*Slight trigger warning for mild mentions of explicit sexual content and miscarriage*
Disclaimers:
1. I do NOT own ANY characters, ships or storylines; they all belong to their respectful owners. I only own the things that are AU which include storylines and original characters.
2. Some of my writing may involve heavy subject matter (i.e., drug abuse, abortion, sexual assault etc.) as well as a great deal of strong language, along with strong to mild sexual content. I do NOT in ANY way support any heavy subject matter I may write about. Please note that if you continue to read after seeing any disclaimers or trigger warnings, you are from that point forward reading at your own risk. Anyone who wishes to read after disclaimers and warning labels which will be placed at the beginning of each chapter may voice their complaints, but I am not at liberty to respond.
3. Updates for stories that I write are based on the time and availability I have to plot, research, write, edit, and update a chapter. Updates are also based on my creativity and muse; I would rather a story be on an indefinite hiatus than to force myself to give a rushed and uninspired update. Any updates I do will be sporadic and may consist of single to multiple chapters.
Neverland:
His feet were exhausted, his body in desperate need of food and water; but he had to keep going, Roland's life depended on it. The sun should be in the sky by now, but whatever magic this land possessed kept the sun from shining. The sky was gray, painted with wisps of blue as clouds filled the sky, casting an even gloomier look over the island. Their journey seemed to be never ending and Robin was quite certain that they were lost. They had passed the same tree with the exotic flowers at least 4 times since their journey had begun. She was leading the way because she was pissed off and he had no energy to argue with her. Now he was annoyed because they were losing time and were probably further away from Roland. He let out a frustrated sigh, causing her to whip around and look at him.
"Something you wanna say?" Regina asked, placing her hands on her hips as she scowled at him.
"We're lost...something you'd know if-" Robin began as Regina's scowl deepened.
"If what, thief?" Regina glared.
"If you weren't so damn headstrong!" He shouted, frustrated beyond his wits at this woman.
"We are not-"
"We've passed this bloody shrub at least 4 times!" Robin exclaimed, pointing to the shrubbery as Regina sighed.
"Just admit it, we're-"
"Lost? I know!" She said, raising her voice a little as her hands flailed around as Robin looked at her strangely.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice much softer as she sighed once more.
"I just, I wanna find my son alright? I wanna find Henry and get the hell off this island!" She shouted, clearly more frustrated than he thought.
"As do I, but we can't get anywhere with you being so bloody headstrong!" Robin argued back, her reaction immediately made him swear silently to himself.
"I am not-"
"Yes you are; you clearly don't know where we are or where we're going. I've lived in the woods, you have not so I-"
"Oh, so you think that because I lived in a palace-"
"I think the fact that we've been wandering around in the same spot for the past hour proves my point your majesty," Robin said as Regina sent him an infuriating glare.
"Ugh! I should've followed my first instinct and went off on my own," She muttered, stalking off in the opposite direction.
"And you'd be just as lost if you had gone off on your own." Robin snapped as Regina whipped around to face him.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Regina snapped, turning around to look at him as he noticed the dark spot that had begun forming on the right shoulder of her jacket.
"What?" She snapped as he sighed.
"Your arm's bleeding again; here, let me take a look at it," Robin said softly.
"I don't need your help! I can look after my own arm!" Regina shouted as Robin's irritation grew.
What was it with this woman? Why was she so stubborn? Clearly they were both in the same boat, wanting to find their sons and get the hell off of this island. So why was she being so bloody uncompromising?
"You know what, fine! Look after your own self, see if I care! You are an insufferable woman! I don't see how the king-" Robin began as Regina laughed; now that was something that caught his attention.
"You think I wanted to marry Leopold?" Regina said shaking her head as she continued to laugh.
"If you didn't then why-"Robin began, slowly beginning to put the pieces together; she'd never wanted to marry the king.
"Trust me, dear, if I'd had my way, I wouldn't have married him...and Snow White sure as hell wouldn't be alive," Regina muttered.
"What is your issue with her?" Robin wanted to know; he'd heard so many stories as to why the queen hated Snow White, but this was a story he wanted to hear directly from the source.
"She ruined my happiness," Regina said, turning away from Robin.
"And just how did she do that?" Robin asked, casually leaning against a tree.
"She told a secret, and it cost me the love of my life...I had to stand there and watch my mother rip out his heart because of her." Regina said softly, her eyes focused on a certain point in the sky as she wrapped her arms protectively around her.
"So because your true love was killed, you shut yourself off to love?"
"I didn't just shut myself off to love; I shut myself off to everything. At least, until Henry was born; then, I tried to be good but, there was so much anger; my hatred for Snow consumed everything that I had,"
"If you hate her so much then how did you end up raising her grandson?"
