Notes:
I'm back with a very exciting chapter! God help me...
This chapter complies with the prompts from OQ Prompts:
#70: one of them is sick/injured & a bad patient
#187: Tinkerbell and Snow White discussing Outlaw Queen
#196: Regina breaks Robin's heart
#207: Detectives in love
#258: A common enemy
#274: A day in the life of the Locksley-Mills family
#292: Lots of teasing
#294: One of them almost dies before they get together.
I'll be quiet and leave you alone. See you at the end of the chapter!
In the previous chapter
"Robert spent too much time without pissing me off, I have to go to fend off the danger."
She left the room, leaving two lovers giggling behind him.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." She said with a small smile on her face. "Everything is fine."
"Everything will be even better. We'll leave behind us every single day you cried." He said. "We will have days when we will be blessed with your laughter."
Looking at the blue orbs glowing with love, she found the man in all the good things she had in her life. He was in days when she was happiest, the days when she was saddest as she was now, he was in when she gave life to her son, he was in when she shared a mother with him.
Regina thought Robin's the best chance of her. Her love for him overflowed, and independently of her brain, her heart parted her lips and blew air into her vocal cords. The vibrations turned into a three-word sentence.
"I love you."
When she thinks that she is close to achieving her happiness; when she was free from her mother, her husband, obligations and secrets, life once again reminded her of its impossibility. The brunette woman, whose heart beat with greater fear every minute she chased death, had accepted her end.
Her filled eyes closed, she thought of the table where all her loved ones had gathered just an hour ago. She let the peace of having mended all the hearts she'd broken wash over her.
Today was a blessing for her, as God had allowed her to be happy for the last time. And it was over. It was the last page of her story.
A Few Hours Ago
While Katherine and Robert Locksley were trying to make up for all the lost time in a day sitting on either side of their newly met grandson, almost imprisoned him. Meanwhile, Robin was busy placing the food brought by her guests into the kitchen.
The lawyer's house outside the city center, which he had used as an escape from time to time for years, was hosting all his loved ones on Thanksgiving Day.
It was also a perfect opportunity for Regina, who at some point wanted to reunite with her old friends, but she still didn't show up even though all the guests had arrived.
"Robin, isn't Regina coming?" Her friend, whose real name is Rose and whose nickname is Tink in the group, asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Your Majesty does not wait, she makes you wait, my dear. You better get used to it."
Robin sent a stern look to Will, who is still demeaning to the queen despite his best friend's statement.
"It was good that Regina was late. Since we're all here, I think it would be helpful to remind you. We knew what kind of person Cora was, right? We can't understand what it is to live with her, we can't know what it means to be the leading role in the lives we do not want. I ask you to treat Regina accordingly, today is the beginning of a future where we will all be together again."
"Nothing has changed in our love man, folks, he continues to protect his lover from where he left off!" Malory lightly punched the man on the shoulder. "You're not the only person who loves and misses her Robin, everything will be fine, stop worrying."
As Robin was smiling at her friend, the ringing stopped them from speaking any further.
Here we go!
All his worries evaporated when he met a smile that illuminated the darkness of the evening from behind the opened door, all he could think of was how her naturally flowing black hair framed her flawless face, how stunning she looked in her black patterned white dress that hugged her body.
"If you're done looking at each other, can we go inside? I'm freezing!"
Although he was a little embarrassed at noticing the red-haired woman at that moment, he didn't regret the beauty that had caught his attention.
"Sorry we're late, the car broke down on the way."
"I would have come to get you if you had let me know." He hung their coats on the hanger.
"With so many guests in your house? Or are you not a good host, Locksley?" She flirted after Zelena left them and slipped inside.
"Nothing is more important than you, Mills, including being a good host."
"Regina! God, it really is you!"
The electrical waves in the emptiness-or no emptiness—between them were interrupted by someone excited who is proof that some things will never change.
