Five days.
It had been five days since Emma brought back Robin's wife from the dead. Well, not from the dead technically, more like saved her from a certain death. Not that it made any difference to Regina. The outcome was the same : she was alone once again.
It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to the Queen. Daniel had been killed by her mother. Henry had preferred Emma. Even though, they now were on better terms, at least they had been before the Savior brought back Marian, it still hurt her to think about the time when her son chose his biological mother over the one who raised him for 10 years. And now, Robin had returned to his first love. In retrospect, she should have expected it. After all, things always come in threes.
When Regina had first met the outlaw in Storybrooke, she had felt an instant connection, even before she saw the tattoo on his wrist. That was why she had asked him to guard her heart while she fought Zelena on Main Street, and why she had later given him her heart to protect for an undefinite period of time. He had been doing pretty well until Rumpelstiltskin showed up and threatened Roland's life. Robin had been forced to surrender her heart, a decision Regina could never hold against him because a parent's duty was to protect their child no matter what.
The turning point in their relationship had been when she kissed him on the very same day he gave up her heart. Truth be told, she still wasn't sure why she had done it. Perhaps it had been Zelena telling her she didn't take risks and live her life. Perhaps it had been Snow telling her that she felt things with her whole soul and that she would find her way to happiness someday. Anyway, after that awful day with her mother's ghost, she had felt bold and had gone to the woods. Kissing him had not been her first intention, she had just wanted to speak with him, but after hearing him apologize again, she had just grabbed him by the collar and shut him up with a passionnate kiss. Seconds later, when they had parted, she had briefly wondered what possessed her to do that, immediately regretting her behavior for it was so unlike her but Robin had put an end to these thoughts by kissing her again.
As the days had passed, Regina couldn't remember ever feeling like he made her feel. With Daniel, it had been sweet and innocent. With Robin, it was intense and mature. But they both could tell that it wasn't just a physical relationship, it wasn't just lust, it was something far greater that they hadn't felt since their first loves died. It was love. Robin knew he was falling hard for the Queen and Regina knew she felt the same. And even though neither spoke the three-words phrase, their love had shone through their eyes, smiles and touches.
They had made love only once, the night when she had told him about the lion tattoo. It had been like a burden lifted from her shoulders because she hadn't known how he would react. She had been relieved when he kissed her after telling her that maybe things worked out when they were supposed to and that maybe it was all about timing. For less than 24 hours, Regina had actually believed that until she had seen her supposed soulmate hug his supposed dead wife the next day. She hadn't been able to look at him anymore so she had left the diner and walked home.
She had spent the night crying, curled up in her bed. The former Evil Queen shedding tears for a thief, it was truly pathetic, she had thought. She hadn't gotten any sleep at all and had no intention of getting out of bed. However, when she had heard knocks on her door along with Tinkerbell's voice, she had risen from her bed to look through her window. Sure enough, the fairy had been there, with Henry who had been about to use his key to let himself in. In a split second, the broken-hearted woman had put up a magical barrier so that no one could enter her mansion, not even her son. She couldn't let anyone see her in such a weak state, her pride would not allow it.
It had been five days, and Regina was still locked inside her house. Snow, Emma, Henry and Tink had come by several times but she hadn't let them in. When they had tried calling her or sending text messages, she hadn't listened nor read them. So Emma and Tink had tried to break the barrier with their magic, without success.
On Day 5, Rumpelstiltskin was standing in front of her house with the Charmings (minus Henry), Hook, Tink and Belle. They would have fetched him sooner but Mr. and Mrs. Gold had just returned from their very short honeymoon, because the royal family had called him saying they needed him urgently. He didn't consider Regina locking herself in as something important but Belle had convinced him otherwise.
"Can you break it ?" Emma asked impatiently. She was feeling guilty because it was her fault Regina's happy ending had been taken away. She couldn't be completely happy about her new relationship with Hook, knowning that she was responsible for breaking Regina's heart, even if it had been unintentional. She also didn't want the Queen to revert to her evil ways. It was a possibility that kept her awake at night. She wasn't the only one worried. The citizens of Storybrooke had also noticed the Queen's absence. They wondered where she was, what she was doing and why.
