For the first time in their marriage, Robin felt a distance between him and his wife. He assumed it was just something that could be ironed out in time, but with each second passing by like an eternity, it was hard to keep the faith. Sure they had fights before, arguments that could be resolved within a day or two with a surge of sympathy. They were always on the same page, the two of them, and could never stay angry at the other for very long.
When he looked at Regina then, the love was still there, but she felt a million miles away, even with a warm embrace. So much had happened before the night Zelena ruined everything- their daughter had discovered the secret they kept from her, and he feared the betrayal of it all still loomed inside her somehow. Stress had been something Regina could manage, but her current actions were a new thing entirely. He wanted to connect with her and share her grief- instead, she only retreated further with every advance he tried.
"Caroline's been really wanting to do target practice," she told him, in the middle of fixing her hair. It had been the first words exchanged that morning. "She's been talking about it for three days now."
Robin knew she was right- Caroline had been bringing it up every chance she could get, getting more and more persistent each time. Truthfully, however, he didn't feel like teaching her. It hadn't been a full week since their return, and he was still craving normality. He remembered the glimmer of excitement brimming in her eyes after she fixed that villager's bow in the Enchanted Forest.
"If she really wants to, sure," he replied halfheartedly, applying shaving cream to his jawline. He soon became nervous, watching his wife curl her hair from the reflection in the vanity mirror. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about, fear that needed to be expressed instead of hidden away. He had no idea what he would unleash if he started talking- but the silence was slowly tearing away at him, bringing him to a point of insanity. Something had to be done.
"Hey, I know all of this has been hard for you," he began, the uneasiness of it all sending him into new territory. Robin waited for her eyes to catch his in the mirror, finishing up the final strokes to his face. "I still have no idea what happened to you after Zelena put that spell on you."
Wiping his face with a towel, he turned towards her, noting the initial surprise that showed through her expression. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, seeming unsure of where to begin.
"I went to the place I believed I was finally free from," she said solemnly, confirming Robin's deepest fears. All along he knew that she had returned to Leopold's castle- something within him refused to believe it was true. A rush of sadness flooded through him, and soon he was standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder. She had given up on the hair curler, her long, dark hair only halfway done.
"Tell me how I can help you," he continued, the words flowing out before he could stop them, "I can't stand to see you like this."
The hollow look in her eyes was something that couldn't be ignored; her gaze went straight through him, as if he wasn't there at all. "There isn't really anything you can do- there's so much going on right now. The psycho wicked witch is nowhere to be found, Caroline's dealing with her magic, Roland needs us now more than ever-"
"You can't do any of those things until you've taken care of yourself," Robin told her, cutting her off. "No offense, but you haven't been very present these last few days. You're not sleeping soundly and I've barely seen you eat anything."
He could feel her nature turn cold, and instantly retracted his hand from her shoulder.
"Well, no offense, but you don't know what I've been through. What do you want me to do, talk to the only therapist in town and spill all my problems?"
He wanted to let everything out then- how Zelena wasn't the crazy woman she made her out to be, how Caroline had gotten quite good at her magic, and how terrified he was to see the secrets within her childhood home. Most of all, he wanted to tell her how much she had changed; her hair had lost its glow, her skin pale and paper thin. It was as if the fire that kept her going had been snuffed out, leaving everything to decay and ruin.
Instead of saying those things, however, their daughter's voice sounded from downstairs, calling for her father. The tension didn't lessen between them, and for a moment they glanced at one another in the reflection of the vanity mirror.
"We can continue this conversation later," he said, surrendering to Caroline's wishes and heading towards the door.
The ten year old had already found his longbow and put it to use, standing in the center of the living room with the bow positioned upright and the string tightened between two fingers. When Robin entered the room, she released the string, causing it vibrate between the empty air. She then smiled towards her dad, playful and enduring.
"I'm getting the hang of it," she announced, earning an eye roll from her brother.
"You actually have to use arrows one of these days- right now you're snapping a rubber band."
"I couldn't find the arrows! Dad, what took you so long?"
Robin struggled to push the worries about his wife aside and be present. "You can't be shooting arrows in the living room- let's move this outside."
Caroline raced towards the backyard, the bow clutched in her hands. Roland, however, remained on the couch.
"I don't think you're going to want to miss this," his father told him, sounding more like an order than a suggestion. Recognizing the authority in his voice, Roland obeyed and followed them into the backyard. The morning air was already warm, though rustling wind brought back the all too familiar feeling of winter. Roland shuddered every time a gust of wind hit him, making him wish he had a jacket. His sister didn't seem to mind, braving the elements like it was no issue at all. Robin had ventured back inside and brought out a makeshift target, placing it against the back fence- an empty glass bottle.
"First rule of archery- never point an arrow at anyone, even as a joke. People can get seriously hurt."
Caroline instantly gave him a look. "What about bad guys? You pointed arrows at practically everyone in the Enchanted Forest."
Knowing that rebuttal was coming, Robin had a quick reply. "That was an extreme circumstance- we won't be back there any time soon."
