Sleepy eyes blinked open and a second later instantly became alert. Glancing around, the owner then relaxed. Sunlight was pouring in through the mouth of the cave and around him; his companions were sleeping peacefully, two of them using his chest as a pillow.

Laying his head back down, he stared up at the roof of hard grey rock with patches of deep purple and dark green in it, causing a slight simmering effect. Reaching up a hand, careful not to disturb the two sleeping on his chest, he pushed a lock of dirty blonde straight hair behind his ear.

"Boromir? Are you awake?" came a quiet whisper from somewhere further back in the cave.

"Frodo? What are you doing awake at this hour?" Boromir asked, concerned for the ring bearer.

"Couldn't sleep anymore, everyone's always pestering me to sleep, and there's only so much a hobbit can sleep!" Came the answer back, which caused Boromir to chuckle.

"I'll have to agree with that one, I don't sleep much either," Boromir told him.

Frodo smiled at him and Boromir managed to prop himself up on one elbow, with out disturbing Merry and Pippin. "My cousins are really coming to think of you as an older brother or something," Frodo told him. "If they drag you to the Shire after this, which I'm sure they will try to do, I wouldn't be surprised if you get adopted into the family."

"I would be honoured," Boromir told him. "But who would I stay with, Merry or Pippin? Or you? Or Sam?"

"Merry and Pippin will probably fight over you, so you'll probably end up staying with both of them," Frodo laughed.

"I think I'll make a point to visit the Shire then, sometime in the future," Boromir decided. "What's it like?" he asked the young ring bearer, see the longing in his eyes.

"It's great," Frodo told him. "The fields, the rivers and the trees, everything is very green, and to most, our ways seem quaint."

"There's nothing wrong with a simple life," Boromir told him. "Sometimes I wish my life were more simple, free of the complications and duties that I have to carry. It's not always easy, but they are rewards, I suppose." Boromir mused aloud.

"Rewards?" Frodo questioned, genuinely interested.

"Yes," Boromir told him. "I have rallied armies and saw my people band together in times of difficulty and I have helped them come through on the other side. I know I have their support and that they think I'm doing a good job. That is what matters, that my people are happy. And it is my job to make sure they are. Although a few weeks away from it all at the Shire would be very welcome," Boromir sighed.

"It sounds hard," Frodo commented.

"It is, but it is also a burden that I have always carried, I have known nothing different. I was groomed for leadership from a very young age," Boromir explained.

"But what about Strider? And your brother. . . erm. . . I've forgotten his name," Frodo wanted to know.

"Faramir has always known that I would be leader, because I am the elder. He has never wanted leadership, he is very shy. And as for Aragorn, I welcome him as my King, Gondor needs him." Boromir told the hobbit.

"Have you told him this?"

"I have told him that I do not see him as a threat to my place in Gondor and that Gondor needs him, that is all he really needs to know. I cannot stop him from taking his birthright, can I?"

"I suppose not," Frodo admitted.

"Yeah, it would be kind of difficult," Boromir, agreed.

"Huh? What would be?" asked the previously mentioned king, sitting up.

Frodo and Boromir shared a look, which caused the young ring bearer to fall into fits of giggles. "It's nothing," the hobbit managed to tell the ranger, who was looking very confused.

"Ok then," Aragorn said and then shot a long look towards Boromir, who calmly returned the stare.

Frodo giggled again and moved so he could whisper in Boromir's ear, "I wonder if he will think to order you? He is your king after all!"

"Don't give him ideas!" Boromir whispered back with a grin, making sure that Aragorn could hear.

The future king of Gondor was now very confused and now Merry and Pippin had woken up. "Don't give who ideas?!" Pippin demanded.

"No one," Frodo told them.

"Not you two," Boromir informed them with a grin. "You have enough ideas on your own!" Seeing the grin Boromir had on his face, Merry and Pippin, from their position in his chest pushed him back from the propped up position he had managed to get into and pinned him down on his back.

Boromir simply laughed and let them, not really struggling that much, but he could hear Frodo and Aragorn's laughter coming from somewhere in the cave. He grinned up at the to hobbits on top of him and couldn't help thinking that he was having more of a childhood now, with the two of them, than he and Faramir had ever had.

His eyes darkened and both Merry and Pip saw it. Suddenly they both shifted and Boromir found two hobbits clinging to him round his neck, in a hug. He knelt so that they could stand and hugged them back.

The first rays of sunlight were finally penetrating through the entrance of the cave when Boromir pulled back slightly and out of the embrace of the youngest two hobbits. The other members if the fellowship were now beginning to stir as the sunlight began to fall on their closed eyelids.

"Ok, we'd better calm down now," Boromir told the others, mock seriously and got confused looks from them all. "Because we don't want Legolas scolding us children again now, do we?" And everyone else in the cave that was waking up was greeted with the sound of laughter from three hobbits and two men.

All too soon for Boromir's liking, they were back out in the cold snow and it was a mile away from the happy childhood memories he had of snow. He once more withdrew into his own thoughts and was only pulled out of them when he realised that Merry and Pippin were now struggling because the snow was so deep.

