A/n: I apologize for deleting my previous work, pixie dust never lies. I just didn't think I put enough effort into the chapters that I did. This is that same story, though. I just made a ton of edits to make it better. Thanks for reading!
Regina has her nose in a book, studying it very hard for any kind of information on how to unfreeze a person. A high stack of books is to her right, all useless and unhelpful in her task of unfreezing Marian.
She did have one thing to look forward to, though. Henry was coming over in a few minutes, and the mother and son were going to head to Granny's for lunch. She puts down yet another book. She had been looking for a cure for Marian for weeks now, but to no avail. Everything she found was useless.
A sudden knocking at her door lead her to wonder if Henry was here early.
"Hey, Regina." Her face lit up as she saw that it was Robin at the door. "Would you mind watching Roland for a little while? I need to take all of my men to search the forest for the ice queen."
"Sure," she said, glancing down to see little Roland, hugging his father's knees. At that remark, he breaks away from his father and runs up to his "mother" and she hugs him in her arms. The brunette puts the curly-haired boy down, and he run off, to do something or other as the two adults talk.
He looks over Regina's shoulder, to where the frozen Marian lay. "No news on a cure for her?" he says worriedly, though he knows nothing may ever be able to unfreeze her, save for the ice queen herself. Regina shakes her head. "I'm sorry, no." and with that, Robin pulls her in for a kiss. Regina gasps as their lips connect softly. She enjoys it, a lot, but pulls away. "Robin, regardless of what happened earlier, you're still married." She says sadly.
That shuts him up. "I…" he tries to start. "Robin, please." She begs him, not wanting to put either of them through any more pain. She couldn't bear seeing him like this; but she knew that it was wrong what she was doing.
"I love you, Regina." He whispers, his voice barely audible. Regina smiles, and looks at the ground. But she tries to put her feelings aside. "But don't you love your wife?" she says, smile completely gone. "I…" he starts. "I did, once. It was true love, but…but I love you now. Nothing can change that. Not even Marian being here." He says, lifting Regina's chin up with two fingers.
It felt good for Robin to finally say that: that he wasn't in love with his wife anymore. She'd been gone for a few decades. And quite frankly, he had gotten over her. Now it was Regina's turn to speak. "I…How could you love me, the evil queen?" Robin rolled his eyes. "Regina," he said, cupping her face with his hand. "You need to stop calling yourself that. You think that no one believes in you. You think that no one cares. You're wrong."
"Robin, the only people in this town that believe in me are you, and henry. Everyone else sees me as the evil queen." She says, pulling away and turning around. "Regina, stop!" says, catching her wrist, and pulling her close, one hand wrapped around her waist. "What about your family? Roland? Your son and daughter and granddaughter? It may not seem like it, but I know that they care. Why are you so hard on yourself?"
"I…Every time I have been happy, it's just been ripped away. I learned the hard way not to trust anyone much less try to let myself have happiness." Robin didn't answer. He understood that she had been hurt in her past; that she didn't want to open herself up again. He responded be pulling her into a tight but warm embrace. He heard the wetness of tears on the back of his shirt. He pushed Regina away, holding her shoulders with both of his arms.
He saw tears in her eyes, and he wiped them away with a gloved hand. He couldn't find anything to say, and the two stood in silence, staring around the room. "Mom?" Regina heard Henry say as he came in to the mayor's office. "Henry," she said, hugging him as he came towards the two. "Roland, Henry's here!" she called, and soon after, the little boy emerged from the back of her office.
The boy's face lit up when he saw Henry. The two fist-bumped and went over to Regina's desk, where Henry entertained Roland for a while. "We'll be leaving for lunch soon, Henry. Would you like to join us, Robin?" Regina said, turning to Robin. He nodded.
"Robin?" said a voice. "Robin?" they said again, and Regina and Robin spotted a figure sitting up on Regina's couch.
Her brown, long hair, and distinctive face were unmistakable. This was someone that everyone in the whole town knew, and was shocked to learn that she had actually been brought back from the past.
Marian.