**Authors Notes:
Bad bad Eomer.... but he just cares about his sister, so you can't blame him. Are they going to be able to make it through this in one piece? Read and find out... there is a LOT more to come, this is just the begining. We are just having a lot of fun with it! Hope you are enjoying it as much. Please, leave a review if you liked it.**


***************Chapter 13***************


It is some time later that Eowyn wakes, feeling a lot better, the fever having broken in the hours that she had slept. She was still sore and tired, but she could feel the cart stopping again and hear her brother calling a stop for the night. One day closer to home, the thought brings a smile to her face as she blinks, opening her eyes to see the sleeping face of Faramir close to hers. She pulls out of his arms, leaning in and kissing his forehead, before she pulls the blankets around him. She moves away from him to the end of the cart, leaning against the side of it as she takes a few deep breaths. She felt weak, almost too weak, but she had to find her brother, and find him before Faramir woke. She carefully jumps from the cart, wobbling a little and having to grip the side. She takes a few deep breaths before she pushes away, going towards the front of the group.

Faramir remains asleep, though he does shiver in his sleep, but not because he is cold. He shivers because he was starting one of his most familiar nightmares. One from his childhood. He whimpers very softly in his sleep, his body starting to tense up while his breathing quickens. In his dream he was running through a hall with doors. Up ahead of him was his father. He would call out to him but he always would get no answer. Then his father would enter through a door. He would try and follow but the door was always locked. So he would try other doors, in hopes that maybe he could find another way into the room. There would be only one door that would open, it was all the same, and inside he would find a monster shaped like a man but merely a shadow like a nazgul. He would then have to suffer another round of heart-breaking verbal abuse or a beating before he would wake up in a cold sweat. It was always the same. Always. And no matter how he tried, how he called out for his father or even Boromir to help, the help wouldn't come.

When it gets to the end of the nightmare, as usual he sits up and makes no sound except for his heavy breathing. He was covered in a cold sweat, and the look on his face told anyone passing that he had been deeply frightened by something. Coming out of the daze of the nightmare he looks around and then lays back down, holding his hands over his eyes. It was always so real. Maybe that was because most of it, the hurtful words and kicks were real memories. But still, even at 35 years of age he still was scared enough of it that he was shaking and about ready to cry. But he remembers himself and where he was, thankfully, before the tears start to flow, and is able to control himself. Sliding out of the cart he makes his way over to his horse and unties him. Taking his reigns he leads him over to where the other horses were grazing and lets him go, smiling as he turns around and gives him a nuzzle before turning and joining the other horses. Faramir sighs and then turns and heads back to the cart. Picking up his bow and arrows he slings them over his shoulder, then heads off into the woods. He wanted to be alone, as he always did after one of his nightmares.

They had come to rest in a clearing and Eowyn could see where some of the men were starting a fire. She finally sees her brother amongst some that were pitching the tents and she advances on him, trying not to look as weak as she was. "What do you think you are doing?" She crosses her arms over her chest, planting her feet a little apart more to stay steady on them then to look fierce. "And do not play stupid, I do not mean the fact that you are putting a tent up. I am speaking of the fact that there is a cut in Faramir's gut from your sword. Do you realize that that same cut is on my heart?"

Eomer turns when he sees his sister, smiling at her until he hears her words. With a guilty frown he sighs and looks down. "I did not mean to harm him. It will not happen again, Eowyn. But I will tell you it was not totally my fault. He was the one who pushed himself onto my blade. I merely held it. But he had an arrow to my head too you know." He nods as one of the men come to ask him something, then he looks at Eowyn and shakes his head. Taking her arm he leads her away from the others to a log on the edge of the clearing. Sitting down on it he pulls her down beside him. "Do you love him, Eowyn? No no. I can see you do. But why? Do you really wish to be a Steward's wife? He will constantly be busy, hardly home. You will be lonely, Eowyn."

She goes with him easily, glad to be able to sit down, her legs still rather shaky. She takes Eomer's hands in hers and smiles lovingly at him. "Brother, I will not be alone. When he has to go, then I will come home here to see you. I will come home here to see our people. I will not be bound to his home, he has promised me that. I will not be lonely. It is but 4 days ride to come see you, 3 if I push it. So you will never be far from me. Eomer," her eyes and voice implores him to understand. "I could no less love him then I could no longer love you. What will make me happy will not be being a Steward's wife, it will be being Faramir's wife. He is nothing like his father, and it is that reason he pressed himself on your sword." She squeezes his hands tightly. "I know the whole story, he did not hide anything from me. He admitted his part in it. I do not know how it will work, how everything will work. But love is worth the effort. When you find that maiden that takes your heart, and I know you will, Dear brother, then you will know what I speak of. You think you are protective of me, just wait. And what if that maiden is from Gondor or beyond? You will need a maiden of royal blood, what if you meet someone that is not. I know you, Eomer. You would not care one way or the other. You do not stand on that when it comes to matters of the heart. You may look to them, but I would bet you that if a handmaiden took your eye you would find a way to make her of standing for you. Don't you see, I am not stepping down, I am not stepping up, I am merely stepping towards a man who can do nothing but make me happy. In that he is like you, maybe that is what you fear. He wants nothing more then for me to be happy. Would you deny me my heart just to keep me locked up in Rohan?"

