A/N: As always, the response to this story has been so, so overwhelming and encouraging. I had such a lovely time writing this chapter for you all - especially in build up to what is coming next. Please enjoy!
She can't sense him, not like she used to. As she is following her mother slowly through the labyrinth that exists below her ideal town, she wonders if Robin even made it — perhaps Jefferson's cocktail of medication wasn't enough to bring him deep enough.
"He's here," Cora assuages the worry softly from a few paces ahead. She hasn't stopped or turned her head, so Regina assumes that she has the knowledge and doesn't need to be questioned. "You'll be together again when you're both ready."
Regina doesn't respond. She is following the figure who left her all those years ago until Cora stops by an unmarked, normal looking doorway.
Cora steps aside, "In here," she says, letting Regina pass her into a small room. She can't explain it, but it's light and dark. She can see around the general area she is taking up, but it may as well be an endless room with nothing but darkness at the edges.
Regina turns back to the doorway, a question on her lips, but Cora is gone. Vanished without a trace or an explanation, and Regina snorts a sad, defeated laugh at the irony; Cora Mills, gone in a flash leaving Regina to fend for herself.
"She doesn't get to choose," a voice sounds from within the darkness, "It's not her time with you yet."
"You know," Regina groans, "This whole startling, unknown voice is getting very old." Why can't spirits be straight and to the point? There's always a gimmick.
The man laughs, "Sorry, my dear." Suddenly the room is lit and is oddly familiar. "I very rarely get to swoop in from the shadows."
She is in her childhood bedroom. Light, bright walls, horse toys everywhere and anywhere, but it's from long, long ago. It was redecorated when she was eight, this is from way before that. The man in the centre of the room is from the same period of her life. A man she hasn't seen in many, many years, and she is slightly saddened that she seems to have forgotten his voice.
"Grandpa?" Regina smiles shyly, with still an ounce of uncertainty. He is the spitting image of her father, but slightly taller and slimmer. But he nods all that away, opening his arms wide to welcome his granddaughter willingly into his arms, and she falls into it.
Javier Mills. He smells exactly the same; cigars and citrus fruits (most likely lemon, but she could never tell which one). She'd be lying is she said she didn't notice how much Henry has his great grandfather's eyes. She wishes that she had more memories of, especially now that she is in his wonderfully comforting hold. All Regina truly remembers is how much she used to giggle around him in her young, whimsical ways.
She relaxes into him. Finally, someone who understands more than anyone how difficult her life is, how tricky it is to feel normal.
"My dear, we have much to do," he whispers, letting her go softly and guiding her to stand upright again. He motions to his right and Regina looks and notices her old, almost forgotten tea set.
"You want to have a tea party?" Regina giggles softly while turning her gaze back to him.
Feigning upset, Javier places a hand on his chest, "You used to love inviting me to tea."
"Yeah, when I was six, grandpa," Regina rolls her eyes, only playfully though.
Javier chuckles happily and cups her face, smooching a loud sounding kiss to her cheek, and then asking, "Perhaps this is better?"
Regina looks around again, Javier dropping his soft hold and letting her manoeuvre. The room has changed. It's not her bedroom anymore, it's her living room, just as she left it this morning, before Zelena got her hands on it anyway.
Javier takes a seat on the couch and reaches for ones of the steaming mugs that just happened to be on the coffee table. She sits across from him in one of the chairs, but doesn't pick up the tea.
"Not in the mood for tea?" Javier asks, eyes darting down to the mug in front of her.
"You know, I could probably go for something stronger," she sighs towards the palms that are rubbing together by her knees. Luckily for her, Javier knowingly shifts his weight to reach into his suit jacket pocket and retrieves a very familiar flask - it's one her father has in his possession, not for use, but on his bookcase in the study.
Regina gladly takes the flask from him, and easily navigates it's lid before taking a heart swig of whatever is inside. Rum, it appears. She recognises the taste but more so the burn the travels deep into her chest. God, that feels good.
"You've done a miraculous job deciphering my book," he smiles wide and with appreciation.
"It isn't easy," Regina groans, "You could have considered a guide for dummies."
"It's a stressful life we live, isn't it?" Javier says excruciatingly nonchalantly into his tea and Regina can't help but laugh, it's just one, short-lived expression, but he couldn't have put it any better. "Well, you live. I lived."
"You can say that again," Regina coughs after another big gulp of burning liquid.
"I was just like you once," Javier tells her. She looks at him, the questioning in her eyes. "Unsure. Doubtful. Scared of what we can do."
