Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters. I'm new to this particular fandom – CuriousArcher, MadArcher, whatever you want to call it. I mean, how hard was it to not love Robin and Alice? They're totally adorable! Thanks, OUaT!

Chapter 10

"You're doin' that wrong." Alice commented from her place by the fire.

Robin, who had been practising with her sword, stopped what she was doing and looked at Alice with a slightly annoyed expression. "What?"

Alice smirked at her, stood up, and dusted her hands off. "My Papa was a fearsome pirate and he taught me everything he ever knew about fightin' with a sword." She said, by way of explanation.

Robin blew out a breath. She couldn't very well tell her that the same man had taught her what she knew. Still, she found herself feeling aggrieved on her Hook's behalf. "Yeah? So, you think you can take me?"

Alice threw her head back and laughed. She patted the sabre she wore at her own hip. "Wouldn't that be fun? But no. Not just now - I don't want supper to burn." Supper was a large fish that Robin had caught in the stream not far from their camp that afternoon, much to Alice's delight. Her Alice loved freshly caught fish and the archer had decided to see if this Alice was the same way. She was. She'd taken the gutted and deboned fish from Robin with a light in her eyes that the other woman had seen rarely since they'd met, and promised that their dinner would be something for Robin to remember.

With the blonde adventurer busy on dinner preparations, Robin had decided that it was high time she practice with her sword, since it'd been nearly a week and one thing Hook had reminded her before she left was that practice would help keep her skills up. So, she'd taken up her neglected blade and began to run through the moves he'd shown her.

"So, what, then?" Robin asked, "What am I doing wrong?"

Alice chuckled. "Oh, just that last pass. You keep dropping your elbow." She held up her arm like she was holding a sword and went through the move she was talking about. Robin watched her closely. Then she tried it again, sword in hand.

Alice shook her head. "Here," she said. She moved behind Robin, pressing against her back. She wrapped one arm around Robin's waist while she braced the other along the archer's sword arm. Grasping Robin's wrist, she moved the woman's arm through the air. "This is what you do. And this… is what you should do."

Robin tried to pay attention, she really did. However, having Alice pressed up against her back, her arm around her - she found it quite distracting. After showing her perhaps a half-dozen times, Alice let go of her wrist and rested that hand on Robin's hip. They moved together then, through the move until the adventurer was satisfied with the archer's form.

Before letting her go, Alice leaned close to Robin's ear and said, "You're a fast learner. Maybe one day, we'll find out who would come out on top."

Robin suppressed a shudder as goose bumps erupted down that side of her body. When Alice let her go, she felt the loss all the way to her soul. Not wanting the blonde to see her discomfited, though, Robin said, "Thanks."

Alice simply smiled at her and went back to her place by the fire.

To her credit, Robin went back to her practicing, making sure that she didn't get the final form wrong again. When the setting sun was so low that it was difficult to see outside of the ring of light from their fire, she stopped. Her back was to the campsite. She sheathed her sword and turned around to find Alice regarding her intently. Instead of blushing and lowing her eyes the way she should, the archer met the blue eyes she loved most in the world steadily.

Alice smiled at her.

**********
Alice lay on her back, staring into the soft night sky, listening to the sound of the wind through the trees. It was a familiar sound and one that brought her some comfort. Today had been full of surprises and she had been chewing them over in her mind since Robin had lain down and fallen asleep.

Agreeing to travel with Robin was quickly becoming the best agreement Alice had ever made with another person. First, she actually liked the other woman. That was a big deal to her since she rarely liked other humans. Robin was smart and she was actually funny. She had some of the best stories that Alice had ever heard. Someday, maybe, they would go back to Storybrooke and she could experience it for herself.

And wasn't that odd? They. Alice had found herself thinking of those terms more often than not over the past couple of days. She didn't want Robin to leave. She knew that it was inevitable - everyone leaves - but for the past few days, Alice found herself wishing that it were otherwise. She had never felt like this before in her life and she wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

Today had been especially strange. They had started the day like any other - a quick meal of whatever was left over from supper. Then they repacked their gear and started walking. They'd gone far enough south that it was starting to warm up just a little. Both women had taken off the warm cloaks they wore, enjoying the better weather.

At lunch, Alice had done something that she'd never done with another person - she'd talked about her parents and about the Tower.

Robin listened intently, quietly. She didn't push for information. She didn't ask a lot of questions. It was as though she knew how painful the topic was for Alice to talk about. When Alice had finished, the archer had reached out her hands, taking Alice's shaking ones between them. They were warm and strong and softly feminine despite the callouses. The very touch of their skin had made the blonde warm all over. The look of soft understanding in the lovely green eyes had nearly been her undoing.

