A Journey I'll Always Remember (Kili x Reader)

Alternative Ending.

THE LAST GOODBYE:

"Kili!" My voice ricocheted off the stone ruins of Ravenhill as I watched Kili rip through every orc that came him path; every ferocious swing driven by the utter grief of his brother. I stomached the pain in heart as I followed close behind him as Kili scoured every inch of Ravenhill to avenge his fallen brother. I grunted as I swung my sword and gashed an orc across its chest. After several killings we finally had reached a moment of silence, I panted with my hands on my knees as I regained my breath.

Kili ran a hand through his hair as tears stained his cheeks. I grabbed Kili's arm as I pleaded to him "Please Kili, we need to go back. It's not safe." Kili's eyes locked with mine, dropping his sword and placing either hand on each of my shoulders. "Go back to Bilbo and Thorin. I will kill Azog. I don't want you to be hurt." His eyes were as desperate as mine; both longing for the safety of each other. I thinned my lips, my gaze firm "I go where you go. If you won't go back, then neither will I." After all these months of agony and fear, fighting our way across Middle Earth to reclaim the mountain. We will finish this together.

Kili dropped his head before nodding firmly. Just as Kili retrieved his sword from the ice below us, a scream sliced through the chilling air; a scream I recognised. Tauriel. The two of us sprung into action as we followed the scream until we reached a platform above a large balcony of ice and snow with steps leading down. Tauriel was in the hands of the orc that ambushed us in Mirkwood, the largest orc with metal plates buried into his pale skin. My eyes widened when he grabbed Tauriel's arm and twisted it behind her. Tauriel's jaw dropped as her arm strained before a large fist slammed down onto her face. I had to do something.

Adrenaline flooded my limbs as I shook my hands, before sprinting forwards and leaping from the platform we were stood on. I could hear Kili scream my name as I leaped through the air, before slamming down onto the back of the orc. The orc growled as I landed on its back, thrashing around as I held on like riding a bull. The orc tossed Tauriel across the ice, sending her body sliding towards the edge of the cliff. Her body stopped on the edge but her eyes were shut, covered with her red hair. The attention of the orc had turned to me as he continued to swing behind him to grab me.

However, as I reached down to my hip my sword was absent from my thigh. My belt had become loose and so my sword had shifted to behind me where I could not reach. No. Suddenly, the orcs large hand wrapped around my arm before I was flung through the air and slammed down onto the ice, my spine screaming in pain as I threw my body weight against the stone. Stars appeared in my vision as I arched my back, a shock of agony shooting down to my tailbone. Through my starry vision I watched the orc turn to me. I braced myself before Kili sprinted down the steps and slashed his sword against the skin of the orc.

Kili and the Orc fought as I felt like I had to help. Gripping my sword, I pulled myself onto trembling legs, holding the sword I had found back in the Troll cave in both hands. In a matter of seconds, the Orc had slammed its fist into Kili's face, a solid punch that sent him barrelling to the floor, his sword slipping from his grip. I watched as his weapon flew away and over the edge of the cliff. Immediately, I stepped forward and swung my sword, blood insatiably pooling around the Orc's leg. However, I wasn't quick enough to move as the Orc swung around and grabbed the fabric of my tunic. No.

"No!" Kili's scream ripped through the air, like something i'd never heard from him before. The Orc fisted my tunic and suddenly I was left utterly defenceless, my chest exposed to injury. My eyes widened in horror when the glimmer of the Orcs blade glistened in the sun. I thought I had heard a scream, a horrific scream of terror, as if a blade had sliced through his chest and ripped his heart. But it was me. My scream was silenced instantly as the blade pierced my skin, buried in my torso. And my body went numb. Silence had never been so silent in that moment. It was like time had stopped. A ring pierced my ears, and my stomach twisted in knots as if I could vomit.

Everything had become a blur, deep sobs and screams of my name became muffled as the blade exited my chest, and my body dropped onto the floor as deadweight. A tear slipped down from my eye as I watched the Orc walk away from the mess he had created. My lungs flooded as I gasped for air, clawing as my throat for some oxygen as panic soaked into my limbs. "Juliette!" Hands grabbed my face as a face I loved so dearly covered my vision "Jules, look at me. You're okay; you're gonna be fine. Just..." Kili's voice faded as he sobbed "Just hold on a little longer."

