ARROWS AND SATIN

A/N: The sequel to Beat of a Heart. Thanks again to all the follows, favourites, reviews and support for that story – I have decided to put the Storybrooke part up as a sequel to keep it from getting too long – just a personal preference, if a story gets too long I usually end up abandoning it which is something I don't want to do. The updates will not be as frequent as Beat of a Heart was – I will try to update weekly, but it won't be daily as I have a lot of marking to do at the moment.

** This story takes place about two months after the end of Beat of a Heart.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine

Chapter 1

She was vaguely aware of the delicious silk kissing her body and the softness of her pillow caressing her head. The satin of her pyjamas was soft and gentle against her skin. Waking up in such luxury was… not supposed to happen. Regina shot up, suddenly wide awake and her eyes flitted across the room that was all too familiar.

Storybrooke.

How was this possible? How on earth could they still be here? Did that mean that her spell to take them back to the Enchanted Forest didn't work? No… it had to have worked, she could still remember the purple cloud swallowing Pan's green curse, and she could remember the yellow bug driving across the town line and the tears in Henry's eyes.

Henry.

If she was still here… perhaps it had all been a terrible dream, perhaps Pan's curse never struck and she never had to give him up, perhaps…

Regina's anguished cry echoed through the empty house when she stopped inside Henry's room to find it empty – as though he had never been there. She wasn't aware of her body gliding down the wall until she sat flat on the floor, her body heaving with sobs. What was the point of still being here if Henry wasn't? How was it fair that she had lost him for nothing?

A violent knock on her front door alerted her to the fact that everyone else must have come to the same realization – that they were still in Storybrooke. Regina wiped her face with her hands tiredly and stood up on wobbly legs. She'd deal with the crowd later – right now, she craved a warm bath and a way of figuring out why the hell her curse had failed.

Of course, in the Charmings' apartment it was immediately evident that they were not still in Storybrooke, but they had come back here. Snow's eight month pregnant belly gave that much away. How they got to Storybrooke, however, was a mystery as the last thing they remembered was watching Emma and Henry cross the town line and being engulfed by purple smoke. Snow's hands rested on her belly as she sat forward, her eyes closed and her face wrinkled in confusion.

"I don't understand… How are we here? Weren't we supposed to be in the Enchanted Forest right now? And if… if we're here…"

Hope suddenly shone in her eyes and she looked up at David.

"If we're here… does that mean Emma could still be here too?"

David jumped up from the couch and his wife's hope reflected in his own eyes.

"It's possible… she'd…. maybe she's at Granny's? Maybe they never really had to leave, or maybe they came back…"

David nodded excitedly while pulling a wrinkled shirt over his head and grabbing a jacket that he had left on the table right before they went out to get Pan. Everything was eerily the same – with the exception of Snow being very pregnant.

"Let's go see if she's here!"

He helped Snow to her feet and she entwined her fingers with his. They moved towards the door as fast as they could, both parents silently pleading with the universe to grant them the chance of being with their daughter again.

Granny's seemed exactly the same as it had always been – Red was leaning against a counter looking bored, Granny was in the kitchen working up a storm, Leroy and Nova sat at a table talking softly… David burst through the doors excitedly, his blue eyes searching the place.

"Emma?"

His heart dropped when no voice answered him, when the familiar blonde hair didn't appear in front of him. He took a step back, too scared to face reality.

"Henry?"

Once more, his voice was met with silence and he turned around slowly. Snow stood behind him, her green eyes wide and filled with tears. Her lower lip was trembling and David reached for her hand.

"Snow…"

"They're not here… they're really not here, I thought…"

"Wait! Snow, you… you're pregnant?"

Red approached her quickly and the two women's eyes met – each clearly as confused as the other.

Snow swallowed back a sob and nodded, her hand automatically covering her stomach.

"Red… is everything the same? I mean… do you remember anything at all?"

Red shook her head with a confused frown.

"That's the thing… I don't know. One minute I was running and then… I woke up in my bed – like nothing changed."

Snow shook her head firmly and folded her arms across her chest.

"There's only one person who'll be able to help us find answers. Regina."

