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[queenofmay]

The Door is still gone, and Marian is restless.




She's down by the surf, walking near the waves.
But she hasn't gone anywhere near the dock.

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[starrydome]

She is not the only one out by the water.

Elrond has been standing still, looking across the water, his long, dark hair moving in the wind.

His clothes are simple, but costly, his fingers and brow is unadorned. But little silver stars hide in his hair.

When he sees her, he greets her with a half-bow. His eyes are bright and clear and they look deep.

[queenofmay]

She does look up, the closer she gets to encroaching on his space, beginning to wonder if she should turn back. Leaving him to his own prepossession with the waves. At least until he turns and bows.

Marian stopped, taking in the the man's? obvious differences without any shift to her expression, even as simply tipped her head gracefully in response. "Fair eve."

[starrydome]

"It is beautiful out here," he remarks, wanting to make it clear that he does not mind the company.

His voice is deep and clear. Pleasant.

[queenofmay]

"It is," Marian agreed, taking up his words to glance toward the lake-ocean. "Even for the years that have passed since its coming, I do not believe I shall ever grow weary of seeing the ocean."

It captivated her heart, then and now. A girl of forests and castle, mesmerized to love by the endless turn and toss of silver-sapped waves, that took on the gown of the sky from morning to night.

[starrydome]

"I grew up by the sea," he says with a small smile. "I love my valley and the woods and the mountains - but I do occasionally miss the sea."

The sea-longing does not affect him. Or rather, it has always been there, an aching backdrop on which the rest of his life has unfolded.

[queenofmay]

"I had never seen the sea, except seldom in paintings, before Milliways," Marian offered with a touch of rueful amusement. "Where I come from it is all forests and the rolling hills of grassland."

She does long for the sea, sometimes now, when she is home. But she is so very used to some part of her aching for things she cannot have there.

[starrydome]

"Yes. That is the greatness of this place, that it may lead us to places and people that might enlighten us."

And with that, he introduces himself. Repeating the half-bow. "Elrond Peredhil of Imladris."

[queenofmay]

Marian could help the agreeingly fond edge her smile took during his first words.


Even without knowing what the names mean, it would be impossible for her to miss his bearing. The way he has spoken and held himself, his clothes, the way he moves when he bows. She might not know the words, but she does know what all the rest of it says without words. She knows that language by heart, too.

She let one hand fall to her skirts, to hold them slightly up and out as she lowered to a partial curtsy. Not very far down, toward the sand, but respectfully demur. "Lady Marian of Nottingham."

[starrydome]

"Well met, Lady Marian," he replies. At other times he might have added a more traditional greeting, but right now any talk of stars leave ashes in his mouth and so he merely says. "Are you a frequent visitor to Milliways?"

[queenofmay]

"For quite a number of years, now. Though my door seems to have skipped the last two here, as well as the dust-up that was had so recently," Marian said, straightening. "And yourself?"

[starrydome]

"In my own world less than a few months have passed since I came upon this place for the first time," he answers.

"I was here some way through the destruction and returned almost straight after. It was unexpected to see the place so close to whole again. Unexpected, but very welcome."

[queenofmay]

"She does that," Marian said, soft pride and relief mingled in her voice, looking over her shoulder. Across the roll of green, and paddocks, and field, to building that glowed warmer for each step of the settling dusk of evening. "Weathers storms well, and then goes on about her business as though it were only the breeze to ruffle in her hair."

She looked back. "I missed it the event itself, but I've helped as much as I could with the clean-up. I'm rather glad to see it all looking back to how it usually is." The crack and tears, in things as well as people, sealing up and skittering less at loud noises.

[starrydome]

"Yes, it is a remarkable place," he agrees. "many of my kind are far more skilled with green and growing things, but I too do what I can."

[notinthebook]

Emma's pretty damn good at finding people. It's her job, and she excels at it.

The other thing she's good at finding is an exit. This -- place, wherever the hell it is, it's got a back door, and yeah, sure, she can leave through the front (for now, that girl seemed pretty casual about the fact that it could just disappear at any second), but if she's going to be here for any length of time, she'd like to know just what she's gotten herself into.

