Never Letting Go

Storybrooke- A little under one year ago

Robin sat in absolute silence in a lone booth at the diner, his callused fingers running repeatedly over the soft silky burgundy scarf that still held the sweet scent of vanilla and apples on it. He had borrowed it from its lovely owner only less than a fortnight earlier and now it was all he had left of her. He treasured it with all his heart, it was the only proof left that told him that what he had had with Regina had been real, that it hadn't been merely a wonderful dream turned into a nightmare. He sighed and blinked several times, his eyes burning with the desire to cry but no tears came. He felt like a thick fog had formed around him and no light could penetrate its solid dark curtain, he had never realized how blessed he had been until that blessing was ripped away from him. No. He thought bitterly. Until I threw it away, until I threw her away. All he had wanted was to be honorable, to try and keep his vows and so he had chosen Marian, his brain had at least chosen his wife; his heart however had always been Regina's. Robin shook his head; he didn't know what he had expected. It wasn't this. He sighed and felt disgusted with himself like he was the most filthy and lowly thief to ever walk any realm. He had his wife back, it had been all he had wanted for so many years, but now he felt just wrong whenever he was around her. He couldn't love her, not like he once had, and he couldn't tell her without hurting her.

Robin had become so lost his personal tornado of guilt and sorrow that he didn't hear the ring of the diner door opening or the sound of feet approaching him. Suddenly he was snapped out of his misery by a hand slamming down in front of him. He looked up with wide surprised blue eyes and was met by the piercing angry mint green eyes of Snow White. "Your highness." He said in a respectful but very tired tone.

"Oh don't you go 'Your highnessing' me Robin!" Snow snarled and as she stood with one hand planted on the table in front of him.

Robin looked up at her and met her gaze, he could see hurt and heartache accompanied the anger that blazed in her eyes. It was the same look he received from Henry; it was the look of someone else who was pained by the absence of Regina. "Of course." Robin said simply and looked back down at the scarf in his hands.

Snow's eyes widened as Robin's attention turned away from her. She was fuming already and she needed to get a lot off her chest. "I want answers!" She demanded and sat down across from him.

Robin didn't look up at her, he kept his eyes on the scarf as if he could see Regina if he looked at it long enough. "I fear I won't have the answers you seek." He said softly.

"Believe me Robin; you had better have a good explanation for my questions." The queen snapped and suddenly snatched the scarf out of the archer's hands.

Robin felt rage spark inside him as the scarf was torn from his fingers. "That scarf is mine!" He said and reached to grab it back.

"No it's not! It's Regina's!" Snow growled. "And you can have it back when we are done talking!"

Robin narrowed his eyes and knew it would be indecent for him to attempt to force the scarf back from Snow. So with a sigh he looked up to her with a stern glare and said, "Then ask your questions."

Snow looked at him with an equally stern and unwavering glare and asked, "How could you do that to her? How could you hurt Regina so badly that she would want to forget herself all together?"

Robin saw something in Snow's eyes as she asked the question, it was something he hadn't seen in the woman before, or actually something missing that had always been there. Behind all the emotion and behind all the pain there had always been hope in Snow Whites eyes, but it was gone, Robin couldn't find it. "I didn't mean too." He began and shook his head. "Everything happened so fast, one minute life had been as normal as it could have been in Storybrooke, and the next moment Marian is back. I mean how was I supposed to react!?" He snapped. "What if it had been David!? What if he had died and you had moved on finally after years of heartache and suddenly there he was again!?" Robin demanded.

Snow stiffened as the archer snapped at her, the explanation he gave processing through her head. "I wouldn't have completely ignored the other man!" She said finally. "I wouldn't have left him without talking to him and trying to reach an understanding."

Robin ran his hand thought his hair and gasped, "I tried to talk with her. I wanted to try and help her to understand. I wanted her to know that it was my duty to Marian to be by her side."

Snow's eyes blazed as the archer spoke. "Your duty!?" She snapped. "Your DUTY!?" She practically yelled. "Being married to someone shouldn't be a duty Robin! It should be a privilege! When you are someone's husband or wife it shouldn't be a duty! It isn't a job! It's an adventure! It's the best kind of adventure that should be enjoyed!" The queen's mint green eyes blazed as she continued. "It took you a week to even attempt to contact Regina! And by then she was gone! You left her alone after breaking her heart! Don't you go talking about duty and trying!"

