Something was wrong. Regina's brow creased as the feeling tugged at the edge of her consciousness. She shifted in her sleep, trying to get comfortable again, but the tugging persisted.
Then, a soft cry came from down the hall. Roland. She was up and out of bed, yanking on a robe and racing for the door. Down the darkened corridor she saw the door to the little boy's room open, the light of the candle he insisted on sleeping with when Robin was gone flickering madly. The crying continued, and she could make out calls for his father amidst the sobbing.
"Roland!" she murmured, going to his bedside and sitting him up, pulling him into her arms. "It's alright, sweetheart, it's alright. I'm here. It was just a dream."
"Don't let the Shadow get me, don't let the Shadow get me!" the boy wailed, tears streaming from his tight shut eyes. "Papa!" He burrowed into her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and sniffling. Regina rocked him gently back and forth, whispering comfort and reassurance into his hair. Her mind flashed, unbidden, to one of Henry's first nightmares. She'd lain awake with him until nearly dawn, holding him close and promising him repeatedly that she'd never leave. Never leave. Well, just another promise broken amongst the countless others.
She imagined the warm weight of his little body against her chest, the way his hair slipped easily through her fingers; how he would get as close as he possibly could to her, sometimes wrapping one leg around hers. And she would hold him just as tightly, murmuring and humming in his ear and stroking one finger down his forehead to his nose, telling him to close his eyes. "Be still and be quiet, I'm here…."
"I want Papa," Roland's tiny voice snapped her back to the present, to the frightened boy in her arms. Not Henry, but Roland. He sniffed again and wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"I know, sweetheart, I know," Regina replied, stroking his back. "He'll be here soon; in time for breakfast I think!" she added brightly, pulling back just enough to get a look at his face. Damp and red-streaked, but no more new tears. She thumbed the remaining tears away, smiling softly.
"You go back to sleep, and he'll be back before you know it."
"I can't—what if the Shadow comes to get me again?" He clung tightly to her even as she tried to shift away.
Again? "Roland, have you had this dream before?" Regina sat back down and let him lean on her.
He nodded shakily and replied, "Whenever Papa goes away, I'm afraid the Shadow will come back to get me, like it did at the window. And—and, it'll get me, because Papa isn't here to save me."
The Shadow. Pan. "You mean the Shadow's been for you before? How did—" Wait. In Neverland, during one of the quieter moments, Neal mentioned using somebody to get it to take him…. Realization struck her like a ton of bricks. That bastard. If he weren't Henry's father, she'd want to kill him. Still, even though he was….
"Roland, look at me." She turned his chin to face her with one finger under his jaw. "The Shadow is gone, destroyed, okay? It can't ever hurt you again, I promise. Do you think you can go back to sleep now?"
The little boy mumbled a shaky affirmative and scooted back to lie down. "Regina?" he whimpered as she went to rise.
"Yes, Roland?" She brushed a strand of hair behind his ear before tucking his covers around him.
"Will you stay with me?" His little words brought tears to her eyes and she gently traced her finger along his cheek.
"Of course, sweetheart. Just give me one moment." Regina rose quickly as the little boy snuggled deeper into the blankets and went to the door. She'd sensed another's presence outside and wasn't surprised to see Michael, one of the men who stayed behind to guard the Castle.
"Get a message to Robin; tell him he needs to get here before breakfast," she whispered, and the man nodded and quickly disappeared.
Back in Roland's room, Regina lay down next to the little boy and pulled him close. He snuggled into her side and she squeezed his shoulders. "It's alright now, I'm here," she murmured, and felt him nod a little in reply.
Suddenly an idea struck her and Regina sat up against the small wooden headboard. "Roland, watch." Her fingers traced a pattern on the wall above his bed, and after them followed shimmering lines of magic. First she drew a circle, then within it, a crisscross of thinner lines, and finally three long lines trailing from the bottom.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked, watching his eyes fill with sleepy wonder at her trick. He shook his head, little mouth hanging open, and she added, "It's a dream catcher. Look." And Regina pried the pattern from the wall, holding the thing in her hands.
"The ancients used these in their homes to keep the bad dreams, and the spirits within them, away, while letting the good dreams through." She lifted his hand to touch the glimmering dream catcher, smiling as he did. "They hung them over their beds, just like this one will hang over yours."
"It's pretty," he said, all fear of his nightmare gone.
"It is." She pressed it back onto the wall, but it retained its three dimensional shape, three trailing strings fluttering gently in the breeze from the cracked window. "And it will serve as a reminder that I will always watch over you." Regina pressed a kiss to his forehead and slid back down to lay with him cradled against her chest.
"Now, close your eyes, and go to sleep. I'm here."
Roland yawned and his eyelids drooped. "I love you, Regina," he whispered, and went limp against her.
A tear slipped out before she knew what was happening. "I love you, too, Roland," she whispered into his hair, and closed her eyes.