The "Why" was easy to guess. Regina and Robin had not hidden their affection for each other. They had kissed in public places, and even though they had made sure no one was around, they were still people to catch a glimpse. Plus, the outlaw's constant presence by the Queen's side was a dead giveaway.
The "Where" was only known to the people closest to her. The Charmings were trying to keep the mayor's situation a secret. Of course, many citizens suspected the Queen was locked in her mansion. Some said she was hiding in her vault, others said she had left the town. But no one knew she had put up a barrier around her house to prevent any intrusion.
The "What" was a mystery to all, friends and family as well as strangers. What was the Queen doing ? Was she dead ? Did she take a memory potion to forget her pain ? Was she plotting her revenge against the Savior ? Or did she plan on killing Marian ? All those questions were left unanswered because no one knew what Regina was up to.
"Don't worry, Rumpelstiltskin is the most powerful wizard in this realm. He's the one who taught Regina magic. He'll break it." Snow told her daughter, confidently. She was also worried for her stepmother but, unlike the rest of the town, she didn't believe Regina would return to being evil, nor that she would come after Emma. Snow knew it had taken a long time for the Queen to feel something other than rage and pain, and to want something else than revenge. Regina had battled for a long time but she was finally at a point where she was a good person. She had managed to fight the darkness within herself and found her way to light. If using light magic against Zelena was any indication, she had succeeded. No, Snow was not worried for Emma or Marian's life, nor for any other Storybrooke's citizens. What Snow feared was the damage Regina would do to herself. She knew the mayor was a survivor, she had lived through the pain of losing Daniel twice. But Snow knew that having the most resilient heart didn't mean it was unbreakable. The Princess just hoped that it could still be mended because if it couldn't Henry would probably lose another parent and she would lose her stepmother.
"Well, I'm afraid to disappoint you dearie, but I can't undo the spell." Rumple turned to the group standing behind him. Before they had time to ask, he explained. "You see, magic is about emotion. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic. When Regina was Evil, her magic was powered by her anger toward Snow. When she defeated Zelena, her magic was strong because of her love for Henry." And for the outlaw, he thought, but decided against speaking it out loud.
"And now, her magic comes from her pain over losing her soulmate," Tink said, before he had a chance to continue. So much for not bring the thief into this. Wait, what had she said...
"Her soulmate ?" David repeated, surprised. He wasn't the only one. The others were just as shocked as him. Regina and Robin being in love was one thing, but them being true love was quite another. "I thought Daniel was her true love."
The fairy answered. "Daniel was her first love, Regina always thought he was her true love. Truth is she was very young and she loved him very much. But just because you think it's true love, doesn't mean it is."
"Are you saying Daniel wasn't her true love ?" Snow asked, bewildered. After all, Regina had hunted her down for years and cursed an entire kingdom for him.
"No. Look, I never met Daniel. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. It is possible to find another true love. What I'm saying is that Robin is not just her true love, he's her soulmate." Tink insisted. She looked at them but they seemed even more confused, except for Rumple.
"Soulmate ? Are you sure ?" he pondered.
"Yes. I used pixie dust on Regina and it led her to Robin."
"Wow, wow, slow down." Emma told them. "There's a difference between true love and soulmates ?" She expected an answer from Tink or Rumple. Instead, it came from Belle.
"Yes. I remember I read about it in your library, Rumple. Basically, a true love is someone you care deeply for, someone that you love so much you would do anything for them, even die. True love isn't just between lovers, it can be between a parent and a child, like when you..." She glanced at Emma "broke the curse when you kissed Henry."
"Yeah, like Regina broke the second curse by kissing Henry too," Emma commented.
"Exactly," Belle went on. "But a soulmate is someone you are meant for, someone without whom you can never be whole. The soulmate is like the ultimate true love if you want. You can have many true loves in your life, but only one can ever be your soulmate." She saw Tinkerbell nod. Everybody else, except for her husband and the fairy, was dumbstruck.
"How come we've never heard of this before ?" Hook wondered. This was a valid question to which the others also wanted the answer.
