A/N- I am sorry for not updating all my others stories and I promise I will update them all but I am just in love with the hobbit fandom especially Killel! So I have never seen this idea before and want to try it- Tauriel as an elf babe was left in the woods and adopted by a thirty something the company comes and that's when the love story starts, also this might be Thilbo, and I really want to see Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror's reaction when he realizes that the buglar cannot leave without his elf daughter and f course Gandalf. So I tried to search for dwarf and hobbit and elf age equivalents and from what I got, Kili is probably 29 at the time of the quest in human years and thinking of Arwen and from what I have read I think, elves develop faster than humans till the age of three, where humans kind of race ahead while they have a luxurious childhood and then they turn twenty and become still or something. So this might not be totally correct and characters might eb OC and I apologize for canon divergence but I have made it that since elves race ahead till they are three and all, sixteen year old Tauriel mentally can be the equivalent of a twenty something human and has begun to still. Thanks for reading and please review if you can!
Chapter One- The Elf Tyke
Bilbo Baggins was walking through the woods near the Shire, it was the Elvish New Year and he hoped to catch sight of the beautiful, wise and majestic creatures, he had spent half his childhood looking for. The dirt was refreshing under his hairy toes and his brown curls were hidden under a hat. He had to look proper if he saw the elves!
Singing softly, Bilbo made his way further in the woods, far enough that the Shire was just a tiny dot in the distance, his heart beat faster, this was the maximum distance he had ever put between himself and the Shire, ever but somehow he could not regret it. The elves never passed by close to the hobbit homes but they all knew they crossed the border, so the woods were the most likely source, Bilbo Baggins would ever them. He was brought of his musings by a cry, it sounded like a baby!
Rushing towards the sound, Bilbo Baggins found himself in a thick wooded area. Alone. With no baby to make that screaming sound which was so loud and clear and seemed to be coming,
"From that log!"
Bilbo exclaimed as he rushed towards the log and peered inside. His sharp hobbit eyes could make out a bundle in the darkness and terrified that it might be a wild animal, Bilbo pulled it out and lo! It was no animal but a baby elf!
As he rocked the child, one hand in her red curls (he assumed it was a girl due to the frock it was wearing), it looked up at Bilbo with the greenest eyes he had ever seen and softly reached up a hand to his cheek. Smiling, Bilbo caught hold of the young ones hand before frowning.
What was an elf babe doing in the woods? Who had left her here and why? Looking at the infant in his arms, the thirty-five year old knew he could not leave this child be and getting up to go home, his eyes fell on the piece of paper , a letter, stuck on the child's blanket.
Opening it, he was surprised to find it written in the comma tongue than in the language of elves.
To whoever finds her,
Please take care of her; I am being pursued by orcs ad I know I won't be able to make it any longer. She is just a few hours old now and I hate to leave her alone but this is the only way to save her. Don't come looking for me and keep her hidden, if you can.
Shocked, Bilbo turned the paper but apart from a few drops of blood there was nothing there. Sighing, he picked up the now sleeping child, who he supposed had been in the forest for less than a day and began to walk home. He had finally met an elf but this was certainly not the way he thought it would be.
"Mr. Bilbo?" his gardener Hobson asked him from where he was pulling weeds, as he reached bag End after a while, the gaze of the entire Shire on him.
"Hello Hobson. I am just returning from the woods, I had goe to see if I can find some elves," Bilbo replied smiling as he made to step inside his hobbit hole- Bag End, a beautiful home his father Bungo had gifted his mother Belladona on their weeding.
"Mr. Bilbo? What is that baby in your arms master?" the gardener asked the questions, the entire Shire was dying to know and Bilbo sighed, as he pulled the cloth over the child as if to hide it from view.
