirms a bit and then blinks slowly. Her eyes are brown as well— wide, curious, and bright. She yawns hugely and makes a little noise that melts both their hearts. Kili beams. 

“They both have my eyes!” He says happily. 

“They do indeed,” Tauriel replies. “Here, why don’t we lay them next to each other?” She carefully sets Eydis on the bed and pats the space next to her tiny body. Kili lays Minasel down in the open space, and both babies immediately curl together as if they are still in the womb. Kili looks up and Tauriel with a tearful smile. 

“They’re perfect,” he says. Turning to his wife, he smiles softly, “You’re amazing, amrâlimê.”

She blushes a bit. Even after nearly a decade of marriage he still manages to fluster her with his sweet words. “Thank you, meleth nin,” she says.

He leans forward and kisses her gently. 

“Thank you for loving me,” she whispers and he smiles against her mouth. 

“As if I could do anything less, my starlight.” 

“That’s new,” she laughs.

“Aye, trying something out. What do you think?”

“I think ‘Starlight’ would better fit our little Minasel,” she replies honestly. 

“I think so too, but what about Eydis?”

“She’s a little gem, isn’t she?”

“Ithtir and Ibinê,” Kili says softly. Tauriel gives him a confused look. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Those can be their secret names, Ithtir and Ibinê, ‘Bright Star’ and ‘Little Gem’. Don’t you think they fit?”

Tauriel looks down at the twins, a soft smile on her face and sighs happily. 

“They’re perfect.”

[deathlikessodaandpizza]

Instead of doing a lot of separate pieces for @kilielweek , I decided to do one big piece that I knew would take me awhile!

So here are the king and queen of starlight themself! ❤️❤️❤️

[cassiabaggins]

Wedding

A/N: Part/day six! Thank you all so much for your support! Please leave a comment/reblog if you enjoy this!

Wordcount: 2k

First      Next        Masterlist

Tags: @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza @guardianofrivendell @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing @drowingintheempty @estethell @claraofthepen @kilielweek

Warnings: mention of miscarriage

Summary: Kili and Tauriel are finally wed

Kili has been quiet all day. That's unusual. Tauriel carefully combs her fingers through his hair and rests her chin on his shoulder. He's staring into the fire. 

"You seem distressed," she says gently.

He grunts wordlessly, so she gives him a kiss on the cheek and strokes his hair. "Kili. Talk to me. What ails you?"

Kili is quiet for a little bit longer, putting his hand over hers, before letting out a long sigh. “They want me to get married,” He says.

“Who is ‘they’?” She asks gently. 

“The Council.”

“All of them?"

“No, not all of them, but those that do are quite loud.” He draws his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on them. “They want me to produce an heir.”

“What about your brother? He’s already married!”

“They think his child won’t be ‘pure’ enough.” He puts quotations with his fingers around the word ‘pure’. “First they tried to get him to annul his marriage, then they tried to get him to take a mistress, but he’d rather die than disrespect his wife like that, so they gave up and focused on me.” He clenches his fist. “It makes me so angry! Arranged marriages go against everything I’ve ever been taught about how dwarrow love. All of this does! It goes against our nature!”

Tauriel moves so she’s no longer sitting behind him, but beside him, taking his hand. 

“What do you mean by that, meleth nin?”

“I mean dwarrow don’t arrange marriages! We only love once, and only one person. Mahal, most of us don’t even experience sexual desires until we meet our One!”

“What if you don’t find the One? Or what if they don’t feel the same?”

“Then we don’t marry. We dedicate our lives to our crafts!”

“Is that what you would have done if I hadn’t come back?”

“Yes. Of course I would have.” He notices the sadness on her face and squeezes her hand. “Don’t look like that, amrâlimê, it’s not so bad. You don’t need love to be happy.”

She leans forward and kisses him. “There’s something awful romantic about that, loving only one person your entire life.”

“Aye, it is.” Kili frowns. “But now they want me to go against that and marry some lass from Rhun. She’s nice enough, I suppose, her name is Mhaite, but—”

“But you don’t love her.”

“But she’s not you.”

Tauriel smiles gently at him. 

“I don’t want to marry anyone but you,” Kili says, flopping down into her lap. She strokes her hand through his hair. 

“And I don’t want you to marry anybody but me.”

He sighs melancholically, taking her hand and kissing her wrist. She continues stroking his hair with her free hand when suddenly she is struck by an idea. 

“What if we eloped?”

Kili sits right up and stares at her. “What?”

“What if,” she repeats, “we eloped. If we got married, they couldn’t make you marry her, right?”

“They could try to get me to divorce you.”

“But you can refuse them, correct?”

“Well, yes. They cannot force an annulment if both parties refuse. Especially if Fili doesn’t approve, since only a king or queen can annul marriages.”

"So your brother is behind us, who else?"

"I'm sure I could get Dwalin to represent you," Kili says, excitement leaking into his voice and gestures, "he likes you, though he won't admit it. Ori can draft up marriage documents, Dori can make us wedding clothes, and Bombur and Cassia can cook and—"

She stops him with a finger over his lips, laughing softly. "This is becoming less of a secret elopement and more of a wedding the longer you talk," she teases. 

Kili shrugs and kisses her fingers. "I can't help that I want to get my friends involved."

"Too many people and the secret will leak," she cautions. "The Council will put a stop to it before it can even begin."

He sighs. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

.

In the end, they limit it to just Kili's family, Balin, and Dwalin. The sons of Fundin agree to represent Tauriel's family surprisingly easily, and Kili's mother and younger sister will represent him. Fili will officiate and his wife will be a witness. The wedding will take place in the council chamber of Erebor in two months time, long enough that the wedding beads can be made, but soon enough that the council members who are against the union do not have the time to put a stop to it. 

.

King Fili is looking over a trade agreement in King Bard’s office, the end of his quill in his mouth and his face all scrunched up with concentration in a way that makes him look unnervingly like his younger brother. Tauriel sidles up to him and taps him on the shoulder. She really shouldn't be distracting him, but she needs his advice. Fili scratches out some letters and looks up at her, dipping his quill back in ink. "Hullo, Tauriel," he says with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"I need help," she declares and the smile vanishes for a worried frown. 

"Is something wrong?" 

"Not in the way you think," she says. Fili gives her a baffled look and Tauriel twiddles her thumbs awkwardly. "Dwalin mentioned I was meant to make beads for when I marry Kili," she explains, "only… I've not the slightest idea how!"

"Is that all?" Fili asks with relief.

"...Yes."

The king slides the paper he's been looking at out of his way. "Well, you came to the right dwarf. Do you have a material you're planning on using?" 

She shakes her head.

"Do you have a design?"

Another shake of the head. Fili sighs. "Oh dear."

"I don't even know where to begin! I've no idea how to craft jewelry!"

"Well, don't panic, there's no rule saying you have to make them. You just have to design them. It's common enough for a dwarf to commission a close friend to help create their wedding beads." 

Tauriel lets out a relieved sigh. "Oh, good." Then she frowns. “Kili will be making mine, though, won’t he?”

“Aye, most likely. His craft is jeweling after all.”

“Then I want to make his,” She declares.

“It won’t be easy,” Fili cautions.

“I don’t care. I want to try.”

