The Gift of a Prince and a Thief
Chapter 9

A/N - Thank you so much for continuing to read this story! Only a few more chapters of canon storyline then we go post-season 6 finale. As ever, any feedback is much appreciated.


It seemed the perfect place for their final battle, the mayor's office. It was where love had been lost and power had been gained. So many hours had been spent there, during the curse, ensuring the town ran smoothly, and every heeded her every command. She was untouchable and nobody could stop her reign.

There was a certain tension looming in the air as the Evil Queen looked out of the window, thinking back to that brief period of content ruling. The only reason she wasn't happy was that hole in her heart that Regina caused with her need for love and her damned conscious. Now she would use that to her advantage, she knew she couldn't resist playing hero, and even if that wasn't her true love tied up in the middle of the room, she would certainly arrive to rescue him at any moment, and then she would strike.

This child that Regina was oh so secretly carrying around with her was the key to her last piece of revenge. She hated her, she hated her with every ounce of her being. She was the reason she had been weak, she was the reason she had been shut away for years just so she could learn to be batting on the hero's team. Tearing the Charmings apart was easy, as was removing Emma Swan, albeit for a shorter period than she had envisioned, but she knew Regina would be the hardest to break.

At first it appeared that Henry was her only weakness, but she couldn't hurt him, he's still her son. Then she was blessed by overhearing a conversation between her son and his biological mother whilst she spent time as a reptile. It had been very brief, he had made a minor slip about what Regina had endured in the wish realm in her condition. Emma had shushed him and told him not to worry, whereby he realised that she was privy to the secret too, and then nothing more was said. But that was all the Evil Queen needed. A tiny piece of leverage to hold us her better half.

At that moment, the door flung open and there she stood, attempting to show some strength by coming alone to be the hero she was so desperate to be. Her eyes locked with Robin's who sat tied up in the middle of the room. The Queen smirked at the sight, some part of Regina still hoped he was hers; she was so foolish without her blunt realism to guide her. Before they could exchange a word, she flicked her wrist and kept her end of the bargain, sending Robin back where he so desperately wished to be, back to the realm she created.

Regina's heart clenched as Robin disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Now it was just her facing herself. There was nothing to hide behind anymore. Her family wasn't there to protect her, she was had to fight the evil within once and for all.

Noting her better half's crestfallen face, the Evil Queen simply stood there and laughed. "It's really pathetic you know, the way you drooled over a man that was nothing like Robin Hood aside from their identical appearances. Tut tut, I don't think he'd be too happy if he knew you had moved on so quickly."

Regina gritted her teeth in anger, she could feel the magic starting to spark at her fingertips as she began to lose emotional control. "You don't get to speak about him."

"No? Okay, how about we try a new topic of conversation." The Evil Queen stepped out from behind her desk, tapping her manicured fingernail upon her cheek theatrically in thought. "Maybe like... oh I don't know, your baby?"

Regina froze to the spot upon hearing her words. How could she possibly know? She had been so careful. Was it Zelena? It surely couldn't have been Emma or Henry. The only way to protect her child was to feign ignorance. She could have some more of the potion she used on Belle, this whole charade could be a hideous plot to take her baby. "What are you talking about?"

As she moved closer, she threw her head back and laughed dramatically. "You're only lying to yourself, literally! When are you going to realise Regina, we hate each other because we know every slight detail about one another."

Her words made Regina's skin crawl because she knew she was telling the truth. The reason that they had always been one step behind her was because they think the same. She wasn't some villain, they were once the same person who were accountable for all the decisions they made. They both suffered the same heartbreak and they were both paying the price for their subsequent actions now.

"Did you really think you could that sort of a secret from me?" The Evil Queen asked with a smirk. "In future, be a little more careful where you leave your pet snakes lying around, they hear everything."

Regina clenched her fist and narrowed her eyes, there was no point lying anymore. "I will not let you hurt my child," she growled.

A cackle escaped from the Queen's lips as she circled her better half. "I'm not here to hurt it, I'm going to take it from you." When she stopped she stretched her fingers and a small clear bottle appeared in her palm. Regina gave a short intake of breath, her fears were being confirmed. She did plan to speed up her pregnancy and take her child, but she would never let that happen.

"Keep the hell away from me, you bitch! We're still connected, this changes nothing, I will hurt you," Regina told her stepping forward, anger coursing through every fibre in her body.

The Evil Queen chuckled and pulled a flash of gold out of the sleeve of her dress. Regina stopped as her lips parted in surprise, they were the shears of destiny. She was actually going to separate them, their war would actually end that day. "Not for long..."

