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 6
My Love,
When Snow gave me this journal, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I had no idea what to write. It wasn't until I caught myself talking to that book - your book, actually - that I got this idea. Maybe someday, when you're home, we can read these together and talk, for real.
I miss you.
Right now, my mom and Regina and Henry are working on a way to rescue you. Henry thinks he can rewrite the story, but in case he can't, Mom and Regina are looking for something they can do with their magic. So far… Nothing. And I can't do anything to help.
I'm sorry.
God, now I'm crying again. I keep telling myself that I won't cry, but I always do. I wasn't really a crier when I was Margot, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get that back. Margot never had a broken heart before.
I want to be SO MAD at you! For letting go of Papa's hand. I can't, though. I know you couldn't keep hurting him. It isn't in you. He's okay now. He's cured. Mr. Gold - I mean, Rumplestiltskin - gave your father his own heart. He did it because he knew that Papa wouldn't give up until we had found a way to save you.
Rumplestiltskin is dead. I'm sorry, my love, I know he was your friend. Aunt Regina says that she believes that he's finally with Belle. She believes that he earned his peace by sacrificing himself for someone else, even though he didn't know whether or not he'd go to a good place or a bad one. I believe that, too. I hope it brings you some kind of comfort when I have to tell you.
Oh yeah! Your dad lets me call him Papa, now. He says that so long as we are family, he'll try to be as good a father as he can. It's nice. Mom was… surprised, but she admitted that once you get back, she was going to see if you wanted to spend quality time with her. She thinks it's about time that she really got to know you.
So, you know how curses can be broken with True Love's kiss? I keep wondering if, maybe Margot has been a little braver, we could have broken the curse. I mean, we would have had to both believe in the curse in the first place, but I think Tilly and Margot might have been persuaded. Don't you?
I wish I'd kissed you. I wish Margot had been braver. I never said it, but she was really hoping to kiss you that first time we went out. After the bookstore or maybe even while we were still in it. She wanted to hold your hand. I want to hold your hand, right now. I want to see you smile at me again. I want to hear you laugh. I even want to hear you call me 'Nobin'. I miss your eyes.
Why did it have to be you? I feel like we'd only just found each other. I know, I know, that's silly of me. We hadn't actually been parted all that long by the curse, and Tilly and Margot were so new - but… the second I saw you in that cave was one of the happiest moments in my life.
I still remember when your dad gave me your letter. When I read it, it was all I could to not to go right to you. I was glad that you knew about the curse, but really frustrated because I had to go tell other people to be ready. I didn't want to lose you. I was afraid. I was so afraid. And then I saw you and I knew that no matter what I'd try to find you again. Somewhere. Anywhere.
And now, I'm going to do it again.
I'm going to come for you, sweetheart. You won't be alone for long. Just hold on. Just be brave like I know you are. The bravest person I've ever met. The sweetest, kindest soul I know.
I love you. Always.
Your Robin
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Clutching Alice's book tightly against her chest, Robin hurried after the servant who had come to fetch her from the stables the moment she'd gotten back to the castle. She'd gone out riding on her own a few times in the days following Snow's visit, to practice shooting while riding. It seemed like forever since she'd been on a horse, but once in the saddle, it all started to feel normal again.
For the first day, she'd been gone so long that it was almost dark when she came back. This had earned her a fierce hug from her mother and a stern lecture about safety. Suitably chastened because she knew her mother was only harsh out of fear of losing her to some horrible accident, Robin promised not to stay out so late or go on her own again.
The next day, she'd gotten King Henry's permission to take one of his own archers with her. She and Captain Ion Bowman had hit it off and had a lot of fun. As it turned out Ion was considered a master bowman and he even performed some of the riding tricks he knew.
It was the first time in days that Robin had actually laughed.
Today, she'd gone out on her own, but only for a couple of hours and she stayed within the borders of Henry's patrol guards. Today, she'd just wanted to be alone in the woods and allowed to feel her melancholy mood without someone trying to cheer her up. She'd taken the journal along and finally made her first entry. Writing a letter to Alice made it almost seem like she was just… away. Not gone. Not trapped in a nightmare world.
She'd cried anyway. At least nobody was around to see or hear her do it.
When she'd had her fill of feeling sorry for herself, she'd come back to the castle - only to be met by a pacing servant who informed her that her mother, Regina, Hook, and adult Henry were waiting for her and he was to convey her to them as soon as possible.
Robin had practically run to her room to pick up Alice's book. Then she'd followed the servant to the big room they'd all met in before - the one with the big round table. Everyone was there by the time the servant hastily opened the door and admitted her. They all turned to look at her and she clutched the book in response.
It was her mother's smile that first clued her in on the fact that this was not a bad meeting. Her heart picked up even more speed, even as she walked to the table and sat down between her mother and her aunt.
"Please tell me you have something," she blurted out.
There was slight chuckle from the assembled group, which was pretty much everyone but King Henry and David.
