A/N: This story is pre-season 3, so no WW, but with Robin Hood still involved since he was in season 2, if only for a moment. I've only dabbled in writing our favorite evil queen and not really our dashing archer so if it sucks, sorry. Other then that, enjoy!
~8~8~
Home, was there any sweeter word?
Warm, golden sun cheerily doused the restored lands of the enchanted world with a brightness that hadn't been known or seen in decades. Tawny summer rays soaked into the emerald plumage of thick summer foliage along the trees and washed over the ripening fields of foods and flowers alike with a bracing glory as though to gild the world in light.
A cool breeze tempered the heat of the brilliant day and danced playfully through the leaves and stalks like mischievous sprites. No clouds scudded the sapphire sky, leaving the firmament an endless ocean of cyan. Birds sang their glee, people cheered their jubilation, and all the world seemed wondrous and right. Nothing appeared out of place and even the weather displayed such.
In the cities and sprawling fiefdoms the people mirrored the brightness of the summer's day. Banners and gaily decorated pennants of each realms color fluttered from every spire of every restored castle to every hovel in every bucolic shire.
Livery of servants and guards snapped crisply in the breeze and all donned their best in momentous occasion of the day.
Happiness and joy reigned over all the enchanted realms like a benevolent ruler of the soul. After all the time caught in magic's and bitter visions of vengeful witches; the spells, the curses, were all finally broken once and for all! The dark curse had been defeated by the warrior and princess Emma, along with the curse Peter Pan would have enacted if he had not stopped him in time. The realms were once more restored and all the memories of everyone were put back into place.
The rightful rulers were all where they were supposed to be. Snow White and her prince Charming once more sat on the throne in the southern lands, their daughter Emma was engaged to be wed to the pirate Hook and Henry seemed over the moon about the engagement. Cinderella and Thomas governed their prosperous country in the northern world, along with Aurora and Philip who ruled by the sea, happily co-ruling the kingdoms in love and friendship. Rumpelstiltsktsin and his darling Belle had found their happy ending snuggled up in the Dark Castle far away from those who would have cast bitter eyes upon them.
Yes, everyone was gladdened, their dreams realized, their lives once more untied without strife and turmoil.
Regina nearly gagged at the thought.
A dire, yet noble frown of scarlet marked Regina's pale face as she marched decorously down the long cream colored nave that that once been part of her citadel. Long, thin windows hewn high into the stone allowed slants of golden light to seep in and dapple the white runners and marble floor. Dust motes spiraled in their tumble through the rays and brought a small shine to Regina's face as she passed each oblique shot of sun.
As she strode regally down the sunny corridor, memories of the castle began to spot her vision like that spears of light. She had walked the halls many a time, fuming, whilst she had expelled and hunted the hated Snow. Upon her husbands murder she had taken over the castle and had ruled until Snow White and her ilk had grappled the kingdom back from her clutches long before the curse was a glint in her eye.
In fact, the last time she had even stood in the hall was when she had vowed to destroy Snow and her love's happiness on their wedding day.
A small smirk twitched upon her ruby lips with the last memory as the hall ended and she walked into the court of Queen Snow and King James. Irony painted a grandiose, poetic picture in her mind, nearly producing a laugh from her lips. How times had changed, yet stayed so the same.
Head held imperiously high the former queen looked to neither side, ignoring the hateful glares of the people that gathered in the exquisite court. Her flowing black, lacy gown rustled about her legs and arms with each studied stride freely taken. Hands clasped before her she seemed still the queen that she was no longer. Her high heeled, black shoes clicked sharply on the white marble with every measured step as she neared the dais and the royals that had taken their rightful place.
In the center of the dais, much like their wedding day, stood Snow on the left and James on the right. A soft frown that matched her pitying eyes lined Snows alabaster visage indelibly creating a singular flaw of turmoil. Her face, molded with the pain of having to dole out unpleasant dealings, was a stark contrast to James scowl and narrowed pupils gleaming with erroneous suspicion.
Endowed with mistrust, his right hand sat upon the golden pommel of his sword, his fingers tapping at the hilt nervously. He was always on the alert for any trick where Regina was involved. To him she was a hungry, prowling wolf and that was a shepherds first most foe.
