This is a sequel to my story "Perfect Shot" that I wrote for Prompt Party 2018. If you haven't read that one, feel free to check it out as well! It might help to understand Regina's background a little bit more in this one, but I've been assured by my wonderful betas that this one still makes complete sense for those of you who haven't read the first part. Hope you enjoy! :)
Monday - Day 1: Bandit OQ - Perfect Together
They've been in town for hours, shopping and using the money they've collected over the last few months to purchase provisions not readily found at camp or in the forest surrounding them. It's been almost a year since Regina shot Robin with her stray arrow, but he's yet to let her live it down, claiming she can hunt for bargains in town on bread and mead while he hunts for food.
She rolls her eyes each time, knowing he'll let her accompany he and his men every now and then. She has a sneaking suspicion he doesn't want her going out on hunts for other reasons. They've been engaged for the last four months, and in that time, Robin has become more protective. She knows it's because of her own fears - the fear of her former fiancé coming back and taking her away, taking her back to the life of misery that she escaped from so long ago. There'd been a scare a few months back, just weeks before Robin asked for her hand in marriage, where she thought she saw the duke in his carriage. It turned out to be nothing, just another nobleman making his way to the next village, but the thought that she would be taken back to her mother and former life had been enough to scare all of them.
Since then, she's tried to stop worrying. It's been almost two years since she escaped, so they assume if no one has found her by now, no one ever will. She's finally safe, finally free.
"Gina?"
She looks down from where she's been searching the shelf of bread, trying to find the perfect loaves to take back to camp. "Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can I get this?" Roland holds up a feather filled toy in the shape of a dragon, pleading to her with his large, brown eyes. He's not her son yet according to the law (though he is in her heart), but he will be once she and Robin get married. She knows she needs to work on telling him no; she can't give him everything he wants in life, no matter how badly she wants to spoil him.
Sighing, she looks over to John who stands by the fruit stand, perusing the delicious apples to take back home. "Not today, baby. We only brought enough money for the food."
His bottom lip juts out, pouting and turning to go place it back on it's stand with a dejected okay, Gina. She chuckles to herself, shaking her head slightly and giving the man behind the stand her money. She'll tell Robin when she gets home that they need to try and pickpocket some extra money so they can get it for their son for his birthday coming up.
Tucking the bread into her large sack, she starts toward Roland when she hears, "Hello, Regina."
Everything in her freezes. The sound of merchants selling their items and children laughing at their new purchases all fade away. That voice. It's the voice she can remember waking her up in the mornings, the voice that always told her to stand up straight, Regina and act like a lady, dear. Her eyes shoot over toward Roland, then to John, making sure they're okay. She knows what will happen next, knows what being found after so long by her mother means.
She turns, facing the older woman and squaring her shoulders. "Mother."
Cora grins that wicked grin, placing her hand on Regina's shoulder. "I think it's time you come with me."
Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath. Her mother would never want to make a show out of this in the middle of a crowded marketplace. Maybe she can get away with it. "No."
"No?" Cora scoffs, shaking her head. "Regina, dear, don't be a fool."
Sighing, Regina shakes her head again, informing her mother that she won't be going with her. "I have a life now, a home, and I'm not leaving."
"A home?" Cora asks incredulously, eyeing her tan pants with the dirt stain on the knee and her vest with the fur collar with disdain in her gaze. "Don't be foolish. This is no place for you to live."
Cora grabs her hand, making her bag of bread fall down her shoulder. Regina reaches up, catching it before the contents of the sack can spill onto the ground. They've worked too hard the last few heists to collect the money used to buy this week, she won't let it go to waste.
"No," Regina says, louder this time, causing the people around them to stop and look. Cora looks around, smiling coyly at the people passing by who can't help but to turn their curious eyes in their direction, reminding Regina through clenched teeth not to make a scene.
"Gina?" Roland's sweet little voice asks as he walks toward her, "Who is this?"
Regina looks over her shoulder, glancing down in Roland's direction. She tells him that this is no one and not to worry. She hands Roland the bag of bread, giving him a big boy job to take his mind off of the new, most likely scary, lady that still grips onto Regina's hand tightly. "You hold onto that for me, baby, and you can carry it back home for me, too. Just don't drop any of it."
Roland smiles brightly at his new responsibility, nodding so profusely that his brown curls bounce around his forehead. She makes a mental note to trim it a bit when she gets home. If she gets home.
"Regina. Now." Cora demands, pulling on Regina's hand. She moves her grip higher up to Regina's forearm, making it impossible to slip away as her grasp tightens, leaving fingerprints on her skin.
Tears well in her eyes as she looks down at Roland, knowing she won't be going home with him tonight. Fear is all that fills her, fear of never seeing Robin again, of not watching Roland grow up, and mostly of being forced to marry the duke after all. It's the life she thought she'd escaped, but little did she know, she had just delayed the inevitable.
"Roland," Regina cries, leaning down as close to him as possible. Cora's grasp loosens a touch at the sudden movement, giving her enough space to reach the little boy's head. Placing a kiss there, she breathes him in, whispering an I love you into his hair. She looks around frantically for John, knowing he might be able to stop her mother, but she doesn't see him.
"Go find John, Roland," Regina says as Cora snatches her up once more, yanking her away from her soon to be son. "Then go find Papa and tell him that my mother took me. Go tell him, Rolan-!"
His name is cut short as Cora pulls her away, into the crowd and onto their carriage as she fights, clawing at her mother's hands and yelling for her to let her go. She doesn't care if she's making a scene, any attention will help. She spies John as her mother is forcing her into the carriage and she yells his name. He runs over, scooping a crying Roland up in the process. Waving his free arm frantically, yelling her name over and over again.
"Go find Robin!" she shouts through the window, praying to anyone who will listen that he can hear her. She presses her hand against the window, giving John and Roland a sad, tear filled look before her mother pulls her back into her seat. She just hopes John can get to Robin in time for them to catch up to her. They'd saved her once before, maybe they can do it again.
{*******************}
"Papa! Papa!" Roland yells, matching John's loud cries of Robin's name.
He'd just gotten in from their hunt, laying the boar down to be roasted tonight. Looking in their direction, furrowing his brow at their distressed shouts. "What is it, my boy?" he asks, taking Roland from John's arms. "Where's Regina?"
He looks around, noting she hasn't come through the entrance of their camp yet. "She took her! The mean mama lady took her!"
Shaking his head, Robin looks up to John with a worried, questioning gaze. "Her mother," is all John says before Robin can feel the color drain from his face as his eyes bulge out. He places Roland down, wiping his son's tears off his cheeks and promising to be back.
"Men!" he shouts, informing some of them to stay there, to watch over the camp, while he and John go find Regina.
He knows her mother is nothing but trouble, has heard countless stories from his love about how awful her mother had been growing up. She's the one who had promised Regina to the abusive duke, the one who had always torn Regina down with her words.
"Roland," he says seriously, combing his hand through his son's locks, "You stay here with Mary. I'm going to go bring Regina back to us."
Kissing his son on the head, he grabs his bow, slinging it around his body and clapping John on the back.
He and John hop onto their horses, preparing to gallop off in the direction of where she was taken, hoping he can find someone, anyone, who saw the direction in which she went.
{*******************}
"Regina, dear," Cora reprimands sternly, straightening a wrinkle in Regina's newest dress she'd forced her to change into as soon as they arrived back at her palace, "sit up straight."
She's been there an entire day, praying against all hope that her former fiancé, the duke, doesn't come swooping back in. She'll fight tooth and nail before she lets him take her again. He'd given her the scar above her lip so long ago, she can't imagine what he'd do to her after running away and being gone for almost two years.
Cora snaps her finger, alerting the maid waiting in the corner to come pour them some fresh tea. Regina gives the girl a small smile, thanking her while Cora glares over at her, reminding Regina they don't speak to the help.
Rolling her eyes, Regina sighs, sitting back in her chair and sipping the new beverage. There has to be a way out, she thinks. She'd done it once before, assumes that hidden passageway no longer exists unless they never figured out how she got away the first time. She'll have to look tonight.
"I've sent word to your fiancé," her mother says, making her sit up straighter. Surely her mother hasn't found Robin, she was careful not to mention him since she's been found.
"Robin?" she asks tentatively, setting her teacup down on the table nervously.
Scoffing, Cora stands up. "No, you idiot girl, the duke."
Closing her eyes, she stands up, meeting Cora's gaze head on. "I don't love him, Mother," she vows, "I am to marry the man I love."
"This Robin?" Cora asks, dismissing Regina's desires with a wave of her hand. "He can't give you what you want, dear. You'll marry the duke and that's that."
"No."
