You Are Not Your Yesterday: Chapter Six: Heartless
Title: You Are Not Your Yesterday
by Jesterlady
Pairing: Robin/Regina
Summary: At the end of S5, Robin has died and his soul is saved from destruction by the Greek god Zeus, but he is presumed gone forever. Regina is devastated with grief and struggling with her own darkness. After she removes her evil half, the Evil Queen doppelganger begins to wreak havoc on everyone in Storybrooke, finally making a wish that creates a whole new realm and provides a way for Zeus to send Robin’s soul into an alternate self. But this Robin doesn’t know who he is, having an alternate set of villainous memories. When he and Regina meet again, they must struggle with the disconnect and longing they both feel. Can he reclaim his heroic self? Can Regina accept her own dark past and defeat the Evil Queen? And can their true love win through the trials that would reunite them?
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. Some lines are from the show. The title is from Ann Voskamp
I really thought the show missed the mark with the return of Robin Hood on the show. So I wanted to take this opportunity to write the story in the way that made sense to me.
I wanted to focus on Zelena and Regina’s relationship here as well, making it a lot more intentional than canon. I think Zelena provides a great foil for Regina’s growth, and I think Zelena’s character deserves better. It provided a way for me to delve into Regina’s growth, her understanding and acceptance of redemption, and how she will continue to be strong and fight. In allowing Robin to go through his own villainous redemption, it gave them an equal ground they hadn’t been able to share before.
I have strong feelings about the Wish Realm. Apart from the its creation, I hated how it was used (so illogical)! So just to be clear, in this story the Wish Realm is not real. Only Robin (with a real soul inside him) can come through to the other side; it collapses as soon as Emma (the point of it) leaves. We see this as Wish Rumple tries to leave and wasn’t able to. This also explains why Robin (and characters connected to him) were young when everyone else had aged.
You definitely need to be familiar with S6 to read this fic. I do ignore a lot of S6 ie Gideon and Black Fairy. You can assume those things are happening alongside of the main events, but I’m ignoring it and deliberately changing where it intersects, because the story needed to focus on Robin and Regina and have a resolved ending that didn’t immediately jump into the next problem.
Robin’s feet seemed lighter, the closer he got to the tavern. What awaited him there was better than all the gold in the world. He was sure that tonight would change his fortunes for good. Tonight, he would finally win the full heart of Marian.
Pushing open the door, he bolstered his confidence to step inside. The tavern was warm, filled with the smoky air of candles and the heat of bodies. The sharp tang of ale was waiting to flood his mouth and he could almost taste one of the roasts favored by the cook. These were secondary considerations, of course. Robin scanned the room until he found the dark beauty he was searching for.
He weaved his way through the cordially drunk people until he reached her location. Sneaking a hand around her waist, he gently spun her around after she’d put down her tray. Her hand flashed up to slap his face, but she arrested her motion when she recognized him, a softer gleam in her eye that he prayed was for him.
“Be careful,” she admonished, a graceful smile edging up the corners of her mouth. “I’ve nearly decapitated men for less.”
He hated the thought of other men pawing their hands over her, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Tonight was for merrymaking.
“I ask a thousand pardons,” he said, grinning. “And even more if you’d grant me a kiss in forgiveness.”
“I’ve told you before, not here,” she said, but her eyes betrayed her liking for his charm.
At least he hoped so.
“When is the night over?” he asked.
“Soon,” she said, patting his cheek. “Now sit down and I’ll bring you what you like. And be careful, the Sheriff has been in here the last couple of days.”
Robin frowned, but did as she requested. Settling into a corner, he watched her and the door simultaneously, ready to slip out the back if need be. His new friend, the Sheriff, was quickly becoming a nuisance he couldn’t afford.
Being here in Sherwood so long was a nuisance he couldn’t afford either, but somehow Marian’s siren song made the risk worth it. There was something about her that made him desire better and nobler things for himself. Things he’d dreamed of years ago, before he’d left home.
Thoughts of home were more likely to spoil his mood than anything else and he did his best not to dwell on memories. Inevitably, they pooled into his mind, souring his jovial spirits. He thought of little Clara, full-grown, but thinner and weaker than a child, coughing her life away and unable to recognize the sight of him. He thought of the others, scattered, driven away, killed by bandits, lost in wars, none of them helped in the least by his sacrifice. His father had long since drank himself to death by the time Robin was finally able to bring his blood-gold home. It helped no one.
Robin had stayed locked for days inside the old home, tending Clara, then wrapping her dead body in as fine a cloth as he could manage without tempting thieves into the home. But when she was finally laid to rest, he’d stood over her grave, bow and quiver strapped to his back, knowing with a dead certainty there was no home for him here, or anywhere. He had given up his rights to such things with the blackness of murder in his heart and the slippery hands of a thief.
The gold he’d distributed to the rest of the village as anonymously as possible, but from that day on, the money he stole went to line his own pockets. Generosity had never helped anyone that he could tell and he trusted no one. Occasionally he worked with another thief, but all thoughts of partnership or working in a group made him recall with sick clarity, blood running over his hands and the attack of a man he’d thought would never fail him.
The clatter of a tray thumped in front of him and the smell of food shoved away the unpleasant memories. He smiled up into Marian’s eyes, thrilling at the sight of her. Finally, he’d met someone he could trust, someone who had helped to heal the broken cracks in his soul. Someone who was truly good. Part of him feared that goodness, that he could never match it, but he would try. For her, he would try.
“What sad thoughts were you dwelling on?” she asked, concern coating her words.
He shook his head.
“Thoughts of a life without you, darling.”
She laughed and shook her head, then grew pensive, chewing on her lip.
“Robin, make sure to stay past closing. We need to talk.”