To James side stood Rumpelstiltsktsin in all his renewed beastliness. His skin had returned to the scaled, golden flecked flesh of old. Eyes black as midnight stared at her with an equal amount of cunning and danger. Dressed in his gaudy brown and gold he had been fond of before the curse attired his weedy body. Belle, his one and only love, hooked a slender arm about his, holding him lovingly, day by day taming the beast that he was.
Though Belle could have well been the most understanding there, there was no mercy for Regina in her azure pools. Regina had hurt them both nearly beyond repair. She had cloven them away on several different occasions making the love in their hearts like knives twisting into them until they were finally one now and forever. Still, though they were one, wounds needed time to heal.
Baelfire had fallen in Neverland and neither were much disposed to be dealing with her with mercy or pernicious anger at the moment, part of which Regina blessed. If the imp had not been grieving he certainly would have had her slapped in irons faster than what had already been the case. Given what she had done to him and 'his Belle' he might have killed her himself.
Roving her eyes over in Snow's direction the queen peered at the rest of the royal family on her nemesis side. Emma, clad in leather warriors garb glared at her, whilst her husband to be, Killian 'Hook' Jones stood by her side in his signature black leather sea coat. Handsome face curved into a frown, he glared mistrustfully at the daughter of his one time ally.
In front of them both, the only one she wished to see, Henry, stared at her with the one thing he could - love.
The sharp frown nearly melted from Regina's lips as she caught glance of her son. Her motherly instinct to run to him crowed in her heart nearly bursting like a thousand fireworks all set ablaze at once. Only the firmest sense of decorum and pride stopped her from running to him and sweeping him up in a hug.
Embracing the coldness of her evil, she refused the action to her limbs. She had to remember, to see him was not why she was there. In fact, she was there for no gladness. While all the rest of the peoples of the realms rejoiced, hers was a day of judgement and misery.
Forcing her eyes away from her son, the evil queen strafed her vision back to the pair in the center. Ice prickled in her gaze like a hard fronds of frost descending over the world. Stone set her visage in an never shifting mask of hardness. Tilting her chin a bit higher she studied them both as though she were on the dais and not they.
"Regina," Snow began, speaking her name with a soft sigh, a hint of sadness railing her gentle timbre. For all her banditry and cleverness she had always been a gentle soul beneath.
Even with the woman who had tried to ruin her life at her mercy she did not boast the fact or try to seem the omnipotent bearer of fate. Kindness shimmered in her eyes, almost making the queen sick. How could one person be so wholehearted… good.
"Save the monologue, Snow I know why I am here." The witch's eyes hardened to umber orbs of stone. A sneer wrenched her ruby mouth as she scanned them all again with a hateful glare. "I don't need the list read or the reasons or the niceties to soften this cut. Get on with it."
A firm all suffering sigh fell from James mouth. His lips quirked into a displeased frown that betrayed he did not totally approve what they had decided but had conceded their recourse the best option. "We are thankful that you helped us defeat Pan and saved the town from his henchmen. You gave your all, your powers to be stop his curse and take us back home."
"But a handful of good deeds doesn't paint over the whole picture, correct?" she oozed sardonically, her words dripping with disgusted bile.
Yes Peter Pan had been defeated but the cost had been a loss of her own powers against the Dark One's father. Has she any magic she would have laughed at the judgments, but alas hers had never been a fair fate. She was at their mercy now with nothing in her arsenal but a handful of good deeds and then only for the sake of her son, not because she was repentant.
Fingers curled about James arm, Snow's frown deepened. "Your crimes cannot be overlooked. You have done… so much wrong Regina. The hundreds, thousands, you've slaughtered. Do you not remember the entire villages you wiped out? The hearts you took? The pain you caused everyone?" her words softened into silence. She still blamed herself for some of that.
"And for that," James picked up again where his wife's pain left off, his voice stern and regal for a shepherd boy, "You are banished from the kingdoms. Both ours and those that have allied with us. You may not show your face in our cities, our primary villages, even the outlying villages. If you do and are captured you will spend the rest of your life in a cell in a place of Rumpelstiltsktsin's choosing where no one will be able to find you ever again." Shoulders square and firm, he spoke the dire sentence like the king he had become.
