"It would seem that my son has taken quite the shine to you," Robin says as he looks up at her through his long, dark lashes from where he still kneels on the ground after Roland's brisk departure. He watches entranced as Regina's seemingly permanent mask of indifference falters for only an instant as she looks rather pleased to hear him say so.

"Well, he obviously has excellent taste," Regina retorts, mask safely back in place and her voice a teasing purr as she watches Robin leisurely rise to his full height from his squatted position.

With dimples fully on display, he responds through a chuckle as he walks toward her, "That he does, m'lady." As the words leave his lips, he moves swiftly taking her delicate hand in his own and placing the softest of kisses to her knuckles before releasing her hand to fall back down to her side. He can tell by the blush slowly creeping up Regina's neck that he's having his intended effect on her senses. And though she is teasing and smiling seductively in his direction (a sight that has him imagining that look being thrown his way during a much more intimate encounter), he can see it- the small glimmer of happiness their back and forth has incited doesn't quite reach her eyes. Those beautiful brown orbs that he so often longs to see glance his way are darkened by a hue of overwhelming loss that he has never seen fade.

She glances up into his eyes and nearly cringes at the knowing look they hold. "What?" she asks as she plies for the strength to resurrect her indifferece toward this man.

"Tell me," he responds simply, as if his words are not the riddle they truly are.

"Tell you what?" Regina responds just as simply, fighting the urge to buckle under the weight of his stare.

Robin averts his gaze to the ground and sighs deeply as he runs his fingers through his hair. He pauses a moment before piercing her with the intensity of his gaze once more and continues, "Tell me what hurts you so. What was lost to you?"

Regina attempts but fails to stifle the audible rush of air that escapes her lungs as her whole body deflates. She wavers for several moments before taking a deep breath, squaring her shoulders once more, and forcing her mouth into a tight, grim line. She also pretends to not see Robin notice all of this as she responds with a shaky voice barely above a whisper, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She turns and begins walking away so abruptly that Robin doesn't even register the movement until she is halfway across the little clearing in which they have been standing. "Regina!" he calls after her retreating form as his body launches forward to follow her.

Regina does not stop, barely registers the voice speaking her name from behind her. She is lost, lost in memory, lost in her sorrow. She stumbles over branches, underbrush, and even her own two feet as she wanders aimlessly through the forest. She doesn't even realize she's reached the river until a hand to her elbow stops her from barreling straight into the rushing rapids.

"Regina," Robin whispers her name so close to her ear that she can feel his warm breath carress her skin. Though she would never admit it aloud, his voice calms her, and the proximity of his warm body to her's has her falling back into him, shattering from the inside out though trying desperately to maintain her stoic demeanor.

She breathes deeply, trying to claw her way out of the sudden darkness that has taken hold of her heart. She whispers nonsensically, "I can't. He's gone, and I'll never see him again, and I don't know how to be without him."

"Who, Regina? Who is gone?" Robin stays near, hand still on her elbow, trying to understand her words through her gasping breaths.

She pauses a moment before responding softly, "Henry."

His name seems to open a flood gate she didn't realize existed, and tears begin to rush down her cheeks in quiet torrents of despair. She hiccups before speaking again, "My, my son." And that is all she can say, the only words left to her.

Robin's arms come to rest around her middle to steady her, and he squeezes her tightly as he whispers comforting words into her ear. He can feel her body shaking, wracked with a pain she cannot express, a pain he cannot fathom. And though he does not know the whole of what ails her, how she came to lose her child, he does know, can feel it somewhere deep within him, that she needs him, needs his strength.

They stand like this for long moments until her breathing begins to even out and the tremors from her silent sobbing begin to subside. She takes several deep breaths and lifts her hands, which have been grasping his around her middle as if they were a lifeline, to wipe at the tear tracks that mar her beautiful face. Slowly she looses his arms but does not allow him to drop them from around her as she turns in his embrace to face him. He can clearly see the pain in her dark eyes, but there is something else there too- gratitude. A gratitude he knows she cannot voice, but it is there. She leans into his frame once again as she rubs her hands up and down his biceps before hooking her arms around his neck. He knows she is shaken, broken, but her body is pressed against his own in all the best ways, and her lips are so enticing, he cannot help but glance down at them and wonder if they taste as good as they look.

Regina notices Robin's wayward glances at her mouth and knows she is moments away from getting what she desires. She needs this, the release, and who better than the handsome thief with his knowing eyes and flirtatious smile. Without even a moment of hesitation, she uses her arms to pull his head down towards her before attaching her lips to his in a closed-lipped but firm kiss.

They are a tangle of limbs as they fight their way back through the woods toward camp. Robin isn't sure when the sun went down or how he had failed to notice, but the forest around them has turned dark and uninviting. What surprises him more is the fact that he cannot seem to make himself care in the slightest about the day's swift departure, not when Regina's lips are working so effectively against his own, her mouth warm and inviting. He isn't sure how long they stood by the river, kissing and carressing, before they began to work back through the trees, but the going has been sluggish at best. They haven't spoken this entire time, both too lost in sensation and in each other to find words.

They stumble out into the open field where this adventure began. Regina takes Robin's hand in her's and leads him to the center of the field before all but shoving him to the ground where he stares longingly up at her. His patience is nonexistent, and as he pushes himself into sitting and is about to clamber back up into standing to lay claim to her mouth once more, but she unhurriedly lowers herself down into his lap.