Her words haunted him for the rest of the evening. He had never been fond of that phrase coming from a woman.
He waited long for the last drunk and disorderly patron to be evicted, thankful there had been no sight of the Sheriff. Soon all the other workers of the tavern had left and Marian allowed him to help her clean for the night, locking the door.
At last they sat beside the raging fire on the hearth and she let him put his arm around her, rejoicing in the feel of her.
“What is it you needed to say, Marian?” he asked, unable to wait any longer. “I have words for you as well.”
“I’d much rather hear your words,” she said.
He wasn’t so sure that her words wouldn’t affect his, but he could deny her nothing.
“We’ve waited long enough,” he said, taking her hand in his, studying the reflection of the flames playing on their locked fingers. “Marry me, love.”
“Oh,” she breathed, a sad sigh of longing. “I wish that it could be.”
“Why can’t it?” he asked, studying her face anxiously. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. And don’t you care for me, even a little bit?”
“More than anything,” she said. “No, Robin, the reason is that I’m sick.”
“Sick?”
“I fear so. I just discovered that the physician doesn’t believe that anything can be done for me. I’ll be sick the rest of my life. And what a burden to place on you. Especially since I don’t know if I will be here for a short time or hopefully a longer one.”
Robin’s insides clenched at the thought of more death, more failure, more loss. He didn’t think he could face it. But, on the other hand, not having her in his life would still be the death of love, the failure to conquer the darkness inside of him, and the loss of all the joy he’d found. He would not abandon her as he had abandoned his family. He had learned his lesson at a bitter cost.
“Why would that matter?” he asked, tenderly placing his hand on her cheek. “I would never leave you over something like that. I will be yours and help you with anything you need, for the rest of your life. And may it be long.”
“It’s a hard thing to ask,” she said. “Harder than perhaps you realize.”
“Harder still to walk away,” he said firmly. “Don’t even discuss it. I’m staying.”
She grasped his hand on her cheek and squeezed it gently, her eyes echoing thanks.
“Then I will marry you,” she whispered.
Robin leaned forward, his lips claiming hers in victory. The kiss was soft and deep and, though his passion was tempered by her news, he had accomplished his goal. He was sure that together they could conquer this challenge.
---
Regina answered her phone with a sort of cynical acceptance that it was bad news. It was sad that was her reality, but she was still going to answer the phone. What she heard made her go to Granny’s and join the group outside, discussing the Evil Queen and how she’d kidnapped Snow in the middle of the night and told Snow that she and David had to surrender their hearts to her or she’d poison the entire town.
Snow held up a vial as evidence.
“So, what is it?” Regina asked, accepting it from Snow for examination.
“She told me to figure it out and that if we didn't give over our hearts within twelve hours, she would use it on the whole town.” Snow turned to Emma. “You okay?”
Emma did look fairly shaken, but Regina was busy examining the vial.
“No, but I have an excuse. Haven't you heard? The Evil Queen's trying to kill my parents.”
Before they could get further sidetracked, Regina interjected.
“Speaking of death, I think I know what this is.”
She stepped to a conveniently placed nearby planter and poured only a drop in. The tree withered and died before their eyes.
“Whoa,” Henry breathed.
“What kind of potion is that?” asked David.
“It's not a potion. It's water,” Regina replied.
“Oh, I knew it,” Killian said. “Never trusted the stuff. Rum would never do that.”
“What kind of water?” asked Emma.
“From the River of Lost Souls.” Regina tightened her grip on the vial as she realized how the Queen had gotten it. “She's working with Gold. He brought it back from the Underworld. And now, if you don't give her your hearts, she can destroy the whole town.”
Regina set the vial on the table in front of a shell-shocked Snow and stared at the tree she’d killed in her demonstration. She might want to think of a good explanation for Granny or she might find a crossbow in her face the next time she came in for a meal. This was all her fault and she needed to find a way to fix it. She just didn’t know how.
“Well, sitting here and moping isn’t going to fix anything,” David said determinedly. “Let’s reconvene somewhere else and figure out some ideas.”
“Someone call Belle,” Henry suggested. “She could know of an antidote from one of her books.”
“Good idea, Henry,” Regina said, smiling at him. “And perhaps we should also try our other Storybrooke resident who knows about magic.”
“The Blue Fairy,” Emma said.
But later that day, when they’d gathered at Emma’s house, it didn’t seem like they had found any solutions.
“I wish I could help,” Belle told them. “I-I've looked through all my books for any information on . . . on how to neutralize water from the River of Souls, but I'm afraid there's nothing. I'll keep looking.”
On her way out, Belle opened the door for the Blue Fairy.
“I came as quickly as I could. David called and told me what happened.”
Blue stared at the vial.
“Can you help?” Snow asked eagerly.
“Unfortunately, I don't have a way to counteract the Lost Souls water.”
“So we either let the whole town die, or the Evil Queen gets exactly what she's always wanted,” David surmised.
“Maybe,” Blue said. “But there is a bit of magic that just might be powerful enough to imprison the Evil Queen. It's a sapling. It was created by the first spark of a true love. It's incredibly rare.”
“Have you got one?” Killian asked.
“We had one, back in the Enchanted Forest. We assumed that it was left behind in the curse, but now we think it might be lost somewhere here in Storybrooke.”
“There has to be some, like, magical way to find it, right?” Emma suggested.
“There is . . . a spell that could point the way with a sort of beacon. But it wouldn't be visible just to us. If Gold or the Queen,” Blue hesitated and glanced at Regina, “or even Zelena saw it, they would know exactly what it was.”
Regina’s mind started to race, pondering the possibilities. Far from annoying her, Blue’s comment suggested something she should have thought of a long time ago.
“And then we'd have a race on our hands,” David concluded.
