Despite the fact that Boromir promised me a meeting with artisans the next day, I freely slept till lunch, with no one interfering with my rest as it seemed. Surprisingly I was not tired at all, despite all the travelling the previous day. I was using all the potential energy that flourished inside me when I imagined my reunion with Boromir after my trip seeking answers. And before entering his tent yesterday I was sure I succeeded, but the brief five minutes spent with him made me ponder my decision.

Don't get me wrong, I still wanted to "grow my orchard" (or how did the Ent phrase it) with him in Osgiliath or anywhere else, and I did see that he was just as happy to see me as I did, or at least it seemed that way. But something was off, and I could not figure out what exactly pushed him away from me every time. And I mean both metaphorically and literally, he did push me away after I hugged him, politely, yes, but nonetheless.

My initial thought was surely that he was too surprised to see me, maybe he was more embarrassed to not be dressed properly in front of me for the first time. I told it to myself out loud in English while wandering the destroyed city before dinner. One voice inside my head was saying that he just was not prepared, the other proposing truly dreadful prospects, starting with the "he was only grateful for you to save his life and felt obliged to offer you the home and the title, and after you left, he was relieved" and ending with "it was nice for him to enjoy the company of an out-of-this-world curiosity, but when it comes to everyday life surely he will prefer a wife with great lineage and actual title, who won't embarrass him with her naked calves". Then why did he look happy when he first saw me in that tent? Though later when he pulled out the ribbon, he was sorrowful again… Men and their stupidity and God knows what has stopped him from at least saying that he missed me.

But then I aimed my dreams for the upcoming dinner, standing on some not-so-sturdy floor of one of the towers. He will come up with something before it, I imagined, and if not then I will be the straightforward one and ask him the questions that bother me so much. All I had that could prove that I was not crazy for assuming he cared about me was his handkerchief, which he gave to me after holding my palm. Sometimes I thought that Boromir was strained by medieval propriety, but his brother and Éowyn were kissing the first week they met, and I have known Boromir for over a year now. I generally did not know what to think.

I needed answers, I needed to know that I was not delusional and buried all my belongings from the previous life for nothing, falling for the fairytale scam that I could be important to the prince (okay, now that it is spoken out it does sound completely delusional).

The dinner proved to be a complete waste of time; I could have ordered to bring it to my tent I wouldn't have lost anything. Boromir was rueful and wordless, but I too wasn't so vocal. The moment I wanted to burst out all that accumulated inside my heart I felt tears in my eyes starting to gather, so I looked up every time it happened, and the first thing Boromir asked me during this dinner was actually: "Is there something on the ceiling?" I murmured something to myself and carefully glanced at his face from under my eyebrows. He looked concerned, but that was it. Our plates were even placed a bit too far from one another.

So now lying in bed the next day I felt not a physical but a deep emotional drain. All the way back to Gondor I simply existed on the sheer thought that he would be welcoming for me. All my emotions were riled up, I felt an electric current running through me when I arrived at Osgiliath. But instead of producing a spark that would light a firework it burned me from within.

I couldn't put myself together and ask a simple question, being too scared that the answer would shatter all my imagined future to pieces. Yes, I could linger for a day or two, or maybe several weeks, just proceed with rebuilding the city, occasionally meet with Éowyn… But that was not what I rejected my family for, that was not the reason that outweighed another one on the scales.

As I did numerous times through my journey, I decided that I needed to pick what my next move would be and not look back, and preferably heavily load myself with work so that no occasional thoughts would swing by. I quickly dressed in the same outfit I had worn during my trip, constructed something out of my hair, and crawled out of the tent, glancing around in search of any more or less high-rank officer so that he would tell me where the artisans' gathering was.

The not-so-lucky officer was quickly found, and just a couple of hours later I caught myself in the middle of some lively discussion on what crops to plant first (as I learned one of the first things with rebuilding the city was making sure it is provided with food) and from what area to start building residential houses. I tried to memorize as much information as I could like I had a list of cities that I personally was chosen to rebuild. I just didn't want to come out as a fool, which I truly was, but now that I had given up playing the marriage card, I seriously considered sticking to some profession.

And that is when I had a sudden feeling that someone was watching me. I turned around, maybe a bit more fussily than I should. Perhaps it was the lack of lenses, but I noticed nothing and continued listening to some proposition regarding carrots when a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. Surely it could be only one person I thought as I felt butterflies respawning in my belly, but it was only Faramir.

It was nice to see a familiar face, and it always felt easy to converse with the younger of the siblings, even when I was the maidservant, and he was basically the second in line for the throne. We hugged without awkwardness unlike it was with Boromir and I was asked by Faramir to take a stroll together.

We came to the remains of the garden that I found yesterday. It was a square space without a stone floor inside the building, cornered with white shabby columns. The light was dim here, with no direct rays. There were no flowers, "Yet," I thought to myself. With all the garden work I did at Kinsey's I perked up a little at the thought that I could work here with my own hands in the dirt.

We reached a marble bench in the corner of the square, and after a minute or two of meaningless small talk Faramir said:

"Lady Maddie, my brother said that you came upset to the dinner yesterday and were constantly holding back the tears, so though we are all very happy that you have decided to stay, I intend to ask whether it was because you learned that it was impossible to reach your home after all?"

