Chapter 10 !

"Whoa, whoa ! Where do you think you're goin' ?"

The Elf turned around to find a very angry dwarf standing behind him. Legolas gave him a surprised and misunderstanding look.

"Well… I am currently seeking for a tree branch that would allow me to rest on, if you are interested…" he answered quite hesitantly. What a weird question to ask… And why did his answer seemed to anger him even more ?

"What ?! Are you seriously thinkin' about climbin' a tree ?!" the dwarf yelled at him, seemingly shocked. Again, Legolas glared at him confusedly.

"I was indeed, yes. Why ?" he asked quite amused by the dwarf's strange reaction.

"Why ?! You are askin' me why ?! You were half-dead less than a day ago, that's why !"

At his answer, Legolas' look was quickly replaced by an irritated one. He wasn't an Elfling anymore, and he was feeling just fine, the pain in his shoulder was almost gone ! He was able to take decisions by himself ! Besides, a dwarf had never been able to stop a Wood Elf from climbing a tree, and that would not happen today !

He was about to give him a sharp reply, but was interrupted by a manly voice he immediately recognised as Estel's.

"He is right, Legolas', your shoulder is not fully healed yet. It needs to rest."

"But…" he tried but cut himself off when the Ranger gave him The look. He could act kingly when he wanted to, after all. Gimli couldn't stifle a laugh when he saw the elf faltering under the man's gaze.

"Let's find a branch to rest under, shall we ?" the man proposed, gently patting Legolas' good shoulder and chuckling at the sight of the Elf's disappointed face. But it was surely for the best, for the Elf had some tendancy to be slightly careless when it came to injuries… Yet the other times, he would have argued for at least a good ten minutes before giving up… That was surprising… And the man couldn't help but notice there was a new light in his eyes. A joyful one.

'Enjoy this, mellon-nîn, for I am afraid it won't last long...'

"Where on Arda have you been ? I was worrying." Boromir asked hurriedly as he saw the form of his brother approaching. He was sitting under the branches of a large and low tree with the rest of the Fellowship (Legolas included, even if his eyes were glazed in sleep). The sun was completely set by now.

The man quickly noticed from his walk that something was wrong. And that thought proved right as he saw the reddened eyes his brother wore.

He immediately ran forward to him and grabbed his shoulders.

His eyes looked completely absent…

"Brother, what happened ?"

"Nothing, I… I think I need to rest…" he whispered absently.

Boromir just stared at him for some seconds, before asking again :

"Faramir, tell me what happened ?"

His brother hesitated a few moments before answering vaguely :

"Lady Galadriel wanted to see me, and I've had a… discussion…"

Boromir wasn't still completely convinced, for his brother's answer wasn't very precise, and yet, if he had had a talk with the White Lady, he could understand his reaction. He, too, had been shaken. She had tried to tempt them all… Boromir shivered at the thought.

"What did she tell you ?" he asked, concerned.

"I… don't want to talk about it…" his brother answered.

Boromir nodded. He hadn't told him anything about it either, he understood.

"Come." he gently told him, leading him under the tree, "A maiden has brought you some food earlier. We were wondering why you hadn't come back yet."

"I know. I have wandered in the trees for some time before coming here."

Once they were finally sat next to the other Fellows, Aragorn passed the plate to Faramir, giving him a comforting smile, which Faramir weakly returned.

Boromir held him tightly against his shoulder while he ate.

'I wish I knew how to help you…' he silently told him.

Saying that Faramir's mind was a mess that night was more than an euphemism. He felt… almost everything. Anger, sadness, shame, fear, concern. All at once. But joy, relief, hope, assurance, he wasn't. Some part of him should have surely been rejoicing at the fact that his Father did love him, but it wasn't. He felt as if every single second in his life had been nothing more than a lie, that he had done everything he could to please Denethor uselessly… At least he didn't have to anymore…

More than ever, he wished he had stayed home. They had stayed home. He and his brother. Why, why, why did he tell their Father about his dream ? Why ?

He wanted to run away, away from all this, to get as far away as he could. He was too dangerous. But Boromir… Boromir needed him, he had to protect him. Or else… he would die…

They had made a deal. 'You protect me and I protect you.', but what if the only way he had to protect him was to get away ? No, no, no, if he got away, Boromir would be killed and it would be his fault.

What could he do ?

Useless to say he couldn't find sleep, at all. The pounding in his head was back. But maybe it was for the best. He had to stay alert. Sauron would surely try to come back. Falling asleep would make him more vulnerable.

His eyes were suddenly caught by a white light walking silently in the middle of the trees. As it got closer, Faramir finally realized it was the Lady Galadriel. She passed in front of him, and he got up, not even knowing why. Like if someone in his mind was telling him to follow her. So di he.

She didn't spoke to him until they stopped in front of what seemed like… a… a basin ? In silver ?

After a small hesitation, the man recognized it as being the Mirror of Galadriel. Many tales spoke about it, but this wasn't how he pictured it.

"Will you look into the Mirror ?" she asked him, having filled the jug.

"Wh-What will I see ?" he asked back, hesitantly. The day had been trying enough.

"Even the wisest cannot tell." she answered mysteriously in a clear, light voice, "For the Mirror shows many things…" she continued, slowly pouring the water in it. The sound was clear and pure and, for a moment, the man almost forgot about his troubles, staring at the limpid liquid.

