So guys, their first meeting! Yes, this is my "surprise" for you and I hope you'll enjoy this meeting as much as I do :)
"Mom, please, you can't do this." Standing before the town line made Regina distressed about this whole situation. What's more, Henry's panic-stricken voice hit her harder than she had been expecting. She turned her head, gently moving a small, black scroll in her hand and caught his look. All she could do was to change her smile from sad to delighted and she decided to approach to her son.
He was standing near Emma, who put her hands on his shoulders as if she was protecting him from danger. Behind her she noticed Roland, who was holding Tinkerbell's hand squeezing it much harder than a typical 4-year-old boy and his eyes were looking around. They didn't even spend a day here. When they had come back from Neverland, Regina decided to find the curse and help this boy in finding his dad. She didn't want to split up with Henry so quickly, but she knew how powerful lost and misery Robin Hood was feeling in that moment. Separation with a very important person in someone's life is the most painful thing in the world and Regina knew about it pretty well, because she have lost parts of her life three times.
"Mom." She heard out of the blue and glanced at a devastated look in Henry's eyes.
"My little prince." She whispered gently taking his chin in her free hand and started stroking it. "I needed almost eleven years to see how brave and self-reliant you are. I hope this time you'll show me that I'm not at fault." And a sad smile appeared on her face.
"Let me go with you, please." He almost cried taking her hand in his.
She could only take a deep breath. "You can't and I have pretty good excuses. " She giggled nervously looking at small, dark eyes of her son. "First of all, this curse is created only for two. With all my heart I would like to take you with me, but Roland needs his family. And remember – you have a family here too." She exchanged glances with Emma who seemed to be shattered over this situation. Regina had to admit that Emma and she found a common ground and that blonde became her… friend. She was trying so hard not to show this but she was feeling that she liked her. She just needed a year to see that Emma wasn't her enemy, that she wanted to help with the demons inside her.
Emma was looking like she wanted to say something but all she could do was to squeeze Henry's arm harder. Regina totally understood her – her eyes were showing everything.
"But you're my mom, you can't leave me here." Henry said almost crying.
"I know." She whispered. "But I must." When she felt tears dropping from her face, she quickly kissed his forehead and turned to the town line, not giving the satisfaction for all residents of Storybrooke looking at her breakdown. She was too lofty to show her fears. Not now.
After wiping away the last tear she opened the scroll and read a quote written there long time ago. The quote, which had helped her in finding her own happiness.
"Come here, Roland." She smiled peeping at a smaller boy still looking around insecurely. When he heard harmonious voice of the brunette as soon as possible he found herself by her side. "Let's find you daddy." She stroked his hair and he smiled at her thinking only about his dad. Regina held his hand strong and she squeezed the curse in her right hand creating a purple smoke around them. She nodded at Roland and found the strength to turn her head and look once again at her little prince.
"I love you." Henry read from her mouth and they disappeared in the purple fog.
Around them silence fell. Henry could only recognize a singing birds in the forest. But he couldn't focus on it at all. He was only looking at a black dust laying on the road and he decided to take closer look. With a little sob coming out from his mouth he crouched and took some dust in his hand.
"Don't worry kid, we have a deal with her, remember?" he heard Emma's voice inches away and felt a hand on his shoulders.
"I remember." He sniffed suddenly and get up still holding a dust in his hand. After a while he turned to his birth mother and instantly hugged her, broken in millionth pieces. His weeping was the most unexpected and still comprehensible thing, so Emma kissed his head gently not knowing how she could help him with his pain.
"Shh, it'll be alright, I promise." She was repeating this sentence until his cry ended. "We found her."
Xxxxx
Regina was lying on something not so comfortable, but it seemed it wasn't disturbing her with sleeping. In her brain appeared a perfect picture of her and Henry in the Enchanted Forest living happily ever after. She looked as if she was in Storybrooke, because her clothes didn't change at all and her hair wasn't longer. She was sitting on a green grass and around her was nothing besides trees. The silence surrounding her was the finest feeling in her life and she closed her eyes soaking up with it. Suddenly she heard someone sitting near her and an arm sliding slowly around her waist. Her body shrank missing the touch and when she turned her head she saw a man. That man had the most beautiful smile and she hadn't seen such a luscious eyes before. Unfortunately, all his face was blurred and she wasn't sure if she knew him or not.
