Hey im back again did you miss me?? i hope this is not boring to you because this is quite an intense chapter i have written so diligently for you all...i hope you guys like it and have not forgotten about me...oh rob/mar fans just in case you think i've forgtten about you i havent more will come plus check out my new story Love Leads Us Home...rob mar centered and you might like it too...anyway please read review and enjoy

Chapter Twenty Starry Nights of Silhouettes

"I love you," he told her.

"I know."

"Was it that obvious?" he asked her.

Marian was lying on the bed. Her dress was nearly off. Guy was on top of her holding her in his arms passionately. His tunic was crumpled on the floor and any moments his pants would join the tunic.

The sun was beginning to set outside. There were vast colors of red and gold streaked across the infinite sky. It was a perfect setting for any two people in love.

It was a shame that such a beautiful sunset should be spent on Guy and Marian. Guy had made peace with his nightmares. He had answered the sheriff part of the dream by declaring to himself that this manor was his home. That Marian and Clara were his only home now. And he had answered Robin's part of the dream by declaring to himself that it did not matter.

How often he found himself repeating the mantra though always with disbelief. Now, with Clara's addition to the family, he realized that nothing Robin could say would matter. Yet he could not forget that one line Robin told him.

I do not hate you Guy of Gisborne.

If Guy wanted to take that remark on face value alone then it would read as a blessing from the outlaw. And Guy so wanted to believe that the outlaw was indeed blessing the marriage between his love and his enemy. Though Guy seriously doubted the truth of that thought.

If Robin did not hate Guy…who did?

There were so many people who hated him, it would be impossible to choose the most likely candidate for that question. He committed such heinous crimes. He had killed so many innocent people. Guy stared down with love at the woman who had captured his heart.

What about Marian?

He kissed Marian lovingly.

"Was it that obvious?" he repeated when she was silent.

She put her arms around his neck. "You did propose to me twice Guy. That pretty much gave it away."

Guy smiled. "And I thought I was so subtle too."

Marian shook her head.

Guy began kissing Marian's neck and then began kissing her exposed breasts. Marian moaned quietly. Guy traveled his kisses down Marian's body stopping momentarily at her private area. She screamed due to the position of his two fingers.

"AH!"

"More?"

She nodded.

He did as she requested.

Suddenly without warning she screamed, "ROBIN!"

It was in the heat of the moment. She was not thinking straight. She was not focusing on keeping her mouth shut as she had done before. But she forgot to bit her lip. Marian opened her eyes and looked at Guy.

He had removed his fingers from her insides and sat on the foot of the bed covering his eyes with his hands.

Marian hugged herself wishing she had remained quiet. She could not think of what to say that would correct this situation. She wondered what Guy would do to her now once he regained himself. Throw her out again? Beat her? Marian closed her eyes.

Why did I have to say his name? What the bloody hell is wrong with me?

But as she thought this and squeezed her eyes tight she saw his dazzling eyes and his radiant smile.

So Marian after all this time…you do still love me.

Guy was rubbing his temples to calm himself down. Though he knew that Marian did not feel the same way about him as he felt about her, he was sure that in time…

"Why?" he asked simply.

Marian opened her eyes at the sound of Guy's voice.

"Why?" he repeated just as calmly.

"I do not know," she said quietly.

Guy shook his head. His eyes were fixed on the floor. "Yes you do."

Marian did not say anything.

Guy swallowed. There was a lump in his throat. "Marian?"

"Yes?" she asked quietly.

"Why did you say his name?" he repeated for the third time.

"Things happen," she said defensively. "We cannot explain why."

Guy shook his head. "Names, specific names, do not just happen. Tell me why you said Robin Hood's name while we were having sex."

Marian did not speak.

Guy turned around and looked at his wife. She was leaning against the wall and hugging her knees. She looked so alone and confused. He slowly crawled towards her.

"You can tell me," he said.

What was he going to do anyway? Order Robin Hood's immediate arrest? He had lost that power the day he left Nottingham.

Guy took Marian's face in his hands so that she was forced to look at him. "Marian?"

Marian looked at her husband sadly.

"Do you love him?" he asked her. Though he could guess the truth quite easily, though he had heard it from Gabriella's mouth, though he had tried to force it out of his wife a while ago, he still wanted her to say it. It would always haunt him.

