Hey guys! I have always wondered what really went on between Regina and Robin Hood during the Missing Year, so this is my interpretation. During this stressful time, we all deserve an escape so I decided to publish this story that I hope all of you will enjoy and look forward to. I plan on posting a chapter a week. Every Wednesday! I am a nurse and currently working on the frontlines of this COVID 19 pandemic so I apologize in advance if I'm ever late posting a chapter. Anyway, please enjoy this fic. It's about to be one crazy ride! - Klainelover1997
As the magical, purple smog cleared and the familiar view of the dense, wooded landscape of the Enchanted Forest came into view, Regina felt her heart drop into her stomach. Watching Henry and Emma walk away had nearly killed her. She had told them to leave, and while she knew that was what needed to be done, it didn't subdue the burning, acidic taste that she felt as the words left her mouth. The whole experience had felt like a bad dream, one that Regina was ready to wake up from. All that she wanted was to find Henry, pull him into her arms, and hold him until the end of time. But, that wasn't going to happen. It wasn't possible, not anymore.
"Snow, what happened?" came the panicked voice of Aurora.
"We're back," the princess informed her, sadness evident in her voice. That was the truth. They were back. Storybrooke and everything that she had built there was gone. It was enough to make Regina physically sick to her stomach. Snow and David continued to talk to Aurora and Phillip about the changes that this land had endured over the last thirty years, but Regina felt the need to walk away. She couldn't stand to listen to the four of them catch up like this was some big family reunion. This wasn't a happy occasion.
"You and your friends are welcome in our kingdom," Phillip told them. "If you need anything, we're at your service."
"Thank you," David replied. "But all we need is horses. We have our own kingdom, our own castle."
"Our castle was destroyed in the curse," Snow reminded him.
"Well played, your majesty. You laid waste to everything," the pirate quipped at her. Regina narrowed her eyes at him and sent him a death glare. She was dealing with enough without having that rotten pirate rub her nose in her mistakes.
"Not everything. Her castle still stands," Aurora interjected.
"Of course it does. I protected it."
"Well technically, the castle doesn't belong to her," David snapped. "It was Snow's before she took it."
"Well, to be fair," Regina began. "I married into it."
"That you did," Snow said as she turned around to face her stepmother. "And, now, we're taking it back…and you are coming with us."
Regina scoffed. "You can't be serious."
"Regina, everyone out there is scared and confused. They need hope. What better way to do that than to return united. You're coming with us. I know you don't like it. You'll learn to, for our good…for yours." Regina wanted to fight back, to tell Snow blatantly to her face that she wasn't coming, but she just didn't have it in her. Without Henry, it felt as though her will to fight had been stripped from her, leaving her feeling weak, helpless, and hopeless. The Charmings could do what they wanted. Take her castle. Force her to go with them. She simply didn't care anymore.
After saying goodbye to Aurora and Phillip, Snow and David gathered everyone up. They informed them of the plan to head to the Queen's castle and then began walking. They'd have to move quickly if they wanted to make it there by dark. As they continued to walk, Regina felt her chest growing tighter by the minute and sharp, shooting pains radiated out from the area where her heart was. The pain, the hurt, was overwhelming. When she couldn't take it any longer, Regina broke away from the group and wandered off into the forest, praying to find a private spot to break down. She disappeared behind a large oak tree and felt her knees begin to buckle. She fell onto the dirt-covered forest floor and didn't even care that she was getting her dress dirty. Acting like this wasn't like her. She wasn't one to let her emotions take complete control over her. Yet again, she had never lost her son before either.
Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes and Regina tried everything to keep them at bay. She couldn't do this anymore. Without even thinking, Regina plunged her hand deep inside her chest and pulled out her heart. It was somewhat blackened, the aftermath of the mistakes of her past and it almost looked swollen, aching from the pain of never being able to see her son again. However, with the organ no longer inside of her chest, Regina felt herself begin to breathe once more. The tears that had been threatening to cascade from her eyes lessened and she was able to regain control over herself. The pain was still there, but it was much duller without her heart beating in her chest. She knew if she were to go on that she couldn't do it with her heart inside of her. From her position on the ground, she reached out beside her and grabbed a sharp stick that had broken off the tree above her and began to dig in the dirt. Surely no one would think to look for her heart in such an insignificant patch of the forest. It would be safe. And maybe, just maybe, one day she'd be able to return her heart to its rightful position in her chest. As she continued to dig, she heard footsteps approaching her from behind.
