Parting from Eomer had been hard for Eowyn at first, and for the first few hours of the ride to Gondor, she was quiet, and spent the journey gazing at the land around her, yet he knew that this would not be the last time that she would see them, but it would be the last time for a while. She did not regret her decision to leave, after all, she was going to live with Faramir, her husband, her love, and nothing could be better than this. Faramir stayed beside her, his horse riding alongside hers, for the journey, but seeing that Eowyn was thinking, he gave her the solitude she needed, and spent a few hours talking with the hobbits, who had long since forgiven him for the incident in the stables and his revenge, in return for the amount of pipe weed that Faramir had given them in apology. The sun was beginning to dip, and the afternoon began to wear on. Eventually, the hobbits were giving Aragorn a good long complaining to insisting that they stop and have afternoon tea, seeing they had been deprived of breakfast and second breakfast because of Faramir, and elevensies because of the preparations for the journey home, and if they didn't eat soon, they claimed they would die of hunger. This caused Eowyn to break from her thoughts, and she laughed along with Faramir, Legolas and Gimli as Aragorn at first shook off their attempts.

"Please, Aragorn." Merry begged in a whining voice.

"Yes, please!" Pippin agreed, "We need to eat!"

"No!" Aragorn said, like a parent would to a child.

"But we are so hungry!"

"We cannot stop until nightfall." Aragorn told them.

"But if we don't eat soon we will die of hunger, and you wouldn't want the death of your people on your hands would you?" Merry teased.

Aragorn sighed, but laughed a little. "First of all," He reminded them, "Merry, you may have a title in Rohan, and you, Pippin, in Gondor, but you are still of the Shire, and therefore, not my people." Their faces fell a little, one part of the plan had fallen through. "And also, if you insist that you will die without food," Aragorn turned back and smiled at them, "Please do so quietly."

The hobbit's faces were a picture at his remark, and Eowyn could not hold back her laughter. Then there was a silence, and this was broken only by a loud rumbling. To nobody's suprise, the source of the sound came from Pippin's empty stomach. "Sorry," He murmured.

"Oh alright! alright!" Aragorn cried in frustration, and Pippin and Merry looked up hopefully. Aragorn turned to the rest of the men and called through the company. "Gentlemen, we stop for a break, half an hour!"

Merry and Pippin were first down from their horses, reaching into their packs and pulling out some food before most had even started to dismout. Eowyn stumbled a little as she dismounted, landing awkwardly on the side of her ankle, she hissed in the pain, but did not cry out at the heated pain that spread up her leg. Faramir was already at her side, steadying her from her fall, and hearing her hiss of pain, he frowned a little. "Eowyn?"

"It is nothing, Faramir." She said, putting light weight on her injured foot and finding that it wasn't all that painful, and that it would heal fully within a few days at the most. "Just a small twist." She flashed him a smile for further convincing, and he smiled back, kidding her forehead softly. The simple kiss left a tingle on her skin, and she closed her eyes to her touch.

He lead her over to a part of the plains that were out of hearing distance from the rest of the group, leaving an annoyed Aragorn with the two hobbits yet again. She sat down, and handed him his half of the food she had been carrying, containing slices of dried gammon ham, and some bread. She broke the bread up, and popped a fragment into her mouth, suddenly seeing an appearance of cloud on the horizon. Thick, almost black in colour, she knew what this was. Faramir followed her gaze to the side of them, and saw the oncoming thunderstorm. He winced a little, they would be staying near a cave overnight, and in the storm it would not be comfortable, and Eowyn will be terrified he remembered.

"Don't worry, we won't be out in the open." He assured her. "We'll go into the cave if need be, nothing can happen." She smiled a little, though knowing that the storm was unavoidable was daunting to her. She continued eating and found that they finished their food long before the others.

She shifted so she was sat beside him, and he opened his arms to her, allowing her to lay back against him. She settled in his arms, and closed her eyes for a moment, basking in the overhead sun. "Faramir." She said softly, and he looked down at her as she rested her head against his lap.

"Yes, my love."

