Walking out of the diner, Regina wandered down the street wishing that the ground would just open up and swallow her already. If there was ever any doubt that villains didn't get happy endings, she got her proof with the arrival of Marian Loxley. She absently wondered if this was what it felt like to get your heart crushed. If it was, she thought she should reconsider her chosen mode of murder. No one deserved this amount of pain. Well, no one except her.
She walked without thought to destination, but when she looked up, she laughed bitterly. Of course she would wander to their spot. In the past few weeks she had come here a number of times seeking solitude and then help and then love. Now, when she needed all of those things, she found herself once again staring at the familiar fallen log.
Despite everything, she took a seat, stupidly hoping that he would come looking for her. A voice that sounded very much like a mixture of Rumple and her mother began to taunt her. Reminding her that yet again she was being left the moment someone better came along. No one really wanted her. She always was and always would be a disappointment.
As she sat arguing with the voices, she didn't notice the temperature dropping. She felt numb. Not even her phone vibrating in her pocket for the fifteenth time could draw her from her inner demons. She was waiting. He would come. He had to come, or what was the point?
Time passed, snow collecting in her hair and around her feet, but still she felt nothing. If she let herself feel, then it would be worse than Daniel's death. Robin had been her second chance. He was the first man since Daniel to see the real her, and if he chose to leave her… Well, then all hope would be lost forever.
Still the voices haunted her, rehashing every failure and every flaw. At some point, she stopped arguing with them. There was no point. She had failed everyone, even her precious Henry had chosen his real mother over her.
She didn't hear it when a twig snapped a few feet away. She was too busy humming and covering her ears to keep the voices away. When a hand came to rest on her shoulder, she felt nothing. It was his voice that finally broke the spell.
"You are going to catch your death out here, Milady," he commented lightly, though in truth the blue tint on her lips was indeed disconcerting.
She blinked several times trying to process if the man in front of her was real.
"I think it is time we get you home," Robin offered, pulling her to her feet, but once she was standing, she took a stumbling step back.
"You're not real. This isn't real," she whispered, conjuring a fire ball in her palm.
"Regina? Can you put the fire out? It is really cold out here. We can talk about this once we are somewhere a little warmer."
"I'm fine," she replied in her usual tone, but her eyes were darting all around.
"I am sure that you are, but I am not accustomed to this weather, so if we could contin…"
"I'm waiting," she interrupted.
"For what?" Robin asked cautiously.
"You shouldn't be here," she said, taking a step forward and running her fingers up his neck. "Why are you here?"
"I came looking for you," he explained. "Henry was worried when you left the diner without say goodbye. When you didn't answer your phone, we decided that we had better make sure you got home alright, and I suppose it is a good thing we did. Though, I think I am the only person who would have thought to look for you here."
"I needed some… space," she mumbled, her hands still stroking his neck as if to prove to herself that he was really there.
"Well, I hope you have met your need for solitude, because I really think it is time we be getting you home now," Robin tried again, this time putting his arm around her to led her out of the forest. He almost had her back to the main road, when she twirled gracefully out of his arm.
"Your wife," she said as if the thought had just struck her. "Where is your wife?"
"Marian is at Granny's with Roland and Little John," Robin answered moving to lead her again, but again she stepped back.
"I'm fine," she insisted, staring down the road toward town. "You should go. She will be wondering where you are."
"Surely you do not think I would just leave you here. I could not forgive myself if something happened to you out here in the cold."
"I don't feel cold, just tired," she argued, taking a seat on the side of the road. "I think I will stay here and rest a bit…"
"Regina, be sensible. You are in a dress and it is well below freezing," Robin tried to reason with the stubborn woman.
"I just need to rest my eyes," she mumbled, slowly starting to lay down, but Robin got to her first. He pulled her to her feet, eliciting a soft whine, before finally just scooping her into his arms.
"Time for bed, my dear," he whispered into her hair, which tickled his chin. It wasn't until she was in his arms that he realized how truly cold she was. The fact that she didn't put up a fight, but simply wrapped her arms around his neck and went to sleep was extremely troubling. Knowing that the elements were quite unforgiving, he quickened his pace.
When he got to the mansion, Henry was waiting with Snow, Charming and baby Neal. Apparently, Emma was down at the station, organizing a search party, but Charming called her when Robin turned up with the missing mayor in his arms. Snow Immediately went about tending her step mother, removing her outer clothes, while Charming stoked the fire and made cocoa for everyone.
"Is she going to be alright?" Henry asked nervously.
"I think she will be fine, but have Grandpa call Dr. Whale just in case," Snow tried to reassure the boy.
Dr. Whale came and went, promising them that she would make a full recovery. Emma stopped by for a bit, before all the Charmings headed home together, leaving only Robin. He promised Henry that he would watch over the boy's mother while she slept. He called over to Granny's and apologized to Marian, but he knew that his place was with Regina. He knew that after everything, he needed to be there to prove he was real when she woke open.
He carried her up to bed, and sat up all night waiting for signs of wakefulness, but it wasn't until sunrise that his patience was rewarded. As brilliant rays of light streamed in through the ornate glass doors of her balcony, her eyelids began to flutter. Before he could say a word, she sat straight up, hand flying to her chest as she gasped for air.
"Easy there love," he soothed, his hand rubbing gentle circles in her back. "It's alright, everything is going to be alright."
She blinked hard, looking over her shoulder, before tucking herself into his arms. "Was it all a dream?" she asked, praying that it was.
Robin winced, but he knew that he had to tell her the truth, "Marian is back," he admitted watching her pull away just as quickly as she had come to him, "but that doesn't mean that what we have is over. There are some things we need to work out, but Regina, I love you."
Regina wanted to make a snarky comment and push him away as she had always done, but something in heart stopped her. He had come for her. He was choosing her, and though the road might be a little rough, but as she sat in the glow of his love, she knew it was better to feel than to be numb.
"I love you too, thief," she grinned, leaning in for a true love's kiss.
A/N: Ok, so I know this is a bit OCC, but A) I was thinking she would go to their place and get caught in the storm, and B) symptoms of hypothermia are clumsiness, mumbling or slurring, confusion, poor decision making, and drowsiness. Anyway, remember to leave comments and thanks for reading. Also I am working on an update for I miss you, hopefully it will be up tomorrow.