Reflections in the water [Robin]

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin grinned, "well, I'm sure my actions haven't done anything to change his mind." He looked at Marian, "you know you should show me how good you've gotten at it since I've been gone. Maybe tomorrow we can go riding and hunt. After all I have to cook that dinner for you." It would be fun to go with Marian and he was interested to see how well she could handle herself.

Robin watched Marian clean up and he went and placed his plate next to hers and quickly cleaned them. He joined her at the counter, sitting back down on one of the stools. She asked good questions, but ones he wasn't sure about himself. "Rumple is an interesting man. I talked to him about his deals and what it is he does, and it seems like he has a rather good plan, what that plan is I don't know. I heard he helped Snow White and others, but he also does have a connection with the Queen. His magic may be considered dark, but I don't think Rumple fits into good or evil. If he ever does come back here, or bring others with him, we will have to deal with it then. It's hard to look into the future of what will happen, for I feel that whatever does happen will change life as we know it. As long as we keep believing in the good in every persons heart and love, we shall be fine." Robin smiled at Marian. He hoped she wasn't too worried about what was happening, after all there really wasn't anything they could do about it at this moment.

[Deleted]

Marian laughed, "my father loves you like a son Robin, you know that. And he has given up on trying to tame me for some time now. But I'd love to show you how good I've gotten since we last went hunting, I think you'll be impressed."

Marian listened to everything that Robin was saying. Of course, she was worried, but more than that she sought information, she wanted the knowledge that everyone else had about what was happening to the different kingdoms, but she had been so far removed and sheltered from it all that this was the first time that someone had given her appropriate answers to her questions. "He was back," Marian said with a wave of her hand. "Not long after our meeting in the woods... He wanted to make a deal with me one night when I was injured. He wouldn't tell me what he wanted though," Marian said trying to remember that night, it was a little foggy, she mostly remembered the pain she'd been in, but she didn't rememebr most of what Rumple had said.

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin smiled, "yeah, I know he does." Robin winked at Marian, "all right, I'm looking forward to it. We can always make it a competition, just to see how well you really are doing." Robin knew that it would probably put Marian under pressure which would be a good to test to see how far she improved with the bow.

Robin couldn't hide his shock. It wasn't really that Rumple was back but that Marian got hurt and she hadn't said anything about it. But then again he nearly died on multiple occasions and he never said anything. "I'm glad you're okay. That's odd that you don't remember, and that he didn't say what he wanted. He usually knows what he wants. Did he help you still?" Robin asked Marian concern in his voice, and very interested that Rumple would happen to make a deal with him and Marian on separate occasions.

[Deleted]

"Bring it on Hood," Marian said all confidence. "I have no doubt I'll win." Marian smiled and shook her head. It would be fun to show Robin how much she had progressed, she hadn't missed her intended target with a bow in a long time now, and hopefully tomorrow wouldn't start that all over again.

Marian shook her head. "No he didn't help me, I wouldn't make a deal with him," she said thinking back to that night. Her bruises were all but faded and her Ribs were taped so tight now that they hardly moved so they didn't bother her but when she took the dressing off. "It didn't make sense to me that he wouldn't know what he wanted, I have no desire to be in debt to someone and not know what the cost will be."

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin grinned, "don't worry, I will." He was looking forward to it, it would be great to shoot for fun instead of at enemies or for food. But then again even that was still fun, it was exhilarating to release the arrow from the bow and watch it hit its mark.

Robin leaned towards Marian and looked her in the eyes. "I see. If you want I can take a look if you're still hurt. I have some healing balm that works wonders. Don't want you falling apart on me." Robin frowned slightly and then nodded, "yes, it is good that you didn't make the deal without knowing the cost. It is hard to tell with him when it comes to things like that."

[Deleted]

"It's okay, I know you're really just talk, you're just trying to act like the almighty bow master when you know deep down that you're going down tomorrow." Marian shook her head laughing.

Marian cast her eyes away from Robin's, she wasn't used to being taken care of and the fact that he would care enough to offer to take care of her was touching. "A few broken ribs is hardly me falling a part," Marian sighed. The healing balm sounded like a good idea, but Robin would probably lose his mind if he saw all the bruises from the other night. "You're just offering to get me out of this dress," Marian said deflecting the question.

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin grinned, "we will see." He winked at Marian, it was going to be a great time, regardless of who won. Though he knew Marian would kill him if he didn't try his hardest.

Robin laughed, "it could be that I want you out of the dress, but in all seriousness you should get treatment for the broken ribs. I know how painful it can be, especially later if they don't heal properly. Your dress isn't doing much to help them either, and putting bandages on yourself won't work as well." Robin paused and leaned forward looking Marian straight in the eye, "if you're worried I'm going to get upset I promise not to. I've seen many injuries in my time, and I know you're strong."

[Deleted]

Marian hesitated, she wasn't normally bashful or shy, and it wasn't as if Robin hadn't seen that part of her body before, but it was different now, she was older, and not the girl he left behind. "Alright," she finally consented when Robin said he wouldn't get mad. The bruises luckily looked worse now then the felt, and her ribs probably did need to be taken care of. "But not down here," Marian said, knowing people could see in if they looked and they may get the wrong idea and tell her father, which wouldn't be good. Leading the way upstairs to her room, Marian waited for Robin to follow.

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin listened to Marian and when she got up he followed. He was glad she was going to let him take care of her. He had to heal many of his men and other people they came across, so he was skilled at it. And it would spare the rest of the town knowing that she had gotten hurt as well.

Robin followed her to her room and paused in the doorway. "I'll give you your privacy while I get the balm." Robin looked at Marian and quickly went back to the room he was using while he was over and got out everything that could be needed. Then he returned to her room.

