To Rescue a Soul Part II: Split Personality

"Here," Regina said, handing him one of the swords Arthur had given her once they stepped out of the tavern. "You're going to need this."

"What for?" he asked, taking the sword from her.

She shrugged, grabbing her sword and putting it around her waist. "But if Arthur thought we needed it, then I believe we will."

He nodded, tying buckling his own sword around his waist. "So, how do we get out of here?"

"I'm not entirely sure," she replied. "Arthur wasn't clear about that. But I imagine we head back to the lake and see if we can catch a boat back to the land of the living."

"Sounds like a good idea. Will your horse carry both of us?" he asked, patting Rocinante's neck.

Regina nodded proudly. "Easily."

They mounted Rocinante and she took the reins. Leaning closer, she whispered: "Take us home, boy."

With a squeeze of her legs, Rocinante started to trot away from the tavern. Robin tightened his hold on her and she laughed, leaning back. "Afraid of falling off? I would think you would be familiar with riding," she teased him.

"I am," he told her. "But I'm not going to pass up a chance to hold you like this."

She grinned. "Well, who am I to argue that?"

Once they got out of the town, Regina told him to hold on as she let Rocinante go back into a gallop. Robin's hold on her did tighten and she felt giddy as they rode together, the wind whipping around them as they rode back to their way home.

They were almost there.

When they approached Bizarro!Storybrooke, Regina slowed Rocinante again. "Well, we're back here," she said.

"Can't say I've missed it," he said drily, making her laugh.

She then glanced over her shoulder. "What about the real place?"

"Oh, I definitely miss that one," he replied. "I can't wait to get back and continue my life with you and our children."

Her heart constricted a bit at our children. She would need to tell him that the Merry Men had taken Roland back to the Enchanted Forest. And she didn't know how cooperative Zelena was really going to be when it came to Baby Robin, especially with their new start already over. Regina imagined that they were in for a fight that would determine if she and Zelena ever had a relationship going forward.

But there would be plenty of time for that once she brought him back to life. Right now, they needed to focus on getting out of the Underworld.

People passed them on the streets, stopping to stare as they rode by on Rocinante. She grew uncomfortable, wondering if it was a prelude to an attack or if they were about to be overwhelmed by souls trying to get back to the surface. Behind her, she felt Robin place his hand on his sword and so she knew she wasn't the only one with that fear.

"If it comes to it, leave me and save yourself," Robin whispered to her. "I'm already dead."

She shook her head. "The whole reason I came down here was to save you. I'm not going to abandon you."

"But I don't want you to sacrifice yourself for me," he told her.

"You did it for me," she replied. She then added: "Twice."

He hummed in response. "Doesn't mean you owe me."

"Are we really arguing about this?" she asked him, trying to keep her eye on the people watching her ride through Bizarro!Storybrooke while also conversing with him.

"Yes, we are," he said. "Please, Regina, promise me. If it comes down to it, you won't sacrifice yourself and will go without me. Go and have a good life. Love our children, raise them to be good people and just continue to be the amazing woman I love. We'll be reunited again one day."

She nearly sobbed at his words and she softened a bit. "I promise. But I am first going to go do everything I can to bring you back."

Despite their audience, they made it to the town line and Regina guided Rocinante toward the path that would lead them back to the lake. "We're almost there," she said, thought she didn't relax. This was probably going to be the most perilous part of their journey and she needed to be vigilant.

As the lake came into focus, Regina slowed Rocinante to a stop. "I think this is where we leave you, boy. Thank you," she told him, her heart breaking to leave him behind once more.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked, dismounting and helping her as she did the same.

"Just sad," she said, running her hand along Rocinante. "He was my faithful steed for many years and one of the few things that brought me happiness when I was queen."

He placed his hand over hers, wrapping his other arm around her and holding her close. "So this is Rocinante."

"It is," she said. "And I wish we could take him with us."

"I'm sure he's in good hands here," Robin assured her.

She nodded, a lump forming her throat. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I just want to say goodbye."

"Go ahead," he said, giving her a kiss. "I'll just be a few feet away."

