Chapter Text
Elrond had no control over himself as his limbs twisted and bent themselves against his will.
In a flash, thoughts and memories came rushing back to him, and the elf had to squeeze his eyes shut to try and control them…
Light, pain, water.
Glorfindel’s betrayed look as Elrond drowned him, some dark magic controlling his movements as Elrond watched his friend die as he bended the water against his will.
“You have done the right thing,” Galadriel told him as she lowered her gnarled hands, the once smooth and pale skin deformed and rotted as she was taken possession of by some horrible being.
“What have you done?” He asked, unable to stop himself from staring at the cooling body of his closest friend, then unable to look away from the endless dark pools that were now the she-elf’s eyes.
“I have taken the world’s last hope and crushed it,” Galadriel said, but her voice was not her own.
It was dark and terrible, like something from a deep chasm that had no business being in the light of the moon and in the open.
“You are not yourself,” Elrond had said, backing away, but he soon found that he could not as his body stopped moving, bound by some invisible force to stay where he was, trapped.
“You will not remember this,” the not-Galadriel said, voice haunting, “you have aided me, but you will not remember anything else but that.”
Elrond had tried to squirm away, but he could not move as the black fingers moved towards him and touched his forehead. And after that, all he remembered was all consuming darkness…
Gasping, Elrond came back to reality, and found that he could move again.
Clutching his head he looked up, meeting the light eyes of Gandalf the Gray.
“That’s not Galadriel,” he panted to the wizard as he struggled to stand, “she’s been possessed by something!”
Gandalf opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when he whirled around at the sound of a loud yell, the sound echoing across the battle field and making most look.
From atop the hill the tall dwarf from earlier, who had fire bended the wall, was rushing towards the not-Galadriel, a flame engulfing his entire fist as he tried to fight the elf.
“Thorin,” Gandalf breathed out, “no!”
Both wizard and elf could only watch as the dwarf flung himself closer…
Bilbo and the two princes could feel the vibrations of earth being bended from inside Erebor.
“We have to help them!” Kili said, trying to run towards the door.
Panicking, Bilbo’s hand automatically went towards the flask at his side and he bended the water to push the prince back.
“You can’t go out there,” he yelled breathlessly at the prince, watching as both of them stared at him in shock.
“We have to go out there,” Kili tried to reason, glancing at the water hovering near Bilbo, “I have to protect everyone!”
“No,” Bilbo shouted again, the water quivering in front of him with his emotions, “your mother and uncle left me here to keep you safe! I have to do as they command, I can’t let them down and let you get hurt!”
Fili and Kili stared at him in silence for a few moments, their eyes shadowed.
“Please,” Fili said as he took a step closer, “if it was your family out there fighting, wouldn’t you want to help?”
Bilbo thought of his nephew for a moment, then he thought of Thorin, who could possibly be out there injured or worse.
“Don’t you think I’m worried too,” he asked the crown prince, “my friends are out there too. But, I have to keep you safe, no matter what I want.”
Kili looked angry as he stepped up beside his brother, “we can’t sit by idly as they are hurt in battle! I’ll fight you if I have to, but you can’t stop me from leaving!”
Fili cut in diplomatically, “come with us,” he pleaded, “you can keep us safe that way, and you technically won’t be leaving us. Just come with us, you can help!”
Bilbo thought about that for a moment, lowering the water in front of him.
If he went with the lads he could go and help his friends, help those that he had learned to be with and build relationships with. He could go and help Thorin.
“Please,” Kili said, eyes wide as he stared at him, and that broke Bilbo’s resolve.
“Fine,” he conceded, emotions getting the better of him, “lead the way!”
Fili nodded seriously at him, much like his uncle had only hours before at the hobbit, and Bilbo found himself following the two blindly as they led him out of the castle…
Fili led them through some abandoned tunnels that supposedly ran inside the mountain and would lead them straight to where the battle was.
“These tunnels go to the sides of Erebor,” Fili said to them as he panted from his running, “if Kili can move the rock from inside of the mountain then we can come right out to where the fighting is happening and intervene.”
It sounded like a good plan, but Bilbo was insanely worried that they would be too late to help matters, or that they would be captured.
“Don’t worry,” Kili called back to the hobbit, “I’m the Avatar, and I won’t let anything happen to you!”
Bilbo bit his lip, but ran faster to keep up with the other two, his sides already cramping…
Once Kili had located a secure spot to exit from he earth bended a small hole for the three to exit from, daylight streaming into the dark tunnels and making Bilbo even more anxious.
When they crawled out of the tunnel Bilbo was startled to see that they were in the very middle of the fighting, elves and dwarves all around them.
“Come on,” Kili yelled to the water bender, grabbing his left hand and dragging him closer to the eye of the battle.
“We have to find Thorin,” Fili yelled out, pushing an elf away from him with a well placed kick to the stomach.
“How are we supposed to find him in all of this,” Bilbo asked, just when a horrible scream echoed across the battlefield, catching everyone’s attention.
Looking towards the sound the hobbit gasped out roughly as he saw a familiar dark haired dwarf atop a hill with a tall elf clad all in white.
