I don't own the characters. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!
The next few days went very similar to that day. Robin would help her mom out in the morning and by noon she would be over at Alice's. She greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Most of the day was spent talking and exploring the woods around her house.
Today, Robin woke up and waited anxiously for Killian to arrive with his letter. She was chopping wood for her mother when she heard the front gate open. Her smile widened when she saw Nook walking in with a letter in his hand. She immediately stopped what she was doing and grabbed her bow and quiver. Running towards the new guest she yelled back to the side of the house where her mother was pulling sheets off a clothes line.
"Nook's here! I'm heading to Alice's! See you later!"
Killian holds up the letter with one hand. Robin runs past him, grabbing the letter mid stride, and continues running through gate on the trail that leads to her crush's house. She doesn't even slow down to close the gate, and doesn't look back. Killian shakes his head and chuckles as he starts walking towards the house where Zelena is standing, staring in the direction her love struck daughter just ran off to.
"Eager isn't she?"
Zelena shakes her head, "I wish she would be that eager to build the barn, but at this point I'll take what I can get." Killian just chuckles in response.
"So besides using my daughter as a letter delivery service, what brings you by?"
Killian pretends to be offended, "Can't future in-laws just spend time together?"
"We're not in-laws yet pirate." Zelena jokes. They both smile at each other, happy that their relationship has come this far. Through all of the curses and fighting and heartache this realm has seen, young love and families merging is a breath of fresh air.
"Aye. I did hear some talk about a couple of new arrivals to the town."
"Should we be worried?"
"Not sure yet. They keep to themselves. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."
"Thanks. I'll let Robin know to keep an eye out." Killian nods his head in affirmation and responds, "I wrote to Alice about it as well. They're strong girls. Let's hope their love isn't tested yet."
"Nook's here! I'm heading to Alice's! See ya later!" She grabs the letter and keeps running. She runs until she can't quite catch her breath anymore. She knew she wasn't going to be able to run the whole way to Alice's, but she saw the dark clouds gathering and wanted to try to make it to the cabin before a downpour happened. The path to the cabin was mostly dirt, which means when it rains, she's walking through mud. Deep, sticky mud that slows her down. She only gets a few minutes of walking in before she hears the thunder. She looks up and the rain begins to fall. Large droplets covering her from head to toe. She sighs, tucks the letter in her cloak, and takes off towards her destination.
Alice arose late that morning and immediately smiled. She's been doing that more often lately. She's always been an optimistic person, but ever since Robin came into her life, it's like she has a new reason to smile. She gets out of bed and stretches her arms above her head as she closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath in and smells the familiar scent of rain. Opening her front door she can see the dark sky looming above her. A storm is definitely moving in and it's moving in soon.
She walks back to her cabin and sits outside on the porch. Alice loves the rain. When she was in the tower after her Papa's heart was poisoned, it was one of the only times where something besides her voice made a sound. She would stay up all night just so she could listen to the water hitting trees outside. Thunder was a welcomed crescendo to the normal silence of the night. Today, however, she would not welcome the rain as she did in the past. This was the first time it rained since Robin began her visits, and Alice feared today would be the first day she wouldn't see her archer.
She sat in her chair on the porch as the rain began to fall. Her hopes of seeing Robin falling with it. Just as she was about to call it a day, a movement along Robin Road (the name she gave the pathway that Robin always took to visit her) catches her eye. Through the woods and into the clearing she sees the hooded figure bounding through the forest. She smiles when she realizes exactly who it is.
Robin takes off in a sprint to get through the opening in the woods outside of the cabin. With no canopy cover, she gets hit directly with the rain that has seemed to pick up in the last few minutes of her journey. She makes it to the cabin and takes the stairs two at a time, ending up right in front of Alice. She lifts her hood as she tries to catch her breath. She sees the blonde with a huge smile and she knows her journey was worth it.
"I didn't think you would come!"
"Of course I came. I had to give you this." She holds up the letter from Killian. Alice's smile doesn't change. She's happy to receive a letter from her Papa, but she was hoping Robin came for her company as well.
She takes the letter from Robin's hand, "Thank you."
Robin keeps her eyes on Alice and with a small grin still on her face she eases Alice's fears, "And I had to see you. I missed you." This got the reaction Robin was hoping for.
Alice grinned from ear to ear and jumped into Robin's arms. "I missed you too, Nobin."
