AN: Wow! I love you guys, really, but you're killing me here. I can't sleep because I feel guilty for not having written another chapter! :)

LSOA: You're awesome! Thanks for the summary.

Sareh: Thank you so much for the super review! That was wonderful to read. Hope you like this chapter!

Eokat: Thanks again :)

Hold your head high,

Don't look down

I'm by your side,

You wanted a hero tonight.

Well, I'm not made of steel,

But your secret's safe with me.

-Our Lady Peace

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

March 21

I did not intend to take Lord Faramir up on his offer of company in the gardens. I had every intention of staying away, for how can there be friendship between two people when one of them wishes only for death? But I saw a hint of the sunrise out my window this morning, and knowing that I could run outdoors and witness all of its glory, it was impossible not to do so.

It was chilly on the walls, clad as I was only in a thin white working dress, and I hugged myself as I gazed out eastwards. A shadow resides there, impenetrable to the light, but above it the sun still shines. For some reason it made me sad; not the shadow, but the light: for though I could see its beauty I felt none of its warmth.

But a voice soon interrupted my introspection. It called from the gardens below, a hint of warmth in the icy wind. The Lord Steward stood at the foot of the steps leading from the wall, watching me. I went down to him.

"I bid you good morning, Lady." He greeted me with a faint smile, and I saw again a hint of the pain he hid deep within him. I had the sudden inexplicable urge to ask him what had caused such a hurt, but of course I did not.

"'Tis chilly, but the sunrise is glorious. What brings you to the Gardens so early, Lord?" I asked him. He looked at me out of those calm dark eyes.

"I find the sunrise calming at times. When the nightmares…" He broke off. "When the Shadow holds sleep at bay, 'tis best to rise early and start the day anew, I think."

I nodded silently. I, too, had suffered from nightmares since the Pelennor Fields.

"Will you walk with me?" I looked up at his face. He was wearing an odd expression…one that I cannot define. It was expectant, but stopped short of hopeful, and his eyes were wary, as though he expected me to refuse him. I began to decline, until I remembered that my alternative was to go back into my room. 'Twould be rude to deny his request yet remain in the gardens. So I agreed and we began idling slowly down one of the winding white paths.

For several minutes we simply walked, neither attempting to make conversation nor paying much attention to the scenery. I was lost in my own memories, as I think was Lord Faramir. But soon a flash of burgundy caught my eye, and I turned to see a grove of trees covered in wine-colored blossoms. I took a step off the path towards them.

"Lord…what are those trees over there? The ones with the red crowns." I asked. He looked and smiled softly.

"Redwood, my Lady. There is a seat under those boughs. Would you care to sit?" I wasn't tired, but I nodded, for I wished to have a closer look at the beautiful trees.

Lord Faramir led me through the hedges and trees that line the paths to a grassy spot within the grove of redwoods. I stepped into the center and looked straight up. The sky peeked out between thousands and thousands of tiny round flowers, all the color of rich wine. It was so beautiful, line being inside a pomegranate, that I almost felt life within me again. But the moment was ruined by a couple of chattering nurses walking along the path. So I sighed, brought myself back to earth, and sat down on an elegant wooden bench beneath the largest tree.

The Steward slowly paced the glade, examining each low branch and leaf. I realized that he must have been here before. There was a quiet pride in his bearing that made me think perhaps he had planted the trees.

"I apologize if I have intruded upon your private sanctuary, my Lord."

"It's hardly private, but you are welcome here whenever you so desire, Lady."

"Did you plant them, these trees?" I asked.

He turned and lifted one eyebrow with surprise. "What makes you ask that?"

I shrugged.

He began studying the trees again. "Actually, I didn't plant them. But when I was very small, and my life seemed to… to close in around me…I would come here with a book and take myself far away. To Valinor, or Tol Eressea, or Numenor that was, and I would study these trees. No one ever found me hiding here."

His life seemed to close in around him? I was irritated by his words.

"You speak as though you have led an unjust life, Lord. Tell me, why did you hide in books, and not take the freedom of the sword that, as a man, you were given?" My voice was bitter, for it angered me that he had so casually tossed away what I so desperately wanted, nay, needed.

His eyes were so intense that I could not meet them. Dark gray eyes like the storm clouds that roll over the plains before it rains.

"Perhaps you would not grasp a sword so readily had one been thrust at you since you were born, weighed down with lofty expectations that you could never meet…"He broke off. "I apologize, Lady. If my words seem angry, they are not directed at you."

I could not meet his gaze. "I could say the same, Lord. My apologies as well."

We sat in deep silence for quite some time, and I found myself pondering Lord Faramir's words. There had been expectations in my life, and ones that I could have met, had I so chosen. Instead I had chased after a dream that I knew in my heart would end badly. And so it had; but it hadn't ended as I had hoped. I lived on, and now I am lost.

Later the Steward walked me back to the Houses of Healing. He asked me to meet him in the gardens again tomorrow, and I agreed.

"I will walk with you again, Lord, though I do not know why you ask it of me. For if you looked for soft words and comfort, you did not find it."

He laughed softly. A handsome man should not also be allowed a fine laugh.

"No, Lady, I would expect no soft words from you, nor would I want them. But we are more alike than you think, and finding out how is a challenge I cannot resist. I bid you good day." He bowed and left.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the Houses. There are quite interesting books to be found, and there are herbs that mystify me, but otherwise this is a very boring place to be confined to. The only thing I have to look forward to is tomorrow's jaunt with a young man whose eyes hold wisdom beyond his years, and who speaks in riddles.

Why did I call him handsome?