"Alright, now. Be ready, Robin," Kalavee called from the front of the trolley. "The path to Sunshine Acres is comin' up on the right."

Robin, who was lost in a merry-go-round of thoughts on how to approach Holly and what to say, snapped from his daze, bolting from his seat.

Robin quickly stumbled down the trolley's aisle and made his way to the front, bending down to peer out the trolley's front window as the familiar floral mailbox and red wooden fence crept closer.

"Now, you better not be doing what I think—" The grumpy old woman snapped, only to be interrupted by the creak of Kalavee swinging open the trolley's doors, and Robin leaping out of the small trolley door, tumbling down the side of the tracks and slamming into Sunshine Acres' wooden fence.

Pain reverberated throughout Robin's body as the wind was knocked from his lungs, causing him to frantically search for breath as he stumbled to his knees. Robin let out a few painful coughs as he weakly waved to the retreating trolley. 

Despite the distance, he could imagine hearing Kalavee's jolly giggle and the old woman's "harumph" at his not-so-graceful descent from the tram.

Quickly searching himself for any cuts or abrasions, and not finding any broken bones, Robin weakly stood, pulling himself up by the wooden fence that had broken his fall, its old splintered panels defiantly poking into his skin.

Shaking off his fall, Robin made his way along the fence to the old dirt path down to Sunshine Acres. 

The early spring sun was reflecting off of the tulip-stained-glass windows, the old house gaining  new life now that the snow had melted away and green had slowly began to creep back onto the land surrounding Sunshine Acres. It appeared there might even be quite a few tulips planted out front of Sunshine Acres, as some had begun to bloom despite the lingering cold of winter, welcoming spring with their bright reds and yellows.

Robin's pace turned into a jog as he neared the crimson farmhouse, quickly climbing the porch stairs and making his way to the front door, a small sneeze causing him to jump.  Bringing his attention back to the bottom of the porch steps.

Sugar Cookie sat staring up at him, her tail wagging and her brown and black ears perked in attention as Robin's attention quickly turned to her. The small nanahound let out a huff  before  prancing off to the side of the house, pausing to glance over her shoulder and see if Robin was following.

"Ah, I see," Robin hummed, amused by the small animal's antics. "Go ahead and take me to her, then," he mumbled, as he followed the small dog around the side of the house.

As the two rounded the corner, Robin spotted a floating blob in the center of the pond. 

Holly lay with her arms outstretched, and her hair and red skirt spread in the water around her. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and steady. She almost seemed to be sleeping, although Robin doubted that was the case. Her fingers were dancing across the water, tracing gentle patterns along the pond's surface.

Quickly outpacing Cookie now that Holly was in view, Robin hurried down the bank of the pond, carefully removing his coat and boots, determined to join her. Robin barely managed to kick off his socks before he stepped into the pond, instinctively letting out a hiss as soon as his foot made contact with the water. The pond was still frightfully cold from the lingering chill of winter, the first signs of spring not strong enough to rid the pond of its icy chill.

Robin gritted his teeth and winced as he waded deeper, carefully easing himself into the frigid water before finally swimming out to where Holly floated at the center.

Holly let out a gasp in surprise  as Robin's hand found her waist. Her focus on floating lost as she began to flail in the water, her eyes full of shock.

"R-Robin?" she sputtered, her wet hair draping around her in one dark curtain as she blinked against the water droplets that fell onto her face. "What are you doing here?" she asked, hurriedly grabbing onto Robin's arms around her waist.

Robin smiled as he guided her towards him, bringing her to the shallow water where they both could easily stand. 

"This water is freezing. Aren't you cold?" Robin asked, as his feet hit the muddy pond ground once again, and small shivers began to ripple through his body. "How long have you been in here?

"Well, not that long," Holly replied, not meeting his gaze. The pruned state of her fingers against his arms suggested otherwise. "And I am fine. I have my warming magic, remember?" she added, rubbing her hands together until they emitted a small glow before placing them on Robin's arms. The water's icy grip eased under the warmth of her magic, but his skin still prickled from the lingering chill in the air around them.

"But what about you? Aren't you cold?" Holly continued, her tone measured, and her gaze still not meeting his. Despite her reluctance to tell him what was wrong, her eyes were filled with worry as her hands moved to lay on his biceps. Robin could feel his shivering begin to fade the longer her magic touched him.

