Well my fellow Outlaw Queen friends, the hiatus is officially over and we had actual Outlaw Queen interaction in the new episode last night...and it was glorious. I still can't quite get over Regina "checking him out," and her delivery of "he smells like forest" was brilliant. Can't wait for more!
Until then here is another chapter of my story, obviously a much different take than the show. (Although in my story they did meet while being attacked by a flying monkey as well, haha).
Thank you so much for the reviews. Enjoy!
Regina stood staring at Emma, not quite believing what she was seeing….was she hallucinating? The blonde looked more and more uncomfortable as time passed, she cleared her throat, "Regina," the name was loud and quick startling Regina back to reality.
"You remember?" Regina asked confused.
"Yeah. Let's take this inside," Emma said, her eyes scanning around the house and down the street, almost as if she were looking for something or someone.
Suddenly Regina only had one thought in her head, she grabbed Emma's arm, "Henry?" Her voice was low and desperate. She needed to know everything about her son.
Emma's eyes soften at their son's name and a flash of sympathy crossed over her face. "Let's go inside. I'll explain everything," she told Regina, her voice more gentle than it had been previously.
Regina moved out of her way as the blonde entered. As she followed Emma her mind spun with so many unanswered questions but at the forefront of them all was her son. Was he well? Where was he? Did he remember as well? Her heart raced at the very thought. She longed to see him and wrap her arms around him.
Once they reached Regina's sitting room, Emma turned to face her. "We should call David and Mary Margaret, so I only have to explain this once," she said.
Regina blinked her eyes. If Emma thought that she was going to wait until Snow and Charming were here to tell her about Henry she had thought wrong. "Henry," she demanded, she had no patience when it came to matters regarding her son.
Emma had a look on her face that read she had expected this. "He's fine," she assured Regina. She smiled slightly, "He's happy."
Regina felt tears form in her eyes, "He is?" she breathed, relief flooding her. Her baby was alright. She had been so worried since she realized her counter curse had not sent them back to the Enchanted Forest. "Where is he now?" she asked urgently. If Emma was here, where was her son and who was he with?
Emma sighed, she had a strange look on her face which served to make Regina anxious. "He's with….Hook," the blonde glanced at Regina, ready for a display. Regina was not going to disappoint.
"HOOK?" Why the hell is he with Hook?" Regina was dumbfounded, she had so many questions. "How did Hook find you? He was here with us when I cast the curse against Pan's. How do you remember….any of us?"
"REGINA," Emma interjected, overwhelmed with all of Regina's questions. "I will answer all of those things when….my parents are here," the young woman stumbled over the words my parents. She was clearly a little off-balance with this whole situation as well.
Regina sighed in frustration. She picked up her cell and dialed the Charming's number. It rang a few times and finally a groggy Snow answered. "Regina, it's like three o'clock in the morning."
Regina cut in, "You and Charming need to get here now," she stated. Emma rolled her eyes at Regina's bluntness.
Snow become very serious on the phone, "What happened?"
"Just get here," Regina answered her and hung up.
It wasn't long and Regina heard the doorbell ring. Emma stood quickly, looking very nervous. Regina stood as well and suddenly remembered just how pregnant Snow White was, Swan would be in for a shock. "There is something you don't know about Snow," she said to Emma.
Emma looked at her and swallowed, "She's pretty pregnant?"
Regina looked at her startled. "How did you know?" she asked.
"Hook," was all she said. How in the hell did Hook know that, Regina thought. The doorbell rang again and she heard Snow call her name from outside the door. Emma turned to the sound and Regina watched as her eyes watered. Regina felt envy at the reunion that was about to take place. A part of her did not want to witness it but she went to the door and swung it open anyway. Snow and Charming stood there, the former looking distressed and the other...displeased.
"Regina, what is wrong? You said nothing helpful on the phone," the princess said, her voice worried.
"This better be important Regina, calling us at this time of night," Charming huffed.
Regina rolled her eyes, "Oh, I think you will find this important," she told him sarcastically, her hand indicating the blonde who anxiously had stepped into the foyer.
Regina watched as the gaze of both the Charming's fell onto their daughter. Snow gasped, her hand flew to her mouth in surprise, and tears immediately pooled in her eyes. Charming stood there, his mouth hanging open slightly, "Emma?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," Emma breathed. At Emma's words Snow let out a cry of joy and immediately grabbed her daughter in a tight hug. Tears streamed down both women's faces. A tear escaped Charming's eye as he watched the reunion between his wife and daughter before he too wrapped his arms around them joining the hug. Regina felt tears pool in the corner of her eyes as well, jealousy threatened to overwhelm her as she wished for her son. She pushed the feeling down, knowing that no good had ever came from it.
