I own no one but my own people
A/N There is gonna be a bit anti Emma and a bit anti Hook. If you're a hardcore Emma/Hook/CS stan turn back now
Regina sat at the booth, their booth, staring straight ahead. All around her people were speaking in soft muttered voices as if they might offend her if they raised their voices above a whisper.
She didn't join in drinking or eating or talking about his life. What would that help? How would celebrating his far too short life help anything? He would still be gone, she would never see those beautiful blue eyes again, would never hear 'M'lady' said again in his warm soft accent.
Celebrating him wouldn't give a six year old boy and a seven month old girl their father back… Her eyes fell on Roland who was surrounded by the Merry Men.
He was trying so hard to hold it together. He had clinked his glass of milk against the Merry Men's glasses of ale when they raised a toast to him, had tried to join in the laughter when they talked about their leader but the Queen could see his lip quiver every time he took a drink, saw his brown eyes that mirrored his mother's grow wet, noticed how he alternated between clinging to John and clinging to Regina like he was terrified if he let go of either one then Roland would lose his godfather and the woman who would have been his step mother like he lost his parents.
Zelena took a spot in the opposite seat in the booth, holding her and Robins baby, looking anywhere but right in front of her at her sister.
Snow and David came over to offer some comforting words but Zelena shooed them away, telling them something about how their heartbreak was equal, their pain was equal… Losing a God she knew the span of two months being killed in self defense was the same as Regina losing her soulmate.
But she didn't have the heart to argue with or contradict the red head. She just wanted to be left alone, and she certainly wanted those pitying glances the Charmings were suffocating her with to go away. Almost as soon as they did though Emma was at the table.
"Regina…" the blonde began almost breathlessly.
"Please, Emma, I've already had enough people feeling sorry for me today."
The Queen was in no mood for any more pitying stares or 'I'm so sorry' or 'I'm here if you need me' lies and she was far beyond being polite to those offering them.
"I know, I just think we should go somewhere private and talk, it's kind of delicate…"
Regina stared up at her, her brows furrowed in confusion. This was a wake, surely whatever needed to be talked about could be handled tomorrow.
"I really don't want to talk to anyone right now," Regina tried, using the little patience she had for the blonde or anyone left.
"I understand, I really do, but it's really important I talk to you in private," Emma tried again.
Even Henry was raising a brow at his birth mother. Didn't she understand how inappropriate this was? Asking basically a widow for a private conversation in the middle of a wake?
"It can't wait until tomorrow?" the teenager tried, not so subtly trying to tell the blonde to leave his mother alone
"It can't. I'm sorry, Regina, it's really important I talk to you."
"Sheriff, come share a drink with us," Little John called to the blonde from the counter, another not so subtle attempt to save Emma from completing the embarrassing and insulting act of upsetting a woman at her would-be husbands wake.
Emma ignored the large man. "Regina, please I-."
"Ms. Swan, in case you haven't noticed we are at a wake. It's not exactly an ideal place for conversation," she barked, having spent all of her politeness she had left for the day already. "Unless it involves Henry, Roland or Robyn's safety whatever it is can wait until tomorrow."
Emma's eyes went wide as she looked from Regina to Henry. "Robin? You came up with a way to bring him back?"
"No." Regina nodded towards the infant in Zelena's arms. "Meet your cousin; Robyn Pistachio Hood. She was named after-... after her father."
Reginas eyes filled with tears that she struggled to keep hidden from the blonde and everyone else in the small diner. Couldn't Emma understand she just wanted to be left alone to mourn?
Apparently not judging by the way she shifted from one foot to the other. "I am sorry for what happened, Regina, but I need to talk to you."
She finally had enough. She slammed a fist down on the table and stood from her booth and whiled towards the blonde making her stumble backwards and, for whatever reason, glance towards the window nearest the door, a dangerous murderous look in Regina's brown eyes.
"What, Emma?!" Her shout amongst an ocean of whispers drew everyone's attention to the Queen. "What is so important that we HAVE to talk right now and it can't wait a single hour until after this is over?!"
The tingle of the bell over the door and a loud shout of, "Swan!"
The familiar voice the town thought was lost to them forever mad everyone, including Emma and Regina, turn towards the door where they saw Hook standing there, a worried look on his handsome face.
