TITLE: Innocent

AUTHOR: Elendriel (El)

RATING: PG

PAIRING: Frodo / Legolas (but this is non-slash fic)

DISCLAIMER: All characters are Tolkien's, not mine. I just only borrow them.

SUMMARY: After Frodo's parents death. Bilbo and Gandalf bring the hobbit to Rivendell.

NOTES 1: This fic is kind of a little AU. I know Frodo's parents drown in the river when he was 12 and Bilbo adopted him when he was 19 years old. In this story, I change a bit. Frodo is about 4-5 years old now and Bilbo adopted him immediately after the tragedy.

NOTES 2: My mother language isn't English. So be patience with my grammar though I had checked my grammar in this fic many times before post it.

Innocent By Elendriel (El)

Chapter 1

It was a nice day in Buckland. The sun shone around and made the surface of Brandywine River glow like a diamond, only disturbed by a boat that Frodo's father and mother were rowing. Little Frodo played on the shore with his friends under the watchful eyes of Brandybuck's adults who were working, talking or smoking their pipes in the field nearby. Then Frodo heard a loud thud from the river. He turned around and found that the boat was turned over. His parents were struggling in the water for their lives.

"Papa! Mama!" Frodo screamed and flew to the shore. His heart was beating fast as he saw his mother who could barely swim try to help his father, who like most Hobbits, couldn't swim. But the weight of wet clothes was pulling them into the river more and more until he could see only their hands.

Dinodas, Frodo's uncle was nearest to him and caught him in his arms. He knew Frodo could only swim a little and might be the third person they had to help from drowning.

Many shouts and yells surrounded them. Frodo couldn't point out whose voice was whose. His eyes fixed on the river. Some of the adults who could swim jumped into the river and swam to where they saw Drogo and Primula last time.

"Shh.Frodo. Drogo and Primula will be okay. We will do our best to help them," Dinodas whispered to his nephew even though he was as worried as Frodo was.

Five minutes passed but in Frodo's mind, it looked like a year when the rescuers took his parents from the Brandywine River. Their faces were as pale as paper and there was no hint of blood to be seen. The little hobbit wriggled out of Dinodas' arms and ran towards his father and mother as his tears ran down his cheeks.

"Papa! Mama! Papa! Mama! Pa."

"Papa! Mama! Papa!." Little Frodo cried out loud, meanwhile someone shook him out of dreamland.

"Frodo, wake up. It's a nightmare, Frodo." Bilbo shook his little relative and sighed secretly when he saw him open his teary eyes and then he was taken aback when the small ball named Frodo bolted towards him.

"Bilbo! Why did papa and mama leave me? Why did they die?!" Frodo cried out heartbroken. He clutched Bilbo's shirt until his knuckles went white as new tears burst out from his azure eyes.

Bilbo looked at Gandalf wordlessly. He didn't know how to soothe his lad.

Gandalf watched Frodo with sympathy and took him onto his own lap.

"It's a part of life, Frodo. Hobbits can't escape death," Gandalf stroke Frodo's curly hair in the manner of a parent soothing their child. The wizard let him cry as much as he wanted. Not too long after, Frodo fell asleep again.

Gandalf waited a few minutes to be sure that Frodo was slumbering deeply, then tucked Frodo into his bedroll that was set not far from the fire before sitting down on his seat again. The silence of the night in the forest covered them, only the crackle of fire and the sounds of horse's and pony's tails could be heard.

"You think it would work, Gandalf?" Bilbo asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes."

"It has been three weeks since I adopted him after his parents' death and he still has nightmares," Bilbo said frustrated. "I don't like to see him suffer. He was an innocent and sweet boy. Yes, he still is. But he is going to break under the sorrow."

"I don't think so, my friend. His nightmares have subsided, and see, he can eat even if it is just a very little," Gandalf pointed out and glanced at the boy who was underweight more than the hobbit's children around his age should be.

"Yes. You're always right, Gandalf," The wizard was at Bag End when the tragedy news of Primula and Drogo came. The two went to Brandybuck together to pay respect at them last time and to witness Frodo's collapse. Though his relatives, Brandybucks, didn't mind to raise Frodo, they agreed that it wasn't good for the boy to grow up in the environment that would remind him of his parents. That was one of the reasons why Bilbo adopted the poor child as his heir. Other reason was Bilbo knew that Brandybuck was the big clan and had a lot of people. Even his uncles and aunts loved him dearly; they may not pay attention and give love to Frodo as much as the kid wanted.

Frodo came to Bag End with brokenhearted. He didn't eat a bit, just slept, woke and cried until Bilbo and Gandalf had to discuss how to cope with the child because if they let Frodo went on that way, he would go after his parents soon. Finally, the wizard adviced that the new sight of Middle- Earth might ease the pain in Frodo's heart. Bilbo agreed and they together set the travel to Rivendell and maybe to another places. That's the reason why they were camping in the forest tonight.

Gandalf patted his friend's hand and said, "Tomorrow, we will arrive the house of Elrond and we will see."

Frodo looked at the sight before him with awe. Bilbo had told him about Rivendell during their travel but this was better than he expected. An elf came to greet them and took Gandalf's horse and Bilbo's pony to the stable. Frodo gave the elf a shy smile before following Gandalf and Bilbo into the hall. His eyes didn't keep on the path he was walking on but rather on the wonderful painting and the beautiful crafts on the wall he passed by. He then found himself in a great hall, a male elf stood at the center. He wore a silken dark red rope with his black hair braided at the back of his head; letting Frodo admired his handsome face easily.

"Welcome to Rivendell, Gandalf, and Bilbo and." The elf stared at the smallest hobbit kindly. ".the little one."

