This is it, the one-shot I promised for the 100th reviewer of Choice. So this is for NejaF, who wanted a story where it was Leopold and not Marian who Emma brought back. The story kind of got ahead of me, I hope you like it though. Enjoy, and comment to your heart's content!
The Enchanted Forest, many years ago
The chamber was covered in shadows when he entered, careful not to cause any noise as he gradually pushed open the heavy door guarding the king's rooms. He quickly closed it behind him, desperate not to attract any unwarranted attention from the guards that regularly patrolled the corridors. Stealthily, he made his way across to the bed in which the monarch slept, his heart hammering against the box he held pressed up close to his chest; the heavy box which contained two deadly vipers; the wooden box which contained the means to free the woman he loved.
The Genie stopped at the foot of the bed, taking a deep breath to try and steady his nerves. He looked upon the slumbering figure, steeling himself for the horrendous task that lay in front of him. He had no choice in the matter: the king had made it clear he would dispose of the man that had stolen his wife's heart, and the thought of the Queen forever locked up, victim to the whims of a man who did not care for her, was enough to make him put the box down on the edge of the bed. His hand shook slightly as it approached to unlatch the lid, stopping just short of actually opening it when his gaze fell once more upon the sleeping man in front of him.
Here lay the man who had freed him from centuries of entrapment. Here lay the man who had given away his wishes so that he, the Genie, could have a chance at happiness. Here lay a man who had taken him into his home and treated him like a true friend.
The Genie shook his head, his hand retreating from the lid to come and rest at his side. His eyes fell down to the poison filled box, and he saw a pale hand trembling as it inched towards ferocious hisses. He saw black pools of sorrows looking up at him. fighting to blink back tears. He saw a soul full of desperation and pain begging to be saved.
He looked once more at the king. He had been the one to hurt the woman he loved with all his heart, he kept her trapped in a life that was slowly suffocating her.
Love or gratitude. It was as simple as that, when you thought about it.
How could he refuse her? She was everything.
Finally ready to perform the task that had been asked of him, the Genie lifted his hand once more, this time determined to go through with it. He was ready to have his Happy Ending.
Sadly, he had waited too long.
The king stirred in his sleep, suddenly aware of the threat that had been hanging over him for long minutes. Jerking awake, he blinked uncertainly at the dark shadow hovering at the foot of his bed.
"Genie?" he whispered raggedly, finally recognising his friend, puzzled as to why he was in his chamber in the middle of the night.
Him speaking seemed to break the spell that had momentarily been keeping the Genie from moving, and before his panicked mind could make out any logical explanation as to his presence, he quickly grabbed the box and ran out of the room, too scared to bless the gods that no guard happened to be in his path.
The doors to the Queen's rooms made a resounding crash when he rushed through them, causing the woman who had never left his thoughts since the second he had met her to swivel around, the angry remark dying on her lips once she saw who it was who had entered her chamber with so little ceremony. She got up to go to him, only to freeze when her eyes spotted the box he still carried.
"What happened?" she asked, her tone demanding and slightly frantic.
"He woke up" he answered, his voice breathless from his unexpected sprint, his chest constricting a little at the anger and disbelief that flashed in enthralling dark eyes.
"He woke up?! All you had to do was get in, leave the snakes and get out! I fail to see the how…" She suddenly stopped, watching him intently before striding right up to him, the bottom of her chest coming to press against the box so that it was trapped between the two of them. "You utter moron, he saw you didn't he?"
The Genie could only nod sheepishly, causing her to let out an exasperating sigh before she stalked away from him to begin to pace in front of the fireplace. Her cheeks were flushed, a few tendrils of hair had escaped from her hairdo to grace the nape of her neck and swayed as she turned back and forth, her night blue dress clinging to her body like a second skin. Entrance by the vision that stood in front of him framed by the warm light of the fire, the Genie paid little attention to her mumbled words –simple task…can't trust anyone…I have to do it all myself…- until she abruptly faced him again.
"You have to leave."
"Wh…what do you mean?"
Another exasperated sigh left her lips. "The king is not an idiot, he will know something isn't right, especially if, as I've gathered, you fled his chambers without so much as a coherent explanation as to your presence." She shot him an angry look, the confirmation of her speculations written across his guilt etched face. "I have no wish for you to be captured, gods know what the king would do to you and I do not need you blabbering about what you know of me. You need to go. I'll ensure your safe travel back to your land, what you do once you are there is up to you."
"I'm not leaving you!" he exclaimed, loudly banging the box on one of the small table scattered around the room before going to her and taking her hands in his own. "Come with me," he implored, "you can leave this wretched place and we can make a life for ourselves, we can be together. We can finally have what we both want. Happiness."
