Disclaimer: I do not own Robin Hood nor am I associated with BBC, this is purely for fun not profit. All plot post series 2 belongs to me as do OCs.

Author's note: I can't believe it has been so long between updates. I can't apologize enough. All I can say is blizzards, a stubborn Allan, and work. (make that a very stubborn Allan).

Chapter 63: Finally (I think it aplies to both Allan, and having an update)

Willa pushed open the heavy door to her room and politely told the servants to leave. She had escaped when the other outlaws ventured after Marguerite and Richard, wanting to get away.

Did the king just have the gall to hint that Little John should marry? He may not have had anyone in mind for John, but Willa had seen the looks the other outlaws had given her. Just thinking about it made her blush as red as a rose. Did all the outlaws presume that there was something there? Or was it since she was the only unattached woman left in Sherwood so she was the choice by default?

Did she give too much away regarding her own feelings the last few weeks?

Her frustration carried into her undressing as she caught herself in the gown. Tugging furiously only rubbed against her scars and pulled her hair.

"What?" Willa yelled out as someone knocked on the door. She assumed it was the servants who were constantly underfoot. How could anyone live like that? Having never had servants, and only serving one day in her entire life, she still didn't understand how people could want others underfoot all day. Yes, not having to cook or clean would be appealing, but did they have to be everywhere, all the time?

"Is this a bad time?" Eleanor's voice called from the doorway. It was greeted with a snarl from Willa. "Willa?"

"I'm stuck," Willa hollered out. She heard Eleanor quickly come into the bedroom.

"Hold still a moment," Eleanor calmly ordered. Her hands ruffled through the fabric to find the three buttons Willa had missed. "There," Eleanor soothed as she helped pull the dress off Willa.

"Did I ruin it?" Willa worried. The last thing she needed was to ruin a dress Marguerite had given her.

"Not the dress, but are you alright?" Eleanor asked concerned.

"The dress didn't harm me," Willa frowned.

"Phew," Eleanor said sarcastically, hanging the dress up carefully. Her hand lingered on the brocade decorating the sleeve. "Tonight was something, wasn't it?"

"Allan deserved all of it, they all did," Willa said, wondering what had Eleanor so worried.

"Of course he did!" Eleanor nodded enthusiastically. "I meant…you perhaps understand better than anyone, except maybe Gretchen."

"What did Allan say that upset you?" Willa asked. She and Gretchen had pondered on it for two days and had no idea.

Eleanor smiled. "I came to check on you, not complain. Are you alright? I saw you seemed…uncomfortable," Eleanor settled on the word. "Was it uncomfortable for you tonight?"

Willa shrugged. She understood what Eleanor was implying. "No, somehow being in a crowd was much easier than being with just a few strangers."

Eleanor studied the young woman. She had blossomed the last month or so, gaining much needed weight and color. In a way, she was jealous of how well Willa seemed to be adjusting, it was much more quicker than Eleanor's adjustment.

"Then it must have been the fact that the king overlooked you. What land did you have your sights set on?" Eleanor grinned. "Buckinghamshire? Essex?"

Willa laughed. "I would have fainted dead away if he singled me out. I hardly did anything, certainly nothing to bring myself to the king's attention."

Eleanor waved away the comment. "You are singled out by the king's cousin, of course you have come to his attention. Do you wish to continue on with Marguerite as her companion?" Eleanor wondered.

"What, you don't expect me to just rush off to Nottinghamshire?" Willa spat out.

Eleanor knew the anger wasn't directed at her, but that this was the root cause of Willa's discomfort. "Assumptions are nasty things," Eleanor agreed.

"Why did they all look at me as if I was just going to jump on John, begging to be 'the feminine touch' the king spoke of?" Willa vented angrily. Eleanor knew it had to be something like this, which is why she went off after Willa rather than follow Robin and the others after Marguerite and Richard. She figured Allan and the others would tell her what happened.

