Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters. I'm new to this particular fandom – CuriousArcher, MadArcher, whatever you want to call it. I mean, how hard was it to not love Robin and Alice? They're totally adorable! Thanks, OUaT!

Chapter 4

Tilly let out a little gasp as she stepped into the oddly spacious little room. Margot was right - it was cluttered and messy, but every single thing in the room told Tilly something that she hadn't known before.

The first thing that she noticed in the light cast by a myriad of coloured Christmas lights, were the walls. They were plastered with posters of all kinds. Some were movie posters - an Alice In Wonderland promo, one from Maleficent; a couple of vintage Disney cartoon posters - Robin Hood and Peter Pan. There was a single poster of an actress that Tilly didn't recognize, holding a bow at the ready, looking fierce and determined.

These pictures all told Tilly that Margot appeared to have been an avid fan of Faery Tales and that maybe, possibly, some part of Margot remembered being Robin.

Everything else that covered the walls were maps. Maps of places all over the world. Some were simple topographical maps, some were aerial views, some were street maps, complete with pictures of the area the map covered. There was one map of what appeared to be some kind of long trail between two cities. It was the biggest picture of them all, running from the ceiling to just above the floor. Attached to the long map at seemingly random intervals were colour photos. Tilly stepped closer to that one, to get a look at each of the pictures.

Most of them had Margot centre stage, though some were single photos of breath-taking views of nature that Tilly had only ever read about or seen the likes of in books. She reached up as high as she could go, even going up on her toes, touching the map with her finger and tracing down, stopping next to each picture on the way down, trying to take in the details as much as she could.

"You look happy," she commented as she found a picture of Margot standing amongst a group of smiling people who looked like they might be natives of the land she was traveling in. She was beaming from ear to ear and holding up a sign that said HI MOM! HI RONI! in black block letters. In smaller hand was written From Tibet. It took Tilly only a moment to recognise the knit cap, backpack, jeans, and coat from the first time she'd met Margot. All that was missing was the book she'd had that night.

"Parts of Tibet were pretty fun," Margot replied, caution in her voice.

Tilly's finger started moving downward again. She stopped abruptly and turned around to face Margot, who was standing near the door that she had closed when Tilly wasn't paying attention. She looked uncertain and just a little bit embarrassed. Tilly took a moment to look around the rest of the room, trying to figure out why her love might have cause for embarrassment.

Was it the pile of dirty laundry in the corner? Was it the dresser that looked like it had seen a war, but was still perfectly serviceable, which Tilly knew meant that it was supposed look like that. She wasn't sure why Margot would be distressed by it, since some of the things that she had "owned" had looked much worse only stayed in one piece with the help of rolls of duct tape.

"The bed's kind of…" Margot finally blurted.

Tilly hadn't even taken in the bed, so enthralled by what she saw on the walls. Her attention shifted abruptly and she turned to survey the offending piece of furniture. The very first thing she noticed was how nicely the bed was made. Everything was placed just so, including all five of the sumptuous looking pillows. She also noted the frilly white ruffle around the bottom of the bed where it brushed the deep purple area rug. Instead of focussing on the bed, though, Tilly's gaze was drawn to the side.

Next to the bed was a nightstand with a single drawer. It had that same look as the dresser, which told Tilly they were part of a set. Next to the stand was a tall bookshelf, stuffed full of books of all kinds. Tilly wanted to peruse the books - see what kind of things Margot liked, but remembered that, for some reason, Margot was concerned about the bed, and made herself look at it again.

Her second view told her that Margot had once been - or perhaps still was - a fan of a popular cartoon pony show. Her comforter was a lovely shade of deep blue and depicted one of the animated ponies, clearly in the centre - blue, with wings - looking as fierce and proud as a cartoon pony could. A couple of the pillows that looked so soft and inviting were covered in cases that held the same image in multiple miniatures. Tilly walked towards the bed, intent on finding out if the sheets on the bed were a matching set, too.

Margot's hand landed on her shoulder, halting her steps. She turned and looked behind her. "So, what's wrong with the bed, then? Is it lumpy or somethin'?"

Margot stared at her, dumbfounded. "You… You don't think it's a little…?"

Tilly turned back and looked at the bed. To her, it looked like a luxury item. "When I was in the tower, my bed was a cot that Papa had to lengthen every year when I got too big. After he left, I just piled blankets on the floor near the fire. The bed at Detective Rogers' apartment smelled like cats - which is weird, because neither Papa or Detective Rogers likes cats." She reached for the hand on her shoulder, pulling until Margot was pressed against her back. She turned her head and kissed whatever part of Margot's skin that her lips could reach.

