The Way Home

Summary: Bilbo finds Kili as a child during a storm and takes him in. He ends up caring for the boy as his own son and raises him in the shire. What happens when one day his worst fears come into reality as Gandalf arrives along with a very real possibility that he's going to lose his son forever?

P/N: As 'The Hobbit' wormed its way to my list of favorite literary works and movies, I started to think of a few 'what if' scenarios. The thought of Kili growing up in Bilbo's care appealed to me the most so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

It was a storm. One of the strongest storms that year, in fact. All of the Hobbits in Hobbiton had made do with boarding up the windows in hopes it would keep their homes dry until the storm has passed. No one expected it coming. In fact, all of them were enjoying the slight showers that afternoon without really knowing it would become a full blown nightmare by the time the sun had already set in the distance. By the time the Storm had started sweeping over the grass of the Shire, everyone was sure that no respectable hobbit would even dare to stay outside in that storm.

And just like all the Hobbits that thought so, Bilbo Baggins believed that he should also not be outside in this ungodly storm. He had made the mistake of letting his thoughts run away while he had been on his walk. Much to his dismay, before he could even realize that he had been too far now, it had started to rain. And so he made his way back, hurrying as he did so but was forced to pause when he heard something heading towards him. They sounded like a pack of wolves, if he would only base it on the howl he had heard, and it terrified him. The Baggins side of him froze over causing his more Tookish side to jump to his feet and run away before lunging into a small covering by some roots that he could easily slip into.

He listened as they passed him and waited until all he could hear was the pouring rain before he had decided that it was safe to come out. It was still raining heavily and Bilbo hoped that the wolves -or whatever they were- had really gone for he couldn't and wouldn't be able to spot them before they would him.

Creeping out of the little hole in the ground, he cautiously walked out to the road and took one look around before taking one step forward.

Then he halted again as he heard something else. This time, it wasn't the howl that he had feared for but instead it sounded like something crying...a child, really. At this Bilbo frowned. What kind of hobbit would have left their child unattended in this storm? He looked around and tried to find where it was coming from and finally found a small outcrop of rock across him.

"Hello?" he asked cautiously as he reached the rock. He looked around and soon spotted the source of the crying. It was a little boy with dark medium length hair. He was fairly small, smaller than what Hobbits deemed the age to be left alone by their parents. It broke Bilbo's heart.

"Hush now," he said before reaching over and attempted to take the boy. Really, who would leave their little boy like this out in the rain? He planned to have words with this boys parents once he had found them. Yes sir, they would hear quite the scolding that would even put the Tooks cowering into the nearest corner.

"No! D-don't hurt me!"

Bilbo blinked, what in the name of all things homely would make this boy think that he would be hurt. Then he paused and remembered that not moments ago there were wolves coming around them. Could this child have...no...thats impossible. Wolves don't steal children...

He moved closer and knelt down. "It's alright, I won't hurt you," he tried to reassure the boy who only curled up further back into the rock. There was very little lighting available to him but when a clap of lightning appeared in the sky he saw the injuries that the boy had. He was bleeding...badly.

Bilbo needed to get this boy out of the rain.

With haste, he moved forward and tried to ignore the child's heartbreaking cry. Pulling the boy into his arms, he moved back from the rocks and looked around. "It's going to be alright," he told him in an attempt to soothe the frightened child. "No one's going to hurt you anymore," he added before turning and running all the way back to the shire.

In the distance, he swore he heard a howl and an angry yell thrown into the wind.

The moment that Bilbo arrived at Bag End the first thing that he had done was to remove the boys clothes to see the extent of the damages on his little body. If his heart had broke when he had found the boy now it had absolutely shattered. The boy's body was covered in fresh cuts and bruises, not to mention that his little ankle was swelling, no doubt a sprain at the least or a break at the most. He couldn't call a healer because of the storm; he would have to make do with what was available to him. Setting the boy down on his own bed, he walked off to get some supplies.

Hurriedly, he went to his sink and got some clean water and a washcloth; he needed to clean those wounds. As he did this, he also grabbed the herbs that he had placed aside. He had been hoping he wouldn't be needing them but was inwardly glad that he had put some in his shelves. His Took side gave him a pat on the back.

Heading back to the boy that he had placed on the bed, he slowly peeled away the blanket and inwardly winced when he saw the wounds again. The boy whimpered and looked down at him and Bilbo tried to smile. "This will sting a bit." The boy nodded and bit down on his little lip and Bilbo genuinely smiled. This boy was brave.

He then set to work on the various wounds and cuts on the boy and as soon as he was done, the little one was shivering. A fever had set in and Bilbo wasn't all too surprised when he had noticed this. Silently, he placed the herbs and the bandages aside and enveloped the boy in the blanket he had been placed on before walking over to the drawers to pull out a thicker one.

"Go to sleep, little one, you'll feel better in the morning," he coaxed. The boy looked at him hesitantly before nodding and closing his eyes.

"That's a good boy," he said with a smile before slipping in beside the dark haired youth and pulled him close. It was only then did he realize how tired he was as his eyes slowly drifted closed, his mind acquiring peace as he listened to the breathing of the little one in his arms.

By the time the little boy was well enough to get out of bed, Bilbo had learned a few things about him.