"Greetings, Elrond," Gandalf and Bilbo said while Frodo only bowed to him.

"This is my relative, Frodo Baggins," Bilbo introduced Frodo to Elrond.

"Hello, sir," Frodo greeted Elrond with his sweet smile though he had to crane his neck because his head only came to about the middle of the Elf's legs.

"Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins," Elrond smiled to him slightly and led them to a room. It furnished with a set of gold brown cushions, a small craft table in the center, and a bookcase at one-wall and creamy curtains that swung in the air slightly because of the wind that blew in through a door which would bring them to a small balcony.

The little hobbit looked at the cushion worriedly. No way could he sit on it when they were all as high as his head. Gandalf resolved the problem quickly by lifting Frodo to sit beside him on the same cushion.

The three adults began to talk and Frodo listened to them curiously. They talked about Gondor, Mirkwood Forest, Orcs, Mordor and other things that he didn't understand. After about an hour passed, Frodo began to doze off. He had given up trying to listen to them some time ago.

"I see, you are bored with us, Frodo," Elrond stated when he noticed Frodo's nodding head.

The voice woke the Halfling immediately. He snapped his head up as a shameful blush began to creep up on his face. His mouth shaped in sheepish grin to them.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to er.sleep."

"That's alright. You must be tired from your travel. I will call someone to take you to your room. Then you could get some more rest," Elrond spoke to him and rang a silver bell on a table near them.

Just a moment later, a beautiful maiden elf entered the door. She bowed respectfully to them and waited for what her master would order her to do.

"Take Master Frodo Baggins to his room and take care of him."

"Yes, sir," She helped Frodo got off the cushion and led him out of the room.

Frodo took a full look around his room after the maiden left him alone. It had a king-size bed settled in the center. He looked at it wordlessly and wondered how he could lie on it while it was higher than those cushions that gave him a problem a moment ago. Frodo sighed helplessly and walked around the bed to find something that can help him climb on the bed. He found a small stool at one bedside that he could use as a stair to scramble on the mattress. The bed problem was cleared. The next thing he was looking for was his stuff. The maiden told that his things already in his room but he didn't see any sign of it. After a quick glance, the Halflings saw a small dresser in a corner and went towards it. Like he expected, his clothes were already folded in a drawer, his bag was found in another one.

Frodo looked at the bed yearningly but the roar of a Waterfall attracted him to go outside. He walked to the balcony and admired the beautiful sight of Rivendell once more. Deer were striding in the garden, many colorful birds were flying happily in the air and cooing their melodic voices, sometime scooping down and perching on a deer's back. Some rabbits were running or lying calmly under the sun on the grass. It was a very peaceful sight. The little Baggins decided he must go out and explore Rivendell himself.

After a long walk, four times being lost and two times asking questions for the way to go to the garden from the elves that passed by, Frodo finally walked into the garden of Rivendell. The deer and rabbits only raised their heads to see him when they heard a very little sound from his tiny feet. The animals studied for a moment and decided that the little creature like Frodo had no harm to them. Thus they went towards him, a deer nuzzled Frodo's hair while some rabbits danced around him, and friendly blue birds perched on his curly black head and chirped to him merrily. Frodo smiled and began to play with the animals.

Most elves in the Last Homely House heard his laugh and smiled happily. They hadn't heard any children laugh in Rivendell since Aragorn had grown up and that was a long time ago. It felt really good to have a child in Rivendell once again.

Frodo was playing with his furry friends until he felt tired. The cascade wasn't far from where he played and he decided that the waters from waterfall would fresh him up. Therefore, he went to the river with his friends accompanied him. He found a rock sloping into the river and knelt there to splash his face with cool water.

Frodo pulled his handkerchief and dried his face. He looked around and saw a small path leading into the grove. Curious, he walked along the road with a rabbit in his arms and two deer strode after him. The road began to higher and higher. His little legs began to shake, yet he went on and with help from the deer that pushed his back, Frodo finally escaped the grove and stood on the road he had ridden on with his bigger and older friends in the morning.

The Hobbit wiped the sweat out of his eyes with his free arm. He stood on the road where it curved. The sky on the horizon looked dark, the sign that a storm was coming. He needed to speed up his pace if he wanted to return back at Rivendell before it rained. But before he took even one step, he heard a horse galloping towards him from behind. He turned around to see what it was. Frodo dropped on his knees alarmingly as he saw how close the big white horse's legs were. He crouched on the ground and tried to cover his furry animal friend in his arms, anticipated the pain to come in a second. But it didn't.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked him above.

Frodo looked up and saw the elf on the house dismounting. He had blond hair, grey eyes. The bow and a quiver were strapped on his back. He repeated his question again and Frodo felt he must looked like an idiot to not answer, but his throat was so tight that he couldn't form a single word out. So he only nodded.

The rabbit saw the strange elf came near. The wild creature didn't see this elf before and decided that it didn't want to be friend with him. So it leaped out of Frodo's arms, leaving him alone with the elf.

He was kneeling before Frodo and helped him to his feet. The hobbit felt his legs were trembling and it gave up once again. Fortunately, the elf caught him in time before he hit the ground. Frodo looked up at him thankfully and saw the worry in his kind eyes.

"I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to hurt you or scare you." The elf apologized to him softly.

"I.I.I'm okay." Frodo said with shaky voice. "It was my fault too for not being careful myself."

"Then it was our fault," The elf said. "Do you live in Rivendell?"

"Yes," He replied though he did not know how long Bilbo would decide to dwell here.

"That's good because I'm going to Rivendell." The elf said. He carried Frodo to his steed and set him on the front of the saddle before mounted behind him.

"My name is Frodo Baggins," The hobbit introduced himself.

"I'm Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood."