She had wanted to leave before the troop of the Sheriff's guard that were going in search of the bodies. She hoped to find Max before to make sure that they had disposed of the corpses. Elizabeth was not foolish enough to try and find her way through Sherwood alone. She had invited her servant Parkyla to accompany her. She knew that Parkyla had grown up on the edge of the Forest in the small village of Hathersage. Parkyla assured her that she had several ideas about where her friends could be hiding...

The girls had enjoyed their early morning ride. Parkyla was an amusing companion, telling Elizabeth several local ghost stories about the Forest. They had stopped once to allow the animals to rest, not only their two horses, but a donkey laden with supplies to make the fugitives more comfortable for what could be a lengthy stay in the Forest if the Sheriff decided to pursue the matter.

Elizabeth was eager to see Mary and Alexander...and, of course, Max. She knew that he was going to be a little peeved at her for breaking her promise to him, but it couldn't be helped and she had a feeling that he would be happy to see her anyway.

Parkyla and Elizabeth had left the King's Highway by late in the morning. Their horses were picking their way along the deer trails. They had already tried two potential sites that Parkyla knew had been used as outlaw camps in the past. They were now discussing how Parkyla knew so much about the Forest.

"But I don't understand..."Elizabeth was saying. "Why can the Sheriff not root out the outlaws if these camp sites are so well known?" Parkyla looked embarassed.

"They are not well known my lady." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"My father is an oulaw." Her servant finally muttered. Her head snapped up and she glared at Elizabeth challengingly. "He was caught poaching a deer milady. He had to flee to the Forest or they would have taken his hand." She explained defensively. "We were starving milady. He had no choice."

Elizabeth smiled at her, sympathetic. "It is alright Parkyla. I certainly understand. Queen Eleanor has told me many times that she is going to speak to the King about the antiquated hunting laws in the country. No Englishman should go hungry just so that the nobles can have their hunt uninterrupted."

Parkyla smiled at her, relieved. "Anyway, my father's band stayed at the Great Oak many times in the past. I visited there many times as a child."

"How long has your father lived in Sherwood?" Elizabeth asked concerned.

"For ten years milady." Elizabeth blinked, felt her heart sink. What if Max, Michael and the others were never pardoned? Would they have to live in the Forest for the rest of their lives?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard voices. "Are we there?" She asked Parkyla.

The servant looked confused. "Not yet." She looked around carefully. "It would not do to run across real outlaws milady. We had better take care." The girl quickly swung herself down off her horse. "I will go check this way, while you go that way. We will meet back here in five minutes." Elizabeth nodded, dismounted and carefully made her way into the green wood.

She heard the voices more clearly as she moved. She paused once to unhook her cloak, which had become entangled on a branch. The moment was enough for her to recognize the voice carrying through the Forest.

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. It was Max. They had found them.

"Concentrate on making the connection Tessie.."he was saying.

Elizabeth stopped abruptly, frowned. Suddenly she felt the need to stay hidden...she carefully hid behind a tree, gradually peeking her head out through the branches.

Max was kneeling beside his sister, his hand on her ankle...and his hand was glowing...

Her eyes flew to his face. It was white and pained....he was staring straight into Tess's eyes, a grimace beginning to form on his visage...

"By all that is holy..."Elizabeth breathed.

"Max, are you alright?" Tess was asking. She was standing, testing out her ankle, which had apparently just been healed.

"I'm fine Tess." Max replied wearily. He was moving away from her, looking slightly ill.

Just then, Liz set her foot down on a dry twig. It snapped, sounded like thunder in the still Forest. She froze.

"Max?" She heard Tess say in a frightened voice.

"Come out of there!" Max barked. Elizabeth jumped. "We know you are there."

She stepped out from behind the tree in a daze. She could barely breathe...she did not understand any of this...

"Liz?" Max sounded surprised, happy and panicked all at once. He took one look at her face, knew instantly that something was wrong with her.

"I saw you Max." Liz grabbed her cloak between her hands. "I saw you heal her." Liz continued. "What are you?"

She did not take her eyes from his face. She watched it tighten. Max swallowed convulsively. "Tess, leave us." Max said abruptly.

Tess grabbed his arm. "NO Max...let me stay with you..." She glared at Elizabeth. Liz felt her heart stop. "We have to take care of her...NOW!"