"This is a baby elf I found in the woods Hobson," he replied slowly ad continued before the words could properly sink in and the gasps begin, "it is an orphan and it would not be proper or seemly of a Baggins to leave a babe to the danger of the woods, now would it be?" he finished and escaped into his house, shutting the green door behind him, ignoring the fact that it was not very proper of a hobbit to adopt an elf either. Oh well, the lesser of the two evils, Bilbo reasoned and any case he did so like elves and children and he knew he would never be able to have any, with things being what they were. At least now, Bag End would have a child too run around in it, though he had no idea at all on how to bring up an elf.
Before he could think further about the position he was now in, however, the silence was broken as the infant began to cry once again Reasoning that it might be hungry, Bilbo hurried to one of his many pantries, before stopping, what would he feed a baby?
"Well, I have heard that hobbit tykes have milk, so maybe I should start with that and maybe add some strawberries to it? I remember reading in that book about elves, that they do like strawberries," he thought aloud before rushing to prepare some milk for the baby and resolving to go see one of the families in Bag Shot row that had children, though how many of them would be willing to now let him in was another matter entirely.
"There you go," Bilbo cooed as he held cup that he found in his Mother's hundred year old pottery and knew was used for hobbit tykes to the babe's lips and smiled when he saw her gobbling it up.
"Poor thing, I wonder how long were you in that miserable forest, hungry and alone?" Bilbo shuddered, thinking of being hungry; it was after all a hobbit's worst nightmare. A being that had almost seven meals a day could not fathom what this child, only a wee baby, must have felt alone in the dark o a hungry belly. Why hobbit tykes were fed almost every hour!
"Now, now, what shall I call you?" Bilbo asked the baby, as he rocked her in his arms ad she looked up at him with wide green eyes that reminded him of the forest he had found her in.
"Hmmm, it must have something to do with a forest huh? To bring out those pretty eyes and the fact that you managed to survive in a dark big forest alone for hours as a tyke, my little warrior?" Bilbo cooed at the baby, already forming a deep attachment to the child despite still entertaining the thought of finding some elves that he could give the baby to, but then, he decided as he looked at the child, he did not know where to find the elves and he quite liked the child. He would give it the best he could but would that be enough? Bilbo sighed, for now, it would have to be, also the letter had asked for her to be hidden and what better place to hide than the forgotten town of the hobbits where no one ever came?
"And where she would stick out like a sore thumb," a voice whispered in his brain but he shut it down. This babe was his child now and he would protect it with all he had and that was the wow of a Baggins and a Took, a vow that would never be broken.
"Now to decide on a name for you," he told the babe as it fell asleep in his arms, "and to buy baby things," he decided as he got up from his seat on his armchair by the fire and made to walk out, his daughter firmly set on his hip.
Opening the door, he came face to face with his gardener and his wife, their hands raised to ring the bell and he smiled before stepping aside to let them enter his smail.
"Mr. Bilbo," the Hobson began, "are you sure it is a good idea to take in an elf babe?"
"Hobson, while I understand your reasoning, do you really expect me to leave a child, an infant alone in the woods? It would be the most improper! What would my dead parents say? Do we hobbits not protect children? What would you say if an elf found your Hamfast alone in woods, lost and probably far from home with no one left to his name? Would you not want them to protect your child? Hobson, I love this child as my own, even if we have been together for a few hours and I do not think any Took or even a Bagginss or any hobbit would leave a child to die," Bilbo explained ad the gardener began to nod when his son's name was mentioned. After all, which parent would want his son to die and if one parent can understand it than sometimes so can every other parent and hobbits by nature are a sensible lot.
"That is what I have been telling him Mr. Bilbo sir! How can you leave a child to die? Now, sir, though it is not my place to say this but you have no experience in taking care of babies ad you will need a great many things."
"Yes Mrs. Gamgee, that is precisely the reason I was just going to come see you, you have a few tykes yourself and are in my eye, the best mother in all of the Shire, raising proper little hobbits," Bilbo said, while most of it was true, he did not feel bad that he was flattering the woman a little and, if her blush was anything to go by, succeeding.