"Thank you," she replies softly. She watched as he moved far enough away to give her privacy but still within her line of sight.

Regina then turned back to Rocinante. "I'm sorry I killed you. It was a pointless sacrifice and I wished I had you in Storybrooke. There were so many trails you would've loved to go down," she told him.

She let out a painful sob before hugging him. "I hope you can move on to a better place, Rocinante. Some place where you can run free to your heart's content and where we one day may see each other again. I love you."

He let out a soft whinny, as if responding to her. She decided to take it as him telling her he loved her too and she hugged him, still wishing she could take Rocinante with them before stepping back. "Goodbye, Rocinante," she whispered.

"Don't worry," a familiar and cold voice said. "I'll take good care of our horse."

Her blood froze as she took a few steps to look behind Rocinante. Standing there was her evil half, smirking at her. "Hello, Regina. Miss me?"

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked her, her heart pounding. She thought she would never see the Evil Queen again.

"You killed me, remember? Where else was I supposed to go?" Queenie asked her, hatred burning in her eyes.

Regina didn't know how to answer that but she didn't expect her other half to end up in the Underworld of all places. She guessed it would just dissipate back into the ether, no longer existing at all.

Queenie stepped closer to her but her gaze went past her. Her eyes widened. "You found him."

"What?" Regina asked, surprised.

"Robin," Queenie clarified, sounding awestruck as she moved past Regina. "I thought he might be here but I was having no luck finding him."

Regina followed Queenie and Robin now noticed there was two of her. He tilted his head, frowning in confusion. "Regina? What's going on?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Queenie asked, jerking her thumb in Regina's direction.

"I just found him," Regina protested, her stomach twisting into knots. "I'm trying to get him out and then I'll tell him what he missed."

Queenie nodded, hiking up her skirts. "Fine. Let's go."

"What?" Regina asked, dumbfounded. Certainly she wasn't suggesting what Regina feared she was.

"You don't think I'm going to let you leave without me, do you?" Queenie asked, smirking.

Regina frowned, crossing her arms. "You're not coming with us."

"Okay," Robin said, stepping closer. "I'm not sure if we have a time limit or anything but I would like some answers now, please."

Queenie's smirk grew. "Do you want to tell him or should I?"

Regina glared at her before taking a deep breath. She stepped forward, taking Robin's hand. "After you died, we had a very hectic week. Henry…Henry took your death hard and he decided that magic didn't bring happy endings, it destroyed them so he was going to destroy magic."

"Oh, Henry," Robin sighed, looking grief-stricken. "I love him like a son but I figured he just saw me as his mother's boyfriend."

She shook her head. "He told me that he saw you as another father figure, especially after Neal died."

Robin ducked his head to try to hide his soft smile. When he raised it again, he was serious. "Since you're here, I take it he wasn't successful."

"Well, he was," Regina told him, "but we learned that Zelena, Snow, Charming and Hook got trapped in another realm when things went wrong while sending the people of Camelot back home. So he was able to restore magic and we rescued them."

"Hook?" he asked, frowning.

"Yes, Hook," Queenie interjected. "Zeus decided he could live while you're stuck down here."

Regina shot her a glare before continuing her story. "They had met someone there who could separate a person's evil side from their good. Snow gave me some of his compound and I used it to separate my evil side so I could destroy her. I saw it as a way to complete my journey to becoming a hero and get my happy ending at last."

"By killing me. You're definitely a hero if you're now being as hypocritical as them," Queenie taunted her.

Robin rubbed his face. "Okay, so she's your evil side?"

"Yes," she said.

Queenie leaned in, placing her hands on Regina's shoulders as she said: "I'm the fun side, you mean."

"The annoying side," Regina snapped at her, pushing her away.

"Enough!" Robin said, looking exasperated. He pressed his hand to his mouth for a few moments before removing it. This time he just looked sad. "Oh, Regina. I'm so sorry."

That surprised her and she frowned. "What are you sorry for?"

He took her hands and gently rubbed them with his thumbs. "That you were surrounded by people who agreed you needed to be fixed because I wasn't there to assure you that you were perfect the way you were."