Immediately loud mutters of 'ghost' was uttered by all but Regina knew better. She knew exactly what happened; Hook was alive. Hook got to come back from the dead while Robins soul remained obliterated. Emma got to get her happy ending while Regina was left to suffer once again.
Zelena was the first to speak. "What the hell is the pirate doing here?"
"We thought you left you in the underworld," David asked next, his voice in awe.
"You did but now I'm back…" the pirate answered, earning a soft smile from the blonde.
"Delicate as always," Regina told Emma who turned back towards her. The Queen could hardly stomach seeing the townspeople swarm the pirate, all offering their congratulations and well wishes while they forgot the whole reason they were at Granny's in the first place.
All but the Merry Men and one five year old boy gathered by the portrait of the fallen, and apparently forgotten, thief.
"I'm sorry you found out this way. I just had to let you know, I wanted to break it to you gently."
"And you thought the best way to do that was to crash Robins wake?" Regina asked, a tremble in her voice she couldn't identify as fury or grief. "It couldn't have waited until tomorrow?"
Emma swallowed hard, wringing her hands together. "I'm sorry, Regina, I just… I thought… I thought it might give you some hope," she muttered, glancing down at the floor.
"Liar!" Regina shouted, her fury and magic cracking the window nearest her. "You were afraid the 'Evil Queen' would come out to play! If you're going to demand yourself and your pirate be the center of attention at Robins wake then at least have the courtesy to tell his soulmate the truth about why!"
Emma glared at the Queen. "Well considering how calm and relaxed you acted last time your boyfriend died can you blame me?"
Regina took a deadly and dangerous step towards the blonde who was joined in seconds by the pirate who stood in front of the sheriff.
"Take it easy, Your Majesty!" he ordered her. "She was doing you a favor!"
"By interrupting Robins wake instead of poofing you home and telling me tomorrow? Or waiting an hour for us to get done?" Tears flooded Regina's eyes that she couldn't blink away. Instead the offending drops of moisture streamed down her cheek. "This was to celebrate Robin!" she cried. "This is the last day I will ever have with him before they lower him into the ground and you couldn't even give me that! You had to make it about you! Do you know how selfish that is?! Do you know how CRUEL that is?!"
Emma at least had the dignity to look guilty as the impact of what she did hit her. Hook though didn't look anything but angry until a small voice rose up above the heavy silence.
"The captains back?" Roland asked, looking between an furious Little John, who was glaring daggers at the pirate and the sheriff, and Regina.
The large man nodded slowly, not trusting himself to speak because he knew either a slew of curses or a stream of tears would follow if he tried.
Roland beamed a smile as big as the curly haired boy would ever wear again. "That means my Papa can come back too!"
"Roland, no," Regina tried to tell him but he listened to no one as he ran from the diner and stood outside, looking around expectedly.
"Papa?!" he yelled out, hardly able to contain his excitement. "Papa, where are you?!"
Regina felt the sparks fly from her fingertips as she heard the small boy calling for a man that he would never see again.
No one spoke a word, their hearts breaking as they remembered exactly why they were here and that it wasn't a 'welcome back party' for Hook. They saw Snow cover her mouth in order to keep from sobbing as they heard Roland outside.
"Papa, please! Papa, you can come back now! You can come back!"
The tiny bell rang as Roland ran back in, his face still beaming as he raced over to Hook. "How did you get back? Did Emma pray to God? Or Christ? Did she ask the Virgin?"
"The Virgin?" Hook glanced around the diner utterly confused. "No there was no virgin involved. Roland, I-."
"Was it magic?" Roland asked before turning towards Emma. "Did you bring him back with magic? Did Regina? Do you have enough magic left over for my Papa? How long is it gonna be until I can see him again?"
Regina glared at Hook for a long moment before she kneeled down in front of the curly haired boy, putting her arms around him and looking in his warm excited brown eyes, speaking as soft as she could. "Roland… your Papa can't come back."
"But Killian did!" he told her with a beaming grin as if she was unaware. "That means my Papa can too!"
Regina shook her head. "It's… it's different. Hook was able to come back but your Papa can't."
Watching that little boys face fall, watching his excitement melt into pain and confusion, was the worst thing Regina would ever see.
"But… but why… why does Killian get to come back and not my Papa?"
"I don't know," she told him.
Tears filled his brown eyes as he turned to look back up at the guilt ridden pirate who couldn't muster the courage to look anywhere but down at the floor. "But… That's not fair."
