The Last Goodbye

A/N: Okay so its my first middle earth fanfic so be nice please! I know its canonically not plausible for this to happen. It's just a dream, alright, so its AU, TOTALLY AU but it made me feel better after sobbing my heart out at the cinema!

Bilbo had no one to wave goodbye to as the boat for the undying lands departed. Frodo shed a few tears as he waved a last goodbye to Sam, Merry and Pippin. However Bilbo turned his gaze in the opposite direction. He had lost those who he cared about, and the people that he had left were taking this final journey with him to his final destination. He closed his eyes, almost all of the people who he cared about. His oldest, and his greatest friend was not with them, and Bilbo had learned to face the harsh truth that the day he had wept over Thorin's body was the last day he would ever lay eyes upon Thorin Oakenshield.

As the boat pulled into shore in the fabled undying lands Bilbo gazed across the horizon at the seemingly perfect land. The sky was blue, and the ocean mirrored it and there was only a slight, summery breeze in the air. He smiled as the boat stopped, he was here, in the undying lands and it felt like a dream as he followed Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond onto the shore. The sand was soft and warm beneath his bare feet, yet as he looked upon this perfect land his smile dropped.

'You are one of few mortals to reach this place,' Elrond's voice said, although Bilbo did not turn to look at him.

Bilbo nodded, not taking his eyes from the horizon as the sun began to fall in the sky, 'I don't feel tired anymore.'

'Yet you are not happy,' Elrond said knowingly as he stood by Bilbo's side.

'I am happy,' Bilbo said, the sunset reminding him of the last sunset he had seen in Erebor, he never thought he would see a more beautiful sunset but this was proving very close to that fateful day, 'but there is someone who is not here to see this, someone who should…' his voice caught in his throat, 'be here to see this with me.'

'And who would that be, master burglar?'

The voice was so familiar, even after all of these years. Bilbo had not forgotten it, and he froze when he heard it. He could not bring himself to turn around because it could not be. Mortals could not come to the undying lands, only the elves and those who had been bearers of the ring could be here. He couldn't be here, it couldn't be anything more than Bilbo's imagination.

'Bilbo?'

Frodo's hand clasped Bilbo's shoulder. Bilbo breathed in sharply and looked down at his trembling hands, they were young, he was restored to the hobbit he had once been. He turned around slowly and his eyes fell on the man standing with his eyes on the sunset. On either side of him stood his kin, they were smiling mischievously but their smiles were nothing compared to the one on the face of Thorin Oakenshield as he turned his gaze to Bilbo.

'No,' Bilbo croaked, 'you cannot…this cannot…'

He turned helplessly to Elrond who smiled, 'The undying lands welcome those who died valiantly Bilbo. Men and dwarves of noble stock who died defending middle earth deserve a place here as much as you and Frodo do.'

Bilbo was speechless as he turned to Thorin again. He had never dreamed that he would see him again, but there he stood, his oakenshield discarded beside him on the sand. Bilbo's face broke out into a wide grin and he darted towards his old friend, embracing him tightly. Thorin laughed whole heartedly as he returned the hobbits embrace, and Kili and Fili shared a smile.

'You await someone.'

Kili looked up to Elrond who had approached them. He frowned, 'Yes.'

'Tauriel will join us,' Elrond said with a nod to Galadriel, 'when the wood elves leave middle earth.'

Fili smiled and patted his brother on the back, 'You'll do your waiting brother, just as Thorin did.'

'I would happily wait forever for her,' Kili said, casting his eyes to the open ocean.

Elrond smiled and turned away, his only regret was that his own daughter could not be here with him, but she had made her choice, she had chosen love. He cast his eyes to Bilbo and Thorin who although they had stopped embracing each other were still holding onto each other as if they would be ripped apart again at any moment. He turned away from them all to Galadriel who had been watching the scene curiously.

'It appears that the fight is finally over,' she said softly, 'the darkness is gone. Love, is all that remains.'

Elrond shared her smile as his eyes fell once more on Bilbo and Thorin.

'I don't regret any of it,' Bilbo said to Thorin, 'and I don't blame you, not for a single thing.'

'You ought to,' Thorin said darkly, 'I should not be forgiven for the things that I said to you, for the things that I did. I ask for your forgiveness but I do not deserve it.'

'You don't need to ask for it,' Bilbo said weakly, 'I never thought I would see you again. I forgave you a long time ago Thorin, leaving Erebor after you…leaving you like that…' he trailed off, unable to finish, 'I forgive you.'

He clasped the dwarf's hands in his own, and Thorin nodded, 'Thank you, Bilbo.'

Bilbo could only nod, too emotional and too shocked to find anymore words. He closed his eyes as the sun disappeared from the sky, the wind whispered around him and as the day turned into night he thanked the good grace, or the luck, or the fate, or whatever it was, that enabled him to have this time with Thorin that he had so long wished for.

It seemed that his last goodbye to middle earth was not a goodbye at all. Instead he welcomed this chance, his last goodbye had been his new beginning.

The End

A/N: My first attempt at a Hobbit/LOTR fic so forgive me if its terrible but I was an emotional wreck after seeing the final Hobbit at the cinema and I had to write this to give myself some sense that they will see each other again eventually because the thought of it ending like that was horrible. So I hope you've enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!