Tilly had left Margot to handle checking them in at the Inn thinking that as long as the pair was stuck in a weird town in Main that they should at least get a decent dinner to make up for the mess this strange trip from Hyper Heights to Storybrooke, Main had made out of their first real date.
She'd just finished placing her order and slid into a booth to wait for it when the booth directly behind the blonde was filled. At first Tilly had kept her head down trying not to draw that much attention to herself after the amazed look she'd gotten from the waitress with red highlights in her dark colored hair. Apparently, they don't get a lot of newcomers in this town. No matter how short Tilly and her possible girlfriend intended to stay, and Tilly wasn't about to cause anymore gossip when she was just starting to get over the lies going around about her back in the Heights.
It was a happy giggle and a little hand fisting in her hair pulling on it with all the strength the newborn toddler possessed that had Tilly looking over her shoulder curiously to meet a pair of very familiar gray eyes that were bashfully hidden behind a light pink baby blanket as soon as they met Tilly's.
"Oh, sorry I'm about that. I thought she was still asleep." The man Tilly guessed was the baby's father giving they had the same stormy gray eyes commented when he noticed his daughter's actions. But as soon as he tried to untangle the tiny fists from Tilly's hair the baby let out a shrill shriek of a cry hugging herself across the back of the booths in earnest. "I'm incredibly sorry about this. She's never done anything like this before." Her father stammered still trying to pull his daughter back from the stranger.
"It's alright." Tilly assured him "Can….can I hold her?" she asked thinking fast as more and more eyes turned in their direction. So much for laying low.
The baby's father hesitated but soon gave up when his little girl stubbornly refused to let go of this woman and only nuzzled closer the more he tried to pull her away and carefully passed his still crying daughter over to the blonde watching every move she made intently.
The effect was immediate with the s little girl quieting as soon as Tilly had her nestled against her chest "That's quite a cry you've got little one." Tilly teased earning a giggling smile from the baby girl in her arms those beautiful stormy gray eyes still fixed on the ocean blue. One tiny hand fisting around the front of the red and black checkered shirt while the other held onto the edge of her baby blanket and her little head pillowed over Tilly's heart as the baby nuzzled into the circle of her arms dozing off to the song the blonde was whisper singing to her.
"She's never done anything like this before." Her father repeated in awe at everything that had just happened. He seemed to want to take the dozing baby away from the still humming blond but didn't follow up on the action the more he noticed how relaxed his daughter was in the woman's arms. "What's her name?" Tilly asked tucking the blanket more surely around resting girl's small frame absently rocking the sleeping baby as she looked up into meet her father's gaze.
The question brought out a rather sheepish smile from the scruffy bearded man as he rubbed at the back of his neck reminding Tilly rather strikingly of the way Margot gets when she's asked a question she's nervous about answering. "Her mother and I haven't given her one at the moment." He confessed reaching out to stroke his hand over the few strands of hair on his daughter's head when the baby fainted restlessly but quieted as soon as Tilly moved her back against her chest bringing back the sound of her heartbeat under the little girl's ear. "Well, what's your then?" Tilly asked unable to look away from the sleeping girl in her arms.
"Names Robin." He answered sparking a kind of Deja vu feeling deep in Tilly's jumbled mind.
'New Robin….so Nobin' she heard herself saying as her eyes held the same gray colored ones she was still staring into only to be followed by an annoyed sounding 'Yeah don't call me that' from a voice that if Tilly wasn't mistaken was Margot's.
But that was impossible they'd never had any kind of conversation like that one.
"Tilly." The distracted blonde answered trying to hide her laughter over the back and forth in her head as she shifted the sleeping baby to shake his outstretched hand. "Is that a lion?" Tilly asked noticing the tattoo on the arm of the hand she was still holding. "It's my family's coat of arms." Robin explained turned his arm to let her look at the image properly.
"Sorry to interrupt." The waitress who Tilly now knew was named Ruby thanks to her name tag whispered keeping her voice low to avoid waking the sleeping toddler. "You're order's ready." She told them holding up the bag with a friendly smile.
With a defeated node Tilly carefully passed the sleeping baby girl back to her father. "I'll see you again little one." She promised when those adorable gray eyes found hers and 'baby Nobin' as Tilly had taken to calling her in her head reached out for her again with a quivering lower lip. "My friend Margot and I are going to be in town for a while, so we're bound to run into each other again." she went on when the grabbing little hands kept reaching for her from her father's arms. "Here how about you be a good girl for your daddy and next time I find you I'll bring you a present?" Tilly bargained bringing a round of adored chucking laugher from the other two and a high pitched excited squeal from 'baby Nobin' as the toddler rested her little hand against the side of Tilly's face as if petting her hair earning the smallest brush of a kiss against her little palm.
It was that ghost of a kiss against the child's hand just as Tilly felt an answering wet baby kiss against her nose that brought everything flooding back into Alice's mind.
Everything. Everyone.
It was like a fast-passed storm of memories painting themselves behind her eyes. Her entire life from the time she was locked in that tower to when her and her Papa had that horrible curse put on them keeping them apart to meeting the owner of the gorgeous gray eyes she was still staring into to the day when everything was ripped away from her.
But this was crazy. Robin was her true love she knew it with every fiber of her being. Robin. Her Nobin the woman waiting back at the Inn for her with no memory of their life together. She was it for her.
Unless….
This had to be some magicked form of time travel. It was the only explanation for what had just happened to her.