And what could Marian do?

You could lie to him. You could tell him that you love him and you said Robin's name because you are a raving lunatic who blurts out other people's names.

Or…you could tell him the truth. What's he going to do to you? Really Marian, you are the mother of his child, you are his wife, maybe it is time to stop thinking he's going to hurt you.

Marian nodded.

Guy, still holding her face in his hands, closed his eyes. He bent his head forward so that it lightly touched her head. She closed her eyes too.

"I," said Marian, "I want to love you."

"Why did you marry me?" he asked her.

She opened her eyes and he opened his as well. "Well, you asked me to."

Guy raised an eyebrow. "The truth."

Marian bit her lip. "He wanted me to."

Guy cocked his head to the side. "He wanted you to marry me. Honestly Marian, you need to pick better men to love in the future."

Marian rolled her eyes. "He wanted me to live. Marrying you did the trick."

"Are you telling me that by marrying you I was helping my enemy?" Guy asked.

Marian nodded. "If you want to look at it that way, then yes."

Guy still felt the lump in his throat. "Do you hate me?"

This question was more terrifying for Guy to ask then the other question. Because this question had been eating away at him since the dream about Robin. Marian may not love him, but did she hate him? Did he scare her?

Marian shook her head and stroked his cheek. "Guy, no, of course not."

"Really?" he asked her.

"What would make you think such a thing?"

Guy shrugged. "Well, because, you did not want to marry me. I practically forced you into our marriage bed, and you got pregnant. How could you possibly like me after all of that?"

Marian stopped hugging herself and sat up on her knees. Guy did the same. She took hold of his hands.

"Guy," she said, "I have loved Robin of Locksley since I was a girl. It has never gone away and I do not think it is likely that I will ever stop loving him. However, for the past couple of months that I have been your wife, I have seen life without Robin. I have seen what life can be like with you. And I can see myself happy here. I am happy with you Guy. You have been so kind to me here. You have so good and sweet to me, even though you almost threw me out once."

Guy bit his lip and hung his head.

Marian took his face in her hands. "I thought my world would turn to ash if I was not with him. But Guy, I am happy here. And it is not because this is a beautiful country, and not just because we have a beautiful daughter, but because of you."

Guy looked up at her with surprise. "ME?"

Marian nodded. "Yes."

"Really?" He could not believe it. "I…I, Guy of Gisborne, make you happy?"

"You want a prize or something?" she asked playfully kissing him on the lips.

And things seemed perfect for the two of them. As perfect as things could be considering the fact that Guy knew Marian did not love him as he loved her. But Guy did not care. And Guy finally felt freedom. He did not feel guilt, or shame, or arrogance.

Just simple joy.

Guy and Marian fell onto the bed together again. Their legs intertwined as their bodies became one…

Then there was a scream.

Guy and Marian parted and groaned.

"Clara," said Marian giggling.

"Good timing," said Guy sarcastically.

"Do you want me to get up?" she asked him.

Guy shook his head. "My turn."

He got up out of the bed and kissed Marian on the forehead. He walked to the source of the noise and the screams and found Clara kicking and screaming in her little crib. Guy sighed and shook his head. He reached into the crib and lifted up his beautiful baby.

Her face was red and wet with tears. He chivalrously wiped them from her little cheeks and held her protectively in his arms. But no matter what he did Clara continued to cry. Guy thought she could do with some fresh night air. He carried her out the door and into the night.

The sun had set and above Guy and Clara were hundreds of stars across the night sky. The cool breeze comforted Clara as she snuggled up in her father's strong arms. Guy smiled.

"See these stars Clara?" he asked though the child would not answer.

Clara gurgled in response.

"When I was a boy," Guy continued, "I used to spend a couple of hours every night just staring up at the heavens. The stars seemed so small just like I always felt. But there were so many of them together that I thought they could never be lonely. Clara, you are a small thing in this very large world, but you have me. You will always have me Clara, just like the stars have each other."

Then he lightly kissed Clara's cool cheek.

Bliss flooded into Guy.

But as often happens, bliss does not last forever. Moments, such as they are named, flutter away and disappear in seconds. And in his happiest of times when nothing could ever go wrong Guy heard a distant cry.

"Gisborne!"

