Eight days had passed since the incident at the Water and Poppy was still unconscious. Everyone worried about her. The parents of the children, who were playing at the river that day visited and asked if they could help somehow. But Pimpernel said, that they could only wait. Anyway they promised to inform Fili's customers why he wasn't working in the forge at the moment.

Pimpernel tried to sound optimistic around Fili, but the young dwarf overheard the healer and Bilbo in the hallway. She mentioned, that Poppy would most likely die soon as she had lost lots of weight already. Fili swallowed hard not to shout at her. He knew that she did everything she could.

These last few days had taken a toll on Fili though. He barely ate or slept. He spent all the time at Poppy's side. He held her hand and talked to her. Sometimes he even sat on the bed next to her and held her close with her head on his chest. He wanted to keep her warm and her soft breaths on his neck calmed him down slightly. The young dwarf would not give up hope. She had to wake up, she simply had to.

On the evening of the ninth day, Fili had once again fallen asleep on the chair next to her bed. Suddenly he startled because he heard someone coughing. He looked towards the bed and realised that Poppy was awake. She smiled at him and said something but her voice was only a hoarse whisper.

Fili was glad that she had finally woken up. He was sure that this had to be a good sign that she would survive. He returned the smile and asked if she wanted something to drink. Poppy nodded weakly and coughed again.

Fili immediately woke Bilbo up to tell him the good news. Then he went to the kitchen to prepare some tea and grabbed a glass of water. He went back to Poppy's sickroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and slightly lifted her head to help her drink.

When the glass was empty, Poppy whispered "Thank you, Fili!"

"You're welcome! I'm so glad that you are awake. You've been unconscious for 9 days. We feared the worst." Fili said and place a light kiss on the tip of her nose.

Poppy smiled at him. "I... I thought" Poppy coughed again.

"Shh, shh, don't overexert yourself! We can talk later. Just relax. Your tea will be ready soon." Fili smiled.

Soon Bilbo brought the tea. He was relieved to see Poppy awake, too. They helped her drink and soon she fell asleep again.

The next morning Pimpernel came to check on Poppy. She was still weak but her condition had improved a lot. Until midday she had eaten two bowls of chicken broth and an apple. She also didn't look that pale anymore.

#

Daisy came over to help Poppy to have a bath and brought some new clothes for her. She told her, that Fili saved her life and never left her side as long as she was unconscious. Then Daisy started to giggle "You know, he wanted to help you and keep you warm really badly. But he was always anxious not to do anything improper. He carried you to Bag End and put you on his bed. But you were still wearing your soaking wet clothes. I think on the one hand he wanted to undress you but on the other hand he knew that he had no right to do so. If the situation wasn't that severe, I would have laughed about his behaviour."

Poppy blushed as red as a tomato. The thought of Fili undressing her and touching her naked body excited her. She quickly cleared her throat. "Yes, he's always like that. He worries, that he might damage his or especially my reputation if he shows his feelings in public too much. I hope he will be more relaxed about our relationship one day."

"I hope so, too. He's a good person though. I'm happy for you." Daisy smiled and patted Poppy's arm.

"I never thought that I could be happy again after my family's death. But Fili changed everything. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and sometimes I even dream of our children." Poppy giggled and blushed.

"I hope your dreams will come true! You deserve it." Daisy smiled "I will call him now, so he can carry you back to the bedroom."

#

Fili simply lifted Poppy off the stool in the bathroom and carried her back to bed. To him she was as light as a feather. He smiled at her. "You look much healthier now. Bilbo made some lunch for you. Mistress Maggot said that you should try to eat some proper food." He handed her a bowl with some stew.

"Thank you for helping me! I feel much better already." Poppy took the bowl and the spoon. She tried to eat but her hands were shaking and so most of the stew landed on the blanket. "I'm sorry. I guess it will still take a couple of days until I can do things on my own again. Could you help me, please?" Poppy looked at Fili with a sad smile on her face.

"You're welcome! And don't worry, I will be there for you for the rest of my life if that is what you want." Fili smiled and took the spoon to feed Poppy.

After lunch Fili quickly changed the linen on Poppy's blanket. He wanted to sit down on the chair next to the bed, but Poppy made him sit on the bed next to her. She took his hands in her much smaller ones. "Daisy told me how you saved me and that you never left my side afterwards. Thank you, Fili! Without you I wouldn't be alive any more." She whispered.

Fili leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I thought I'd lose you. I can't live without you anymore. Though Bilbo told me that I will have to live without you one day." A single tear started to roll down his face.

Poppy squeezed his hands and frowned "What did Bilbo say?"

Fili swallowed "Umm, he told me about the average age of hobbits. It's nothing compared to dwarves. We can easily become 250 or even older."

Poppy paled "250? That's really old!"

Fili chuckled "I was devasted when Bilbo told me that we only have 60 or 70 years together. He said we should make the most of the time we have together."

Poppy nodded "Yes, Bilbo's right! We should spend those years together happily and not worry about the distant future too much."

Fili's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to spend his life with him. "I totally agree with Bilbo, too. Umm, well, I know that this may be a bit rushed and not very romantic but considering the time we have together, why wait much longer?" Fili babbled and then took a deep breath "Poppy, I want to spend my life with you and I want to have a family with you. Will you marry me?

Poppy squeaked "Yes, Fili Of course I want to marry you!" She threw her arms around Fili's neck and kissed him.

#

Bilbo was sitting in his favourite arm chair when he heard a scream from Poppy's sickroom. He stood up immediately to check on her. When he opened the door he saw Poppy and Fili in a tight embrace and kissing. He cleared his throat and both smiled at him. "Are you ok? I heard you screamimg."

Poppy giggled "Yes, Bilbo everything is fine. Fili asked me to marry him and of course I said yes!"

Bilbo smiled "That's wonderful news! I'm really happy for you! It seems like Fili listened to my advice." When the young dwarf nodded, Bilbo continued to talk "When do you want to marry?"

Fili and Poppy looked at each other. "We haven't thought about that yet. But spring might be a nice time."

"Oh, right! But this is so exciting. Can I help you with the planning? I love to prepare parties." Bilbo answered enthusiastically.

For the next hour they talked about the wedding. Bilbo realised that Poppy was tired and left to prepare dinner.

When Bilbo was gone, Fili kissed Poppy once again. He could not wait for them to be married. "Are you tired? I can leave if you want?" Fili asked.

Poppy shook her head and chuckled. "No, I'm not that tired. Bilbo's talking about the wedding was simply a bit too much."

Fili laughed "So, would you allow me to change your braid? There is a specific betrothal braid."

Poppy nodded and Fili stood up to fetch a comb from the bathroom. He sat down on the bed behind her. He put the betrothal braid into her hair and kissed the bead. He had already thought about special beads for the marriage braid and he would start to make these soon. Poppy laid her head against Fili's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and she soon fell asleep.

I'm sorry for the late update. As you may know I'm in New Zealand at the moment. It's so beautiful here. I could sit down and look at the landscape for hours. Of course this doesn't help with writing ;) I promise that I will update more regularly again soon. I have loads of ideas in my head :)

And thanks again to everyone who read, favoured, followed and reviewed! You make me really happy :)