Maria completely understood that she'd given everyone a scare. Jumping to what everyone had believed to be her death (herself included), was bound to have that effect, to make them overprotective, and she was truly sorry for all the pain she must have caused them.

But it had been a week now since the white seahorses had returned her from the sea, a week in which she had not been allowed to remain alone for a single, solitary moment.

The morning after the events of the five thousandth moon, Maria had slept in rather later than she usually did. Running around the forest in a heavy velvet gown whilst being chased by an entire clan of blood thirsty De Noirs would tend to take its toll on one, and that was to say nothing of finding the long lost magical string of pearls and then jumping into the sea with them. But even that following morning, dead to the world as Maria had been, she'd been awoken several times by the hourly checks Miss Heliotrope and Marmaduke felt they needed to make on her.

Sir Benjamin, it seemed, had managed to restrain himself from entering her bedroom, but as soon as Maria had joined the rest of the household in the afternoon, had found a multitude of excuses to come in and out of whatever room she happened to be in. In fact, so frequent had been her uncle's comings and goings, Maria had quickly grown concerned he'd wear away the soles of his boots and eventually had settled herself in his study to spare him the effort of going in and out so often. This at least had allowed him to get on with his work rather more successfully and he appeared to have entirely forgotten that he'd previously instructed her never to set foot in there.

The arrival of Loveday the following day had thus proved to be a welcome distraction for Maria from jittery attentions of her family. Moving in her soon-to-be-aunt's menagerie of injured woodland creatures had been an entertaining experience, if not because of Miss Heliotrope's screaming every time one of the unsuspecting creatures ventured within a ten foot radius of her (and Maria had to admit she'd almost joined her governess in leaping onto a table when a large snake had slithered across the floor towards them), then because of Sir Benjamin's interesting array of expressions and tones of voice they'd occasioned ('Of course they are welcome my love', 'Anything for you dear heart', 'Is that a ferret you're feeding- No, of course, why wouldn't it be welcome at the breakfast table?').

And with Loveday's arrival, the wedding planning had begun. At first, Maria had been excited about this, however, it hadn't taken her long to realize that the meticulous planning for this long overdue event was also being used as a ploy to keep her in the house and within a few meters of her governess and Loveday at all times. Both Miss Heliotrope and Loveday insisted that her help was instrumental, and while it was true that the event was being put together far faster than any other wedding in the county had ever been, Maria very much doubted this. As a fourteen year old girl who had never actually attended a wedding before, there was only so much she felt she could contribute.

Maria was desperate to get away from it all, especially when there were so many opportunities now the curse was broken; they had found Moonacre Manor to be magnificently restored upon returned from the amphitheatre and she suspected something similar had probably happened at Castle Black. The valley was just humming with magic, Maria could feel it and there was so much waiting to be explored! She was itching most of all to go back to the first Moon Princess's hollow (because how many centuries old, magically preserved underground tree houses were there?) and to go and see the sea again. Since there had been little time to explore the former, and her experience of the latter been somewhat spoilt by the realization that she had to jump into it and probably die, it would be nice to see both again, without the fate of all the Valley resting on her shoulder this time…

Oh, if only she still had Wrolf, her first friend at Moonacre and mighty protector! But the great lion had left them all, returned, now that the curse had been broken, to the magical realm beyond their perception. So too had the little white horse that had guided Maria and borne her back from the sea. She owed them both so much, and the loss of them both saddened her, but she knew they were back where they belonged now, free and content.

But thanks to the hawk like surveillance Maria was under, she was neither free nor content. She loved her family dearly, and she did understand their overcompensation, the guilt and regret behind it. She would so happily have settled on a compromise; oh, to even just to be allowed into the gardens unescorted! But no, even this was apparently too much to ask. And it was all beginning to drive her just that little bit insane.

