It was madness. Regina knew as much before she reached her hand into her chest and pulled out her beating heart. But not as mad as facing the Wicked Witch.
The thief, Robin Hood, stared at her in horror as she drew it forth.
"What are you doing?" He exclaimed.
"Something stupid." She replied coolly, holding the heart out to him. "I can't risk having it when I face Zelena, and I don't have time to take it to my vault. So, it seems to me, as much as I hate to admit it, that I have no choice but to entrust it with you."
"Trust no one," Regina could almost hear he mother say. Or was it her own voice? Even as she said the words she regretted them. What was she thinking? It would have been much safer for her to have buried it somewhere in the woods where only she would know where to find it. She could have even placed a variety of cloaking spells on it to make the churned earth undetectable.
Still… there was a certain comfort in him having it. That terrified Regina more than anything.
Robin looked at the heart and then back to her. "Are you certain?"
Regina stared intently at the heart…her heart. It was black and corrupt, a reminder of all her dark deeds and mistakes, except for a small speck of bright red that shone through. The tiny flame of light that Henry had kindled that let her believe redemption was possible. That she could be happy.
Even as she was looking, she noticed a new spot beginning to form. It was still dark, but lighter than the rest, like a sun struggling to break through a wall of gray clouds.
"Yes, I'm certain", she said, her conviction reaffirmed. With the words, she could have sworn she spotted a thread of red light shine out from the spot, if only for a moment. Yet she could not quite bring herself to hand the heart over.
Instead, she turned away from him to a large tree with gnarled roots at its base. She knelt and brushed away the dead leaves and topsoil, gently cradled the heart inside, and covered it again.
Wiping her hands, Regina turned to face Robin again, who was still standing in the same place, but a strange, soft look had come over his face.
"Keep it safe." It sounded more a plea than a command.
Robin gave a slight bow. "I will protect it with my life."
She nodded. Her gut was clenched tight with dread, and perhaps even fear, for the battle to come, but she had no choice but to move forward. "Thank you", she said, and turned away toward town.
"Regina", he called after she had only walked a few steps. She looked back and saw that he had stepped forward, as if to stop her. The soft, sad look on his face was now unmistakably that of concern. "Be safe."
Regina smiled, touched. "Thanks. I will."
With that, she disappeared into the trees.