Enjoy, you guys! Don't forget to review if you have any thoughts whatsoever on the chapter!

Chapter Twenty-One: Connection

The ride was silent for the majority of its beginning which was exactly what Mariella needed: silence to ease her screaming thoughts and tranquility to rest her frenzied spirit. Gently she laid her head on Guy's back and closed her eyes. Rest. That's what she wanted and with a man like Sir Guy to take care of her it was easy to do. His scent of cool leather was so calming and luxurious that Mariella could have been lulled into a deep sleep just by breathing him in. "Sir Guy?" she murmured as she adjusted her head on his back.

"Yes?" he replied as he half-heartedly tried to look back at her.

There was a brief pause as Mariella tried to recollect what exactly it was that she had wanted to say. It occurred briefly to her that she had absolutely nothing to say at all. She simply wanted to say something, anything, to him. She wanted so badly to talk with him, to interact, to express her eternal gratitude to him, but she couldn't. "Nothing…" she sighed as she retreated into his back a little further.

The spot on which she rested her head eventually became a place of comfort to Mariella as it was quickly warmed by her own presence. She didn't want to ever leave that spot, not even when she felt the warmth of the sun on her back as they emerged from the trees into open air. Where were they that they were already coming out of the forest? Could they already be approaching Nottingham? Slowly she opened her eyes to see a flower field. Bursts of colors and delicate shapes sprinkled this clearing, the sunlight radiating their colors as if they were a dream. What was this place? Mariella slowly lifted her head as she would from a pillow, awakening in a distant land.

It was now that she realized that this was no distant land, but somewhere that was actually familiar to her: it was the clearing in which they had both sat beneath a tree only days ago already blossoming and bloomed. All around her there were familiar flowers that brought a reminder of earlier that morning. Dotting the field were clusters of bluebells, buttercups, daisies, and dandelions. Her bouquet came to mind and suddenly Mariella realized who it had been from. Color rushed to her cheeks as her grip around him loosened in embarrassment. "What are we doing here?" she questioned as she sat up to look at the back of Guy's head.

"You're tired," he pointed out, "I think you should rest for a bit before we go back to the castle."

"Thank you…" she whispered as she returned her head to his back once again, a million thoughts rushing through her head. They were thoughts of flowers, black leather, and warm sunlight, of his sweet caress, his smell, his surprisingly friendly smile, of joy, comfort, and heartbreak.

Judas stopped at the tree so that Guy could dismount and help Mariella off as well. Carefully she swung her leg over and sat sideways on the saddle, looking down at him before sliding down without any hesitation, perfectly trusting that he would help her just as he always had. It was as she slid down that she realized that the fall was longer than she had remembered, being because Gardenia was the only other horse that she had ridden as of late and she was considerably smaller. Guy caught her, of course, but Mariella's legs almost gave out due the exhaustion and surprise that she had endured. It was an instance in which she would have most likely stumbled had it not been for Guy to help her. He assisted in righting her, making sure she was steady before he smiled lightly at her. "You keep falling," he commented with a chuckle, "I'm starting to see a pattern."

"You're the only one that sees," she smiled to herself, "because you are the only one I fall for." There was a light pause which Mariella took advantage of to turn her gaze upward at him. "Just as long as you're here to catch me I won't mind."

Guy's face suddenly dropped and Mariella could have sworn that she could have heard his heart give a great thump in his chest as he stared down at her, searching deep into her eyes. He took a deep, calming inhale, exchanging it for a slow, steady exhale. Then his eyes wandered down so that Mariella could safely assume that he was staring at her lips. The smile that had been there only moments before softened in response to his behavior. Her heart radiated emotions, spreading all throughout her body from her chest into her cheeks and down to her fingertips that reached up to stroke his hair but stopped halfway and went to tuck her own hair behind her ear, casting away her eyes.

A gentle gloved hand settled itself on her cheek and steered her face upwards so that Guy could continue to study Mariella's features. He wanted to memorize every detail of her face as it was in this very moment: her eyes full of fairy light, the nervous, upturned curl of the corners of her mouth, the way that even her eyebrows were arched in celestial bliss and her forehead smooth and worry-free. It was without thinking that he leaned forward and kissed the center of this clear, soft plain and dwelled there if only for a moment. Drawing away he was finally able to come to terms with the reality of what he had just done and the things that his heart was causing him to feel. What was even worse was the frown that Mariella now gave him. The light had left her eyes. The corners of her mouth where now turned downward, and her brow had been lightly knit together, forming tiny yet noticeable wrinkles and ruining her clean forehead.

Slowly and shyly his hands slid down from her shoulders so that they took hers, leading her over to the tree with total cooperation on her part. There he helped her settle at the roots only leaving her to go tether Judas. Silently she waited for him with her legs folded elegantly to the side and her hands lying gently in her lap. Guy returned to join her, settling at her side with his back to the tree's trunk, a leg propped up with an arm resting on his knee, trying to ignore the shot of pain that raced just above his hip. "Relax," he told her meekly, "That's what you're here for."