"I told you to stop calling me that." Robin joked. Alice quickly let go of Robin and with a sudden worried look on her face she demanded Robin go inside and get warm in front of the fire. Robin definitely wasn't going to argue with that as she was cold and tired from her journey.
Robin walks inside first with Alice following closely behind. The archer takes off her cloak and hangs it on the hook they installed together. Alice takes a few blankets and puts them on the floor in front of the fire. Both women sit on the blanket facing each other. Robin realizes the way they're sitting and makes a joke about how last time they were in this position they were locked in a cage.
They talk for a few minutes about how quick the storm came and how crazy Robin is for trying to beat it here on foot. They spend a good hour just chatting and laughing, learning about the younger versions of each other. Alice wasn't surprised when Robin told her how much she loved just jumping into puddles as a kid and how mad it would make her mother. During a silence in their conversation, Robin glanced over at Alice's wrist and saw the bracelet she had given her, still tightly wrapped and secured. She reached over began to play with the threads the formed the knot on the inside.
"You still have this." Alice smiled and responded, "It's my favorite thing to wear."
This made Robin look up. When she did, she saw blue eyes staring right at her. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. It was the same feeling as the first night they met. They were in the conjured, yellow bug and Robin knew she had fallen for the crazy tower girl. She almost kissed her that night. She regretted not doing so for the longest time. Now, she's looking at this amazing woman in front of her and she's frozen. The seconds seem like hours, and she doesn't know what to do. She panics and quickly drops Alice's hand.
Standing up as quick as she can, she finally finds the ability to speak, "I- uh- I better go." As Robin begins to walk towards the door Alice rises to a standing position on the blanket. She's looking at Robin confused and worried.
"But it's still raining outside."
"There's trees most of the way, and I can run fast."
"You'll get sick if you get wet again."
"My mom has a great soup for that. I swear it's actual magic."
Alice pauses for a moment and just stares at Robin. When Robin doesn't hear any other rebuttal she looks up and into the eyes of the woman she knows she's fallen in love with. She sees her, standing in front of the fire. Her arms are at her sides, shoulders slumped, looking at Robin with a mixture of sadness and pleading. With three simple words she solidifies Robin's next actions.
"Please, don't go." Robin realizes Alice didn't just mean tonight. Those words resonated deeper than leaving the cabin. They requested more than just not walking out the door. Those words weren't just about this moment, they were about forever.
Three words and Robin was done. There was no going back. She couldn't leave this place tonight without doing the one thing she's been dying to do for weeks. There's no more excuses. No more interruptions. No more fear. It's just her and Alice. She walks slowly to the blonde, never breaking eye contact. She stops only inches away from her partner. One hand goes to rest on Alice's waist while the other slowly raises to push a stray hair behind the girl's ear, coming to a resting place on the other girl's cheek. Looking into her eyes, Robin soft voice calms the storm in Alice.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Robin leans in and presses her lips softly onto Alice's. Letting herself get lost in the moment. When Alice doesn't pull away, Robin parts her lips and deepens the kiss. She feels one hand come to her face and another rest on her waist, mirroring her own actions. Both women feel a jolt shoot straight through their bodies. Neither could describe the electricity that circulated through the cabin in the moment their lips collided. It was nothing either one of them had experienced.
Moments ticked by as the young lovers expressed their emotion without words. The hand on Alice's cheek slipped back to the back of her neck, fingers becoming entangled in rustled blonde hair. The arm on Robin's waist gripped the area it lay as if that was the only way to stay grounded. Lips opened and closed in a dance that seemed choreographed just for them. Minutes passed before the women parted and rested their foreheads together, both trying to catch their breath. Robin lets her hand fall to the other woman's waist while Alice brings both arms up to wrap around her archer's neck. Both women close their eyes and try to take in the moment. With Alice in her arms, Robin speaks softly, "I've wanted to do that for so long."
Alice giggles and just nuzzles Robin's nose with her own. Robin swoops in for one more kiss and then pulls Alice closer as she buries her head into blonde hair and the soft skin of the adventurer's neck. She feels the grip around her own neck tighten and revels in the safety she experiences in this moment. Robin can't see the tear that slips from the tightly shut eyes of the woman she's holding. She doesn't realizes that this minute in time is filling many of the holes left in Alice's heart from a life longing. As Alice holds tight to the hero in her arms, one thought runs through her mind.
This is home.