Chapter Three ~ Robin's Surprise

A plate of biscuits and a glass of milk. Marmaduke's usual morning gesture was sat in it's usual spot on my bedside table. The sun shone through my small window and across the room, brightening everything. I sat up and went about getting myself ready for the day ahead of me.

Loveday had got an emerald blue dress out for me and draped it over my small chair, ready for me to wear. I had gotten used to wearing the dresses Loveday picked out for me. I had grown to love them and even prefer them to my outrageous collection of city dresses.

I ate breakfast in a hurry, devouring my porridge in little time. I bid farewell to Uncle, Loveday and Mrs Heliotrope for the day and informed them I would be back for dinner. Loveday gave me a sly smile before I left and Uncle told me to go pick up some food Marmaduke had prepared for me to take with me on my outing so I wouldn't go hungry.

"Here you are, Miss Maria." Marmaduke handed me a woven basket. "I have prepared a selection of food for you and Master Robin. I hope it will suffice."

"Don't worry, Marmaduke." I smiled, peeking into the basket. "Your cooking hasn't failed before and I strongly doubt it will today." He smiled at me.

"Have fun, Miss Maria." I waved goodbye and left the tiny kitchen and down the stairs. As I passed the living room, Wrolfe jumped up from his spot by Uncle's feet and bounded towards me.

"I'm going out, Wrolfe." I told him, stroking his black silky mane. It was easy enough for me to get used to Wrolfe being a lion. Mrs Heliotrope was quite the opposite. She was terrified of him and if he came near her she would go into fits of shrieks. Digweed was usually called to her side to 'protect' her when this happened. Surprisingly this brought Mrs Heliotrope and Digweed closer.

"I don't think he wants you to leave." Loveday said. I sighed.

"I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Why don't you take him with you?" Uncle suggested. "It'll give us some peace from Mrs Heliotrope's constant fear of him."

"You want to come with me, Wrolfe?" I asked. The lion grumbled deeply and I assumed it meant 'yes'. "Come on then." He leapt towards the door and down the steps. I ran after him.

Together we headed through the forest. Wrolfe kept by my side and I thought he was listening as I rambled on absently as we walked. We were heading to the place where Robin and I usually met when we spent the day together. It was the area where I had trapped Robin, hanging him upside down by his feet. We had decided it would be easier to meet there because it was one of the few places I remembered the route to.

We came out into the small clearing and I saw that Robin wasn't here yet.

"We must be early, Wrolfe." I muttered, setting the basket down on the ground then perching on the fallen log. Wrolfe wandered around the small area, sniffing and gazing around it. Whilst waiting, I looked in the basket again, examining the contents with more detail. Marmaduke was right, there was a selection of food. There was sandwiches, cakes, pies, fruits, biscuits, bread, pastries and a few different choices of drinks. I chuckled lightly.

"Marmaduke doesn't half treat us well, Wrolfe." I smiled. Then there was a sound of a twig snapping. I glanced around and saw Robin making his way towards me.

"Good morning, princess." He smiled. "You weren't waiting long were you?"

"Just got here." He stopped in front of me and crouched down, eyes on the basket.

"You've brought a picnic?" He asked, looking up at me. His face was soft though his eyebrow was raised in a mocking fashion.

"Marmaduke insisted I take it." I shrugged. He grinned and stood up, picking up the basket.

"Come on then, princess."

"Where we going?" I frowned. He turned back to me.

"Just a place I thought you'd like to see." He smiled mischievously. I stood up slowly and glanced around for Wrolfe. "You lost something?"

"Wrolfe was just here."

"You brought the mutt with you too?"

"He's not a 'mutt'." I snapped, hitting him lightly on his arm. He merely laughed and glanced around for Wrolfe.

"I'm sure he won't have gone too far." Robin reassured.

"Wrolfe!" I called out. There was brief silence then the sound of rushing feet. Wrolfe dived into the clearing and straight towards us. Robin jumped back as the lion ran up to him.

"Maria?" Robin asked warily as Wrolfe nudged his side with his nose.

"He wants you to stroke him."

"I'm sorry, this is the same creature that hates my guts? Am I not correct?"

