I own nothing. Especially anything from Tolkien.
Okay. A plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone. A modern day sort of AU. People DO believe still, and one little girl finds a kindred spirit. Forgive me, great lords of Tolkien fanfictions! But I couldn't bear to use any real characters, at least not directly. I would spoil those I love so well, marred by a lesser skill. But I love Tolkien, and hope this is an okay gesture to prove it.
"Look, elves are just silly fairytales made up for baby stories. They are NOT real!" Freddie crossed his arms and glared at his sister. "And that's final!" But his little sister, though three years his junior, was not ready to give up. "The short ones that people say work at the North Pole are fake. But elves are TOO real! Granpa, granpa, tell him!" Ordered the child, pointing an accusing finger at her brother.
"Grandpa, tell HER that elves are just made up stories. They don't exist unless you're a baby who likes baby things-" "I am NOT a baby!" Sammie cried indignantly. Blue eyes looked trustingly up at her grandfather. "I am NOT a baby," she repeated, "and elves ARE TOO real."
"How do you know? Have you ever seen one?" "No, but I just know" she answered. Before they could continue, their grandfather cut in, "I've seen elves before," stopping the argument in its tracks for a moment. "Y-You have?" stuttered Freddie for a moment. Sammie looked up at her grandfather with awe. "Really? What were they like? They were really pretty, weren't they?" Freddie looked about ready to add his own argument, but a look from his grandfather silenced that.
"We were on a ship, your grandma and me. It was night, and I was restless, so I went for a walk. Then- I saw them. They were nothing like those red and green pointy-shoe wearing elves you see on Christmas specials. They were," and here he struggled for words, "heavenly. Not just pretty, beautiful. But don't get your hopes up, Sammie Rose. They weren't exactly real elves." Freddie looked triumphant. "What do you mean, Granpa?" asked a downcast looking child.
"I could see them, but they weren't really there. It was like a memory, just a faint memory of elves sailing a ship that looked like a swan. Music filled the air, holy as a Church, happy as Spring. The Captain on our ship- I only saw him twice. Once, when we first boarded, and once again that night. It was almost as if he had been waiting for it. He looked at me, with those piercing grey eyes. For a moment I almost thought he was an elf himself, or good as. Anyway, it seemed like forever and only a few seconds all at the same time before the memory mist, pardon an old man for getting poetic about it, faded away."
Freddie shook his head. "I still don't believe you. All sorts of strange things happen on the ocean at night. I'm going to go watch something on t.v."
Watching with a sad frown as her brother left, Sam looked sadly at her grandfather. "Elves ARE real," she said. "Why won't he believe that?" Sammie began to sniffle a little bit. Picking her up and hugging her close, the little girl listened to the comforting beat of her grandfather's heart. "Now listen, Sammie Rose. Just because he doesn't want to believe doesn't change the fact that they do. He can choose not to. What matters is whether you will let yourself believe in them." They sat in silence for a moment as the little girl thought it over.
"Grandpa," she said, looking up at him with forget-me-not blue eyes framed by springy golden curls, "I'm going to go see the elves one day. Even if it's just…memories of what used to be, like you said, I'm going to go see the elves." As he watched the stubborn set in her eyes, 'so like her grandmothers!' came the absent thought, he nodded solemnly. "I think you will see the elves. Knowing you, you might even find real ones."
Right, so an explanation. Going off of a theory floating around (canon, abandoned canon, or fannon I know not) that hobbits grew taller and eventually some blended in with humans. Just imagine that future descendents still had that same longing to travel and see elves like certain hobbit ancestors. This story went through SO many versions, it ain't even funny. Thanks for reading.