“Maybe not,” Regina said, still putting the pieces together in her mind.
“What?” asked Emma.
On the other hand, they weren’t exactly pieces that she wanted to disclose to anybody that was here.
“The Evil Queen and Gold's alliance, there, um, may be more to it than business. Rumple and I,” Regina leaned forward and reluctantly shared, “there was always a certain amount of chemistry.” Various horrified, shocked, and repulsed faces met her statement and Regina didn’t have the strength to look at Henry. “I know. I . . . know. Nothing ever happened, but I think we can use this to our advantage.”
“And how exactly do you propose we do that?” asked Killian, still looking as if he’d smelled something dead.
“I need to talk to my sister,” Regina said, standing up, moving toward the door. “Prepare the spell, I’ll meet you.”
---
Regina stopped across the street from Gold’s shop and waited for Zelena.
“What’s with the special delivery?” Zelena asked from behind her, gesturing at the black bird flying off.
“It’s urgent,” Regina said. “Listen, I know we’re kind of at odds and that there’s issues to work out and all of that.”
“But you need a favor,” Zelena concluded, hand on hip.
“Well, yes,” Regina admitted. “And it might not seem like it, but I’m trying to do you a favor as well.”
“Oh, this ought to be good,” Zelena said, tilting her head.
At least she was listening.
“Well, we’re kind of in a bind with the Queen threatening David and Snow.”
“She mentioned a little something, yes.”
“A heads up would have been nice!”
“Oh, keep your fireballs to yourself. I didn’t know until after the fact,” Zelena snapped. “Besides, it’s not like it’s news that she’s after them. It was kind of your whole MO.”
“Yes, well, we might have found the answer, but we need to keep her and Gold busy while we find it.”
“What does Gold have to do with it?” Zelena asked, an edge to her voice that hadn’t been there before.
So Regina had been right about her suspicions regarding Zelena’s jealousy over the Queen working with Gold then. Of course, that didn’t mean she had wanted to be right.
“Not entirely sure. But whatever it is, I’m betting you’re not going to like it any more than we are. And I think it’s high time you realized exactly what she’s doing behind your back.”
“How do I know this isn’t just another ploy to protect your apparently gullible sister from the ploys of big bad evil?”
“Well, it’s exactly that ploy,” Regina said. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not doing me a big favor by playing along.”
“What’s the favor?” Zelena asked, eyes narrowed.
“Just go into the shop and do whatever it is you want to do with whatever you find there.”
“And suppose I’m in danger and need back up of some sort? Are you going to come galloping in to the rescue or will you be off saving the people you used to try to murder every week?”
“Trust me, while I wouldn’t put it past Gold to do you in,” Regina said, rolling her eyes, “I doubt it will come to that. Besides, whatever the Queen has planned for you, at the moment it appears to involve keeping you alive.”
Zelena appeared pained by the comment and Regina frowned, wishing she’d kept better track of Zelena over the past couple of weeks. She hadn’t exactly done her best at mending fences after their dinner.
“You know, I’m not a big fan of being used by people who are supposed to be . . . connected to me personally,” Zelena fumbled for her ending.
“Big sister, that’s exactly what I’m counting on,” Regina replied, grinning.
Zelena sighed, but faint vestiges of her trademark wicked grin appeared.
“Run along, play hero. But just know I’m doing this out of curiosity.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Regina hoped she hadn’t made a big mistake, putting Snow and David’s fates in Zelena’s hands when her loyalties were so mixed-up, but inside, she was sure she was doing the right thing. For the first time in a long time.
---
Regina joined everyone at the docks where Blue performed her spell and pointed the direction to find the sapling. Regina’s job was to take Snow and David to it while Emma and Killian prepared Regina’s vault to hold the Queen once they had her.
Once they landed next to the toll bridge, Regina had to listen to the Charmings flirt while she did the actual looking. It’s not that she minded their togetherness, it was just so peppy to listen to. Especially when she was alone.
“Hey, lovebirds,” she called. “Found something.” Regina materialized a pick axe in her hand and landed a heavy blow on the ground, which resounded with a metal clang. “Here.”
“It's a trap door,” David said, opening it.
They scrabbled through the dirt to find their way down into tunnels Regina hadn’t explored before. Even with her knowledge of Storybrooke, there were things that happened in the curse she hadn’t been able to control.
It was some time before they found what they sought. A green glow lit up the end of the tunnel and they hurried toward the straight, simple vine sticking out of a cave wall, illuminating the area around it. The air was suddenly fresh, like a deep, green forest, divided by a clear mountain stream. Regina straightened up, strengthened by the aroma. She gestured to the others to grab the sapling. This was for them, after all.
Their hands grasped it, lifting it from the earth. They reeled back, hands clasped around it. Regina started forward, afraid something was wrong, but then a wave of light appeared in front of her eyes. Each part of the wave brought a flash of vision and she couldn’t quite understand what she was seeing. But the feelings they brought ignited the kind of passion and oneness she’d known only so briefly in her life. She held out her hands as if she could grasp it and never let it go. Her eyes danced over the images, a lion tattoo, an arrow nocked in a bow, a beating heart being offered, a hand vanishing behind a clear wall, a bowed head over a dancing hand, a swinging child between a man and a woman, a letter hidden in a book, blue particles of light.
Regina cried out, but her voice was mixed with Snow and David’s as they too gasped, looking at each other, rather than her.
Regina put her hand to her face, loss stabbing her gut with pain. The images-they were her life with Robin. She had to school her features into something normal while Snow and David discussed what the sapling did. She didn’t want to dwell on it.
“This is really sweet, but can we please go and defeat someone? We don't have long.”
They started toward her, but the words were hardly out of her mouth when the sapling disappeared from Snow’s hand and reappeared in the Evil Queen’s. She stood ahead of them in the tunnel, smirking at them.