"I think I'll be fine," Robin murmured, leaning forward through the cold water and pulling her closer to him. "As long as I stay as close to you as possible." 

Holly's eyes finally met his, and her gaze softened as a small smile played at her lips.

 She let out a small chuckle but she averted her gaze once again, her face twisted in emotion she seemed unable to share.

"What happened, Holly?" Robin asked gently. "Run out of stones again? You should have waited for your faithful Stone Wrangler to arrive," he added with a small nudge, trying to prompt another smile. But as Holly's eyes flickered to his, he saw pain behind them, a hurt that wouldn't be healed by simple jokes.

"What kind of emotions might I find under the water," Robin asked more carefully, "or still floating on top?" he probed, his smile fading as fear rose in his chest.

"I'm—" Holly began, letting out a long breath and bringing her eyes to meet Robin's. "I'm hurt."

"Oh? Where? I can fix—"

"No, I am hurt by you."

"Ah, right," Robin breathed, heart falling as if it had dropped to the bottom of the pond.

"I'm hurt," Holly continued, "because you kept a secret from me—a secret that very much concerned me—but you still kept me in the dark about it. And the fact that everyone found out before me... I hated that, Robin. Like with Dexter...I hate things like that."

Holly choked on her words and shook her head, cold water flicking from her hair as she did so. "And then, this whole 'fiancée' situation reminded me that you could have said something then, too. You could have told me you were alive. But you hid it from me. Everyone knew, but I didn't," she said, her fingers tracing patterns against the skin on his arms absentmindedly as she looked back into the water.

"I was originally upset with Margo for not telling me you were alive," she continued, "because I couldn't bring myself to be upset with you about it, but... now, I am," she admitted, her bloodshot green eyes rimmed with tears, and filled with frustration and hurt, finally meeting his again.

Holly's held back a sob, tears falling down her face, mixing with the drops of pond water on her cheeks.

"Robin, I mourned you. I saw your dead body—even if it wasn't real, I believed it was. And—and it felt like my soul had been torn to shreds, my reality stolen from my very hands. My whole world crumbled because I thought you would no longer be a part of it."

A soft sob tore from Holly's chest, and one of her warm hands let go of his arm to wipe at her tears, the sharp cold of the water stinging Robin's skin just as much as her words stung his pride.

It hurt Robin to hear this confession, but Holly was right. Robin had held the power to put her mind at ease, but he had agreed to Margo's suggestion, being complicit in Holly's suffering. 

"I—" Robin began, prepared to defend himself. But as he watched her suppressed sobs shake the water around her, he knew defending himself wouldn't matter. 

It wouldn't change the past and how his actions had hurt her. He had only meant to do what would be best for the situation, but he should have thought about what was best for her first. Regardless of whether it was the right thing to do or not, it didn't matter—she was owed an apology.

"I'm really sorry, Holly," he murmured as he brought his cold thumb to her face to wipe some of her tears. "I wanted to tell you...And I should have. As soon as you were set free, I should have held you in my arms like I wanted to, and given you the peace of mind to know that I was alive. There's no excuse for why I didn't fight harder for that. I can barely imagine how much pain you must have felt the day you were convinced I was gone... because the few minutes I thought I had lost you were some of the most devastating moments of my life... You lived that torment for days. For that, Holly, I am so sorry. You might never be able to forgive me, but I'm truly sorry." 

Robin's voice broke as he blinked back his own tears. He suddenly was reliving the panic he felt when he was not able to save her, holding her lifeless body in his arms,  the hopelessness he felt as he tried desperately to save her. 

Gently, Robin pulled her just a bit closer, thankful that these feelings were only memories now.

 "Thank you, Robin," Holly mumbled, as she pressed her palms to her eyes, pushing away the tears and nodding her head as her sobs subsided. "I appreciate you saying that."

"And," Robin continued, delicately placing his hands on her shoulders as he brought himself closer, "I promise, I will never keep something important from you ever again..." Robin flinched, tilting his head in acknowledgment of the overstatement. "Well, knowingly, at least. I can be a bit ignorant, and I'll try to be less of that too," he admitted, which caused Holly to let out a small chuckle, as she hurriedly wiped away the last of her tears.