Margot made a humming sound and her other arm coiled around Tilly's waist, her hand slipping under the t-shirt and making Tilly shiver. "I really do love the way you think, Tower Girl." Robin murmured against the nape of Tilly's neck.

Tilly felt elation flow through her at the words. Robin had been the first person, besides Papa, to see something other than madness in the way that she saw the world and processed what she took in. Even Margot hadn't been scared away by the strangeness, once Tilly had taken the time to try and explain. To her, a bed was a bed, and the only important thing about this bed was that, for the very first time, she wouldn't be sleeping alone.

"Good. 'Cos I think this bed looks nice and cosy. Don't you?"

"I think it does now." Keeping her arm loosely around Tilly, Margot squeezed past her to the bed. She backed up until her legs hit the mattress and then sat down abruptly, pulling Tilly onto her lap. "What do you say we pick up where we were so rudely interrupted by my aunt?"

The different colours of the lights made Margot's dark blonde hair look like it was made from rainbows. Her eyes seemed so green that, for a moment, Alice thought they were glowing. Margot's hand under her shirt left a trail of warm, tingling skin wherever it touched Tilly's back. Never in her whole life had she ever been this close to another human being – and she wanted it very much, right now. In fact, Tilly thought she might actually die if Margot took her hand away.

"Yes, please."

**********
Several hours later they lay together under the pony comforter and a set of plain, blue sheets - no ponies. Tilly had been a little disappointed by that, for some reason, although the thought hadn't lasted longer than a second or two. Margot/Robin had been too busy making sure that Tilly/Alice's brain was no good for actual thought, and she had endeavoured to do the same.

"I never imagined this could 'appen." Tilly said. This was definitely a Tilly thought. Alice had had many a lonely night both in the tower, and then in her little cottage in the forest, where she'd thought of nothing else. Tilly had only just met Margot and no matter how strongly they had connected, Tilly hadn't wanted to get her hopes up.

Seven years was a long time to wait, Alice decided, but knew that in her heart, she'd have waited a thousand years for Robin to touch her like this. It would have been more than worth it.

Her lover's arms tightened around her, drawing her firmly against warm, silky skin. Soft lips played over her bare shoulder to her neck. Warm tingles down that side of her body made her shiver and she tilted her head to give Margot better access.

"This was definitely not how I thought my day was gonna end." Margot murmured against the skin just below Tilly's ear. She inhaled sharply once, let out the breath, and then buried her head in Tilly's mussed blonde curls. "But I can't think of anything better."

"Neither can I. D'ya know something?"

"What's that?" Margot propped head up with her hand to look down at the beautiful creature in her bed.

Alice grinned. "I realised earlier that you were the last thing I saw before the curse. And you were the first thing I saw when it broke."

"Oh yeah!" Margot grinned. "It was like I was waking up, sort of. I remembered being in the forest with you and Mr. Gold and knowing that the curse was coming and being so afraid I was going to lose you. The next thing, I was in that cave and you were right in front of me."

Tilly turned onto her back and then onto her side so that she was facing Margot. "I'm sorry that I hurt you," she said, soberly. "I wasn't in control." One of the things that Tilly had found while she explored every inch of Margot, was a large bruise on her hip along with some scraped skin. Margot had admitted that her ribs and shoulder on the same side were also sore.

"It's okay, it's okay," Margot soothed her. "I know that wasn't you - not Alice or Tilly. Besides… I think you've more than made up for it." The lascivious grin she directed at Tilly only made the other woman smile, too.

"Are you sure? I could try to heal you. With my magic."

Margot touched Tilly's cheek with her fingertips. "It's just a bruise, sweetheart. I'll be fine. I promise. I've been hurt way worse before." It was true. Back when she had started practicing with a bow, she'd had plenty of accidents that had left her much sorer than she was now. Besides, wasn't it a hero thing to be hurt while defending true love?

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts." Margot was firm, but placed a kiss on a pale, bare shoulder. "I just need more time with you. And maybe some sleep. I'll be right as rain by morning."

Tilly looked chagrined for a moment and then she relaxed, letting out a little laugh. "You are awfully cute when you're being persuasive."

"Cute?"

"Mm-hm." Tilly bit her bottom lip, her smile turning impish. "I especially love the way your eyes go when I touch you...here." Her finger drew a line along Margot's hip and down her thigh. Margot sighed and her eyes fluttered shut. She opened them again when the hand stopped moving.

"Keep that up, Tower Girl, and we won't be getting any sleep tonight." Robin warned her.

"That wouldn't be so terrible, now, would it?" Tilly pouted.