"If you do, then far be it from me to try and stop you. Now, let's talk about materials. The most common are stone or metal, but wood or some sort of gemstone isn't unheard of. Any of those catch your attention?" 

Tauriel shakes her head. "I feel as if I need to hold the materials to see what I think."

Fili nods. "Next time I visit Dale, I'll bring you some examples."

She grins. "Oh, good! Oh, thank you!"

"Think nothing of it."

.

The next day, Fili arrives at her home as promised with the materials. He's brought some silver and gold and jewels, but what really catches Taurile’s eye is a beautiful piece of wood. She picks it up and turns it over in her hands. Fili sees her interest.

“That’s walnut wood,” he says. 

“It’s lovely.”

“Is that what you want to use?”

Tauriel turns the wood over in her hands. “Yes.”

“Good choice.”

“Only…” she frowns. “I can see why a material like metal or stone would be used, that can last for centuries, but wood? How do you keep the beads from wearing out?”

“We have charms for that,” Fili says, “to make them last. Don’t worry about that.”

“Oh, good.”

He begins to tie his hair back, pulling out tools from his bag, along with a sketchbook. “All right, let’s get to work.” He flips through his sketchbook to a fresh page and picks up a charcoal stick to draw with. “Any design ideas?”

Tauriel frowns, tapping thoughtfully on the wood. “Well… no.”

“Well, what makes you think about him? When I was designing beads for my wife, I thought of all the things that made me think of her and used those for my design. So, what makes you think of Kili?”

Tauriel thinks. “Uh, stars, and the moon, and mountains, mostly.”

“That’s a good start!” Fili says, passing the sketchbook and drawing stick to Tauriel. “Just… start drawing.”

She frowns and takes them gingerly. “I’m not much of an artist.”

“We can clean up the sketch later, just put down some ideas,” he says reassuringly.

.

In the end, she decides on an image of the Mountain with the moon rising behind it and a star above the moon. It’s simple and pretty, and Fili gives his stamp of approval. Then, the carving lessons begin. Woodworking is not something Tauriel has ever done and it’s not Fili’s craft, but he's a patient teacher and she’s a quick learner. She doesn’t expect to become such close friends with her future brother in law, but she and Fili end up having much more in common than they initially think, including but not limited to their affections for knives and Kili.

It takes time, and lots of practice, but by the day of the wedding, the final beads are done. They’re wide and flat beads with the pattern she came up with carved on one side and their names on the other. 

“Just promise me something?” Fili asks as he looks over the beads one final time. 

“What is it?” She queries. He looks up at her. 

“Please don’t leave him again. I don’t think he could bear it.”

Tauriel wants to tell him she hasn’t the slightest intention of doing that, that she came back for Kili and only for Kili, that not even wild horses could keep her away from him… but she doesn’t. “I won’t. I promise.”

.

There’s no fancy decorations or clothes for the wedding, no festive lights or stars or firemoons, just the dim torches illuminating the council chamber, and Kili’s smile illuminating her heart as they walk to stand together before Fili to be wed.

Tauriel takes Kili’s hand and he smiles up at her. “You look like a dream, amrâlimê,” he murmurs. 

“A good dream?”

“Yes. A fantastic dream.” He turns her hand over and kisses the inside of her wrist. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Together, they turn towards Fili and the wedding begins.

Their vows are in Khuzdul, the traditional words, so no dwarf can say the wedding is invalid. The words are foreign on her tongue, but she knows them and their meaning even in her sleep. 

Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, we are two bodies but one soul and my heart is tied to yours. I vow to walk with you and treasure you like the finest of jewels, through this life and the next. 

With those words, they weave the braids and beads into each other’s hair, Tauriel bites her lip as she does so, worried her wooden beads look shabby and silly next to the fine diamond-flecked beads he’s made her. But then, he smiles up at her, and looks at the beads like they’re pure mithril, and she knows he thinks they’re beyond precious. Fili says a few more words in Khuzdul, declaring the marriage complete and valid and handing them each a quill to sign the marriage document. As soon as that is over, Kili swings Tauriel into his arms and kisses her like she's water in the desert and she kisses back just as passionately. She can hear the family, no, her family now, laughing around them. She cups his face in her hands and nuzzles her nose to his. “I love you,” she whispers. 

“I love you, too,” he responds, wrapping his arms around her waist. “My wife.”

“My hus—"

Before she can fully respond, the door to the council chamber slams open. Lord Khar is standing in the doorway. "What is the meaning of this?!" He shouts, "why is that elf in the mountain?!"

"This," Fili says, picking up his quill and signing the marriage document, sealing the wedding as complete, "is a wedding."

"A wedding?! What?! Between who?!"

"Between my brother, Prince Kili, and Captain Tauriel of Dale, formerly of Mirkwood."

"No! Never! I will not accept it!"

"You don't have to accept it, you simply have to be quiet," Fili says. "I wear the crown, not you. And I have signed this document and officiated this marriage. It is done."

Khar looks positively apoplectic, his face turning an impressive shade of red. Kili squeezes Tauriel's hand reassuringly and looks up at her. She knows he won't let anything tear them apart, and she feels the same, responding to his look with a soft smile. 

Lord Khar lets out a wordless, angry noise at the sight of their joined hands and storms toward them, arms outstretched as if he will try to force them apart with pure physical strength alone. Tauriel acts on instinct, swinging Kili behind her (as if a warrior prince of the Line of Durin would need protection) and halting Khar with a harsh blow to the shoulder. "Do not lay your hands on us," she spits. 

The dwarf lord goes purple, holding his shoulder. "You cannot—"

"I suggest you listen to her, Khar," Kili says smugly, "my wife is rather deadly when she is angry." He says the words ‘my wife’ with utter relish, rubbing it in the older dwarf’s face, who snarls angrily and steps away from the two of them. "My Lord King," he turns to Fili, attempting a different tactic, "surely you cannot condone this! This elf has bewitched you, can you not see it?"

"I have bewitched no one!" Tauriel cries indignantly. "I'm no wizard, I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

Cassia, peeking around Fili, lets out a little titter of laughter. Kili laughs as well, but the dwarf is well warned away from him. He turns his blazing eyes on the Hobbit Queen. "Don't think you are any better, halfling! You who would put weak, sickly halfbreeds on the Throne of Erebor, if you could only manage to carry one long enough for it to live."

The uproar is instantaneous. Cassia makes a soft, pained little whimper, placing her hand over her abdomen, Dwalin reaches for a weapon, Balin exclaims condemningly, Dis and the princess cry out in indignation, Kili and Tauriel both step forward, either to protect their friend or hurt the dwarf lord, they don't know. They don't make it far enough to find out. 

Fili punches Khar in the nose, knocking him to the ground. Khar howls with pain, holding his face.

"You've said enough," Fili spits, his eyes blazing with something feral and unhinged. It's an expression Tauriel has never seen on any face, especially not kind, gentle Fili. "Shut your mouth before I shut it permanently."

Cassia gently takes his arm and he takes a deep, steadying breath. “Khar, son of Zodar, as King of Erebor, I am relieving you of your position on the council of Erebor!"

"On what grounds?!"

"Disrespect of your queen, constant undermining of your king, and," Fili crouches down and reaches into the dwarf's pocket, pulling out a golden seal, "unlawful possession and use of the council seal." 

