A/N: My apologies for the extended wait. Between work, nursing school, my sister getting stationed overseas, unexpected illnesses, and trying to start a new business venture I just haven't had much time to write. I hope no one is too mad at me. Thanks again everybody for all your support, reads, follows, faves and most of all patience! It means the world to me! Without further ado I give you the next chapter. As always ENJOY :-D

Chapter 8

It was nighttime and Henry found himself standing alone in a wooded area surrounded by a light mist that filled the air. The trees were twisted and warped, their branches winding around each other blocking out most of the moonlight from above. As he listened he noticed there were no birds singing, no wind whispering through the leaves and branches, only a heavy eerie silence.

"What is this place?" he questioned as he spun around trying to gain some sense of where he was, but no matter how hard he looked this place just didn't seem familiar to him. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness he noticed a very subtle serpentine path had been carved into the forest floor.

"Well here goes nothing," he muttered to himself as he began to follow the narrow avenue. As he walked he had to hold some of the gnarled branches back away from his face while he was able to safely duck under others. Henry had been following the meandering lane for quite some time when it came to an abrupt end leaving him standing before a towering moss covered wall made of old cobblestone. Cautiously approaching the wall Henry noticed that the sinister trees of the forest had been cleared back and the wall ran in either direction as far as he could see. At regular intervals intricate wooden columns had been constructed with old medieval style lanterns hanging from them casting a dim glow along the massive barrier.

As Henry continued his trek he ran his fingers along the soft moss and tried to recall how he found himself here. He knew he wasn't in the lush green forests surrounding Storybrooke, and while this forest did have a sinister undertone he was also able to rule out Neverland. He had considered the Enchanted Forest, but based upon the story books he had read and the tales that had been told to him by his family he knew the Enchanted Forest was a beautiful place where people lived and laughed. This place didn't seem to hold any happiness or joy. Instead of beauty it was bleak and instead of laughter there was only a deafening stillness.

Suddenly Henry came to a break in the solid wall and found himself standing in front of a wrought iron gate. On either side there were two winged gargoyles carved completely out of the blackest onyx, except for their eyes which were made of blood red rubies that glimmered making them look almost alive. As Henry reached his hand towards the gate he was surprised when before he could even touch it one side slowly swung open with a piercing creak.

"Hello, is anyone there?" he called out, but no answer came in reply. Summoning all his courage he willed his feet forward and stepped through the gate into what appeared to be some kind of garden. The garden unlike the forest was well kept, but like the forest the darkness within seemed to have seeped past the wall like an infection. The bushes were well manicured but covered in thorns and the red roses that would normally be a welcome sight were made to look menacing as they were intermingled with black roses.

As Henry rounded a sharp bend he came to a dead halt as he found himself standing directly behind a woman sitting upon a bench. She was wearing a deep crimson colored velvet dress with her long black hair cascading down her back. He could tell she was crying as she was hunched over with her face in her hands and her shoulders quivering. Henry very quietly tried to turn around so she would not hear him, but as if she had a sixth sense her head shot up, "Who's there?" she asked swinging her head around to face him.

When he found himself staring at the face of his mother Henry's face broke out into a huge grin. It felt like an eternity since he had seen her and her face was all he had wanted to see for the last five days, "Mom!?"

Regina's sad countenance changed in a second to one of complete contempt and Henry's moment of happiness was shattered by a single question, "What are you doing here?" she asked in a tone of disgust.

"Mom…I've missed you," Henry paused and then asked confused as he began to walk towards her with his hand out stretched, "Mom are you okay?"

"Stay away from me!" Regina hissed as she quickly stood up, backing away from him, "Why would I want to see you? I always loved you…protected you…I only wanted the best for you. I would have done anything for you and the first chance you got you turned your back on me," Regina giggled a bit maniacally before continuing, "My mother was right love is weakness Henry and I am done being weak. I am not your mother. I never was. Go be with your real mom and leave me alone," when her eyes met his they were devoid of any emotion, "I never want to see you again."

