A/N: This is just a quick one-shot that has been burning inside me for a while. I don't like the "Finding the Author storyline." Outlaw Queen to me is shoddy and I perceive Regina to be whiny in this arc.
Henry sits in chair behind his mother's desk as he rustles with what his mother said to him while in her office looking over the book.
"I know, but sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be as happy as I was when it was just you, me, Robin Hood, and Roland."
He seethes in anger as he crumples the comic in his hand. When the hell did he ever spend time with Regina when she was hanging out with Robin and Roland? Whenever she went out with Robin and Roland, he wasn't involved with them. He didn't let it bother him since he spent time with his Mom and grandparents, but the whole "seeking the author" thing has changed his perspective on things with his mother's last statement.
Now it seems that the forest hobo had come into their lives with a ready-made family for his brunette mother. Robin is nice enough, definitely ten times better than Captain Guyliner that has attempted to kidnap him, TWICE, as a potential step-daddy but dude smells bad. Well, it seems that both of his mother's boyfriends have that in common. And he doesn't see how his mother fits with Robin since she always consider herself classy. A guy that sleeps outside does not seem compatible with a former queen that oozes wealth.
Henry was hurt when his mother pushed him away when Emma brought back Marian and all Regina wanted to do, was to put space between herself with everyone. Emma helped him to understand that Regina still loved him but she needed time to herself, and he understood that, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt him.
Now that Robin is gone again, he jumped on the opportunity to help his mom with her happy ending and to spend time with her. But he thinks that now it is a fruitless endeavor and think that maybe she is misguided. There was never any indication that the book controlled their fates, it just shown people's past. Not that she can't have it, but because he now understands that she should already realize the good things in front of her.
He stands up and slams the book on the ground. "This is bullshit!" Henry's outburst startles Regina and Emma's conversation as the sit on the couch together. Their attention snaps to him.
Regina is alarm as she looks at Henry's fuming face. "Henry! Language. What is going on?"
Emma looks at Regina and back at their son. "I'm with Regina Henry, language buddy." How much he wishes that to be true. His two mothers together make so much sense.
"Why don't you love me?"
Regina is distraught that Henry thinks that, and has no idea where it comes from. She gets off the coach and runs to Henry and lifts his chin and stares right into his eyes. "I love you Henry with all of my heart. You are my little prince and you know that. What has come over you?"
Henry snatches his chin out of her hand and folds his arms across his chest defiantly. Emma becomes alarm as well and gets up to stand beside Regina for support. She wants to know what is going on with her son as well.
"Then why are you so unhappy? You and Robin only dated for a few days. I mean…" then Henry lifts his hands in the air with exasperation. "Aren't 14 year old girls supposed to be the ones that cry over 1 week old relationships and act like it is the end of the world?"
Emma inwardly claps inside her mind. She thought the same thing as well. Being distraught over a few day relationship did seem excessive and childish to her, but she understands that Regina has such horrible luck in the romantic department and to finally have someone, and now they are gone can be upsetting. And Regina does have the tendancy to hold onto things she loves very tightly. But she doesn't dare approach that to Regina since she feels responsible for Regina's current state of unhappiness. And despite the history between them, she has grown to care for the fiery brunette.
Regina is hurt by Henry's minimization of her feelings. "Henry, that's not fair. Robin Hood was destined to be my soulmate long ago. Tinkerbelle said that pixie dust never lies."
Henry stomps his feet in frustration. "Peter Pan said that he never fails and he did. You and Mom defeated him. Zelena said that wicked always win, and she lost at your hands. You of all people should know to not take things at face value."
Regina wants to calm the tension in the room and pleads with Henry. "Henry, I can see you are upset, please let's seat down."
Henry shakes his head at Regina. "The hell! I should be upset. How dare you stand there and tell me in my face that you were the happiest with me, Robin, and Roland when I was never included in your gatherings. How dare you say that I'm not enough? You are so selfish that you don't even realize how much your words have hurt me.
Mom, you admitted that you gaslight me, you tried to harm Emma to keep her away from me to keep to yourself the first time she stepped in Storybrooke. You have tried to kill all of my family because I chose them over you.
Then you tried so hard to be better for me, saved Emma and grandma from that well. You and Mom stopped the trigger to save everyone. You went to Neverland to save me. I forgave you for all of the horrible things you have done to me and my family. Proof of that is with our true love's kiss." Henry gestures around the office.
