Longest chapter up to know peeps :D I'm really thrilled about this one, hope you'll like it.

I'll try posting twice every week -mostly Monday and Friday.

Enjoy!

"Roland! Wait up!" Regina yelled out of breath, hands falling on her thighs as she took in big gulps of air and steadied her breathing. For a toddler he sure knows how to run… she thought.

Giggles could be heard ahead and the Queen resigned herself, he would not wait and she would have to catch him to make him stop running… She chuckled lightly and started to run once more. She couldn't clearly see in front of her, there was a lot of fog that afternoon and she grew concerned.

She stopped once more listening to the sounds of nature; it was all she could hear –no more little boy screaming and laughing… A frown grew on her face as her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed.

"Roland…?"

Nothing…

"Roland…!" She started walking a bit faster towards the direction the boy had taken. Her hands falling instinctively on her stomach as her concern grew into anguish and terror.

Regina jumped when she heard a twig break on her left. Acting upon instinct, she pooled into herself and drew out the magic she had left behind for a while now. She felt the darkness inside her wake up as it entwined its crooked finger around her soul, its slimy form grasping and digging its nails into her flesh. Then she felt it, the fire burning inside her palm ready to be thrown towards whatever enemy she would be facing. A dimpled face jumped out of the bushes trying to scare the adult he was running from earlier. He screamed a loud "BOO!" and the Queen froze, clenching the fist in which the fireball lay –chocking it and making it disappear from existence. She felt a rush of anger run through her body, shaking her every muscles, she opened her mouth ready to yell at the boy –who was now laughing heartedly- but retracted herself at the last moment. Taking a deep breath the brunette closed her eyes and with a lot of effort tried to chase the disgusting feeling that her inner darkness was producing, she tried pushing away the black tar that was covering her mind's body. It took a few long minutes before she succeeded and through the process she had to constantly remind herself that she was loved and that she didn't need the darkness anymore…

When she opened her eyes once more, the four year old was looking at her, a small frown on his face –he looked concerned.

"You alright?" he asked, of course by now he knew the young woman in front of him had magic, he had seen her use it before, but he never truly understood the implications of using such kind of magic. The boy started to play with his hands, finding a new interest in them… "Rose?" his voice was nothing but a scared whisper.

Regina shook her head. Rose… The name she had fallen under still haunted her, only Robin knew who she truly was even after all this time. You're living in a dream, dearie. Do you really think that his men would accept you if they were to know who you truly are? The impish voice cackled and echoed in her head.

She looked down at the boy, bending down to be at eye level with him, "I'm perfectly fine you see." She smiled a beautiful smile that actually touched her eyes. "Let's get you home to your Papa, now…" She scooped the boy up and started walking back to the merry men's actual camping ground. They had moved a few times since she had arrived, and to a certain leader's demand each time they relocated themselves it was closer the her castle…

It was particularly sweet of him, but they had an understanding, she would keep on appearing as the great and terrible Evil Queen, from time to time, and she would live with him as much as he'd like, thus she needed to be close to her castle. She chuckled lightly at the thought that Robin had opposed very little arguments against her proposition. Instead he had grinned and kissed her passionately, while breathing between two kisses something about knowing that she liked to be with him. And it was true, although the first few weeks had been rough on her back, she was now used to it and she loved the people she was surrounded by. She loved hunting with Robin, adored playing with Roland when she had nothing to do, but mostly she loved cooking for a whole group of hungry adult men…

"… Papa be back soon?" the voice of the little man she was holding in her arm pulled her out of her reverie.

She looked at him, confused, before taking in what he had just said. "Well, it is the afternoon and your father left this morning… I am not certain he will be back until tonight." The boy's expression saddened a bit, but Regina took his chin and tilted his head until her eyes met his. "And since he won't be back until tonight, that means you can help me make dinner." She smiled and so did he.

He loved cooking with Rose, actually Roland loved to spend time with Rose and her alone, he felt deeply connected to her, she was replacing the blurry memories of his now deceased mother and she made him happy.

