Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Prayers Surpass Time ❯ The Chapter in Which I Suddenly Have to Wonder if �Dating� Had the Same Meaning in 12-whatever ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

CHAPTER 4: The Chapter in Which I Suddenly Have to Wonder if “Dating” Had the Same Meaning in 12-whatever

Over then next several days, Robin pelted me with questions. What did the houses look like? What did you eat? Did people look any different? Had they found out how to turn metal into gold yet? What other things had changed?

I certainly hadn't done that much talking in a long time.

We made several more stops to “visit some of Robin's friends” and I became addicted to the huge eyes of children, and the glimmer of hope in people's eyes when Robin Hood showed up on their doorstep, me in tow, giving them some gold and telling them to be good to themselves.

Little John never went, and Friar Tuck came along only occasionally. It became something that belonged mostly to just Robin and me. We laughed, and joked, and told stories on the way to and from camp. He evolved from legendary hero Robin Hood, to this funny, intelligent, darn good-looking boy Robin who had dedicated his life to a wonderful cause.

But good times, like the bad times, would never last. And the creeping thought in the back of my mind kept knawing away.

You're going to have to go back someday…

I mean, I loved my parents, and they loved me, but I had a very distant relationship with both of them…I had no siblings…and only hi-bye friends from the soccer team. This was the first time I had ever gotten so close to anyone…the first time I had ever had a real friend. In truth, I really didn't want to go back. But as each day passed, the knawing continued, whispering in my ear, just to me:

You don't belong here…

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I couldn't sleep. It had been a week and a half since Robin, Little John, and Friar Tuck had found me unconscious. I quietly got up and crept out of the camp, pulling on the cloak as I retreated from the small circle of heat still emanating from the dying embers of the fire.

I crept through the dark, silent forest, and gazed up at the stars. It was breathtaking. The wind that blew gently through the treetops was warm, and got warmer as I walked farther. I took my cloak off, realizing it should be mid July by now.

I stopped, sensing something. I looked through the trees, and there, sitting on the ground legs spread out, leaning back on his hands, staring at the stars, was Robin. I walked over to him.

“Hey,” I whispered, and he turned his head, smiling at me.

“Hello, Vaylie,” he returned the greeting, patting the grass next to him. I sat down beside him, and looked upwards too. “Couldn't sleep?” he asked.

“No. You?”

“No.” Silence. He lay back on the grass to get a better view of the sky, and I leaned back too, so we were both lying on the grass, gazing up at the starry sky.

“Vaylie…” he said.

“Hmm?” I answered vaguely

“Nothing. Just trying out your name.” He turned to me and his mouth quirked up into a crooked smile, and my breath caught in my chest. “It's just so different. Like something from…” he trailed off, his gaze drifting back to straight up.

“From another time right?” I said jokingly. He laughed too. It was so nice out. The mid July weather was just perfect late at night like this, lying in the grass, gazing up at the stars. I sighed, the knawing in the back of my head making my mouth run. “It's going to be hard.” He looked at me. I flinched.

“What's going to be hard?” he asked in his perfect English accent that I loved to listen to no matter how much I heard it. I sighed. I couldn't hide anything from Robin.

“Leaving.”

“You're leaving? How? Why? Vaylie, you can't leave. How are you going to get home?”

“I don't know.” I answered truthfully, “but that's why I've got to leave here: so I can find a way back home.” I finally got up to courage to look over at his face, which was shrouded in shadows. He looked…heartbroken. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet in one of those fluid, graceful motions I never grew tired of watching.

“I have to show you something, Vaylie.” I just looked up at him, dazed and confused, the words not registering right away. He held out his and to help me up. I gripped his hand tightly, and he pulled me up with surprising ease. Well, I mean, he was Robin Hood, after all.

“Show me what?” I asked. Once I was on my feet, though, he didn't let go of my hand, but instead, used it to lead me though the dark trees.

“You'll see when we get there. It's not too far, and you'll love it, Vaylie.” Every time he said my name, it was as if someone had sent and electric shock through me. And did he seem to be saying my name a lot, or was it just me?

He led me through the dark trees, seeing some invisible path in front of him that was completely hidden to me. Then, finally, he stopped so abruptly, I bumped into his strong back.

“Here we are.” He said, leading me around his side as if dancing with me. “Just through those trees.” I looked at him, and his eyes were aglow with excitement. “Well, go on ahead.” I walked through the trees whose branches and trunks were draped with vines, and white flowers bloomed here and there…night flowers. And then, I came out of the trees, and there was the lagoon.

The beautiful water sparkled in the light of the shining moon and glittering stars, and the dark green vine draped trees surrounded the edge, seeming to close it off to the world. It was quite small, but that just made it more…special; secret.

“No one knows it's here but me.” Robin whispered, so close I could feel his breath tickle my ear. “It's not on any of the maps of Sherwood Forest I've checked, and no one in the area I've asked has ever heard of or seen a lagoon here.” I wheeled around to face him, my face matching his in excitement.

“So, it's like…your secret place. Do you come here often?”

“I come here to think a lot. And sometimes I come here so I don't have to think. And sometimes I just come here because it feels like the right thing to do. But always alone. This is the first time I've come here with anyone else.” Now we were facing sideways. To one side of us was the glittering, brilliant lagoon, and to the other side, the dark, mysterious trees, and straight in front of me was Robin…closer than I remembered him being.

“I- I don't know what to say. It's beautiful.” But when he replied with a smile, I thought but not as beautiful as that smile, Robin…

“I wanted to show you” His emphasis on the `you' surprised me, but also the serious look his eyes had acquired. “I wanted to show you, so you wouldn't leave without having ever seen it. You're the only person I'd ever want to share it with.”

“Robin…I-”

“But you're still leaving aren't you. That's what you were going to get to.”

“No, I-”

“Admit it.” I looked down, only now realizing he held both of my hands in his.

“Yes.”

“Are you positively sure you need to leave Sherwood Forest to look for a way home?” He asked, his face becoming serious; aglow with moonlight. I nodded. “Are you sure you need to leave us. Leave me.”

“I've made up my mind.”

He released one of my hands, and lifted it and…stroked my cheek. Then he stopped, taking his other hand free, and holding my face between his hands.

“Robin…” My train of thought was lost as I stared into his blue eyes, seeming to glow in the moonlight reflected off the lagoon's crystal waters. He just stared at me, studying my face. I knew he could feel my cheeks heat up under his hands, and he could probably hear my breath speed up. He was the legendary Robin Hood. And I was just an ordinary girl from Pennsylvania who liked to play soccer on the weekends. I realized I'd looked away from his face a split second before he said:

“Vaylie, look at me,” He said in that perfect English accent brushed voice of his. I looked into his eyes, glowing with reflected moonlight. He leaned in so close I could feel his breath on my cheeks.

“Robin, what are you doing?” I asked; my voice weak.

“Helping you change your mind.” He said and leaned in to kiss me.

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