As Long As We Both Shall Live
Summary: Sequel to (and set immediately after) Till Death Do Us Part. Centred on Marian, with whole gang featuring, as well as the Sheriff and Gisborne, and new characters. Contains major Series 2 spoilers.
Pairings: Robin & Marian, Will & Djaq (I'm only mentioning these two or I'll spoil it for you).
- DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS FOR SERIES 2 -
***
Chapter 1 – The Arms of an Angel
This is the sequel to Till Death Do Us Part, but can be read on its own as an alternate universe fic where Marian didn't die in the Holy Land and she, Will, Djaq and a new character called Nicholas have just returned to Nottinghamshire. It's best if you read my first fanfic though =D.
If you have read Till Death Do Us Part then this chapter follows on immediately afterwards; if not, then Robin and Marian have just been reunited.
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately I can't claim Robin Hood as my own – the programme belongs to the BBC. I own nothing to do with BBC Robin Hood, but I do own some characters (Nicholas and family, for example) and I would appreciate it if you do not steal them. If you do, I will be forced to hunt you down and punish you severely. As far as I know, I created the plot of this fanfic too.
***
Robin didn't notice the rain beating down against them as they held each other for the first time in months. Neither did he hear the roaring of the waterfall, nor feel the spray landing on their faces. He didn't notice the aroma of the wet forest as they breathed in the scent of each other. No thoughts for the waiting gang passed through his mind, only thoughts of here and now. They say time is the one true healer. When one is in the arms of an angel, time is frozen, and heaven comes alive.
It's good to dream. And when the dream does not force you to wake alone, without the one you love, then a dream will never be enough again.
Were she not in his arms, his hand over her heart, he would not believe it. Not even she could cheat death again. Not even an angel. But when angels cry, everything changes. Till Death Do Us Part. Not even death can stop love – it only postpones it.
***
"I do not understand this at all," admitted Robin. "I have dreamed ever since it happened, that you were still alive, but always woke to find my arms empty."
"It's good to dream," replied Marian, wrapping her arms even more tightly around him and resting her head on his shoulder as she exhaled deeply.
***
"Let's get you to the camp," said Robin. "You may not have noticed, but we are both soaked." Only now that he mentioned it, did Marian feel the icy chill of the rain. "Mind you, I must say I like your dress much better now," he added, after noticing its wet folds clinging to her figure. Marian rolled her eyes. This was Robin, back to his old self, and she would not have it any other way.
"I think we should go to Knighton first," she replied. "Will and Djaq are waiting."
"They're here too?" Robin was thrilled at the prospect of seeing them again.
"And I may have been gone too long for their liking," fretted Marian.
***
"Where is she?!" Djaq paused in her anxious pacing of the barn floor to direct her worried question at the other two. "I knew we should not have let her go alone! This was bound to happen!"
"We will wait a little longer before we go and look for her," stated Will. "Knowing Marian, she will not want to be disturbed when she is upset. If she is not back within ten minutes, then we will go after her." Will's calm voice did nothing to soothe Djaq's worries. A knock came at the door of the barn, and Will cautiously peered out through a crack between two of the planks of wood that made up the flimsy door. "Marian," he announced, his relief evident. He pulled back the wooden beam he had blocked the door off with, and opened the door to reveal, not one, but two people.
"Robin!" The two men embraced heartily and exchanged thumps on the back, before Djaq took her turn to embrace Robin, and then reprimand Marian.
"You were gone for ages! What happened? And how did you find Robin?"
"Waterfall… rain… roses," muttered Marian. It sounded like nonsense to Will and Djaq, so they dismissed it with raised eyebrows and exchanged a look that clearly showed they thought Marian had gone mad.
"Oh Robin, this is Nicholas Granger." Will indicated Nicholas who had, until then, been skulking in the shadows by the barn wall. "He fought in the King's Private Guard." Nicholas and Robin shook hands.
"I have heard much about you on the way here," said Nicholas. "And the King sends his regards."
"Nicholas has been our guide for the long journey here," added Djaq.
"So will you be returning to the Holy Land now?" asked Robin.
"I am now retired from my services in the Holy Land. I had hoped to be reunited with my family in Sussex, but I think I may be able to help you and your gang fight this Sheriff of Nottingham before I do so." Robin looked surprised; he had evidently not been expecting this.
"Our fight is dangerous…"
"More dangerous than fighting the Turk in the Holy Land? I think I can manage. Besides, my daughters would be proud if they could say their father fought with Robin Hood."
"You have children?" Now it was Marian's turn to be surprised; she had never thought to ask Nicholas about his family.
"Two daughters – Lauren and Megan. Lauren is now twenty-two and happily married, and Megan is seventeen."
"And your wife?" asked Will.
"My wife died in childbirth eight years ago. Megan lives with her sister and her brother-in-law."
"I am sorry," said Will. Nicholas smiled grimly.
"What about my suggestion? Will you have me in your gang?" Robin contemplated the matter.
"You have safely delivered my wife and friends back, so I trust you, and a new face is always an advantage against the Sheriff. Welcome to the gang."
***
"How exactly did you find Robin?" Djaq asked Marian as they followed him to the camp.
