Henry was right in that Ella and Regina were pleased to see she was back in town and Lucy had even given her a running attack hug with a happy squeal as soon as she'd come down the steps. "Chad stayed in Chicago. Apparently, he was right when he said I was just overacting to you lot not returning my calls." She explained ruffling the ten-year old's hair as they all say down to wait for Robin and Alice.
"So, when did the curse actually break?" Zelena questioned smiling at seeing Henry and Ella sitting so close once again their hands like Robin and Alice's had been clasped tightly together as if letting go or didn't have some kind of physical contact between them would being the curse back over their eyes. "Yesterday. Dad broke the curse by calling himself, so he remembered who he was when he and Regina shared true loves kiss like he and Emma did during the first curse in his book then Tilly erm I mean Alice she turned Gothel into a tree." Zelena's eyes widened at the statement looking to the other three for confirmation.
"But how did that poison Drizella put…" the former Wicked Witch started to say only for Ella to answer for her "my other self and Lucy found my glass slipper while packing up for our trip and this little genius." The mother purred nodding to her daughter while cuddling closer into Henry's embrace. "She took my shoe to Facilier who cast some kind of true love protection spell on him with it."
"He said it would break the curse, but it didn't and then Tilly and Rogers were taken by Gothel to basically force Alice to help her wipe out the world…. and it all just snowballed from there." Regina finished her eyes drawn to the stairwell at the sound of a whispered disagreements reached them.
"Alright but this time you pay for the apples." Robin proposed in a low grumbling voice "Deal." Alice promised, and the others could tell just by her voice that she was smiling "but after we go see if Papa wants to come too I don't want him sulking again."
"You know he won't, so you won't have to worry about running into one another." Robin pointed out making Zelena wince at the sadness in her tone. "Well then we'll bring Lucy with us, so she can ask him, and you and I can head over to our bookshop for a while instead and let him have a chance to say hi to Zelena and the others when he's not in a hospital bed." The blonde was saying as the pair came around the corner into the bar with Robin carrying Alice across her back with her arms draped across her shoulder in a mock chock hold.
"A third first date with you sounds like fun." Robin agreed with the first real smile Zelena has seen from her since she arrived. "Fourth love." Alice corrected sliding down from the archer's back but kept her arms around her neck letting Robin turn to face her, so she wouldn't have to see Zelena ogling them as they stopped by the end of the bar. "I'm still counting the day you pulled me away from that car as a date." She explained at Robin's questioning gaze. "Nope, that was our second first meeting babe. That talk we had on that park bench over beignets should be our third." The archer corrected pressing a kiss against the tip of Alice's nose.
"Robin, Alice." Lucy grinned making the archer turn just in time to return the girl's tackling hug. "Hi, munchkin." She smiled "Hi yeah Luc." Alice nodded ruffling the ten-year old's hair letting her pull her into a group hug between the three of them.
It stung more than Zelena thought it would when her daughter didn't meet her eyes as she set Lucy down after another hug and instantly sliding her hand back into Alice's and taking the long way behind the bar over to the seats behind her cousin and his wife.
"She's been avoiding me too." Regina whispered seeing her sister's upset while Robin and Alice sat together if possible even closer than Henry and Ella were in their closeness with Alice draped bridal style across Robin's lap in the chair and the blonde's head pillowed against her shoulder. "Ever since that night in the courtyard after that initial hug she gave me after she woke up she's been distant cold even." The former Evil Queen went on letting her son and niece talk out the plain for the day among themselves. "Sure, she is nice enough when others are around like Rogers or Lucy but when it just her, Alice and me." Regina shook her head whipping away unshed tears at the admission.
"Can you really blame them?" Zelena asked in a low voice "I mean they can see now that you and I have been awake all this time." She pointed out seeing that the two couples were too deep in conversation to even remember they were there. "I'm surprised Robin isn't holding us at arrow point given everything that's happened." The mother laughed without humor in her voice. At that moment Robin's eyes found hers the gaze hard and burning in quiet anger as if the keen hearing archer had heard the comment and given the forced smirk in her lips Zelena could guess she actually had but then she blinked, and Robin was back to looking only at Alice love and adoration replacing the coldness in her eyes occasionally pressing a little kiss against her shoulder as the blonde talked rather animatedly with Henry and Lucy.
It wasn't until Ella was pulling Henry to his feet that Regina and her sister realized that the plain had been worked out at last. "They'll meet us there." Ella explained when Zelena looked over at her daughter and Alice as the realm jumper helped Robin into her coat. "They have an old friend to go say hi to." Henry smiled draping his arm over Ella's shoulders.
"Alright then just stay…..." Zelena started to say but trailed off when her motherly words were met with another of Robin's cold stars as Alice slung her cursed self's backpack over her shoulder in reflex as she laced her fingers with the glaring archers not sparing the watching group more than a friendly smile over her shoulder as she pulled her true love out the door. "out of trouble." Zelena finished while the two passed by the front window of the bar walking hand in hand down the sidewalk.