The cry was a long way off. Its owner would not reach Guy until morning. But the voice brought a chill to Guy's bones. This meant that the voice was not just haunting him in his dreams, but in his reality. The voice belonged to the sheriff of Nottingham who, according to Guy's last calculations, should either be dead or still missing in Nottingham.

But yet he could recognize that call anywhere.

Guy's first instinct was to hold onto Clara tighter. He waited outside to see if the sheriff would speak again.

"GISBORNE!" The sheriff's voice rang out.

Guy closed his eyes and brought Clara closer to his chest.

I will protect you. I promise you I will.

Guy opened his eyes and raced back into the house. Guy, with Clara in his arms, raced into the bedroom where Marian was waiting for him. She raised a suspicious eyebrow to see her husband's worried face.

She sat up on the bed and Guy sat down next to her.

She stroked his hair. "What is it?"

He did not answer.

"What is it Guy!?"

Guy looked at her desperately. "The sheriff…the sheriff is coming."

******************************************************************************

"Ow!" yelped Much grabbing onto his foot.

"Sh!" whispered everyone desperately. They were trying to sneak through the countryside quietly with the intent of finding the sheriff and stopping him from reaching the manor before them. That was the intent, but with the thick darkness surrounding them, they could barely see each other much less the sheriff.

Now Much was causing noise of his own!

Eve put her hand over Much's mouth to quiet his yelp. She shook her head.

"Much, we need to be quiet."

"I can't help it if Allan just decides randomly to walk on my feet," said Much accusingly.

"Hey, I can't help it if Much 's feet just decide randomly to be where my feet were walking," said Allan defensively.

"Everyone just shut up," said Robin rubbing his head.

The gang went silent. Robin turned around to look at them. "Unless you'd like to continue your bickering in which case I can just do this alone."

Will shook his head. "You cannot do this without us."

"He's right Robin," said Djaq.

Robin closed his eyes. "This is not your battle though. I brought you here, I begged Stephan to join this insipid journey, but in reality, this is something I must do alone."

"Why?" John asked. He had been pretty silent throughout the sneaking and the gang suddenly jolted at the sound of his big voice.

Robin opened his eyes and tried to look up at the tall man standing before him.

"Because I do not want any of you hurt because of my own mistakes," said Robin quietly.

Will tried to step up. "No. Robin, it was my fault I—"

Robin shook his head and put a hand on Will's shoulder. "Yes, you told her to marry him. But I should not have let her go back to the castle. I mean she was there, living in the forest, with me! Finally it was just as it should be, and then she thought it would be better if she went back to the castle. Why did I not make her stay?"

Robin's rant startled the gang more than Much's outburst of pain or John's resonating voice. Here was their fearless leader confessing to them what had happened all those months ago in that bloody tree. He had never spoken to them about what had happened while he and Marian were surrounded in the tree, only that she was back in the castle. Now here he was, openly discussing it with them.

Suddenly Robin broke into a run. He did not know where he was running just that he was running and almost flying with the exhilarating speed. But his running, though he thought it was silent, caused a noise to echo throughout the countryside.

A noise that Edward heard.

He was separated from the sheriff's side and could not see where he was going. But he heard Robin's footsteps and drew out his sword.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Robin ducked down to blend in with the tall grass. He heard slow footsteps coming towards him and his heart began pounding.

"Show yourself!" whispered Edward loudly with fright.

Robin barely breathed.

Edward looked all around him and, when he was finally satisfied that no one was there, put his sword back in his sheath.

"I'm going crazy," said Edward. "Literally mad. Just nervous I guess."

Robin let himself looked up through the grass to watch the stranger walking to and fro. The silhouette found a tree and bent his head towards the tree. "I must be mad." Edward, a man who did not fear killing men, feared darkness and loneliness. Tears of a murderer lightly hit the ground at Edward's feet.

Robin took pity on the stranger. He had the urge to show himself and befriend this lonely wanderer of the night. Robin did not even begin to assume that this weary traveler could in fact be the fearless killer traveling with Robin's arch enemy. But before Robin could sit up and talk to the man, the man in question broke into a run of his own.

When the man was out of sight Robin stood up and began to run as well in a completely different direction. But he did not get too far before he felt hands wrap themselves around his waist. Robin instinctively turned to face his mysterious attacker and began kicking him.