As Willa paced and vented, Eleanor grabbed the robe laying on the back of the chair close to the fire. It was heavy and warmed thanks to the roaring fire. Eleanor listened to Willa vent, catching a flailing arm and slid the robe on over it.

Willa sat down in a huff on top of a chest, hugging the robe in comfort. "I'm sorry if the others believe I hold such regard for John."

"You don't love John?" Eleanor asked, sitting across from Willa.

Willa stared down at the floor. She looked at the robe covering her arms and marveled at how Eleanor had clothed her even during her rampage. She still wasn't used to someone taking care of her. And that was the problem. "I am not eager to wed again," Willa finally admitted. "The week I spent with my husband…" her voice broke, tears choking her.

Eleanor was suddenly beside her, arms wrapped around her. "I would never allow that to happen to you again," she vowed. "If I thought for one moment that John, or any of the guys here, would do that to you I would sooner castrate them then let them look at you."

"Gretchen has rubbed off on you," Willa smiled.

Eleanor laughed, hugging her young friend. "If I couldn't do it, she would. But you know John is nothing like that."

"John loves his wife," Willa said defeated. "And they all just assume. John couldn't even look at me afterwards."

"John, I think, is overwhelmed. He has lived in the forest for years, he doesn't think he can live in civil society, let alone run anything. Gretchen knows John better."

Unable to sit down, Willa stood to pace in front of the fire. "I don't know if I can, Elle. I don't want to assume, and that is all this is. Even if John asked me, I am second to his wife. And Gretchen may have been willing to be second fiddle, but I'm not. I have been my entire life, I chose not to accept that anymore."

"Good."

Willa studied her friend. "I send the servants out because I don't want them to see me," she confessed. "They will gossip about my scars." She knew Eleanor would understand that. "Do you… do you…"

"Hate myself? Yes. But Allan understands that, and he doesn't think less of me," Eleanor knew what Willa couldn't ask.

"So what is going on? You and Allan are perfect."

A little taken aback, Eleanor took a moment to collect herself before she spoke. "The first night here, well, we didn't get a lot of sleep." Willa blushed, knowing what Eleanor was referring to. She nodded, hoping Eleanor would continue. "Anyways, we were going to take a nap. It was such a sweet, quiet moment, just laying there in his arms." This time it was Eleanor staring at the floor.

"What did he do? Or say?" Knowing Allan it was probably his mouth that got him in trouble.

"He was falling asleep, he was so drowsy I doubt he even remembers he said anything. But he had one hand here," Eleanor placed both hands on her stomach, "and said simply 'the last time we had a night like this we had Tom.'"

Willa sat back down and studied her friend. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," Willa whispered, understanding.

Eleanor nodded. "Having a child out of wedlock once was enough to ruin me and Tom. Again will label me, well, you know."

A whore.

"Yet you still share a room with him," Willa pondered.

"I came to the realization that I love Allan," Eleanor smiled. "I love him more than the fear of more scandal. And I think I trust him again," she admitted softly. "that is what has surprised me most, I think."

Seeing Eleanor realize her own feelings gave Willa her own epiphany.

"Don't let anyone decide your feelings for you, Willa," Eleanor hugged her. "If you decide to stay as Marguerite's companion, then I'm happy for you."

As Eleanor left Willa tucked her feet under her as she sat before the fire, bored and frustrated. She knew Eleanor understood her, on so many levels, but it didn't change the fact that Willa wanted something more. She wanted to be something more. Working and fighting with the gang gave that to her for a short period of time, and she hated the thought of being back in the shadows of life. Unable to rest or focus, she decided to go for a walk.

Eleanor slipped into her room to find Allan playing with Tom and something tugged at her heartstrings. "Willa alright?" he asked.

Eleanor nodded. "What about John?"

"Normally I would say it takes a lot to bring the big guy down," Allan grinned, tickling Tom. "But, and I'm not being funny, sometimes the littlest woman can defeat the biggest of men. I think he is more afraid of his feelings for Willa than becoming the Sheriff."

