Disclaimer: I own nothing it all belongs to Tiger Aspect Productions
Author Notes: The final part of this fic. There's a sequel coming some time soon, probably next week. As with most of my RH work, this was originally posted on the robinhoodbbc lj comm. Thanks go to moxielover for the kind review – I find the trio a joy to write and I'm glad you enjoyed how I'd written them! Hope you like this concluding chapter. All feedback is gratefully recieved.
The third time Allan asks is on Robin and Marian's wedding day. King Richard has returned, Vaysey has been deposed as Sheriff of Nottingham, and Sir Guy has been dragged away to be tried. It is some time after this that Robin and Marian finally sort out what lies between them and get married.
"We should do that," Allan says, nodding to where Robin and Marian are talking to Little John after the ceremony. They both look happy, unable to stop smiling when they catch the other's eyes and with less strain and tension in their bodies and faces than Will has seen before.
"So you keep saying. We agreed. You are getting boring," Djaq rolls her eyes and bites into the roll she is holding. Sir Edward has not skimped on the food for his only daughter's wedding and the outlaws have all been making the most of it.
"I mean, we should do it now. We've all got pardoned; we're free men and women. We can do what we like," Allan enthuses.
"You always do what you like," Will points out.
"But now, I can't get arrested for it, my friend" Allan sounds smug. "Well, maybe some things they can still arrest me for, if they catch me."
Will laughs, and thinks about the future. Life hasn't felt this stable for a very long time. Robin and Marian are married, Sir Edward is Sheriff again, the outlaws are pardoned. Allan is right – they can do anything they want to. Djaq has decided to stay in England. Her family is dead and her lands cannot be home until there is peace. Besides, she is needed to keep Allan and Will out of the trouble they always get themselves into, she told Will.
"We should get married now," Will says out loud.
Djaq and Allan both look at him and Allan nudges him hard, almost spilling the mug of mead Will is cradling in his hands.
"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that?" Allan retorts, lightly mocking. "That's an original idea, that is."
Will blushes furiously and buries his chin in his mead. He deserves that because it's been Allan's idea for what seems like years. But now, only now that the future is beginning to seem possible, is Will able to fully comprehend the idea. Guy might be gone and Robin back as Lord of the Manor, but Locksley will only be home again if Djaq and Allan are there with him and he has no desire to marry Lucy anymore (she married one of the blacksmith's boys last year anyway). He wants to marry the people standing in front of him, and he wants whatever the future is with them.
"It's still your idea, Allan," he says, feeling some of the heat leave his face. "I'm saying that I think it's the right time to do it."
"Agreed," is all Djaq says with a hint of that special smile before she heads back to the food table for more of the rolls she has taken a liking to.
Will finishes off his mead, feeling a little lightheaded. But then Allan smiles at him, humour and something deeper than affection and gratitude mixing in his eyes, and he spies Djaq gazing back at them as she talks to Marian. He feels a little more grounded.
When they do get married, it is in Sherwood Forest. They find the spot where the outlaws first met Djaq trapped inside a wagon full of Saracen slaves and Will had been afraid of a made-up disease and Robin had decided to rescue them. It is where all their lives changed, it is right that this next big change happens here too.
None of them are dressed in anything particularly fancy; they all wear brown and green and have their swords, longbows and slings of arrows with them. None of the outlaws leave their homes without a weapon, because Nottinghamshire is still dangerous and they still have enemies.
Djaq surprises her men by wearing a tan riding cape with the hood pulled up. It's patterned around the edges and is certainly the most feminine thing she owns. It is a present from Marian, she explains with an odd twist of her lips that could be pleasure or distaste, something pretty for her wedding day. The cape looks really nice on her.
So they stand together in a loose circle under the trees and Will tries to calm the nervousness and excitement that tremors in his guts. Because this is momentous for him, a huge step into a future together.
He pulls the three silver rings he collected that day from his pocket. He'd suggested carving wood ones, but Djaq had pointed out that one day the wood would rot or split and then the rings would be gone. They needed something more permanent.
