Chapter Fourteen

The days continued to pass. Boromir’s strength increased. Elrond came daily and began to give him exercises to perform while sitting to get his leg and arm muscles strong again. The first time the man stood he was astonished that he could not do so for long, but each day he was able to stand for a longer time. He worked hard at the exercises to get himself back into proper fighting strength for he wished to be of service to the new king.

Gandalf, Bilbo, and Elrond were all there with Frodo when he took his first tentative steps. Frodo actually cheered which brightened not only his own heart but everyone around him. The others smiled in the double celebration of life returning to the two of them. For some days, Boromir could not walk unassisted. Frodo was sorrowful that he was big enough to properly support the man, but Gandalf and Elrond aided him. Boromir accepted their necessary help with thanks but was nervous the day Galadriel appeared to do the same. He remembered the test she had given the Company and his mistrust of her. He had the distinct feeling that she well knew that he had failed in his mission. It was a long time before he could meet her eyes. She waited patiently until he did and then offered her hand to him with a smile. The compassionate understanding and forgiveness that shone from her eyes deeply moved him. He stood with her help. She wrapped her arm around his back and helped him make the circuit several times around the small room. He remained convinced that she could read his thoughts and while that shamed him to some degree, her smile did not waver. That helped him understand she did not condemn him. He was much more relaxed by the time they were done.

It was a bright and sunny day when Boromir at last saw the outside of where he had been. It did not look like Rivendell. The woods were present but not so dense. The smell of the air was different. Frodo stood silently by his side, holding his hand. They did not walk farther that day but remained outside while the sun shone. Bilbo and Gandalf joined them for elevenses and lunch and tea. Now that the man’s appetite had returned, he found wisdom in having more meals than he had been used to in Gondor. Frodo smiled at his willing adoption of hobbit customs, though he had not yet taken to pipeweed. The warm sun cheered them both. The Ring-bearer continued writing. If he did too much, he rubbed his hand until it felt better and was no longer afraid to have it be seen. Only when it began to cool and the sun fade, did Frodo get up to go inside. Boromir joined him after enjoying the sunset.

“I’m sorry you did not stay outside to see such a lovely sunset,” the man said. “I don’t know if I have ever seen a more beautiful one.”

“I don’t like being out after dark anymore,” Frodo said. “So much happened then...” He trailed off and rubbed his maimed hand more vigorously.

Boromir opened his arms as was becoming their custom and Frodo entered the man’s embrace. Both were content to remain there in silence until the warrior spoke again. “You will not be able to return home in a day. What will you do then? I will see you safely there if you will not come to Gondor with me and see the king and my brother.”

“I thank you, but this is my home now. Perhaps one day I will stand out in the dark and walk under the stars as I once loved to do. I would like to do that, but the memories are too much right now.”

“The servants of the Nameless Enemy came to us at night at times. Nothing but dark shadows and a building dread that was nigh to unbearable even to my brother and I and the men with us. I do not wonder that you cannot face the memory of it. We endured it more often than you did and knew how to fight its silent terror but it was almost enough to unman us. I will stand with you the day the night is friendly to you again. I hope one day to stand in your Shire with you, and you with me at Minas Tirith.”

“I wish that could be as well.”

Something in Frodo’s dull tone roused Boromir’s uneasiness. “You speak of wishes but not hopes.”

“There is no hope left to me but to heal from my wounds. I carry that in honor of Sam and it has carried me here. My Sam taught me how to cling to such when all else falls away. Even as Mount Doom was collapsing and we were caught in it, he hoped. The marvel our survival is due to his hope. I saw it even as we parted. It is the only thing that let me let him go. He still hoped, so I could do so as well. If I had not this, I would not have come. He would have watched me suffer and fade and I would have watched him suffer because I did. There is no heart in the world greater than my Sam’s. I would see that heart happy again and he would see mine. That could no longer be done at home. It was a sore blow, but still at the end, he hoped as he always did. I will carry that with me until he can come and receive his reward for all he did for me and what I wish and hope to do for him. I want to one day look up at the stars and think of him doing looking up too, and my cousins and all who I left behind. So much as changed, we are so far apart, but I feel closer to them when I see the stars even from my window. That is when I know everyone still hopes for me. I know I will feel it stronger when I am outside. Perhaps somehow they will feel me as I heal and know their hope is not in vain.”

“But once you are healed, you can return then.”

“I have hope. Hope is not certainty. This is my home now.”

Boromir did not press any further. He noted that Frodo’s tone and repeat of the words about home was to convince himself of such a truth rather than for any other reason. There was still much pain in the Ring-bearer’s words which caused the man’s uneasiness to increase. Were they not in Rivendell?

It was almost two weeks before Boromir received his answer. Elrond constructed a walking stick so he would not have to rely always on the support of others. He depended on it greatly in the beginning but also used it to celebrate a little independence. The day was not far off that he would be able to walk unaided, at least for small stretches. Frodo celebrated each new victory with Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel. Bilbo watched the bond grow between his heartson and the man. He saw no threats, only an increasing love.

One day, they came to the shores of the Sea. Frodo held Boromir’s hand as the man stared in silent awe. After a long while, he spoke. “This is much larger than I remember the Bruinen being.”

Frodo’s grip on Boromir’s hand tightened enough to hurt. “You are looking at the Sundering Seas and sundered we are.” The man had to strain to hear the Ring-bearer’s next words. “We are no longer in Middle-earth.”

Boromir stared hard at Frodo. “No longer... What mean you?”

“We are on Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, in the Undying Lands of the West. We cannot return.”

Boromir wanted to run into the waves but he was not strong enough. He walked into them even as Frodo tugged him back. “There is no where you can go, Boromir. We cannot go back....”

The shock of the water was nowhere as great as the shock he felt to his heart. “Cannot go back...”

Boromir fell to his knees as Frodo broke down. This time it was not just the Ring-bearer that wept as the waves swirled around their embrace.