Rose -
"Did he know?"
"That I'd rip out his heart?" Regina spreads fingers beside the rose - soft petals flattened beneath their bundled weight against the marble - then curls them back. "Yes."
She doesn't have to look at Robin to know his careful study but her heart checks unwillingly all the same, steadier for finding compassion and not revolt.
"What did he say?"
"He believed - like you - that I could be happy." She catches the flicker of his smile at the prompting. "But he didn't expect I'd actually do it."
Robin hums, solemn again, then – "Did you?"
She didn't know, but -
"Yes."
