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When Lord Faramir had recovered from his wounds enough to leave the Houses of Healing, he urged the Healers to take exceptional care of the Lady Eowyn and to fulfil any requests she might make. She proved to be unexpectedly undemanding for a lady of royal blood; at first she asked for nothing, but spent the days walking through the gardens, and was visibly delighted whenever Faramir came to visit her.
After a few days had passed, though, she made her first request: she asked for a couple of stones of various size and weight to be brought to the garden. She would spend hours every day lifting them to regain the strength in her arms, starting with the lighter and progressing on to the heavier ones. After a while, though, this kind of exercise became too monotonous. Her next request was one that rather surprised the Healers: she asked for weapons of any kind, explaining that she would only use them for exercise and promising, when she noticed their worried reaction, that no one would get hurt.
Her request was easy to fulfil because, since the battle of Pellenor Fields, the Armoury was full of weapons belonging to no one – some had belonged to fallen men of Gondor, others to the enemy. So, the same day, two Guards arrived at the Houses of Healing with a large canvas sack full of weapons. They were not allowed to bring the weapons inside, but the Healers asked them to leave them in the garden for the Lady Eowyn.
That happened to be the same day Gimli decided to pay a visit to Eowyn. When he arrived, she had just emptied the sack of weapons onto the grass in the garden, and was sorting through them with a delighted expression, like a child who had received a big present.
"I hope you are feeling well, my lady," Gimli said.
Eowyn looked up from the pile of weapons she was inspecting and beamed when she saw him.
"Master Gimli! I am well, thank you. Both of my arms have healed. Besides, I have found more than health in the Houses of Healing -- I have found unexpected happiness." She smiled, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.
But then, in a very abrupt change of subject, she asked him:
"Do you know how to use a throwing-axe?"
"It is not my specialty, but I've been taught how to use one," Gimli said.
"Would you teach me?" Eowyn asked him. Noticing his surprise, she explained:
"I do not expect I will ever need to use it. Besides, I have decided I would rather heal wounds than inflict them in the future. But I have not fully regained the strength in my arms yet, and lifting weights bores me. Learning to use a new weapon would be much more satisfying, both for the mind and for the muscles."
"I would feel the same way, my lady," Gimli said.
Eowyn took a small axe made of dark steel from the pile and handed it to him.
Gimli examined the axe with disapproval. It was obviously an Orc weapon. The blade was sharp enough, but the craftsmanship was very bad: the shape was crude, with no sense of proportion and no respect for the natural beauty of metal.
"I hate to see you using a weapon such as this one, my lady," he said. "It is an Orc axe, and it is unworthy of being in your hands."
"It would not have considered itself unworthy of killing me, though, had it come my way in a battle," Eowyn said. Gimli had to admit that was true.
He looked around for a target suitable for axe-throwing. A large, broad oak tree was the first thing that caught his eye, but he remembered that the Healers probably wouldn't have approved of a living tree in their garden being used as a target. Even worse, he could imagine how shocked Legolas would have been if he learned that he even entertained the thought. There was a tree stump nearby, about as tall as Gimli’s chest -- definitely a much better choice.
Gimli positioned himself some ten steps from the target and said:
"So, this is how you have to stand, my lady -- firmly in place, with your weight on your right foot, your right arm bent, and holding the axe so that it's parallel to the forearm. Then you should swing your forearm back to gain momentum -- like this -- then forward, and let go."
The axe flew from his hand, made an elegant loop and ended up almost exactly in the centre of the top of the stump.
Eowyn was impressed.
"How did you make it fly in a loop?" she asked.
"You don't have to worry about the loop, my lady," Gimli said. "The axe will do that by itself if properly thrown."
Eowyn took the axe and repeated Gimli's movements as well as she could. It was a near miss, but after she repeated it a couple of times the axe landed in the stump. The two of them took turns throwing the axe, increasing the distance each time. Although Gimli was still more precise in his throwing, Eowyn didn't miss again.
After a while she asked Gimli:
"Are you bored of this, Master Gimli? Because I am, just a little bit, and I would like to exercise my left arm as well. There are a couple of swords among these weapons. Would you spar with me for a while?"
"It would be an honour, my lady!" Gimli said, and they took a sword each from the pile of weapons. Both swords were rather blunt and slightly too large for either of them. They stood facing one another and, after a polite bow, began their sparring match, holding their swords in both hands and fighting carefully, but deftly.
As usual, Faramir came to the Houses of Healing that afternoon. He met the Healer Ioreth at the door and said:
"I'm here to..."
"...to see the Lady Eowyn. I know," the healer said.
"Is she awake?"
"Yes, she is. You will find her in the gardens."
"In the gardens! Admiring the flowers, no doubt?"
"No, my lord," Ioreth said. "Having a sword fight with a dwarf."
Faramir shook his head in confusion, but he was smiling as he walked down the stone steps that led to the gardens. After all, he had known from the beginning that the lady he loved was unlike any other lady he had met.