AN-I may be going on brake for a little while, I have a new horse that I need to focus on training and may not really have time to write with HW and everything. Hopefully thought I can find some time to get another chapter up soon.

Something about how Robin was acting surprised Kahlan; since she snapped at him he was better to live with. She began to realize if she only told him what to do then he would do it, but it couldn't be a simple question, she had to boss him around with the same authority she bossed Richard with. She held a basket in her hands as she walked with Ariana to the market. The little girl was skipping a head of her happy as could be. The little girl was shielded from her parent's unhappiness, Kahlan never understood why. How could the little girl grow up with two people just going through the motions of life, but still love everything? It was a miracle the little girl didn't pick up on how unhappy she was and her husband was.

"Mama" The little girl said, "This is where we bought your rocking chair." The little girl ran over to sit in some other chairs that were made causing Kahlan to just smile thinking back to when they gave her the chair. Robin actually had a smile on his face, unlike when he bought her things in the past he would simple just say things like, here its yours. Instead he was happy to give her the chair. She loved the fact the chair was so well made; she found not a single flaw.

"Can I help you?" Will asked seeing a women standing by his carvings

"No, I'm just looking my daughter seems to like your chairs." Kahlan said with a kind smile to the man.

Will looked over at the little girl, he recognized her, and she was Robin's daughter. He looked back at the women, "Ah yes, I remember when her and her father were here buying one."

"You do? Kahlan asked, "Do you remember everyone you sell to?"

"No Ma'am, but he and I are old friends."

"Is that so?" Kahlan asked, she had never met anyone who used to know her husband; perhaps she should have asked when she was in Locksley if any of them knew of a Robin of Knighton.

"Yes, but we had." Will paused "A falling out you should say."

"Will" came a heavily accented voice "How many times did I tell you I do not cook!" he beautiful Saracen women walked over holding a baby "no matter how many times you leave the food for me to cook, I won't cook it." She looked at the women Will was talking to; out of the corner of her eye she thought the woman was Marian.

"I'm sorry." The Saracen women said, "I didn't realize we had company." Her attention then turned to the little girl as her older son ran past her to play with the little girl. "Robin!" Djaq called "Be careful."

"He'll be fine." Will said as he took the baby girl from his wife's arms, "and sorry I just ran behind I'll cook when I'm through here."

"Through here?" Djaq asked,

"Yes, this is Robin's wife." Will told her

"Robin's Wife?" Djaq said surprised, she hadn't thought Robin would have married someone that looked so much like Marian, or perhaps that is why he did.

"You named your son after my husband?" Kahlan asked surprised. She had never seen her husband worthy of naming a child after. How had he been so important to these people?

"Yes." Djaq said, she was about to say more when she was interrupted

"Kahlan!" Robin's voice sounded angry "What are you doing talking to these people!"

"These people?" Kahlan asked,

"Let's go, Ariana!" he called to his daughter as the little girl said good bye to her friend.

"Robin." Djaq said with her accent "Please."

"Let's go" He said leading Kahlan away, Kahlan turned her head to see the family standing behind her as they walked away, they looked sad, but not just sad, they looked hurt.

"Why are we leaving your friends?" she asked as she followed her husband

"They aren't my friends." He replied shortly

"They named their son after you." Kahlan said, "Why would they do that if you weren't their friend?"

Robin stopped walking and looked back at his old friends, "They did?" he then shook his head, "It doesn't matter, they are the past." And he began walking again.

Kahlan followed her husband, she could hear the hurt in his voice, and something had happened in his past he was running from. He didn't want to be reminded of something and it seemed these people were reminders of the past.

"Does it have anything to do with her?" Kahlan asked

Robin turned confused "her?"

"The women you love?" Kahlan had never confronted him before, but she knew he was in love with someone that wasn't she.

"I have been nothing but faithful to you since we were married." Robin tried to avoid the question, but he wondered if she thought he did wonder from his vows to her.

"I know that, but a women knows when her husband loves another." Kahlan said softly, she had always known Robin was in love with someone, even before she married him, even while she treated his wounds.

"I don't know what you mean." Robin said to Kahlan, he didn't want to talk of Marian; he didn't want to bring up those memories.

Kahlan took a step closer to Robin, "Do you think I can't tell when you look into my eyes you see another? Do you think I can't tell when you are drunk you don't pretend I'm another." Kahlan looked down. "Robin I know you don't love me, as you know I don't love you we are together for Ariana, but my question is do those friends of yours remind you of the woman you love?"

