Author's note: Hi all, I know it has been years...literally...since I've updated. I was going through old stories and in rereading this, I remembered how much I enjoyed writing these characters. So, I've worked on it a bit more in the hopes that I can wrap this one up. Crossing fingers!

This chapter is a continuation of the Robin/Edward confrontation. I realize that Edward is OOC in this story. I always felt he wasn't quite 100% behind Robin and Marian's relationship in the show, but was just too weak of a character to really do anything to stop it. I've given him leave to be a bit bolder in this story, which is the result of this chapter.

Hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Chapter 9

(From chapter 7)

Turning, Robin indicated a chair next to the fire, which Edward quickly filled. "As I recall..." As he possessed the chair he'd been previously occupying, Robin left no doubt to his intentions. "…we began a conversation five years ago. Perhaps you remember it?"

Sir Edward bristled at the reference. "Yes, I see that you do." Noticing the anxiety in Sir Edward's pale blue eyes, Robin smirked then leaned forward. His voice held a note of power and authority only his adversaries had experienced. "I think it's high time we finish it. So what do you say? Would you like to start? Or shall I?"

Sir Edward swallowed hard. "Robin, let me explain."

"That's what I thought." Robin smirked and leaned back in his chair. Casual. Wary. Gauging.

"You are not a father..."

With narrowed eyes, Robin interrupted the older man. "Do you really think it wise to begin your defense by reminding me of the dreams your own actions have delayed?"

"Delayed, but not crushed." Edward corrected hopefully.

"No. Never crushed." A sharp, curt shake of Robin's head opened a well of determination in his eyes. "I will have the family I intended. And I will have it with or without your blessing."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

An animated Robin leaned forward. "Because I need to understand how you could do it. How could you send me away, possibly to my own death, and crush your own daughter's spirit in the process?"

Sir Edward paused and took in the man before him.

Because that, in fact, is what Robin had become. From the reckless boy of long ago, a fiercely determined man sat in his place. He would not be as easily deterred this time. Not so willingly guided.

Though much had changed, one thing remained.

His heart was as much Marian's as it ever had been.

Tested through the twin fires of time and space, it was even more so.

It was a weapon Edward had used once. He was not afraid to use it again.

"Robin…" Edward struck a suddenly casual pose, in an effort to disarm. His voice, gentled. Lulled. "…you do not know what it is like to have someone as dependent on you for everything as a child is. From the time Marian was placed into my arms, I gave her everything she needed, everything she ever desired…"

"Until it came to love, it would seem." Robin commented tersely from the confines of his chair.

"I was protecting her."

"Protecting her? From me?" Clenched teeth blocked an explosive declaration. "Edward, I would have died for her!"

"Yes, I know. Then, as you would now." Condescension filtered through his expression. "Feelings that intense do not belong to the young."

A mirthless chuckle was his response. "If not to the young, then to who?"

"To the responsible. And you, Robin, were never that." The accusation hit its mark, as intended. Robin's intense gaze broke from his. Edward took the advantage and pressed his point. "I know your kind. You are passionate and reckless and you've caused Marian more tears in her young life than she deserved. The fights the two of you used to have…"

"Fights?" The new accusation brought Robin out of his chair. His arms flailed in frustrated animation. "That is the way we communicate!" Hands on his hips, Robin mocked outright. "I know how it could be hard for someone of your seemingly passive nature to understand passionate discourse, but that is our way. There was never a tear shed that did not give way to a smile. Or a laugh. Or a kiss…"

"And that is acceptable to you?"

"Ask Marian if it was acceptable to her." Robin shot back.

Edward's long-held view of his daughter was his defense. "Marian was a strong-willed, tempestuous child holding the station of a Lady. She needed a man that could control her. Soothe her. A man that would not instigate outbursts and encourage defiance."

"Let me guess. In your eyes, that man was Lancaster's son." Contempt curled Robin's lips as he dispensed newly acquired information.

