So, I finally got around to write the first chapter for my new OQ story. There will be a lot of angst in this one but they will have their happy ending at the end. :-)

Oh, and this is a continuation of the universe I created in 'Fated Love' and 'Just Let Go'. It diverges from canon since in my stories Robin and Regina were together far longer than on the show before Marian comes back from the dead. It's not necessary to have read the two prequels but it makes it easier to understand Regina and Robin's relationship in this story.

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just this story.

Chapter 1

Finally.

Finally she was at home and could close the door behind her. Finally she could stop keeping the fake smile on her lips. Finally she could let the hurt show.

She had lost him. Again she had lost a man he loved. But this time not to death but to another woman. To his wife.

She balled her hands into fists, fighting to keep the rage in check and not let the magic take over. She would trash the whole house if she would let go of the control.

But this time she had Henry and she wouldn't let herself get drawn back to the dark side. She wouldn't. Her heart might be broken but this time the dark magic would not overpower her. Not again.

She wanted to blame someone for this mess, wanted to blame Emma. But the pirate had been right as he had pulled her aside and told her the whole story. She would have killed Marian, she would have killed Robin's wife and she couldn't even remember her, didn't know that she had sentenced her to death, that she had been the reason Roland had to grow up without his mother.

They had been villains once but they had changed.

Emma shouldn't have tampered with the past but she did. To save a woman's life and no matter how much she was hurting right now, she couldn't bring herself to full-out hate the other woman for bringing Marian back.

She might not belong in their time and no one knew what consequences it would bring but she belonged to Roland. She belonged to Robin.

She had to let them go. She had to close her heart off and deal with the pain on her own. She would not show anyone how much it had affected her. She would not let people see the pain.

"Mom?"

Henry's voice came from the hall and a sad smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. The Charmings had probably sent him after her, to make sure she didn't plunge back into the dark side, didn't return to be the Evil Queen. She did understand their concerns even though she didn't appreciate that they doubted she could stay good without Henry's help.

"In here."

Henry walked into the kitchen, coming slowly closer, his eyes searching hers and her heart squeezed in her chest as she saw the worried expression on his face. He was too damn perceptive for his age.

"Are you okay, mom?"

"I am." She replied softly, pulling him into his arms and pressing her face against the top of his head. "I am now."

She still had him. She still had Henry.

-/-

He was lying in bed, his wife in his arms and he knew he should be happy and he was. He had Marian back. The mother of his child had risen from the death.

He should be ecstatic. But he wasn't.

His heart was ripped in two directions, one half remembering the love he shared with his wife, the duty he had, the promises he made. She was his wife. He had sworn to protect her, to stay by her side in good times and in bad times.

But the other half of his heart was screaming with pain, the loss of Regina feeling as if someone was piercing a dagger through his heart and twisting it around. He was in love with her.

He was in love with Regina but married to Marian and he had no idea how to deal with his conflicting emotions.

She hadn't even talked to him back in the diner, avoided him like the plague. The shock about having Marian back had let him forget her for a few seconds but then he had looked over Marian's shoulder, their eyes had met and a chill had run down his spine, a sharp pain ripping through him as he had immediately realized what consequences Marian's surprise appearance would mean for Regina and him.

He was married. To another woman. He had a child with her.

But he had wanted to go over to her and pull her in his arms, tell her that everything would be okay. But it would have been empty platitudes anyway. Because nothing was okay. Nothing would be fine.

He had come to pass with the death of his wife, he had opened his heart up again, had fallen in love with Regina almost immediately, loving all of her, all the parts, the evil and the good ones. He knew what she had done as Evil Queen but that was in the past and he had seen the second chance in her, a new beginning for both of them.

But now everything was lying in shattered pieces in front of him.

His wife had been going on and on about how they could live with Regina side by side and not want to murder her for all the things she had done and he had wanted to defend her, wanted to defend the woman he loved, the words already at the tip of his tongue but then Marian had told him that the Evil Queen would have killed her when Emma hadn't rescued her and his heart had grown heavy as the realization had hit him that the woman he loved now had also been responsible for the death of his wife.

This was all a mess. A mess he had no idea how to sort out. But one thing was for certain. No matter which choice he made, staying with his wife or staying with Regina, someone would get hurt. Someone he cared deeply about and he didn't know what to do.

His heart wanted him to jump up and run to her but his honor was telling him he couldn't do it. He was where he belonged, where he should be. Bound by promises he had made years ago. He was lying in bed with his wife and no matter how much he wished he could be somewhere else, he couldn't.

So he made his choice. Duty over heart.