One was the fact that the boy was not a Hobbit as he had originally thought. The boy, however, was pretty small and only when the boy could walk around without getting sick did he find out that he was in fact, a dwarf. That was all thanks to the healer that had thankfully agreed to look at the boy just to make sure that everything was fine. The second thing that Bilbo learned was the fact that the boy did not know where he had come from...at all. Bilbo blamed it on the fact that the boy had been sporting a wounded head when Bilbo had found him and he supposed that a concussion could be blamed for the memory loss of the youngling. Nonetheless, he could talk, walk and eat. That was definitely all that Bilbo could ask for. Perhaps his memory will come back in time.

The third and last thing that Bilbo had discovered once the boy was well enough was the fact that his name was 'Kili'. This discovery was due to the fact that he had found a small cloth with the embroidered name on the side among the the little one's tattered clothes. He asked the boy about it but he really didn't know much.

Undeterred by the fact that Kili could not remember anything, Bilbo thought it best to look for whoever Kili's parents were. After all, no parent in their right mind wouldn't be looking for a boy this young and small. The moment he had gotten wind that some merchants were nearby, he had set off to ask if there had been any news of anyone losing their child. When they answered that no, they had heard nothing about a missing boy, Bilbo merely thanked them and had asked them to come to him if they heard of anything of the sort.

Somewhat used to strange requests, the merchants merely gave him words of agreement before going on their way.

Days passed and soon, Bilbo learned that Dwarf children were not really different from Hobbit children. Despite his foot making him limp when he walked long distances (in this case, anywhere past the bedroom he sleeps in), Kili loved getting into the smallest nook and crannies that he could find causing Bilbo to half want to tear his hair out and half take and cuddle the boy for all that he was worth. Kili also had a penchant for getting dirty much faster than Bilbo would like that would always lead to Bilbo lecturing the dark haired boy that it wasn't how respectable hobbits should behave.

Kili only giggled at that but as time passed by even more, the habits and culture of hobbits eventually started to rub off on him. Sometimes, he would run out and play with the other children without anything to cover his feet, causing him to get a few knicks and cuts on his soles whenever he came back. Because of this, Bilbo had bought him shoes that were easy to slip on. No son of his will be getting necessary nicks and bruises for as long he is able to do something about it.

Son. The word haunted Bilbo as he kept reminding himself that Kili was not his son and that one day someone would come and pick him up from Bag End, take him home and Bilbo will never see him again. Kili wasn't his son...not at all.

That changed, however, one day...just one day until it had been one year since he had found Kili in the storm. The boy had come home from a day with supposedly playing with the neighbors children, with tears in his eyes. Kili had ran straight into Bilbo who was making dinner and Bilbo was flustered and had wondered what had happened to cause the usually bright and happy child into a ball of tears. Bilbo's mind took him back to the day he had found Kili and was reminded that this was exactly how Kili had cried then.

This was how the boy cried when he was hurt...and Bilbo swore that he wanted to throttle someone in a very un-hobbit like manner.

"Kili, what happened?" he asked softly as he gathered the crying mess of a boy in his arms.

What Kili said next broke his heart just like it did all those weeks ago. Kili had said he had overheard the merchant adults talking that he didn't belong, on how he was nothing but a -Bilbo's eyes narrowed at the term. Never in his years of living in the Shire did he hear something that foul-. Kili was distraught at this at being called such a thing, at being said that he didn't have a family to belong to. Most of all, he cried harder when he told Bilbo that the men had said that he would be given away the moment someone came to claim him as theirs even if they weren't a dwarf.

Sighing heavily, he took the boy to his room, rubbing his back comfortingly as he did so. While he never denied Kili the knowledge of his true heritage of being a dwarf, he had -now he guiltily accepts it- never really assured him either that he wasn't bothered by it. Surely all this was somehow his fault one way or another.

At this time, both his sides as a Baggins and as a Took reared their heads at him and scolded him. He had to agree that he deserved it, but he was going to amend it too.

Kili was his as much as any children belonged to their parents. No one had the right to say otherwise.

So the next day, Bilbo made a show of telling those merchants that if they spoke ill of his son again, he will personally make sure that they will not return to the Shire in a way they are welcomed as they are now.

He thought the whole Shire congratulated him that day. This one was one of the reasons that they all knew that he was quite the respectable Hobbit. After all, no parent would stand for having their children spoken ill to. No matter that Kili wasn't a hobbit...in the eyes of everyone in Hobbiton, he might as well have been.

When Kili started calling him 'Father' the next day, Bilbo swore his heart swelled with pride and a few tears had made his way down his cheeks.

Yes, Kili was his son. Definitely his son. He wasn't going to give him up to anybody. Not anymore. They had a year to look for him, and that in Bilbo's opinion is more than enough time to look for a little boy. He'll be damned before they take Kili away from him.

He then vowed to himself that he would never let anyone hurt Kili, the same way he had promised the boy the same thing one year ago.

P/N: At the request of most readers, a bonus chapter will come next that would give us a bit more background with regards to Bilbo and Kili's relationship. Hopefully, this will help the readers understand the problems that Bilbo and Kili would have to face even more.

Oh, and I edited this piece. I don't know why Shoutaro placed the unbeta'd version so this one should be all good. Scene breaks and all.