"Look at what you have. You were the Evil Queen and took everyone's happiness. Yet nobody here is trying to kill you anymore. You are on good terms with grandpa and grandma. You are considered a hero and now you friends with Emma. You even have your own job back, but you aren't happy. You…you…you are just ungrateful. You are freaking selfish. And you have the nerve to be mad at mom who brought Marian back. Didn't you kill her in the past? Didn't you leave your precious Roland motherless in the first place?
It is your fault that Robin was single in the first place. Don't you think you deserve someone better than a guy that probably uses leaves to wipe his butt? Hell, since Robin is out of the picture, this is the first time in a while since we spent time together.
You know what…since you are so unhappy here and can't see anything in front of you," he eludes to how Emma and Regina look at each other with respect and love. Those look speaks more volume than anything they shared with their lowly men. "How about you just go and chase after your smelly married man?"
Regina legs collapse beneath her with the brutal nature of Henry's accusation. Emma catches the smaller woman in time before she hits the marble floor of the mayoral office. Emma looks back at Henry in shock.
"Kid that is not alright to say things to your mom."
Henry shakes his head at her and laughs. "What? Tell mom the truth. Seriously, we all need to stop coddling her, she is a grown woman that made choices in her life and needs to deal with it."
Henry is not laughing that Regina's pain, but he feels very wrong in this whole ordeal. All he has tried to do was to join an operation that he didn't even think would work, all in the effort to make her happy. But he can't continue to feel so insignificant in the grand scheme of Regina's life when she keeps pining on about her happy ending.
He stomps his way out of the office to Granny's to get a hot chocolate. Regina feels a comforting warmth in Emma's embrace. But her heart is breaking as she realizes inadvertently how she made her son feel with her courting of Robin, rejecting Henry in her heart break, and pushing him to the side when they got back together. And on top of that, making him believe that he wasn't enough, and that is why she was so set on finding the Author.
"Regina, that was not cool how Henry was talking to you." Emma's breath soothes her a little.
Regina is happy that Emma stands up for her. But her thoughts seem to run back to her previous musings.
Her actions did push Henry to the side. She should have answer the phone when David called during the Snow Queen debacle. She didn't because she didn't feel like she should jump whenever the Charmings need something but on her end, it was irresponsible. A responsible parent would always answer the call of the guardians that have their child in their care because something could have happen to them, and something did happen to Henry.
And what was it that she was doing in that time? She was too busy having sex in her dirty vault. At the time, it felt so good for somebody to love her, to please her and just looks at her as Regina. But now she is disgusted. Her parent's bodies and Marian's heart was there. That is despicable and never should be considered romantic as the first time of making love.
When she told Robin that only he and Henry saw her Regina, with Henry's monologue, she understands how short sighted she is. The woman that is holding her now has always fought to view her as just Regina and not the Evil Queen. Hell, Emma even seen her in the full glory of the dark queen.
And Snow has always fought to see that Regina can still be the same kind-hearted woman that she met a long time ago.
"Like Henry said, Emma, I shouldn't be coddle. Everything he said is 100 percent truth." Emma stands up and guides Regina back to the couch so they can continue to talk more comfortably.
Emma smiles a little, she loves when "Emma" rolls off the darker woman's tongue. And she does agree with what Henry said, but just not the tone it was delivered.
"It is not like I don't agree with what he said, he just seem very anger as he said it."
Regina gives Emma a lift of eyebrows. "And again, he has every right to do so and you agree with is premise. I have been a negligent mother. All because of some 40 year old pixie dust. I wasn't even interested in the him until I saw the tattoo. I did run but I willingly stepped into the relationship with him because he seem like a "sure" thing. How selfish can I be?"
"I don't think it is selfish to want love in your life."
Emma rubs Regina's arms as a few tears spill from her beautiful face.
"But you see, I was and am selfish. I hardly spent any time with Henry when I was dating Robin. And it's pathetic considering that Henry just got his memories back. Did you know that I was in so much pain in the Enchanted Forest when you two were in New York, that I was about to put myself in a sleeping curse?"
Emma leans back from Regina in shock, but still holding her hands. That is quite a revelation, and she is happy to have a breakthrough in their relationship for Regina to ever confess something like that too her. She always considered Regina to be so strong and powerful. She is startle to learn that the woman was so close to suicide.
"And why didn't you?"
