Title: Flight

Author: Lili44

Genre: (AU) Friendship/Romance

Disclaimer: Sorry I do not own Robin Hood or any related characters.

Synopsis: Nobody ever thought that Saffiyah was just an ordinary girl. But there is so much more to her life than was ever expected. Join Saff on her journey through University as she finds new friends, deals with stresses and faces her past, present and future. Will Saff ever be able to face her past and can she fight for her future and win? Will Saff find her kindred spirit? Join the gang in a tale of living, loving and letting go.

Chapter 12 - Charity Bash

~o~O~o~

rap, rap, rap

There was a loud and brash knock at Saffiyah's and Marian's dormitory door.

"I know that knock" said Marian "my Prince Charming awaits" she added in mockery while Saffiyah pretended to vomit.

As Marian left the dorm with a smiling Robin for the Charity Bash Saff arranged her hair, tucking a few loose bits behind her ears.

Without warning Allan bounced in saying "well, well, well don't ya scrub up nice?"

"ALLAN! Knock next time"

"Yea Yea" he said brushing off her reproof

Observing the glazed look in his eyes Saff asked "have you been drinking already?"

"Course, how else am I sposed ta do this auctioning thing tonight"

"Right….well shall we get going?"

"Phew yea, I've never known a girl who hasn't kept me waiting while she gets ready"

Walking down towards the college hall where the Charity Bash was being held, Allan snaked an arm around Saffiyah's waist which she immediately wriggled out of. But Allan was not deterred as he rested an arm on the small of her back. Saff was too preoccupied to notice this time as she watched a tall unmistakable figure approaching the hall. As he got closer to the entrance he looked up and their eyes met, she held his gaze until he turned away and walked past them like he didn't see them, straight into the foyer where Saff saw him approach the blonde, smiling girl 'Eve'. Suddenly he looked back at her and she sharply turned her face away not wanting him to know she had been watching him. Pinching herself internally she thought 'get a hold of yourself Saffiyah!.'

Allan also seemed to notice that something wasn't quite right with her and enquired what the matter was. She brushed off his question by drawing attention to a large figure approaching them.

"John!" she exclaimed.

"Saff! Allan! How are you my friends?" John asked warmly as he embraced them both at the same time.

"Shall we go in then?" Saff said nodding towards the hall
Entering the hall Saffiyah spotted Marian who waved them over.

"Is this where we are sitting?" Saff asked Marian

"I am, your not" Marian replied

"But why not? Aren't we sitting together?"

"Unfortunately not. I am sitting on this table with the new Dean" she scowled a little as she said this "and a few of the Professors"

"What, why!?!" Saff was shocked. Glancing at Allan she noticed that he didn't seem surprised or interested. 'Must be the alcohol' she thought.

"I have no idea. Ah talking about professors here comes one now" Marian responded

"What, exactly is Robin going to say? Robin's sitting with us." Saff hissed

Marian just shook her heard warningly and Saff looked up to see Gisborne approaching. Saff noted that he nodded at Allan before seeking eye contact with her. She purposely turned her head away, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd got to her.

Turning to Marian Gisborne asked "Will you be seated?" Marian nodded as Gisborne drew back her chair to seat her with a smirk that made Saff want to slap him. Instead she grabbed Allan's hand and dragged him over the where Will and Eve were seating.

They sat down at the table, Saff next to Eve, to Saff's unexplainable displeasure with Allan on her other side and Much next to Will. Saff looked further down the table and saw the massive form of John take a seat next to a petite woman. Realising this women was probably Alice she couldn't help but giggle at the difference in their sizes.

There was awkward small talk around the table as they waited for the event to start.

Eve was very much withdrawn from the conversation, with her near silent partner doing little to include her.

Much, taking pity on her asked her what she thought of the Charity Bash.

"It's a wonderful idea!" she remarked "I wish I were as inventive and as dedicated being selfless as the people who organised it."

Saff choked wondering if the silly girl realised how cliché that sounded but Much beamed with pride and Saff chuckled to herself, knowing from that moment Much was a lost man.

There was a squeak of the microphone and the small talk ceased as the gang looked up and heard Robin's voice on the stage.

"Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, professors and students. Welcome to tonight's Charity Bash. I am this evenings compere…or perhaps better known to you as Robin"

There was a very weak laugh in the audience. Saff saw Marian smiling and shaking her head in her hands.

