Chapter 6: The Little Hobbit

He couldn't believe what he just saw. He starred with his giant brown eyes, eyebrows reaching the top of his forehead, and his mouth open as far as it would.

"Woahhhhh" Was all he was able to say. He remembered going to bed, Papa, had gone with the others on an a 'venture through the forest, so Fair Tuck had tucked him into bed, but then he started hearing noises, and it woke him up. Being the curious little four year old Merry Man that he was, he simply had to find out what the commotion going on outside his tent was!

When he crawled out into the cold night, he saw people he didn't know, he heard his Papa, and he followed his voice. He knew Papa would be mad if he was up from his tent, but he was wide awake now. He moved like the little bandit he was, and what he saw next shocked him, it was the prettiest lady had ever seen, and she had MAGIC coming out of her hands. He was completely and utterly amazed. He just had to go and meet her, but before his little legs could carry him, she walked away, and she looked sad. He didn't want her to be sad. He was going to find her, but suddenly he was being thrown into the air.

"PAPA!" He squealed as he landed back into the arms of his father, and hugged him fiercely.

"Papa, that lady, she has magic! Did you see! It was purple and she made it go to the sky Papa! Why is it in the sky Papa, who is she! I need to talk to her Papa!"

"Whoa there my boy, your far to awake for boy who is supposed to be sleeping lad. But," he leaned into his sons ears and whispered, "That's the Queen."

He swore his boys eyes were going to pop out, for they grew wider than he had ever seen, and the gasp that followed made him chuckle.

"But Papa, they said the queen was Evil, and mean, but she just look sad, and very very pretty Papa"

"When did you get so smart little man? Come on, its way past your bed time."

/

Roland couldn't sleep, there was a QUEEN in the camp, and she had magic, how could he ever sleep! He slept with his Papa that night, but Papa was too tired, and he went to sleep way before Roland's bed time story was over, but it was ok, because Roland had a mission to complete.

His oversized bed shirt dragged behind him as he made his way out of the tent. He wasn't raised by the Merry Men without learning how to sneak out, this Papa often found him wandering the forest alone, much to his disliking, but he never strayed far.

Now, there were some of these people to which he did not know still awake, although most had been situated in their tents, but he snuck around them, it was dark, and being the skillful young boy he way, he found the Majesty's tent. 'Why is she so far away from everyone' he thought. Suddenly, the mission he was determined to accomplish hit a road block. He remembered the stories of the Evil Queen, she wasn't supposed to be a nice lady, but she just looked sad.

He hide behind a bush, pondering what to do. He wanted to talk to her, wanted to know what the purple stuff in the air was, wanted to know how she had magic, and he simply needed to know why they called her evil. He started making his move when he heard her, he couldn't make out what she was saying, but she sounded scared, kind of like when he woke up from a nightmare and wanted his Papa. Maybe that's what she was doing, she was having a nightmare, and he would be the one to hold her, of that he was certain. He made his way into her tent, and slowly made it to her bed. 'These sheets are really soft' he said to himself as he got side tracked with the feeling of her mysterious sheets and furs. But then she moved under the covers, and it was enough for him to get back on track. He would do the same thing Papa did to him when he would wake from a bad dream, so he started humming to the best his little voice would, and started stroking her hair. Unfortunately for Regina, his stroking method, was bit too hard, and it managed to wake her dream. Not that she minded, for it would be another sleepless night dreaming of her little prince. Slowly she opened her eyes, and her heart stopped, this couldn't be real, Henry could not be here in this moment petting her hair, there was no way this was real. She must be dreaming. Hazily she opened her eyes, but the petting continued, she herd the humming, could this really be her little prince.

"...Henry?" But the child's brow pinched together, and the dream was over. Brown eyes stared into brown ones, the hand petting her hair froze, and then she was flashed with a dimpled filled grin.

"Majesty, you awake!"

Immediately, the sleep that clouded her eyes left, and she shot up in bed, staring at the cherubic face of a boy who looked just like Henry when he was at this age.

"Who are you and what are you doing here young man?"

"I'm Roland! " he exclaimed as he abruptly stood up, and bowed down to her, his hair practically touching the bed, but his footing was off and lost his balance. He back flipped right onto Regina's thighs, and broke into a giggle fit.

She caught the little boys head, not wanting him to hurt himself, and the boy's laughter was enough to crack a smile to her face. As his laughter quieted down he spoke once more, "Oops, sorry M'jesty, I sorry."