“You cannot just---!”

“I can, actually.” Fili turns to Kili, "I believe you two have a wedding night to get to. I can handle this here."

“Are you sure?” Kili asks. His brother nods. “All right.” He takes Tauriel’s hand and draws her toward the door. “Yasith, let’s go.”

She looks down at him. “Will they be---”

“Fili can handle it.”

They leave the mountain together, returning to Dale, to Tauriel’s home on the outskirts of the city. No one stops them in Erebor at Kili’s command, and no one stops them in Dale at hers. “I have something to show you,” she says, shutting the door behind them. Kili takes her waist and draws her near him. 

“Is it you?” he asks cheekily, standing up on his toes to kiss her. She kisses back, laughing a little. 

“No,” she says, and then hums, “well, yes, but not yet, just… come with me.” She gives him one last kiss and draws away, taking his hand. He weaves his fingers through hers and lets her lead him through the house to the very top floor, and from there, up another flight of stairs and through a door into the open air. 

“You lead me around all secretly to show me the roof?” Kili asks, “Amrâlimê, I’ve been here before.”

She laughs and pulls him forward. Set up in the center of the open space is a mattress and a huge pile of pillows and blankets, surrounded by many candles and lanterns (as yet unlit), a basket of food, and several bottles of wine. “It’s tradition for the marriage to be consummated under the stars,” she says softly, looking down at him. “We don’t have to, but---”

Kili swings her into his arms for a kiss. “This wedding has been all about my traditions,” he murmurs when they come up for air, “I would be honored to partake in some of yours.” And, hand in hand, he leads her toward the bed.

.

The next morning as Tauriel awakens to birdsong, wrapped in Kili’s arms beneath the open sky, she knows this is where she is supposed to be, and she will fight for it with everything she has.

[cassiabaggins]

Athelas

A/N: lets get this Kiliel week started! All these stories are canon with my Extra Burglar timeline and occur following the Battle of Five Armies. I hope you enjoy, and please like, reblog, and leave a comment if you do! Also check out my Masterlist or AO3 for the rest of my works!beating! Also a special thanks to my betas, @anjhope1 and @deathlikessodaandpizza

Warnings: mention of major character death

Word count: 3552

Next     Masterlist

Taglist: @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza  @lonikje  @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing  @drowingintheempty  @kilielweek @estethell

Summary: Kili is grievously wounded in the Battle of the Five Armies and Tauriel is the only person who can keep him alive, but her presence is less than welcomed by many of the dwarves

To his credit, Kili is not the most difficult patient Tauriel has ever had. Granted, he does little but sleep for the first few weeks, and his care is only left to her because the dwarven healers have long since realized that they have no idea how to keep him alive, and the elven ones are too preoccupied with their own kind. 

Sleep though he may, it is not a consistent one, and Kili fades to almost wakefulness several times, enough so she can feed him thin broth, mixed with crushed athelas, to replenish his strength and numb the pain. At first, she isn't positive even athelas will help him, but he seems to rest easier when he takes it, even if it is only a few sips. She battles against the possibility of infection and his own mortality and wishes, not for the first time, she had pursued healing with more vigor. She has enough knowledge to bind a wound in battle and keep a comrade alive until the real healers arrive, but knows next to nothing about nursing a dwarf back from the brink of death, so in what little free time she has, she lurks near the healer’s tents, learning what she can to help him. A far cry from her younger self, who would have chafed at the idea of sitting still and listening, but now, she has a reason to.

As Tauriel continues to tend to the wounded dwarf, she notices something quite strange:  Kili gets few visitors. Tauriel wonders if that is because he has few friends, or if it is because his brother, the king, has forbidden it. She suspects the latter. The reason for this belief is because just days after the battle, while Kili is still hovering between life and death, a healer from the Iron Hills comes to check on him. She takes one look at Kili's wound and her eyes widen. Then she glances suspiciously at Tauriel and whispers something to Fili, that she knows she isn't supposed to catch.

"He should be dead," the healer says. "Your Majesty, your brother should not be alive. I am sorry, but I fear this is not him but an elvish trick, seeking to gain your trust and usurp your throne." Fili does not like that, and the dwarf is sent from the tent with a voice trembling with anger.

The brother in question sits with Kili whenever he can spare a moment, holding his hand or braiding his hair and talking to him, but there are not many moments to be had. The halflings visit more often, but they must begin their long journey home before the winter becomes too harsh. So, usually, it is just Tauriel sitting with Kili for such a long amount of time, that her younger self would be both annoyed and impressed with her commitment to the dwarf. However, there is only so much sitting still she can stand and restlessness has her pacing and singing and itching for activity. But she cannot leave him. She will not. He needs her. 

Finally, on the seventeenth day, Kili awakens enough to speak. As he slowly fades into consciousness, he realizes he has been awoken by an argument between Fili, his tone heavy with annoyance and anger, and another voice, one he doesn’t know. 

“...an elf taking care of the prince of Erebor?” The stranger is saying. “It’s unheard of!”

“She saved his life!” Fili snaps back. “As far as I am concerned, that means she can stay as long as needed!”

“Your subjects are already questioning your ability to rule, lad, don’t give them any more reason to doubt you.”

Kili can hear his brother’s voice shaking with anger. “I am fine with whatever they think of me, if it is to ensure my brother’s full recovery. And it is Your Majesty to you, not lad.”

Kili can’t help the soft laugh that escapes him. Fili sounds like Thorin when he does that, all pomp and pride. The argument stops and he senses someone moving close to him.

“Kili?” Fili asks, placing his hand on his forehead. It is warm and comforting. “How are you feeling?”

“I’d feel better if you all quieted down and let me sleep,” Kili mumbles.

“Aye,” his older brother says, stroking his bangs off his forehead. “I’ll take this outside. You get some sleep.”

“Where’s Tauriel?” Kili finds himself asking. He’s a little afraid he just dreamed her presence, that she has already left and returned home. 

“I am here,” her soft voice murmurs, and his heart leaps.

Kili cracks his eyes open to see her and his brother leaning over him, both of their foreheads drawn with concern. "You're missing an eye," Kili finds himself saying to his brother, who gives him a dry look.

"I am aware."

Kili loses interest in Fili's bandaged face and looks over at Tauriel, a much lovelier sight. He smiles. 

“Amrâlimê,” he mumbles, drinking in the sight of her. Fili’s one visible eyebrow shoots up in surprise, so high Kili wants to laugh again, but that hurts too much. Tauriel’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

“I’m sorry, Kili, I don’t know what that means,” she whispers. 

“Yes, you do,” he replies, sliding his eyes shut again. He reaches out with the hand nearest to her, searching for her cool skin. 

“Kili,” Fili hisses, “you can’t just--”

Of course he’d protest. Kili twists up his face, suspecting his brother is more concerned with the use of Khuzdul around non-dwarrow than the fact he just confessed his love for an elf in front of two witnesses. “You’re making my head pound, nadad,” he says pettily, knowing that will shut Fili down, and it does. He subsides with some minor grumbling under his breath about Kili defeating the whole point of a secret language with a display like that.

“Get some more rest, Kili,” he says, “When you feel a bit better, we can bring you into the Mountain. I have a room set up for you already.”

