Review replies will be at the end : ) They take up almost half of this… I do believe I'll make them shorter next chapter. Thank you all so so much!

Worries about this chapter: I think I rushed so much. I wanted to fit a lot of info into a short amount of space (yes, I will go into more detail with it later), so I'm worried that it's too sudden. Like the introduction of their mom- does that blend in or stick out? Should I slow down and expand a little more? This is going to be so non-condensed as is… Thank you all for your reviews!

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When Faramir awoke, he was still wrapped tightly in his brother's warm embrace. 'Too warm, in fact,' he thought, feeling stifled and sweaty. Trying not to wake the sleeping Boromir, he stretched his legs out past the end of the comforter and smiled as cool air hit his toes. Sun flooded the room past drawn-back curtains; a servant must have already been in. Faramir's smile melted into a look of deliberation as he tried to continue that thought and remember something that he shouldn't have forgotten in the first place. Sunny… Servant…

His concentration broke off as Boromir stirred beside him, awakened by a sudden breeze. "'Mornin'," he yawned, eyes still partly closed.

"'Morning!" Faramir replied brightly.

Boromir smiled back at his younger brother, the happy mood contagious. Still pretending to be grumpy however, he growled playfully, "What time is it? Today's Sunday, the one day I can sleep in, and here my pesky little brother is waking me up while the Sun's barely risen!"

Faramir giggled, understanding the jest behind the cold words. "But it's long past sunup," he protested, shoving his droopy-eyes brother back into the pillows and tickling his exposed ribs relentlessly.

Soon overpowered by the strength of the older boy, he found himself the one pinned against the mattress, victim to his brother's much more potent tickles. "Long past sunup, eh?" Boromir grinned. "And wasn't it you who was supposed to be training with Erkenbrand at break of day?" he laughed, not realizing the meaning of his words until Faramir gaped in horror.

"Oh no! I completely forgot!" he wailed, pushing his brother off him and jumping off the bed, rushing to get properly clothed.

"You didn't!" Boromir sighed, not understanding how his brother could oversleep and forget about his lesson with the most ill-tempered teacher in Gondor. "Well, then you might as well take your time and wash up right, Fari. You're dead now anyways, whether you come in a minute or an hour."

"You don't think he'll be that mad, do you?" Faramir asked pathetically, groaning at Boromir's pitying expression.

"Sorry, chum. I'll put flowers on your grave, though," his brother joked with a grin, in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

Faramir glanced up and rolled his eyes in annoyance; his brother's antics were only making him more late. He then plumped down and hurriedly shoved on his shoes, the wrong one on the painfully wrong foot. It was Boromir's turn to roll his eyes as he knelt by the boy who looked to be close to tears. "I'm so dead, Bors," he choked.

"Don't worry about it," Boromir exclaimed, gently tying up Faramir's boots for him. "I'll come with you and explain everything. They can't be mad once they know the reason, now can they?"

"Won't they? Will you really?" Faramir's tears turned to those of hope and gratitude as he flung his arms around his brother's neck and clung to him tightly.

Boromir's heart melted. "'Course I will," he said, rubbing his brother's back in slow circles. "After all, it is partly my fault you slept in."

Faramir tensed and pulled away sharply, leaving a wide-eyed Boromir sitting on the floor. "No," he said holding his chin high, "it's not your fault at all. I am completely responsible. You can't always lift the blame from my shoulders, brother."

"No, Faramir, it isn't like that!" Boromir cried surprised.

"Stop it!" came the quivering command. "You've been suffering on my account for too long, Bors. You think I don't know about the whippings? Our father is a wise man, Boromir, he is a smart man." Faramir spoke suddenly with knowledge past his young years, and Boromir was awed by the man he saw in his brother. "It is useless to lie to him- he sees through us. Not for naught is he the Steward of Gondor. So, Boromir, I will go on my own to see him and face his wrath. Besides," he said quietly, "who will be there to shield me when you are gone?"

"Then you know?" Boromir whispered, a shocked expression on his face.

"Aye."

"Who told you?"

"I'm young, not stupid, brother. I figured it out on my own. You are twelve, soon to be a man. You go to Rohan to start training next month." Faramir bowed his fair head in sadness. "I'll miss you," he whispered, but before a reply could be spoken he fled the room. Closing the door firmly behind him, the younger son took a steadying breath. Shoulders squared and frail face set, he set out for the Great Hall where breakfast had ended and his trails would soon begin.

Meanwhile, Boromir had slowly risen from the floor and shook off his stupor. His brother had… changed, for a reason quite unknown to him. Faramir seemed to be mimicking him, even while it was quite obvious that he could not succeed; they were opposites, and it befuddled Boromir why his brother would want to change at all…

Unless Denethor had something to do with this. He would talk to his father at supper, no matter how Faramir protested- he was the elder, and through love and a promise would protect the younger boy. Even if it cost him a beating or, for that matter, his life. Some things in this world are sacred, some things should never be changed; to each these are different. Boromir snorted- he was becoming quite the poet.

The talk never came. Instead, the evening was spent (in hunger) comforting his brother, who resorted back to his own personality, his own self, after returning from lessons with a black eye and bloodied lip.

"What happened?" Boromir had cried in alarm when Faramir stumbled through the door. Throwing his practice sword into a corner, he once again gathered his brother into a gently, almost motherly, embrace.