Regina and Roland walked into an empty camp, a fire was burning low and not a single soul was to be found. Roland sighed, but as soon as Regina let him down he ran towards the kitchen tent, motioning her to walk faster. The woman smiled fondly and hurried a bit.

Robin had brought back a small deer that morning before leaving on a raid with his crew and in her corner, Regina had found many different sorts of berries, dandelions leaves –with which she could make a small salad- and some chestnuts. It wouldn't be a King's meal –like usual-, but she would make the most out of it, which was a lot easier when she had magic on her side to help her do many tasks at once.

Under Roland's scrutinizing brown gaze, Regina started to skin the deer with a magically floating knife, while she was busy sorting out the dandelions' leaves. As usual the toddler was in awe in front of the woman's magic and like usual he wanted to assault his daddy's friend with many questions about her magical abilities, and usually he bit back every single interrogations he had about the subject, remembering how his father had asked him not to ask anything. But today, the toddler's curiosity took over and he could not do anything against his need for answers.

The Queen peaked at him in the corner of her emerald eyes and she chuckled. His jaw hung wide open and his eyes were as round as the full moon. She turned to him, picked him in her arms and sat him on a stool –that magically appeared- right next to her. He stared at her, opened his mouth ready to speak, but he would close it almost immediately. Ashamed of his behavior, he looked away and Regina started to look at him with concern written all over her face.

"Is there anything wrong Roland?"

He shook his head and kept looking down, avoiding her green gaze. She waved her hand, a loud bang resonated in the tent as the knife fell down on the table it was floating above, took the boys chin as she lowered herself to his level, forcing him to look at her.

"What is it? You know you can ask me anything, sweetheart." She smiled, encouraging him to speak to her. He resisted for a slight second before sighing.

"Papa told me not to ask… But…" He stopped for a moment, making sure to formulate correctly in his mind what he was about to say. "Whe- Where does your… magic come from?" the last part of his sentence was said quickly and in a low voice that Regina barely heard it.

"What was that dear?" she arched an eyebrow and chuckled lightly.

"Your magic… Where does it come from?" he avoided her gaze and expected her to get angry. He was delighted when she simply stood up and waved her hand in the air.

A cloud of dark purple smoke formed around her left hand, it was thick and rolled off of her palm, falling on the floor and disappearing into the ground.

"It comes from within." She smiled at his dazed expression. "I was born with it… It's a form of energy buried deep in me, from which I can draw to conjure powerful things out of thin air…" The young boy nodded as if he understood. Well he did understand, sort of, he accepted the fact that she was born with it, for the rest of what she had said though… it was another story.

The disguised Queen turned back to the half skinned carcass, once again flicked her wrist lifting the knife from the surface it lay on and started to wave her hand showing the direction she wanted it to take.

The flap of the shelter opened while Regina had her back turned to it and was waving her hands around, mixing salad ingredients and chopping meat pieces off the dead animal. Roland gasped and pointed to the intruder, her whole body stiffened as she swiftly turned around –everything freezing in mid-air at the same time- only to be relieved when a tall blue eyed man walked towards her a small grin on his lips.

"I knew I'd find you two here." His strong accented voice was low as he wrapped his hands around the petite waist of the woman in front of him. His eyes were warm and they instantly locked with hers, he opened his mouth and whispered in her ear. "What if it wasn't me who entered the tent, Milady? How would you explain the flying knife?" He chuckled with evident concern in his tone.

She smiled apologetically. "Well it's a part of me I can't deny…" she whispered the last word. "…thief." And then grinned. He laughed, he had missed that part of his Queen; the witty, sassy and sarcastic part of her. The part she was presently hiding from every single man in this camp with her gracious smile, her polite attitude and her innocent looks. And although he was thrilled at the mere fact that she had chosen him over most of her duties, he missed her –the real her- the one everyone called a monster, the one who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted… but Robin was way too stubborn to admit it, even to himself.