He watched as the dwarf king bended his fire, trying to hit the female elf, but missing as she dodged his attack.
“We have to get closer,” Kili breathed out next to him, but Bilbo could barely move as the air grew tense and thick around them. It felt as though the air had gone dry.
Then, Bilbo realized.
The elf was bending all of the moisture from the very air around her, and taking it all to use in her fight.
Watching in horror as the elf tripped Thorin up, Bilbo saw the water gather above her, the white hands of the elf moving to bend the water into an ice spear, and then, he watched it come down and stab the dwarf before her.
Unable to scream Bilbo stared, hearing the sound of Kili’s cry of ‘no’ beside him, but it sounded so far away.
Choking on the thin air around them Bilbo watched as Thorin went still under the ice, his brilliant eyes fluttering shut.
Then, a brilliant color flooded the scene.
Shocked, Bilbo looked over at Kili, terrified when he realized that the light was coming from him.
His eyes glowed an eerie blue, and the young dwarf began to rise into the air, an orb coming up around him that was being made of all of the elements.
Water from Bilbo’s pouch flowed up to meet the Avatar, and fire and air melded around him. Stones flew from the ground to join the other three elements, and Bilbo tried to back away when they came to close.
“Kili,” the hobbit heard Fili shout, but it was too late.
The earth began to rumble as the Avatar bended it, making a natural fence around the entire battle field, caging all of them in.
The water from the elves rose into the air above all of them, evaporating as the Avatar willed it away.
“Kili, no,” Fili shouted again, Bilbo catching sight of him as he tried to reach for his brother, but the prince was in the Avatar state now, and nothing could stop him.
Rock flew from the mountain as Kili flew closer to the hill where his uncle and the she-elf were still placed.
“Kili,” Bilbo tried himself, reaching his left hand out, and feeling a sudden, horrible pain as a crunching sound rose from under his skin as a huge stone slammed up against his arm, making the hobbit cry out and fall to the ground, still stuck under the rock.
Kili was now above the elf entirely, and he opened his mouth to speak, the words coming out double-sided and loud, the people around him cowering in fear.
“You have killed someone I love,” the Avatar said, and the elf simply stared at him, unafraid, “you will pay.”
Kili extended his hand, and the flames gathered there before the elf lifted a hand herself, gathering water from the air again.
The elf looked as though she were about to strike, but then, suddenly, she was held back, her own limbs moving in unnatural ways. Blood bending.
“Wait!” A voice called out, and Bilbo watched through watery eyes as Gandalf appeared near the hill, “she is possessed by Sauron, cleanse her spirit Avatar Kili, and she will repent and heal what has been broken!”
Something in those words seemed to get through to the Avatar, and he lowered his hand, instead moving closer and extending his other hand, which was completely devoid of any element.
“Release the evil spirit from your body,” the Avatar said as he placed his hand upon the elf’s face, ignoring the vile darkness that seemed to inch over the pale skin, “be free of Sauron’s evil spell.”
A bright light filled the world as the Avatar finished the last line, and Bilbo had to look away, lest he be blinded.
When he was able to look the elf was crumpled on the ground, clutching at her head, and Kili was standing before her, his eyes once again brown and wide.
Watching Gandalf stride up the hill and realizing that the battle was over, Bilbo succumbed to the darkness threatening to overcome him, and fainted dead away from the world…
When Thorin woke up the only thing that he could do was rub at his tender abdomen and take a deep breath.
He remembered dying, but now, apparently, he realized that he had not in fact ever died.
“You were healed,” a voice said from beside his bed, and Thorin cautiously moved his head to gaze into the eyes of a certain wizard.
“What happened,” the king asked, and was not pleased with how gravelly his voice sounded.
“You were stabbed,” Gandalf told him, “by an elf who was possessed by the spirit of Sauron.”
Thorin blinked, letting the wizard continue, “your nephew saved you, and all of us, in fact.”
The king frowned at that, “I told Kili to stay inside of the castle, I left the hobbit to look after him, after them both…”
Gandalf smiled, “they did not listen. And, they risked much to come and help you. Thank the heavens they did in fact. Who knows what would have happened if the Avatar had not arrived just in time.”
Thorin shook his head, “where are they? I wish to see my nephews.”
Gandalf shook his head, “I would wager they would be visiting Bilbo. The hobbit had a bit of a mishap when he was on the battlefield. Was quite injured in the process.”
Thorin felt his heart skip a beat. Sitting up and throwing back his covers he jumped out of the bed and raced out of the room, not even seeing the twinkle in the wizard’s eye…
Elrond breathed in a fresh breath of air as he sat on the balcony of his room in the mountain.
The darkness that had plagued him for so long seemed to have lifted, and the elf felt as though he could finally breathe again.
“It’s good to be yourself again I take it.”
Elrond turned around to see Legolas Greenleaf standing there, his hands positioned behind his back, and his bright eyes unblinking.
“Yes,” Elrond finally agreed, turning back to look across the land at Dale, “I feel free again, which I have not felt in a long time…but, I still bear the weight of a guilty mind. I murdered one of my closest friends, and no matter what anyone says, I cannot take that back.”
He felt Legolas walk closer, and listened as the younger elf spoke.