"His temperament would have complimented hers." Sir Edward reasoned.

"His heart would have not." Robin spat back before spinning around and resting his hands on the mantle. Head lowered, his gaze never left the flickering flames of the fire. His breathing was labored. His fingers curled painfully into the wood of the mantle.

How could anyone be so obstinate? So blind to what was meant to be? Had Robin known this before, had he guessed the real intent of Edward's requirement...

He swallowed back the bile rising in his throat. He could not do this. He could not wallow in a past he could not change. Or win back the five years lost to them both. If he ever hoped for a future with Marian, that is where his thoughts must lie. Still there were questions to be answered. Insights to be gained.

And a father to battle for her hand.

Robin continued quietly. "So, what happened? Did he not approve of her nature? Or was he too proud to marry beneath his royal station?"

Trying to gauge the man before him, Edward was at a loss. An angry, passionate Robin he could understand. He could fight. A mollified Robin? Edward swallowed hard. "They never met. Her illness shortly after you left prevented it. By the time she recovered, he had found another."

Shaking his head, Robin scoffed in disbelief. "So, you did all of it for nothing."

"It was not for nothing!" Edward's heated defense brought him out of his chair. "There were more reasons than I have named."

As if finally ready to face his fate, Robin pushed himself away from the mantle and turned back to Edward, an inquiring eyebrow raised. "What then?"

"You are a restless soul, Robin. Exactly the type of man that would leave my daughter in a heartbeat for an adventure and glory in another land."

"You sent me there!"

"But you did not have to go." Edward countered easily. "You could have fought me. You could have defied my wishes and married her in spite of my disapproval. Yet, you did not. You chose to leave."

Fire flashed in Robin's usually laughing eyes. "I chose to not break a relationship that was fundamental to the woman I love. Had I done as you suggest, you would have lost her forever. You know that, do you not?"

Scoffing, Edward was willfully insistent. It was not difficult to discern the source of Marian's stubbornness. "She would have seen reason."

Edward's response turned white hot anger to a rod of unbendable steel. "She would have seen love. And she would have chosen me." Robin's eyes blazed with confidence born of truth. "As she will do now."

"She is no longer the girl you left five years ago." Edward countered.

"And I am no longer the boy you sent away."

"No, you are not." Edward readily agreed. "That boy had a future. That boy had a title and lands and a home to offer a lady of Marian's station." Edward paused long enough to finish the blow he had begun with pinpoint accuracy.

"And now?" Edward's scornful gaze swept over Robin as a sneer haunted his lips.

"Now, you are nothing more than a common thief. Penniless. Homeless. An outlaw. If you love Marian as much as you say…"

"You know that I do." Robin responded instinctively. As expected.

"Then let her go." Edward commanded. "Let her spend the rest of her life in the comfort to which she is accustomed. Let her find some peace and safety, some…grain of happiness in path before her. Stop tormenting her with what can never be."

Robin's gaze never waivered. His voice remained steady and strong as he ducked and dodged the accusations Edward threw his way, as he battled away the doubts and insecurities that he himself had often felt since taking up residence in Sherwood Forest.

And he did it all with one weapon.

Marian.

"As you said, Marian is no longer the girl I left. She is a strong, independent woman who knows her own mind…and her own heart. This time…the choice…will be hers."

Edward swallowed hard at the spoken truth embodied in the man standing before him. "Then we are at an impasse. For I will not give you my blessing."

"And I will not require it." Robin cocked his head in deference as his eyes flicked to the doorway. "I believe, Sir, this...impasse...is now at an end."

Edward glared in defiance then spun on his heels and stalked angrily toward the door. He made it half way to his destination when Robin called out with one last question.

"Edward. What did you do with my letters?"

Edward answered with out turning. "I burned them."

Just as he'd expected. "Before or after you read them?" Edward spoke not a word. And it was enough to know the truth. "I looked up to you, admired you. It is only your relation as her father that protects you now."

tbc...