Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood, it is all property of the BBC

Thank you to Mara Scarlett, Dreamsand, xxCee-Gxx and emelye14283.

And well done to emelye14283 who recognised the ballad Much and Ava danced to in chapter 10 as the one from Disney's Robin Hood.

Chapter 13

When Ava, Will and Allan arrived near the cave, Robin, John and Much were stood outside the cave with several knocked out guards around them, whilst the Sheriff and Gisbourne rode away on their horses quickly.

After the short battle, Robin sat on a rock with his head down, looking at the ground.

Much and John were looking at the three others, awaiting an explanation.

' Where were you three? ' John demanded, ' You've been gone a long time. '

' We thought something had happened to you, ' Much said, sounding annoyed.

Ava forced herself to meet his eyes, ' Sorry,' she said meekly.

She looked around to see both Will and Allan watching her, and shot them a glare that told them to stop it. Did they expect her to just jump into his arms?

' So, where were you? ' John repeated.

Ava's heart plummeted as she worried about what they were going to say. One look at Will told her that he felt the same way. Allan however, was determined to salvage the situation.

' I can explain,' he said.

John raised his eyebrows in question.

' There was a woman,' Allan began, ' A mother,' here he put emphasis on the word mother to try and convince the others. '

Ava and Will were looking at their companion open mouthed.

Allan continued, ' and she's givin' birth to this new born baby, right? '

Will cut across him, ' We were going to take the haul. Gisbourne's money. We were going to take it to Scarborough.'

John looked at them in suprise, as Much had a look of hurt in his eyes. Robin brought his head up on hearing this and gave his comrades a disappointed look.

' Huh, what can I say? ' Allan grinned.

' Sorry,' Ava put forward quickly, ' Really, I am - We are, I mean.'

' But we're here now,' Allan added.

' I - I mean we - couldn't leave. It just wasn't right.' Ava nodded. She decided not to add that the reason she caused such a fuss about leaving was that she was in love with one of her felloow outlaws.

Much, Robin and John continued to look around, not speaking. Ava sensed that there was still something wrong.

' What? ' she asked, ' we said sorry, and we really mean it.'

' Marian,' Much told her sadly, ' Gisbourne stabbed her last night and she is - is - '

Robin took over, ' She is dead. Marian's dead.'

Ava gasped and her hand flew to her mouth, her face falling in to great dismay. Allan and Will's faces also fell.

Minutes later, the outlaws went into the cave, where Marian's cold unmoving body lay on a stone slab.

' We need to bury her,' said Djaq, who had been sat by the body.

' We must take her to Knighton Hall, ' Robin insisted, ' To her Father. John I want you to - ' here he broke off, fighting back tears, ' Djaq prepare the body, Will I need you to - to make a coffin.' On the word coffin, his voice broke and silent tears began to fall.

' Shh, shh,' John whispered, clapping a hand to the younger man's shoulder, ' All in good time, first we say goodbye.'

The seven of them formed a line in fromt of the stone slab as they looked at the beautiful young woman, whose life had been cruelly ripped away.

' She was a good woman,' Will began, looking upset, ' Kind, considerate.'

' Good?, ' Much spoke up, ' She was...she was..she was..' he seemed unable to finish his sentence in his grief.

' She was alright,' Allan finished for him.

Attention seemed to turn to Ava, who cleared her throat with difficulty, ' Marian was so wonderful and she didn't care whether you were a rich noble or just some peasant turned outlaw. She was easy to talk to, she was fun, she had spirit, and she...she...I'll miss...' she could not finish through her tears.

Allan stepped forward to put an arm around his daughter's small shoulders, but Much had already done so, and was letting Ava cry into his shirt and he wrapped his arms around her.

' Her, we liked,' John said simply.

' Her we loved,' Robin said tenderly, ' Her I loved. I loved her and I never told her.'

' Oh, she knew,' Much nodded as he rubbed Ava's back carefully.

' We all knew,' Will nodded.

We all knew. Ava found herself wondering if everyone knew that she loved Much. As she thought about it she realised that they probably did - Allan and Will had heard her whole talk about him, Djaq knew she was in love and could have guessed with whom, Robin had often teased her about it during their lessons, though she always denied it, and John was like the father of the group - he did not miss a thing.

Allan suddenly stepped forward and eyed the body with a suspicion.

' I'm not bein' funny, but she is breathing,' she said.

Ava broke free of Much's arms to be able to see, John, Will and Much looked on in hope as Djaq darted forward to check if that were true. Robin dived to his knees by Marian's side.

Djaq pronounced that by some miracle, Marian's body had fought back and she was indeed alive, having already died. She had literally come back from the dead.

Robin decided that they were to take Marian home in an hour;s time, when she was feeling a little stronger and had had chance to get her bearings back. Djaq - as a physician - agreed to this.

