A/N: OK! This is getting way too emotional for me =) Kidding! But seriously I'm so thankful for the Rev and Fav and Foll... Sheesh! I get really excited about reviews so... let me know what you liked the most or if there's something you guys expect. I'm still looking for a beta =/ I hope to get one soon. Enjoy the chapter =D
Maine was never the warmest state of New England. It has its ups and downs, but the cold weather is certain to come at some point. While Regina was in the hospital the temperature fell a little, but just enough to make the woman shiver as she exited the hospital.
She'd insisted with Whale that whenever she was to be released from the hospital, she wanted to do it alone.
"There's no need to call the Charming tribe… or Henry. I'm fine."
"Regina, I really think you should have at least one person with you…"
"Whale I understand now that you title as a Doctor was given in your world by the acquirement of a degree of some sorts, differently from the cricket that got his from a curse. So, I always assumed you were smarter, clearly, I was wrong. What part of alone did you not understand?"
"Have it your way, Your Majesty. I would advise you though to tell me any and every change that you feel with your headaches…"
"Now, when am I going to be free from this eternal boredom?"
"Later tonight. I'll send in the papers for you to sign… Also, Regina, Henry said he is coming this afternoon as always and he is going to ask me. What would, Your Majesty, want me to tell him about you leaving the hospital?"
She softened her look at the mention of Henry's worries about her.
"Just tell him that it will be soon enough."
Whale nodded and left the room.
Thinking about her conversation with the Doctor now she is pondering if it really was a wise decision to do this by herself. She's in the car waiting for the heater to warm up a little. She is well aware of the risk of driving right now. She's still feeling a little buzz in her head and eventually when she turned her head quick she could feel the whole world spinning. She would do it anyway. At this point she can only think about the few hours she has before the Charmings find out she left the hospital.
When she gets home she sees the reminder of her passing out as the shattered glass is still on her kitchen floors. She ignores it and goes to the fireplace where she can clearly smell the scent of wood, of forest. All the pain is back in seconds and she is lost on her own thoughts. She takes on of the meds that Whale gave her and takes some painkillers as she's feeling her head throbbing. She doesn't know what to think or what to do with her feelings. As a matter of fact, she is not even sure about who she is right now. She's certainly not the Evil Queen – although she will always be there, or so she thought; she's not the Queen; she is not the innocent and passionate Regina that lost Daniel; she also not the woman who didn't understand the emptiness inside her heart before she held out baby Henry on her arms. Maybe she's all of them.
But Storybrooke changed her. The curse changed her. The curse was a second chance and an apparent quick way out of her impending destiny as a villain.
She wakes up to a sore neck and she notices that she's lying on the couch. The painkiller must've put her to sleep. Suddenly she hears what in fact woke her up and she sighs and she thinks of Snow on the other side of the door knocking.
"Regina, please…"
She tries closing the door on him, but she's way too weak right now and he's stronger than her. So, he holds the doors with his hands.
"Robin… What are you doing here?"
"I went to the hospital and they told me you came home and I thought… I thought I should check if you were ok."
"Well as you can see I'm perfectly fine. So, please leave, now."
The woman's words were deceived by her looks. She had tired eyes and bags under them, her hands were trembling and she was certainly using the doors to balance her. This whole picture was like an arrow shot right on his heart.
"Regina, we need to talk. You and I, we need to figure this out. I just want to talk to you, you mean too much for me to not even try."
She's too tired to argue and she keeps her eyes down. He takes it as surrender, so he comes in. He enters and sits facing the fireplace. She inhales his smell and thinks of how she's sure this is going to be the last time they will be together like this. Then, she sighs and sits beside him.
"Milady, I don't know what to do right now. I'm certain about my feelings for you, but she is Roland's mother and I also loved her."
Loved. Does he still love her now? She's taking his words in but just the sound of his voice brings so much pain… and loss, because she doesn't have him anymore. She knows it.
"I apologize for reacting the way I did and for letting you go like that. I should've come after you… and then when I heard you were at the hospital my whole soul sank into darkness…"
"Robin, stop. There's no need to apologize. And you know that." She says that looking at her hand, their eyes never meeting.