“So true. Time flies.”
“You've won nothing,” Snow said. “That sapling is made of pure love. It won't work for you.”
“Oh, won't it? Hmm. Well, maybe it just needs a firm hand.” Regina guessed what the Queen was going to do a second before she did it. She lifted her hand to try to magic the sapling back, but the Queen snapped it in two first. “Oh, dear. Well, maybe it can be repaired.” She banged the two ends together mockingly, then tossed them aside. She leaned forward, grinning evilly. “Maybe not. Do you want to beat the rush and hand those hearts over now?”
“No, no. We still have some time,” David said.
“True. Read a book, pick a flower, rage, rage against the dying of the light. Just do it quickly. I'll see you at the cemetery soon enough. It's a good place for endings.”
She vanished and Regina could swear the puff of smoke she left behind seemed smug on her behalf.
“I’m sorry,” she said helplessly. “I should have-”
“There was nothing you could do,” Snow told her. “But we better get going. There’s not a lot of time left.”
Regina nodded sadly and took them home.
---
Regina made her way through the crowds of people standing in the cemetery. Time was almost up for Snow and David, but no one had heard from them since she’d taken them home and left at their request. Naturally, Regina had gone straight to Emma and the two of them had made a desperate gamble to fight. Granted, together they were more than the Queen’s equal, but there was a good chance that this could mean someone got hurt and Regina might have to make a sacrifice she didn’t want to make.
“What’s your plan now?” Zelena said from behind her, her voice hard.
Regina turned, her own feelings toward Zelena not exactly benevolent at the moment.
“Well, since you weren’t able to keep the Queen away, we’re going to have to fight.”
“That was not my fault,” Zelena hissed. “Don’t you dare put that on me after what you pulled. You sent me in there, knowing full well what I’d find.”
“I suspected, and I said as much,” Regina snapped. “You have no excuse.”
“Well, neither do you,” Zelena returned. “They figured it out on their own; I didn’t say anything. And, yet, it’s still always my fault.”
Regina didn’t have time for this.
“Fine, maybe it’s not entirely your fault. But right now, I have people I need to help.”
“Oh, always someone else to help,” Zelena said. “Just know that next time you want someone to do your dirty work for you, I’m not going to be so agreeable.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what you saw, but you need to take responsibility for your own choices,” Regina said, weary of always being so at odds.
“Not a bad idea, sis,” Zelena said and made her way forward in the crowd, stopping next to Belle, clearly intent on talking to the other woman.
Regina didn’t like the implications of that either, but she had a fight to win. She walked until she was beside Emma.
“You ready?”
“I am.”
“All right, it's time.”
Regina and Emma raised their hands, preparing to strike with everything they had.
“Wait!” called Snow’s voice loudly.
Snow and David marched through the crowd, people making a path for their royalty.
“Well, well, well,” said the Queen gleefully. “Look who's right on time. I should've known you'd show up. Even without your precious sapling.”
“We don't have the sapling, but we don't need it,” Snow said, stopping before the Queen. “It's done its work. We know our love is more powerful than anything you can throw at us.”
“And to save the people of Storybrooke, we're willing to do what you ask,” David continued. “It's a sacrifice we need to make.”
“We're going to do the right thing,” Snow ended.
“Dad, Mom?” Emma questioned in a small voice.
Snow turned toward her, a gentle smile on her face.
“Emma, most people go through life never knowing where their paths will take them, but, somehow, we always do. It's always to each other and then back to you.”
“Are you sure?” Regina asked.
“Yes,” said David. “Lift the protection spell.”
Regina lifted faltering hands, hardly able to believe she was about to do this. She didn’t like this at all, because she knew something the Charmings didn’t-the evilness of her own heart. Their love was strong, but the Queen had been planning this for a long time. But Regina would honor their wishes and she lifted the spell she had placed with such loving care.
They smiled back at her and Emma and then turned to face their enemy.
The Queen took their hearts in tandem and they bent over with pain while she squeezed them. The Queen spoke bitter words of longing vengeance and then announced something that made Regina’s heart grow chill.
“I've come up with something much more cruel than death.”
She thrust their hearts back into their chests and then slowly, Snow keeled over, deep breathing evident, but dead to the world.
“A sleeping curse?” David said, scoffing. “That's never kept us apart before.”
“This one has a little twist,” said the Queen, leering. “You say you always find her. Well, start looking, shepherd.” She waved her hand and Snow vanished. “And let's see what happens when you do.”
There was a mad rush, looking until David realized that the Queen had sent Snow into the woods, just like when he’d woken her the first time. They hastily made their way to the forest and Snow lay under her glass coffin, which now covered a giant mossy log in the woods.
“I don't think a kiss is going to do it this time,” Regina said as David removed the cover.
“Just let him try,” Emma said.
David leant over and pressed his lips to Snow’s. A pulse of light swept from their kiss; her eyes fluttered and opened.
“How about that!” Regina said, relief giving air to her words, a smile bursting from her joy.
Then David slumped to the ground.
“Dad!” yelled Emma.
Regina knelt down while Snow sat up frantically calling David’s name.
“What happened? What did she do?”
Regina spread her hands over David’s heart, feeling her way toward the Queen’s magic encasing his heart. When she realized what had happened, she didn’t want to say the words, but she had to. Guilt gnawed in her belly as she turned toward Snow.
“She put a sleeping curse on your heart-the heart you share. So now you share the curse.” Regina rose to her feet. “When one of you is awake, the other will be asleep. So, as long as the curse is unbroken . . .”
Regina couldn’t finish, but Snow finished her words for her.
“We'll never be together.”
