She awoke in an unfamiliar forest, the scent of wet earth heavy around her. Raising her head from the lichen-covered dirt, Regina realized she felt heavy somehow. It was her hair. Her hair, which she'd worn so short in Storybrooke, was long and flowing again, the way Daniel had loved it. And her clothes...she wasn't in one of her professional suits and heels or a queen's elaborate black, but one of the colorful, youthful gowns she'd once favored. She was the Regina she used to be, one who still believed in true love's kiss and happily ever after. The Regina who had somehow managed to block out her domineering mother, love her weak-willed father.

"Daniel," she whispered, scrambling to her feet. Was there any chance he was here, waiting for her? If she had somehow managed to go back in time, perhaps she was still simply a young girl in love. She had no idea where she was, no idea what was happening to her, but Regina was, thanks to her resilient heart, excited. She began running, weaving through the trees, desperate to find the man she loved.

Robin.

Regina pulled up short. No, not Robin. Daniel. If she had went back in time, then it was Daniel she needed to find, to love. Robin was her future, not her past. Of course, if she had only went into the tavern like Tinkerbell said, then Robin would have been everything: her past, present and future.

"What are you waiting for?"

Regina spun around. Tinkerbell was standing behind her, eyes full of mischief. She slipped her arm through Regina's, propelling her to begin walking. Regina could only gape at her.

"I'd close your mouth if I were you," Tinkerbell advised. "You look like a trout."

Regina found her voice. "Okay, fairy, what is going on? This is your work, isn't it? What am I to you, some sort of project? The fairy equivalent of a college thesis?"

"I don't know what that means," Tink said. "But yes, this is my doing. What's the last thing you remember?"

Regina thought back. "Falling asleep with Robin on the kitchen floor. He was so sick." Her dark eyes went wild. "I made him sick! I need to get back to Storybrooke!"

Tinkerbell held Regina in place. "It's fine. Robin is fine. Belle is taking care of him, I promise."

"Belle? What good is a bookworm when it comes to breaking a memory spell?"

"She's the one who figured out Zelena was attempting to travel through time," Tink reminded her. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, and she loves Robin, too. Anyway, I think Belle needs to get out of the shop."

"Trouble in paradise already? Well, I never figured that marriage would last," Regina sniffed. "How do they introduce themselves anyway? Mr. and Mrs. Dark One? Does she call him 'My Dark One' during those intimate moments?"

Tink stopped walking. "You have officially grossed me out. How am I ever going to get that image out of my head?"

"Just thought I'd share."

"Yeah, well, keep it to yourself next time. As I was saying," Tink said sternly, shooting Regina a dark look. "Robin is being well cared for. What you and I need to do is take care of things in this world."

"This world? Are we in the Enchanted Forest?"

"We are," Tink confirmed. "Blue actually helped me on this one. She thought, well, she thought you and I both needed a second chance. She's been nice to me lately. It's a bit unnerving."

"Yes, I can see where it would be," Regina agreed. "So we're what, in my past?"

"Correct. And now you, unfortunately, have a choice. Daniel is waiting for you at the stables. He's alive, he's healthy, he's safe from Cora's grasp." Tink used her free hand to point down the left lane. "He's waiting for you a little over a mile in that direction."

"Daniel?" Regina whispered, her face alight with love. "My Daniel is alive?"

"He is," Tink said. "But so is Robin."

"Robin? But he's..."

"Also waiting for you," Tink said. "Down the opposite path. Go to him, and you will be his first choice. No Maid Marian, no memory potions or sickness. All you have to do is go to him."

Regina tried to talk, tried to form a coherent thought. She had to chose between the love of her life or...the love of her life. "What," she creaked. She cleared her throat. "What happens to Daniel if I go to Robin?"

Tink held Regina's gaze. "Exactly what did happen. He dies. But Regina, know this: Daniel didn't die because he loved you. He died because Cora was full of bitterness and hate. His death is not on your hands, but your mother's. Did he die because he loved you? Yes. Would he make that decision again? Yes. You know he would."

"But he didn't get to chose!" Regina cried. "He didn't die defending me or protecting our family or honoring the kingdom. He died because of-"

"Cora," Tink said firmly. "Not you. And not Snow White."

"Sure, drag her into it," Regina said grumpily. Looking down the right lane, she thought of Robin. Robin, with his warm smile and warrior's heart. Robin, with his arms full of little boy. Robin, who accepted her for who she was: a complicated, vengeful woman with a scarred soul and weakness for children. Children...

"Roland," Regina muttered. "If I go to Robin right now, he never marries Marian, right?"

"Yes."

"So that means...that means Roland would have never been born," Regina said slowly. She tried to imagine a world without Roland's dimples and smiles. She'd known the child for such a short while, but the very memory of him overwhelmed her with love and pride.

"You and Robin will make your own children," Tink said. She leaned in closer. "I'll let you in on a secret. If you go to Robin tonight, if you lie with him, you'll be pregnant in a fortnight. In this world and Storybrooke. Blue said you'd have a little girl first. Robin has actually dreamed of having a little girl with you."

Delight and disbelief flooded Regina's face. "He has?"

Tink nodded. "That's what Blue said. All you have to do is go to him. He's your soul mate, Regina."