“Can Tauriel come?” Kili asks, suddenly terrified his brother will tell her to leave. He reaches out for her again, making a slight grabbing motion with his fingers, but she does not weave her fingers with his like she had before. Fili sighs. 

“Yes, she will come, too. She’s the one keeping you alive, after all.”

“Good.”

The stranger, whoever they are, starts to protest, but Fili says, “enough. Khar, we will finish this outside. Come with me.”

Khar. The name sounds familiar. Kili believes Thorin had a few meetings with a Lord Khar back in Ered Luin, and he had a vague memory of a dwarf with a red beard and brown eyes. Kili hadn’t liked him then, and he certainly doesn’t like him now. He reaches again for Tauriel’s hand. She’s so quiet, he’s suddenly afraid she’s disappeared. The third time turns out to be the charm, and perhaps the others have left, because her cool, slim hand suddenly slips into his. 

Kili smiles. “Tauriel,” he breathes. 

“Kili,” she replies, “your brother is right. Try to sleep. It will help you heal.”

“Can you sing to me?” 

She is silent for a while. He opens one eye to peek at her, a little worried that  asking for a lullaby is a bit more intimate in her culture. However, when their eyes meet, she is looking at him with surprise. He frowns a little, and then she lets out a breath, closing her eyes, a smile playing around her lips. “Yes, I will sing to you.” 

And she does.

.

On the twenty seventh day, Tauriel deems him well enough to be moved into Erebor. They lay him on a pallet in a cart drawn by rams, and despite all the cautions taken, it turns out to be one of the most excruciating experiences Kili has ever undergone. His whole body is pure fire, radiating out from his wound, and every jolt of the cart is a lightning strike of pain lancing through him. He bites back the groans he wants to let out, and squeezes tight to Tauriel’s hand. At least three times the pain becomes too unbearable, and he faints, but each time when he comes to, her hand is still holding his. 

The final time he passes out must be for quite a while, because when he loses consciousness, they are just approaching the mountain, and when he wakes, he is tucked up in a nice, warm, comfortable dwarven bed, leagues better than the thin cot he had been lying on in the healing tents on the battlefield. It's warmer, too, a fire crackling merrily in the hearth at the foot of his bed, and blissfully free of that post war scent of blood and mud and rotting corpses. Kili rather thought it had gone away in those last few days, but apparently he had just gotten used to it, because the smells of this room— herbs and stone and smoke and dust— are like the finest perfumes in all of Middle Earth, even with the faint lingering trace of dragon hanging about the place. He takes a deep breath in through the nose. Aye. Besides the dragon, it smells dwarven. It smells like home. But even the homey smells can’t drive away the pain encompassing his body, and he lets the deep breath out in a rush accompanied by a pained groan.

He doesn’t really notice he’s alone until a door to his left swings open and Tauriel steps through. She looks fresh faced and clean, her hair braided back, a few strands hanging free, and she’s changed clothes as well, to a loose blue tunic that looks suspiciously dwarven, and brown trousers. Kili decides he likes trousers on a lass... and the shape of her legs. She’s carrying a tray with a teapot and mug, and smiles when she sees that he is awake.

“Good evening,” she says, setting the tray on the bedside table. “You slept for a whole day.” She picks up the teapot and pours some of the contents into the mug. “How are you feeling? In pain?”

He manages a weak nod, but that hurts, too. 

"I thought so. Here. Drink this," she says. Kili peers suspiciously at the steaming cup she holds toward him. He thinks it may be medicine, but unlike the dwarven tonics he's used to, it doesn't smell awful. It smells like a combination of mint, earth, and something floral, but he doesn't know the scent, so he is suspicious. He hurts too much to move or speak, but the doubtful look he shoots her is enough. She sits down on his bedside, frowning. "It is merely an infusion of athelas, Kili. It will dull your pain. If I wanted to poison you I would have done it long ago."

That wasn't what he was worried about, but he doesn't have the energy to point that out. He sighs and opens his mouth a bit, and she helps him drink. It is hot, but not burning, and warms him right down to his toes. It would even taste like a normal tea, if not for the faint bitter aftertaste. Slowly, the radiating pain from his chest begins to dull and his muscles relax, and he thinks he might be able to sleep. Actually sleep, not pass out.

"Thank you," Tauriel says, setting the mug aside. "I am going to give you a sponge bath and change your bandages, and then you can try to rest, unless you would like to try eating. How does that sound?"

"You sure you don' jus' wanna see me naked?" He finds himself mumbling with a smirk. She scoffs. 

"You are hardly an appealing picture at the moment, laying here, barely alive, half drunk from pain."

Kili chuckles, but it turns into a hiss as his movement jars his wound and pain shoots through his body. "Everything hurts," he moans.

Tauriel tenderly touches his cheek in comfort. "I know. Give the athelas a moment to work."

He nods weakly and she stands up.

"Where are you—"

"I am merely fetching soap, hot water, and fresh bandages," she replies soothingly before leaving the room.

Before long she returns with a large bowl of steaming water, several rags, soap, and some warm fluffy towels. Slowly, she places the objects down next to him and it dawns on him as she soaks the soft towels in the warm water that she was about to wash him. Suddenly, Kili squirms and shies away from her.

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” he mumbles.

“About what?” She asks without looking up from her task, absently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. 

“About you seeing me naked,” he whispers, looking anywhere but at her.

Tauriel stops and stares at him for a while and he can feel his cheeks tingling with a blush. “I have seen you naked before,” she says blithely.

Kili’s head shoots up in dismay. “What?! When?!”

She sighs. “Who do you think has been bathing you and changing your bandages for the past month?”

Now it is his turn to stare at her. He hadn’t thought of that. Tauriel touches his shoulder sympathetically. 

“If it makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to wash between the waist and the knees.”

In the end, that is what they settle on. While she bathes him, she is careful and gentle, but thorough. Just as quick as it begins she is taking away the bathing materials and returning with fresh bandages and a small pot of something.

“I have to change your bandages,” she says apologetically. “This will be… painful.”

“What’s in the jar?” he asks.

"An ointment that will prevent infection and reduce your pain. It's mostly echinacea, chamomile, and athelas, mixed with a lard base."

"You sure like that athelas stuff. What is it, anyway?"

"Some call it kingsfoil," she says, opening the container and checking the contents. She tilts it so he can see a greenish brown paste inside. "See? I'll spread this over your wound. It shall help it heal, with the right incantations."

"Isn't kingsfoil a weed? I've been told that it's a weed."

"It is often seen as a weed, but truly it is a healing herb, though the knowledge of how to use it has been mostly lost to mortals. I've used it on you before, when you were shot by the orcish arrow."

"Oh. I don't remember that."

"I don't find that surprising, you were quite delirious."

Kili feels cold air on his chest and suddenly realizes that Tauriel has been carefully untying his bandages. He looks down and is quite shocked at the sight of his wound. This is the first time he's seen it, an ugly, puckered gash stitched closed with thick black thread. 

"Well," he says shakily, "that will leave a scar."

Tauriel doesn't laugh at his joke, too preoccupied with assessing the wound. "Soon I'll be able to take these stitches out, but not yet." She looks up at him. "I am going to clean it now. Are you ready?"

