Title: A Legend Never Dies

Author: Jammeke

Rating: K

Summary: Robin lifted his eyes to look at her. "They think I am a fox," he said slowly. "They think you played badminton with chickens. How can I be happy?"

Disclaimer: I don't own Robin Hood. Never have, never will. Meh.

Author's Note: I'm sure I'm not the only one who watched Disney's Robin Hood when I was younger. . . And I'm sure I'm not the only one who loved that silly, love struck fox. Right? Right?

A Legend Never Dies

"Mommy, I want to watch Robin Hood! Please, can I?"

"Honey, don't you think it's time to watch another Disney video? Your brother bought you dozens of other videos as well."

"I want Robin Hood!"

oOo

Robin frowned down at the little girl. She couldn't be much older than nine, could she? Her affections were flattering, interesting. . . and slightly disturbing.

Marian placed her hand on his arm. "Robin, what are you looking at?"

Robin didn't react to her touch at first, but then he reached out and used his fingers to widen the small hole he'd made in the soft structure of the cloud they were sitting on. He wriggled his thumb and index finger around for a while, smiling when the hole was big enough to look through it together.

Marian peeked down at the little girl and her mother, giving Robin a confused look when nothing interesting happened. "What is there to see?" she asked.

Robin shook his head to silence her. "Just watch," he whispered.

oOo

"He's so cute," the little girl cried excitedly, clapping her hands and hopping up and down. "Look at his muzzle!"

"I really don't see the attraction," her mother said, shaking her head at her youngest daughter.

"I love him!"

oOo

"Who is she looking at?" Marian asked, lifting her gaze to look at Robin.

Robin bit his lip. "Me," he answered, refusing to meet his wife's gaze. Then, as an afterthought, "Did she really just use the word muzzle?"

"Well, she is only. . . eight years old," Marian estimated, looking back down again. "Are you sure she is looking at you? How is that possible?"

Robin made a proud sound. "Apparently, they have made a video in my honour."

Marian lifted an eyebrow. "They did?"

"Yes." Robin shook his head solemnly. "I almost wished they had not. Now girls all over the world are falling for me."

oOo

"It's over."

"Good. Turn it off."

"No, mommy, I want to watch it again."

"I've seen enough of that fox's face for today, honey. Go play outside."

"No, I want to watch Robin Hood again."

oOo

"She has taken quite a liking to me," Robin said softly, tilting his head to the side. "But her mother does not seem to be fond of me."

"I wonder why," Marian wondered, studying the girl's mother, deciding she looked friendly enough. "Maybe she is a noble?"

"That is a possibility," Robin allowed, making the hole even bigger with his hands. "Do you wish to go down and take a closer look?"

"What?" Marian cried. "We can not!"

"Oh, come on. . . what do you think they will do? Send us to hell?" Robin laughed. "We are much too good for that. Now, come on. I want to see my video." He jumped through the hole in the cloud, spread his arms and descended to Earth with a wide grin on his boyish features.

Marian sighed, rolled her eyes, and jumped after him.

oOo

"I think you need to press 'play'," Marian whispered, looking over her husband's shoulder.

"Surely not," Robin said, holding the remote control upside down. "That would be too obvious. It can not be legal to watch an outlaw's video. There must be more to it. Maybe it has a double bottom." He shook the remote control, and smiled when he heard something rattle. "There you go."

Marian looked over her shoulder. "Robin, the inhabitants of this manor can not be far off," she whispered urgently. "You must hurry. We can not be seen."

"The little girl loves me," Robin pointed out, examining the remote control for hidden openings. "She would not betray us. Ah." They heard a soft click when he moved the small latch to the side. Two small cylinder-shaped objects fell out of the black box, and Marian and Robin exchanged a confused look.

"This," Robin said, through clenched teeth, "I do not understand."

oOo

"What are you doing?"

They both spun around, staring at the little girl who'd walked into the room without them noticing. Her face was flushed red and her hands were balled into fists. If she was scared, she didn't show it.

"Er. . . We are – I mean, I am Robin Hood," Robin said, giving the girl what he hoped was a reassuring – and somewhat dazzling – smile.

The girl shook her head. "You are not Robin Hood. You are a thief! Mummy!"

