WOOHOO! OVER THE 10,000 WORD MARK! BOOYAH!
Ahem, sorry for the long wait between updates again as well as a cheesy chapter title! Just got back from school and I an now free to write for you again! Basically, this chapter is taking a more shippy approach to this (hopefully) action packed fic. We all need a shippy break once in a while so this chapter will act help ease me back into the gist of updating. I am so sorry for the sappiness of this chapter, some words of advice from you could help me no end.
There will be Will/Djaq and Robin/Marian so everyone wins! (Apart from Allan/Djaq, Guy/Maz and Much/Eve shippers. Sorry guys! I was originally going to have Much in there dreaming about Eve but there wasn't enough to go on in Series 1 and I just couldn't get it right. Hope that doesn't annoy too many of you)
This is my first proper attempt at Robin/Marian so be gentle! Constructive criticism can help me improve however so bring it on!
Disclaimer: Robin Hood isn't mine. If it was then Jonas and Lucy wouldn't be leaving the show.
Much: Now then guys I know this is a shippy chapter and we're all back together again, could we please keep the "honey" levels down tonight. Some people are sleepy!
John: MUCH!
Allan: For God's sake! Use some tact man!
Much: All I'm saying is-
Everyone: MUCH! SHUT UP!
Me: SILENCE! I'm trying to write!
Outlaw's Camp
Dusk had now fallen upon the Forest which had then swiftly turned into pitch darkness, cut through with such mind-numbing cold that none of the Sheriffs men could patrol the forest, no matter how much the Sheriff would scream and shout at them so the Outlaws could make safe use of a fire without the risk being spotted.
"It is agreed then" announced Robin to the gathered Outlaws "Will, John, Tuck and Djaq shall go on the food drops in the villages whilst the rest of us and help in Nottingham as well as see what else we can find out about the Sheriff's plans"
After Tuck and the others had returned from Nottingham, the Outlaws had talked well into the night about the recent changes orchestrated by the Sheriff. They hadn't been able to tell much from their foray into Nottingham but judging by the increase in the strength of the local garrison as well as the introduction of harsher laws upon the peasants meant that the Sheriff was up to something big.
Robin and Marian
Robin watched his gang secretly from a dark corner of the Camp, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his raised hood. He watched as one-by-one, the various outlaws settled in for the night.
Much climbed into his "hidey hole" in his kitchen where he liked to sleep which was basically a pile of old blankets and warm furs. Soon, the sound of the sighing wind in the boughs of the trees above them and the rustle of dead leaves in the breeze was joined buy Much's soft snoring. He always was a deep sleeper.
One by one, the Outlaws slinked into their bunks, eager to escape the bitter chill of the night save for two of them, staring at each other hungrily. The man's face is hidden in shadow save for his eyes which glisten in the dying light of the fire. The woman looks back at him like a cat readying itself for a long overdue meal, both of their hearts ache for each other when they are apart. They wish for nothing more than to bond their souls together as one and make the world whole again. They stayed like this for an indeterminable amount of time. Was it minutes or hours until the others surely fell asleep? To both, it felt like hours.
Marian watched her husband from her hammock but made no attempt to hide it.
Husband
She had been rolling the word around inside her head for the past few months now just as she had done with the ring on her finger and yet she hadn't really fully taken it in yet. To her, saying "I am Robin Hood's wife" is more or less saying "I am alive."
Robin broke the tension first. He winked at her, flashed a grin which never failed to melt her heart and nodded at the Camp door.
Unnoticed by the others, Nightwatchman and Champion of the Poor slipped out into the darkness, hands clasped together.
They barely made it over the nearest hill when they launched themselves at each other and hungrily started kissing each other fiercely as though it was their lifeline. Each kiss mingled into the next as their hunger for each other took hold as wandering hands fuelled the spreading wildfire. Robin still couldn't take it in.
She wasn't dead. She's alive.