Staring them all defiantly in the eye, Regina fought back an outward sign of distress. She breathed evenly, suppressing her anger from over boiling and berating them. Bred and schooled in the noble ways she hid her true feelings deep in the tunnels of her black heart. "And Henry?" she dared, her voice hard fought to be calm and indifferent to her punishment.
In a way, she had known her sentence would be something of that nature. Ever since the curse had been lifted she had surmised if death was not the recourse exile would be. For all she had done she was prepared to meet her price. Her only concern that really clamped to her heart was her son. What would they do in that regard if she was exiled?
Snow sighed woefully, a tell tale sigh that sent Regina's heart into fluttering spasms. What color the witch had in her face fled, leaving her as pale as a long dead specter. Narrowed eyes searched them all with an ominous disbelief. They couldn't have decided… not forever….
"I'm sorry Regina. I know this is hard but we've decided that you may never-"
"You can see him four times a year," Emma interpreted her mother quickly, her voice holding the evidence of a spur of the moment decision.
All eyes turned to the warrior princess, shock and deliberation or outrage dancing in their eyes. She had just won full custody, by deed alone, over her son. Would she fritter that away at a whim? Would she dare dance the line of mothers with Regina and open a door for the clever witch to scheme some way to reclaim Henry?
Ignoring them, Emma faced the witch as she had always, unafraid and head on. Mouth a thin pink line, she addressed the convicted witch solely. Cool evenness laced her voice as though talking to someone about not skipping their bail. "Henry loves you and you love him. You deserved at least to see him," she explained and then sighed as though bracing in her decision. "So once every season you may see Henry, winter, spring, summer, and fall. And, when he's older, if he can manage to track you down he can see you whenever he wants."
Shock crackled through Regina like a wave of lightening crawling over her skin. In the instant she had guessed her sentence never to see Henry she had been prepared to fight, to beg, to pleaded, to threaten at them, to rail until the stones cracked to her voice. But she had been granted a boon. She did not expect such mercy, and from all people Emma Swan.
Indifference gnawed at her to accept the gracious offer with pride but she could not. Tilting her head down a fraction the haughty former queen dipped a deferent bow to the warrior. "Thank you miss Swan."
"If that's all," Emma voice turned to ice again, reminding them both they were still polar opposites, "Say goodbye and leave Regina. Go away and never come back."
Swallowing hard, the witch looked from her son to the woman who had taken up her role as mother. A role fate and subsequently she herself had denied the warrior. Her lips curved into a distressed line of ruby. No longer did she appear the haughty queen but a deposed mother who would have her son shorn from her. "Can I at least talk to him in private?" her voice wavered faintly.
Emma nodded succinctly. "We thought of that." She turned her head to the other side of the dais. "Rumpelstiltskin, if you will."
"As the lady Swan commands," the fiend quipped, but his words were emotionless. Flourishing his dirty scaled talons through the air, he wove a tendril of purple magic through the court.
As though watching a fair performance, all eyes turned to the powers wielded by the restored Dark One. The sun slipping thorough the tall windows clashed with the damson powers he wielded, dark fighting light and turning the thick purple into a faded lilac. Sun spun dust motes fought with foggy lavender in an odd dance that coiled and snaked through the warm air in a sensual tangle of nature and magic.
Regina watched enraptured by the coiling display before she realized she was no longer watching sun beams play from inside the court but seeing the suns rays outside spilling through the trees and being toyed with by the magic's she had once wielded.
Once the task was complete, the magic disappeared like mists evaporated by the sun leaving her and the only other she cared for outside the cities edge.
Vapidly turning around, the woman looked upon her son for what would be the last time in a very long time. He still looked so much like the little boy she had raised in the land of Storybrooke, but he was slowly growing from that lad into a man.
Childhood still molded his face but the first hints of manhood were beginning to rear. His voice cracked now and again, youth and puberty vying for dominance. He was growing out of his clothes everyday and the way he ate at meals could have starved a family! One day when she turned around he would be a full grown man. And she wouldn't be there to watch it happen.
Through all the turmoil and strife in her life, that thought alone was enough to stun the dragon of her imperiousness and dredge forth her pain she had so long thrust away. Realization struck like a stone from a catapult into the walls of her cold heart. Agony shuddered through her broken walls like an arrow right through her chest. The pain vibrated to her very core, tearing down any strength she had left.