Catching up to them he took their packs and placed them on the pony, Bill, who was carrying extra food supplies and then picked the two young hobbits up with ease. They both snuggled up in his cloak and whispered in his ear stories of happy times from their childhoods in the fields of the Shire. This made Boromir even more determined to visit the Shire once this perilous quest was over.

That thought made his heart stop for a moment. Visit the Shire after the quest was over? He knew it was impossible. For once this quest was over and Frodo had destroyed the ring, his life would also be destroyed. It wasn't a happy thought and he pushed it to the back of his mind as Pippin and Merry began to recount another tale from what seemed like an age ago to all of them.

The snow was now getting really deep and Aragorn was now carrying Frodo and Sam, because there was no way that the halflings could get through snow this deep on their own. Legolas was now a source of jealousy instead of amusement since he could walk on the snow.

Just when Boromir thought his present situation couldn't get any worse, it did. And it did in the form of Saruman. In Saruman trying to bring down the mountain on them. Not good! Not good at all in Boromir's opinion and in everyone else's. Gandalf alone wanted to press on over the mountain. Everyone else argued and the path was decided for Moria. That struck a deep fear in Boromir's heart, and he hoped it didn't show in his eyes. His eyes, normally a vivid shade of green, Faramir's as well, turned a misty bluey-grey colour when he was scared. He hated that, because it meant that his Father always knew if he or his little brother were.

He kept his head down and stuck to himself on the journey to the gate of Moria. Merry and Pippin noticed this and shared a long look. They liked Boromir better when he was laughing and joking about with them and telling them stories. He made them feel like they weren't such a waste of space on this journey. They didn't know that Boromir knew what it felt like to be considered a waste of space, but they were getting the idea that he hadn't had the best childhood possible.

The area outside Moria was gloomy, and added to the fact it was night time it was also misty, not the best atmosphere Boromir could imagine. He was sat against a rock with his knees pulled up to his chest, ignoring the fact that it made him look child-like and vulnerable.

Merry and Pippin came and sat next to him and he barely even acknowledged their presence, the gloomy atmosphere was taking him back into the past. . .

Presently there was a tug on his hair and he had to chuckle a bit, these two hobbits certainly wouldn't let him brood on his thoughts for long. "Yes?" he asked them, with an inquisitive lift of one eyebrow.

"If you have to retreat into your thoughts, at least tell us what you're thinking about?" Merry requested.

"Well, this atmosphere is getting me rather depressed, so I'm thinking about what is probably one of the worst things my Father ever done to me, the one thing that sticks out in my mind, probably because it happened when I was eight and Faramir six." Boromir admitted and he knew that the hobbits wouldn't rest until he'd told them the story and even if it wasn't a very happy story, at least it would keep the two hobbits distracted.

The two boys were playing in one of the rooms and were just generally mucking about, though being careful not to make too much noise. They began a game of catch and things got a little out of hand by accident, they just got carried away having fun with each other and it had seemed a long time since they had laughed like this. Faramir slipped and the ball they were playing with broke a window.

The two boys shared a look and gulped. Despite being only eight and six, they knew that this wasn't going to be good. Soon enough the angry footsteps of their Father could be heard coming down the corridor and they found themselves stood in front of him with their heads bowed whilst he was sat down.

"Which one of you two done this?!" Denethor demanded in a growl.

Seeing his six-year-old brother shaking, Boromir spoke up. "I did Father. It was an accident."

Denethor could tell instantly that Boromir was lying and covering up for his younger brother, but if he wanted to take the punishment for his younger brother, then so be. Faramir would have to watch, anyway.

Denethor backhanded Boromir across the face and then dragged the lad to lay across his lap. Both Boromir and Faramir were instantly relieved, it seemed that the only punishment was going to be a spanking, and whilst it stung it could also be a lot worse. Denethor did indeed give Boromir a few dozen hard swats, which made him gasp, and then he folded up the back of his son's tunic.

All Faramir saw was a glint of silver before his older brother cried out in pain. Denethor had made a cut, quite deep all the way across the bottom of Boromir's back. He then pushed the lad from his lap, stood up, backhanded Faramir so that his six-year-old son fell to the floor and left the room.

Boromir and Faramir only just managed to make it to their room and Boromir instantly collapsed on the bed and he was surprised when he felt something damp touch his wound. Faramir cleaned it gently and Boromir rewarded his brother with a hug and told him a story. They shared the same bed that night, in the attic room, which they had made theirs. . .

"And I still have the scar," Boromir told the two young hobbits and he was surprised to find that they had tears in their eyes. He gave them both a tight hug, just like he had gave Faramir one that dreadful day and whispered, "It's ok, I'm an isolated case, well me and Faramir. Not all kids are brought up like that and face it, I haven't turned out so badly, have I?"

"No, you're great," Pippin told him in a whisper, still hugging him.

Yeah, great, Boromir thought. Great at dragging other people into my problems it seems. . .