"You are so insightful tonight," Eleanor teased.

"Which is why I need to talk to you," Allan said seriously. He frowned seeing her frown. "Ey, why are you worried?"

"You being serious sounds ominous."

Allan laughed and simply took her hand in his and led her outside, still carrying Tom. They passed the nursery first and Allan gently handed him over to one of the nurses. He then held her hand as they walked out to one of the small gardens. "This whole day has been something," Allan said as they walked around the garden.

For a moment, it felt like when Allan worked at the castle for Guy and they would slip out to find some time to themselves. The memories brought a smile to her face. "You deserve it, Allan. So, Norfolk," she grinned, "what are your plans?"

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about," he admitted. "I haven't been to Norfolk before. Dunno the first thing 'bout it," he admitted.

"It is still close enough to see Robin," she pointed out. "Everyone except Will and Djaq, and probably Marguerite, will still be close enough for you to visit."

"I wasn't worried about that. I was thinking we need to probably go and check it out. We have all been so focused on Nottingham, we don't even know the first thing about the other shires in England.

"Since the previous count of Norfolk was a black knight, I would guess Norfolk is not in the best of shape," Eleanor agreed. "So you are going to Norfolk then? When?"

"We are, Nora," he said squeezing her hand. "We. I don't care about Norfolk, or being rewarded by the king. What I want is you, Nora. I want to us to start our lives together. That is why I want to go to Norfolk, we can start our lives together there." He grinned seeing her befuddled expression and led her through the garden till they reached the first stable. "It was slow coming to me, I know. I guess you could say Vaysey sort of beat it into me what I wanted."

This time it was her squeezing his hand.

"Here, I have something to show you," he said as he led the way into the stable.

"I've seen horses before, Allan," she teased.

He led them to one of the empty stalls in the back of the barn. Inside was a hound with six newborn puppies suckling and sleeping. The mother hound's head turned up to evaluate the newest guests; she must have decided they weren't a threat as her head laid back down.

"Puppies?" Eleanor asked puzzled.

"I overheard Prince John and Prince Geoffrey mention in passing the pups were born. Which one do you want?"

"What?" Eleanor asked and kneeled down to look more closely.

"For Tom," Allan explained, kneeling next to her. "I'm not being funny, but every boy should have a puppy. It was this, or a pony," he grinned.

"You got Tom a puppy, from the royal family's own hound," Eleanor repeated.

"Prize hound, they do love to hunt."

"Allan, no jokes. What do you want?"

"I want you to be my lady. You and Tom are coming with me to Norfolk."

"No asking? Just telling?"

"I'm not being funny, but you do have a habit of saying 'no' when I ask you to marry me," Allan pointed out. "So I am trying to avoid giving you another opportunity to say no. I don't care if it's Norfolk, or anywhere else. It's you, me, and Tom." He turned her to face him. "I know what I said the other morning. What you don't know is what I was thinking. It wasn't regret, Nora. Hope. Tom needs a younger brother to rough around with, and a baby sister to protect." He laughed seeing her surprised countenance. "I surprised myself. I'm still afraid of being an awful father, but I'm more afraid of losing you. You're stuck with me, Nora."

"I can think of worser fates," Eleanor cupped his face. "So if I didn't want to go to Norfolk?"

"I told you before, I'm not leaving you again. I go where you go. Where do you want to go?" Allan wondered.

"Marguerite invited us to her wedding, remember? How often do you get invited to a royal wedding? Then, I want to go home." She saw his confused, yet hopeful, look. "You are home. So let's go to Norfolk after the wedding."

He crashed their lips together, stealing her breath away. When they separated, Allan wore a smirk. "I wasn't being funny 'bout the younger brother or sister."

Huge thanks to Aloha, Fireheart, Alexandrea Lynn for the reviews :)