End of forever.
Pairing: RobinandMaria.
Oh, and this is a curious mix of film and book, though most likely more of the first then the latter.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the love story which will forever be theirs; I merely dabble within the possibilities.
It's not about fate or destiny, (it's never been about any of that) or the way that she's ordained to be a shining beacon of hope and humility and beauty for countless future generations and he's nothing but the De Noir boy who helped her on her quest to save the valley. It's about the fact (and this is what it's always been about) that he's prepared to do anything for her, he'll live, breathe, even die for her, because wherever she is, is exactly where he wants to be.
It's been five years to the day since she jumped off of that cliff and he never ceases to remember the way that his heart clenched inside his chest or the way that the fear froze the very blood in his veins.
He watched her fall (and fall and fall as if her death/his torture would carry on forever) and he remembers the feeling of helplessness and terror (and though he'll never admit it, he still has nightmares) at not being able to save her (for her own bravery). And so he swore, from the moment that the starlit little white horse brought Maria back to him from the very depths of the ocean herself that he would be the one to protect her (even if she didn't need his protection).
From his oath onwards, his life has been a wondrous tempest of her, and he can't remember ever being happier, because when she smiles and laughs at him in that way that she does, he feels as if he can do anything, as if the world is theirs to shape as they so will it (and for so long now in his head it's always been them in his future, because the very idea of living without her brightness in his life doesn't seem like living at all).
Because every happy memory he has, has her in it, from dancing in the rain atop of paradise hill, to watching the sunset and the moon rise, from Merryweather Bay with Maria leaning lightly against his shoulder for comfort and his feathered hat upon her head.
And at twenty-one years old, you would have thought that he'd have grown out of fiction and fairytales and immaturity, (that they both would have) but when they're together, every day is so much like a Once Upon a Time, that to give it all up would be like giving themselves up (because they're as important to one another as two people can possibly be).
And at eighteen you would have thought that she would have grown out of the ability to make him listen to her simply by asking for his ear or that he would have become invulnerable to her charms but you'd be wrong (oh-so-wrong). Because now, all it takes is a look to have him off on another adventure with her, acting the silent hero, ever-alert in case she needs protecting (and though she'll never say it aloud, she's well-aware of the fact that she doesn't need protecting – but only because he is always by her side).
And though essentially they are still the same as they were that fateful year that Maria's father passed away, when she was but thirteen and he sixteen, many things have changed, including the dismissal of their pride, and her vanity and his constraints on his own emotions (as well as the blackness that had been creeping its way into his heart). And the change in them both (but particularly Maria) has been almost a reflection of the valley, because every day the skies grow bluer then sapphires and wildlife and flowers paint every corner of their magical world with a kaleidoscope of colours so magnificent that they pale only in comparison to her. Because if she was beautiful when they were younger, then now she is every magnificent thing under the sun (and moon) and more.
(And Robin cannot bear the thought of existing without her).
Since the breaking of the curse, they have been inseparable, to the point where he walks her home every evening after hours of laughing and teasing and playing (and so many more perfect things – they are the best of friends after-all), and though leaving her is the hardest part of his day, he does so because he cannot bear to be without the image of her ivory skin glimmering like polished silver, her red hair crimson against the endless night sky and the way that she just seems to glow with moonbeams and starshine as she smiles (that heart-breaking smile that leaves him breathless) and looks at him with those curious silvery-grey eyes of hers and asks him to meet her tomorrow.
And the act of this confuses him so, because surely she must know that she need never ask anything of him, and if it were not for the fear that seems to creep into her eyes at the end of every day (because she's terrified that one day he simply won't come back) he would believe her to be teasing him, but for that reason he knows (like he always does) that she is being sincere and he does what he always does, whispers his affirmation into her ear through the curls of her hair, brushes a kiss against her pale knuckles and leaves, but not quickly enough to miss the stars that dance in her eyes nor the way that she shines with happiness. And though leaving her is the hardest part of his day, he does so in the knowledge that she is waiting for him and that is enough to keep him breathing until just after dawn the next day.
But he has begun to see the way that Miss Heliotrope's eyes have begun to darken with something similar to concern with regards to the time they spend together, and Loveday has been smiling that knowing smile that only a woman can seem to manage, for so long now that he begins to fear that she knew what had been happening long before he had even begun to contemplate the thought himself. And though relations between the De Noir's and the Merryweather household have finally fallen into harmonious peace, his father still remains seemingly ignorant of his growing ideas about the future and of Robin himself (because he can't seem to shed himself of his father's disappointment, no matter what he says).
But somehow, as important as it all should be, it isn't because she (Maria) is all the possibilities that he needs, and it's reaching the point where he's coming to realise that he needs to gather his courage and jump (just like she did) or else he could risk losing her forever to some man who will never love her like he will.
And that's how he finds himself once more on the cliff at Merryweather Bay at moonrise with Maria safely by his side and he suddenly thinks that maybe this is perfection (and a thing that might be love) and he inconspicuously plucks a small bunch of pretty blue flowers from where they grow on the rock face and gently fits them behind her ear, thoughtlessly allowing his fingers to run through her blazing locks as he pulls away. She turns to him wearing that smiles that he likes oh-so-much and looks carefully at the blooms behind her ear.
"Forget-me-nots?" she says to him and he can't help the upwards tugging of the corners of his lips at the irony of his choice and because she's still looking at him (really looking - as if she can see all of him there is to see) he nods.
"You always seem to worry that I'll forget you overnight," he answers and on seeing the lovely blush that floods across her moonlight skin he can't help thinking how beautiful she looks (just like every day, but more so because that blush is there because of him), "but you seem to be ignoring the most important thing."
Her eyes are curious then, and she opens her pale pinks lips as if to ask him but he cuts her off before she can speak, "You don't quite seem to have realised that I cannot forget you. You've been burned so deeply into my memory that even a wish from the Moon Pearls couldn't remove the remembrance of you so deeply enthralled with your magic am I".
He's silent for a moment afterwards, fearful of what he has said and what it will mean for them, but he need not worry for there is an emotion akin to pleasure glowing upon her face and Robin cannot help the ecstasy that fills him.
"I'm yours you know," and he almost whispers the words for the power of them, "I think I have been since the moment you hung me from that tree. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you Maria, nothing I wouldn't give up or claim for you and – "
Her fingers on his lips cut him off and he stops in surprise when he sees the sparkles dangerously close to falling from her eyes, "Listen to me Robin, and promise me you'll listen. I ask for nothing of you. Nothing left behind or claimed for my sake, and I never would or will. All I would ask for is you, and that would always be enough for me, just you."
He's wide-eyed at her words and the tears that are rolling down her cheeks, and so with rough thumbs he wipes the tears ever-so-softly away and kisses her lips in a movement so fleetingly perfect and chaste that the air around them is electric and he smiles at her so brilliantly that he can (finally) see how utterly lost in him she is.
"You've had me since the beginning Maria, nothing will ever change that, and it will be you and me and the moon and stars until the end of everything," and she laughs and smiles and cries at his words because this is everything that she's wished for and more and everything is finally perfect in their magical starbright kaleidoscope world.
"Because I'm going to love you until the end of forever princess."
And she has no doubt that he will (she never did).