"How about we read the story of Snow White tonight?" Henry smiled down at his little sister as he went to sit down beside her on her new big girl bed she'd just gotten for her birthday.
"No!" Hope protested, jumping onto her knees.
Henry looked over at her quizzically. The story of Snow White was quite a favorite of hers. It made sense as to why she loved her godmother so much. Of course, Hope didn't know that Snow White and Mary Margaret were one in the same yet but nevertheless, it was no surprise that she favored them both so much.
Henry knew which one she actually wanted to hear but he liked saving it for special occasions. Hope looked up at him with big doey eyes, "Please, Henry. It's my birthday. Can I please hear the one about the queen?"
Henry's eyelids fluttered fondly down at his sister. How could he deny his sweet little sister a gift on her fourth birthday? He sighed and patted the fabric right beside him, "Of course. C'mon and sit here."
A very exuberant yay escaped Hope as she plopped down next to her brother and he opened the storybook across both their laps. (Hope loved that because that meant she was designated page turner). Her grin grew as Henry flipped the pages over to Regina's story. He found himself smoothing down the pages as he gazed down at a picture of his mother. She was in her Evil Queen garb and it was almost comical. Evil Queen and, furthermore, Evil Madam Mayor Regina had become a distant memory. It'd been nearly 5-6 years since Regina had done anything evil or malicious. Instead, now she was a doting mother who wasted away making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her kids (along with an apple, of course) for lunch and went to PTA meetings while occasionally kicking evil's butt along with the other heroes.
Hope mentioned again how much the cartooned picture looked like her mommy and Henry chuckled agreeing that 'it did look quite a lot like mommy.' Regina had suggested that they don't necessarily outright tell Hope that the characters in the story were the same people she interacted with on a daily basis. They would wait until she was older and could reasonably comprehend the implications of the story.
"Can I start the story?" Hope asked innocently.
"But you can't read all of this, Hope," Henry answered softly. Although, he did try to teach her words out of the storybook as she was growing up.
Hope rolled her eyes at her brother in a way that mimicked Regina in many ways and had Henry fighting the urge to laugh. "I know how it starts, duh."
She also had Regina's sass.
Henry conceded, allowing Hope to utter the words once upon a time before he began the story. Beaming down at her he followed her lead, "Once upon a time, there was a young queen. But before she was queen, she was simply a beautiful young girl who lived on a nice estate and loved to ride horses."
"Was she the fairest in all the land?" Hope asked excitedly.
Henry's eyes shot over to the door. Not that Regina would actually get angry at him, but he didn't want his mother to hear his answer. "No, I'm afraid that title belonged to Snow White."
Hope deflated and cast her eyes back down onto the page.
"But," Henry continued, "she was still incredibly fair."
Hope perked back up as Henry delved into Regina's story, telling her of Cora and the elder Henry (to which Hope also acknowledged— Henry told her that it was a great name to have). He proceeded onward about Daniel, editing the story a little so that it wasn't too harsh for his little sister's delicate ears. He didn't lie about anything in the story but did word it a little differently. Luckily, at least for awhile, Hope would be none the wiser. So he told her about how Cora took Daniel's heart and broke it.
"And so he died?"
Henry blew out a hefty stream of air, causing his cheeks to puff out. After a brief pause, he nodded solemnly.
Hope's eyes grew wild and she said blatantly, "I hope no one ever breaks my heart."
Henry was chuckling once again. He put an arm around his little sister and pulled her close to his chest. "Me either," he murmured.
They sat there for a moment, letting serenity settle in. It was a nice moment. But when Hope felt her eyelids droop for a second, she shot straight back up and looked to Henry to continue his story, which he did, telling more about the proposal and Snow White and Regina's marriage.
As Henry's story turned to the part about the Evil Queen, Regina had found a place outside Hope's bedroom door. She listened as Henry's lilting voice told of her becoming a despicable queen. Regina felt a lump rise in her throat. It always worried her when Hope heard this story because she feared that, the day Hope discovered who the Evil Queen was, she'd turn away from Regina. But she stayed where she was and listened intently as Henry sugarcoated her misdeeds.
