Rapunzel had kept the lunch date they'd made in the middle of the night and considering the way that it was made, the hour that it was made, she had to be impressed with the girl. Though at the moment Rapunzel walked in with sandwiches and cokes over from Granny's she'd have been impressed with a pine nut. By the time Rapunzel finally arrived, her head was spinning from so many words and sentences in the strange book she was working on. The words were starting to blur together. And the panic and worry for wherever Killian was and whatever it was he was doing didn't help. The break that she offered was welcomed.
She'd tried, in the weeks after Rumple left and she'd employed Rapunzel, to get to know her better. But of course, there was a limit to everything. Life got busy, she'd taken over the shop, spent time with Will, and good intentions faded as Rapunzel's skill next door required less and less of her. Suddenly their relationship was only that of friendly colleagues. But that was no reason to give up on it entirely. Rumple was in a coma, Will was gone, Ruby was gone, Neal was dead…she needed a friend. And as they spoke it was clear that Rapunzel did too. Or maybe just someone to talk to.
She dragged stools out into the front room, and they ate over the front counter where she'd been working. As they ate, she told her tale. All that there was of it at least. It was the same story she'd told the nuns and told Rumple in the quiet as she'd taken care of him this morning. There wasn't a lot to it, but it was enough to occupy, mystify, and panic. Rapunzel didn't pry. She appreciated that. Instead of leaning over to look or casting glances into the back room where she'd just confessed Rumple lay nearly lifeless, she kept her eyes on her.
Rapunzel told her what she'd missed while she was away in Camelot, further proving that they really had been gone for six weeks. Life had all but disappeared as far as she was concerned, but for Rapunzel…life seemed to have appeared for the first time in her life. Without her around she assumed full responsibility of the library, when she didn't return in a month she'd moved into the upstairs apartment. She'd taken to seeing Archie for some of her more irrational fears about this new world and life outside of a tower, as well as problems in the town, fully taking on the role she'd once had while others had been in Neverland. And then about ten days ago something new had happened. She'd met a man…in a very odd way.
"He tried to steal a book from the library?!" Belle gawked.
"Yeah, big thick one…he tried to smuggle it out under his jacket," Rapunzel giggled from the other side of the counter.
"Why on earth would he want to steal a book?!"
"Ah, well…it was from your private collection, the magic books you keep locked up in the back. He had a sister and...long story short; she was kidnapped as a baby by a witch because of her hair."
"Her hair?"
"Yeah, I'm skipping some of the big details but, it was magic, the witch didn't want to let her go, she'd been lost since the curse, and while you were gone he finally located her. Apparently, their parents died, he says of a broken heart when she was never found, so when he finally located the witch and found her, he took it upon himself to save her. He needed the magic to get her, so he tried to steal it. He had a bit of a checkered past before the curse broke but…there was a time I had an odd past too. We all do. So instead of letting him take it, I gave him full access as long as he let me help him. We managed to solve the problem, got his sister home, put the books back, and the next thing I know he was asking me to dinner," she explained quickly, looking deep into her drink and blushing.
It was a fascinating story, not to mention comforting. It was nice to know that other people in town had magical issues to deal with besides her and her odd little family. But it was also nice to hear of Rapunzel. She was her age, but she was like a teenager growing up all at once because of the time she'd spent in the tower.
"So…do your parents know? Did you tell them yet?"
Rapunzel sighed and shook her head. "No, not yet. I mean, I haven't seen him more than a handful of times over the last couple of weeks, and I'm not even really sure it's going anywhere. Besides…I know it sounds selfish but…you know, for so long my whole life was one room and then it was my parents and now…I'm enjoying this. The library and the apartment and the Eugene. It's nice finally having a life of my own!"
"Wait…Eugene?" she blanched. "I thought you said his name was Flynn."
Rapunzel's jaw dropped, and her face suddenly turned red. "It is!" she exclaimed with wide eyes. "I mean…it's just…he calls himself Flynn but his real name is Eugene," she admitted with a sad and guilty face. "You can't tell anyone! He's sworn me to secrecy!"
She giggled a bit at her reaction and shook her head, promising to keep the secret, but also knowing that it was more than a passing fling if he'd revealed a secret name to her. "Well, I can't wait to meet him, he sounds-"
The bell to the shop door rang and when she glanced up she saw the last person on earth she ever expected would have walked into the store.
"Get out I need to talk to her!" Regina demanded of Rapunzel, coming right up to the counter and pressing against it. "Didn't you hear me? I said get out!"
Rapunzel looked nervous. She opened her mouth and closed it before glancing over at her, questioning what she was supposed to do. She knew Regina scared Rapunzel, she had ever since they'd been in the castle together. She wasn't exactly excited to be left alone in a room with Regina, especially after what happened last time and the way she'd denied it all last night, but she couldn't ask Rapunzel to stay here and stand between the two of them after she'd come so far. Besides, she wasn't worried. Rapunzel had seen her, at least if something happened she was a witness.
"It's fine," she excused Rapunzel with an icy voice. "I'll clean up. We can check in soon." Rapunzel nodded once, then gathered up her drink and coat and hurried out of the store without looking back. The moment the door closed behind she turned her eyes to Regina. Her anger snapped. And she didn't care how terrible she sounded. She was done with her.