"It's ok dear, but why are you in my tent, shouldn't you be with your mother." The last thing she needed, was for a mother storming into her tent, accusing her of trying to steal of kill her child. She may have been the evil queen, but not even at her worst would she hurt a child.

"My Papa told me Mama is up with the stars." Her heart went out for this child, he never got to have his mother by his side.

"But I simply had to see you! You have magic! And you're the Queen! But you made magic come out of your hands, how! And then it went into the sky, and now it's like a purple cloud up there!" He rambled as he pointed with his little fingers to the sky outside the tent, He continued with his rambles, and she just stared in awe. She wasn't the Evil Queen to this little boy, she was just someone with magic, and with no ulterior motive other than just pure curiosity. With Henry, her magic was dark and evil in his mind when he hated her for being the Evil Queen. When she used it around him, she always felt guilty, even though he encouraged her to use it for the brief time they were together after things with Emma settled. But for the first time, in a very long time, she was able to simply be Regina to this little boy, and it managed to warm her cold grieving heart.

"Roland, honey calm down, you're going to run out of breath" she chuckled trying to stop the boy before passing out for the lack of oxygen he was not receiving. He giggled as he listened to her words, and stopped his rambling. They sat there silently looking at each other, he was playing with her hair, situated comfortably on her lap, and just looked at her, while she loosely help him.

"Why are your eyes so sad M'jesty?" His question took her by surprise, and all she was able to manage was a sad smile, telling the child that grownups get sad sometimes, and right now she was sad because she was missing someone very dear to her. He just continued to stare at her, his face turning into one of a confused one. After a minute or so of his mind running wild, he turned his confused looked into another smile.

"Is ok M'jesty, I get sad sometimes too, but Papa says it's ok to be sad, but we can't stay sad forever, otherwise our skin turns blue! And you're too pretty to turn blue M'jesty." She laughed as his face turned into shock, and wrapped her arms around the boy. She ran her hand through his curly mop of hairs, the other rubbing his back. She took comfort in holding onto this child, and the laughter he was able to cause in her, she didn't know why, but it soothed her, and the need to protect him was one that rivaled her feelings for her little prince.

"You know Roland, you can call me Regina, I don't like it when people call me Majesty, and it only makes me sadder." She whispered into her ears, and it was true. She never wanted to be Queen, she just wanted her Daniel, and her happiness.

"Rrr, Rrrgggnaa…. GINA!"

"Yes, Gina," as she met him with the most sincere smile she had. "And you know what, you were very brave to come in here like you did. I know no one else would have done what you did Roland. You're a brave little knight." The moment she said the words, he jumped from her arms, puffed his little chest and exclaimed 'I'm your brave Knight Gina?!'

They spent the rest of the night talking and giggling, she knew she wouldn't allow the boy into her heart, but she was rather fond of the child. He told her stories of his adventures, until she heard someone outside calling the boy's name. Just for tonight she would rejoice in his presence, and his unadulterated version of reality, oh the beauty of innocence in the eyes of a child, she thought to herself.

Roland's eyes grew wide, and whispered, 'uh-oh, Papas awake'.

She put on her robe, and lifted Roland from his bed, making her way outside. As he left their little sanctuary, she faced the child's father. "Naturally he would be his father" she muttered under her breath.

"Ahem"

"Roland! By gods son where have gone! You have no idea how you scarred me, don't do that again!" He was frantic as he took his son from the woman's arms. He didn't even recognize her with her down, but after he had the boys in his arms, he saw it was the Queen. With the light of a nearby fire, she looked so much younger than her years, absolutely stunning.

"The forest is no place for a child to roam at night alone, I expect you to take better care of your son. You should know by now the dangers that lurked outside this barrier." She said while glaring at him. She walked closer to them, while Robin stood still as a statue. He knew she was right, but instead of fearing for his child that was in the arms of the supposed evil queen seconds ago, he felt relief in knowing he son was never safer than in the presence of the Queen. She grew closer, and much to his dismay, she closed the gap between her and his son, placing a kiss on his cheek that resembled something that one would give someone else as if they were saying goodbye. "Goodnight Little Knight." With that she walked away, and made her way to her tent, while he heard his son say to her 'Night Gina'.

/

It's been two weeks since everyone arrived at the castle now, filled with more people than Regina cared to admit.

Her plan for her sleeping curse had failed, explosively, no one has seen or heard from the Queen since their arrival, and she was more than happy with that. She spent her days in her chambers reading, or in her personal library trying to make sense of everything that's happened.

