Granny's diner was one of the stranger and more overwhelming places in Storybrooke; the constant noise of people chatting about god knows what, the clattering of dishes that echoed from the kitchen, orders barked from Granny at Ruby to hurry and serve the customers faster, and the ringing of the bell that hung above the door as people poured into the small business in a constant stream. Not to mention the yellow glaring of the lights that hung over head – how did someone manage to bottle sunlight and hang it from the ceiling?
Marian shifted in her seat awkwardly, trying to relax as she leaned back in the booth she occupied alone. She stared at the water across from her that waited for Robin (she didn't know what else to order him, everything on the menu was so strange), and drummed her fingers on her own glass, sliding them across the moisture on the sides of the cup.
Eventually Robin pushed through the front door, Marian looking up at the sound of the soft dinging of the bell, and he slid into his seat across from her, pouring out apologies for his tardiness after dropping Roland with the Merry Men. She waved him off, telling him she was fine and that Granny had been hovering to make sure she was comfortable. They perused their menus quietly, and Marian noticed Robin's constant fidgeting, hands dancing from his menu to his lap, up to adjust his scarf before moving back to his menu.
He was uncomfortable, unsure what to do sitting with his wife, and a pang of guilt pinched Marian's stomach. He'd forgotten what it was like to be with her, and it was her own fault, for risking her safety all those years ago and standing up to the Queen, for being here now after he had mourned her loss and moved on.
He'd moved on. With the queen. The Evil Queen.
Anger flooded her momentarily, but she pushed it down instantly, not letting herself dwell on Robin's choice in lover. He's a smart man, and his honour has always been his most profound quality. Surely he wouldn't fall in love with a monster like the Evil Queen, and he certainly wouldn't let his son near someone who was so terrible. He must be right, she can't be the same woman who had condemned her to death without batting an eye. She can't be….
"Marian?"
She looked up quickly, unaware that she had lost herself in thought, and found Robin gazing at her curiously. Granny was standing above her waiting, and she quickly ordered a sandwich, which seemed normal enough to try eating, and watched the older woman nod and make her way to the kitchen briskly. Marian laughed to herself; for an older woman, Granny certainly could move.
Marian's eyes scanned the room as they sat quietly again, and she took in the people around her. They were all dressed so strangely (She herself hadn't found something new to wear yet, and was still in her dress and cloak form the Enchanted Forest), and very few faces were familiar. She and Robin had lived in a small village in Sherwood far outside of the Queen's castle, and very few people found reason to travel once the Queen's tirades had started to push closer to their home, so she had found little reason to leave and meet people once she had settled down with Robin and Roland. Still, she searched amongst the sea of faces for anyone she knew. Perhaps the Queen had killed everyone in her village after she had taken Marian…
A ringing of a bell signalled another person pushing through the front door, and Marian inhaled sharply as her eyes fell on the Queen – no, Regina. That was her name; Robin had insisted that she wasn't the queen here, though she was still in charge of the town. She had a title…. May… something? May-owner?
Regina looked flustered and irritated, carrying a large stack of papers in her arms as she fell into a booth near the door, dropping her pile on the table with a thud and a sigh.
Marian glanced back at Robin who was twiddling his thumbs awkwardly, unaware of Regina's presence, and she asked him about Roland to distract him, letting him lose himself in his story about their son's time in this world while she watched the woman who took everything from her.
Regina rolled her neck and slumped over the table, rubbing her palms on her eyes before spreading a few of the papers from her pile across the table in front of her. She pulled out a pen and started writing on several documents at once, a tight scowl on her face as she rushed through her work. Eventually Granny stalked over to her and Regina looked up, her brow furrowing further, and ordered something that earned a snarky comment from Granny, causing the Queen to roll her eyes as the older woman walked away.
It was strange watching the Queen in such a normal setting – well, as normal as a diner in this strange world can be. She had always seemed like a powerful force of nature, almost too powerful to be real until she had come face to face with her. She had been intimidating and terrifying, wild eyes and a sharp grin as she took lives away, tight over-the-top clothes and a powerful demeanour, though Marian had refused to make her aware of her fear.
And now here she was, sitting 10 feet away from the great and terrible Evil Queen, who was pouring herself into paperwork, rubbing the back of her neck as if it ached terribly, irritation and sadness tugging at her eyes, and no grand and elaborate outfits to show off her power. Here she was just another person. She blended in, no one paid any attention to her presence, and that was startling enough to Marian. If this had been back home, everyone would have scattered as soon as she walked in. Or grabbed the closest weapon.