Saff followed Robin's gaze over to Marian as he smiled goofily at his poor humour only to see him scowl and look a little shocked as Gisborne leant over Marian and whispered in her ear.

The evening started with some comedy courtesy of Robin though Saff couldn't help but notice Robin's eyes constantly flickering over to Marian. There was also entertainment provided by musical University students and then dinner was served.

"Great chicken" Saff voice rung clear in the somewhat awkward silence

"Yes" agreed Eve quickly before lowering her eyes and continuing to eat

Much leaned over and tapped Allan on the shoulder and Saff heard him saying that there would be an hour or so of dancing and drinks as an interlude before the auction started.

The mood around the table for the first half hour was uncomfortable which Saff thought was odd considering they were all friends, except for Eve, and that Will, Allan and herself had never had a problem making conversation before. Saff decided that this night was rather boring so far.

When Robin sat down next to Allan, Saff felt relieved. At least with his vitality and conversation it might ease the awkwardness at the table. But strangly Robin barely spoke a word as he leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and sat there with a look to rival Will's infamous brooding stare.

As Eve and Will got up to dance Saff watched on as Much got up and left the table quickly. To turn her mind away from the green thoughts that were blooming Saff looked at Allan and said "are we going to dance?"

"nah lov, I'm ex..huastd" He drawled "long day an all"

"And a little bit drunk too, I might add"

"c'mon, I'v only ad a couple"

"Allan you haven't even started auctioning and you're in a bit of a state" said Saff grumpily before turning her back to him and watching Will and Eve for a little while longer. Spinning around to Allan again Saff asked "So what is the go with Will and the new Dean?"

"I've tol ya befor Saff, It aint my place ta tell ya" Allan replied. Saff thought that he probably wasn't that drunk if he could still stick to his morals.

Repressing her own morals and taking advantage of Allan's tipsy state Saff pushed Allan again for answers knowing how unlikely it was she would get them from Will. "Come on Allan. It's hardly fair that everyone else knows and I do not. I thought I was a part of the gang…"

"Alright, alright, keep ya skirt on, I'll telya, just don go makin a big deal out of it infront a Will, he doesn like it. K?"

"Okay"

"Righto, where ta start, where ta start.." Allan mused.

"When Will was a boy, well his still a boy really, but when he was a kid, I mean younger than he is now, the Dean…Vasey.. he was Sherriff of Nottingham, where Will, Robin, Much, Maz an the rest of us livd. The Sheriff used ta be Marians Dad, but somehow, and nobodies quiet sure ow, this new fella Vasey got in and Marian's Dad got kicked out. There was always something fishy abou it. Well I thought so anyway."

"You think the votes were gerrymandered?"

"Hmm coulda been. Anyway things got more fishy from then on. The local newspaper which had been fairly anti-Vasey in the run up ta the election all of sudden was singin his praises. And then all these new laws came in tha took power away from tha council an gave it ta Vasey. I don't know heaps about it all, I mean I was just a kid and politics weren't exactly my forte, I was more interested in kickin a ball and playing pranks with Will on our younger brothers."

Saff smiled at this, imagining the two of em when they were little, up to no good.

"Anyhow, like I said, none of this mattered to us much, until Will's mum got sick. Vasey was apparently drainin the money out of the towns health care system and usin it on some new development or somethin. The people were so over taxed and the Scarlett family couldn't afford to relocate and take their Jane ta another hospital. And besides, by the time it was clear tha she needed to be in another hospitable the doctor said she couldn't be moved. Plus there were others sick that couldn't get beds either. There were all these mass protest in the city against Vasey and someone threw a brick at his window and somehow knocked one of Vasey's teeth out, that's why he wears those awful gold teeth ya know?. He of course got admittance to the hospital straight away and tha jus made people angrier."

Allan paused for a moment and watched his best mate on the dance floor, slow dancing with Eve. Saff studied Allan and wondered what he was thinking. She saw Allan shake as something inside Allan quivered a little. If Saff had been privy to Allan's thoughts, she might have known that Allan was realising that even after all these years Will wasn't reconciled with what had happened in his family. She may have known that Allan suddenly felt a need to get up and go to his friend, to stand in front of him and protect him from the evils of the world. Inside Allan there was an innate need to protect this boy, this simple boy that meant the world to him. Allan realised that these feelings weren't just that of a mate. They were the feelings of an older brother. When it came to Will, there was nobody in the entire world that Allan cared about more. Will had been through so much and Allan vowed to himself that he wouldn't let the boy be hurt ever again. But Saff couldn't know all this. But she could guess part of it. Saff, like Allan, realised that there was some type of bond between these two men, a type of current that flowed under the surface, twisting and changing, but always there. A current that flowed deeper than the shallows of normal friendship.

