Here's chapter 3 ! Just a basic hurt/comfort one. Enjoy ! Again, there will be some Sindarin sentences in this chapter, all translations are in the end.

"Boromir ? Come, I think we need to talk." Faramir told his brother, taking him away from the Council room and heading to a surprisingly empty garden.

"What happened back there ?" he asked immediately in a quite sharp tone, just as they arrived.

"What do you mean 'what happened' ? You were there too."

"Don't try to evade my question, Boromir. I know you weren't yourself."

"What are you talking about, Fara, I wasn't any different from…"

Faramir give him the glance that clearly meant 'Do not take me for a fool' and Boromir was forced to answer.

"I do not know, brother, honestly. It seemed rather obvious at that time, but now...

"Obvious ?" he cut off without thinking "How could that kind of absurdities seem obvious to you, Boromir… I..." his voice broke in shock and despair at the fact that use a Ring made by Sauron could have seemed an obvious thing to do for his brother.

The shadow suddenly returned to Boromir's eyes, so did his anger. Again, he wasn't the caring and sensible brother Faramir knew him to be.

"I wasn't being absurd, Faramir, I was telling the truth ! This Ring is the future of Gondor !" he almost shouted, his thoughts again clouded by a mysterious and thick darkness.

"It is not ! How can you say that kind of stupidities ? The Ring was forged by Sauron himself, he is its only master ! No man, wizard, Hobbit, Elf or Dwarf other than him can wield it ! It is folly !"

"Our father gave us a mission, little brother. It is our duty to have his wish fulfilled !"

His brother sighed deeply in desperation. How could a strong man such as his brother couldn't realise how mad his words were ? How could he possibly believe he could be as strong as Sauron himself ? How could he do this just to please his father ?

"Do not sigh this way, Faramir ! Your entire allegiance goes to our father. You would have to pay it with your life, should you ever contest his authority."

"You seem to forget that our Father is not the highest authority in Gondor, anymore. The King has returned, Boromir, shall you want it or not. Our allegiance must go to him, now. Besides, Father didn't give this mission to me, he gave it to you and you only. He didn't trust me enough for this."

"If it is really what you think, then Father was wise not to trust you ! And my allegiance does not go to a so-called King I did not know about until this morning !"

The words hurt Faramir deeply. Never before had his dear brother talked to him this way. Never before had he called him untrustworthy. Never before had he denied the possible return of the King. Never before… Had he defended his father against him… He felt the tears filling his eyes and one of them began rolling down his cheek. It couldn't be.

As he saw the tears in his brother's eyes, the shadow, again, left the older man's eyes, and he suddenly came to the realisation of what he had just said. All he could do now was to cover his mouth with a shaking hand in regret.

"I told you, you are not yourself."

With that, the young gondorian left the garden, hiding his tears and leaving his brother alone, frozen in shock by his own words.

He had just made a few dozen steps when Boromir caught up on him and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Faramir ?" he asked in a very troubled and hesitant voice, but his brother didn't bother turning around. Boromir could easily sense his shoulders shaking. How could he have said that to him ? He didn't even mean it.

"Faramir, I am so deeply sorry. I do not even know why I said that. I didn't mean it and I never will, little brother, I swear. I do not know what came over me."

"But you still said them. Deep inside you, you know them to be true. And maybe they are..." he answered in resignation.

The voice of Faramir was completely shaky from silent crying. What he had just said tore Boromir's heart apart. Of course he didn't mean it at all, how could he ? And how could he possibly think what he had said was true ?

"Oh, Faramir, what are you talking about ? I told you I have never mean those words and I never will, I swear. You are the dearest person I have and I swear on the Valar I will never, ever think that kind of thing. I am so very sorry, brother, I don't know what happened. And I can assure you Father was very wrong not to trust you. I don't allow you to even dare to imagine he might have been right."

