The cardboard box tumbled to the ground, landing with a loud thud.
"Dammit," Robyn cursed to herself as she descended the ladder. She hoped that nothing of value had been broken.
As she reached down to return the fallen objects to their home, her hand connected with a seemingly-plain, leather-bound book. She eyed the object carefully, debating whether or not it was one of her mother's dangerous, old spell books.
Deciding to take a risk and indulge her curiosity, Robyn opened the cover and gasped when her eyes came in contact with her mother's neat handwriting. She had thought all of her mother's works were already in her possession. Apparently, she was wrong.
The redhead traced her fingertips lightly over the woman's penmanship before flipping the page.
Unlike her mother's other journals, this one wasn't from the initial years of the First Dark Curse. If the beginning few pages were anything to go on, this diary was dedicated to the first time Regina came in contact with the prophesized savior, Emma Swan.
Ever since she found the book, Robyn had been unable to put it down, too enthralled with the story behind the story that started it all.
Robyn knew that her mother and the savior had been close, but the way Regina would write about her relationship with 'Miss Swan' had the girl thinking there was much more to the story than she ever knew about.
She read about the curse breaking, the team going to save Henry from Neverland, and Regina's year in the Enchanted Forest while Henry and Emma were away, which Robyn found exceptionally heart-breaking. After reading her mother's words, describing Hook's journey to bring back her family, Robyn knew the truth.
She closed the journal and did the most logical thing she could think of: she drove to Emma's place.
The girl waited patiently outside the older woman's house until the door opened before her.
"Can I help you?" Emma questioned with a furrowed brow. Even when Regina was alive, the two hadn't spent all that much time together.
"Yes, um…may I come in? I have something to talk to you about," Robyn responded in a nervous tone.
Despite the girl's awkwardness, Emma opened the door wider to allow her entrance, and then led them to her living room.
"What's this about?"
Robyn pulled the red-leather book from her satchel and then handed it over to the woman.
Taking it hesitantly into her own hands, Emma opened the front cover and her eyes swelled with tears.
"Why did you bring me this?" she gritted out between clenched teeth.
Robyn was taken aback by the woman's harsh tone, thinking she'd be happy to see something that belonged to her old friend. "I-I…" she trailed off, unable to form words.
The blonde jumped to her feet and faced away from the girl. "I don't know why I even thought letting you in here was a good idea."
"Aunt Em," Robyn begged, grabbing the discarded book from the coffee table. "If you'd just let me–"
"Let you what?" Emma snapped, turning to face her with a harsh glare. "Let us be friends? Let me somehow replace what you took away from us?" Weak hands flew to the savior's mouth.
"You blame me for my own parents' death?" Robyn breathed out, unbelieving.
'Well, there's no use in denying it now,' Emma thought bitterly to herself.
"If it wasn't for you, she wouldn't've been on that plane," the blonde pointed out.
"I was graduating from college!" the girl shrieked. "Even if I tried to talk her out of coming, you know she would've found a way to be there."
Emma knew Robyn was telling the truth, but she needed someone to blame for the tragedy other than herself.
During that time, Emma was still upset with the fact Regina was with Robin. The woman had invited her to come along for the ceremony, but Emma had said 'no'.
She could've–
"You couldn't have stopped it from happening, either," Robyn commented, having always been good at readying people. "If you went, you would've died, too, and that helps no one."
Emma let out a deep sigh.
"Why did you even bring that to me?" she referenced to the book in the redhead's hand.
"I thought you'd like to hear what my mother truly thought of you," Robyn responded earnestly.
"From when I first came to Storybrooke and tried to steal her son from her?" Emma let out a mirthless snort. "I don't need a book to tell me that."
"I think you'd be surprised."
The blonde scanned the red-headed girl's face but saw no signs of dishonesty.
When Robyn handed the book back out to Emma, the woman brought a shaky hand up to retrieve it.
"I think my work here is done," the girl announced with a grin. She stared at Emma for a moment longer before adding, "I really hope that this can be the beginning of a new start for us." When the blonde open her mouth to retort, she clarified, "I don't need another mother, or an aunt. But maybe…maybe we could both use another friend?"
"You think we can be friends?"
Robyn offered her a small shrug. "I think that's what my mother would want. And I don't think that it's not possible." The girl casted the blonde a hopeful smile before showing herself out the door.
Once Robyn was out of sight, Emma flipped the book back open to the first page.
Ever since Regina's passing, Emma had been pushing aside and denying all feelings toward the woman. She had even gone as far as to alienate the woman's child, so as to not be faced with her grief.
It's time, Emma decided.
And, with this book–this gift that had been given to her–Emma hoped that she'd finally be able to heal. And–who knows?–maybe she'll gain a new friend in the process.