Spring Rains Mean Hope
Faramir woke up to a blinding light, in a neatly clean room, as he was taken care of by elves. For a moment, he thought his soul made it to the Valars, because everything in that room was white. He sat on bed, dressed with a white sleep shirt and fully recovered.
"Good morning, Faramir, son of Denethor!" Said an elf maid with a gentle smile, "You are in the houses of healing. It is the third day of the second week since the battle of Minas Tirith, if you wish to know." She added.
"How did I come here?" He asked.
"The white Wizard brought you" responded the elf maid, "He told us your body was dragged back from battle by your horse, as your foot was tangled in the saddles. Your father thought you dead."
That's when Faramir had flashbacks of his father pouring oil all over himself, "Denethor, Steward of Gondor! What became of him? Is he alive?" He asked.
The elf maid responded with a straight line smile and a gentle shake of her head in a gesture of no. Faramir looked down, silent for a moment.
"You will have time to grief, kind Sir. It is the first days of spring and you have been unconscious long enough. Allow me to show you the gardens. It could do you good to smell the first blossoms" Replied the elf maid.
Her words convinced him. He rose from his bed and followed the elf maid along the corridor.
On his way to the gardens, the ginger son of Gondor meditated on his loss; His big brother, which he looked up at as someone to emulate some day, fallen pray of the one ring; His father, whom he struggled daily with to be loved someday as his brother was, fallen to his own madness. What did he have left? No one but himself. And then he saw things with another light... Those were the factors that kept him emotionally oppressed, and they were no more. Freedom at last?
His silent meditation was interrupted by the gentle voice of the elf maid, "Here it is. Make yourself comfortable while I bring your meal here." She said, as she turned to leave him.
Faramir took a deep breath, filling his nostrils with the delicate scents of the first blossoms. It was like being reborn to him. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the sounds of water flowing from the fountain and birds chirping. They brought a smile to his lips. He opened his eyelids and that's when he saw her; A golden angel looking at the garden from behind columns. Her face was sad, and yet to him she was the fairest maiden he has ever met. He smiled to her, extending his hand as an invitation to join him. And that's how he met Lady Eowyn, shield maiden of Rohan.
A month passed since they became friends, sharing pains in common and comforting each other. The love she once believed to feel for Aragorn was being replaced by a growing fondness for the son of Denethor. Eowyn was alone by the fountain, looking at nothing in particular...
"The city has fallen silent. There is no warmth left in the sun." She said, hopelessly.
"It is only the damp of the first spring rain." Responded Faramir as he approached her.
Eowyn turned to him, lifting her face to look into his eyes...
"I do not believe this darkness will endure." He responded with a smile, as he did a bold move by interlacing his fingers with hers.
"I do not understand. How can you be so positive when you have lost as much relatives as I have?" Asked Eowyn a little pessimistic.
"Because this is not the end, m'lady. When the Valars take something from you, they are not punishing you. They are only freeing your hands to receive something better. And I firmly believe this. I met you, didn't I?" He said, with a softened gaze.
Eowyn smiled, misty eyed, as the kind words of Faramir moved her deeply. She leaned her head against his chest, letting out happy tears. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, like she was made of glass. That's when her uncle and fallen king of Rohan's words to her made perfect sense...
"I have left instruction. The people are to follow your rule in my stead. Take up my seat in the Golden Hall. Long may you defend Edoras if the battle goes ill." Said King Theoden to his niece Eowyn.
"What other duty would you have me do?" She asked with a blank expression.
"Duty? No... I would have you smile again, not grieve for those whose time has come. You shall live to see these days renewed. No more despair." Responded King Theoden.
And how right he was. Eowyn embraced Faramir tight, like he was her salvation. She warmed up to him, knowing her uncle would have been honoured to see her blessed, instead of wilting. At that moment, Faramir broke from the embrace to fall on one knee, taking her slender hand on his and gazing into her eyes with a serious question...
"Lady Eowyn of Rohan, would you accept to become my wife? Nothing would bless me more than to love and protect you until the end of my days. What say you?"
Eowyn looked at him with astonishment, lifting a hand to her mouth as happy tears ran nonstop down her pale cheeks. She said a gasped "I do!"
Faramir rose from the marble floors with a wide smile and gleaming eyes, placing his finger gently under her chin to tilt her face to his. Faramir closed the distance between their faces, sharing their first kiss. A magical transformation took over Lady Eowyn, from facing nothing, to having a purpose.
They got married that afternoon in the halls of the Houses of Healing. They acquired a new meaning to them, for not only their bodies were healed, but also their souls.
They settled up in Ithilien a few months later. She was standing at a balcony, looking at the horizon while having some old memories of her first battle...
"I know your face... Eowyn. My eyes darken." Said King Theoden as he was slowly wilting.
"No. No. I'm going to save you." Responded Eowyn with despair.
"You already did... Eowyn. My body is broken. You have to let me go. I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed. Eowyn..." Those were his last words before passing away.
She saved him in more ways than one. At first she was grieving. But as time passed by, she realized she had something to be happy about. Eowyn caressed her growing belly idly. Soon enough the rough hands of her husband joined hers from behind, kissing her neck gently and whispering into her ear, "You have made me the happiest man alive. I have been blessed with you, and I love you everyday more" Said Faramir.
"You gave me hope when I had none. It is me who has been blessed, for you have saved me from a slow and agonizing death inside. You are my hero and I love you." She responded.
A few months later, the Valars blessed them with the arrival of their first born, a very healthy and robust boy. Although Eowyn was worn out and tired, her smile could not be bigger.
Faramir carried his son in arms, smiling with tears in his eyes to his very first heir, which they named Elboron. He sat at the edge of the bed to embrace his wife close to him, as she retrieved their son from his arms to nurse him. Faramir kissed her forehead with happy tears, thankful to the Valars for giving him a chance to prove his worth, the chance his father never gave him.
Their blessing could not come at a better time, for it was now the era of men.
The End