Rose on the Grey
A/N- hey guys! This is my first OQ fanfic! I'm open to criticism just please don't be too harsh- I should point out that I'm English so the spelling maybe a bit different! Sorry!
I saw a post on tumblr (un-original idea, boooo!) that said something along the lines of "what if the world was black and white and when you met your soulmate you started to see colour again" and "what if the world was in colour and suddenly it started to go black and white". This had me thinking about OQ as they both have lost loves and are soulmate so I decided to base this fanfic on that! Don't worry- OQ is endgame so whatever happens just know that I'm not as cruel as Eddy and Adam!
I'm planning this fic to be an M, for themes that run though the whole story such as marital rape, miscarriages, abuse, robbery, death etc as well as some expletives that may appear when necessary, but don't worry, I generally won't be explain those in detail unless the story needs being told, in which case I will put a warning at the start of the fic.
This takes place in the enchanted forest, before the curse.
That's enough rambling from me- enjoy!
Regina had seen black, white and grey before but had never felt it. As an innocent child, she longed to see what colour an apple was, the sky, her father's eyes. She cared not for riches or power as her mother did; all she wanted was colour. Frequently, she would ask her mother to describe what colour the leaves on the tree were but she never answered. She asked her father what colour the grass was to which he'd reply "purple". Once Regina met Daniel, she knew that her father had lied. He never found love and that broke Regina's heart. Oh Daniel. Regina's true love came to the Mills mansion when she was 15, him, 16. Regina gave him a sack of apples to feed her horse and the moment he pulled one out of the bag they both froze at the strange sight they had never seen before. They learned it was red. Daniel and Regina gazed at each other, the same thought running through their mind, "they were meant to be". Each day passed, and the more Regina and Daniel saw each other and fell further into love, the more they saw colours together. First red Then green Then blue Yellow Purple Until there was nothing left but happiness. Happiness until that retched girl and her bastard father ruined her life. The moment Regina saw Daniels heart being crushed was the last time she saw red. The following day, she lost green. The day after she lost blue. Then yellow. Purple. Until there was nothing left but black, white and grey. She had known those colours as a child, but once she lost her true love, she felt them. She felt the pain of never looking into her beloved Daniel's beautiful blue eyes again. The pain of never seeing the colour of an apple.
Robin weeped almost everyday at the loss of his Marian. He loved his son, his precious son with all his heart and remembered a time when he could look into his chocolate eyes, but once Marian had passed, his sons once oak brown eyes were just another grey item in his life. Marian helped Robin turn his life around. Once he came back with the horses to give to her family, he looked at Marian's lips and saw red. She saw the red of his lips too and from that moment onwards everything was perfect. That was, until Marian fell ill with Roland still in her womb. Getting that wand from the imp was heartbreaking for Robin as colour began slipping from his life, fading, becoming duller and duller as each day passed as Marian became more ill. The moment the wand saved Marian, colour flooded his vision. Again, life was perfect until the accident. Guilt consumes Robin every moment he thinks about it. How if he stayed at camp during the mission to steal from King Midas then Marian wouldn't have wanted to come along and be unlawfully slain upon the way. Killed by a guard. Leaving Roland without a mother. Leaving Robin without colour. Nothing but black, white and grey.
It was 3 years into her marriage with King Leopold. No, not marriage, sham. All of it was fake, a simple ploy to get the common folk on Leopold's good side after the ogre war which devastated many villages. The Kingdom needed hope, apparently a Royal Wedding provided that. Most folk felt sorry for the child-bride but there was nothing they could do; Regina was to marry Leopold and that was final. And now, 3 years later she was sat at the same dresser she sat at on her wedding night with her handmaid trying to convince her to go to dinner.
"Your Grace, the King does insist that you attend tonight's dinner. He mentioned important news," the blonde haired girl pleaded.
"If it's important than the King will come to me instead," Regina replied, looking at herself, blankly in the mirror instead of the girl to her left, feeling nothing inside.
"But Your Grace, it is dinner time and the King has requested you through me. My Lord has not cared for your lack off attendance to dinner lately and is aware of your weight loss but tonight-"
"The King will come to me," Regina snapped. "I shan't be eating with my husband or the princess for the foreseeable future no matter how much he demands it. Do not mention my weight loss again; I eat when I need be and I'm not hungry. Now go tell the King if he so desperate needs me I'll be here in my room as usual."
"Your Grace I can't disobey-" Regina look at the girl with a venomous glare which made her back away to the door. "Of course, Your Grace." The girl hurried out of the room, leaving the door open slightly. Furiously, Regina walked over to the door and slammed it shut. As she did, she felt the darkness encompass her; she knew it was him.
"And what do you want, Imp?" Regina asked, not needing to take her eyes off the door.
"My, my dearie," Rumplestiltskin said with a hint of glee in his voice. Regina turned around to find him sitting on the chair she was on but moments ago. "Someone's got a temper! Did the King come visit his wife last night?" He giggled, knowing he had hit a nerve.
