What's this?? I'm updating a story and its not saturday or sunday?? has the world ended? nope...its true and its friday...now the idea was to get this out during the week but i kept writing little bits of it every day so maybe you can see where i stop and start again (hopefully not) just rewatched episode 9 of season 3 and i really really really hate kate!! when she kisses robin i screamed at the televison set with the thought that they could hear me...but no...shout out to Liisa for you amaizng vid "breathe" and your new vid about Robin hood...love that one nearly cried shout out to Gizzysgirl who deserves much more than a shout out...(your story is coming and your stories are amazing!!!! lily/guy hehee)

Disclaimer: this morning i tripped and cut my knee...i own that cut...that blood from that cut...and that knee..but not my beloved Robin Hood BBC...sniff

Chapter Two: Questions, Questions

Isabella grumbled as she made her way through the twisting turning path of Sherwood Forest. Surely this could not be the home of the most wanted outlaw in all of Nottinghamshire. At least, this could not ever be the home of Isabella of Gisborne.

The tortured woman smiled as she thought of her pervious life, her previous name. Now that she was away from her abusive husband for more than five minutes she could reflect on life before Martin. It had been boundless pleasure compared to the hell she had endured after the marriage vows, and certainly after the marriage bed.

The girl with the long flowing locks of brown hair and a ripped dress had been so contented as a child. She shook her head as a tear fled from her cheek. She resolved not to dwell on the past with such envy and regret. She should be thankful that her husband had willingly released her, even though she was to be bait for an outlaw.

And that seemed odd to Isabella as well…the very prospect that she could tempt an outlaw out of hiding or whatever her husband had in mind, was ridiculous. And as she dwelt on the idiocy of her situation she also thought of the girl whom she knew Robin Hood had given his whole hear to.

The minstrels whispered of a beautiful girl named Maid Marian with eyes of deep blue and hair like that of chocolate. Isabella pulled a twig from her hair and cursed under her breath.

What makes her so perfect?

What Isabella did not know was how close she was to the outlaw camp at that moment as she trudged through the forest without any direction. But, what she had not counted on was that someone was leaving that camp. Someone who had had enough of unrequited love…

Allan-a-dale had packed his belonging and was leaving the gang for good.

Here were the facts: he was sick and tired of loving Meg from afar.

Earlier that day the gang were unpacking and settling into the camp. Will went to work building additional space for all the newcomers. He worked on a bed for Stephan, a little crib for Clara, and a bed for Guy and Meg. He was assisted by Allan and John, who were not as good with wood as Will, but still they were good with their hands. Allan had volunteered to build Stephan's bed, as he could not construct a delicate contraption as the crib, nor did he have the stomach to build a bed for Guy and Meg to share.

Meanwhile, everyone else was making new arrows, bows, hunting for food, or breastfeeding. Actually, to be more specific, only one was breastfeeding—Marian. As she fed Clara she could not help feel a pang of guilt upon watching her loving husband carve his arrows. She ought to be helping him, but there were other duties to occupy her time. Though Marian knew, had spent time reassuring herself that Robin did not hold animosity for the child who was not his own…she still worried.

Marian looked down at Clara happily eating her breakfast.

One day, thought Marian kissing the child's forehead, one day you will grow up and, I think, look very much like your father.

Clara's father was, at the moment hunting for food with Stephan who had not chosen the job. He was not good with his hands and could not construct the homes. He had no talent for making weapons and therefore could not assist his brother. Guy had decided to take the priest under his wing and teach him how to hunt. Stephan made Guy promise that they would only hunt humanly. Guy begrudgingly had promised this to the man who had annulled his marriage. He was not still sore about the annulment; at least he did not think so.

He felt an arm wrap around his own and looked down at Meg.

Yes, Meg had decided to join the boys in their hunting expedition. Guy had tried to make her stay with the girls but Meg would not listen.

Guy smiled at his feisty girl. She was so much like Marian…

"So," asked Stephan nervously swinging the bow he held, "what now?"

Guy bent down on his knees and everyone else joined him. He looked at the tracks on the ground and judged the distance between them and the animal. "We are close."

"I love it when you talk hunting," whispered Meg mischievously in her lover's ear.

Guy chuckled and urged his two companions to follow silently.

As the three unlikely friends stalked after their prey, Much was ignoring his work, and Robin's command for the first time in years. Instead of helping Robin and Djaq make weapons Much was rubbing his hand on Eve's stomach. He was hoping that he would feel his child's kick. So far he felt nothing.

Eve was comforting him. "Much," she said sweetly, "I told you, he is too young to start kicking."