Marian quickly realized she really did stand out. Seeing her in this world, without tight hairstyles and dramatic make up, she was a stunning woman. Her dark hair fell in loose waves to her shoulders, her skin a soft olive tone, her cheekbones were prominent, her lips painted the colour of blood (pfft, figures), and her eyes were dark and mysterious. Perhaps Marian could see what attracted Robin to her in the first place, and jealousy replaced the simmering anger inside of her.
Regina leaned back in her seat, her eyes lifting and locking onto Marian's, making her freeze, her stomach jumping to her throat. Robin could still be heard talking about Roland, something about ice cream (whatever that was), and Marian watched as Regina's eyes fell on the back of his head, and then quickly back to her. She looked…. Broken. As if she was in agony watching them.
Regina frowned and dropped her eyes, and Marian noticed how the other woman's jaw clenched and she shifted in her seat. She seemed to be thinking rapidly, looking up to the kitchen door and down at the papers in front of her. Quickly she started gathering the papers back into a pile, and something akin to guilt hit Marian. Regina was leaving because of her, ignoring the food she already ordered.
The Evil Queen was running from her. What the….
The front door opening next to her interrupted Regina's hurried actions, and a young boy, older than Roland, ran over to her excitedly. She looked up at him and smiled softly, her eyes warming at the sight of the boy.
"Who's that?" Marian asked quietly, cutting Robin's very long story off. His brow knitted as he turned to follow Marian's gaze, and he gasped slightly as he realized who she was looking at.
"Oh um…" he moved awkwardly, rubbing his hand along the back of his head. "That's Henry. Regina's son."
"She has a son?" Marian couldn't believe it. A child didn't seem to fit into the persona of the Evil Queen.
"Well yes," Robin said softly, "But she adopted him. She didn't give birth to him. Emma is his birth mother." He nodded towards the blonde woman that had followed the boy – Henry, she had to put names to faces - into the diner. Henry had pushed Regina into the booth reluctantly, and Emma slid into the seat across from them. Regina seemed more comfortable in an instant; she beamed at her son as he babbled to her quickly as children often did. She clearly loved him dearly.
Robin frowned at Marian, and suggested that they get their food to-go, but Marian insisted that she was fine, neglecting to mention that she was moved by the sight of mother and son that she was witnessing. She asked Robin to explain what "adopting" was, and listened as he told her how Regina had raised Henry since he was a few weeks old, and how Emma came to Storybrooke when Henry was 10 (he was 12 now, she noted) and broke the Queen's curse that had frozen time.
She became interested in what had happened between Regina and Emma, and Robin seemed to relax as he talked so she asked more questions, learning all she could about the chaos of Storybrooke, and the woman that Robin had fallen for.
Eventually their food arrived, and Robin continued his stories while they ate, Marian stealing glances over at the other family across the room. She found herself feeling sorry for Regina – how strange - as she learned about a woman whose son was taken away from her, who learned to fear her, who thought she didn't love him. She ached for her as a fellow mother, but her second-hand pain was softened as she watched Regina, her smile never faltering as she looked at her son.
She could understand how Regina changed through Robin's story, how she learned to love and to forgive. Marian decided to ask how Robin had met Regina, since he had never been to Storybrooke until quite recently, and he blushed, insisting that he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She shook her head and told her it was what she wanted, that she wanted to understand. So he inhaled deeply and told her everything, how he'd saved her in the Enchanted Forest, how she had lost Henry (which made Marian's heart ache again), and how they ended up in Storybrooke together.
At some point in Robin's story, more of Regina's family had poured into the cramped restaurant, and Marian noticed that she recognized a face.
"That's Snow White." Marian stated, awe clear in her voice as she interrupted Robin.
Snow White, the woman the Evil Queen spent years trying to destroy, the woman Marian had given her life for trying to protect, sat across from Regina, smiling brightly at her and Henry.
Robin turned and smiled, "Yes, she and Regina have certainly buried the hatchet. Snow is Henry's grandmother."
"Oh right, because Emma is her daughter." Marian had a hard time understanding how Snow and Emma were the same age, but she supposed that time-freezing curses would make such things complicated. "So… Regina is Henry's mother, but also his great grandmother?"
Robin froze momentarily, his eyes shifting back and forth before nodding. "I suppose you're right. Step great grandmother… strange." He looked up at Marian, and they both chuckled lightly, any tension between them disappearing.
She listened as Robin quickly explained what happened between the Princess and the Queen, sleeping curses and dark curses and dead mothers being the most alarming of the stories, but seeing them together in person, without trying to kill one another, was quite the sight to see.
