To Lossenrhos : Yes I agree with you. Freda is so irritating because you can hardly find anything wrong with her that she seems fake. At least that's what I think.

To Celebrimiel Hirilaure : Yeah Freda is just a kid in the movie. But so was Éothain, although he's a grown man in the book. =0)

Chapter 13 : Going Home

Three weeks later…

Lothíriel walked beside Isindil, looking at Éomer and Freda walking ahead of them, laughing in the sunlight. "Isindil?"

"Yes?"

"I miss home." Lothíriel hesitated, then went on. "I was wondering… could we go home?"

Isindil looked at her in surprise. "Why? It's only been three weeks. And it's starting to get into winter proper. The nights are going to begin to be too cold on be on the road. I think it's best to stay till winter is over, like we planned."

Lothíriel sighed. "All right, then. We'll stay." But she eyed the couple before them with displeasure.

Éomer laughed at the witty joke that Freda had just made. "That's very clever," he said with a grin. "I never expected you to know such an amusing joke."

Freda smiled. "It's always handy to have some secrets, my lord, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would indeed," Éomer said willingly. He had seen Freda everyday for three weeks, and they had gone on walks like this every time. They never seemed to lack subjects to talk about, and Éomer enjoyed these walks immensely. Of course, they would never, or perhaps could never, have such wild fun like he could with Lothíriel, but being with Freda brought a nice sort of calm. And she is pretty, he thought. Not beautiful like Lothíriel, but pretty in her own unique way.

A shadow passed over his face as he thought of Lothíriel. She had been… different… recently. She was still up for rides at night, and still enjoyed teasing him, but somehow she was also quieter. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he just could not help feeling that she was not herself, and could not help wondering what it was that was bothering her.

"My lord? What is the matter?"

Éomer snapped back to reality, and gave Freda a warm smile. "Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking about Lothíriel. She seems different of late. I don't know what's troubling her."

Freda looked behind them, where Lothíriel was speaking with Isindil. "Well, perhaps she just misses her home, my lord. Dol Amroth is very far away, after all."

"Yes, maybe she does," Éomer agreed absently. But something told him that homesickness wasn't the real problem.

Lothíriel hugged her knees to her chest, sitting on top of a little knoll she found while riding. The sun's last rays would soon disappear behind the horizon, but she didn't care. Staring over the openness of the vast plains, she sighed. Things were certainly not going as she thought.

The past three weeks had been awful for her. Freda was around every single day, and she was perfect every single day. Everyday Lothíriel felt barbaric when she was next to her. Everyday she watched Éomer and Freda go on their walks, and feared that one day Éomer would realise how imperfect she was, and how Freda left her behind on all aspects, and he would decide that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with her. Everyday she had that feeling that she was losing him, and all she could do was watch helplessly as he slipped away from her.

Around her everything grew darker as the sun continued its descending journey, yielding to the moon, but Lothíriel refused to return to Edoras. She had not gone for dinner, but Isindil would probably be the only one who noticed. Freda would probably be at dinner, entertaining Éomer again, she thought darkly.

With a sigh, she lay down on the grass, closing her eyes to the vanishing sun.

Éomer bade Freda good night, then made his way to Lothíriel's room. He had missed her at dinner. She had never missed dinner before, and it worried him. Was she ill? He quickened his pace, until he reached her door. Knocking, he called for her. "Lothíriel, are you in there?"

There was no response. Éomer frowned. Where could she possibly be?

"Lothíriel?"

Lothíriel opened her eyes, and looked up to see Isindil kneeling over her, a look of concern on his face. She sat up from the grass. I must have fallen asleep… Rubbing her eyes, she said, "I'm all right, I'm all right." The sun had gone down completely now, and the moon was high in the sky.

"Thank goodness I found you, Lothíriel," Isindil said, wrapping his cloak around her shoulders. "Come, let's go back to Edoras, where there's a good, steady fire going."

Lothíriel shook her hand, clinging to Isindil's arm. "No, I don't want to go back yet."

Isindil sat down next to her. "You haven't been yourself lately," he said. "What is it?"

Lothíriel pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders. "I don't really know what's wrong. I don't know," she whispered.

"Éomer?"

Lothíriel gave Isindil a look of surprise, and he smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. "I watched you grow up, princess. Come, you can tell me anything."

"I don't understand what's happening to me," Lothíriel sighed. "I just love spending time with him because I feel happy when we're together. He's… he's different from everyone else."

Isindil chuckled. "Of course he's different from everyone else. You've never been in love with anyone else."

"In love?" Lothíriel raised her eyes to look at Isindil. "No… no, that can't be!" But she knew that it was. Isindil had got it right once more.

"Princess, love is different for everyone, but there is always one part that is the same. And that one part is that the person you are in love with makes you happier than anyone you've ever known, and you want to spend time with that person, no matter whether you should or should not."

Lothíriel sighed again. "Well, I don't think it's a mutual feeling anyway. It hurts to see him spending time with Freda."

Isindil said nothing for the longest time, and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Lothíriel was about to ask him what he was thinking about when his voice sounded in the dark again. "If you really want to, we could go home. But not immediately. I ask for at least a week to make sure we have everything necessary for this journey in the cold."

"Oh, thank you, Isindil!"

Isindil stood up, pulling her up with him. "Come, let's get out of the cold and go back to Edoras."

Two days later…

"Leaving next week?" Éomer frowned. "But… but why?"

Lothíriel bit her lip, searching for an excuse. "I miss home," she lied. "I've never spent too much time away from home, and spending the whole winter just sounds… I don't know… scary." Especially if Freda is around.

"Scary?" Éomer grinned. "Am I scary to you?"

"No, but… well… I just want to go home."