"Don't be smug." I retorted. "Anyway he likes you now." Robin raised his eyebrows at me. "You helped me out and plus you're not as much of a jerk than you used to be." I grinned at him. His eyes narrowed slightly then glanced down at Wrolfe. With a shaky hand Robin reached out to pet Wrolfe's head. I watched as Robin's hands mingled in with Wrolfe's thin fur and as the lion nudged his head against Robin's side again. "He likes you." I said again simply.

"Thank God for that." Robin muttered, now using both his hands to stroke Wrolfe. "I was afraid he would eat me."

"Don't worry, if that happened, I'm sure you wouldn't be missed." I teased. He sent an angry look my way but then laughed lightly.

"We better get going, princess." He held out his arm, that wasn't holding the basket, towards me in a gesture for me to take it. I smiled at him and obliged. Together, with Wrolfe leading the way, we voyaged deeper into the forest.

The journey was longer than I thought. Robin wouldn't give any hints either on where we were going, no matter how much I begged for him to tell me.

As we wandered through the forest, I realised that we were heading quite deep in and I was beginning to get wary.

"Robin," I said, for the Lord knows how many times.

"Hmm?" He was quite abit in front of me and was eager to get to whatever he wanted to show me. Which just made me ponder more on what he was getting so excited about. Wrolfe trotted beside me, though I could also tell he would of much of preferred to of bounded after Robin and lead the way himself.

"Where are we going?" I heard a chuckle.

"You have a serious problem with waiting, princess."

"That's because you're not telling me anything!" I saw Robin stop and turn to face me, waiting for Wrolfe and I to catch up. "Are we here?" I asked, glancing around. There was nothing special nearby. He smiled.

"Not yet." He shook his head. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Trust me. Just close them." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Please." I smiled and did as he ordered.

"There's a flaw in your plan, Master De Noir." I muttered.

"Oh?"

"Now I'm just going to walk into trees." There was a pause and another chuckle from Robin.

"You're not the brightest spark, are you, princess?" I felt him grab hold of my hand with his own and began to lead me. His hand was surprisingly soft, considering all the manual labour he did for his father. I felt exceptionally relaxed with him holding my hand.

"Is it far?" I asked quietly. After I said it, I tripped over my feet and I quickly grabbed onto Robin before I fell on my face. The familiar sound of a laugh came from Robin.

"Steady now, the grounds quite rough around here." He replied, rubbing his thumb softly on that back of my hand.

"You didn't answer my question." I pointed out. My ears began to adjust to the sounds around me and I thought I heard the sound of rushing water, though I could have been mistaken.

"We're here." He confirmed after a brief period of walking in silence. We came to a halt and the sound of water was now quite intense. Was there water in the forest? I hadn't seen any during outings through the trees with Robin. Though we hadn't come this far out before.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"In a second." He took hold of my shoulders and turned me to the right slightly. "What can you hear?" He murmured, his face very close to mine that I could feel his breath on my face.

"Water."

"Well done."

"Can I open my eyes now?" Robin's hands disappeared and I heard his footsteps walk around me.

"Open them." His voice said from behind me. I did as he asked.

What struck me first was the vast amounts of glistening crystal as my eyes adjusted from being blurry after being closed for a long time. I then realised I was correct. It was water. We had come out into a clearing in the forest. A magnificent waterfall stood proud and tall with clear blue gushing over the top and spilling out into a shallow pool below. The sun shone down on it, reflecting on the top of the water, sending light everywhere. The pool was a near perfect circle, almost as if a person had made it, and from what I could see, was quite deep. The rocky surrounding of it carried on all the way around and I saw that it went on under the waterfall itself, maybe even making a secluded area under it. A shallow river lead off from the pool and carried on down the clearing and out of sight.

It was a breath-taking sight to see. I was speechless.

Robin appeared to the right of me, and I saw he was watching me. Probably waiting for my reaction. My face had frozen though so I didn't allow my shock to show.

"Do you like it?" He asked, warily. I let out a breathily laugh.

"Robin, this place is amazing." I cried. A smile appeared on his face.

"Thank the Lord." He muttered. "Shall we go explore?" He offered his hand to me, which I gladly took, and lead me towards this mythical waterfall. Wrolfe ran ahead of us and towards the pool, where he began to lap up the water with his abnormally large tongue.

We spent most of the day there, which was fun. We sat by the side of the pool, eating the food Marmaduke had prepared for us, enjoying each other's company. Wrolfe somehow ended up in the pool and splashed about in an odd fashion, seeming to be enjoying himself.