"Henry?" Hope interrupted tentatively.
"Yes?"
"The queen was only mean because she was sad and mad right?" She mused for a second, and then added. "It's like when you get mad and you're mean to me, right?"
Regina felt herself beaming and clutching her chest, as if trying to physically contain the pride swelling within it. Hope understood that Regina had been hurt and that's why she was bad. Perhaps it was simply naivety, but Regina was so excited to see that Hope could see the forest despite the trees; she could see past the veil of terror and see a second chance— her father's child.
Henry nodded and agreed vehemently. Regina didn't want to interrupt quite yet as Henry persevered onward, telling of Regina's trial and subsequent (almost) execution. He neglected the death detail though. He said that she'd merely go away for a really long time. Many years ago, Henry would have told this story a lot differently. But now, Regina could tell that he chose his words carefully, not only to protect Hope's innocence but also to protect Regina.
How had she gotten so lucky?
As Henry neared the end of the Fairy Tale Land story, Regina placed her hand on the knob and placed her other fist not much higher above that, on the door, knocking softly. Both her children's eyes shot up to meet hers.
"Mommy!" Hope exclaimed. "Henry's telling me the queen story!"
"Is he now?" Regina inquired chastely, grinning as her gaze shifted between them. "Well don't stop on my account."
"Maybe you should tell the rest, mom," Henry offered up.
Regina waved her hands in front of her face, "Oh no, please finish. Besides, I like it better when you tell it." Then she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe as she lovingly watched her children return to her story.
"So the Evil Queen cast her curse…" Henry pressed on.
As he was getting to his adoption, Regina noticed Hope yawning as she often did during these stories. She never made it to the end of this one due to its length and Regina was fairly certain that tonight would be no different.
"Hope, sweetie. Are you sleepy?"
Hope flushed and recovered, putting on a brave face, "No mommy. I'm a big girl. I wanna hear if the queen got her happy ending. I'm gonna hear the end."
And Hope kept her promise. Despite the occasional eye rubbing and yawning, she persevered as Henry sped through Emma's arrival, the return of magic, Regina saving Storybrooke a few times, and finally the story of her and Robin Hood.
"So one night the queen went to visit the thief and she gave him a kiss and then they fell in love…"
"Was it true love?" Hope asked eagerly, to which Henry shot a glance up to his mother.
Regina nodded and Henry voiced her approval, "You betcha."
As Henry neared the illustrious climax of the story, where Robin left with Marian and Roland over the town line, the impatience of a typical toddler erupted from Hope, "Wait does he come back? Does this mean the queen won't get her happy ending? But I thought that her and the thief were true love? That's not nice. They do get a happy ending, right Henry?"
Henry laughed softly and grabbed his sister's hand, "Hold on. We're getting there."
Just then, Regina felt arms wrap gently around her waist. She didn't resist the smile that danced across her entire face as those arms pulled her tighter to the chest that they hung from. "Maybe you should ask your daddy," she suggested, placing her arms atop his.
Hope looked up at her father with hopeful eyes, "Do they daddy?"
Robin chuckled into his wife's hair, grinning widely at his daughter. He glanced over at Henry to ask permission to finish the story. When Henry nodded with his permission, Robin's eyes glanced back down to his daughter. "Well my princess, things got very rough for the queen and the thief after that. The thief went back to the town line for a whole month. But each day he returned home, disappointed. He began to give up hope."
"And so did the queen," Regina interjected.
Robin squeezed Regina a little tighter to him as they let the desolate memories surface in their minds. They mused for a moment and then Robin finished, "But one day after the queen beat up the bad guys, she went to find her thief."
"And it took her a long time," Regina added in again.
"I'll say. Took her bloody sweet time," Robin teased, which elicited a whap from his wife. He attempted to pout at her, but couldn't restrain the glimmer in his eyes or the dimples that decorated his smile, as he looked at Regina.