He felt like smiling now but his heart was too full for that. When they paused for breath in between exhilarating kisses, Robin would drink in her features hungrily, hardly daring to blink. He could spend a life with her again and the ice around his heart could thaw in the fires of their passion. Half-whispered, half-unspoken pledges of love passed between them as they paused momentarily to adjust themselves and to catch their breaths. Any longer and they would have suffocated.
"I love you Robin" breathed Marian in the twilight, her angelic smile warming his heart again. As they leaned in for another infinite kiss, Robin found himself thanking whichever God was up there for sparing her.
Will and Djaq
Djaq watched Robin and Marian leave the Camp from the darkness of her bunk. She could practically feel the tension of anticipation between them so thick that it could be cut with a knife.
As they slinked out of the camp to perform whatever new depravities they had come up with somewhere in the Forest, Djaq shivered in the cold. Despite living in England for over a year, Djaq still found the English winter a harsh and terribly alien experience for her. The way the cold air bit her tanned cheeks like a blade would always affect her even more than the others. She couldn't shake the heat of the desert out of her spirit, no matter how hard she tried. It brought her a little closer to Bassam.
Shivering and deciding that she needed to be warmed up, Djaq slid out of her bunk and quietly flitted across the Camp, blanket in hand towards the object of her desires. The man who had restored her womanhood, stolen her heart and made her believe in love again.
Djaq froze as she trod on something soft on the floor of the Camp. It was Allan and thankfully he was still asleep. Djaq was about to step over him when he shifted and mumbled something in his sleep. "Hide in the barn, he's coming" he mumbled as though to a lover. Djaq had to jam her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Allan as usual was dreaming of village girls and the subsequent affairs.
Carefully, as not to risk waking anyone else, Djaq slipped into Will's bunk and held him close to her. Already, she could feel his warmth seeping through her veins. They had done this before in the winter months running up to the Sheriff's attempt to kill the King but they couldn't find quiet comfort in each other's embrace in Acre as they used to. The rules and etiquette of love in the Muslim world had to be observed at all times. They had to sleep in separate rooms in Bassam's palace and visitors from her old life would constantly visit her during the day which limited their contact to the odd lingering glance or two or the odd embrace which earned filthy looks from the townspeople. Soon, the whole community knew that the Pigeon Handler's adopted niece was cavorting with an Englishman. The virtue of Bassam's high birth and good standing with Saladin had provided some protection from the people's ire but the pressure was too much for the fledgling couple to carry on in the Holy Land.
"Mmnph" he mumbled sleepily as he turned to face her, an adorable smile on his face which made her want to kiss him straight away. Tapping into untold levels of self control which she had never had to use before, she disobeyed her primary instinct to snog him there and then and buried herself deeper in his arms and sighing contently.
After a few moments, she felt him shift slightly and felt him kiss the top of her head. It was such a little gesture but it filled her heart with joy. Will had grown more confident around Djaq after they had declared their feelings for each other a couple of months ago. He still quietly loved and respected her as he had always done but he no longer seemed terrified of her whenever she so much as cast a glance at him. Grinning in the darkness she leaned close to him and kissed him with as much tenderness and passion as she could muster, her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands at her waist, the small of her back and tangled in her hair.
They had done this before but tonight felt different. For the first time since returning to England and indeed since arriving in the Holy land, they could have themselves to themselves and rediscover each other.
"Djaq" breathed Will breathlessly as they paused for a breather.
"Hmmm" she said to show that she was listening.
"Marry me" he whispered "Not like we tried in Acre but properly. Here in the Forest. You and me" Her mouth worked soundlessly, trying to form words. She could only say one answer to this man, this wonderful man who had lit a bright candle in the vast night of her war-torn soul.
She had just enough time to say a giddy and heartfelt "yes!" before launching herself at him again.
Well folks there you have it, my contribution to the Christmas Postathon. I hope that was shippy enough for you and that I got it right. Constructively criticise if there were flaws.
If you leave a review then Allan might "hide in the barn" with you as an early Christmas gift if you ask nicely. Click away me hearties!
Merry Christmas!
The Santa-Hat-Wearing-Spirit (Seriously! The whole Will/Djaq bit had me in a Santa hat!