“I think Glorfindel would have forgiven you,” the prince said, “he would rather have died than have seen innocents killed because of him. Had he not been stopped he would have raged on and ravaged Middle Earth until there was nothing left.”
Elrond looked up at the other elf, the young one’s long hair flying in the breeze, “you are wise Legolas, son of Thranduil. You have made new friends with such wisdom, and you kept your promise to your friends while others have not.” He looked down at his hands then, his heart heavy with sorrow.
“I did what was right,” Legolas said, “and I think you will too from now on.”
Elrond looked up again, but the prince was already walking away, leaving the older elf to his thoughts…
Gandalf found the Lady Galadriel in the throne room, her form rigid as she stared up at the precious stone that adorned the king’s throne.
“I have caused great stress to Middle Earth,” the elf said when the wizard was merely feet away from her, “and I have destroyed things that were once dear to me.”
She turned to look at him, and her eyes held the sorrows of thousands of years, “I will journey to Paradise I think, where I can do no more harm to those around me.”
Gandalf frowned, “you have been purified by the Avatar, you are fit to stay and keep watch over Middle Earth once more.”
Galadriel smiled softly at that, “my soul is purified,” she said, “but not my heart. I will go and end my days among men and dwarves.”
“What of wizards,” the grizzled water bender asked, leaning on his staff, “what of hobbits and others? What if there is need of you yet?”
The elf looked away, back to the stone, “I have seen years beyond count,” she said quietly, “and I feel that it is my time to go.” She held her head up high, “I will let others watch over Middle Earth now, and hope that their ruling will leave a brighter future than mine did.”
Gandalf felt as though he could say no more after that, as the Lady of Light had obviously made up her mind…
Fili and Kili had stopped by hours ago and they still had not thought to leave just yet.
“Will you stay in Erebor,” Kili asked as he burrowed closer to Bilbo’s side, “even after things are right again?’
The hobbit sighed and stroked the lad’s hair with his good hand. Even though Gandalf had healed the fracture as best as he could Bilbo was the better healer between the two, and he planned on healing himself once the boy’s were gone.
“I don’t know what I’ll do,” he admitted to the young dwarf, “it…depends on some things.”
Kili pouted, “what kind of things?!”
Bilbo grinned and tweaked the brunette’s nose, making him squawk, “on personal things,” he said, finally pushing at the boy. “Time to go,” he said, “I have to finish healing my arm, and I’d like some privacy.”
Fili uttered something in Khuzdul to Kili from across the room that made the younger boy laugh.
Pursing his lips Bilbo stuck his nose into the air, “I have no idea what you said but out. Both of you!”
The two did as they were bid and left the room, closing the door behind them.
Bilbo had just barely removed the sling in which his arm was in when the door was flung open again, admitting a crazed looking dwarf king inside.
“Thorin!” Bilbo squeaked, startled, as he was not expecting the dwarf to be out of bed so soon and roaming about.
“What happened,” Thorin said as he rushed to the hobbit’s side, leaning on the bed to take hold of the water bender’s face, “how badly are you hurt?! Gandalf would not say!”
Bilbo huffed out an annoyed breath, “that wizard.” Then, he turned his attention back to look at the dwarf, “I’m fine. Much better than you were anyway. I just have a broken arm, and I’m about to heal it now.”
Thorin leaned back to look at his arm then ducked his head down after a moment to rest on the hobbit’s shoulder, his breath on the Halfling’s skin, “thank Durin,” the dwarf said, his voice choked.
A little embarrassed Bilbo shifted, “I’m sorry I worried you,” he said, then ruefully added, “and I’m sorry I let Fili and Kili onto the battlefield, but…I just couldn’t leave you all alone out there!”
Thorin moved back, looking up at him from his position, then, he muttered, “I forgive you.”
Bilbo beamed at him, smiling sweetly like that until Thorin grinned back wolfishly, his eyes dark.
“You know,” the dwarf said, “we are alone now. And there shouldn’t be any interruptions…”
Bilbo took a swift gasping breath, “I suppose so,” he breathed out, then, he wasted no time in pulling Thorin towards him and into a breathtaking kiss…
Later that night, after he and Thorin had reacquainted themselves with one another, and after he had healed his arm up Bilbo wandered towards Gandalf’s rooms, hoping for a word with the wizard.
He found the older water bender sitting on his balcony, smoking a pipe of Old Toby’s, and staring off into the distance.
Leaning against the entrance to the balcony Bilbo asked, “why did you choose me? Out of all of the water bender’s you know, you could have picked anyone. Why me?”
Gandalf let out a puff of breath, “because Bilbo, you an exceptionally simple creature.”
The hobbit crinkled his nose, “you realize that if you had picked anyone else this whole thing could have been avoided, right?”
The wizard chuckled, “perhaps, but then again, perhaps not. I think that it is good to tempt fate every once and a while my dear Bilbo, because,” he turned to look the hobbit in the eye, “you never know what good things you will find that way.”
Bilbo looked off into the horizon, blinking rapidly, “I suppose that’s a pretty good answer.”
And then, the sun began to rise from over the mountainside, signaling a new day…