So Comes Snow After Fire

23.iii

"Hail, travelers," Legolas called once he had drawn himself up a few yards down the path from Kíli. His tone, though friendly, still held a challenge, and Kíli wondered if his own inadvertent outburst had offended the elf. Or did Legolas resent that Kíli had returned as a rival for Tauriel's affection?

"Greetings," Kíli said stiffly. He did not feel friendly enough to offer the courtesy of a mae govannen to this smug prince. And yet surely Tauriel was near; he must remember his manners for her sake, and so he bowed. Behind him, he heard Dwalin move, and he took some satisfaction from knowing his kinsman had surely just loosened a weapon or two in their holsters.

"What urgent business brings you through the Greenwood?" Legolas asked, and there was a pointedness beneath his polite tone that put Kíli on edge. His bodyguard, too, responded once more with a subtle shift of weight.

Kíli had to struggle hard to keep his own voice courteous as he responded, "My business is with Tauriel alone. I understand she travels with you?"

Instantly, Legolas's face hardened. "What do you wish with her?" he asked curtly.

"I have news that concerns her," Kíli said, growing more annoyed by the moment at the elvish prince's presumption in Tauriel's affairs. "But I'll tell it to her alone."

"Is it for her good?" Legolas demanded, little friendliness in his face now.

At the same moment, Tauriel herself dropped to the path a few steps behind Legolas, and the sharp reply already halfway to Kíli's lips turned only to her name.

"Tauriel!"

"Yes, Kíli?" Her tone was soft, almost cautious. What was she afraid of? Why did she not run to him? He would have run to her, had he not suddenly doubted what she wanted as she stood at the blond elf's shoulder as if seeking his protection.

"Tauriel, I came to tell you..." For all his fierce desire to claim Tauriel decisively before this rival prince, he knew she was the one who must be allowed the choice to claim him. Or not, if she desired otherwise.

Kíli cleared his throat. "I'm free. I'm not required to marry a dwarven lady, and Thorin consents to my choosing you."

The cool mask of reserve seemed to melt from Tauriel's face; Kíli could see now how truly agitated she was. If his news had not made her happy...

"Tauriel, if you want to go with him, then that is what I want for you," Kíli said. Painful as the words were, under her gaze he had no trouble speaking them truthfully.

"Kíli!"

She moved so swiftly that he barely had time to collect himself before she flung herself to her knees before him and tugged him against her so violently that the two of them nearly toppled over. As Kíli clutched her and tried to stay upright, Tauriel pressed her face into the curve of his neck.

"Oh, Kíli, I want only you," she breathed.

He tucked his face down against her hair and held her tightly, too overcome to speak.

Against her, his body warmed as if she were a flame that restored heat and light to coals long fallen cold and choked by ash, and the ache which had been as much a physical pain as a spiritual one gradually eased from his heart. He had, he supposed, been far more fractured in body and soul than he had ever guessed before this moment when she held and healed him.

"Tauriel," he managed at last, and again, "Tauriel, Tauriel..." He repeated the words like a prayer, made not to her, but to whoever had seen fit to send her back to him.

"Yes, Kíli." She lifted her head to look at him through eyes shining with tears. "I'm here. Never will I leave you again."

Kíli brushed away the few strands of his own dark hair that had caught on her damp cheeks. "Amrâlimê," he whispered, and then he kissed her.

He did not know how much time passed before he remembered, dimly, that they were not alone. Tauriel, too, had either forgotten or did not care, for she made a soft noise of protest as he drew his lips from hers.

Much to his surprise, Kíli found he was almost sorry to look at Legolas now, for he was sure the elf's ageless face would show the hurt and disappointment that had so recently stung Kíli himself. Yet to his utter astonishment, Legolas regarded them with a look that was, if a little bittersweet, still decidedly pleased.

Kíli tried not to gape. Legolas had been so clearly defensive earlier, and Kíli had been sure the elven prince had not wanted to let his rival near Tauriel. Unless Legolas had been afraid, not that Kíli would claim her, but that he would hurt her...

"You never answered my question, hîr hadhod, but I see the truth readily enough," Legolas explained in response to Kíli's stare. Then, as if for Kíli's personal benefit, he added, "She never wavered from you."

Kíli felt his face burn red, ashamed as he was of how poorly he had thought of this elf who had been a comfort and defense to his Tauriel when she had been alone. "Thank you for looking after her when I could not," he said. "I am forever at your service."

Tauriel rose to her feet and turned to face Legolas, as well.

"Meldir, I am sorry to abandon you," she said.

The elf prince shrugged, the movement mildly awkward even as it was graceful. "I can hardly take you from where you truly belong. And perhaps the two of you will come to Imladris some day and visit me?" He shot Kíli a glance. "She does dearly want to see the place," he said, as if imparting some secret word of advice.

"Ah, Legolas!" Tauriel ran forward and embraced him, and then kissed him once. "You have been more good to me than I can say, and I wish you every blessing of the Valar. May the stars shine on you till we meet again."

"And may you and your Kíli be every bit as happy as you deserve," he said, gently pushing her back in the direction of the dwarf he named.

Kíli was not quite sure what to make of the expression on the blond elf's face; he thought perhaps it held relief mingled with regret. Then Tauriel turned her beaming face back to him, and Kíli had eyes for nothing else.

She came to him and took his hand. "Shall we go home, my love?"

He merely nodded. As they turned back east, towards the Mountain, Kíli noticed that a few early snowflakes had filtered through the trees to fall around them.

~*~

hîr hadhod - "lord dwarf"

meldir - "friend" (masculine)