"No Mom don't say that! Please I'm sorry. You're right…I never realized how much you loved me, but now I do. Please Mom…please I'm sorry. Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it. Don't send me away," Henry begged his voice shaking.

Before he realized what was happening his mother rushed towards him and firmly grasped his shoulders shaking him, "I want you to wake up Henry! Henry, wake up! Wake up Henry!"


Henry's eyelids fluttered open to see his mother's face directly in front of his. Her eyes were filled with deep concern and her hands were placed upon his shoulders, "Henry, honey are you alright?"

At first he recoiled from her startled, recollecting his last interaction with her, but when he realized that he must have been dreaming he sprang up and wrapped his arms tightly around her neck, "Mom!"

Regina pulled her son tight against her chest stroking his back, "You were having a nightmare sweetie, but everything is okay. I'm right here and I would never let anything happen to you."

Henry pulled back to look at her face, "Mom I just want to tell you I'm sorry for all the times I let you down. Please don't shut me out."

Regina took her son's hands in hers, "Honey, what are you talking about? Shut you out…I would never…could never, and what's this about you letting me down. You have never ever let me down. You're constantly teaching me to be better, and I'm so proud of you," Regina smiled reaching her hands up to touch her son's face wiping away his tears. In spite of her he was growing up to be such a nice young man, a good young man. She thought to herself it must be the Charming in him because it couldn't have come from her. While Regina had many regrets in her life, Henry was her one true shining moment. The one thing she knew for certain hadn't been a mistake, "I'm so sorry you stayed out here in that storm. I just never imagined anyone would wait out here. I just figured you would go stay with Emma. If I would have known you were out here I would have never…"

Henry cut her off short, "Mom stop. I would have waited for you as long as it took in any kind of weather," he paused as he looked into her eyes, "You know that I love you, right? I mean Emma is a part of my life, but she will never replace you."

With that Regina pulled his face towards her and placed her forehead against his closing her eyes, "Sweetie they haven't invented the words that could describe how much I love you. Now what do you think about you and I going to get a milkshake like we used to do on Sundays when you were little?"

"I'd like that," Henry said smiling from ear to ear.

With that Regina turned around coming face to face with two teary eyed women who had been watching the touching moment between mother and son play out. She walked towards them and took one of their hands in each of her's, "Tink thank you for staying out here with Henry and literally weathering the storm," then turning towards Snow she continued, "And Snow I just want to thank you again for understanding even after what we've been through. I know I don't deserve it."

Tinkerbell made a move and embraced her friend, "Don't even mention it," she finally released her tight grip on her friend and with a play punch on her arm said, "It's good to have you back bestie."

"Well I feel like I've seen enough of the inside of my house. How does ice cream sound to both of you?"

"Oh I really want to but I better get home to Neal and David," Snow placed her hand on Regina's shoulder, "but if you need anything at all Regina please let me know, and like Tink said…it's good to see you." Snow stepped off the porch turning back to wave one last time before she made her way back to her home.

"Well I'm always game for ice cream," Tinkerbell said as she smelled her shirt, "but I think I'm gonna need a long hot shower first."

Regina laughed, "I think that can be arranged."


Regina ran a comb through her damp hair as she began to ready herself for dinner tonight with Henry, Tink and the Charmings. It had been a month since she had emerged from her house and things had been going better than she could have imagined. In the first week since she had once again entered the "real world, Snow White, after much goading had convinced Regina to come to dinner at the Charming house and since then she had been going at least twice a week and sometimes more. Henry had been spending the night at her house much more often, in fact, she practically had to make him spend time with his other family members, but she wasn't complaining about finally having the relationship with her son that she had always longed for. And as always Tinkerbell had her back in all things. Regina often wondered how she found it so easy to forgive her after what she had put her through, but she was learning everyday what it meant to be a good person. Surprisingly even the other residents of Storybrooke seemed to interact with her on a much more friendly level than they had in the past.

