Second Chance
A/N: Angst, with hope…I guess. I don't know. This one captures all of my feels, I think.
Regina tore her glaring gaze away from The Saviour – using every ounce of her will to not rip out the blonde's heart and crush it in her palm or maybe cook her to a crisp.
Taking a breath, she allowed herself to look at the scene unfolding in front of her: Robin, holding his beloved wife, Marian, in his arms – both looking at one another lovingly – while Roland looked at his mother with wide eyed awe.
Regina felt suffocated. It was as if the world was crashing in around her, sounds were muffled, as was her vision – save for that of the loving family in front of her. Her heart, which had been strongly beating in her heart since she put it back, it felt like it had stopped.
"Regina," Emma's voice took her back to the bright lights and noise of the diner.
Regina did not glance at the woman, but Emma's voice seems to catch Marian's attention – and Robin's wife was now looking at both her and The Saviour (or in this case, her saviour).
Regina did not meet the woman's eye – her gaze was fixed on the blue orbs staring at her. She couldn't read his expression.
She watched speechless as he brought Roland down to the floor to stand on his own; his wife wrapping her hand around his arm.
Robin finally realized the weight of the scene that had just unfolded – it's weight on him. Marian's hand on his arm took his eyes off that of Regina's – his gaze falling on his wife (who was so alive, he couldn't even believe it).
She was looking at him curiously, no doubt wondering why he had been staring at Regina (or in her mind, The Evil Queen) with such intensity, if at all.
"Regina;" Emma's voice broke through the silence of the stares; Robin could see the woman looking at Regina pleadingly.
He looked back at Marian, whose gaze was now intensely fixed on Regina's – her look that of loathsome hatred.
Regina's own gaze was strong, looking from Emma to Marian – but she faltered as she brought her eyes to meet Robin's, her mouth opening slightly, as if about to utter…
Robin took it all in: Marian's angry stare, Emma's apologetic mixed with shock…and Regina's…Regina.
Realization hit both of them at that same instant.
She did it, it was her.
He knows, he knows it was me.
He felt his wife's grip tighten on his arm, "Robin, I'm sorry you had to believe me gone when you did. But, it wasn't your fault, love."
Robin looked at his Marian, the mother of his child and swallowed as she continued, her gaze hardening as she looked at Regina, "It was the…"
"Don't," the word was out of his mouth before Robin could even fully register why he did it.
He could feel the inquisitive look of all the three women surrounding him, all surprised for his interruption – but he let his gaze fall on Roland, who had settled herself at his mother's legs.
Not in front of Roland, he didn't need to know any of this.
Marian's gaze also followed that of her husband's, she understood why he wouldn't to discuss this on front of their son – but there was something not right, she could feel it. She ruffled Roland's hair, her arms tightening their hold on him as she looked up at the Evil Queen again: her eyes were fixed on Roland, too.
Regina nodded to herself. Her jaw clenched as she mumbled, "Sorry."
With that, she was hurrying out of the diner – letting the air (chillier than she remembered it being) hit her face, as she dashed through the empty streets. To seek solace – alone, as always it seems.
'''
Robin was standing in front of the white door of her house. It was late or early, depending. He had slipped out of camp, leaving his son wrapped around his mother's arms – his heart heavy and his mind loud. He came here with a purpose.
Regina had locked herself in her house after hurriedly arriving from the diner hours ago. She had sat in the dining room, unable to let herself walk into the living room – where…sigh. So, she had gone through each scenario in her head – her deductions all ended in one conclusion: she was the Evil Queen, and it seems always will be. With that thought, she did the only thing she could…
Now, she was seated at the edge of her bed, one glance at the clock on her night table read 4:00 AM. She stared at it, not blinking. The red glow it usually casted in her room was made a little brighter tonight by her beating heart sitting beside it. With a sigh, she grabbed the organ off her night table and decided on one action – to put it in her vault.
Robin's arm was finally poised to knock on the big white door when it suddenly swung open, revealing Regina holding her beating heart in her hand.
"What the hell are you doing?" Robin asked, his voice rising a little at the magnitude of the sight before him.
Regina, though shocked at his presence at her door, mustered all of the evil queen persona she still channels and replied, icily, "I will do as I please."
His frown deepens at her tone, although he knows he deserves this icy treatment - but retorts back, nonetheless, "You will put your heart back where it belongs, Regina."
They both stare each other down; the only sound heard in the cold air was that of their breathing. So frigid, in fact, that their breaths were forming visible little puffs as each breathe out.
Robin hardened his gaze, knowing full well, he'd have to in order to win a stare down with the Queen – which is why he was so surprised when she faltered first. Her eyes cast down, and when they met his again, she looked to be on the verge of tears.