Marian supposed it should be strange that she was relaxing with Robin as he talked about his other lover, but she decided that she needed this, and so did he. She wanted to understand his life, to try and see where she could fit into it again.
They chatted quietly, Marian asking questions and Robin answering to the best of his knowledge, while the diner buzzed around them. The music playing softly from the large music box (she knew it had another name, though she couldn't remember it to save her life) that was tucked in the back corner of the diner constantly changed, and the next song came out suddenly louder than the last, singing something about not stopping believing, though Marian paid no attention to it.
"Henry!" Marian heard Regina say harshly, louder than she meant to, drawing a few people's attention as Regina looked around the room nervously. "That's a little loud." Robin made a point of ignoring Regina, and Marian looked around the room to find Henry standing near the music box.
"No one's complaining." Henry shrugged and smiled, testing his mother.
Regina raised her eyebrows, and for a moment Marian wasn't sure how she'd respond, worried that the Evil Queen was brewing beneath the surface. Surprising her, Regina shook her head and said "I guess you don't want to stay for dessert if you're going to get us kicked out of Granny's with your racket."
"Oh I'd never kick you out for Journey," Granny hollered from behind the counter, "Queen, on the other hand…" Some people around the diner laughed, unable to hide their eavesdropping, and Marian noticed Robin focusing intently on his meal, redness flaring across his cheeks.
"Well that's too bad. I'd like to see you try," Regina quipped, arching an elegant eyebrow at the old woman across the room.
"Oh don't try me girl, I keep the cross bow behind the counter at all times."
" Well I hope your aim is better than your lasagne." Regina grinned and Marian couldn't believe her eyes. Granny had threatened to shoot her, and Regina was smiling. She turned back to her son and insisted that he turn the music down, please.
Henry rolled his eyes – oh Regina definitely raised him - and turned to go back to the music box, a smile on his lips. Regina smiled as she watched him go, and shook her head again before returning to her conversation with the Charmings. For a moment, Marian is impressed. She never took Regina as one to scold her son in such a soft way. And to toss threats around so playfully… Perhaps she was giving the Evil Queen too much power over Regina. Perhaps the Evil Queen and Regina Mills weren't the same person after all.
The door of the diner opens almost silently now, as the music was still louder than it had been before Henry had changed the song, and Marian saw a small head covered in dark curls bounce through the front door, followed by several men. Roland didn't notice his parent's tucked against the opposite wall of the diner, but he did notice Regina, who was leaning out of her booth watching Henry.
"GINA!" He shrieked, and threw himself in front of her. She sat up startled, and looked panicked at the small boy glowing up at her. He climbed into her booth and plopped himself on her lap while she was too surprised to move. "I missed you! Where have you been?"
Marian felt a flutter of jealousy flare inside her, but as Regina looked over Roland's mess of curls at locked eyes with Marian, panic flooding her face in an instant, the anger calmed. Still she felt it tingle beneath the surface, but she pushed it away. This wasn't Regina's fault.
She watched as Regina looked down at Roland, pain filling the other woman's face again as she shook her head, talking quietly to a bouncing Roland. He calmed as she spoke, clearly upset by what she was telling him.
"But whhhyyyyy!" Roland whined loudly, and Marian criticised his lack of manners wordlessly. Regina seemed to do the same, hushing him quickly as a look of guilt passed over the toddlers face.
Roland quickly hugged Regina, wrapping his little arms around her neck tightly, and Regina's body sagged. Marian could swear she noticed a stray tear slip down the other woman's cheek.
She looked over to Robin, who was making a valiant attempt at ignoring his son with his former lover, though Marian knew he was aware of what had just happened; he had looked up at Roland's loud entrance just as she had. He looked up at her then, and the sadness she found in his eyes stung at her heart. He looked as broken as Regina did, as if his world was falling to pieces before him and he could do nothing to stop it.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, "I should go get Roland." He moved to stand up, but Marian reached over and took his hand in hers.
"It's okay. I'm not upset." She smiled softly at him, though not quite able to have it reach her eyes, her own pain and anger still simmering inside her.
Soon Roland slid off of Regina's lap as she pushed him towards his parents, though Marian didn't miss the way she pressed a soft kiss to his head as he left, and once again she met Regina's gaze over the toddler's head. Marian decided to smile and nod to her, surprising Regina. Her eyebrows shot up and she leaned back in her seat. But slowly her face softened and she smiled sadly back.
Roland threw himself into the space next to Robin just as Henry was returning to his seat next to Regina, and both adults were instantly preoccupied with their children. Marian bounced her eyes between the small Mills family and the small Locksley family, her mind racing. Finally she inhaled deeply before stately firmly, "I want to talk to her."