The one relationship that could use work was the one between herself and Emma Swan. On the third occasion Regina had arrived for dinner at the Charmings she was surprised to see Emma sitting at the formal dining room table, and it seemed she was equally surprised as she immediately shot up out of her chair when Regina entered.

Little did either of them know Snow White had concocted a plan to get them in the same room together. "Listen, you two need to work out whatever is between you, and you're not leaving until you do." Before they could stop her Snow White broke into a sprint, shutting and locking the French doors to her formal dining room behind her.

"You knew about this?" Regina asked raised her eyebrows at Emma.

"No way. I didn't even know you were going to be here." Emma said as she jiggled the doorknob in vain.

Regina smirked as she lifted her hand which held red hot fire peering through the glass at Snow White, "You do know I could make pretty short work of this door Snow."

Snow cocked her head to the side with a mischievous grin, "But you won't."

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Because Regina whether you like to admit it or not you're not that reckless person anymore, and friends don't destroy friends' homes with their magical fire. Now work it out." With that she spun around and went into her living room and out of sight obviously pleased with herself.

Regina dropped her hand and sighed as her bluff had been called looking at Emma, "Well Ms. Swan it seems you and I have some things to talk about."

So for the next couple of hours Regina Mills and Emma Swan were shut in a confined space together and everyone in House Charming knew it. Neither voice was quiet as accusations were leveled and heated words were exchanged, but the longer they were in there the quieter it became. In fact Snow peaked her head out to make sure that neither had rendered the other unconscious…or worse. In the end, both had to admit that on some narrow level a meeting of the minds was achieved and a fragile truce was established. Regina and Emma would probably never be best friends, or anything resembling friends at all for that matter, and they both knew that. Regina thought that Emma was a bit too selfish for her own good and Emma thought Regina was rash and unpredictable, however, they shared a son in common and after hearing each other out on a number of their issues an understanding was reached. They decided that they would at least try and be amicable for Henry's sake.

As Regina had prepared to leave that night after they had all eaten around a somewhat tense dinner table Snow grabbed her by the wrist, "Regina…you're not mad at me are you?"

"I don't like being tricked into forced confrontation. If I had wanted to work something out with your daughter I think I could have handled that on my own," Snow hung her head as if a bit ashamed of what she had done while Regina continued, "but…I have to say Snow that was a pretty gutsy move you pulled, and although I didn't like it, I did respect it and understand what you were trying to do. Maybe this will put your mind at ease. If you want to I'd like for you, David and Neal to join Henry, Tink and I for dinner next Friday at my house for a change. So what do you say?"

Snow White looked up with relief, "We'll be there."


Suddenly Regina heard a distinct rap on her door followed by the sound of multiple doorbell rings. Henry had told her he would arrive around 5:00pm a couple hours before anyone else arrived at 7:00pm. As she snaked her head out of the bathroom door she saw the clock on her nightstand read 3:00pm. He wasn't supposed to be here another two hours, but he had been super protective of her lately, maybe even over protective.

"I'll be down in just a minute sweetie!" she yelled as she rushed down the stairway using a towel to try and squeeze out the last bit of water from her hair so she wouldn't be a dripping mess.

She didn't bother to look out the peep hole and swung the door open fully expecting to see her son, "You're a little…." she stopped short dropping her towel as she found herself looking into the eyes of the last person she had expected to see on her doorstep.

He stood there staring at her. He hadn't been this close to her in over a month, and in this moment she didn't seem real to him. Here she was with her hair all wet and unfixed, no makeup, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and she still managed to look absolutely beautiful. He wanted to say so many things but instead all he said was her name, "Regina," it was all Robin could muster as he stood stone still afraid if he made a move towards her she would disappear again. She was so close to him and still he felt as though a vast chasm separated them. He didn't know why he did it, it was if she was a magnet and he was helpless against her pull, but whatever it was he couldn't seem to stop himself as he cautiously reached his hand out towards her. Maybe it was to try and bridge the gap between them, or maybe he was foolishly hoping that she would take it, granting him the smallest bit of physical contact that he so desperately longed for. When she immediately stepped back from him crossing her arms in front of herself as if being near him repulsed her it stung worse than he could have imagined. Finally he managed to speak again, "Regina please…I know…I know I don't deserve it…"

Regina surprised herself when she found herself speaking, "Robin, just stop….I get it," she said with a slight crack in her voice as she continued, "I get it…you have your wife back. Your beautiful sweet wife. Roland's mother…your first love," she looked up blinking her eyes furiously trying not to let him see her cry before looking back at him, "I've done terrible things Robin, why would you ever choose me?"