Later, when they had stopped for the night and Robin had brought Alice a fish for dinner, she hadn't been able to help herself - she'd hugged the other woman. Alice loved fish, though she rarely ate it because she didn't have the patience for fishing with a line and rod and she didn't have the skill to use her hands. Robin's smile at that hug was something sweet and a little shy and it had thrilled Alice in a way she hadn't known before.

What in the realms was going on with her?

A small part of the lonely adventurer wanted to chalk up her reactions to Robin as nothing more than coincidence. She had been alone for so long, had wished for a companion for so long, that now that she had one, she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. These sorts of feelings would wear off eventually. Wouldn't they?

The real question was whether or not Alice wanted them to wear off. She'd never felt like this before. She had never wanted to make someone smile the way she did with Robin. She hadn't ever told another person the full story about her parents. And she had never wanted to feel the warm strength of another person against her own body - the way she had when showing the archer proper sword form earlier. Why had she done that? The mistake was a small one and probably wouldn't have done any harm to Robin. Except that her papa had always told her that if one got lazy with one form, they would do it with others and that could end up getting them killed.

The idea of Robin getting killed left Alice feeling rawer than she could ever remember.

Is this what falling in love feels like?

Pushing the thought away as absurd, Alice decided to focus on the next few days. In a little under two days, they'd be at their first destination. She would wait to see how Robin reacted to him first, before she seriously considered that idea. If the other woman reacted well, Alice would take her to the swamp. If not - well, a short detour to the Port to pawn her off on someone else wouldn't take much time.

That decided. Alice closed her eyes and slipped into sleep.

**********
Robin looked around as they walked. About a mile ago, Alice had gotten very quiet and had withdrawn from their friendly conversation. The archer was concerned about her love, but had no idea how to approach her to find out what was wrong. If it has been her Alice, Robin could have coaxed out what was bothering her with ease. Now… Things had been going so well between them, Robin was afraid that one wrong move would put a wedge into that.

So, she stayed silent and watchful. And worried.

As mid-afternoon sun rose above them, Alice brought them to a halt. Robin was frowning around her. This place looked crazily familiar. Except it was just trees and dirt and bushes. The wind sighed through leaves. Robin waited.

Finally, Alice said, "We're going to see a friend of mine. He's different. I visit him at about this time every year. You don't have to come. There's a clearing up ahead where we can make camp. You can stay there."

Robin thought her words out carefully. "Of course, I want to meet your friend. Different? He can't be any more different than the crap in Wonderland. That place…" she made a face. "Lead the way."

Some of the tension that had been gathering around the explorer eased. "Right. This way, then."

The trees started to thin out about after about half a mile. That's when things started to really look familiar to Robin, though she couldn't have said why. It wasn't until they entered a large clearing and the tall cylindrical shape of Alice's Tower came into view that Robin understood.

It wasn't the same Tower that she knew because, for one thing, the roof was still on it. It wasn't right - sort of looking like a hat perched jauntily to the side of someone's head - but at least it wasn't on the ground. The rest of the building looked the same, though more overgrown than Robin had ever seen it.

As soon as she entered the clearing, Alice seemed to slouch. It was as though the building was exerting some kind of pressure on her. She walked to the middle of the space and stared up at her former prison with a look that Robin had seen once before - the night of their first meeting.

"This is it, isn't it?" She asked, her voice quiet.

"This is it." Alice confirmed. "For the first 6,205 days of my life, this was home. For 4,380 it was a happy place, too." Her voice was full of a deep sadness that resonated within Robin. "I hate this place."

Robin walked over to stand beside the other woman. She tentatively put a hand on Alice's shoulder. When she wasn't immediately shrugged off, she gave the shoulder a squeeze. To her surprise, as she made to move her hand, Alice's came to rest on top of it, holding it there. They stood in silence while Alice stared up at the place that contained both her fondest memories and her worst.

"Alice…" Robin finally broke the silence, hesitantly. "Why are we here?"

The question seemed to shake the blonde out of her own head. "What? Oh. That. Come on, there's someone you need to meet." She moved her hand and started walking, going around the base of the Tower to its other side. Robin followed and let out a little gasp when she saw the stone statue of the Troll crouched against the wall of the Tower.

