Chapter Eleven - Two months ago - Enchanted Forest The men are angry and he can't blame them but he does not share they view that they could have avoided the curse if they had just gone back to their forest and not helped the Royals in the first place, it wouldn't have made different he argues. Little John steps in suggesting the high possibility that if they had returned home they would be monkeys by now. Robin agrees but Alan continues his argument blaming their prolonged stay on the fact that Robin is sweet on the Queen.
Robin is shocked into silence. He hadn't realised he had been quite so obvious. Little John lets out a gruff laugh at the look on Robin's face, claps him on the back and tells him not to worry, he is sure not everyone knows, just castle and the village maybe some in Prince Philip's realm oh and some of the fairies but apart from that his secret is safe. Robin wonders if she knows, she must do, she was there when they kissed after all and he has made it as clear to her as he dares that he wants to spend time with her but he knows she needs time, she is grieving the loss of her son and he will give her time, allow her to shout at him if she needs to, give her the small amounts of comfort she permits. She is in his thoughts most of the time and he thinks of her now, allows himself, for the first time, to admit to himself, just how badly as Alan put it, he is sweet on the Queen. He wonders how she feels, the curse memories will take all she has left of her son, he thinks, her memories of him and his heart breaks for her.
He decides not to tell Roland, he tells the boy there is a storm coming but no more than that to explain the behaviour of the men and the villagers. He keeps the boy inside away from the others gathered in the courtyard although he longs to see Regina's face, he must put his son first.
Storybrooke -two days ago His feet have taken him to the cabin, he peers through the window, it would be better if Regina were alone, he doesn't want to have this conversation in front of strangers, which is funny really because that is what they are really.
She is alone and looking into a mirror, a action associated with this realms version of her and it takes him by surprise, a vision of Regina elaborately dressed sitting in front of a far more ornate mirror flashes through his mind, he tries to grasp at the image but it slips away.
He taps the window pane and sees her jump in surprise, when she opens the door she looks wary and tired. His instant response is to tell her he means her no harm but he pushes the thought down and awaits for her response, he will take his lead from her.
She says nothing and he realises she is just as unsure as he is, so he begins and she lets him in.
She is colder to him than before, the sadness is there, she is trying to hide it from him, focusing on facts but it flows from her into him, he thinks if he stepped closer he could read her mind. He knows what every gesture means, every little movement she makes, smoothing down her dress, she is nervous, twitch of her jaw, she is biting back a remark, eyes flicking down, she is lying. It throws him, this knowledge of her, is this the curse? The memories weaken over time, the others told him and this is true, he can barely remember their fake wedding day yet his and his late wife's is still indelibly etched in his mind, so why has this knowledge of her remained?
She apologizes to him which surprises him but he means it when he accepts it, he would take any measures necessary to get back to his son if he was gone from him so he understands but as he thinks of Roland, the niggling concern he has of Roland's memories grows, what if his take longer to fade, children of his age are little sponges soaking up knowledge, when the boy remembers his memories it will be of a fake mother and an absent one, will he be willing to let the only mother still available go? Robin thinks probably not, any way it plays out, Roland will be confused and Robin's heart breaks at this thought. She wants him to leave, she is making it quite clear opening the door and practically throwing him out but he needs something from her and he asks on behalf of the boy, she agrees immediately, her eyes infinitely sadder than before, perhaps she remembers more than she is willingly to admit he wonders.
Regina, as beautiful in real life as in his fake memories, is hiding something, he isn't sure what and he wonders for the first time, why him?
Regina had implied it was merely due to proximity but surely the castle had been full of people, why not a guard or another of his men if there were all there? This curse was her punishment but he and Roland are suffering too and this makes him angry. He wants to direct his anger towards her but he finds he cannot, he could not find a trace of a Evil Queen in the women he just met.
He hoped that this meeting would put his mind at rest, he wishes he could have heard her tone and seen a cruel hard women but he hadn't, he'd seen the women beneath the mask and he hadn't wanted to leave.