He sighs and lowers his head, but keeps hold of her hands. "No...I would not want to keep you caged in Rohan. I want you to be happy, Eowyn. After Uncle died, you were so upset. More so than when Aragorn told you he couldn't return your love." He looks at his sister and smiles. "But then you found Faramir, I saw you smiling again. If he can make you smile like that.....well I suppose he can't be all bad." With another sigh he leans over and hugs his sister. "If he asks I will give my blessing as your only living relative. But only on the promise that you visit for one week a month?" He smiles innocently, wondering if she would go for that. "Or live in Rohan with him." He knew that was impossible, as Faramir was the Steward of Gondor and would have to remain at his post. "At least it will be good for relations with Gondor. If I need to speak with Gondor I shall just send for their Steward."

She returns his hug her heart light now that he had finally relented. If he would not cause any more problems, then she would agree to the other. "I will come back for one week a month, Eomer," she says as she pulls back slightly to look into his face. "I will do that for you." She reaches up to lightly caress his cheek. "He does make me smile, Eomer, you are right, it is probably the first time since our Uncle died that I want to smile. I will admit it, it broke my heart when Aragorn turned away my love. But I did not love him like I love Faramir. What I feel for this man is more then I ever dreamed of feeling for Aragorn. In that way I am happy to have had my heart broken. For had I not, I never would have tasted this kind of love. You are right. You will but have to call for the Steward of Gondor and he will come and speak with you. Not only that, but he will be here more regardless. For if I am to spend a week here, then I will no doubt have him with me some of the time. At least in part of the journey." She leans in and kisses his cheeks, then letting go of his hand she wraps her arms around him and hugs him close. "You will see, Brother, it will be okay. Everything will work out just fine. I am not the tiny bird that needs to be kept in a cage. But a hawk that can fly free and soar above everything. He will not hold me back nor hold me down. Do not worry." She smiles tenderly at him. It was a mess, but at least it was going to work for the better now. Now if her brother would stop treating her like that little bird, and Faramir did not doubt her love, all would be at peace. She was feeling weak again, sick to her stomach and dizzy. She needed to lay down again, but she didn't show that to him, wanting to put on the brave front for them both. She would have to be careful and not show any weakness now, or it might be used against her.

He smiles and hugs his sister. Then he notices her eyes looked strange. With a frown he stands up and helps her up. "I should not have kept you out so long. Come now, Eowyn. You shall lay down in your tent and rest. I will bring you some food when it is ready. Come along. I will send Faramir in if you would like. I...." He looks around and frowns. "Where did he go?" He stops one of the men and asks him if he saw Lord Faramir. When he gets a no in reply he shrugs and looks at Eowyn. "I do not see Gandalf or the hobbits so maybe they took him off somewhere. Probably to find mushrooms or game. I must say, I would like to meet the man who taught him how to use a bow. I am not nearly as skilled with one as I should be and Faramir seems quite good. He had that arrow out and aimed at my head before I could blink. He reminds me of Legolas. I wonder if he was brought up with elves like Aragorn was." He mutters and then shrugs, smiling at Eowyn as he helps her into the tent that was set up for her. "Maybe tonight, knowing you love him, maybe he will sleep closer to the fire."

Eowyn lets him lead her to the tent, leaning on him slightly. "Maybe he will sleep closer to the fire. I do not like him sleeping out of the light of it." She pauses outside the flap, her eyes searching her brother's. "Maybe if you asked him to guard my door, then he would be closer to the fire. Since you already know that he can get past you," she doesn't realize that for all Eomer knew she had been the one to get by him the other morning, not the other way around. "Then it might be good to have him on guard. You can sleep there too, to make sure, but if you ask him.... I just want him closer to the fire, closer to safety. It is not safe to be out of the light." She lets him lead her into the tent and she can see that there were some cots set up and she lays down on one, still fully clothed and not caring. "I will take a nap, just a nap. You can bring me dinner or I will come out for it. But please, find him. Make sure he knows you will no longer stand in the way." She kisses her brother before he leaves, laying back against the pillows and blankets. She closes her eyes, the dizziness taking over and making her want to throw up again. She did not feel that would help matters now and so she slowly inhales through her mouth, hoping that it will calm her stomach. Faramir, where are you, she wonders. Why did you not even look for me upon waking? She can't help the thoughts as she slides into a light sleep, not paying attention to anything any more.

