Based on this prompt: Regina loses her wedding ring. Bonus points if she and Robin are in another country.
Turkey has one of the most beautiful sunsets she's ever seen.
The air smells of spices, the dying rays of late afternoon touching delicately upon the imposing structure of Istanbul's Blue Mosque, visible just outside her window. The light reflects on the surface of the water, too, creating an array of blues and pinks and oranges that would be breathtaking, were Regina not in the desolate mood she's in at the moment.
This trip was meant to be a good one, a chance for them to enjoy each other away from the pressures of the White House. It's a cultural visit, nothing more, no big agenda to take care of, just a few days out of Washington to meet with the leaders of Turkey and see a little bit of the country.
Instead, it had turned into a fight on Air Force One, and now she's here, in her hotel room, without her husband, hating every second she spends away from him.
She can't face him, though, not yet, because she feels she'll burst into tears the second she sets eyes on him, and she can't do that. She has to be stronger than that.
It's strange how, after everything they've been through, this is what gets her, a simple discussion about Roland's education landed them in one of the biggest arguments they've ever had. She wants him home schooled, wants a suitable teacher to come to the White House every day and work with him instead of sending him off to school. For his safety, she'd argued, just so that they're better able to keep an eye on him.
Robin had refused.
He needs a normal school experience, he'd told her, needs to interact with kids his age and make friends. And sure, Regina can see the point in that, but it's not like Roland is a lonely child. He has playdates almost every day with the children of staff members, sometimes even diplomats.
"It's not the same, Regina," Robin had told her, and his tone was so condescending, his words slow, like she was the child and not the parent. It had ignited this anger in her that she hadn't been able to snuff out.
"I don't want him in a place where I can't see him," she'd insisted.
"I know, and I understand, my love, but that's what the Secret Service is for. He'll have a detail keeping him safe, he'll—"
"I had a detail and we both still ended up in a hospital with gunshots," she'd remarked, and it was a low blow, a very low blow, because she knows how much it pains him still that he couldn't protect her, how much he regrets not putting the pieces together sooner.
The comment had brought his ire into play, and he'd almost growled with frustration, his neck taut and tense as he'd gritted his teeth and told her, "This isn't the same, Sidney's dead."
"I have other enemies, some of them with nuclear bombs, in case you didn't know."
"If someone decided to set off a nuclear bomb in Washington, do you think it would matter whether he's at home or at school? We'd all end up dead anyway!" he'd fired back. A morbid notion, if she's ever heard one, but he'd been right.
She wasn't about to let him know that, though.
"I'm trying to protect him," she'd settled on, her tone snappier than she'd meant it to be.
"No, you're trying to shelter him, it's different."
It'd become a bit of a screaming match after that. Thankfully, the conference room they'd been in on Air Force One was soundproof, otherwise the entire staff would've heard their harsh words and angry tones.
Regina doesn't like it when they yell at each other, not at all, but she can handle it, can see past his pigheaded stubbornness and understand his point. And then he'd said something, something that had shattered her heart into a million pieces. One specific word that broke her in ways nothing else ever has.
"I will not have my son grow up as an outsider just because you're too scared to let him experience the world as he should!"
She'd backed out then, quietly stepped away and left the room. He'd tried to stop her by calling out her name, but Regina hadn't looked back.
Instead, she had locked herself up in her study, sunk to the floor with her back against the door, and cried for the rest of the flight.
A soft knock startles her from her somber musings, has her turning from the window with her arms crossed over her chest. And there is her assistant, telling her it's almost time for her dinner with Turkey's committee for cultural development. Ruby will be stopping by in a few minutes to help with her gown.
"Got it. Thanks, Ingrid."
The blonde nods and leaves, door shutting softly behind her, and Regina looks at the garment bag placed over the bed, takes a deep breath, and starts getting ready.
There's something off. Something that has her on edge all throughout the meal, and for the life of her, Regina cannot figure out what that is.
It may have to do with the fact that Robin isn't at the dinner. But no, that can't be it, the plan was always for her to attend solo, while Robin meets with the American Ambassador. Still, she feels... uneasy.
By the time dessert is being served, she finally figures out why.
There's a moment, when the discussion between her and one of the Turkish leaders becomes a little too political, that she gets nervous. She's not supposed to discuss politics on this visit, lest they bring up the new arms deal Turkey wants to negotiate, a deal she's not yet ready to comply with.
Still, they keep turning the subject back to that one topic, and her frazzled nerves have her fidgeting noticeably, so she seeks comfort, tries to appease her own tumultuous mind with physical reassurance, her thumb seeking her ring finger to twirl her wedding band. It's become a habit of hers to do this when she needs to settle down. The repetitive motion is one that helps her breathe, helps her regroup even while maintaining the diplomatic facade that's expected of her at these events...
Only, when she tries to turn the white gold band that usually accompanies her engagement ring, she meets skin instead of the smooth metal texture.
Confused, Regina looks down, and finds that yes, her wedding ring is indeed missing.