Even though the brunette one didn't even get a chance to see the face of the owner of the arms wrapping around her, she knew whose tone of voice and joy belonged.
"Good to see you too, Mary Margaret." As the woman's usual positive mood took her tension from the queen, she chuckled at the fact that her frustrating influence still existed.
"Come on, everyone can't wait to see you." As she took the queen's hand and dragged her to where the crowd was waiting, Regina did not fail to sneak a glance at Robin.
"Look who's here?!"
Unlike the woman with the short black hair, everyone in the hall fell silent. It was the queen with her formal attire and straight hair that they always see on the screen, piercing and authoritative looks, walking in arrogantly they expected to see before them, but… It's only Regina that pulled in by the woman nicknamed Snow White. Regina who is her friends... The hot chocolate eyes delicately swept over each face, with the charming smile they used to remember.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, the car broke down." Her smooth voice broke the silence.
"Anyone can be calm, if she hasn't lost her punctuality, everything stays the same." The blonde curly-haired woman called out to her surroundings before stopping right in front of her. "Can I hug you?"
After her best friend Emma, Tink and Mal used to make up a large part of her life. Although Rose and her met because she was Robin's friend Will's girlfriend, they became close in a very short time, Malory was her friend from the school dating Zelena for a while.
The brunette didn't dare speak to the lump in her throat when Tink couldn't help her lips trembling as she offered a hug. The moment she nodded so slightly that it was almost invisible, a pair of arms wrapped around her.
"I miss you."
"You too, Tink." When she used her nickname, she felt the surrounding arms tighten and replied to her friend in the same way.
"If you want more hugs, get back in line, fairy. We are waiting here!"
She'd recognize that witty voice and snarky tone anywhere!
"Mal!"
"When I called you my little queen, I didn't think you'd really rule us one day, are you so obedient about everything, Regina?"
The queen wouldn't have believed it if they said she'd laugh at something about the imprint that was forcibly affixed to her, until, of course, her dragon re-entered her life and spewed its flames.
"You know I always care about what you say, you're like my sister, right?"
A few days ago, as a result of a short research, she had learned that the person she said "I met someone" after her sister returned from her business trip was actually an old love that had been met a long time ago. Without looking at Zelena, who was pretending not to care about her sister and her girlfriend's hugs, she whispered in Malory's ear that she knew about their secret.
"Did she tell you?"
"I'm heartbroken that you think you can hide it from me." When they parted, she dramatically placed her hand over her heart.
"Stop catching us, this trick is outdated." She said so only she could hear. "When we explain it at dinner, pretend you don't know, Zel wants to surprise you."
Before Regina could respond, she stepped back, allowing the others to greet their friends.
Contrary to what they had all expected, the great gathering was accepted very easily among them, they turned into a cheerful table as if they didn't care about the old crowd and the world.
Henry was sitting on one side of his father, who sat at the head of the table as the landlord, and next to his foster mother, and directly across from his birth mother. All of his parents' friends, except his grandparents at the other end, were positioned in pairs in the middle.
The child never wanted to get up from this table where dozens of stories and memories were told, happiness rose, laughter and loving glances mixed together. After he had grown up in an environment where he was only his mother and himself, it was the first time that he was part of a group that was so connected to each other, and he was convinced that he would not get tired of it easily.
After the story of falling into the lake for the sake of Emma's love came to the fore, everyone fell silent when someone in the crowd coughed with the theme of 'it's my turn to speak'.
When Regina's eyes shifted to her sister sitting next to her, she saw a hand reaching out from under the table to the red-haired woman's hand in her lap, but she quickly turned her head to her sister's blue eyes.
"Speaking of love... There's something I want to explain." She lifted the silk handkerchief from her knees and stood up.
"Although we have been apart for a long time, you all; those who have been around this table before and…" Her eyes which like sky found her nephew sitting across the table. "...the ones who have just joined us... Represent love, respect, family and..." She smiled at her sister, who turned her head gracefully to her side and listened intently. "...sacrifice for me... I want to share my purest feeling with you, who taught me the best feelings without any self-interest."