Regina nodded shakily, feeling Snow’s loss and pain, knowing so keenly the agony of forever separation from the one you love. She’d been there too many times.
by Jesterlady
Pairing: Robin/Regina
Summary: At the end of S5, Robin has died and his soul is saved from destruction by the Greek god Zeus, but he is presumed gone forever. Regina is devastated with grief and struggling with her own darkness. After she removes her evil half, the Evil Queen doppelganger begins to wreak havoc on everyone in Storybrooke, finally making a wish that creates a whole new realm and provides a way for Zeus to send Robin’s soul into an alternate self. But this Robin doesn’t know who he is, having an alternate set of villainous memories. When he and Regina meet again, they must struggle with the disconnect and longing they both feel. Can he reclaim his heroic self? Can Regina accept her own dark past and defeat the Evil Queen? And can their true love win through the trials that would reunite them?
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. Some lines are from the show. The title is from Ann Voskamp
I really thought the show missed the mark with the return of Robin Hood on the show. So I wanted to take this opportunity to write the story in the way that made sense to me.
I wanted to focus on Zelena and Regina’s relationship here as well, making it a lot more intentional than canon. I think Zelena provides a great foil for Regina’s growth, and I think Zelena’s character deserves better. It provided a way for me to delve into Regina’s growth, her understanding and acceptance of redemption, and how she will continue to be strong and fight. In allowing Robin to go through his own villainous redemption, it gave them an equal ground they hadn’t been able to share before.
I have strong feelings about the Wish Realm. Apart from the its creation, I hated how it was used (so illogical)! So just to be clear, in this story the Wish Realm is not real. Only Robin (with a real soul inside him) can come through to the other side; it collapses as soon as Emma (the point of it) leaves. We see this as Wish Rumple tries to leave and wasn’t able to. This also explains why Robin (and characters connected to him) were young when everyone else had aged.
You definitely need to be familiar with S6 to read this fic. I do ignore a lot of S6 ie Gideon and Black Fairy. You can assume those things are happening alongside of the main events, but I’m ignoring it and deliberately changing where it intersects, because the story needed to focus on Robin and Regina and have a resolved ending that didn’t immediately jump into the next problem.
Robin’s feet seemed lighter, the closer he got to the tavern. What awaited him there was better than all the gold in the world. He was sure that tonight would change his fortunes for good. Tonight, he would finally win the full heart of Marian.
Pushing open the door, he bolstered his confidence to step inside. The tavern was warm, filled with the smoky air of candles and the heat of bodies. The sharp tang of ale was waiting to flood his mouth and he could almost taste one of the roasts favored by the cook. These were secondary considerations, of course. Robin scanned the room until he found the dark beauty he was searching for.
He weaved his way through the cordially drunk people until he reached her location. Sneaking a hand around her waist, he gently spun her around after she’d put down her tray. Her hand flashed up to slap his face, but she arrested her motion when she recognized him, a softer gleam in her eye that he prayed was for him.
“Be careful,” she admonished, a graceful smile edging up the corners of her mouth. “I’ve nearly decapitated men for less.”
He hated the thought of other men pawing their hands over her, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Tonight was for merrymaking.
“I ask a thousand pardons,” he said, grinning. “And even more if you’d grant me a kiss in forgiveness.”
“I’ve told you before, not here,” she said, but her eyes betrayed her liking for his charm.
At least he hoped so.
“When is the night over?” he asked.
“Soon,” she said, patting his cheek. “Now sit down and I’ll bring you what you like. And be careful, the Sheriff has been in here the last couple of days.”
Robin frowned, but did as she requested. Settling into a corner, he watched her and the door simultaneously, ready to slip out the back if need be. His new friend, the Sheriff, was quickly becoming a nuisance he couldn’t afford.
Being here in Sherwood so long was a nuisance he couldn’t afford either, but somehow Marian’s siren song made the risk worth it. There was something about her that made him desire better and nobler things for himself. Things he’d dreamed of years ago, before he’d left home.
Thoughts of home were more likely to spoil his mood than anything else and he did his best not to dwell on memories. Inevitably, they pooled into his mind, souring his jovial spirits. He thought of little Clara, full-grown, but thinner and weaker than a child, coughing her life away and unable to recognize the sight of him. He thought of the others, scattered, driven away, killed by bandits, lost in wars, none of them helped in the least by his sacrifice. His father had long since drank himself to death by the time Robin was finally able to bring his blood-gold home. It helped no one.
Robin had stayed locked for days inside the old home, tending Clara, then wrapping her dead body in as fine a cloth as he could manage without tempting thieves into the home. But when she was finally laid to rest, he’d stood over her grave, bow and quiver strapped to his back, knowing with a dead certainty there was no home for him here, or anywhere. He had given up his rights to such things with the blackness of murder in his heart and the slippery hands of a thief.
The gold he’d distributed to the rest of the village as anonymously as possible, but from that day on, the money he stole went to line his own pockets. Generosity had never helped anyone that he could tell and he trusted no one. Occasionally he worked with another thief, but all thoughts of partnership or working in a group made him recall with sick clarity, blood running over his hands and the attack of a man he’d thought would never fail him.
The clatter of a tray thumped in front of him and the smell of food shoved away the unpleasant memories. He smiled up into Marian’s eyes, thrilling at the sight of her. Finally, he’d met someone he could trust, someone who had helped to heal the broken cracks in his soul. Someone who was truly good. Part of him feared that goodness, that he could never match it, but he would try. For her, he would try.
“What sad thoughts were you dwelling on?” she asked, concern coating her words.
He shook his head.
“Thoughts of a life without you, darling.”
She laughed and shook her head, then grew pensive, chewing on her lip.
“Robin, make sure to stay past closing. We need to talk.”
Her words haunted him for the rest of the evening. He had never been fond of that phrase coming from a woman.