She turned, immediately making her way over to the mayoral mansion where she expected to find Regina – half the town in tow, of course.

Much to Snow's mortification , the townspeople seemed to take her words the wrong way and their intentions towards Regina was certainly not as harmless as a gentle sit down and discussion as to what had happened. No – they had already found her guilty of trickery and they have decided that she ought to be punished. Completely disregarding that she had given her son up in an attempt to save them. Of course, a part of Snow could not blame them for being so quick to turn on Regina. She had done a lot of terrible things, she had ruined lives and destroyed villages but something told her that this was not Regina's doing. It just didn't make sense. Since her belly caused her movements to be a little slower than usual, Snow was quite relieved when the knock on Regina's door went unanswered as it gave her time to head up the steps and turn to face the mob.

"Stop! This isn't Regina's fault!"

"How could you possibly know that?"

The defiant voice came from somewhere within the crowd and Snow searched fruitlessly for its owner. She decided to answer despite not finding the person who had spoken.

"You have always trusted me as a leader, now I'm asking you to trust me again! I do not believe that Regina is responsible for this, but if she is you have my word that I will find out and I will deal with it! But for now… you need to leave and allow me to handle this!"

A few shouts and mutters echoed through the crowd and Snow narrowed her eyes to find the origin of the disturbance. It appeared in the form of a handsome man dressed in tattered green clothing, a quiver slung easily over his shoulder.

"I, for one, would like to know what exactly this place is and how we all got here!" The accented voice was confident and the man moved forward through the mob.

Snow's eyes widened and she took a step towards him, the crowd parting as she descended the steps.

"You haven't been here before? You're from the Enchanted Forest?"

The man nodded and held his hand out to her, a kind smile gracing his face.

"I'm Robin of Locksley."

She took his hand and touched her chest, still frowning.

"Snow White. Here I'm known as Mary Margaret"

A smile graced Robin's face and he nodded.

"So I assumed. It's an honour to meet you, your highness."

Her friendly smile lit up her face and Robin gestured to a group of men huddled together.

"My merry men and I seemed to have missed the first curse, yet now we are here without any idea how it happened. It also seems that some time had passed in between, but I am afraid we do not know how much."

Snow's eyes met her husband's over the heads of the mob and he moved forward quickly, holding his hand out to Robin.

"David Nolan. If you and your merry men would assist us, perhaps we should head over to Granny's and see what we can learn from one another."

Robin nodded instantly and Snow looked back at the crowd.

"Please, everyone! Go to your homes, there will be no confrontation today. I will find out the truth and I will share it with you. I promise."

Her voice sounded quite regal and it had the desired effect, for the mob left – albeit begrudgingly. She shared a small smile with David – who was looking at her worriedly – and shook her head.

"You go. I'll talk to Regina alone. I can handle this."

She waited for the men to leave before turning to knock at the closed door once more.

"Regina! Open up, I know you're in here! Regina!"

The door swung open at what felt like her thousandth knock, accompanied by an irritated voice.

"Fine, would you stop yelling already?"

"Can I come in?"

Regina shot her a curious look before standing off to the side, allowing her to enter. Neither woman said word until both of them were seated on a comfortable couch, the silence between them stretching to awkward lengths. It was Regina who found her voice first.

"You're pregnant?"

Snow nodded and fear crept into her eyes.

"Can you… can you remember anything about the past year?"

Regina shook her head tiredly.

"The last thing I remember is casting the spell at the town line. It should have worked – something worked because Henry isn't here and…"

She trailed off and looked at her hands in her lap, biting down on her lip. Snow's eyes followed the trail of Regina's brown eyes and she frowned when she caught the woman staring at her hand – mesmerized.

"Regina? What's wrong?"
As if in a trance, Regina lifted her left hand, and after a few seconds of inspection, Snow gasped.

It was barely noticeable, but definitely there – a thin white line stood out on Regina's finger – a line that indicated a ring had been worn there until recently - an engagement or wedding ring. After ensuring that Snow had come to the same conclusion as her, Regina dropped her hand back on her lap and closed her eyes tiredly.

"It appears that I have a husband. Only I have no idea who he is or where to find him."