"Do you remember the time we stole pies from Mrs. Leary's house?" Aric asked, sitting on his grand bed with his legs stretched out in front of him, munching on a bar of chocolate.
"You mean the old bat who hit me with a ladle?" Zelena asked, examining his array of knick knacks and scrolls on a shelf that nearly covered an entire wall. "Of course I do. Those were the best pies I've ever had." She picked up a drawn picture of him and a beautiful black haired woman and turned it to him with a curiously arched eyebrow.
"That is Turide. The shield-maiden who trained me."
"Where is she?" Zelena asked, placing the picture back on its stand.
"She died." Aric said. "In battle."
"I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "It's what she wanted." He stood up and approached her, handing her the candy. She took a bite, watching him walk over to a chest. While he rummaged around in it, she took in the full view of his master bedroom, made for a knight of his stature. His bed was large, with white sheets and a red cross on it. There were red rugs all over the stone floor. He had several dressers, a mannequin for his suit of armor and several slots in the wall for his weapons. Other than that, he didn't seem to have much. Or want much. Zelena didn't remember him as someone who desired a lot of material things. More than anything, she remembered his heart. His big, beautiful heart. There were numerous times when he would stop to help women with their bags, men with their horses and wagons, or play with children in their little village. Arthur couldn't have asked for a more chivalrous knight in his court. That was the boy she remembered. The man, however, had almost seemed to have evolved somehow. Of course, he was larger, in amazing physical shape by the bulge of his arms and shoulders through his simple linen shirt, as well as his powerful legs barely contained by the tight black pants he wore. Not to mention his very enticing backside. He stood up and approached her with a small bracelet made of silver and small flecks of what looked like jades.
"What's this?" Zelena asked, frowning.
"Don't make that face." He chided lightly. "I bought this for you two days before you found out you were adopted, and left to meet the wizard. I was so nervous to give it to you that I never did. Better late than never, I suppose."
She took it slowly, looking up at him skeptically. "Aric...that girl you used to love is no longer here. I'm...I've changed. You," She gestured to the room around them. "Became something better, something wonderful. A knight of the round table, one of the best in the world. I became...the crazy wicked witch of the west. Why on earth would you still be pining after me?"
He took the bracelet and put it on her wrist. "First of all, I am the best knight in the world. And as for you, you're not crazy. And I find wickedness to be a bit of a turn on." He smirked. She rolled her eyes. "You had just found out that you'd been adopted, and your mother had wanted nothing to do with you, so cruel that she left you in the woods to die. That would drive any person to dark places. The need to find your place in the world, to find people who love you, is a powerful quest. I understand that you had to do what you had to do, and that you had to do it alone."
"I never meant to leave you, Aric. I just..."
He smiled. "It's alright." He pulled her gently into his arms and settled his hands on her waist. "I'm just glad you're safe and alive."
Zelena nodded, wondering how the hell she'd missed what could've been a perfect life with this man. After everything she'd done, he still seemed to love her, still seemed to want her. "Do you believe I can be a mother?"
"I believe you can be anything that you set your mind to. A Zelena with a purpose is a force to be reckoned with." He smiled.
"Even if Regina and Robin take the baby, even if I'm not strong enough to fight for it, I don't want it to grow up, knowing its mother as only the Wicked Witch." Zelena said softly.
"Then become strong enough, become someone other than the Wicked Witch. Become someone better. It matters not if the world notices, but as long as you try."
"Do you still love me?" Zelena asked, looking into his eyes.
"Would I be here if I didn't?" He replied, leaning forward to capture her lips with his own.
/
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It was the early morning, and Regina had barely slept a wink. Wrapped in Robin's embrace, she was thinking only of her sister, the incredible shift that taken place as she danced in the arms of that stranger knight. She didn't know anything about her sister, other than her envy, which was well founded, although she really should've been upset with their mother instead of Regina. She found it funny how Cora had ruined thousands of life, but seemed to have reserved the worst torment for her own children. Still, she would've been completely convinced of Zelena's inability to be anything other than wicked, if she hadn't seen the softness of her sister last night. It made her head spin, so she got up and went back to Merlin's room and got back to work, in hopes that a tough task would keep Zelena out of her thoughts. It was where Snow found her an hour later.
"Rough night?" Her stepdaughter asked.
"Yes." Regina slammed the book closed she'd been reading and put it down. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course." Snow said with a bright smile as she sat down. "Shoot."
"Do you believe Zelena can change?"
"Um, okay, toughie." Snow tilted her head as she thought for a moment. "I suppose it's possible...but she hasn't shown any sign of wanting to change. Getting pregnant by Robin was done simply to hurt you, not for love anything. It's the child who'll suffer. Except not with you and Robin'll be raising it."
"That's the thing. Is taking the baby away from Zelena the best choice? I don't believe a mother should lose her child, but Zelena is...wicked. I thought she would always be that way until I saw her last night."
"With Galahad?"
"You know the knight?"
"He's the best in Arthur's court. Well respected. She did look happy, didn't she?"
"Like a totally different person." Regina said.
"Well, you know me, I like to see the good in everyone. But we have to go with what we know about Zelena, which is nothing but envious insanity. Based on that, she would be a terrible mother. What we don't know, I suppose you could find out."
"But I changed, when I got Henry." Regina leaned against the workbench. "Do you think she can too? It's not like she was worse than the Evil Queen anyway."
"What does Robin think?" Snow asked.
"He believes what we're doing is right. He doesn't want to lose his child."
"Well you have some time to decide."