"Things that were…" she added, looking straight into him, "Things that are…"

He looked up at her.

"And some things…"

She stepped back.

"That have not yet come to pass."

The man stared at her, then back at the Mirror. The last sentence evoked only one thing to him : foresights… No. It was too dangerous, too painful. He didn't want it anymore.

"You are afraid, son of Denethor. Yet you should not be." Galadriel spoke, staring at his face, reading his soul.

'But I am dangerous. I am weak.' he thought and, without surprise, the Lady heard him.

When she spoke, it seemed to the man that her voice was filling his entire mind, washing his dark thoughts away.

"You are not weak, and even less dangerous. Your father makes you think you are, but you are strong. Your heart is pure, so is your soul. Do not let it get darkened by your thoughts."

Not knowing why, Faramir agreed. Her voice felt so convincing…

"Will you look into the Mirror ?" she asked again, giving him a comforting look.

Liberated from his darkest thoughts Valar knows how, Faramir stepped forward to the basin and looked into it.

"FARAMIR !""No, Boromir ! It is useless ! He is gone…""No, no, no…""I'm sorry…"The desperate face of his brother disappeared, replaced by a land, destroyed by a restless flame. Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents were chained, surrounded by Orcs. They were beating them, forcing them to work. In the background, there was a pile of corpses. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Boromir, the Hobbits… all dead…On the top of a tower, a dark figure stood. On is finger was flowing a golden ring. The One Ring. He was laughing. He had won.There was a man, standing by his side, a blond man, chained, on his knees.'You could have saved them… But you left… Coward !' a voice rang.The vision blurred again.The trees were green, the flowers were growing. The White Tree was standing, tall, proud, shining. The King was back.'The victory is yours, little one.' a voice rose behind him. He turned around to face the joyful face of his brother.'Boromir ?' he asked, surprised, 'But… you… you were dead… You died by my fault.''Me ? Why should I ? You were there, with me. You saved me.' Boromir bore a surprised and worried look on his face.'No, no… I have failed, this can't be…''What ? It is true you have made some mistakes, we all did, but you are the one who put an end to this madness.''I-I did ? How ?'Boromir's brow furrowed.'What do you mean "how" ? You told us about this a thousand times. You have kept faith and you have trusted yourself, don't you remember ?'

The scene blurred again and Faramir was back into the real world, his head involuntarily jerking back from Mirror.

"What was that ?" he asked Galadriel hurriedly.

"What you needed to see."

Frodo was staring discreetly at Faramir from the place where he was lying. Oh, he knew what this face meant. What could have she showed him ? And why had she ?

They had departed early in the morning.

The Lady Galadriel, in her endless generosity had gifted them all with magnificent presents : two small daggers for Merry and Pippin, an elvish rope for Sam, Frodo had received the light of Ëarendil, shining purely in his small hands, Legolas had been given a beautiful Lórien bow (for which the Lady had told him not to use too early, to allow his still pained shoulder to rest a bit more). Faramir had received the 'Ainulindalë', written by the hand of Rùmil himself ("Beware," had she told him, "the writings are not exactly the kind of Tengwar you are used to…"). The man had smiled, but it was obvious to everyone that it was forced, for his brow was creased and his gaze, absent. His brother had been gifted a golden belt in the shape of leaves, while Aragorn had received, he too, a magnificent dagger. No one knew what Gimli or Gandalf had received personally, but the dwarf kept blushing every time she landed her eyes on him. After that, the Lady of Light had offered them all Elven cloaks, "to hide yourselves from the Eye of the Enemy, and four small boats. But they weren't the kind of simple wooden boats you could find in Laketown, but beautiful, fine crafted ones, as light as fallen leaves and as fast as water.

They had all bowed deeply to the King and Queen of Caras Galadhon, except for Legolas, Who had put a hand to his heart in the Elven way. The Elf had then excused himself and had walked to a nearby tree where the Lady Sellenya was awaiting him. The companions had observed them in silence, a small smile on their faces as the two had given each other a tight embrace. Even though they couldn't hear the conversation between the two Elves, they could easily guess what it was about. Especially Aragorn.

It had been decided that Aragorn would be sailing with Gimli, Gandalf with Frodo and Sam, Boromir with Merry and Pippin, currently discussing about Lembas bread, and Legolas with Faramir, to make sure he wouldn't have to row too much on his own.

"You have something on your mind." the Elf simply stated after a few meters, not even turning around to the man behind him. Faramir stared at him in surprise. If he had been trying to hide it, it hadn't worked.

"Do not look so surprised. You haven't said a word since this morning. What is it ?" the Elf explained him.

Faramir lowered his head. He wanted to talk about it to someone. But they would surely be afraid of him, or… angry at him, or… In fact he had no idea on how they would react, and he wasn't really sure he wanted to know…

He was about to answer when he caught the insisting look Mithrandir was giving him, so he stared back.

The Wizard nodded his head.

Faramir cleared his throat and breathed deeply.

"There is something I need to tell you…"

I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit like a gap filler, but I was really running out of inspiration... So sorry...Anyway, thanks to Multiple-Fandom-Writer, Bob, Chiara Meldis and lollipop24 for the answers !

Take care of yourselves !