Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own none of the characters appearing in this story.

"What are you doing here?" Marian asked as Robin appeared in the window of her bedchamber.

"I have been giving what you said some thought and I decided to bring you a present."

"What kind of present could you have brought me? You live in the forest with no money."

"Answers."

"What?"

"An explanation that I should have given you years ago . . . why I went to the Holy Land."

"Oh."

"I told you it was just something I had to do, but I did not say why. I thought that you would always think of me as the fun-loving boy who used to play tricks on you. I wanted you to see me as a man that could provide for you and a family. So I went off to war to prove myself. And, it did not seem very manly to tell you."

"You know, I saw you as a man. Of course, I saw glimpses of the boy you used to be. I still do."

"I guess I made a terrible mistake then. I have enough good sense to know that you cannot possible still love me, but apparently not enough to stop wanting you."

"I stopped loving you the day you left." In that moment his heart broke for he had never stopped loving her. "Besides, we are not the same people we were 5 years ago." As she kept speaking, Robin could feel the knife twisting in his heart. "But, I think it might be possible to love you again." With that his heart soared. "What about my engagement to Gisborne?"

"A detail" he replied as he kissed her.