He gives her a lopsided smile. "Aye. I'm a grown dwarf, I won't cry."

.

In the end, a few silent  tears do manage to squeeze themselves out of his eyes. After her treatment, she lays him back and feeds him medicine that not only numbs the pain but also causes him some drowsiness and he falls asleep once more until she wakes him to feed him. From there, this same routine continues,  with a few minor changes with Company members visiting him when they can, but for the most part, it is just him and Tauriel. 

.

As more members of the Company come by, Tauriel better acquaints herself with them. However, as kind as they are to her, she is no fool. She knows the distrust (and in some cases, hatred) the other Dwarves of the mountain have toward her. They only keep her around due to Kili’s steadily improving condition. But before long, he will not need her anymore. He will be at a point in his recovery where the dwarven healers will be able to manage just fine and the dwarves will tolerate her no longer. She must leave before it all comes to a head and something terrible happens.

.

She begins to prepare travelling supplies: food, drink, and clothing, a map as well, as she makes her plans. Plans she tells no one of; she intends to slip away, unnoticed, into the night. They will not follow her and she knows she will not be missed. They just want her out of the mountain. She plans her route carefully; choosing to slip out in between the changing of the guard and taking a discrete route south. She calculates how many days she can ration out her lembas on foot versus on horseback or by boat, how long she can walk without sleep, how long her tinderbox can last, everything is carefully planned. However, what she did not plan for, is Kili. 

On the winter night that she executes her plan, she doesn't notice that Kill awakens as she creeps about the room, watching shrewdly as she gathers her belongings and crosses the room to her exit. But before she has the chance to even reach for the doorknob, he breaks his silence. 

"You're leaving," he whispers accusingly. 

Tauriel closes her eyes and sighs. “Kili,” she says softly, not looking at him.

“I’m not stupid, you know,” he says, “I’ve snuck out enough times in my life to recognize when someone is doing just that.” Tauriel's shoulders slump. She opens her eyes and looks up at the ceiling, studying the gold flecked green stone, but she still does not turn and look at him.

“Please don’t be angry with me.”

“I’m not angry! ” he huffs, clearly angry. Finally, she turns and raises an eyebrow at him, meeting his glare. "You’re just going to leave me, without so much as a goodbye?!” he continues, his eyes blazing with passion. 

 “Kili, surely you know of the strife my presence is causing,” she replies, “I know you aren’t blind to what is going on in the Mountain.”

“Of course I know!” He explodes, punching the mattress beside his thigh, “I'm not stupid! But you can’t just go!” Tauriel rather gets the impression that he’s hiding his sadness and betrayal behind anger, and if she didn’t know better, she'd think he was begging. But that’s ridiculous. Dwarves are proud. They do not beg. Silently, Tauriel moves away from the door and toward the bed, as graceful as water, and looks down at him. 

“And why is that?”

“Because then they win!” He shouts, gesturing wildly outward, as if to indicate the entire mountain and every dwarf within it. Immediately afterward, he seems to feel guilty for raising his voice, and drops his arms, looking down and away and picking at his blankets. Tauriel takes the opportunity to sit down on the bed beside him, contemplating his words. 

“Kili,” she says finally, after what seems like an age, “I wish it was that simple.”

“It can be,” he murmurs, turning back to look at her, his hand catching hers where it rests on the blanket. “Tauriel, amrâlimê...”

She looks down at their joined hands and something alien wells up within her. Is it love? Is it fear? She doesn’t know. 

“Stay with me,” he says, gripping her fingers. “Please.”

She looks up at him. He’s giving her the same pleading look he gave her on the lakeshore, conveying all his emotions in his gaze: love and determination and desperation...

“I can’t,” she whispers. 

His face crumples and he moves his hand off hers with a heavy sigh. “I know,” he replies. Because he does. Despite how desperately he wants it, he knows that at this point in time, what they have, or at least what they want to have, is impossible. He looks away so he doesn’t have to see her leave. The mattress shifts as she stands, and he listens to her footsteps begin to move away from him. Then, they pause. 

“I have something of yours,” she says. He looks up to see her reaching into her bodice. He frowns, confused, until she draws out her hand and holds it open to him. His runestone rests on her palm. She kept it? She still has it? “This belongs to you.”

“No,” he replies, staring listlessly at the stone.  “It’s yours. It was a gift.” 

She stands in silence for a moment, then her fingers close over it and she returns it back to where she had it, smoothing her shirt down over it. “Thank you.” She says after a while. He nods, looking down again. 

She moves again to leave, he hears rustling as she shoulders her pack, and the door creaks open. 

“Where will you go?” he calls after her. She turns to look at him, framed by the door. 

“I’ve always wanted to see the sea,” she replies. 

He nods. “Ah.”

She gives him a smile, but he doesn’t have the strength to return it, and her face falls. “Perhaps I will see you again someday,” she tells him, and is gone before he can reply. 

[cassiabaggins]

Dreams

A/N: part three of Kiliel week! Again, thank you all so much for your kinds comments, its really encouraging! I hope you enjoy this part, its actually one of my favorites, and the second one I wrote!

Tags:  @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza @lonikje @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing @drowingintheempty @estethell @claraofthepen @kilielweek

Wordcount: 720

First    Next    Masterlist

Warnings: n/a

Summary: thankfully, not all dreams are nightmares

She has been walking for days without rest. Tauriel doesn’t want to sleep. She knows if she does she’ll see the same nightmare that haunts her every night; Kili dying, falling apart to dust, the dragon, the fire, all of it. 

She won’t admit it to anyone that she misses him, it was never meant to be. Their love could never last, it would be cut down by his mortality or they’d be separated by their people. It was never meant to last.

But still... she loves him. She loves him with every breath she takes, with every mile trekked...

She wishes she had taken the chance to kiss him before she had left. She wonders if he would have kissed her back.

But it was never meant to be. He will wed a lass of his own people, as is right, and have children with her, as is right, heirs for his line. And she will travel the world. Perhaps she will cross the sea. She has heard tales of the sea-longing, rare to her silvan blood, but perhaps, when she goes to the water and hears the waves and smells the salt, it will take her over. Perhaps then will she forget him and the love that wasn't meant to be. Forget his hands and his eyes and his soft smile and that word he called her. She does not know what it means… Right?  (She thinks she does.)

That night, she can resist her exhaustion no longer, so she climbs into a tree, a massive old oak (old to humans, not to her), nestles in its branches and counts the stars through the leaves. She tries not to think of him as she drifts off to sleep.

Awareness returns with a soft bed and a warm body at her side, and for a moment she lays still. This is a dream. It must be a dream. 

She rolls over to see brown hair on the pillow beside her, and soft brown eyes watching her, pensive and serious. 

“I did not know elves slept,” Kili says, shifting around to get more comfortable. Of course he greets her like that, without preamble. She finds herself smiling.

“It is rare, but we do sleep. Though I suppose what we call sleep is different than what you call sleep.”

“No snoring then,” he jokes.

“No snoring,” she responds, breathing out a soft laugh.

“Do you dream?” he asks.

“We do.”

“Is this a dream?”

What an odd question. Of course it is a dream!

“It must be,” he continues, “because I remember you leaving. My heart has not stopped aching since you did. But here, with you, it’s subsided.”