He waited long for the last drunk and disorderly patron to be evicted, thankful there had been no sight of the Sheriff. Soon all the other workers of the tavern had left and Marian allowed him to help her clean for the night, locking the door.
At last they sat beside the raging fire on the hearth and she let him put his arm around her, rejoicing in the feel of her.
“What is it you needed to say, Marian?” he asked, unable to wait any longer. “I have words for you as well.”
“I’d much rather hear your words,” she said.
He wasn’t so sure that her words wouldn’t affect his, but he could deny her nothing.
“We’ve waited long enough,” he said, taking her hand in his, studying the reflection of the flames playing on their locked fingers. “Marry me, love.”
“Oh,” she breathed, a sad sigh of longing. “I wish that it could be.”
“Why can’t it?” he asked, studying her face anxiously. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. And don’t you care for me, even a little bit?”
“More than anything,” she said. “No, Robin, the reason is that I’m sick.”
“Sick?”
“I fear so. I just discovered that the physician doesn’t believe that anything can be done for me. I’ll be sick the rest of my life. And what a burden to place on you. Especially since I don’t know if I will be here for a short time or hopefully a longer one.”
Robin’s insides clenched at the thought of more death, more failure, more loss. He didn’t think he could face it. But, on the other hand, not having her in his life would still be the death of love, the failure to conquer the darkness inside of him, and the loss of all the joy he’d found. He would not abandon her as he had abandoned his family. He had learned his lesson at a bitter cost.
“Why would that matter?” he asked, tenderly placing his hand on her cheek. “I would never leave you over something like that. I will be yours and help you with anything you need, for the rest of your life. And may it be long.”
“It’s a hard thing to ask,” she said. “Harder than perhaps you realize.”
“Harder still to walk away,” he said firmly. “Don’t even discuss it. I’m staying.”
She grasped his hand on her cheek and squeezed it gently, her eyes echoing thanks.
“Then I will marry you,” she whispered.
Robin leaned forward, his lips claiming hers in victory. The kiss was soft and deep and, though his passion was tempered by her news, he had accomplished his goal. He was sure that together they could conquer this challenge.
---
Regina answered her phone with a sort of cynical acceptance that it was bad news. It was sad that was her reality, but she was still going to answer the phone. What she heard made her go to Granny’s and join the group outside, discussing the Evil Queen and how she’d kidnapped Snow in the middle of the night and told Snow that she and David had to surrender their hearts to her or she’d poison the entire town.
Snow held up a vial as evidence.
“So, what is it?” Regina asked, accepting it from Snow for examination.
“She told me to figure it out and that if we didn't give over our hearts within twelve hours, she would use it on the whole town.” Snow turned to Emma. “You okay?”
Emma did look fairly shaken, but Regina was busy examining the vial.
“No, but I have an excuse. Haven't you heard? The Evil Queen's trying to kill my parents.”
Before they could get further sidetracked, Regina interjected.
“Speaking of death, I think I know what this is.”
She stepped to a conveniently placed nearby planter and poured only a drop in. The tree withered and died before their eyes.
“Whoa,” Henry breathed.
“What kind of potion is that?” asked David.
“It's not a potion. It's water,” Regina replied.
“Oh, I knew it,” Killian said. “Never trusted the stuff. Rum would never do that.”
“What kind of water?” asked Emma.
“From the River of Lost Souls.” Regina tightened her grip on the vial as she realized how the Queen had gotten it. “She's working with Gold. He brought it back from the Underworld. And now, if you don't give her your hearts, she can destroy the whole town.”
Regina set the vial on the table in front of a shell-shocked Snow and stared at the tree she’d killed in her demonstration. She might want to think of a good explanation for Granny or she might find a crossbow in her face the next time she came in for a meal. This was all her fault and she needed to find a way to fix it. She just didn’t know how.
“Well, sitting here and moping isn’t going to fix anything,” David said determinedly. “Let’s reconvene somewhere else and figure out some ideas.”
“Someone call Belle,” Henry suggested. “She could know of an antidote from one of her books.”
“Good idea, Henry,” Regina said, smiling at him. “And perhaps we should also try our other Storybrooke resident who knows about magic.”
“The Blue Fairy,” Emma said.
But later that day, when they’d gathered at Emma’s house, it didn’t seem like they had found any solutions.
“I wish I could help,” Belle told them. “I-I've looked through all my books for any information on . . . on how to neutralize water from the River of Souls, but I'm afraid there's nothing. I'll keep looking.”
On her way out, Belle opened the door for the Blue Fairy.
“I came as quickly as I could. David called and told me what happened.”
Blue stared at the vial.
“Can you help?” Snow asked eagerly.
“Unfortunately, I don't have a way to counteract the Lost Souls water.”
“So we either let the whole town die, or the Evil Queen gets exactly what she's always wanted,” David surmised.
“Maybe,” Blue said. “But there is a bit of magic that just might be powerful enough to imprison the Evil Queen. It's a sapling. It was created by the first spark of a true love. It's incredibly rare.”
“Have you got one?” Killian asked.
“We had one, back in the Enchanted Forest. We assumed that it was left behind in the curse, but now we think it might be lost somewhere here in Storybrooke.”
“There has to be some, like, magical way to find it, right?” Emma suggested.
“There is . . . a spell that could point the way with a sort of beacon. But it wouldn't be visible just to us. If Gold or the Queen,” Blue hesitated and glanced at Regina, “or even Zelena saw it, they would know exactly what it was.”
Regina’s mind started to race, pondering the possibilities. Far from annoying her, Blue’s comment suggested something she should have thought of a long time ago.
“And then we'd have a race on our hands,” David concluded.
“Maybe not,” Regina said, still putting the pieces together in her mind.
