From this day forth by Rosa17

Missing scene S2 E7

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

They rode in silence the horse paced at a gentle trot. Every now and then he let go of the reins with one hand and placed it over hers with a gentle squeeze. He could hear her crying and sniffing quietly onto his back and wished with all his heart that today could have turned out differently. It could have been so very different if Edward has escaped from the castle with them. Then he, Robin would only have had to gone back for Marian, Edward would still be alive and Marian would not be heartbroken. He let out a deep sigh as they reached the cover of the trees and took her deeper into the forest making for the camp but not directly so. He needed time to compose himself and more importantly so did she.

Robin brought the horse to a standstill and dismounted. Marian frowned at him but slid into his arms when he held them out to her, asking questions by expression alone and he replied in the same way. He backed her up against a tree trunk, she leant against it for support her legs still felt wobbly and it was all she could do to hang onto the remaining threads of her self control.

"We are going back to the camp and I thought perhaps you would not want….I thought perhaps you would not want to break down in front of all of the gang, John of York and Beatrice who I am supposed to be uniting in matrimony." He told her softly, running his fingers down the side of her face and catching a tear or two along the way.

She bit back the tears as he rubbed tender circles on her shoulder with his thumb, feeling her pain and wanting so very much to eradicate it forever. Tears filled his own eyes as he recalled Edward dying in his arms and his vision blurred as he remembered times gone past when he was still a boy and had turned to Edward for advice.

Marian, sense returning to her momentarily noticed that he had stopped his comforting ministrations with his thumb and she cradled his head between her hands, forcing him to look at her.

He smiled a sad smile which did not meet his eyes and uttered, "I was just remembering him, the good times before all of this begun and you know he gave his life for me, for England, even if you fought before he died, he knew you loved him……and he would want you to continue the fight, that he, despite everything believed in, just like we believe in it."

Marian nodded as her hands dropped to rest upon his arms and the tears slowly began to trickle down her face again. Sniffing loudly he pulled her back into his embrace whispering soft and tender endearments until she was still and wept no more. They stood there together in the depths of the forest. The birds singing in the trees above as the couple below mourned a man one had loved very much and the other had respected.

Finally he wrapped his arm about her shoulders taking the horse's reins with his free hand and walked towards the camp, stopping at a brook and bent down to rinse his face, she did likewise. He swung back into the saddle offering her his hand to hoist her back up beside him where she had always been destined to be.

The gang greeted them with sombre expressions and one by one they all gave Marian a hug of condolence. The wedding ceremony then began, all the gang happy for the couple before them, John and Beatrice. But they were filled with heavy hearts for the loss of a friend and a comrade to their cause.

"From this day forth we will be together." John told his bride kissing her before they prepared to leave.

Robin looked at Marian who was snuggled into the haven of his embrace and whispered softly to her, "That goes for us too."

Marian looked up at him, grief still etched in every portion of her body and replied, "From this day forth you and I?"

Robin nodded, not knowing what the future beheld but with the knowledge that she would be safe forever in his heart.

The End.