"In short," Snow said, smiling, "Yes."
Elation filled Robin so quickly she thought she might faint.
"It'll take some explaining, though," her mother said, slowly.
"What do you know about curses?" Regina asked.
Robin had to focus. "What? Curses? Um… The only thing you guys ever taught me was that you don't cast them because they have serious consequences." She said. "Why?"
There were smiles and nods around the table. "Right," Regina drew out the word. "Well, then, let's start from the beginning. First of all, there is more than one kind of curse."
"What?"
"Well, there are your small curses - hexes, really." Zelena explained. "Boils, warts, hives, the occasional STD or the likes. Things that, while annoying, will usually go away if properly treated. Eventually." She said, in evident pleasure, smirking. Then she saw everyone staring at her and tried to school her expression.
Regina eyed her sister with amusement tinged reproach. "Yes. Well, those normally aren't lethal. Then you have curses that transform a person into someone or something else. You've read Henry's book, right?" Robin nodded. "Alright well, think of Ruby - Little Red Riding Hood - being a werewolf is a type of curse. It's one that can be cast or passed on genetically. Vampires were started with a curse. Oh! Fiona - from Shrek."
Snow let out a guffaw of laughter before looking embarrassed and covering her mouth to hide her smile. Henry grinned at his mother. "Good one, Mom!" He declared. Even Ella put a hand to her mouth.
Regina coloured a little. "Yes, well, it's a good example. Most of the time, those kinds of curses can be undone. True Love's kiss works, but sometimes, it is permanent. The next kind is one that at least one person here is familiar with."
"Sleeping curses," Snow blurted. "Oh, I do think some of us might know something about those." Her voice was wry as she exchanged a look with Henry.
Again, Regina coloured. "Yes, well… At least they aren't permanent and they can be broken. Again, it's usually a kiss. But it's the caster who sets the parameters, so sometimes it's an object or the right words, said at the right time."
"But Sleeping curses come with a side effect," Snow said, her voice less amused than it had been.
Robin knew this one! "The room of fire! The one that you guys used to contact Henry - well Aurora did, anyway."
"Right." Snow said, nodding. She shuddered. "It's not a pleasant place."
"Not at all." Henry agreed.
"So, what's the next kind of curse?" Robin asked, eager to get on with this, to hear what they planned to rescue Alice.
"Oh," Killian spoke for the first time, "that's one that you are familiar with - the Dark Curses."
"Mmm," Zelena made a face. "Yes. Though, I hesitate to add that there is the curse of the Dark One, too. Thankfully, though, with our Rumple's sacrifice, that curse seems to have ended."
Regina nodded. "True. But Dark curses are what we are here to discuss, mostly. Because they are the most varied. It takes years of research and gathering of ingredients, preparing for it."
"And it takes a certain kind of disdain for whomever you trying to curse." Zelena put in. She was more serious now. "For the Dark One to use our greatest fears and pains against us, he had to know us all intimately. However, there is no way for one person, even an immortal imp like him, to know everything about a person."
"And that's where we come in. Well, more like Henry." Regina looked at her son.
He took a deep breath. "So, as pretty much everyone knows, I'm The Author. It's my job to write down people's stories as they happened. I'm not allowed or supposed to write whatever I want. It usually just comes to me and I don't know what I'm writing until it's done. Well, thanks to the book that Killian found, I have come to realise that even a "finished book" can be edited. Updated. Added to. Especially when the story wasn't written right the first time." He held the pen up.
Robin thought she was going to bounce right out of her chair in excitement. "So, you can fix it? You can get her out of there?" Faces fell. Robin felt her heart sink to her feet. "What is it?"
"I'm afraid that it won't be that easy, luv." Killian said.
"Why not?" Robin demanded, but not of him. She was looking around at everyone else, now.
"Because this story doesn't have a happy ending for Alice," Snow told her. "I didn't read it, but Henry assures me that the point of the book is the very opposite of happy. And the thing is, with curses, you have to want them to end. You have to believe that they can end."
"Robin, I'm sorry, but the Alice in that book doesn't believe in true love or happy endings." Henry told her, gesturing to the tome she had set down in front of her and rested her hands atop. Her fingers had started to rub the cover softly, as though trying to soothe the pain Henry was describing to her. "One of the reasons it took so long for the curse to break in Hyperion Heights was because the few people who could have broken it didn't believe in curses. It took… A lot, to get me to believe. Ask Lucy. I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you how she told me so." His smile was rueful and he looked over at Ella, who had been quiet for most of this.
"We were both pretty stubborn," she admitted, looking chagrined.
Henry took her hand in his. "We got there. And so will Alice. With a little help."
Robin relaxed. "So, what's the plan? How do we save Alice?"
"Not 'we'." Her mother said, voice sombre. "You."
Something settled inside of Robin. Yes. She would save Alice.
She leaned forward. "Tell me what I have to do."
Author's Note: Two chapters again! Cheers!
