This oneshot was inspired by Outlawqueenbey's adorable doodle for prompt party 2019 based on prompt 60, which can be found here. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
She misses him.
Not the Wish Realm version of him- as far as she's concerned, her other half can have him. Although it was wonderful to encounter a version of him again, to hear his voice, see his handsome face, she realized that ultimately, Robin of Locksley was meant for the Evil Queen.
But Regina misses her Robin. The way he would brush her hair back behind her ear with his fingers just before he kissed her. The soft way he would call her "milady" that never failed to melt her heart, even during the missing year. And perhaps most of all (though she'll deny it), she misses the way he could read her like no one else, not even her baby boy who is a child no longer.
Now that Drizella brought her out of the curse, although Regina keeps some of Roni's distinctive features to keep up appearances (only in the form of those awful jeans that Henry's always been so fond of and keeping the bar running), Regina can't help reminiscing about all of these characteristics of Robin's that she longs for. In a way, being under the curse was a blessing because although she felt that there was something missing, she couldn't figure out what. Now that she knows, knows that her soulmate is lost to her forever, the ache in her heart never leaves. She imagines that he's there with her, which is the worst feeling. She'll imagine him lying next to her at night, his arm around her, then wake up to find it was only her imagination playing a cruel trick on her yet again.
One day, Regina finds a fox sitting at the back door of Roni's, and her thoughts immediately go to him- more specifically, to the animated cartoon made a decade before her arrival in the Land Without Magic that bears his name.
The fox acts like it knows her, immediately coming up to her and brushing its head against her leg. Is it actually… nuzzling her? Regina knows it's crazy- it is a fox, after all, a born predator- but it seems more domestic than any fox she ever thought she would come across.
And to keep up appearances, because it would be just like her cursed persona to adopt a fox, Regina decides that it can stay- under strict guidelines, of course. After all, her mansion in Storybrooke was spotless, and if a ten-year-old boy can help keep it that way, to some extent, she has a right to expect the same from a fox who is living under her roof. Besides, there's something about this fox that seems… domestic? Familiar? Both? She can't decide, but she does know it's worth giving the animal the chance for a trial run. If that doesn't work out, she'll simply send it back to the woods where it belongs.
But she doesn't think that'll happen, because there's a familiarity with this fox that she doesn't understand. Either it knows her, or she should know it, judging by the way it's trying to nuzzle her hand, and she can't quite put her finger on why she would ever know a fox. So she takes it in until she can find answers.
So the fox stays. And because she's apparently a masochist, she dubs the fox Robin. He certainly follows her around like that annoying thief always did during the missing year, determined to get in her way despite his promise that he wouldn't dream of it.
But she lets him stay despite this inconvenience, because he's someone for her to talk to, as crazy as that sounds. Now she can understand why Henry always wanted a dog growing up. Because through the difficulties of each day, as the town around them slowly wakes up from the curse they've all been put under, as she and Lucy plot ways for Henry and Jacinda to find each other, the fox is there for her to vent her feelings, somehow managing to communicate with her, reassure her that he's there for her in the way only Robin ever was.
And slowly, it dawns on her that Hades may have lied about the Olympian Crystal, that Robin may have turned into this surprisingly handsome fox in front of her. Because in addition to everything else, there's a look in his eyes as he curls up next to her like she and the human Robin did in her office that day just before her sister masquerading as Marian ruined everything. That look makes her suspect that maybe, just maybe, the universe isn't being cruel to her for once, that perhaps- just this once- there's a chance she can still figure out how to have her happy ending after all.
Happy ending. She considers that concept that those insufferable Charmings love so much. Normally, she isn't a believer in a happy ending- at least not for her- but if she had to imagine one for herself, ideally it would include Robin by her side.
At the same time, though, while she doesn't desperately need Robin to be happy, especially after facing her evil half and then loving and accepting herself for who she is, she wants him. She wants walks home from getting ice cream with Roland between them (once they retrieve him from the Merry Men). She wants fireside picnics, both at the Merry Men's camp and in her office (although she'll never admit the former aloud- after all, she has a reputation to maintain). She wants to hear him call her milady, and tell him for the millionth time that he smells like forest. And at the end of the day, she wants that scent, pine and something distinctly Robin, to surround her as she falls asleep in his arms.
When she and Lucy finally get Henry and Jacinda to kiss, but it doesn't break the curse, and her heart is broken because it seems that her son is no longer the truest believer, no longer believes in fairy tales that he grew up with, that he is a crucial and irrevocable part of, she comes home and just sits on the couch and lets her guard down to allow a few tears to flow freely. She wants her little boy back- or at least, a more mature version of him. Because while she loves her granddaughter, and couldn't be more thankful to have her through all of this mess, with covens and curses blocking their path left and right, she needs at least one of the two people she loves most by her side, in their human form, to comfort her and give her guidance on how to make it through this, to defeat these villains and get her family back.
And it seems that she might get a small piece of her wish as Robin leaps onto the couch and curls up beside her, standing on his hind legs like a dog to look deep into her eyes, his own somehow conveying the message that he is here for her, that he'll never leave. And a minute later, he proves that by curling up by her side, fitting against her so perfectly that even in this form, she is reminded that he is made for her, and she him. But that thought is ludicrous, he's a fox. He can't possibly have human thoughts and emotions.