She held out her hand to the woman who was pressing her lips together to keep tears from flowing from her eyes. Malory grabbed her hand and stood up.
"We were reunited with Mal. Or rather, we agreed that we should never break up at all." She looked back at her lover with all her love. "You'll never get rid of me again, blondie."
"As long as I don't lose my mind, red."
Regina fixed her proud eyes on them with a maternal air as the two women shared a loving kiss. What she didn't realize was that while all this was going on, Robin's hand had naturally reached for hers on the table and covered it.
Turning to her sister, whom she thought did not know anything, Zelena wiped the tears from her cheeks. The sitting woman jumped out of her chair and took the older one in her arms as if she was the older sister.
"Can we talk on the patio?"
Zelena shook her head as her heart fluttered with panic. While the two sisters asked permission and left the table, the rest continued their meal.
They were enveloped in the peace of the night as the cold air hit their faces. Regina turned to the woman who was biting her lip.
"So it's time to fly, monkey."
"Wherever I fly, my wings will always remember the way that came to you, my queen." She took her sister's cold hands in hers. She had truly become her mother as she tried to fill the mother shortage left by Cora.
"I am proud of you for stopping procrastinating, hearing your heart, not being afraid of anything. I'm so happy Zel, the sparkle in your eyes means the world to me. Don't let it fade."
The red-haired woman pulled the brunette to herself, making fun of her cracking voice. "As if you were the older one."
"Aren't we both older sisters and mothers to each other?"
"We are."
The later hours of the evening continued and ended as it had begun. The crowd gathered inside a house each thought it was the best day they'd had in a long time.
Katherine and Robert decided to stay home for a few days, while all the couples and Henry and Emma left in their own car as they arrived, while Zelena said she was going with Malory. When Regina attempted to call a taxi back to the palace, she blocked by Robin. He enjoyed spending some time with the woman he hadn't spent days alone with before returning to his home in the city.
"You knew about Zelena and Malory, right?"
A breath escaped her lips, which curled into a small smile. "I even know what shoes she wears every day, tell me, did I know?"
"I didn't know you started detective work. Should I be mindful of every step I take?"
"Are you doing things that I should be doing detective work, thief? Oh, now I have another occupation, great!"
"All you'll find are case files, I can guarantee it's boring."
"Hmm, isn't there anything beautiful in your life?"
"There is something very beautiful, but I want to be the only one who takes care of her, so I can't tell you."
She felt all the blood in her body rush to her cheeks. She was surrounded by the beauty of the day, her sister's happiness, her son's smile that adorned his face all day, and the deep love she felt.
She turned to thank Robin for the beautiful day, but she was faced with a very different situation than she expected. His fingers were clenched against the steering wheel, and despite his composure and his expressionless face, Regina knew the man driving the car well enough to know there was a problem.
The woman in the passenger seat looked around, his blue eyes constantly shifting between the rearview and side mirrors.
"What's wrong, Robin?"
"Hold tight. Check your belt." The sharpness in his voice cut through the calm and peaceful atmosphere that had just dominated the car like a knife.
The Queen felt Robin step on the gas as he slid in and out between other cars that veered off the main road.
"For God's sake, what is going on?" She said as she checked the receptacle to which the belt is attached.
"We are being followed."
Regina tried to turn around and see what was after them, but she was forced to turn in front of her by a hand resting on her shoulder.
"Stay still, Regina, and tell me if there's anything I need to know."
"We must go to the palace." She said, ignoring her doubts.
She didn't know how to explain that she had been receiving threatening notes from her private e-mail address for months, that after her last statement, the seriousness grew and the other party went so far as to threaten her family, that but how she didn't care about.
"We have to go at least twenty kilometers this way to return to the palace, there is no way back."
"I don't understand. How could there not be a way back?"
"We had to take an inter-city road. I'm starting to think that the accident on the main road wasn't a coincidence."
