Just some random ideas, that popped into my head.

I don't own OUAT.


Born from true love

"Blue, can I ask you something?"

The fairy looks up from the book she is reading, it's big and heavy and written in a language only Blue is able to decipher. Her eyes meet Tinkerbell's curious one and Blue sighed. She closes the book loudly and packs it away; Blue knows that whatever it is Tinkerbell needs, it will take time. Sometimes Blue wonders why she always has to deal with the stubborn ones.

"What is it?"

The blonde fairy shifts uncertain of how to word it. She feels miserable and her eyes are directed downward, fixated on a dirty spot on the otherwise flawless floor.

"It's about Regina and Robin…" Tink starts but then she stops. She shifts once more, her eyes flittering up to meet Blue.

The other fairy raises an eyebrow, she hadn't been there when Robin's supposedly dead wife had returned, but she had heard about it. Leroy had never quite learned to keep his mouth shut. She also knew about the Queen and the Outlaw and that there might have been something going on, but how Tinkerbell was concerned, eluded Blue.

"Yes Tinkerbell, what about them?" she asked patiently when Tinkerbell still makes no indication to continue.

"Pixie dust… Can it be wrong? It can't be, can it?" the question is asked hurriedly, almost as if Tinkerbell is being chased by the words.

Blue frowns at the question, she doesn't really understand what Tinkerbell is talking about. When she tells her so a shadow falls over Tinkerbell's face.

"It's just because of Regina and Robin."

Blue smiles at this, Tinkerbell still has to learn. Pixie dust never lies. But still, Tinkerbell doesn't look assured.

"What about the fairy that uses the dust?"

Blue blinks a few times, "Tinkerbell, maybe it would be easier if you told me what you truly want to know."

Tinkerbell slumps down, she looks more miserable than ever. So she spills, she doesn't know how much the older fairy already knows about what happened prior to her exile but she tells her everything. Meeting Regina, stealing the dust and using it to find her happy ending.

"I mean it showed me that Robin was Regina's soulmate… But now his wife's back… it just feels like I've messed up. Regina doesn't even talk to me" Tinkerbell looks dejected.

Now that part is new for Blue. Robin being Regina's soulmate… quite an interesting piece of information. She falls silent, needs to digest the information. It certainly explained why Marian was here.

"Soulmates are very rare, Tinkerbell. Do you know how they come to pass?"

The blonde fairy shrugs, "I always just thought, that soulmates are destined to be together, you can have many true loves, but only one soulmate. They are fated."

The blue fairy shakes her head slowly, she wonders how to best explain the deep connection soulmates shared.

"Have you ever heard the tale that says a soul gets split at birth and we spend our whole lives searching the missing part of our soul?"

Tinkerbell nods more enthusiastic now.

Blue can't suppress the smile on her face, "Now, this story unfortunately is not precisely true."

Again Tinkerbell losses the fight to her misery and deflates.

Blue instead continues unimpressed, "Because if that was true it would mean every person has a soulmate. That however is not the case. I told you soulmates are incredibly rare, there a quite a few conditions to be met, so that soulmates are made. Firstly they need someone able to perform a magical task, secondly they cannot already have a soulmate and thirdly they need to love each other truly and unconditionally, a true love. Soulmates are born from true love after all."

"But Robin and Regina never meet before!" the green fairy doesn't understand.

"I'll get to that. But you have to understand Tinkerbell; soulmates are not decided by the universe. They chose one another."

Tinkerbell's eyes scrunch together, "But I don't… How?"

Now the blue fairy smiles, "One person can have multiple true loves, some of them have the potential to become one's soulmate. By the way, you know another pair of soulmates, Tinkerbell."

She blinks rapidly and Tinkerbell's thoughts race. She knew another pair of soulmates? Really they were only two people she saw as such.

"Snow and Charming?"

Blue nods, "Until recently they were simply true lovers, but they have chosen one another as soulmates."

"Huh?" Tinkerbell blinks. They had gone from true love to soulmate before her very eyes and she had missed it.

"Think, Tinkerbelle. What significant change have they gone through?"

The minutes tick by until… "Heart! They share a heart!"