[Deleted]

Marian changed quickly so that she was still covered but in something that would give Robin access to her broken ribs which were still wrapped. Her small frame was covered in bruises, hand prints, finger prints, kick marks all still clearly visible against her ivory skin. Looking down at herself, Marian noticed that they weren't really as gone as she had hoped, but at least they didn't hurt, or well she'd gotten used to the pain if they did.

Pulling a robe out of her closet, Marian draped it over her shoulders but left it open for Robin to do his thing. Sitting on the edge of her bed she waited for Robin to come back, when he did, she smiled. "If my father knew you'd seen me in such a state of undress, he'd skin you, or demand that you marry me tomorrow, she teased worried about Robin's reaction to what happened to her.

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin quickly noted Marian's condition and it was worse than he expected. But as he promised he did not say anything about it. He was glad enough that she was letting him help heal her. He of course was concerned and always was concerned about her, and this only helped make those thoughts heightened, yet at the same time she had managed to get out of whatever situation she had been in.

Robin laughed, "if I get a choice in the matter of what your father does, I'd like to marry you. Being skinned doesn't sound too pleasant, I imagine its what a stuffed animal feels like, though they're dead by that point."

Even with her injuries Marian still looked beautiful and he smiled at the thought of how lucky he was, or rather hoped he was. He after all still hadn't asked for Marian's hand in marriage, first through her father. Robin knelt down beside her and took out the things he needed. He looked into Marian's eyes, "if it hurts let me know and I'll stop." He moved to remove the bandages and to start applying the healing balm, gently rubbing it into her skin.

[Deleted]

Marian smiled, trying to focus on anything other than what Robin was doing. If she didn't focus on her injuries, it was almost like they weren't there. "What about my choice?" Marian teased. "What if I don't want to marry you?" She was smiling and clearly joking, but still it was fun to get Robin going. "I mean it isn't as if you've asked me about the matter, and you know my father will never agree to it if it isn't something that I want."

Marian flinched as Robin touched a particularly tender spot on her ribs, but otherwise didn't move or fuss. "I'm alright," she said softly, blushing as Robin started to remove the bandages. Marian glanced down at her ribs, the bruising was as bad there as anywhere else. "So besides tend to me, did you have anything else in mind for what you wanted to do now that you've come back to town?"

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin smiled at her teasing, but he couldn't control the blush that was slowly creeping into his face. Robin laughed, teasing Marian in return, "Well, that changes things a bit."

Robin paused and looked at Marian, when she flinched, and a smile was on his face when she said she was okay. He never wanted to hurt her, and he didn't plan on breaking that now. He had promised her father to protect her and to look after her when he could. And his recent experience with death had made him serious on the matter of his love for her and making that union.

He continued his work slowly and after the bandages were off, he carefully began applying the healing balm. It was a gift he had used for a long time, that contained magic to help heal broken bones and the like. It didn't work though when one was dying, which was the only draw back. Thankfully Marian was otherwise healthy. Robin kissed her now healed ribs, "all right, that should do it."

Robin quickly put everything away and stood up walking over to the other side of the room so that Marian could have her privacy. He also didn't want her to see the look on his face as he continued to speak. "I haven't been completely honest with you, Marian."

Robin paused, taking a deep breath, "when I was dying in that cell I made a decision. A decision I should have made a long time ago. Fulfilling that decision came with the decision for the men and I to go back to our homes, to help the ones we care about, for our help to strangers was always fleeting and never lasted.”

Robin sighed and continued speaking, his words softer, “I made two deals that day, one with myself and another deal with Rumple. I was a man clinging onto life and I made a deal with him, for him to save my life, and all he asked for was my bow and arrows, which as you know I make new ones all the time."

Robin paused, "Life is short and I know what tradition calls for but like a bowmen and the bow depend on each other, so too does this depend on the answer of the other person. So, I'm here to stay, depending on one thing, and only one thing, but I must fulfill my promise to myself I made in that cell, that if I got out alive, if I could come back that..."

Robin turned around, and looked at Marian, hope in his eyes, as he was vulnerable to her answer. "Marian, will you marry me?"

[Deleted]

Marian smiled pleased that she had made Robin blush for once. "I mean you may never know, I may like the idea of you skinned and stuffed." She laughed shaking her head.

Marian started to relax into Robin's touch as he worked at applying the healing balm to her ribs. Surprising it didn't hurt at all, closing her eyes, Marian stayed quiet letting Robin finish what he was doing. When she felt his lips on her ribs, Marian felt herself turning bright red, blushing. Clearing her throat quietly, she smiled looking up at Robin. "Thank you," she said meaning more than just him helping to heal her, that was just the icing on the cake to him being here.

As Robin stood and walked to the other side of the room, Marian wrapped her robe back around herself so that she was covered again. She frowned and looked at Robin's back as he said that he hadn't been entirely truthful. That wasn't like him, but instead of getting upset, Marian sat quietly and waited for him to explain.

When Robin turned around, Marian could see the vulnerability in his eyes. Chewing her bottom lip, waited for whatever it was that Robin was going to ask. When he finally popped the question, Marian couldn't the smile that spread across her face. Before she could say anything, Marian was on her feet and across the room to Robin. "Yes, Yes I'll Marry you," Marian answered her heart in her eyes. She'd waited forever for this day, and Marian couldn't believe that it was finally here.

[Robin Hood/Will Arrow]

Robin grinned as Marian said yes, he felt elated that she felt the same for him. Taking her in his arms he spun around, laughing. He felt the urge to kiss her all over, at last the day his life revolved around had come, and now the rest of his life could begin. "I love you, but we can't say anything yet. I have to ask your father...I just had to make sure you were okay with it, before I went to him." Robin grinned, looking Marian in the eyes. With her father's permission he would be able to spend the rest of his life next to, and with the most beautiful woman he had ever known, inside and out.