Robin said nothing for a moment and looked at Kahlan not sure really what to say. Finally he looked down at the ground then back up into her eyes. "Yes." For a moment Kahlan wondered if perhaps the reason they weren't friends was because the women she had just met was the woman he loved, but as he spoke she realized that woman wasn't the one he loved.

"They were there as she died, I held her in my arms and watched the life leave her." Robin didn't really want to tell her, but for some reason he couldn't lie to her, for some reason he felt safe telling her about Marian.

"You watched her die?"

"Yes, we lived in Locksley, well her Knighton it wasn't very safe for an opinionated woman." He smirked as he thought of the number of times Marian stood up against the things she didn't agree with, "Her opinion and her strong will is what got her killed, I held her as the last breath left her."

Kahlan looked at her husband and realized perhaps why he was the way he was. He had watched the women he loved die in front of him, the way she had watched Richard perhaps it just broke him.

"I'm sorry, was that right before we met?" she wondered if perhaps the reason he was so sick when he had shown up was because of her death, perhaps someone tried to kill him to, but why?"

"No, it was about a year later that I finally left home and came here." He thought of the year as Robin Hood without Marian, he had tried to give up just as he had now, but then he was able to think of the people again. That's why he left to go far away, he couldn't hear the people saddened by his death, he couldn't see the memorials left around for him. Being this far away let him pretend he didn't care about the people, his people.

"A year?" she asked surprised, so he had lived where they had lived together for a year after the women he loved died.

"Yes, people I knew still needed me" he paused "I couldn't leave them until it just went to far, I couldn't keep up with that life anymore, this is more of me." He thought for a moment. "I just wanted to be able to have a family, and fall in love and be happy I couldn't be that back there."

"Well you got your wish, you have a family." She knew he had never loved her and he never would.

"I'm sorry." Robin said looking at Kahlan, "you don't know how much I want to love you." Robin knew he never would, Kahlan wasn't his type she was a push over. "But I think I will forever be in love with a ghost."

"That's only natural, in your stories you always say there is one person god laid on this earth for another, only some are lucky enough to find them." She paused and looked at her husband, "And you are one of the lucky ones you found that person, and you will find her again in heaven."

Robin smiled at his wife, he had never thought she would understand him; they had never really spoken to each other before "What about you?" he asked.

Her mind flashed to Richard "What do you mean?" she saw his smile, heard his laugh, and felt his touch as soon as Robin made her think of love.

"Have you ever loved someone with your body and soul?"

"I" she paused unsure if she was going to tell him, "Maybe" it hurt to think of the night everything was taken from her, but yet Robin just told her everything. "I had a friend, my best friend Richard, he would do anything for me and I him and for a long time we denied any feelings, or I did he had such an important destiny, and a life with me would ruin that."

"What happened with him?" Robin asked

"He died. " She sighed "It was a long time ago I'm sure if we had been able to be together longer then we were it could have been the love you speak of." Kahlan didn't want to admit that Richard had been her world. In Zed's words there had been no magic in the world that was more powerful then the love they had for each other. She looked at Robin and realized how alike they were; they couldn't love each other because they were both in love with a ghost. Then to her surprise Robin leaned forward and kissed her, and not the type of kiss that was looking to get her into the bed. This kiss was soft, gentle, caring. He pulled away and looked at her and gave her a kind side smile that almost made her heart melt,

"I've been wrong to treat you wrong, she's been gone for years now and you are here, you are my wife, I'm going to try and be a good husband to you, they type I would have been for her." He paused "because if she saw the way I treated you she would have had a few words for me, and perhaps punches." He thought of the time when Marian had been caught in the trap, he had taunted her and she told him he would pay. When he let her down she gave him a good punch in the gut, proving that she really was in control of the relationship and she wouldn't tolerate his childish behavior.

"Robin, I know you don't love me, you don't have to pretend you do." Kahlan told him

"I know." He smirked "and I won't pretend I love you, instead I will be a good husband to you and treat you the way you should be treated, "Just do me one favor, don't speak to those people, please."

Kahlan glanced back at the wood smith and his wife and nodded her head; "I won't" she told him "I won't speak to them." She also wondered how long Robin would be this way, how long would he act like he had a personality.