"That being said," Robin admitted, lowering his head so that his eyes were level with hers, "it was my obliviousness that kept what I said in the newspaper article from you. It was never my intention to hide what I said to the press from you. I didn't think they were going to publish that part of my statement, which is why I forgot to say anything.... and I had only called you my fiancée to the press because... because... well," Robin stuttered, stumbling over his words, trying to find the right ones, as Robin himself wasn't completely sure why he had said it either. "I-I don't know why. I guess I wanted to protect your reputation—explain why you were a young woman living alone with a strange man—or maybe to protect myself against accusations about why I was here with my brother in Adel... but mainly, I guess, it's because I care for you... and I—"

Robin paused, an idea popping into his head. "I realized—"

Robin suddenly dunked himself under the water without a second thought, causing Holly to let out a shrill shriek as the cold pond water splashed against her, a loud laugh escaping despite her earlier frustration with him. Robin could hear her duck under the water, too, feel her warm hands searching blindly before latching onto the buttons of his shirt. She quickly pulled him up to the surface, holding him against her as she laughed, pushing back his hair that was now plastered to his face and wiping the pond water from his eyes.

"Hey! Don't throw that thought to the bottom!" Holly commanded with a laugh, causing Robin to chuckle in return. "I need to hear what you were going to say!" she added with an accusing glare, as she pushed away from him, stepping back to manage her own wet hair that had draped onto her face.

Robin followed after her, grabbing her waist and pulling her close again, using his cold fingers to push back the wet strands of her hair as he smiled down at her.

"Because that word felt right to me. A 'fiancée' is someone you haven't married but have committed yourself to, and one day will make an oath to dedicate your life to them. That's how I feel about you, Holly. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side, and if you don't feel the same way, I understand. You don't have to decide now. I know I have things I need to make up for. So I can wait... o-or you can say no, but I just—"

Holly let out a loud laugh, interrupting his speech by throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him to her chest as she pressed her warm lips to his. His entire body suddenly filled with a warmth that drove all remaining chill away as she kissed him. Her warm fingers curled into his hair and his wet shirt, pulling it from where it lay tight against his skin.

"I just... love you," Robin continued, whispering against her lips, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as he cradled the back of her head in his hand. He tightened his grip on her waist as he began to kiss her more passionately, as if doing so might prove how much he meant it.

"I love you too, Robin," Holly murmured as she pulled back from him, her fingers reaching to play with the wet curls that draped around his face, her warm breath making clouds in the cold air around them. "I want to be your fiancée, I want to be your wife, I want to be everything. Whatever you want me to be, I'll be it," she declared, her eyes filled with happiness as a smile spread across her face.

Robin could feel his heart twisting with joy at her words. A large, cheesy grin spread across his face.

 He swiftly scooped her up, and she let out a surprised shout as she wrapped her legs around his hips, laughing while he held her against him.

"Well, that all sounds perfect," Robin shouted, more joy in his heart than he had ever imagined possible, as he looked up at Holly's smiling face beaming down at him. "Because I want you to be all those things—Miss Holly, Miss Ivy, The Red Crow, The Crimson Crow, or whoever you want to be. When I decided to fall in love with the jewelry sorceress on Sunshine Acres, I fell in love with every part of you."

"Really?" Holly mused as she bent down to place a soft kiss on his lips. "All of me? Do you promise?"

Robin chuckled as he blinked against the sun, which shone like a halo around the woman smiling down at him. With the mischievous glimmer in her puffy eyes and tangled hair that fell around her big, grinning face, Robin couldn't imagine anything more beautiful.

"Always," he promised.

THE END

Bonus:

"Wow. I'm gone for two months, and this is what I come back to..."

Holly leaped away from Robin, startled by the child's voice at the side of the pond, her arms violently slamming against the water in surprise, and causing Robin to cower back as water was thrust at him. Robin's own heart violently slamming against his chest in shock at the sudden intrusion.

"Wha—Jo!?" Holly shouted, a bright red blush consuming her face as she blinked at the small girl standing before them with her arms crossed, tapping her foot against the rocks that lay at the water's edge, as Jo shook her head in disbelief.

Jo stood in her favorite jean overalls and blue gingham shirt, her short hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. Sugar Cookie sat at her heels, looking up at the young girl in excitement, her tail wagging in happiness.

"Your train isn't supposed to arrive for three more weeks," Holly sputtered, anxiously patting at her hair in an attempt to regain her composure. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you two doing in there?" the young girl countered, shooting them a disgusted look as she pointed at the two adults before her, their hair and clothes drenched as they stood together in the freezing pond water.