Mariella did as she was told, lying on her back so that the grass could serve as her bed and pillow, the sun giving her the warmth of a blanket and all of it comforting and rejuvenating her the longer she held still. This spot was so comfortable… but the situation was not. Sir Guy admired her; it had been confirmed. What was she supposed to do about that? She couldn't possibly allow herself to return such feelings! And yet… she still felt the semi-familiar fluttering in her chest that she had once felt in juvenile days when such feelings were not harmful enough to be commonplace. But those flowers kept popping into her head which in turn brought her back to Guy, who was only feet away and apparently interested in her. She had to force herself not to think too much about it and simply blame it on the sweet and toxic May air.

Guy, however, did not try to fight his feelings as Mariella did. He only wallowed and pined in his misery and longing for her. Every moment that passed he was more sure of himself. He needed only to look at her to know his feelings for her. However, he also saw the consequences of having her. Not only was she off-limits spiritually, but socially as well. She was the Sheriff's ward, basically his daughter. He wanted a high price for her and Guy would be more than willing to pay any amount, but Vasey would still need to bestow his blessing. Would he give the only family he had to a man like Gisborne? If the price was right maybe so, but that was only coming from any other man. Coming from Gisborne the Sheriff would probably ask much more of him. Not only that but it would give him new power over his lackey. If he asked the Sheriff for her hand he would definitely make him pay. Guy glanced over at her and sighed. Even with the consequences in mind, he still wanted her. He wanted to love her.

"Did you get the flowers?"

Mariella's eyes popped open at the disturbance in her stream of thought. "What?" she asked, "Oh... Yes. I did. Thank you." She let a pause interrupt her before she smiled at the thought of the bouquet's uncoordinated arrangement and what must have been a desperate attempt to put it together. Poor Guy… He had tried. "They were… quaint." At this point she laughed merrily at how almost childishly they had been prepared, but they were still lovely and full of life and color. "I appreciated your effort. They're beautiful."

"I'm glad you like them," he replied as he moved a little closer to her.

"I do," she reassured him as she sat up from her spot, moved closer to the tree, and wrapped her arms around her legs with a straight back and a long neck. She smiled as she looked out to the scenery. "I was touched."

The beauty of her obvious virtue was caused Guy's heart to pound, beating so loudly he was sure that it was trying to call out to her. He dared to go subtly closer to her, hoping that he might be able to satiate his heart's desire by simply being near her. It didn't. His heart still was trying to jump out of his chest. Being closer calmed him slightly, but in exchange his temperature began to rise for her, his heart pulsing ever harder. "I'm glad that you like them," he told her again, this time in a much lower tone.

Finding it strange that Guy would repeat himself like that, Mariella felt the need to take into account the strong emotions that his voice and body gave off like a fire giving off heat. Hesitantly she turned to face him and instantly became eye locked with Guy. The clouds in his eyes told her that his mind was in a different place, portraying a greater desire that could only be blamed on the fine May afternoon. Part of Mariella wanted to run, but she found herself somehow bound to her spot, maybe even wanting to get even closer still. She was unable to bring herself to make any movement either to get away from this man or closer to him, so she was frozen stone cold. "Sir Guy?" she whispered, scared of letting her frightened heart pump color into her cheeks. She didn't know how to feel like this. She had been put under a spell and she wasn't used to being magic's victim. These emotions were strange to her so that the only thing she could do when Guy came even closer was nothing. The closer he came the less she could do, the less she felt the need, the desire, to do something.

Guy's hands rose to cup her face, touching lightly his forehead to hers before letting out a soft sigh. At this point, Mariella couldn't help but submit to him and extinguish any caution she had left, moving her head ever so slightly so that her mouth was a little closer, closer, closer. Then three words she heard, three words that she never would have expected to hear him say at a time such as that, but somehow Guy of Gisborne, Lord of Locksley, brought himself to say, "We should go."

"What?" Mariella questioned, as confusion and denial wreaked havoc on her mind like a fortress being invaded and destroyed.

"We should go," Guy repeated in a much stronger tone the moment he was barely able to tear himself away and stand up as if to get as far away from temptation as possible, "I'm sorry."

Mariella wasn't sure exactly what Guy was trying to apologize for, but she could draw from the silence in his tone that it wasn't because he had put forward the idea to go. She knew that he didn't want to leave just as much as she didn't. But they had to, she knew. They had to before May Day took its toll.

"Yes," Mariella agreed weakly as she also stood and the clarity started to creep back into her head.

At this point Guy rushed over to Judas and began to untie him with hasty and frustrated movements. Softly Mariella approached him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Abruptly he stopped to look over his shoulder at her, taking in a deep breath before he restated his proclamation, "I'm sorry, my lady. I can't."

She nodded in understanding for she could closely relate to his feelings. Both mounted. Neither spoke for there was nothing that could be said that would ever erase the shame created from what had just happened. A link was developing, a road connecting man and woman. Neither wanted their hearts' paths to meet for it would be a perilous and risky journey.

With this analogy in mind, Mariella couldn't help but wonder if a connection had already been made and if it had could it be broken? Stopped? It scared her where this road might take her. It was unraveling before her so quickly…