A/N Hello Oncers! After tonight's episode, I feel this had to be done asap, and here we are! Something tells me that these two are in for a bumpy ride! So now, I am proud to present;

The Man with the Lion Tattoo

She looked at the handle of the door for a second before quickly grabbing the handle of the door and thrusting it open. She stood gazing on the man who was raising his glass to a group of other men. The man with the lion tattoo. She smiled a little bit, but then her thoughts suddenly changed. "What if he doesn't like me? What if he knows who I am? No. This isn't right." She panicked a little, her eyes darting around for a moment before her arm moved on its own accord, slamming the door shut.

Inside the pub, many heads turned as the entire room shook from the door being slammed shut. The man turned around in his chair and put down his drink staring at the door. "Don't worry about it Robin!" one of the men said. "Here," he pushed Robin a plate with a loaf of bread on it, "have a bite to eat!"

"What happened?" he said curiously glaring back to the two men who sat with him.

"Just some dame," the other man said stuffing a piece of bread into his mouth. His next words were muffled, "probably went to the wrong place."

Robin shook his head and stood up quickly, grabbing his cloak that sat next to him and began to hurry out the door. "Where are you going!"

He turned around, slinging the cloak over his shoulder. "Helping a damsel in distress." He continued out the door of the pub into the cool night air. He glanced around the empty streets where no person was found. He walked around until he saw a flash of white moving from behind a stack of barrels. As he observed, the figure was a woman, who seemed to be crying. He slowly walked around the barrels. "Anything wrong, madam?"

The woman jumped a bit, relinquishing a purple spark that was held between her hands. "I... I... I don't know." she said looking down at her shoes.

"There must be something wrong that makes a woman so beautiful cry." He paused for a moment as she collected herself, wiping away a tear with a handkerchief. "Here," he said holding out his hand. "Let me help you up."

She shyly held out her hand before looking up to see that the man was adorned with a tattoo. He was the man she was meant to be with. She gasped a little bit before blushing.

He pulled her up from her seat on one of the over turned barrels. She looked up a bit, and their gazes locked. She was beautiful, even with her make up smugged from her tears. Her dark eyes were shining with youth, her hair had the most perfect ringlets, even her presents was regal. For some reason, the woman looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "I am sorry, we haven't been properly introduced," he bowed down a little before placing a kiss on her hand, which he was still holding, "my name is Robin, Robin Hood."

She blushed again, his simple gesture was that of many of the nobles that her mother had brought to court her before her marriage to the king, but this was different. She felt that this was right. "And my name is Regina."

"It is a pleasure to meet you M'lady. So, Regina, what seems to be troubling you."

She chuckled a little bit. "Oh the world." The man nodded, indicating his attention and she continued. "My life has been a wreck, and I think you would want to be spared from the details."

"I understand. I went through a few bumps in my life, but it all gets better in the end as long as you keep your friends close."

"Friends..." she trailed off. "I have only one friend, but she has already done far too much for me already." She wished to tell him of the pixie dust that had shown the way to him, but she held her toung.

"Come now, you must have more then one friend." He said reassuringly.

She laughed again, letting go of his hand and beginning to walk away a bit. "I was never aloud to have friends as a child. My mother forbade it. And now that I am an adult, I am still restricted by who I can see. My husband tells me I have to stay put, it is a wonder I am even out here."

He followed behind her. "Well, I can be your friend," She turned around quickly, and he found himself with a stupid grin stuck on his face, "if you want."

"Really?"

"Yes of course!" He turned around and headed back for the pub. "Come I will buy you a drink." She quickly followed behind him as he re-entered the pub.

The men looked curiously as Robin lead Regina to the table. The one finished stuffing a piece of half eaten bread in his mouth, dropping crumbs onto the table. Regina looked on with a brief look of disgust before casting her eyes away. "Looks like Robin's got himself a girl friend!" the other said as he raised his mug to take another drink.

"She is just a friend in need." he said before waving down a waitress. "Two of the usual!" he yelled to her. Regina sat glancing around at the establishment. She had never been in a commoners eating establishment, let alone a pub. The sights were quite different than she had seen in her days. The people ate with their hands, dropping food everywhere on the floor. The occasional rat or mouse would scurry across the dirty floor. This place was truly quite nasty, but as Tinkerbelle had told her, the man next to her was to be her soul mate. And if he wished to be here, then she would be here also.

The woman, who she had noticed was wearing awfully suggestive clothing, dropped off two mugs of a suspicious liquid at the table. Robin tossed her a few coppers and she left to go to another group of men. "Here," his voice called her out of a daze. He was pushing one of the mugs to her. "Its quite tasty."

"What is it?" she said peering into the mug curiously.

"It is a beer. I presume you have had one before."

"No never." she said sniffing the liquid. It's smell was not among the most pleasant.

"I am sure you husband has had some in the house before." He said shooing away a rat with his boot.

She looked up into his eyes. "I have never been very close with my husband. I don't even know where he is now, let alone what drinks he prefers."

"Well," he said lifting his glass, "Here is to friendship!" She clinked her mug against his and quickly swallowed most of the liquid. It was true, the drink was quite good. Very good in fact. "Do you like it?"

She poured the rest of the glass into her mouth. "Yes, it is, quite different from what I am used to."

"Then how about another?"

They drank late into the night, until the sun was threatening to come up over the horizon. "Regina, we must be getting you home." He said putting down his mug for the final time. She stared up at him in a drunken stair. She had never had so much alcoholic beverage in her life before. She felt a bit lightheaded and very happy. It was an unusual sensation. "We can escort you there."

"I don't want to go home." She said like a grumpy child before standing up. "My husband will be home, and then I will never be able to leave." She started to pout with the thought of having to go home and to also see that infuriating child. The kingdoms beloved angel Snow White. Just the name now made her want to cringe.

He looked at her and then looked at the men. "Then why don't you come with us?" He said quickly.

"Robin!" The one man yelled. "She is a woman!"

"We have never had a woman among our ranks before!" The other added after.

"Then she will become the first. What do you say Regina. Do you want to come with us?" he said with a smile.

A large smile appeared on her face as she caught a glimpse of a little green light appear out the window behind him. Thank goodness for that fairy. She had been granted her freedom. She nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes, yes absolutely."

He smiled along with her and grabbed her hand to help her up. "Then by all means, lets go!"

A/N To be continued?