She wasn't exactly expecting what she sees when she opens it. "Holy --"

She's been walking, eyes wide, feeling a little dazed, for a few minutes when she realizes she smells salt (what?) and also that she's not alone.

"Oh, uh -- hey, sorry." Awkward, she stops, feeling like she's interrupted this lady's alone time, or something. "I don't mean to -- is that a beach?"

it sure looks like one. But -- that's a lake? Right?

"This place is beyond bizarre."

[queenofmay]

Marian might be make the extra effort to try and not smile too hard. Pressing her lips together, but keeping herself from raising her fingers to them. It really does fail at little at the end, as she nods, with the breath of something near like an agreeing laugh.

"Yes. And you do get used to that part a little." Since this is commentary, without quite conversation on it. Which leaves room for boldness, and a certain lack of formulated structure, Marian rubbed her forearms against the lake-ocean breeze, she asked. "Are you very new, then?"

[notinthebook]

She glances back over, settling her hands on her hips. It's a sea breeze tugging at her hair, but it doesn't smell like the beaches she knows. The closest she can think of are the beaches on the Gulf, but that just doesn't mesh with the rest of this place.

"As new as it gets."

This lady's got a pretty intricate getup going on: Emma feels suddenly underdressed in her jeans and jacket. She tries a smile, finds it fits okay, if a little crooked.

"That obvious, huh?"

[queenofmay]

There is nothing about Marian's expression that looks down on the position. In fact, it's only Caspian's arrival? return? being here, now, that's made her suddenly so aware how far cross they divide she's gone. She remembers so well when everything was a surprise and a shock.

So well, she almost misses it, now that she's found it gone.


An odd fondness, she can't quite express to the unknown, Marian turned her gaze to the sea briefly, the sea she misses and hasn't touched the same way, save once, since that day, too, before glancing back. "How long since you arrived?"

[notinthebook]

"Uh..."

She twists, looking back over her shoulder, then glances at her watch.

"Half an hour, maybe? I don't know, I talked to a couple people inside."

Not that that exactly helped with the weirdness factor.

[queenofmay]

"Incredibly new, then." There's a touch of sympathy that falls into her features, as she turns to pay the woman more attention than the lake-ocean. "I hope that we haven't too badly inconvenienced you from where you meant to originally be going."

[notinthebook]

"Yeah," she says, without thinking, and then looks around, eyes widening, apologetic.

"I mean, no, I wasn't inconvenienced or anything. This place just showed up where my friend's yard should've been. It was mostly just kind of a surprise."

There've been a lot of those, lately.

"I guess you're a regular, huh?"

[queenofmay]

"For many years, now. Yes," Marian said, and it would be very hard to miss the way the acknowledgement. "I am very blessed to consider it as a second or third home."

Even if she can only look out hard, thick, cold windows at and from either of what she would have considered her first. Neither of which is within her possession of or in the way one would consider a home.

She gave a delicate tip of her head, "Lady Marian of Nottingham. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[notinthebook]

Lady Marian.

Nottingham.

She's not Henry, knowing that book from front to back, but even she knows that name, and for one crazy second, she wonders if there's someone who looks just like this lady with no memory of being Marian, living in Storybrooke.

Robin Hood counts as a fairytale, right?

She settles on a crooked sort of smile. "Nice to meet you. A little crazy, considering the circumstances, but still, nice. I'm Emma. Emma Swan."

[queenofmay]

"It will be a pleasure," Marian says, very certainly.Adding, after a moment, with a glance back toward the bar, over the hills and sand. "It usually is here. Which, I hope that you will find, as well."

[notinthebook]

"I guess. I've been in some pretty tight spots before, and this is by far the nicest one. I mean, it's got a beach and everything."

She gives Marian another twist of a smile, standing with her shoulders relaxed and hands on her hips.

"I know this kid who'd think this was pretty much the greatest thing ever."

Hell, he'd even believe her if she told him about it.

[queenofmay]

Marian couldn't help the smile, and near laugh again. "The children do seem to accept it more readily. May you be lucky and, someday, get to bring him here with you."

All things were possible with Milliways. Except the one that weren't.