"I am glad we are married." She told him, smiling as she felt his fingers tracing her cheek with a gentle sweep. "Because I do not believe I could stand being so close to you without remembering that I can't do the things we have done."

Faramir smiled, a small blush creeping to his cheeks. "And what things are these, my beautiful wife?"

"Those," She said, opening her eyes and giving him a cheeky and suggestive look, "Are not fit to be mentioned in the presence of others." He laughed and leaned down to kiss her.

From the distance, Aragorn looked on at the couple, feeling the urge for Arwen. He had only been away from her for a week, the longest time since they had been married, and he could not stop wishing to be home since he left. Seeing his friends so in love together made him long for Arwen incredibly. He silently decided that next time he would bring her with him, even if it was just for company so he wouldn't be left with annoying hobbits all day.

"There's the cave." Aragorn announced. "We set up camp here.

The sky was darkened now, not only from the impending nightfall, but also from the thundercloud that was now right above them, threatening to release a heavy downpour at any second. The men had grown restless, not wanting to ride through a storm, but luckily, the cave had loomed into sight just before the hobbits added to their complaints. Eowyn nervously got off her horse, feeling fear from the storm above them. She had her thick cloak, fur lined around the neckline and silver stars upon the top, wrapped tightly around herself to protect her fragile form from the wind that had picked up recently. It was the cloak that Faramir had given to her, the one that had belonged to his mother once, yet even this winter cloak could dispell all the cold she felt. She wrapped her arms around herself, watching as the men around them set up the tents they would sleep in. How can they do that? She wondered, how can they sleep in the open through such a storm? Just as she pulled the cloak closer around her, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Faramir standing beside her with two trembling hobbits practically hiding in his tunic.

He gave her a weak smile. "It seems others will be joining us in the cave during the storm."He said with a small laugh. "Apparently the Shire rarely sees storms of this magnitude."

The four of them wandered into the cave, from behind, with the limited height of the two hobbits, it looked as though they were a small family, and indeed, in Aragorn's eyes, Merry and Pippin were clutching to Faramir like they would to a parent. Once inside the cave, they went right to the back, seeing as Eowyn and the hobbits refused to be anywhere near the cave opening. There, Eowyn sat down beside Faramir, and Merry sat beside her, Pippin choosing to sit beside Faramir, each hobbit with the one they knew most.

Outside, a loud rumble shook the air, and the hobbits curled into a ball beside them, and Eowyn also hunched her shoulders, leaning against Faramir as much as she could. His arms went around her shoulders, holding her close to him. She shut her eyes as the first flash of forked lightening lit up the cave around them, Pippin let out some kind of whimper. Faramir frowned a little, he wasn't overly fond of thunderstorms, however he wasn't terrified of them.

Eowyn clung to Faramir like a child, and refused to lessen her grip. She was out in the open in a storm, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could not hide in her bed, using her blankets to sheild her eyes from the flash, and to drown out the sound of the thunder. Yet for once, she was not alone in the storm. Faramir's warm body beside hers was a smal comfort to her, and he was rubbing her back with one hand whilst keeping her close with the other. She was glad to have him here, protecting her.

"How long will it stay?" Merry asked, after a few flashes. His eyes were screwed shut. Though he did not say, his question was undoubtably aimed at Faramir, the only one of them who was not shaking with fear.

"I do not know." He admitted. "But I know a way we can tell when the storm is passing."

Pippin looked up at him, "How?"

"My mother, when I was very young, once watched a storm with myself and Boromir. She said that you can count the seconds between the flash of the lightening, and the rumbling of the clouds, and the seconds between is the miles between us and the storm." As he finished, another flash lit up the dark cave, followed a few seconds later by the all too familiar rumble. "Behold!" He said with optimism, and a bright smile. "Already it has passed some miles! I do not believe that this storm shall endure for much longer.

They noted that this rush of thunder had indeed, been quieter than the previous ones, and Pippin raised his head a little more. "It is!" He said. "It's going away!"

Eowyn sighed with relief, rain began to fall in torrents outside, a signal that the storm was fading. She suddenly felt exhausted, from her fear, from their ride. She softened her grasp, and fell into a deep sleep.