"Um—" Holly began, shaking her head and quickly returning the young girl's icy glare. "Answer my question first, Jo."

"Miss Holly, I thought you would be proud," Jo scoffed. "Your apprentice managed to teleport herself across the country—"

"Jo," Holly growled, using the girl's name as a warning. "Why are you here?"

"Listen, Miss Holly. I'll make a deal with you," Jo offered, her eyes shifting nervously to the dog at her feet. "I won't tell anyone I saw you two playing in the lake, and you won't tell my dad I snuck out to play with Cookie when I was grounded."

"Nope, that's not how it's gonna work, Jo," Holly argued, shaking her head. Holly quickly grabbed Robin by the arm and pulled him through the water, shooting him an embarrassed grin that caused Robin to chuckle as she dragged him to the edge of the pond where Jo stood.

"No, no, no!" Jo cried, taking a nervous step back as they approached. "Please, Miss Holly, please," she pleaded before turning her attention to Robin. "Mr. Robin, quick! Kiss her again! Convince her to let me stay!"

Robin chuckled as he trudged out of the water, taking a sudden breath as the cold winter air quickly surrounded him. He wearily shook his head at the small girl's suggestion, casting her a guilty smile as he sat himself on a rock and wrung out his shirt. "Sorry, Jo, I'm actually in quite a bit of trouble myself. I'm afraid I've used up all my kisses to save myself today."

Holly shot Robin a teasing glare, wrinkling her nose in defiance of his claim, but didn't argue. 

Letting out a small sigh, Holly turned her attention back to her apprentice with a shake of her head. "Okay, Jo. I'll let you play with Cookie while I get changed," Holly offered, wringing out her woolen skirt on the rocks. "But as soon as I am done, we are sneaking you back to California," she added as she stood up straight, waving a warning finger at the little girl. "I'll pretend I didn't see anything, and you better act the same. You hear me, Jo?"

"Yes, Miss Holly."

Holly let out a chuckle and ruffled the little girl's hair, further messing up the small girl's ponytail, before tapping her hand to her foot and transporting herself into the house, leaving Jo and Robin alone.

"Oooo," Jo cooed mockingly, raising an accusing eyebrow as she scrutinized the drenched man before her. "And what did you do to get in trouble, Mr. Robin?"

Robin chuckled and stood to his feet. "Well, let's just say, it's a bad idea to propose without a ring, Jo."

"Another man proposed to Miss Holly!?" Jo shouted angrily, her eyes wide in shock and disappointment.

"No, no," Robin denied with a laugh. "I did. I proposed... on accident."

"YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED?!" Jo shouted again, more excited this time, as her disappointment quickly vanished and was replaced with happiness. Her wide eyes somehow grew even larger at the news. "Really?! Like, really, really?" She squealed, jumping up and down. "Can I be the flower girl? Can Cookie also be a flower girl? Can we all match?" Jo demanded, bombarding Robin with questions about the wedding as she latched onto his wet button-down, tugging at the drenched fabric in her demand for answers.

"Hold on, Jo. We haven't planned that far ahead," Robin said, gently prying her small fingers from his button-up as he reached down for his coat and shoes that he had discarded earlier. "Like I said, I haven't even gotten a ring yet. That needs to come first."

"How long is that gonna take?" Jo whined. "Can't Miss Holly just make one?" Suddenly, Jo's eyes lit up as a new thought hit her, latching onto his shirt once more. "Are you gonna go to London and get one? Can I come, too? I could transport us there...Maybe."

"Maybe after you're done being grounded," Robin suggested with a raised brow, prompting a defiant grumble from the child, her shoulders sagging in defeat. "In the meantime, how about we see if there are any pear tarts for you to sneak back to California with you?"

"Oh, yes, please!" the young girl shouted with joy, grabbing onto Robin's hand and pulling him toward the house. "Thank you, Mr. Robin!" 

Robin chuckled, trudging back to the house after the small child. The few birds in the trees called out to them as they passed, joining Jo in her tales about her last few months in California. The chill of the late winter evening vanished as the fresh breeze brought scents of early spring, and the warmth of the lights spilling from the windows of the old farmhouse greeted their approach. The home's steady glow welcomed the end of the day, as the crimson sun began to set on Sunshine Acres.