It was weird even for her to think that she was now holding the love of her life in her arms, cradling her, singing her to sleep. -Okay sure she had done all of those things more than once with adult Robin 'Her Robin' but this was different
"I think she's alright with that." 'Other Robin' mused shaking Alice out of her head as he reached for the bundle of blankets still nestled prothetely against her chest. "I'll see you again soon love." Alice whispered against the toddler's ear earning another wide baby smile while Alice finished tucking the falling blanket back over the baby's shoulders as she passed her back to her father.
"It was nice to meet you all." The awakened blonde smiled nodding to the other two in turn as she shouldered her backpack and gratefully taking the food bag from Ruby and heading to the door with one last glance over her shoulder at the pouting face of the gray-eyed toddler.
A nearly identical pouting expression was waiting for her in the lobby of the Inn she and Her Robin- no she was still Margot-were staying at. "I thought you were never going to come back." Her true love sulked pulling her in for a greeting hug as soon as Alice was within arm's reach. "Don't you know already? I'll always find my way back to you Targo. You can't get rid of me that easy." The realm jumper promised brush a kiss against the hollow of Margot's throat before pulling back to meet her eyes hopefully.
"I know but that doesn't mean that some guys in this new town couldn't catch your eye along the way." Margot answered without even the hint of recognition Alice had been hoping for. Apparently magic here was stranger than even she knew.
"Not this time…well not really cause I did meet a man but it was more the girl he had with him." Alice admitted. "So really she's the reason I'm late coming back to you." That produced a much hoped for spark deep in those stormy colored eyes she loved so dearly as Robin's hand closed around her wrist in a vice.
"They only had one room left so we'll have to share but at least we have a place to sleep for a few days while we figure out how we got here then more importantly how we get back home." Margot rambled but knowing her as well as she did Alice could hear the jealousy behind her true love's tone as the rest of her bags were gathered up and she was steered up the steps to their room.
"So, who was this girl that held you up?" Margot wondered almost as soon as the door was closed behind them.
Alice knew better than, to tell the truth of 'Well love it was you only as a rather loud and adorable baby…and by the way I met your Dad he seems nice and very protective over you.' However truthful that statement was as she watched Robin dumped the bags on the only bed and sat down on the edge with an expectant air about her. "Well, she reminded me of you actually." Alice admitted honestly from the other side of the bed holding those hypnotizing gray eyes a while longer as she climbed up onto the bed resting her back against the headboard comfortably.
"Me?" Margot questioned in disbelief leaning back until her head was pillowed against Alice's lap "Well she had your eyes at least…. And that adorable smile." Her companion nodded smoothing Margot's darker blonde hair out from under her glasses for a better view of her eyes. The action brings out just a small hint of a smile pulling at the corner of Margot's lips as she leaned into the touch. "And she wouldn't let go of my shirt once I got her in my arms." That brought a jealous huff from her possible girlfriend who was covering her jealous mutterings by poking around in the rest bags Alice had brought in along with the food. "You didn't spend your whole paycheck on this stuff, did you?" Margot questioned pulling out the extra clothes, bottles of water and a few sodas, candy apples.
"So, I splurged just a little. It's my first ever paycheck sue me." Alice shot back with a shrug still finger combing Margot's hair while she talks. "No, I mean…" Margot sighed grudgingly pulling away from the soothing touch against her scalp and pushing herself out of bed over to the small chest of drawers in the corner of the room pulling out her own earlier purchases for Alice's inspection. "Seems great minds think alike." Alice chuckled when some of the same patterns showed up.
"What's in this one?"
Alice glanced up from finishing setting out the food for their makeshift date night take two on top of the bedspread to see just what her companion was talking about to see that she had found the bag containing the present she'd promised to 'Little Nobin'.
"Just something I promised to get that girl I told you about that wouldn't let me go." She confessed much to the annoyance of her girlfriend.
"What?" Alice wondered suddenly worried at her choice when is brought such a surprised gasp from the other woman now dropping down on the edge of the bed with the plush toy cradled in her hands and tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" Alice pressed her fear growling with each passing second her questions were being left unanswered.
The intent was to get the little 'mini Margot' something simple that she could cuddle with on bad days and when she'd seen the soft animal just sitting on a shelf in the back of that small little secondhand shop Alice just couldn't not buy it for her. Especially when she remembered that tattoo on Older Robin's wrist and him telling her that the lion was a part of the family's crest. Besides she thought it looked strangely like something she'd seen sitting on Robin's dresser on the nights she'd stay over at the Emerald Farm back in their real home.
"No everything fine…. it's just." Margot sniffed stroking the lion's main with trembling fingers before she went on cuddling back up awkwardly against Alice's side to avoid disturbing any of the food still waiting to be eaten from their makeshift picnic style table on top of the sheets.
"My….my dad got me a lion exactly like this when I was a baby." She whispered pillowing her head against Alice's stomach and talking so low that the blonde had to strain to hear her even in the quiet room. "Or at least that was what my mom always told me cause she said he was always playing with it with me making it roar and fight away all the monsters that kind of thing." She corrected now hugging the plush toy against her chest like a lifeline as she moved up, so she was listening to the soft beat of her maybe girlfriend's heartbeat. The sound both familiar and calming all at once. "I took him with me on my trips, so it was like he was with me too wherever I was. Still, have him too he's guarding my bed back home."
"I named him Comet." Margot laughed making the lion sit up on her stomach as she snuggled in against Alice's lap again "My Comet pulled out of orbit passing the sun to keep me safe." She hummed her eyes now trained on the ceiling as she tried to see around the glare coming from her glasses. It wasn't until she felt soft brush of lips against her forehead and hearing a whispered hum of melody of a long-forgotten lullaby filling both the room and her dozing ears the fingers of her free hand interlocked with her new girlfriend's and hugging her closest friend since childhood to her chest that everything came back in flashing shots of colors, sounds and feelings.
