I toyed with different POVs for this story, and after the first chaper finally settled I realized that I could use another perspective as a follow-up. Please write me a quick review to let me know what you think of it!

Faramir stood in the doorway of Eowyn's chambers, waiting for her to finish brushing her hair before escorting her to dinner in the great hall of Meduseld. Looking idly about the room his eyes fell on a chess set that occupied a low table between two chairs in a corner. It stirred a memory in his mind, but he could not quite place it before the touch of Eowyn's hand on his arm claimed all his attention.

It was a rainy evening, so there were many who lingered in the hall after the meal, eager for the cheer and companionship it offered. Faramir sat talking with Eowyn and Eomer, and his uncle Imrahil as well, and the conversation was lively and full of laughter. Suddenly a young boy went running past their table, calling for his Dada, and they all chuckled good naturedly as Eothain scooped him up and tossed him into the air, sending the boy into mad, infectious giggles.

And the memories fell into place.

Faramir blinked, then looked at Eowyn in amazement for several long moments, until she put a hand on his arm and asked softly, "My lord?"

He smiled slowly, looking at her still as he addressed her brother. "Tell me, Eomer, did you receive a wooden sword as a gift from your father on your fourth birthday?"

Eomer lifted a brow in puzzlement but answered. "Aye, I did. It is a common enough gift when a boy of the Riddermark reaches that age."

Faramir's smile grew. "And your father…. Did he play chess?"

This time Eomer started slightly and exchanged a look with Eowyn, who gave a small shrug and a tiny shake of her head before looking back to Faramir. Eomer answered slowly, "He did…"

Faramir grinned, and reached out to take Eowyn's hand in his, lifting her fingers to his lips. "I saw a chess set in your chamber earlier." He looked over at Eomer, "From the doorway, as I promised."

Eomer chuckled once, and gave a slight toast with the goblet in his hand, and Faramir continued, his attention once more on Eowyn. "It almost brought a memory to my mind, but I could not place it immediately. Watching Eothain and his son brought it back to me."

He smiled again, and told the story of the Spring in which he had gained so much height so quickly, and of how awkward it had made him for quite a while. Imrahil chuckled fondly at this. "I remember coming to Minas Tirith in the Spring of the following year, and even then you were…" He paused, and smiled his nephew, "Very lean, shall we say?"

Faramir laughed ruefully. "It was nearly four years before I stopped growing taller, and it took another year after that for my frame to catch up!" Imrahil chuckled again, and Eomer hid his grin by taking a drink. Even Eowyn smiled, giving his arm a sympathetic squeeze.

Faramir returned her smile warmly, and continued "My sword master despaired of my ever regaining enough coordination to be a danger to my opponent rather than myself. That was when I learned that the bow required focus and skill more than strength or coordination, at least in the early stages of learning, and that I excelled at least in archery seemed to satisfy my father."

He paused for a moment, taking a sip from his own goblet. "One rainy afternoon a young man who was also visiting in Edoras invited me to play chess with him, and he helped me learn to apply techniques and tactics I had read of in books but never been taught to use. On another rainy evening he invited me to spend the evening with his family in their chambers. We played at a low table, seated on the floor, while his wife sat in her chair next to him, sewing." He grinned once more, and his eyes flicked towards Eomer for an instant, "Their son crawled into my lap while watching the game, and fell asleep there for a time before his mother took him to his bed.

"When she had returned and settled into her chair once more she felt the child she was carrying kicking, and her husband, of course, put his hand over hers to feel it as well. After a moment she took my hand, and before I could protest she had pressed it to the swell of her abdomen, and I too felt the kicks before my embarrassment made me pull my hand back. I remember her saying 'She likes you,' for in my mind, I thought that made at least one girl in Edoras who did."

Eowyn smiled fondly, and squeezed his hand once more. "I'm sure there were many girls who would have liked you had they been given a chance."

Faramir chuckled. "Perhaps. But I was content to have someone take enough interest in me to play chess with me on rainy afternoons." He sobered slightly, still looking at her. "Eowyn, the chess set in your chamber… It was your father's, wasn't it?"

She nodded, though she looked somewhat puzzled. "It was. My cousin carved the set while he was a rider in my father's eored, and gifted it to my father when he was named second marshal." Her eyes widened as the implication that Faramir knew the set struck her. "It was my father who taught you."

He nodded. "It was."

"Then it was me you felt kicking?"

He nodded again, smiling warmly at the sentiment that showed in her eyes.

She continued in a soft voice that was full of emotion. "I have often wished that they could have met you. To know that they did… and that they approved of you… Oh Faramir…" Her eyes grew bright as he lifted her fingers to his lips once more.

He then looked to Eomer again, shaking his head slightly as he grinned. "And to think how nervous I was while asking for your blessing to marry your sister. If only I had remembered sooner that you had once fallen asleep in my lap while sucking your thumb…"

And the table erupted once more into laughter.

Many thanks to the-mighty-pen325 for Beta reading!