It's been a month. A month, and nothing.
His mom keeps telling him she hasn't given up searching for Regina, but Henry knows she's lost faith in her search. He heard her one night with Killian and his grandparents, when they thought he was asleep.
Two days before
"Are you sure you searched everywhere, Emma?" Mary-Margaret says, a bit worried.
"Mom..." Emma sighs. "I know my job. If I haven't found her yet, then I won't. There's no record of her. Anywhere! The few women I heard about who matched the description weren't Regina. She doesn't want to be found. I'll keep looking, for Henry, but at some point I'll have to tell him this search is vain."
"But what if Henry is right?"
Three pair of eyes turn to look at the brunette in surprise.
"What if she's still in Storybrooke?"
"You mean, she would lead us to a wild goose chase while she's planning something behind our back?"
Mary-Margaret sends her husband a cold glare. "After everything she did for us, you still don't believe in her, do you? You still see her as evil"?"
It's barely a question, more a statement, and David sighs loudly, bowing his head guiltily.
"Well, I refuse to believe that she would turn back to being evil again." she resumes firmly, looking at her daughter. "What if something did happen to her? She could be in danger right now, and we're not even looking for her."
"Mary-Margaret..." David says warily, knowing very well he's walking on eggshells right now. "Who could possibly have hurt Regina? There's no new villain in town, Gold just came back from his honeymoon with Belle, Zelena is dead. And I really don't see someone being brave enough to even confront Regina. Half the town is still afraid of her."
"And with what happened with Robin Hood, it seems logical that she needs some space. That's what she always did when she was in pain." Hook points. "Maybe this time she decided that leaving town would end her misery once and for all."
"Maybe." She concedes. "But I still find hard to believe that she left Henry behind, or that she would leave permanently without saying goodbye."
"I understand, mom, but why would she wrote a letter for Henry if she didn't plan to leave?" Emma replies.
Mary-Margaret cocks her head, gives her that point.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that Regina is fine. And I won't stop looking for her, though I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to hear anything from us." Emma concludes.
Back to the present
Emma is wrong. She can't find Regina outside Storybrooke because she isn't there. His mother is still in town, Henry just knows it. He feels it. Like a voice in his head whispering, telling him she needs him, reminding him that he's the only one still believing in her and he must not let her down. All he has to do is to find her. If no one cares for her, he will. It's not about trying to be a hero and believing in a storybook this time. It's deeper than that. There's a bound between them that screams at Henry that his mother is calling him and praying to be found.
For a month, he was able to pretend that he was fine. He kept the mask on, played with Neal, went to school, lived a normal life. But pretending becomes harder everyday, and he can't just keep ignoring that gut feeling telling him he needs to do something. Now!
For the last two days, he's been thinking about how exactly he could get some help, until suddenly an idea hit him. It's a bet, but it might lead somewhere. Anyway, he doesn't really have a lot of options here. So at the first occasion, he walks to Grannys, and as soon as he spots the young woman, walks to Ruby. She's smiling at him, tilts her head to the side in question.
"Can I do something for you, Henry?"
"Actually, yes. I need your help. Or more exactly, your werewolf abilities."
She frowns.
"Why do you need the werewolf?"
Henry takes a deep breath, and looks her right in the eyes. "We have to find my mom."
It's been a month, and Robin doesn't remember his life to have been this awful. Exception made his wife's death, that is.
Which is exactly the problem.
As much as he remembers Marian, she's always been the kind, gentle, soft lover and mother type.
But the woman who came back with Emma and Hook... He can't really put his finger on it, but something is definitely wrong about her.
Her tone is harsher than he remembers. Her kisses hungrier. Her temper shorter. She scowled Roland so hardly once she made the little boy cry, and seemed untouched by it.
And she's sneaking out. She disappears in the middle of the night regularly, sometimes also during the day. He found her more than once sitting alone in a corner and focusing on something in her hands that he never really managed to see.
She always comes up with an explanation, but he can tell that something is definitely not right.
At first, he believed it was because he missed Regina. The pain of knowing she'd left town was worse than he had imagined. He thought that breaking up with her would crush him, but the idea of never seeing her, ever again... Well... That's another level of heartbreak he hoped he'd never experienced again.
He tries to play with Roland, attempts to focus on his boy's game, but his heart is not there. So Robin just sits there, watches his son play alone in front of him. He spots Marian's frame walking slowly to them, smiling. She lays her hand on his shoulder, leans forward to kiss his cheek, and takes place next to him.
"Hey!" she whispers.
"Hey. Where were you?"
"I went for a walk in town. I'm still trying to get use to all that." She chuckles, waving her hand in front of her.
As everyday for the last week, he nods, but doesn't believe her. He plays along, except that this time, Robin is determined to find out what she's hiding.
He waits until Roland is tucked in, until they went to bed themselves and she thinks he's asleep next to her. When she gets and exits the tent, Robin quietly follows her. He learns a while ago how to stalk someone without them realizing. Carefully, silently, he observes her walk straight towards the edge of the forest. It's only after maybe fifteen minutes that he recognizes where she's heading.
Zelena's farmhouse.
He stops behind a tree, and watches his wife head for the storm cellar. She makes sure no one is around, so he hides, and holds his breath until he hears a metallic sound. Then, his head pops out of his hiding spot.
She walks inside, and closes the heavy door behind her.
And then, Robin waits.
He waits for what seems like hours. During that time, there's nothing but silence, the light sounds of the forest at night he's not afraid of, as he's been accustomed with them almost his whole life.