They each put the ring on each other's fingers. If Will sees the sparkle in Allan's and Djaq's eyes that he can feel in his own, he doesn't say anything. They have all cried in front of each other before (after Allan's brother was hung, when Will heard that Marian was dead, when Djaq had a terrible dream one night and all she could say was her brother's name when she awoke), but today is different and no one mentions it.
Words are spoken and Will still shivers when Allan says he loves them, because it's always a surprise to hear that word from Allan's lips. Djaq is eloquent and to the point and her love is just as difficult to take in because this is Djaq and she's extraordinary. So why does she want him and Allan? But she does and Will feels like he fumbles for words that don't express how he feels. But the others don't laugh and it feels like everything pauses as they gaze at each other.
"That was the shortest wedding I have ever attended," Djaq breaks the quiet thoughtfully. "But certainly the best."
"Of course," Allan grins and slides an arm around them both, bringing them all together. "Definitely the best."
"There was a lot of talking at Robin and Marian's wedding," continues Djaq as though Allan hasn't spoken, though her hand slips over his heart and she has one hand firmly gripping Will's belt. "I did not understand the need for it."
"It's what nobles do," says Allan dismissively as though that explains everything. "We don't need all that. We're in the right place and we're together. That's it."
Will watches them, feeling a sort of numb shock with a fuzzy edge of excitement that physically feels as though he might hiccup. He's married, a married man, a man with a wife (and a husband too). He feels like he might wake up in a minute from this very peculiar but amazing dream.
"So we're married," Will can't help speaking that out loud. He can't really believe it and that rings clearly in his words.
"You're stuck with me," Allan squeezes them both with a gleeful expression that says he thinks he's gotten away with something. "How about that then?"
"I am sure we will cope somehow."
Djaq's tone is dry with a hint of something else underneath that only Djaq can do and Will watches as she slides her hand under Allan's tunic. Allan immediately pulls her closer for a possessive and longing kiss and the familiar heat begins to engulf Will's body. Because, as he watches Djaq let out a laugh that's almost a giggle and feels the pressure of Allan's hand around the base of his skull which means Allan's coming for him next and there's no use resisting, he knows that this is why Allan's idea was a great one. No one has ever undone Will like this and made him feel strong and weak all at once. Like he can do anything, as long as they're with him.
Will tugs himself closer to Djaq, that old shyness still faintly gripping his movements despite the ring he can feel digging into her cape. Djaq arches back against him, murmuring words in that language that her husbands don't understand but can sort of guess at, and his arm slides around her waist, his heartbeat beginning to speed up.
"How long have we got til the meal at Locksley?" asks Allan against Djaq's skin.
"However long we like?"
The end of Will's reply comes out as a question because Allan trails his mouth from Djaq to Will and Will suddenly finds himself caught between his husband and his wife. All coherence then completely disappears because Djaq is doing some extremely skilful things to him below his waist and Allan is using that tongue for something other than talking.
When the three of them eventually get to Locksley, there's a lot of mud on their skin and leaves in their clothing which get them teased by their friends. But Will can't stop smiling, because Robin and Marian are giving them understanding smiles that speak volumes of how they celebrated their wedding and Will can feel Djaq's arm looped through his (in a sudden girlish moment that he doesn't want to spoil, even if she is being mocking with the gesture and her words). Allan is saying how surely they must get John and Much married off now since they're the only ones left and maybe they could find happiness together?
Will grins at this, because that's even more ridiculous than him and Allan, and because Djaq is beside him brushing some mud off his tunic with a knowing smile (Will remembers her astride him, pressing him down into the earth as Allan worked at getting her shirt off). Everyone is laughing at Much's outraged response and Will sneaks a look at his wedding ring, his thumb rubbing against the metal that he's never taking off and his happiness feeling like it's swallowing him. For the first time in a long time, Will believes that the future really is possible.
-end