"I can't do it, Boromir! I can't!" Faramir sobbed. "I was so scared, and he was so mad, and he hit me… I want mom back, Bors, I want mother…"

The words cut Boromir, and even though he knew he could never replace their mother, it hurt to know his efforts were failing. Yet he was determined to try as hard as he could to fill the hole in Faramir's bruised and bleeding heart. His little brother was their mother's son as much as he was their father's, and he knew that the loss combined with the sudden change of lifestyle was overwhelming. Still, he couldn't help but feel slightly irritated- it had been two years since her death, and Faramir had had plenty of time to mourn… pushing those brutal thoughts aside, Boromir gently pried the story from Faramir, learning that Erkenbrand was indeed furious he hadn't shown up on time and went completely over the edge upon finding him reading a poetry book. Their mother's book of poetry, that he tore up. Fearing that the enraged fighter would tear him to bits too, Faramir ran away only to be caught by Denethor and punished for his weakness.

By the time he finished his tale, Faramir had sobbed himself to exhaustion. Cradling him like a fragile doll, Boromir tucked him under the covers. "'Night," he whispered, kissing his brow lightly and smoothing back hair from his tear-streaked face. Then, determined, he stood up and walked towards the door. This had goon on long enough.

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Replies to Reviews:

To: Evenstar Elanor

Thanks! I'm glad that you like the way I depicted Boromir's and Faramir's relationship; there will be more of it in this chapter, and later as well. I had a hard time trying to write it, as so little is said in the text. As for his being misunderstood... that will only get worse! I have so much in store for our lovable Fari... *cackles and rubs hands together* But really, seeing the way Denethor treats him when he's a grown man, it's not that hard to believe he went through hell as a child. And I so agree with you about Eowyn, how she changed loves in a heartbeat... it annoys me too! I'll have such fun playing around with her character when we get to it- if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them! And if I use anything, I'll give you due credit.

Thanks so much for sticking with the story! I was worried that you would just review for one chapter and then forget about it... ('cause that's what I sometimes do... *slaps herself*) I'm so glad I was wrong! Thank you so so much!

To: Raksha The Demon

Thanks for the luck (I'm going to need so much of it...) and I hope I don't disappoint. I'm sorry you disagree with the slash pairings, but I really do think that Faramir had something going on with Aragorn; I don't think it was love, more like soldier's lust, if you know what I mean. And I'm glad that you are criticizing the story- it shows that you actually process what you read, and care enough to want the story to be good. There's a big difference between criticism and flames, and I'm smart enough to understand that.

About his being the Steward of the City: I know. It is not ignorance that made me write what I did, it is for the purpose of the plot. Think about it- when the King returned, the average man probably decided that the Steward was no longer needed, and came to scorn the position as one of ornament. However, they will realize that they were wrong later on... I'm not going to give any more away though. Thank you for the input though. I'm sure I will make so many mistakes throughout the course of writing the piece, and I'd be so grateful to you if you pointed them out like you did here.

Thanks!

To: KT

I hope that it will be as exiting as you want it to be! I'll try my best. But don't just be content to read what I wrote! You must have some ideas as to what happens as well, and I'd be so glad to hear them and, if you want/allow me to, use them. Isn't Fari the cutest name?... I can just imagine the two of them when they were little *giggles*. So please, if you have any events/anything you want to see in the story, review them in! I'll give you credit, of course. 'Cause I was also sitting for the longest time thinking, "Why isn't anyone writing Fari's story?" and then I decided, "Well if no one will, I guess I'll try..." and it would be great to put together something that's from a whole bunch of people, you know? OK, that sentence confused me. And thanks so much for the support! But also, say if you think something's messed up, kay? It will make the story that much better. Thanks so much!

To: the proud canadian

I'm so glad you like the story! As you said in your profile, it makes writers happy to get reviews :) And I plan to update at least every week, but I might do more if the fickle thing called time allows it… but you know, school and exams and all that missense. Especially the next few weeks- APs and Semi-formal and all that jazz. Thanks again for the review!

To: Susan

Thanks, I'm glad you like it so far! Is that interesting in a good way, or in an "that's so impossible, it would never actually happen" way? Hope it's the prior : ). And how it goes… I assume you know the ending, and "the end justifies the means", right? So there probably won't be too many big shockers in the plot. But I hope that doesn't make it any less interesting to read! I'll update as often as I can, probably somewhere around once a week… That sound reasonable? I know I get annoyed when people don't update stories regularly, and I hope I won't fall into that category…

To: Catmint

Yeah, Fari does get it bad, doesn't he? But that's partly why I love him- he has the strength to go through it all and never give up. You caught me on the Rohirrimian! I spent half an hour trying to decide what word to use there, because Rohhirim is a noun and I needed an adjective, and Rohirric is the language of the Rohirrim, not the culture/ancestry (plus "of Rohirric descent" breaks up the phrase- it's too long -_-U). So I was completely stumped. Do you know any adjectives that stem from "Rohirrim"? 'Cause I was (still am, in fact) completely lost. And I'll try to update as soon/often as possible!

To: Ruunya

I'm glad you liked it! I'm going to try so hard to give the story "justice", but if I don't please tell me and I'll try to change it. After all, I'm hardly of a high enough caliber to truly… impact, I guess, Tolkien's work. But I'm certainly going to try my best to continue with the story and make it as fulfilling as possible. Thank you so much for the support- I need it. And about my writing style- you're the first person to tell me that! You have no idea how much I grinned upon reading that- charm! That's one of my favorite words. *blush*. So no worries, as long as readers want to read, I will not stop writing the story of Faramir (until it ends naturally). Thanks again!