"That is none of your business," she snapped back, hurt.
"Oh there's no need for that missy! I was merely asking a question. Perhaps you could explain something to me," he retorted, standing up and slowly walking towards her.
"I won't explain anything of the sort to you."
"Oh no no no no no! Not about that. About the fact that you missed your lesson today. You know I don't like waiting. I had an excellent lesson planned about-"
"- I had worse things to do today. But believe me, I'd rather have walked through fire than suffer one more moment with the precious princess and her doting father. Even the notion makes me sick."
"Hmm. Well, maybe if you turned up for your lessons, dearie, I could teach you how to set them on fire." They were face to face now. Regina was terrified looking into his mixed grey and black eyes, yet didn't dare break eye contact. Deep down she was afraid of him, but then again everyone in the whole realm was scared to death of him. She opened her mouth to speak when she felt a pain she knew too well, her heart being ripped out. Rumplestiltskin's hand plunged into her chest and pain pierced through Regina. Once her heart had been removed he held it up in front of her face. She looked at her damaged heart. It was light grey but had far too many dark grey streaks for a 21 year old. She had never seen the true colour of her heart but she knew that the dark streaks meant darkness. A darkness that fed on her when she pushed her mother through the looking glass. A darkness that fed on her each lesson she took with the imp. A darkness that harbored in her that she could not live without. Regina held her breath and closed her eyes. She knew that she herself had caused this. If she hadn't have saved that retched girl then her heart wouldn't be full of darkness... But it was. And as much as she wanted revenge on the brat, she knew that she was just as much as blame as Snow. Rumple took the heart back and began to squeeze on it lightly. Regina jerked forward but tried to resist the pain as much as she could. She looked up at Rumple, silently begging him to stop, but all she saw was hate in his eyes. "Don't miss a lesson again." He demanded as he thrust the broken heart back into her chest. Regina flooded with emotion as tears escaped her eyes from the pain. She closed her eyes, wiped them away as quickly as she could, and when she opened them again, the imp was gone.
Regina sighed and put her hands on her head. She felt the tears welling up again as memories of her mother ripping out and crushing Daniel's heart flooded back. The Imp knew how to hurt her and he used those weaknesses to manipulate her, but there was nothing she could do about it. The Imp had her under control, he had leverage, far better magical abilities; trying to fight him was pointless.
She heard his footsteps.
As quickly as she could, Regina wiped her tears, grabbed the nearest book to her and sat back down at her dresser; she could still smell the darkness lingering even after the Imp had gone.
The were getting closer.
She knew his footsteps by heart. These were his angry footsteps which she knew all too well. The Queen had done a lot to anger the King lately: refusing to eat with him, not attending Royal Balls, refusing to give her body to him at night (despite this he usually took it anyway). But now he was right outside the door and she knew that she had somehow over stepped the mark. The door flew open and Leopold stormed in. The Kingdom knew Leopold as a kind, gentle man who would never harm a fly. All except Regina. She was a toy to him, a trophy wife. Someone to show off during the day and fuck during the night. He cared not for her well being and she found out the moment she was wed to him.
He slammed the door open with such force it almost flew off its hinges. Regina gasped as he raced towards her. She tried to keep her regal posture and composure. The hostility in his grey face was evident as he raised his hand to her and struck her across the cheek with an almighty force. Regina brought her hands to her cheek as she held back the tears. Her mothers voice ran though her head "that's three times you would have cried in the past ten minutes. Control yourself, or I'll give you something real to cry about". Leopold grab her by the shoulders and brought her up to his level, his hands leaving a red mark their as he let go with one and slid the other to her bicep. "If you King demands you be present at dinner, you be at dinner. You have embarrassed me in front of our guests and I swear if you're not in the dining hall in five minutes I will hurt you a lot more than a simple slap. Understand?" He ordered. Regina wanted to kill him.
"Yes, my Lord," Regina whispered, the words barely leaving her lips. The King turned around and left leaving her alone in the room once again. She trembled as she picked up a cloth and wiped the small amount of black blood off her cheek that the King had caused. She knew that if she missed this dinner then she would get another scar like the one he donned upon her lip. Regina fixed her make-up the best she could, changed outfits into a white dress with long, netted sleeves and made her way down to the dining hall.
She held her breath as the doors opened. Around the table were Leopold, his brat Snow White, and a few other Royals from far off Kingdoms which Regina cared not for. Regina faked her smile as she walked over to sit on the right hand side of the King. She expected food on the table and was quite disappointed when there was nothing but wine on there. She went to grab a glass but was stopped by Leopold's words.
"Ah, my dear wife has finally felt better enough to join us, please, sit my dear Regina," Leopold lied through his teeth. "Now, back to the matter we discussed." Regina listened not. If she couldn't have wine then she wouldn't enjoy herself. She didn't take part or speak. Only sat, opposite to Snow White, not listening to the politics being discussed, instead she planned the girls demise in her head. That was, until she heard her name being mentioned.
