Chapter Text
Elendir Thranduillion, feared nothing. Except the abandonment of his new father. Once known as Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, abused and neglected by Bungo Baggins, his real father. Entrusted to the care of Thranduil, the ancient Elvenking of the Woodland Realms by Mithrandir.
His boy was barely the height of his calves and barely the size of Legolas when he had been an elfing but his boy was the very embodiment of everything Thranduil held dear before the passing of his wife. Carefree by nature, sparked by curiosity and so full of life itself. It was a rare sight to witness because Thranduil had seen and known it all, everything was black and white in his eyes but when Bilbo had dropped into his life, it sparked once again with colours bursting.
"Dada?" The boy looked at him with curiousity as his father gazed fondly at him. He was crouched down examining every leaves and flowers that he would collect on their journey, filling his small bag up with most of it and then decorating his father's silver circlet crown with some, replacing the dead ones with more lively and colourful ones almost resembling the crown back at home.
"Elendir my star, it's time for your nap" Thranduil said, scooping the small boy up with little resistance on the boy's part. Thranduil figured if his son didn't get his daily nap in for a few hours in the day, he would go cranky by nightfall and that was something every parent on Middle Earth wanted to avoid.
Thranduil climbed back on to his elk, it moving forward steadily as he handed Bilbo his bottle. When the boy finished, he yawned and stretched, making himself comfortable in the little saddle Thranduil made for him. With the boy asleep on his chest, Thranduil took the time to admire their surroundings, it was indeed beautiful with many things Bilbo would have loved to explore if he had the same energy as an elfling.
The grass was greener and the sky was a shade bluer with the sun high up above their heads. The clouds drifted and grey clouds began encroaching but Thranduil had smelled the rain even before it could come. Another few more kilometers and they would reach the safety of the forest the Ents would have established. Still, nothing was more beautiful than the little one in his arms. Perhaps his sons should have gifted him a grandson sooner, maybe he wouldn't have been so lonely.
Time moved in the blink of an eye in the lives of an immortal elf and a month in with Bilbo went by a little too fast even though he had tried to savor every moment with his son.
"There's no love in you" he recalled the words of Tauriel and wondered where she was today. If only he could go back in time to fix his mistakes, to right his wrongs. Too consumed by grief, he had failed to see the gifts that were much more valuable than the gems his wife had left him.
When Legolas had left the Kingdom with Tauriel, Thaliondir had been devastated but the similarities between Thranduil and his younger son were too great. Thaliondir was as cold hearted as he was that amplified when his brother had left, it had caused a rift in between him and his father and no matter how much Thranduil had tried to fix that bond, to be close to his son again, it was too late even though they both loved one another dearly. A blessing and a curse to be immortal.
Thranduil grew weary of this cruel life he'd been given. Too many wars he'd witnessed, too many deaths stained his hands and too many bonds broken. Traumatized and broken, only to love once in a lifetime, he was lonely. Everyone viewed him as this cold hearted and ruthless elfking, consumed by the darkness that had stained him but what he really wanted was to be loved, and to love as best as he could.
He had been warm once. Trusted even the dwarves, the race that Elves felt superior to. But he was betrayed. Over and over. The pain was too much for his heart to bear. Yet when he turned cold, no one questioned him of his pain that had silently turned to anger and despair.
"Dada.." Bilbo muttered sleepily, turning on his side in his little saddle, tugging at his father's black kaftan.
Oh, how Thranduil had come to love him since the first time he had taken care of him until he was entrusted by Mithrandir to care for the little hobbit. Thranduil had no love for mortals but for Elendir, he would come to call him his son.
They reached Treebeard's realm. What was once Isengard, ruled by Saruman the Wizard were now taken over by the Ents with Treebeard being their leader.
"What brings you here, King of the Greenwoods?"
"I have come to marvel at the beauty of your forest, Treebeard"
"You are more than welcome to enter, my Lord"
It was certainly a sight to behold though it's nothing in comparison to the beauty of his kingdom but it was impressive nonetheless. He could feel his elven energy recharge rapidly as Treebeard guided the King around the forest explaining to him how the forest had come about, talking ever so slowly.
The bundle of joy, slung over his chest wiggled awake, popping his head out from his father's chest sleepily. Excitedly he jumped out his little sack to admire the giant tree that towered over them and as Treebeard extended his hand for Bilbo to climb into, Thranduil grew worried for his son's safety.