"Where's Ariana?" Robin's attention turned to the little girl who only a moment ago was playing near them picking flowers, but now she was gone.

"What?" Kahlan asked as she picked up worry in her husbands voice.

Will could still see Robin and his wife up the road talking he saw their daughter picking flowers, he saw the little girl look up and walk over to a blonde women. The women spoke to the child then took her by the hand and led her away, all while Robin talked to his wife not taking notice that the little girl was being led away.

"Robin your sense aren't as good as they once were." He whispered as he grabbed his little axe and went off after the women not wanting to lose his sight of them he knew he didn't have time to get Robin. After all in the past when Robin hadn't had a plan Will was the next best at coming up with a way to save someone. He followed them for a while keeping to the shadows waiting for the right moment to strike. He could tell now the little girl didn't want to walk with the blonde women as tears began to fall down her face.

"Listen child" The women spoke as she came to a stop in an alley. "You are going to come with me, I'm going to be your new mother, one that will raise you the way you were born to be."

"I want my mama and papa." The little girl cried, "I want to go home!"

"We are going home, to a place where you will be happy, you will be who you were meant to be."

"I want to go home!" the little girl cried. The women Will could tell wasn't used to dealing with children, the way she spoke wasn't a way you spoke to a child, she seemed to think the child would just go with her without crying, without wanting her mother or father.

"Leave the girl alone." Will said holding his little axe in view.

"Who are you?" The women asked pulling the little girl close to her.

"My name is Will, Will Scarlet and I won't let harm that little girl." His voice was strong, he had gained confidence during his time with Robin Hood, and he wasn't about to let harm fall onto his friend's child, his leaders child.

"I have no intention of hurting the child, her parents are by not letting her be who she is!" the women snapped, "she is the first of her kind, daughter to someone so powerful."

"And that's exactly why I can't let you hurt her, or take her." Will said, "Her father is my hero, I'm not about to let you take her, I owe him my life many times over."

The little girl looked at Will, she was only nine, but she had been raised with stories of heroes, mainly one strong hero Robin Hood. How was her father a hero? He seemed nothing like the men in the stories that he told.

"Why should I care of her father." The women asked

"Because he is the reason I will stop you, he is the reason why many people still live I'm not about to let another person he cares about be taken from him."

"Who is her father?" the women asked looking at Will, she wondered why this man had so much loyalty to a man she assumed was nothing more then a pathetic farmer.

"He's Robin Hood." Will said as he aimed his axe at the women.

"Who?" the women asked, the name seemed to play in her head, but it wasn't the Hood part, it was the Robin, but the Robin she was looking for was Robin of Locksley and he was dead.

"What." The little girl whispered, there was no way her father was Robin Hood, now way.

"And why should I care of Robin Hood?" the women asked

"Because he taught me everything I know, he taught me to stand up to those in need, he taught me how to protect those I care about, and that little girl is one of them."

"I want to go home!" the little girl said calmly, but firm, the women looked shocked she seemed to sense something, something Will did not.

"I will be back for her!" the women said, and then disappeared into the darkness of the alley. Will went to go after her, but stopped when he thought he saw the little girl's eyes completely black. When he looked at the little girl again, they were normal. He shrugged it off as a play of light as he knelt down next to her.

"Let's get you to see you father." Will said

"Is it true?" the little girl asked "Is my papa really Robin Hood."

Will looked at the little girl, he didn't want to lie, but he realized Robin wouldn't want the little girl to know. "No" he told her "I just was hoping that would scare the women, after all your father's name is Robin I was hoping she would believe my bluff."

"Oh" the little girl said sadly looking at her feet as she walked next to Will.

"I've looked everywhere" Robin told Kahlan "I can't find her."

"Oh my god" Kahlan cried, "Where could she have gone?"

Robin paused then whispered "This is all my fault"

"What do you mean?" Kahlan asked "How could this be your fault, I too wasn't paying attention to her.

"That old man" he told her "The one I told you about showed an interest in her, said she had a destiny."

"No" Kahlan whispered, but Robin didn't hear as he continued,

"He must have come back and taken her, he was far to interested in her, he lured her away once, but I found her with him."

"He wouldn't take her." Kahlan said looking around at the people "He wouldn't take her from me he knows better."

"Wha-" Robin began to ask when he was interrupted by Arianna's voice

"Papa!" she cried as she ran up to him. Robin leaned down and scooped the little girl in his arms,

"Ari" he said hugging her close, Kahlan came running over and hugged her in Robin's arms. The family stood together for a moment before Will spoke.