"You were?" Regina's memory of him is very vague, but she hasn't a shred of memory that would have indicated any doubt or uneasiness about their abilities, let alone any fear.
Javier leans forward, elbows on his knees and looks at her carefully, every shred of his attention completely hers, "We see the dead, Regina. Of course I was. In fact, I ran away from home more times that I can count because I wanted to get away from it all."
"But it never goes away," she sighs. She knows exactly how that disappointment feels in the moment you realise that what scares you the most lives inside yourself and there's no escaping it.
"No, it's doesn't." Javier is looking upon Regina with sympathy, and how could he not when he understands every single emotion that courses through her veins. "I know what it's like to hate yourself."
That gets her full attention, but she lies stubbornly, "I don't hate myself."
"Yes you do," Javier disagrees confidently, readying himself for the fight that he know he'll win. "And I know exactly when you started to."
"Do you?" Regina tilts her head towards him and she's agitated. She hates being told how she feels, even though half the time she doesn't know herself. Her knees are bobbing up and down as she bounces her legs on the balls of her feet, nervous for his answer.
"The second you started losing people, you started to hate yourself." Javier stares at her intently, doing all that he can to make sure she is listening, really hearing what he is saying. The tears forming in her eyes are enough to convince him that he has struck a bell. "And then you just kept losing people, didn't you?"
Regina uses her knuckle to wipe away any criminal tears that drop, but he's right and he knows it, and there is little point in trying to deny herself this moment to express herself.
"It's not fair," Regina breathes harshly, she clears her throat immediately after.
"I know, my dear," he comforts. "You lost your mother. Your first love. Small things here and there along the way. And now you're afraid of losing more. Why are you here, Regina?"
"I'm here to strengthen my connection with Robin. We're soulmates." Regina tells him, slightly confused, thinking that he would already know that.
"That's true," he agrees, but it's not what he was referring to, so he asks again, "But, why are you here?"
"I could lose Henry," she mumbles after a moment or two of thought, searching for the right answer, her palms rub up and down her jeans. "I'm not going to let that happen, that's why I'm here."
"Regina," Javier stands now, sitting on the coffee table directly in front of her and taking her hands in his. He looks into her eyes, carefully and softly. She's safe here with him, and he wants to make sure she knows it. He asks her one final time, "Why are you here?"
Regina closes her eyes and thinks as hard as she possibly can. She thinks about everything that she wants - a normal life, Henry home and safe, a proper date with Robin, a movie night with him and the kids, they could even order take out like a normal family. She wants to walk down the street and feel confident enough to look at the faces that pass her by, she wants to feel the way she did when she was fourteen and carefree and…
"I want to be happy," Regina sniffles. All this time she has imagined her wants to be so complicated and complex and multi-layered, when in fact it is something as simple as being happy.
"There you go," Javier coaxes proudly, their hands still held together tightly. "Sometimes what we want in life seems so out of reach, especially when it's something so simple."
"I don't know how to be happy," she admits.
"Does anybody?" Javier laughs, standing up from the coffee table, not letting her hands go so she stands with him. Together, though by his lead, they walk towards the doorway that Cora had left her. She takes a deep breath from under the arm he has swung over her shoulder as they walk. "It's not easy as a parent," Javier says, somewhat out of the blue, "It's not easy as a partner, either."
"What isn't?" Regina asks, facing him fully as they reach the doorway.
"This gift. It's not easy. And sometimes it's hard for us to see things from the other side, from the normal side. Sometimes it's just as difficult, if not harder to live it on their side."
"What are you saying?" Regina asks.
"My wife, your beautiful grandmother, we separated because of the ghosts. It was too much for her, she didn't know how to live a life with it," Javier explains, and Regina catches on to why he is telling her this. "I had to respect her decision to leave, I had to let her go."
"Was it worth it?" Regina asks him, "Was it worth losing the love of your life because of it?"
"Without a doubt," he answers quickly, surely. "I loved your grandmother with every molecule that makes up my body. But our gift is part of who we are. I had to let her go in order to love myself fully, and luckily for me, she understood that. She simply had a hard time loving that little part of me."
Regina is frowning, quite drastically, no doubt because of the mirroring of situations happening inside her head. "It's hard to love something so terrifying."
"Robin loves you," he tells her, and while she knows on some level that this is true, it still sends a shive through her spine when somebody says it.
"Maybe," she smiles nervously.