Watching Allan's contorted features as these internal thoughts plagued him Saff put her hand on Allan's arm and said "You're a good man Allan A'Dale."

Allan looked up quickly, shocked, it was almost as if she had been reading his mind. "right…well anyway let me get back to what I was saying. One cold morning Will's mother passed away and her family were grief striken. There wasn't a betta woman in all the world than Jane Scarlett. Will was angry, and believe me Saff, you've never seen him angry. He goes all quiet…quieter than normal and he gets this murderous look tha tells ya, ya betta be running as fast as ya can in the opposite direction."

Saff shivered at the thought

"Anyhow a couple days after his mother passed Will went out a protest infronta Vasey's house with a heap of other people, determined to speak his mind to Vasey. Dan, knowing his son, rushed out after him. I don think tha Dan was thinking straight himself. I was wif him and he kept sayin to me that he should be the one out there makin a stand, not his thirteen year ol son. Tha he should be the one showin the Sherrif, and tha he had ta get ta Will before he lost him too. It was crazy talk Saff, I know that I should have stopped Dan from going after Will. Dan shouldn av been goin anywhere in the state a mind he was in. But I was fifteen at the time and all I could see was a Dad wantin ta look after his son so me an Dan went afta Will tagether."

Allan paused for a breath, looking down at his hands he failed to notice the silent tears running down Saff's face.

"Dan and I found Will screaming at the Sherriff as his car went past and about to throw a rock through the car window. I grabbed Wills arm in time and Dan lunged at his sons body. Takin the dropped stone Dan lifted to throw at tha car only to be elbowed in tha head by a copper who musta been on crowd control. Dan fell to tha ground and died having a heart attack. Will lost both his parents in the same week. Worst of all I reckon is tha Will blames himself for their deaths, particularly his fathers…."

Saff had listened to the last bit of the story with her hand on her mouth and silent tears running down her eyes. Allan, seeing her grief and shock pulled her up and hugged her to him and she relaxed into his strong arms. Turning her head she watched Will only to find him staring back at them, before he quickly looked away.

Blinking back the tears she tried to release herself from Allan's embrace, only to find him leaning towards her and kissing her. In her moment's weakness and vulnerability, she was confused and didn't stop him. She felt numb to everything that was going on around her. After a moment she realised what was happening and stepped back and slapped Allan's face.

"Allan..how could you?" she cried angrily

"What!?" said Allan a little guiltily "I thought ya liked me, I mean ya are my date."

"As a friend! I came with you tonight as a friend"

Grabbing her things she walked in the direction of the door

"c'mon Saff, don be like that" Allan said trailing her

"Just leave me alone Allan" she said holding her hand out to stop them.

Allan scolwed bitterly "wouldn't hav minded if it was Will ere not me i'll bet"

Saff just spun around forcefully and continued to the door.

Saff turned and saw Much on the stage announcing the beginning of the auction. She saw John's rise and put a restraining hand on Allan's should before Allan shook him off and wove his way to the front of the stage still looking shocked and a little tipsy. What Saff didn't see was the observant eyes of Will Scarlett who first looked shocked at the kiss but then concerned. She didn't see him grab his jacket apologise to Eve and follow her silently out the gym

She left the gym and walked quickly back to her dorm. Changing out of her dress and into a top she lay down on her bed and sobbed. Her stomach was churning uncontrollably, a pit of confusing emotions. Touching her fingers to her lips she wiped them with the back of her hand as if to brush the kiss away. She wished she could undo it. It was all too much to take in at once, all too much to handle on her own. If this was what growing up and becoming an adult felt like, she wanted to be a child forever. What she really wanted was her mother. She wished she could bury her head into her mothers soft shoulder and be told that it would all be okay.

But there was no mother to hold and comfort her and it wasn't all going to be okay. This secret she was hiding inside her, holding on to for all these years was isolating her, making it impossible for anybody one to truly know her. But now she had found somebody who may possible understand what she was feeling, who may understand the grief that she had held onto for all these years, somebody who like her had no mother and father – And that somebody was Will Scarlett.

~o~O~o~