"Robbie!"

"Puck."

"Shut up!" The forest grove fell silent. Robin took a few shaking breaths. "Just...be quiet. Both of you."

A moment or two passed. Not even the animals lurking in the foliage made a sound. But all too soon, Meghan came up behind him and pulled on his sleeve. "Puck," she whispered, her eyes wide and innocent as she looked at him. "Please. I need to know you still love me." Robin glanced over at Capala. Her arms were crossed, her face unreadable. Meghan outstretched a hand and cupped his cheek, bringing his gaze back to her own. "Puck?"

"Meghan..." Robin slowly reached up and detached her palm from his face. His heart thumped in his chest. "I...no. I don't love you any more. I'm sorry."

The woman's jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

"Because...I did. For too long, and too much. I wanted you to love me so much I couldn't stand it. But then you fell for Ash, and it hurt. I was only around for a little while before I died, and now I've been gone for four years. We're entirely different people now, princess. I don't want to wait on you any more. I don't want to be your second choice, now that Ash is dying. I..." He paused, glancing towards where Capala had been. She had vanished. Puck pursed his lips. "I want to start over with someone new. I need a fresh start."

He stepped away and started to search for Capala's footprints. "So, you love her." Meghan murmured, drawing the tricksters attention back to her.

Robin paused. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I like her, and I think she likes me, though she doesn't want to admit it."

"I see." Meghan raised her head, and Puck saw both understanding and sorrow in her eyes. "She suits you. I'm...sorry things couldn't have been different, Robbie."

Puck swallowed. "Me too, princess."

The Iron Queen nodded, smiled, and left. She vanished into the brush, exiting the gardens and going back to her advisors and generals. Robin went back to searching for tracks, but he found no trace of where Capala had gone. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Puck knew he'd find her only when she wanted to be found.

So he waited.

He sent for some food, if you could call the bland military rations 'food,' and waited in the grove for several hours. Eventually he dozed off, enjoying the sweet smell of summer in the air and flowers on the breeze. He woke to the sound of familiar singing, and opened groggy eyes to see Capala lounging in the tree branches above him. "Evening, Goodfellow," she said, as Robin got to his feet. "Nice nap?"

"Not very," Puck grunted. "I had a terrible dream that a pretty girl ran away when I was trying to tell her something important." He glowered up at the female fey.

Capala sighed and descended the branches, stepping down off the tree without a sound. "I'm sorry, Robin," she murmured. "But I'm not one to cause problems. Meghan loved you, and I just wanted to get out of the way and let you have your happy ending."

Puck's shoulders slumped. "I wish it were that easy, Cap," he said. "But no. Meghan doesn't love me. At least, not in the way I wanted her to. I wanted her to leave Ash for me, to fall in love with me, to let me be her jester, her savior, her best friend and lover for the rest of her life." He let out a bitter chuckle. "I never wanted to be a second choice."

Capala didn't reply at once. "So what do you want, then?" she asked, her voice low.

"I want to go save the dryads. I want to go protect my family. But I also want to make a certain Iron soldier fall madly in love with me, since after all," Robin chuckled, "I did just turn down the Queen of the Iron Fey for her."

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Puck grinned, but his good humor faded quickly. He sighed. "Capala, come with me."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I know I can't ask you to do this, but...I'm asking you to do this." The trickster swallowed. "Ask Meghan to send you with me to the dryads. Help me with my family, and give me a chance. Please."

Capala bit her lower lip and looked away. Robin could see her trembling. "I don't trust easily, Robin," she murmured, her voice choked. "And I rarely, if ever, let myself feel attracted to someone. Puck, the last time I..." She paused to take a shaking breath. "The last time I fell for someone, they died. If I had been paying attention, if I had been smart, I could have saved his life. I swore...I swore I'd never let my guard down again."

"...I'm not them, Cap." Robin stepped close and took Capala's hands in his own. "I'm not going to die, and you're not going to kill people by just admitting you like someone."

"Puck, if you knew..." To his surprise, Robin saw Capala start to tear up. She took a deep, shaking breath. "If you knew what I've done, you wouldn't care about me. You would hate me."

"I could say the same thing, Cap," Puck muttered. "Neither of us are perfect. God knows I'm anything but. But that doesn't mean we're broken. It doesn't mean we don't deserve the chance to be happy."

Capala swallowed. "I can't promise it'll be easy, Robin," she whispered, squeezing his hands tight, "but...I want to try. I want to fall in love again."

Puck pulled her close, leaning down so their eyes met. "Is that a promise?" he whispered with a smile.

The woman bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes sparkling. "It's a promise."

She returned Puck's kiss, and the trickster considered that a victory.