"Why the hesitation?" Javier asks. "Anyone with a pair of functioning eyes can see it. And I am very aware that he is understanding and supportive regarding the ghosts."
Regina inhales heavily with an exhale to match. She shrugs her shoulders, "You're right, he is so supportive. But, since we met, it's always been about ghosts. Either it was his wife or it was Zelena. And then all this mess with Henry." Regina fiddles with his fingers in front of her, "I'm worried that once he sees behind everything, he isn't going to like what's there."
"Why on earth would you think that?" Javier scoffs, brushing a soft strand of her hair from her face.
"I'm quite boring when you take away the ghost thing," Regina chuckles sadly, shrugging her shoulders again. "Just ask my son."
They smirk at each other after that, Javier happy that she has found at least a hint of light in a worry that is quite real. Though, he is oddly surprised. He never imagined that her worry would be Robin finding her dull behind the gift, and he laughs softly. He knows she can do what she needs to.
"It's time for me to go," he whispers, leaving a kiss to her forehead. "I am proud of you." She revels in the moment, soaking in his warmth and scent again, inhaling rather loudly. "Oranges," he tells her and she laughs through her nose. So, she was a bit off with lemons, but she's happy to finally know for sure. "Your mother spent years trying to figure it out."
"I love you, grandpa," Regina smiles genuinely as his spirit begins to lose its physical form. Javier can no longer be touched, his soul becoming more and more transparent with every single second.
"Try and forgive Cora," Javier says finally, "Remember what I said about it not being easy from the other side. You're now a mother with a child who can see them, think about the fear you felt in that initial moment, the moment he told you," Regina doesn't respond, but she hears his words loud and clear, only nodding to him sadly as she watches him disappear into nothing, the only thing left of him is the echoed sound of his voice saying a meaningful I love you, too.
"Are we going the right way?" Robin asks, slightly frantic and eager to find Regina.
"I don't know," Marian is breathing heavily trying to keep up with him and keeping track of his quick direction changes and alternative paces. She grabs onto his coat to stop him in his movement, "Robin, stop please."
"Marian," he grunts, frustrated, "I need to find her."
"I know," she breathes, happy that he has stopped and given her a moment to explain, "But this isn't the way to do it."
"Then what is the way?" He asks. "I have no pull towards her and I don't like it," he's mutters. He's been worried since he arrived in this place, wanting to find Regina as quickly as possible, even if just to know that she is alright.
"You will feel that connection again once you sort a few things out in here," Marian pokes her forefinger at the side of his head. "There's someone you need to talk to."
"Who?" He asks.
Marian indicates over Robin's shoulder with his chin, and he turns to face a figure that he has only ever seen in photographs. And his heart beats faster, nervously.
"Hello, Robin," Daniel smiles. It's a genuinely friendly smile, and he knows that Robin recognises him and is well aware of his identity.
"Daniel…"
"In the flesh," Daniel says, and then laughs, realising that's not quite right, "Well, kind of." Robin turns back towards where Marian was standing, but she's no longer there. "She has gone back to be with Henry," Daniel explains.
"I don't understand how you are going to help me," Robin inquires, "Isn't this all quite awkward for you?"
"My unfinished business," Daniel begins with a small hint of a smile, "Is knowing that Regina opens herself up to love once more. So, no. This is not awkward for me." Robin remains silent, turning a soft shade of pink in the cheeks. "I know you're in love with her," Daniel laughs at Robin's face when he tries so much to come up with an unnecessary excuse or even an apology, but Daniel silences him before anything can be said. "And that's great."
"It is?" Robin huffs nervously, "I mean, it is. But, aren't you supposed to want to kick my arse?"
"Would that make this easier for you?" Daniel quirks an eyebrow, quite curious to the answer Robin will stutter nervously.
"Not at all," Robin tells him, thankful at Daniel's understanding. Suddenly his admission sinks in. Robin just admitted without a single hesitation that he in love with Regina Mills. Oh god, it's real. It isn't a hunch or a fluttering feeling anymore, it's out there and apparently as clear as day for everyone but him.
"You're a good man, Robin," Daniel admits easily, "Believe me when I say that if Regina and my son were to luck out with anyone, it is you." Robin is warmed by his words and when the weight he didn't know existed lifts from his shoulders, he understands quite suddenly why Daniel is here with him. "Did it just click?" Daniel asks.