Exhausted by this fight, Regina knew there was no point resisting. They needed to be separated for their story to finish. Storybrooke was not big enough for both of them. After giving her a short nod, the golden thread which connected them protruded from her chest into her evil half's torso. They stared at each other for a few moments, both silently afraid of what would happen once they no longer had the other. As much as they hated one another, they had relied on each other somewhat over the years and to remove that part completely meant they were venturing into the unknown, and that was the most fearsome.

Finally, with one swift movement, the Evil Queen sliced the shears across the golden thread. Both women took a step backwards in shock but when they realised that they were unharmed they raised their eyes to continue their battle. The Queen curled her painted lip into a look of disgust as she locked eyes with Regina.

"Let's end this."


When all the fighting was over, the room was quiet and still. Opposite Regina sat the woman she had been battling for most of her life, dressed in black and leather, showcasing her evil moniker in her clothing choices. Today that part of her had not been destroyed but redeemed. Regina knew if she could be given a second chance then so could the Queen. They were both the same person at the end of the day, but they needed each other to move forward as individuals.

The Queen had apologised for sending Robin back to the wish realm but Regina didn't really mind. He was a constant reminder of her Robin and she found it hard to move past the pain when he was in her life. The only thing that clouded Regina's mind was whether or not she still wanted to take the baby. Technically she had as much right to the child as she did, but as Gold had told her that the Queen had been only parts of a person when she first ripped her out, she assumed that was why biologically the baby was only hers. It was a complicated situation to say the least, and she thought Henry's genealogy was complex.

All she wanted was a fresh start, she now had light and dark in her heart, just as Regina did. That gave her exactly the same possibilities to find love and enjoy her life, but she just hoped that didn't involve her child. She couldn't deny she was fearful that she would now try to lay claims on her baby, on her last tie to Robin. She looked across at her and tried to gauge her thoughts but she just looked lost.

"Regina, you don't have to worry," the Queen sighed quietly. She had obviously seen the look on her other half's face, her threat from earlier still looming over them. She placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out the small vial of potion, with a small smile she gave it to Regina. "I'm not going to take the baby."

The mayor looked down at the bottle in her hand, the token was so much more than keeping her child, it was the end of the war between two halves of herself. The evil was now working on her side and she knew how difficult it was to change and fight against those instincts. By giving her the potion, the Queen had shown that she truly had turned away from revenge and she now cared about Regina's happiness, even if it meant watching her build a family while she had no-one.

Before Regina could reply, the Queen sighed and tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. "You deserve the family that you are building with Henry and this new child, I won't ruin that for you."

"Thank you," whispered Regina, leaning forward to take her other half's hands. "But you will get your happy ending too, now that you've got love in your heart, you can go and make a life for yourself."

The Queen scoffed and drew back slightly, the idea of having a real life and getting a fresh start didn't seem possible. "Villains don't get happy endings remember, even redeemed ones."

"I used to think that too, but now I think it's all about perspective. If you don't believe you deserve happiness then you're not actively seeking it, this is something that took me a long time to realise. If I didn't have Henry believing in me, I don't know what I would have done without him," Regina explained, her heart swelling with pride at the thought of how much her son changed her life.

Regina paused and looked her straight in the eye, when the Queen met her gaze she saw the tears begin to trickle down her cheeks, slowly merging into one droplet before falling silently into her lap. "I believe in you," she told her genuinely, "and when you've gotten away from all the history of Storybrooke you will be able to start afresh, just try to remember that happiness is possible."

The Queen nodded ever so slowly, "thank you Regina, for everything. I know I deserve your belief in me after everything that has happened but just know I appreciate it, and your secret is safe with me."

"I'm sure whatever realm you end up in, we will see each other again," smiled Regina, taking her hands once more. As someone who used to be her, she knew that physical contact was something they had both lacked during many years of loneliness.


After the ordeal of the day and Henry had successfully written the Queen back to another realm to find her happy ending, Snow organised a celebration dinner for the family at Granny's. She also wanted to publicly announce Emma and Hook's engagement but the Saviour had been unwilling for reasons that had not been disclosed to them yet. The evening with the Charmings had actually been more bearable than Regina had anticipated, but the occasion was tainted by the sleeping curse that still haunted them. The Evil Queen may have reformed but the effects of her time in Storybrooke were going to be felt for a long time until Regina could clear up all her messes.

That day had been emotionally draining, especially seeing as her heart had been changed once again. It was now filled with light and dark, the way it should it. It was a reminder of who she was and that she should love herself no matter who she had been in the past. She now had a future and a baby to concentrate on. It would be foolish to expect her child to accept all parts of her, if she couldn't do that herself. It was Henry's acceptance and love that had sent her down the path of redemption in the first place, and the way she raised her child would be a testament to that.

