A/N: Hello, everyone! Thank you for still reading, favoriting, following and reviewing!
One thing I want to let you know: the timelines of Regina's life and Enchanted Forest are not the same. That will make sense in the future.
Hope you still like! :)
(...)
Regina is exhausted. It sounds quite funny when all she did today was sit-up in bed but for her recovering body it was enough. Now all she can do is lie in bed and stare at the ceiling (sleeping is out of options, the nightmares are back and each of them is worse than before, she decides to sleep as little as possible that, of course, is not helping to get better at all).
She sent Robin home because he was spending all his time with her, and he needs to rest, to see him son – even the thought of Roland makes Regina's heart ache, she's missed the boy so much – and she needs time to think about everything what'd happened, for example why her heart stopped beating three time or why she was in coma for the whole month.
But now, when she's all alone, she comes to a realization that it's not a good thing to be left with the thoughts. They're getting the best of her, making her doubt everything, over-think every single thing and choice she's done and she doesn't want that, at least not now. The physical pain is enough; she doesn't need to be hurt mentally.
The sound of door being opened snaps her out of her dark thoughts and puts a smile, tired smile on her face. She tries to sit up a bit to see who's here but the sharp pain stops her, she's exercised too much today, it seems, so instead she turns her head to the side, hopes that it's Robin.
She's more than surprised to find Robin not alone – he's carrying Roland who's grown up a lot during that month she was unconscious. The boy holds a bouquet of red roses that looks too big in his tiny hands, grinning from ear to ear as he stares down at Regina.
"Hello," Robin says quietly and leans over to peck her lips. It makes butterflies fly in Regina's belly and she feels so silly, like a teenager – she blames medicine for making her feel like that. She fights her embarrassment and murmurs a 'hi' in return, shifting a bit on this uncomfortable bed. "Roland and I brought you something in hopes that it'll make you feel better, or at least smile," he tells her.
Regina smiles, and lifts her head from the pillow to take a better look of the flowers, says, "Thank you, you didn't need to."
A smile on Robin's face matches hers as he leans closer and whispers something into Roland's ear. The boy becomes serious for a moment before he turns to Regina and squeals, "Gina," then turns to his Papa with a huge grin on his face.
Tears fill Regina's eyes as she looks at them. He's finally learned her name. When she left, Roland didn't speak much, he called her 'Na' and Robin 'Pa' but that was all. Everything else he said was a babble which only he could understand, but now he's two and half, and a month means a lot when you're this age, and Regina cannot help but wonder what else she missed when she wasn't there.
"Hi, Roland," She says, stretching her arm out to touch his small hand.
Roland squirms in Robin's arms, wants to be released and be on bed with Regina but Robin shakes his head and holds the boy tighter. "Regina is sick, Roland," Robin explains, putting Roland on the chair beside her bed. "You have to stay here," He tells his son and the boy pouts but listens to his father and sits down on the chair.
Robin puts the flowers into the water and while his back is turned to them, Regina motions for Roland to come on her bed. She missed the boy and while she's too weak to hug him properly, she will definitely let him lay with her.
Roland's face lifts up with excitement as he climbs on the bed and the movement makes Regina's chest ache but she concentrates on the boy in front of her and when Roland is safe on bed, he throws himself into Regina's embrace.
A gasp of pain escapes her as she wraps her arms around Roland, sudden movements are the worst, and Roland is not so light anymore on her injured chest. It makes Robin turn around from the sink with a frown and when he spots Roland on the bed with Regina he opens his mouth to protest but Regina shushes him with just one look, assuring that it's fine.
It's more than fine.
Roland pulls away from her hug and cuddles into her side, his head rested on her chest. It's hard to breath for her but she doesn't push the boy away, just holds him close to her heart.
Robin comes back and puts a vase on the nightstand, then sits down on the chair. Regina smiles at him and stretches her arm a bit so she can take hold of his hand. Robin squeezes her hand, a warm smile on his face and in that moment Regina realizes that she has a family now.
No matter how broken she is, she couldn't be happier.
(…)
It's been a month since Regina came back home. She'd stayed in the hospital for two weeks, and just because she'd almost begged her doctor to release her, her wish was granted. Even though she spent the next month in bed, it was way better than staying in the hospital.
Robin refused to let her get out of the bed, the only times she could do it was to use bathroom. For days she did nothing, just lied in bed – Robin's bed, he'd gave away his room for her – and watched TV, read books and journals.
Roland had a new babysitter for awhile, Robin forbade Regina to look after the boy while she was still very sick and at first Regina's been furious, she even refused to talk to him for a day or two because she claimed that she could take care of a child but then she calmed down and agreed that he was right and she was just being emotional.
That whole month gave them time to figure out some things. They could do nothing but talk and they used those days and nights for long talks about everything, she got to know Robin even better, and he found out some new things about her too (not that there was much to find out since she didn't know anything about herself as well). It was good for them, and they got closer and closer with each passing day. The things between the two of them were serious and Regina knew that no matter what happened, she wouldn't leave Robin. She loves him and he loves her back just as much.
So it's been the whole month since then and she feels better now, can sit up on her own, tries to spend as little time in bed as possible. She walks around the apartment, plays with Roland, she's even convinced Robin that she's capable of taking care of Roland on her own again.
