A Quick Note: Thanks for the reviews, I'm having a little trouble keeping the flow right with this part of the story. It seems kind of boring in some ways, but I hope I'm getting the 'emotions' right so that you can understand what I'm trying to say about the relationships between the characters. When I get too sappy or wordy just let me know…
Disclaimer: Not making money from this obviously, and I don't claim to own any of it. So there is no reason to sue. Not that you could gain from it if you did…
The mood in the knight's camp that night was more relaxed than the previous night. Gawain settled into the usual banter with the others and only caught himself watching her every move once or twice as they ate the stew Jols made for them. Even then, he didn't really think he was 'keeping an eye on her', so to speak. He was just enjoying the sight of her mingling with his friends, accepted as one of them by all, even Tristan. He saw how the scout half smiled and joked with her, which was unusual for the man and wondered what she had done to get through to the stoic and withdrawn man. Whatever it was, he felt it had been good, for Tristan seemed more relaxed than he had ever seen him before. Galahad brought him out of his musings with the toss of a stone, which hit him just above his ear.
"Hey, what was that for?" he asked the younger man. "Just trying to get your attention and since I can't sashay to get your attention, this was the only alternative." Galahad explained with a grin. Lancelot guffawed as Sarah ribbed the younger knight, "Who said you can't sashay? I quite enjoy watching you!" Galahad blushed good naturedly and Bors finished with, "Be thankful it's her watching and not Gawain or some Roman." Lancelot, not being one to be left out when some good-natured ribbing was going on, spoke up, "Actually, I've seen Roman's watch as you walked by, maybe that explains it." He looked up and cocked his head a little as if contemplating his words and missed Galahad picking up another stone. When he looked at the younger man, grinning, he was not prepared to duck and caught the full force of the throw as the stone hit him on the forehead. He cursed and jumped up. Galahad took off trying to explain, I thought you would duck! I didn't mean to actually hit you!" Sarah watched, and laughed as Galahad kept the blaze of the fire between himself and Lancelot as he tried to explain. Arthur walked up, watched for a moment, then called them down, "Enough, you'd better save your energy for when we reach the wall. We've got to help all these people get settled in before we can rest." He watched as the two men did as he said, settling, Sarah noted, on opposite sides of the fire.
Bors pulled out a skin and took a drink before passing it on to Dagonet, who did the same and passed it to Gawain. Sarah raised her eyebrow at Gawain and he whispered as he passed it around her to Tristan, "Bors always carries a stash of wine when we leave." She nodded and watched the men settle down a bit to just enjoy the quiet of the night and each other's company. 'Now this is how life should be', she thought to herself. After a while, she noticed that the fires from the other small camps had begun to die down and leaned close to Gawain, "I'm really tired, I'm going to rest." She wanted to add, 'you don't have to go, I'll be fine', but wanted to see just how much their talk accomplished the night before. She was surprised and a little disappointed that he only squeezed her hand before saying, "Fine, Love, I'll be along shortly."
She slowly got up and headed over to the bedding that had been piled up when they unpacked their horses. All the while she was spreading out her pallet, she was trying to figure out why she was upset that he chose not to follow her. Sure she had told him that he didn't have to stay beside her all the time, and she even waited to see if he would follow anyway. But she had thought he might want to at least sleep beside her. She plopped down on her pallet, angry at him and at herself. 'Stop acting like a spoiled child.' She chided herself. 'He's only respecting your wishes, you dolt.' With that thought, she turned on her side and made herself relax. After several minutes of rearranging herself, she finally just shut her eyes and tried to think of pleasant thoughts. It seemed to be working and she drifted into a sound slumber, her last thought one of thanks that she was lucky enough to have a man like Gawain declare his love so openly.