"Get out," she snarled.
"Just hear me out," she begged.
She only reached beneath the counter and grabbed the spell that would transform anyone but her into a toad, the same one she threatened Cruella and Ursula with once upon a time. "Get out Regina or I throw this! I'm done playing your games!"
"I'm going to tell the others what I did to you!" she shouted back. That caught her attention, but not enough to give her compassion.
"When?" she asked.
"Today. Next time I see them."
She shook her head and rolled her eyes because she just didn't believe her anymore. "Wrong answer-"
"I'm sorry!" Regina screamed as she turned to go into the back. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything last night. I was scared."
She fought back a laugh as she turned back to her. Regina was scared! "So was I…when I was sitting in my home without a memory of how or why I was there! Unable to feel anything, afraid my husband had done something awful to me when all along it wasn't him I had to be afraid of, but you! Again!"
"I took your memory to spare you…" Regina admitted as if it was nothing like she'd done her a kindness.
"No…you took my memory because you hoped to return my heart before I could figure it out and then I'd never know and never find out, am I wrong?"
Regina ground her jaw as she stared at her unhappily; clearly caught. "No, that's more or less it."
She shook her head and finally put down the potion she'd been holding. She'd admitted it, but she hadn't needed to, she'd known the truth the entire time, just refused to acknowledge it until now. "You should have just asked for help instead. I would have offered-"
"You did offer," Regina insisted quickly with a guilty frown. "I didn't ask for help I just told you I needed it. You offered to help me find another way, but I…didn't listen. I took your heart without your permission and your memories-"
"To make you feel better. Not me," she insisted before Regina could even try to lie again.
She looked her dead in the eye and slowly began to nod. "That's probably true," she admitted. "I'm sorry I took your heart and your memories the way I did but…I won't take it back. Doing what I did got Robin Hood and Roland back home to me safe and sound, away from Zelena. And it did allow your husband to come to your rescue."
"And that's all wonderful but it doesn't exonerate you," she pointed out. "I'm done, Regina! Your words and excuses can't get you back what you lost, not this time!"
Regina's brow furrowed and she reeled back in confusion. "What I…" suddenly Regina sighed and shook her head, an angry smile curving against her mouth as she appeared to finally understand. "I can't get your trust back if you won't give me a chance to get it back."
"Why should I do that? Regina, I've given you that chance before, let you earn it, and you did, and then you took my heart! There's no reason I should trust you ever again!"
"Then don't trust me again. Hate me forever, banish me you're your Christmas card list, and never speak to me again, fine! Just don't let Robin suffer because of me. He's your friend, and you can't let him-"
"Robin?! What does he have to do with this?!"
"He's why I'm here!" Regina shouted, her eyes going wide and desperate. "He's in trouble. I came here because if anyone can help me figure out what is after him and save his life, it's you. I just don't understand why Emma would want to do this to him. Me I understand! Her parents, Hook, even Henry I'd understand. She trusted us, just like you did, we'd be the most likely ones to let her down and hurt her, but Robin?! You, Roland, even the dwarves…I don't understand what you all could have done to make her want to hurt you!"
Her train of thought was scattered, it was hard to understand how she'd gone from what thought, one conversation, to another but somehow she managed to at least follow her query. It was an interesting conundrum, but not for Regina…for her.
"That's a stupid question for the Evil Queen that made sure I never made it back to Rumpelstiltskin and then took my heart," she muttered. Regain looked at her with curiosity, still utterly confused. "If you want to hurt someone, you don't kill them. You make them live with the pain and the hurt…" she prompted.
"Fastest way to do that is through someone they love," Regina realized. "Yesterday Emma said we were about to be punished."
"I was there."
"This is it, isn't it? This is my punishment. Losing Robin!"
"Possibly. In Emma's mind at least."
"No. No, if she wants to punish me then she can punish me. I'm not going to let Robin pay the price for my mistakes no matter what they are. Which means I need to fight it! I need your help for that. Robin, needs your help for that."
She felt her jaw tighten again; her automatic response was to say no and refuse her…but then she realized it wasn't Regina she was refusing. It was Robin Hood and just as Regina had said, he was her friend. She didn't remember much of Camelot, but she did remember the journey they took from the diner to the castle, and how Robin had stepped up to ask her about her rose and if there was anything that he could do. They weren't close, but Robin was a good man and a good friend. She couldn't let anything happen to him and she certainly couldn't let Roland lose his father.
"For Robin…what can I do?"
Not a huge fan of this chapter either. I don't know, maybe it's because I set these two conversations up in Camelot so now it feels like we're repeating them. Although there are some differences as to how this conversation and even the one with Hook played out...I don't know. But I do hope you enjoy Rapunzel, that you'll think they make a good pair. I know their bit in all of this is short but it seemed necessary to me.
Thank you, Kathyrn Claire O'Connor, Grace5231973, Fox24, Teresa Martin, and Ladybugsmomma for all the comments and wonderful support you give me through all these fictions, especially when I'm a little less sure of certain chapters. I do my best, but sometimes I fear it just isn't enough. Peace and Happy Reading!
