Craning her neck, the window looked so far from Robin's point of view as she stared at the top of the tower. Her stomach twisted into knots, as she wondered just how high up she would have to go, and if she could even manage such a feet for her amateur skills. But her mother helped her all night to control her new gift, so she could do it. She owed it to the girl up there. She glanced back at her feet, feeling Alice's teacup nearly slip from her sweaty hands.

"This is it," she whispered to herself.

Raising her hand over the sapling she discovered just earlier, she felt her magic release from her fingertips like she practiced. The plant burst from the ground, enlarging its leaves and stem to an appropriate size for Robin to step aboard and hold onto with one hand. Focusing her mind on the room, she encouraged the plant to continue growing. It brought her up toward the window, until she could step off the leaf and onto the windowsill.

She first noticed her shadow on the floor, right next to a crouching Alice with her back turned towards Robin.

"Miss me?" Robin asked, hoping her joke would lighten whatever sober mood Alice was in.

When Alice heard the voice, she turned around and gasped. Robin did the same, for Alice's eyes were red and her face was streaming with tears.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Robin asked her, not able to see any injuries.

She quickly descended from the sill, and walked further into the room. Before she knew it, Alice crashed into her, arms thrown around Robin's neck.

"You came back," breathed Alice.

Getting over her shock, Robin wrapped her arms around Alice and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Of course, I came back."

When she pulled away, she placed the teacup on the table and brushed a strand of Alice's curly hair from her face, wiping the young woman's tears away with her thumb.

"You didn't think I'd run off with my magic and leave you, did you?"

At the way Alice seemed to be avoiding Robin's eyes, the archer had guessed right about Alice's cause for tears.

"Well, no one should be crying on the biggest day of their life."

She pulled back, pulling her gift from her drawstring bag, and brought it up to the receiver's eyes for inspection.

"Happy birthday."

Alice's eyes grew wide at the ring, beautiful in its simplicity: smooth hoops of wood intertwined with each other and decorated within the spaces were tiny yellow lilies similar to the potted one sitting on the floor.

"Did you make this?" asked Alice.

"I carved the bands myself, but I placed an enchantment on the flowers. Would you wear it?"

Alice nodded enthusiastically, and Robin held her breath, before slipping the ring on her Tower Girl's delicate finger. The air inside the room changed, making Alice look around in question, but Robin practically choked on her laugh of relief. Her mother's idea worked, now only to try it.

A frown passed over Alice's face, when she blurted, "I don't have anything for you in return. And it's your birthday too."

"You can give me something later," Robin urged, not dismayed in the least.

Slipping her fingers into holding Robin's, Alice smiled brightly, "I don't plan to ever take this off. Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet. Ready for your second gift?"

Alice began shaking her head when Robin tugged her closer to the sill. Robin first stepped out onto the leaf, grabbing hold of the stem, but Alice's feet stopped just right at the edge of the spell's barrier. Yet she refused to let go, so their hands remained linked, with Robin's wrist still inside the tower. Robin looked to Alice, who still wore an expression of hesitation.

"You ok?"

"I'm terrified," Alice admitted.

"Why?"

"I've been looking out this window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I would feel like when I finally could get out," Alice whispered, "what if this doesn't work?"

"It will."

"And what if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?"

"It will be. I promise."

Alice stared right into her gorgeous girl's eyes, and grasping her hand tighter, stepped through the sill. She felt the protection spell brush past her like a breeze for only a moment, before she slipped her other arm around Robin's waist and Robin's arm pulled her in closer for security. Alice cried out in triumph, looking at her new worldview and feeling the weight of her ring press against the skin just below Robin's hairline.

"Hold on," instructed Robin, before the plant began slowly descending toward the ground.