Wish I Could Love You Out Loud

Well, hope you enjoyed the smut in that last chapter! (Someone is reading this, right?) Sorry it took so long. I think I've finally come to an end and here's the epilogue:

Fifty years had passed. In the interim, the Merry Men had their famous meeting with the disguised King Richard and were all pardoned. Robin married Marian and they settled into Fitzwalter manor, inviting the other former outlaws to join them as retainers. "Fitzwalter has a large herd of sheep." Robin had told Henry and Aubrey at the wedding. "I'm going to need at least two men to look after all of them." Henry and Aubrey took him up on the offer. They built a hut not far from the Fitzwalter sheepcote. It was small, only big enough for a fireplace, a bed and a table and two chairs, but they were happy with it. They were always welcome in the castle. Even after Marian and Robin had passed on (plague and a treacherous prioress respectively) their children still welcomed the two shepherds.

Tonight, two old men warmed themselves by the fire. One looked up over the mantelpiece. Though his eyesight was dimming, he could see the firelight sparkle off the blade of the scimitar that hung there. Fondly, he remembered a time when it was actually used. His companion stood and stretched before the fire, his joints creaking. "Sheep herding is a job for younger men." he groaned.

"Arthritis acting up again?" asked his companion. "I can make you a tincture for that."

"No, Aubrey, I'm just old and tired." He sat down on the bear skin next to his partner. "Speaking of tinctures, how are things going with Joanna?"

Aubrey smiled. "She's clever. Like her mother was. God rest Marian's soul. I've taught her just about everything I can. Just as well. I'm getting too old to pick posies and crawl under bushes. And my eyes have never been perfect, but lately they've been getting worse. I'm afraid I might be blind before the year is out."

"Aubrey, don't think like that."

"I'm only preparing for the inevitable, Harry. Good thing I decided to let my whiskers grow." He stroked a thick growth of gray hair on his chin. "I couldn't use a razor with my eyes as bad as they are."

"I'd shave you if you asked."

"Trust your arthritic hands with a razor?" Aubrey laughed good naturedly. "No, no thank you. There are better ways to die than from a slit throat." He ran a wrinkled hand over the snow white hair that covered the other man's cheeks. Harry took his love for the past fifty years into his arms. "Harry, remember when we were young? Remember how fast we scurried up that ladder in the barn, up to the hay loft?"

"Yes, I remember." Henry stroked long hair that was once the color of cedar, now the color of birch. "We'd be hard pressed to do any scurrying today, wouldn't we?"

Aubrey nodded. He sighed and remembered his younger days. He remembered his youth, his vigor, his brashness. He was slower now. Wisdom had replaced his brashness. He was less likely to get upset over small things. His wild stories had grown into great tales he would tell to the children and grandchildren of the Merry Men. There was but one thing that hadn't changed over the years. He still loved Henry with all his heart. "Henry, remember about, maybe, ten years ago when that young whip thought he could knock Little John down and take his money pouch?"

"Yes." Henry laughed. "I remember the sound drubbing John gave him."

"Little John was a good lad." Aubrey sighed. "Remember how long it took to get his grave dug?"

"Oh, yes. His children got these two young whips to do the job. Remember the look on their faces when Roberta told them that her father was nearly eight feet tall and they'd have to dig some more?"

"Young people just don't want to work anymore." Aubrey lamented. "If I recall, we were working when I first told you I loved you."

"We were weeding Farmer Williams' garden, I remember." Henry said fondly. "You gave me a cornflower blossom."

"We were young whips ourselves once, weren't we?"

"Aubrey, please don't use the word 'whip' to describe our own youth."

"Sorry about that." Aubrey ran a hand over Henry's back. Through the shirt, he could feel the raised ridge of one whip scar that never quite healed. "We had a happy life, didn't we?"

"We did, Aubrey. We did." Henry kissed the wrinkled brow.

"I remember when I could use that scimitar for something other than a decoration."

"I remember getting jealous over watching Robin show you how to hold it."

"Robin was nice and handsome and everything, but he wasn't you, Henry. All these years, I've only loved you." He brushed his lips against the other man's. Henry held him close and kissed him.

"What about King Richard?" Henry said teasingly.

Aubrey laughed. "Oh, I thought we were dead for sure when he caught us kissing naked by the lake. I thought I'd die from shock when he just said 'Mind if I join you lads?'"

"Well, we couldn't very well turn down the King, could we?" Henry said with a laugh. "Oh, the things His Majesty taught us!"

"When he pardoned all of us, you were one of the first to kneel and kiss his robes." Aubrey smiled. "But at that point, you were kissing something else that belonged to the King!" Aubrey chuckled. "You were a wanton little thing, letting us both spear you like a pig on a spit."

"I never would have guessed King Richard was, well, like us."

"He was a fun diversion." Aubrey admitted. "But, you know neither of us loved him. When it was over, he got dressed, tossed us a pouch of gold coins and left. We stayed together, holding and caressing each other."

"We sure had some fun times when we were young." said Henry.

"That we did." said Aubrey. "I remember getting angry at you for making those silly jokes after we first ran away." He chuckled a bit.

"Well, David said we'd probably laugh at it later. It's later. Fifty years later."

"I remember the first time I met Will and Midge. I thought they were going to kill me! Over some blackberries! Isn't that silly?"

"I remember the blow job you gave me right there in the woods."

"Remember that scroll with the naughty pictures we stole from that abbot?"

"Remember when we were able to get in all those positions?" They both laughed.

"I'll never forget what you did for me, Henry." Aubrey said seriously. "What you were willing to do for me."

"And I remember that you wouldn't let me do it."

"I couldn't have lived without you." Aubrey snuggled closer to his love as they lay out on the rug. "I'm still not sure if I could."

"Shh...don't talk of such things, love."

"I love you, Henry."

"And I love you, Aubrey."

They shared a good-night kiss and slept on the bear skin rug in each others' embrace, never to part.