"Some women grabbed her, I didn't have time to get a hold of you." He said to Robin. Kahlan took notice how he seemed to report strait to Robin, the way he looked at him wasn't as a friend would look at another, but rather a one would look at a leader. "There was something strange about the woman, she kept saying that she wanted Ariana because of the power she had, and that she was more then you were allowing her to be. She also said she would be back, then just disappeared."

"You should not have gone off alone." Robin said looking at Will, "It could have been dangers."

"I had a plan." Will said, then shrugged his shoulders "Well half a plan, but they always worked out for you in the past, and when your failed my pulled us through."

"Will" Robin said, he was going to say something to send Will away, but he couldn't. Even after he had treated Will the way he had the young Wood Smith was still loyal to him. "Thank-you"

"Robin you know I would do anything for you, my life is yours." Will told him. Once again Kahlan saw something in Will, the way he spoke reminded her of those that followed Richard, why was this man so willing to lay down his life for Robin.

"Will, please the past is the past, your life is your own." Robin told him, handing his daughter to his wife.

"I still wear mine." Will said pulling his carving from around his neck, the sign of being part of Robin's gang. "Do you?"

Robin wanted to say no, but he did, he pulled his from under his clothing to reveal it, "Yes I do, but it doesn't mean anything."

Will smiled and placed his back under his shirt "Oh it does Robin, it means you aren't completely lost." Then Will turned and walked away. He had to get to his wife after all, who had by now gotten into a bad mood due to the fact he hadn't started dinner yet.

Kahlan watched her husband sleep; in the years she had been married to him she was often asleep before him, but most of the time he slept else where unless he came back drunk. Never once had they slept next to each other simple because they were man and wife. Yet tonight as she went to lay down for bed he laid down next to her, and instead of kissing her wanting more he just wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep.

She had been so upset over what happened today that she hadn't been able to fall asleep, why did it not seem to faze him once their little girl was home. As she watched him sleep she couldn't help, but realize there was more to this man then it appeared. The way he moved his face in his sleep showed her he was having dreams, the way he would toss and turn he was dreaming of war. She pushed some hair from his face as she looked at him. He had seen more then she had thought, he fought before, but where? With who? Why did the wood smith claim that he owed his life to Robin?

"Kahlan." Came a voice, one she recognized and hoped she would never hear again. "We need to talk."

She stood and wrapped a white cape around her as she went to where the voice came. "Zed" She said once she was outside the house "What do you want?"

"I want you to come home." Zed said, "I need you now more then ever"

"Why?" She asked, "Richard is gone, I failed the seeker I failed everyone." She looked away "There is no reason for me to return."

"A new prophecy has come to pass, a new seeker must be named." Zed told her "All along I knew, I knew there was another who would be the next seeker if Richard failed, but I thought he had died before Richards passing."

"You want me to come and be the Confessor to a new seeker, don't you remember my powers are gone."

"Yes, but don't you feel yourself getting stronger, are people telling you things they never would normally?" he asked, "Your powers are coming back Kahlan, its only a matter of time before you can confess again, before you are the mother confessor once more."

"No" Kahlan said, "I don't want to be, I can't be, I have a daughter now, a husband."

"Yes." He said "All part of the prophecy as well, your daughter as great power being born of who she was."

"Many have been born of a mother confessor in the past" Kahlan said "Why should she be more powerful then another?"
"Have you ever wondered why you stay with your husband?" he asked "have you ever wondered why you stay after he treats you the way he does?"

"I stay because it is my life now." She told him

"Why was it you he found in his hour of need when he was about to die, poisoned by a poison that you alone knew how to cure?" Zed asked

"I don't know, luck, and chance, any of those." Kahlan told him

"No" Zed told her, "There is no chance, just Destiny." He looked at the house then back at Kahlan "You were destined to have this family after you lost your first. This is a way of bringing back the light that was lost on the day Richard died."

"I don't understand." Kahlan said looking at Zed.

"Your husband is my grandson, cousin of Richard." Zed told her "You are drawn to him for what he is, you stay with him for what he is." Zed told her, but still she looked confused. "Kahlan he is next to be the seeker."

"No, him?" Kahlan asked, "Zed you can't be serious." She knew her husband, he couldn't fight off whole armies the way Richard had, he wouldn't be able to strike fear in his enemy's hearts when his name was mentioned.