Meghan let Capala go with Robin very easily, almost as if she had been expecting it. "Get to the dryads as fast as you can," she said, avoiding Capala's gaze. "I'll send as many soldiers as I can spare after you."

The two fey packed what they needed and were given a ride to the edge of Iron country, by the treeline of the Wyldwood. The moon above them illuminated their path, giving them the light they needed to duck into the trees. "How long will it take to get there?" Capala whispered. Neither of them wished to disturb the silence of the faery wood. Too many dangerous things lurked in the shadows.

"A few days," the trickster replied. "But you never know. It is the Nevernever after all."

"Fair enough."

They walked down the path, weapons out and prepared for a fight if need be. They could hear the stir of living things crawling through the trees, watching them with invisible eyes. They travelled as far as they could until exhaustion claimed them. Capala took first watch, letting Puck fall into a troubled sleep.

In the dark of his mind, visions plagued the faery jester. Visions of blood and fire, of Aster falling before him. Thick, dark brown sap oozing from her side, her limbs akimbo while he clutched her in his arms. Metal-clad warriors, with bullets and swords and cold flame pulsing through his skin as they ran past him, cutting down his friends and family.

"Ah!" He shouted and sat up, a hand jerking to his shoulder and clenching around the fabric of his shirt. Pain sparked inside an old wound, making his blood turn cold and his heart race. He gasped for breath, his vision blurring as sweat dripped into his eyes.

"Robin?" Soft hands reached out to comfort him, one palm massaging his shoulder and the other cupped around his cheek. At the touch, the pain melted away and his eyes cleared. Capala sat in front of him, their faces close as she pulled him near. "Are you all right?" she asked.

The trickster nodded. He saw the dark shadows under the officer's eyes and swallowed hard. "I don't think I'm going to get any more sleep," he said, his voice rough and shaky. "I'll take watch. You rest."

The woman pursed her lips but didn't argue. Puck crossed his legs and focused on calming his still-racing heart, and Capala slept beside him. Robin outstretched his arm so she brushed against his skin. She tensed, then slowly relaxed into the crook of his arm. She tucked up her legs underneath her and let her dark hair fall across her face in her sleep. Puck waited for morning.

Eventually the faery sun deigned to rise, and the two fey travelled once more. Robin couldn't dispel the feeling of uneasiness that lurked in his heart. Capala knew something was wrong with him, but she didn't know why or what, and she lacked the words to ask. The jester kept up a façade of cheerfulness, as he always did, but kept Capala within reach at all times. Her low humming and nervous but soft touch would push away the fear that lingered in his blood.

"We should get there soon," Puck said, forcing a smile. "We've been making good time."

"Hm." Capala nibbled on a piece of bread from her pack. "Let's hope so."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance."

The two fey whirled around, stepping backwards from the mysterious third voice and unsheathing their weapons. "Grimalkin," Robin croaked. The cait sith had scared him more than he wanted to admit. "You can't resist making a dramatic entrance, can you?"

"I could say the same about you, jester," the cat purred.

"Nah," Puck said, slowly lowering his dagger. "I'm less dramatic, more casually awesome. What brings you here, kitty cat?"

"As I said. I wish to help." Grim's feline eyes flickered to Capala. "And to say hello to an old acquaintance."

Robin turned to see Capala staring at the cat, her eyes wide and her skin paler than normal. Her jaw was clenched tighter than he'd ever seen, and while her face betrayed nothing he saw violent emotions warring in her eyes. "Hello, Grim," she said, her voice empty. Not dangerous, not calm, just...empty. Barren.

"It's been a long time." When Capala didn't reply, Grimalkin looked back to Puck. "The path has changed since you've been gone. Follow the autumn trees."

"'Kay...that's awful nice of you, Grimmy. Any particular reason you've decided not to be a prick today?" His tone was light, but the trickster watched Capala out of the corner of his eye, worry growing in his mind.

"It's not my place to say." Grimalkin's eyes sparked with a sudden intensity. "Robin, do you remember our last conversation, the one in this very wood?"

"Vaguely."

The cat smirked. "The name of the song is 'Why I Wander,' in case you didn't know."

"What?" Puck's brow furrowed. He shook his head and opened his mouth to ask more questions, but the cait sith had disappeared. "Typical." He turned to Capala. "Cap? Are you okay?"

The woman swallowed. "I'm fine," she croaked. "We should keep moving."

"Hey-" Robin reached out to take Capala's arm, only to have her jerk away like he'd struck her. "Cap, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she insisted, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "Just...we need to keep moving." The officer marched away from him, her head down and her shoulders tense.

Puck took a deep breath and went after her.