And yet, after that day, the longing for him grows so intense that she swallows her pride and goes to see the imp. She would try to find a solution on her own, but given that this curse has Drizella's desires woven through it, not her own, her vault didn't get transferred from Storybrooke, where it stayed after Henry needed her in Ella's birthplace, to Hyperion Heights. So although she has her suspicions about how to free Robin from his animalistic form, she can't act on them without Rumple's cooperation.
As she swallows her pride and opens the door to the station, Rumple- Weaver, as he's known here- turns toward her, "How can I help you?" he asks, keeping to his Hyperion Heights persona and appearing much nicer than she knows him to be. When he sees Robin, he sternly reminds her, "No animals unless they're in need of help or they're service animals, dearie, you know that."
She nods. "I know. And he does need your help."
He raises his eyebrows. "Oh? And how, pray tell, does your pet need my help?"
She takes a deep breath, reminding herself not to give in to her more evil impulses. If it wasn't for Henry's and Robin's influences, she would've hurled a fireball at the man who was once her teacher long ago. "Can we talk somewhere? In private?"
He nods curtly, and leads them to a back room that has an examining table. While she suspects that the room is usually used for inspecting evidence, it will serve just as well for this.
Robin immediately hops up on the table as Rumple steps closer. "Now, what do we have here?"
"I think it's Robin," Regina confided, her voice barely a whisper so as not to alert other members of the staff to their unusual activities. "Hades must have lied about the Olympian Crystal, and it turned Robin into a fox instead of obliterating him. There's this… magic, this aura around him that I can't help thinking means something."
"Are you sure?" her former mentor asks. "Or have you been around the Charmings for too long and let hope get the better of you?"
"I know what I feel," she insists, "and I know that if Robin came back to me somehow, this is it."
"Well, as it so happens, you are correct," Rumple declares.
Regina's heart feels like it's going to leap out of her chest at his words. "So?" she demands swiftly. "Can you break whatever this is? Can he be human again?"
"All magic comes with a price, dearie, you know that," he admonishes.
"Name it." she says curtly, her temper flaring at his condescending ways.
"My information will cost you a promise of no interference. Once our deal is complete, you'll not interfere with my plans and I won't interfere with yours. The price of the magic itself- well, dearie, you know as well as I that the price likely won't reveal itself until the magic is complete."
"Done," she agrees. "Now, what do you know?"
"To return Robin of Locksley- Robin Hood, if you will- to the form you hold most dear, you must seek a rare incantation. This incantation will return him to the last form he was in."
"Where do I find it?" she demands. "Tell me, Rumple!"
"I don't know that, dearie. But I suspect that a certain magical individual in Hyperion Heights does. Seek him, and you will find your answers."
"All right," she replies. "And- thank you."
With that, she and the fox that she hopes is Robin left the station, their destination determined by Gold's clue.
I suspect that a certain magical individual in Hyperion Heights does. Seek him… Regina shakes her head. Why hadn't Rumple just told her to ask Samdi about the incantation? The man always speaks in riddles, and it irks her to no end sometimes. He could have just spoken plainly. But then again, that would've made her work easier, and with the exception of the bookworm- maybe even including the bookworm, judging by the number of times she had sought refuge on the pirate's vessel- Rumplestiltskin is never amenable to making someone's life easier unless it is his own or it benefits him in some way.
Well, the only benefit he would've gotten out of this is if he witnessed the drama that's about to unfold a small voice in her head reminded her. She shared a past with the sorcerer- or rather, the Evil Queen did. What they once had could not be called romance, but their interactions had certainly been filled with a passion she had never had before, and didn't have again until Robin came into her life.
Looking down at the fox by her side, Regina tries desperately not to think about those interactions. The thief certainly stole her heart, both in Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest, and she thinks back with fondness to their verbal sparring during the missing year. His ability to keep up with her, match every insult she threw at him with a sarcastic remark of his own, and how after one such conversation, she had finally given in to what she wanted, what she knew she needed, and kissed him, their arms locking around each other as she strived to bring him as close to her as possible.
Lost in some of her favorite memories, Regina almost misses Samdi's, only realizing it when Robin steps in front of her, blocking her path. She enters, and finds him doing such a normal thing, filling a mug with coffee, that she almost laughs. To see this undoubtedly powerful sorcerer doing something so human is so unusual that she forgets for a moment why she's there, only paying attention to something other than her mirth when he speaks.
"The Evil Queen. Or should I say Regina? To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I believe you have something I want," she begins. "Ever heard of an incantation that will return people and things to a form they were in previously?"
"Ah, yes," the witch doctor confirms. "But for the incantation, I want to know; who or what is it that you want to revert so desperately?"
She gulps. Telling Rumple the situation was easy. He has met her archer, and while the Evil Queen had tried to use him romantically, there had never been a spark between them. What had transpired between her and Facilier, however, was built on at least a little more than that, though it could never compare to what she had- has, she reminds herself sternly, daring to take a little of the Charmings' favorite tool, hope, for herself- with Robin. "Just someone close to me."
