Another short chapter. I never see the use in having long long chapters.
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CHAPTER 4 : A Year Gone By
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Boromir watched from his post on the walls as his brother walked past with Aislin below. The two were laughing over some joke, and seemed to be having a really good time. He smiled, feeling happy for Faramir. Finally Faramir had a friend to confide in and talk to. Before that, Faramir had never made many friends. He was a good person, but he had kept to somewhat kept to himself since he was very young, perhaps because of his insecurities. Boromir had always tried to be there for his little brother, but there was only so much he could do. And so he was glad that Faramir and Aislin got on so well.
And Aislin… he watched as the sun caught in her reddish hair, suddenly making it flash red. She was so beautiful, so lovely. "Why am I thinking this?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. That was just totally out of the question. If Aislin were to belong with anyone, it was his brother. They would make the perfect couple, Faramir and his quiet, strange ways, and Aislin with her friendly, warm personality. If they had really fallen in love, he would be the first to support them. But if that was the case, why did he keep thinking about Aislin?
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Faramir laughed as Aislin recounted the first day they met. "Stop exaggerating," he protested. "I didn't fall that badly."
"Really? Then how did you get that marvellous bruise, I wonder?" Aislin teased, punching his arm playfully.
Faramir looked down at his boots, almost worn out. He would need new ones soon. "Do you find me very clumsy?"
"Well sometimes you are, but you've definitely improved."
Faramir looked up now, and saw his brother looking down at them from his post. He waved, and Boromir waved back, then turned back to his duties. Faramir turned back to Aislin and said, "There's Boromir, at his duties again. My brother is so responsible that sometimes I feel like a delinquent next to him. And I know why my father is always so disappointed with me."
"There you go again," Aislin chided. "You really do have an inferiority complex, Faramir. Stop that, you're not a disappointment. You're just every bit as good as your brother, and one day you will make Gondor proud of you, even if your father cannot see it now. You are a responsible man as well, so stop bringing yourself down."
Faramir could not help smiling at Aislin. She was the only person that he felt he could tell everything to. He knew that she would understand, and bring him out of his foolish thoughts. She was the only person who cared for him, other than Boromir. And that had been something he had been searching for ever since he was old enough to feel his father's resentment towards him. Perhaps he had found the person he needed.
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Aislin walked next to Faramir, feeling the wind in her face. The past year of her life had been better than any she had remembered, since she had made two such good friends. She stole a glance towards Faramir and smiled. Sometimes she really thought him a boy, the way he sought people's approval. But no one could blame him; he got no credit from his father no matter how hard he worked.
Then she turned back and looked at Boromir. He was speaking with another soldier, but she noticed that occasionally he would look down at the both of them. Their eyes met, and he gave her a small smile and nod in acknowledgement. She smiled back. She had long given up asking if they could go and speak with Boromir while he was on duty; she knew now that the very idea was horrifying. Yet she wanted to go and speak with him, or just to be near him.
She shook her head. What on earth was she thinking? Boromir was nothing like the man of her dreams. She had wanted someone calm and steady and well read. Someone like Faramir. Yes. Since she was old enough to dream about princes and knights, she had always thought that the one who would sweep her off her feet would be someone just like Faramir. Once more she looked at him again. He was a handsome man, and also a respectable man. They got on well, and she felt comfortable around him. She liked being with him, and could not imagine what her life would have been like if she had not met him. Could this mean that she was in love with him? In love with Faramir?
Perhaps she was in love with him. But if that was the case, why then did she keep wanting to look back at Boromir?