"What are you doing?" came Snow's worried voice.
"So, now, you're following me?" Regina replied with a sigh.
"We were worried and it looks like we were right to be. What are you burying?"
"Nothing that concerns you," she growled back in response.
"Why does that make me think it does? What have you done? Is that a heart?"
"Go away!" She continued to dig furiously in the dirt as Snow grilled her with questions.
"That's your heart, isn't it?" the princess questioned, a look of pity engraved on her face.
Regina looked away. "I'm not having this conversation with you."
"I know you miss Henry…" Snow began. Just hearing his name made Regina's heart begin to ache and tears once again sprang to her eyes.
"Not as much as I did when that was still beating in my chest," Regina replied as she placed her heart in the shallow hole and covered it with a thin layer of dirt.
"But, Regina, this isn't the answer. No matter how much pain you may feel, you can't just bury it in the woods!"
"Watch me!" she snapped as she stood up from the ground and dusted her hands off.
"You won't feel better," Snow chastised. "You won't feel anything."
"That's the point!" Regina exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "I can't keep walking around knowing that I'll never see Henry again… that he doesn't even remember who I am."
"I know exactly how you're feeling," the princess replied as she walked forward and took Regina's hands into her own. "I just said goodbye to my daughter for the second time…Henry too. But I promise you, it will get better. With that." she added, pointing towards Regina's buried heart. "Right now, it might be causing you pain, but I promise you, it will let you feel something else soon enough."
"What's that?"
"That one thing Henry always wanted you to find…happiness."
"I can't be happy without him," Regina replied blatantly.
"Find a way," Snow told her. "…for Henry."
Regina knew that Snow was right. For too long, she had run from her emotions instead of dealing with them. For God's sake, that was how she had ended up creating Storybrooke in the first place. For years, she had suppressed the heartache and grief that she felt for Daniel and let it fester into anger and a thirst for revenge that consumed every fiber of her being. For a woman with a high physical pain threshold, she had a surprisingly low tolerance for emotional pain.
Hesitantly, Regina knelt down and dusted off the thin layer of dirt covering her heart. Even just holding it in her hands, Regina felt her pain begin to intensify. Despite what her heart was telling her to do, which was to run away, Regina plunged the organ back into her chest. She gasped as the pain instantly returned to her body and the grief that she had been feeling washed over her once more. With tears in her eyes, Regina tried to stand up tall and pretend like she was alright.
"Now…let's go get our castle," she proclaimed, trying to remain strong as the emotional pain continued to eat away at her. Not able to look at Snow's sympathetic face any longer, Regina began to walk away, leaving the princess behind her. As she walked away, she heard rustling in the bushes and then a large gust of wind blew through the trees.
"Did you hear that?" Snow asked, panic evident in her voice. "There was something there…in that bush." Regina walked back over and pushed back the branches, looking for the cause of the rustling and sudden gust of wind.
"There's nothing here. Unless it flew away…"
"It did!" Snow exclaimed, looking up at the sky where a mysterious creature could be seen coming right towards them. "We need to find cover," she added, trying to pull Regina with her to safety.
"No," Regina replied defiantly, pulling her arm from Snow's grasp. "I don't run from monsters. They run from me." She conjured a fireball in her palm and hurled it towards the beast. However, it was too fast and was able to dodge the blast of magic easily while continuing to fly towards them. Caught off guard by her magic failing her, Regina stepped back and in the process rolled her ankle, sending her plummeting to the ground.
"Regina!" Snow yelled. The beast flew closer and wrapped its large talons around her wrist and began to fly upward, pulling the Queen along with it. Regina batted at the creature as Snow tried to pull her back to the ground with all of her might. Eventually, the beast lost its grasp and its talon scraped down Regina's arm before she plummeted to the ground. "It's too fast!" Snow stated.
"I'm open to suggestions."