The words of the portly man beside her fade away into an echoing chorus of Bla bla bla, and she distractedly excuses herself and rises from her chair, hauling her too-heavy, floor length gown in her hands as she walks to the door as fast as her heels will allow.
She finds Ruby at the small part of the venue designated for her staff, pays no mind to the startled looks and hurried greetings of President Mills and Ma'am she gets from everyone there, and her urgency must show on her face, because Ruby does not even stop to greet her.
"What's wrong?" she asks right away.
It's only then that Regina realizes it may not be best to air her troubles in front of the entire staff, and asks for a private word, dragging her to the corner for privacy.
"My wedding ring is gone," she tells her, and to Ruby's credit, she doesn't flinch, doesn't even roll her eyes at the knowledge that this isn't some life-or-death state matter.
"We'll find it," she promises instead, her tone resolute and firm. "When did you last have it?"
"I have no idea, I looked down and suddenly it wasn't there," Regina responds desperately, her voice trembling as she does.
The young woman's hands land on her arms, hold them firmly as she tells her again, "Madam President? Listen to me, it's okay, I'll find it. It probably just fell out of your jewelry box back at the room. No big deal. But right now, you need to get back to your event. Just tell Agent Little to grant me access to the room and I'll look for it, okay?"
Regina nods, takes a deep breath to calm her trembling hands. It shouldn't affect her so much, it's a ring, losing it doesn't mean she and Robin don't love each other.
But it is also the symbol of their commitment to one another, the token of each other's affection that sealed their lives together when they married.
"I need that ring back, Ruby," she pleads.
"You'll have it, it's gonna be fine," her stylist promises again, and hurries out of there, while Regina is left to exchange awkward smiles with the remaining staff, and head back to the dinner in her honor.
Ruby tells her she tried.
Her voice is shaky as she tells her over and over again that she's looked everywhere, that she has no idea where it could be, but that if she just gives her a couple more hours maybe she can—
Regina stops her there, shakes her head, and tells her it's fine, this isn't her fault.
"Thank you, though, for trying," she says.
When the woman has left, Regina turns the hotel room upside down, frantically searching for the ring before Robin gets in. But her efforts are to no avail, and the ring remains lost.
When he arrives just before midnight, she pretends to be asleep, partly because she doesn't want him to notice what she's missing, and partly because she really has no energy to pick their argument back up.
He's gone before she wakes the morning after, and Regina thanks whatever god is out there for small miracles. At least this means she has a few more hours to find the ring before she has to tell him she's lost it.
Except the thing never does turn up, and she's forced to go another night without it, burying her hand under the pillow to stop him from seeing it when he joins her in the room.
"Regina, I... I want us to talk about this. Please, say something," he whispers into the darkness, his hand seeking hers under the covers. She jerks it away as if burned, and she doesn't need more than the moonlight streaming in from outside to see how much the action hurts him.
She turns over, so that her back is facing him, and goes to sleep, his frustrated sigh cutting into her very soul.
The next morning, he parks himself at the hotel room door, and refuses to let her leave until they've talked things out.
"Robin, I don't have time for this right now," she says with a roll of her eyes. "People are expecting me."
"Tough luck," he retorts with a shrug.
"Fine, go ahead, tell me again how I'm being paranoid and ridiculous, but do it fast, I have a meeting to attend," she drones, arms crossed over her chest, and it makes him clench his teeth in anger.
"Don't condescend me, Regina. I'm trying to get you to talk to me so we can fix this. Because I love you, and I hate that you're avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding you," she argues, her tone sounding petulant even to her.
"Then why can't you even look me in the eye?! Are you really that proud that you can't accept you've made a mistake?" he claps back, and oh, no. That is not gonna fly with her. He has no right, no right, to treat her like her anger isn't warranted, like she's the one who's wrong in all this.
"Oh, so now I made a mistake? Really? That's rich coming from you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Tell me, Robin, did you even stop to think about how I would feel? What it would do to me?"
"What what would do to you?!" he is frustrated, and seems genuinely clueless as to how he's hurt her. It only makes her angrier.
"You said he was yours!" she yells back, and suddenly there are tears, hot and traitorous, brimming quickly her eyes until they spill, falling in salty tracks down her cheeks.
He looks confused at her words, frowns and tries to make sense of what she's just said, and Regina cannot believe he'd be so oblivious to this.
"'I don't want my son to grow up as an outsider'. That's what you said. You called him yours. Not ours, yours. You don't see me as his mother, you never have."
She's stunned him into silence, realization dawning on him as she speaks.
"Oh, Regina," he says, slowly walking closer, seeking her out. But she doesn't want this right now, doesn't want to hear him appease her and tell her he didn't mean it. Right now, she just wants to leave.
When his hand touches her arm, she flinches away, and uses his shock to her advantage. She walks out of the room, leaves him to stare after her.
