A/N Another chapter, in record time too! Hope you enjoy.
Review give me motivation, so please review. Suggestions are always considered. I would love to hear from ya'll!
Naomi's package sat on the table. Unmoved from when they arrived home in the morning. Regina had woke up abruptly with what she felt was a shock going though her body. She almost opened her eyes but heard Robin move and a light breeze braced her cheeks. She looked up to see that the window had been left open.
She wiggled out of his arms and closed slid the glass panes down. She looked around the room and then sat on her stool in front of the fire. She moved her hands over the fire rubbing them together to retain the warmth.
Looking back, she saw Robin's still sleeping figure in the bed. He laid on his side and his back was to her. Now was as good of a time as ever. Her eyes flickered to the package on the table. She slowly got up and tip toed over to the table and peeled back the thin leather wrappings reviling a wooden box with a robin painted on the lid. She fiddled with the latch, which she found was all held together by a hand carved arrow. 'How clever.' She slowly removed the little arrow and placed it on the table. The lid of the box was flipped open and the contents were made visible to Regina's curious eyes.
Robin stirred hearing the noise of the lid opening and opened his eyes. Regina pulled out a piece of paper that laid across the top. It was a simple painting of what looked like to be a wedding. Under the bride what written in curly script was the word Naomi and under the groom was Bennett. The smiles on their faces, so genuine. They looked so happy. "What are you doing?!" Robin yelled getting out of bed and running to the table.
"I was just..." She started.
He snatched the box and little arrow off of the table. "You have no right to look at that! Those things were given to me by my mother, not you!"
"Well, I'm sorry then. But if it were up to you it would sit there unopened for years. Look at this!" She said lifting the picture for him to see. "Look at your parents Robin. Look how happy they were."
"Give me that!" He grabbed for the paper over the table but Regina took a few steps back so he couldn't reach.
"No."
"I'm sorry. What?!" He questioned raising his voice. "That was among the items in my box, thus it is not yours to have!"
She took another look at the painting. "No, this painting now belongs to me."
"What!"
"Yes that is right, it is mine now. And you can not have it back." She verified holding the painting close to her chest.
"What do you need of an old painting?"
"None of your business." She held her head high and turned around to face the wall.
He glared at her and walked away with the chest examining the other items inside. Regina took the painting and sat on her stool by the fireplace and examined the painting once more. It reminded her of the first wedding she had attended. Their faces had never been filled with such joy of this couple. All the weddings she had been to of course were those of noble families. Weddings were like contracts or treaties. Not testaments of true love. She looked up to Robin for a few moments. She watched as his breath hitched when he saw one item and he quickly took it from the box and put it in his pocket.
He was the one Tinkerbell, where ever she may be, had shown was her true love. She had to admit, he was quite the wonderful person. He was kind, built quite nicely, sweet, and most certainly the most handsome man she had ever encountered. And most of all, what she felt was reciprocated. She loved him, and he loved her. As predicted, they were soul mates. She knew it had to be true; she felt it deep in her heart.
"Regina?"
"Yes?"
"Can I please see that?" He pointed to the picture she held tight to her chest. She slowly got up and reluctantly handed him the picture. He took it slowly from her hands, the paper crinkling as it moved. "Thank you." His eyes scanned the picture slowly a tear pricking the edges of his bright blue eyes.
She placed her hand slowly on his back and felt his entire body tense. "Hey. Are you okay?" She said lovingly.
"Fine." He said blatantly.
She walked away with widened eyes. He was so distant. She quickly wiped back around again. "Are you sure."
"Stop saying that. I am fine!" He snapped. She noticed there was a tear rolling slowly down his cheek.
"Well it is quite difficult for me to just sit here and watch you be like this. I felt this way when I lost Daniel. I felt as if there was a piece of my heart missing. A hole I felt nothing could fill. I started to fill it with darkness, but then you came and healed my heart." She moved and sat down on the bed next to him. "There is, however, a difference between your situation and mine."
He looked up at her and fixed their eyes on each other. "Robin, you have me. And I, well I love you. So let me fill that empty hole. Let me fix you like you fixed me."
He smiled weakly and closed the distance between them in a short kiss. "Thank you, it is just, I have lost both of my parents in the course of a single day. I need time to recover."
"I understand. Do you want me to leave you?"
"No. Don't leave. Please don't leave." He gripped her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Don't you worry at all. I will not be leaving your side."
"Excellent Rumple. Just spectacular." Cora said lifting the bottle Rumpelstiltskin had given her so that she could examine it closer. "But how did you harness all of that power?"
"I took the hairs from two lovers and put them together. They intertwined to create the bright light you see before you. All I had to do was crush it down and you have true love's magic at your disposal."
"Where in this realm did you manage to find true lovers?"
He rose his shoulders. "I just found a random couple in the forest. What does it matter to you, you have the product of their true love right in your hands. Now all you need to do is combined it with the other ingredients and you have your," he turned around the book to read the fine printing, "Quo curse." He walked around the table. "You know I have never seen or used a Quo curse before."
'That is because no one knew how to bottle true love before you did." She said with a smile placing the bottle down on the table. "Curse is such a harmful sounding work. It is more of a gift. And besides, with out your genius, this would have never worked. Thank you." She pressed her lips on his cheek and quickly turned back around to her work.
"Well," he started lifting his hand to the spot Cora had kissed. Remnants of her ruby red lipstick still remained as he saw on his finger tips. "Some one must have done it before. Who wrote this book." He said grabbing the back cover of the book.
Cora placed her hand on top of it so he could no longer move it. "My, my. I thought you would have more manners than to disturb a woman while she worked."
"May I just-"
"Don't you have other things that you could be doing right now, for example making preparations for our guest?"
He stood for a minute before releasing the book and allowing Cora to pull it toward her. "Yes I will go do that." He started down the hall way.
"Rumple!" She called. "I forgot, I made you a cup of tea." She reached over to the fine silver tea set and picked up the cup and walked it to him, careful not to spill any off the top.
He took it out of her hands and drank half the cup before handing it back to Cora. "Thank you." He turned around and walked out the large doors.
Cora placed the cup down platter. Poking out of her long red sleeve was a now emptied vile that she removed and placed next to her chemistry set.
Cora opened the doors to the chamber where Rumple sat at a spinning wheel, moving it slowly. "Why must you do that? You have magic that can get the job done hundreds of times faster. Why wouldn't you do so."
"After three hundred years of living, I have found nothing more soothing than doing the little things myself."
"But look." He turned his eyes to see the entire pile of wool that he was going to spin was condensed into fine string.
"Why have you done this?"
"Because it is time for us to go." She said proudly. She gave him a black cuff matching the one that she had strapped to her own wrist.
Taking it from her, he examined it closely. "What is this for."
"So you are unaffected by the effects of this so called curse."
The cuff fit tightly around his wrist. He found it unappealing to the eye, so he choose to cover it with the sleeve of his reptile skin cloak. "Alright so you wish for me to transport you close to them."
"Yes." She grabbed his hand in her's. "Now may we go."
He nodded and the two were engulfed by a thick red smoke. From that point it only took but a few minute for the curse to be activated.