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A Kiliel one-shot where their love was beautiful in its bravery and brevity.
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They sit atop Bard's roof, ignoring the rotting dragon in the lake and the angry world around them.
"What's your favorite story when it comes to the sky?"
Kíli turns in Tauriel's arms, to look up at her face bathed in starlight. It is much more comfortable to be framed in her arms than on an old wooden kitchen table. Kíli would much rather rest his head just below the elf's collarbone than a bowl of walnuts.
"Orion," Kíli answers honestly. "Despite his sad demise."
"I think that depends on what you're looking at," Tauriel reminds as she leans down to press her forehead in Kíli's hair at his crown.
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Kíli flew over the moon for Tauriel.
The dwarf gets lost in the stars so far away, but are now seemingly in his grasp. Kíli never felt the pull of gold or jewels, but he feels that desire to follow and hoard when it comes to the elf and her rare smiles.
Yet Kíli is so concerned about leaving his shadow here on earth that he forgets just how dark it is up in the sky.
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They marry before the battle, under the stars with only the company to watch. Thorin is stiff as he preforms the ceremony, but the dwarf does not argue. He knows to willingly give his nephew this lasting memory of happiness.
Because Kíli is willing to die for Thorin, and Thorin will die before giving over the mountain once again.
Kíli wishes Bilbo was here, as he would be kind enough to cry in glee unlike his somber comrades. From this entire journey of chasing after the impossible, they know a last-ditch effort when they see one.
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Tauriel says he looks very handsome in his armor, and Kíli thinks so too. But he knows he is not playing dress-up, like he would with Fíli when they were boys. They would steal in to Thorin's room to wear his clothes, stomping around in boots that went over their knees.
No, this time the weight on his shoulders is not the fear of his uncle walking in. It is of death opening the door and coming in unannounced.
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Tauriel goes down to speak with her king, and she is not back yet with the battle starts. Kíli looks for her as he fights, but he does not see any flashes of red past a man or dwarf getting cut down.
Kíli watches Thorin fall, a looming figure poised above him to strike his family down.
Just like when Kíli fell in love, the dwarf acts without thinking.
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Kíli lies on the battlefield, panting and trying to see through the pain and the sweat dripping in his eyes. Or maybe it is blood. Either way it stings, and Kíli just wants to get up, but finds he cannot.
He sees Fíli, fighting his way closer to his fallen brother and uncle. His blonde hair is nearly coated in grim and blood, the golden color dimmed but not entire faded. Until Kíli sees him fall too, and a selfish part of him is happy. Because this way Fíli will at least still be with him in death.
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Kíli knew, the moment he saw her, that he would love Tauriel.
He does not know when he actually fell: if it was in the prisons, with talks of the skies above; when she does not shoot him in the barrels, and looks at him with concern; when she saves him from poison, and she does not push away his hesitant fingers; or maybe when she decides to marry him, even if it is seen as pointless. Kíli almost feels bad, as elves like dwarves only marry and love once in their life. Despite the centuries she has on him, they are both foolishly young.
Kíli makes Tauriel a wife and a widower between two falls of the sun, but he does not regret it.
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Kíli now knows they are not a beacon. They are not a fixed point of light that watches over generations and kingdoms, immovable and steadfast.
Their love is the flash of a falling star: beautiful but but doomed to die. It is heartbreaking, and its beauty lies in its short life. It is a brilliant streak for but a moment before it is gone forever more.
To see it, a person has to search.
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Kíli wakes, and can barely breathe just like when he had closed his eyes on the battlefield in exhaustion.
He sees Tauriel, her head down and tears cutting lines through grim on her cheeks. Her face is stoic, and Kíli realizes she is being strong for him.
"I cannot make you stay this time," Tauriel sobs.
He watches Tauriel's tears, and lifts a hand to press against her wet cheek. They look like falling stars in the dim light from a nearby lantern.
"Where is my brother, my uncle?" Kíli croaks.
Tauriel shakes her head gently, so as not to dislodge his hand.
Kíli sighs, and is glad that he does not have to make this choice of who to follow.
"Look for me in the sky," he whispers.
Kíli dies catching stars with his hand pressed against Tauriel's cheek.
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FIN