Together the three of them finished the story. They told Hope all about how the queen, the savior, Snow and the little prince (their storybook nickname for Henry) had a grand search party for the thief. Although, their hunt was primarily for the author. Regina was certain that until she found the author, she could never receive her happy ending with Robin. Their search led them to New York City where Robin and his family had coincidentally "set up camp" (Robin's exact words— pun completely intended).
One day, they were off hunting for clues for Operation Mongoose when they stumbled by a little café. To any other person, it would just be another shop, but for Regina, she couldn't help but stop when they came across it. Not just because she felt her heart tugging toward it, but because it reminded her of the very tavern that she should have walked into many years ago. Looking at the similar decorations, Regina felt all her heartbreak wash back over her. Just as she was about to turn away and give up Operation Mongoose for the day, Snow stopped and moved closer to the foggy windows.
Regina rolled her eyes and began to saunter away but Snow yelled after her, claiming that there was something to see. But Regina was disgusted by the sight of the café. All it did was remind her of her loneliness and misery; she wanted no more of it. Nevertheless, after persistent begging from Snow, she returned once more to the café. When Regina's gaze followed where Snow was pointing into the café, she felt her heart stop. In fact, everything stopped. Inside, there was a man with a lion tattoo sitting at the counter with a small, curly-headed child; they were eating ice cream sundaes.
After words of encouragement from Emma and Henry, a few coos from baby Neal and a hope speech from Snow, Regina braved the inside of the café. She wasn't entirely sure what to do next. Panic settled in as it did the first time. But this time it was more about the fact that they'd yet to have located the author. Eventually though, she swaggered up to the front counter asking for whatever the dashing man with the tattoo was having. Of course, it didn't take long before the two boys realized what was going on.
There was a lot of excitement and it was still quite a blur to Regina today. But she fondly remembered Robin breathing a Regina that was full of so many emotions that it was remarkable such a small word could hold them all. Not to mention, there was also a lot of kissing which engendered looks of disgust between the children as Regina and Robin reminisced.
When they finished telling Hope of the reunion and the eminent return to 'home,' she looked perplexedly at everyone, "But what about the author?"
Such a smart girl.
It turned out that while the book did have an author, the fact of the matter was that they did write their own stories. The author told them that once they'd laid aside their guilt and reflections concerning the past, they could proceed on with their future. He instructed Regina that she had to assuage her past transgressions and merely focus on her future with Robin Hood. The course of true love was never smooth but as long as they focused on being together, it would all work out.
Hope grinned from ear to ear, "So the queen and the thief got their happy ending?"
"Still not there yet, my princess," Robin warned.
Both Henry and Regina looked at him with confused expressions. But he simply grinned and went on, "So then the queen tells her thief that she was having a baby. And her tummy grew and grew; kinda like how mommy's is doing right now with your baby brother or sister," He placed his palms on Regina's swollen belly and she placed her hands atop his once again. "The queen and the thief were very excited and very scared to be a mommy and daddy. But when the day came for the baby to be born, they were only happy. So, after a lot of crying and laughing and screaming, a sweet baby princess was born. And when the doctor looked at the parents to ask the baby's name, they turned to each other, but they didn't need to say a single word; they knew exactly what the baby's name was without ever discussing it."
Regina and Robin reenacted the scene that he was telling. They turned to one another and looked lovingly in each other's eyes. Together they uttered out, "Hope."
Looking back over at their daughter, they realized her eyes had grown incredibly large. "My name is Hope." She said excitedly.
"That's right my princess. Your name is Hope." Robin raised his eyebrows suspiciously.
Her eyes grew even wider as she looked over at Regina, "So mommy was a queen?"
"Are you kidding?" He looked affectionately at his wife as his arms cradled her lumbar. "She's still a queen."
Regina smiled a toothy smile and stood on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to her husband's lips.
"Ew gross," Henry and Hope said together.
The two broke apart and Robin left his wife in the doorway to kneel at his daughter's feet. She asked if that meant that she was a real princess, to which he answered, "Of course, love. But, that's not what's important in this story. The queen and her thief did get their happy ending but it wasn't without a lot of trials and failures and pain and misery—"
"Robin!" Regina hissed.