She powers through her meetings, smiles for the cameras and tries her best to enjoy the beautiful things being shown to her. She tours Istanbul with a few diplomats, meets her Ambassador for coffee, even shops for a few souvenirs at the market... But nothing feels as it should. The colors seem duller, the air stuffier, even the sight of the ocean, with its gentle waves and its ability to swallow the noise around her, doesn't help calm her overtaxed mind. Instead, it makes her sad thoughts gain a rhythm as they wash back and forth in her head in time with the surf.
"Maybe we should head back now," she says, standing on a secure spot by the docks, looking out at the view before her. She expects her assistant to answer, but is met with silence.
"Ingrid?" she calls out, still looking out at the water, at the yachts and fishing boats moving in it.
Again, she gets no response, but two strong and very familiar arms wrap around her from behind just then, and she can't resist, rather lets her body fall back against him and sighs, her arms still crossed over her chest.
"I'm so sorry," Robin whispers into her hair, his voice barely audible over the crashing waves and gusting wind. She hears seagulls as she closes her eyes and lets her head drop back to his shoulder, and then the soft touch of his lips is on her cheek, her neck, her shoulder, each kiss marked with a heartfelt Sorry.
"I didn't realize," he admits. "Clearly, I wasn't thinking."
"Clearly," she echoes in a dejected tone.
"I'd never want to hurt you that way, Regina, you have to believe that. And of course he's our son. I didn't mean that he was mine alone when I said that. Come to think of it, I've always thought him 'ours' in some capacity. Even when we were just friends. You and Roland have always been so close, I would never, for one second, doubt your relationship or want to take it from you."
His speech is murmured into her ear, and Regina listens, believes it, believes him, but the ache of that dreadful moment still rings loud and clear. He must sense it, because he lets go of her, moves back to the bench behind them for a second, and then resumes his position, his cheek pressed against hers as he presents her with a manila envelope, urging her to open it.
She finds documents inside, of course, sheets of paper the wind tries to wrestle away from her grasp, but she holds tight, reads over the first few paragraphs of the top page, and gasps, free hand covering her mouth as tears start to prickle at her eyes.
"Is this what I think it is?" her voice breaks as she utters the question, and she feels Robin's chin dig into her shoulder as he nods.
"I had them drawn last month, and have carried them everywhere with me since then. Things have been so crazy, I haven't really had time to sit down with you to discuss it and get all the required documents together, but... And I know it's not a necessary step, because we've never needed a piece of paper to tell us Roland is our son. But I want it to be official. You're his mother, Regina, always. Even when I'm a bloody idiot and make you feel like you're not."
She chuckles at that, and then sniffles, because she's crying again, can't help it. Robin's grip on her tightens, his nose burrowing into her neck as he places yet another kiss there and apologizes again.
"Is that why you took your ring off? Because you thought I didn't see you as his mum?" he asks her then, his voice hesitant as he grabs her hand with his and rubs his thumb over her ring finger. "I'm sorry I was an arse, but there's no reason we can't work past this. I promise, I won't ever make you feel like that again. And if homeschooling will make you feel better, then we'll do it, but please, don't write us off like this, my love."
He's talking to her like... like he's trying to convince her to stay. Like he's fearful this was just too much for her to handle. So she hurries to explain, moving away from his embrace and turning to look him in the eye.
"No, no, it wasn't that. I lost my ring. I didn't... Ruby thinks it fell out of my jewellery box last night and we can't find it."
His answering Oh is a long sigh, deep and relieved.
"And you're right, Roland should have as normal a life as possible, and Sidney's gone now, he can't harm him." She exhales loudly as she says it, then adds, "We can look into schools when we get back. Just promise me it'll be one we can surround with the entire Secret Service if we want to. I need it to be one where we can keep him safe."
"Deal," he tells her, dotting a kiss to the tip of her nose.
"You thought I wanted to leave you?" she asks then, frowning a little.
"I... I don't know what I thought, exactly, it just... scared me."
And to her own surprise, she smiles, shakes her head as she places the adoption papers back into their envelope and drops it on the bench, her hands now free to cup his face and bring it down to her own. His hands move to rest over hers on his cheeks, his nose brushing hers gently before she lands a kiss on his lips.
"Never gonna happen," she tells him, "I'm with you. Always."
He smiles at that, his arms moving down to loop around her waist. Her security detail are posted just a couple of feet away, and have likely heard their entire exchange, but Regina doesn't care about that right now, because finally, the pinks and oranges of the sunset look as cheery as she'd expected, and the sunlight on the water is sparkly and playful. The warm air is no longer stifling, but rather pleasant and invigorating, and the sights and sounds she'd thought dull and muted before, now spring to life and unravel in a whirl of color, peaceful and wonderful, with the scent of cardamom permeating their surroundings as she stands there in her husband's arms, taking in the beauty of this faraway land.
Ruby finds the ring that same night while they're packing, inside the garment bag that had held Regina's gown for that elegant dinner. She presents it to her and Robin with the proudest of smiles, and Regina thanks her profusely.
When they're alone, Robin slips it back onto her finger, kisses it, and together, they board Air Force One an hour later, ready to fly back home to their son.
