"Why are you here?" She asked, sensing that the footsteps on the cold, stone floor would be his.
"I have something for you," Faramir said slowly, staying put at Eowyn's door.
He pitied the woman. After a long talk with Merry he had learned of her despair, her days under the command of Sauron and the leering watch of Gríma Wormtongue only to be freed by a man who rejected her love. He understood her need to fight, she was anything but a passive woman and she needed to prove that. Except she didn't need to prove it to anyone, everyone already knew. Eowyn was a caged bird; her wings clipped by the sentence 'the battlefield is no place for a woman'. Just like he himself had been caged by his father's overbearing love for his brother.
Eowyn sighed. She stared at herself in the reflection of her mirror. It was as if her white hair had grown whiter with anxiety, her face sallow and grey and her arm seemed to be taking even longer to heal. She had been avoiding Faramir, unwilling to accept his words from the day before.
Slowly, she turned.
"What is it?" She was surprised to see he had nothing with him.
Instead, Faramir offered her his hand, his other arm held behind his back like a true gentleman. Eowyn let her eyes drift down to her outstretched hand, again she sighed before rising. She went to take his hand, moving away the material of her long sleeves. She lay her long, slender fingers on top of his palm and, gently, he closed his hand. He took her through the gardens, not speaking, just leading her.
"Where are we going?" She asked slightly nervously but he just shook his curls and smiled.
Faramir walked lazily through the Houses of Healing, moving towards the rooms at the East, his soft leather shoes barely making sound of the floors. Finally, he stopped and turned to her. Her blue eyes were narrowed in confusion, arms folded tightly across the blue material of her dress.
"Will you close your eyes?" He asked, expecting the answer.
"I will not," Faramir laughed and stepped aside; gesturing for her to enter the room he had brought her to. The room was identical to her other one: Dresser, bed, chair, arched window etc. But Eowyn gasped when she entered this room for there was one, fundamental difference.
She raced to the window, her arms on the ledge, head thrust out into the cold night air.
"Steady," Faramir quipped, racing forward to steady her as she leant out of the archway.
Immediately, he removed his hands from her small hips.
"Faramir," She said breathlessly, turning around to smile thankfully at him.
The man came round to stand next to her and both of them gazed out at the view. The room was to the East, facing Mordor. Now, Eowyn could know, she was not in the dark any longer.
"Thank you," She said, eyes fixed on the mountain of red ahead of her, "I am grateful for this, truly,"
Suddenly, Eowyn's face, which had then been full of light, fell. Her eyes grew distant, like she was recalling a long forgotten memory, her widened eyes fell to the floor and slowly she retreated from the window.
"The city has fallen silent, there is no warmth left in the sun," Eowyn spoke without hope, retreating back into her darkness. "It grows so cold,"
Faramir moved forward, his hand on her back, guiding her to the window once more.
"It is only the damp of the first spring rain," He said, taking her small hand in his. Smiling gently as he felt her fingers squeeze his. "I do not believe this darkness will endure,"
Eowyn let the despair fall from her; a wash of release swept over her and her head fell to the side, connecting with Faramir's shoulder. She rested there; they rested there, hand in hand, until the light came again.