I don't own Once Upon A Time and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Something theorized that true love's kiss between Robin and Regina would break the curse, and I loved the idea. Hope you enjoy!
Trying to break the second curse wasn't an easy task, especially when someone clearly didn't want the residents of Storybrooke to remember their year in the Enchanted Forest. Emma hoped that true love's kiss would work again, but couples are all over town (who were still together, at least, and hadn't disappeared) had tried it and nothing. That didn't surprise her – guess she had to work out another way to save Storybrooke.
"She'll find some way to save the town," Robin told Regina. He had been recruited as a deputy at the station when Emma returned and had taken well to the job, even though the modern world confused the hell out of him. He had no idea what he was doing most of the time, but Roland had adjusted quickly and helped his father when he needed it.
She rolled her eyes at the former thief (he was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he didn't have to steal anymore). "Of course she will. She's the Savior, the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. She can pull this off, Hood."
"Must you do that?" Regina drove him crazy, but Robin felt an unexpected pull towards her. He wasn't sure why, but he was determined to find out soon. It'd give him some peace of mind at least.
"Do what?" he asked innocently. He smiled and then started laughing when she glared at him.
"I'm glad you find this situation amusing." But it was rather funny, something Regina wasn't about to admit out loud. She had a reputation to maintain after all.
"You're a very amusing woman." He meant it too. Regina fascinated him, and damn it, there was that pull again. Robin had to ignore that or he'd go crazy. That definitely wasn't something he wanted.
"Thanks." She didn't know why that sounded familiar or the reason he thought about, but Regina didn't care about that right now.
"You're welcome." And to continue the random questions game they played every day, Robin posed one to her. "Do you want a tattoo?"
Regina scoffed. "No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me you have one and why I should get a tattoo."
"Good guess. And yes, I have one. Try to figure it out." He smirked at her.
"Why are you so annoying?" He really wasn't – he had been at first, but that was beside the point – and she considered Robin to be a friend. He listened when she needed someone to talk to (she also talked to Snow, but they were busy preparing for the baby's arrival and trying to help Emma stop their newest enemy).
"You love it," Robin teased.
"Whatever you say. I don't know, a heart?" She didn't care that much about it, honestly.
"Nope. Try again!"
"Hood, I swear that I will kick your ass if you keep this game up!'
"I'd like to see you try." Robin backed away rather quickly and laughed when she tried to swat him with a paper towel.
"Fine! Roland? A cat? A castle?" She was giving ridiculous answers now and knew it, but Regina was actually having fun. It was nice amidst the drama in her life recently. At least she had Henry, and shared custody with Emma and Neal (the poor kid wasn't having an easy time going back and forth between three parents, but it worked out surprisingly well for everybody).
"Close. A lion," he replied.
And then Regina could swear her heart stuttered. No, it couldn't be. How was this possible? And there was that feeling of familiarity popping back up again. What was up with that? Fear gripped her. "A lion?"
Robin nodded and then frowned – he could tell she was upset, but wasn't sure why. "Yes. Are you okay? You look pale."
She nodded. "Of course I'm okay," Regina lied. This was her true love? The man she had been afraid to go see so she fled?
He didn't believe her and pressed the issue. "Regina, you're lying to me." That was actually pretty easy to figure out, and he wasn't sure why. Like Regina, there were something nagging at him about this situation.
"No I'm not." Even she didn't believe it. She turned back to her papers and tried to concentrate on them. Fear made her whole body shake, and Regina tried to make it stop but nothing worked.
Robin put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down – something had clearly spooked her. "Regina, look at me," he ordered softly.
With tears in her eyes, Regina did exactly like that. "I can't tell you the truth."
Worried, Robin wiped a tear off her face with his thumb. "Why not? You're scaring me, Regina. Something happened during this conversation, and I'm lost. Please tell me."
She looked down at her face and then back up at him. "A long time ago, Tink told me that I had a new true love. She encouraged me to take a chance, and I wanted to but I couldn't go through with it. I showed at the pub then turned around and never looked back." And that's when Regina took a deep breath – she was terrified this was going to send him running, and she wouldn't blame him for that. Why would he love her? Want to be with her? "Tink told me that the man that was supposed to be my true love had a lion tattoo." She turned away and waited for the rejection that was sure to come.
He gasped. And why did it feel like they had this conversation before? That was unusual. Robin shook his head. "Regina, look at me please."
Regina reluctantly faced him. "What?" she snapped.
"Don't get defensive, Regina Mills. I wish we had known this before – I wouldn't have waited so long."
Confused, she just stared at him. "Waited so long to do this?"
"What I've wanted to do for a long time." It seriously felt like all of this had been said before. It bothered him.
Regina took initiative and pulled his face into her arms. Now that she was thinking about it, she had been ignoring her feelings for him for a long time. She sighed and then kissed him.
And then something snapped back into place. The building started to rumble, and a magical cloud – God, Regina was sick of those – started to form. They both held onto each other as their memories returned. "Holy shit," she murmured.
"You can say that again." Robin was suddenly thrilled they had this conversation and that had finally been reunited with the woman he fell in love with in the Enchanted Forest.
Regina laughed and couldn't stop. He looked at her questioningly. "True love's kiss worked again. Just didn't think it'd be us."
He hugged her. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too. And we should really get outside, Robin – there are a lot of confused and panicked people out on the streets." Regina frowned. The Wicked Witch was probably gearing up for another attack since her plan had clearly failed, and she wanted to stop it in its track.
"We'll go," Robin assured her. He squeezed her hand, and the reunited couple headed outside to help people and find Emma – at least the Savior had a lot more information to work with now.
Regina and Robin would have a long talk that would change their relationship forever later that night, before the final battle against the Wicked Witch began.