"Ah, I see," he mused, reading between the lines like she knew he would. "And tell me, would this person want to be reverted to their original form?"
That he would dare suggest that Robin wouldn't want to return to her makes Regina's temper flare, and she strives to keep it in check...
But she doesn't succeed. After all, how often is she supposed to deal with losing everything she wants? Because it seems that the universe's latest trick, giving her hope that it could easily snatch away from her in the blink of an eye, seems too cruel, even for the woman who was once the Evil Queen.
"How dare you," she replies in as menacing a tone as she can muster, the piece of the Evil Queen in her coming out to play in this moment. The nerve he has to even question if Robin would want to return to her is unquestionable, unthinkable, the hope for it the only thing holding her together at the moment. If he never wants to be human again, to be with her, then why would he return to her? Unless he knows that she can and will help him, and has taken advantage of her vulnerability for him and everything (and everyone) related to him. But that isn't the Robin she knows, the thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor, so she refuses to consider the possibility until she is proven otherwise.
"It's a valid question," he defends himself, holding up his hands in surrender. "After all, we both are well aware that what others want for us isn't always what we want for ourselves."
The flickers of a fireball that she manages to conjure die at his words and she crosses her arms. "True. But I know that that isn't the case here." It can't be. Not when he will want to return to his son and daughter, return to her, and help her battle Gothel in any way he can.
Facilier smirks. "We shall see. Who is this person to you? If he or she is your soulmate, the incantation works differently than if the person is connected to you in any other way."
She nods curtly, starting to get tired of all of his games, his stalling. "How?"
Because his soul is connected to yours, only you can perform the incantation. His soul is inextricably linked to yours; therefore, your soul will call to his and is the most likely to help him return to his human form."
"Okay, fine, that's easy," she snaps, "So, what do I need to do?"
"Follow me," he commands, and she does. Through the front of the house to a back sitting area with a fireplace that had a picture of a landscape on one wall. He walks over to the landscape, and she sees him fiddle with something on its side before the portion of the wall that contains the landscape swings inward. He beckons to her to follow him into whatever this secret room contains, and although she questions the wisdom of it, she obeys, knowing she will be one step closer to getting her Robin back.
The room can be compared to a potion master's lair, or a chemist's secret laboratory. Oddly-shaped bottles on shelves line the room, and a table in the middle contains a cauldron that is bubbling- with what potion, she doesn't know, and doubts she wants to. As Facilier walks forward, her attention is drawn to his destination: a bookcase that contains everything from more potion ingredients to rows and rows of books, likely books of incantations just like the one she's seeking.
He pulls out a book from the shelf, and brings it over to her. "Incantations like these are difficult because of the nature of the objects of the incantations. Humans and animals, particularly humans, are extremely complex creatures, after all."
"I already know that," she snaps impatiently, "What do I need to know for this specific incantation?"
"Focus all of your energy on this fox, your soulmate. But they can't just be any thoughts of your soulmate. You must think only of the ways this man has changed your life for the better, and say the incantation written here." He magically detaches the page at the binding and hands it to her.
She glances down at it. It seems too easy- there had to be a catch. "And the price?"
"Unknown to anyone who has not used this particular brand of magic. So you'll have to find out for yourself."
She snorts. That is the least helpful answer she's ever heard, and she's lived in close proximity to the heroes for far too long, tolerating all of their hope speeches. And she has known Rumple, the master of mind games, for decades. Still… "Thank you. This means a lot."
'Anytime, Your Majesty," he replies, bowing before her. "I only hope that this opportunity to return your soulmate to his human form goes according to plan."
She glances at him curiously. It isn't like Facilier to want a happy ending for anyone but himself. "You do?"
He nods in confirmation. "If you can't have something that works out well for you, none of the rest of us can. So you're forging the path for all villains to find happiness."
"I already did," she tells him, thinking of Henry, Ella, and Lucy. "I just… want the man I love with us. For my family to be complete."
He nods. "Then go. Save him."
And with that, she and Robin are off again. When they return home, Regina recites the incantation, her thoughts focused on how Robin completes her, making her better than she is by always having faith in her and showing her that it is possible for someone to see the good in her.
There's a flash so bright she has to close her eyes, and in that moment it feels like her soul is being ripped in two- which it likely is. The combination hits her so violently that she stumbles, not daring to open her eyes again to break her fall, afraid that she got her hopes up, that he isn't there with her after all.
But then arms wrap around her, protecting her from falling. A touch light as a feather on her forehead, a force caressing her arms, her cheek. She doesn't dare to believe what she's feeling until she hears a soft, "Milady."
She simultaneously opens her eyes to see his soft blue ones looking down at her and moves into his arms, As his forest scent surrounds her and she feels the light brush of his lips on the top of her head, she knows that whatever else comes, she and her thief will face it together. "I love you and I missed you," she whispers, afraid not to tell him how she feels, lest he be ripped away from her again, tears coming to her eyes at the thought.
"I know," he tells her. "I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. Today is the start of our happy ending."
And as she fuses her lips to his, tasting and claiming him like she never has before, Regina realizes that it is.