“Are you sure that is not just your wound?” She finds herself teasing, rolling onto her side and placing her hand on his chest, over the scar she knows far, far too well. He is not wearing a shirt so it is easy enough to find beneath his dark chest hair, still raised and inflamed. “You should still have a bandage over this.”

“Tauriel,” he says and oh, the way he says her name makes her ache, “I know the difference between heartache and an old wound. And besides, the doctors told me I was well enough to go without bandages.”

“Not so old,” she mumbles, trailing the tip of her finger around the perimeter of the scar, reliving that moment in her head all over again; the sound of the spear entering his body, the choked gasp he had made, the scream that had left her throat… It seems no matter how much time has passed those sounds will be forever etched into her mind.

“Is this a dream?” he asks again, as if hoping it isn’t so. She nods. His face falls.

“But it is a good dream, meleth nin,” she mumbles, curling his hair through her fingers.

“I don’t know what that means,” he murmurs apologetically, searching her face. She finds herself smiling once more, and rests her hand on his jaw. 

“I think you do,” she replies.

There is a pause. A beat. And realization dawns across his face. Her heart races at the grin he gives her.

“Amrâlimê,” he breathes, all wonder and reverence. Then, he is kissing her, and that does not feel altogether like a dream.

[cassiabaggins]

Nightmares

A/N: Kiliel week day two! Thank you all so much for your comments on the previous piece, I really appreciate them! I hope you enjoy this!

Tags: @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza @lonikje @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing @drowingintheempty @estethell @claraofthepen 

Wordcount: 852

Previous         Next           Masterlist

Warnings: angst, major character death mentioned

Summary: Even though the battle has passed, the nightmares have not.

“Kili!” She screams, but she’s too late. The spear is already entering his chest. His head flops to the side, his eyes are already blank. “Kili!!!”

The orc is dropping him then, and she’s right next to him, in the massive, white, snow filled plain, and for the first time in her very long life, she can feel the cold, feel it seep under her skin and into her bones and grip at her heart. Her heart, which is breaking. Her heart, which is shattering into a million pieces like an icicle dashed upon the ground. 

“Please!” She gasps. “Kili, please!”

She falls to her knees beside him. The blood seeping from his chest is a sharp cruel splash against the ice and it stains her fingers when she tries to cover the wound. It worked before, please, please for the love of the stars, let it work again! She's choking on her sobs. Please, by what grace is given to me, let it pass to him. Let him be spared. Please, just bring him back! Last time he'd gasped and stirred and lived, but this time, he's as still as the ice beneath him. As time passes, she can feel her tears turning to ice on her cheeks. Everything is so cold! The air, the ice, his skin. "Kili, please!"

She's curled on the ground in a pool of blood, her head bowed and her shoulders shaking with sobs. Kili watches with a slightly detached feeling as if looking through a fog, wondering what she's crying over. Her hair is mixing with the redness on the snow. Fire and blood. It's rather poetic. 

"Kili, please!" She sobs, and suddenly, the fog between them blows away with a gust of wind. 

He finds himself moving toward her, almost before he can think about it. "Tauriel, amralime, I'm right here!" She doesn't hear him, doesn't react to his voice. He reaches out to touch her, but his hand can't make contact. He can't touch her. He can't comfort her. It's as if theire is windowpane is between them, cold as ice and utterly unbreakable. As he watches, she seems to crumple in on herself, falling to the side and curling in the fetal position. It's like he's watching her wither before his eyes. Kili slams his hands against the pane separating them. "Tauriel!" 

The red of her hair is fading to white, her whole body seeming to shatter into dust. He tries again, to get to her, this time with his fists. "Tauriel!!! No!"

A gust of wind blows past him, icy cold, catching up the dust that had once been the elf he loved, flinging it into the air and scattering it with no hope of retrieval. He screams out her name and runs forward. The pane shatters unexpectedly, sending him stumbling toward where she had been. He struggles to regain his footing but ends up tripping and falling over something. Looking down, he freezes with horror. He's just tripped over… himself. His own dead body, looking back at him with his own sightless eyes. He scrambles back onto his feet, feeling shaken. But he has no time to worry about that. He has to catch her. He takes off running again, calling her name.

Suddenly before him, he sees her standing on the edge of a cliff. Her red hair whipping in the wind. It’s coming from behind him, hurricane strong, roaring like a lion. He shouts her name but she I either out if earshot or the wind is carrying his words away. He shouts again, but something huge thunders over him, knocking him down. Kili struggles to stand, but the wind is pressing him to the ground. After a fight, he manages to raise his head, just in time to watch a great red dragon sweep up into the air over Tauriel.

"Tauriel!" He screams. This time, she hears him, and whirls around.

"Kili!" She cries, starting toward him.

"Above you! Run!" 

She looks up, horror sweeping over her face at the sight of the monster. Kili flails to get free of this accursed wind, but all he can do is watch as the beast banks and turns back toward them, its chest glowing magma bright. 

The fire takes her first. He doesn't know if he screams because he's burning or she is. 

.

Tauriel jolts awake, gasping for breath. She isn’t burning and Kili isn’t with her; she’s laying on fragrant heather, miles away from Erebor. Slowly, she sits up, her whole body shaking, and then climbs to her feet. She doesn’t want to sleep anymore. She gathers her things and begins running. She’s heading to the sea.

Kili wakes up soaked in sweat with a hoarse throat, alone in his bedroom. He groans and covers his face with a pillow. His chest aches horribly. It always does when he wakes up from nightmares. Slowly, he rolls out of bed and dresses. He doesn’t want to sleep anymore. He gathers up his jeweling tools and heads out to the forges. He has work to do.

[cassiabaggins]

Gifts

A/N: Part/day five! I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for the comments on the previous parts!

Wordcount: 3k

Tags: @anjhope1 @deathlikessodaandpizza @guardianofrivendell @myrin1234 @wettomatodude @lothloriien @annkdarar @artsywaterlily @hmmm-what-am-i-doing @drowingintheempty @estethell @claraofthepen @kilielweek

First      Next      Masterlist

Warnings: none, it’s pure fluff. Unless Kili being cheeky counts as a warning...

Summary: Kili and Tauriel share a late night picnic, a carefully made gift, a kiss under the moonlight, and a promise.

It starts off as a simple sketch of a bow on the corner of a piece of parchment. Kili is no great artist, but he knows his projectile weapons, and he stares at this little sketch for a long while, just thinking. Then, he goes to inspect the woodworker’s guild. It starts on a whim, a fine stave of yew laying set aside for some project. He picks it up absently, turning it over in his hands. 

“A fine choice in wood there, Your Highness!” one of the guilddwarrow says. 

“Yew, is it not?” he queries idly.

“Aye! And a fine specimen! Fine bows are made of that wood, but being an archer I suppose you already know that.”

Kili nods. “I do. Say, is anyone using this stave?”

“I don’t believe so, sir, but what do you mean to do with it, begging your pardon?”

“I know someone who needs a new bow,” he says. “Hers was broken.”

“Broken? Ah, mighty bad luck, having your primary weapon break.”

“Aye, mighty bad luck indeed.”

.