"No?" Cora asks disbelievingly. "You don't have a choice, Regina. He's on his way; he'll be here in two days time." Cora moves dangerously close to her, trying to intimidate her into submission. Regina's stubbornness, though, is the one thing her Mother and the duke always hated. It's a trait Robin has always loved about her. She knows what she wants and won't be told otherwise.
Regina refuses again, informing her mother that she is to marry Robin, tells her she'll escape from this imprisonment one way or another if it's the last thing she does. With that promise, Cora raises her hand, swiping it across Regina's cheek, making her head whip to the side.
Grabbing her cheek as tears blur her vision, she looks back at her mother. Scowling, she runs from the room, making her way to her bedchamber. Maybe that secret servants passage is still there after all.
{*******************}
"Robin," Alan says, walking toward him hurriedly as he and John mount their horses. "This is Tinkerbelle." He points toward a girl with blonde, curly hair. She's in a short green dress and he notices she has wings sprouting from her back. A fairy. He's heard legend of fairies but has never seen one in person.
"You're a f-"
"A fairy, yes," the girl says, cutting him off joyfully. "I'm a fairy godmother, actually, and I'm here to protect Regina."
Bit late for that, he thinks to himself sourly. He tells the young girl that he's setting off now to find her, rescue her and bring her back home where she belongs. The girl nods, saying she'll do what she can from here before he returns. He looks at her questioningly, tilting his head to one side. How can a fairy godmother help without being near the one she's supposed to protect?
The girl giggles, patting his shoulder and telling him not to worry.
He and John set off on their steeds, making it to town in record time. No one has seen her, but they keep asking, keep searching. After a few hours, they finally find an old woman, the one selling clothing in the market square, claiming she saw the carriage take off toward the East.
They thank the woman, handing her the only coins he has on him as a reward, and set off once again. After riding into the night, they make camp for a few hours, sleeping a short while, enough to get their strength back up.
They take off the next morning, putting out their campfire with water from the stream nearby and continuing to head East. Robin sends up a prayer to whomever is listening that they find her. He knows if she's there too many more days, there's a higher possibility her mother will force her into a marriage with the duke all over again. Robin would rather lay down his life for her than see her be forced to marry that abusive man again.
As they cross the river, galloping around a corner, he spots movement to his right. Slowing down, he hears cries of Wait! and Stop! He'd know that voice anywhere. Hoping off his horse, causing John to halt his ride, Robin jumps off, sprinting toward the woman running in his direction.
"Regina!" he shouts in astonishment, opening his arms for her and wrapping her up in them forcefully when they make contact.
She looks stunned, most likely not expecting to find them so far from camp. "Robin? John?"
Looking over her, he runs his hands through her hair, pushing the loose strands behind her ear. The rest is tied up in a braid which rests over one shoulder, just the way she always likes to wear it.
Leaning in, he presses a kiss to her lips, running his hand down her jaw and cupping it. "I've missed you so much," he swears, roaming his eyes over her face. It's only been two days, but he thought he'd never see her again. "How did you get away?"
She smirks, tilting her head smugly to one side. "I've done it once before. An old servants hallway that my mother seems to have forgotten."
Chuckling, he wraps his arm around her shoulder, leading her toward his horse. "Well you wouldn't be the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with if you weren't so resourceful."
Regina smacks his chest, giggling and placing a kiss to his lips.
"I grabbed this, too," she states proudly, pulling out a piece of a blue, silky dress to show him that's been stashed into a satchel she now has draped across her body. "Figured we could sell it for a good price."
Robin shakes his head, laughing. He hooks his fingers around her vest, the one Mary had gifted her with when she first came to their camp, and pulls her closer, whispering into her hairline how much he loves her.
She giggles, tilting her head back to get a better look at him, saying they can give Roland all the birthday presents he wants with the profit they'll fetch from her new dress and satchel. He leans down once more, pressing his lips to her as she smiles into the kiss. They break apart as they near the horses, and she gives John a hug, thanking him for helping Robin look for her.
"Come on," Little John says, patting Regina on the back gently. "Let's go home."
The three of them make their way to camp, happy to all be reunited. Robin looks up into the sky, thanking whichever God smiles upon them and praying that they never have to go through this again.
{********************}
As the three of them make their way into the camp, Roland runs to Regina, squealing her name and wrapping his little arms around her legs. She smiles down at him, picking him up and placing a kiss to his forehead as she hoists him onto her hip. "Hi, baby," she whispers, kissing his cheek.
Her soon to be son tells her he missed her, and she promises that she missed him too, tells him she thought about him every night.
