A/N: I have been a HORRIBLE authoress! I am so sorry everyone!! I apologize profusely, I feel horrible. ^-^; If any of you would like me to e-mail you when the next chapter is up, please tell me in your review. ^___^

By the way, thanks to Ginniliel for recognizing me in a street side restaurant! She and her family were vacationing in my city, and she overheard me telling my mom about my ideas for this chapter. She just kind of rushed up and asked if I was Enednilwen. It was really weird, but still cool. ^__^

On to the chapter (FINALLY!)!

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Disclaimer: I only own Steph, Boromir belongs to Tolkien.

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Chapter 17-We Must Reach Gondor

Boromir found that it was much easier to concentrate on retracing their steps when Steph was quiet. He considered gagging her, but he couldn't think of anything he could do it with. So, fixing a look of extreme displeasure on his face, he tried to ignore her threats, pleas, and protests. She fell silent for a while, but when they paused for a moment, she found an opportunity to start again.

"Hey, Sadistic One." Steph's forehead connected with one of his shoulder blades.

Wincing slightly, he evaded a second attack. "What?"

"Where are we going?"

Boromir rolled his eyes as he began to untie Steph's hands. "We will follow the Rohirrim." He said, brushing her hands away. "I believe the lesson has been learned, you are free to do as you wish with your hands."

Steph shot him a death glare. "Why are we following them?"

"Are you really that stupid, Steph?" he snapped, digging his heels into the horse's sides to get it moving.

"I only asked a question!"

"A foolish question!"

"How was it a foolish question, assclown?" Steph demanded, not realizing she was holding onto Boromir's waist again.

"It was a foolish question because you and your feelings kept us from following Aragorn and the others, whom I have sworn my allegiance to! You, of all people, should know exactly why we are following the Rohirrim!" Steph opened her mouth in protest, but Boromir cut her off, "Be silent, woman! I will not listen to your idiotic attempts at trying to explain yourself! You have been foolish enough for one day!"

Steph stared at the passing vegetation, sulking. Geez, all she did was forget one stupid little thing. Boromir shouldn't have gotten so mad over it! Suddenly, a thought hit her. What had happened earlier was a major deal. Why had she forgotten it? Speaking of why, why were her joints feeling so creaky today? What was she? An old woman?

Rolling her eyes at herself and her crazy imagination, she tried to think about something else. Absentmindedly, she scratched her nose. It felt…leathery?

Steph whipped her hand in front of her face to inspect it. This was too weird. Her hand had felt leathery, like an old woman's! Almost afraid to look, she stared at her hand. Indeed, her left hand was wrinkled and rough, the skin on the back of her hand sagging. She inspected her right one, eyes widening with fear. Her right hand was still smooth and young looking, the skin stretched tight across it like always.

Putting them next to each other, her eyes and mouth rounded into fearful O's. She couldn't help it. She screamed.

She screamed so loudly that Boromir jumped in his seat and halted the horse. He whirled around, looking wildly around for the source of the problem.

"What?" he demanded, "What is it?"

Steph was frantically wiping her left hand on her jeans, breathing hard and fast. "My hand!" she shrieked, clutching her right hand to her chest, as though she thought the left one would contaminate it.

"Obviously, your hand is the cause of your…" he surveyed her, his tone becoming mocking as he tried to place the verb he was looking for, "…discomfort. What is wrong with your hand, then?"

Keeping her hands at least 6 inches apart from each other, she held them in front of Boromir. Looking skeptical, he examined them.

A perplexed look came over his face. "What…what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" wailed Steph, looking terrified, "My hands are all…deflicted!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Deflicted?"

"It sounded good at the moment, assclown! Something's wrong with my hands!"

Boromir shook his head, still staring at her hands. "There is nothing wrong with them, Steph." He said calmly, "Your hand is returning to normal."

Steph looked with shock, as her left hand seemed to turn to liquid. When she reached to touch it, Boromir quickly caught her hand is his own.

"Do not touch it, woman."

The liquid hand quivered for a moment, before it turned to a solid hand, exactly the way it had always been. Steph gingerly poked it with her right hand.

"I don't understand," she whispered, "It's back to normal…"

Boromir gave her left hand a dark look. "Gondor has excellent healers, Steph. I am sure they will be able to heal you."

A voice broke through the silence of the land. It seemed very far away. "Have the pains of age been inflicted upon the two of you before your time?"

Both Steph and Boromir cast menacing looks at the air. "I see the Unseen One has returned to torment us." Boromir growled.

"Ah," said the Unseen One, "I see that I am correct. Why are you so bitter, Boromir? Would you prefer to be left to wither in the land of the living?"

"What do you mean?" said Boromir, his hand going instinctively to his sword.

"You should know by now that you survive in the land of the living only by the gracious contributions of Steph and her energy. As the days go by, you take more and more of her soul and her youthful energy."

Steph was glaring holes in Boromir's head. "So this is your fault? EVERYTHING BAD THAT HAPPENS IS ALWAYS YOUR FAULT, YOU ASSCLOWN!"

"I did not give you this information so you could bicker twice as often." The Unseen One said sharply, "Your time is running short. Boromir, your time in the land of the living is not an indefinite length."

Boromir's face had become rather pallid. "How long do I have, Unseen One?"

"That I cannot tell you. Use your time wisely. I hear your thoughts Boromir. You will time for such things, this I promise you."

Steph opened her mouth to voice her question, though the Unseen One answered her before she could speak a single word. "Yes, Stephanie, that is true also. I promise you."

A wind swept past them, signaling that the Unseen One's presence was gone.

"What was your question?" Steph and Boromir asked each other in unison.

A long uncomfortable silence followed, and neither answered. Boromir sighed heavily and spurred the horse onward.

"We must reach Gondor as quickly as possible."

A/N: Yes, it was a filler and not too good, but my great aunt died and I haven't really been thinking about this Why Us. I'm starting the next chapter tomorrow, so it'll be out quickly. ^___^

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!!