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The three fallen noble dwarves, Thorin, Fili and Kili lay resting on thick blocks of rock surrounded by candles. Their final rest. Upon the dwarves lay their swords and other personal belongings. They all slowly walked around their dead, on display before leaving them to the eternal and peaceful dark of the funeral halls of Erebor. Besides Kili stands a female elf, with long red hair. The elf that had aided them in the escape from Esgaroth, away from the wrath and flames of Smaug. Bofur spotted the elf, her tears silently running down her cheeks.
“He always had a thing for your kind even though we never got him to admit it”, the dwarf lightheartedly joked. The elf turned her head to look upon the dwarf beside her.
“Is that so?”, she whispered amused. “How lucky I am to have caught the eyes of the elven charmer”, she continued, a small laugh escaping through her somber voice. A short moment passed and the dwarf shifted his focus to Kili’s hands resting upon his chest. His hands were held by the elven woman, something resting between their hands.
“What is that you have there?”, Bofur asked. The elf snuffled.
“It’s his promise. His promise to return home, return to his mother. He gave it to me when you left for Erebor”, she explained.
“What did you say?”, came suddenly the voice of an older female. As Tauriel looked up she could see a beautiful dwarven woman approaching Kili’s burial table. Her attire was very proper and clear she was in mourning. They both looked confused at each other for a moment.
“May I present Princess Dís. Daughter of Thrain, Daughter of Thror. The sister of King Thorin Oakenshield and mother of Fili and Kili.”, Bofur announced calmly. “And Princess Dís may I present-” Bofur hesitated for a short moment as he realized he did not know the young elf’s name. “Tauriel of the Woodland Realm”, the elf continued as she looked at the woman who now stood on the opposite side of her dead son's burial table. Her thick hair the same tone of black as Kili’s. Tauriel could see the resemblance now that the distance between them had shrinked. The young dwarf definitely had his mothers soft yet captivating eyes.
“I am sorry for your loss Princess Dís”, Tauriel expressed in a loud whisper, nodding her head in respect.
“Raise your head young Tauriel”, Dís started, “I can see your pain, clear as mithril itself. Now who were you to my son?”, the old dwarven woman asked, genuinely while trying to hold herself together in front of her dead sons and brother. Her heart on the verge of capsizing in sorrow.
“I don’t know. I only know I loved him and he loved me. It was short and fragile, but I now realize I wouldn’t change it for anything.”, Tauriel expressed as she bowed down to kiss Kili’s hands before letting go. “I believe this belongs to you”, the young elf said, reaching out her hand to Kili’s mother. In her hand, the promise Dís had gifted her son a year prior, the promise her son had made to come home.
“Oh my dear reckless son”, she whispered for herself, tears in her eyes as she gazed upon the rock with the khuzdul inscription “Return to me”. A moment later she met the eyes of the elf before her. “You should keep it. My son is returned and I think he would haunt me for the rest of my days if I were to take it from you”, a warm laugh came through her tears, a nostalgic and bittersweet smile on her face. She proceeded to gently close Tauriel's hand around the stone. Tauriel felt the cold rock against her skin. A moment passed before she gently put the rock beneath the hands of the young dwarf.
“A promise that I will find you, in this life or the next”, Tauriel whispered before gently kissing Kili’s forehead. It was a goodbye for now, but certainly not forever.