"It is true, I know what you are thinking, that he can't be, that he is a simple man, but if you remember so was Richard." Zed told her, "And your husband is far more then simple, he is more like Richard then you would think, on his own will, without having destiny playing a role."

"What do you mean?" she asked Zed.

"Robin of Locksley, the women who took your child today is also looking for that man." Zed told her, "Do you know of that name?"

"Yes" Kahlan told him "My husband talks of stories about a hero from his home county." She thought for a moment, "He was the lord of Locksley, earl of Huntington. When he fought in war his enemies would fear his name for he was a powerful warrior, but never once did he put himself above his men like many others that held his position. He never went into a fight hiding behind little men, instead he was on the front lines, fighting with his men side by side." She told Zed

"Yes, what else?" Zed asked her

"When he was injured the king allowed him to go home, but when he went home he found it was far from he remembered, full of unjust in the land and ended up taking to the woods, by braking the law he made it more true. Once again he was able to bring enemies to their knees, but without senseless killing, and only killing when he had to. He was a true hero of his people."

"How do these stories end?" Zed asked

"Well I don't know" Kahlan said, as her husband many times said that Robin Hood and Marian lived happily ever after, yet the people of Locksley said other wise.

"It all began to end the day Marian was killed, the women that Robin Hood loved with his whole body and soul. For a while he was nothing without her, but remembering her promise he ended up fight longer, fighting another year. He was able to fight off a whole army with just simple men, he was able to inspire hope into the hearts of those that lost it." Zed said, "Is this starting to sound like Richard?" he hoped Kahlan would realize that maybe he was telling the truth. "Robin Hood was hurt in the final battle, a simple cut on the side of his neck, poisoned with a deadly poison with no cure known to anyone, unless you were a confessor, and that is where you come in." Zed told her "You and your husband were drawn together by destiny, by you losing Richard opened up a new destiny, once meant for Robin."

"That's impossible, my husband is Robin of Knighton." Kahlan was trying to find ways to prove Zed wrong, there was no way her husband was Robin Hood, let alone the new seeker.

"No, Marian the women he loved, her name was Marian of Knighton." Zed said, "Have you not noticed a few times the way your husband acts isn't of one raised as a famer? Lavender baths? Rose petal wash water?"

"No" Kahlan said "This isn't true, he is a simple farmer, he can't even fight off a stray animal when it comes to the farm" She turned to go into the house, "Now leave Zed if you know what's good for you, I may not have my powers, but I can still fight."

"You won't fight me Kahlan." Zed told her

"Oh but I will if you try and upset my family, the problems only began when you first tried to take my daughter, now a blonde women is after her as well, stay away." She walked into the house, as she was about to shut it Zed spoke quickly.

"The women is her, she survived that night, Kahlan she is after your daughter now." He hoped that Kahlan would listen to him, that she would embrace her new destiny, but she just slammed the door and walked up to bed.

She looked at her husband who lay asleep; he only woke when the door slammed shut. She saw by the way he jumped that he hadn't been dreaming of something happy, he was in a cold sweat, and seemed to be confused where he was.

"Its alright." Kahlan said lying down next to him. He looked at her confused, but took his arms and held her in them. She could feel him fall right back to sleep, but right before he did he muttered a simple word that sent chills down her spine.

"Marian." Hadn't that been the name Zed had said? Wasn't Marian the name of the women in the stories? Wasn't Marian the name of the women Kate talked about that Robin Hood loved so much? Her breathing became shallow as her heart began to race as she tried to convince her self everything Zed said was a lie, but somewhere deep down she knew she was wrong. She knew Zed was right and she wondered how long she could keep fooling her self that everything was fine, that they were a normal family. As she shut her eyes, she also thought of the wood smith, the man that had so much loyalty for Robin. She thought of the many stories her husband had told. Many of them had a young wood smith named Will in them, and the young Will fell in love with a Saracen women, what was her name? Djaq. Kahlan thought once again trying to remember the name of the women in the village. Her eyes were closed as she thought hoping to fall asleep, but her mind wouldn't stop, her eyes flew open as she realized the women in the village name was Djaq like in the stories.

"No" She said to herself trying to convince herself that is was nothing that she was over thinking. There was no way her husband was Robin Hood.

AN- Ok what do you guys think? I have a big plan for this story I just hope I get the chance to finish it.