Robin opened his mouth in astonishment at Snow's rant. He then felt a painful stab at his heart as the queen continued to salt the wound. "I tried-" He began but was cut off by Snow.

"No Robin! You didn't!" The pixie haired woman said firmly. "If you had then Regina would still be here. You didn't try Robin."

Robin sighed and looked up at Snow with an almost desperate look in his eyes. "Snow, you have to understand. I never meant for any of this to happen, I never wanted to hurt Regina."

Snow leaned back in the booth and looked at him, her eyes growing wet with tears that seemed to quench the flames within them. "But you did Robin, and not only did you hurt her… you destroyed her." Snow took a breath and a small watery sad smile appeared on her lips. "I just got her back and now she's gone. After years of war we had finally made peace, we were finally a family again. I had encouraged her to open up, to give love a second chance. I encouraged her to give you a chance. I guess I'm always just doomed to inadvertently cause her pain." Snow said softly as she looked at Robin with her sad smile and teary eyes.

Robin felt his throat tighten as he heard her words, it felt like someone had just stabbed him in the gut and tore out his stomach. "I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

Snow shook her head and stood up the scarf left lying on the table. "No Robin. You're not." She said and began to walk towards the door. "Because if you where," She said over her shoulder. "then you would have never let her go, and you wouldn't be sitting here now doing nothing to get her back."

Storybrooke- Present Day

Regina was aching in every inch of her body as she drove slowly into the town that she had created over three decades ago. Her heart had been fluttering with nervous anticipation since she had left Courtsville close to thirteen hours before, and the fluttering had turned into an all out pounding the moment she had driven her car past the Entering Storybrooke sign. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as the town came into sight; her knuckles grew whiter and whiter the closer her car came to the buildings she knew so well, the ones she had seen every day for years. I'm back. She thought to herself.

A soft groan from beside her caused Regina to glance over into the passenger seat where Dean was sleeping with his neck bent at what looked to be a very uncomfortable angle and his arms crossed over his chest. The man had fallen asleep after the first nine hours of driving and trying to convince Regina that she shouldn't be behind the wheel so long and that he could take over. The former queen couldn't help but smirk as she recalled how stubborn she had been on insisting that she drive, her stubbornness was something she couldn't help but pride herself on even after all the years that it only led her into trouble and pain. Pulling herself out of her thoughts Regina sighed softly and watched the road, scanning the streets and paths for any familiar faces. A small smile graced her lips as she spotted Grace walking down the street with Jefferson and on the other side she caught sight of Pongo and Archie on their walk. "It's almost like I never left." She murmured to herself as she watched people go on with their daily life.

Soon Regina found herself parking her car outside of Granny's like she had done so regularly up until a year ago. With a glance at Dean who was still sound asleep beside her, she unlocked her door and opened it. With a moment of brief hesitation the dark haired woman exited the car, her whiskey brown eyes looked around and she inhaled the familiar scent of the small town by the water. Quietly and with great carefulness Regina turned and closed the door, making sure not to wake Dean. She couldn't help but have the desire to make her return known without having the man who she still felt guilty about bringing along at her side. She wasn't sure how people would react, but she was certain that any reaction from the people who truly knew her would only confuse Dean. And Regina knew that she didn't want to or even know how to explain all of this to him, she wasn't sure if she would be able to.

Taking a deep breath Regina began to walk towards the entrance of the diner, her hands moving to smooth out her jeans after the long drive. Jeans? She thought to herself. Jeans in public in Storybrooke… well that's a first. She couldn't help but chuckle lightly as she realized that another part of Diana had managed to keep its grip on her, the much more casual and comfortable part. Well, I'll have that fixed in no time. She promised herself and with that Regina reached the door of the diner and opened it, walking in as the bell rang.

Immediately every noise inside the diner died as people turned and saw the former mayor walk in like it was any other day. Several people dropped their eating utensils and even Grumpy was left with his mouth open in surprise giving the room a perfect view of his chewed up piece of bacon. "Regina?" Granny's voice came out sounding like she had just witnessed someone come back from the dead; which is practically what had just happened.