“What?” asked Emma.
On the other hand, they weren’t exactly pieces that she wanted to disclose to anybody that was here.
“The Evil Queen and Gold's alliance, there, um, may be more to it than business. Rumple and I,” Regina leaned forward and reluctantly shared, “there was always a certain amount of chemistry.” Various horrified, shocked, and repulsed faces met her statement and Regina didn’t have the strength to look at Henry. “I know. I . . . know. Nothing ever happened, but I think we can use this to our advantage.”
“And how exactly do you propose we do that?” asked Killian, still looking as if he’d smelled something dead.
“I need to talk to my sister,” Regina said, standing up, moving toward the door. “Prepare the spell, I’ll meet you.”
---
Regina stopped across the street from Gold’s shop and waited for Zelena.
“What’s with the special delivery?” Zelena asked from behind her, gesturing at the black bird flying off.
“It’s urgent,” Regina said. “Listen, I know we’re kind of at odds and that there’s issues to work out and all of that.”
“But you need a favor,” Zelena concluded, hand on hip.
“Well, yes,” Regina admitted. “And it might not seem like it, but I’m trying to do you a favor as well.”
“Oh, this ought to be good,” Zelena said, tilting her head.
At least she was listening.
“Well, we’re kind of in a bind with the Queen threatening David and Snow.”
“She mentioned a little something, yes.”
“A heads up would have been nice!”
“Oh, keep your fireballs to yourself. I didn’t know until after the fact,” Zelena snapped. “Besides, it’s not like it’s news that she’s after them. It was kind of your whole MO.”
“Yes, well, we might have found the answer, but we need to keep her and Gold busy while we find it.”
“What does Gold have to do with it?” Zelena asked, an edge to her voice that hadn’t been there before.
So Regina had been right about her suspicions regarding Zelena’s jealousy over the Queen working with Gold then. Of course, that didn’t mean she had wanted to be right.
“Not entirely sure. But whatever it is, I’m betting you’re not going to like it any more than we are. And I think it’s high time you realized exactly what she’s doing behind your back.”
“How do I know this isn’t just another ploy to protect your apparently gullible sister from the ploys of big bad evil?”
“Well, it’s exactly that ploy,” Regina said. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not doing me a big favor by playing along.”
“What’s the favor?” Zelena asked, eyes narrowed.
“Just go into the shop and do whatever it is you want to do with whatever you find there.”
“And suppose I’m in danger and need back up of some sort? Are you going to come galloping in to the rescue or will you be off saving the people you used to try to murder every week?”
“Trust me, while I wouldn’t put it past Gold to do you in,” Regina said, rolling her eyes, “I doubt it will come to that. Besides, whatever the Queen has planned for you, at the moment it appears to involve keeping you alive.”
Zelena appeared pained by the comment and Regina frowned, wishing she’d kept better track of Zelena over the past couple of weeks. She hadn’t exactly done her best at mending fences after their dinner.
“You know, I’m not a big fan of being used by people who are supposed to be . . . connected to me personally,” Zelena fumbled for her ending.
“Big sister, that’s exactly what I’m counting on,” Regina replied, grinning.
Zelena sighed, but faint vestiges of her trademark wicked grin appeared.
“Run along, play hero. But just know I’m doing this out of curiosity.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Regina hoped she hadn’t made a big mistake, putting Snow and David’s fates in Zelena’s hands when her loyalties were so mixed-up, but inside, she was sure she was doing the right thing. For the first time in a long time.
---
Regina joined everyone at the docks where Blue performed her spell and pointed the direction to find the sapling. Regina’s job was to take Snow and David to it while Emma and Killian prepared Regina’s vault to hold the Queen once they had her.
Once they landed next to the toll bridge, Regina had to listen to the Charmings flirt while she did the actual looking. It’s not that she minded their togetherness, it was just so peppy to listen to. Especially when she was alone.
“Hey, lovebirds,” she called. “Found something.” Regina materialized a pick axe in her hand and landed a heavy blow on the ground, which resounded with a metal clang. “Here.”
“It's a trap door,” David said, opening it.
They scrabbled through the dirt to find their way down into tunnels Regina hadn’t explored before. Even with her knowledge of Storybrooke, there were things that happened in the curse she hadn’t been able to control.
It was some time before they found what they sought. A green glow lit up the end of the tunnel and they hurried toward the straight, simple vine sticking out of a cave wall, illuminating the area around it. The air was suddenly fresh, like a deep, green forest, divided by a clear mountain stream. Regina straightened up, strengthened by the aroma. She gestured to the others to grab the sapling. This was for them, after all.
Their hands grasped it, lifting it from the earth. They reeled back, hands clasped around it. Regina started forward, afraid something was wrong, but then a wave of light appeared in front of her eyes. Each part of the wave brought a flash of vision and she couldn’t quite understand what she was seeing. But the feelings they brought ignited the kind of passion and oneness she’d known only so briefly in her life. She held out her hands as if she could grasp it and never let it go. Her eyes danced over the images, a lion tattoo, an arrow nocked in a bow, a beating heart being offered, a hand vanishing behind a clear wall, a bowed head over a dancing hand, a swinging child between a man and a woman, a letter hidden in a book, blue particles of light.
Regina cried out, but her voice was mixed with Snow and David’s as they too gasped, looking at each other, rather than her.
Regina put her hand to her face, loss stabbing her gut with pain. The images-they were her life with Robin. She had to school her features into something normal while Snow and David discussed what the sapling did. She didn’t want to dwell on it.
“This is really sweet, but can we please go and defeat someone? We don't have long.”
They started toward her, but the words were hardly out of her mouth when the sapling disappeared from Snow’s hand and reappeared in the Evil Queen’s. She stood ahead of them in the tunnel, smirking at them.