A smile began to form on his face as he said the last; he could see it, the life they would lead, the family they would have. It was so tangible he could almost taste it upon his tongue.
The Queen snatched her hands from his, shaking her head, a cold mask taking over her features.
"No."
The Genie blinked at her, dumbfounded. "No?"
She stared at him, uncertainty swimming in her eyes before seeming to make a decision. "I will not, and never will, go away and live my life with you. Now go, before I change my mind."
"But why?" he demanded, paying no attention to her last words. "We love each other, why would you send me away?"
"Because I do not love you" came the cold reply. "I never have and I never will."
The Genie stumbled back as if he had been struck, staring at her as if it were the first time he could actually see her.
"You fooled me," he whispered in sudden understanding. "You wanted me to get rid of the king for you."
"If you recall, it was actually you who offered to do that," she pointed out. "And anyway, it's not as if you succeeded. Now," she added, her frustration and anger colouring both her tone and her eyes, "for the last time, go!"
"I…I can't," he said helplessly. "I can't live without you." And he truly couldn't, not even knowing that she didn't share his feelings. She remained the most striking, beautiful, enthralling woman he had ever laid eyes upon; all he wanted was to remain with her always.
That was when the idea hit him.
"And I won't have to" he said, dipping his hand into his satchel to triumphantly present her with the lamp that had been his prison for so long. "it still holds a wish, and I wish," he commenced, his gaze holding hers, fear gradually overcoming her features as his words registered, "to be with you forever, to look upon your face always, to never leave your side."
The words had barely escaped his lips that smoke surrounded him, clouding his vision. Next thing he knew, he was trapped again, an ethereal being imprisoned behind a sheet of glass. He screamed and railed, his fists trying desperately to break the barrier that kept him from his so recently acquired freedom. The Queen's face suddenly filled his vision.
"Well, well," she said, a cruel smile gracing her lips, "it seems you did get your wish. You will never leave my side."
Regina lowered the mirror, placing it face down upon her vanity table, her mask simultaneously disappearing. She needed a moment, just a moment, alone.
You foolish, foolish man she thought, her fingers slowly caressing the mirror he had given her, for her a hope for freedom, for him a new prison cell. She had never wanted to hurt him, truly. That was why she had offered him an escape route, a chance to begin a new life away from the king. Away from her.
She sighed, her troubled eyes closing. Just a few more seconds and she would go.
He had been the first one to notice her, in so many ways. She had been surprised when he had followed her out into the gardens, even more so when he had offered her a mirror, although she cherished the words that accompanied the gesture more than the gift itself. She had forgotten what genuine care and interest felt like, and she would always be thankful to him it.
She had used him, shamelessly. She had no choice. She knew the king read her diary –when had he ever respected what was hers?-, it had been easy to manipulate everyone into acting how she wanted them to. The words she had written however, although an exaggeration of her feelings, had held an inkling of truth: the Genie had made her feel more alive than she had in years.
Taking a shuddering breath, Regina opened her eyes and straightened her back before striding away from the vanity; she had a plan to set in motion.
The funeral was testing her nerves to the limit. It was pathetic, really, the tears that were being shed for a man who didn't deserve the mourning of one let alone of hundreds. Except maybe Snow, but that had more to do with the fact that both were despicable beings.
Regina sat straight in her chair as the ceremony went on, staring ahead, the picture of grief for everyone to see. She had carefully selected her black gown, artfully cut to show her off all the while remaining more than proper, in order to present herself as the mourning yet powerful Queen that she was. Before leaving her chambers, she had delicately smudged her eye make-up, making her dark pools appear larger, to give off the impression she had shed tears. She fooled them all.
Cretins.
Inside, she was seething, enraged that she had to sit through this pantomime, however necessary it may be, Snow White of all people sobbing at her side. She delicately handed the young woman a white handkerchief, the epitome of motherly concern written across her face, when all she could think about was that finally, finally, the path was clear for her revenge. Soon, she would be able to look down upon the body of the shellfish, bratty princess who had cost her everything.
Just a little longer, she told her beating heart as it urged her to throw caution to the wind and simply plunge her hand in the unsuspecting chest that rose dramatically beside her. Don't lose everything you have worked so hard for because you weren't capable of controlling your impulses.
No, now was not the time to end the girl she no longer needed to call stepdaughter. Her demise would come in a far more satisfactory –that's to say painful- fashion. Presently, Regina needed to focus on the part she had to play for the masses. Then, she had a visit to pay.
