Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

True Love Meets At Last

"Regina!" Snow yelled as the winged beast tried to carry me away. She dragged me back to the ground, but the beast snagged my sleeve and managed to scratch me. We both fell on the floor.

"It's too fast!" she said, as the beast prepared to swoop down again.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions," I muttered as we both got up off the ground. Unfortunately, Snow didn't have her bow so we were a bit low on options.

"Get down!" a man's voice yelled from nearby, and Snow and I hit the ground as an arrow whistled by and hit the winged beast. It screeched loudly before it flew out of the forest.

I stared at the sky incredulously as the sound of footsteps came close. What on earth had that thing been?

"Milady," the man said, and I looked up to see he'd extended a hand towards me. He was around my age, dressed in green and holding a bow. I had to admit that he was pretty good-looking, but chided myself for thinking that. "You're injured," he added, noticing the scratch on my arm.

"It's Your Majesty," I growled at him, but I was a bit touched by his concern. Who would care about the Evil Queen being injured? I was sure he was one of the first to care about my well-being in...well, a while. "And I'm fine."

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice," the man remarked, raising his eyebrows at my tone.

"We didn't ask for your help," I said.

"Well, I'm grateful for the assistance," Snow piped in, taking his hand.

The man said "Robin. Robin of Locksley, and these are a few of my Merry Men," gesturing to the men who were filing in behind him.

"Snow White," Snow said.

"At least we meet," Robin said, sounding impressed. "There was a time when our faces graced wanted posters side by side."

"If you're really Snow White, then why are you with her?" the burly man standing next to Robin asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Her? Show some respect," I snapped, offended by his tone. But seeing that his eyes had gone to my cleavage instead of my face, I added, "Or at least some restraint at the buffet."

The man had the grace to look away as Robin said, "You'll have to excuse Little John. But before you cursed this land, we spent many a day running from your black knights."

"Well I'm sure you deserved it," I fired back at him, annoyed. What was it about this man that got under my skin so quickly? Wanting to change the subject, I asked, "What the hell was that thing?"

Robin said, "No idea. Never encountered the likes of it before."

There was a screeching in the distance and Snow said "Come on, this way. Let's go warn the others."

As we made our way out of the forest, I couldn't help but peek at Robin from under my eyelashes. There was something about him that seemed oddly familiar, although I was sure I'd remember if I'd met him before. Something about him that called to the last bit of my soul...and there was something about him that seemed to partially fill the void in my heart since I had left Henry behind in the Land Without Magic.

I tried to shake off the feeling that we were somehow connected. Right now, we had to focus on avoiding that winged monster and getting back to our group.

Author's note: My first attempt at a OUAT fanfic. Please read and review!