They went into Locksley the next day to distribute more food and gold, and that was where the first gift was given. One of the children came up to Tom, tugging on her pants leg, and she looked down with a smile. "What's this?" she asked as he thrust a small package into her hands.

"Sir Guy gave me a penny to give this to you when I saw you," he said proudly. "A whole penny! It must be important."

"A whole penny! Well, that certainly sounds important." She ruffled his hair. "Thank you, kind sir. Run along, now. I'm sure you've some chores to do."

He ran off and the others regarded her steadily while she stared at the little box. She didn't want gifts from him. But giving the child a whole penny? That certainly wasn't like the Gisborne they knew. John looked angry, but she ignored it for the moment. She knew he was jealous and she didn't want to deal with that right now. She opened the box.

Her eyes went wide and then filled up. When she'd run to the forest, she'd thought she'd never have anything from her past. Her mother's sapphire ring lay on the velvet. She took it out and slipped it onto her finger, and then she found the note.

Thomasina,

I know there is much bad between us. I would make that right if I could. If I cannot have your heart, I would at least have your friendship. The servants at Sibley tell me this ring was much beloved by your mother and that you were meant to have it on her death. It is yours by right and I give it to you freely, to ease some of the pain I have caused.

Guy.

John slipped up beside her and put his arm around her. For all he was furious at Gisborne for holding any part of her thoughts, he wasn't angry at her. But the ring rankled at him. What did it mean?

"It was my mother's," she said softly. "I never expected to see it again. He said the servants at Sibley told him about it."

"Well, at least we know he isn't here," Much piped up. "What? If he's at Sibley -"

"He had to be here to give it to the boy," Robin explained patiently. "Which means he's probably lurking somewhere about now. So why hasn't he come after us?"

"Because he's protecting me," Tom said softly. "I don't understand it. I've done nothing but hurt him and try to kill him and he's offering me friendship. I don't understand. And it makes me feel very, very petty and mean." She leaned against John for support.

"He's trying to change." Djaq's voice was quiet but strong. "When he killed Marian, his face – he was horrified by what he'd done. Anger, horror, guilt, sorrow, all those things I saw in him. Perhaps he seeks some kind of penance with your God for his mistake?"

"God may forgive him. I never will." Robin stalked out of the little enclosure, headed back for Sherwood. Tom watched him go, her own confusion swirling madly in her head. Should she forgive him? How could she? He had hurt her, he had tried to take her by force, how could she forgive that?

But since then, he had been kind. He had been helpful. He had saved her life at the risk of his own. How could she not forgive him?

She groaned and went after Robin. Maybe if she concentrated on his problems she wouldn't have to think about hers. She didn't want to hurt John, and every time Gisborne did something like this, it did.

The others followed her. They all went back to camp, but Robin was once more on the heights, alone and brooding. Tom and Much shared a glance when she would have gone up and he went instead.

She leaned against John. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I wish things were different."

He drew her a short distance away. "Why?" Was she going to leave? He loved her, even if he couldn't say the words. No, she wouldn't leave him. She had given John everything and Gisborne nothing. He needed to stop being so jealous. He could trust her, he did trust her. He just didn't know how to say those words to her.

Tom drew his face down and kissed him gently. "Because I can offer you nothing," she said simply. "I love you. I think I have since the first minute you saw through my little disguise and offered to help me. You're kind, and gentle, and so very, very fierce when you believe in what you fight for. And you have such a big, big heart." She held his gaze, blushing slightly. "You have such a way with the children. I... wondered why you didn't have any of your own."

He went still and silent, looking away, and she turned his face back to hers, feeling wretched. "I shouldn't have asked," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

He drew her further away, into the forest, to sit within sight but not sound of the camp. He pulled her close, holding her tightly, but it was several minutes before he made any sound. "Her name is Alice," he said simply, but his words were soft and sad. "I don't know where she is now, her or my son. I'll never see her again. Or him."

Tom went very, very still. Another woman. She'd never considered that possibility.

John was thinking hard, choosing his words carefully. For all he was jealous of Gisborne, shouldn't she be the same? He was as married as she was. At least he loved his wife; but he was discovering that for as much as he loved Alice, he loved Tom more. "I gave them up when I became an outlaw," he said quietly. "They thought I was dead. I let them believe it." He shook his head. "She found someone else, someone to take care of them. I let them go." No, he hadn't. He'd sent them away, and she'd been if not glad to go, at least content.

"You still love her." Tom's voice was barely audible. She hadn't had a clue that he felt that way about anyone besides her. She knew he loved her; it was in the way he stayed near, offering support and protection while allowing her freedom. It was in the way he held her in the night, his kisses, his touch. But she thought now she understood why he was so upset about her husband; the thought of him with this Alice, it hurt. It felt like a knife in her guts.

He nodded. He loved his Alice; but these days, it was Tom in his thoughts, Tom he wanted to wake up with, to spend his life with. Tom he wanted to grow old with and the way things were going, that wasn't going to happen. Outlaws rarely got old. But why couldn't he say those words to her? Instead, he tipped her face up and kissed her, letting everything he felt pour into it.

She melted against him, accepting everything he didn't say. And when he loved her, when they found their release together, it was her name on his lips, not Alice's. And that was enough.