Immediately she heard a melodious laugh of her son and she needed to see him, when she felt a squeeze of her arm. It didn't hurt but it made her vision more blurred than before and it saddened her. After a while she heard her name being called twice and a child's weeping when her eyes opened and she found herself in a slushy road laying in a one big marsh feeling pain in her right leg. When she looked around she saw crying Roland near her and squeezing her arm with frightened. On her face appeared a quite awkward smile, because she was trying hard to look merry but she sadly noticed that perfect picture was only a dream.
"Hey, why are you crying?" she asked brightly trying to stand up but all she was seeing was blurred.
"Because… you're hurt and… you look different and it's my fault." And he started crying much louder.
"Don't say that!" she started blinking quickly and when her sight bounced back she could finally look at herself. "Oh." A little sigh let out her mouth. Now she understood what he was talking about. She was in Evil Queen's clothes, more specific in a red-black gown with diamonds on her wrist and breast. When she touched her hair she smiled a little because now she had a long hair again, which was curly and pinned by hairpins and she quickly thought how she had missed the length of her hair.
She glanced at Roland whom face was all in tears and taking his arms quickly she hugged him tightly. "Don't worry, honey, I'm still the same Regina. It's just my old costume. You know what?" she glared at her dark gown and looked happily at a small boy. "I have a funny game for us, it's called: "Who will tear this dress faster?" Do you like it?" In Roland's face appeared a bright smile when he nodded, so she burst out laughing. "Go!" she exclaimed and she and a boy started tearing her black gown apart. They were using all the strength they had in their body but finally tearing off the sleeves and lower part of the dress made them laugh uncontrollably. "See? It's just that dress." Roland nodded but he called about something else to mind.
"But your leg." He said sadly and pointed at her right leg. She glanced at it and noticed big wound leaking with blood. She thought how was this possible that she was hurt, she knew about consequences of travelling in time but she hadn't known that it could injure her.
"Right." She agreed and held up her head to him. "It's nothing."
"No." His opposing tone made her frown. "My daddy have taught me about wounds. There can be poisoned or something… We should find him, Regina. He knows everything about treatment." He said decidedly.
"So I hope we'll find him before I die!" The fear in his eyes made her laugh, because she was only provoking him.
"Don't leave me here alone, that part about poison is my imagination, I…"
"I know, honey, I'm joking." She said calmly coming closer to him and kissing his forehead. "I was Evil Queen once. I'm quite sure I know more about poison than anybody else." She let out a giggle so Roland started giggling with her. "Okay, now help me with getting up, because this leg hurts a little." She didn't expect that a small boy would be able to help her with it, but she thought she should find a way to chase away thoughts about his dad. The most important was the fact that they were in Enchanted Forest now. And she didn't know how but she knew an exact way to her palace. Thence she would be able to find a village where she could probably find Robin Hood.
When she stood up, she removed hairpins from her hair and now she could do a messy braid. She started limping a little moving to the north and Roland was still by her side.
"You have very beautiful hair." He said suddenly.
"Thank you, my little knight." She answered with a bright smile.
"Knight?" he asked half delighted because of his new nickname and half curious why.
"Well, you told me about my leg and you're like my shadow – everywhere I go, you are by my side, just like a loyal knight." She explained calmly and instantly she felt his hand catching her so she smiled happily.
"I like it." he answered after a while with an approval and they disappeared in a dark forest.
Xxxxx
"We're almost there." Robin said calmly recognizing a wide road in front of him. After their meeting with Ariel, they had had a brainstorm session about plausible place where Regina could go with Roland. They had an information when would they arrive there and what Regina was planning to do. Neal had suggested that maybe she would like to see her palace once again and find there something to return to Storybrooke, and since they hadn't had any better plan they had decided to go there. Fortunately, Robin had been there once and he had remembered an exact position of this place.
He remembered that day very well because that place made him think about the Evil Queen in the positive way. When he had entered the castle, he had found himself in a dark, gloomy hall from where he had seen long, cement stairs and a room with a closed door. Everything was ruined because of the curse, but the stairs and the half of palace was in a pristine condition. He had decided to go to the first room and after a while he had found a room with a big bed, black, fluffy bedspread lying on it and a window with a balcony. He had been there because he had been looking for gold and jewelry so went to a vanity table in front of the bed. He had opened a drawer and found a broken mirror. He hadn't found any precious things so he had decided to take a look to the broken thing. It hadn't looked good – it had had a golden grip, but the mirror had been broken probably by a hit or a fall. Why had he been even looking at it, he wouldn't tell but then he had heard a woman's cry somewhere. He had looked around closely as the cry was becoming louder and the mirror had been near his ear. When he had glanced on it, he saw a crying woman in the corner. He hadn't seen her face because it was hidden by her long hair, but she looked so miserable. And then she threw a golden crown in the other corner and started crying even more. Robin had threw out the mirror quickly and exited the palace with feeling uneasy. Then he had come to a conclusion that that woman was no one but the Evil Queen herself.