When the door opens again, Robin steps back, ready to sprint towards the camp so she won't notice his absence in the tent. The minute he's sure that she's stepping and she begins to close the door, he heads back to the camp. He's seen enough for now.
But what Robin doesn't see, is the wave of magic coming from his wife's hand, and locking the door.
A week later
Robin asked Belle to spend some time with Marian, to chaperon her for girls' activities, show her the town, and do whatever occupation the young woman is more acquainted with than him.
He needs time.
Since the night he followed her, whenever she wasn't at the farmhouse, Marian has barely left him alone. She doesn't know, he thinks. He hopes. Because she's been this way since her return. Always stinging at his side, always holding his hand, clutching to his arm, leaning against his chest. He was somehow content at first, when he thought he'd been gifted with his wife's return, but now he finds it oppressive, overwhelming. He grits his teeth each time, tries not to show his doubts.
Not knowing what's going on and keeping up this sick little game drives him nut, he needs to know what's up with his wife. Why is she so different? What is she hiding from him?
As soon as she's disappeared at the corner with Belle, he sprints in direction of the forest, runs through it, and emerges at the same spot where he followed her last time, breathless. Except that he's not alone.
There's Henry and that waitress from Grannys, Ruby, he remembers. The boy follows the young woman's quick pace as she seems to be sniffing in the air, frowning and stopping from time to time to lead their path.
Robin steps forward and calls them just when Ruby notices his presence.
"What are you doing here?" Henry asks. The boy is defiant, tensed, suspicious, but Robin is in no mood to bow in front of him right now.
"I could ask you the same question."
"We're looking for my mom. I know she's still in Storybrooke."
Robin frowns, and he tilts his head in question towards Ruby, who shrugs.
"Werewolf here!" She answers his silent question, pointing at her own nose. "I'm trying to follow her smell, but with nothing of hers, I'm not as effective as I could be."
"It led you here?"
"We tried different places where she could be hiding. Henry thought that no one is likely to come around here, since... Zelena, you know? That maybe Regina could be here. I don't know if what I smell is her, but there's definitely something weird. I can't really tell what."
"What about you?" Henry cuts. "What are you doing here?"
"I..." Robin pauses. Is it really necessary to inform the boy of his marital issues? "I saw Marian heading over here one night." He confesses at last, tilting his chin towards the storm shelter. "She's disappearing a lot, and at some point I just decided to follow her."
"Wait!" Henry's brow furrows in concentration, a finger to his chin as he thinks deeply. "If Marian comes here regularly, and my mom is missing since she came back, and Ruby smells something weird..."
He doesn't finish his sentence, three pair of eyes widening in realization before they rushes to the metallic door. As Robin tries to open it, he's pushed back by a strong force and lands a few meters away.
"Magic." Ruby breathes while he recovers from the blast, sitting up. "We need Emma, I'm calling her."
"Magic?" Robin whispers, stunned. How is that possible?
As Ruby takes a few steps to warn the blonde woman and ask her to join them, Robin meets Henry's panicked gaze. He walks to the boy, a shaking hand clapping his shoulder. It's meant to be reassuring, but he's not certain to be in a better state of mind than the twelve year-old right now. He doesn't need to speak. None of them does. Right now, they both know the same thing. A person they deeply love has been missing for 5 weeks, and maybe, just maybe, they're about to find her. What has happened to her though, that's what's worrying them.
"She's on her way." Ruby announces when she joins them.
And indeed, less then fifteen minutes later, Emma steps out of the sheriff's car with David on her heels. Henry just shows her the door, tells her it ejected Robin in the air when he tried to open it.
The blonde holds her hands in front of her, focuses all of her energy on the door, closes her eyes, until a ray of light magic emerges from them, colliding with the lock and struggling for a few seconds, before making him explode in pieces.
They don't move. They don't speak. They don't know what they'll find inside, who they will find.
Henry moves first. He takes a few resolute steps to reach the door, and with his mother help, they swing it open.
So, we made some progress in this chapter. What do you think they'll find in the storm cellar ?
For those who wonder, I chose Ruby to help Henry because of her abilities, of course (though as she says, without Regina's smell to follow, it's kind of complicated), but also because she can protect him if needed, and I kind of miss her in the show. She won't be a big part of this story, but I thought it was nice to see her again.
And yes, Charming, Emma and Hook clearly don't believe in Regina's goodness but that's how I felt it for a while. For all S3 until the finale, and even in the beginning of S4, they were still throwing her past to her face despite everything she did and kept doing for them. I mean, even in 412 Hook keeps calling her Evil... And we saw how Regina didn't appreciate it.
As for Mary-Margaret, I couldn't pass her endless optimism and hope that Regina is fighting hard against the darkness. For me, she's the only person aside from Henry that has faith in her (And Robin too in the show, but he doesn't here). She may still sometimes see her as the woman who tried to ruin her life, but the two of them clearly grew closer in S3B, and I love their new relationship too much to simply let her believe Regina gave up. And she's the only one who saw her raising Henry, and adding the missing year to that, she's very well aware of how much Regina loves her son.
The next chapter will be entirely focused on Regina. We will go back in time the night of the diner to find out why she suddenly disappeared from everyone's life. So you'll have to wait to know what our little team here will find behind the doors.
Thanks for the reviews ! It's always nice to know what you think, and it's a good motivation to continue :-)
And I'm just thinking maybe posting another chapter right after a new episode is not a very good idea, but only one episode to go ! Can't wait to see what they cooked up for us in the finale this time, don't you ?