"What do you think Maria? I think midnight blue ribbons would be lovely…"

Pulled back to the present, Maria glanced up to see Loveday and Miss Heliotrope both looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, umm, yes," She hastily stuttered, only vaguely aware of what she'd been asked and quickly trying to catch up with what she'd missed, "Although wouldn't midnight blue perhaps clash a little with all the pink geraniums?"

Loveday frowned down at the ribbon in her hands before whirling around to the table strewn with her various notes, samples and order forms, "I hadn't thought of that!" she exclaimed, seizing the posy they had agreed on yesterday, "And you're completely right of course. We'll have to re-organize it all now!"

"Oh, no my dear, I'm sure we can work around it," Miss Heliotrope broke in, "Perhaps we could just decrease the number of geraniums and intersperse them with some forget-me-notts…"

"We can't decrease the number of geraniums!" Loveday cried, "Sir Benjamin expressly said himself that he wanted geraniums, to make up for the argument we had. They must be everywhere, so everyone can see that we have forgiven each other and that there is nothing that love cannot overcome-"

Maria saw her chance and seized it, for with her passions on the subject of geraniums, reconciliation and true love aroused, Loveday was likely to be distracted for several minutes. Hastily making for the door, she silently slipped through it and when she was safely on the other side, collapsed backward against it.

If she had to hear about geraniums one more time-

But no, there wasn't the time for that. Gathering her skirts, Maria strode swiftly away up the corridor, calculating that she would be lucky if she had two minutes before Miss Heliotrope and Loveday noticed her absence and came after her. No, it was more like a matter of moments...

Lifting her skirts higher to gain more speed, Maria hurried on, practically running now. Thinking only of the inevitable pursuit coming after her, she shot a glance over her shoulder and not paying the slightest attention to what was in front of her as she rounded the corner, crashed straight into someone coming the other way.

"Ouch! God, don't you ever look where you're going?" A voice exclaimed, "But no, I suppose you always just barrelled headlong into things-"

Instinctually grabbing onto the arm that had reached out to stop her a she stumbled backwards toward the wall, Maria looked up.

"Robin?" she exclaimed, staring in confusion at him.

"You seem to be in a hurry Princess," He remarked, dropping her arm to tug his feathers straight, "Going somewhere?"

There was no chance for Maria to reply however, for at that moment, she heard the sound she had been waiting for and dreading drift up the corridor behind her. She didn't think, she just reacted, and, with a surprising amount of strength for someone of her small stature, she shoved Robin forwards with all her might. He stumbled backwards, having not at all anticipated this aggressive manhandling, or its success against his much broader frame, and his back slammed into the wall behind them, right next to a tapestry bearing the Merryweather coat of arms. Without pause, Maria wrenched it aside and seizing Robin's scarf and shirt front with her other hand, pivoted, yanking him backwards with her into the alcove hidden behind it.

Robin managed to throw up an arm just in time to stop his whole weight crashing into her as her back hit the opposite wall in the tiny space. "What the bloody-"

"Shh!" Maria hissed urgently, throwing her hand up over his mouth and not paying his indignation the slightest bit of attention. Turning her head towards the heavy tapestry they were now concealed behind, she listened intently as the footsteps grew closer.

"Maria?" She heard Miss Heliotrope call, only feet away now, "Maria!"

Maria unconsciously tightened the hand she still had fisted in the neckline of Robin shirt, missing his wince as her nails caught his skin. Keep going, please keep going, she silently prayed, as if she could compel her governess through sheer force of will, I'm not here, please just keep going, go and look for me in the library-

The footsteps grew louder and louder, were deafeningly close now, Miss Heliotrope was level with the tapestry-

-and then she was past it, the sound of her swishing skirts fading as she strode away and up a different corridor.

Maria let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, dropping her hand from Robin's mouth and unfurling her fingers from his shirt. They ached from the force she'd been clenching them with, and with the threat of detection now gone and her attention no longer devoted solely to avoiding the woman who had so lovingly raised her (with more desperation than she had felt when the Coeur De Noir had been hunting her with murder in his heart), Maria realized exactly two things.