The sound of her high heeled boots echoed around in the confined space as Regina walked along the damp, low-ceilinged corridors of the castle dungeons. Torches hung upon the wall, the light they cast flickering across her skin as she carried on purposefully toward the cell at the furthest end of the hall. She had never visited this part of the palace before; she couldn't say she had missed much: it was as depressing and bleak as she had imagined it to be.
It was perfect.
With a flick of her hand she dismissed the guards, leaving her alone to peer through the iron bars at the figure that was crouched in the deepest corner of the claustrophobic cell. She remained silent, taking him in as he slowly raised his head to look at her, incomprehension and anger burning in his eyes. His already greasy hair was plastered to his skull and fell in ugly tendrils around his face. She could see that his beard was whiter than it had been previously and that his clothes, once so magnificent, were starting to tear. He needed to learn to take care of himself or he would end without a thread on his back.
"Why?" whispered Leopold in a raspy voice. "What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"
Regina sneered, controlling the urge to press her face against the bars and spit at him. "The fact that you even have to ask proves to me how much of a monster you truly are."
"A monster?" the deposed king asked incredulously, "how can you say that? I have been nothing but kind and generous to you since the day we married! I made you queen! You have fine gowns and jewels and…"
"Enough!" she yelled, fury breaking through the mask of superior indifference she had carefully prepared in view of this meeting. After all those years, after all her pain, he still remained utterly clueless. "You know nothing of what my life has been like at your side." Her eyes pierced through him as she stood unwavering before him, her own person at last. "And I won't lower myself to giving you an explanation for my actions. You have all the time in the world now to think about the reasons why you have ended up here, completely powerless. Tell me, my dear husband," and this time she couldn't resist, flattening herself against the cell, her features etched in cruel triumph, "how does it feel to have no control over your own fate, hum? How does it feel to know that with one flick of my hand," she ignited a fireball in her palm, its warmth sending the chill of the dungeons receding away from her, "I can erase your miserable presence from the surface of the earth?"
Leopold's eyes opened wide at the sight of the fire burning in her hand. Standing up, he pressed himself into the wall as if to put as much distance between him and her as he could. "You…you can do magic?" he stuttered.
"How do you think I managed to train the guards that stormed your rooms and took you prisoner a week ago under your nose?" She stepped back, reigning herself in again. She mustn't show him how much he affected her, how easily his presence brought her worse nightmares to the forefront of her mind. She straightened her back, the image of regalness once more. "Moreover, magic was very useful in making the whole world believe that you are dead. Even your poor little Snow couldn't tell the difference as she wept over your fake body."
He stared at her, picking up an underlying threat in her tone. "Snow…what are you going to do to my daughter?"
The reply was murderous. "I'm going to make her pay, for everything. But don't worry," Regina added dismissively, "I'll keep you informed of how things develop."
She let out a dark laugh at the fear that flashed across his face and turned on her heels, intent on never looking back, until he yelled: "Regina come back! REGINA!"
Regina looked over her shoulder, her eyes endless pools of black.
"It's your Majesty."
Leopold soon lost track of the days, weeks, months he spent in the rank, humid and rat filled cell. His mind was a constant swirl of anxieties for what was happening to his precious little girl. He was desperate for news but the guards wouldn't say a word and Regina never reappeared.
Regina. Even the name made him grind his teeth. When not thinking about his daughter, he plotted ways of making the Evil Queen pay for what she had done to him.
Oh yes, he was perfectly aware of the name the people had given her. Prisoners came and went regularly in the dungeons, and soon he heard the tales of the horrors she perpetrated, as well as the irrational revenge she wanted to exact upon Snow White. He didn't know why she was so intent on murdering his daughter, but he was glad to learn that Snow had managed to escape.
One day, a mirror appeared upon one of the cell walls. Approaching gingerly, the king saw his daughter, clad in what he could only call outlaw garments, talking to the Queen, who wore a gown more elaborate than any he had ever seen her in. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but a voice whispered in his ear.
The person who takes a bite from this apple will be put under a curse from which they can never wake up. Their body will be their tomb, and their dreams made of their deepest regrets."
"No," Leopold whispered frantically, "no, please, no, no, Snow!" he yelled as he saw his daughter sink her teeth into red and crumble onto the floor. Purple smoke surrounded the mirror once as he sank to his knees, sobbing for a child he would never see again.
Two days later, he was dead.
But that is only one version of events. The past, contrary to popular belief, is not set in stone, you see. Perspectives vary, events are rewritten and truths can change, especially when a blonde saviour and a one handed pirate stumble through a golden portal.