The outlaw looked at his son, over the Queen's shoulder. "You had fun today with Re-Rose?" The small boy nodded before climbing down the stool he was sitting on and running towards his dad and Rose.

"Rose is the best!" he said as his father let go of the woman's waist and lifted him off the ground. When his tiny face was close enough to his father's ear he whispered –as much as a four year old can whisper- "I want her to be me mommy… She makes us happy." Robin blushed, knowing that the woman next to them had obviously heard the child, he looked at her; a smile was plastered upon the face she had chosen to disguise in and a stray tear ran down her cheek.

The grown man smiled and whispered in his boy's ear, "That she does, my boy… and I love her for that."

Looking back up to the Queen he smirked. "When can we eat? There's a whole bunch of grown men out there with rumbling stomachs that are complaining…" She couldn't help herself but to roll her eyes and giggle.

"If your men are as patient as you are, then it should be ready in less than fifteen minutes. I only need to cook the deer's meat…" she arched an eyebrow, "… unless you want to eat it raw."

The man's face turned a bit pale as he made a funny/disgusted face towards her. "I think we can wait a little longer…" he then stepped out of the tent, his boy still in his arms, leaving the Queen alone with her thoughts to be her only distraction.

She stepped out of the tent barely minutes after Robin, bearing a huge plate of uncooked meat and some sort of pan; the men cheered and raised their glasses to the sight. She chuckled. What is it with men and meat…? She thought. She walked towards the fire pit at a rapid pace and was pleased to see that none of them had put more wood into it, leaving only hot burning coals to cook on.

Approximatively ten minutes after that every man had a small wooden plate filled with three quarter of meat and a quarter of salad. She smiled and sat down next to Robin on the log he was already sharing with his son and Little John. Her plate was filled with the rest of the salad, she looked around her, smiled a bit abhorred at the sight of the crew chomping like animals on the food and her expression must have been truly horrified, because Robin wrapped one arm around her shoulders while laughing. She glanced at him a bit ashamed, leaned on him, her lips next to his ear and said. "What? It's not my fault that the sight of twenty men eating like pigs is repulsing me…" she rolled her eyes at the same time. He turned his head towards her and captured her lips with his in a chaste kiss.

"Your Majesty should be used to it by now…" he sassed in a whisper.

Regina pushed away from him, a vague offended look on her face that immediately turned into a lustful expression. Her sudden change in mood took the thief aback, but he answered her with one of his signature smirk before getting up.

"Men!" he captured their attention in seconds, "Should I say friends… We celebrate today once more a victory for the people, our fight against royalty and helping the less fortunate is recognized by others. Each day more and more villagers are getting assaulted and killed by unjust beings, let's show them that we are here to protect them and keep them safe from the abuse of nobility!" He glanced towards Regina, a small apologetic smile on his face.

She knew he meant well, that he only wanted to cheer up his men and that he spoke the truth, although she couldn't help but feel guilty for her people's misery.

Many of Robin's friends cheered, some others raised their glasses, and the rest simply yelled with a drunken form of happiness "Death to the Queen! Death to the EVIL Queen!"

At those words the Queen felt a sharp pain in the left side of her chest. She brought her hands to her heart, closed her eyes and was thrown back to the horrible nightmare she had had many months before, the one where her true love jabbed a sword right through her chest. Tears pricked the corner of her tight shut eyes; she got up, mumbled a low apology towards Robin and started walking away from the camp.

As soon as she was out of sight, deep into the woods, she started running. Like her life depended on it. Sorrow was painted upon every single of her features and her vision was blurred by the water threatening to damp her porcelain cheeks.

What was I expecting! That they'd accept me! They know me, but they don't know I'm the Evil Queen, even in her mind the noun sounded harsh and poisonous.

Regina ran for a long time, for an eternity even. She stopped when she felt water on her feet. She sat down, in the cold water of the small creek, brought her knees to her chest and flicked her wrist over her head. Taking a deep breath she waited until her dark smoke had cleared from her view before looking into the water.

