"Princess where are you?" Robin De Noir crept through the forest. He heard a giggle near by and a rustle of cloth and knew his Princess was near by. It had been a year since Maria had broken the curse that had plagued the valley and with in that year she had become his best friend. Today was a special day it was Maria's 14th birthday so here they where in the forest. He had asked Maria to meet him here because he had a present for her. Normally she would have come to the De Noir castle but the other boys close to her age had begun to finally notice that Maria was a girl, a very much available girl. That fact had begun to piss Robin off for some reason that he still couldn't figure out and so until he could he planned to keep his moon princess away from the castle.

And Maria would try and hit you again if she even knew you thought of her as your princess Robin shook the thought from his head with a smile.

"Princess?" he called out again and was answered with another giggle. At least it proved that Maria hadn't run off yet and was still in the area and was most likely very proud of her self for finding her hiding spot.

Silently Robin cursed himself for teaching her so well about moving around in the forest. Although it still made him smile at how much Maria had changed since coming to Moonacre especially since it still managed to make her governess Miss Heliotrope almost faint when she learned of Maria's many adventures in the forest. He did have to admit though that her abilities to hide from him might also have to do with the fact that since she was the moon princess and her magic had grown in the time she had been here to the point where most if not all the animals in the damn valley loved her and would try to help her in her endeavors.

Robin continued to look around the clearing hoping to find her hiding spot. "Princess if you don't come out now I won't give you your present."

Another giggle rang through the clearing as a ribbon fell in front of his face to the ground. Robin bent down to pick up the ribbon. It was blue just like the ribbon he had of hers from when she had escaped from the De Noir castle of course Maria didn't know he still owned that ribbon and that was another fact he didn't want her to know.

Realizing the ribbon had fallen from somewhere above him Robin looked up and wished he hadn't. There was Maria perched on a branch her dark blue dress draped around her. "Princess come down from there. Need I remind you that you and heights still have a bad history?" Which was true it would seem that no matter what his princess was doing if it involved her and heights she usually managed to fall off them still.

Robin looked at the tree and saw that even the lowest branch was to high for Maria to reach so he looked around again. Sure enough there was a deer buck grazing near by a testimony as to how she had managed to reach that branch. The buck was probably waiting for to see if Maria could get down from the tree before it left .

Hearing a rustle and scrapping of cloth against tree bark Robin looked up again to see Maria attempting to climb down it was in that second he realized her footing was wrong and his Princess was more or less likely about to take a tumble out of the tree.

Robin lunged as he watched Maria's foot slip and heard her yell of surprise. Suddenly he was on the ground holding an armful of rumpled princess who's eyes glowed with surprise and amusement.

"Now see here princess what would you have done if I hadn't been here?"

"Oh Birdboy I knew you would catch me you always do" Maria's voice sounded breathless but full of laughter.

Robin sighed and adjusted them so that he was sitting comfortable with Maria in his lap and his arms around her. It was a common way for them to sit that way when ever Robin had to catch her from falling because he needed that little bit of reassurance that she was unharmed. Maria use to this habit began to fiddle with the feathers around his neck a habit of her own that she had developed in the past year

Leaning against the tree that Maria had just fallen out of Robin let out a sigh. "Here, it's not much but I got you a little something for your birthday. Wanted to give it to you before the party tonight. He reached into his jacket and pulled out long thin box with a crumpled blue bow on top.

Maria smiled as she took the box and opened it " Oh Robin it's beautiful" She picked up the hairclip inside the box attached to it was three strands ; one strand was thin leather with feathers just like Robins attached to the end , the next was a thin chain with bells attached along its length that let off a soft chime as the piece moved, and the last strand was a blue ribbon with pearls evenly spaced on it.

"Glad you like it Princess"

"I love it" Maria said with a grin before placing a light kiss on his cheek.

Robin froze and could feel his face warm up. " I didn't know if the pearls where too much but since you threw your other pearls back into the ocean. The feathers are actually from the same bird as mine . thought you might like 'em cause you are always playing with my feathers and..." Robin realized he was starting to ramble and quickly shut his mouth as he watched Maria let her hair down and attached the clip before weaving it into a braid with her fiery locks.