The rest of the gang looked on in glee and cheered as it was declared that Marian would make a full recovery.

As Ava was speaking to Marian, Much was stood leaning against the side of the cave, watching.

Robin edged over to him.

' Do you know what I have learnt from this, Much? ' he asked.

Much tore his eyes off Ava and looked at Robin, ' Do not attempt to steal Gisbourne's valuables dressed in a leather catsuit and a mask? '

' No, seriously,' Robin sighed, ' You want to know? '

' If you want,' Much nodded.

' I learnt,' he said, voice low so that no one else could overhear them, ' that love, is sacred. You do not know how long you have left, so never keep your feelings bottled up. If you love someone, then let her know.' Robin then nodded towards Ava, ' Let her know. '

Much looked from Robin to Ava and back again. With a great sigh he spoke, ' What good will it do, master? She would not want me. '

Robin rolled his eyes, ' I beg to differ. If you do not make your move, you are missing out. Do it for your own sake, you never know what will happen next. '

Much thought about it for a moment, ' What do you suppose she will say? '

Robin knew very well that the young woman would return his affection, but merely shook his head, ' That is for you to find out from her. You do love her, don't you? '

Much grinned, ' I do.'

--

Ava was around the small fire that she and Djaq had lit.

She was sat on one of the logs around the fire, with Will and Djaq sat on the one opposite her.

John and Allan were stood up behind the fire, by the cave wall.

Marian was having a short nap, so Robin was sat beside Ava.

Much had spent a few minutes sat by Marian's sleeping form as he thought about what to say to Ava. He had ended up with no idea what to say, and decided to go back to the others before they wondered what on earth he was doing.

Robin could barely supress his smirk when his former manservant sat on the log beside Will and glanced nervously at Allan's daughter.

Will had been sending Ava looks since they got back that clearly asked her what she was going to do.

Much cleared his throat. He decided that he might as well speak to her in front of the others, since the cave was so small that if he asked her for a private conversation, they would have to whisper not to be overheard.

' Ava, I must speak to you, ' Much said, looking up at her.

Ava rolled her eyes up to the heavens as she remembered something she had done the week before that might have annoyed Much, ' Look, if this is about that fruit that Will and I took from the stores last week - '

' Ava it - ' began Much only to be cut off.

' Because in our defence, we were hungry and you had gone out hunting with Robin.'

' But - '

' And its only fruit, we can get plenty more rather easily and - '

' Ava I was blind! ' Much yelled above her, causing her to shut up promptly and listen to what he had to say. The rest of the gang were listening too, in interest.

' I was blind, ' he continued in a more calm voice, ' not to realise and tell you how I felt about you sooner. I should have told you this weeks ago. '

Robin grinned as he thought back to Ava's complaint from weeks ago, that all men were blind.

Ava blushed as she met his eyes,' Oh Much, ' she sighed.

Much continued with all seriousness, ' When you first joined the gang, you were just a teenage girl who I did not know and who meant nothing to me. Yet, in the short time that you have been amongst us here, I have goten to know and like you, and ultimately love you with all my heart. You, Ava A Dale, are an amazing young woman. You are kind, caring, loving, friendly, honest - '

Allan laughed at this, causing the others to smile too - the daughter of Allan A Dale could never be perfetly honest.

Much too, grinned, ' Ok, honest when it matters, you can hold your own in a fight - '

' Which I take credit for, by the way,' Robin added.

' Stop interrupting! ' Much hissed before softening his face and turning his attention back to Ava, ' I think that you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever met, and when we are together, something inside of me wants to just reach out and be able to hold you. Something inside of me wants to be woth you every minute of every day, for... well forever. Because I Love You. ' he finished.

Almost immediately after he stopped speaking, Ava took over, ' And I love you. Why do you think I could not run away to Scarborough? '

Much looked at Allan and Will for confiration of this fact. Will nodded.

' God, there was a whole argument, and speeches and everything. ' he said.

' It was a convincing speech too, ' Allan added.

Much looked nervous as he adressed the father of the woman he had just professed his love to and asked,' Then you do not mind if I court your daughter? '

Allan winked at Much, ' Just you make sure you treat her right. '

Ava sent Allan a grateful smile before looking back at Much 'I could describe all the things I love about you, but that would be most things, and it would delay me longer in doing this. '

With that, she slipped from her seat on the log and crawled across the floor until she was right in front of Much.

She knelt up and placing a hand on either of his cheeks, kissed him with a sweetness and love that she hoped would show him how much he meant to her.

When they broke apart after a moment, Much reached out and pulled her close to him.

This could be the beginning of something wonderful.

' Is it safe to look now? ' Allan asked.

When Ava had begun kissing Much, Allan had turned around to face the wall - to the great amusement of Will, Djaq, John and Robin - claiming he did not need to see that.