"Is that good with you, Queen Regina?" Said King Edgar, who sat next to Snow.
"Regina, King Edgar asked you a question," Leopold said, gritting his teeth.
"Oh, forgive me my Lord, I was in another world for a moment," Regina replied with a smile, looking up, hoping it would suffice as an excuse.
"Oh don't worry my Lady, my wife Cordelia is the exact same, women, eh?" King Edgar chuckled. "We we're just discussing the matter of you producing an heir. It's been 3 years now, there's been no news of a pregnancy, plus my wife is expecting a child. We we're hoping that if you bore a child soon, preferably a son, then we could unite our kingdoms together. Like I said, it has been three years since you wed and you look fit enough to produce a child. Is that good with you, my Queen?" Regina felt sick. She went to open her mouth to oppose to the idea but no words came out. Every man and woman sat at the table was staring at her, some in colour, some not. The silence was growing more tense and awkward. She looked at Leopold who was getting increasingly irritated by the second until a high pitched cry emerged from opposite Regina.
"Daddy said that I could be the Queen on the thrown!" Snow cried.
"Pathetic," thought Regina, as Snow stormed off. Regina took this opportunity to also leave the room.
"I best go after her to make sure she's ok- I wouldn't want my darling step-daughter to get the wrong idea after that proposition. My Lord, may I be excused?" She asked Leopold as politely as she could. He nodded grumpily as Regina shot out the room.
"Snow wait!" Regina panted as she finally caught up with the crying child.
"I don't want a brother or sister. I like being the only Princess for you and Daddy to love," she whimpered.
"Oh my darling Snow," Regina said, acting as if she cared, as she hugged the child and wiped her tears. "It's alright. If you don't want a sibling then you shan't have one."
"Really?" Snow replied, slightly happier. Regina could strangle the brat now, and she would be dead. No. It must be done properly.
"Of course! How do you fancy taking a horse ride out to the rose meadow tomorrow to cheer you up?"
"That would be wonderful!" Snow smiled. "I'll fetch my horse and yours to be ready to go after breakfast!"
"No!" Regina gasped. She knew the matter would be brought up again then by the King. She needed more time to think. "Why not at sun rise? We can have an apple before we leave to keep us going, there is nothing like a fine horse ride to wake you up."
"Just the two of us?" Snow asked, inquisitively.
"Yes. Just you, me and the horses," smiled Regina. Snow hugged Regina again.
"You're the best step-mother ever!" Snow gleefully said into her shoulder as she extended the hug. Regina's fake smile dropped and anger filler her; the thought of why she was her step-mother entered her mind. Regina broke the hug, smiled at Snow and began to walk away back to her room. She would go on this ride tomorrow, not for Snow's sake, but for her own sanity.
The Merry Men's camp was full of drunken laughter. The men were drinking to celebrate another successful robbery, well, all but one. Robin sat on the end off a log, facing away from the fire and off into the woods. Each robbery where they stole from the rich just reminded him of his dear Marian who was taken from him. Despite being the best thief in camp, he had been off his game lately and this worried him. If he was off his game then he could too end up risking his life and poor Roland would be an orphan. He couldn't do that to his child. But Marian died and so from that moment on he swore to be safe to protect Roland.
"You feeling alright, mate?" A voice said, interrupting Robin's stream of thought.
"Am I ever alright, Will?" Robin sighed as Will Scarlett sat down next to him.
" 'Ere. Drink this, lad, it will take the edge off," Will said, handing him a pint. Robin downed it.
"There. Now please, can you leave me alone?"
"Woah, I was just tryna help ya. Listen mate, the whole camp is sick of ya. They don't think your puttin in any effort these days."
"I'm not. I'm only here because Roland loves you all dearly."
"Well ya could at least try and get the men on ya side. They're all losing faith in ya mate." Will said, getting annoyed. "Look. We get ya still upset but we've all lost someone close to us. And as much as it pains me to say this, but ya can't let it get to ya." Will looked at Robin for a response but none came. "If ya want to show us that ya still care for us lot, there's something ya can do tomorrow morning. Take Roland out to that rose field that's only past the next village and through the small forest. Pick a few roses for Little John. He's met a right good lass and wants to woo 'er tomorrow night but doesn't have a flying pigs clue how ta do it. Give him them flowers to do it with and ya will secure ya position as leader, for now at least. I know Roland will love the walk." Again, Will waited for a response but none came. He sighed and started to get up when he felt Robin look up at him.
"Thank you, Will," he said, with a small smile on his face. He knew Roland would love the walk, especially with his father to explore a new place. Robin got up from the log, bid goodnight to his men and walked to his lonely tent. He fell asleep in minutes, thinking about this next day.
A/N- what did you think? They will meet in the next chapter; I just needed to set the scene for this one and I want the meeting to be quite long! Don't forget to leave a comment! I love feedback!