Regina's deep brown eyes looked over at the elderly woman and all she could do was smirk at the expression painted on Granny's face. "It would seem so." She said after a moment. She could feel all the eyes in the room looking at her and taking in every detail of her appearance, from her boots to her jeans and white blouse, to her slightly curled longer hair.

Granny walked over to the former queen and before Regina had time to process what was happening the older woman had a firm grip on her arm. "Ouch! Get your hands off me now before I burn you to a crisp!" She snarled and yanked her arm away.

Granny let out a little laugh and smiled, "Yep it's really you. No one could fake that level of bitchiness, no matter how hard they tried." By the tone of the old woman it sounded as if she was actually glad to see that Regina was truly Regina.

"I was unaware that that was a concern." Regina said and looked at the crowd of customers still staring at her as if they were completely dumbstruck.

Granny looked at Regina as she walked back behind the counter and chuckled. "In this town anything seems to be possible. Even people coming back from the dead it seems." Granny nodded towards Regina at the last part.

Regina followed the woman to the counter and glared at the people in the room, their stares making her uncomfortable. Quickly everyone went back to their own business even though it was obvious that they all had an ear pointed towards the queen. Turning back to Granny Regina sighed, "I wasn't dead."

Granny looked at the queen and leaned forward on the counter. "Maybe not physically Regina, but you practically were dead." The old wolf adjusted her glasses as she spoke. "You were gone Regina, you crossed over the town line and left a lot of people behind. And those people mourned the loss of you. From what I understand about crossing the town line, you shouldn't even be back here; you shouldn't know who you are."

Regina opened her mouth to answer Granny, but at that moment the door flew open and Snow White came racing into the diner. "REGINA!" She screamed and raced towards her step-mother. Without asking or waiting for permission Snow threw her arms around Regina and hugged her tight. "Oh my god! I thought I would never see you again!" She gasped and Regina could feel the younger woman's tears soaking into her white blouse.

Regina was absolutely stiff in Snow's arms for a moment, but finally she gave in and gently wrapped her arms around Snow. "Hello Snow." She said simply as she held the crying woman feeling very uncomfortable but still appreciating the love.

Behind Snow, David had followed. The deputy sheriff walked over behind his wife and gave Regina a genuine smile. He placed a hand on her free shoulder and nodded at her, "It's good to see you're back Regina." He said. "You were missed."

"You were more than missed!" Snow said loudly through her crying and tightened her hold on Regina. "Don't ever do that again!"

Regina gasped as Snow's grip tightened, "Snow dear, don't suffocate me." Regina managed to get out and was relieved when the woman's arms loosened.

"Sorry." Snow squeaked.

Charming looked at Regina and Snow with a grin. "I guess it's easy to tell that you were missed." He stated.

Regina looked at him and nodded, "Yes… more than I thought I would be." She paused a moment. "More than I thought I deserved to be."

Snow's head shot up and her mouth opened to say something, but she was cut off by an accented voice saying, "Don't ever say that!"

Regina turned abruptly and saw Robin standing at the back entrance of the diner, his ice blue eyes looking at her. "Robin…" She breathed and her heart soared at the sight of him staring at her as if she was the only thing that mattered.

Robin couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the woman he had tried so hard to get back standing right in front of him. "Regina." He smiled and looked at her with love filling every ounce of his being.

"Ummm… I guess we'll give you two some space." Snow said as she wiped her eyes and reluctantly let go of Regina's hand which she had still been holding onto.

With everyone in the diner watching them now Regina didn't even care as she raced over to Robin and threw her arms around his neck, letting her lips crash against his. She felt his strong arms wrapped around her and pull her closer as she moved her lips hungrily against Robin's. The archer returned the gesture with matching eagerness as his tongue searched for entrance into her mouth which she gave more than willingly. She held him tighter and her nails dragged along the back of his shirt as she tried to get as close to him as possible. Eventually they were forced to break apart to catch their breath, but that didn't mean that they had to let go of one another.

"Ahem." Granny said and cleared her throat as she and everyone else in the room watched the couple. "The back hall is that way." She said and nodded towards the back of the diner.

