Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I go through phases where all I want to do is read and then other phases when all I want to do is write. I just went through a reading phase. But then again, my library books were due soon. Anyway. I hope you enjoy. I'd love to hear from you guys. Who are we rooting for? Guy or Robin? I already have the ending planned out. Mwahaha.

Robin had been teaching her tracking skills. It was a necessary skill to have in the forest used for both hunting animals and tracking people. "You also need to know how to cover your tracks," he told her now as they walked through the woods. He handed her a branch. "The first key to becoming invisible is walking softly." He lifted his boot to show her the soles. "These boots hardly leave tracks." Ivy's own boots were so worn that any tread they had once had was now gone. "But just in case, you can always cover your tracks with a branch." He swiped at the ground, successfully erasing all proof of them having stood there.

"It's also about listening. The forest will tell you anything you need to know if you listen to it."

Ivy looked up at the leafy boughs that hung above her. She could hear birds chattering and the sound of the leaves rustling together as a slow breeze drifted through the forest. It was so utterly quiet otherwise.

"I don't hear anything," she told Robin.

"No, you hear everything which means there isn't an intruder in the forest right now."

Ivy looked at Robin. He was looking directly at her. "You know the forest so well," she told him. "I still get lost sometimes." He smiled.

"You'll figure it out once you've called it home long enough." He moved closer to her and she found herself moving closer to him automatically. His touch was gentle, much like the breeze. She could hear the slow rhythm of his breathing and her own, quickening as he leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Movement in the undergrowth a few yards away broke them apart. Ivy could hear footsteps, not carefully disguised, and the sound of voices. "Much," she said at the same time as Robin. They stepped apart, turning to watch as Much, Allan, and Will came into the clearing.

"Haven't you caught anything?" Much asked Robin and Ivy, looking at their empty hands.

"We've been … preoccupied," Robin said.

"I'll bet you have."

"And you're making enough sound to scare off all the deer for twenty miles," Ivy said. "There's a herd of dear headed east. They passed through here about five minutes ago," she added. He looked surprised.

"How do you know that?" he asked, looking suspicious.

"I've been learning how to track," she told him. She motioned toward the branches on a flowering bush. "See how a few of the branches are cracked? And there are deer hoof prints leading through that little patch of mud." She smiled at him.

"Much, Allan, you head after the herd. Will, come with me, we'll head north. Ivy," Robin turned to her. "See how you can do on your own."

"Is this a test?" she asked.

"If you want to think of it that way, then yes." His eyes twinkled.

"I'll take the challenge." She took her bow from where she had set it against a tree and headed off toward the south. She found a trail leading off into the forest and followed it, stepping quietly and carefully to avoid making any unnecessary noises. She didn't realize how far south she had gone until she reached the edge of the forest. The deer's trail led further west, and she turned that direction, skirting along the outskirts of the forest. Then she realized something. The forest had gone still. The birds had stopped singing. She stopped, pressing herself up against the trunk of a tree, and listened. Hoof beats were coming faintly from the road. Someone was in the forest. At first she wondered if it was Marian. She darted forward, getting herself positioned so that she could see the road without being seen. She knelt behind a bush, peering forward as the horse and rider came into view. Marian usually rode a white horse. This one was black and she recognized the rider at once. What on earth was Guy doing in Sherwood Forest? She thought about staying hidden behind the bushes and letting him pass, but maybe he was bringing her a message. Maybe something had happened. He would not have come into the forest for no reason. She stood up and stepped out onto the road. He pulled up, stopping his horse right in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Looking for you," he replied. His tone was guarded, but gentler than usual.

"Well, you've found me. Now why were you looking for me? To arrest me?"

"No, if I wanted to do that, I would have done so already," his voice turned bitter and she remembered her capture in his home in Locksley.

"Then what?"

"You need to leave Nottingham. Go home wherever that is."

"What? Why?"

"The Sheriff wants you arrested. He wants to see you hang. If you stay here with Hood and his men, you'll eventually be arrested."

"You don't know that."

"I do. Do you want to know why?" He was looking at her almost pleadingly now.

"Why?" Ivy asked quietly.