She pulled her phone out of her bag to call Graham and tell him to pick them up from a safe place, but the phone hung up without a single short ringing. That's when worried eyes met the 'no signal' text at the top of the screen.
"There is no signal."
If the main road was intentionally blocked, if they were taken down this nonsense road, and if the networks were intentionally disabled, this stalking should not be just for fear. Were they really going to kill her, so she wouldn't sign a goddamn agreement?!
Trying only to dodge the three cars behind them, Robin fell into silence, ignoring the honking of the horns as he sped past the surrounding cars.
He was so focused on getting them out of this situation that he couldn't even think about why they were being followed.
"Henry…" Regina's lips parted, and she let out her son's name on a sigh.
Hearing his son's name whispered in fear, the man's attention shifted from the road, he turned his eyes to his side for a moment, and at the same time they experienced a jolt due to the speed of the car.
"What happened to Henry?" He asked as he turned again.
"Do you-Do you think he is safe?"
"Is there a reason why he's not safe?"
There was no use in hiding any longer when the possibility of harming their son, let alone being in great danger, came to the fore.
"Regina?"
The woman took a deep breath. "I've been getting threatening e-mails for a while."
Horrified by what he heard, Robin nearly crashed into the car he was trying to overtake. While he was spinning the steering wheel quickly, Regina was thrown towards the window, and she groaned in pain when she hit her arm the door.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Robin released one of his leather gripping hands and held it out to the woman he loved.
"I'm fine, hold the wheel." She tried to call his other mother, who was with her son, but again it didn't even ring.
"How could you not tell me about this, Regina? We're trying to sort things out, we're trying to be a family again, and you're hiding such an important thing from me!"
"I didn't think it was something to be taken seriously, Robin, do you know how many times I've come across messages like this over the years?"
The man, who accepted that they could not return to the palace and tried to lose their traces, turned the car on a road where he did not even know where he was going with a sudden decision.
"Well, this one is serious." He said. "And that's not a valid excuse for you to hide it from me."
"I didn't want you to worry unnecessarily, are we really supposed to be discussing this when someone is after us that we don't know how dangerous they are?"
"Isn't the fact that we have someone after us enough proof that worry is not unnecessary?"
As the road on which the car was moving narrowed, they saw in the rearview mirror that two cars were crossing either side of the three-lane road; someone was still in the middle, coming right behind them. They were aiming to get in front of them and block the road.
The possibilities of what might happen if they were cut off and stopped preoccupied both people in the car.
Robin was prepared to fight at the risk of his life if they tried to take Regina from him, he was wondering if there was anything in the car he could use. If necessary he would puncture anyone who stood in his way with a camping knife in the glove compartment, but he would not let them take the owner of his heart.
The woman sitting on the other side of the car was standing on the opposite possibilities than the man. She could offer to break the deal in exchange for them not harming his son, Robin or someone she loved, but she knew from years of experience that this danger could not be solved with just a piece of torn paper. At the end of this follow-up, whatever she did, the people involved would try to kill them to save themselves.
The moonlit waves contrasted with the gloom that descended on the night behind the cliffs where the road curved. The road suitable for shooting a nostalgic love movie scene was witnessing a moment as if out of a thriller that evening.
Even the presence of sporadic cars appearing in the two-way-two-turn lanes could not deter the monsters behind. As they tried to get to the opposite side and get in front of them, the occupants of the two cars came close enough to see each other through the windows. In that fleeting moment, Regina counted three people in the car, Even the presence of sporadic cars appearing in the two going and two turning lanes couldn't stop the monsters behind. As they tried to get to the opposite side and get in front of them, the occupants of the two cars came close enough to see each other through the windows. In that fleeting moment, Regina counted three people in the car. They were two against five even if the others were at best one each, besides, since the Queen of Storybrooke was the one they were after, she was sure there was so much more.
"Damn it." A word escaped from Robin's lips as he focused his attention completely on saving them, despite the thousands of words he wanted to say.