The moonlit surface reflected a young woman; long raven hair falling on her shoulders, bright, sad whiskey gaze looking at herself, defined jawline and luscious lips with a small white scar amplifying her features, giving her a stern but at the same time broken look. Regina was back, after months of hiding, she was herself again, wearing the same nightgown she had when the thief had intruded in her chambers.

The water running around her gave her chills, and she took notice of how cold the nocturne air actually was. However, she did not move she kept staring at herself, watching as her tears fell and mixed with the pure water beneath her.

The Queen sobbed silently for minutes, maybe even hours, she had lost track of time, when she was disturbed by noises in the woods. Branches moving out of their way and twig cracking under someone's feet as he approached. She glared at the infinite darkness from where emanated the noises but kept quiet.

"Regina?!" a small, but strongly accented voice muttered.

With the voice of her soul mate echoing in the wind, her heart sank in her chest and found its place into the darkest pit of her soul.

"What do you want outlaw?!" she hissed, in a venomous tone that even Snow White had never heard.

He froze in place when he heard her, then changed his trajectory towards the hissing woman, he knew she was in pain and didn't take her defense mechanism personally. He knew better; knew it was only her way to protect herself. He stepped out of the shadow; moonlight lighting up the way in front of him and dancing on the skin of the woman he loved. She was scared, she was hurt, and her shoulders shook vehemently as shivers assaulted her body, but she didn't move.

He took a step closer to her. "Regina… please come back."

She huffed. "Why? So I can hear your men proclaim how much they want me dead!" her voice cracked as a sob made its way up her body and tears ran freely down her cheeks. "No matter how much I try! They will never truly know how I am… I walked amongst them for months, helping, doing what's best for them. But if you were to tell them the Evil Queen helped them, they would still want my head on a plate. I'm trying…! So hard, Robin… So hard, to be the person I thought was lost long ago, for you, for your son, for our friends… for me. How can I when all I hear around me is dragging me down? They don't know me, they don't love me… and they never will." She exploded, her walls crumbling around her until there were none and by the same fact allowing Robin to gaze upon the true damages of the woman he already knew was broken.

He closed the distance between them, stepping into the water, wrapping his strong arms around her shivering body and dragging her out of the water. He let himself fall down on the shore her body on top of his, caressing her back in small soothing circles, ushering her whimpers, but never did he try to stop her from crying; she needed it and so he suffered from the afflictions of a damped shirt. They laid there in the muddy grass until she had quietened. He took her in his arms softly, her head lying in the crook of his neck, her breathing steady but her body still shivering forcefully.

The thief walked quickly back to their camp and without a noise brought her back in their little shelter. Most of his men were passed out by the fire or already asleep anyway…

He laid her in the furs of his bed –bed they had now been sharing for a few weeks-, but she was still shivering. He took out of his bag one of his clean shirt and started to take off the Queen's light silk garment. He was nervous, he had seen Rose's body many times before… but it never truly was her. This time it was, it was Regina in her full naked glory and she wasn't even conscious… He sighed and took off her nightgown, swiftly sliding his oversized shirt over her frail –and perfect- body. She was still trembling and her lips were an unusual shade of dark purple. He took off his shirt and boots and slid next to her, wrapping his arms around her and warming her. The Queen shifted and her face met the outlaw's chest, she curled up into him grasping him as much as she could, unconsciously grabbing onto him like her life depended on him being next to her. Robin felt a small smile form on the Queen's lips as she melted into his chest. He couldn't help but feel awkward though. It was the real first time he was in bed with the Queen… he had made love to her many times before, but like the previous apprehensions; it was never truly her…

However, the outlaw knew his place was by her sides, that she needed him just like he needed her that they were each other's anchors and that as long as they were together nothing could go wrong. Nothing can go wrong, were the thief's last thought as he drifted into sleep.

As usual let me know what you think of the chapter. It is really motivating me to write and tell me by PM or in a review what you think will happen -or what actually is happening...

I have already started to work on chapter 11 and it will probably be ready before Friday. See you then. :P