First, the size of the alcove, which wasn't particularly large. Second, that she seemed to have unconsciously yanked Robin as close as possible in an attempt to unconsciously shield herself behind his broad frame as well as the tapestry.

"I know you owe me thanks for helping you," He stated, as soon as he sensed that he was once again allowed to speak, "But this wasn't what I had in mind,"

"I don't owe you anything," Maria retorted, her cheeks glowing in the darkness. She abruptly pushed him back a step as if he were the one who had maneuvered them into this inappropriate position, "And I couldn't have even if I wanted to. I'm being held under house arrest in case you hadn't noticed,"

"I'd noticed it's been a while since you last trespassed onto De Noir land and shouted abuse at as all," Robin fired back, "But I assumed that was because you'd finally found the pearls. And maybe some sense," Maria could just about make out the gleam of his eyes as they narrowed at her through the gloom, "-And what do you mean you don't owe me anything? You owe me an awful lot!"

"Oh do I?" She asked haughtily, "And is that why you're here? To demand thanks from me since I've so far failed to come and find you to fall at your feet?"

"Well a small token of gratitude wouldn't go a miss given how I risked my neck for you-"

"You did it for the sake of your own neck, not just mine. Self-preservation is not the same as chivalry,"

"It is in my book,"

"Well that's because you're an uncivilized, ill-mannered brute-"

Robin made an impatient noise. "Look, as fun as it is to be yanked into a dark corner and insulted, I think I've had enough-"

He made to draw away and Maria instantaneously forgot her moral high ground.

"No! Not yet!" She cried, grabbing his arm, "She might come back!"

"Princess, if you get caught in here with me, this might just be the shortest-lived reconciliation ever to have happened," Robin pointed out, trying not to wince at the vice like grip she had on his arm, "Incidentally, why are you hiding from your own family?"

"Because they're driving me mad," Maria huffed, relinquishing his arm so she could wave it in frustration, "They won't let me out of their sight!

Robin made a noise that wasn't particular sympathetic. "I'm not surprised. I know I wouldn't, given what you got up to last time you were left to your own devices,"

"That was due to extraordinary circumstances," Maria countermanded impatiently, "And I hardly wanted to jump. I certainly don't intend to make a habit out of it,"

"Well I wouldn't put it past you. Charging into things you haven't thought about seems it be a talent if yours,"

"Excuse me!" Maria interjected indignantly, "And just how exactly have you come to form that opinion?"

"Oh, I don't know," Robin scoffed sarcastically, "Wandering into the forest to rescue a rabbit, storming the castle while every De Noir was in it- hardly the work of genius was it? Or was getting thrown into our dungeons part of some sort of master plan?"

"You're just bitter because I outwitted you all and escaped," Maria sniffed dismissively.

"If it hadn't been for Wrolf you'd have been recaptured within minutes," Robin answered flatly, "And you escaped by falling off a wall. So I rest my case. You can't be trusted not to do stupidly reckless things,"

"My stupidly reckless decision have, so far, worked out pretty well! Our families have stopped feuding after centuries, my uncle and Loveday are getting married, you've finally gained entry to a Merryweather residence through the door rather than a window and I'm-"

"-Hiding behind a tapestry from your own family. Yes, things have worked out brilliantly for you, haven't they?" He finished dryly.

Unable to deny this, Maria scowled at him. "Yes, well, that's just part of a new, temporary plan to keep the peace until I can work out a better one..."

"Well I don't want any part of it this time," Robin informed her, shaking his head emphatically, "Your plans are terrible,"

"And yours aren't?" Maria demanded haughtily, "At least mine are successful-"

"Successful? You jumped off a cliff!" Even through the dark, Maria could see his incredulous expression, "And mine would have been if it hadn't been for that demon dog of yours. And since Wrolf turned out to actually be a giant lion, I don't feel as bad about that now!"

