Stolen Moments 1/1
Title: Stolen moments
Pairing: Robin/Marian [BBC Robin Hood]
Rating: PG
Summary: For now, for tonight, for a few fleeting minutes; she could think only of Robin. Post 2x13 'A Clue: No.'
Author's Note: Yeahhh. Like you didn't guess this was coming ;-)
***
it's time to forget about the past
to wash away what happened last
-thirty seconds to mars
The forest was silent and cool; illuminated in a faint, bluish tinge as the last vestiges of light trickled through the trees. Leaves crunched underfoot, rustling as her cloak fluttered behind her, and there was a lightness to her step that had not been there before - because she was free. As free as anyone could ever be, while the Sheriff wielded control over Nottingham. But she was free of Guy and the constrictive bonds of promised marriage, and there was a lightness in her heart as she wandered along the track, worn down by carriage wheels and horses, towards a fork in the road.
Marian glanced around, a frown creasing her brow, when she realised she was unaccompanied, despite her certainty she had been followed. He was not here. She stopped in the centre of the road, tapping a thumb uncertainly against her side. Should she wait?
“Marian.”
She looked up, surprised, and glimpsed Robin sitting on a branch above her, legs dangling casually over the side. He lifted his eyebrows, playful glint in his eye, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
“I thought you had forgotten me.”
A smile, that familiar, warm smile lit up his face and then he dropped onto the ground beside her. “I'm a man of my word, remember?”
She couldn’t help but return the smile, though it felt so foreign, so natural and free on her lips. Something she had suppressed around him for a long time now. She felt she could still capture some of that childish innocence around Robin. That glib freedom they had once lived with, that naive belief that the future held the most glorious things for them. Before he departed for the Holy Land and everything was different.
“And I could never forget you,” Robin added, affection in his voice, affection that warmed her inside and made her consider fleeting notions of running away with him forever. Leaving everything behind.
After their encounter with the King’s impostor and the Sheriff, Robin had sent word to her through one of his men, to meet him in the forest, thinking it best to wait until nightfall. She knew it was wise, but had felt an unusual sense of urgency, to see him, to… be with him. It was both frightening and exhilarating.
“So how does it feel?” Robin asked, jolting her from her thoughts, wandering around her slowly, his agile, slender legs barely dancing over the earth.
“How does what feel?” she asked, playing along, tracking his movements with her eyes. A breeze rustled the hood of her cloak, and a lock of hair fell in her face. She brushed it aside distractedly, twisting her body with his movements.
“If I’m not mistaken, today was to be your wedding day. And now you are supposed to be Lady Gisborne of Locksley, alongside your new husband.”
There was no mistaking the mockery in his voice, the relief, and Marian smirked at him. She could not help it. At the sight a full fledged grin took up residence on his face and he stepped forward. His arms encircled her waist and he looked down at her, studying her calmly.
She pursed her lips at him, feigning annoyance. “Have I not shown my gratitude enough already?”
He continued to smirk, running a finger ever so slowly along her cheek. “Perhaps not.”
She ducked her head, smiling, still aware that she should not leave her father for long, he could not leave his men for long, that they were still not free. Not really. For a moment, at least, enclosed in the safety of the forest and the warmth of his arms, she could pretend that they were.
Robin tilted her chin with his hand, drawing her lips to his and kissing her. A long, drawn out kiss, a proper kiss, stealing the breath from her lungs and making her head light and dizzy. It was a wonderful, exquisite feeling. Soft and yearning and bringing with it an influx of old memories, yet heightened by something new. She flattened her hands against his chest and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose, and his tongue caressed hers lightly, teasingly. A mere promise of more to come.
His warm breath tickled her face as they separated, staring into each other’s eyes another moment. “There will be trouble, you know,” he said, almost regretfully interrupting the silence.
She nodded slowly, lowering her eyes. The same reality had intruded in her mind. She did not wish to acknowledge it yet. “I know. We do not need to talk about it now.”
Robin smiled again, faintly, brushing an errant curl behind her ear. He clearly wished to slip into the same oblivion, the same blissful ignorance. “All right.”
Their time together was stolen, Marian knew, and she could feel guilt pressing down inside, reminding her that home beckoned. They would have to make plans. They would have to prepare for the Sheriff, his schemes, for Guy’s bitter onslaught. But for now, for tonight, for a few fleeting minutes, she could think only of Robin. And what she would finally allow herself to have.
/end