Much was resolved to feel something. Suddenly his eyes widened and he gasped. "I felt something!"

His love shook her head. "Much, that was me, I'm starving."

Her love blushed. "Oh, right, of course."

So everyone was at some activity that required their attention. Everyone except the one person who needed to keep his mind distracted—Allan. As he worked on Stephan's bed his hands shook. He had to keep himself from looking over at John's work on Guy and Meg's bed. But it began to torment him to a greater extreme. He thought about what the two of them would do in that bed his best friend now created. He thought of the sweat and screams and groans that would issue from that bed…and he could not get his mind to focus on anything else.

He dropped his tools suddenly and stood up. No one else paid him any mind; if they did, they only gave the troubled man a passing look of small curiosity. He walked towards John and bent down next to him.

"I need to leave for a while, will you cover for me?"

John looked at his friend, his brother, and his newly adopted son. He did not speak but merely nodded.

"I'm going to pack my belongings and leave immediately."

John turned back to his work. "Where will you go?"

Allan shrugged and stood up straight. "I need to cool my head for some time. I'm not sure where I'll go though."

The giant of the forest, the man of a few words, suddenly had to hold back a tear from escaping. He bit his lip. "You are leaving because of her." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"I will miss you my son."

Allan wrapped his arms around the giant's neck in a meaningful embrace. "Please, don't tell the others until you must."

He stood up and began to discreetly pack his belongings.

Now he found himself walking through the dense forests he had called home. But, while Meg was living there, he could not call it so any longer. Allan took a deep breath and sighed. This was not the way things were supposed to go, or to happen. When they returned from France things were supposed to be sorted, to be right. Nothing seemed right! There were too many people in the gang now, and Allan did not think anyone would be missing him too soon.

Except for John.

Allan almost stopped walking upon that truthful reflection. Indeed, John, if no one else, would probably miss Allan as Allan would miss him. But he hoped that John would understand and break the news to everyone else calmly and discreetly.

And while Allan moved farther and farther away from his gang, his friends, and his home, there was another drifter who was making her way closer and closer to him.

By this time, Isabella felt that her hair was filled with branches and leaves. She felt that she had muddy shoes and scratches on her arms and legs. The day was beginning to darken and she hugged herself to keep herself warm. Without warning she let out a groan. The groan was her sign of protest and indignation at this insipid unsuccessful journey. Soon she would not be able to see and then she would have to make her way back home. Back to Nottingham castle, back to the sheriff, back to her husband…

The groan turned into a scream at this thought, at this unbearable thought.

That scream was heard by Allan. He stopped walking and listened to the echoing cry which seemed to resonate throughout the entire forest. It also chilled Allan's skin and he drew his sword. After leaving the gang, he promised himself that he would never go towards sounds of distress. But, well, he was still in the forest. That should technically still count right?

He moved closer to the noise with his sword out and ready for anything.

What he found in a little clearing was something that totally took him back…

He saw a girl, a woman, standing in the middle of the clearing, hugging herself and shaking. She seemed to have been walking for a long time and most of the forest looked like it was in her hair. Allan had to hide a smile at the sight of her. But, he admitted, she was quite beautiful despite the mess that was her long brown hair. She looked rich, which was a cruel thing to say but true. She wore a beautiful gown of red and the sleeves of the gown were definitely golden thread. She wore jewelry too. Obviously she had not begun this day with the intent of trekking through the forests of Sherwood.

Yet here she was, trekking away. And she had groaned, she had screamed, this was something she clearly did not want to do.

Allan had two options at his disposal. The first option he had was that he could just keep walking and forget about the pretty, yet strange girl in the forest who obviously did not belong. Or, the second option was that he could find out who this girl was and why she was walking through his forest. Of course that option meant that he had to involve himself in another person's life, he had to be a good person and do for others again.

Allan took another look at the girl who seemed so lost and confused…

He bit his lip and emerged from the forest.

Apparently his determined face and the sword in his hand sent a certain message to the girl and her eyes widened. However Allan expected that she would run away, instead she took a dagger from the folds of her dress and pointed it at Allan.

"Don't come any closer!" she said angrily.

Allan chuckled. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl cocked her head to the side. "Why are you holding a sword then?"

"What sword?" Allan asked mischievously.

The girl rolled her eyes.

Allan looked at the sword in his hand. "Oh, you mean this thing?"

The woman nodded.

"Well," said Allan with a grin, "I need to use it."

"I thought you said you weren't going to hurt me."

Allan nodded. "But what if I put down my sword and you attack me with your dagger?"

The girl raised a brow. "What dagger?"

Allan smiled and shook his head.