"Well Wrolf isn't here anymore is he?" Maria pointed out, choosing to rise above her instinct to argue this time, "So now's your opportunity!"

"Opportunity to what?"

"Kidnap me successfully of course!"

There was a brief moment of silence. "Did you damage you head when you hit the sea?" Robin demanded, staring at Maria in disbelief.

"Of course I didn't!" Maria said impatiently, "And stop looking at me like that, you're the one who used to be obsessed with the idea. Well here I am, alone and defenceless-"

"Oh I highly doubt that," Robin scoffed, "I'm the one with the scars after all-"

"For heaven's sake, this is exactly why you've never managed to capture me in the first place! I have literally just given you permission to kidnap me and here you are, still too busy backchatting rather than just getting on with it!"

"It's hardly kidnapping if you've given me permission is it?" He exclaimed, "And putting aside the point that I don't need to anymore, I'm not here to kidnap you, or to argue its definition with you!"

"I'm not arguing, you are," Maria retorted, "But on that point, why are you here?"

"I was supposed to give your uncle a letter from my father and-"

"A letter?" Maria repeated, her attentions completely diverted by this, "What letter? Where is it?"

"I've already given it you your uncle," Robin grumbled, "Which is lucky since I had no idea you were going to ambush me. Again,"

Disappointed, Maria frowned. "Well?" She demanded expectantly when he didn't elaborate, "What sort of letter was it? What was it about?"

"There's that genius streak of yours again," Robin rolled his eyes, "What do think it was about? Their reconciliation, the fact that he's marrying Loveday or the peace you started probably-"

"You don't start peace, you negotiate it," Maria corrected without been able to stop herself.

"For god's sake, peace terms then, which are clearly lost on you. Are you always this argumentative?" Robin shook his head, "Where's the girl who not so long ago actually wanted peace and was asking me to listen rather than picking pointless fights over semantics?"

"She's right here!" Maria cried out, "Only she's completely frustrated and fed up with being held prisoner in her own house! and I swear, if I don't get out of here soon I am going to something drastic, or, even worse, ruin the peace after only a week because if Loveday asks me one more time if there's such a thing as too many geraniums, I'm going to tell her that yes, there is, and I am, in fact, growing to loathe geraniums with the same passion our families only oh-so-recently loathed each other with!"

"You- What?" Robin echoed, disconcerted by so rapid an effusion, "You're upset over geraniums?"

"I- No! Of course not, I'm not my uncle! The geraniums are just- oh forget it Robin," Maria shook her head impatiently, "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Help you do what, exactly?"

"Help me get me out of here, obviously!"

"Princess, even if I could, I don't think your family would be too happy with the idea,"

"Are you going to harm me?" Maria demanded.

"Of course not-"

"Do you want to keep the peace?"

"Well, yes-"

"Then get me out of here, or so help me I will put a new curse on the valley, and I'll be starting with you!"

"Fine!" Robin exclaimed, reaching the end of this own patience, "You just tell me how to smuggle you out from under your whole family's nose and I will-"

"Well that's the whole reason I'm asking you, breaking and entering is supposed to be your area of expertise!"

"Breaking in, yes, breaking out is definitely your area. And if you want people to help you, Princess, I suggest you try being a bit nicer to them!"

"Well you're being deliberately unhelpful! And it's not like I'm asking you to break a sacred oath-"

"-No, that was just last week's demand wasn't it?"

"-Or break the law, which you probably would do without half so much preamble!" She glared at him, ignoring his muttered interjection, "In fact I'm willing to bet you'd probably-"

Just what it was that Robin was more likely to do though, neither of them ever found out, for drawing herself up to her full height and no doubt intending to further win him over to her cause by angrily prodding him in the chest, Maria had braced her other hand against the stone wall behind her-

-which promptly gave way.

Gasping, she whirled around, and Robin, reacting to the unmistakeable noise of hidden stone door grinding open, yanked her backwards before she could fall through it.

There were several moments of silence as they both stared through the opening.