He held up a hand, "But if you believe— if you have hope, your happy ending will always find you. You are in charge of your destiny. And the moment that you let someone else wield your fate, you allow them to take away your hope and your chance at happiness. Don't ever let someone else tell your story, love. You tell your story; and you tell it the way you want. And even when bad things happen, hold fast and be true to yourself, because one day that happy ending will find you and it'll take away all that pain and suffering and make it all worthwhile. As long as you have hope, nothing can defeat you."
Perhaps it was the hormones or maybe Regina was just a gigantic sap when it came down to it, but tears pricked in her eyes. She admired her husband as he tenderly placed a kiss on Hope's forehead and told her it was time for bed. Henry stood up and paced over to his mother while Robin tucked Hope in. She closed her eyes real tight as Robin placed another scruffy kiss on top of her head.
Suddenly her eyes popped open and she looked concernedly at Robin, "So daddy was a thief?"
Both Regina and Henry began to chortle. Regina glided over to her husband's side, "That's right dear. Your daddy was a thief. And he stole my heart."
"Not true," Robin looked playfully offended. "You gave me your heart, remember? And you can't steal something that's been given to you, right love?"
Regina pushed him lightly, "Well he is right about that."
"Well, Hope, dad isn't a thief anymore just like mom isn't the Evil Queen anymore. They changed and that's why they got their happy endings." Henry offered up.
Regina knelt down this time to become eye-level with her daughter, "We'll explain this a bit more when you get older. But you still like mommy and daddy right?"
"A course I love you mommy," she said sweetly. She looked back up at Robin, "And I love you too daddy. And Henry and Roland too!"
Regina bit back her tears once more and stood up, with a little assistance from Robin. She bent down and placed a kiss on Hope's forehead too. "We love you too, little princess."
And with that she made sure Hope was nice and tucked in, then ushered the boys out of the room. She glanced back once more at her sweet daughter. It was truly overwhelming how much love she carried for that child. But all Regina could have ever asked for was lying in her frilly, pink, brand new big girl bed. All Regina ever needed was everything she had. Regina whispered a final goodnight and turned out the lights, closing the door until a little sliver of space was left.
She followed the boys back down stairs toward the kitchen.
"Hey, Robin can we go do archery lessons?"
"Well, I'd love to mate but I'm afraid it's a bit dark outside," Robin shrugged.
Noticing that Robin was genuinely bummed out that he was missing out on quality bonding time with Henry, Regina offered to do a spell to make wherever they were, light enough to do what they needed to. She requested that they stay in the backyard, however, to which the men reluctantly agreed. With a flick of her wrist, the backyard lit up. The men cheered and then received a scalding glare from Regina. They both looked away sheepishly.
Finally, Henry ran outside to get his bow and arrow while Robin hung back momentarily.
"Shouldn't you go out there and make sure that he doesn't shoot himself in the foot?" Regina laughed.
Robin advanced toward his wife and enveloped her in his arms, "He'll be fine for a moment. You want to come watch, m'lady? Maybe get a lesson or two in for yourself?"
"No thank you." She sighed, "I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm exhausted."
"Sorry, love, Henry and I don't have to—"
"No, no, I insist. Go have fun. Besides, I'll sleep better without your snoring anyway."
Robin again tried to look affronted but failed miserably. "Alright, my love. Well, just yell if you need something. And we'll try not to get too rowdy. Goodnight… my queen." He leaned down and placed a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.
"Goodnight… my thief." She answered back, using names that they hardly ever used for one another anymore.
"And happy fourth anniversary of our happy ending."
"Happy fourth anniversary of our happy ending," she grinned softly.
They kissed again, this time a little longer and more passionate but still with enough sweetness to make their teeth rot. When they broke apart, Robin grabbed Regina's hand and guided her to the back door. He stood there for a moment and then backed out the door. Once over the threshold he released her hand just like they did at the town line many years ago. It was a charming ritual that they picked up. But it was to always remember the town line. It was to remind them that they would always come back to each other; no matter what. And it was to remind them that no matter how difficult or scary it ever got, they would find their happy ending because they had Hope.