"And? Robin are you okay?" Maria tilted to her head to the side with a curious look on her face as she tied of her braid making sure not to ruin the feathers at the end while the bells and pearls where evenly distributed in her hair.

" Yea I'm fine Princess"

"uh huh. so why the bells?" Maria shifted slightly and resumed playing with Robins own feathers as she patiently waited for him to answer.

"what about bells?"

"Well Birdboy you explained the feathers and the pearls so why did you think bells would be a good idea?"

Robin blushed slightly as he cleared his throat. " So that I could always find you. The bells actually have a unique ring to them no other bells can make that particular sound so if I hear it I will always be there for you."

Robin watched as a light blush stained Maria's face and she began to pay even more attention to the feathers around his neck then ever before. The only problem was that every time she did play with his feathers it made him want to kiss her for some reason and that was a fact he always tried to hide from her by trying to limit the amount of time she could play with them. Carefully Robin placed his hands around Marias and slowly removed her hands from the feathers "Enough of that Maria lets get you back home so you can get ready for your party. Loveday will never forgive me if she can't dress you up like she always does."

Robin shifted and attempted to remove Maria from his lap so they could both stand but his princess was resisting the movement. "Robin do you not like me playing with your feathers? "

"Hmmm?"

" You heard me Robin De Noir I will not repeat myself!"

Robin winced at that tone in her voice it meant Maria was feeling grumpy and working her way up to angry with him which usually ended with her stomping away and him having a bruised shin because it was her preferred spot to kick.

"It's not that I don't like it Maria" He knew better to call her princess when she was getting riled up that also usually ended up with a bruised shin " It's just... I don't know how to explain it" He knew exactly how to explain it but he just didn't want to. The risk of Maria not wanting him around if she found out that he thought about her in a non friend kind of way was to high. "It makes me...want to have a certain ... reaction...and well... I don't know..."

Maria perked up knowing she was close to getting an answer as she slipped one of her hands away from his and lightly stroked one of the feathers around his neck. " What kind of reaction Robin?"

Robin looked at Maria her eyes full of curiosity as she gently stroked the feathers he always wore. He always dreaded the day that this conversation would happen Maria's curiosity would be the death of him and he knew she would let it go until she had an answer. He looked up and away from the girl in his lap regretting that it was him that had put her there in the first place but he could still feel the gentle tugs around his neck as she continued to play with the feathers.

Finally Robin decided that this would probably be his only chance to do the one thing he had been wanting to do since Maria had jumped off the cliff to get rid of the moon pearls. He gently cupped the back of her head in one hand as his other arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her into a kiss that he knew could ruin the friendship that they had built in the last year. He felt Maria stiffen and heard her sharp intake of breath in surprise or shock at his action but he couldn't stop himself.

His princess tasted of strawberries and vanilla and the scent of her clouded his judgment. She was as soft and sweet as he thought she would be and he wanted to savor the feeling of his lips pressed against hers because he was convinced that once he broke the contact Maria would never want to see him again.

He felt her shift and prepared to have her push away only to be shocked as her arms wrapped around his neck and as she returned the kiss. Robin knew that he had to stop this before he took things to far so he gently released Maria and leaned away from her.

Maria was face was flushed and her eyes bright with surprise. Slowly she unwrapped her arms from around Robins neck and raised a hand to her lips as if she couldn't believe what just happened. "Well then."

Robin let his hands drop to the ground waiting to see how Maria would react. Her hand dropped from her lips and she planted a light kiss on his lips before pushing away from him and getting up. The kiss itself was not enough for him to get another taste of her but it reassured him that he had a chance. "Maria... I..." Robin struggled to find the right words to say not wanting to scare her away but wanting her to know that this wasn't just a fleeting thing.

"We'll talk about it later Robin" Maria looked at him with a smile on her lips. " After my birthday we can talk about it" He watched as Maria walked off in the direction of the manor. Still unsure of what to do he watched Maria walk away. Suddenly she turned and looked at him " You better come to my party Birdboy." She smiled at him once again before she continued to walk away.

Robin watched her until she was out of sight before he smiled and made his way back to the De Noir castle to get ready for the party tonight.