Finally the Charming's pulled back, "Emma," Snow whispered her name, "I don't understand….how are you here? You remember?" she asked, her face was joyful but puzzled.
"I'm going to explain everything," she told them. "Let's go sit down, it's a long story."
They sat down and Emma told them everything. They had sent Hook to find her, that they had been to the Enchanted Forest, for at least nine months, everything about the Wicked Witch, also known as the Black Fairy, her search for the wand to get complete power, her relationship with Rumple, Cora, the Blue Fairy, the curse she was going to cast.
They all sat in silence as Emma finished, stunned. "Who is the witch?" Snow wondered.
Emma shrugged her shoulders, "Hook said she had green skin, you know….the Wicked Witch of the West."
Regina looked at her, "I think we would have noticed someone walking around with green skin," she snapped. Emma sent her a look as Regina passed by to stand at the window. This was a lot of information to take in. Was the witch in Storybrooke? She must be and then suddenly it all made sense to Regina. "Marian," she growled.
"Regina, we don't know that," Snow interjected.
Regina glared at the princess, "It makes perfect sense and you know it," she tried reasoning with Snow. Of course Marian was the Wicked Witch. Regina knew from the moment they met something was off about her.
"Who's Marian," Emma asked, her eyes confused.
"You're only saying this because of your relationship with Robin," Charming chimed in. Regina felt anger at his words. He was so daft sometimes she could throttle him. Every road led back to Marian.
"Robin?" Emma spoke once more, still confused. "Wait a second….Robin Hood and Maid Marian?" she said loudly putting the pieces together herself. She finally had the attention of the other three who had been in the middle of the room staring each other down. "Ok I get Peter Pan being a villain, he was a little creepy in his movie. But Robin Hood and Maid Marian? Come on." The blonde shook her head in disbelief.
"Robin is no villain," Regina stated firmly, eyeing Emma. She continued, turning back to Snow and Charming, "Roland must have his memories back from our time in the Enchanted Forest and he says Marian is not his mother." She tried to make her voice sound strong and powerful but it came out more like a plea, she needed the two standing in front of her to open their eyes, to see what she saw.
"Who the hell is Roland?" Emma asked not being able to follow what the three others were talking about.
Regina continued, ignoring the blonde once more. She thought back to when she had cast the curse, the false memories she had given to everyone. It hit her suddenly. Her voice was low as she started to speak her thought out loud, "Perhaps she is not…."
"His mother," Snow finished the sentence, her eyes wide, she had reached the same conclusion Regina had. "She altered memories to make people think she was Marian," the princess whispered, her face horrified. Regina closed her eyes relieved that finally someone else was beginning to see the picture she herself saw.
"Do you think it may be just wishful thinking on your part," Charming asked, his eyes looking at her sympathetically. Regina glared at him, irritated.
"Hold on….you have a thing for Robin Hood," Emma asked in incredulity. Her eyes were wide with surprise as she looked at Regina as if she didn't know the woman who stood in front of her.
Regina growled in frustration at the idiots who surrounded her. "I don't have a thing for Robin Hood," she snapped, she could feel the betrayal of heat rise on her face. She did have a thing for Robin, but that was none of Emma or the Charming's business. She needed everyone to get back on the main issue here. If Marian was indeed this Wicked Witch, something needed to be done immediately. She felt panic rise within her at the thought of Roland and Robin being in that woman's sphere, both of them at a vulnerable place right now. "We need to inform Robin, get the two of them away from her right away," Regina told them.
Emma's calm voice rose slightly to override Regina's frantic one, "We don't know if this Marian is for sure the woman we need to find. She doesn't know me, let me check her out, see if she is lying. I'll go undercover as a nurse or something," Emma tried to persuade Regina.
"And just how are you going to tell if she is lying?" Regina huffed. "The two idiots you call parents," she threw her thumb in the direction where Snow and Charming had stood, "they fell for her nice act, hook, line, and sinker."
"I can tell when people lie to me," Emma assured her.
Regina groaned in frustration, rolling her eyes, "What….your so called power? That thing has had like a success rate of twenty percent," she snarled. The other three chose to ignore Regina's jab. The four got to work on setting a plan into motion to get Emma into the hospital to meet Marion.
It seemed like an eternity before Emma returned. Snow, Charming, and Regina all stood around her waiting eagerly to find out what she thought, all for their own reasons. "She's really nice," Emma told them.