"Uncle's going to kill me when I take Wrolfe home." I muttered, watching the black lion in the pool. Robin laughed.

"It's only a bit of water."

"Yes but Uncle would not be wanting a soaking wet lion inside his house now, would he?" I raised a challenging eyebrow at him, which he just shrugged in response to. Then a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"What about a soaking wet niece?" He asked innocently. It didn't register immediately but when it did I narrowed my eyes at the De Noir boy.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Would I not?" He jumped to his feet. With a squeal I did too and without a pause I began to run. The chase was very short. I had forgotten about Robin's speed. He soon enough caught up with me and grabbed me around the waist then lifted me into the air. I giggled and screamed.

"Robin, please don't!" I cried as he carried me towards the edge of the pool.

"Don't worry, princess." He laughed. "It's only a bit of water."

"Robin! This is a new dress! Now put me down!" I said firmly. He seemed to sense the tone in my voice and dropped me immediately. I spun around to face him and punched him in the chest, though I could tell I hadn't done much damage. "Don't do that again." I glared at him. His grin faded and he backed away slightly.

"Calm down, Maria. It was only a joke." He muttered quietly, eyebrows creasing together. Then I let a grin break out across my face and I pushed Robin back towards the pool, catching him off guard. He fell back and landed with a splash. Wrolfe paused to watch. When Robin immerged he started coughing and spluttering.

"You're a little bit wet there, Robin." I laughed. He glanced up at me and started laughing.

"You got me there, princess." He muttered, climbing out of the pool, water dripping from him. His normally curly hair was now soaked and stuck to his head. "Now I think I deserve a big hug now." He said, arms open. I shook my head.

"I think not, bird boy." I grinned. "Like I said, this is a new dress." There was a moments pause before he jumped on me and, like before, grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up. I giggled and shrieked again, but I didn't struggle this time. After a while of playing around and chasing each other, we both collapsed back onto the ground, laughing.

"I think it's time I took you home now." Robin said finally. I nodded. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay out with Robin very long otherwise Uncle and Mrs Heliotrope would not be best pleased and the latter would probably have a fit.

We walked home, Wrolfe trailing behind seemingly content with himself. I felt slightly guilty for not paying too much attention to the black lion. Though Wrolfe didn't show that he cared, he seemed pretty happy to be out of house.

The Merryweather house came into view and we entered through the gates. As soon as we were a few steps in, Wrolfe broke out into a run and headed towards the house.

"He's a bit eager." Robin noted. We got to the steps, where Loveday appeared.

"Brother." She smiled. "I hope you have taken best care of our Maria."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Robin grinned. Loveday took the basket Robin was holding, took a sneak peak and smiled at us both.

"You ate it all."

"We were hungry." I shrugged. "Plus Wrolfe did end up running off with half the sandwiches."

"I can imagine." Loveday nodded. "Will you be joining us for dinner, baby brother?" I looked up at Robin, hoping he would say yes. Though he gave me a sad smile and shook his head.

"Father is expecting me back." He replied.

"Okay, well another time then." Loveday nodded. "Maria, you look exhausted. I'll have Digweed prepare you a warm bath and lay out a new dress." I rolled my eyes at Robin, who just grinned.

"You mother me too much, Loveday." I muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow, Robin?"

"It's highly likely." Robin smiled. He took my hand and kissed it lightly before bidding goodbye to us both and heading towards the forest and to the long walk home. I watched him leave, my mood going down as he disappeared between the trees.

"Don't you dare say anything." I warned, feeling Loveday's eyes on me. I turned to face her and sure enough she was watching me, smiling.

"The sooner you admit it, the easier everything will be." She sang. I watched her for a few seconds before shaking my head.

"Where's this warm bath you've been talking about?" I grinned. She sighed, giving in, and we both headed inside.

(A/N) Okay the waterfall idea may seem a little far fetched. I mean... a waterfall in a forest. Please please please forgive me if you think it's a foolish idea, though I just thought it was quite a good idea, despite the randomness!

I decided to update sooner than I normally would as I probably won't be near the internet any time this weekend. Off to see Harry Potter, like the crazed girl fan I am. So whilst I'm absent, I hope you will enjoy this new chapter to the story. :)

Please Review.

-jemlou-