Author's note: Did you all think I'd gotten kidnapped by orcs or something? See, I'm not dead after all! But I did finish this story. Yay! That means more frequent updates! It's good to hear from you, Elenya!

I must go ahead and warn you guys. From here on I follow the books heavily as far as the events taking place. I know, I'm a wimp with no imagination, so sue me. There are still a few changes that I made though. I hope you all like it!

Elenya by Shelly

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE


Upon the next morning, Boromir and Faramir prepared to leave to defend Osgiliath after having little enough rest. She said her farewells to her beloved first as they stood together in the stables as he readied his horse, afraid for him as she had had strange dreams the night before. "Boromir, please be careful," she told him as they embraced tightly. "I have a feeling that battle will be upon us soon before we know it."

"That is why we go to Osgiliath," he replied, pulling away and touching her cheek with his hand. "Perhaps we may hold them off there like we did before. This time I want you to stay here and not be foolish like you did last time."

"Is it foolish for me to want to fight for the life of the one I love?" she countered.

"No, it is not," he replied. "But it will be a much larger force that attacks us this time, I think. You were lucky the first time that it wasn't so then." He kissed her deeply then, silencing her in a more effective way than words ever could, and when he pulled away he saw the tears that shimmered in her eyes.

"I am afraid you will not come back to me," she whispered.

He pulled her back into his embrace as he kissed the top of her head. "I cannot know what will happen," he said. "But I do promise that I will fight with everything I am to see that I return to you."

Somehow she remained calm, as if she expected him to die, and maybe she did on some level. The enemies numbers were too large to easily fight and it would take a miracle for them to claim a vistory over them. But she did know that today there would be many deaths claimed by the enemy, and she knew somehow deep inside that she might lose both Boromir and Faramir before they returned. "I love you," she said. "I always have since I first saw you, and I consider myself the luckiest woman to have had such a man to love."

He smiled. "If you only knew how incredibly lucky I am to have had your love. But I will say no more as it sounds as if we are saying goodbye to one another, and that is not the case here. I will see you soon," he added with another kiss before leading his horse out of the stables to wait with the other soldiers for Faramir, who was busy saddling his own horse.

"Faramir," she greeted him as she stepped over to him, her heart aching when she saw the sadness on his face. "I hope you will be careful as well, my friend," she said as a breeze passed through, sending the torches guttering that hung nearby and casting shadows wildly across them as it blew strands of hair into her face.

He came near her to brush them away, and his hands remained on her shoulders. "I should hope that you would as well," he answered, "and stay here where it's safe."

She sighed deeply. "I will if it is your wish," she replied. "Although who is to say that it is even safe here?"

He caressed her cheek with his thumb. "I wish I could be here to keep anything from happening to you," he said, gazing deep into her eyes. "But I cannot although it breaks my heart to do so."

"Faramir," she breathed as she embraced him tightly. "Never have I known a more truer friend, or a dearest love as I do love you. I know you will claim victory over many of the enemy, and never will there be two better people to defend our city than you both."

"And this I do for you," he vowed as they separated. "Always for you," he whispered as another gust of wind blew out the torches and surrounded them in darkness.

She suddenly felt his hands tunnel into her hair to tilt her head slightly before his lips captured hers in a soft kiss, and she grabbed his shoulders to keep herself from falling as her knees threatened to give way beneath her. His hands moved down her back to her waist to hold her close as her arms wound themselves around his neck, the kiss growing deeper as his tongue swept through her mouth.

She knew this was crazy and very, very wrong, but it was her way of saying farewell to him, and she didn't want to deny him this if they were never going to see each other again. "Faramir," she whispered as she placed her hands on either side of his neck, her thumbs brushing against his cheeks only to find them wet with tears. "Faramir...you're crying...?"

"Lilli, I'm so sorry," he said as he laid his forehead against hers. "I must go before he comes looking for me."

"Be careful," she pleaded as she kissed his forehead then both cheeks before touching upon his lips once more in one full of sadness. "Please be careful."

Then she watched as he left, smiling when he looked back at her and seemingly fought his own war within himself to keep from running back to her. But he turned away and joined his brother as they made their way down to the gate, leaving her standing there with tears in her eyes as she willed her heart to slow its furious beating.



She spent that day doing what she could to help the wounded, changing their bandages and giving them comfort if they needed it. Gandalf stopped by to see her that evening, pleading with her to come get something to eat as she had been working herself to the point where she was dangerously thin.

"How can I when I worry about them so much?" she asked. "They may be out there defending the city with no time to spare. I wish I was out there with them instead of here where I can do little else but worry."

"And how do you think the rest of us feel?" he replied. "You are doing plenty here just by helping the wounded."

"I know, Gandalf. It's just that I am tired and I wish I could be there so that I know they're okay," she admitted.

He gazed at her out of the corner of his eye. "I wonder who it is that you worry most about?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, surprised as to where that came from. "You know it's Boromir."

"Is it?" he replied. "Do you remember I asked you in Rivendell if Faramir had fallen in love with you? You seemed surprised, and I think that you had fallen in love with him as well. In fact I know it judging by the way I've seen you two look at each other."

"Gandalf, please," she said. "I gave up my immortality just so we could be together. Do you think I could just forget that?"

A ghost of a smile teased his mouth. "Apparently you have."

She sighed heavily. "All right, I admit that before Boromir and I left, I had begun to have feelings for him, but now that I think of it, they actually started shortly after we met. In fact it was the night that he told me of Denethor's plans for me to marry Boromir, although I didn't know it then."

"Faramir cares for you deeply, Lilli," he insisted. "You could do no better than him."

"I can't believe we're discussing this," she scoffed. "I love Boromir. We've been through too much to just let it go for a moment's weakness."

Gandalf said nothing more, but deep inside he knew that Faramir had begun to worm his way into Lilli's heart, and he couldn't be more happy for him as he cared for him deeply as well. And his belief was cemented when news came that night that an army had been seen leaving the tower of Minas Morgul and was heading towards Osgiliath along with allies from the south, and Faramir's name was the first to pass her lips as she paled at the news.

But there was worse news to come as it came to them upon the next day that the enemy had crossed the Anduin and were forcing the troops to retreat back to the wall to the Causeway Forts. And it was then that Gandalf left to provide aid, and he promised her that he would bring her word of how they were doing. Now all she could do was wait and worry.

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I hope the two brothers will be okay for Lilli's sake. I thought I'd include a moment here between her and Faramir. I don't know why, but I like them together. But that doesn't mean they will be. Hee-hee! Thanks for reading! C-ya!