Suddenly a voice came from behind them and commanded them to "get down!" Snow and Regina did as they're told, bracing themselves for another attack from the mysterious flying creature, but instead, an arrow soared above their heads, impaling the beast, making it screech in pain and fly away. After breathing a sigh of relief, Regina tried to push herself up when an unexpected hand became available to her. "Milady…" The man began. "You're injured," he observed, looking down at her arm which was dripping with blood from the laceration caused by the beast.
"It's 'Your Majesty,'' she snapped. "And I'm fine."
"A simple 'thank you' would suffice," the man countered.
"We didn't ask for your help." Regina retorted as she pushed herself up from the ground, ignoring their rescuers help entirely.
"Well, I'm grateful for the assistance," Snow interjected as she took the man's hand and used him to help her stand up.
"Robin. Robin of Locksley," the man said, introducing himself. "…and these are a few of my Merry Men."
"Snow White."
"At last we meet," Robin replied. "You know, there was a time when our faces graced wanted posters side by side."
"If you're really Snow White, why are you with her?" a larger man with long curly brown hair asked gruffly.
"Her?" Regina questioned. "Show some respect…or at least some restraint at the buffet," she added, taking note of the man's oversized stomach.
"You'll have to excuse Little John," Robin said, trying to diffuse the tension. "But before you cursed this land, we spent many a day running from your black knights."
"Well, I'm sure you deserved it." Regina turned around and looked back up into the canopy of trees, analyzing the area for any signs that the beast might be returning. "What the hell was that thing?"
"I have no idea. We've never encountered the likes of it before."
Suddenly, they heard screeching off in the distance. "Come on. This way," Snow prompted, leading the group out of the forest. "We need to warn the others."
They walked through the forest and within a few minutes, joined up with David and the rest of the group back on the main road. After Regina's unexpected detour, they needed to continue moving towards the castle if they wanted to be there by nightfall. Snow insisted that Regina walk at the front of the group with her and David, mostly because she wanted to keep watch over Regina to make sure that she didn't try to do anything drastic again. Robin and his men joined in with the back of the group where they easily fit in and began talking with Neal and Belle, who they seemed to have a history with. While walking, Regina turned and looked over her shoulder at the thief. She had to admit, he was pretty handsome. Nevertheless, he was a thief and he was not to be trusted.
"So what do you think of our new friend?" Regina asked Snow. "Can we trust him? He is a thief."
"Think of it from his perspective. How do you think he looks at you?" Snow countered.
"Point taken."
"He's kind of cute, huh?" Snow suggested, a smirk on her face.
"He smells like forest," Regina replied, her face screwed up in disgust as she tried to hide her apparent attraction towards the thief. Luckily, before Snow could say another word, the familiar sight of her castle came into view.
"Look!" David announced.
"What happened?" Snow asked.
"That's exactly what I'm about to find out," Regina announced as she walked up to the barrier line surrounding the castle. She held her hand up to it gently and instantly, she could feel a strong magic surge through her as a large green forcefield projected around the entire castle. "Protection spell. The entire castle's encircled by it."
"Didn't you do this? Undo it," David demanded.
Regina rolled her eyes. "Well, don't you think if I couldn't I'd be halfway home by now? No. Someone hijacked it."
"Who? Who's in there?" Snow questioned.
"I don't know," Regina began with a sigh. "But I'm gonna find out whoever's eating my porridge. Nobody sits in my chair. Nobody takes our castle." She began to feel the anger build within in her chest. How dare someone break into her castle?
"Hey, we've got a lot of people looking to us. They're scared and rightfully so. Let's get them to safety first," David interjected.
"They'll be safe when whoever's in there is dead." Regina snapped, feeling the anger bubble inside of her.
"Rushing in there is a bad plan, Regina. You know that." Snow scolded.
"I can offer a safe harbor in Sherwood Forest. It's not far. We can offer food, shelter and a thick canopy no creature will spy you under," Robin offered as he came forward from out of the group.
"Do you have weapons?" David asked.
"We're lousy with them."
"Fine. Lead the way. But we're coming back. And whoever did this…is going to suffer." Regina said.
"Regina, it's our home. We'll make it safe again," Snow told her. With the plan set, Regina had no other option than to follow all the Charmings back to the thief's camp. She'd play along for now but make no mistake, she fully intended on returning tonight, no matter what to make sure that she took back what was rightfully hers. The person inside her castle was going to pay. She'd make sure of that.