Everything feels okay but, of course, Robin's still overprotective. He forces her to lie down during the day, tells her not to do anything. That's why they gave most of their disagreements. And this time isn't an exception.
"Robin, I'm not going to stay in this apartment forever," Regina states, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She regrets the action immediately, the pain in her chest still sharp, it makes her groan.
The whole disagreement started with a simple request – Regina wanted to go outside. She hasn't been outside for far too long, and she feels better now, strong enough to take a walk around the park not far from their home. It's a beautiful Sunday and it's a shame to spend it inside.
"See," Robin gives her a look when she drops her arms to her sides. "You're not going anywhere. And that's the end of discussion."
Regina groans as she sits down on the couch in the living room, sending him a dead glare.
"I'm not going to break, you know," she says when she calms down. Moving a bit closer to him, she continues, "Robin, I feel better with each day. You'll not keep me here forever, so why don't we try to get back to the life we had before?"
He turns his head to the side so he can face her, and she uses that moment to put her hand on his, squeezing it lightly. There's fear in his eyes, he's told her how much she scared him, how afraid he was of losing her and how much she means to him over and over again, and she understands that fear, it would be unbearable pain to lose someone you love again, but she cannot be in here forever. She needs to move on, to recover and Robin needs to do the same.
"Fine," He finally murmurs under his nose, making Regina wonder if he wanted her to hear that. She beams at him and then throws herself into his embrace, surprising him, but oh, he has no idea how much it means to her. Robin wraps his arm around her and tells her, "But you have to tell me if something feels wrong or it starts to hurt and we go home immediately. Do we have a deal?" He asks and Regina nods immediately, lifting her head to kiss his cheek.
"Roland, come on, we're going outside," She says, pulling away from Robin and the boy squeals, leaves his toys on the floor and runs towards her.
After ten minutes the three of them are standing in front of the door and Robin is still frowning. Regina sighs, walks up to him and pecks his lips one more time, assuring him that she's fine and just then he huffs but doesn't comment, locks the doors and their journey begins.
(…)
Robin's arm is wrapped around Regina's lower back protectively, keeping her warm, as he walks her down the sidewalk of the park slowly while Roland is running in front of them. Regina feels weak and light-headed, and she's more than thankful for Robin's arm supporting her.
Maybe going outside wasn't a good decision, after all. It's one thing to walk around the apartment, and the other thing outside.
She sighs and presses herself more into Robin's side, breathing deeply.
All of a sudden her vision becomes black. She stops dead in her track as another flashback runs through her mind. This time it's about her being pressed against the hard stone while someone holds a knife against her throat and shouts that he's going to kill the Evil Queen and free everyone.
It has her shaking, pulling away from Robin a bit. It's impossible, she's not the Evil Queen, and the place she sees in those visions is not this world, it's something different, and that just cannot be true. It confuses her for it feels way too real but how can it be?
She lifts her hand and touches her throat where moments ago she saw blood. If the vision would've been true, there would be a scar but there's nothing. So that's not true. It's just her imagination. She needs to calm down and breathe.
"Regina?" Robin asks, his voice filled with anxiety as he turns her towards him and makes her look at him.
She feels disorientated for a moment, her eyes unfocused. She tells herself to breathe, just deep inhale and exhale, nothing more. And it works, a few seconds later she finds Robin's eyes and their gazes lock together as his hand tightens on her arm.
"I'm fine," she insists though her voice is shaking.
"You're pale," He observes. But who couldn't be pale if they saw themselves being killed? "I think we should head home, okay?" He says and she nods her head. She has no desire to walk anymore. All she wants to do is go back home and curl on the bed until the visions are gone from her mind.
(…)
Snow White is sitting in the council room with her hand on her still invisible bump, rubbing it anxiously. After months of trying to figure out what Zelena wanted from them, they finally did and now she wishes they haven't.
It's not the curse that scares her the most, no. It's the ingredients because one of them is her baby. She'd found out she was pregnant just two weeks ago and decided to keep it a secret for awhile but now when they know Zelena's plans, all the excitement is gone, she understands that her secret wasn't a secret at all and there's very high chances that she won't raise this child as well.
Everyone agrees that they need to protect the baby at all costs, but they can't do it here, not when they're surrounded by enemies and people they cannot trust. The only way to win this fight is to go back to Storybrooke and find Regina somehow. Regina is their only anchor right now – she's the only one who could destroy the Wicked Witch.
Squeaking sound echoes around the room as Snow stands up from the chair and storms out of the council room, rushes to the library that once upon a time belonged to her father. Regina used to spend hours in there when she was still living in the palace and Snow is sure that there has to be a clue how to cross the realms.
When she enters the library, a gasp of surprise leaves her when she finds Henry laying on the cold floor, a book tucked in his arms. He's sleeping. She approaches him as quietly as possible, leans over to take the book from his hands. Her eyes widen when she sees that it's not a simple book. It's a diary. Regina's diary.
Quickly, Snow White closes it and puts it on the table with a promise to never read it. She wakes Henry up then and walks him to his room, assures him that everything is fine and when the boy finally falls back to sleep, she makes her way towards her chambers.
But curiosity winds.
She finds herself in the library, sitting on the cold floor with a diary in her hands.
(...)
Thoughts?