"I ran into him at my father's grave." Marian said no more and the subject was dropped, falling into an awkward silence until Will noted the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Why aren't we headed to the cave?" he asked Robin.
"Did you think we would stay there after half the Sheriff's men know where it is, thanks to Pitts?" Will, and the rest, had forgotten that the late physician had betrayed them and led the Sheriff to their doorstop.
"Where is your new camp then?"
"Ah…" Robin grinned mischievously. "That, my friend, is for me to know and for you to find out."
"We are going to find out in a few minutes anyway, so you may as well tell us now," replied Marian.
"Impatient are we?" mocked Robin.
After a few minutes they stopped at the foot of a rocky cliff-face, and Robin turned to face the others.
"Here we are," he announced. Will glanced at the empty surroundings, while Marian eyed Robin with suspicion.
"This is your new camp?" asked Djaq incredulously.
"Where is everyone?" inquired Will.
"Where is everything?" added Marian. "This is no camp."
"Actually, you may want to look up." Robin pointed above his head. Nestling among the middle branches of a large oak tree was a platform.
"That's it? It's tiny!" exclaimed Will.
"You cannot be serious," said Djaq. Robin raised one eyebrow, and produced the end of a rope ladder from behind a cluster of bushes. He gestured for them to climb up the ladder, which they then did so. The platform was only slightly larger than anticipated – about three paces across in either direction – but it still wasn't large enough to accommodate a camp. However from below, what they hadn't realised was that it connected to a network of sturdy branches, which formed a pathway into a tunnelled cave high in the cliff-face.
"How did you find this?" asked Will, stunned.
"We'd been using the top of the cliff for a look-out post, then we noticed the cave, and the branches that lead to it. All we had to do was build this platform, and make a rope ladder," explained Robin. He showed the others the rope hidden among slightly higher branches from the platform to the cave – a handhold along the precarious trail of boughs – and they made their way across the bridge.
The entrance to the cave, hidden from the ground, was only just high enough for a man to stand in – indeed, Little John would have to stoop rather uncomfortably – but was quite airy, not the musty enclosure Marian had imagined. As she followed Robin into the tunnel that extended from the entrance, she noticed the ceiling was getting higher, and the passage wider. Eventually it turned a sharp corner to the right, but before they continued, Robin signalled for them to wait.
"Marian, Nicholas – stay here. Will, Djaq – with me," he whispered.
"Why?" asked Marian.
"Think about how I took the news that you are alive. I want to break it to them gently so they don't react like I did." Marian nodded her head in contentment – she did not want to have to go through Robin's reaction again, and multiplied over. Robin, Will and Djaq padded softly round the corner of the cave. Marian snuck up as close as possible to the turn, in order to catch the conversation.
***
"Where have you been?" was Much's exclamation at Robin's appearance. "You should tell us before you go wandering off like that."
"Oh, will you shut up?" Allan's familiar groan.
"I went for a walk," said Robin simply, grinning from ear to ear.
"We know that is only a euphemism," stated Much. "Where have you really been?"
"Just leave it alright?" grumbled Allan, before turning to Robin. "Whoa Robin, you look like you're in a good mood," he stated. "I'm not being funny – you look better than you have done in ages." Much contemplated this.
"Actually master, you do look better. I haven't seen you this way since … well, since the Holy Land." Much didn't notice Allan and John's warning glares until it was too late. Much trailed off into silence. Robin took the rare opportunity.
"Will and Djaq have returned," he announced, to the delighted looks on the other three's faces.
"Master? Where are they then?"
"Not being funny, but didn't they decide to stay in the Holy Land."
"How do you know?" Robin raised his hands for silence.
"Right here." He gestured back to the shadows, where Will and Djaq had been hiding.
"Will! Djaq! What are you doing here?!" boomed Little John, as he smothered them both in a huge embrace.
"Thought you'd come back to sunny Sherwood, eh mate?" Allan clapped Will on the back, before receiving a kiss on the cheek and an elated beam from Djaq.
"And there's something else too," Robin hesitantly added. "Marian's alive." Three ecstatic faces dropped lower than the floor as they looked at Robin in pity.
"Robin…" began John gently. "I'm sorry, Marian died in the Holy Land. We were all there–"
"No," interrupted Robin. "We were wrong – she didn't die."
"Look, even though we never saw her buried," began Allan, "we all saw her die. Not even Marian's lucky enough to escape death twice."
"You have had another dream, haven't you?" Much stated. "Like you did when we were fighting in the war. I am sorry master, but Marian is not alive."
"I think you'll find she is," countered Will.
"Not you too…" Allan rolled his eyes. "Look mate, we all saw–"
"No…"
"There is no 'no', Robin. You cannot deny…"
"She is alive!" Djaq added her voice to the fray. "She has travelled with us for the last few months – do you think we have imagined that as well?"
"It is not possible–"
"Not probable," corrected Djaq. "Trust me, this is very possible, even if it is nothing short of a miracle."
"I do not believe even a miracle could bring someone back from the dead a second time," said Much.
"What would make you believe she is alive?" asked Robin.
