Five hours…

That's how long it took to go from one threat to the next. Five hours of something that seemed normal. Five hours of which she enjoyed a hot shower and change of clothes, dinner at grannies with her son, and a walk in the moonlight with her returned soul mate. Five hours until Emma was the new Dark One, sacrificing herself for Regina.

Regina hated owing people.

Regina now sat in her vault, paging through her books about the dark one. She sighed to herself as she was finding nothing that could tell her where Emma had gone. tornadoed into another world was the most likely prospect. Perhaps the enchanted forest, to where the dark one was originally made? Perhaps she somewhere locked away in storybrooke? No that could not be true, she would have appeared when that idiot guyliner wearing pirate tried to summon her.

Regina's eyelids were drooping as she stared at the pages. Saving Robin and traveling to an alternate universe, sleep was not something she had experienced within the past two days. She had to bring Emma back from the darkness. The montra in her head over and over, I hate owing people.

She hated owing people, but no one had ever done something like this for her. It seemed this time Emma did have her back. "How stupid can she be!" regina huffed throwing the books down and holding her head in her hands, thoughts of the evil black vortex sucking Emma up plaguing her mind. That's when she felt strong arms loop around her waist.

Damn the thief for having the swiftness he does!

"My love, you won't be able to help her if you run yourself ragged. Lord knows we have not slept a wink in two days," he whispered into her ear.

"I have to find her Robin. Sh..She saved me and I hate owing people, but everyone is looking to me to fix this and find her. Nothing is showing up in these books. I don't know what to do or even where to start!" Regina was on the brick of tears. Everything…it was all too much.

Robin lay his hands upon her cheeks, "Regina, you don't have to do this alone. All of us are in on this one. Especially me. I owe her as well."

"Why in the world would you owe her?"

Robin rolled his eyes. This woman did still not get it. Stubborn.
"If it wasn't for her I would have lost you…again. I almost lost you, for the third time. I couldn't live though losing you. Not again."

A tiny smirk appeared on regina's lips, "I don't think I could let you go again either. But I don't know if I can do this Robin. I don't think I can play the savior!"

Robin pulled her closer to him, "You can Regina. You can do this and you don't have to do this alone. You don't have to do anything alone ever again. I'm here and I am not going anywhere ever again. I made that mistake once and I won't do it again."

Regina looked up at him unbelieving. Tears were hreatening to leave her eyes. They would drop if she blinked.

"This is all too much Robin! Everything is so over whelming with Zelena, the baby, the sonogram tomorrow, finding Merlin, and now Emma too. Its all too much!"

That's when she lost it. Sobs wracked her body as Robin held her as close as he could. She knew she was letting her walls drop with him again. Even though she was on the road to forgiving him, not let Zelena win, she still felt betrayed by him. How could he move on so quickly? How could he sleep with Zelena—No Marian—so quickly? Would she be able to get through this sonogram tomorrow without losing it? Will Robin throw her to the curb when he finds out she can't give him children of their own? Where is Merlin? Will they be able to find him? Find Emma? Save Emma? It was all too much. She finally broke down, from everything, with these thoughts ripping through her mind. It was as if the tears she held in for all of these were finally let go.

Robin held her until the sobs subsided. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. He is not sure. He really didn't care. She was in his arms again and he took in the scent of fresh air and apples that was so uniquely Regina.

Her sobs subsided finally, bringing robin out of his stupor. "milady, you're exhausted. Lets get some rest and all of us will figure out a plan tomorrow. As far as the sonogram goes, if you feel like you can't go I understand."

"No!" She cut him off. "You are here for me and I want to be there for you. We said we were doing things together and that includes this. I will not that let that green toad tear us apart!"

"Thank you milady. I do not deserve this. I do not deserve you. I am so sorry for everything. For the pain I have caused you," He choked out.

"It's not your fault Robin. She manipulated you…but I can't help it that does still hurt. Still feels fresh. It seems you moved on so quickly. That maybe you're only with me because she wasn't really Marian. Like I'm your second choice…"

"NO! You were never my second choice Regina. You were my only choice and that choice was taken away from me the moment I had to cross that line. I didn't know what to do. I felt like a piece of my soul had been ripped away."

"That's because I'm your soul mate," She quipped back.

"I know my love. I was the one who lost hope. I thought I would never see you again. Thought you were lost to me forever. I thought trying to reconnect with Marian could make me forget. But it didn't. No matter what, my dreams were always of you. You have my heart and my soul Regina. I will spend the rest of my life making it up you and treating you like the Queen you are. You once gave me your heart and I lost it. I wont do it again."

A single tear fell upon her cheek. " But on your honor, you helped to get my heart back. I think we need to take things slow Robin. Rebuild. Together."

" I feel blessed you're even giving this sorry thief a second chance, perhaps one I don't deserve."

" As I said before, I won't let Zelena win. I will not let her tear us apart even further," she yawned.

"Come on my love, lets go home and get some much needed rest. We will meet with everyone tomorrow after the appt and come up with a game plan."

"Home huh? Who said my house was suddenly yours?"

"Oh I know you wouldn't want to go without me in your bed tonight?" he smirked back at her.

"Please like I want the stench of forest on my Egyptian cotton sheets?"

"milady…you know you have missed that smell. Just as I have missed the scent of apples and cinnamon." He replied back with while pulling her into his embrace.

"That I have Thief," she murmurs back to him as he presses his lips passionately to hers. He has wanted to do that all night. Since he first saw her step into his apartment in New York and held her again. AT that time he couldn't, but now he could and he wasn't going to waste it. It felt so right between the two.

This felt like them, a small ray of hope that they could get back to things and how they were. The banter they shared while in the enchanted forest and the closeness/pull they felt in Storybrooke. Hope—a word that she was never familiar with. A word Robin had lost. It was a word they would come all too familiar with. A word that would both hold pieces of them. Right now they did not know that. It would be a battle one they would face together.

Robin lead Regina home. They changed into night clothes and for the first time in a long time they fell asleep…together. Unknowing the first fight for hope would start tomorrow. Against Zelena.

AN: This would be a Multi chapter FF if anyone would like me to continue? Please excuse the writing/grammer errors. I wrote one FF many years ago. I work in the medical field and I am no writer. Let me know what you guys think and if you would like me to continue. Next up will be what happens with zelena at the sonogram. Uh oh. As Adam and eddy said, she sure lives up to her name. WICKED.