"Oh Henry," anguish bubbled through her soft words sundering the cold shell of queen.
Falling to her knees the woman wrapped her son in a hug. Her arms held him close, forcing her memory to scrawl the image of him forever in her brain. She inhaled deeply, clamoring to fill her mind banks with his scent. He stilled smelled a bit like their old house and the shampoo that came in a super hero bottle she always bought him. Part of her could not help but note he could have done for a haircut, and that all the more gave her misery, knowing her motherly instincts for him were all for naught.
Emma Swan would have to take care of those things now, and she found that even that brought a pang of sickness to her heart. How long had she taken for granted those little chores and errands with her son?
Wrapping his lanky arms about her neck the boy returned all the pain that she gave. Head on her shoulder he hugged her until he thought he might squeeze the life out of her. "Mom. I love you. I don't want you to go, but…." Inescapable pain crackled falteringly through his maturing voice.
"It's all for the best, Henry," Regina soothed as best she could through her grief. Since the beginning of the curses collapse she had had an inkling of what road her deeds would take her. Losing Henry was part of that. She had fought, by heaven she had fought valiantly to avoid such a fate but everything came with a price.
Slowly closing her eyes, the witch forced the brunt of her pain away. A singular tear trailed down her pallid face, the only outlet of her misery before him. She couldn't make their parting tougher than already was the case. Strength would see them through until they could be together again.
Desperately, Henry clutched her tighter and buried his face in her neck. "But what will you do? Where will you go?" His voice was muffled by lace and skin and the wracking pain of departure.
Never had they been away very long and even then she had magic. What would she do all by herself? Where would she head? Her castle had been demolished in the curse and no city would succor her. Even if she was allowed in the village's people would've shut their doors in her face.
"Henry you know me." Pulling away so that they were face to face Regina forced a sad smile. Pain watered her brown eyes with salty crystals but no other tears fell. "I'll be alright," she whispered lowly and brushed the growing hair from his face. The hard fought smile spread shallowly across her pale features. "What you should be more concerned is the adjustment to being a princling and trying not to get into so much mischief with… your father, Killian. You'll see. You don't have to worry about me. And I won't be away for long. We get to meet, remember. Once every season we'll meet in a special place."
The loss of the mother he had known all his life wrenched the boys face. Agony branded his eyes with pain that could come form no physical torment. Yet, he could see his mother was trying for him, trying to be strong. Could he not do the same?
Dabbing his eyes with the heel of his hand, the boy sniffed back his tears for her. "Where is this place?" he queried, his voice a bit stronger.
A mothers pride flared lugubriously inside the witch. How bold and brave he was to be strong for her. Maturity and strength was taking hold of him. Slowly he was growing up, eschewing tears for a stoic heart.
"A grove," Regina reveled gently in a whisper. "A tranquil grove two miles outside the city. Many don't know of its existence. Snow does so you may ask her of the location. At the start of every season we shall meet there, catch up all day just me and you."
Stoically, Henry nodded. Crystal tears brimmed on the rim of his eyes. "That… that'll be nice, mom. I'll count every day."
"I know you will, Sweetie." Her bottom lip quivered treacherously to display her grief. "Now go, back to the castle before they start worrying. And remember, no goodbye is forever, not where I'm concerned."
Slowly, as though drawn by some invisible rope, the boy began to step away. The summer breeze swept his shaggy hair, fanning the locks over his growing visage. Tears the growing man who was still a boy could no longer contain brooked down his eyes as he backed towards the stone bridge and to the castle. "I will remember. I will," he swore before running back to the alabaster palace.
Tears came then to the evil queen as he fled. Hot droplets of agony spilled down her pallid cheeks as she watched the silhouette of her son grow fainter and fainter into the shadow of the glorious palace. He was gone. Alive, but gone from her, her only reason to be a better woman, her only reason to love.
Backing away from kingdom, the queen shed her grief like a sudden summer storm, vicious and unrelenting. "Oh Henry," she sobbed his name forlornly before turning away and disappearing into the forest as she had always been - alone and outcast.
~8~8~
A/N: I didn't think I would, but I do so love the Regina/Robin. I've booked my ticket for this ship. We'll see where this goes, eh?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.