Snow and Charming were watching Regina and Charming with a mix between joy and awkwardness emoting on their faces. Grumpy was yet again staring with his mouth wide open in awe as he watched the archer and the queen; he was clearly soaking in every detail for town gossip. "Uhm… yes thank you." Robin said.

"Yes! Thank you!" Regina repeated before grabbing Robin by the collar of his shirt and pulling him out of the main part of the diner. Once they were in the back hallway she turned and crashed her lips onto his again, slamming his body into the wall as she deepened the kiss.

Robin smiled and kissed her back, his arms wrapping around her and one of his hands running though her soft feathery hair. He heard her moan and his smile widened, pulling away ever so slightly he whispered, "God, I missed you so much."

Regina felt Robin pull away and immediately missed the feeling of his lips on hers. But at his words she smiled and put her forehead to his, "And I you." She said softly. "I'm so sorry that I left."

Robin took in her scent and shook his head ever so slightly, "No Regina, if anyone should be sorry it is I." He said and pecked her lips before continuing. "I made a choice based on what my brain told me, not my heart. I made the wrong choice and I never should have let you go. I am so sorry Regina… I never meant to hurt you." He said and pain filled his soft whispered voice.

Regina glanced up into Robin's eyes and saw tears stirring within them. "I know you didn't." She whispered and gently caressed his cheek with her thumb. "I know Robin. I know." She repeated. "But I still never should have left; I never should have doubted you."

"You had every right to." Robin said and gently nuzzled her hair with the tip of his nose and kissing her forehead.

Regina smiled and ran one of her hands along the back of his neck, drawing his lips to hers yet again. She moved her lips with his, this time in a slower, much more loving rhythm than the times before. He held her against him and she felt his heart beating within him. His heart drummed steadily along, matching hers beat for beat. For the first time in what felt like too long Regina felt whole as Robin held her in his strong but still gently embrace. Pulling her lips away for a second she whispered, "I should never doubt you, not ever. We are one Robin; we are two halves to one soul."

Robin ran his thumbs gently over her cheeks as she smiled up at him. He matched her smile and stared lovingly back at her, "You are more than just a part of my soul Regina." He said and looked into her deep brown eyes. "You are my life force, you are the air I breathe and you are the energy that keeps my heart pumping." He said and meant every word. "You are my sun and my moon, you are more important than any star in the sky Regina, because while they are a map for others, you are the only guiding light I need. You are my universe and without you I am lost. I love you Regina. I love you more than life itself, and I have since the first day I met you, and I will until my very last and for forever after."

Regina felt tears swim in her eyes as she heard his words. She looked into his eyes as he spoke and within their blue depths she felt at home, she felt safe and loved. "You brought me home Robin." She said. "And you made me whole." She smiled and breathed. "I love you with every beat of my heart, the heart that grows brighter every moment I'm with you." She then tilted her head up to meet his lips again. She felt whole, she felt untouchable, and she felt complete serenity as he kissed her back. Her life had been full of ups and downs and wrongs and rights, but each of her decisions had gotten her to this point, they had gotten her in the arms of a man who truly loved her.

Regina and Robin could have gone on like that for hours, letting each other's lips move against the others. The would have too, they would have forgotten everything else in the world around them and simply become lost in each other. But unfortunately that opportunity was ruined when Snow came racing back into the back hallway, her mint green eyes wide with confusion and alarm.

"Regina!" She gasped. "There is some guy named Dean that just came into the diner! He's looking for someone… I think he's looking for you."

Why hello there my beautiful people of the realms! How are you all today? I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a fun one to write, I enjoyed writing the OQ bit. Okay, so I have a completely random and probably very stupid question to ask. No one make fun of me okay! … Alright so, I love this story so much! It is like one of my favorites that I've ever written. So I want to try and put a cover on it, but I have no clue what to do to get a picture that isn't plagiarized. I have like zero art skill for this kind of stuff, so I need some help from the people of the realms. Will you help me? If not I understand, but if so then GREAT! You are all so fabulous and I appreciate each one of you so much! Thank you for the reviews and comments, keep'em coming! Love you all!