He reaches to her chin and she closes her eyes at his touch.
"It always puzzled me how I don't see you as the Queen here. During that missing year you were here, not the Evil Queen, the Queen. And, with that your presence filled a whole room. You're still regal but in a different way. But I…"
For the first time she meets his eyes and strangely enough they are fierce, as if she is up to something.
"You what?"
"I heard Marian telling how she was imprisoned on the Evil Queen's dungeons" her eyes do not falter and her can't read what she is thinking. "I can't see you doing that Regina, that is not you… it was you. I'm just…"
She then blinks and turns her sitting position a little to face him completely.
"Very well, then. Let me make things easier for you, Robin. I most certainly was responsible for you beloved's death; tough I did not know who she was, or who you were for that matter. She was not the only one I killed. You said yourself that you heard stories about the great and terrible Evil Queen. Well, I killed many, bare hands sometimes. So many that I don't remember. This is who I was…." The mask she just put on to tell him this astonishes him. Here's the Queen he didn't see before. He can see her putting her eyes down and then taking a deep breath to continue,
"I may not be exactly like that now, but I will always have my past to remember me of who I was. You got you're family back, couple of nights ago you told me how you would pay any price to have her back. You got your second chance. Personally, I wouldn't waste it. She is your son's mother. You shouldn't worry about me or whatever you think you started to feel for me in the past weeks or so. These are meaningless. Well, they should be now that you have your family…"
"Regina you can't possibly mean what you're saying…"
"I am. And now that we talked I think it's time for you to leave."
He knows that she's trying to push him away but he is also conflicted with the fact that his soul mate killed his wife… Before he stands up, he holds her hand and looks deep inside her eyes. She knows he can read her soul because she let this man, who was only a thief, see her so vulnerable that now it is impossible to hide something from him.
They don't day a word. He stands up and leaves. The moment he opens the door, there is a surprised Henry ready to knock. Robin sadly nods to him as if to say that they settled the situation and Henry steps in. His mother is starring blankly at the fire. He comes and places a hand on her shoulder, which startles her. She shyly presents him with a thin smile,
"Can I spend the night here, mom? I miss you."
She blinks the tears away and stands up to hold her little prince closer to her.
"Of course, Henry. Are you hungry or anything?"
He knows his mom too well to know that she's pretending nothing happened.
"I'm ok. I was wondering if I could sleep with you… I mean in your room. After all it was a whole year without snuggling…" He smiles the brightest smile she'd ever seen.
"I missed you too my little prince. I think I'm heading to bed now, would you mind?"
"Of course not."
They get settled to go to sleep. He can see the sad look on his mother's eyes from 100 miles. But, regardless, she smiles when she sees him lying on her bed all cuddled under her blankets. He is her true love and that cannot be taken from her. She lies beside him and she's tense but when he rests his head on her shoulder her whole body relaxes. Her sleep is crowded with dreams. Dreams of her being the Evil Queen and catching Robin Hood; dreams of her desiring to jump from her balcony and dreams of deep blue eyes that penetrated her soul.
When Robin leaves Regina's house he notices the quick drop on the temperature. The winds are cold and strong and the years in the forest taught how to read the weather perfectly. To his astonishment his looks at the sky and thinks that every nature sign around him is pointing towards snowy weather.
As he is walking towards the camp, his eyes widen when he sees the trail of snow that's leading to the track to Zelena's house. In a second he does one of the few things he learned about cellphones and speed dials the Sheriff's number.
"Hello?"
"Miss Swan? This is Robin…"
"Robin? Is everything okay with Regina… or Marian?"
"Yes. Yes. I'm calling because there's a peculiar track that I just found that I'm sure will attract your attention. I think you should come to see it and make sure you get your winter's coat on.
"Winter's coat? What do you mean by…" Emma looks at the window and to her surprise she can see tiny snowflakes slowly falling from the sky. She gets ready at once and wakes her father up to come with her.
TBC…