The attacker began to kick at Robin and both men fell to the earth. They began rolling around on the ground hitting and kicking at the other.

Finally the stranger pinned Robin down.

Robin was unsure what was going to happen next so he held his breath and mentally prepared himself for whatever was yet to come.

How surprised he must have been when he heard familiar laughter issue from the attacker's mouth.

"And to think, you were always stronger than me when we would wrestle as boys."

"Stephan?" Robin asked staring up at the dark figure.

"Guilty," said Stephan releasing Robin of his grasp.

Robin sat up and looked at Stephan uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"

"I ran after you," he said. "You really need to stop doing this Robin. It's not healthy, and it's not right to leave us behind when you decide to feel noble. We are with you brother. And because we follow you, and because we love you, this has become our fight just as much as it is yours. Guy and the sheriff are our enemies just as they are yours. Marian is—"

Robin stopped him there. "You can stop there please."

Robin stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes. He rubbed life back into his arms and legs. Stephan did the same.

"I did not think priests fought," said Robin.

Stephan shrugged. "Brothers fight."

"Brothers? Like the monks and—"

Stephan shook his head. "No! I mean you and I fight."

Robin nodded. "I knew that."

The brothers looked at each other in silence.

"Robin?" said Stephan. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If she was with you, in the forest, why did she leave?"

Robin crossed his arms. "We were stuck in this tree, and surrounded of course. She did not think it would be possible for us to escape if she did not reveal to Guy that she was there with me."

Stephan's eyes widened. "So Guy found out then?"

Robin shook his head. "No. I pretended that I captured her."

"Robin Hood kidnapping Lady Marian," said Stephan softly. "Sounds like only a very daft man would believe such a thing."

"You haven't met Guy of Gisborne," said Robin.

"So what happened?"

"The gang came up with a plan for our escape. But…she did not come with me out of the tree. She went with Guy." Robin with fresh anger, kicked at the dirt by his feet.

"Why the sudden rage?" asked Stephan noticing the swirling dust at Robin's feet.

"Because I am realizing that she often chooses him over me."

Stephan chuckled.

"Why the sudden laughter?" asked Robin.

"Because I am realizing how stupid my little brother is," said Stephan lightly laughing.

"What?"

"Robin, she left with Guy to save you."

"No, she said that she was more useful in the castle, that's why she went back."

"Robby, think," said Stephan shaking his head, "how would it have looked to Guy if you and Marian had left the tree together? He would have tracked you both down and found out your secret. From what you have told me about him, he probably would have killed you both. She did not leave you because she did not love you, she left to save you, because she loves you."

Robin found himself smiling at Stephan's words. "I did not think of that."

The brothers were silent again.

"What happened to the rest of the gang?" asked Robin.

"They are probably searching for us," said Stephan. "We should stay here until they arrive."

Robin nodded though he did not like the idea of the sheriff moving onwards and closer while he stayed where he was.

"Robin," said Stephan, "they really care about you."

"I know."

"You do not give them enough credit for their love."

Robin nodded. "They are the bravest, most loyal men in England, and I do not remind them of it enough."

"We understand Robin," said Much beaming as he found his friends.

Robin spun around excitedly at seeing Much and the rest of the gang walking towards the two brothers.

"Much!" Robin whispered loudly wrapping his arms around his oldest friend.

"Don't get so excited," said Much returning the hug nervously, "it's just me."

Robin released Much of the embrace and turned to the rest of the gang. "Sorry, again, for abandoning you."

Allan shrugged. "We are used to it by now."

The sun was beginning to peak his head and bring the dawn with him. The trickles of light softened the gang's hearts. Light brings warmth for even the weariest of travelers and Robin found that he too was filled with new hope and determination.

And in that instant more than any, Robin would need all the strength in his heart. For he heard a call that could have shattered any mortal man.

"GISBORNE!"

The sheriff was at Guy's manor, with Edward by his side. The call was not out of madness towards the darkness as the other shouts had been. But this time the sheriff was upon Gisborne's humble manor. And if Gisborne did not open that damn door, the sheriff was ready to kick it down with all the force he could muster.

Oh my gosh!!! the sheriff is here!! what are guy and marian going to do?? and Robin??? lord knows he better break out into another run!! please review...im feeling meloncholy about this story and i'd love to hear your thoughts about it so far...thanks and lots of love to all of you