"I've had hobbits wander through these very woods, Merry and Pippin were their names" Treebeard explained, calming the anxious storm in Thranduil when his boy crawled all around the tree's hand. Ever so slowly did he move forward again, telling the King how they had taken over the former Isengard with the help of the two hobbits.
Thranduil kept his pace up next to them, eyes never leaving the hobbit in Treebeard's hands but had now climbed up to sit on top of his head to which even Treebeard was oblivious to. He would be lying if he said he contemplated climbing up the moving magical tree as well, just so he could keep his son safe but that would be undoing for an elf and especially for a King no less, so he decided against it.
Lothlorien, their next destination was at least a couple of days journey so Thranduil had also sought shelter in the forest before continuing on with their journey. They reached the centre of the forest, where Saruman's former tower laid in ruin, covered by growing plants and weeds and surrounded by a clean river that seemed to flow endlessly.
Thranduil watched as Treebeard walked into the river, explaining how they had broken the dam that held it when it was under Saruman's reign, how many of his countless friends had been chopped down unbeknownst to him. Saruman who had turned his back on Middle Earth and served the One, damaging what was once known as Fangorn forest. Bilbo climbed higher onto Treebeard's head, clutching on as the tree moved deeper into the river that reached its chest. Thranduil told his elk to rest aside, removed his kaftan along with his boots leaving only his pants on and jumped into the river with them.
The coldness stung his skin but at the same time it was oddly soothing. What was once stained with the bloods of orcs and urukhais, was now a reservoir for the living things that inhabit it. He swam out to Treebeard, climbing on to him so that he could catch his son in his arms, dragging him into the river below them. His son was due for a bath anyways. At first the boy screamed bloody murder because he hated bath time, he thrashed about in Thranduil's hold but for such a little one, his father wasn't fazed by it at all.
Then, Treebeard held out his hand in front of both of them so that they were floating on the river in his hand and Bilbo stopped his tantrum, giving into his father's demands to wash him. Once they were done, Treebeard slowly walked back to shore, still holding them.
"Dada?" His boy looked confused and when Thranduil carried him up, Bilbo touched the left side of his face, looking at it in wonder.
Thranduil looked over his reflection in the river and saw his magic faded revealing the ugly scar and his blinded eye on the left side of his face. Majestic and ethereal on the outside, Thranduil had never shown the scars that decorated his face to anyone else. He willed his magic back to cover it up.
He wanted to run. He wanted to cower and hide. A natural response even after years of trauma. Being immortal was both a blessing and a curse. An eternity ahead with a pain that will never heal. To feel things too deeply, deeper than any blade and keeping up the facade of a perfectly carved face sometimes ate at his magic.
"Dada!" Bilbo had exclaimed, cupping his father's face in his small hands so that he would look at him. The boy was unfazed by what he saw and he stroked the left side of the King's face, eyes full of curiosity and wonder. Thranduil could feel his eyes well up with tears that would never fall in his son's soft touches, it reminded him of Legolas, once upon a time.
"It okay, dada" the boy mimicked how his father would soothe him whenever he was upset after one of his hunger tantrums or sleepy time tantrums. Thranduil looked at his boy in surprise at his first actual words and if his heart could melt any more than it already did, it would.
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Night fell upon them and Treebeard had lit them a fire on the shores of the river where they rested. He had also brought some fresh rabbits from the forest, a gift he said because even though Thranduil could make it to Lothlorien without food, his son sure couldn't. Milk didn't seem to satiate the boy's hunger anymore so his father made some rabbit stew from the ingredients King Theoden had gifted him with.
Exhausted from the day's activities of playing along the river, the boy didn't fight when his father fed him his dinner as soon as the sun sets. He gave him his bottle of milk and let him play a little while more whilst he hung up the little one's wet clothes to dry.
The moon shone full and bright, undeterred by any trees, its light casting across the river. His elk, laid resting at a nearby tree. Thranduil laid a mat beside it and picked up his son before he could get himself wet in the river once more. Treebeard sat next to them speaking in his tongue to the others around him, reporting the happening in the forest, safeguarding the little family that rested in its very heart.
Bilbo fell asleep in his father's arms as Thranduil admired the moon above them and his elk snored lightly from behind them, praying silently to Eru for this to last forever.
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