Faramir sighs as he pulls another arrow from his quiver and aims it at the targets he had set up in the small clearing he had found. It hadn't taken him very long to find and then set up into his own archery range. He always felt more at ease when he was shooting arrows. And now was the same as always. He was calming down again, and the dream was starting to fade to the back of his memory. "Some day I shall be able to sleep without having to be drugged or half dead. I hope." He lets the arrow go and then spins around and aims straight at the head of the creature that made the sound behind him. It had been nothing more then the sound of a leaf falling but, as a ranger, he had been taught to know the difference between a dead leave falling from a tree on it's own accord, and one falling from being touched. But when he comes face to face with nothing but a simple woodland animal he smiles and shakes his head, turning back around. He lets the arrow go, again hitting the bulls eye perfectly. It was just too easy.

Eomer smiles and leaves the tent, then looks around. Gandalf and the hobbits were back, all talking around a little fire they had made. But no Faramir. He walks over to the cart and looks at it. His bow and arrows were gone. Maybe he went hunting. Or maybe. He frowns as he quickly looks around. But then he sighs in relief as he sees Faramir's horse grazing with the other. Good. For a moment he had thought Faramir had left like he told him too. Shaking his head he decides he would look for Faramir in the woods. It was obvious the man had to be there in the woods somewhere. It takes him an hour but he finally finds him, just as the sun is setting. "Were you taught by elves, Faramir?" His normal cold tone was put aside for the moment, he would honor Eowyn's wishes and try to be nice to Faramir.

Faramir spins around and lets an arrow go, watching as it flies past Eomer's ear and lodges itself into the target behind him. "Actually....no. My mother started my training and then since my father saw fit to have me in the army, and since I was more skilled with the bow, he had the finest ranger in Gondor train me. The rest just comes naturally." He walks over and pulls the arrow out of the tree, then starts moving around the targets, pulling the arrows out of them. "If you've come to talk of your sister, I really wish you wouldn't. I wish nothing more than to make her happy, for she makes me happy and I want to return that happiness." He looks at Eomer, watching his eyes, studying them. "But you already have come to terms with that, haven't you? Then why have you come?" Suddenly he frowns. "Is she alright?" The deep concern and fear showed clearly on his face. And before Eomer can answer he is running back towards the clearing, sure something was wrong. He stops as he reaches the clearing, looking around and then spotting the tent that Eowyn was housed in. He runs over and rushes inside, skidding to a halt beside her bed and dropping to his knees. Pulling off his gloves he takes her hand in his. "Eowyn, are you alright?"

Eowyn sleeps lightly over the hour that Eomer is looking for Faramir, waking a few times till finally she slips into a much deeper sleep. So when Faramir shows and takes her hand, it takes her a few minutes to fight her way out of sleep. She blinks at his face, it slowly comes into focus and she sees the worry there. "Faramir? What is the matter?" She sits up, putting a hand to her forehead as the room spins a little. "I must not sit so fast. I am only just feeling better." She lets Faramir help her to lay down again. "Gandalf's medicine is rather nasty to drink and certainly does a number on one. I have had the hardest time staying awake. But I do feel better." She reaches up and caresses his cheek. "What has drawn those lines so deep on your face, my Dear?" She runs her finger down the frown lines between his brows. She loved that face, like she had never realized she could. And waking to it only brought a smile to her own. She could hardly wait for the day that she would be able to wake to it in the morning as a wife would beside her husband. That thought reddens her cheeks, causing her to look flushed and sick against her pale skin.

Faramir sighs with relief and lays his head down against her stomach. "I'd thought I had lost you." He frowns deeply, his heart only now slowly down it's beating. He had been so scared that yet another person he loved was being torn from him. He would not let that happen. He couldn't. He dreaded being alone. He was alone a lot as a child, and through it kept him from his father, he also never felt safe alone. He keeps his forehead against her stomach, letting his tears flow freely, though he is silent.

Eomer stands by the door to the tent, frowning and silent. After a moment of watching the two together he walks inside. "I am sorry for scaring you, Faramir. I meant to find you for her. Not because she was hurt or......leaving us, but because she requested it. I ask for your forgiveness. As I did not mean any harm."

She runs her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, her other hand rubbing his back. "I did not leave you, Faramir. I have but a cold, nothing more, and that is almost gone because of Gandalf's medicine." She looks up as Eomer comes in and she gives him a soft smile. "Do not worry, Eomer, you did not do it on purpose, I know that. I am sure that Faramir knows that too." She continues to rub his back and run her fingers through his hair in a caressing manner. "Eomer, will you leave us be? I will be okay with him, I promise." She wanted to calm Faramir without embarrassing him in front of her brother.

