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

A/N: I decided that I couldn't leave Djaq and Will behind in Acre.

Just another little filler chapter.. a few little moments.

Chapter 43

The next morning, the gang stood at the top of the hill which led down to the Port of Acre, with the King and a few of his guards.

They were about to board the boat that would take them home.

' You've saved my life,' the King said to them all,' now go home and grieve your loss. '

' You know, your majesty,' Robin said,' for every man there is a purpose which is set up in his life. Let yours be the doing of all good deeds. '

' From the Qu'aran,' Much nodded.

' Then do those deeds in my name,' the King said,' you are my representatives in England. You are King Richard. '

' And you?' Robin asked.

The King smiled,' Us? We are Robin Hood. '

Robin nodded,' Come on you lot, lets go home. '

The King and his guards turned away, and Carter looked to the King, who merely nodded.

Carter got down from his horse, and shook hands with Robin, then John, then Will, hugged Djaq and came to stop in front of Ava.

' I'll see you later, kid,' he said.

Ava hugged him tightly,' You should come with us,' she told him.

He shrugged,' Hey, I'd like to, but someone needs to protect the King. But don't worry, I have a feeling we'll all meet again soon, and when all this is over, maybe I'll come by and visit Sherwood. '

' We would be glad to see you,' Robin said sincerely.

Carter then shook the hands of Much and Allan before they gang left, ready to go home.

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Three days into the month long journey, it was around mid-day when the gang were sat out on the deck together, talking.

Much, John and Will sat on hard wooden stools in one corner of the deck, whilst Ava sat in Much's lap, and Djaq sat on the floor,leaning against her new love's legs. Robin, however, was absent from the scene, as was Allan.

Allan appeared moments later, yawning and running a hand through his hair.

' Morning all,' he said, sitting down on the floor and crossing his legs.

' Morning? ' asked Much dryly,' it's mid-day. '

Allan shrugged,' We have nothing to do, why get up early? Hey .. where's Robin? '

Djaq informed him, ' He is still in his room. '

Ava sighed,' I'm really worried about him. We've barely seen him since we got on this boat, it's unhealthy. '

John tutted,' What do you expect? The man just lost the love of his life. How would you feel? '

Ava bit her lip, knowing she would be in pieces, as Robin was now. She shrugged,' I don't know what to do about him .. do we reach out and try and talk to him? Do we leave him alone to hide away? '

' We leave him,' John said, looking around at everyone firmly,' if he wants to talk, he knows where to find us. '

' Imagine what it's going to be like when we get home,' Will said dull-ly,' he can't avoid us in the camp, and there'll be work that needs doing. '

' He will deal with it,' John said,' we can't push him, he was to deal with it in whatever way he thinks is best. '

The others exchanged looks which all said the same thing - John was right.

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That night, Ava lay in bed with Much. Whilst he slept soundly, she lay in his arms and for possibly the first time ever in that position, she felt uncomfortable.

Not because of him, but because of her thoughts.

Whizzing around in her head were thoughts of Marian, Marian who had become such a good friend .. her closest female friend. She thought of how she'd never see Robin and Marian together again, and how Marian could have done so much good in the many years she had left. It seemed so unreal that they were never going to meet again.

Shivering at the thought, she slowly shifted out of the bed, and tried not to disturb Much as she got out of his touch and left the room.

She exhaled as she walked up on to the deck. It was the dead of the night, and the sky was pitch black, with the stars overhead twinkling.

Ava was unsure what she was doing out here, but she let go of her thoughts and walked over to the edge of the boat. She peered over the side, watching the water lap at the sides of the boat, and her hand trailed along the edge as the walked down the deck, and stopped when she was right at the front of the boat.

She stepped up on to the first bars of the boat, and held on to the mast, looking out to sea. It looked so calm, so carefree - certainly the very opposite of the life of an outlaw. As she was wishing her life was more simple, something broke through her thoughts.

' I do hope you're not thinking of jumping? '

Ava turned around suddenly.

' Robin! ' she said, suprised to see him there,' Robin, what are you doing out here? '

' I could ask you the same question,' he said, looking at where she was stood, and looking overboard.

Ava followed the direction of his gaze and shook her head, hopping down from where she was.' It's not what it looks like. '

He came to stand beside her,' So? ' he prompted, resting his hands against the side of the boat, looking out to sea, much like she was.

She sighed,' I just needed some fresh air, I guess. Needed to think or something. And you? '

' Same,' he merely said.

There was a pause before Robin turned around to face her,' C'mere,' he said, reaching out his arms and placing his hands on her shoulders..

After a moment, he said,' You must be frezzing, it's cold out here.'

She shrugged,' I'm not really bothered.'

' Nonesense, take my cloak,' he insisted, fastening it around her before she could protest.

They went back to staring out to see, before the silence was broken by Ava this time.

' Robin, I'm worried about you,' she said to him rather bluntly,' I'm worried that you're shutting us all out, when you need us most. The others told me to stay out of it, and that I shoulod leave you to it, but I can't. I feel like there has to be something I can do to help you. '

She tailed off, looking up at him hopefully, but he merely shook his head at her,' There's nothing you can do, but the fact that you'd even ask that is enough. '

' You're sure that ..' she began.

He cut her off mid-sentence,' Yes. Yes, there's nothing you can. I don't even know how I'm going to get through all of this, but it's something I have to do on my own. '

Ava looked at his face, and as she saw his expression of deep, deep pain, she laid a hand upon his, where it lay on the wood of the boat.

Wordlessly, he looked down at their hands and met her eyes with a nod.

They stayed like that for several minutes, watching the horizon, watching where they were heading.

Then Ava broke the silence again.