"No, actually I had a silly plan to get to the place where I first appeared in Middle Earth, but before reaching it I had a conversation with a very wise walking tree, and he told me something that helped me understand that I… you know, he made some really nice metaphors about garden… Or now that I think about it maybe for him it was quite literal. It does not matter, the point is I made the decision before I really tried to leave anyhow, though I did not know how to do it exactly".

"So, what was the reason that made you stay?"

I flushed because I knew right away, I would not hesitate to answer, not to Faramir, who from the very beginning was a very careful and understanding listener among everything else:

"Boromir, of course. But I fear I might have hit some heavy branch somewhere on the road and had a concussion, which led me to believe that he wanted the same…"

I thought I would make Faramir chuckle, but instead he groaned:

"You two do understand how much are you alike?

"What do you me…", I started but did not get the chance to finish, because Faramir had abruptly left the garden. I sat there wondering what it meant.

Maybe Boromir too was hit by a large branch? Or he also liked garden metaphors…

But after just a few minutes (in which I might or might not started singing to myself, I really got accustomed to traveling alone and doing it) someone was pushed into the garden backwards. I raised my head and recognized Boromir, who hastily turned around and stared at me startled.

I am not proud of what I did next, but I laughed when I saw his face. He, the general of the largest human army in this world, one of the closest advisors to the king and all that, was afraid to see me in that garden. I could have bet my life that if I was an orc he would be less terrified.

Again, it was one of my hysterical laughs, and as I already gathered before people's perception of it was often faulty. This time though Boromir it seemed had no perception at all, he looked confused and I guess a bit worried about my sanity.

But seeing him so helpless actually gave me a sudden surge of determination, and I stood up and in one jump bridged the distance between us. All I wanted was to comfort him, calm him down, just the way it was at the top of the tower in Minas Tirith, and during our first trip together on Thunor's back. Never could I bear the sight of this mountain of a man looking so defenseless. I took his right palm into my hands, at least I was aware that he was not opposed to that.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to be so cruel, you just came out of nowhere looking so frightened, like a kitten being bathed first time in their life,"

"Why would anybody bathe a cat?" his facial muscles relaxed a bit and he looked me in the eyes, bowing his head.

We shared a small giggle together, but I harshly frowned as I remembered suddenly how he treated me lately. I felt a strong urge to pull out my hands, but I realized that it was me holding his, not vice versa. While I was thinking of this paradox Boromir didn't lose his moment and touched my cheek with his free hand.

I of course felt my legs melting from this simple contact. "He definitely knows what he's doing and just teases me mercilessly, pulling in and pushing out! Like I am some toy of his!" I thought and already started to open my mouth to say something scornful.

"Lady Maddie, I need a very serious answer from you, I am not exaggerating as I say that my fate depends on your answer. Please tell me, did you really return because of me?"

I initially wanted to buffoon, but his serious tone and fingers on my cheek made it very obvious that he wasn't playing around, so my mood switched abruptly from anger to playful and then matched his solemn one.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I can tell you the whole story of how I came to this conclusion, but if you want a summary, I realized that more than anything else I want to grow something with you, and I don't mean just the walls of some buildings".

He softened once more and produced a smile so large that his face lit up, and he looked almost like an elf with their unnatural glowing. It made me unwind too, as I have gathered that he is blessed to hear this from me.

"I too want to build something with you. I did not want to be an obstacle on your way home, and I wouldn't be able to withhold being the reason for your great sacrifice. Please promise me that it is not like that and I am not depriving you of some chance to live like you desire to".

I grinned and looked down at our feet, but managed to say loud enough that he would hear me:

"For now you cannot possibly deprive me of anything, therefore you act like I am no more than a mere acquaintance to you". Except touching my face I thought.

Like he could have seen my thoughts he put down his hand, the other one still in mine. I thought of releasing it but understood that I simply did not want to. We stood like that for around a minute, and suddenly he started to go down on one knee.

Or so I thought.

He released his hand from mine and picked me up from the floor, which was a totally unexpected move. It was high to see the world from above his height, but I was used to riding a very big horse so I wasn't scared, just caught by surprise. He went to the bench and made me stand on it. I thought that he intended me to tell a poem or something. Instead, he looked me straight into the eyes, now they were at the same level. Boromir suddenly made a very serious face, though his eyes were slyly sparkling. He started to talk using his official voice which he uses to give orders and such, but the more he said the deeper and gentler his voice became. I noted that I wasn't so wrong about my initial idea of his strange move.

"I, Boromir, son of Denethor, offer you my hand and heart. Let our fates intertwine in this world, and together we will stand against all hardships as allies and companions, building a bright future for our people".

Wow.

The emotional wave broke out with tears from my eyes, I got upset for a second that at such a precious moment I was wearing my old torn dress and had such messy hair, then I remembered that there were no cameras in this world, and suddenly it only mattered that the man in front of me should understand how he made my heart sing by saying these words.

I threw myself to his neck and kissed his earlobe, though I was aiming for a cheek, it did not matter now. He was taken aback by this gesture, but immediately hugged me back. I proceeded to whisper in his ear:

"I thought you'd never ask".