"Oh Mr. Bilbo sir, you are too kind," she said while simultaneously taking the baby from his arms and rocking her a little as she looked at the thin face.
"We need to fatten her up, why when my Hamfast was born, he was at least twice, if not thrice her weight, poor thing to be hungry in the forest," the woman said with a shudder before looking up at Bilbo.
"Mr. Bilbo, what have you decided to name her, master? Or was she found with a name?"
"No, Mrs. Gamgee, I plan to name her, but have yet not decided, I want to follow the hobbit tradition and name her after a flower, like yourself, but I also want her name to have an elvish touch," he said and added hastily before the scowl on the woman's face could take hold, "so that she remembers that despite being a hobbit, she is an elf too."
"Well, I think it is about right," Hobson said slowly before his wife took over again.
"Well, first thing, Mr. Bilbo, you have to get is tyke food and then a crib for the baby. My Hamfast, just outgrew his, you can borrow ours till you find one for the babe and you need baby clothes too. I believe the Proudfoots are soon holding a sell for the clothes their tyke Lily has outgrown, maybe you can buy some then? Oh and you need something to carry her in, a nice cradle, maybe pink in colour," the lady continued almost as if she was speaking to herself. Like all hobbit women, she was fat, something she was extremely proud of, had dark curls reaching her waist and bare foot but now she looked almost scholarly to Bilbo, who had not known this much went into taking care of a child.
"Oh and you need to get her the family lockets Mr. Bilbo, but what clan she be in and will the Thain let you keep her?" the woman asked, bringing another of Bilbo's worries to surface. What clan indeed?
"Well, I will legally adopt her as a Baggins of Bag End and should cousin Fontibras, the Thain agree, she can also be a part of my mother's clan The Tooks, as any child I would have had should be. Well, the Mrs. Gamgee, I must be off, loads to do and I would be extremely grateful Hobson, of you could get me the crib your wife spoke of," Bilbo said as the three of them exited the hole. Bilbo made for the market where he ordered a good many things, include loads of food for himself and his daughter and for the feast, he supposed the Thain would want him to hold in honour of the newborn. After all nothing got the hobbits to agree faster than food and it was tradition to celebrate babes by feasting on their birthdays. Now he did not know his little girl's birthday but the day she would become legally his should suffice, should it not?
A few hours later, as the sun was setting, Bilbo Baggins could be seen on a pony cart, on his way to the Great Smials, where his mother's people The Tooks lived, not as respectable as the Baggins but wild and adventurous and Bilbo had no doubt that his cousin would accept his little girl, a girl he had yet to find a name for.
"Cousin Bilbo!"
"Bilbo, my boy!"
Shouts greeted him, as he got down at the Great Smials and made his way inside his cousin's home that he had not visited since his mother had died, making sure he got here during the Fell Winter. This was the place he had lost his father, a mere tween, who had passed before the flowers of spring could bloom, he had fought a long battle against death after an orc had hit him with a poisioned blade but lost it after he saw the first flower of Spring, it was here in the house of the Tooks that Bilbo had see corpses of both his parents, both of them lost to orcs and goblins.
Shaking his head clear of the memories, Bilbo looked forward to seeing his cousin with whom he had played a lot as a child and only once he gained admittance with the Thain, did he speak to all his cousins about the babe in his arms that all were staring wide eyes at.
"Cousin Bilbo, who is that babe? Is she yours? We were not aware that you had married?"All his cousins asked and he had to laugh listening to all of them clamor to be heard.
"Wait, wait, let me answer! No, I am not married," this was met with gasps and scandalized looks, even the wild Tooks knew the Hobbit laws against babies out of the wedlock.
'Cousin," Fontibras began but Bilbo raised a hand and continued, "and this an elf babe which I have decided to adopt," he said to finish the issued before it starts and then explained to them all about how he had found the child and all.
"Well, Cousin, if you are sure about this," Fontibras started.
"I am Fontibras, I am," Bilbo stated.