Emma landed in the dark damp cell with a humph. She was definitively going to have a talk with Regina about how she let her guards handle prisoners once she got back to Storybrooke –if she ever got back to her own timeline. This little trip was getting more catastrophic by the minute, and she truly wished she could just turn back time –pun intended- and never step foot in that stupid barn.
She looked around her, trying to find something, anything, that would help her get out of here before she could do any more damage –or, more accurately, before any permanent damage could be done to her by a very powerful and angry sorceress.
Nothing. The cell was bare, the door locked; looked like the Evil Queen knew what she was doing. Emma sighed, running her hands through her long blonde hair, raking her brain to come up with a means of escaping the dangerous situation she found herself in. She knew that Hook was probably already working on a way to get her out, but she couldn't just sit there, hoping that he would come and find her: who knows how long the Queen would let her rot in here before she decided she wanted answer?
She leaned against the iron bars blocking her exit, hitting her forehead repeatedly, causing the passage way to resound with soft clanking sounds. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice that sounded hoarse, as if from a lack of use, calling from her right.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Yes?" Emma replied tentatively.
"Oh, gods, I haven't spoken to anyone in ages! Who are you? What year is it? What's happening? What is the Evil Queen doing? Why are you down here? No one is ever put down here, so close to me –you must be important! Is it because of Snow White? Do you…"
"Wow wow wow, calm down there!" said Emma, trying to stop the profusion of questions her fellow prisoner was bombarding onto her. "Damn, how long have you been holding onto those interrogations?" she mused. "Anyway, my name is Em…Leia. I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what year it is. The Queen is probably thinking up ways to torture me, and yes, I'm here because I helped Snow escape."
"You…you saw her?" she heard the hopeful voice ask. "Snow White, I mean."
"Yeah, I saw her. She's currently hiding somewhere in the forest." The blonde heard the man murmur a prayer of thanks to the gods and, intrigued, she decided it was time he answered some of her own questions.
"Okay, your turn now. Who are you, what are you doing down here? And how do you know my…Snow?"
"I…" the man started hesitantly, "I don't think I should answer you. It is safer for you if you remain clueless as to who I am. Trust me, the Queen will never let you go if you know my identity."
"Okay, well how do you know Snow White then?"
"Once more, I cannot answer." He sounded apologetic, but that didn't stop Emma from letting out an aggravating sight.
"Can you at least tell me why Regina locked you up?"
"I wish I had a clear answer to give you. Honestly, I'm not sure myself, my imprisonment came as a total surprise to me and the only time she came to visit me she wasn't exactly forthcoming in her answers. She seems to think that I have wronged her somehow. However she is wrong. She is a backstabbing, cold, cruel and calculative bitch, and if I ever get my hands on her I swear she will rue the day she dared to stand up against me."
"Ookaayy", drawled out Emma with more than a little bit of unease –the guy did sound a tad insane. She couldn't exactly blame him though: it seemed he had been down here for ages, and she could see how he would focus his rage on the woman who had put him there.
Silenced settled between the two prisoners, Emma not knowing what to say as the old man appeared to be lost in his thoughts of revenge. She looked around despondently, sick already of the lack of stimulation her environment offered and trying desperately not to remember the last time her life had been reduced to three walls and a door. At least room service wasn't as bad back then as it is here, she thought glaring at the mouldy wooden bowl and cutlery that lay empty on the damp floor. Cutlery which was tied together using a wire…
"Bingo" she muttered.
Her and Hook nearly collided as she rounded the corner.
"Swan!" the pirate exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing? You're depriving me of a dashing rescue."
"Sorry," Emma replied, "but the only one who saves me is me. Oh," she added, twisting a ring off her finger and handing it to her father. "I think this belongs to you."
"Indeed it does" said Charming, a smile blooming on his face at finally possessing his mother's ring again.
"You know a way out of here?" the blonde asked
"I do," Ruby, no Red, answered. "Follow me."
She and the prince started making their way down the dungeon corridor and Emma was about to follow them when Hook grabbed her by the elbow.
"Swan," he hissed, his gaze fixed upon the down beaten man behind her, "what have you done?"
A sheepish look appeared on Emma's face as she tried to convey what had gone through her head when she had seen the man prostrated in his cell, his hair white and thinned out, his cheeks hallow from hunger. She hadn't had it in her to let him die there, not when he looked so frail and aged; not when he looked so defeated and innocent.
"He wasn't going to make it, Killian. I couldn't just leave him there!"
"If he was about to die that was exactly what you should have done! Love, we have no idea what his continued existence will do to the timeline."
Charming came rushing back to them before the blonde could retort. "Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but Red has a way out of here through which we can slip unnoticed. We have to move. Now."