"Well," Rumple started "Soulmates are extremely rare. I've heard of it, but having never witnessed it, I thought it was a myth." He paused. "True love and soulmates are often mistaken for the same thing. Everyone has at least one true love, the problem is finding it and some people never find it. But when you do find it, your love creates what is considered the most powerful form of magic because it can break any curse. True love is about magic whereas soulmates is about fate. But not everyone has a soulmate. I don't know what determines that some people have one and some don't. What I do know is it's like a higher power created one soul, split it in two and put it in two different people that are destined to look for each other until they are reunited."
"I still don't see the bloody difference !" Hook frowned, waving his hand in the air.
Rumple rolled his eyes. He had enough of those brainless idiots and was about to give the pirate a piece of his mind until Belle put an hand on his arm to prevent him from saying, or worst doing, something stupid. He turned to her and he immediately understood the meaning of her look, silently asking him to behave himself. Then she turned her head back to the group.
"Because you can have several true loves, if you lose one, you feel pain and grief. It hurt like hell but you eventually get throught it. You learn to live without your true love." Belle explained. "But if you have a soulmate, it's not the same. As long as you haven't met your soulmate, you don't notice any change, you live your life unaware that there is one person meant for you and for you only. From the moment you meet this person, everything changes. If they die, chances are you will soon follow them into the grave. That's why soulmates either die young or grown old together. But the most important part is that if, for whatever reason, you resist the pull toward your soulmate, you aren't only miserable, you become different."
"Different how ?" Emma wanted to know.
"I don't know. The books I read were very vague on this subject. But I guess, if Regina and Robin really are soulmates, we'll know soon enough."
No one liked the sound of that. Everybody was lost in thought for a moment, until they heard a voice. "So, did you do it ?" They turned around to see Henry running toward them, his schoolbag on his right shoulder.
Emma recovered first. "Hey kid, are you supposed to be at school ?" She hadn't wanted him to be here. The whole situation was taking its toll on him. He was trying to stay strong for his mom, but the fact that she hadn't talked to him in days wasn't helping.
"I skipped class," he replied quickly. "So, did you break the spell ?" he asked again, an hopeful look in his eyes.
Emma hated to break his spirit. "No, sorry." She shook her head, a sad smile on her face.
Henry sighed and cast a look toward the house. He wasn't going to try, it was useless anyway. He had tried to reach her in every possible way since she had locked herself in, but she hadn't acknowledged him. He would just have to wait for her to come out. He turned around, ready to leave.
"Wait, where are you going ?" David sensed his grandson's sorrow.
"Back to school," he answered without turning to face them.
"Why don't we go to Granny's, I bet baby Neal misses you," Snow offered. She had left her son with Ruby at the diner.
"Nah. I'm good. I'll see you tonight." Henry left, hurriedly.
"I really screwed up." Emma sighed heavily, looking at her parents. Neither of them responded, for they didn't know what to say. On the other hand, Tinkerbell really wanted to agree with her. Regina was the closest thing to a best friend she had and the fairy hadn't been pleased to hear about the Savior bringing back Robin's wife.
"Don't worry, Swan. We defeated Pan and the Witch. Getting the Queen out of her castle is child's play compare to that," Hook smiled, trying to lighten the mood, in vain.
"Let's go. We can't stay here. It will draw suspicion." Snow said, taking David's hand. She thanked Rumple for his help. "We'll have to find other way." She was as disappointed as Henry, Tink and Emma. "We'll talk about this later, ok ?" She didn't wait for an answer and walk away with her husband. The others soon followed.
Unfortunately, today was not the day they would get Regina out of her mansion.
Hello, readers !
I hope you liked this first chapter.
Please leave a review/feedback to let me know what you think, what you liked or didn't liked (or if I should even continue this story ^^). Any constructive criticism is welcome.
Also, I didn't tell you this at the beginning but English is not my mother tongue (in case you hadn't noticed). I checked and re-checked several times, but if there are any mistakes or weird turns of phrases, I apologize.
For me, there is a difference between true love and soulmate. That's my take on it, but you can choose to agree or disagree, or believe something else entirely. But for the purpose of this story, the difference is as it is explained in this chapter.
Not much Regina and Robin in this chapter, but don't worry it will come.
Thanks for reading! :)