The boats are being prepared; the others are still saying their farewells to Lothlorien and its inhabitants, leaving Boromir and me alone on the shore. The journey we are to travel will be a hard one; I have only this chance to say what is in my heart. My eyes catch Boromir's and for once I don't see the sadness or the despair that have been in his eyes since we left Rivendell. I see a fire in his eyes, the reflection of my own.

"Boromir, I need to speak with you. Walk with me," I asked and began walking so we'd be out of hearing range. I turned around and saw him debate briefly with himself about whether he should follow me or not. My heart began to beat wildly in my chest at his insecurity. What if I had been wrong? What if he didn't want me? Then, after what seemed like hours, he walked to me. Barely able to contain my relief, we walked along the shore in silence.

"What did you wish to discuss?" Boromir asked as we rounded a corner, so we could be sure that we would not be seen or heard by the others.

"The future," I admitted and damned my nervousness. Either he felt the same or he didn't. This was not a battle I could win or lose; things were the way they were.

"Gondor's future?" he asked, a hint of something in his voice I couldn't quite figure out.

"No. Yours and mine," I said as I turned from my observation of the lake to face him. His surprise was evident but I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or not.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and I could detect a hint of suspicion in his words. The moment of truth, all may rise or fall on a single word.

"I think you know but I will tell you. Since we met, since we departed Rivendell..." I wasn't sure how to say it and my eyes fell to the ground. How to find words for the depth of a feeling I couldn't even put words on in my mind?

"Yes?" Boromir pressed and I'm sure I heard mild amusement in his voice. I lifted my head to look into his eyes and saw the same flame of amusement dance there. I couldn't keep from smiling.

"You are not going to make this easy for me, are you?" I asked, laughter in my voice.

"No, I wasn't planning on it," he replied, a gleam in his eye.

"Then I will say it as it is. Boromir, Lord of Gondor... I love you."

There, it was said, it was out. I half expected him to laugh at me but the look of joy quickly followed by pain I saw in his eyes, was something I wasn't prepared for.

"No. You cannot love me," he denied, and turned his back at me, facing the lake.

"Why not? I cannot control what I feel." I laid my hands on his shoulders but he shielded away from me and I withdrew my hands. What was he doing? I had seen the joy in his eyes; it was there.

"Then I must control it for both of us," he whispered, pained, still not facing me.

"Why?" I asked puzzled.

"What of Arwen? Is she not your betrothed? Do you not love her?" he asked softly.

Was this why he shielded away from me? To protect Arwen's honor?

"I do love her," I saw how he stiffened by my words and I smiled. He did care. "I'll always love her but not like you think. She's a friend, a sister, a confident and yes, once she was more but not anymore. Not anymore," again I tried to reach for him but he stepped to the side and my arms fell away empty.

"She won't understand."

Did he love Arwen? The thought suddenly seemed very real... or was he stalling, finding excuses?

"She will. She's an Elf. When our journey is over I'll speak with her, I'll explain. I'll give her back her necklace, her immortality and her vow," I explained. I'll always carry her with me in my heart, but though men live so much shorter a time than Elves, even they can love more than one person in their lives. Finally he turned around, and I saw tears in his eyes. Happy tears, I hoped.

"You would do this... for me?" he asked softly. I smiled warmly.

"I'll do anything for you," I vowed. My words seemed to scare him for he turned away from me again. No matter what I said it seemed to be the wrong thing.

"Don't say that," he whispered.

"Why not? It is the truth, after all," I asked, puzzled. "Why do you fear me?" "I don't fear you. I fear no one," he denied.

"Then face me and explain to me why you turn away, for I'm all at sea," I asked, knowing he never could say no to a challenge, and as I knew he would, he turned around and faced me. "What is wrong?" I repeated, more gently this time. His eyes fell to the ground and a becoming blush colored his cheeks. I'd never seen him blush before. Whatever he was to say must be quite embarrassing.

"I love you," he whispered softly, and I smiled happily though my smile soon froze.

"Why so sad about that? I said that I love you too and I mean what I say," I asked, puzzled. Why would his feelings for me bring him such embarrassment? His eyes were still lowered, not meeting mine. This was so unlike him. Then he lifted his head and looked at me and I saw such raw emotion in his face it almost made me cry.

"Have you lived so long among Elves that you have forgotten the customs... and taboos of our people?" he asked, pained. Our people, he had said... wait a minute... taboos?

"What do you mean?"

"This. Us." With his hand he indicated him and me. I frowned. What was so wrong with... suddenly I understood.

"You mean because we're both men. Our love will not be understood in Gondor," I finally realized. I had been away for too long for me to remember this. It was unheard of, uncommon and forbidden. Among Elves it was common over the centuries to take a partner of the same sex; they did not have the taboos of men, and didn't understand them.

"Yes," Boromir nodded, making a movement with his hands to say there was nothing to do.

"I shall revoke the law when I'm King," I said simply, though I knew it'd be harder than that. I might be able to force our relationship to be legal, but I couldn't force people to understand and accept it. I looked at Boromir. Maybe he was right; maybe we shouldn't even try this. Maybe we should walk away while we still could, for I knew when first I'd held him in my arms, I wouldn't ever let him leave. As King, as Isildur's heir, my 'mistake' would be overlooked, but Boromir would be a man out of place, no one knowing what to call him, where to put him... he'd have it hardest. And all this was assuming we won this battle we had still to fight.

"It's that easy?" Boromir asked, laughter in his voice. That smile of his... it was going to be my doom.

"It can be. Boromir, I stand by my word. I love you, and if we want to we can make this work. Answer me now and tell me clearly, for I ask for life; will you trust me with your body, soul, and heart, as I'll let you guard mine?" I asked softly and held my breath for his answer could break or heal my heart.

He looked at me, his conflicting emotions; love, honor, duty, and need all mixed into one made his eyes look like a storm was underway. The seconds seemed to go by so slowly that I was beginning to fear someone had turned off time to make me suffer until, finally, he moved. I reached out a hand for him and I smiled as he took it in his. He kneeled before me as a knight before his King, his eyes looking up and straight through me as he lifted my hand and kissed it.

"I love you, my King. I'll be with you for as long as you wish," he promised, and I knew what a hard battle his heart had had to fight against upbringing and religion until these words could come. I kneeled down and took both his hands in mine.

"I wish forever," I whispered softly and kissed his brow. "You're all I ever wanted."

"As you are to me. I see your light now, your reason. The Ring has no power over me for I see it brings nothing but false hope. You, my King, bring true hope to me... and to Gondor," Boromir said, and I saw love in his eyes but more importantly, I saw peace. Peace of mind and peace of soul. I smiled and let him draw me into a kiss. The quest was forgotten for a while as Boromir let himself fall back into the sand, taking me with him. Never have I felt such joy and happiness as I felt when he put his arms around me and let me hold him close. No barriers, no secrets... no pride. Just the two of us. Just love... just freedom.

The End