"I was far from perfect," Regina told him, trying not to cry at how much love he held in his voice and his eyes.

"You still are," Queenie chimed in. "Even with me gone."

He looked between them and reached out to take Queenie's hand as well. "I meant perfect in the sense you were absolutely, one hundred percent not broken."

"I felt broken," she admitted. Queenie didn't offer a snappy comeback and when Regina glanced at her face, she saw the same sadness she felt in Queenie's eyes.

"I know you did," he said, pulling the two in and hugging both. "You were no doubt grieving and angry. And it seemed you couldn't even get a moment to process all of that before something else needed your attention. While I'm sure Snow had good intentions, you were not in the right place to make that decision and she should've realized that."

Regina rested her chin on his shoulder, closing her eyes. He was right. She was barely given any time to process the fact he was gone and grieve for him before she was thrown into her next adventure. At the time, it had taken her mind off her loss but she knew she was not okay on that rooftop in New York and was surrounded by a support system that ultimately was not very supportive. They had been walking on eggshells around her since Robin died and kept jumping whenever Regina showed any emotion that wasn't controlled grief. She had not been allowed to rage, to sob, to just feel her loss. She had to keep everything in because everyone was afraid she would become evil once more.

Would she have made the same decision had Robin been there? Probably not, she realized. She wouldn't have been grieving and would've thought she had been recognized as a hero because she was getting her happy ending. Even if she had considered it, Robin no doubt would've taken her hand and would've assured her that she was not broken, that her evil side made up who she was and that she didn't need to get rid of it to be better. That it was all about balance and that she was getting better at learning when it was okay to bring out the Evil Queen in small doses to help protect and save her family and town.

Snow and Emma no doubt thought they were doing something good for Regina but they probably wanted to destroy the Evil Queen more than she did. They used her pain and her suffering and her own self-loathing to achieve their own end – no more Evil Queen and no more need to fear what havoc she could bring to Storybrooke. And she played right into their hands.

Regina felt sick.

Opening her eyes, she pulled away from Robin though he kept his hand on her back. His attention, though, was on Queenie. She had her cheek pressed to his chest, her eyes closed as a tear slid down her cheek. Robin kissed her head and she tried to cuddle closer to him, eager for the love he was offering her. He just held her closer, making sure she could drink it all in.

Tears filled Regina's eyes. She remembered how alone she felt as the queen, how she was convinced she was unlovable so she kept everyone at arm's length. How whenever her father would hug her, she would sink into his embrace and feel like a vampire sucking up the love he gave her before pushing him away, once again convinced she didn't deserve it. Convinced that her mother was right about it being a weakness because she had to feel vulnerable. And she failed to see how vulnerability could be a strength rather than a weakness to be exploited. She continued to let her hatred and anger consume her until she became someone even she couldn't love.

And that was it, wasn't it? Back when she charmed an arrow meant to bring her to her soulmate to bring her to the person she hated most instead and fired it expecting it to bring her to Snow White, it brought her to a mirror so she could see herself. She hated herself the most, even more than Snow White. The problem wasn't that the Evil Queen existed. It was that Regina kept rejecting her – and in doing so, kept rejecting herself. She had even said that her happy ending was feeling home in the world, meaning she needed to embrace her darkness and accept that it makes her who she is – but that it didn't make her any less of a hero.

It was time for her to love herself.

She reached out and took Queenie's hand, drawing the attention of her other half. Regina swallowed her tears as she said: "I'm sorry."

"You are?" Queenie asked, surprised.

"I am," Regina replied, fighting back fresh tears. "I am sorry that I split us and tried to do away with you. I am so sorry that I let myself be manipulated into doing so in the first place. And most of all, I am so sorry that I wasn't able to love you, to love myself for who I was. Who I am."

Queenie's expression was unreadable but Regina expected her to have some snarky comeback, to revel in her apology. Instead, she pulled away from Robin and took Regina's other hand. "We really weren't given a chance to love ourself, were we?"

Regina shook her head. "We were not."

"So what do you propose we do?" Queenie asked.

