Author's note: I started writing this before "Quiet Minds" aired, but finished it after. I'm not happy with the direction the show is currently going in, honestly, but then all my Golden Queen is AU for the most part anyway. Also there is fluff, as usual.
xxxxxxx
Come Back To Me
He was alive, and to Regina, that was all that mattered.
It was also the reason that, as soon as she realized this fact: she turned and practically bolted back up the stairs out of the wicked witch's storm cellar.
"Regina! Where're you going?" Emma was fast on the Mayor's heels.
"I'm going to find him, that's where I'm going! He's on his own and who knows what that bitch did to him…" Regina's displeasure surfaced through her tone. "I'm going to make her pay for keeping him prisoner."
Emma reached out and clasped her arm. "Look, I get wanting to find him and quickly. He's the one person who might have some answers, but the witch could still be out here. I agree that we should look for him but you shouldn't go off on your own."
"I'll be fine," Regina protested.
"I don't doubt your abilities. But we need to keep cool heads about this. I know he…he means something to you," Emma had not been blind to the bond between Rumpelstiltskin and the Queen, but she had never considered just how deep it was.
Regina's features seemed to soften slightly. "He does…which is why I need to be the one to approach him."
"Then you will, but you'll have back-up," Emma gestured at herself, Charming, and Hook.
After a moment of contemplation, Regina nodded and the four unlikely comrades ventured into the woods to find Rumpelstiltskin.
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As far as the Dark One was concerned: only three things were important to him— he was alive, he was free, and he had to keep running, even though his injured leg was beginning to ache in protest.
He pushed onward, determined to find his way to Storybrooke. He figured that Zelena was already trying to track him down, so his current goal was to put as much space between the town and the farmhouse where he had been kept prisoner as possible.
The sun was beginning to set, which caused alarm to fill him. Eventually it would grow dark and then it would become more difficult to navigate through the woods.
Just as Rumpelstiltskin began to mentally consider what his back-up plan would be, he heard a voice calling his name.
The sorcerer drew to a halt, and then hesitatingly turned towards the source of the sound.
His heart leapt into his throat when his gaze fell upon Regina, who was standing only a few feet away from him.
Her dark eyes were glimmering with a mixture of concern and relief. "Rumpel? Do you know who I am?"
She got her answer when her mentor, without saying one word, launched towards her.
The next thing she knew: they had toppled to the ground, and then he showed just how grateful he was by claiming her mouth with his.
The couple embraced ardently, limbs entangling as they lost themselves momentarily to their emotions.
She would have been quite content to continue kissing on the forest floor, but a rather unamused voice interrupted the moment.
"Please tell me that the two of you won't be as bad as my parents when it comes to reuniting?"
Slowly, Regina pulled back and glanced, upside-down, at Emma. "He started it."
"I just came back from the dead!" Rumpelstiltskin protested.
Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Regina chuckled softly before gently pushing Rumpelstiltskin back so she could get up. "I suppose it's rather ill-timed."
The pawnbroker grumbled quietly to himself about unwanted intrusions, but he took Regina's hand when she offered it to help him up, and then laced their fingers together and made absolutely no move to let go.
Regina smiled fondly and squeezed his hand with hers before facing Emma again. "Now, let's get out of here."
Nobody was about to protest, and Regina was entirely happy to hold hands with the man she loved as they made their way back home.
The End