Zephyr: Yes Sam is. No, moving on from Thorin won't be easy, especially with Lily. But I'm thinking it's probably gonna take a bit of a push for her to realize she does care for Bilbo in a more "romantic" way.

Kaia: I don't know if the other dwarves will find out about Lily. I did know Balin came to visit, I didn't know Gandalf came with him (thanks for that). If Balin goes from the Shire to Moria then I'm thinking the others won't know, but if Balin returns to Erebor (which that may be likely since Ori was with Balin in Moria) then he'll tell the others. I guess it all depends on what I find out.

"Pearl?" Bilbo called when he woke to find her bed empty; he had fallen asleep beside her looking at little Lily and now she was gone. A sliver of fear embedded itself in his heart when he wondered if perhaps she had either taken Lily to the river and gone or if Pearl had left Lily and gone alone. He searched through his house calling out her name, panic growing when he could find neither mother nor daughter, before he heard a soft voice;

"Bilbo?"
He raced toward the sound of it to find Pearl with Lily in her arms as they sat in the tub filled with water, and he could not help the sigh of relief at seeing Pearl still there. "I couldn't find you," he said lamely as he knelt by the tub. Lily was laying contentedly against her mother's chest, her small hands holding the skin below Pearl's breasts.
"What are you two doing?" he asked distractedly as he saw Lily's tiny feet resting on Pearl's scaled tail, wondering if Thorin's blood kept the babe's legs in water.

"I was feeding her," Pearl said softly as she stared down at her daughter in awe.

"Doesn't she need to breathe?" Bilbo asked concerned, not understanding for Pearl's nipples all but disappeared in the water.

Pearl did not answer, she had not been listening as she looked at Lily, and she leaned back in the water until she and Lily were completely submerged. Bilbo watched in fascination as Pearl moved Lily's mouth to the small slit beneath her breast. He watched amazed for several long minutes before Lily's hand curled into a fist and Pearl sat up once more so the baby could breathe, and Lily laid happily on her mother's chest as she caught her breath.

Pearl leaned back against the tub and held her daughter, Lily's skin soft and chubby in her hands, her clear blue eyes so like Thorin's. She had not slept at all the night before, between staring at Lily and the aching of child bearing sleep had not found her.

"I could take her," Bilbo offered. "If you wanted to stay in the water."

Pearl looked up at him for a moment before nodding and Bilbo grabbed a small towel before taking Lily and wrapping her in it. Pearl felt a smile tugging on the corners of her mouth at the sight of Bilbo cradling the baby in his arms, softly cooing things as he dried her. That should be Thorin, she thought as she watched Bilbo walk away and hearing the sound of his voice as he spoke softly to Lily.

She sighed heavily before slipping to the bottom of the tub and curling her tail around her, sleep finding her a few moments later interrupting her mourning.

"She's beautiful," Pearl heard a deep, grumbling voice say.

Pearl woke with a start when she realized who had spoken, and she grabbed the covers before it slipped off of her, confused for she had been in a tub. Lily was tiny in Thorin's large arms, small and pale against his tanned skin covered in dark hair. She could find no words, not that it mattered for she could hardly speak.

"She looks like you," he mused as he looked up at her, stroking her cheek as he smiled.

"She has your eyes," Pearl whispered, feeling his touch and marveling at it. "Oh Thorin," she breathed, tears filling her eyes when she touched the hand on her cheek – feeling it firm and calloused beneath her fingers.

"My queen," he said pulling her to his chest and she smiled when she heard his heart beating.

"I don't understand," she said though she did not care if she ever did so long as she could stay with him.

"I know," he answered. "I am sorry for leaving you and that I must again."

His breath was warm on the top of her head and she could not understand that he was dead when she could feel him. Pearl smiled as she smoothed Lily's dark hair back, her tiny hands wound in the hair on her father's chest.

"You will take care of her," Thorin said firmly and she looked up to see his eyes, eyes that had always told her exactly what he was feeling; and they still did, he was worried and disappointed.

"Of course I will, how could you think otherwise?"

Thorin's look turned sad. "You had wished to die," he told her gently, his death being the reason why and Lily being the reason why she couldn't.

Pearl laid against him running her fingers through their daughter's fine hair. "I would not leave her," Pearl said finally knowing even if his death hurt her she could not abandon her daughter.

Thorin smiled as he held them both – one that had been his and one that never could be. "You will love her," he said making them both smile. "He will too. I am glad to know you have him."

Pearl smiled as she thought of Bilbo grateful for him as well, not thinking she could do this without him. She sat up when Thorin unwound his arm from around her back, and took Lily when he placed her in her arms. "What are you doing?" she asked as he knelt before them, looking sadly at them.

"I love you," he said softly before kissing her, and she sighed at the feel of his lips on hers. It had been a year since last she felt him, the first time she had felt the passing time and it had dragged painfully along, and she reveled in the feel of him again; until she understood.

"You can't leave me again," she insisted and she knew she was right from the pain in his eyes.

"You can't stay," he said grievously.

"Thorin," she begged, cradling their crying daughter, as though Lily grieved the loss of her father too. "Come back to me," she cried, her voice breaking from her tears.

She woke gasping and sat up, water running down her face and into her mouth as she breathed. She continued to breathe deeply before climbing out of the tub, her belly making her move slower. She dried herself off quickly, trying in vain to hurry along, tying her wet hair back so it would stop dripping on her and finally she was able to stand.

"Bilbo?" she called and she walked toward the sound of his voice as he called out to her in return. She saw Bilbo standing beside Rosa as she tied what looked to be a rag around Lily's small waist. "What is that?" she asked curiously.

Rosa looked over her shoulder in amusement at Pearl before answering; "It is a diaper," she explained and Pearl was left confused on why they needed them when they could go in the water; and Bilbo was quick to hush her when she started to ask.
"Here is an old dress of mine from when I had my son," Rosa said holding out a purple dress with flowers on it.

"Thank you," Pearl said before pulling it over her head. In truth she had grown accustom to wearing clothes and she grateful to be covered again.

"I made a little dress for Lily. It isn't much but it should do until I can make a better one," Rosa said holding out the little pink dress.

Pearl smiled appreciatively before putting the dress on her daughter, the light pink going wonderfully with her dark hair. She held Lily in her arms, which were much smaller than Thorin's, and she kissed her head before she started singing.

Rotting like a wreck on the ocean floor,
Sinking like a siren that can't swim anymore
'Cause our songs remind me of swimming,
But I can't swim anymore

Pull me out of the water, cold and blue,
I open my eyes and I see that it's you,
So I dive straight back in the ocean

Then all of a sudden, I heard a note,
It started in my chest and ended in my throat
Then I realized, then I realized,
I was swimming.

The song I used is Swimming by Florence and the Machine, which was suggested to me in a review but I forgot who it was (I'm so sorry, but thank you again). It is symbolic of her time while she was away before Lily was born, so when she was in despair to now when she has "awoken".

The dream part of this chapter was suggested to me by creepyLORTfangirl55, and I'm very thankful for that. I will say I'm not entirely sure what I want it to be, but I will tell you this; it's not just a dream. It's either Thorin reaching out to her, or Aule (the dwarves' maker and god aka Mahal) allowing her to visit Thorin briefly. And I'll tell you this, it'll happen one more time.