Emma shot off right behind him, refusing to meet her companion's eye. The pirate shook his head in exasperation before ushering the old man, who hadn't said a single word during the whole proceedings, in front of him as they made their way out of the Evil Queen's castle. Little did Hook know that before the end of the day the prisoner would have found his voice again, shouting that he was definitively not going to the future with them, that he had a daughter to find and a revenge to exact. It came almost as a relief when Swan promptly smacked him on the head with a branch, effectively shutting him up as she calmly stated that, yes, they were kidnapping him. Admittedly, he was less happy when it fell on to him to carry the man –even after a prolonged stay in the Queen's dungeons his weight still put a strain on his back, not to mention the stench that whiffed off his clothes. All of that was forgotten however once the three of them finally hit the floor of the barn after another dizzying trip through a portal.
Finally, with no permanent damage done, they were home.
He couldn't believe they had taken him to this strange land. He was a king! No one had the right to force him into anything, especially not by physically assaulting him.
Leopold was seething as he followed what appeared to be a leather-clad pirate. This new land was strange, filled with dangers as carriages rushed by without any horses pulling them along. And how was there any light cast from the top of those high pillars if no fires were lit?
Rage was not the only emotion that filled him though. He couldn't stop thinking about what was happening back in his land; were was Snow? Why hadn't they let him find her and help her defeat the witch? He felt despair claw at his chest at the thought that his beautiful little girl was most likely dead, unable to escape a madwoman who wielded magic as a death sentence.
The two man turned towards what appeared to be a kind of bar, filled with people laughing and cheering. Leopold had no desire to enter –he was royalty, he didn't mix with the lower classes, no matter what realm he found himself in- but he was a man lost in an unknown world, so what choice did he have?
The bells rang as they opened the door to Granny's. Leopold quickly cast his eyes around before looking down again, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable at being stared at by a crowd of stranger.
"Father?" came a strangled voice. A voice he thought he had lost for ever. His head shot up, his eyes scanning for the woman to whom the voice belonged.
There she stood, the person he cherished above all. She looked different, her hair cut short and her clothes definitively unusual. Leopold drank her in, noticing the bundle she held against her chest. Could it be that…
"Snow," he whispered, taking a step forward.
Snow couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her. Her father was gone, he had died at Regina's hand years ago, yet here he stood. Unable to contain herself any longer, she pushed the baby into David's arms before throwing herself into her father's awaiting arms, murmuring 'Father' over and over again as tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Oh, princess" said Leopold, his nose buried in her hair. "I thought I would never see you again."
"And I you," Snow answered, tightening her hug before pulling back so she could look at him. "Father, how can you be here? I thought you were dead."
"I was saved, by Leia." Leopold indicated towards the blonde woman who had basically waltzed into his life, opening cells as if they were mere technicalities. A saviour of the truest kind, who currently stood with her mouth agape.
Snow frowned. "Emma saved you?" Leopold forehead crinkled in perplexity. "Her name is Emma?"
"Mo…mom?" stuttered said woman, "he's…he…he's your father?"
"Mom?!" exclaimed Leopold, now more bewildered than ever, when the bell chimed again, causing the whole congregation's eyes to widen as they spotted the new arrivals. Leopold turned around slowly to see who had caused such a reaction, his gaze falling upon the last person he expected to see.
There had only been one downside to Regina's perfect day: her sister's suicide.
She had been so sure, when leaving the sheriff's station, that Zelena and her were about to get a second chance at being a family. She was the only blood relative Regina had left, and the similarities of both their destinies had not escaped her: here was someone who had chosen the path of revenge and darkness, just like she had. Regina had thought that they could move past the titles of the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch of the West and get to know each other, maybe even learn to be a family. There were both damaged, ruined by a mother who had abandoned one child only to abuse the other, but they were sister and that had to mean something.
Except obviously to Zelena, it had not.
Regina knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but feel that Zelena had deceived her, acting as if she was ready to take the path to redemption only to kill herself as soon as her back was turned. Quilt gnawed at her too: how could she have missed the signs? How did she not perceive that her sister's distress had run deep enough for her to commit an act of no return? Regina couldn't stop her thoughts from running a constant loop of what ifs, and only Robin had been able to bring her some peace.
Robin, who understood her grief for a sister who had tried to kill her for over a year. Robin, who assured her that she had done everything in her power to help Zelena, first by saving her life and then by offering her a second chance. Robin, who held her as tears ran down her cheeks at the thought of what both her and her sister's life should have been like.