"See," Charming turned towards Regina, like he had won some battle. Regina sighed and huffed her displeasure, turning away from the Charmings. She needed Emma to see, she had thought Emma was smarter than this.
"But," Emma continued, Regina turned to face her once more, hope rising in her chest that Emma did have some sense after all. "Something was off. I don't know exactly what it was, it's just….not everything added up to me."
Regina felt relief that Emma had seen it too, that she hadn't just made up this feeling because of how she felt for Roland and Robin. "We need to stop her," Regina said to them.
Emma turned to look at her, exasperation on her face, "Regina, just chill out for two seconds. I agree with you but before we go making accusations based on crazy theories from half ass thought out opinions and no evidence maybe we should do a bit more research," she reasoned with the queen.
Regina sighed,clearly not liking the thought of having to wait but knowing Emma was right. They needed more proof if Robin was going to believe them.
"How are we going to get evidence?" Snow wondered.
"A good start would be to get someone else to remember," Emma told her, turning to once more look at Regina. "Regina and I will make the potion that restores memories and Regina will drink it."
It was a long shot. Regina wasn't even sure if she had all the proper ingredients to make the potion. She and Robin had found some of the magical ingredients required….hopefully it was enough. It was possible to make the potion without her having any powers, it just wouldn't be as easy.
Once she had gathered all that she had found, she, Emma, and the Charmings stood around her dining room table ready to get started. Regina felt nervous with the prospect of regaining her memories and she felt nervous that she might not regain her memories. Just as she and Swan were about to get started her doorbell rang. It was fairly early in the morning still, around eight, she wondered who it could be. As soon as she opened the door, she heard a small voice cry out, "Regina," and felt a body crash into her, arms wrapping around her waist in a tight hug. Roland.
She immediately went down on her knees and the little boy put his arms around her neck instead and buried his face into her shoulder.
Her heart cried out with joy at seeing him. God how she had missed him. "Sweetheart," she said gently, "are you here alone? Where's your father?"
Roland didn't pull back, he clung to her tighter, mumbling into her neck as he spoke. "I had to see you," he said, "everyone said I couldn't….but I had to," he cried.
Regina felt her own tears come, as she picked up the boy and carried him into her house. "Shh," she comforted, "everything is alright, we're together now."
She sat down on the sofa with Roland on her lap, his sniffs slowly disappearing. Emma, Snow and Charming came in the room to see who had arrived, each looking surprised by the guest. She stroked the sweet boy's hair softly and leaned her head against his, "We need to call your papa," she told him gently but firmly, "He will be very worried."
Roland sniffed loudly and whispered, "Ok." He looked at Regina then, his eyes wide, "Not the lady though," he begged.
She felt fury once more directed at Marian based on the terrified expression on Roland's face. "I promise," she whispered back.
Snow went to call Robin as Emma and Charming sat down. Roland's eyes fell on Emma, "Who's that?" he asked.
"Her name is Emma, she's a….friend," she answered, a little awkwardly, stumbling on the word friend. It wasn't a lie, it was just….strange. "Emma, this is Roland," she added to finish the introduction.
Roland looked at Regina, his face curious. "Emma and Henry?" he asked. Regina's heart jumped at the sound of her son's name coming from the boy. She had only ever told Robin about Henry. Perhaps Roland had heard them discuss him at some point.
"How do you know about Emma and Henry?" she questioned him.
"You told me about them in the "Chanted Forest," he answered, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair.
Regina's heart pounded in her chest. Another reference from him about time that they had spend together in the Enchanted Forest. She glanced over at Emma and the blonde urged her with her hand to keep the little boy talking.
"What else did we do in the Enchanted Forest?" she asked.
"We played games, you read me stories, you gave me markers, we rided horses," his little face scrunched up, "you and papa kissed all the time,"his voice was full of innocence. He was completely oblivious to the whirlwind of emotions he had just set off in Regina. She felt like she stopped breathing at his words. Her eyes went wide and she glanced quickly at Emma, the blonde's eyebrows were practically at her forehead. She felt a warmth start to invade her neck and kept rising. She and Robin had kissed? Her heart raced at the very thought.
"Regina?" Roland's voice asked before she had been able to respond to his answer to her previous question.
"Hmmm," she hummed in response, still not able to fully form words yet.
"Why does no one else remember the 'Chanted Forest?" he questioned.
"I'm not sure why sweetheart," she answered him. "We're trying to figure it out though." She cleared her throat, nervous of the answer to her next question. "Roland," she said gently,"Why do you say that Marian is not your mama?"