"I think the only thing we can do," she replied, squeezing Queenie's hands. "We need to accept each other and become one again."

Queenie, though, looked hesitant. "Are you sure about that? Wouldn't I just set back everything you've done to become a hero?"

"No," Regina assured her. "Because I didn't become a hero after separating from you and sending you away. I started that process with you. And we're going to finish it together."

"Together," Queenie agreed, giving her a genuine smile.

A hand gently pressed against her back, reminding her of Robin's presence. He smiled as he looked between the two of them. "I'm glad that's settled. But how do we reunite you?"

Regina smiled as her heart seemed to give her the answer. "I have an idea."

"I think I have the same idea," Queenie replied with the same smile.

"Then I'll just step back and let you two work your magic," Robin said, kissing Regina's forehead and then Queenie's. He stepped back, giving them more than enough room.

Regina squeezed Queenie's hands. "You ready?"

"I am. Let's do this," Queenie said, letting go of her hands and hugging Regina. Regina returned the hug, holding onto her tightly.

Closing her eyes, Regina focused on the love she felt from Robin and Henry, letting it fill her. She then finally accepted that she was worthy of it and that she loved the person she was, accepting all parts that made her "Regina." Warmth spread through her and she felt Queenie start to fade in her arms, slowly being absorbed back into her.

With what felt like a snap, her arms fell to her side and she took a deep breath. There had been a part of her missing that she had ascribed to the loss of her soulmate but now she realized it was because she had been missing half of herself. She smiled, feeling whole once more.

"Regina?" Robin asked, hovering nearby. She opened her eyes and found him watching her cautiously, waiting for her verdict.

"It worked," she said, turning to him. "We're one again."

He smiled, pulling her in for a hug. Leaning down, he captured her lips with his and they stood there, just sharing a passionate kiss by the lake that separated the land of the living from the land of the dead.

When they broke, he grinned. "I didn't want to say anything back in the tavern, but your kiss didn't feel quite right then. It wasn't like when I kissed Zelena disguised as you as it still felt mostly like you but something was clearly missing. I thought it was me."

"No," she replied, surprised yet pleased he could tell so much about her from one kiss. It just proved how strong their bond was as soulmates. "It was me. But now I'm better. Or at least on my way there."

"And I will happily help you there," he told her, kissing her once more.

She pulled back, smiling before remembering the monumental task ahead of them. "We need to first bring you back to life."

"Right," he agreed, taking her hand. He motioned to the lake. "Shall we?"

"Let's go," she replied, giving his hand a squeeze. Together, they walked to the lake, ready to face what trials would be required to bring Robin back.

A boat waited for them but when they approached, the cloaked figure held out a bony hand to halt them. It pointed at Robin and shook his head before pointing back toward Bizarro!Storybrooke. Even though it didn't speak, Regina got the message loud and clear.

The dead could not leave.

But Regina would not give up so easily.

"He is coming with me," she insisted, tightening her grip on Robin's hand. "You will take us both back to the Upper World."

It shook its head again, holding firm.

Regina pulled out her sword and Robin did the same. She held hers up. "We will both go back, even if I have to destroy you and steer this boat myself."

The boat won't move for you, a whispery voice said directly in her mind. Destroy me and you will be trapped until another can take my place. And none will take him. The dead cannot just leave.

"Is there any way I can take him with me then?" she asked.

You need to complete the challenge.

Regina knew what it was talking about and she frowned, recalling Emma's account of what had happened when she and Hook had faced the challenge. "It's been rendered useless. Hades destroyed the tree that made the seeds needed to restore the dead."

"Is there anything else we can? Any other way for me to leave?" Robin asked, just as determined as her to find a way.

It was silent for a few moments before replying. You can appeal to a god.

"Where can I find one now that Hades is gone?" she asked.

I can take you to the base of Olympus. The rest would be up to you.

Regina looked at Robin, who nodded as he took her hand again after placing his sword back in its scabbard. She did the same before addressing the wraith.

"Let's go."

A/N: So here's part 2! This is getting longer than I intended, which is pretty much par for the course for me. It's never just a simple one-shot.

Stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon!

-Mac