"Are you sure we're on the right path?" He suddenly heard a Mulan's voice, who shook him out of thought.
Robin turned his head for a moment and smiled. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that when we'll pass this curve we'll be able to see…" and when they did this, they could look at the enormous, almost destroyed palace. Mulan stood next to Robin and she wasn't able to close her mouth. "I told you." Robin said briskly.
"Woah, Regina won't be pleased with seeing this." Neal added, finally gaining on them.
"She ruined it on her own, it's her fault." Mulan's judging tone of voice made Robin think about it. He wanted to believe she had cursed this land because she wanted happiness. He was seeing her quaking body in the corner in front of his eyes now and he didn't want to say that the curse was only her fault. Maybe Mulan would be more understanding if Robin had said her the whole thing about mirror, but he had never told no one, even Roland, about this situation.
"Let's find a place to sleep, it'll be dark in a while." Robin noticed glancing at the sky. The rest nodded letting Robin lead them to the castle. After a while spent on climbing a small mountain and going through the long bridge, they could finally open a heavy, wooden door to the Evil Queen's palace. Instantly Robin felt the same thing as when he had been there the first time – fear. He had goose bumps all over his body because this place looked more terrifying than before. The destroyed castle didn't look like a welcoming and happy place again and it made him a strange feeling.
"This palace is destroyed and it'll be hard to find a place to sleep if we're planning on staying together, so we should split up. When you find something, just scream." The rest nodded again and Robin was glancing at Mulan and Neal who were climbing the stairs a while. He, on the other hand, was curious about the room in front of the entrance of the palace. The room he hadn't seen before because he hadn't had a chance. But now was a perfect time.
When he was ten meters from the door, he heard a noise coming from behind it. Something was moving or reordering and he took his bow into his hand without any doubts and one of his best arrows and quietly opened the door. Behind it, in the right corner, he saw a woman with long, dark hair, sitting on a wooden chair and humming unfamiliar melody with her melodious voice. Her dress was torn and it was showing her bare legs so he could see a wound on her right thigh. She was looking for something because she was completely burrowed in high, huge chest of drawers, leaning on the wall. He started thinking if he should disturb her, because the chair didn't seem to be so stable – she sometimes had to catch the balance – but on the other hand she was an intruder and he hadn't seen her before.
"Who are you!?" he exclaimed firmly testing up his bow and reading her moves.
He was right about the chair – she lost her balance trying to catch the chest of drawers and he already wanted to help her as the gentlemen he was, but she quickly caught the dresser and with a sigh of relief she took a hair from her face.
"I should ask you the same question!" she said angrily, finally turning to him. His heart started beating faster and he put away his bow– after Marian he hadn't seen such a beautiful woman. She had a big, probably brown eyes, a dusky skin and her body was in ideal proportions. She walked down from the chair and neatened her beautifully long hair and with that moves she was looking more majestic than five seconds ago.
"This is my palace and I think you shouldn't be here." She added snarky.
"Your palace?" he started thinking out loud. "If this is your palace, you must be… Regina." He breathed out looking at her even more closely.
"Do we know each other?" she frowned and decided to cut the distance between them so she could scope him.
"Not yet, but you should be with my…" and then he heard a happily scream behind Regina, a very familiar scream, so he stepped back and started searching for…
"Daddy!" he heard finally and he felt a sense of relief. Five meters behind Regina he saw Roland running with a face full of tears and arms ready to hug him. After a while he could take him in his arms and hug him tightly kissing his face.
"So you must be Robin Hood." Regina nodded after a while and when Robin glanced at her he noticed tears in her eyes. She was touched by this moment and she couldn't hide it, so Robin smiled at her.
"Regina, you found him!" Roland exclaimed trying to hug her too, but he had too short arms to catch her and it made her and Robin laugh.
"I told, sweetie. But it seems your daddy found us quicker than I." They exchanged glances and Robin felt his heart beating faster again, because he could finally focus on her eyes. He couldn't breathe normally – she was too beautiful to be perfect. And then he thought about that broken mirror and the woman in it and it broke his heart. She was the Evil Queen, so she had been misery once but now she seemed to be another person – she didn't seem to be in a bad shape at all, he just found a little pain in her eyes.
He sighed and focused at her smiling face, so he couldn't help myself but smile back. "It seems we found each other after all." And this sentence made her only smile more.