Regina nodded, and took a step to the right. Robin was waiting for her. He wanted her, wanted to make children with her. All she had to do was...

...Forget Roland.

"No," Regina said.

Tink cocked her head. "No?

"I..I can't rob him of Roland. And I don't want to lose him, either. Even if Robin and I don't make our way back to each other," Regina swallowed, hating herself. "It's worth it to make sure Roland lives."

"He's going to marry Maid Marian," Tink taunted. "Marry her, love her, make a child with her."

"Yes, I understand that dear," Regina said dryly. "I don't want to live in a work without Roland, either, okay? I've made my choice."

"So should we find Daniel?"

It was tempting, so tempting to run down the left lane and find the boy she'd once loved. She wanted to hold him one more time, tell him how sorry she was, try and spirit him away from Cora's clutches. But it wouldn't make any difference now. The girl who'd loved Daniel had grieved, had almost ruined her life over the pain and agony, had subjected thousands of others to lives of misery due to her grief. Loving Daniel, losing him, had driven her to the point of insanity.

Straightening her spine, Regina turned her back on the left lane. "No. I'm in love with Robin. I want to go back to Storybrooke," she told the fairy. "Take me back."

Tink's eyebrows rose. "Back to Storybrooke? Whatever for? Daniel and Robin are both here. There's no Cora, no spoiled princesses spilling secrets," she leaned in closer. "No Maid Marian."

"And no Roland. Robin needs him. I need him. Send me back," Regina said firmly. "He needs to marry Marian so Roland will exist. He's more important than anything."

Tinkerbell beamed. "Right answer." She threw her arms around Regina, hugging her tightly. "I'm so proud of you!"

"What the-" Regina began. Suddenly, everything went black. When her eyes refocused, she was stretched out on her kitchen floor, black hair short, high heels kicked to the side.

"About time you woke up, milady," Robin said, grinning.

"I'm going to kill that fairy," Regina muttered, stomping around her kitchen in bare feet. "I can handle weird. My son is the grandchild of Snow White and Prince Charming. I spend a day last week summoning the spirit of my dead mother. I created a town out of a forest in Maine. God knows, I know weird. But this," she shook her head. "This is too much."

"Belle didn't explain everything to me," Robin said from his perch on the kitchen counter. He reached for an apple, buffed it on his shirt. "She just said you had a choice to make. You must have made the right one, because it broke through the memory spell."

"Yeah, I suppose I did," Regina sighed. "Tinkerbell sent me into my past. Daniel was alive. He was waiting for me. If I went to him, he'd have been safe from Cora. We would have been happy together."

"But you're here," Robin said. "You didn't stay in the past with Daniel."

"No," Regina agreed. She ducked her head, letting her hair cover her profile. "The other choice was to go to you. In the tavern."

"Me? But..." Robin cleared his throat. "Would the same rules apply? Would we have been happy together? The two of us?"

"Yes, we would have been happy together. We would have been in love, no Daniel." She leveled her eyes at him. "And no Marian."

"But why didn't you choose..." His eyes widened. "Roland."

"Exactly. If I had went to you, you would have married me. Not Marian. Although," she actually blushed. "Tinkerbell did tell me you and I would have..."

"Would have what?" Robin promptly.

"She said we would have had a little girl," she said, a little loud, a little fast.

"A girl," Robin murmured. "With you."

"Yes. But I chose to let you go, to let that all go. I loved Roland too much to risk his life."

"Just Roland?" Robin asked softly.

Regina met his eyes. "No. I love you. I love you, Outlaw. I chose you over my first love, but I chose Roland over you. What does that say about me?"

Robin walked to her, slid his arms around her. "Exactly what I said this morning. That you're an evil queen with a soft spot for children."

"I prefer Regina," she reminded him, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Laughter rumbled through his chest. "I remember," he said, rubbing his cheek on the crown of her head. "Ah, Regina, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," she answered. "My God, Robin, I simply don't know."

Sighing, he pulled back. "I need to be with Marian, to talk to her."

"Of course you do," she said, pulling out of his arms. "She's your wife. Go to her, be with her. I need to get back to the office anyway. And Henry is coming over later-"

"Regina, stop," Robin said. "Listen to me. Remember our picnic by the fire? Remember what I said?"

"That you loved it when I ran my tongue-"

"Well, yes," he admitted. "I do remember that part. Ahem. What I meant was that I'd walk through Hell to be with my Marian again?"

Turning her back, Regina rolled her eyes. "Yes, and how lovely of you to remind me. Thanks for that."

"No, listen," Robin said. "I also said I had to let her go. I had to put Marian in my past, to learn to live life without her. I had to, for our boy's sake as well as my own. But remember the choice you made today? You chose me over Daniel. You're my soul mate, Regina. Had I never met Marian, I would have never missed her. I would have had you. But I need time to figure things out."

"I don't understand. Last night you practically accused me of kidnapping Roland." Her dark eyes filled with tears. "I watched you make love to Marian all night. Now, you're saying..." She shook her head. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'm saying I love you, Regina," Robin said, running his hands down her arms. "Marian is in my past. You are my future."

"I killed her," Regina reminded him. "Her death, or her absence from your life, is my fault. You've carried that guilt around because of-"

"The Evil Queen," Robin interjected. "I prefer Regina."