He shifted gear and put his foot's weight on the accelerator as if it could be pressed harder, but the driver in the closer car did the same.
The tactic had changed when a crash sounded on the road where the engine sounds echoed.
As the lawyer's black jeep was swept away by the force of the crash, the woman's shapely fingers clung to the doorknob after a short cry.
When she thinks that she is close to achieving her happiness; when she was free from her mother, her husband, obligations and secrets, life once again reminded her of its impossibility. The brunette woman, whose heart beat with greater fear every minute she chased death, had accepted her end.
Her filled eyes closed, she thought of the table where all her loved ones had gathered just an hour ago. She let the peace of having mended all the hearts she'd broken wash over her.
Today was a blessing for her, as God had allowed her to be happy for the last time. And it was over. It was the last page of her story.
She had to pay for the consequences of her own choices, no longer anyone had to suffer because of the complexity of her life. And she made her decision...
"Robin. Stop the car." To hide her eyes shining with tears from the blond man, she turned her head to the sea and uttered the words with great calm and power.
"What?"
"They will stop after I land. It gives you the opportunity to go, find Henry…"
"Have you lost your mind, Regina?! What are you talking about?" He cut her off, did she really think he could leave her and run?
"It's the only way, Robin, they want me. Once they get me, they won't go after you."
"You-I-…Regina…" He felt anger add to the feelings of anxiety and fear coursing through his blood as he forced his mind to focus on the road and what the woman was saying at the same time. He was unable to put his thoughts into sentences. The moment they got out of here, he would have a very serious conversation with the woman and ask how she dared even consider such a possibility.
"I said stop!" Despite Robin's ignorance, Regina persisted. "Stop or I'll jump!"
"Regina, shut up! Just shut up, okay?" As he screamed, he pressed the button that locked the doors, for he was sure the woman sitting next to him had the courage to do whatever she set his mind to.
"You don't understand! There is no other way!"
"You DO NOT understand! If you don't have a logical solution to save us, don't open your mouth again, woman, or you will kill me before these damned ones!"
The car behind them tried to crash again, but Robin managed to evade the attack with a practical turn.
"The solution is to give them what they want! This is the solution that will save you and our son! We have to think of Henry."
"The moment we get out of here, I'm going to take you to a doctor and ask them to investigate what's going on inside that brain of yours. You always want to sacrifice yourself for someone, but you don't want to admit that someone loves and cares enough to sacrifice themselves to save you!"
That moment when she couldn't stop all her intense feelings from overflowing after she talked to his mother at home days ago... -To hell with giving each other time; to hell slowness and sure-footedness- When Regina said she loved him, Robin had drowned his blue eyes in deep browns, and although he didn't respond with words, the love in his eyes had penetrated deep into the woman's heart and soul.
But now… Were they word that she had lived to hear again for years? Did he just say he loved her?
"There can only be one valid reason for me to leave you here! For anyone to take you from me again, they would have to rip my heart apart! Do you understand? Stop acting like you're the only one willing to risk of death for the family! Stop acting like you're the only one in love in this relationship, Regina!"
The blue spheres broke away from the darkness surrounding the tunnel of light formed by the car's headlights and met with a deeper darkness. Robin wasn't afraid of getting lost in the night as much as he was afraid of getting lost in Regina's eyes. Like a child reaching out for a fire even though knows it will hurt, he was extending his heart to the love of that woman, knowing that it would burn like hell. He is disappearing, He is burning...
"I love you, Regina Mills, I am in love with you as if my life depended on you!"
Before she had a chance to process his confession, She was shaken by the blow to the back of the car. Robin's voice, screaming her name, began to humming as the glass she had hit her head on shattered.
Notes:
What do you think? Do you think Regina was seriously injured? What will Robin do to save them?
Even I have a lot of questions in my mind.
Don't be mad at me for leaving it here, I'll be posting the next chapter soon. :)
See you!