He looked at her, his eyes wide and serious, "Cause my mama went to live with the angels when I was born," he told her. Her heart dropped. Marian had been dead back in the Enchanted Forest which meant Storybrooke's Marian had to be this Wicked Witch. She wrapped her arms tighter around the boy and he responded by cuddling closer.
The doorbell rang. "That's probably Robin," Snow said, getting up to go answer the door. Regina wondered what she would say to Robin. Anything she said about the Wicked Witch, about Marian, about the whole damn curse would come off as her sounding crazy. She need to make that potion and remember before she went to Robin. She hated the thought of sending Roland back into Marian's orbit but she would make sure someone was always watching, whether it be her, Emma, Snow, or Charming. She knew they would agree. Emma tucked herself in another room in case Robin remembered her as the nurse from last night. It would be better to wait until they had more concrete answers to the questions he would be bound to have if he saw her.
She looked up as Robin entered, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him. His eyes filled with relief on seeing his son well. "Roland," he breathed, as he fell to his knees in front of his son and Regina. "You had me so worried my boy," he told him softly.
Roland made no attempt to move away from Regina, he simply reached out his small hand and stroked his father's cheek. "I'm sorry papa," he whispered, "I just wanted Regina," he said. Robin finally glanced at her and what she saw nearly broke her heart. He looked so anguished and she watched as tears formed in his eyes, which caused her own tears to come quickly.
He grabbed his son's hand carefully, "Roland we must get back to the hospital," his voice was quiet, tender.
"No papa, please," the boy begged, "I want to stay with Regina." He buried himself deeper into her. She had no idea what to say to make Roland feel better, she wanted nothing more than for him to stay.
She heard Robin's breath hitch, "Perhaps….perhaps Regina," his voice cracked when he spoke her name, "will come tuck you in tonight." Regina looked at Robin surprised. She knew this was nothing more than a bribe to get Roland back to the hospital but still her heart beat wildly.
Roland gasped and looked at her, "Just like in the 'Chanted Forest?" he asked in wonderment.
"Yes," Regina confirmed, "Just like in the Enchanted Forest."
Roland hugged her tightly once more and placed a soft kiss on her temple. "I love you Regina," he whispered and she had to hold back the sob that threatened to escape. It was not very often people told her they loved her. She handed the boy to Robin and noticed for the first time that the man was slightly shaking. She looked up and caught his eye, the look they shared was extremely emotional. Finally Robin looked away, flushed. He bid them good-bye and thank you, then he was out the door.
Emma came back into the room and coughed, the look on her face was astonishment. She grinned slightly and cleared her throat, "Robin's quite….ah….foxy," she said. Snow snorted at the reference to the outlaw's movie counterpart. Regina sent a glare in both their directions, not amused in the slightest. In fact she felt more determined than ever. "Let's make that potion," she commanded. She needed to remember.
They worked on the potion for hours. Boiling the ingredients and mixing them in different ways. This had always been easier when she had magical powers. In their first attempt, she had drank the liquid and nothing had happened but a slight buzz. She threw the bottle against the wall in frustration.
"Regina, we'll try again," Emma had said to calm her down. The fact remained though that they did not have enough ingredients for much more trial and error. After another few hours Regina stood holding the vial of their last possible attempt. They had used up all the ingredients. She was nervous, what if this didn't work? It had to work, she pleaded in her mind. She took a deep breath, put the vial to her lips, threw her head back and drank the potion. It hit her immediately:
/There is hope for the evil queen….I have forgiven you/My intent was to hit the beast, not you/You've never met a queen quite like me before…. No I have never/She killed my family, there needs to be retribution/I have never been more grateful over shooting someone accidentally with an arrow/I won't let anyone hurt you either Regina….I love you….I love you too/When he reached out to touch you….the pixie dust glowed….Don't let fear win this time Regina. Follow your heart/I have a hard time understanding where I stand on the issue of magic. For years it was only a negative presence….until I met you/I give a damn about what happens to you and this is the only way I know how to protect you….You have feelings for me and it scares the hell out of you/I'm going to take everything away from you/I love you Regina….I have for some time now/I love you….I love you both/
Regina gasped as the memories flooded back to her. Her heart so full of love for Robin and Roland she felt tears fill her eyes. Her thoughts drifted to that of the Wicked Witch….of the false Marian and her blood boiled in anger. "I'm going to kill her," she growled.
The end is nearing! I hope you enjoy the last leg of the journey. Let me know what you thought!