"I know. Maybe I should stop worrying about that and just focus on Merlin. That task won't be any easier."
"Not without help." Snow smiled as she picked up the book Regina had put down. "Let's get to work."
/
/
/
A smile fought its way onto Zelena's lips as she awoke with her arms wrapped around Aric. Her body was wonderfully sore from every glorious second of last night. She kissed Aric's neck and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Good morning." Aric said without rolling over.
"Good morning." Zelena smirked. He stretched, and she caught sight of the large tattoos on his back that she wasn't sure how she missed. Then again, she'd been more interested in his other features last night. "Your tattoos. What do they mean?" She asked, sitting up, keeping the sheets from falling. He sat up as well, keeping his back to her.
She touched the Red Cross on the back of his neck. His crest. Beneath it was a tattoo of a scale. The tattoos continued in a line down his spine, each one intricate and detailed and connected to the one before, like a story.. Next came a sword, then a great lion, an anvil, a beautiful red rose and a ring. "The scale is for fairness. The sword is nobility. The lion stands for valor. The rose is courtesy, and the ring means loyalty."
"The code of chivalry." She said.
"It is a worthy code to live by, don't you think?" He asked, laying back down on his back. She climbed on top of him and folded her arms beneath her head, resting on his chest. "Do you have plans for today?"
"No, but Regina wants to keep an eye on me. As if I can make a portal without a wand or spell." She sighed. "Why didn't I stay? Why didn't I just stay with you?"
"Because you had bigger things to do. Greater feats to accomplish than being the wife of a lowly peasant." He smiled.
"We could've had a happy ending together."
"There is nothing that says we still can't. Do you love me, Zelena?" Aric asked, running his fingers through her hair.
"Yes." She gasped, leaning into his touch.
"Our stories are far from being over. Our names are already legend. We can still have a happy ending. Together. If you'll have me. If you can let go of all of your anger and hatred towards your mother, towards your sister, then nothing will be beyond your reach."
She listened to his words in silence and sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just...no one's ever believed in me before."
"It's about time someone has."
/
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/
Regina looked up as Zelena walked in and sat down quietly, staring off into space. "Mind telling me what you were thinking, trying to run off to Oz?" Zelena gave no response. She didn't appear to have heard, so Regina removed the spell, or tried to anyway. The spell was already gone and she automatically looked down at her sister's wrist to make sure the cuff was still there. It was. "Zelena? Hello?"
"Would you let me name the baby?" Zelena asked.
"What?"
"Since you're going to take my child, I want to know if you would let me name him." Zelena said, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I thinks it's going to be a boy. Perhaps a name like Jaden, or Emmet, or even Gregory."
"As in Jade, Emerald and Green?" Regina said, smirking slightly.
"You're right, all of those are terrible. What about Godric? No...Zenon." Zelena smiled. "Something strong. Something with a wicked twist to it."
"Zelena-"
"What would you tell him about me?" Zelena intervened again, looking at her younger sister with curious eyes.
"I would tell him what I know."
Zelena frowned. "Will I not be able to see him...at all?"
"Zelena, I've already told you, this will be me and Robin's child. After everything you've done to hurt me-"
"Really Regina? This situation is hardly about you. This is about my baby."
"And whatever hardship this child faces will be because of you. Because you decided you wanted to make my life just a little more miserable by having a child with my soulmate just to hurt me." Regina hissed.
Zelena stood up and suddenly stepped right into Regina's face. "When you look at him, will it be with love?" She asked with a very serious concern that surprised the former queen. "Or will you see me? You want to take my child but you won't care about it. This is just to get back at me for sleeping with Robin. This baby will not grow up wondering why it's 'parents' look at him like he's a stranger. Like something's not right with him. Like he doesn't fit. You have Roland and you have Henry. You have more than you realize, but you want to take all I have?"
"Stop painting yourself as the victim. You lost that privilege a long time ago, Sister." Regina snapped.
"And I will." Zelena said. "When you let me go."
"You're not taking that baby anywhere."
"And who will stop me?!" Zelena roared. "I wanted to try being a better person. To be someone that my baby could be proud of. But I won't find that here. Not with the 'heroes', certainly not with you."
"You know, I thought you could change, but clearly I was mistaken."
Zelena rolled her eyes. "I don't care what you think. I don't give a damn about what you think of me. I slept with Robin, I get your upset about that, but it doesn't give you the right to take my child or to choose how I live my life."
"I think that cuff says otherwise, Wicked Witch." Regina said.
Zelena scoffed. "Fuck you, Evil Queen." She turned to leave and slammed the door. "All I have to do is cut off my hand again anyways." She smirked.
Regina sighed after the witch had gone and sat down.
Zelena searched the castle for Aric, finding him out In the training hard with a handsome young knight with dark curly hair. "Zelena." He grinned immediately upon seeing her. "What's wrong? You look upset."
"Is there anything I can do to assist, milady?" Asked the young knight, lowering his bow.
"Zelena, this is my apprentice, Tristan, youngest knight in the round table. Tristan, this is Zelena, the woman I told you about."
"Good things I hope." Zelena said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, milady." Tristan bowed. "And nothing but good of course."
"Now what's wrong?" Aric asked.
"I have to leave. It's the only way I'll be able to keep my child."
"Someone is threatening your child?!" Tristan demanded. "Who?"
"I think you should hear the whole story before you make some kind of accusation or demand." Zelena said with a glance at him. "You know some magic, Aric, can you take this cuff off?"
"I don't know a lot, but I can try. Even if I do, how can you leave?"
"I'll find a way." She snapped. "I have to."
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