For those of you who haven't seen it and are interested...I started publishing my Evil Charming fic, "Somewhere In Between". I'm super excited about it and I've received a great response so far, so I'm going to be working on that A LOT. Don't worry! I'm not abandoning this one! It just gives me a few options that I'll let you all decide on. I can either a) publish short chapters like this one every few days or b) publish longer chapters about every 4 or 5 days. Also, I just created a tumblr account and am going to start incorporating fan fiction into that (among other Once and non-Once related things). If you have any interest in looking me up, I'm under alyrae13. I'm done :) Enjoy the chapter, and let me know what you guys want me to do :)
Regina woke up slowly. The first thing she noticed was that there was something on top of her and she wondered what it was. Opening her eyes and placing her surroundings, she realized it was a who, not a what. She smiled, remembering the previous night, and brought a hand up to gently run it through the small child's hair. He hummed, twitching slightly in his sleep, before nuzzling into her neck.
Laughing softly, Regina rubbed his back, coaxing him to wake up. "Tootles. It's morning. Time to get up."
"Hmmm?" He lifted his head sleepily and slowly blinked his eyes open. When they focused on Regina, his eyes went wide and his face broke into a grin. He threw himself back down on her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Regina! I was scared you were in my dream and then I'd wake up and you would be gone and I'd be really sad."
She smiled before attempting to sit up under his weight. Immediately, her eyes fell on Daniel – not too far away – watching her. He quickly averted his eyes. Regina put her feet on the ground. Rather than letting go, Tootles wrapped his legs around her waist and readjusted his arms so they were around her neck. "Can I still come with you?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course you can!" She ran her finger down his nose and tapped it and he giggled. "I wouldn't leave you behind."
Rising to her feet, Regina glanced around, not seeing Annie anywhere. She made her way cautiously over to Daniel. "Where's Annie?" she asked when she was near enough.
"Some of the Lost Boys wanted to show her something." He couldn't help but give a small smile to the boy in her arms who'd suddenly become shy, ducking his head down to Regina's shoulder. "And who might you be?"
"Tootles," he said quietly.
"It's nice to meet you, Tootles," Daniel said, extending a hand. "I'm Daniel."
Head popping up, Tootles smiled and shook his hand from Regina's arms. "I know who you are."
"You do?" Daniel asked. The boy was adorable, and he couldn't keep from grinning at him.
"Yep. Regina talked about you a lot. She used to tell us all of your stories."
Daniel glanced at Regina who smiled faintly at him before looking back at Tootles. "Well, not all of them, but a lot of them."
"I get to come with you!" Tootles exclaimed happily, bouncing slightly so that Regina had to tighten her hold on him.
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked in confusion.
Regina answered, "I told Nibs that the boys could come with us when we left Neverland; that they don't have to be alone anymore. He's going to talk to them about it. Tootles and I talked last night, though, and he's coming back regardless of the other boys' decision."
Daniel watched Regina as she smiled at Tootles. It brought to mind the images of her with a young Henry. Annie was right; she hadn't changed completely. There were still traces of the young, kind-hearted Regina he'd known. "You're going to raise him along with Henry? With the curse?" he asked curiously.
She looked at him and he could tell that she was thinking about her answer.
It was true, she'd asked Tootles if he wanted to come with her - to leave Neverland behind - but she hadn't really thought about what that meant. She hadn't thought twice about being the one to raise him, but Daniel's simple question reminded her of the difficult circumstances she'd be bringing the young boy into. There was the issue of the curse, her position in town, the fact that everyone there viewed her as a villain – or would again, after the curse was broken once more – the custody battle she'd inevitably find herself in over Henry (legal or otherwise). Was it fair to Tootles? She looked at him again and seeing the hope in his eyes, feeling his little fingers gripping her shirt tighter in anticipation of her answer, she knew she couldn't let anyone else take care of this sweet, innocent child. She'd hurt him once before; it was her job to fix that and to make sure he grew up happy. Eyes not leaving Tootles' – she was answering him first – she nodded. When he grinned and buried his head into her shoulder, she looked at David again. "Yes," she told him. "I'm going to raise him."
Daniel nodded silently. In spite of everything that Regina had done over the years, one thing that he could not argue was that she'd been a good mother to Henry. Feeling the need to shift the conversation, he said, "It shouldn't be long before we can leave. Annie's feeling much better. We might even be able to try later today."
Regina sighed in relief. "That's great news!"
Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of whooping and laughter as the boys spilled out from the staircase, Annie in their midst. It was clear that whatever they'd been doing, they'd all been having a lot of fun.
Smiling at the scene, Regina and Daniel moved to join them. There was a lot they all needed to talk about.