“So true. Time flies.”
“You've won nothing,” Snow said. “That sapling is made of pure love. It won't work for you.”
“Oh, won't it? Hmm. Well, maybe it just needs a firm hand.” Regina guessed what the Queen was going to do a second before she did it. She lifted her hand to try to magic the sapling back, but the Queen snapped it in two first. “Oh, dear. Well, maybe it can be repaired.” She banged the two ends together mockingly, then tossed them aside. She leaned forward, grinning evilly. “Maybe not. Do you want to beat the rush and hand those hearts over now?”
“No, no. We still have some time,” David said.
“True. Read a book, pick a flower, rage, rage against the dying of the light. Just do it quickly. I'll see you at the cemetery soon enough. It's a good place for endings.”
She vanished and Regina could swear the puff of smoke she left behind seemed smug on her behalf.
“I’m sorry,” she said helplessly. “I should have-”
“There was nothing you could do,” Snow told her. “But we better get going. There’s not a lot of time left.”
Regina nodded sadly and took them home.
---
Regina made her way through the crowds of people standing in the cemetery. Time was almost up for Snow and David, but no one had heard from them since she’d taken them home and left at their request. Naturally, Regina had gone straight to Emma and the two of them had made a desperate gamble to fight. Granted, together they were more than the Queen’s equal, but there was a good chance that this could mean someone got hurt and Regina might have to make a sacrifice she didn’t want to make.
“What’s your plan now?” Zelena said from behind her, her voice hard.
Regina turned, her own feelings toward Zelena not exactly benevolent at the moment.
“Well, since you weren’t able to keep the Queen away, we’re going to have to fight.”
“That was not my fault,” Zelena hissed. “Don’t you dare put that on me after what you pulled. You sent me in there, knowing full well what I’d find.”
“I suspected, and I said as much,” Regina snapped. “You have no excuse.”
“Well, neither do you,” Zelena returned. “They figured it out on their own; I didn’t say anything. And, yet, it’s still always my fault.”
Regina didn’t have time for this.
“Fine, maybe it’s not entirely your fault. But right now, I have people I need to help.”
“Oh, always someone else to help,” Zelena said. “Just know that next time you want someone to do your dirty work for you, I’m not going to be so agreeable.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what you saw, but you need to take responsibility for your own choices,” Regina said, weary of always being so at odds.
“Not a bad idea, sis,” Zelena said and made her way forward in the crowd, stopping next to Belle, clearly intent on talking to the other woman.
Regina didn’t like the implications of that either, but she had a fight to win. She walked until she was beside Emma.
“You ready?”
“I am.”
“All right, it's time.”
Regina and Emma raised their hands, preparing to strike with everything they had.
“Wait!” called Snow’s voice loudly.
Snow and David marched through the crowd, people making a path for their royalty.
“Well, well, well,” said the Queen gleefully. “Look who's right on time. I should've known you'd show up. Even without your precious sapling.”
“We don't have the sapling, but we don't need it,” Snow said, stopping before the Queen. “It's done its work. We know our love is more powerful than anything you can throw at us.”
“And to save the people of Storybrooke, we're willing to do what you ask,” David continued. “It's a sacrifice we need to make.”
“We're going to do the right thing,” Snow ended.
“Dad, Mom?” Emma questioned in a small voice.
Snow turned toward her, a gentle smile on her face.
“Emma, most people go through life never knowing where their paths will take them, but, somehow, we always do. It's always to each other and then back to you.”
“Are you sure?” Regina asked.
“Yes,” said David. “Lift the protection spell.”
Regina lifted faltering hands, hardly able to believe she was about to do this. She didn’t like this at all, because she knew something the Charmings didn’t-the evilness of her own heart. Their love was strong, but the Queen had been planning this for a long time. But Regina would honor their wishes and she lifted the spell she had placed with such loving care.
They smiled back at her and Emma and then turned to face their enemy.
The Queen took their hearts in tandem and they bent over with pain while she squeezed them. The Queen spoke bitter words of longing vengeance and then announced something that made Regina’s heart grow chill.
“I've come up with something much more cruel than death.”
She thrust their hearts back into their chests and then slowly, Snow keeled over, deep breathing evident, but dead to the world.
“A sleeping curse?” David said, scoffing. “That's never kept us apart before.”
“This one has a little twist,” said the Queen, leering. “You say you always find her. Well, start looking, shepherd.” She waved her hand and Snow vanished. “And let's see what happens when you do.”
There was a mad rush, looking until David realized that the Queen had sent Snow into the woods, just like when he’d woken her the first time. They hastily made their way to the forest and Snow lay under her glass coffin, which now covered a giant mossy log in the woods.
“I don't think a kiss is going to do it this time,” Regina said as David removed the cover.
“Just let him try,” Emma said.
David leant over and pressed his lips to Snow’s. A pulse of light swept from their kiss; her eyes fluttered and opened.
“How about that!” Regina said, relief giving air to her words, a smile bursting from her joy.
Then David slumped to the ground.
“Dad!” yelled Emma.
Regina knelt down while Snow sat up frantically calling David’s name.
“What happened? What did she do?”
Regina spread her hands over David’s heart, feeling her way toward the Queen’s magic encasing his heart. When she realized what had happened, she didn’t want to say the words, but she had to. Guilt gnawed in her belly as she turned toward Snow.
“She put a sleeping curse on your heart-the heart you share. So now you share the curse.” Regina rose to her feet. “When one of you is awake, the other will be asleep. So, as long as the curse is unbroken . . .”
Regina couldn’t finish, but Snow finished her words for her.
“We'll never be together.”
Regina nodded shakily, feeling Snow’s loss and pain, knowing so keenly the agony of forever separation from the one you love. She’d been there too many times.