"I can't," she whispers, so softly that Robin could barely hear. "It's too much."
With those words, Regina found herself settling down on the step of her front porch, still carrying her heart in her palm. A beat, and she felt Robin sit down beside her.
"You never should've blamed yourself, it seems," she started. "It was me all along."
Silence. When Robin didn't look ready to say anything, Regina continued: "When we were in Neverland, Tinkerbell blamed me for ruining your life. She said, she said my not having the courage to enter that tavern, or even look for you, was selfish. But it wasn't selfishness. It was my ruthlessness – my ruthlessness that ruined your life."
Robin's heart grew heavier – thinking back to just this afternoon when she told him a different tale including the fairy; one that had been filled with hope; their hope.
He turned to the woman beside him when he heard her let out a dry chuckle.
"I was ready to roast Emma at the diner," Regina began – but Robin cut her off.
"At the diner, I am shamed by my actions; I didn't even acknowledge –," he said.
"And who would?" Regina said. "Your actions were justified." Hurtful nonetheless, she added in her head, but justified.
Regina continued, "I've thought about it all night, and I am…Emma did the right thing. As it would've happened, I would've had your wife executed…"
"But it didn't happen," Robin said, now realizing the whole gravity of Emma's actions – forever rewriting what once was. "It never happened."
"It did, at least once it did," Regina retorted. "And the fact that it wasn't even a bleep in my memory should be a caution to you. I was ruthless, nothing…no one was spared in my pursuit of Snow White. And so, the fact remains, that it did happen; would've now."
Robin nodded his head, knowing she wouldn't budge on her statement – as it did hold true. "But in all things, one thing remained," he said softly, causing Regina to look at him.
"I forgive you, Regina," he said, facing her. "For how can I deny you the same forgiveness I gave myself when I thought it was my own fault?"
Regina looked down, almost not believing what he was saying. "I meant what I said to you. Regina, everyone deserves a second chance."
It hit her, those words. This was the third time he's said those two words to her: second chance.
The first, back in the Enchanted Forest, it was only a simple statement. He said it only to impart some hope on her part – to stop her from spending her eternity in oblivion, deep in sleep.
The second, the second had held so much promise. He had uttered the words as a reassurance, quelling the burgeoning doubt in her mind of what exactly it is that he saw in her.
Now, the third – Regina finally realized he was giving her those words with as much truth and action that came with it. She was forgiven, absolved – for a crime no longer committed. The Saviour erasing the wrong she had done to this man (and his son) in the past.
And maybe, maybe this was her second chance after all. Tinkerbell had said she needed love – maybe she was in need of this unconditional love (which was a kind of love that was always denied from her, ripped away uncontrollably). A love that was, for all intents and purposes, boundless and merciful – one that held no grudge yet still endured. A love that she so craved, and needed – needs.
"Well," she said softly, "though we may all deserve a second chance, one shouldn't have to need it – like you."
Regina stood from her position on the step of her porch. "You should go back, be with your –"
"Regina," Robin interrupted her, feeling an overwhelming feeling to just wrap her in his arms; he sees it in her face, how hard these words are for her to say.
"Go," she urges. She sighs as he looks at her. Finally, she does what he asked of her from the beginning. She took her beating heart, the one she still held in her palm, and placed it back in her chest.
She was overwhelmed with emotion once more, but remained in control in front of him.
He nods at her finally, his hand almost reaching to touch a misplaced strand of hair on her face – truthfully, he did it without meaning to. For a split second, Regina thought he would make contact, but he caught himself in time – or perhaps it was look in her eyes that stopped him.
Slowly, he turned and began to walk away from her. Regina remained standing there, watching as he rounds the bushes acting as a fence throughout her property. She watches his slow gait move him further away from her.
Robin could still feel her eyes on him, as he walked slowly away. It seems each step away from her was harder than the last. He couldn't make sense of it in his mind. His quick forgiveness of her actions (or now lack, thereof) had been surprising to him – but in his heart he just knew. He knew he couldn't hate her, couldn't let Roland ever hate her – because he just couldn't; because she is...nothing, at least now (still, maybe…everything).
Finally, with a shiver, Regina nods to herself; accepting everything that just happened (to her). Deciding she should accept it, most definitely (at least, outwardly).
Because as she continues to watch his form disappear from her view, she just knows (perhaps, in her soul) – they were meant to be something, he was meant to be someone – her someone.
She let her hand rest atop her heart. It was still beating, maybe not as strong. But…
A most resilient heart, they say.
Well perhaps, it was.
Perhaps, it's just strong enough to withstand this approaching storm.