"Now who's being cute?" Margot laughed. Tilly grinned. She turned over on her back and waited without a sound while Margot took the invitation and curled on her side, draping an arm across Tilly's stomach.

Tilly drew the sheets and blankets up farther around them. She'd been right - the bed was downright cosy, once they both settled in. After a few minutes, though, Alice realised that even though she was tired, she was afraid to go to sleep. She didn't want to wake up and have all of the wonderful things that had happened today be a dream.

"I can't sleep," she finally admitted.

"Why not?" Margot asked, trying to mask the sleepiness in her own voice.

Tilly shook her head. "Never mind. I'm sure it'll come, all on its own." She didn't want to keep her love awake with her own anxieties.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Robin asked, propping herself up on her hand.

Tilly didn't want to burden Margot with her fears, but Alice trusted Robin more than almost anyone else. The tears that she'd held back earlier started to leak silently from her eyes. "What if this isn't real? What if we wake up and none of it was real?" She swiped at her cheeks, ineffectually.

"Shh, shh," Robin soothed her. She sat up in the bed and gathered the sniffling woman into her arms. "It's okay. It's alright... Shh, Alice... Shh... I'm real. I'm real. And so are you."

"Are you sure?" Alice asked, her voice quavering. She sounded just like she had the first time they had met - the night she'd left the tower behind for good. Robin remembered how all she'd wanted to do at the time was make this poor girl feel better, to ease her pain. She wanted the same thing, right now.

"I'm sure," she said confidently. She took Alice's face in her hands and swiped at the tears with her thumbs.

"It's just that if it does turn out to be a dream…" Alice tried to insist.

"It's not. Okay?" Robin leaned in and placed a kiss on Alice's forehead. "Listen to me, beautiful. Are you listening?"

Alice nodded.

"Good. Even if this turns out to be the very best dream that either of us has had, it doesn't change the fact that when we wake up, Margot will still be here for Tilly. Margot is pretty sure she met the woman of her dreams and has been making plans to find ways to spend more time with Tilly."

"She has? You have?"

"Yeah. She - I - know that there's something special about Tilly and have known it since the first time we met." Margot said. "So even if Robin and Alice go poof again, Tilly will always have Margot."

"And Margot will always have Tilly," Alice agreed. She sniffled. "What about Papa?"

Margot made a soothing noise low in her throat. "We'll find some way to cure what was done to your dad, Alice. If we have to, we will go to every single realm that exists to find it."

"We?"

"If you think I'm not going with you, you really are crazy." Robin retorted with a smile and a light laugh.

"It feels like it's been so long," Alice said, her voice small.

"So long?"

"Tilly was alone for a long time until she met Detective Weaver. She didn't have anyone. She knew people, but they didn't know her. Me. Nobody knew me. And then suddenly there was Margot. Now… I can't think of anyone I'd rather go adventuring with than you. Or Margot." Alice's answer was fierce.

"You're not alone anymore. Not Tilly and certainly not Alice. We can talk to my aunt and my mom and any other witch we can find - no matter what it takes to fix your father. Together." Robin's green eyes blazed. "We'll find some way for you two to be together again."

"Together." Alice's smile was watery, but genuine. She sagged against Margot. "Thank you, my love. I'd be so lost without you."

Margot kissed her forehead again. "I won't let you get lost. No matter what, we'll always find each other."

After a few more minutes, the two settled down in the bed again. Alice asked, "Will you tell me about your travels?"

"Will it help you sleep?"

"I think it will, yeah." Tilly told her, honestly.

Margot smiled. "Sure. It's only fair, after all. Remember when you used to tell me all about your adventures in other realms?"

Alice sighed happily. "I remember." Those hours had been some of the best in her life with Robin, who had never seemed bored by her endless prattling.

"Okay. Where should I start?"

Alice snuggled comfortably beneath the blankets, warm and suddenly very content. "I've always found the beginning is a good place."

Margot chuckled at the little joke. "Alright."

She took a deep breath.

"Once upon a time there was a teenager named Margot West who desperately wanted to figure out what to do with her life. She didn't get along with her mom all that well, and she really didn't want to go to college."

Tilly closed her eyes and let Margot's soft voice roll over her, soothing away her worries and most of her fears.

The last thing she heard was, "One day Margot was talking to her much cooler aunt Roni on the phone and Roni suggested that Margot might be happy working at the bar or taking a trip and seeing the world before she settled down or went off to school. As you can imagine, this didn't go over well with Margot's super controlling mother…"

Author's Note: Okay, there we go! Big thanks to everyone who has read this, even if you didn't review. Shout out to my new follower: leahalexander1011. Anyways, hope you all continue to read and maybe, just maybe throw me a kind word or two. Cheers!