"If I saw her with my own eyes," replied John.
"Very well…" Robin turned to the shadowy tunnel. "Marian!" he called. "Nicholas!"
"Wha–" Much was speechless as Marian entered the light of the chamber. John and Allan were similarly stunned.
"But that's…" "How…" "You're…" "Marian…?" "That's not…" – the three struggled incoherently to string a sentence together.
"I am definitely alive," Marian stated clearly. "Unless you think your minds are playing tricks on you all."
"Marian? How're you alive?" Allan was the first to utter a full phrase.
"I was very lucky," she shrugged.
"I'll say!" exclaimed Much, before rushing up to her and almost knocking her over in a hug. "You have no idea the torture we have been through with my master; he refused to do anything or even eat for such a long time, and then when he did finally do something he walked around like a silent ghost and made us all go mad!"
"It's good to see you too Much," laughed Marian.
"Don't ever get stabbed again," ordered Allan seriously, before beaming with exhilaration at the reunited gang, and stepping aside to let John welcome her back. He swept Marian into a huge bear hug, and she held tight to the gang member who had always been like a father figure to her.
"Welcome home," he said.
***
"Hemlock?! The Sheriff tried to poison you with hemlock?!" exclaimed Robin, outraged.
"I had tried to kill him…" Marian began to explain, but then Djaq continued with the recount of Marian's survival. Marian shut her mouth and let Djaq do the talking – she did know more about it after all, as she had spoken to the Saracen physician who had treated her.
"So it was just like last time?" hazarded Allan.
"Pretty much," agreed Will. "Throw in the Holy Land, a couple of roses, a locket, a Saracen father and daughter, King Richard, Nicholas and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and you've got it." At the mention of Queen Eleanor, Much jabbed John in the side with his elbow.
"How's it going the, Big Bear," he said, in a pathetic imitation of the Queen's regal manner. John hit his arms away, sank back against the wall, and exhaled deeply.
"So you and Marian are cousins?" Robin looked to Will for confirmation – he nodded. "And you and Djaq are engaged…" Djaq flushed a pretty hue of cherry-red as Will took her hand and showed the gang the engagement ring. "All I can say is it took you two long enough!"
"What about you and Marian?" objected Djaq. "It took you months to admit your feelings for each other, and it was only on her deathbed that you finally married! I think the two of you are worse than we are!"
"Well, they always knew it really," commented Allan. "He just took a damn long time to pop the question. And even then it wasn't in the most romantic place – surrounded by guards in a tree wasn't it?" Robin ignored Allen's jibes with a roll of the eyes, which only encouraged him further. "And getting married while at death's door wasn't so smart either. Honestly…"
"You? Honest?" Much interrupted with a snort. Allan glared at him.
"…I reckon out of all of us here, I have been the most truthful with my loves." The entire gang, including Nicholas, burst into laughter at this.
"You would declare your love to a tree if you thought you could gain something from it!" cried Will.
"Jealous of my many talents?" Allan asked jokingly.
"Not at all," said Robin. "In fact, I am surprised all your women haven't banded together yet and given you a thrashing to remember."
"What can I say? I'm good with girls."
Robin rubbed his forehead, making odd shadows appear on the wall behind him. The fire in the centre of the cavern was now subdued to little more than a handful of glowing embers, but the bright torches stationed around the vast space cast a warm, orange light around. Djaq instinctively snuggled up to Will, both of them ignoring the inappropriate and highly suggestive gestures and comments coming from Allan's direction - he had had rather a lot of ale over the past few minutes and was starting to slur his words as he spoke to Much.
"Not bein' funny but you'n me'n Niklas'n John're all on're lonesome now - Will's got Djaq, an' Robin's got Marian." He indicated the couples. Allan's words caused Robin to glance at his wife - she was fast asleep and clearly had been for some time. Robin, careful not to disturb her, hefted her off the ground and carried her to his one of the many small caverns that now served a separate 'rooms' of the camp. He gently placed her on his wooden bunk, and pulled a blanket over her sleeping frame, before kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight my love," he whispered, and then settled down to sleep on the floor, dreaming of raindrops on roses…
***
A virtual cookie for the first reviewer! Actually, a virtual cookie for all reviewers, but the biggest one in the world goes to the first to review. (I am hinting shamelessly here so please realise that before I completely dispose of my dignity.)
Hope you like the first chapter of this fic; please let me know what you think. To make things clear, I did actually come across a place with a bridge of branches like in this chapter, so it is perfectly possible. The whole reunion thing may seem a bit out of character – I have no idea how the rest of the gang would react to the news that Marian is alive so I've sort of strung a couple of sentences together in the hope that it works! Hopefully you all enjoy it. Please review.
I know I did promise that this chapter would be up in early September, but I kept on delaying it and delaying it due to my much increased work-load, but now I'm ill :( and have finally found time to post it, so here we are.
xxx Nia
P.S. I am still 6 away from my target of 100 reviews for Till Death Do Us Part – anyone who would help me achieve said target would be very much worshipped… by the virtual cookies =D
P.P.S Please note that this fanfic contains many references to its prequel - in order to understand them, you may need to read that first.