Walking down Main Street with Roland between them, Regina felt her smile widen when her gaze fell upon the man walking at her side. The day they had spent together had gone by in a flash, filled with tender touches and whispered confessions. He had told her about his time in the army, the horrors he had seen and committed, the changes these atrocities had made to his soul and the struggle he fought daily to keep the darkness at bay.
She had shared her history with Daniel, had confessed how his death had been the end of the light that had kept her afloat in a life filled with fear, terror instilled in her by her own mother. She skimmed over her years as queen, not wishing to talk to him about those horrors just yet, but he understood that she had never wanted nor the title nor the husband. She had no known how to explain the unexplainable, the crimes she had committed as the Evil Queen. He had cut her off before she could start, stroking her cheek tenderly as he insisted that she didn't need to recount all her deeds to him, that he knew who she had been but that he also knew who she was now and that was what she had to focus on. She had let him gather her in his arms then, unable to understand how he could see the light in her when it was surrounded by so much darkness, gripping him to her and swearing that she would do everything in her power to make herself worthy of this man who was so willing to accept who she was.
Roland ran ahead of them to open the door to the dinner and Robin tugged her arm so that she faced him, smiling as he drew her into a kiss. His lips were soft on hers, a mere ghost of the passion he had showed barely an hour before, yet still a promise of things to come. Regina felt warmth fill her chest at the feel of him around her; he was here, with her, for her. It was more than she had ever dreamed of.
As they stepped into the dinner, Regina saw that everyone was angled to watch a couple embracing in the middle of the room. Charming was holding the new prince, which she found surprising as his wife hadn't let the baby out of her arms ever since they had saved him from Zelena, but then she recognise Snow as the one embracing what appeared to be an old man in tattered clothing, clothing that looked as if it came directly from the Enchanted Forest.
He must be the man Emma brought back from her little expedition she thought, thinking back to the text Henry had sent her to tell her that his blonde mother had reappeared, had fell through the time portal with her love sick sidekick of a pirate –her words, not his- and had saved someone from certain death, although he didn't know who it was yet, and that they were staying in Storybrooke. Regina had considered phoning the useless saviour to give her a piece of her mind, but she had ended up deciding against it: she didn't want to get into an argument right now –although bringing the woman down from her pedestal sounded marvellous- and as it seemed they hadn't altered anything despite their propensity to fall head first into trouble, she instead focused on the news that her son would never leave her side again.
Looking at the man now, she had to admit he did appear to have been miserable back in their world. Regina became aware of the crowd staring at her and was about to comment on it when the man turned and she locked eyes with him, all air leaving her body. No, it can't be…
"YOU!" Leopold bellowed, rage filling him as he recognised the woman who had caused all his torment. She was different, her hair far shorter than the tumbling locks she possessed back in their world, her attire far less revealing and conform to this realm's standards.
They stared at each over, the silence only broken by the bystanders' shuffling of feet and the heavy breathing Leopold exhaled through his nose, his fists clenched tight. Regina stood stock still, her hands trembling as her face gradually got paler as the full implication of what she was seeing hit her.
Leopold was the first to break the tension, his eyes leaving hers to fall on the long sharp knife that lay on the counter. Grabbing it, he pointed it toward Regina, and took a step forward, intent on running her through. His action seemed to break the spell that had kept everyone from moving and he heard shouts for him to stop and before he knew it strong hands were holding him back and his daughter was telling him he had to stop, that Regina was good, a changed person. Regina herself hadn't moved, she hadn't even flinched when he had advanced towards her with the knife held high, although a man had stepped in front of her, clearly trying to push her behind him and shield her with his body.
He turned to Snow, disbelief marring his tone as he spoke. "How can you say she's good? Have you got any idea what she has done?"
Regina heard none of his words as he kept on rambling, she was in a cursed world of her own. His face brought back the memories of all the time it had floated above her, contorted in pleasure as he rutted above her. She could still recall the stench of his breath, the feeling of his hands all over her as his weight pinned her down. She had fought so hard to forget him, to push everything at the back of her mind but there he was, screaming in front of her. How is that possible? He's not supposed to be here, he can't be here! He died! But had he? Suddenly she didn't know anymore, she had thought he died after she had given the apple to Snow but now she recalled her guards telling he had escaped, but… She couldn't think anymore, everything was mixed up in her mind and all she wanted was to get out of here, she was suffocating and the walls were closing down on her, just as her nightmares were, but she couldn't move. It was as if every horror she had been subjected to was assaulting her simultaneously and she knew that if she moved so much as an eyelash she would break. Her magic was rolling and curling below the surface of her skin, she could feel it churning in her stomach like nausea, fighting to be freed.
It was too much, simply too much.