"Where does that go?" Robin finally asked.

"I've no idea," Maria admitted, peering over the ledge "There's light at the end though so it can't go as far as the one that leads into the forest caves…"

"'…The forest caves'?" Robin repeated, looking from her to the faint light at the end of the newly discovered passage, "I knew it!" He cried triumphantly, "I told my father they'd be a way in, that I could've snatched you right from right under the roof-"

"No, you couldn't have," Maria dismissed as she made to step forwards. Robin quickly pulled her backwards though, before she could be the first to test the crumbling steps.

"Do you know what your problem is Princess, besides your inability to stay out of trouble?" He asked, turning to look up at her with a glare when he'd reached the bottom, "Your lack of gratitude for those who get you out of it," Grasping her by the waist, he lifted her down, "A little more faith would be nice since I did you get you safely through the forest,"

"Oh yes," Maria agreed, starting off up the passage without pause, "Until you got caught and left me to the mercy of your ruthless father-"

"It wasn't intentional!" Robin exclaimed, marching after her, "And I got away and rescued you from him, didn't I?"

"With Wrolf's help, which according to you, takes away any merit from escaping-"

"I never said that!"

"Well you certainly implied it,"

"Bloody Hell, arguing with you is like banging your head against a brick wall!"

"Well excuse me for having an opinion. And if that's the case, why are you bothering?"

"Search me-"

"Well, if it's such a hardship, you can go back to your castle and I'll explore the valley on my own-"

"You'd get lost or into trouble or in two minutes flat,"

"I would not!"

As they moved further along the passage, the sound of their bickering grew fainter and fainter, the pair fading from view and only the echo of their footsteps remaining.

Digweed, meanwhile, was walking along that same corridor in the Manor. Catching sight of something on the floor by a tapestry he had long ceased noticing, he stooped to pick it up. His bushy eyebrows travelled up his forehead as a message wrote itself across the scrap of paper before his eyes.

I am exploring the Valley. I am with Robin and so am entirely safe. MM.

"That'll be Miss Maria's handwriting..." He mumbled thoughtfully to himself. And resuming his whistling, he continued on up the corridor, quite unaware of the fact that he was delivering a note to Sir Benjamin that foretold far more than what anyone at that moment could realise.

I hope you enjoyed that; it's the first time I haven't jumped forward in time so hopefully you found it a bit different! You shouldn't be deceived though; this isn't the start of a 'story', even though it does perhaps set the scene for one. The idea has always been for a series of somewhat random ideas, two of which have been written since 2019. Originally, I was just going to post them as a sort of bigger Moments, but then a vague sort of chronology emerged, based on Maria aging by a year each time and since those written chapters are probably the most fun (hence why they were probably actually completed so long ago!) the other planned ideas would probably be a bit boring afterwards. In a lot of ways this first chapter doesn't fit because the others will be shorter and dive into a scenario without much explanation/backstory/narrative. For ages I had no way of starting it off, but then this slowly started to develop itself, and although it wasn't created specifically with this series in mind (it's more of just an of mine of how Maria and Robin started their friendship post-pearls and probably fits as a 'prequel' to everything I've written), I thought, hey, why not use this? As per usual though, for ages the ending just wasn't feeling right. Another year of umm-ing and arr-ing though and I've finally decided to just post it!

Another reason for posting a series of (vaguely progressive) one-shots is that it has the benefit of a 'let's see where this goes' approach without the pressure of a predetermined narrative The idea behind each chapter is that it's complete in itself, and won't directly refer to the previous one. I take ages to write anything, but even at the best of times, multi-chapter stories really aren't my forte because I can't write in order, and I'm really struggling to do any writing at the moment due to various reasons. I don't want to give up though, so this is my compromise. I've got about six different chapters formed, two complete (probably 4&5), and two not (2&3), and vague ideas for a couple of others. Hopefully you enjoy this, despite a lack of narrative, and I can promise only ad hoc updates, so lets just see where it goes!