The ten year old held back her annoyance as best she could, aware that there was no chance at winning that battle. As intense as their time running from the Ice Queen was, she found herself hanging on those memories before drifting off to sleep every night since their return. Experiencing Ruby in full transformation, her father willing to move heaven and earth to keep everyone safe, even Will fearlessly scaling up a castle wall were things that stuck with her. Even the brief glimpse of the Evil Queen was enough to spark a certain level of curiosity, opening a world that she didn't know existed. She wanted to explore her magic- she wanted to explore so many things- for the time being, shooting arrows with her dad was fulfilling enough.
"So I just have to hit the bottle?" She asked, raising the bow and eyeing her target. "Seems easy enough to me."
Robin suppressed a laugh, admiring her tenacity. Adjusting the arrow onto her bow, he put her fingers in position for her. Pulling her arm back as far as she could, Caroline felt her stance faltering. Still, she released the string, watching the arrow zoom right past her target and end up in the fence- even Roland seemed surprised at the power such a small arrow held.
"If it weren't for the wind, it would've gone straight through that bottle," she stated, before her brother could make a snide remark.
"You have to think of all the variables before you shoot- if just one little thing is off, the target won't be hit."
Caroline thought about how easy it would be to use her magic- it would've taken hardly any effort at all, and gotten the job done just the same. It was nice, however, to be taught by her father, to enter into his world.
She raised the bow again, focusing more on the force of the wind and the target up against the fence. When the tension of the string became too much to bear, she released her grip, sending the arrow flying- it skimmed across the top of the bottle.
Releasing a frustrated sigh, Caroline avoided looking at her father, instead staring down the bottle and resisting the temptation to set it on fire.
"You're getting the hang of it," Robin said, offering to relieve her of her accumulating stress. "Roland, why don't you give it a try?"
The teenager abruptly snapped out of the trance he found himself in and walked over, knowing that resisting would get him in trouble. He had no desire to shoot anything, especially with all the clamor going on in his head. That's why, when he rose the bow up to the target and followed his dad's instructions, he let go of the string without much preparation, the arrow hit the grass in front of the bottle. Caroline stifled a laugh just as a voice sounded from behind.
"I see archery runs in the family!"
Roland whipped around to see August standing at the back door, a smile on his face. He was caught off guard, clumsily holding the bow and thinking about how dumb he probably looked.
"It's been a while since I've seen you around here!" Robin replied, only deepening his son's embarrassment. "Do you want to try?"
August walked over and gently took the bow from Roland, giving him a subtle glance as he did so. Robin repeated the basic instruction once again, and soon the redhead drew the string back, his toned forearms making it look easy. He steadied his aim and released his grip, soon finding the arrow directly headed for the bottle- it burst into a pile of glass shards.
"Wow, that was fun!" He exclaimed, allowing a boisterous smile to spread across his freckled face.
"Not bad for a first shot," Robin marveled, causing his son's embarrassment to boil over. He couldn't stand being rejected by his own family, the feeling of alienation setting in quickly.
"Do you want to hang out upstairs?" He asked, salvaging the remnants of his dignity before he dissolved into nothingness.
August was hesitant to hand the bow over to Robin, but agreed anyways. "Yeah, let's do it. Your mom said she would make snacks I love."
The mention of Regina spiked Robin's attention, causing their previous conversation to resurface. He hated the feeling of uncertainty- it was something he thought he had left behind in the Enchanted Forest.
"You two have fun," Robin replied, his woeful ignorance of the situation providing relief to Roland. They both vanished back inside the house, leaving Caroline and Robin alone in the backyard.
"We'll have to find another target," Caroline said, still taken aback by August's perfect aim. When she noticed her father peering down at his phone, her expression turned sour. Returning home had been the one thing she had wanted for weeks- she wouldn't have wanted that if she's known it meant coming back to her family ignoring her like they did before.
"Earth to Dad, daughter speaking," she called towards him, eventually gaining back his attention.
He put his phone back in his pocket, a regretful look on his face. "I'm sorry, that was Will... he needs to talk with me about something important. Can you entertain your mother for a bit? Or maybe find out where Henry ran off to?"
"What're your guys gonna talk about? Is it about Zelena?"
He hated disappointing her, especially when she was so used to being a part of the action. Being home meant she was back to being a kid instead of a target for powerful people- he knew that was an adjustment that would take her some time to get used to. It was impossible to tell her the truth, that he was preparing himself to hear some information about his wife that his brother somehow knew and he didn't, something that Will deemed of high importance. Instead of telling her the truth, he fished for a believable story so he could be on his way.
"No, it's about who's going to take over the animal shelter- boring stuff that has to be talked about."
Caroline's scowl deepened- her Dad was ditching her to talk about the animal shelter? She never expected things would get so boring so quickly. Reluctantly parting ways, the ten year old went back inside to find her mother quietly cleaning in the kitchen.
"Where's he running off to?" Regina asked, surprised that he would pass up family time for something else.
"Talking about the animal shelter with Will- I don't know," she replied, plopping herself down on the couch and flipping through tv channels.
Regina knew that wasn't true- the animal shelter where he had worked before his trip between realms never needed discussing. Everything had shifted since the return, and it was going to make her go absolutely mad. Still, she gathered whatever sense of normalcy left within her and took a seat next to her daughter on the couch, watching some game show she had put on.
Beside her, Caroline's mind drifted off to wherever Zelena was in the universe, imagining what kind of situation she was in. Wherever she went, chaos followed- whether the trouble was good or bad was beyond her knowledge. All she knew was she wished she was there with her.