His words only met silence, only cut by his brother's quiet sobs. He felt so bad and he was absolutely unable to understand what happened to his mind to make them say this. He felt so lost ! He couldn't stand the simple thought of loosing his brother on those silly and completely untrue words.

"I know I don't deserve it, but will you ever forgive me ?" he asked, deeply remorseful.

"I don't know, brother. I want to, but… I don't know… I will try."

"Thank you." he answered, hopeful.

Immediately after, Faramir released himself from his brother's embrace and began walking away.

"Sorry, but I have to go. I need to think"

"Faramir !" Boromir tried to make him stay, but uselessly, his brother was already gone.

The older man fell to his knees as he was finally overtook by both anger against himself, and an incredible remorse.

"Oh, Valar, what have I done ?"

Faramir rapidly found himself wandering aimlessly in the Last Homely House, not even able to think about something coherent. So much had happened this day…

Only pieces of memory were reaching his mind :

'I know of his uses and they are few.' 'Always you cast a poor reflection on me.' 'Father was wise not to trust you !', but none of them affected him anymore. He was a ghost.

He was walking… Somewhere… it was a wonder his feet could still carry him.

Where was he heading to ? Not a clue. But it was as if something, a small remaining light in the darkness of his mind, was guiding him, thinking for him.

Not even knowing why or how, he eventually arrived on a bridge, facing a sparkling waterfall and he lost himself into contemplation as he felt his mind lighten a little. In fact, he felt as if the shadows that had been living in it were now drawn aback by some mysterious force.

"Beautiful, isn't it ?" a womanly voice rose beside him.

He turned his head to face the shining blue eyes of a seemingly young elleth, who was smiling at him.

"Y-Yes, indeed." he answered, quite troubled by her sudden appearance. He could have sworn she was nowhere to be seen he arrived, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings.

"I always come here when I am seeking peace."

The man glared at her in half shock as everything made sense : the light, at first barely noticeable but now filling his mind, who had guided him… The sudden appearance of the Lady…

"Y-You led me here ?" he asked her.

"I'm afraid I do not possess that kind of abilities, no. But it is said that the very waterfall is the one who lead the troubled souls here."

The man looked at her in confusion.

"Then... H-How did you know…?"

"I am afraid I heard you in the gardens." she simply answered, seeming quite reluctant to admit it.

Unfortunately, with the slow disappearance of the darkness that had been clouding his thoughts, Faramir felt his emotions coming back and turned around to hide his tears from the elleth.

"Crying is not a shame, Faramir of Gondor, it is a strength. Do not try to hide it." she told him as she gently turned his face back to her and gave him a comforting smile.

"You have to forgive him, my Lord. It wasn't him who was speaking." she continued.

"How do you know ?" he asked in a shaky voice, suspiciously.

"You saw it. That darkness in his eyes. You know it. It is the same thing that is now preventing you to admit that I am right."

And she was right. Everything she had said made perfect sense, but for Faramir, it wasn't, like if a little voice inside his head kept telling him it was a lie, that she was tricking him, manipulating him, like if she was only saying what he wanted to hear to please him.

He was about to reply to her, but the Lady, sensing his doubt, put a hand on his forehead and closed her eyes. He didn't move or say anything, but he still needed to fight the urge to resist it.

"Edro in ind lîn." she whispered.

And then, all of a sudden, that little voice in his mind disappeared, and he believed her. In fact, everything looked much clearer now. He felt like he had awoken from a long nightmare.

"The Ring !" he involuntarily let out. Of course it was ! Why hadn't he realised it earlier ?

He looked down at the elleth and a bright smile illuminated his face.

"It is indeed. Its only purpose is to make the quest fail. It knows that if you succeed, It will be destroyed. It needs Its real master. It wants to break you apart, every Fellowship member, so that you will become weaker and easier to manipulate. Be very careful on your journey. You will have to help each other to resist It." she explained him.

"How could I ever thank you ?"