A sob wrecked through my chest as I reached up to cover my eyes with blood stained hands. "I don't want to die," I cried "I want to go home. I want my father."
"You will," He soothed me, his eyes panic struck as he swung his head around and screamed for help that never came "Help!" My head became lighter, my body slowly fading into a sense of numbness and suddenly all pain had disappeared. And then the Shire appeared in my mind. My home. I could still feel the warmth of the sun on my cheeks. For the last year I had helped the company retrieve their home, the Lonely Mountain, but little did I know it would be the last time I stepped foot out of mine.

Kili's head dropped to my chest and his body wrecked with sobs. "It's too much." He whispered, wrapping his hand around mine and holding it so tight, like I would fade away if he let go. "Kili," I whispered "Help me to sit up." Kili was so overcome by grief that it took him a few beats before he helped me lean against the rock behind me. "I can wrap this up until the company gets here, it needs pressure." No amount of pressure would save a wound like this; even a young hobbit like me wasn't that naïve. I smiled through the tears staining my face as I grabbed Kili's cheek.

"I love you, Kili-"
"Jules, don't do it." He pleaded me to stop talking. "You have changed my life in such a small amount of time. If I hadn't left the Shire, I wouldn't have met you and the company, and I would still be discovering the world through the pages of my books. I want you to take this," My eyes slammed shut in pain as I reached into my pocket and handed him a crumpled Rosa Peace "Its not much, but it's something to be remembered by."
"You're not dying. God, this is all my fault." He told me, his bottom lip trembling as he thinned his lips. He reached up and cupped both of my cheeks in his hands, he stared deep into my eyes as if they took him away to another galaxy "You are the most beautiful thing I ever set eyes on," He told me. And I knew with every bit of my heart, that he meant it "My Amrālime. My Juliette."

My lungs became hallow as every breath became harder with not many left to spare. "I'm the lucky one," I smiled through the heartache I'd never felt before "You've given me so much," I groaned as I adjusted my back against stone "I didn't think dying would feel like this. I feel...so little." My heart twisted as I attempted to flex my fingers but my muscles no longer moved. I don't have any time left.

"Kili," I looked at him despite how much agony it brought upon me "I need to you to tell my father, how much I love him. Tell him that he shaped me, as a hobbit, to who I am now; he is always in my heart wherever I go. And tell the company, thank you; for loving me, protecting me, and treating me like I was family. And most importantly...tell yourself, that none of this was never your fault. You will live a good life in the Lonely Mountain and you will live the life I fought so hard for you to have again. Don't be sad," My inhale was hallow as I brushed his hair from his cheeks "I won't truly be gone. See me in every flower, in every ember of fire, and every gust of the wind. I live forever as long as I live in memory."

I clutched Kili's hand with every bit of fight left inside me. Hearing the wrecked sobs of the dwarf that completed my heart and my soul, hurt more than the deep wound in my chest and the pool of dark, crimson blood soaked in my tunic. So much pain. I slammed my eyes shut as a final weep wrecked through my chest; not truly accepting the reality of my situation. "Kili, you are my One. And I am eternally grateful...for a journey I will always remember."

The chill that penetrated my clothes wrapped my body in an eternal coldness as my body gave up the fight of my life. Fighting trolls, feasting with Elves, dancing with Humans, and fighting for the freedom of another. It all began in a small hobbit hole back in the Shire. This is what I longed for my entire life. And now it was my turn for my story to end; even though I never intended it to be this short. And to think of the life I could have had. I curled my hand around Kili's, his head dropped to my chest as his entire body trembled, the warmth of his body bringing a comfort that was indescribable. The Eagles. They were here, once again, soaring above us in the sky below the parting clouds. Gandalf, Thorin, Fili, the company, Bilbo, and Kili. The people that I have met on this quest have transformed my life, and I was forever grateful. And so, for one last time, I closed my eyes and I was at peace. Eternal peace.