A little over a week had passed since Regina left that little campsite. She could still picture it in the back of her mind, knowing exactly how to retrace her steps to go back there if she wanted, but she knew it was for the best to stay away, the best for her and the best for them. All she could do was cause them misery.

She had kept herself isolated in her room with small trips to the gardens and her apple tree daily, but she made it a point to stay alone and keep interactions to a minimum. Although, Snow came to check on her everyday to make sure she was still there. The day after they returned from the campsite, Snow had tried to talk with her about everything, but Regina just pushed her away. She didn't want to compare hurt with Snow. Being alone was the only thing that would keep her from breaking down into a stream of tears. So now, when Snow came to check on her, she would just simply nod her head with no words, and for that, Regina was eternally grateful.

It was past the time that Snow usually came to check on her, so she turned towards the door suspiciously. She found it rather odd that Snow had not come by yet. Snow would never, not check in on her. She had a feeling something was off, but she did not know if she could handle going out and talking with the others to find out.

Just then a light knock was placed upon the door. Regina waited but no one entered. Snow always managed to just barge in whenever she pleased so this was different. She stood up and sauntered over to the door and cracked it just a smidge to look out.

Snow White. "Why the hell didn't you just come in?" she spat annoyed swinging the door wide open. But then she saw her reason for knocking, a small figure coming out from behind Snow's dress.

Before she could react she felt arms tightening around her legs. She looked down into his big brown eyes and couldn't believe her eyes. "What was he doing here?" she thought to herself. A rush of dizziness swept over her as the emotions from the campsite rushed back to her like a tsunami.

He made the motion for her to pick him up with a wide grin on his face. She hesitantly bent down and picked him up. His arms immediately flying around her neck and saying, "Hi Regina! I missed you". She just looked at him in awe wondering where the hell Robin was. She glanced at Snow with questioning eyes and Snow just shrugged her shoulders in response.

Regina finally responded by saying, "I've missed you too Roland" which she said sincerely which slightly frightened her. Brushing the thought from her mind she looked at the young boy with soft eyes and asked, "Where is your father?"

He looked sheepish as he averted his gaze from hers and spoke softly saying, "I wanted to see you so bad, but daddy said I couldn't. So I ran away last night."

Regina looked utterly shocked, but Snow had guessed as much when he came running into the castle all by himself.

Snow was the first to break the silence that had ensued, "Roland…" Unsure of really how to word it, "Your father will be very worried about you, I think we should take you home"

Immediately his little face scrunched up and began to cry. As he sobbed into Regina's shoulder he said, "Please let me stay here, I don't want you to leave me again"

Regina was heartbroken at hearing this, holding this tiny broken child in her arms that wanted to be with her. She was so broken herself, how could she find a way to not break Roland's little heart as well. Pondering this she breathed out a sigh and turned to Snow, "Maybe we could have someone fetch Robin from the camp and bring him here". Then she turned her attention to Roland who had somewhat stopped crying at her words. "Roland, this way we can spend some time together, but when your father comes to get you, you must go" she tapped him nose with her finger and proceeded saying, "You live there, sweetie. Your father would miss you dearly if you didn't go back." With that he relented, happy enough that he would get to spend some time with her.

Snow put a hand on her shoulder and with a smile turned and left to go find Charming so that they could alert Robin of his son's whereabouts as soon as possible.

Regina, now alone with Roland, had no idea what to do with him. On the inside she was panicking but she did not want to let it show to Roland. The first thing that popped into her mind was her apple tree. It was always a solace for her to be around it, so she set him down on the ground and knelt down to his eye level. "Roland, would you like to see my favorite thing in this castle?" she asked gently. As soon as he heard her words, he gleamed and grabbed her hand. They both left her room hand in hand, headed for the place she kept her most special tree.