Regina felt sluggish as she moved around her house; whilst playing hero, there were still chores to be done. So with little effort, she took the easy option glided her hand over the breakfast dishes in the dining room and sent them into the kitchen to be washed the next morning. She was exhausted and the only thing she wanted was to crash out in her bed.

"Mom?" Her son's voice called from upstairs. She had momentarily forgotten that he was spending the night with her and not with Emma. Although Regina tried to protest, none of the Charmings thought she should be alone after all she had been through that day.

"Yes, Henry?" she answered, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.

He stood several steps taller than her, dressed in an old Avengers t-shirt and pyjama pants. "I was getting some books out of your study for a school project and I found this down the side of one of the bookcases."

In the palm of his hand lay her old cell phone. She took a sharp intake of breath, it had been lost prior to them leaving for the underworld. She had sometimes given it to Robin to use when they needed to stay in touch but he was always leaving it places, he never did fully understand how to use it.

A memory of them sitting in her study what felt like an eternity ago while she tried to show him the basic skill of unlocking the phone and calling her in case of an emergency flashed back to her. Robin, however, kept getting distracted and in the process distracting her, usually by moving his lips along her neck and making her quite forget what she was doing.

Regina's lips twitched as she thought about that afternoon and took the phone out of Henry's hand. "Thank you, now go to bed, it is a school night."

"Okay, night Mom. You were really brave today, I'm so proud of you. I love you." He kissed her cheek gently and ran back up the stairs, she then noticed that his pyjama bottoms were too short and were swinging around his ankles, it was just another reminder how grown up he was getting.

"I love you too, Henry," she sighed after him.

She kept the phone in her grasp until she reached her bedroom. She rummaged in her bedside table draw until she found the correct charger for the phone and plugged it in before performing her bedtime routine.

When she returned from the bathroom, Regina was pleased to see that the phone had been revived and appeared to still be in a working condition. She settled herself under the covers before taking it and illuminating the screen. Her heart stopped momentarily when she saw the lock screen.

It was a picture of her, Robin, Roland and Henry holding baby Robyn in her living room the day they had been saved from trading places with the Dark Ones, when they thought they were safe before their trip to the underworld. She had forgotten that there had been a rare few photographs taken of happy moments spent together amongst the battles and threats on the town.

A tear fell slowly down her cheek, they all looked so happy. Robin had one arm around her, pulling her close, not looking forwards but in her direction. It was pure love in his eyes and a broad smile on his face. In his lap, he was cradling the pink bundle that was his daughter, and on Regina's lap was the little boy whose hand was holding onto his sister's and he was laughing at something she couldn't remember, while Henry sat on Robin's other side smiling brightly towards the phone.

But it was her own face that Regina could not stop staring at. There was a glint in her eyes which had been missing for most of her life. She was leaning into Robin's embrace and had her arms tightly around Roland's waist to stop him from wriggling while sharing in his laughter. She was happy. It was a precious moment, and all too quickly it was gone.

While she had been staring at the screen multiple messages and email notifciations appeared dating back since she lost her phone. As she unlocked the device she swiftly ignored the outdated memos and instead headed straight for her photos folder, curious to know what other pictures they had taken together.

Most were silly selfies that young Henry had taken before there was a gap of the time spent in the Enchanted Forest during the missing year when her phone had laid dormant. Then there were pictures of the two of them together after he had regained his memories, but underneath, she found what she had been searching for. There weren't many, they hadn't exactly had much time together let alone thinking to take pictures, but they were there. A few of Robin on his own, a couple of them together, even one squished one where they tried to take a selfie with Roland but his head took up most of the frame. Regina laughed through her tears at that one.

Right at the bottom of her photo library, after the multiple shots of different combinations of people with baby Robyn, were pictures she had never seen before. There were a series of selfies that Roland had taken with Robin without her knowledge. They were so natural, unposed and free, they both looked so happy. Tears spilled down Regina's cheeks as she looked at each photo, some of them smiling, some of them pulling silly faces, each one a perfect piece of history.

She finally sighed and placed the phone onto her bedside table, wiping the tears from her eyes. Roland had brought such joy to her life, he had helped heal her heart after she had to leave Henry and return to the Enchanted Forest. That little boy had become part of her family and she missed him deeply. Seeing his face again concreted a plan in her mind. Once they had determined how much of a threat Gideon would be to their town she would try to visit Sherwood Forest and tell Roland all about his new brother or sister. Although his life had probably moved on without her, she still needed him.

Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as Regina slunk deeper into her bed and sighed. The pain would always be there but that day had been a win. She had redeemed her evil half and given her a fresh start, that would put her mind to rest for one night at least.