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ladytauriel) wrote2014-03-18 10:16 pm
Fic: Starlit Spirits - Chapter 8
Thanks so much to by beta, StarlitTauriel, who will possibly no longer beta for me for the next two or so chapters that I post, because of how busy she is. If you like my work so far, really, it's probably because she was able to help pull my writing of despair.
Tauriel, dressed in her black work uniform, absently removed the newly washed wine glasses from the washing machine. She wiped them dry with a towel, hanging them around the appropriate slots in the wall around the winery room at Mirkwood Manor. She was trying to pay attention to Legolas but could not. For the first time, the distraction was not provided by Legolas' aesthetically pleasing appearance or by any thoughts related to him, but by her almost unconditional happiness. It was placed there by Kíli, whose performance she had finished watching over the television not even a couple hours ago.
The Dutch Figure Skating Championships were not over, as far what Tauriel could make out from the figure skating terminology and jargon of the commentators. Only the two male divisions were. The first one, which she realised was called the short program, had been the day before, and the free skating portion had just ended. Despite her lack of understanding of almost everything of what the commentators had said, she could agree on one thing: Kíli skated like the world was ending, falling into pieces before his very disbelieving eyes.
With every reach, his muscles contracted in his upper arms, as if he were searching for a helping hand out of hell. With every glide out of each jump, he looked at the audience with eyes full of tears that refused to fall. With every biellmann spin that he executed, what she realised had captured her attention the first time she saw him on the ice, he looked like a lonely swallow searching for spring.
When she watched him, her heart constricted, mirroring his. When he reached out, she wanted to fall on her knees before him and cry.
All of this emotion left her shell-shocked, and almost unprepared to tell Legolas of her new interest. Almost.
Her friend was currently lying on the couch in the large living room, down the roomy hall from her, complaining about almost getting arrested for shooting an arrow at a tree stump in the middle of the city. The television was turned on in front of him, and after finishing with her task, Tauriel joined him to aimlessly watch some evening news.
"Tauriel, you do know that you will have to spend the rest of your life battling away crazy worshipers and fangirls of Kíli?" Legolas asked her. "He's a national champion, as well as an international champion and medalist, and for amateurs, he will be the new Dutch sensation."
Tauriel blushed. "Legolas, I don't even know if I'll ever see him again. As much as I would love to be by his side, I have no doubt in my mind that he doesn't wish for me to trail him on his path of camera and stadium lights. He has enough on his plate already."
Legolas looked at her for a moment, almost as if uncomprehending. "You mean to tell me that you have no plans of seeing this man, who you just accidentally described to me as the love of your life, or at least the crush of the century, somehow without it seeming obsessive, unrealistic, and cheesy, ever again?" He stared at Tauriel with such horror, that she couldn't help but cringe.
"Before he skated away from me at the end of the night on Christmas Eve, he made it quite clear that our paths have no place intertwining," Tauriel confessed. "Besides, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get a hold of him."
"Do you not have his contact information?" Legolas asked in disbelief.
"Somehow, in the time we spent together, we didn't think of trading mobile numbers, no," Tauriel amended.
Legolas suddenly jumped onto his feet in obvious frustration. "Dammit, Tauriel Lilly!" he growled. "This one shot at genuine happiness, and you dismiss it with a wave of a hand? No matter what he said or did at the end of the night, I know that he will regret not seeing you again."
"I too, regret it," whispered Tauriel. She hoped she had imaginations and dreams enough of a future with Kíli and of a warm presence intertwined in her life. However, a mention of Kíli's name over the broadcast pulled her out of her morose reveries.
"Look, look!" she gestured to the television, pulling Legolas by the arm for him to plop down next to her on the couch. On the television, a photo of Kíli's smiling face, with a wave of one hand and a gold from a competition in the other, slowly expanded on the screen to the news reporter's voice.
"Kíli Durinson, nineteen-year-old Dutch figure skater and national champion, having assumed this position after taking first in the short program at the Dutch Figure Skating Championships yesterday and first in the short program today, was found an hour ago, shortly after the medal ceremony, beaten severely on the ground in an alleyway near Thialf Stadium, where the competition had taken place." Dread began to ominously flow into Tauriel's body, and she knew that even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to get a breath past the tangible horror welling up in her throat. She felt Legolas' urgent hand on her upper arm, but she wasn't able to move any part of her body for what seemed like an endless moment.
Her heartbeat was in her ears, pulsing, throbbing, counting down until the inevitable panic kicked in. It's erratic beat clouded her hearing, and only vague statements made by the news reporter made their way through her confused, murky thoughts.
"...severe blows with wooden batons to the back... a concussion with possible internal damage... coma... both legs broken at the knees..."
Tauriel finally felt her tears flow, and their descent down her cheeks pulled her into reality. She jumped onto her feet, running to get her bag and personal belongings in her locker. Legolas followed her.
"What are you doing?" he inquired angrily.
"I have to go to him. I have to get to Heerenveen," she said seriously, out of breath. "It's only two hours away by train."
"It's already past eight in the evening. You'll be there at at least eleven," Legolas told her. "Visiting hours will be over, and how will you even pass as a member of family?"
"I can't... I..." Tauriel was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to classify, much less explain, the thoughts, feelings, and sentiments passing through her whole system. The only thing she was that they covered a complete emotional spectrum. She threw Legolas an apologetic look, not knowing what to say.
"Tjongerschans Ziekenhuis Health Facility," he said tiredly. "That's where he's hospitalised."
Tauriel nodded her thanks and hurried out the door.
~
It took a short bus ride to get to the blocks of flats of Mirkwood, from where she took a metropolitan train to Amsterdam. Only then did she purchase a train ticket to Heerenveen, the last train being at 9:30.
The mix of more passionate emotions, like anger and frustration at the situation, seeped out of Tauriel's body, as she boarded the lonely train cabin. She leaned her head against the window at her seat, nerves, sadness, and concern coursing through her tired limbs.
She knew she had many conflicts to face at the end of the night, but she hoped nothing would hold her back from being at Kíli's side.