He knew it was a rhetorical question but it took everything he had not to answer her, to tell her all the reasons he wanted nothing more than to be with her, to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless, to love her so intensely she wouldn't remember what it was like before, but he was honor bound to Marian and so he said the only thing he could think of that might lessen her obvious pain, "Regina…I'm so sorry…I never meant to hurt you. I don't want…I don't want," he put his hand up to his forehead in frustration as he began pacing back and forth in front of her doorway, "Dammit what am I trying to say? I don't want you to hate me. I want to be part of your life Regina," he looked at her his deep blue eyes pleading.

Regina was struggling to keep her emotions in check as she spoke, "But you did hurt me Robin. I want to tell you I'm strong enough to let you back in….but I just don't think I can," she reached her hand up to wipe away a tear that threatened to fall.

Robin's heart dropped into his stomach and he felt physically ill at her response because he knew what it meant, "You're going to shut me out aren't you?"

"I've got to protect my heart. It can only handle so much. I think everyone may have overestimated my so called resilience...maybe I just don't deserve to be loved in that way," she looked at him and now her dark brown eyes were pleading with him, "Robin, please just go and be with your family."

He didn't argue with her. He knew her mind was made up just as his had been when he had decided to make his marriage to Marian work. He hated it, what had happened between them. It just didn't feel right, but what could he do? Events out of his control had been set in motion and he was powerless to do anything about them. As he turned around and walked down her front steps he stopped and abruptly spun back to face her, "You're wrong you know. You're wrong about not deserving to be loved Regina," he looked at her intently before adding, "You deserve it all," and with that he about faced continuing to walk back towards his home, his family, what was now his new life.


Regina knew that Henry would be coming to meet her in a little over an hour, but after her close encounter with Robin she needed to get out and clear her head. She needed to regain her composure because if Henry found out Robin Hood had come to see her she wasn't so sure Henry wouldn't pay him an unannounced visit.

As she walked without any particular destination in mind she was sure to take every alley, and every back road that she knew to avoid running into any of the other people living in Storybrooke. Before she knew it she found herself walking through the forest to her "secret sitting spot". It had always the place she found herself when she needed to think with peace and quiet, the same place Robin had found her reading the note from Rumpelstiltskin.

As she breathed in the fresh air of the forest she smelled nothing but Robin. When she first met him she had despised the smell of pine and wildflowers that seemed to follow him wherever he went, referring to it as "absolutely repulsive", but as they had become closer his scent had grown on her, and by the time she realized she had fallen in love with him it had become her favorite scent. Even now that she couldn't be with Robin it gave her a sense of security.

Suddenly she was brought out of her own thoughts when she heard the distinct sound of a twig snapping and she whipped her head towards the sound, "Who's there?" she said with authority as she brought her hand up holding an orb of glowing flame, "Show yourself!"

She began to walk backwards keeping her eyes ahead where the noise had come from. Unexpectedly her foot hit against something solid and despite her attempt to stay standing she lost her balance and began to fall backwards. Her body met the ground with a solid thud and she felt a sharp pain as her head slammed against a stone that was embedded in the forest floor. Her head began to spin and she was barely holding onto consciousness. She felt a warm liquid that could only be blood begin to pool beneath her head. She was trying to move but it was hopeless as her body was just too weak. She knew it wouldn't be long until she passed out from loss of blood. Her vision could not focus and the last thing she saw was the silhouette of a man bending over her. She felt strong arms lift her up and then the world went black.