"Yes," Robin says, "I hadn't realised how important it was for me to know that you're okay with us… Especially with Henry. I used to sit awake late at night wondering about how Roland's life would be if it were me that died instead of Marian." Robin has begun to walk through the forest again as he talks, Daniel following him and not influencing the direction in any way. "I would think about the types of men who might fall in love with her and possibly become a father to my son. It terrified me," Robin admits.
"Why?" Daniel asks, deliberating trying to keep this train of thought functioning the way it is.
"What if Roland forgot about me?" Robin shrugged, and he stops for a moment and looks around and decides on a new direction. "What if he grew up and forgot my name or the games we used to play?"
"Being forgotten is a perfectly rational fear," Daniel agrees with him.
Robin smiles sadly towards him, "I am that guy in your situation," he realises, but Daniel hushes him.
"I am not worried about Henry," Daniel says proudly, "He has a good head on his shoulders."
"He's a spectacular boy," Robin agrees, zig zagging between the trees and he notices a worn out path, one that has been walked on several times, and he decides to follow it. "And he is like Regina?" Robin asks.
"Yes. He and Regina both seem to have this ability," Daniel says, "Actually that's why I'm here." Robin slows down to a more civilised pace, one that can actually merit a conversation. "Living a life with Regina isn't going to be easy," Robin stops completely at that, turns to face Daniel intently and lets him continue. "There are going to be moments when she wakes up in the middle of the night and sees something terrifying and you haven't a clue how to soothe her fear. Or she will randomly start talking to an adamant spirit who won't leave her alone during a date. There will be days when she wants to be left alone completely, and it's going to frustrate the hell out of you."
Robin sighs, deep down already knowing that all of this would happen in their lives, but he doesn't care, "I don't care. It's Regina, it'll be worth every second."
That has pleased Daniel, his smile is appreciative and happy, but he has to be honest with Robin.
"There is one thing I need to ask you then," Daniel pipes up before Robin can start walking in the direction his body wants to move.
"Of course," Robin says and awaits the question.
"Regina's gift is important and there may come a time when she needs to make a decision, a sacrifice. There may be so many situations where the choice she has to make isn't something that you agree with. Will you be able to take a step back and let her make that choice?"
Robin imagines a number of situations in his head in a matter of seconds, all widely blown out of proportion and the probability of them happening is very slim, but he has to admit that he doesn't have an answer to this question.
"I don't know," Robin confesses, pursing his lips, slightly disappointed in his answer.
"You didn't say no. That's what matters," Daniel slaps a supportive pat to Robin's shoulder, "Let's get on with this shall we?"
"I'm going to right way?" Robin asks.
"Don't tell Marian I told you," Daniel chuckled brightly, ultimately lightening the entire mood, all awkwardness felt on Robin's part completely faded away, no trace left over at all.
They walk silently together for half a mile or so, and that's when Robin sees the road in the distance, and he points it out to Daniel.
"Oh," Daniel says, "So, that is my cue to leave and let Marian come back to you."
As if like clockwork, Marian is standing in front of them with her hands on her hips, "Well, I see no punches were thrown." Robin groans while Daniel laughs lightly. Marian smiles and winks toward Robin, and Robin grins, suddenly realising how much he missed her sense of humour.
"Good luck," Daniel offers to Robin, "Just remember and always be honest. Honesty is going to be so important when you finally find each other."
"Alright," Robin nods his head and Daniel readies himself to begin to fade away, most likely off to Henry, but Robin calls his name loudly and stops him. "Sorry," Robin apologises the the disruption,, but he has a thought on his tongue and he worries he may never get the chance to say it to Daniel's face. "I promise Henry will always know who you are. I am going to love your son as if he were my own, but I swear to you, he will never want for a memory of you."
Daniel closes his eyes in complete gratitude, "Thank you. Take care of them both for me."
Daniel leaves this time without interruption, leaving Marian and Robin alone once again.
"Let's go and get your girl," Marian grins as she reaches down takes his hand and together they walk towards the road in the distance and counting the seconds before he finds Regina again.
But all of a sudden, he isn't quite as worried about the outcome. Daniel's blessing (maybe not explicitly given, but he'll take it as such) has made him feel so much lighter and the weight that had been dragging him down was what was filled with the worry and the doubt, but not anymore.
It's not going to be simple for either of them, but Robin is ready to find his soulmate and tell her that she means the world to him, because honesty is key after all.
The reunion is in the next chapter, I promise! It's sickly sweet (and maybe a little hot?). Thank you all so much for reading. Please review if you can. Next chapter coming soon - we have some final moments with Marian and Cora and our soulmates will finally find one another. Shay xo