The following weeks are filled with rough drafts, mock ups, practice carvings, and an obscene amount of frustration. Somewhere along the way, this bow doesn’t become just a bow, but a courting gift -- and that means it must be perfect. Because she is perfect. He finally settles on a simple recurve bow, short but powerful, made for tight spaces and quick draws, perfect for the flexible yew. After deciding on the type of bow, and sketching up the shape, he heads out into the woods to find arrows. He decides on pine, and harvests a good amount of straight, light shafts, then heads to where the animals are kept within Erebor to hunt down some fletching. A butcher has just slaughtered several turkeys, and it is simple enough for Kili to purchase the tail and wing feathers. “Making arrows, Your Highness?” The butcher guesses, spying the pine shafts strapped to Kili’s back. He nods. 

“Aye. My quiver is running a bit low.”

“Ah, it happens. Glad to be of service to you, and fine feathers these are, too!”

“The finest,” Kili grins, admiring the barred black and white feathers. “I wouldn’t go for anything less. Say, next time you butcher an ox, let me know, I am in need of a new bowstring.”

The butcher agrees readily, happy to be of service to the prince, and Kili leaves walking on air. 

Back in his workshop, Kili drafts up several designs for arrowheads and the final curve he wants for the bow, and then gets to work. Although driven and determined, he knows he must work slowly and carefully, for woodworking is not his craft.

It takes him the better part of a month to make the bow. Then, he can move onto his other gift: courting beads. He's been thinking carefully about not only what material he wants to make them out of, but also what shape. When he finds a fist-sized fire opal while sorting through the treasury, he has the most perfect idea. Thankfully, jewelling is his craft.

.

Tauriel has taken up permanent residence in Dale, ending up as leader of the city's guard, and the ragtag but earnest group of former fishermen fall into line quickly under her stern command. The sun is just beginning to set and the evening autumn air is crisp and inviting when she returns home. As she nears her house, she sees a person standing on her doorstep, too short to be a man and too broad to be a child. "Kili?"

He turns, the golden light bathing his face, and his grin stuns her a bit with its wideness. "Hullo, amrâlimê !" He says, coming towards her. He takes her hand with all the grace of the prince he is and places a chaste kiss on the back of it. 

"You are being silly," she informs him. He grins wider. 

"Perhaps."

She huffs a little and brushes past him to enter her house, and he saunters in after her with all the airs of owning the place. "Why are you here, Kili?"

Although she pretends she isn't bothered by the fact that it has been nearly a month since she saw him last, truthfully, it is bothering her. Immensely. 

“I’m here to ask if you’d like to go on a bit of a jaunt with me,” he replies. She turns and gapes at him. 

“I’m sorry?”

“A picnic, to be precise. I’ve a basket all set up, some lovely dwarven wine… I’ve pulled out all the stops, Tauriel, you can hardly say no.”

She splutters a bit. “It's almost sundown!"

"It's not like you can't have picnics at night. C'mon, it'll be fun!" 

It's not that she doesn't want to go, it's just that the whole thing is so sudden. "I… I’ve just come back from guard duty! I’m in my armor!”

“I am aware,” he replies blithely. “I can wait until you change into something more comfortable.” He glances at her appreciatively. “Or you can stay in that. I wouldn’t be bothered.”

Tauriel sighs. There’s really no getting out of this one (not that she especially wants to, anyway). “Give me a moment.”

Kili sits down at her kitchen table. “Take your time, amrâlimê.”

Tauriel hurries up the stairs and into her bedroom, setting aside her bow (her third, the other two having snapped from her elvish strength) and arrows, and casting off her armor with hands that are almost trembling with excitement. She throws open her wardrobe doors… and stops. What does one wear on a nighttime picnic? A dress? She hardly has anything suitable, mostly trousers and tunics populate her wardrobe. She spends a bit wavering between clothes before deciding on something simple. It’s not like they’re courting or anything.

She retrieves her cloak and hurries back out to Kili, who greets her with a grin when he sees her. 

“Ready?” he asks, and she nods. 

.

They ride out to the eastern shores of Long Lake, Tauriel on her horse Aearon, and Kili on his sturdy pony, Granite. The water is glassy smooth before them as they stop their mounts at the last bit of grass and dismount. Kili hands Granite's reins to Tauriel and  begins unbuckling his saddle bag, maneuvering his body between his mount and her as if he's trying to hide something. 

"Go find a good spot on the sand," he says, "and start a fire." He hands her a tinderbox and takes back the reins. "I'll bring the food and rub down the ponies." 

She doesn't bother to tell him Aearon is hardly a pony, just takes the tinderbox and heads toward the shore, kicking her boots off at the edge and heading barefoot on to the cool sand. Kili looks after her, admiring the way the sunlight turns her hair to flame. Granite nudges his arm, drawing him back to reality, and he scratches her forehead, sliding off her bridle. “Sorry, girl. I got distracted.” His pony ruffles her mane and ducks her head to snatch up a few mouthfuls of grass. “D’you think she’ll like it?” he asks her. She ignores him. 

Aearon, however, peers at him out of one eye, rather like he thinks Kili is entirely ridiculous. Kili stares right back, raising an eyebrow challengingly, and gets back to untacking them both. He sets the saddles near a tree and hoists his saddlebags to his shoulder, making sure the gift is well hidden. 

Tauriel is waiting for him on the sand, next to a small but slowly growing fire and a pile of driftwood. Kili drops the saddlebags and pulls out a blanket. "Help me spread this out, won't you?"  

She moves to help him. “Is there a reason you dragged me all the way out here?” She asks.

“I told you,” he replies, kicking his boots off at the edge of the blanket and sitting down on the soft wool. “A picnic.” He pats the space next to him with a smile of invitation and drags one of the saddle bags towards him. 

She sits gracefully, wiggling her bare toes under the sand. At first, their conversation is a little stilted, but as time passes, the tension eases.

“Isn’t that cold?” he asks with a laugh, unpacking food and setting up a spit over the fire. She shrugs.

“A little. I like the way it feels.”

Kili laughs again and she smiles at him. 

“Are you doing the cooking?” She asks. 

“Aye, unless you’d like to help.”

“I can’t,” she says. He stares at her, midway through spitting the chicken he brought, already pre seasoned.

“What?”

“I can’t cook.”

“What do you mean you can’t cook?”

“Well, I’ve never really had to. Back in Mirkwood, my meals would be prepared for me. For all of the guard, actually.”

Kili balances the chicken on the spit. “Well, what did you do when you couldn’t get back in time for meals? Or when you were on a trip? Or when you were gone these past few years? Did you just not eat?”

“Of course I ate!” She replies. “I’d eat lembas!”

He gives her a quizzical look. “Lembath?”

“Lembas,” she laughs. “Elvish waybread. It lasts for ages and even one bite can fill your stomach. It’s the perfect travel food. I had a supply with me when I left Mirkwood, and it kept until I left Erebor. I restocked in Rivendell, and again in Lothlorien.”

“Oh. I see.” He looks into the flames for a moment, then says, “Tell me of your travels, Tauriel.”

She peers over at him, at the firelight bathing his face in the after sundown, before moonrise darkness, and frowns. She would think he wouldn’t want to hear of it, of how she abandoned him, but… she nods slowly and begins her tale. Kili listens closely as he tends to the food cooking. Whenever he looks up to watch her, he is enchanted by her bright eyes and dancing hands. There’s something different about her, he realizes. He hadn’t noticed it until tonight. When she had first come back he hadn’t been able to think about anything but how happy he was to see her again, and in the past month he’d been too preoccupied with his gift to notice. 