"...Because fate has a way of screwing with me; I couldn't have children of my own so, I ended up adopting"
"You're infertile?" Robin asked, completely astonished; how was it that a woman as beautiful as Regina was unable to have children?
"Yes and no; the king wanted a male heir but, I was unable to give him one. He tried all sorts of things, hired all sorts of...escorts and, magic practitioners to help train my body. He brought in people to make sure I would be able to handle being with him intimately. I was able to conceive; I just couldn't carry a child to term. It worked out in the end; because if I wasn't carrying Daniel's child well, I didn't want to be pregnant anyways." Regina said quietly as Robin watched her body language. She stood completely still as she talked, her eyes drifting off to a faraway place.
"This Daniel you speak of…you truly loved him?" Robin asked as Regina finally looked at him, doing her best to contain her tears.
"I loved Daniel with everything I had inside of me; we were going to run away together…but Snow, she told my secret." Regina said as her eyes darkened at the thought of what Snow did to her, of what she'd cost her.
"But, wasn't she just a child?" Robin asked as Regina turned once more to look at him.
"Child or no child, she cost me my freedom," Regina said, taking a deep breath in to try and calm herself down.
"So that's why you cast the curse, to get back at Snow White?"
"No. I cast that curse because for once, I wanted to win; I wanted to know what happiness felt like. It wasn't fair to me that no matter what I did, Snow White always seemed to find happiness while I was left with nothing. The curse at the time seemed like the only way I could win," Regina explained as Robin hummed quietly, his eyes focused on the queen the entire time she spoke.
"So what happened after the curse was broken?"
"Oh, all hell broke loose once everyone remembered what I'd done; I lost Henry as a result. I knew that the only way to regain his trust was to try and change who I was,"
"And did you?" Robin asked as Regina let out a chuckle.
"If I hadn't changed do you really think I would have jumped on a boat with Rumpelstiltskin, the Charming's, Emma Swan, and Captain Hook?" Even Robin had to chuckle; that bunch seemed like a highly unlikely pairing.
"No, I suppose I wouldn't expect that; so exactly how did Henry end up here?" Robin asked, suddenly seeing the woman known as The Evil Queen in an entirely new light. Apparently there was a woman with a heart underneath the cold exterior, and she had been through a living hell.
"Because of me; someone I'd wronged long before Henry was born wanted revenge on me. I'm slowly starting to accept the fact that my past will always come back to haunt me," Regina said with a sad smile as Robin stared at her.
"What?" Regina asked, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"You're not evil, just terribly misunderstood," Robin said softly, reaching out for her arm which this time, she didn't snatch away.
"It appears my arrow cut deeper than we thought," he said, reaching upward to grab a coconut from a tree nearby.
"You're going to have to take off your jacket and your top," Robin said as Regina looked at him with wide eyes.
"It's the only way I can get a better look at your arm," Robin said as she looked at him but removed her clothes anyway.
"So, in this new realm, I'm guessing clothing is more-"
"It's a lot less...extravagant than it is back home" she explained,
"Do you miss it, The Enchanted Forest?" Robin asked
"Do I miss it? Ha! No, there's nothing left for me there any...ahh! God! Son of a bitch that hurt!" Regina yelled.
"Sorry; I had to keep you distracted," Robin said with a sheepish smile.
"Well you could've warned me at least," Regina said through clenched teeth.
"What the hell did you put on my arm anyway?" Regina asked, glancing at the creamy white substance he was smearing on her arm.
"Coconut milk; it's like a cooling salve; it helps with the pain," Robin said, pulling a small flask from his shirt pocket.
"Rum; It also helps with the pain," Robin said holding the flask out to her
"I don't do Rum," Rhe said quickly, reaching down to grab her jacket and blouse
"We should rest for the night," Robin said to her as she looked around.
"You wanna rest? Huh, didn't think a thief as skilled as Robin Hood would wanna rest" she said with a smirk.
"We need to be well rested; we'll move as soon as there's daylight. Plus, your arm has lost quite a bit of blood, you need to regain your strength" Robin said to her, already making himself comfortable on the ground.
"Tell me you're not afraid of camping in the middle of the woods for the night your majesty?" Robin teased as Regina rolled her eyes.
"For the last time thief, I'm not afraid of camping in the woods…and Regina is just fine. I haven't been 'your majesty' in a long time" she said with a heavy sigh.
"As you wish; we'll rest until morning," Robin said before lying down on the ground, sleep seemingly coming to him with ease.
Regina however, could not sleep; not while her son was trapped somewhere on this damn island. But Robin had a point; they did need to rest if they were going to find their sons. Regina could do nothing more than make herself as comfortable as possible before settling into sleep. Before she fell asleep, her eyes met the stars once again, whispering into the darkness.
"I'm gonna find you, Henry, I promise,"
Chapter 5 to follow...