"Precisely," Blue smiles proudly at her fellow fairy. "That's how soulmates are born! And it is why they are so rare. Maybe the love isn't strong enough to survive the splitting of a heart or there is no one around able to do so or the idea of splitting the heart doesn't come to mind. But if all the premises are met…"

"What if you already have a soulmate and you try to split your heart again?"

Blue sighs, "Oh, Tink, this is what I've been trying to tell you. You can't! Once you choose your soulmate, it will be the one time you can split your heart and share it with someone else. If in your next life you find a true love, it will still be true and powerful enough to break any curse, but never will it be as intense as what you feel once you've met your soulmate. Remember that story, about the soul being ripped apart? It has nothing to do with simply being born, but once you split your heart, you are of only one soul. Then and only then that story holds true."

"So in another life, Regina and Robin…"

"Yes. Which is why they fell in love with one another so very fast and for some it might have seemed too fast for it to be serious."

"Fast?" Tinkerbell snorts. "First she ran away from him and then she made his life miserably in the Enchanted Forest and belittled him every chance she got."

Blue actually had to laugh a little at that, "She felt the draw to him and tried to resist during the missing year. Fear is very powerful!"

"So, Robin and Regina were true loves in a former life and one of them died and the other gave him the split half of their heart?" Tinkerbell clarifies once again, because she's also afraid. She's afraid her mistake made Regina believe in something that isn't true.

"Yes," Blue answers simply. "They are connected, which is why soulmates understand each other better than anyone and it is why Marian is back."

"Yeah… no! Wait, what? What does this has to do with Marian?" Tinkerbell complains.

Blue wonders if she truly should disclose her knowledge to Tinkerbell. A knowledge that she shouldn't even have in the first place. She hadn't meant to pry… not really, but sometimes being a fairy came in handy, even without fairy dust. She didn't know every single detail but she knew enough about Daniel, heard it from Victor Whale. They're not friends, not by far, but he had come to her, wanted to relieve himself of the burden, the guilt and so Blue had kept an eye on Regina.

"I told you, that soulmates understand each other better than anyone. That's a protective mechanism to ensure that they will fall for one another once they meet," Blue starts. Because she has to start somewhere and Tinkerbell deserve the truth. Because Blue thinks that maybe Green had been right and it had been her who was wrong. If a fairy didn't help those in need, what was their use? And Regina had needed them, had needed hope and Blue had not granted her said hope. Tinkerbell had, she had failed indeed, but still… Maybe Blue did own her something.

"Even if you have a soulmate from a former life, you can't remember one can still find another true love. Only after you meet your soulmate one realizes what they feel for them is deeper than everything before. To ensure this, nature connects the two souls – always. No matter how far apart, they are connected and to ensure they recognize each other, both souls will experience similar things. What happens to one of them, will in one way or another happen to the other one. So that they can connect to one another immediately, should they meet," Blue explains patiently.

"Similar things? So what one of them has to go through, the other has to go through as well? Regina lost Daniel and Robin lost Marian, they both have a son and…wait, how can Robin relate to being the Evil Queen?"

"We all have a past, Tinkerbell" Blue reminds. She doesn't know much about the Outlaw, but she knows Robin must have found a way to relate.

"Fine, but what does this entire thing has to do with Marian?"

"What I am about to tell you, Tinkerbell, is not meant to leave this room. I don't think the Queen would appreciate us knowing, especially since not even I am supposed to know. Not all too long ago Doctor Whale brought back Daniel."

"Who did what now?"

"Dr. Whale or rather Dr. Frankenstein brought back Regina's first love. He was killed because of a mistake Snow White made when she was a child. Only Daniel wasn't himself and he was in pain and Regina had to let him go. She had to kill him."

Tinkerbell falls silent, "So… you're saying Marian had to come back, because Daniel once did, so that they both experience the loss of their first love all over again? That sounds cruel!"

Blue shrugs, "Such is the curse of having a soulmate. Maybe it's not about the loss but rather about letting go. But Tinkerbell, what I can tell you is this… once you've met your soulmate you're never able to let go. If one of them dies the other follows shortly because their souls are intertwined. Robin and Regina will be just fine, believe me!"

Tinkerbell smiles a sad smile, "I just don't want to see Regina suffering."

Blue's smile doesn't dim, "No one said having a soulmate is easy."


So that's how I would explain the difference between soulmates and true loves!

Other ideas?

Tell me what you think!