“Tauriel,” he starts, interrupting her story. She pauses midway through telling him about the plains of Rohan and looks down at him expectantly. 

“Yes?”

“Why did you leave?”

She bites her bottom lip.

“Was it because of me?”

“No! Oh, Kili, no!” She crawls over and takes his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “It was nothing you did! I just… I needed to figure something out.”

He looks down at their joined hands and then up into her green eyes. “What did you need to figure out?”

“I wanted to find out who I was outside of what I’ve always known. I’ve always been Tauriel, Captain of the Mirkwood Guard… But, Mirkwood isn’t my home anymore. That’s not who I am anymore. I needed to find out who Just Tauriel was, outside of duty.”

“Did you find out?” he asks gently.

“I believe so.”

“You seem different.”

Concern flits over her face. “Different? A bad different or a good different?”

“Good different. Definitely good different. You seem… I don’t know, more at peace with yourself.” He slips his fingers through hers. “I like it.”

“I’m glad,” she whispers. 

“If that’s why you left,” he asks, “why did you come back? I would think living here on the edge of the forest would be painful.”

She looks down at him with a smile. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I would miss you.”

“I did,” He replies. “I missed you so badly I dreamed of you at night.”

She blinks at him, and then her cheeks flush pink. “I… I…”

“Tauriel? Is something wrong?”

“It’s just… I dreamed of you, too.”

“Nightmares of me dying?” He asks cynically. She nods, and he sighs. “Thought so.”

“Not all of them though,” She murmurs, looking away from him. “Many of them were pleasant. I mean… oh my, look at the moon!”

Kili looks over the horizon to see the moon rising over the lake, huge and red. A firemoon. Tauriel stands and walks to the edge of the water, gazing up at it with wide eyes. Kili watches her, framed by the moon, her hair cascading down her back in a stream of molten gold. This is as good a time as ever.

.

“Tauriel.”

She looks down to see Kili standing at her side, something behind his back. “Isn’t it lovely?” She says, gesturing to the moon. 

“It is. Almost as lovely as you.”

A blush once again flares over her cheeks, visible even in the dark. “You flatter me.”

“I mean it,” He says sincerely. “I know I’ve been rather absent the past month, but the truth is, I’ve been working on something. For you.” From behind his back, he takes whatever he had been hiding and holds it out to her. Whatever it is, it is wrapped in a cloth, which she carefully peels back to reveal the most beautiful bow, quiver, and set of arrows she has ever seen. 

“Oh my…” 

“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful.”

He hands it to her. “Try it out. See how it feels.”

She takes it almost hesitantly, stringing it with the bowstring he provides, and carefully nocks an arrow. It bends with ease, but there is no hint of any possible breakage. She aims at a tree several paces away and releases. The arrow flies true into its target. Tauriel lowers the bow, unable to keep the grin off her face, and admires the green leather grips and the silver inlays, the iron tipped arrows, the barred fletching… it’s designed and made with love and care. 

"This is a lovely bow," she says. He beams at her. "But, Kili, you must know, I can't keep this! You worked so hard on it!"

His smile doesn't fall. "I don't think you're understanding, amrâlimê," he says. "I made it for you. It's a courting gift."

"A cour…" she stares at him, eyes wide. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious! Why wouldn't I be serious?"

"W-well, I don't know, I… I just… oh my stars!" 

Kili takes her hand. "That's not the only thing I have for you." Gently, he turns her hand over and opens her fingers, placing a small silken bag on her palm. "I wanted to make this official. These are for you. Well, us. They're courting beads."

He lets go of her hand and steps back, looking at her expectantly. Tauriel hesitates for a moment. Dwarven courting is completely alien to her. Finally, she sets down the bow and sits down on the sand, patting the space beside her. Kili sits down eagerly and grins at her, nodding a little. "Go ahead! Open it! I actually got to use my Craft for this gift."

Tauriel smiles at his eagerness and carefully opens the pouch, emptying the contents into her palm. It's a pair of beads, just as Kili said, made out of some strange shimmering jewel, shot through with all sorts of colors: blue and orange and green and red and purple, and carved in the shape of a crescent moon. Tauriel can't stop the gasp that escapes her. 

"Oh, Kili," she breathes. 

He scoots closer to her and reaches over her arm, lifting one of the beads. It shimmers in the moonlight. "We call these fire opals. They're notoriously hard to work with. But the colors… they…"

"They're stunning," she says earnestly.

"They're supposed to represent the fire moon," he murmurs, looking up at her, the red moon reflecting in his dark eyes, in a way that makes him so beautiful that her breath catches in her throat. "Back in Mirkwood, I promised I'd show you a fire moon someday, did I not?"

"You did," she breathes. "You have. Three times over." She means not only the moon above them, but the two tiny ones nestled in her palm. He smiles up at her. 

“So, do you accept my suit?”

She wavers for a moment, unsure, self doubt creeping in. Not only is he a prince, he is a dwarf, and there is a very, very good chance their love is doomed. But then she sees his hopeful face and bright eyes, and the fear evaporates like dew on a summer morning. "I do," she murmurs. 

Kili beams so wide it's blinding. "Then may I braid your hair?" She bends slightly so her hair pools in his lap.

"You may."

The braid he weaves is beautiful, the beads glimmering at the end of it. She’s distracted from admiring it when he cups her face in his hand and draws her face down near his. “May I kiss you?” he asks softly. She nods, sliding her hand behind his head and drawing his face close to hers. 

“This won’t be easy,” he whispers when they part. “Tensions in the Mountain are still high. Very few will accept this, and even less will be happy for us.”

“I know,” she says. “But I’m willing to fight for us.”

“So no more running?”

“No more running.” 

She presses her forehead to his. “Kili, there’s one thing I never understood. Why did you never come after me?”

“I thought about it,” he admits, “especially on nights when resisting the goldsickness got too much, or when the pressure of my duties felt like it was crushing me, I would be just minutes away from packing up and running after you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He shrugs. “Because every time I almost did, I’d dream of you that night. That would help. It was like you were still with me. And besides, I couldn’t leave my brother, he had it worse.”

“You’re a good brother.” She touches his cheek and kisses him again. “I admire that about you.”

“You do?”

“I do.” She smiles. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I have no idea, I am very admirable, after all.”

Tauriel laughs and shoves him so he flops backward. “Don’t be cocky, Kili.”

He grabs her arm and pulls her with him, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her tenderly. “But you love me anyway.”

“I do,” she says, and kisses him back.

[cassiabaggins]

the real reason i haven’t posted anything in months is because I’m doing Kiliel week on March 22-28th, so keep a look out for that!

[cassiabaggins]

YES I LOVE IT!!!! THIS IS SO CUTE!!!! IM DYING. The way he looks at her 🥺. Her little smile 🥺🥺🥺. Their cloaks thst look like the night sky 😭😭😭. Ugh, I love it!!!!

Instead of doing a lot of separate pieces for @kilielweek , I decided to do one big piece that I knew would take me awhile!

So here are the king and queen of starlight themself! ❤️❤️❤️