She confusedly heard Robin urgently call her name, felt his hand stroking down her arm, but she was lost in a world of her own, filled with darkness and so much misery it was tearing her from the inside out, her ears filled with the thousand screams she had never allowed herself to utter.
It was Leopold who finally brought her back to reality.
"Do you know who she is? She's a monster!"
"Hey!" Robin exclaimed, putting a comforting hand on Regina's left shoulder. "Don't you dare call her that!"
Leopold looked at him, his gaze lingering on the hand that touched Regina before he sneered at her.
"What's this, Regina? You've ensnared another man with your charms? Why am I even surprised that on top of being a psychotic murderer, you are also a harlot? And a cheater, I may add, as technically you are still my wife."
A collective gasp was heard from the audience at this new revelation and whispers immediately erupted amongst the crowd, but Robin only had eyes for the woman at his side.
"Wife?" he whispered in disbelief, only to notice Regina was beginning to shake and that her eyes, normally so full of light, now held a glazed quality that frightened him.
And suddenly, he understood.
The way she had adamantly refused to occupy her old chambers in the Dark Palace despite Snow's insistence. The way she always took the long route to the room in which they held their war councils, effectively avoiding walking by the king's quarters. The vague confessions she had made that very afternoon about her marriage, a fractured look appearing in her beautiful brown eyes. The way she was reacting now, as if she were about to break.
He understood everything.
Red filled his vision, an anger he had never known making his blood boil and his head spin. He turned on his heels, swinging his arm back and punching Leopold right in the face. The older man fell to the floor with a yelp of both surprise and pain, unable to make sense of what had just occurred before Robin had dragged him up again, slamming his body onto the dinner counter, his voice murderous.
"Now listen to me you filthy bastard. If you ever touch her again, if you ever talk to her, if you ever so much as think of her, I will hunt you down and I will destroy you. You will be in so much pain you will beg for me to kill you, and I will do so as slowly and excruciatingly as possible. Do I make myself clear?"
As Leopold remained motionless, his face a picture of shock, Robin leaned closer until he could smell the iron of the blood gushing from the other man's nose. His blue eyes, ablaze with rage, bore into the old king's fearful ones. "I said, 'do I make myself clear'?"
Leopold seemed to shrink under the thunderous threat, and mutely, he nodded.
Giving him one last shove, Robin let him go and turned to Regina who still stood there, dark eyes wide and seemingly endless in their sorrow. Picking up Roland, he went to her and gently wrapped her in his arms.
"Come. It's time for us to go home."
He felt her squeeze him back, and the trio disappeared in a plume of purple smoke.
They appeared back at the mansion, at the foot of the stairs. Letting go of Regina, Robin quickly went upstairs to settle his son down in one of the guest rooms: he had no desire to allow Roland to be present for what was going to follow.
Regina didn't move, her gaze sliding slowly from one corner of the room to another, as if she were seeing her home for the first time.
Her home. This was her place, her sanctuary. She had built it with her magic, she was free to do whatever she wanted in it. Pictures of Henry were scattered around the house, his room was just above her and she had carefully kept every little trinket that had marked his growing up. It was her books and CDs that stood on the shelves, it was her thoughts, her memories –both dark and light- that seeped from the walls; her personality had imprinted on the mansion, and that had to be a testimony to the fact that she had become her own person.
But was it?
She could feel it so clearly, the potency of the king's control over her life. Like a trapped singing bird, she had been taken out to be used and put on display only to hear the door of the gilded cage slam shut behind her as soon as she were no longer needed. Discouraged from expressing her thoughts, her desires had never been taken into account, her actions commandeered as if she were a mere puppet, her body a crumbled pile in the dark until it was jerked into motion again.
She had fought so hard to be free.
He was back. Her nightmare. She could feel control slipping through her fingers.
Not again.
Would it ever stop?
She heard footsteps trudging down the staircase and she turned to face him. Robin stopped on the last stair, his chest heaving with the heavy breaths he took. Regina's heart clenched. He was shaking, his jaw pressed tightly in what had to be a grinding lock as he stood there, quivering with emotion. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his eyes; they burnt with such passion she was sure that there would be sparks flying out of them if he had possessed magic.
He growled, launching himself at her and pressing her roughly against the wall as his lips attacks hers. His kisses had never been quite this forceful, but she relished the animalistic violence behind it as he forced his tongue through her lips, blinding her with his passion, his scent invaded her mind and making her knees buckle.
They parted for air, both panting, but Robin didn't let her regain her senses, latching on to her neck as his hands starting a traitorous path all over her body. She moaned when she felt his breath ghost over her ear.