"It is alright," Marian said, quickly stepping forward, wondering why the little one had not recognized Robin's face, since she'd appeared to be so smitten with her husband earlier. "We are not here to hurt you. We just want to watch the video."

"Yes," Robin added, pointing at the screen behind them. "We would like to watch the video your mother does not wish you to see. Surely you would like to see it as well?"

The girl seemed torn for a moment, but then she walked over to Robin and snatched the remote control from his grip. "You broke it!" she gasped.

"I did not," Robin said, defensively. "I was merely trying to make it work."

The little girl sank through her knees to pick up the cylinders that had fallen to the ground. "It is alright. I can fix it," she said softly. She placed the small objects back inside the box and closed it. "I hope the batteries will still work," she said with a concerned edge to her voice.

"I'm sure they will," Marian said, having no idea what the girl was referring to.

oOo

The screen sprang to life.

Robin and Marian immediately took a step backwards; afraid something would leap out of it. They had both heard about and witnessed the workings of television before, but they had never seen a television device up close, and it was a little overwhelming for them.

"Look," the girl whispered, pointing at the hooded figure on the big square screen.

Robin stared at the figure. That wasn't him. That was. . .

"A fox?" Marian appeared to be equally confused.

"Yeah, Robin Hood is a fox," the little girl told them, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Didn't you know? Where have you been?"

"That," Marian said, giving Robin a look, "We can not say."

The girl wasn't listening to her. "Isn't he cute!" she cried, pointing at the fox-figure. "I love him so much. He has the sweetest eyes in the world. And look at his tail! Isn't he wonderful?"

Robin inadvertently dropped a hand to his behind, just to make sure he did not, in fact, have a tail. His hand came back empty, and he released a relieved sigh.

"He is. . . most cute," Marian said, trying not to laugh.

oOo

"That was a waste of time," Robin said, the moment they arrived back in Heaven.

"I thought it was an enlightening experience," Marian said, fixing him with an amused glare.

"They have no idea who I am anymore," Robin said angrily, stamping at the nearest cloud and cursing in three different languages when his foot went right through it. "My legend has been destroyed."

"No, it has not," Marian said kindly, taking a step closer to him. "The. . . fox did very nice things, did he not? He saved his people and stole money from the Sheriff."

"He was cooking!" Robin cried. "And he wasn't even good at it! The idiotic animal burnt the food." He shook his head. "Where was Much anyway? Now everyone will think I did all the housekeeping."

"I am sure the viewers will not give your. . . cooking abilities much thought," Marian assured him. "Robin, can you not be glad that the people still know who you are? It is as Tuck said; your Legend will never die. You've survived nearly a thousand years in the hearts of the people. You should be happy."

Robin lifted his eyes to look at her. "They think I am a fox," he said slowly. "They think you played badminton with chickens. How can I be happy?"

"Robin. . ."

"All my hard work, all my efforts. . ." Robin sank down to his knees and put his head in his hands. "For nothing."

oOo

"Mommy, I want to watch it again."

"No. Enough is enough. If you must watch a video, you can watch Shrek. That video's a thousand times better than Robin Hood."

"No! I do not want to. . . I wish to. . . Hey!"

"What is it?"

"Look. A wooden tag. How did it get here? What does it mean?"

"I don't know. Get rid of it. And turn off the TV."

"Yes, mother."

oOo

"What do you want to watch?"

"I want to watch Shrek," Robin said, balancing on the edge of the cloud they were sitting on. "What?" he asked, seeing Marian's confused look.

"What is a Shrek?"

"I do not know. But I wish to find out. I wish to find out more about the person who created my video. And I might learn more if I watch more of his work."

For the second time that day, Robin drifted down to Earth, followed closely by his wife.

oOo

"It appears to be a green headed monster," Marian said, several minutes later.

"I wonder. . ." Robin said, staring at the screen, remembering his own video. "Would that green. . . thing be anyone we know?"

Marian was silent for a few minutes. "I do not know. He does not look like anyone I have heard of."

Robin snorted. "Did the fox look like me to you?"

Marian didn't answer.

Robin's head snapped to the side. "No. No. Marian, please tell me you didn't actually think that animal resemb–"

"Robin," Marian cut him off, giving him a stern look. "Let's watch the video, shall we?"

Robin shook his head and focused his attention on the screen.

At least he, Robin, hadn't been green.

Thank God for small mercies.

~fin~