Squeezing Robin's hand she said,' Robin? What you said about me after the wedding ... did you mean it? '

Robin smiled softly, knowing full well what she was referring to. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her in to him, holding her there.

' You,' he said,' are the little sister I never had. Honestly. '

Ava kissed his cheek, knowing that he meant it, and feeling that he was like a brother to her .. had been for months. Always watching over her because she was the newest and the youngest.

' Now,' he said authoritavely,' you should be getting back to bed.'

' Goodnight Robin. And I'm always here for you,' she added as she walked away.

' Goodnight Mrs Miller,' Robin called to her back.

As Ava climbed back into bed minutes later, she was glad to have made contact with her friend.

In the morning when Robin spent an hour with the gang before going back to his room, Ava was very glad. He hadn't stayed long, but it was a start, and that was all she could ask for.

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Three weeks into the journey, Ava was spending one particular evening sat up on deck with her dad. The whole gang had been there until Allan challenged Ava to a game of card, at which point everyone promptly left. Allan may be a terrible cheat, but Ava was almost as bad. They were both also very competitive, and a game couold last hours, with many arguments involved.

After an hour of playing Allan lifted his eyes from the deck of cards in his hand, he was about to raise the stakes, when he noticed the far away look in his daughter's eye.

' You alright? ' he asked.

She jerked out of her daydream,' Yeah. Yes, I'm fine. '

' Sure? ' he asked, clear blue eyes brimming with quick concern,' you seem to get that look quite oftten now. Is this about Marian? '

She shrugged,' Kind of. '

' Want to talk about it? ' he asked.

' Not really,' she replied.

Allan frowned, took the cards from her hands and set them down on the table,' Tough, we're going to. You know you can tell me anything. '

She looked at him uncomfortably,' I .. actually there is something I need to talk to you about. '

Allan's eyes widened greatly and he looked at her in much alarm,' You're ... you're not pregnant? '

Ava laughed, wishing that she was able to keep a memory of that forever. His face was a real picture .. one of horror and shock. It made her wonder what he'd have to say if she were really pregnant - she wanted to have a family one day, and he'd have to accept that at some point.

' No, I'm not, I promise,' Ava assured him,' but this is serious, and I can't really ask anyone else. '

' Not even Much? ' he teased.

' No,' she said, shaking her head.

Allan raised his eyebrows,' Blimey - come on then, let's hear it. '

Ava cleared her throat, ' Well, it's about Gisbourne. '

' Oh God,' Allan said,' don't tell me you've done something stupid - you haven't gone and got yourself mixed up with it all, like I did? You haven't gone and fallen in love with him or something? '

Ava slapped his arm harsly,' Dad! Will you just listen to me for once and stop butting in? '

' Sorry,' he said meekly.

' Well,' she continued,' before he killed Marian, I was with him. I got there before she did, and I tried to stop him getting to the King. And he disarmed me, and got me at sword point. I really thought he was going to kill me, and he could well have done. But he didn't. He saved my life .. he spared my life. '

Allan raised his eyebrows,' What did you do to worm your way out of that one? You're an outlaw, I'm suprised he didn't run you through at once.'

'So was I,' Ava admitted,' all I did was ask him if he could really do it. I reminded him he'd be leaving a man without the woman he loved, and that you'd been good to him. Then .. that's the weird thing, he shook his head and lowered his sword. '

Allan smirked,' Well, it looks like Much isn't the only one you've got wrapped around your little finger. '

Ava frowned,' It's not funny, Dad. It's been playing on my mind for a while. It made me think there's a side to him that we never could have imagined. I wanted to ask you what you think. '

' What I think? ' he echoed.

She nodded,' Do you think there's a more human side to Gisbourne? '

Allan took a moment to consider before he replied,' You know what? Actually, I do. It's a bit odd to say considering all the stuff we've seen him doing, and all the evil things we know he's done. But when I was working with him, I will say there were a few moments of humanity in him. '

' Then why? ' Ava sighed,' why is the one that side, if his heart's not in it?'

Allan shrugged,' I never said he was completely on the good side, byt yeah, he's not completely on the bad either. What I will say is this .... people make choices and sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong, and sometimes .. sometimes they're too hard to get out of. Gisbourne's made his choices and whether his heart's in it or not, it's his choice. '

Ava smiled,' Thanks Dad.'

' For what? ' he asked, eyes twinkling.

' Listening. I need someone to just get this off my chest with. Don't tell anyone, will you? ' she asked.

' You know I won't,' laughed Allan,' we're thick as thieves us too, when we want to be, aren't we? '

' Back to the game? ' Ava asked with a grin, picking up the cards.

' Wait,' Allan said,' look at me. '

Ava rolled her eyes,' Dad,' she moaned,' come on, I want to get back to beating you. '

Allan leaned over and put his hand under his daughter's chin, forcing her to look at him.

' Listen to me,' he said seriously,' I don't care if Gisbourne showed you a bit of compassion one time, and if we think he might be capable of a bit of humanity .. you watch what you're doing. '

' Dad, I'm not a kid,' she whined.

' I'm serious,' he said,' he might have let you off this once, but he's still unpredictable, and he's out of control. You don't let this fool you, and you stay on your guard . '

Ava nodded, knowing better than to argue with her protective dad.

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' I can see it! I can see it! ' yelled Will.

The whole gang were stood up on deck, and had been looking for it for two hours, when the captain first announced it would soon be coming up.

They all ran to the side, where Will pointed in one direction.

Much wrapped his arms around Ava from behind and brought his lips down to her ear.

' Home sweet home,' he whispered.

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Author's Note: Sorry if some of this seemed a bit out of place .. like the conversation between Allan and Ava. That should be more relevant later, if I decide to take the route I think I might.