Gawain felt Sarah put her hand on his arm and looked to see what she needed. When she said she was going to rest, his immediate reaction was to go with her. But he steeled himself and let her go, promising to be along shortly. At least that way, he wouldn't have to wait too long to join her. He had promised to lighten up and not worry about her so much and he would keep that promise, but if tonight were any indication, it would be very hard to do so. It had been hard throughout the day as well. He found himself looking back to see if she was still riding with her brother at regular intervals as they rode toward the wall. But, careful enough not to let her see. Tristan had seen and as usual not commented on it. The scout usually missed very little and Gawain now wished he had asked his opinion on the matter as he had before. He sat there, trying to get involved in the conversations around the fire, but kept getting lost in his own thoughts. Finally after asking once again what someone had said, Lancelot told him, "Since your mind is obviously not with us why don't you just go lay with her and leave us to our talks?" He looked around the group and was about to argue when he decided to just do as Lancelot suggested. "Maybe I should. But you heard her, she wants me to stop hovering over her every move. Now even when I want to be with her I find myself questioning whether or not I should be."
He looked around the group again, finally resting his gaze on the scout. Tristan just looked back with the same empty expression and finally Gawain got up. "You lot are no help at all." He shot out in frustration. Just as he was turning to leave Tristan finally spoke up, "Just do what you will and let her tell you when it's too much. I don't think she'll be shy about letting you know." Gawain hesitated again, then walked toward where she was sleeping. Perhaps Tristan was right. She hadn't told him not to come with her. But she hadn't asked him to either. Damn women! Why couldn't he just do as he pleased. He grabbed a pallet and put it next to hers, his movements jerky in his frustration. He looked to the sleeping form of the woman he loved and his movements halted. Whatever frustrations he felt slipped away at the sight of her face relaxed in slumber. She had the blanket pulled up to her chin and she held it in one fist. The other hand was resting under her cheek with little wisps of hair falling over her eyes. He smiled and gently lay down next to her. He would figure this out, he had to. She was everything to him now and he would not let something so trivial put a wall between them. He felt her relax even more as he moved his body closer to hers. When he lightly draped his arm across her waist, he felt her snuggle back into him and he sighed. It would be alright, she had not moved away from him. He smelled her hair and relaxed. He had not been lying when he said her smell brought him peace. She brought him peace.
Gawain woke the next morning to find her face almost touching his. Her breaths lightly touching his chin whenever she exhaled. Her arm across his chest, his tunic in her hand. He moved the fraction it took to gently kiss the tip of her nose and saw her eyes flutter open at the touch. "Good morn, Love. The sun should be fully up in moments and Arthur will be calling for us to move out." His voice a whisper in the silence of the still sleeping camp. "Good morn." She whispered just as quietly. She moved into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder, and he gently pushed her hair away from her face. "We should reach the wall by midday. When would you like our marriage ceremony to be held?" She smiled at the mention of their wedding, her wedding, and whispered, "Has it not already been performed? I must be a wanton wench to be laying with a man, impure thoughts racing through my head, without the bonds of matrimony." At her words, he wrapped his arms tighter around her and pulled her into the crook of his neck, her gaze turned up to look into his eyes.
"This ceremony will be for the benefit of the others. As far as I'm concerned, we spoke the words the first night we lay together in your bed. No religious ceremony will ever be necessary for the love I freely give you and the love I receive in return each time I look into your eyes." As he spoke, he gently ran his thumb across her bottom lip, then, he slowly lowered his lips to hers. Their kiss was sweet, with no purpose but to seal their words into their hearts. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the spell and Sarah looked over his shoulder to find Galahad standing a few feet away. "Sorry, Gawain, it is time to prepare for travel." He said with embarrassment in his tone. "Thank you, Galahad. We'll be ready when Arthur calls for us." Gawain told his comrade, never taking his eyes from her face. "Come, Love, it is time to go back into their world and leave our world, for tonight I will hold you as my wife for the first time in the eyes of the people around us." She smiled at him and he noticed rays of the sun filtering through the canopy of trees to brighten the green of her eyes. Surely the gods were showing him that his future with her as his wife would be one smiled upon by both men and gods.