Eomer sighs and starts to protest, but then he stops and nods. "I will find some dinner for you both." He leaves and sighs again, shaking his head.

Faramir keeps his head pressed against her stomach, until she tells him to look at her. Slowly he looks up at her, actually sniffling like a young child. He hadn't cried in years. It had just scared him that the one person he had found after losing his whole family, the one person who truly loved him, could be taken from him so easily. "I am sorry, Eowyn. I should not be crying." He wipes at his eyes, feeling ashamed for crying like a child.

She looks at him with love in her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "You can cry all you want, Faramir. Never think that to cry in front of me makes you seem weak. You were worried, you reacted to that," she brushes the hair from his forehead, running her thumb across his cheek as if to dry his tears. "I am sorry that I caused you to cry, My Love. I will try not to worry you so in the future. I want nothing more then to make you happy, because I love you. You have become so much to me in so long. I become as scared as you when I think of you gone. Eomer has agreed to leave you alone. In fact he went to find you for me. I asked him to ask you to please sleep closer to the fire tonight. If you would, sleep in front of my tent, then you can keep me safe, while letting my own worries lessen because I will know that you are not out of the circle of the fire. Then if I need you, at all, for anything, I will merely need to say your name and you will be close enough to hear me."

He smiles, reaching out to caress her cheek. "If it is your wish than I shall sleep in front of your tent tonight. So that I may protect you and so that I may hear you call my name if you do." He leans over and kisses her softly. "I was worried, Eowyn. I do not want to lose you. You are all I have now." He then sighs and rests his head against her stomach again, looking up at her.

"I am not going to leave you, Faramir. I have made a promise to my brother, that I will not leave him either." She puts her fingers over his lips and smiles tenderly down at him. "But he knows that I will not leave you. You have not lost me, nor will you. I am not afraid you will become your father, for I already see in you someone totally different. I bet that the person I see shining through you is your mother. I have heard she was a very kind person and you have taken after her, not your father. Do not worry so about him, realize that you are not him, but your mother. You are a good man, Faramir. Never forget that. Because I will not. And you do not just have me, you have Gandalf and if things work out right, you will have Eomer on your side as well. Thank you, I do indeed wish for you to sleep in front of my tent. It will mean a lot to me."

He smiles at her words, touched that she believed in him the way she did. He leans over and kisses her again, this time a little longer, letting his lips linger on hers. "I love you, Eowyn. Thank you for your words. It may not seem so but they do help my conscience quite a bit." He smiles and caresses her cheek, his eyes locking with hers, pure love shining in his eyes. He leans in and kisses her passionately, not being able to help himself.

"I love you too, Dear Faramir," she whispers before he captures her lips again for the passionate kiss. She was never so glad that they were alone then at that moment, because she parts her lips and lets him deepen the kiss, her arms moving around him to hold him close to her. She is breathless when he pulls away, her eyes misty with tears that had sprung to them when she had seen the love in his. "Faramir!" She smiles mischievously. "I don't know if I will be safe with you in front of my door." But she doesn't let him go, she holds him close to her still, loving the feel of his body over hers. She knew that they could not get caught like this, thinking she needs to pull away, but unable to. "Eomer will be back soon. He has gone to get me something to eat. I should not be caught making love to you like this." She blushes at her words, her eyes looking at his chin.

He smiles at her, kissing her softly again. "Oh he won't mind. It is not like we are actually naked." He winks at her, then leans in to kiss her again passionately. When he pulls back this time it is only because he hears the flap on the tent being moved. He looks over at Eomer as he comes in and hands them their food. Then watches as he leaves just as quickly. "Huh.....he seems....uncomfortable." He smiles and shakes his head. "I suspect your brother saw us kissing. Or heard it." He smiles and shakes his head as he hears a crash and then laughing and clapping outside the tent, Eomer's laugh in with the others. "At least he isn't upset about it." He looks at the food on the plate and smiles. "I used to eat this when I was a Ranger in Ithilien."

She doesn't argue about it and indeed she returns the kiss with as much passion. She blushes when her brother comes in, not looking at him. She knew he would still have something to say to her, but at least he was indeed being more lenient about it. "Did you?" She takes the plate as she sits up and lays it in her lap. "With Wormmouth's poisoning of my Uncle and the problems we had at that time, I did not worry so much as what I ate as what the others could have. Now that he is gone, what is left of our kingdom will be able to grow more." She gets a great sadness in her eyes as she looks from Faramir to her plate again. She is choked up about her Uncle, so to cover it up she starts to eat.