"Well, then, let us start the process to welcome the tyke into our family." This statement was met by cheering and only a few frowns from the older hobbits but none said a word against the Thain.
Drawing up a swift adoption paper, Fontibras frowned,
"Bilbo, have you decided what to name the babe? Or do you know her name, form the note? I need to put down a name on the papers Bilbo," Fontibras said and Bilbo sighed.
"I have not Cousin because I want the name to be special like her, half- elf and half-hobbit, like the person she will grow up to be, a Took name perhaps?"
"Well, if you want an elfish name, maybe you should see the books Uncle has left, while the ladies take care of your forest maiden," Fontibras said, referring to the nickname the younger kids had given the babe after hearing that she was found in the forest, like a princess one of them had said.
"Thank You, Fontibras," Bilbo said walking towards the library and stopping to smile at the babe surrounded by his younger cousins and their mothers.
Looking at the spines, he picked out a book of Elvis, a discreet branch of the language called Sindrian. It was the only book that had a reference to the common tongue and eagerly browsing, he stopped at the word Forest.
"Taur," he tried the word but it seemed incomplete and he began to look for something more, he wanted the child to have a four word name. It was different but it meant a lot to him, he had always wanted five children and Taur being the first should be graced with four names, two from her adopted family ad two elvish names. It only felt fair.
Thinking this, his eyes fell on the word "Tauriel" which translated to the daughter of the forest and he smiled, it was the perfect name for his forest maiden, his daughter of the forest. Well now at least he could get Tauriel Baggins written on the adoption papers but he still felt unsatisfied, his baby was a miracle ad her name should be different enough to honour her as the miracle she was.
"Hmmm, what about messenger? The forest messenger?" After all, Bilbo thought, if he remembered correct some cultures had different names to be told to people and different names for their loved ones, not nicknames but more like names of the soul and any case Tauriel was more like a honour name for the child, he had to get her two more names, one for her soul and one to go with her hour name, it was only fair and with that he began to search for the elvish word for messenger. If his knowledge of elvish was reliable, which he was sure it was, the word started with M. looking in that section, he smiled as he came across the perfect name for his baby girl Menthathiel, the messenger.
Now for her hobbit name, Bilbo thought.
"Well, I want her to have a flower name," he thought aloud, "but not a regular flower, something that is magical," he sighed and sat down to think.
"Lily is a good name," he thought, recalling a great something aunt of his who had that name and it was the name of main characters in many books too but Tauriel Methathiel Lily Baggins-Took, just did not have a ring to it. Maybe a version of Lily?
He thought hard on it and decided on Asphodel. It was magical and Tauriel Menthathiel Asphodel Baggins-Took sounded perfect to him, he just hoped she would like it took and with that he made his way to the Thain. It would be best for her to be his as fast as possible, there was no telling what his vile and distant as far as he was concerned cousins, the Sackvilles-Baggins would do when they heard about his little lily.
"Nice names Cousin, keeping up with both hobbit and elf traditions?" With that the Thain made a birth certificate for Tauriel Asphodel Baggins-Took, after all Menthathiel was her soul name and would be best if kept for her to disclose to whom she wanted and not put o public display in the mayor's office.
"Come on know my little lily," Bilbo said as he sang his daughter to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms.
"Hus darling baby,
Hush darling baby,
Close your eyes,
Let the stars shine,
Hush now hush,
Listen to the world,
Hush darling baby,
Hush darling baby,
Let the stars shine,
Look how they shine,
How bright, how beautiful,
And yet your flame,
Outshine even the starlight,
Hush darling baby,
Let the stars shine,
Hush darling baby,
Close your sweet eyes,
Hush, hush, hush, my darling,
Hush, my baby, hush my sweet lily."
Bilbo sighed as his daughter slept, his eyes roaming over her sweet face and hope that there would be no problems with anything, especially considering he had just reach his own maturity two years ago. Oh well, he would just take things as they went.