Hi guys, this is just a quick oneshot I suddenly,insanely felt like writing at 12 in the morning. So sorry for any sleepy mistakes.
Just a quick oneshot about the nigths Djaq spends by herself when she cannot sleep. Involves her thoughts on most of the gang and is rather shipping Will and Djaq. Set sometime after Allan has betrayed them and Marian is still within the castle.
Enjoy! Please review. :)
Djaq sat staring at the blazing, orange fire. She rarely got alone time to sit and contemplate her vast thoughts silently. Evening had come quick on the cold, December Tuesday, snow was threatening to fall and she felt no warmth from her lone bunk, choosing the wooden stool closest to the flames she placed herself in front of the strong heat, wrapping the thickest blanket she had been provided around her slim shoulders. She realised long after everyone had taken their leave to the land of dreams that she was certainly not gaining any sleep that night, shivering back to harsh reality every time she had barely crossed the sleepy boundary.
As she sat breathing in the woody aroma of smoke and burning wood she turned her thoughts to the sleeping men about her. Her large, brown eyes drifted self-consciously to the tossing and turning form that was Robin Hood. She watched his sharp and sudden movements slow over a few long minutes and wondered with anxious interest about the images his mind was conjuring up from the depths of his war memory. She too had experienced the death and grief that the Holy Land and its pitiless crusade had to offer. Being a physician however; she had not had to face walking out everyday knowing that the violent death of many would soon be on your hands, but Djaq had killed in self defence plenty of times. She had learnt to push them to the back of her mind once the death of her brother had caused her to rethink her entire identity. To survive within the vicious war she had to grow strength many believed a woman would never be able to harbour and in performing this sudden transformation brought her twin brother back to life. Yet, she had done it and it had brought her to the strange, green world that was Sherwood Forest. Her mind wandered back to Robin and watched as his breathing slowed to a normal rate and his eye lids failed to flicker anymore. He was at peace.
Moving her enticing gaze across the sweep of the beautifully built camp she allowed a small giggle to escape her dry lips as Much mumbled in his sleep. Did he ever stop? In her eyes he needed a chance to switch off, calm down and relax his mind as well as his…over indulged body. She often wondered why he never seemed to dream so harshly of the crusades but, come to the satisfying conclusion that the present problems and worries the gang of outlaws faced, that only he seemed to consciously express, were his main priority. She replayed the fond memories of the many mornings and evenings herself, Will, Robin and Little John has laughed and teased Much over his cooking and had enjoyed the light banter that made their long, tiring days bearable. She contemplated that maybe one day soon she should in fact apologise to Much, after all he did look after Robin with overwhelming care and supply a Mother figure to the band of roughish children that ran about the forest robbing the rich and giving to the poor.
Djaq's memory was interrupted by the strong snorting noises escaping from Little Johns strong body. It had taken her time to get use to the grand snores he created each night, but in time they came to sooth her to sleep almost as a lullaby would sooth a baby. He had become the father figure she often needed to keep her sane, warm jesters such as the quick squeezing of her shoulder when she was feeling low and exhausted from so much fighting with the Sheriffs guards or, a slanted smile when one of the gang ignored her or, generally just annoyed her cheered her spirits greatly. She was thankful to him and appreciated the great sacrifice he had made in running to the forest and leaving a family he so longed to be with behind.
At that moment she felt a calm breeze make its way through camp as she felt a flake of snow pitch on top of her small nose and she swiped it off before tightening the rough blanket around her newly womanised frame. She thought Much had told Will about the hole in the roof, but clearly she was mistaken.
Will.
Djaq's eyes drifted heavily towards the elongated, skinny figure that curled itself up across the fire from her. She smiled contently to herself as she watched the sleeping creature let out a rather happy sigh and cuddle itself up to the small brown blanket that shielded Will from the bitter air. She had never meant to fall for the handsome, young carpenter, but she had. She clearly recalled their first meeting and the suspicion the boy had felt standing so close to her and her fellow slaves. From the moment she had lit the fire for him their relationship had started to form. Djaq often recited information she was enchanted by or, showed Will how to do useful things she had learnt during her life in the Holy Land and in return he always always appreciated her and showed a keen interest in her words and actions. When Djaq had first arrived in England, she had been pent up with anger from the scenes she'd witnessed in the crusades and the abuse she was then enduring, being tied to an unstable jail that rolled along shamefully. However, Will's eyes alone had pulled her close to him with their intense and passionate agenda. The eyes were the window to the soul and Will's never let him guard his emotions easily, portraying everything he was experiencing to the world, or her atleast. Somehow, Djaq was unsure exactly how, Will had calmed her personality and brought out the woman she thought she had lost forever, Safiya. His touch was enough to send her off with a smile as wide as a Childs upon her tanned face and she never took the moments they had spent wandering through the forest together for granted. It was what she had often thought about on a night like the one she was now enduring, easing her off into a deep and meaningful sleep.
What she hadn't realised was that Will had rolled over and awoken to Djaq's dreamy gaze upon him. She turned her face back towards the now dwindling fire as a sweet, pink blush formed on the skin of her cheeks. She presumed he had been watching her for quite sometime and probably assumed she was insane, just watching him from across the empty void.
'Djaq?' A quiet voice peeped out.
'Yes?'
'Why are you not asleep?'
She contemplated the answer for a few seconds, the coldness, her buzzing brain, the dreams she was too afraid to dream?
A fiercer gush of wind pierced her skin and she shook at its sharpness. Without thinking she rose to her feet and paced silently to Will's bed, sitting on the floor beside it. She didn't know why but, she felt a sudden erg to be close to him. Pulling her blanket up to her neck and bending her legs beneath it Djaq, laid her small head against the wooden edge and reached her hand up and under Will's cover to gently squeeze his warm hand.
Will was a little mesmerized at the barrier Djaq had lowered within in the dark confines and soon found himself weaving his free hand gently through her dark, black hair, soothing her enough that her eyes closed and her tensed face relaxed finally into sleep. She did not need to say anything and would never wonder why the night softly whispered to her to reveal her true thoughts and ideas, but it was a relief that she could share them with someone as they sat in complete silence lulling each other into a harmonious state. Djaq knew one day they'd admit the reason they were so close but, for now it was not needed and in the presence of the gang she finally felt like she was home.