She gasped and looked at her dagger. "Oh, you mean this thing?"

Isabella smiled at this stranger. True, he had startled her which was a grave offense as far as she was concerned, but he was funny. It had been a long time since she had smiled so much in one period of time. Her marriage had been filled without light, without happiness, without laughter. And she had changed as a result of being kept in such darkness. She had grown bitter, she had grown cynical, she could have rivaled Guy with her blank stare.

And now…now she found herself smiling at the kind stranger who found her in the forest.

Wait a minute.

Isabella's eyes widened.

"What's the matter now?" asked her smiling stranger.

Isabella bit her lip. She was beginning to sort a couple of things out in her mind, things that she wished she was not sorting.

He's armed, he's daring, maybe a little good-looking…and he's in the forest.

Could this be Robin Hood?

Maybe he does not live in the forest, maybe he's just wandering through it lost like you.

But one look at the stranger's clothes definitely suggested otherwise. There was absolutely no way that he lived anywhere but a forest.

This mean I need to…to charm…that shouldn't be too difficult.

Isabella smiled at the man. "Nothing. I'm fine."

But she was anything but fine. She was, in fact, quite the opposite of fine. She had found her prisoner that she would need to seduce and capture. Not only was she unsure how to go about doing this but, well, the truth was…she did not want to harm this man and what he stood for. When he had been just a name, it would have been easier to do this deed. But now, now she had seen the face of the legend, she had seen the face of the man, she had seen the face of Robin of Locksley.

What Isabella did not realize was that she was looking into the face of a man who was not Robin of Locksley, nor was he Robin Hood. He was Allan-a-dale and he was sort of charmed by the strange girl who seldom smiled.

"Are you lost?" he asked her.

She bit her lip. "Yes."

"Do you want help going back home? I could take you to Nottingham myself."

The girl put her hands on her hips. "What makes you think I live in Nottingham?"

Allan gestured to the woman's clothing. "I don't expect that kind of style at Clun or Nettlestone village."

She looked down at her dress. "Oh, oh…"

Allan shrugged. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Isabella raised a brow. There was something strange going on. She knew what this legend was capable of. And if he knew that she was not poor but rich then—

"Aren't you going to rob me or something?" Isabella asked with confusion.

He chuckled. "Why would I do that?"

"I'm rich," said Isabella.

He shrugged. "And I'm poor, what of it?"

Isabella raised a brow. "But you're him aren't you?"

"Who am I?"

"You're Robin Hood aren't you?"

And while Allan looked at the woman with confusion and a reply at the tip of his tongue there was another man, a little ways away, who also needed to choose his words carefully in his reply to the girl he loved.

Guy was staring down at Meg lost for a reply. He, Meg, and Stephan had been hunting deer but Stephan needed to stop to relieve himself so Meg and Guy waited for his return. They looked at each other with silence, reflecting on all that had happened, and all they had seen.

Meg was giving Guy a funny look that made Guy shiver and smile.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her.

She smiled up at him. "It's funny," she said.

"What is?"

"How a girl can love a man so much and yet know practically nothing about him."

Guy smiled. "You want to know more about me?"

Meg nodded.

Guy shrugged. "There's not much to know, certainly nothing worth mentioning that shows me in a gentle light."

Meg kissed his lips. "I know you've done evil things Guy that is not what I mean. I want to know who you are, your past Guy."

"My past?" repeated her lover and her friend.

"We all have a past Guy," said Meg. "You already know everything about me. You know about my abandoning mother, caring father, lack of siblings…"

Guy nodded. "I remember the night we met."

"Well, I want to know about your mother, father, brother and sisters."

Guy bit his lip. There were secrets he kept from the world. There were secrets he shared only with God and that no mortal man knew of. There were grandfathers who looked down on him with shame. There were parents who fought constantly and nearly killed Guy with their hatred. And there was a sister, a sister he had not seen since he was sixteen and left France for good. There was s sister who had meant the world to him who he had abandoned and sold for a good price. Yes, there was a sibling, there was a sister.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters Guy?" Meg asked cheerfully in the dwindling light of the day.

And in another part of the forest the girl who was the answer to Meg's question was looking up at a man who she believed to be the legend of Sherwood.

"You're Robin Hood aren't you?"

As the two men stared at the women with unanswerable questions, their brains raced with remedies to the questions. Perhaps the answers would not be filled with absolute truth, perhaps there would be trickles of lies hidden in the truth. And maybe there would be the whole truth in their answers. Whatever the men answered they would have to answer the questions soon before the daylight was completely enthralled and consumed by the vicious night.

WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN???? omgosh how are our boys going to get out of this one?? find out next time....