"I know, sweetie. I know it's not, come here my love."
Regina wrapped her arms around the small boy as he began sobbing so hard he shook her whole body.
"But it's not fair!" the small boy cried. "It's not fair, my- my Papa- Why does Killian-?! IT'S NOT FAIR!"
Tears streamed down her face as she hugged the sobbing tighter and hating Emma, hating Hook, hating Zelena and everyone else in this stupid town apart from Henry, Roland and Robyn.
She just wanted to take the three of them and go run away to a place where she wouldn't have to look at that stupid pirate anymore or think about life's unfairness or think about how a hero and father of a young boy and an infant daughter died while a 300 year old murdering pirate with no friends and no family got to come back to life just because some force in the universe made it impossible for the Queen to be happy.
Little John rapidly wiped the wetness from his eyes with the back of his hand, the other Merry Men graciously ignored the tears in their lieutenants eyes, and walked over to the young boy and kneeled down next to Regina and put a large hand on Roland's small shoulder.
"Roe, listen to me… look at me, Roe, listen." He waited until Roland pulled away from Regina and turned towards John, his eyes wet and big and red. "Your Papa wouldn't want you to be upset over this."
"But it's not fair!" Roland cried. "Why does he get to come back and not Papa?!"
"I don't know, but that doesn't matter. What matters is…" John shook his head, the words stuck in his throat like they were curses. "Is the sheriff is happy, Killian is happy. They get happiness and hope, and that's something your father loved bringing to people. Okay now look, look how happy they are."
Roland used his sleeve to wipe his nose and turned to look at Emma who rested her head on Hooks shoulder and he had his arm wrapped around her, both of them fighting the guilt for what they know should have waited until tomorrow.
"I'm sorry you lost your father, lad," Hook told the small boy not unkindly and Emma nodded in agreement. "I'd do anything to bring him back. It wasn't fair and it's not right you and your sister lost him and I'm sorry I was chosen rather than him."
The small Hood said nothing and instead just sniffed and turned back to John who was trying to smile but it appeared as more of a grimace and reached out and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "See? I know it's not fair and you're right to feel that way but It's not his fault, Roe, and you're gonna see your dad again one day. I promise."
Tears rushed to Regina's eyes. She had yet to tell Roland or John about the fact that Robins soul was obliterated and no one would ever see him ever again but she figured now wouldn't be the ideal time…
Roland just sniffed away his tears. "I just wanna go home," he told the large man who nodded and picked him up in his arms. "You wanna go to the camp or Regina's house?"
"Regina's. But you come too," Roland urged, resting his head on Johns shoulder.
John glanced at the Queen who nodded wordlessly and turned back to the small boy and nodded. "Of course I'll stay. Go grab our coats okay?"
Roland nodded and hurried off to where the costs were being held leaving Regina, John, Emma and Hook all standing there awkwardly while the former two stood up from the ground.
"I'm sorry you lost your mate," Hook told John. "I can't imagine-."
"You couldn't give that boy one day?" he snapped at them, effectively shutting down any well wishes. "It's his father's WAKE… and you had to make it about you."
"We're sorry," Emma said, a genuine apologeticness in her voice. "We should have just waited, I was just worried," she finally admitted. "And I shouldn't have been, I know you won't turn back into the person you were."
Regina pursed her lips. "Well you being sorry will mean a lot to the little boy whose memory of his father's funeral will also be the day he found out pirates get to come back to life… and heroes don't."
Emma swallowed the hard lump in her throat and clung closer to the black haired man standing beside her who remained silent as Roland returned with the three coats. Regina put on her coat and picked the small boy up while John forced a smile to his face as he rubbed his godsons back.
"Come on, little man," Regina said to the grieving boy, ignoring the tears falling onto her shoulder. "Let's go home…"
"Wait."
John and Regina turned towards Zelena who had since remained quiet since Emma and Hook came in and walked over to them, the baby in her arms.
"Take the baby. For the night," Zelena clarified. "Keep his family together tonight."
Regina smiled a teary smile at her sister as she handed Roland to John and took the baby who, only being a few months old, was already looking like her father.
"Come on, Robyn," Regina cooed at the infant. "Let's go home." She looked over at Roland and rubbed his back, smiling at John. "All of us."
Without looking back at Emma or Hook, the Queen and the new leader of the Merry Men and the two children they each would die for left the savior and pirate behind.
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