She couldn't believe this was actually happening. They were going to cast the dark curse.

Their trip to Glinda had revealed that the only one capable of defeating Zelena was Emma. She could almost laugh at the obviousness of it all. Of course they needed the savior again. Nothing ever changes.

When they'd returned to the palace Regina had left Snow and Charming to grieve over their decision. She'd never been particularly fond of the prince but sacrificing his life to get to Emma and Henry wasn't something she was happy about. She decided to take a walk outside the protection spell to get away from the commotion in the castle. The news of the dark curse hadn't been received well by the council but she didn't have the energy to fight them on it. She'd leave that to Snow and Charming.

As she sat on a log near the edge of the forest she tried to identify all the emotions swarming up inside of her. The fury she felt for Zelena. The apprehensiveness she felt about casting the curse. The sorrow she had for Snow and her unborn child. And the guilt. The guilt was the worst. It came because she also felt the tiniest bit of hope under everything else. The hope to see her son again. To be in the same world as him.

She felt the log shift as someone took a seat next to her. She didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"Hoping to escape the noise?" asked Robin gently.

"More like hoping to escape my feelings," she answered. She wanted more than anything to rip out her heart right now. To do anything that would calm the storm building up inside of her. But she couldn't. Not with him sitting next to her. "What are you doing out here?"

He stared at her profile from his seat on the log. "Well everyone seemed so concerned about the curse but I'm more concerned about the caster."

She gave her head a small shake. "I'm not the caster. The caster is the one who pays the price and this time it's Snow."

"Yes because with her magical abilities she can do this all by herself," argued Robin sarcastically. "She might be paying the price Regina but no one is under the illusion that you won't play a part in this curse."

She scoffed at him. "What are you worried that I'll make everyone miserable again? Is that what this is about?"

He frowned at her. "You know after everything we've been through and all that I've seen of you I expected you to have more faith in me."

She turned away from his gaze. Despite her efforts to avoid it the thief and his son had been a staple of her life this past year. They'd seen each other sick, fighting and sad. His ability to get under her skin baffled her. It was like she couldn't hide herself from him. Why was that?

"I'm not concerned with everyone else's misery. I'm concerned about yours," Robin continued. "Casting this curse the first time was a defining moment in your life. I'm worried about how reliving it will affect you."

"I'll be fine," she said firmly. She hoped the harshness of her voice would mask the pain in her heart. The last time she'd casted this curse she'd ended up losing more than she'd ever hoped to have. The idea of casting it again, even for the good of the people, made her feel sick. But what could she do? This was her role in the castle. The one who got her hands dirty. "The last time l casted this curse Snow lost her child. If casting it again will prevent her from losing another then I suppose I owe that to her."

"So you're willing to risk putting another stain on your soul just to give her what you think she deserves? What about what you deserve Regina? What about the chance you deserve to put the dark curse behind you?"

"People like me don't deserve chances!" she snapped at him. "We don't deserve good things like love and redemption! We can hope for them! We can work for them and if you're lucky enough maybe you'll get them but once you've spread the pain and misery that I have all you deserve is to have it thrown back at you. You're so concerned about me staining my soul Robin. You don't realize that it's already stained beyond recognition."

He shook his head at her. "That doesn't mean it's not worth protecting."

"Why do you care so much about this?!" she asked angrily.

"Because I care about you!" he shouted. "And I thought I'd made that perfectly clear until today!"

She didn't know why hearing him say the words made her heart feel so heavy. It wasn't an issue she was in the mood to address. She just shook her head at him sadly. "It doesn't matter if you care or how you feel Robin. The decision has been made and the curse will be cast."

She got up to walk away from him. Their conversation hadn't exactly calmed her fears.

He moved to call out to her but instead let out a yell when a pair of claws dug into his shoulders.

At the sound of his scream Regina's head whipped back just in time to see him lifted in the air by a flying monkey. "ROBIN!"

She quickly conjured up a fireball and threw it in the beast's direction. They could take anyone else in this castle but they wouldn't take him. The winged monster quickly dodged her flames and squawked in her direction.

Robin groaned as the claws dug deeper into his shoulders. They tore at his muscles as he reached for the dagger at his waist. He quickly plunged it into the monkey's leg before it could fly any higher. It squealed in pain before releasing him. As soon as he was free Regina threw a fireball hitting the monkey square in its chest. She didn't watch as it burned to ashes. Instead her eyes followed Robin as he fell into a tree hitting every branch on his way to ground where he landed with a thud.

She rushed over to him and fell to her knees by his side. There was blood flowing from the cuts in his shoulders and he was dangerously still. Her hands flew to his face and she yelled out his name hoping he'd open his eyes. He didn't. She could feel a ball of pain begin to swell in her chest as she shook him desperately.

She reached for his right hand and slipped off his glove hoping to feel for a pulse. When she pulled down the sleeve of his shirt her breath caught in her throat. A lion tattoo.

You need love.

You're going to find me a new soulmate.

There he is. The man with the lion tattoo.

She gasped as the realization hit her. Robin was her soulmate.

"No," she whispered as she started frantically shaking her head. She desperately gripped his face and yelled for him to wake up. "Robin!"

She couldn't do this. She couldn't lose another soulmate. Not like this. Their fight. Those words she'd said. They couldn't be the last thing she said to him. A wave of relief fell over her when Robin began to cough his way back to consciousness. He groaned as he tried to sit up. "Where's the monkey?"

Regina gently forced him back to ground. She took a deep breath to calm herself as she started to heal his wounds. "The monkey's dead," she said in a trembling voice. "Incinerated."

Robin let out a sigh of relief at her words. He groaned as tried to assess the extent of his injuries. His shoulders were practically in shreds because of the claw wounds but he mostly just felt like he'd got the wind knocked out of him. He looked at Regina searching her for injuries. She appeared fine physically but he could see that she was trembling. "You seem a little shaken up," he commented.

"I thought you were dead," she said softly. I almost lost you, she added silently.

"Well I'm perfectly alive now," said Robin with a small smile.

"Yes… you are," she said with a tiny nod.

He's alive, she thought to herself. My soulmate is still here.