"Don't you dare" he whispered urgently with intent, his hands never stopping their endless exploration of her. "Don't you dare listen to him. He is nothing, Regina, do you hear me? He is nothing, and you… you're everything."
Regina pulled him closer to her, burying her head in the crook of his neck as his word travelled like molten lava through her veins.
"He has no power over you, do you understand? You escaped, my love, and I will never let him get close to you again. Regina, you are free."
She couldn't begin to comprehend how this man, this perfect, perfect man, could somehow understand so well already. She crashed her lips against his once more, desperate to give him as much as he gave her, almost aching with the need to show how grateful she was to have him at her side. She pulled back, cradling his head in her hands as she spoke, their mouths so close her lips brushed against his as they moved.
"I choose you. You're my choice, and I'm yours.
Blue eyes stared at endless pools of brown, both drowning in the other.
"Always."
Regina only ever caught glimpses of Leopold after that.
Robin's threats seemed to have worked as whenever he saw her Leopold turned the other way. If Robin happened to be with her, she often had to lay a reassuring arm on the archer to prevent him from throwing punches again –she had to admit, it was nice for once to not be the one who had to control her temper. Ever since Robin words of reassurance, she had suffered no return of bad memories, and more often than not, she managed to put the knowledge that the man walked free in the streets of her town out of her mind.
She was surprised to learn of the behaviour displayed by others towards the king, though. Ruby refused to serve him at the diner -even Granny, never one to turn down a client, seemed somewhat reluctant- and Archie refused to acknowledge the other man's presence when they met. More than a little dismayed at the thought that so many she knew had connected the dots when it came to some of the most horrific details of her path, she couldn't help but feel affected by the open display of support. What touched Regina the most, however, were her son and his blonde mother's reactions.
They had appeared on her doorstep the very next morning. Henry, almost as tall as she was now, had looked at her for long seconds before hugging here fiercely. "You okay?" he had asked, to which she had answered in the affirmative. Another close perusal of her features had convinced him that she was telling the truth, and the subject had never been raised again, to Regina relief as she had no intention of ever revealing to her son what it was exactly that the king had done to her. She could guess he had quite a good inkling already anyway as he adamantly refused to have any contact with his great grandfather.
Henry had run upstairs, leaving her to face a very awkward looking sheriff. Emma had rushed into a confused explanation of her hero gene not allowing her to forgo a chance of saving a life, apologising over and over again for hurting Regina when she had never had any intention of doing such a thing. The blonde had even managed to say that she was slightly miffed Robin had punched the guy as she would surely have throttled the bastard herself if given the chance, before Regina stopped her endless rambling and told her that she didn't blame her. That caused the sheriff to skid to a halt, eyes open wide in disbelief, before a bright smile had erupted on her face.
She, too, refused to find herself in Leopold's presence, displaying open hostility towards the man on the few occasions he tried to approach her.
It was a few weeks later that Snow White knocked at her door. They hadn't spoken since that night at the dinner.
"He's dead," the raven haired woman said as a means of greeting. "He died last night, of a heart attack. It seems that Death refuses to let go of those who were supposed to be hers."
Regina stood still, her eyes flickering over Snow's face. She could see grief etched across her features and…relief? Regina opened her mouth, unclear as to what she could offer the woman standing in front of her, but Snow lifted a hand to prevent her from talking.
"No, don't. I didn't come here to ask anything of you. I…" she closed her eyes, taking a steadying breath. "I can't say I'm glad he's gone. He was still my father but he…he wasn't the man I thought he was."
Silence stretched out between them. Regina cleared her throat loudly.
"Yes, well. You always did have a tendency to idealise your parents, dear."
Snow gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. Regina, I…"
"Don't. There's nothing left to say, Snow. Just let it be."
Snow swallowed audibly before nodding and turning on her heels. Regina was about to close the door when the other woman called out to her.
"Regina?"
Opening the door wide again, she saw green eyes staring intently at her. "You're maybe right in saying I idealised my parents, but I didn't idealise you. You might have turned out to be a little more twisted than I originally imagined," they both smirked at that, "but your strength and ability to love exceed even my most hopeful expectations."
With a warm squeeze of her arm, Snow made her way off Regina's porch, leaving her stunned and at a loss for words. Shaking her head, she closed the big white door with a small thud.
"Who was it?"
She turned around, smiling broadly at the sight of Robin leaning on the door frame leading to the kitchen, clad only in his boxers and tee-shirt, a newspaper dangling from his hand. She could easily get used to seeing like this, she thought.
Her Soulmate. Her equal. Her choice.
"It was only Snow."
"Oh?" he said, his forehead creasing. "What did she say?"
Regina walked up to him and placed a kiss upon his mouth.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."