Turns out she had a sister, that her loving mother failed to inform her about, but none the less it had it was true. When she made it to her castle alone, her crypt was broken into, and the only way to get in there was of blood relation, for she had sealed it with blood magic.

Zelena her name is, a red headed green bitch, who is gun-ho on ruining Regina's life. Apparently life has been nothing but rainbow kisses and unicorns in Regina's life, while she has spent her life in misery living in Oz. Oh but if she only knew the truth. If she only knew how much her life was never hers to begin with, she was never Regina, she was just a pawn for everybody to play with.

Granny and Snow did their best to see her, but it was no use, they didn't know about Zelena, nor did they need to, she was after Regina, and Regina alone. Being the Evil Queen, she knew having people who she cared about will only turn them into a liability. If this witch wanted a fight, she would get it from her, and herself alone. So she locked herself away, reading everything she could about this Wicked Witch. But Snow and Granny weren't her only attempted visitors, the little boy who crawled into her tent that night ago, he came to try and see her every day. He was a persistent little thing, coming by once, twice, even three times a day. 'I'll come back again Gina' she would hear him say in a defeated voice, and he was the hardest to resist, that little brown mop of curls, and dimpled face was what she craved for the most, his innocence allowed her the chance to be Regina, even if it had been just for one night.

So here she was, leaning against her balcony of her bedroom, her hair down an in a simple summer dress, overlooking the front of her palace, watching as the little boy played with his father, and his so called Merry Men. The boys laughter warmed her heart, and the sight of his father created an unwanted feeling in her chest, one she couldn't put a name on, but a part of her wished that she could be part of the scene that was playing in front of her. She knew he could see her, they made eye contact several times while he was chasing after his son, often offering a small smile. She returned it to him, for she knew he was the one to leave her a basket of food for her every day in the library, he was never there when she arrived, and why he was looking after her was beyond her, but she appreciated it.

As she looked up to the sky, that's when she saw it, a small heard of her sisters winged freaks making their way to the castle, specifically to the front of the castle, where a dimpled little boy was running in fear to his father after hearing the screeching of the beasts.

She disappeared out of her room down to the dining hall.

"Were under attack, get your weapons, and head for the front of the castle" she declared.

"NOW!"

/

Seconds later she appeared on the front lawns of the castle, frantically searching for the boy and his father. What she saw in front of her made her see red. Robin's men were shooting towards the sky, desperately trying to shoot down as many beasts as they could, but they were simply out numbered. Regina started flinging her fireballs to the beasts, all while trying to reach Robin and his son. There was no way in hell she was letting anyone get hurt while someone was trying to hurt her. This witch had another thing coming if she thought she would hurt anyone within the walls of this castle. And that's when she saw them, his son hiding behind his father's legs for protection, while he shoot arrows into the sky.

Things her getting out of hand, everyone made their way outside to fend themselves against these creatures. At the corner of her eyes she saw the Charming's, Granny, and a wolfed out Ruby, along with countless others trying to take these winged beasts out. Arrows and swords were being fought against these creatures, when she heard Roland's scream, when she turned to look Robin was lying on the ground, and a monkey ready to strike again. That's when she had enough. It was time to bring her own cavalry of magic forward. With a streak of red lightening from her hands, the creature set to attack the man and child was killed instantly. She looked around her as her hands continued to shoot the red streaks into the flying monkeys, one by one they met their explosive death.

The battle was over, at least for today, when she was sure the monkeys were dead, or flown away she rushed to Robins side. Thankfully he was alive and breathing, but a nasty gash on his arms. Without asking, she bent down to his level, kneeling behind Roland, and took hold of the injured arm. She closed her eyes, and she healed his man's arms. He couldn't read her expression, it resembled fear, and worry, all while holding Roland in her arms. Once he was healed she turned her attention to the boy in her arms, checking for injuries while her face streamed with tears. The thought of something happening to this child was not something she was ever going to ready for. She hugged him fiercely, when she felt a set of arms embracing her as well. She knew it was him, and she leaned into his embrace while holding on to Roland. The feelings she had for these two were inexplicable, but she swore to protect them. After everything that had just occured, she felt safe in his embrace, that's when she pulled back a bit, brown eyes starring into blue ones. She memorized every detail of his face, and As he was about to thank her, they all head a cackle in the air. She broke their embrace, and their heads tuned to the north gate.

The gate to the castle flung open, and her so called sister made her grand entrance...

A:N

Happy Once Day! I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am, i would love to here your thoughts so far.

Alot of Dimples queen this chapter and loads more to come. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave your thoughts!