Robin pulls her to him by her hips and anchors her body to his own before crushing his lips into her's once more. He lets out a breathy whisper of her name, "Regina?" a question he hopes he already knows the answer to. She meets his gaze but doesn't respond vocally, merely proceeds to take his hands in her own as she puts them on the front of her hips where her tunic meets her riding trousers and proceeds to lift her arms for him to remove the thin material from her body. He does so, achingly slowly, so as to give her an opportunity to stop this before it goes too far. She doesn't take the opportunity, and Robin's breath leaves him in a rush as her torso is revealed to him inch by glorious inch.

"You are exquisite," he breathes against her neck as he attaches his mouth to the junction between her neck and shoulder while his hands roam freely across the now bare skin of her back. She lets out a soft, little moan before pushing him away slightly to give herself the room to even the playing field by removing his shirt as well.

As soon as Robin's shirt is removed, Regina's mouth finds his once more as the skin to skin contact leaves them both breathless and wanting. The thought crosses Robin's mind that they aren't far from camp and anyone out for a late night stroll could easily spot them, but the thought is obliterated just as quickly as it appeared when Regina latches onto his lower back to hunker herself down in order to properly grind against him. She looks up at him as she does this, and his hands leave her hips to gently brush a few whisps of hair off of her fair face. It is then that she notices his forearm.

She gasps, "What did you do to your arm?" she questions as she takes the limb into her small hands in an attempt to assess the damage currently protected from view by a large white bandage.

"It is nothing to be concerned of, m'lady; merely an accident that is all but healed. I will be good as new in less than a fortnight, I assure you," he responds quickly, trying desperately to get back to their previous activities. His ache to have her has grown beyond any he has felt in a very long time.

She looks momentarily unconvinced, but she seems to accept his answer, because she releases her hold on his arm and hunkers herself down against him once more and begins to slowly rock her hips against his own. He groans deep as her hands slide down his torso to find the laces of his trousers before beginning to steadily untie them. Once the laces are untied his want for her springs free, and she takes him into her hand and begins lazily pumping him up and down. When his need to feel her has grown too strong, he expertly lifts her slightly and flips her underneath him onto the soft grass of the clearing. She gasps, but when he looks into her eyes to make sure he hasn't hurt her, he sees blown pupils filled with raw desire.

He attaches his lips to her mouth for a solid kiss before using them to mark every inch of skin he can reach on his travels toward his ultimate goal. He bites down on her clavicle as he leans his weight on his right arm and uses his left to find the laces to the riding pants she wears. He undoes every lace in record time as he continues his path down her body with his lips. He then rocks himself up onto his knees in order to slowly remove her trousers.

As he does so, he realizes what had somehow previously escaped his notice. She isn't wearing any small clothes underneath her outerwear. As he removes her pants, his view of her skin is not impeded by any undergarments of any kind, and he growls deep in his throat. After the final barrier between her skin and his own is removed, he leans down to pounce on her once more, but she places her hands on his chest to hault his movements.

"While you're up there, you might as well remove your's as well, Robin. It seems only fair," she says as she smirks up at him. He grumbles a little as he does as asked and stands to remove the remainder of his own attire. He does so as quickly as he possibly can before practically diving back into her, the press of her silky skin against his own is maddening. He kisses her to the point of breathlessness and then stares deeply into her eyes as his fingers move down her torso and toward the source of her need for him. He finds her need wet and wanting as he carresses her folds before entering her with two fingers. He pumps in and out of her and feels the hushed moans she releases go straight to his own need. She moans louder as his fingers find her swollen clit and begin to rub over it in tight, stiff circles.

His need for her has grown exponentially, to the point he can no longer stand it. He removes his fingers from her heat only to place his hand around his own need and guide it toward her's. He enters her slowly, easily, and groans at the feel of her tight and wet around him. As he enters her, she moans softly and pulls her knees up off of the ground toward her chest. Once he is all in, he pauses a moment to let her adjust around him. He attaches their lips in a fervent kiss before he begins moving in and out of her, her hips rocking to meet his on every thrust. They find a rhythm, and he begins pumping in to her faster and faster until they are both a mess of hushed moans and whispered praises.

He finds a spot that has her writhing every time he hits it, so he begins hitting it square on with all the force his hips can achieve. He can feel her walls begin to tighten around him, and he knows he is near the edge as well. A few more pumps in and out, and her back arches toward him off the ground and her mouth forms a silent "O" as her body launches her off the edge and into ecstacy. As soon as he sees her body arch, he feels himself let go, and he tumbles immediately after her into the abyss.

It takes several moments for them to come down from the high. But once they do, he slowly pulls out of her and then rolls to lie on his back, pulling her half on top of him in the process. She attempts to pull away, but he wraps his arms around her, rubbing up and down her back sweetly until she relaxes against him.

There is silence between them for several drawn out moments before she speaks, "What are we doing?"

Robin doesn't look down at her, instead keeping his eyes trained on the beauty of the night sky, "I'm lying in a field enjoying nature in all her glory. What are you doing?"

She chuckles against him. It's a light, girlish sound he never expected from her.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she responds, "but whatever this is, I find I quite like it."

Robin leans his head down to place a kiss on her forehead before lying back in the grass. She sighs a contented little sigh and burrows further into his warmth. And they lie there, holding one another and memorizing the night sky.