"I had a witch to defeat, and priorities changed after that."
When Regina kept silent, Emma does the same, not wanting to push the woman more than she can bear. Regina speaks up again.
"Robin also coddles me. When we first talked, it was in the cabin that Zelena was staying in. He told me that he thinks the stories of me being the Evil Queen were exaggerated. That, I was 'bold and audacious but not evil.' The fool he is. I have killed people without mercy, and without regret. That is also why he didn't understand how bad things will be with everyone when I turned back to the Evil Queen under the Shattered Sight spell. How could someone truly love another when you don' t fully understand who they were in their past.
But Robin's willingness to overlook my past benefitted me. I loved being with someone that totally swept my past under the rug without confronting me about it. Hell, he wasn't even that upset that he found out that I was the one that murdered Marian. That he got over her even though in the missing year in the Enchanted Forest, he still was upset over her death.
He had a child with that woman, would you reacted the same way as Robin did? Would you still continued a relationship with someone that left Henry fatherless?"
Emma purses her lips…she always felt she was on thin ice talking to Robin or Marian with Regina. Regina notice Emma's hesitancy and took a deep breath.
"Don't be shy Emma. The thing I always like about you is that you say what's on your mind. And Henry is right, I could use some raw honesty right now."
"Yes Regina, if my current lover was the reason that my spouse was killed and left Henry fatherless, I wouldn't choose a 3 day relationship with them over a miraculous second chance with my spouse."
Emma holds a breath, trying to prepare herself for Regina to lash out. But it never comes. Regina laughs which puzzles Emma but she'll take it over a fireball. She feels such a weight off her shoulders that she was able to say what's has been on her mind for some time. Henry just had the balls, literally and figuratively, to tell Regina how ridiculous it is to get mad at Emma for saving a life, and feeling like Regina's life is over after such a brief relationship.
"I feel so silly now. I was so willing for someone to show some attraction to the 'Evil Queen' I jumped on the first opportunity that presented itself to me."
Funny, Emma felt the same way. Storybrooke doesn't have much of a selection of bachelors and Neal's death, as open ended that relationship was, permenantly shut down that option. And Hook, though creepy, kept his pursuit of her. After a life of neglect, she can understand the seduction of falling for someone that actually shows that they want you. For Emma, she just gave into Hook's constant nagging of getting together. In her heart, she has always wanted Regina, but she never thought anything would happen or could. Like Regina with Robin, Hook seem like a sure thing.
"I completely understand Regina, and I'm not here to judge you at all."
Regina wipes the tears from her eyes as she looks at Emma with fondness. Images and conversations with Emma flashes before her. Emma has always looked at Regina as a woman, and not some evil tyrant. Emma is the one that constantly saved her. It is with Emma that she literally feels magic with. She doesn't feel like she can break any curse with Robin's lips on her, but Emma and she were able to move a moon together. To stop an indestructible trigger. The blonde's touch created a portal when they tried to activate Jefferson's hat. How could she been so blind? She shared True Love's kiss with Henry. Emma did the same with Henry. Would it be outside of the realm for them to share True Love with each other?
Zelena once said that Regina doesn't take risks. Her statement screams so true, that is why jumping in a relationship with Robin was so easy, because a fairy said pixie dust told her that he was her soul mate. But damn it. She needs to live up to her own statement of how 'she makes her own destiny.' She shouldn't let questionable substances to dictate her life. Throwing caution to the wind, she presses her lips against Emma. It was not hurried but soft, but for a few seconds Emma didn't respond.
Fearing that she was wrong with her assessment she started to pull away but Emma quickly places her hand behind Regina's hand and presses into her lips harder.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit is all Emma could think about. Never in a million years that this beautiful, complicated, frustrating, lovable woman would choose her. Regina's tongue licks her lip, and Emma grants her entry and they moved against each other. Regina has her arms around Emma's neck as Emma's one hand is buried in her hair, and the other clasps at her lips.
Regina reluctantly pulled away from their exhilarating kiss, needing to breath. She looks lovingly into Emma's puppy dogs eyes that will forever be stamped in her mouth.
"Zelena was so right. I really don't appreciate what I have. I have been so blind, in trying to find my happy ending with finding the author, I didn't realize that my happy ending was right in front of me."
A/N: Review and let me know what you think. I sincerely think the way that Outlaw Queen is written, it is ridiculous and not believable. Had to get that off my chest.