It wasn't the same statue that Robin was used to seeing. For one thing, there was no rear end of a VW bug. For another, both eyes were entirely stone, instead of one eye being part dented metal. It was also sitting against the Tower as though leaning on it for support and the expression on its huge face was one of benevolent happiness. If it had been flesh and blood, the archer was sure there would have been a glint in its eyes.

Alice allowed her to take in the statue before she said, "He was my oldest friend. If it weren't for him, I'd still be locked up in that Tower." She wasn't crying, but Robin could hear the unshed tears. She looked closer at the statue and saw what appeared to be dressed wounds on its arms, legs, and even its torso. "He didn't deserve this."

Sick horror flooded the archer. In her realm, she and Alice had become friends because Robin had stood up for the strange girl in front of a crowd of villagers intent on doing her harm and killing the Troll. They'd escaped thanks to Alice's magic and they'd found the Troll in this same place. He had been determined to destroy the Tower - probably because it had hurt Alice so much and the Troll only wanted her to be happy. But her sweet girl had not only stopped the Troll, but had used the magic she hadn't really known she had to turn him into a statue to save him from the village mob.

He'd still been there in Hyperion Heights, during the curse, watching over Tilly.

"What happened?" Robin asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

Alice shuddered. "He came looking for me on my birthday. He was lost and scared and he destroyed some of a nearby village. It was an accidental, but… The villagers hunted him - they hurt him. He… he died here." She turned suddenly and buried her face in Robin's shoulder, her whole body shaking with the force of her grief.

The archer wrapped her arms tightly around her love, rubbing her back and murmuring soothing little nothings to her. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." Sorry that I wasn't here when you needed me. Robin's own tears slid down her cheeks, landing on golden blonde hair, but Alice didn't notice.

They stayed like that for a good while. When her tears were all cried out, Alice seemed content to just lean against Robin for a short time, soaking in the comfort being offered. She finally began to pull back, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. Robin reluctantly let her go, already missing the familiar warmth of her presence.

"Thanks," Alice said when Robin pulled a handkerchief out of an inside pocket of her jerkin. She wiped at her face, then blew her nose. When she looked back at Robin, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but they seemed brighter somehow - more like her Alice.

"Keep it," Robin told her, when Alice tried to give the piece of cloth back. Alice smiled and tucked it away.

"Thanks," she said again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. It's just that when I see him and I remember…"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Robin assured her. "I get it. He was your friend. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I'd known him." She remembered watching from behind a broken wall as Alice talked the Troll into submission. She had seen the giant beast smile, had seen just how gentle he'd been while he was near her. And even though she'd been scared at the time, Robin couldn't help wondering if things had been different - if she'd met Alice and trusted her from the beginning - whether or not she'd have gotten to meet the Troll before he met his fate. Now, she never would.

Alice actually smiled at her. "I think you woulda' liked him. He took care of me after I got out of the Tower. He was my first real friend."

Robin smiled back. "Well I'm sorry I never got to meet him, properly."

Suddenly Alice was hugging her, arms wrapped tightly about the archer's neck. It was a quick hug, surprising Robin. She didn't even get a chance to reciprocate before it was over.

When she stood back again, Alice looked keenly at Robin. "How would you like to meet some of my other friends?"

Robin grinned at her. "I'd love to."

"Great! We'll go tomorrow." Alice replied, clearly relieved and excited. "They're a little different…" She hedged.

"So what? If they're friends of yours, I bet they are wonderful." Robin said, sincerely.

Alice laughed. "Oh, they really are! Thank you, Robin. Now, if you wouldn't mind going to that clearing we passed through earlier to set up camp? There's a few things I'd like to say to my friend here."

When Alice was sure that Robin was out of earshot, she turned back to the Troll with a bright smile. "Isn't Robin wonderful?" Reaching out, she stroked the cold stone finger on one of his great hands. "We haven't been travelling together very long, but… I like her. She's nice and she's funny, and she doesn't think I'm mad for asking her for time to talk to a statue…" For the next little while, until it had grown almost too dark for Alice to see her way to the campsite, she stood and talked to her friend as if he were really there.

In the end, she stood on her toes and reached up to pat his big nose. "I know you worried about me, but I think I'm going to be okay, now. I honestly do."

With that, Alice turned and hurried over to the fire that was crackling merrily and where Robin was cutting up their left-over fish from the previous night and adding it to a pot. Whatever was already in the pot smelled heavenly.

Alice smiled, happy for the first time in a very long time.

Author's Note: Looks like Robin is finally starting to break through the walls Alice put up. Hope you all enjoy. I've got a bit of the plague that's been going around, so I don't know how much I'll get written this week. Hope you are all doing well! Cheers!