"It is not me you need to thank. But if you want to, destroy the Ring. Lead the Fellowship to its success. Or at least try."

Faramir gently took her hand and place a kiss on it.

"We will. Gweston." he promised her just before they were interrupted by the arrival of a young brown-haired ellon Faramir had seen briefly during the Council and the blond Elf named Legolas.

"Legolas aníra peded na cen ebgwannog." the brown haired one told the Lady.

"No, anno nin luig, listo." she answered.

The ellon nodded and took a few steps back. The elleth turned around to face Faramir and took his hands.

"My apologies, but I have to leave you. Remember what I told you." she brought her lips close to his ear before adding :

"And beware, foreseeing is a rare gift amongst men. It may be a gift, as well as a curse."

He looked at her in shock. He had told her nothing about that… A small, fair laugh escaped her lips at his surprised face, she bowed to him and began heading to the other Elves.

"Ask Lady Galadriel !" she added while heading away.

Faramir hesitated slightly before asking her :

"But will I ever meet her ?"

She turned back to face him and answered him hopefully :

"Harthon-hai, mellon-nîn."

As she walked away, she was met by Legolas who put a hand on the her shoulder and escorted her away. He still shot Faramir an evil glance, as if he were warning him for no apparent reason, to which the man answered with a small frown. The other ellon simply bowed to him, smiling, and left.

"Hannon-le." the gondorian quietly whispered under his breath.

He could have sworn the Lady had heard him, for she turned her head to him, a bright smile illuminating her face.

'I am really wondering if I will be able to understand Elves, one day…'

Boromir let out a sigh of relief as he finally found his brother, standing on a large balcony, facing a sparkling waterfall. He had spent almost half an hour, running frantically in the gardens of the Last Homely House, not paying attention to the intrigued glances the Elves gave him.

'I'm sorry. Oh, Faramir, I am so sorry ! Where are you, please ?' he kept thinking, his mind filled with only remorse and anger to himself for having hurt his brother this way. After his brother left him desperate in the garden, he had stayed on his knees for some long minutes, trying to gather back his thoughts and to make sense of what had just happened, completely lost in remorse and fear and anger.

'I should have gone after him right away ! I shouldn't have left him alone ! But he didn't seem to want me with him… And now look at me. What if he had left ? What if he had gone into the forest ? Maybe he met a group of Orcs and…'

He was interrupted in his dark thoughts by the fair voice of a seemingly young brown-haired ellon.

"Are you Faramir's brother ?" he asked him.

"Yes," he answered hurriedly, "Have you seen him ?"

"Yes, his is on the bridge facing the waterfall over here." the ellon answered, pointing the way.

"Oh, thank the stars !" he let out in a breath, relieved. "My thanks." he rapidly told the Elf before running off.

"Faramir !" he called. His brother turned around.

"Boromir ?" he asked as the older man rushed to him and held him tightly against his chest.

"I'm sorry. I am so so sorry. Please, forgive me. Oh, Faramir, I'm…" his voice broke as he burst out into tears, all the emotions he had tried to hide finally breaking out, all at once. Relief, remorse, sadness, anger… And love. Unlimited love for his dear brother.

"There is nothing to forgive, brother. It wasn't you, I am sure of it now." Faramir told him as he felt his own tears coming down. He closed his eyes and held his brother even tighter. They had found peace.

Translations :

Elleth : Lady elf

Ellon : Man elf

Edro in ind lîn : Open your mind

Gweston : I swear

Legolas aníra peded na cen ebgwannog : Legolas wishes to speak with you before you leave

No, anno nin luig, listo : Yes, give me a moment, please

Harthon-hai, mellon-nîn : I hope so, my friend

Hannon-le : Thank you

A/N : Honestly, I have no idea of what I am going to do with this OC... Nothing ? A guide, maybe ? Or maybe a love story ? But with who ? For now, not a clue...If you have any idea, suggestion or wishes, feel free to tell me !