She sets him down, and the little boy runs off after giving his father a kiss, joining the other children at the table where they're being given an afternoon snack.
Looking up at Robin, she runs her hand over her braided hair. She walks over to him as he wraps one arm around her shoulder. "I'm scared, Robin," she admits quietly with a quiver to her voice and looking into his crystal blue eyes. "What if she finds me again?"
He matches her gaze, his eyes softening as he promises that she's safe. "I won't ever let her take you again."
"I might have a solution to that," she hears from beside her. Regina turns her head, spotting a blonde girl that wasn't in their camp two days ago when she was last here. Robin introduces her, informing Regina that the girl's name is Tinkerbelle.
"But you can call me Tink," she says proudly, stretching out her hand to shake Regina's. The girl shrugs her shoulders, making two thin, green wings pop out. Regina's eyes widen, looking between the girl and Robin.
"You're a f-fairy?"
Tink chuckles, saying Robin had the same reaction. "A fairy godmother, in fact. Yours."
"Mine?" Regina asks, shocked. Scoffing, she adds an irritated, "Where were you when I was kidnapped?" How dare this girl claim to be a fairy godmother when Regina has spent a lifetime being abused by her mother, then her fiancé, not to mention running away and almost dying before Robin found her.
"Well you'd found your soulmate, I didn't feel the need to intervene," Tink states simply, telling her she wasn't assigned to watch over her until a year ago, so all the abuse she suffered couldn't have been helped. "I am sorry about that," the girls tells her sincerely, "If I'd known you then, I would've saved you long ago."
They tell her that Tink showed up at camp just after Regina was taken, claiming that she could help. While Robin and John had been gone, Much and Alan had gone looking in the other direction for a new place to call home. "There's a forest two villages over," Robin tells her, pointing in the westward direction. "The men found it while out on a search. They say there's more vegetation and wildlife then we'll know what to do with." Robin smiles brightly, excitedly, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. She's stunned, never thinking they'd be so willing to move camp. They've lived here forever it seems, far longer than Regina has known them. "Seems like the perfect spot to make our new home, this Sherwood."
"You'd do that for me?" Regina asks, looking into his eyes. "This is our home, Robin, it's been your home for so long."
Robin smiles sweetly in her direction, stepping back and taking her hand. He brings it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "I'd do anything for you, my love."
"She could still find me, even if we move locations." Fear of being found again gripping at her heart, Regina starts to pull her hand away. Robin, quick as ever, takes it in his one more time, looking over at Tink.
"I have a solution for that, too," the girl says perkily, smiling from ear to ear. She tells Regina of her magic and how she can cloak their new home in a spell so no one can ever find it. "Only the people who live inside the camp will know where it is," she explains matter of factly.
Looking from the fairy up to Robin, Regina smiles tentatively, thinking this is too good to be true. "You could do that?"
Giggling, the girl flaps her wings, making pixie dust fall from the tips as a wand appears in her hand. "Of course! Everyone ready?" Checking to make sure that all members of the Merry Men and their families are safely inside the camp, Tink waves her wand, picking up everyone and all of their belongings in a safe bubble, depositing them into the middle of Sherwood Forest, into their new camp.
Looking around, stunned, Regina notices the camp looks exactly the same as their old one. All of their belongings are exactly where they'd been before, everyone standing in the same spot, almost as if the fairy had frozen them all for the move. The only difference is being located in a different forest. She thanks Tink for making it resemble their old home, wanting some familiarity for Roland and the other children. Looking to her side, she notices the trees are much denser here, easily hiding them far better than the trees of the Enchanted Forest had ever done anyway. Tink shrouds the camp in a golden bubble, watching as her dust sprinkles down, covering all that are inside the camp as well as the surrounding trees. It tickles Regina's nose, this pixie dust, but she smiles, knowing this cloaking spell is her best solution. Tilting her head back down, Regina looks from Robin, who has a smile plastered to his face, over to Roland who is laughing with the other young children as the dust covers their arms.
"I'm really free?"
"You're free," Robin promises her with unshed tears in his eyes, leaning in to kiss her one more time. Regina smiles widely, looking around at the people she'd come to live with so long ago, people who'd given her a place that she could call home. And now, thanks to her fairy godmother and her soulmate, she knows this new camp will make her happier than she ever thought possible. She and Robin can get married and live the life they always planned to have with no chance of her mother ever finding them. Together. Just how it should always be.