"Because your desire to help people outweighs your desire to keep yourself alive. It's going to get you killed."

"I'm not stupid. I can take care of myself."

"And you don't think the Sheriff is capable of setting up a trap to catch you? Would you turn yourself in if he had Robin Hood himself?" he asked. This hit the truth, and Ivy winced. "I thought so. You'd save him without a moment's thought to your own life."

"Is that such a bad thing? I believe in what he's fighting for, as I've told you before. I'm willing to die for that."

"Don't you get it?" Guy asked, looking exasperated.

"Get what?" Ivy asked.

"I don't want to see you die," he blurted out. He looked away as if ashamed of what he said, but then he dismounted his horse and took a step toward her. "I don't want to see you die," he repeated, his pale blue eyes serious.

Ivy looked back at him, not knowing what to say. "I don't know what to tell you," she finally said. "I'm not just going to hide away while the Sheriff continues to be so unjust toward his people. If you helped me…."

Guy looked away. "I will not help Hood."

"I'm not asking you to help him," Ivy said, "I'm asking you to help me."

He finally looked at her again and his eyes stayed on hers for a long while. "What you're asking me to do goes against my duty to the Sheriff."

"Do you believe in what he does?" Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes and taking a step toward him. "Taxes on those who are already poor, less food for the starving, injustice for the innocent."

Guy hesitated. "It's not my place to question his motives."

"But they're mad. You must see that!" Ivy said, her voice rising. "You helped me escape before. Why?"

"I didn't want to see you hang for something you had not done."

"Exactly. And who said that I deserved to hang?" The questioned went unanswered, but Ivy could see that she had made her point. "He wants power. He doesn't care how he gets it. I can see that you want power too and status, but I can also see that you actually have a heart. I need to know that I can trust you if you're going to help me. How do I know you won't run off to the Sheriff and report me?"

"You certainly seem to have a lack of faith in me," Guy said irritably.

"Can you blame me?"

"Whatever I do, I won't turn you in to the Sheriff, but I can't say the same for Hood and his gang."

"Well, I'm a part of them whether you like it or not."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Help me give the people the freedom they deserve. Help me deliver food to them, help me fight for their justice. Anything you can do to help them. Would it hurt you to help your people every once in awhile?"

"You asked me that once before, do you remember?" he asked.

She did. They rode in silence through Locksley, Ivy looking around her at the villagers. Some of them looked back at her with curious expressions. Others looked hopefully up at Guy who kept his eyes straight ahead.

"Would it kill you to just help one person? Your own people even?" Ivy asked, exasperated.

"You think I don't help them?" As if to prove a point, Guy pulled a sack of coins from inside his pocket and tossed it on the ground in the town square. The bag burst open and gold coins spilled out. The villagers clamored to get the coins.

"You make them beg for it like dogs," Ivy said stiffly.

Guy smirked again. "It's all they know how to do."

"As I recall, you only did it to prove me wrong."

Guy sighed. "I'm tired of this constant bickering," he said.

"So I am."

Guy eyed her. "I was under the impression that you liked to bicker," he said. She laughed.

"Only with you." Somehow the way she said it made him look at her strangely. The next few moments were a blur of confusion. Time seemed to slow as he closed in the last few steps between them, placing a hand at the back of her neck more gently than she could have expected and bringing his lips to hers. His kiss was hesitant at first as he waited for her to kiss him back. At first she froze, her mind reeling, but then she gave in to instinct, returning his kiss just as he started to pull back. He placed his other hand on her waist, and she put hers on his chest, pulling him closer to her. His kiss grew hungrier and that's when her brain clicked into place. Robin. That was all it took for her to pull back. Guy's hand lingered on her waist, and she still had her hands on his chest. He looked down at her, confusion etched in his eyes, then understanding. He pulled away.

"I see," he said coldly.

"Guy," Ivy didn't know what to say. There was nothing to say, really. Guy knew as well as her why she had pulled away. He turned his back on her. "If circumstances were different…."

"But they're not. You're with Hood." The words were very final. He mounted his horse. "I'll see what I can do to help the people, but I'm doing it for you, not for him." He turned his horse and galloped away, leaving Ivy feeling more confused than she had ever felt in her life.