Max shook her off. "I mean it Tess...go back to the camp." Tess sniffed, obeyed though. She walked past Elizabeth, brushing against her, almost knocking her over.

Elizabeth was surprised that she was not at all frightened - rather she was numb. She realized that she was in shock.

But she knew that, no matter what, Max would not hurt her.

Max took a step toward her, clearly expecting her to back away from him. She stood rooted to the spot. "Max? Please..."

Max stopped, smiled tentatively. "Liz, it's not what you think."

"What do I think?" She asked confused - she didn't think anything...she didn't know WHAT to think.

"That I'm a demon." Max said simply. Liz smiled at that.

"I could never think that Max. Are you an angel?" She asked, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy her logical brain. She knew that angels existed...she had been told so her entire life.

"Well..." Max said wryly "That might be one way of putting it."

"Why can you heal people Max? The only person I have ever heard capable of doing that was our Lord." Liz asked him. Max blinked.

"I am not Christ Liz." He paused, clearly searching for words. "What I am, I do not know whether you will be able to understand...your world is not at the point that what I am would even seem possible..." He trailed off, watching her face.

"MY world? What do you mean...please, just tell me everything." She smiled at him. "I know you Max...whatever it is cannot be bad..."

"No, it's not bad." Max took another step towards her. This time Liz did step back. He stopped abruptly, looked hurt. "Are you frightened?" He asked sadly.

"Not frightened," she replied. "I just cannot think straight with you so close to me." Max smiled at that, looked pleased. "Now stop changing the subject...tell me the truth."

"Liz, I've never told anyone this before." He explained. "It is most difficult." He gestured to a large boulder. "I think you should sit down milady."

Elizabeth sat down carefully, watched Max pace, clearly trying to get his thoughts in order. "Liz, have you ever looked at the stars before?"

"Of course..."she said, confused. What by heaven was he talking about?

"Well, the sun is a star." He continued. "And your world revolves around it." Liz blinked, nodded. She had always been told that the Earth was flat, but after seeing Max do what he had just done, she was willing to believe anything at this point. "I am from another world that revolves around another star many millions of miles away."

She stared at him, perplexed, feeling incredibly stupid. She hated to feel that way. Max smiled at her, watched her digest what he was telling her. "Why are you on my world then?" Elizabeth asked finally.

"My world is at war." He replied. "I was killed, but my soul was sent to Earth to be reborn..." Max stopped when he saw her eyes beginning to cloud over. "Never mind, it's not important. The point is, I am here..."

"Mmmmm." Liz replied, bringing her hand to her forehead and rubbing. She suddenly had a splitting headache. Max was watching her with concern.

"Are you alright my love?" She nodded. He moved towards her again, put his hands at her temples. She looked at him worriedly.

"Don't worry. I can take your pain away." Max told her. "Just look into my eyes and take deep breaths."

Liz did as she was told, finding it quite easy to lose herself in the depths of Max's beautiful dark eyes.

And then something very peculiar happened...

Flash*

She had an image of a small boy, breaking out of a strange glowing egg...he had dark hair and eyes and she knew it was Max...she could feel his fright...and then his relief as he found three other children: two small blonde girls and a messy-haired boy...

Flash*

An image of a stern looking man, his eyes cold, saying "You must never leave the Castle...you are in danger here...you can trust no one, only me..."

Flash*

An image of Max on a horse, flying through the forest, Isabel hot on his heels...a feeling of complete liberation...

Flash*

An image of herself, coming towards Max, a small smile on her face....a feeling of awe....and love.

Max removed his hands from Elizabeth's head, stared at her. "What was that?" She whispered to him.

"We connected." He replied, sounding equally as dumbfounded. "I don't know how it's possible...we are not supposed to able to do that with humans..." His eyes were shining at her in amazement..."I saw you Liz...as a little girl..."

Elizabeth smiled at him, felt tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I saw you too Max...It was amazing..." They continued to stare at each other, in a daze...

Then, suddenly, Max grabbed her, brought his mouth down on hers. Elizabeth threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with all her soul...

"I love you...I love you..."he was murmering into her hair. "I don't understand how I can feel this way about you, but you are my heart Liz..." His lips trailed gentle kisses down her face to her neck. Elizabeth threw her head back, craving something she had never dreamed of wanting...

"What the hell is going on here?" They were snapped out of their private world, by a very displeased Michael. "Maxwell, what have you done?"